Steel-Eating Player - Chapter 83

Episode 83. [Incheon, Demon World, Black Market – 4]

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Hero (Superhero) Today, there are many people called by that title. .

It refers to the highest ‘ranker’ among players with exceptional skills.

Like heroes from myths and legends, they accomplish extraordinary feats with only their blood and blood.

However, Go Jun-cheol did not rate those types of people very highly.

‘They can prevent regional crises, but they cannot lead the order of the world.’

For example, there are people like Woo Seong-moon of South Korea, Gordon Price of the United States, and Akii Aishima of Japan

who control a country even if they are not active on the outside.

And they were the ‘giants’ that formed the central axis of this world.

Those big guys lay the boards, make the rules, and start the games.

Heroes are just… acting as ‘horses’ on it.

‘But this guy…’

Go Jun-cheol looked at Lee Hyun-wook.

Known as the savior of Seoul, he is an F-rated ‘control’ type player who

has achieved achievements worthy of the title ‘hero’.

Therefore, Go Jun-cheol thought that he was Woo Seong-moon’s new ‘horse’.

However, after speaking with him for a few words, my perception was bound to change.

Hugin, an agent of the government’s secret agency, the operator of Laputa, the manager of Laputa, and even the S-class player… This

was because all those outrageous names appeared one after another.

‘Yes, we have already established a significant position within the Korean government.’

Go Jun-cheol could sense that this young man was becoming a ‘big name’.

‘Perhaps it may become the core axis of this country, succeeding Woo Seong-moon.’

It wasn’t too much to think so. Woo Seong-moon could not reign as a key pillar of the government forever. That’s why the Korean player world was closely watching who his successor would be.

But just in time, such a talent appeared.

When he reached that point, Go Jun-cheol’s instincts were shouting.

‘We must not lose this man for the future of our village.’

Go Jun-cheol raised his head and looked into Lee Hyun-wook’s eyes.

“Lee Hyun-wook, among your many nicknames, can you add one line: Red Hall’s savior?”

Go Jun-cheol said and held out his hand to him.

“Yes, of course.”

Lee Hyun-wook held his hand.

He hid his expression, but inside he was happy.

‘Okay, that’s it. It was a successful conversation as expected.’

This man, Go Jun-cheol, was a person who had built up a huge presence in the underworld.

‘At the same time, he is also the orchestrator of the underworld who knows the extent of it.’

In other words, an alliance was created that would bring tremendous advantages in many ways.

‘And you will also have the opportunity to monopolize the [Hidden Stage] Adamant Mine in this dungeon.’

‘Adamant’, one of the legendary metals, is very rare.

Even if you catch dozens of elite monsters, at most one or two will fall.

Therefore, it costs 1.3-1.5 million won per 10g.

However, if it was a dormant mine, it was impossible to estimate how much it would be worth.

‘If that happens, it will be possible to make adamant rain…’

Even if the weight is the same, the power of ‘steel rain’ varies depending on its nature.

Anyway, that was something to worry about after handling this matter.

“But… I need something. Can you help me get it?”

“Well, whatever you say, nothing is hard to find here!”

Go Jun-cheol was a big player in the black market in Incheon, so he was able to get almost everything.

“Oh, but before that, I need someone.”

And Lee Hyun-wook planned to achieve the first goal naturally like this:

‘Okay, the benefits are rolling in like crazy.’

***

Redhall Village The population of this place was exactly 1345.

And all of them had no choice but to leave the real world for various reasons:

oppression of warlocks, false accusations, being chased by contracted player assassins instigated by a large guild, etc. It was a new home given to those who had been forced out of the country called Korea.

Therefore, the news that outsiders had come here was bound to be a very sensitive issue for them, and the atmosphere of the village was cold and they were keeping a close eye on the presence of strangers. .

Young men in particular were gathered in one corner of the village square as if preparing for battle.

“Damn that bastard!” “I don’t know what your intention is, but something is wrong with you!”

Among them, there were some who had been captured by Lee Hyun-wook, and

their necks were stained red, possibly due to the metal restraints Lee Hyun-wook had put on them.

“Does that mean you know how to remove the black vines?”

