Steel-Eating Player - Chapter 67
Episode 67. [ Seoul, Devil, Saint – 1 ]
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An hour has passed since Lee Hyun-wook entered the first portal.
– Chik—Awaiting orders to identify and complete siege of 20 ‘event map’ points created throughout Seoul— Immediately
after hearing the radio call, Woo Seong-moon raised the Mana Messenger.
“…We will now begin an extermination operation.”
The most important thing for the secret group called Villain was ‘secret’.
The goal was to keep the world from noticing that they were eating away at the world and laying eggs in its place, and to wait for their power to overtake the world.
But sometimes there were moments when you had to take an active role and achieve something.
For such a time, we had prepared ‘tails to cut off’ that could be brought to the forefront…
‘Outlier’, a commonly known anti-social terrorist organization, was one of them.
“…Why the fuck did the branch manager give us this mission?”
“Holland, shut up and just do it. It’s all over anyway.”
“No, but we are not miners, and what is this in a place where the sun has not shined for three days already…”
And the players mobilized for the mining work of this ‘Summon the Devil’ were also members of the Outlier organization.
They originally took South America as the main stage. They were active in drug trafficking and human trafficking.
However, three days ago, after receiving instructions from their superiors, they were suddenly sent here through a ‘shadow link’ and were mining for three days straight. I truly felt like a slave. I couldn’t help but say,
“Ha, damn… But where on earth is this? “It’s not at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean somewhere, is it?”
“Holland, do you really… think Billy doesn’t talk to me for no reason? There must be a reason.”
In this way, they were being thoroughly exploited and were not even aware of the existence of villains.
However, Billy Smith, the leader of the field leader Outlier, was different,
because he was a villain.
Therefore, it is very difficult to understand what this work ultimately means. He knew it very well.
‘The saint, those two bitches should be stripped naked and hung on the street…’
He hated the saint after experiencing a certain incident.
Four years ago, he was caught smuggling drugs into the Republic of Chad.
Fortunately, he had quick wits . Afterwards, all items that could be used as evidence were burned with flame magic… but
the problem was that several of his colleagues were ‘black magicians.’
‘Who the fuck can say that the black magic series is evil? In the case of
wizards, it was possible to acquire black magic skills through certain ‘triggers’, but
many countries defined black magic as evil and legally restricted its use or possession.
In particular, the Republic of Chad was a world-class country . As it is the land of numbers, there was a lot of anti-black magic sentiment. There
was even a strange policy where the saintess went out of her way to torture and punish players who learned black magic… Billy’s colleagues also called her ‘punishment’. ‘ He was killed.
Fortunately, Billy was not familiar with black magic at the time, so he was able to survive.
‘The face that smiled like a devil after gouging out the eyes of that bitch Olynyk… I will never forget it.’
Thinking back to that moment, my teeth trembled.
“Whoa, Billy! The work is done!”
Before we knew it, the last fragment of the disaster had been mined.
“Okay, let’s get in touch and rest until the ‘Shadow Baron’ comes.”
But that was then.
Dang——
A bell ringing from somewhere. It was a brass-colored bell installed in the corner of the event map.
Then, the members of the organization who were about to take a break stopped with nervous expressions.
“…….”
Watcher’s Alarm This was a warning item that notified that a new player had entered the event map.
In other words, it was something that should never be made to sound.
Billy nodded, pulling the wand from his belt.
“Hey, what are you doing? “Block the entrance right now and check what’s going on!”
In addition to the watchman’s alarm, a camera was also installed at the entrance.
But then something caught the eyes of the tankers blocking the entrance.
“Huh? What is this?”
Wing——
A small metal sphere was slowly flying towards here along a long passage. Everyone’s eyes were focused on that unknown object. It…looked like a very elaborately polished metal bead. Soon, the
tanker It came right in front of them and they had no choice but to hesitate and step back.
“But this doesn’t look that dangerous. “It’s just… like a little bead.”
One of the tankers said that and tapped it with his shield.
Beep—Beep—Beep—Beep—
“…And when you touch it, it makes a cute sound like some kind of chick.”
“No! This isn’t a chick noise, it’s some kind of countdown sound—”
At that moment, a blue light exploded and five tankers were caught up in the explosion.
Blah—b——!
No one could have imagined that such a destructive force could be released from such a small object. I never thought it would happen.
“Aaah—!”
Three of them died instantly, and the other two staggered as if seriously injured.
“Shit! It’s an attack!”
“Calm down and pick up your weapon!”
In the hazy smoke rising immediately after the explosion, Billy turned his head and looked at someone.
