Steel-Eating Player - Chapter 72

Episode 72. [Secret Police Bureau – 1]

——=

Author’s note) In the previous episode, there was a scene where Okita Kaito put the ‘Fly Eye’ in his pocket right before running away. Added.

A few years from now, the whole world will fall into the hands of a villain organization. After a long period of behind-the-scenes work, they took control of politics and the economy and monopolized players and items.

At that time, no one can stop them, and they take out the world domination card called Necromancer.

‘But… not yet.’

At this point, the villain organization was not at a level where it could stand against the entire world.

Heroes were still alive and well, and countries around the world were working hard to maintain order.

That’s why they were hiding now and focusing on increasing their power.

‘The best thing I can do now is… stop their growth.’

It was beyond gambling and foolish to announce the existence of a villain and set out to hunt him down without any basis just because he gained a few pennies of fame right away. For now, the only answer was to gather evidence to keep them in check and expose them by any means possible—that was the right answer.

‘I can’t do that alone. A large force is needed.’

As they were destroying the world in many ways, no matter how hard Lee Hyun-wook tried alone, there was bound to be a limit. In other words, assistance was needed in all aspects, including economics, politics, combat, and information.

Therefore, Hyunwook Lee was building his position and building relationships with trustworthy people.

Representative examples include heroes from AMT who responded to villains in the past, such as Kim Kang-seok and Choi Jeong-cheol, and furthermore, there were Kang Seo-yoon, the master of Zumunnarae, and Woo Seong-moon, the number one player in the government.

‘But in many ways, it is still impossible to involve them in my plan.’

I expected that I would have to work alone without strong assistance for a while.

However, an unexpectedly powerful move appeared.

Saint Emilia Müller, a woman who was not in Lee Hyun-wook’s plans…

Lee Hyun-wook proposed to her the creation of a ‘secret organization’, and after the situation was somewhat resolved, he sat down with her once again in the VIP room.

“The team you asked me to create a little while ago… I can understand this as a way to respond to villains, right?”

In response to her question, Lee Hyun-wook nodded.

“As you know, Mr. President, this will not be the last time this villain organization plots.”

“Oh, of course… of course…”

Her expression darkened again.

At this moment, I was able to overcome it with Lee Hyun-wook’s performance.

But what if a moment like this comes again…

Her life was still in danger.

“Ha—I was lucky enough to cut out the rotten branch, but it didn’t change the fucking situation.”

“…….”

“Can you pass me some whiskey there?”

“Please bear with me for now.”

“Ah—”

She let out a sigh and took a gulp of water.

“K— Then you can always be by my side… without any fault, right?”

There was a secret wishful look in his eyes, but Lee Hyun-wook nodded his head resolutely.

“…We can’t do that. That’s why I’m suggesting that we create an organization that can deal with them. So… Mr. President, tell me what you know about the villain. “Please tell me.”

She knows some information about the villain, Nicholas Steele. He told her something, and that’s why the villains were anxious because they couldn’t kill her….

She looked into space and slowly nodded.

“…This is something I haven’t told anyone until now.”

Emilia carefully brought out the secrets she knew, as if opening Pandora’s box.

But that was a story Hyunwook Lee already knew.

Gordon Price, a key figure in the Guardians, an organization that responds to villains, was actually interfering with the Guardians as the leader of the villains.

Anyway, what I gained from sharing this fact was complete trust with her.

“Ha—even the Guardian… I guess it was a good thing I didn’t take the Guardian Quest.”

Of course, apart from trust, I had to act like I was hearing this for the first time.

“Yes, that’s right. Actually, I was approaching you to use you to get information, but I think this way is much better. If you want to create a team… I’ll definitely join.”

She said that with a look of determination.

“I see you are responding much more easily than I thought.”

Emilia laughed at those words and reached out to take the whiskey that was next to Lee Hyun-wook.

“From today onwards, Lee Hyun-wook, you are the person that I trust the most.”

“Isn’t this giving you such a grand title too suddenly?”

“You’re the reason I’m alive, right?”

Emilia shrugged her shoulders as if it were obvious and pointed to Lee Hyun-wook’s left arm.

“That’s why I trust him enough to caress him in other ways besides heels.”

“…….”

“What is that expression… I’m kidding. Anyway, what are you going to do with the team?”

Lee Hyun-wook shrugged his shoulders.

“We don’t have a big vision yet. As you said… it’s about gathering trustworthy people.”

At that point, Emilia nodded. What she lacked the most was not anything else, but a trustworthy colleague, so it was the first step that felt most appropriate to her. “Well, you can’t start on a grand scale from the beginning

. Oh, and if you need anything, just let me know. Even though I’m like this, I’m a fucking idiot with a lot of money. “If you need anything, I’ll provide it for you.”

