Steel-Eating Player - Chapter 80

Episode 80. [Incheon, Demon World, Black Market – 1]

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– New ‘skills’ are given by satisfying special conditions .

Lee Hyun-wook looked at the message blankly and then stood up. My whole body was soaked in cold sweat. It was because he had been asleep for dozens of hours with the ‘internal furnace’ running at maximum level.

He checked the details of the newly acquired skill.

[Skill Information]

– Name: Insight Lens

– Grade: D

– Effect

1) System Analysis: Can interpret hidden ‘system information’.

2) Clairvoyant eyes: Visual acuity is greatly improved. (+300%)

* The skill level improves when the hidden conditions are met.

Lee Hyun-wook knew its function very well as he had this skill in his previous life.

‘This was the best utility skill I had in my past life.’

Utility skills are skills of non-combat elements, but they have a very wide range of uses.

Lee Hyun-wook slowly raised his body.

“…Talos, how long have I been lying down?”

“28 hours and 48 minutes have passed since you started this task.”

“28 hours….”

Lee Hyun-wook looked at Talos, a ball-shaped mechanical device descending from the ceiling.

Then, a system message appeared before his eyes.

– Talos: Non-combat mode (LV. 130)

* The NPC in question is friendly to you.

Even the name, level, and personality of the NPC were information that was not easily known.

[Insight Lens] is a way to view basic information about monsters and NPCs. It was an ability.

‘By the way, Talos’ level is 130… It’s much higher than I thought, right?’

This ‘level’ was not an absolute measure of strength, but it was the most general standard.

In that respect, Talos, who was at level 130, could be considered very strong.

Orc King Stonox was level 175, and the dragon was between levels 180 and 200. Considering that it was.

‘Of course, since the body of the Bronze Colossus is not yet present, it may not be able to exert its power.’

Someday, if I could activate that guy’s ‘battle mode’, it would be an incredible weapon.

At that time, the door to the Order Tower opened and Park Jun-mo trudged in.

However, his hair was somewhat curly for some reason.

“Ah! “Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, are you awake?”

“How was Park Joon-mo? Is the lightning strike easy?”

“Ah… yes… it hits a lot more than I thought.”

There was a hint of resentment in his voice.

He went on to explain that Lee Hyun-wook was struck by lightning 11 times while he was sleeping.

As a result, he experienced rapid growth reaching 5 times his existing abilities.

“Really? That’s great. Then, I’ll come here whenever I have free time.”

“…….”

At that time, something was detected in Lee Hyun-wook’s eyes.

– The item can be ‘interpreted’.

The location was near Park Jun-mo’s waist. It was a black wand.

In this way, the ‘player’s profile’ can be confirmed. Even though I couldn’t see it, I could see the ‘item information’ and

‘interpret it.’

– Analyzing item information…

After some time has passed…

[Item information]

– Name: Dark Wood Wand (Rare)

– Effect: Mana total (+100) Magic casting speed (+10) %)

In this way, I was able to find out information about the other person’s items even without touching them.

‘…More than anything, it will be a great help in protecting myself.’

Being able to know the function of an opponent’s item just by looking at it – this was very valuable information that allowed one to predict to some extent what the potential antagonist in front of you was trying to do. This was how Lee Hyun-wook was able to block numerous assassination attempts

. It was Mann’s secret protection system.

“…But where is Team Leader Kim?”

“Oh, if you’re not here, it’s like you’re in that surreal training ground.”

While Lee Hyun-wook was sleeping, Kim Se-hee also seemed to have been training non-stop.

‘Kim Se-hee… She was talented, but she was also a hard worker. If the environment is right, she will grow on her own.’

After drinking the cold water brought by Park Jun-mo, Lee Hyun-wook approached the window.

The view of the world from the top of Laputa was a top-class view that no hotel could envy.

At that time, a vibration rang out in his arms.

– Mana Messenger (encrypted model) : Receiving….

This Mana Messenger was connected one-to-one with another Mana Messenger that shared the password.

The target was, of course, Saint Emilia Müller.

– Wow, I finally received it! Why am I not receiving calls like this? You thought he was assassinated before me!

His voice was twisting his tongue in all directions. As expected, he couldn’t stop drinking.

“You probably didn’t set up a security network to make phone calls while drinking, right?”

– Is this a huge misunderstanding? I contacted you on a business level.

“Really? What’s going on?”

– I found the people in the magic engineering field that I mentioned last time. There are about 9 people.

She was looking for researchers in the magic engineering field as Lee Hyun-wook asked, and it seemed like she finally found them.

Of course, Lee Hyun-wook had to meet them in person to see if they were trustworthy. I was thinking of making a judgment:

“Well, that’s a good thing. They were looking around for future jobs at the same time.”

