Steel-Eating Player - Chapter 221
Episode 221 [ epilogue) Still Rain Day (Complete) ]
———————————==
Lee Hyun-wook goes beyond the black gate. Three years have already passed since the day of disappearance, also known as the ‘ending’.
And today was the 3rd anniversary of that day.
This place, Namsan in Seoul, was once the site of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Anti-horse Brigade, but is now the location of the Korean branch of the [Organization for the Reconstruction of Humanity] to rebuild the damaged Earth and respond to any possible alien invasion.
But today, the function was different….
A reporter was shouting in front of the camera in a plaza set up halfway up Namsan Mountain.
“…I am currently at the Steele Rain Day event held by the Korean branch of the Organization for the Reconstruction of Humanity in Namsan. As you can see, a huge crowd has gathered, forming a crowded place with no room to move!”
This is also the place where the journey of Steele Rain, the hero who saved humanity, began, so it was the place where the main event of ‘Steel Rain Day’ to honor Lee Hyeon-wook was held.
And since today is ‘Steelrain Day’, a fairly large event hall had been set up a few days ago and was bustling with people from all over the world.
“Wow—Dad! Look, it’s Steele Lane!”
A boy ran in front of a huge statue.
The statue resembled Steele Lee Hyun-wook in a pose with his left hand stretched out toward the sky.
And around the feet of the statue, there were a lot of giant swords called ‘Moglai’, similar to the symbol of Steelein, and they were all actually Moglai used by Lee Hyun-wook.
Meanwhile, a woman who appeared to be a guide was giving commentary in front of the statue.
“Now, these Mogleis are the ones left behind when Steelerain collapsed the game and disappeared through the Black Gate. A total of 14 remain, 12 of which are on display here, and the remaining 2 are said to be used as research materials in Laputa.”
“uh? “Why did you leave out the two separately?”
One kid asked a question.
“Stilene’s mana pattern remains there, so I’m studying it so I can find out when he returns.”
“omg! So… will he return to Earth?”
Since it was a question no one could answer, the guide also smiled and nodded.
“It is said that he has gone to judge the villains who have been tormenting humanity. The work will not end overnight… but he will definitely return someday.”
But that was all just an estimate.
The day he disappeared, he only said one thing:
‘…I think I’ll have to go somewhere for quite some time.’
Since there was no information about his destination or return in that statement, it was impossible to guess where he went, what he was doing, or when he returned. Based on the capture and interrogation of several
managers who survived the crashed managers’ aircraft, it was assumed that he was another person. It was expected that they were wiping out the administrators of the dimension.
And then—
dududududu—
some helicopters began to pass by Namsan. At this, the guide’s explanation was cut off and everyone looked up at the sky.
Soon, a group of helicopters appeared. landed at the headquarters building midway up Namsan Mountain, the highest point of the event venue.
“Wow, who’s on that helicopter?”
One kid asked excitedly.
Then the other kid next to him raised his hand and answered,
“I think Zeus Ex Machina Park Jun-mo is riding it!”
“No, because it’s so windy, it must be Kim Se-hee, the Empress of the Wind!”
“You idiot, the reason the wind is blowing is because of the helicopter! And Gravity Wizard Lee Seong-yoon is cooler than them!”
Today’s Steele Rain Day was also the day when the heroes who fought with him and advanced to the ending gathered in one place. There were a lot of people
near the headquarters to see them, but they could not get closer due to tight security.
“You must not come any closer than this .” .”
“Uh oh—get back there!”
In this way, even though Lee Hyun-wook was not on Earth, the legacy he left behind became the pillar of the Earth and supported the future. ***
That
afternoon, two people were walking around the Stillein Day event venue—specifically, the headquarters building overlooking the Stillein statue.
It was Kim Se-hee and Lee Kyo-jun.
“Are all [Hope Foundation] members coming today?”
Team Leader Kyo-jun Lee, no, now Manager Kyo-jun Lee asked.
To this, Kim Se-hee, secretary general of the [Hope Foundation], nodded.
“The team that was dispatched overseas also arrived at Incheon Airport this morning and is said to have departed from the Taebaek Arsenal, so it will arrive soon.”
Meanwhile, on her shoulder, Hani, the wind spirit, was yawning in the sunlight.
“I see. It would be a shame if they were left out. They are the second protagonists of this event. And aren’t they still showing the most heroic aspects?”
