A Player Who Eats Metal

Chapter 54: Heroes of Seoul

< Chapter 54. Heroes of Seoul – 3 >

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"Wha, what is this…?"

Park Junmo's body was absorbing the current from the lightning.

He stared blankly into the void.

He was probably seeing some ‘system message'.

But he quickly came to his senses and reached out his hand towards the high-level dark magician on the rooftop.

Then, a bluish current began to emerge from his body.

Zzzzt——!

The current intertwined and elongated, turning into something like a spear.

"Wow, that's… amazing, isn’t it?"

Park Junmo threw that ‘spear of lightning' with all his might at the boss monster.

Flash— In the blink of an eye, a blue streak drew between his hand and the rooftop.

Boom——!

The rooftop's railing crumbled completely, and chunks of concrete poured down.

But the high-level dark magician dodged the attack by flying backward.

Vroom—

But that wasn't the end.

As Park Junmo spread out his arms, the spear of lightning expanded like a net,

And it enveloped and gripped the fiend.

Zzzzt——!

The high-level dark magician's body was swept up by the bluish current and thrown backward.

Still, as expected of a boss monster,

Even while being electrocuted, it glared with wide eyes, preparing a teleportation spell.

But at that moment, Lee Hyunwook reached out his left hand towards the fiend,

And dozens of spears, including Failnaught, shot out.

Being in an electrocuted state, it couldn't react in time.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Swish! Thud!

In an instant, a total of 22 spears pierced its body in various places.

And then…

‘Shatter!'

Crack—k—k—k!

…There couldn't have been a more decisive finish.

[Congratulations! You have defeated the boss monster ‘High-Level Dark Magician (Red Orc)'!]

"It's truly over…"

With this, all obstructions guarding the erosion factor have been eliminated.

Lee Hyunwook activated his Living Armors to eliminate the remaining enemies and turned on the Mana Messenger.

"The situation is over, evacuate the civilians and clean up the scene. And… Park Junmo, come up."

After giving the order, he immediately began to search the rooftop.

Soon, he found the ‘erosion factor’ that had been hidden beneath a pile of stones at the altar.

Root clusters stretching from it pierced through the department store and went all the way down to the underground.

In just three days, the entirety of Gangnam was set to be covered by the roots of this demonic tree.

‘Such a wretched sight won’t be reproduced.'

By eliminating this, the forest of buildings in Gangnam won't transform into the ‘ruins of the devil’.

In other words, a significant part of Seoul can be saved.

Lee Hyunwook tore the World Stone tangled in the roots and crushed it in an instant.

Crash—

[‘World Stone (Wave)' has been destroyed!]

Roar—

The gate that was open on one side of the rooftop began to collapse.

And just like when he acquired the Mogley, the moment the gate disappeared, an item was generated.

Woosh—

Lee Hyunwook reached out and grabbed it. It was a small, round object.

[Acquired Misteltein's Seed (Unknown)]

‘Finally…'

[Item Information]

-Name: Misteltein's Seed (Unknown)

-Effect: None

In Norse mythology, the weapon Misteltein that killed Odin's son, the god of light, ‘Balder', was said to be a branch of mistletoe, and this item follows that legend.

However, being an item with multiple scam-like properties, it didn't drop in a complete state.

To use this seed, one had to plant it in the ground and devote much time and effort to sprout a ‘sapling' from it.

But there was a problem. This mistletoe was a ‘parasitic tree'.

That is, it's a plant that grows by parasitizing other trees. A nourishing tree would have to be found for it.

‘…I can't attach it to just any tree. It has to be at least a divine tree.'

The ‘World Tree' located in the heart of Africa would be ideal, but that was currently impossible.

In many ways, just having the seed didn't mean one could immediately see its power.

‘But it's a great relief that the villains didn't get their hands on it.'

The number of heroes killed by this weapon, that Lee Hyunwook knew of, reached dozens. Even if they had an extraordinarily powerful defense and vitality, Misteltein ‘ignored' all of that.

‘Someday, when I manage to grow it, I can ask Kang Hee-seol to modify it into a weapon I can use.'

