Steel-Eating Player - Chapter 198
Episode 198 [ Hero, Accumulated Power – 3 ]
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The atmosphere can change with just one scene.
The whole world responded to the blueprint presented by Hyunwook Lee.
– Proving once again that he is a ‘warrior’ who will prevent the apocalypse through the Steele Rain surprise raid live broadcast.
– Why we should trust Steele Rain What is ‘magical engineering’, a technological skill that will open a new horizon?
However, that atmosphere also changed quickly…
11 hours after he returned to Laputa with the body of ‘Leviathan’, the Demon King once again showed himself to the world and showed off his presence.
In other words, the Demon King was also trying to move the air current.
And the location is none other than….
– [Breaking News] The Demon King Appears in the Skies of New York (1st Report)
***
“Oh my god…”
Countless people walking to and from Times Square, the most famous street in the world, seemed to pause for a moment. He seemed to have stopped and was looking up into space.
“…….”
A shadow slowly approached their faces.
Whoosh — whoosh —
the ‘flower of death’ had appeared in the sky over Manhattan, New York, which is still called the world’s greatest city.
It was floating high above a skyscraper, overlooking New York, the so-called ‘capital of the world’, like an obvious scene from many movies about alien invasions.
He
looked arrogant and relaxed, as if he was observing a swarm of ants that could be trampled at any time.
In addition, numerous flying undead were flying around in groups, creating an eerie atmosphere. Among them, even at first glance, there was one ‘Bone Dragon’ that looked unusually intimidating.
It’s called the Flower of Death… The whole world already knew its power.
[Kill the Monster], the world’s best player current affairs broadcast at that time and based in New York, was like a collection of portraits.
– …sigh— I had no idea that it would come to New York and right over our heads.
– That aircraft looks like the weapon of mass destruction that attacked the ‘Ancient Red Drake’ in the first wave erosion area of California a few days ago.
– Yes, that’s right. We have all seen this being called the Flower of Death, capable of covering a very large area with death gas.
– It was a truly terrible scene. In just one day, they killed all of the ‘Ancient Red Drakes’ that humanity had previously failed to attack.
– Yes, seeing that scene at the time, each country would have made every effort to prepare for its invasion, but…
– That is not possible just by trying.
The action taken by the Demon King after attracting the world’s attention more intensely than ever before…
– Ah, here’s the news! It is said that the Demon King has just sent a message to the whole world!
It was to convey a message to the whole world.
Soon the screen changed to show the flower of death over New York, with the words ‘Devil’s Message’ displayed below it.
– Let’s listen together now.
Then a man’s voice began to flow.
“…If anyone tries to leave New York from now on, it will rain poisonous gas and poison all over New York. No matter how hard I struggle, the moment I make up my mind, millions of civilians will inevitably die. So, not resisting is actually a way to live longer. ‘No one should think of going out of my sight.’
That was the end of it.
It was just a very short and bold threat… there weren’t even any demands.
– ……
Even the MCs of [Kill the Monster] couldn’t help but be embarrassed by this, and for a while, the audio went blank and only terrible silence continued.
– Uh… So… It is not known why the Demon King took the citizens of New York hostage.
– And they say they have repeatedly tried to contact the U.S. government, but have not yet received any response.
There was only one name that came to mind at this moment.
– Does Steelein know what this is?
– Now, honestly… I think Steele’s response is more necessary than the government’s or the domestic guild union’s response.
– Yes, he has to step up. If Steele Rain is watching this broadcast, please… provide an answer.
***
The whole world tried to interpret the devil’s intentions.
But no one could come up with an answer.
Lee Hyeon-wook, who was the only one to receive the ‘warrior’s privilege’, was different.
Because he got a direct hint.
– (!) The Demon King has begun the construction of the ‘Demon King’s Castle’.
* When the Demon King’s Castle is completed, an ‘evil rampage’ will begin, and one ‘gate’ will randomly open in the area every 24 hours, and monsters that come out from there will obey the ‘Demon King’.
‘…what?’
The content was bound to be quite shocking.
‘So… you’re saying we’ll have an infinite supply of legions?’
It wouldn’t be a big deal if a goblin came out of that random gate, but if a dragon just happened to come out, it would be a big problem.
“…Things have become complicated.”
Lee Hyun-wook planned to create as many weapons as possible by gathering items from around the world and processing them through magical engineering.
