Steel-Eating Player - Chapter 126
Episode 126 [Black Orc Legion Landed on the West Coast – 1]
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The scene of the Shanghai Black Oak troop concentration area turning into a sea of fire was broadcast live around the world.
At this, the world couldn’t help but marvel at the name Steelein as a headline again.
– …This time, again, it was still rain. He rained steel once again!
– Wait a minute. Can we just say that what was sprinkled this time is steel rain? It’s a complete punishment!
A radio is playing from an armored search vehicle parked on the road in front of Seoul Station.
This was not an actual radio broadcast using the frequency, but an American satellite broadcast
called [Kill the Monster], the most famous player current affairs program today.
An ordinary person would hear it in English, but the players could hear it translated automatically.
– And no matter how surprising it is, it can be said to be a truly ridiculous exchange fee, right?
– Yes, in some ways this war will be an opportunity. A chance to put an end to the Black Orc kingdom.
– Oh, is that really possible? According to information from the International Survey of Erosion and Terrain, there are still many…
Meanwhile, Corporal Choi Tae-yong was standing in the passenger seat, cleaning his arrows.
“Hey Taeyong Choi! There’s a war between humans and demons, so are you relaxing and listening to the radio?”
The person who appeared while saying that was Sergeant Ahn Min-tae, the 5th division leader of the 1st Company.
He put on the shield that was leaning against the car and clicked his tongue.
“They said you would have to act as the division leader when I’m not there, so I left because I had some free time.”
“Oh really… I just turned it on for a moment because Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook’s story came up.”
“Why is that civilian guy a sergeant? And wherever you turn on these days, it’s about him.”
“Don’t you just feel proud when you hear about our Hyunwook’s activities?”
“Oh, it’s not a hill we can dare to climb on now. “Don’t get too caught up in the old glory.”
Ahn Min-tae laughed and raised his head.
The aerial city of Laputa, the cause of the huge shadow over Seoul Station, fills the view.
Two hours ago, I witnessed airships called the Steel Fleet taking flight there.
‘I’m sure all of that enormous thing belongs to that person, right?’
It hasn’t been officially mentioned yet, but the world was assuming that. And Min-tae Ahn also thought that Hyun-wook Lee was the only one who would receive the highest reward in the 4th wave, as he saw closely.
“Sergeant Ahn Min-tae, by the way, what’s going on in the strategy meeting? Are we still here?”
“Well, those Black Orcs will definitely be targeting Laputa, so they tell us to stop them…”
He said and looked around.
“Tsk—”
Not long ago, members of the 1st Company had a battle here.
The opponents were Black . The Orc unit and the traitors of the Taesan guild…
A considerable number of company members were killed at this location that day.
‘But then we end up defending this place again…’
Ahn Min-tae looked back at his squad members, feeling an inexplicable sense of anxiety. .
At that time, a private who was standing at the back raised his hand.
“Sergeant Ahn Min-tae .
“Why Min-seok?”
Kang Min-seok He was a new recruit who transferred in just three days ago.
“Is it true that Steele Lane Lee Hyun-wook was our 5th squad leader?”
At that question, Ahn Min-tae chuckled and tapped Kang Min-seok’s combat helmet.
“You bastard, what have you heard so far?”
The long history of this 5th division has been explained to me since I moved in.
But now that you’re asking me this, does that mean I didn’t believe it?
Actually, it’s been three days since I moved in. I was in the middle of a stupid situation, but a war broke out. It’s worth it to go out.
“Ah! “I’m sorry!”
“No, there’s nothing to be sorry about…”
He said in a very heavy voice, putting his hand on Kang Min-seok’s shoulder.
“We were the core of the Steel Company.”
… I’ve heard that, but it’s amazing to hear it again.”
It’s embarrassing, but it felt like I’ve said this several times.
“So… So, do we have to fight against those black orcs?”
Ahn Min-tae noticed it only then. It seems that this is why he brought up the word in the first place.
“Huh? Why? Are you afraid you’ll end up fighting a black orc?”
“I think it makes a little more sense than that.”
He bowed his head and shook his head.
“My level is 11. However, I heard that black orcs are level 50 at best. I even raised this level as a dummy object for training… but if you fight black orcs…” That’s just one thing
. AMT’s attack on the gate is a special case, and it is natural to think that it makes no sense to protect ‘Laputa’ against ‘Black Orc’ rather than anything else.
He probably didn’t know that he would end up in this unit…
“Hey Minseok, when dealing with monsters, level isn’t everything.”
At those words, Kang Min-seok blinked as if he couldn’t understand.
“Otherwise, how could AMT soldiers like us have been able to stop the 4th wave?”
Of course, it was great to be under the direction of a rare hero named Lee Hyun-wook…
In any case, it was clear that it was an achievement that broke a certain ‘frame’ defined by everyone in the world.
“I said raiding isn’t about leveling, it’s about using everything available to you.”
“…….”
“Environmental items, players, etc… So, we can catch black orcs too?”
I was about to say that it was Lee Hyun-wook who said this, but I stopped.
This is because it seemed like the heavy name was mentioned too often.