Lee Hyunwook tucked the seed deep into his pocket.

There was also much gained from this battle.

He acquired two items from the boss monster, the high-level dark magician.

[Acquired Dark Wood Wand (Rare)]

[Acquired Ancient Coin of the Underground Kingdom]

‘This wand can be given to Park Junmo.'

In fact, as seen earlier, Park Junmo's ‘current control' was perfectly possible even with his bare hands.

However, a wand could still serve as a medium for channeling abilities, acting somewhat like an antenna.

Of course, if one day he achieves a ‘control sense' like Lee Hyunwook, there won't be a need to use a wand.

Then he checked the second item, the ‘Ancient Coin of the Underground Kingdom'.

Although it's metal, absorbing this would not grant any notable ability.

‘I can use this when the dwarf race appears in the future.'

Not all monsters emerging from the gate were hostile.

Some possessed significant intelligence and interacted with humans upon their debut.

The dwarf race was one such example.

In the future, they would appear in various parts of the world, establishing villages and engaging in friendly interactions with humans. Their item crafting techniques and level of magical engineering were unmatched by any human blacksmith.

This ‘Ancient Coin of the Underground Kingdom' was the highest denomination among the dwarves. Currently, it might just be considered a ‘junk item', but its value would change once the dwarves appeared.

‘Tsk, everything I gained today… I can't use any of it right away…'

Anyway, by the time he finished searching for items, Park Junmo came up to the rooftop.

"Sir… Sergeant Lee Hyunwook…"

The guy seemed somewhat dazed.

"I… I just saw a very strange… system message."

Lee Hyunwook nodded.

"I know. You don’t need to explain."

He could understand without hearing it. It would have been a message about ability growth.

"Ah! So, Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, you too have experienced—!"

Upon hearing Lee Hyunwook's words, Park Junmo nodded as if he had anticipated it.

Being of the same F rank as Lee Hyunwook, he had noticed his extraordinary growth method.

"Listen closely, Park Junmo. Don't tell anyone about that and don’t let it show."

"Excuse me?"

"You don’t want to be subjected to human experimentation, do you?"

"…"

At that, Park Junmo's expression turned rigid.

Human experimentation…

After all, if an F-rank ability, known for its non-growth trait, suddenly improved, it would be more than just an issue. It would become a research subject, and agents with sunglasses straight out of movies might come looking for him…

Imagining such a scene, Park Junmo naively nodded again and again.

"Yes! I'll keep my mouth shut!”

Of course, publicizing the method of ability growth was never a good idea.

‘For now, if they ask, I can simply say that Park Junmo achieved a feat like me.’

While such a lie might be exposed eventually, it was essential to delay it as much as possible.

‘So, is his method of power growth being electrocuted… or is it from lightning?'

The growth methods for abilities outside of the standard level often bordered on the absurd.

It would need further confirmation, but it was likely that Park Junmo's method wasn’t simply "exposure" to current.

‘Inferno,’ known to improve its power when exposed to fire, in reality, had to be exposed to a fire of over 1,000 degrees Celsius. That's why they had set up a massive furnace in their residence.

‘There's probably a condition involving a certain amount of voltage or current.’

Still, Park Junmo’s method was relatively conventional.

‘It sounds more plausible than me having to swallow chunks of metal, right?'

Of course, there were many methods even more bizarre than Lee Hyunwook’s.

‘But the funniest of all was Han Taesan's method.'

Lee Hyunwook thought of Han Taesan and couldn't help but chuckle twice.

Ranked second among Korean players and known as Gwonwang (Feudal Lord), Han Taesan was always famous for his ‘closed-door training.'

Every time he emerged from such training, he returned much stronger.

Thus, his closed-door training had a mystique, seen as the austere practice of a true martial artist.

But the reality was…

‘He locks himself in a basement where no one can see and does 10,000 sit-ups every day, doesn’t he?’

The Gwonwang, in order to enhance his abilities, had to do sit-ups all day long – morning, noon, and night…

That was the sole complex and Achilles' heel of Han Taesan, a man overflowing with self-esteem.