‘If you do that, you will be able to widen the gap with the Demon King…’
In his opinion, the number of items held by the Necromancer and the Demon King was limited.
‘They must have collected more valuable items than anyone else, but they wouldn’t have been able to bring them all with them when moving between dimensions.’
As Lee Hyun-wook observed, all dimension movers crossed over alone.
In other words, what they wore would be all the items they brought.
‘Of course, necromancers had separate skills related to subspace, but they didn’t carry around a lot of air-dropping devices like me…’ Therefore, we can be ahead in terms of the quality and quantity of weapons, and thanks to that, time is our ally
. This was Lee Hyun-wook’s calculation.
However, if the Demon King’s Castle is completed and the ‘evil rampage’ begins, and a monster force the size of one gate joins the Demon King every 24 hours… ‘…eventually,
time will not be completely on my side.’
So how should we move now?
‘Rather than waiting for the devil to come forward in earnest like now, we must find the devil and attack him preemptively.’
And the ‘target’ seemed somewhat clear.
Hyunwook Lee looked at New York on TV. It was a reasonable judgment given the current situation to consider that place as the site of the ‘Demon King’s Castle’ construction.
‘So you’re taking New Yorkers hostage without asking for anything?’
Everything seemed to fall into place like this.
But Lee Hyun-wook felt uncomfortable somewhere.
‘But to reveal it so openly… It’s very suspicious. You probably don’t know that I will be aiming for it once the construction of the Demon King’s Castle begins…’
But for what purpose did they choose New York, which is the most eye-catching city, as the site for the Demon King’s Castle?
And something foreign caught his eye.
“-hmm? “That’s not the body of the Flower of Death, is it?”
He was tired of the sight of the flower of death.
However, I have never felt this sense of heterogeneity before.
He paused the TV screen showing the Flower of Death. And I looked at it carefully.
The ‘flower of death’ he knew was bigger than that. And the petals were not blood-colored like that, but purple with red spots, and the shape of the tassels that bloomed like pillars from the center of the flower looked completely different.
He asked Talos what the difference was between ‘stamen’ and ‘pistil’ and Talos quickly found the information on the internet and told him.
In other words, it was clearly a completely different flower of death.
‘Then we need to figure out why the second flower of death was placed over New York.’
Hyunwook Lee came up with the answer without difficulty.
‘That’s most likely a bait.’
In order to collect more reliable information, Lee Hyun-wook asked team leader Lee Kyo-jun to take a satellite photo of the flower of death over New York.
And after checking it….
‘…as expected, that guy is not there.’
In his previous life, Lee Hyun-wook had thoroughly researched the power of the necromancer in order to attack his worst enemy.
And I knew some information related to the Flower of Death, one of which was that the ‘tassel’ part of the Flower of Death was a type of antenna.
It received the necromancer’s mana and then released the mana from the root – it served as a ‘router’ to deliver commands to the undead in the area.
‘Through him, we control a lot more undead.’
But when I looked at satellite photos of the Flower of Death over New York taken at five-minute intervals, I noticed that the tassel was not moving at all.
“…If there is a necromancer nearby, it will squirm in that direction.”
So, the most basic way to find out the location of necromancers among the undead army was to determine the movement of alcohol.
In other words, there were no necromancers there.
What that meant was that there was no devil.
In other words, that place was not the place where the Demon King Castle was built.
‘That’s right, he wants me to think that that place is where the Demon King’s Castle was built.’
In other words, it was a ploy to waste time.
Until the real Demon King’s Castle was built…
But Lee Hyun-wook, who already knew what the Flower of Death looked like, was not fooled.
He had a strange smile.
‘They have no idea what the greatest power I have.’
Like this, the Necromancer and the Demon King, who did not know that Lee Hyun-wook knew the future information, were not able to get a taste of it even though he was spreading his own amazing bait.
‘This fact will be a great weapon until the last moment.’
But finding out the true location of the Demon King’s Castle was another problem. Even though it could not be prevented from being completed, in order to ultimately defeat the Demon King, it was necessary to attack the Demon King’s Castle, and finding out its location was a priority.
‘But that doesn’t mean we can’t search the entire world…’
Maybe the location of the Demon King’s Castle was deep in the ocean, so that wasn’t efficient at all.