They remembered what the stranger had said the moment he encountered the high evolution cavalry:

“How on earth does he know that… so how is that possible?”

“I don’t know. I’m probably talking about it with the village chief right now…”

They’ve been waging war against the black vine for the past eight months, but without any results.

However, when someone came rolling in and said he would solve the difficult problem, everyone was shocked…

But the moment the stranger’s identity was revealed, everyone was very surprised.

“What what? That person… Lee Hyun-wook is the savior of Seoul—! Is that true?”

“Gasp—gasp—it’s true! I just went to the village chief’s house and saw him! Are you sure!”

“Wow, crazy…”

They occasionally visited the black market outside the gate, so they were able to hear news from outside intermittently. Among them, the most recent news was of course the ‘4th wave’.

In other words, it was impossible to not know the name Lee Hyun-wook.

“Wow…”

And, knowingly or unknowingly, their hearts grew warm upon hearing that heroic story.

The underdog hero’s actions in preventing a hellish event that occurred in the earthly world…

That’s why the cold atmosphere For an instant, I began to relax in a strange way.

“Ah! hey! “Now that I think about it, isn’t that ability that he used on us the ability to control metal?”

“Oh, that’s right! Now that I think about it, that was that ability?”

Even those who had been attacked by Lee Hyun-wook clapped their hands in renewed admiration.

“Ah, I should have recognized when I disassembled and reassembled 9 pistols in the blink of an eye!”

“Wow… Now that I think about it, wow, that was a really cool scene, right?”

The image of ‘Seoul’s savior’ that was spreading around the world was so strong

that they forgot the pain at the back of their neck that had turned dark red and exclaimed in admiration

. Their thoughts soon began to lean toward the idea that the man, Lee Hyun-wook, could do something.

At that time, the man standing in a corner was Two young men snorted at the same time,

“Hah, damn it… the hero is probably a fraud, that bastard.”

“So you’re saying it’s stupid to get caught up in something like that?”

Strangely enough, the people who were exchanging insults looked exactly the same.

They weren’t twins, but they looked exactly the same from head to toe.

“…Hey, Yeo Sangmin, why are you so excited all of a sudden?”

Yeo Sang-min, who was called that, was a 21-year-old man. The ‘men’ snorted.

“Hey, I know that better than you. “I am grade F.”

“That’s right, you bastards, do you know more about grade F than me?”

As the two Yeo Sang-min emphasized one by one, the expressions of the people around them hardened.

“This bastard is starting again… He turns his blind eye when he mentions the F grade…” “

Tsk tsk, that’s a disease too, man! “What are you going to do by clenching your teeth and denying it like that?”

Looking at their reactions, I could see that this is not the first time Yeo Sang-min has taken this kind of attitude.

He reacted that way whenever he heard the news of the F-grade hero Lee Hyun-wook.

“Just wait and see, Lee Hyun-wook or whatever, that bastard will soon be found out!”

Yeo Sang-min huffed and turned around.

“That bastard is a smart guy, but he’s emotional anyway…”

“How sad is it that he’s in F grade?”

***

Yeo Sangmin had non-growth characteristics… He was an F-grade player.

All he could do was create one ‘alter ego’.

And what he could do with such a unique ability was…

‘When farming, shoveling is 2. There’s nothing to it except that you can double….’

But from some point on, stories about F-grade heroes filled the world.

Lee Hyun-wook, the hero who protected Seoul in the 4th wave…

Yeo Sang-min realized that an F-grade hero like himself was a hero. I wasn’t particularly happy to hear that I had done it.

What should I say? When a friend who I thought was in the same situation as me suddenly tells me

that he is doing well, should I say that it is like wanting to deny it rather than being happy about it?…

‘What? Grade F saved Seoul and now He’s saying he’s going to save us…’

When he arrived home, his 14-year-old brother jumped up from the bed.

“Brother! Did you hear that? The identity of the man who came to the village today—”

“—I know!”

“Why are you so annoyed?”

Yeo Sang-min’s younger brother Yeo Sang-jun made a bewildered expression at Yeo Sang-min’s sharp answer.

