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The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 65

65fury. 

==========================

about 30 seconds ago,

Lee Hyun-wook boldly threw himself into the event zone inside the wall with optical illusion magic..

And mana was infused into the ‘Ring of Gyges’..

- The ‘invisibility’ magic of the Ring of Gyges is being applied. (Time remaining: 29 seconds)

The time given to Lee Hyun-wook was only 30 seconds, but he was not in a hurry..

First, I passed by the two guys holding shields blocking the entrance..

"What, didn't you just say someone came in??”

"So, no one… … ah! It's a stealth spell.!”

They noticed sooner than expected.

Since I was caught coming in in the first place, there was nothing I could do..

But Lee Hyun-wook didn’t care..

‘If you move in a hurry, you will get angry..’

He calmly walked inside the cave and looked around the 'event map'..

An event map refers to a supernatural space that is formed in special situations..

Unlike the ‘dungeon’, which is a space that exists in a completely different dimension,,

The physical space of reality was transformed into a completely different form..

Thus, this ‘secret cave’ was formed in the basement of the shopping mall..

‘And the fact that the event map has been opened is a sign of something happening..’

He began to capture the cave's features to understand its details in greater detail..

‘Metallic terrain, bizarre murals, and the smell of sulfur.…….'

The event map also had a kind of ‘theme’..

And the theme here is…….

'……It is the devil's secret altar..’

As I overheard in the previous phone call, it was true that it was related to the ‘devil’..

And all kinds of embossed patterns on the walls... … The majority described a 'swarm of insects'.

Lee Hyun-wook knew very well the names of the devils they represented..

‘Abaddon…….'

Abaddon is a devil who appears in , the king of insects, the bottomless pit itself, and a symbol of disaster that brings destruction to the world..

In other words, it was possible to infer that a quest to summon it to Seoul was in progress..

‘There was a time when three demons, including Abaddon, descended on Paris, France..’

In Lee Hyun-wook's memory, it was right after the fourth wave occurred and the saint was assassinated..

It was a large-scale offensive targeting the moment when the most powerful sacred weapon called a saint disappeared..

'In other words, they brought forward a certain plan that had been planned. I need to find out what's going on..'

He quickly made his way inside the cave and soon reached the end of the passage..

There were three people blocking that point..

There were two gunners and one wizard..

I heard their voices.

“……He's probably an assassin type player who can use stealth skills, so be careful..”

"In that case, you can hide your footsteps and approach, so set a fire on the floor.—”

At that, the man standing last—the wizard—raised his wand and,

Woah-ah-ah-ah——!

Flames poured down from the tip of the staff, turning the floor of the narrow passage into a sea of ​​fire..

He showed a plausible response with a very plausible reasoning, but…….

"hmm… … I don't think there's anything?”

"I'm sure someone came in, but where is they??”

The reason it was in vain was simple..

This is because Lee Hyun-wook had his entire body 'rigidized' and lifted himself up using metal control to attach himself to the ceiling..

As it passed leisurely over their heads,…….

- The magic of the Ring of Gyges is being applied. (Time remaining: 2 seconds)

Unfortunately, the skill time has expired..

Lee Hyun-wook slowly landed on the guys' backs and attempted to 'create metal' with both hands..

Blah blah blah——

The strange sound slowly echoed throughout the cave..

"—uh?”

Two shooter players with sensitive senses caught the sound and quickly turned around.,

It's already late.

Deep—! Deep—! deeply—!

"—Ugh!”

Black awls were driven into the backs of the three men's necks one after another, killing them instantly..

But once the hiding was over, I couldn't hide myself any longer..

"—Who are you?!”

A shout came from the wide terrain inside the cave, from the void..

"There he is standing!”

Lee Hyun-wook made his face look like he was wearing an ‘iron mask’.,

I slowly turned around with all the arrows scattered on the floor..

Eight people appeared from inside the cavity, a much larger number than expected..

There were some that didn't have metal on their bodies, so Lee Hyun-wook couldn't detect them..

And there were 2 people who just passed by the entrance, so there were 10 people in total..

“What are you doing! Surround that bastard!”

