The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 84
84fury.
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Red Moonlight Herb, a material item that can be used to exterminate Swallows.,
About 15 tons of that was prepared..
This was a much larger amount than Lee Hyun-wook expected..
‘To get so much in such a short period of time, it's definitely a big deal on the black market..’
Red moonlight herb was rarely used in everyday life, so its circulation was small. But at that time, there was a lot of it piled up on the black market, in a broker's warehouse, and Red Hall bought them all..
'Great, if you want something in the future, you'll be able to get it more easily..’
This was the biggest advantage of forming an alliance with black market tycoon Go Jun-cheol..
"Now, what should I do with this??”
Go Jin-hwa asked.
The most effective way to exterminate the Swallows that covered the Amazon was to create and install a type of 'relic object' that generates a 'debuff' that only affects the Swallows..
If you do so, the entire area will be transformed into an environment in which Swallow cannot grow naturally..
‘But I don't have time to develop such items now..’
Instead, there was one method of force-feeding herbal medicine, a somewhat physical therapy..
"Now, all you have to do is fold this red moonlight herb, boil it, and make it into a sticky form. As it is a simple recipe, even if you are not an alchemist player, you will only need to use a few ingredients to create it..”
"ah… … So, just like herbicide, you can spray it on those black vines.?”
Lee Hyun-wook shook his head in response to Go Jin-hwa’s question..
"no. Just making it with water and spraying it is just a stopgap measure. It will retreat for a moment, evaporate, and then move forward again. To kill it off, you need to 'inject' it directly into the core of the colony..”
At that point, Go Jin-hwa felt puzzled..
"yes? Injection... … How do you inject it directly into that monster? I can't imagine.”
Go Jin-hwa said that and looked at the Swallow writhing in the distance..
Ku—gu—gu—gu——
A wave of black vines slowly approaching the ground.…….
When that thing approached, I vividly remembered the scene where several villagers were dragged in..
Black vines grab people like tentacles... … Insert the fine roots into all orifices, including the eyes, nose, mouth, and anus. If so… … In just a few seconds, the entire body's fluids are drained..
'Fuck.......'
She narrowed her eyes..
Of course, going up there directly and trying to do something is…….
'……It's like approaching a monster's teeth..’
However, Lee Hyun-wook nodded as if he already knew everything and answered too easily..
"Oh, I'll take care of that. No need to worry.”
……He said he would take care of it..
He then explained without hesitation all the information about where the 'core line', the core of the Swallow colony, is located and the pattern in which that huge colony moves..
Go Jin-hwa listened to all the explanations and felt surprised at every moment..
'……How does this man know so much detailed information??’
The sight made me feel like a scholar who had studied monsters for a long time..
Strangely enough, I come to believe and rely on it..
‘It's the first time I've seen my dad value someone so highly... … After all, I’m not an average bet..’
Her father, Go Jun-cheol, advised her to keep a close eye on Lee Hyun-wook..
“……Evolution, that man is someone who will take over this country someday..”
Go Jun-cheol's eyes for people were known to be accurate and accurate..
That was an essential virtue in order to become a kingpin of this dangerous underworld..
He recognized a man named Lee Hyeon-wook just by exchanging a few words..
‘Dad maybe... … You may be dreaming of escaping to the surface world through this man..’
After being kicked out of the real world, they made a new home in the dungeon.,
This incident made me realize once again that this is an unstable world..
Therefore, Go Jun-cheol thought that he could not allow his descendants to live in a place like this..
In other words, they, all of Redhall Village, were looking forward to the day when they could walk on land one day..
‘Yeah, I honestly don't plan on living here forever.…….'
I didn't know that Lee Hyun-wook would become their leader..
Of course, grabbing that rope isn't free.…….
***
Five hours have already passed.
"Now, I have completed the ‘sinus’ as you requested. And I also got 500 iron stakes..”
Before we knew it, the ‘Red Moonlight Herb Essence’ requested by Lee Hyun-wook had been created.,
The 500 iron stakes made of ‘Dungeon Steel’ that he ordered also arrived..
Lee Hyun-wook checked two items..
"Yes, it's perfect.”
Lee Hyeon-wook dug a long hole in the iron stake through 'metal transformation' and then dipped it into a vat containing the essence. Then bubbling—bubbles rose. The slime was seeping into the hole in the iron stake..
