A Player Who Eats Metal

Chapter 65: Conspiracy, Quest, Demon

< Chapter 65: Conspiracy, Quest, Demon – 2 >

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About 30 seconds ago,

After leaving the M9 daggers behind him, Lee Hyunwook boldly threw himself towards the event zone, within the wall created by illusion magic.

And he infused mana into the ‘Ring of Gygax'.

[The ‘Invisibility' magic of the Ring of Gygax is in effect. (Remaining time: 29 seconds)]

The time given to Lee Hyunwook was merely 30 seconds, but he did not rush.

First, he simply bypassed the two guys with shields blocking the entrance.

"Hey, didn't someone just come in?”

"Yeah, but there's no one… Ah! It’s a stealth spell!”

They caught on faster than expected.

After all, they had noticed him entering in the first place.

However, Lee Hyunwook was unfazed.

‘Moving hastily will only reveal my presence.’

He calmly walked further into the cave, examining the ‘Event Map’ all around.

The ‘Event Map' referred to a supernatural space formed under special circumstances.

Unlike ‘dungeons', which existed in an entirely different dimension, this was a real physical space, transformed into a completely different scene.

Thus, a ‘secret cave' was formed beneath the shops.

‘And the opening of the event map is a sign of some incident.’

He began to grasp the characteristics of the cave to understand the details.

‘Metallic terrain, eerie murals, the smell of sulfur…'

There was a kind of ‘theme’ to the Event Map.

And the theme here was…

‘… a demon’s secret altar.’

As overheard in the earlier conversation, it was indeed related to ‘demons’.

And the various engravings on the wall… most of them depicted ‘swarms of insects’.

He knew very well the name of the demon those depicted.

‘Abaddon…’

Abaddon is a demon mentioned in the <Book of Revelation>, the king of locusts, representing the abyss itself and a symbol of catastrophic destruction.

That implied a quest to summon it in Seoul was underway.

‘In Paris, France, there was an instance where Abaddon, along with three demons, descended.’

According to Lee Hyunwook's memory, it was after the 4th wave occurred, and shortly after the Saint was assassinated.

It was a massive assault targeting the moment when the most potent holy weapon, the Saint, was gone.

‘Meaning, they have advanced some planned scheme up their schedule. I need to find out what’s happening.’

He quickly moved further into the cave and soon reached the end of the passage.

Three people were blocking that point.

Two archers, one wizard.

Their voices could be heard.

“… He must be an assassin class player who can use stealth skills, be careful.”

"If so, he could approach without making a sound, so light the floor on fire—”

At these words, the man at the back—the wizard—raised his staff.

Whooosh!

Flames poured out from the tip of the staff, turning the narrow passage floor into a sea of fire.

It was a plausible deduction with an excellent response but…

"Uh… it seems like there's nothing?”

"We're sure someone came in, where the hell are they?”

The reason it was futile was simple.

Lee Hyunwook had cast ‘Strengthening' on his entire body and floated up to stick to the ceiling with metal control.

Just as he leisurely passed over their heads…

[The magic of the Ring of Gygax is in effect. (Remaining time: 2 seconds)]

Regrettably, the skill time had expired.

As Lee Hyunwook slowly descended behind them, he attempted ‘Metal Creation' with both hands.

Zzuzzuzzuzz—

That strange sound slowly resonated throughout the cave.

"—Huh?”

The two sensitive archer players caught the sound and swiftly turned around, but,

It was already too late.

Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!

"—Ugh!”

One after the other, black spikes pierced into the necks of the three, killing them instantly.

But now that his stealth skill was off, he could no longer hide.

"—F*ck, who is that!”

From the wide terrain inside the cave, a shout burst from the hollow.

"Over there, he’s standing there!”

Lee Hyunwook hardened his face, making it look as though he wore an ‘iron mask’, and slowly turned around while levitating all the arrows scattered on the ground.

Eight people emerged from the hollow inside, a much larger number than expected.

There were some without metal on them, which Lee Hyunwook had failed to detect.

And there were also the two who he had bypassed at the entrance, making it a total of ten.

“What are you doing! Surround that bastard!”

At the command of the man who seemed like the leader, with a mustache, the nine began to surround Lee Hyunwook.