At the command of the mustachioed man who appeared to be the leader, 9 people began to surround Lee Hyun-wook..

‘What, they are foreigners.’

They looked hispanic.

But there were no problems with communication.

This was because conversations between players were automatically translated by the system..

“Hey, this dog, what are you?”

The mustachioed man said so and took something out of his pocket..

Mana Messenger, it seemed like they were trying to send mana communication somewhere.…….

"Oh, what? Why is this not working again, shit!"

What's going on, it didn't seem to work out well..

Of course, it was because of Lee Hyun-wook..

Lee Hyun-wook was synchronizing with it and forcing 'end of communication'.

"Why do you want to report it to the police??”

At Lee Hyun-wook's lame joke, the guy's eyes widened as he inserted the Mana Messenger..

"Where the fuck did you come from all of a sudden? What is that damn mask?……."

Lee Hyun-wook was wearing a mask made of hard body paint to hide his identity..

Now that he was a celebrity, he needed to be as careful as possible about revealing his identity..

"It's a bit of an incomprehensible question to ask where Koreans came from when they are on Korean soil... … You guys seem to have entered the country illegally. You know that smuggling players into the country is a serious crime.?”

As Lee Hyun-wook said that and took a step closer, the mustachioed man sneered..

"Hey, you're really under siege right now. Are you acting like you think you can escape??"

Lee Hyun-wook shrugged his shoulders and slowly looked around..

3Inside the cave about a meter wide, there were 10 opponents..

Clearly, we were surrounded tightly..

but…….

‘This terrain is metal everywhere..’

This cave was a metal mine..

In other words, it meant that the dungeon was a place where a lot of iron ore was buried..

"Come to your senses, you strange masked yellow monkey! you are completely surrounded!”

"Ugh—now even if I use stealth, I won’t be able to get out.!”

They slowly narrowed the siege and began shouting one word at a time..

At this, Lee Hyun-wook shook his head..

“……No, actually, it's not me that's under siege, it's you..”

As he said that and slowly raised both hands, snickers erupted from all directions..

"That doesn't sound like anything! Just kill me—”

The moment the mustachioed man shouted that and was about to give the order to attack.—

Ku—gu—gu—gu—gu——!

Out of nowhere, the entire cave began to vibrate..

Those who were running had no choice but to reflexively stop..

"uh! what?”

“……earth, earthquake?”

Lee Hyun-wook stretched out his hands above their heads..

“No, it's not an earthquake..”

“……what?”

"You were in my mouth from the beginning.”

“That crazy bastard, just shoot him.—!”

As soon as the mustachioed man finished speaking, all kinds of magic flew towards Lee Hyun-wook..

bang-! bang-! bang-! bang—!

Flame, electricity, and magic missiles mixed together to create a mysterious air current..

However, in front of the scene that was revealed after the smoke cleared, they could not help but be shocked..

"what, how……."

This was because Lee Hyun-wook was standing tall without moving a single inch..

His body had turned into a hard metal, and a blue ‘mana shield’ was seething all over his body..

Although it took damage from a magic attack, it was not broken in the end..

‘Kang Che-hwa, if you just go up a few more levels, you won’t have to be dependent on Seo Eun-ha..’

Lee Hyun-wook looked at them with a smile..

"Then it's my turn. I’ll chew the whole thing and eat it—shred it.—!”

Qua—ang——!

The ceiling suddenly collapsed with an explosion, and two people were crushed by the heavy debris..

The rest retreated hastily and took a defensive stance..

But there was no place to escape in this narrow cave..

Blink——! Tsk—enemy——!

The ceiling, walls, and floor cracked and chunks of rock poured down..

"Ugh, damn it, retreat first.!”

From among the hazy smoke, something flew towards those who were backing away..

Pick—pick—pick—pick—

Before I knew it, the 'dungeon steel stone', which was sharply 'metal-transformed', flew out like a throwing star and got stuck in various parts of my body..

"—Ugh!”

"shit! This guy blows the cost! Protect your vital areas!”

But there was no place to escape in this narrow cave..

Lee Hyun-wook placed a huge number of dungeon steel stones on top of the guys' heads.,

'shredding —!’

They exploded all at once..