‘And it hardens like this.’
Lee Hyun-wook was planning to drive this into the core of the Swallow and then ‘shred’ it..
That was the ‘forced injection’ method..
"Now, please put all these on the airship over there..”
Go Jin-hwa followed Lee Hyun-wook's fingers and looked at the huge object standing on one side..
A shield and an airship ,
It's already been a few hours since I saw it appear, but I was amazed once again..
‘By the way, what does this guy have so much? Those are all top-notch items, right??’
Hugin, Laputa, Fridwen... … I was so excited to see what other items would shock me in the future..
Meanwhile, Park Jun-mo and Yeo Sang-min were inside Fridwen..
This was because Lee Hyun-wook instructed Park Jun-mo to stay in the airship with Yeo Sang-min..
‘As far as I know, Yeo Sang-min has an otaku personality and would be interested in equipment such as airships..’
He was expected to one day manage not only the airship but also the entire Laputa..
In order to cultivate such talent, it was necessary to make them feel some ‘interest’ as soon as possible..
Therefore, it was intentionally made so that Yeo Sang-min could see the inside..
Inside Friedwen, Yeo Sang-min was talking with Park Jun-mo and looking at things as if he was somewhat excited.,
When Lee Hyun-wook came in, I hesitated, looking at his gaze..
It was like the expression of a six-year-old child who was caught playing with a friend's toy..
“……Park Jun-mo, we will be leaving soon..”
"Ah, yes! I will prepare.”
Just like that, Friedwen took off, and the eight players from Red Hall who were mobilized for the operation could not help but be amazed. They grew up here from a young age and never got to experience flying..
‘And the ride comfort of the airship is so good that it cannot be compared to that of an airplane..’
It floats very stably with magical power without any ‘output’—it floats..
So it felt more like riding a high-speed elevator than an airplane..
"Pridwen, altitude rises to 1,000 feet.”
Wooooow——!
And even if Lee Hyun-wook did not control it directly, he was able to give voice commands for basic operations like this. Of course, he planned to practice whenever he had time as manual control was necessary for delicate maneuvers..
Soon, below, in the pale sand dust, something writhing like black veins caught my eye..
Looking down at that hellish scene, the players of Red Hall sighed..
"Ugh, it really feels like our land is dying. pair……."
"Damn, when I climbed the mountain behind it two months ago, everything up to this point was green.……."
And hundreds of Red Hall residents, including Go Jun-cheol, were standing on the mountain behind it..
“……Everyone in our village has high expectations. Please take care of me.”
Lee Hyun-wook nodded at Go Jin-hwa’s words..
I wasn't going to disappoint them..
‘If so, there will be a definite price to pay..’
At that time, the inside of Pridwen asked with a blue light..
Wham—! Wham—! Wham—! wham—!
Then, with an alarm sound, the rear of the Pridwen began to open..
It was like opening the ‘lamp door’ of the cargo compartment door of a military transport plane..
Whoa whoa——!
The wind blew in through the open door and stirred the interior..
This meant that something was finally starting, so everyone looked at Hyunwook Lee..
“……Now, let's start operation number 1..”
Lee Hyun-wook walked to the ‘lamp door’ and looked down at the ground..
- Swallow: Level 1 Tentacle (LV. 61)
- Swallow: Level 1 Tentacle (LV. 60)
- Swallow: Level 2 Tentacle (LV. 63)
- Swallow: Level 1 Tentacle (LV. 61)
.
.
.
Through the insight lens, hundreds of pieces of information began to emerge..
‘In this way, the Swallow colony is not only one entity but also many monsters..’
But, touching them was a waste of time..
No matter how much you cut it, it will continue to play..
In other words, if you didn't know the strategy, you had no choice but to suffer..
"Now, in order to properly attack that guy, I'm going to sprinkle 'rain'..”
The rain mentioned here was not steel rain..
"Wizards, please focus your water magic on that spot.!”
At Lee Hyun-wook’s words, the six wizards riding the Pridwen approached the lamp door and lined up..
Soon, all kinds of water-related magic, including water balls and water cannons, were fired, and they scattered in the air and poured down on the Swallow colony..