“Damn it, Horton!” “Quickly contact the higher-ups and spread the word!”
“yes!”
“And inform other branches of the attack and tell them to prepare for a possible attack!”
The man called Holton nodded and raised the Mana Messenger…
“A million!”
Horton’s pupils dilated and his body collapsed with a death sentence.
There was something like a black thorn stuck in the back of his neck.
Then, an unfamiliar voice came from somewhere.
“…No, contacting them won’t be of any use.”
And something blurry slowly descended from the ceiling.
Soon, the hiding spell was lifted and his true identity was slowly revealed…
It was Lee Hyun-wook, a man wearing a black combat uniform.
He extended his hand towards Billy. Then, Billy’s thick gold necklace pulled him forward as if it were a dog collar, and Lee Hyun-wook took long strides and grabbed Billy’s neck.
“Ugh—!”
“Because you’re the last…”
“What do you mean, the last…”
Billy tried to swing the wand in his left hand even as his carotid artery was being compressed.
Boom——!
The watch exploded and hit his wrist. Until the whole thing flies away.
“Aaaaa——!”
Next, Lee Hyun-wook’s hand, which was holding the back of Billy’s neck, was twisted, and Billy’s cervical spine was broken.
Billy closed his eyes in vain, unable to achieve his long-cherished wish of the saint’s last days. Meanwhile,
eight shadows poured down from the ceiling. .
They clung to the heads of the members of the organization as they scattered around like evil spirits.
The next moment, blood spurted out from the necks of 11 members of the organization.
Whoa—
Those shadows were actually a total of 8 assassin-type players.
“—Clear! ”
In just a few seconds, all the criminals in the area were completely subdued.
Lee Hyun-wook looked around at the scene that unfolded in the blink of an eye and nodded.
‘As expected, it’s the Bihyeongrang team. It’s neat.’
The special forces of the AMT secret intelligence department [Bihyeongrang] were quite strong. This infiltration unit, composed of players ranked B or higher, was likely to be the direct disciples of the master assassin, Warrant Officer Cheon Myeong-ho. ‘And the existence of this organization called Bihyeongrang means that the villains are still there
. ‘You probably don’t know.’
As such, it was a secret organization created very secretly, without even the president’s knowledge, under the leadership of Woo Seong-moon.
Woo Seong-moon predicted that in the future, individual players, not governments or corporations, would control the world, and secretly created an organization specializing in player assassination for the purpose of keeping absolute players in check. And for the security of the organization ,
a lot of effort is put into the process of selecting trustworthy agents, but
Lee Hyun-wook overheard somewhere that there was some brainwashing using ‘magic’.
‘Woo Seong-moon did it for the country.’ ‘If you are, you are the kind of person who can endure such unethical things.’
At that time, one of the special forces approached Lee Hyun-wook and held out a Mana Messenger.
“This is Director Woo Seong-moon’s Mana communication.”
– This is Director Woo Seong-moon. As of now, all targets have been successfully suppressed.
In addition to this place, all raids conducted at 18 other locations were successful.
“But the quest is still ongoing. Perhaps we need to destroy the Shards of Calamity.”
As if reaching the gate by destroying the World Stone, the goal of this quest’s success was the ‘fragments of disaster.’ And as Lee
Hyun
-wook said, when they were taken out of the event map and crushed,
the event map closed with a vibration.
That’s how it was . Happened simultaneously in 20 locations and soon…
– Congratulations! You have successfully completed the event quest [Demon Pursuit]!
‘It’s really over.’
It was only 1 hour and 40 minutes after Lee Hyun-wook entered the first portal. The
simultaneous attack on a total of 19 event maps was a complete success.
Seoul was once again protected through a quick and perfect counter-terrorism operation.
Then, the rewards were presented before his eyes . It started to fall.
– The trait Bloom (Special) has been acquired.
* This item is bound upon acquisition.
‘It was a good thing I kept what I got during the last wave and didn’t use it.’
The attribute bloom item could be upgraded to ‘level 2’ by fusing two items, and
by using it, the grade of one skill could be increased by 2 levels.
– Obtained the Ancient Coin of the Underground Kingdom.
– Ancient Coin of the Underground Kingdom. – Obtained
the ancient coin of the Underground Kingdom.
‘Why are there three of these… Ah, it’s time to spread them out, huh?’
This was a kind of hint that the dwarf race would soon appear.
At that time, players who got this would just think it was a miscellaneous item.
And that wasn’t the end.
– Congratulations! You have achieved a special achievement.
A new achievement has been added.
Lee Hyun-wook I couldn’t help but be surprised when I checked the details.