“Hey, I was only at level 4 before the 4th wave, right? But now I’m at 41.”
He actually experienced an incredibly rapid growth from Grade E to Tier 1 C.
Kang Min-seok muttered, ‘Wow…’ and looked mesmerized.
“And I actually fought a Black Orc not too long ago… “Honestly, I can’t win one-on-one.”
He raised his head with a bitter expression and looked around the main street in front of Seoul Station.
Black Orcs with a minimum level of 50 were seasoned warriors, so a one-on-one match was impossible.
“So even though a few company members were killed… in the end, ‘we’ won.”
He emphasized the word ‘we’. Then he lifted his head and looked at Laputa.
“And most of all… Steelerain will not let us lose.”
“Oh, so he appeared then too?”
“Yes, it was… but you can’t count on that kind of fluke.”
At this, Private Kang Min-seok’s expression seemed to have changed quite a bit.
Meanwhile, the radio continued to play from the armored search vehicle.
– Players from all over the world are now coming forward to support Korea.
– Haha… Isn’t this honestly just an act of betrayal? I want to eat a spoonful of a well-done dish!
– But is that a dish? Doesn’t it explode the moment you put a spoon in it?
– That’s right. I say this as a joke, but in the end, many ‘game overs’ will occur.
– Ah, war will be war. Maybe… there will be more casualties than during the 4th wave.
“Hey Taeyong Choi! Turn off the radio now!”
***
Although there was a scene of the Black Orc King Stonox running away in a hurry at the end, the overwhelming victory of just the two of them, Lee Hyun-wook and Choi Jeong-cheol, was certain. Therefore, it is not impossible to defeat the Black Orc Kingdom
. The world seemed to have begun to think about it.
– [Breaking News] Japanese AEN Guild declares dispatch of 48 players, including ‘Hurricane’ Kodo Koshiro, to Korea – [Breaking News]
Urgent dispatch of warrior unit led by American Pitbull brothers “At the forefront of the battle on the Korean Peninsula” “We will stand”
– Heroes from all over the world gather on the Korean Peninsula… Will it be a unified human army vs. the Black Orc Kingdom?
– The spark of hope ignited by Lee Hyeon-wook spreads around the world and ignites the Great Orc Uprising!
In addition to these two news, messages of support and declarations of war followed from all over the world.
Is the love for humanity that has faded in admiration for Lee Hyun-wook’s performance?
In fact, Lee Hyun-wook himself was not pleased with the world’s reaction.
‘The reinforcements that will come like that… won’t be of much help.’
I knew well that more than half of them would approach me with different intentions.
‘Some are trying to throw straws at this big event… some are targeting me and Laputa.’
The former didn’t really matter. It would actually be helpful if it didn’t bother me.
The thing to keep a close eye on was, of course, the latter villain faction.
Hyunwook Lee has torn up the cards they have played several times so far.
‘So it’s time for a stronger Joker to come out.’
For them, there would never be another chance as sure as this one. Even the Taesan guild, which was an outpost, has completely fallen, so if it were not for this war event, it would be impossible to set foot on this land.
However, if even the Black Orc Kingdom, the most powerful beast capable of shaking Korea, is blocked…
‘…my plan to make Korea the last bastion is complete.’
But this war would never be easy.
‘Once the final boss monster of Stonox appeared in person, it was like moving on to phase 2…’
Like boss monster raids, war events also have the concept of ‘phase’.
Phase 1 consisted of a 15,000 advance force and a group of black wyverns gathered at the troop concentration area.
However, since Lee Hyun-wook had completely wiped them out, the second phase was scheduled to begin immediately.
This war… it could be won, but even Lee Hyun-wook couldn’t guarantee what the level of damage would be.
Meanwhile, preparations for war continued frantically.
An AMT operational headquarters was set up in an underground bunker in a secret facility in Namyangju City.
There, high-ranking AMT commanders and heads of each guild gathered and held a strategy meeting.
And AMT troops from all over the country were secretly moving toward the West Sea.
However, Lee Hyun-wook did not participate in the decision-making process.
‘It is much more efficient to prepare based on the knowledge I have about the future.’
He was flying near the West Sea islands where he expected the Black Orcs to land.
And through ‘Hugin’, I was thoroughly looking into possible variables.
This war would not be a complex operation but would end with a single conflict.
At that time, someone’s voice came from his Mana Messenger.
– I contacted them 3 times, but the inferno won’t move.
It was team leader Kyojun Lee who said that.
He was serving as Lee Hyun-wook’s liaison aboard an airship.
From what I heard earlier, Director Woo Seong-moon seemed to be looking for additional firepower needed for future operations.
If Lee Hyun-wook had one more massive firepower, the war would have been much easier.
The only one who could take on that role was Inferno, the savior of Busan.
– …It is natural for Inferno to say that it will remain in Busan, as local guilds say they will wait in their own regions first, but… He seems a little stubborn.
If Hyunwook Lee predicts, the Black Orc army will definitely appear on the West Sea islands adjacent to Seoul.
However, that fact was strictly confidential and was not known to the outside world.