Imagining Han Taesan, sweating profusely as he kept doing sit-ups even now,

Lee Hyunwook chuckled once again.

* * *

About an hour later, the situation was nearing its final stages of resolution.

"Everyone, we'll be heading to the shelter soon. Ah! If anyone is injured, please let us know at any time!”

Civilians rescued were boarding the four buses that had been prepared in advance.

On the other hand, Lee Hyunwook gathered the players who had fought alongside him.

“Everyone, you've done a tremendous job. Even though we suffered some losses, we saved many lives.”

At Lee Hyunwook's words, the players nodded, but their expressions were somewhat awkward.

"As for us… aside from witnessing incredible scenes, we didn't really do much."

"I was truly amazed. Steel Battalion, you all truly deserve the title of heroes."

"I admit it! I learned so much seeing how calm and systematic you all were in every aspect!"

Each expressed their admiration in turn.

What they saw of the Steel Battalion's actions were mostly unbelievable feats.

If they could survive this Wave, those tales would surely become the highlight of their future gatherings.

"But to think you removed two erosion factors… It's like you're the real saviors of Seoul."

At that comment, Lee Hyunwook shook his head.

"We shouldn’t be too optimistic yet. This catastrophe isn’t over."

"Right…"

Even though two erosion factors had been removed, the Wave was still ongoing.

"It's not something we can handle on our own. I'd appreciate it if all of you continue to exert efforts to overcome this calamity. In just two days, the fate of Seoul will be determined."

At his words, everyone nodded.

"Yes, of course!"

"Right. If we don't fight, who will?"

Even though they were initially startled by the appearance of the World Boss Monster, their spirits had been rekindled after witnessing the Steel Battalion's valiant efforts.

“From now on, we plan to spend the night at the A Elementary School shelter. If you’d like to join us, although it might be a bit cramped, there are seats available on the trucks and buses.”

As Lee Hyunwook spoke, his eyes were fixed on three men standing at the back.

They were from the Taesan Guild, subordinates of Choi Minseong.

‘They must’ve realized halfway that their scheme failed, but they didn’t flee?’

Lee Hyunwook had thought that they might try to escape the moment the barrier disappeared.

Therefore, he had instructed Kim Se-hee to keep a close watch on them and subdue them if necessary.

However, for some reason, they had stayed close by, faces as impassive as if they were wearing masks.

‘They probably assessed that there's no immediate danger and chose to stay a bit longer to understand the situation better.’

Lee Hyunwook came to that conclusion.

And it seemed their assessment of the situation had finally concluded.

The three men began to discreetly slip away from the group.

"Hey, where are you going? It's getting late; you should take our truck."

Park Junmo approached them and subtly inquired.

"Ha-ha… We'll move separately. We have a guild office nearby.”

"Oh, I see. And… I'm sorry about what happened to your colleagues.”

Park Joon-mo nodded his head respectfully.

"…No, it's okay. They died doing a good deed, so they probably won't hold any grudges."

With those words, they quickly left the spot.

* * *

About 5 minutes later, the three men were standing in an alleyway a considerable distance away from the department store.

"Sigh… Damn it, what on earth happened?"

"See! I told you it was messed up!"

From the moment the barrier around the department store disappeared, they realized something had gone awry.

But they couldn't be certain of the failure and fled just from that.

Because… no matter how they thought about it, it was a plan that couldn't fail.

So at first, they believed that Choi Minseong had hurriedly modified the plan for some reason.

However, as time passed, there was no sign of Choi Minseong.

Only then were they forced to admit it.

That the plan had utterly failed…

"Damn it! If the Vice Leader didn't change the plan inside, what then? I told you! He just failed and died inside!"

"Ugh… But how on earth could that happen? What will we say when the Team Leader asks? That we just didn't see the Team Leader and it happened? Damn… We need to verify what happened, right?"

"This is driving me crazy…"

There were more questions than answers.

"Isn't it weird? At the very least, they should've questioned or doubted us, right?"

If the plan had gone as intended, Choi Minseong's group would have targeted the Steel Battalion's lives.