‘What, foreigners.’

They seemed Hispanic.

But communication was no problem.

System-wise, player conversations were automatically translated.

“Hey, bastard, who are you?”

The mustached man said while taking something out of his pocket.

A mana messenger, he seemed to be trying to send a mana communication to the other team…

"Oi, why isn’t this working, damn it!"

For some reason, it seemed to malfunction.

Of course, it was because of Lee Hyunwook.

He synchronized with it and forced a ‘communication termination'.

"Why, trying to report to the police?”

At Lee Hyunwook’s sarcastic joke, the man put the mana messenger away, glaring.

"You, fucker, where did you roll in from all of a sudden? And what’s with that shitty mask…”

Lee Hyunwook had hastily created a mask using Strengthening to hide his identity.

Now that he had become famous, it was necessary to be extremely cautious about identity exposure.

“A Korean being in Korea and you ask where I rolled in from, a bit of an incomprehensible question… It looks like you guys illegally entered our country. You know player smuggling is a serious crime, right?”

As Lee Hyunwook said this and took a step forward, the mustached man scoffed.

"Hey, you're properly surrounded now, are you acting cocky thinking you can escape?"

Lee Hyunwook shrugged his shoulders and slowly looked around.

Within the cave of about 3m in width, there were 10 opponents.

Certainly, they had him surrounded without any gaps.

However…

‘This terrain, it's filled with metal.’

This cave was a metal mine.

Meaning, it was a place laden with dungeon iron ore, and by consequence the best battlefield for him.

"Get a grip, you weird masked yellow monkey! You're completely surrounded!”

"Hehe— Even if you use stealth or something, you can't get out now!”

They slowly tightened the encirclement, beginning to shout out such remarks one by one.

In response, Lee Hyunwook tilted his head slightly.

"…Actually, it's not me who's surrounded, it's all of you."

As he said this, raising his hands slowly, laughter erupted from all around.

"That doesn’t make any sense! Just kill him—”

The mustached man yelled, attempting to give an attack order when—

Koo—goo—goo—goo—goo——!

Suddenly, the entire cave began to vibrate.

The charging foes reflexively halted.

"Hey! What’s this?”

"…Is it, an earthquake?”

Lee Hyunwook reached out above their heads.

"No, it’s not an earthquake.”

"…What?”

"You guys have been in my mouth from the beginning.”

“This crazy bastard, just shoot him—!”

Before the mustached man’s words could end, all sorts of magic flew towards Lee Hyunwook.

Bang—! Bang—! Bang—! Bang—!

Flames, electricity, and magic missiles mixed together, creating a strangely beautiful but dreadful spectacle.

But after the smoke cleared, they were left only with shock at the revealed scene.

"How did he…”

Lee Hyunwook stood there, unmoved.

His body had turned hard like metal, and a shimmering ‘mana shield’ was boiling all over him.

It had taken damage from the magic attack, but the attacks hadn't hadn’t broken through.

‘With a few more levels of Strengthening, I won’t need to rely on Seo Eunha.’

Lee Hyunwook smiled, looking at them.

"Now it's my turn. I'll chew you up whole—Shatter—!”

Kwa—ang——!

With a thunderous noise, the ceiling suddenly collapsed, and two were crushed under the heavy debris.

The rest hurriedly retreated, taking defensive positions.

But there was nowhere to escape in this narrow cave.

Creak—! Crack—!

The ceiling, walls, and floor cracked, and chunks of rock came pouring down.

"Ugh, damn it, retreat for now!”

Retreating, something flew at them through the misty smoke.

Pick— Pick— Pick— Pick—

Before they knew it, the ‘dungeon steel spears,' sharply transformed through ‘Metal Morphing,' flew in like throwing stars and embedded themselves in various parts of their bodies.

"—Ugh!”

"Damn! He’s going all out! Protect your vitals!”

But there was nowhere to dodge in this narrow cave.

Lee Hyunwook positioned a massive number of dungeon iron spears above their heads,

‘Shatter —!’

And burst them all at once.

Kwa—gwa—gwa—gwa—gwang——!

Chain explosions,

Just like dynamite exploding within a mine, dusty smoke billowed along the passage.

“Ugh….”

"Kuh, kuh— Sa, save….”