Today, the [Hope Guild] founded by Lee Hyun-wook is active as a core organization for charity and recovery projects under the name of the [Hope Foundation]. And the [Hope Foundation] also
includes the Dwarf, Dark Elf, and Ancient Red Drake races, and now they are ‘monsters.’ ‘Instead of being called an ‘NPC’, I was being called a ‘humanoid’ and was being treated as a member of the human race.
“Ha… These are people who like to hear people say things like that, so I guess they’d get drunk and start talking about their heroism?”
“Well, isn’t today a day where it’s okay to get drunk and a day where reminiscing is a must?”
“That’s right, it’s that kind of day. By the way, Director Woo, are you coming today? Hmm… I’m disappointed that you suddenly announced your retirement last year, and I’m so sad that you haven’t shown your face since then.”
Woo Seong-moon, who was once the omnipotent power of the Republic of Korea, announced his retirement from this position a year ago today.
However, he is still working on many things behind the scenes and was mentioned as a candidate for the next president as he received attention for supporting Steel Lane both materially and spiritually. He was receiving national… no, global support.
So, he was not only a candidate for president, but also a candidate for president of the Organization for the Reconstruction of Humankind.
“Well, the old man is still correcting himself and getting healthier, so he won’t miss a day like this. Even when he retires, he said. “Because he still has trouble sleeping at night worrying about his country.”
Soon, helicopters began to land in a row at the helicopter port at the headquarters.
“Ha—I still can’t get used to this bumpy and noisy helicopter. I need to fix the airship first…” He complained
like that and was the first to get out of the helicopter. The person who jumped was Kang Hee-seol. Kang Jeong-du and the dwarves lined up behind her and got off.
Next, the original members of the Hope Guild, including Park Cheol-soo, Yeo Sang-min, and Lee Jeong-jun, came down. They were still active as the backbone of the Hope Foundation.
And from the landing helicopter, humanoid representatives such as the Water Spirit King, Soiler, Wirebeer, Clypheus, and Griseo Agaidica got out.
In another helicopter, there were executives from the [Red Hall] village who were hiding in the Incheon Demon World, including Go Jun-cheol and Go Jin-hwa. They too were now out in the sun and active.
Kim Se-hee and Lee Kyo-jun welcomed them warmly.
“Director Kang… is the research to fix something going well?”
Kim Se-hee asked Kang Hee-seol,
“Oh, sister, it’s almost done! The mana and hextech items in my nervous system are starting to be accessed!”
Currently, in [Taebaek Armory], the blacksmith dwarves, led by Kang Hee-seol and Kang Jeong-du, are working hard to develop a mana power engine, and it seemed like humanity would soon regain the mana power that it had lost after the game ended. “Hu— It’s good that the system is gone, but still,
which “I had to leave behind some information and disappear, but it was such a hassle.”
At that moment of ending, the system disappeared.
And the system was not only a shackle that bound mana, but also a kind of ‘tool’ that allowed players to use mana more easily.
For example, the way skills and items work were all revealed with just one click according to the formula set by the system.
In other words, the moment the system disappeared, all players lost their abilities.
However, this does not mean that ‘mana’, which has already spread all over the world and is embodied in the players’ nervous system, has disappeared, so as time goes by, mana management methods are evolving one by one, and some people use mana in various areas regardless of their characteristics. It was also controllable.
In this way, humanity was still embracing the power of ‘mana’ and developing it.
At that time, huge wings flew towards the headquarters.
Hung—
that was a small white dragon, Hechling.
Kang Hee-seol shouted as he looked at that scene.
“Oh Yong’s mom is here too!”
Then Kim Se-hee was shocked and waved her hand.
“Big sister Eun-ha really hates that, so be careful.”
“…Oh right! Haha—anyway, my mouth is fair.”
Soon, the hatchling landed behind the building, and as it approached, the huge dragon disappeared and a woman was talking to an 8-9 year old girl wearing a dress.
“…Did you understand what I said? huh? Today, you can’t breathe fire from within, emit divine power, or both. “You did that last time and got scolded by Uncle Agaidika.”
Seo Eun-ha was holding the girl’s arm and letting out a bitter voice.
But the girl had a pouting expression.
“Oh, I understand… How many times have you said this since this morning? “How old am I now? I’m tired from flying, so stop nagging me.”
“You… I’ll get scolded if you speak so defiantly in front of others.”
The dragon that became Seo Eun-ha’s descendant quite a long time ago hatched from an egg two years and eight months ago, and it was that girl who polymorphed into human form.