In the process, there was a high chance they would've been exposed for allying with the monsters.

But instead, they were completely ignored and even received words of concern and apologies.

Of course, they couldn't take those words at face value, but it was confusing in many ways for them.

"Damn it, where did it go wrong? And who the hell are those guys?"

There was not a single part they could guess about.

"Come on, regardless of what happened, we have no choice but to join up with Vice Leader Chu."

At that, the other two men nodded in agreement.

"Yes, if it's him… if he decides to, he could easily handle the likes of those guys."

With the A-rank player, Chu Gyoyong, someone like Steel Battalion was nothing.

"Hey, we don't have the eyes to see right now. Get out the mana messenger."

"Yeah, let's contact the main force and report this fact—ugh!"

For some reason, one of the men couldn't finish his sentence and suddenly fell forward.

The other two looked down at him, and there was a bloody hole in his neck.

The two exchanged shocked glances.

At that moment…

“Ugh!”

Something pierced the neck of another man and shot out.

It was a silver arrow.

"Ah!"

The arrow headed straight for the last remaining man,

who stumbled backward until he hit a wall.

Suddenly, the arrow stopped just in front of his throat.

Whoom—

"Please, spare me!"

Frozen in place, unable to move, he trembled and darted his eyes from side to side.

"Please, let me live!”

He cried out desperately, looking left and right again.

However, there was no one around.

Then, a shadow loomed over him from above.

He swallowed dryly and raised his head.

"It seems you have many questions…"

The commander of the Steel Battalion, Lee Hyunwook, was floating in the sky.

"Ah…."

His body descended very slowly towards the ground as if defying gravity.

"….Have you found any answers?"

The Failnaught touching the man's throat spun around.

It seemed like it could pierce his soft flesh at any moment.

"Choke! Please, spare me! I don't know anything!"

Lee Hyunwook nodded.

"Fine, I'll only ask one thing, and if you know the answer, just tell me that."

"…"

"Where is the Monster Tamer’s ‘Heart Box’?"

"What? How do you…"

The man's eyes widened. It was a question he had not anticipated.

Lee Hyunwook smiled faintly.

"…You know, don't you? Then, can you answer?"

"…"

“I’ll ask again. Where is the Monster Tamer’s Heart Box?”

A Monster Tamer captures monsters and makes them their own.

Most bond with these monsters instead of controlling them.

Taming a powerful and aggressive monster was very challenging.

Yet, Chu Gyoyong managed to do it and thus was recognized as the top Monster Tamer.

His secret was the ‘Heart Box’, which stored the extracted hearts of monsters.

Using it, he could control even the most rebellious monsters, turning them into nearly indestructible beings.

So, destroying that was the key to incapacitating the A-ranked player, Chu Gyoyong.

"I, I can’t….tell…."

Lee Hyunwook forcefully opened the man's mouth and began to shove something inside.

"My method might be a bit unconventional than what you're used to."

Despite trying to resist swallowing, the unknown substance made its way down the man's throat.

“Cough—gulp—”

He swallowed it all.

Immediately after, Lee Hyunwook pointed to the man’s stomach.

And he began to draw circles with his finger.

“Aggghh!”

The man felt indescribable pain as if his insides were being torn apart.

Right. What Lee Hyunwook fed him were tiny shards of metal.

“Khhhhh—”

Lee Hyunwook covered the man’s mouth and whispered.

“Think carefully. No matter what your organization plans next, you will die here.”

"…"

"You can choose: peacefully or painfully."

Choke…

Lee Hyunwook believed in the effectiveness of this straightforward approach.

A result he derived from countless uses in his past life.

‘Villains are predominantly selfish and evil. It’s their nature.’

Receiving a ‘villain quest’ begins with their selfish and wicked acts.

Organizations made up of such people rarely have loyalty.

That's why they implant a ‘latent magic’ in their members, holding their lives hostage, and ensuring discipline.

So, if one were to make the experience unbearably painful for them…

‘Lower-tier members of the organization would easily betray for a peaceful death.’

The final card prepared by Ki Baek-jun began to slowly reveal itself.