As the thunderous noise subsided, all that remained were miserable moans.

Lee Hyunwook slowly walked into the smoke.

* * *

Lee Hyunwook stood at the end of the cave.

In the expansive cavern illuminated by lanterns, three ‘Magical Engineering Drills’ were placed on one side of the wall.

It seemed like some mining operation was going on here.

“Is this it…”

Mixed with the ordinary dungeon iron stones in the basket, something was shimmering purple.

Lee Hyunwook placed his palm on it.

[You do not have any authority to mine ‘Fragments of Catastrophe (4th Wave)'!]

‘Fragments of Catastrophe…’

Contextually, it felt like some evil force scattered after the conclusion of the 4th Wave.

And it seemed like a mechanism to resurrect the demon ‘Abaddon’ by collecting this.

"…Now, I’ll ask one more thing."

Lee Hyunwook said, looking down at someone lying at his feet.

"Ugh…."

It was the leader of this work site, the mustached man.

His arms and legs were filled with sharp restraints created by ‘Metal Morphing’,

And in his belly, Lee Hyunwook’s ‘special torture technique’ had been injected.

Lee Hyunwook gripped his throat, opening his mouth,

“…So, you've been doing this work since the day before yesterday?”

"Yes, yes…"

The ‘Devil's Claws’ that filled the underground parking lot were prepared for this operation.

It emptied the entire shopping complex while acting as some kind of guard.

“The reason for collecting such things is definitely for a quest, what is the content of that quest?”

“…I, I don’t know.”

Lee Hyunwook sighed and lifted a finger, swirling it around.

"Aaaaah——”

The man opened his mouth wide, shivering.

About ten pieces of metal inside his stomach started to move, forming a circle.

"I, I really don’t, don’t know— I, I'm just a lowly grunt, I don’t know anything!”

“Sigh… I told you, if you lie, you won’t die easily…"

Through the mana messenger eavesdropping, I had already heard this man asking someone about the progress of the quest.

Meaning, he would have known about it at least vaguely.

"…Abaddon, you're trying to resurrect it, aren’t you?”

When Lee Hyunwook mentioned that name, bewilderment spread across the man’s face.

“Choke— How, how do you… Right, you are a, a Guardian—!”

Guardian… well, from the villain’s perspective, there was nothing else to deduce.

"No, the Guardians, those self-righteous guys probably don’t know a thing.”

Regrettably, the lofty group known as the Guardians hadn’t been able to properly tail even the rear end of the villains.

It was because an insider named Gordon Price had been very cunningly obstructing them at every turn so masterfully that they still hadn't noticed the existence of the organization known as ‘villains'.

‘Especially the Guardians at this time, although individually strong, as a group were quite powerless.’

Then at that moment, something popped up in front of him.

[You have received a quest(!)]

‘A quest?’

[Event Quest]

[Witness to Lurking Evil, Become the Vanguard of Justice!]

-You are the first to witness the nefarious plan unfolding underground and have succeeded in thwarting their initial plan.

-If you wish, you may continue to track down the roots of evil.

[Do you accept the quest? (Y/N)]

‘What the…'

Lee Hyunwook frowned at the sudden event quest.

No, the mechanism of quest activation was originally like this.

Touching some hidden ‘switch', and it pops out,

Probably mentioning or hearing ‘Abaddon’ was the switch.

‘…I have no choice but to accept this.’

Lee Hyunwook chose ‘Y', and the details of the quest appeared.

[Event Quest]

-Witness to Lurking Evil, Become the Vanguard of Justice!

-Thwart the resurrection of the demon ‘Abaddon'! (In Progress)

-Eliminate as many ‘Demon Worshippers (players)' as possible! (In Progress)

-Destroy as many ‘Demon's Secret Altars (event maps)' as possible! (In Progress)

[Reward: Will be distributed based on performance.]

-The event buff ‘Demon Pursuit Squad' is applied to the player.

1)You can identify the ‘dark energy' emanating from the Demon's Secret Altars.

2)You have ‘resistance' to curses of darkness below a certain level.

Lee Hyunwook slowly went over the content.

‘This is clearly a crisis I know nothing about. However…'

In his mind, there existed the knowledge and experience to overcome any situation,

So strategies to navigate through this unknown crisis began to be neatly arranged.