“Hey! Don’t be fooled by nonsense! How can an F grade save Seoul?”

“No, you said you achieved that feat—” “

—No matter how you do it, you can block the wave? I told you it was all a scam from the country!”

Even if he really made a great performance, he would have been S-rank, not F-rank. It is common for countries or guilds to hide the existence of S-ranks for a while, so they held a splendid debut ceremony. He believed that. “No,

bro

! “My dad said that the potential of a player is endless… One of my dad’s friends is a blacksmith and he used to kill orcs with a great sword. I think there must be something different about it.”

At those words, Yeo Sang-min’s impression was further frowned upon.

‘Dad used to say such nonsense as a habit.’

Even though his father was kicked out of the earth and came to this place, he never lost hope and

always praised the players’ strength and praised them as heroes.

The reason was that when my father was on earth, he served real heroes and S-rank players.

‘Truly, when I think about it now, it was no different from fanaticism!’

As a child, Yeo Sang-min grew up hearing stories about ‘heroes’ from his father, and

he also vaguely thought of players as cool heroes.

And when Yeo Sang-min awakened as a player, his father was very happy.

However, when he succeeded in hunting for the first time,

but did not gain ‘experience points’…

‘Dad’s hard expression at that time…’

He could not forget that scene at that moment.

The father didn’t show it, but he must have hated the fact that his son had an F grade.

“Hey, Yeo Sang-jun, do you know that? Dad hasn’t talked about it even once since it was revealed that I was in F grade. He realized that his son has no chance of being in F grade….” “

…. …”

“And wasn’t your father also a player with no chance of success and couldn’t come back?”

“No, bro! No matter how annoyed you are, you’re not saying that—!”

…The legends of players that he had heard so many times as a child were all lies. After realizing

that the possibility was

not available to everyone,

he had no choice but to look at the world differently.

Boom—thud—

Then, there was a knock on the door.

“Hey.” ! Yeo Sangmin! “Are you home?”

The person who came to visit him was Oh Dal-seong, one of the village’s executives and the village chief’s closest associate.

“Chief Yeo Sang-min is looking for you right now.”

“…Yes? Why? “I didn’t do anything?”

The village chief, Go Jun-cheol, never called me personally, except when he was admonishing me.

“No, to be exact, it is what the customer is looking for.”

“yes? If you are a guest…”

“Have you heard the news yet? “Lee Hyun-wook, the savior of Seoul, has come to our village.”

“…….”

“But hmm, I don’t know why such a great person needs you.”

***

Blah blah blah——

A black writhing figure was slowly approaching from afar, accompanied by a strange sound.

The vine colony penetrates the ground and spreads out, sucking up all the moisture in the ground.

And then it rises above the ground and tumbles over, crushing everything that grows on it.

So one day it would cover the entire land.

“…Damn, they ate up the western forest in just one week.”

Go Jin-hwa pointed somewhere.

But… there was nothing there.

There was only a cloud of sand and dust raised by Swallow.

“… It was a pretty big forest.”

According to what she said, the terrain there was lush with greenery until a week ago.

“And now… it’s coming towards the central reservoir here.”

Central Reservoir This huge water hole was the last remaining water source in Redhall Village.

“Ha… If even this place is consumed, we will really have to leave this land. “You can buy water and drink it from outside, but the land will die completely, so it will eventually become uninhabitable.”

Extreme changes in the ecosystem… it was not a problem that could be solved with money.

“Don’t worry. This last reservoir will be fine. And the land will be restored soon.”

“…Yes, I believe it.”

“But are the items I asked for coming?”

“Um… Ah! You’re here at the right time.”

I could see five wagons approaching this direction along the simple road.

“But what on earth is ‘Red Moonlight Herb’ used for?”

The red moonlight herb requested by Lee Hyun-wook was a common and perhaps useless herb that blooms in dungeons in the grassland terrain. For a herb, it had no physical recovery effect, only a geothermal effect.

But no one knew that it would be the key to preventing the apocalypse called ‘Swallow’.

“Think of this as a kind of herbicide to combat them.”

“Herbicide? Am I serious? “A grass that’s this common?”