Pop—pop—pop—pop—pop—pop—
In addition, the water tank prepared in advance and the lake connected to it were draped toward the floor..
Shoot—ah—ah—ah—ah——
A considerable amount of water poured down like rain..
Then the swallow's tentacles stood up towards the sky as if trying to catch the moisture..
Hundreds of strands wriggling toward the sky looked like a colony of black sea anemones..
"Ugh, this is disgusting.……."
That was right then..
Coo—d—d—d——!
"uh! Look over there!”
Park Jun-mo, who was monitoring the ground, discovered something..
It was an incredibly thick bunch of vines, twisted into a circle that looked like a giant black pumpkin..
"—uh! As you said earlier, something jumped out from the area where it rained.!”
This was the reaction Hyunwook Lee predicted..
‘also… … When it rains, the core line comes out directly..’
Hyunwook Lee looked at it closely through the insight lens..
- Swallow: Core Line (LV. 99)
Swallow colonies sense moisture with their tentacles and move to absorb it. The water thus absorbed flows into the central ‘core line’, where ‘growth’ that creates new vines occurs..
In other words, since the core line is a very important organ, it is always hidden deep underground..
However, there was only one case where the core line directly absorbed water.…….
‘It's time to rain.’
The reason was that it could save the unnecessary energy consumption of sucking water from the tentacles and transporting it along a very long passage to the core line..
That's why Lee Hyun-wook sprinkled 'rain' to induce the core line to rise to the ground..
Understanding the ecology of monsters well was also part of ‘Raid’..
"So, if you hit that thing and 'inject' the herbicide, the colony will die.?”
In response to Go Jin-hwa's somewhat excited question, Lee Hyun-wook nodded and stretched out his hand somewhere..
"ruler! Wizards, all get out of the way! Boxes 1 and 2 will drop.!”
At Lee Hyun-wook's shout, the wizard players standing near the ramp door stepped aside, and between them, two metal boxes slid violently and fell out of the airship..
And the moment it fell to a certain altitude—
‘shredding—’
Zeng——!
The box was crushed, and a total of 500 iron stakes flew here and there..
Towards them, Lee Hyun-wook stretched out his left hand..
yes——
Then dozens of iron stakes lined up with their pointed heads pointing toward the floor..
Immediately after, acceleration began and,
Soon, over the core line that collects rainwater.—
burr burr burr burr burr burr burr burr burr burr burr burr——!
All at once, they fell down.
Yeo Sang-min stuck out his tongue as he looked at the scene..
'……crazy! How can you guess everything so accurately??’
But that wasn't the end.
T-that-that-that-that-that-jeong——!
The 500 iron stakes exploded at once, creating a storm of iron pieces..
Coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo…….
It was a spectacular scene where the entire upper part of such a strong core line was blown away..
‘omg… … I've seen something like this somewhere!’
Yeo Sang-min recalled a memory..
And it seemed like it was probably a scene from an old war movie I once saw on DVD..
Yeah, that's... … Bombing using aircraft was also similar to precision bombing..
The power of modern weapons that can devastate a wide area with a single blow.…….
However, I knew very well that that incredible firepower was a relic of an old era that did not work against monsters..
No matter how powerful the bombardment seems, it won't be able to break through even a single troll's barrier.…….
‘But since it's all the player's power, it also works on monsters.!’
In other words, it meant that monsters could be inflicted with tremendous firepower similar to that of modern weapons.!
‘Crazy, this scene... … Was it possible alone??’
And Lee Hyun-wook's attack was not over. Following his senses, countless pieces of metal were moving like insects, squeezing into the scratches of the core line..
‘Okay, enough juice should have soaked in..’
Lee Hyun-wook had a feeling that this operation was successful..
"and… … I think that clump of vines is screaming..”
Cluck—cluck—cuck—ruck—
As Park Jun-mo said, it was tangled and writhing like a swarm of insects that had been sprayed with insecticide..
"and… … It really worked. It stops moving and digs deep into the ground..”
"Yes, it will have the effect of regressing right now, and in the long run, it will slowly dry out and die..”
It started digging into the ground.
It looked like it was running away…….
Wow——!
In the distance, the cheers of the Red Hole residents on the hill could be heard..
To them, it would have seemed like Lee Hyun-wook's strike had worked..