In other words, the public thought that if the Black Orcs invaded, there was no telling which of the three sides of the Korean peninsula they would enter, so it was a quite reasonable judgment to say that Inferno would remain in Busan for now.
‘And more than anything, Inferno hates leaving Busan.’
If Lee Hyun-wook was the savior of Seoul, Inferno was the savior of Busan.
So, there is a perk that doubles your ability only in Busan.
‘…I guess you were hit hard once when you were out of Busan?’
The incident was the ‘Assassination of the Prophet’, which occurred three years ago and remains a mystery.
As far as Lee Hyun-wook knew, Inferno and the Prophet had been special friends since childhood.
However, it must have been a great shock to see his friend die in front of his eyes due to his own lack of ability.
It is said that from then on, Inferno was extremely reluctant to fight outside of Busan.
Anyway, if Inferno comes to the West Sea, things will be easier…
‘In fact, it might be better if it doesn’t exist. ‘I will be able to be pious in my achievements.’
If I wasn’t confident of winning this war, I wouldn’t have dared to make this decision.
– Oh, and Hurricane Kodo Koshiro just entered the country. You’ve already met me once, right?
“Yes, it was a good relationship.”
And foreign reinforcements soon arrived one by one.
“How can we deploy all the foreign players to the south coast as planned?”
– We are trying to encourage them that way, but they are a bit stubborn.
“But since you came to this country, wouldn’t you follow the Korean government’s control? No, you should do that.”
– …That is very true, but players who enter the world rankings must be so easily handled by humans. Well, we plan to at least prevent them from approaching the West Sea. There is no need to hide that some secret work is being done there
. It was there. It
was then.
Rumbling——
A low sound of thunder from somewhere…
When I turned my head, I saw some dark clouds coming from the distant horizon.
But strangely, the sky was clear and blue, without a few clouds.
Well, the sea . I wonder if the weather change in is this extreme… but
the problem was that the black clouds were not just in the sky, but extended all the way to the sea level.
‘It was as if a black tsunami was coming.’
As I got a little closer, I could tell. It wasn’t a cloud, but a moving lump of black smoke.
It was filling up from the sky to the sea and rushing furiously as if it were going to devour the land.
“…It looks like it’s started, Team Leader. ”
– That thing… Is that really it?
In response to Lee Hyun-wook’s words, team leader Lee Kyo-jun also asked if he had witnessed it.
“Yes, the King of the Black Orcs… he himself led the army.”
That is a very large spatial movement skill created with the devil’s magic.
‘The moment it touches the ground, spatial overlap occurs. From within… legions pour out.’
Soon, the black smoke descended on Ganghwado Island and turned into a huge dome-shaped defense shield.
As expected, the plan was to engulf an entire island as the first step in conquest.
“Team leader Lee, all the residents of Ganghwado Island evacuated to the inland, right?”
– Yes, not only Ganghwa Island, but all the residents of the three islands have fled inland.
“…great. “The welcome fanfare will be set off at an important moment, so please refrain from participating.”
Lee Hyun-wook said that and looked into the black smoke as much as possible through ‘Hugin’.
It was a thick smoke screen that could never be seen with the naked eye, but it was possible with Hugin.
An ‘overlapping space’ had already been formed, and something was pouring out of it.
‘Let’s see, there are about three hundred black wyverns…’
Lee Hyun-wook reduced the number by quite a lot, but came back with more than double the number.
‘Oh, and the Ragged Fleet also appeared?’
The Ragged Fleet was an airship unit created with the crude technology of the Black Orcs.
But among them, I saw one that stood out in particular.
It was quite large and had a well-maintained appearance that could never be called ‘tattered’.
‘Wait a minute, does that… look like a gnome-made airship?’
It was an ‘item-type airship’ with a very perfect shape, similar to the Pridwen.
However, it was quite large, probably 7 to 8 times the size of Pridwen.
At that moment…
– (!) The quest has arrived.
It seemed like a quest had been triggered by witnessing that airship.
[Exclusive Quest]
– Heir of Laputa, restore old prosperity!
You have witnessed one of Laputa’s missing ‘key parts’.
You are the true owner of whose hands the item is now in.
Take it back by any means necessary and restore Laputa to its original state!
* Reward: Laputa Add-on ‘Giant Disease Research Institute’
Lee Hyun-wook remembered a story he heard from Talos a long time ago when he first set foot in Laputa.
The story is that in the distant past, after Laputa was attacked by an unidentified enemy, the five factions of Laputa moved to different dimensions and hid away, taking important core parts that make up Laputa… So, the ‘Power Craft’ function of Laputa is unlocked. I was told that in order to do this, I had to perform a quest.
‘So now is the opportunity to find one of Laputa’s missing parts.’
And the ‘add-on’ of compensation could simply be said to be ‘ancillary building’.
‘Then, the Giant God Disease Research Institute… in Korean terms, it’s like a robotics research institute.’
Some wars become an arena of high-tech competition and make progress in civilization.
It may have a slightly different meaning, but if we win this war…
‘… we can expect explosive development in magic engineering, right?’