Yes, her influence was truly powerful.

[Saint Dom] was supported by the Republic of Chad, but was technically an independent organization.

And Saint Dom was famous for making as much money as most large companies, and the amount of money they made by producing and selling holy relics or dispatching paladins and priests was considerable.

At first glance, it seems that the ‘Holy Field’ was a magic worth a whopping 900 billion won…

In other words, the head of that huge organization with a lot of manpower and a lot of money was none other than Emilia Müller.

Of course, she was a symbolic figure, and although the actual work was handled by others, her influence within the organization was unmistakable.

‘As she said, a proper money line has been created.’

In the future, Lee Hyun-wook’s plan seemed to gain momentum.

And right now I decided to complete one plan.

“Oh, and… I have something special to ask of you. It’s a bit of a difficult request, but…” “

Yes, just tell me anything and I’ll take care of it.”

Lee Hyun-wook paused for a moment and then opened his mouth with a very serious expression.

“I would like to scout magic engineering researchers from the Republic of Chad… for the guild I am raising.”

The Republic of Chad was a leader in the magic engineering industry. Therefore, the best personnel were gathered there. However, as ‘Laputa’ appeared over Seoul, a tectonic shift in the magic engineering industry was expected.

Hyunwook Lee suddenly revealed his intention to ride on this tectonic shift.

Emilia tilted her head.

“Ah… It must be a sensitive issue since they are going to steal professional manpower… What is the reason?”

Instead of answering, Lee Hyun-wook took something out of his pocket.

It was a key.

Information about the item appeared before Lee Hyun-wook.

[Item information]

– Name: Ancient Heritage Master Key

– Effect: Unknown

* Binds upon acquisition It is an item that works.

He looked at the contents once again and then looked at Emilia.

“This is… the master key to Laputa, a magic engineering city floating in the sky above Seoul.”

Emilia frowned at those words as if she hadn’t heard them properly.

“What did you just say…?”

“It was said to be Laputa’s master key.”

The moment I heard those words again, I couldn’t help but open my mouth and jump up from my seat.

“No, I’m saying you’re the manager of Laputa now—?”

“That’s right. I got it as a reward from the 4th wave.”

She was speechless for a while and then sat down on the sofa.

“Oh wow… You are a greater person than I thought… Then…”

“I haven’t been to the Magic Technology City yet, but I plan to use it soon. ”

“Ah… I guess our secret organization is bigger than I thought?”

It was an obvious fact that Laputa would make tremendous progress in magical engineering research.

Lee Hyun-wook intended to be at the forefront of that future technology, and for that to happen, he needed ‘manpower.’

Emilia took a sip, no, two sips of whiskey with a blank expression. “Huh—okay, okay. If it’s that much of a problem… I’ll have to use some force.

”

Yes, it was a problem that could have been easily handled by the governor of Saint Dom.

“Huh… I have a lot of things to do today that make my heart race… What else can I do?

“After that, just… don’t leave Saint Dom until I hear from you.”

“Well… that’s what I’m best at. But doesn’t that mean you shouldn’t do anything?”

“That’s right. First of all, don’t accept new people… Do an internal check. Emilia Müller’s top priority is survival. Keep that in mind and drink in moderation to keep your mind clear.”

Emilia laughed and took a sip of whiskey.

“Thank you for letting me have such a goal. I will try my best.”

Lee Hyun-wook stood up, shaking his head.

“I’ve been here too long. “I have to leave now.”

“Okay. I’ll set up a secret contact network, so we can keep in touch.”

“Yes, please do that too.”

At that time, she took something out of her inner pocket and held it out to Hyunwook Lee.

“Now take this.”

– Obtained the Golden Leaves of the World Tree (Special).

[Item Information]

– Name: Golden Leaves of the World Tree (Special)

– Effect: One time only, becomes ‘invincible’ for 10 seconds.

This time, Lee Hyun-wook was bound to be surprised. “ No

… Isn’t this an item that is absolutely preventing leaks from the Republic of Chad?”

The Republic of Chad monopolizes several by-products related to the World Tree, such as leaves and branches, and exports them as special products. The amount of exports earned in this way amounted to tens of trillions of dollars every year. Therefore, all of the products were specially managed by the government, and illegal smuggling was very strictly prohibited.

“If I give you this much, shouldn’t there be a bit of a romantic relationship and then we can naturally contact each other later?”

Emilia grinned.

Lee Hyun-wook accepted it without a word.

This was an item so rare that it was difficult to set a price.

‘Emilia… I got a huge helper that I never expected.’

Naturally, the villain would continue to target her, but if he could somehow protect her and be with her, it would definitely become a significant weapon. *** Two days have passed since the day of the foiling of the

demon

summoning and the attempted assassination of the saint.