‘If I deal with Hugin and Munin, I might be able to find it… but I have to specify the area first.’
It was a time when Lee Hyun-wook was worried for a while.
A mana message came to him.
The content was that Alain Gidam was urgently looking for him.
He said he was looking for another item this time…
‘Oh, by the way, there was that guy?’
There is a wild animal that has been well tamed so far.
‘We set him free and find a den where there is trouble.’
***
“…If you know how hard I worked to get this item, you might shed a little tears.”
Alain Giam He was sitting on the sofa in the Order Tower and was joking.
At the same time, he turned his head here and there and rolled his eyes here and there.
“Huh… That’s luxury. The view here is really amazing. After all, it might be the tallest building in the world.”
This Order Tower had glass windows on all sides. Thanks to that, I was able to see not only Laputa but also the surrounding scenery at a glance.
A huge city floating on clouds in a panorama of blue sky that spread out like the sea… Alain Giam was the first person to see that scene as an outsider, and he smiled brightly as if he was impressed.
‘Ha—I’m finally here.’
How miserably have you bowed your head to reach this place?
It was hard work for Alain Giam, who was sitting in a position recognized by the whole world and had quite a strong ego. However, he was also a gambler who would risk anything to achieve what he wanted.
‘The heart of Laputa Stillane… The fact that he has come this far means that he has already opened his heart to me. And he must have been anxious because of what happened in New York, and if I were to make a huge profit here…’
He slowly rolled his eyes and looked sideways at Hyunwook Lee, who was sitting across from him and looking at the tablet PC he held out.
‘…I can never refuse, I will be caught in a noose.’
Lee Hyun-wook flipped through the screen a few times and then opened his mouth.
“So, the legendary item ‘Yeouibong’ is inside a gate in China, and it is acquired and bound.”
That’s right, it’s a ‘Yeouibong’.
Isn’t it the weapon of Son Goku, the protagonist of the world’s most famous classic novel, [Journey to the West]?
“Yes, fortunately, the [Jin] guild that secured it also gave this item to someone internally. It is said that the site has been preserved as is without any modification, despite debates over whether to give it to the site and even bloodshed. Haha—it was just a joke, but we were lucky.”
Hyunwook Lee was silent for a moment, and Alain Giam swallowed dry saliva.
However, Lee Hyun-wook eventually nodded.
“…If you give me that, I can’t not go.”
“Haha—is that so too?”
“Yes, but the time has come when we have to go to New York and confront the Demon King, so we need to strengthen our forces even a little. “I’m just grateful for saving me another precious item like this.”
“I, too, wanted to go and catch you right away, but for the sake of the Earth—”
He raised his index finger and pointed at Hyunwook Lee.
“—Because I am investing everything in you.”
He learned the art of dealing with politics and business for a long time, and found that such blatant wording worked surprisingly well.
No matter how much someone has in their hands, they want to feel recognized in everything they do. No, rather, they want to be confirmed repeatedly more than anyone else.
‘That’s why lip service usually works if you give it a try.’
Stillane was no different.
And as expected, Lee Hyun-wook smiled cheerfully.
“Monsieur, I am truly grateful as always.”
Hyunwook Lee held out his hand and Alain Giam caught it.
“Then shall we go right now?”
***
Lee Hyun-wook, along with Kim Se-hee and a few other members of the Hope Guild, followed Alain Giam to the open gate somewhere in China where Yeouibong is said to be sleeping. Ung— Lee Hyun-wook arrived in China after passing through four two-way portals prepared by Alain
Giam
. It was one of the five most rugged mountainous regions in China called Hengshan, and dozens of players greeted them. Then, one man walked out from the center. He
was
a short but stocky man. One thing that was unusual was his ears and
He had various piercings on his nose.
– Player (LV：72)
* Villain Demon Victor
Lee Hyun-wook recognized him.
‘…This is Jang Jun-geol, one of the five evils of the continent.’
He belonged to Amseong and was one of the Chinese villain leaders. And above all, he was also a player who used ‘Yeoui-bong’ for a while. ‘That means
Yeo-ui-bong is definitely here.’
He approached Lee Hyun-wook and smiled gently.
“I didn’t expect to see you in person. My name is Jang Jun-geol, assistant master of the [Jin] Guild. “For things like this, the Master has to come out in person, but I have a big problem going on right now.”