‘…If used well, I can reap tremendous benefits again.’

He concluded his thoughts, took out his mobile phone, and made a call somewhere.

After a few ringtones…

—Yes, this is Woo Seong-moon, Director.

The Director of National Gate Response Strategy, Woo Seong-moon, answered the call.

"Director, it's Lee Hyunwook.”

—Oh, what can I do for you?

"Do you know where I am right now?”

―….

At the unexpected question, Woo Seong-moon was at a loss for words.

“I knew about the tail you had on me.”

Lee Hyunwook knew that two black agents had been tailing him since he went out today.

―…You noticed. I apologize, but that's my job.

It was meant to monitor and protect Lee Hyunwook and Park Junmo, the two newly emerged S-ranked players.

‘Well, honestly, I don't mind.’

It was an annoyance he had anticipated even before being revealed as an S-rank.

"Haha— Good. You asked me a while ago, how would it be to work for the country?”

Woo Seong-moon was a patriot to the bone, a person dedicated to the country till his dying breath.

Therefore, naturally, he had not hidden his intention to bring Lee Hyunwook and Park Junmo under national jurisdiction.

In other words, he was a trustworthy figure if it was about working for South Korea.

—Did you change your mind? I know you said you'd work for the government, but…

"Um… before I go into details, I would need you to come here.”

It was an absurd scenario where an AMT sergeant was summoning a director reporting directly to the president.

‘But now things are different.’

In front of his name was the grandiose modifier, S-ranked player, Savior of Seoul.

—It would be good if you could briefly tell me what's happening. You know I am quite busy.

"The Seoul we struggled to protect… is facing a crisis once again.”

It was a matter Woo Seong-moon couldn’t turn away from.

* * *

The arrival of Woo Seong-moon was just five minutes after the call ended.

Although it was not visible to the eye, he seemed to have used ‘teleportation'.

And he was accompanied by an array of specialists from various fields.

"Director Woo, thank you for coming."

Lee Hyunwook greeted them at the entrance to the underground parking lot.

"When the nation's safety is at stake, of course, I should come to see for myself."

With the appearance of Woo Seong-moon, not only the AMT forces including Lee Tae-kyung,

but also Kim Se-hee and Park Jun-mo could not help but be surprised.

They had thought they were just dealing with a troublesome monster, but the situation had become much bigger.

Lee Hyunwook led them into the event map.

"Director Woo, this is the place. We found it by chance."

"Hmm… really, by chance?"

Woo Seong-moon looked skeptical, and Lee Hyunwook nodded.

"Well, when you live on edge, things that you would normally pass by seem special."

Honestly, he could only say that finding this place was pure luck.

However, if it wasn’t for the knowledge about the ‘Devil's Claw,' they would have passed it by without notice.

It was a situation that couldn't be more fitting for the saying ‘seven parts luck, three parts skill'.

Lee Hyunwook roughly explained that there was a conspiracy to resurrect a demon called ‘Abaddon'.

Since demons had appeared twice before, Woo Seong-moon understood quickly.

"My God, how many days has it been since the wave ended, what in the world…"

And knowing the extent of the demon's power, Woo Seong-moon's expression quickly hardened.

They went deep into the event zone and checked the bodies of the thugs.

"Hm, these guys seem to be related to the terrorists who threatened Seoul during the wave."

"Yes, I think so too."

"Hmm, I wonder why they are so desperate to devour Seoul…"

The information about the terrorists that appeared during the wave had not yet been made public.

And it was information that should not be made public in the first place.

‘There's no good in babbling about villains to provoke them.'

They will hide more and come out more fiercely.

However, Woo Seong-moon was somewhat aware of their existence.

Of course, even Woo Seong-moon didn't know that their true identity was that of villains.

"Director! You need to come see this!"

The one who shouted was Choi Han-na, an A-class priest who accompanied Woo Seong-moon.

She was observing some scorches on one corner of the floor of the passage.

"This here is a trace of Shadow Link."

Shadow Link, a method of long-distance movement using shadows.

It was a unique skill that allowed one to implant a ‘mark' on a person's shadow and open a two-way portal.

In other words, even if only one person infiltrated, it meant that a large force could be moved.