Seoul has overcome another terrible crisis. has now regained some stability.

The saint’s party safely returned to St. Dom, and Lee Hyun-wook also returned to his unit.

The news was still making a fuss about the issue, but it would soon die down.

However, the government’s counterintelligence agency, led by Woo Seong-moon , was busier than ever.

The terrorist group attacking Seoul had no time to rest as the true identity of the group had not been discovered.

Woo Seong-moon was sitting in his office receiving reports from the heads of each department.

“…the terrorists’ entry route is still unknown. They are not being tracked. As expected, it is presumed that they all used the Shadow Baron’s skills, and there is no way to track them… “It’s virtually non-existent.”

“And all the terrorists captured at the scene also died due to latent orders. When the bodies were identified, they all turned out to be low-level members of the Central and South American player cartel.”

Although we don’t know what kind of group it was, they had taken extreme measures to avoid their identity being discovered.

“We have requested cooperation from each Central and South American country, but only two countries have responded so far.”

Every time Woo Seong-moon receives reports of such skeptical survey results, someone’s face comes to mind.

‘Lee Hyun-wook…’

Every time he encountered a problem, he found the right answer with his amazing wit.

So he saved Seoul three times.

That was an undoubted fact that Woo Seong-moon had personally witnessed.

‘I even defeated that Okita Kaito… in a one-on-one match.’

That fact was truly shocking. I still couldn’t believe that the swordsman who killed Kuk Pyo-seong, ranked 4th in Korea, was beaten to half-death by a rookie who wasn’t even in the rankings yet.

All of those aspects were great, but there was another biggest reason why Woo Seong-moon wanted Lee Hyun-wook.

‘He is even the only operator of an absolute surveillance item called Hugin.’

Over the past few days, I have clearly felt that there is a big difference between him and me without him. So, I formally asked him to work for the government several times… but was rejected like a knife.

‘Are you really saying that you will only cooperate with freelancers in such ridiculous ways?…’

When he discovered the ‘event map’ and met Woo Seong-moon, he said he would become a freelance black agent.

They said they would use the government’s power and not become part of the government… It was truly ridiculous.

Because it was an emergency situation at the time, I had no choice but to grant his request, but I could not maintain that condition forever. Giving an outsider special powers of the government is absurd.

‘Is there some kind of ambition in asking for something like that, or is there another purpose?…’

But Woo Seong-moon didn’t care what Lee Hyun-wook’s intentions were.

It was because it was clear that he was not an enemy of the Republic of Korea.

Woo Seong-moon’s ultimate goal was only the safety of this country.

And now the security of this country has been shaken several times.

He sensed that the crisis would be nothing more than a crisis.

‘We need a plan for the crisis that will come in the future.’

He couldn’t deny that the most powerful of those methods was, of course, Lee Hyun-wook.

And Woo Seong-moon predicted that Lee Hyun-wook would become an even more important person in the future.

The reason is…

“Is there any news from Team Leader Laputa?”

“Oh yeah! “It still says it’s inaccessible.”

Laputa, the city of magic engineering, a huge object floating in the sky over Seoul…

A considerable amount of time had passed since it appeared, but it was still impossible to enter.

‘No access. This is the same phenomenon as when the World Tree first appeared.’

When the World Tree was first created in Lake Chad, it was impossible to approach the 2km area due to a barrier.

At that time, Donald Harris, an S-class elementalist who would be called the manager of the World Tree, appeared.

It was only after he lifted the access ban using his special authority that the World Tree was revealed to the world.

And it was highly likely that the biggest contributor of the 4th wave had the right to enter ‘Laputa’.

‘That’s Lee Hyun-wook, not anyone else.’

But when he was thinking about Lee Hyun-wook like that…

“Chief! I just received a call from Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook!”

“I don’t really understand that… They say they tracked Okita Kaito’s location.”

Upon hearing Team Leader Kyo-Jun Lee’s report, Seong-Moon Woo jumped up without realizing it.

“What? How on earth…”

“It looks like they planted a tracking device during the last battle.”

Could it be that Lee Hyun-wook is giving us a clue this time too?…

And the moment he heard those words, he made a decision on a problem he had been pondering for a long time.

“…Team leader, without further delay, I’m going to the 1st Battalion in Namsan right now.”

“Oh, yes, I understand. I will contact Lieutenant Colonel Kim Kang-seok!”

He was putting on his coat and then snapped his fingers as if thinking of something.

“Oh, and tell Hugin to take it out and bring it to me.”

“…yes?”

“What would you do if you put that amazing thing in a warehouse? You should hand it over to someone who can use it!”

***

The firepower training range of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Port Horse Brigade. This was a place to test various magic.

There, members of the 5th squad, including Lee Hyun-wook, were gathered and training skills.

And now, Lee Hyun-wook was standing at the road.