Gao Jin-hwa looked in disbelief as he grabbed a handful of red moonlight herbs.

“No matter how strong a fire is, there is an absolute compatibility with putting it out by pouring water on it.”

In general, all beings in nature have something called ‘nature.’

So, while there are things that are harmonious with each other, there are also things that are terrible opposites.

And this law is the same for the ecosystem of the other world.

‘The hemostatic effect of the red moonlight herb. The secret was to restrict the flow of moisture.’

And it turns out that the swallows that absorb the ingredient die within a few minutes.

Based on that information, they began developing a ‘herbicide’ to eliminate the swallows that covered the Amazon.

In this way, they succeeded in putting an end to the swallow crisis in just three months. Lee Hyun-wook observed:

‘Of course, right now it is not possible to create an object containing such a substance.’

However, if we used temporary measures, we could somehow eradicate them.

At that time, a familiar face got out of a carriage.

‘And I’ve finally found Yeo Sang-min.’

He was the first mate of the core crew of the super-large airship ‘Gate Sentinel.’ ‘

He later creates dozens of alter egos, and all of those alter egos share the same senses.’

In other words, simply securing one crew member named Yeo Sang-min and training him properly was the same as acquiring dozens of crew members, and he was able to identify and respond to all phenomena occurring within the ship at once. ‘The efficiency he showed in his prime was like a kind of supercomputer

. ‘There was none.’ He

was able to immediately handle the problems that arose on that huge ship without complicated communication. However,

he looked somewhat sullen right now.

‘As far as I know, he was quite a smart person… But I guess this time is different…’

He said . He looked sideways at Lee Hyun-wook and approached Go Jin-hwa.

“…I heard you were looking for me.”

“How are you? “This person, not me, was looking for it.”

Lee Hyun-wook held out his hand to Yeo Sang-jin.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Lee Hyun-wook.”

However, Yeo Sang-min did not take Lee Hyun-wook’s outstretched hand.

“……I am Yeo Sang-min. But there was one thing I wanted to ask. “Isn’t that an F grade over there?”

A question that came out of nowhere. For some reason, the words and actions were quite aggressive.

“Hey! What’s wrong with you, kid?”

“…Oh, it’s okay.”

Lee Hyun-wook smiled brightly at Yeo Sang-min.

“I called you because I have a favor to ask of you, Yeo Sang-min.”

“Yes? How on earth do you know me?”

Instead of answering, Lee Hyun-wook shrugged his shoulders.

“What… and what on earth can I do about something like this…” “

Well, I may not be able to do it, but I called you because I believed in your potential.”

No, I mean possibility. .. Yeo Sang-min frowned at that part.

As a matter of fact, the annoying person said the words he hated the most.

“Judging by the look on your face, you’re thinking that there’s a possibility of getting an F grade?” “

……. “

I was wondering how he knew that, but Yeo Sang-min didn’t answer.

“I understand, I’ve been thinking that way for quite a while longer than you.”

“…But no matter what, if you ask me to walk there, I can’t go.”

He declared as he looked at the waves of black vines wriggling in the distance.

He knew very well what would happen if he got close to them.

It was a foolish act of suicide.

At that time, Hyunwook Lee shook his head.

“No, don’t worry. “I’m not going to walk.”

“Then are you going to fly away?”

“Yes, I saw it clearly.”

“…yes?”

Sangmin Yeo stared at his face, wondering what this meant.

‘…Are you telling a joke like that with such a serious face?’

But then, black smoke began to flow from Lee Hyun-wook’s right hand.

Siyi——

And in his hand was a white shield.

“…shield?”

However, Lee Hyun-wook threw the shield far away.

“Yeo Sang-min… I did the same thing, but are you judging only what you see and hear right in front of you?”

“…Huh? What does that mean?”

“So, we are trapped by the rules arbitrarily set by others, called F grade.”

At that moment when I wonder what kind of old-fashioned advice this is…

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

That small white shield turned into a huge white metal lump—an airship. Lee

Hyun-wook held Yeo Sang-min’s shoulder as he gazed at the scene in fascination. “ If

you come with me, I can tell you what your potential is.”