Kwa-and-and-and-gwang——!

chain explosion,

White smoke billowed out along the passage, as if dynamite had been exploded in a mine..

“Wow……."

"Big, big - buy, save……."

After the binge drinking went away, all that was left was miserable moaning..

Lee Hyun-wook slowly walked into the smoke..

***

Lee Hyun-wook was standing at the end of the cave..

A large cavity lit by a lantern, three 'hextech drills' were placed on one wall of the space..

It seemed like they were working on mining something here..

“Is this it?……."

There was something shimmering purple mixed in the crevices of the ordinary dungeon steel stones..

Lee Hyun-wook placed his palm on it..

- You cannot mine ‘Fragments of Disaster (4th Wave)’ because you do not have any authority.!

‘It's a fragment of disaster……."

In context, it felt like some kind of evil force that dispersed after the end of the 4th wave..

And it seemed to be a mechanism to collect these and resurrect the devil 'Abaddon'..

"......Now, I ask you one question again.."

Lee Hyun-wook said that and looked down at someone crushed under his feet..

"Ugh........"

The leader of this work site was a man with a mustache..

Its limbs were filled with sharp restraints made of 'metal deformation'.,

Lee Hyun-wook’s ‘special torture technique’ had been injected into its stomach..

Lee Hyun-wook stepped on the back of his neck and opened his mouth.,

“……I mean, I've been working on this for two days now.?”

"Yes, that's right……."

‘Hell’s Grasp’, which filled the underground parking lot, was prepared for this work..

In addition to emptying the entire shopping mall, it was also used as a kind of guard..

“The reason you collect things like that is definitely because of the quest, but what is it about??”

“……Well, I don't know that either..”

Lee Hyun-wook sighed and lifted his finger and moved it round and round..

"Wow——”

The guy opened his mouth wide and trembled..

The dozen or so pieces of metal in my stomach began to move in an arc..

"Ugh, I really don’t know anything— I, I’m a low level person so I don’t know anything.!”

“under… … I should have told you, if you lie, you won't die well.……."

Through the Mana Messenger eavesdropping, I already heard this man asking someone how much progress he had made on the quest..

In other words, he knew roughly, even if not in detail..

“……Abaddon, you're trying to resurrect it, aren't you??”

When Lee Hyun-wook brought up that name, a look of bewilderment spread across his face..

“Ugh— how do you do that… … Yes, you were a guardian after all—!”

Guardian… … Well, as a villain, there would be nothing else to infer other than that..

"No, Guardian, those smart guys probably have no idea..”

Unfortunately, the noble group called Guardians could not even properly chase after the villain..

This was because an insider named Gordon Price had very subtly interfered with the situation..

'In particular, although the Guardians of this period were individually strong, the group itself was very powerless..’

But at that moment, something appeared before his eyes..

- (!) Quest has arrived.

‘quest?’

[event quest]

- Those who witness the sprouting evil, become the vanguard of justice.!

You were the first to witness the shady plans unfolding underground.,

Successfully foiled their first plan..

If you wish, you can continue to trace the roots of evil..

* Would you like to accept the quest? (Y/N)

'what.......'

Lee Hyun-wook frowned at the event quest that suddenly came to mind..

No, the mechanism for triggering the quest was originally like this..

If you touch a hidden 'switch', it pops out.,

Perhaps mentioning or hearing 'Abaddon' was the switch..

'……I have no choice but to accept this..’

Lee Hyun-wook chose ‘Y’, and detailed quest details came to mind..

[event quest]

- Those who witness the sprouting evil, become the vanguard of justice.!

1) Stop the resurrection of the devil ‘Abaddon’! (Proceeding)

2) Eliminate as many ‘devil worshipers (players)’ as possible! (Proceeding)

3) Destroy as many ‘Devil’s Secret Altar (Event Map)’ as possible! (Proceeding)

* Compensation: Paid differentially depending on performance.

- The event buff ‘Devil Pursuit’ is being applied to the player..

1) You can identify the 'sexual energy' flowing from the devil's secret altar.

2) Has ‘resistance’ to darkness curses below a certain level.

Lee Hyun-wook slowly looked at the contents..