"Huh—but really… … Is this the end? To be honest, I still couldn't believe it..”
Ko Jin-hwa said it as if it was hard to believe..
"If there is another cluster, you can handle it the same way. Swallow is a catastrophe that you can't help but face if you don't know how to respond, but it is a phenomenon that can be controlled if you know how to respond..”
What would Go Jin-hwa say when he hears those words... … She felt like she was getting a prescription from a doctor..
'……dog is cool.’
It was Yeo Sang-min who was thinking that way..
The man he was denying, Lee Hyun-wook... … When I met him in person, my thoughts changed completely..
‘Yes, he is definitely the savior of the proud city of Seoul. But this is grade F, that means…….'
Then I made eye contact with Lee Hyun-wook..
"......."
But he said something as if he had penetrated Yeo Sang-min’s thoughts..
"Seeing this makes me even harder to believe I'm grade F, doesn't it??”
"ah……."
Honestly, it was true. Even if that scene was rated S, it was believable..
What he suspected—that Lee Hyun-wook was the S-class that the government had killed—was much more believable..
"Yeo Sang-min, don’t be stuck in this dungeon and just be cynical, follow me..”
"Why on earth do you… … And then what... does it change??”
"At least you can find out if your complacent defeatism is real or not..”
Although the words were bitter, Yeo Sang-min was not angry..
“……Chances are, you have to try to find out..”
At those words, Yeo Sang-min felt inexplicably angry..
However, there was no time to indulge in any sentimentality..
Coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo——!
Because there was a loud noise from somewhere..
Coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo coo——!
It was like an earthquake, the sound of the ground collapsing..
Friedwen, looking down from high above, I was able to easily find the epicenter..
A rocky mountain that had just been covered with swallow tentacles.,
One part of it was falling apart..
Soon, a huge cave entrance appeared there..
and…….
- (!) Found the sign of the quest.
Quest found ‘sign’ rather than ‘arrival’,
This meant that a hint to obtain the quest was found..
‘Quest... … It seems that defeating the Swallow was the trigger..’
If you think about it, this Swallow's appearance was also a special event..
In other words, it could be interpreted to mean that now that it has been eradicated, some ‘reward’ will appear..
'And maybe the adamant mine has something to do with it.…….'
In the original world, after the Taishan Guild defeated Swallow, the Adamant Mine, a hidden stage, was discovered. This means that the two events are very closely related..
‘Okay, the benefits take care of themselves..’
Lee Hyun-wook turned Fridwen’s nose towards that place..
"It goes down there, over there..”
Following his instructions, Prydwen landed at the entrance to the cave..
- You have entered the hidden stage ‘Adamant Mine’..
“……uh?”
"Hidden stage, what is this??”
And at the entrance to the hidden stage, I found something strange there..
"Isn't that the gate??”
Purple shimmer, yes, it definitely looked like a gate..
But a gate within a gate?…….
None of them had ever heard that such a phenomenon existed, so everyone could not hide their confusion..
But Lee Hyun-wook shook his head..
"No, it's a little different. That… … It's a crack.”
The crack was a gate, a temporary dimensional door, a kind of portal..
However, if teleportation is a door between regions in the same dimension,,
The crack was a passage between completely different dimensions..
That was a very rare symptom that Hyunwook Lee had only seen a few times..
“……Everyone be careful. What will come out?—”
Hung——!
Even before he finished speaking, something really jumped out at me..
It was a huge lump of brown scrap metal..
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump——!
It flew out at great speed, hit various places on the rocky mountain, and soon fell into a pile of stones..
coo coo coo coo coo coo coo……
That was some kind of airship..
After a while, its door began to open.
Clunk—clack—clack.—
However, perhaps because the door was dented in the previous collision, it failed to open..
And through the crack in the door, a head popped out..
"......Wow! What are you just looking at! If you're not the one who's going to kill me, help me!"
It was a man with a large bulbous nose and a bushy beard... … was a dwarf.
And in Lee Hyun-wook’s eyes, its identity was displayed as a one-line message..
- Dwarf Wanderer (LV). 49)
“……Damn, aren't humans always this merciless? grunt!”
and…….
- (!) Quest has arrived.
‘……It's finally starting.’
It seemed like it was time for the parts to run Laputa to start pouring out..
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