[List of Achievements]
3) Savior of Seoul
– Condition: Prevent 2 crises of destruction in Seoul
– Effect: Significantly increase ‘all abilities’ within the Seoul area (+100%)
… .All abilities increase by a whopping 2 times. They
say it is limited to Seoul, but this was an absurd figure.
‘Savior of Seoul, I never thought I would be the first to receive this title…’
Inferno is often referred to as ‘Savior of Busan.’ This is
because Inferno actually saved Busan, but also
because he has the title of ‘Savior of Busan.’ ‘
Inferno’s power is doubled in Busan, so no one could target Busan.’
Therefore, until the Necromancer’s invasion, Busan was an impregnable fortress.
‘Attacks aimed at Seoul will occur frequently now and in the future. It is very advantageous.’
– Current controllable metal weight: 302kg
* Transcendent Sense (+30%) is being applied.
* Steel Bone (+10%) is being applied.
* World Boss Monster Slayer (+5%) is being applied.
* Seoul Savior (+100%) is in effect. : Overlaps with the top additional effect.
This can even be ‘stacked’, doubling all previous synergy effects.
‘Okay this makes things a little easier.’
Lee Hyun-wook suddenly looked up at the sky.
‘This won’t be the end of your numbers…’
Summoning a Demon He predicted that this fight would not end here.
***
Ki Baekjun got really angry only once this year. It was when the 4th wave failed, and traces of that anger remained as a huge hole in one of the office walls.
And now….
Qua—ang——!
The wall right next to it collapsed.
Then, the secretarial staff across the wall jumped up in amazement.
“…Hey, what the fuck did you just—?”
Ki Baek-jun shouted and unfastened the watch.
Black shimmers began to flow from his hands.
One of the employees who had just reported something to him trembled and stepped back.
“What happened now? Say it again….”
“Yes, yes, all over Seoul… Contact was cut off at the same time at 19 branches.”
In other words, the demon summoning failed.
“So what’s the reason! He must have been watching the event map nearby!”
“It is said that it suddenly appeared and was sprayed with smoke bombs, so it could not be properly identified. However, given their uniform uniforms, the opinion on the scene is that they look like a government-affiliated TV special force.”
The villains also planted an informant in South Korean intelligence. However, the fact that it was not caught in the information network meant that the attack was carried out very secretly, even if it was unknown who was responsible for it.
“Fuck! Why do problems that have never happened before keep happening—!”
Qua—ang!
As he shouted, breaking another wall like that, laughter burst out from somewhere.
“Hahaha—this is the first time I’ve seen President Ki get so excited!”
A hispanic man with white hair was sitting on a leather sofa.
He had a Cuban cigar in his mouth, and his skin, visible through the smoke, was as pale as a corpse.
“……Ricardo, are you laughing at this situation right now?”
Ricardo Oliveira, a man more famous by his nickname Blood Lord,
was a ‘Vampire Lord’ who was also the owner of ‘The Five Butchers’.
“Calm down, President Ki, you prepared to summon a demon in case the 4th wave fails, and even prepared an ‘offering troupe’ in case that fails. Why are you so upset when you prepared everything?”
Yes, I was angry at the unexpected failure, but
it was also true that I had prepared the next plan for this time.
“Hehe—okay, now I have no choice but to use the last move…”
Ki Baekjun tried to suppress his anger and poured whiskey into a glass. .
“Oh, is this the last move? Isn’t there a fourth plan?”
“Ricardo… did you expect the 4th wave to fail in the first place?”
Ricardo nodded, puffing on his cigar.
“Well, Carol, I never even dreamed that she would roll around there. She’s a bitch that I used to love, so it’s a shame… She really killed me in bed… Oh, did you play with her too?”
Ki Baekjun ignored his words and called somewhere.
“It’s me, Team Leader Choi. “Plan B memorial service operation begins now.”
At that, Ricardo giggled.
“Pfft—you can say something so simple about mass suicide…”
Ki Baekjun frowned at those words, turned around, and shouted into the other end of the phone.
“Team Manager Choi, why are you talking so much! “Do you think I’ll save you if you don’t throw yourself away?”
Now, somewhere in Seoul, 40 warlocks were gathered.
Their main task was to open the gate leading to the ‘Abyss’ and pour the ‘fragments of disaster’ into it. That was the standard way to summon ‘Abaddon’ as specified in the ‘Quest’.
However, there were many other ways to summon demons.
One of them involved sacrificing the lives of many warlocks who had gained power from the devil.
That was Ki Baekjun’s ‘Plan B’, and in preparation for this time, he cast a ‘suggestion spell’ on the black magicians.