– Huh? Could it be Laputa…?

As I knew Lee Hyun-wook was the manager of Laputa, I recognized it right away.

“That’s right. “It came up for the first time yesterday or the day before yesterday.”

– Wow… I really want to go someday. It’s as safe a place as here, right? Yes?

“Yes, maybe not now, but you will be able to visit someday.”

On the other hand, Lee Hyun-wook thought that the ‘Saint Dome’ itself could be moved here to Laputa.

‘If the Saint of Chad came to Laputa instead of Saint Dom… it would be a huge advantage.’

Of course, if that happened, the Republic of Chad would be in an uproar. It was like taking away one of the elements that made the land valuable, so political disputes were bound to arise.

In other words, it was not a hasty decision.

‘But one day I will make it. ‘This country will eventually become humanity’s last bastion…’ The

plan was to gather all the power to deal with the villain at one point, Laputa.

Two hours later, the group finished preparing to go down to the ground.

「(^_^) If you go down to the 49th floor underground, you can use the wide area drop device!」

Laputa uses the entire huge city called ‘Seoul’ as its ‘area’. Therefore, by using the ‘wide-area drop device’, one of Laputa’s convenience functions, it was possible to ‘teleport’ anywhere in Seoul.

The group took the high-speed elevator down to the B49 floor, the lowest level of Laputa.

The entire floor was completely empty, without any objects or walls.

“Now then, let’s activate the wide-area drop device!”

Uuuuu——

Then the floor of the entire 49th floor became transparent, providing a panoramic view of Seoul, and a

huge magic circle was created on the central floor and began to emit a blue light.

– Wide-area drop device: Set teleport coordinates.

In this way, in Laputa, you could quickly travel to any area in Seoul through teleportation.

Lee Hyun-wook chose a quiet place on the outskirts of Seoul and soon teleported there.

“Now—of course it’s a secret where we went.”

“Um, but are you… are you still trying to hide the fact that you are the administrator of Laputa?”

In response to Kim Se-hee’s question, Lee Hyun-wook shook his head.

“That’s not true, we will reveal it soon.”

There was a need to gradually disclose this fact, at least to Woo Seong-moon.

‘In this way, all the resources necessary for the development of Laputa were provided.’

But there was one thing to take care of before that.

“By the way, Team Leader Kim said you had work today, right?”

“Yes, I would like to introduce my classmates to the Hope Guild.”

Kim Se-hee’s AMT classmates decided to join the Hope Guild.

As they were the ones she once commanded as a squad leader, they would become key personnel when the Hope Guild’s ‘Strategy Team’ was formed in the future. “In that case, Team

Leader Kim, please take care of your work, and Park Jun-mo . “I have a place to go with you.”

“Huh? No, where are we going this time…”

Park Jun-mo was unable to hide his shocked expression in the end.

Hyunwook Lee raised his head.

“Today, we will be scouting for an employee to manage Laputa.”

“…yes?”

“You can’t just leave that great thing alone, can you?”

A lot of manpower is needed to operate that huge facility.

And at this point, a lot of talent and potential items were buried in the shadows.

Lee Hyun-wook planned to pull them out a little early and put them up in the sky.

***

Incheon Metropolitan City It has long been called the nickname ‘Demon World.’

It was probably given as a half-joking joke because violent incidents have been frequent since ancient times.

But now, that childish nickname has actually become a reality.

“Sergeant Lee Hyeon-wook… The manpower said to be sought in the Demon World is not what it is.” Who is it?”

Park Joon-mo glanced down an alley in Namdong-gu, Incheon—Magye with an anxious expression.

“A person who would be in a place like this… must be a scary person…” A

gray, half-crushed city center, an alley strewn with all kinds of trash, a road that is cracked and turned over like a spider’s web…

And gunmen carrying items, guns, knives, and other weapons. Standing in an alley, glaring at passers-by. The weapons they were holding were never for show and were often used against humans.

Park Jun-mo instinctively cringed in front of a Harlem-like scene in a Hollywood movie.

“And I heard that even the player police are still not approaching this place…”

In this way, the old downtown area in the south of Incheon has now turned into a lawless area.

In the early days when the world turned into a game, as many as four gates opened simultaneously here.

However, at the time, suppression was difficult due to a lack of power to deal with them, and eventually a ‘blockade’ was installed in the surrounding area and extreme measures were implemented to isolate the entire region.

A whopping two years later, several guilds succeeded in conquering the area, but…

‘This place had already suffered irreversible damage and was in ruins, and no one was looking for it.’

And the types of people who became entangled in such an abandoned area were limited.

Crime gang wanderers and Red Players had begun to occupy this place.

That’s why this place has become what is commonly referred to as ‘slumification’.

“Strangely… they are all staring at us.”