Accordingly, Kim Se-hee, Kang Hee-seol, and Lee Kyo-jun took a moment and approached the mother and daughter(?) toward the end of their conversation.
“Director Seo, it’s been a while.”
Seo Eun-ha was in charge of the ‘Strategy Strategy Office’, an elite unit under the [Organization for Human Reconstruction]. Today, the
system has disappeared, but everything created by the game has remained the same.
In other words, monsters hostile to humans are lurking all over the world. The troops who subdued them were also needed.
Of course, if dialogue worked, peaceful exchanges were the top priority, but unfortunately, there was a need to suppress violent monsters with low intelligence… Seo Eun-ha was carrying out such a mission. “Ah, we are
. “It’s not too late, right?”
“Yes, everyone is busy, so they’re only arriving now.”
At that time—
doo doo doo doo ——
a huge military transport plane was approaching in the distance, and at the bottom of it was a huge seal, a Colossus.
“Atalos has arrived.”
「”(^▽^)」
That guy looked in this direction and waved his hand, and every time he did that, the military transport plane shook dangerously.
***
“Ha— It was good when there was a wight hall, but it’s hard to fly all day. …”
The person who complained like that was Donald Harris, the manager of the World Tree.
He was sitting across from Peter Clarke, the leader of the White Tree Guards and now the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Chad.
“Haha, don’t you say that it’s difficult for you to come out to Yggdrasil City to drink because you stay in the corner of your room?”
“…what you bastard?”
“You bastard, I am now a minister of a country.”
“Tsk, tsk, don’t get drunk on the taste of power, kid. “Anyway, where has that girl, Emilia Müller, gone?”
Peter Clark sighed at that question.
“…I came with you, but you disappeared.”
Then Donald Harris chuckled,
“Tsk tsk—are you still a drunk?”
As he said, upon arrival, Emilia Müller was cracking open a bottle of soju alone in a corner of the venue that had not even started yet. “…
Still, I’m glad I was able to heal my liver that was damaged by alcohol.”
At that time, two men opened the door and came in.
They were all in uniform, and it was none other than Kim Kang-seok and Choi Jeong-cheol.
“Oh, you two came first?”
Kim Kang-seok approached and shook my hand.
“It’s been a year and a half. You’re at peace now, right?”
“Yes, everything is being sorted out and stabilized.”
Kim Kang-seok now wore the rank of brigadier general, and General Choi Jeong-cheol was now the top commander of Korea’s AMT forces with the rank of four-star general. “Come on—the party is about to start, so let’s go
inside.”
As all attendees gathered, the party began.
These noble heroes may seem elegant, but…
“—Here, please give me another bottle of soju!”
“Hehe… Saint Lady, please save your face.”
“Why am I a saint? I’m not a saint anymore!”
Perhaps because many of the heroes who gathered here were Korean, the first year was full of elegant dishes, but from last year, pork belly and soju were the main menu items. In the smoky event hall where pork belly was grilled, familiar faces gathered and chatted. “It was really amazing back
then
. “No one would have thought he would appear like that.”
“I was on that battlefield at the time too, haha… It was so absurd that I just kept laughing.”
As old heroic stories and memories came and went and the atmosphere of the party grew, the faces of the heroes turned red one by one.
Among them, the one with the reddest face was definitely Park Jun-mo.
“Ugh— Hyunwook hyung… I’ve never called him hyung… I’ve always been grateful, but for some reason, I was also scared… Ugh—” He was already so drunk that he couldn’t come to his senses like that
. Every time, an electric current would flow out of my hand….
Hold it——!
This time too, as the electricity flowing from his grasp flowed through the table, screams erupted from everywhere.
And Kim Se-hee, who was sitting next to him, got scared and kicked off his chair.
“Ack! Shit! Whenever this bastard gets drunk, he turns into Pikachu and damn it! Hey! Go in and sleep!”
Then Park Jun-mo staggered and raised both his hands.
“Uh— uh… I guess my abilities have finally come back.”
True to his image as a dull genius that he had built up for a long time, he was still slow to recover his ability to use mana. However, when he drank alcohol, his abilities would manifest themselves arbitrarily. At that time, someone stood up Park Jun-mo. “Hey, let’s get up and get some air
.
”
He was none other than Ahn Min-tae.
Before he knew it, he was wearing the rank insignia of sergeant.
He was usually in charge of an operation team under Seo Eun-ha, and today he was in charge of security at this event venue.