And there was only one person in the entire world who could use this skill.

"That means… it seems like ‘The Shadow Baron' has come to Korea."

The Shadow Baron, a ‘Red Player' who was a notorious criminal internationally wanted.

At the mention of that name, Lee Hyunwook could not help but look troubled.

‘If the Shadow Baron is involved, it's going to be more troublesome than I thought…'

He was an S-class player whose abilities were not fully known to the public,

moving around the world mysteriously and being involved in all sorts of crimes.

He was a mercenary who could be hired for money, and it seemed it was the same this time.

"Damn, no wonder our intelligence network didn't catch him…"

Woo Seong-moon bitterly remarked.

It was evidence that a huge loophole had been pried open in the national intelligence network.

"However, Director, as you know, no national intelligence agency could catch this. Isn't the Shadow Baron not being caught for the past 10 years precisely because of such deceptive skills?" Lee Hyunwook added.

Woo Seong-moon nodded in agreement to Hyunwook's statement.

"Exactly. In other words, whatever these people are plotting around Seoul, it's hard to track them. This is serious… It seems like we will have to deploy more resources than imagined."

If the foreign individuals of Hispanic descent present here infiltrated through ‘Shadow Link’ rather than entering the country by normal means, their movements wouldn’t have been captured by any surveillance network.

And they couldn’t possibly scour through the entire Seoul like hunting for a needle in a haystack.

Even if they did, there was doubt whether there would be enough time.

However…

"…I can find them," said Lee Hyunwook.

Everyone looked at him.

"Excuse me?"

Everyone had an expression of disbelief.

"I can find the location where those terrorists are hiding, in other words, the ‘event map’."

"…Excuse me? How is that possible?"

"Right after the battle with those terrorists ended, I received some ‘quests’ and ‘buffs’. Among them is the ability to ‘track’ their location."

As he explained the details, Woo Seong-moon couldn't hide his astonishment.

"In other words, right now, I am the only one who can track those terrorists."

"Ah…"

Seoul was in crisis once again after the wave.

Not even a week had passed, and cleaning operations were still in progress, so the troops were scattered and difficult to recall immediately, not even talking about the coordination mess.

And the hero who ended the wave to save Seoul,

Stepped forward to save Seoul once again this time.

Lee Hyunwook looked straight at Woo Seong-moon and uttered a word of conviction.

"Director Woosung, lend me the government’s power."

"Um, when you say the government’s power, what do you mean…?"

"Information, team, and even weapons entrust them to me."

"So… are you saying you will become a government agent?"

However, Lee Hyunwook shook his head.

"I apologize, but no. Let's say I am a freelance black agent for now."

It couldn’t be anything but an absurd request.

Asking for the government's confidential information and assets while not willing to be under it's orders…

It was a request for an enormous privilege solely for himself.

‘Yes, it’s a blatant request for privilege. But he can’t refuse.’

Lee Hyunwook established a liaison with Zumnarae by including the <Hope Guild> as a sub-guild of <Zumnarae Guild>. Given that Zumnarae was the top guild in the country, being close would have its advantages.

And after that, he planned to build a liaison with the government organizations, especially the secret intelligence department <Shadow Dragon Syndicate>.

‘No matter how strong Zumnarae is, when it comes to intelligence, the government has the upper hand.’

Intelligence is a power more important than anything else.

That was best understood by Lee Hyunwook who had experienced the future once.

However, he thought of working on this slowly over time…

‘This is the opportunity.’

Well-controlled crises are good opportunities.

The saying applied to this situation as well.

Woo Seong-moon looked troubled.

He was a person with convictions. No matter how powerful the guilds were, he believed they shouldn’t supersede public authority and had tirelessly worked to strengthen the government's power.

Therefore, he wouldn’t want a player to be the determining factor in the situation, however…

‘This is an exception.’

Above all, the safety of the nation and the lives of the citizens were always the priority.

Eventually, he nodded.

"Alright. As you wish, we will support you properly for this incident.”

Lee Hyunwook grinned and seemed to have been waiting to utter the last words,

"And… I would like access to the <Government’s No. 1 Armory>.”

Government’s No. 1 Armory.

It was a level above the one he previously accessed, the <Government's No.2 Armory>.