“don’t mind. “This is really that kind of neighborhood.”

Park Jun-mo felt like he was surrounded by the eyes of a wild beast deep in the mountains, but Lee Hyun-wook walked without hesitation.

And about 10 minutes later, I stood in front of a building.

[Baekje Miscellaneous Goods]

It was a five-story shopping mall with that name, but from the outside it looked like an ordinary ‘miscellaneous store.’

However, it was actually one of the ‘secret passages’ down to some secret underground facility.

“Wait here for a moment.”

After saying that, Lee Hyun-wook stood still and began to look sideways toward the entrance of the building.

Park Jun-mo was just curious, but as always, he waited silently, wondering if there was some intention.

But in fact, Lee Hyun-wook’s senses were already inside the building.

– …What is it? Are you here for work?

To be precise, I was listening to the sounds inside the building, but I was eavesdropping on the surrounding sounds by making a ‘mana connection’ to someone’s mana messenger beyond the wall. – Um, I’m trying to get

some green adamant stones.

– I’m sorry. There is no such thing.

– In that case, I would like to have something else curated.

“Okay, this is it… Let’s go now.”

“uh? yes? Oh yes!”

Jangle—

“Welcome.”

A male employee with a mustache greeted him with a bright smile that was not very suitable for this area.

However, Lee Hyun-wook sensed that there was a shotgun standing at his feet.

Lee Hyun-wook naturally approached the counter.

“Hello. “I’m here to get some green adamant.”

At those words, the smiling employee’s face suddenly hardened.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t have any green adamant stones.”

“Oh, I’d like to look at similar items. Could you please ‘curate’ me?”

“Um… I’ll show you around.”

Then, I turned my head somewhere, and there was a man wearing a black hat standing there.

He gestured towards Lee Hyun-wook to follow.

“Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, what did you just say…”

“Shh—don’t open your mouth for a while.”

Everything that Lee Hyun-wook just said was a kind of password, a rite of passage that must be passed in order to go down to a facility hidden here.

The password changes every day on the hour, so it had to be obtained through a secret route, but Lee Hyun-wook hacked the Mana Messenger—wiretapping. I found out the password.

Clap –

A man wearing a black hat opened a door, and stairs leading down to the basement appeared.

“…When you come out again, use exit 8 or elevator 11, not here.”

Lee Hyun-wook nodded and started going down the narrow stairs.

“Where on earth does this lead to?”

“This slum in the Incheon Demon World is actually just a camouflage.”

“yes? “Then what is this city hiding?”

“Yes, the real purpose of this place is to have a black market.”

A city that has become a slum and is beyond the reach of security forces. There is a huge underground city hidden beneath the camouflage.

And there was a huge black market where all kinds of illegal items were traded.

Squeak – Squeak –

After going about ten meters further down the old stairs, an iron door appeared.

When

I opened it, a fairly wide tunnel-like space unfolded.

“Wow…”

A large number of people were coming and going along the dark and smoky passageway, as if they had entered a huge coal mine.

It was a somewhat hectic scene, like a scene from a Southeast Asian night market in the summer.

“Now, buy a stamina-boosting potion made from the lizardman’s tail!”

“You guys over there—why don’t you take a swamp psychedelic and go?”

And, befitting the name of the market, there was enthusiastic solicitation of customers from all directions.

In front of the unfamiliar scenery, Park Jun-mo turned his head around with a blank expression.

“Wow… there was a place like this in our country too…”

While looking around frantically, I ended up bumping into someone.

“Ah—what!”

Two men, large figures with tattoos all over their bodies, rolled their eyes.

Seeing that, Park Jun-mo cringed without knowing.

“—Gasp! I’m sorry!

“Ah! “I was distracted… I’m sorry!”

Park Jun-mo repeatedly bowed his head to the two large men and hurriedly caught up behind Lee Hyun-wook, who was ahead.

“Junmo Park just made a mistake.”

“…yes?”

“If you show your stupid side like that in this lawless world, it means you’re good prey.”

“Uh, then how should I deal with it?”

“Rather than making such a fuss, wouldn’t it have been better to emit an electric current and knock him out?”

Park Jun-mo slowly turned his head with a shocked expression.

“No, don’t look back. Acting impatient means you’re weak…”

But it was already too late.

“…!”

The moment I turned my head and looked behind me, I made eye contact with those big guys.

“Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook… I think they are following us now.”

Lee Hyun-wook nodded silently,

‘This is really bothering me.’

With just that brief clash, the guys seemed to have recognized the two as prey.

Lee Hyun-wook entered the crowd and looked at the metal weapons they were holding.

Two pistols, four daggers, and a few more…

But among them were : There was also a ‘Mana Messenger’.

Lee Hyun-wook attempted to hack there through ‘Mana Connection’.