He held out his hand and Hyunwook Lee took it.
And I followed his lead and climbed the mountain path.
I think we went for about ten more minutes….
“Here we are.”
But all I could see were trees and piles of stones.
“…is it a wide-area mirage barrier?”
“Oh, as expected, you recognized it right away?”
It was a camouflage spell that was also used in the ‘Bukaksan Mountain Great Sanctuary.’
Soon, we went up a little higher and passed a point—
– [Wide Mirage Barrier].
A fairly wide hilly area was spread out.
Several helicopters were parked there, and dozens of people were there. The player was on guard, fully armed.
Then, he saw a cave. Seeing that it was blocked by a large iron gate, it seemed like that was the space where the gate in question had been opened. “
Great, but there is one problem with this place.”
“yes?”
When Lee Hyun-wook made a questioning expression, Jang Jun-geol scratched his head shyly and said.
“As you may have already heard, there were big and small fights between three factions within our guild over the weapon of Jecheon Daeseong sleeping in that cave over there.”
“Yes, I heard.”
“So, before deciding who owns Yeouibong, we set a rule that only one person from each of the three factions would go in to prevent petty thieves. Otherwise, we set up a magic circuit so that the cave itself would collapse. ”
He said and pointed to the entrance to the cave.
There were obviously all kinds of magic circuits drawn there.
“They say it will take three or four days to disable that, but we all don’t have time for that, do we?”
He said with a grin.
Lee Hyun-wook nodded.
‘You put in quite a bit of effort.’
It seemed like a lot of effort went into this trap.
Lee Hyun-wook turned his head and looked at Kim Se-hee.
“Team Leader Kim, I will come back alone, so please wait for a moment.”
“Ah…”
She didn’t know the whole story, so she looked somewhat uneasy when she heard that Lee Hyun-wook was going into a strange place alone, but wasn’t it Lee Hyun-wook and no one else? Who will talk about his safety?
“Yes, then we will wait outside.”
Alain Giam, who came before Sehee Kim, said.
Lee Hyun-wook nodded and accepted the bracelet that Jang Jun-geol gave him.
“Now you have to wear this so you can go in there.”
[Item Information]
– Name: Loyalty of the Three Gorges
– Effect: Allows access to a specific barrier.
Lee Hyun-wook wore the bracelet and entered the cave with Jang Jun-geol and another villain.
Alain Giam and the Chinese player watched him disappear. They exchanged looks.
***
And as expected, it was a trap.
“…What should I do with this? The great Steelein took bribes a few times and lost his eyesight, so you got caught, right?”
“Ugh—there really won’t be a gap this time.”
Naturally, there was no gate or anything in that cave.
But the level of the trap was surprisingly not obvious.
‘What is this?’
Lee Hyun-wook summoned AD-2 from the wrist imprint, but strangely, the imprint did not respond.
At this, Jang Jun-geol laughed and said,
“Hehehe—this cave is plastered with ‘mana reflux stones.’ In other words, in this, not only you but also our “Mana doesn’t work as well, which means you can’t use skills.”
“…….”
“Do you know how much we spent on this facility to catch you? It must have cost as much as that strange arsenal you worked so hard to create!”
Lee Hyun-wook raised his head and looked at the ceiling and walls.
They were meticulously covered with a rare material item called ‘mana reflux stone.’
To plaster such a large space with reflux stones that are so difficult to obtain… In essence, reflux stones are, at best, barrier-like. It was only used as a tool to unlock it.
It was similar in price to Orihalcon, so you really had to spend a lot of money to fill this huge space.
This was a ridiculous trap that was possible because it was a villain that encroached on the closed big market of China. “
…You really prepared thoroughly this time?”
“So, you said you built that arsenal with the support of your small country? So, how far do you think we can go if we decide to use the power of this great nation?”
Lee Hyun-wook nodded.
“Yes, it’s admirable. With a trap prepared to this level, any player would have no choice but to fall into it…”
“Ugh—you understand? So you’re going to tell me to beg for your life? There’s no CCTV in here, so you can do it if you want.”
Lee Hyun-wook looked down at his watch in silence.
“…294 seconds left.”
“what?”
“If you can kill me in there, kill me. Otherwise…”
If there is not a single gap, just force it to be created.
“…This whole mountain will collapse.”