‘This is clearly a crisis I know nothing about. but…….'

Because he had the knowledge and experience in his head to overcome any situation.,

A way to overcome this unknown crisis is gradually beginning to be prepared..

‘……As expected, if you use it well, you can once again get huge benefits..’

After gathering his thoughts, he took out his cell phone and made a call..

There are several phone calls…….

- Yes, this is Director Woo Seong-moon..

Woo Seong-moon, head of the National Gate Response Strategy Office, answered the phone..

"Director, this is Lee Hyun-wook..”

- Oh, what's going on??

"The manager probably knows where I am right now.?”

- .......

A question that came out of nowhere left Woo Seong-moon speechless..

“I knew you had a tail on my back..”

Lee Hyun-wook knew that two Black agents had been following him since he stayed out today..

- ……As expected, you noticed it. I'm sorry, but I'd like to tell you that's my job..

The purpose was to monitor and protect Lee Hyun-wook and Park Jun-mo, two new S-class players..

‘Well, honestly, it doesn't matter..’

This was an inconvenience that was expected even before it was revealed that it was S-rank..

"Haha—good. Some time ago, you asked me what it would be like to work for my country.?”

Woo Seong-moon was a patriot to his core and was a person who devoted himself to his country until the moment of his death..

So, of course, he did not hide his will to make Lee Hyun-wook and Park Jun-mo part of the country..

In other words, he was a person you could trust when it came to doing things for the Republic of Korea..

- I know you've changed your mind and decided to start working with Zmunnarae.…….

"hmm… … Before I go into detail, I need you to come over here..”

What you said just now was an absurd thing for an AMT sergeant to call the head of an agency directly under the president..

‘But now it's different than before.’

In front of his official rank, there was a grandiose title called S-rank player and savior of Seoul..

- It would be nice if you could give us a rough idea of ​​what's going on. You know I'm a busy person..

"Seoul, which we worked so hard to protect... … We are in danger once again.”

It was something Woo Seong-moon could not ignore..

***

Woo Seong-moon arrived just 5 minutes after the call ended..

It wasn't visible, but it seemed like he was using 'teleportation'..

And it was accompanied by a large number of experts in each field..

"Director Woo, thank you for coming..”

Lee Hyun-wook greeted them at the entrance to the underground parking lot..

"They say the safety of the country is at stake, so of course I have to come..”

With the appearance of Woo Seong-moon, not only the AMT troops, including Lee Tae-kyung,,

Kim Se-hee and Park Jun-mo were also surprised..

I thought I was just going to attack some difficult monsters, but the situation turned out to be too big..

Hyunwook Lee led them into the event map..

“Director Woo, here we are. I discovered it by chance.”

“hmm… … Is it really a coincidence??”

Woo Seong-moon looked suspiciously while Lee Hyun-wook nodded..

"Well, if you live sensitively, even seemingly passable things seem special..”

To be honest, I can only say that it was pure luck that I found this place at the right time..

But on the other hand, if I didn't have knowledge about 'Hell's Grasp', I would have just passed by..

It was a situation in which the saying “Unchilgisam (運七技E)” was a perfect fit..

Hyunwook Lee roughly explained that there was a plot to resurrect the devil called 'Abaddon'..

Since the devil had appeared twice before, Woo Seong-moon quickly understood..

"Oh my god, it's been a few days since the wave ended.……."

And because he knew the extent of the devil's power, Woo Seong-moon's expression quickly hardened..

They went deep into the event zone and identified the corpses of the gunmen..

“Well, these guys might be related to the terrorists who threatened Seoul during the wave..”

"yes, i think so too.”

"Hmm, why on earth are we so anxious about not being able to eat up Seoul?……."

Terrorists who appeared during the wave, information about them has not yet been made public..

And it was information that should not have been made public in the first place..

‘There is no benefit in provoking them by spreading information about the villain..’

They will hide more and come out more harshly..

However, they shared their existence to some extent with Woo Seong-moon..

Of course, even Woo Seong-moon did not know that their identities were villains..

"Manager! You should come here!”

The person who shouted like that was Choi Hanna, an A-level priest who accompanied Woo Seong-moon..