“Oh, who is this? Corporal Ahn Min-tae…”
“Corporal Ha? This kid still can’t get over his past?”
“H—h—h— you know I’m always grateful, right?”
“Okay, okay, Taeyong is here too, so let’s get some fresh air together.”
Behind him was Choi Tae-yong, with whom he had once fought in the same company. He also wore the rank of sergeant and was still carrying out missions on the same team as Ahn Min-tae. The three went out
to the terrace.
“Huh…”
Park Jun-mo said on the railing . He leaned against it and staggered, gesturing somewhere.
“…Do you see Bo over there?”
It was a ridge halfway up Namsan Mountain. And although it wasn’t clearly visible, it was probably where the AMT guard post was located. “
Hyunwook and I were working near that guard post when the Goblin Gate appeared.”
At this, Ahn Min-tae and Choi Tae-yong nodded.
“Oh, that was right? And… the 4th wave started there too, right?”
“Yes, during my shift shift, Hyunwook suddenly stopped us for a moment and said he heard shouting from somewhere and told me to check the direction of the guardhouse using night vision… I still vividly remember it.”
Choi Taeyong chuckled as he said that,
“Wow—if you really think about it, doesn’t it feel like a ghost?”
It was the day when the entire Namsan Mountain was sealed off as an ‘unlucky event’, which was a precursor to the 4th wave.
Then, An Min-tae also looked around Namsan with an expression full of sentiment and nodded.
“That day, steel rain fell for the first time. …”
“That was the climax. Wow, it was really amazing.”
“Yes, I think it was the best scene of my life.”
Recalling their journey so far, they looked up at the night sky.
Their eyes soon turned to the Steele Lane statue in the distance. Lee Hyun-wook was still standing on Namsan, albeit in a different form.
“…….”
But—
“Huh!”
Suddenly, Taeyong Choi let out a sigh.
“Hey, what’s wrong? I’m surprised when you shout like that!”
Choi Tae-yong has always been a gunner, so he has a good eye and can always sense a crisis before others.
And for Ahn Min-tae, who had always been with him, it was a signal that he had no choice but to reflexively enter battle mode.
“Team Leader Ahn, in front of the statue over there… the Moglei is moving.”
At those words, An Min-tae snorted.
“What? Did you secretly drink alcohol because this bastard is in charge of security at the event?”
“No! Look carefully!”
And really—
Hmph——!
Isn’t a piece of Mowglei, clearly firmly planted on the ground, soaring into the air and flying to the back of the building? “……..” At
that
moment, the three people We looked at each other with blank expressions. Those Mowlay were not fake. In other words, there were real ones that weighed 2 tons… or 50 tons each. They wouldn’t fly into the air on their own, so someone must have used mana to
lift them, and that’s about it. All three people intuitively realized that there was only one person
with the power of….
“…….”
“—I came!”
In the end, Ahn Min-tae screamed without realizing it. Then the people inside the venue turned their heads this way.
He looked at them and shouted with a confident expression.
“…Stilane is here!”
Then the heroes came rushing out to the terrace.
“—Huh? What do you mean?”
“What, is Sergeant Ahn drunk too?”
Then Ahn Min-tae shook his head and protested.
“The three of us saw the moghlay stuck under the statue suddenly soar and fly somewhere.”
“Yes, I saw it too!”
“Ugh—me too…”
As the three people made a common statement in succession, a stir spread among the heroes.
“Um… but where did you go?”
“If that’s true, there are very few players who have the mana management power to move that Mowglai…”
Then they all raised their heads and looked at the sky.
If Steel Rain appeared, it seemed like it would be floating in the sky with steel rain like it always did.
However, nothing was visible in the sky, and soon sighs came from all over the place, and just as it was about to end in an incident—
“…I won’t make such appearances anymore.”
A familiar and old voice came from behind me.
Then the heroes turned their heads one by one.
And then I looked at a man standing there.
“…….”
The star of this party, but who had not attended for three years… Stillane Lee Hyun-wook was really standing there.
“I was looking down from above so I could sweep it up better… but now I don’t need to do that.”
There were many implications in those words.
And in his hand, he was holding a Mowglai, which slowly shrunk to the size of his palm and he put it in his pocket.
“…….”
He looked at the heroes and smiled awkwardly. I opened my mouth.
“Ah… I don’t know what kind of party this is, but I think we can continue. And…I want to attend too.”
He returned to the world as a person.
.
.
.
The player who eats steel (complete)