They happened to be communicating with someone at the time.

– …Yes, those are the two guys going that way. Just looking at it, isn’t it their first time to criticize you?

– Really? I can’t see your face because you’re wearing a mask… Aren’t you touching me by mistake?

– No. He bumped into us and he was a complete idiot. And then, when I took a quick look, I saw that he had a wand or something on his waist? He was earning pocket money. I think it will work. It’s been a while since you’ve done something like this,

right? As expected…

As this was a lawless area, people like that were widespread. So, if you couldn’t protect yourself, you had no choice but to lose everything you had, and even losing your life was not an uncommon occurrence. – Jeonggyun, I don’t want the gatekeeper to know that I’m doing this side job, so let’s deal with it quietly. –

Yes,

you don’t have to worry about that.

But the word ‘gatekeeper’ stuck in Lee Hyun-wook’s mind among their communication.

‘Does it mention the gatekeeper? If you look at it, those are members of the [Red Hall] organization?’

Red Hall They were one of the three major powers that ruled this place and were an item trafficking brokerage organization.

‘If this happens… it would have worked out better.’

The person Lee Hyun-wook was looking for was a member of the Red Hall organization, and he was planning to approach them and make some kind of deal.

But if the situation turned out like this, there was no need to go through the trouble of looking for him.

Lee Hyun-wook continued walking, pretending not to notice that he was being followed.

“Lee Hyun -wook. “Sergeant, where should we go?”

“Park Jun-mo, can’t you tell just by looking at it? There is no safe place here.”

“Ah, then…”

Yes, in the end, I had no choice but to subdue it with force.

“…For now, just keep walking.”

This underground city was quite large. This was the result of repeated expansion since this place was created a dozen years ago.

Therefore, like an old city center, there were winding roads and dark alleys.

Jeopuk- Jeopuk-

Lee Hyun-wook intentionally entered a deserted alley.

Then, as if they had been waiting, three large figures appeared from the front and blocked the road.

And behind them, six people were approaching, filling the narrow alley.

“…….”

Lee Hyun-wook and Park Jun-mo eventually had no choice but to stop in the middle of the alley.

“Uh-huh… Hello friends? We met earlier, right?”

The number of people who appeared from both alleys was a total of 9.

“These guys seem to be new to this neighborhood. How about we give them a guide for a cheap price?”

“Okay let’s do it! “It’s so dangerous here, you never know when these weak friends will fall behind, right?”

Lee Hyun-wook slowly scanned the weapons they were carrying.

‘Looking at the belongings, there are at most two players and the rest are ordinary people.’

But that didn’t mean it wasn’t intimidating.

“Now, I’m warning you in advance, don’t do anything nonsense. Doesn’t this just look like a gun?”

Saying that, one man raised a pistol.

Come to think of it, they were all holding pistols. Colt M1911 was clearly a ‘normal’ firearm made with human technology.

‘But they probably made the bullets out of magic metal and enchanted them.’

In other words, a weapon of that caliber would be able to pierce the ‘barrier’ surrounding the body of a monster or player… It could at least threaten a C-level player.

Of course, you will be ruined after only a few shots due to the ‘mana wave’ that occurs at the same time as the trigger is triggered, but it is definitely one of the few effective ways to deal with players.

However, Lee Hyun-wook took a step forward with a smile on his face.

“…huh? “Brother, I think that idiot doesn’t know what to say.”

“Tsk, really? Those kids will realize it when you shoot them in the leg.”

As someone said that, the bald man in the lead pulled the trigger towards Hyun-wook Lee’s leg.

But…

tick—!

“Huh?”

Tick—tick—tick—tick—!

Nothing happened.

“Why is this—”

“Hey, what are you doing? Get out of the way!”

Tick—tick—tick—tick—!

Another of them pulled the trigger one after another, but the striker itself didn’t retreat at all.

“…That doesn’t seem to work with a shovel bullet. Can I check it?”

It was Lee Hyun-wook who said that in a sly voice.

And before he knew it, he was raising his left hand to chest level.

“—What are you doing, you bastard?”

At that moment, a magazine came out of their pistol.

“…Huh?”

Just—

then Lee Hyun-wook snapped his fingers and

he—now—that—now——!

The nine pistols completely disintegrated as if they were falling apart and began to scatter into the air.

“…….”

Looking at that strange scene, the guys became blank for a moment.

He seemed to have forgotten that he had to take out another weapon in front of an unimaginable scene.

“Yeah, as you saw, it’s our first time in this neighborhood, so…”

Lee Hyun-wook smiled as he approached them.

“…Can I ask for directions? We have to go down a little deeper.”

They didn’t answer, but they could only raise both hands and nod slowly.

Clunk-clack-clack-

nine guns were reassembled in the air and were aiming at their heads.