She was observing some smoldering on the floor in one corner of the cavity..

"This here is a trace of Shadow Link..”

Shadow Link was a method of moving long distances using shadows..

It was a unique skill that could open a two-way portal by planting a ‘mark’ on a person’s shadow..

In other words, even if only one person was infiltrated, a large number of troops could be moved..

And there was only one person in the whole world who could write this.

"in other words… … It seems that the ‘Shadow Baron’ has entered Korea..”

The Shadow Baron was the worst criminal and internationally wanted 'Red Player'..

The moment he heard that name, Lee Hyun-wook couldn't help but make a shocked expression..

‘If the Shadow Baron was mobilized, it would be more troublesome than I thought.……."

He is an S-rank player whose details of his abilities are not properly known.,

He was a man who moved around the world and was involved in all kinds of crimes..

They were mercenaries who could be hired for money, but this time it seemed like they had hired them..

"Damn it, my intelligence network didn't pick it up.……."

Woo Seong-moon said bitterly.

It was evidence that a very large hole had been opened in the information network of the national intelligence agency..

"But, Director, as you know, no country’s intelligence agency will be able to catch this. Isn't it because of these fraudulent skills that the Shadow Baron has not been caught for the past 10 years??”

Woo Seong-moon nodded at Lee Hyun-wook’s words..

"Yes. In other words, no matter what kind of plot they are plotting all over Seoul, it will be difficult to chase them down. This is a big deal... … I think we will have to deploy more manpower than expected..”

If, like the Hispanic foreigners here, they had infiltrated through a 'shadow link' rather than entering the country through normal channels, their movements would not have been captured by any surveillance network..

However, it was impossible to search all of Seoul like this.,

Even if they did, it was questionable whether there would be enough time..

however…….

“……i can find.”

Everyone looked at Lee Hyun-wook’s words..

"yes?"

He looked like he couldn't understand anything..

"I can find where those terrorists are hiding, the 'event map'..”

“……yes? how is that possible?”

"I just received a 'quest' and a 'buff' right after the battle with those terrorists. This includes the ability to 'track' their location..”

When the details were explained, Woo Seong-moon could not hide his surprised expression..

"That means now only I can track down those terrorists..”

"ah……."

After the wave, Seoul once again fell into crisis..

However, the hero who saved Seoul by ending the wave,

This time, he set out to save Seoul again..

Lee Hyun-wook looked straight at Woo Seong-moon and uttered a word of conversion..

"Director Woo, please give me the power of government..”

"Well, what do you mean by government power?……."

"Leave your information, your team, and your weapons to me..”

"then… … Are you planning to become a member of the government in the future??”

But Lee Hyun-wook shook his head..

"Sorry, but that's not it. First, let me tell you that I am a freelance black agent..”

It couldn't have been an absurd request..

They asked me to give up the government's confidential information and assets, but I wouldn't be affiliated with the government.…….

This was a request to give enormous privileges only to oneself..

‘Yes, you are openly asking for privilege. But you won't be able to refuse it.’

Lee Hyun-wook created a close relationship with Zmunnarae by putting as a sub for . Since Zmunnarae is the best guild in the country, there would be many advantages to being close to it..

And after that, I planned to build up collusion with government organizations, especially secret intelligence departments..

‘No matter how strong the Zmunnarae is, the government is superior in terms of information power..’

Information power is more important than anything else..

Lee Hyun-wook, who experienced the future once, knew best..

However, I planned to do this work slowly and over time........

‘This opportunity has come.’

Crisis is an opportunity.

That also applies to this situation..

Woo Seong-moon looked troubled..

He was a man of faith. He was a bureaucrat who constantly worked to increase the power of the government, believing that no matter how powerful the guild was, it should not be ahead of public power..

So you don't want the situation to be influenced by just one player.…….

‘This is an exception.’

Above all else, the safety of the country and the lives of its citizens came first..

He eventually nodded..

"great. We will provide proper support for this case as you wish..”

Lee Hyun-wook smiled brightly and uttered the last word as if he had been waiting..

"and… … Please give me access to.”

Government's first armory,

It was an armory that was one level higher than the one opened earlier..