“…If you don’t do it within 5 minutes, they will cast a suggestion spell and burn your brain.”
It was his will to bring down the devil to this land and summon the saint at all costs.
He suppressed his excitement again, took a swig of whiskey, and uttered one last word.
“Oh, and… tell Okita Kaito’s team to get ready. It’s starting soon.”
“Ohh— Sword Saint Okita Kaito—!”
When the name came out, Rica Road stood up as if excited.
“I want to see that guy’s subspace sword technique in person, so I guess I’ll have to go see it too!”
***
Hyunwook Lee was standing in front of a military truck after successfully completing the operation.
The truck belonged to the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Horse Brigade, and it was Ahn Min-tae who opened the passenger seat door and got out.
“Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, I brought the items you mentioned!”
When I opened the truck’s cargo compartment, two ‘air drop devices (prototypes)’ were loaded inside.
“No, but what’s going on all of a sudden? Why does something so serious happen every time?”
“That’s right.”
“Perhaps Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook is driving bad luck.”
Actually, it used to be like that, but this was an exception.
This was a problem that Lee Hyun-wook had not anticipated.
“Hey, don’t talk so carelessly. If you talk too much, something happens.”
“Oh, I have that kind of talent…”
But then—
uh—uh—uh—uh—uh—uh——
A loud noise rang out from somewhere, and Ahn Min-tae’s mouth slowly opened.
A plume of red energy rose from somewhere in the far north. .
When it reached the sky, the color of the clouds began to turn blood red.
“Uh! what?”
“What is that…”
Everyone nearby looked at the unknown phenomenon with their mouths wide open.
Even at first glance, they could tell that something serious was happening.
Those who had experienced the hell called Wave a few days ago were suffering from PTSD. It was a scene that could have happened.
However, Lee Hyun-wook did not look that surprised.
He tapped Ahn Min-tae on the shoulder.
“Ahn Min-tae, you are responsible. Didn’t you say that words become seeds? It looks like something serious has happened again.”
“Huh? What the hell is this…”
Lee Hyun-wook closed the truck’s luggage compartment and looked at the northern sky.
He knew very well what that was.
‘As expected, the devil incarnate was summoned by offering a large-scale offering.’
Lee Hyun-wook was worried throughout this operation.
If he blocks their plan, what will they do?…
The conclusion he came to was ‘I won’t give up.’
‘The idea is to somehow remove the saint from here.’
Lee Hyun-wook took a truck and went to the Yongsan gathering place—Woo Seong-mun.
When he arrived, Woo Seong-moon, who had been receiving reports from his aides, turned his head.
And they came rushing towards Lee Hyeon-wook along with his aides.
“Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, let’s talk for a moment.”
His voice was still calm, but his face was somewhat stiff.
“Thank you for your hard work so far, but it looks like I have another job to do.”
Hyunwook Lee nodded.
“That’s the devil being summoned in another way. Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook will see it that way too, right?”
“Yes, it seems like that just by looking at it. “It seems the terrorists have another method prepared.”
Woo Sung-moon nodded and continued talking.
“As I said before, the easiest way to stop the summoning of that devil is by far a saint. Of course, there are other ways, like what Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook did just now, but I think it is time to choose a sure method. A saint will come and destroy the whole of Seoul.” We’re going to make it ‘Holy Fields.’”
One of the saint’s skills, ‘Holy Field’, was to block the devil’s power from descending.
Of course, the cost of that one shot would be astronomical, but it was something that had to be dealt with humbly.
“And the saint just arrived in Seoul.”
Even if she used a jet to get from Africa to the Korean Peninsula, she couldn’t have done so quickly.
She probably borrowed the power of the World Tree to use ‘ultra-wide teleportation’.
“But… as you know, the saint suffered from assassination threats.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
There were a total of three assassination threats. Of course, there has never been one that was actually dangerous. The
twelve paladins protecting her had become a very strong barrier. However,
the second threat was quite a traumatic event for her in many ways, and
that was it . Behind her, she was not trying to come out of the Saint Dome.
“The security staff there is amazing, but we also have a duty to take responsibility for the saint’s safety. “Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, please join us in this operation.”
“If you use Hugin, it will be a great help to the security operation.”
Hugin’s expanded senses and high-altitude vision were the best alert abilities.
“Yes, that’s right. “Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook is the only one who can handle Hugin.”
Hyunwook Lee nodded.
“Okay, I’ll do my best.”
A saint who set out to purify Seoul, which had been eroded in her past life,
she was murdered by villains three days after arriving in Seoul.
‘I know the culprit behind why she was assassinated so vainly.’