He I slowly raised my arms.

Woo-woo—

With that, as many as 10 ‘air drop devices (prototypes)’ soared into the sky at the same time.

The scene where they were floating solidly felt somehow mysterious.

“Wow… .”

“It looks like some kind of UFO flyer.”

While everyone was admiring, Lee Hyun-wook also felt a sense of anticipation.

‘Okay, the firepower was enormous when only 2 units were used, but if it were 10 units…’ A few

days ago, dozens of gunmen were swept away with just 2 units.

“Oh my . “It’s the spirit!”

This voice was Kang Jeong-doo. At Lee Hyun-wook’s request, he came into the unit with 10 airdrops. This is because the only space to test this was the military unit.

“We also have the injection device you requested last time. I forgot to tell you.”

“Oh, thank you. “Let’s try it right now.”

Lee Hyun-wook, a device that can not just shoot iron balls but powerfully shoot them with magical power, asked to attach such a device to the princess drop device, and it was completed in a few days.

– It has been ‘synchronized’ with the ‘Air Drop Device (Prototype-2)’.

* The available operations are as follows

1) Item storage

2) Item delivery

3) Magic injection

Lee Hyun-wook gave the third function, ‘Magic injection’, to 10 air drop devices simultaneously.

Then—the bottom of the box opened and a loud noise erupted.

To—do—do—do—do—do——!

Iron beads began to shoot like bullets due to magical power.

It looked like a baptism of absorbed heavy machine guns, and

it was bubbling!

A cloud of sand rose from the side of a dirt mountain in the distance, as if thousands of rounds of autocannon had been fired. If there had been a monster there, it would have been so destructive that everything would have been turned into a piece of meat.

“Wow… Sergeant Lee Hyeon-wook, you are almost at the level of a one-man cavalry unit now.”

Ahn Min-tae said that.

Yes, exaggerating a little, he reached the level where he could produce the same firepower as an armored unit with a single person.

At that time, a private from the 2nd squad stood at the entrance to the firepower training range and shouted,

“—Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, the battalion commander is calling!”

Hyunwook Lee nodded as if he already knew.

Then, he slowly lowered his hands.

Woowoowoo——

10 airdrop devices were piled up in a trailer parked on one side.

“I have some work to do, so I think I should stop and go in.”

“Yes, feel free to call me anytime! “Am I not General Lee’s person?”

“Haha— equal business partners. Thanks as always.”

Lee Hyun-wook went straight to the battalion commander’s office.

As expected, Chief Woo Seong-moon was there.

“…Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, is that really true?”

Director Woo Seong-moon, who was sitting on the sofa, stood up and asked bluntly,

“Is it true that you planted a tracking device on Kaito Okita?”

Woo Seong-moon was in charge of the government’s counterintelligence operation and was tracking terrorist organizations.

However, when he could not find any evidence, he received a call from Lee Hyun-wook.

“Yes, that’s right. When I was fighting with Okita Kaito, I placed the magic engineering equipment developed by my exclusive blacksmith. “I am sorry for contacting you late as I have only now found out its location.”

When the Shadow Baron dragged Okita Kaito away, he put the ‘Fly Eye’ in his pocket.

Afterwards, I asked Kang Jeong-du to track the mana pattern emitted by the fly eye.

As a result, the location of their ‘shadow link’ was captured.

‘That was also the position I had longed for.’

Lee Hyun-wook looked at Kim Kang-seok.

“I have been suspicious of the Taesan Guild since the 4th wave.”

“Oh, no way…”

“Yes, his last location was in the basement of the Taesan Guild’s headquarters building. Since it was located two days ago, it is unlikely that he was there, but it seems that their connection with the Taesan Guild has been proven.”

Woo Seong-moon and Kim Kang-seok both nodded with surprised expressions.

‘The Taesan guild is an outpost of villains.’

Before the 4th wave, the Republic of Korea had not yet been invaded by villains. However, while it collapsed in many ways during the 4th wave, villains came in and took over everything. That kind of history would not happen anymore. ‘In other words, if we cut out

Taesan

, ‘The influence of villains on our country will be significantly reduced.’

On the other hand, after hearing Woo Seong-moon and Lee Hyun-wook speak, he touched his chin as if he was thinking about something.

“As expected, Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, you are… different in some ways.”

Then, I slowly raised my head and looked at Hyunwook Lee.

“Let’s sign a freelance contract as Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook wants.”

“yes?”

“We plan to create a special secret police department to track terrorists who threaten this country.”

He said that and held out something.

It was the item ‘Hugin’ that he had returned after the last operation.

“I would like you to take on the role of the contract director of that secret agency.”

“…….”

“As long as the contract is made and the contract is valid, Hugin is yours.”

An unexpected power came rolling in on its own.