Steel-Eating Player Chapter 56

Episode 56. [Last erosion factor – 2]

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The steel company was in the highly confidential area of the government’s second armory.

The ceiling height seemed to be over 10m in a 3700² space, which was 5 times larger than the battalion weapons depot.

‘…what can I say, it’s like a super large warehouse store in North America.’

But there wasn’t a single hole in that space. There were no doors, windows or even ventilation holes.

All of the walls were thick concrete walls with magic shields, and

the air circulation inside was magical, making it a perfect compartment.

“Is it really okay for me to use something like this?”

Kim Se-hee asked, holding up two daggers.

At first glance, they looked much more luxurious than the weapons he had used before.

The blue blades, about 30 cm long, extended in a curved line and flashed, and

it seemed as if flesh would fall off at the slightest touch.

Both of them . It was a ‘player manufactured item’ of the ‘Skilled’ level. The

normal item was at level 5: Normal – Rare – Heroic – Legendary – Mythic.

The item manufactured was at level 5: Normal – Advanced – Skilled – Craftsman – Master.

To compare directly, it was a ‘Heroic’ level item. It was at the same level as an item.

‘But it cannot be the same as a hero grade in all aspects.’

Rather, the price could have been similar to or even lower than the ‘rare’ grade.

This is because player-manufactured items do not have ‘skills’ attached.

Of course, there are ways to infuse skills into manufactured items, but high-level blacksmiths and high-level wizards should start from the design stage. It was uneconomical in many ways, including having to sell out together for over half a year.

Even so, the value was worth hundreds of millions of won each, so it was not something that an AMT soldier could hold.

“Well, it feels like I’m going hiking by borrowing someone else’s luxury bag, but this… ”

Kim Se-hee still looked burdened by using such an expensive weapon.

“Why are you so hesitant, because it doesn’t suit Sergeant Kim?”

Kim Se-hee’s face scrunched up at Lee Hyun-wook’s words.

“What doesn’t suit you? Then, do you think it would look good if I smiled greedily?”

“Well, it’s best if you turn around and smile secretly.”

“But don’t drink too much kimchi soup because you have to return it anyway.”

“Oh yes—”

Lee Hyun-wook turned his head and looked inside the armory.

The members of the Steel Company were scattered here and there collecting items.

“—There are a lot of high-grade shields here, so let’s take each tank!”

“Wow, look at this….”

“I can’t believe the day has come when I can use adamant plated arrowheads….”

Everyone in the Steel Company was arming themselves with powerful items they had never seen before.

So, ahead of the battle. It seemed like he was going shopping without even forgetting that it was there.

Of course, when this situation was over, all the items had to be returned.

‘And… you will receive a reward that goes beyond these items.’

Once the wave was over, the price of everyone in the Steel Company would skyrocket.

Lee Hyun-wook wandered a little further inside where rings, bracelets, etc. were stored. He

then grabbed a few ring items made of orihalcon.

Gulp—

what? Of course… I didn’t take it out of my pocket.

‘Honestly, this is part of the price of saving Seoul.’

He rationalized it inwardly and searched for the next item to swallow.

‘Oh, this…’

What he was interested in was a certain ring.

[Item information]

– Name: Small flash (rare)

– Effect: Infusing mana It emits an electric current. (Cooldown: 5 minutes)

A ring made of adamant had something like a blue gem embedded in it.

‘It’s heavenly steel.’

It was a magic metal with the ability to produce electric current.

This was also a special material as expensive as orihalcon, and although less versatile, it was much rarer.

‘Yes, this also gave it quite a useful ability.’

Gulp—

– Caution! There are many ‘metals’ that are already being absorbed. The absorption delay is greatly increased. The absorption

time of the ‘Dwarven Great Mountain Engine’ is displayed as ‘Unknown’, and you can catch the zombie trll nearby here ahead of time. I even swallowed the orihalcon I got. My stomach was literally saturated.

‘But if you use the furnace properly, you can quickly digest it one by one.’

The digestion of metals occurs simultaneously rather than in the order in which they were swallowed.

So, those that took less time were digested first.

At that time, someone approached Lee Hyun-wook.

“Hey, the steel company commander?”

The managers residing in Armory No. 2 here were government agents.

‘You couldn’t have seen it, right?’

Lee Hyun-wook was not embarrassed and just naturally folded his arms and nodded.

“…yes?”

“If you don’t mind, I would like to give you some advice.”

“Oh, please speak.”

Judging by the fact that he didn’t send any suspicious glances, it didn’t seem like he had seen Lee Hyun-wook’s eccentricity.

“Well… the soldiers are now equipped with new items, but I would like you to avoid items with skills if possible. Isn’t there a high possibility of accidents occurring if you carelessly use unfamiliar skills? Especially when a large number of troops are concentrated. “It’s even more dangerous.”

“Yes, I understand what you mean. Thank you.”

When multiple troops move as one, individual skills could actually become a hindrance.

Lee Hyun-wook was also aware of this and had instructed people not to carelessly choose weapons with skills.

“Oh, and I have something to give you. Park Joon-gwan, please bring that.”

According to the manager, one of his subordinates came with a very long iron case.

Clang.

Inside was a long glass tube, and inside the glass tube was a tree branch.

“Try to touch it. You don’t have to worry about it breaking because it’s special glass coated with magic.”

Lee Hyun-wook lifted the entire iron gase with metal control and placed his hand on it.

– Acquired ‘Leaves of the World Tree (Special)’.

[Item Information]

– Name: Leaves of the World Tree (Special)

– Effect

1. Darkness When a type of monster approaches, it emits a sacred light. (Continuous)

2. Gives a ‘sanctuary’ effect around 500m. (Continuous)

‘This….’

To be honest, I couldn’t help but be surprised.

“This… Chad. “It’s a mountain world tree item, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. It is a very special item, of which there are only 15 in Korea.”

“The most expensive specialty product in the world, sold by the Republic of Chad for 400 billion won per piece….” ”

Haha, that’s right. “This alone generates 20 trillion won a year.”

This game made the world hell.

However, some lands were rather blessed.

The Republic of Chad was a representative land that benefited from it.

Three years ago, the ‘World Tree’, a tree of God, was born in Lake Chad, right in the center of the African continent.

‘Thereby, the Republic of Chad, which was the poorest country in Africa, has become the most important place on earth.’

Based on the infinite vitality emanating from the World Tree, the desert was transformed into fertile forests and grasslands, and stable mana covered the entire area, and ‘Magic Towers’, research institutes for wizards, were erected in droves.

Based on all its advantages, it has even emerged as the center of the cutting-edge industry, ‘magical engineering’.

“Commander, is there anything else you need?”

“Yes, just one more thing please.”

“You can tell me anything. They are the ones who will save Seoul.”

“Then is there a weapon that can use lightning magic?”

“Hmm… there is one big thing.”

As expected, they came out one after another, just as they called the government’s armory.

Soon, two employees loaded something into a trailer and dragged it away.

This time, an incredibly large steel case appeared.

“Now, this is a support firearm called ‘Rain God’s Mace.'”

It was something that looked like an anti-tank weapon, and it had a window attached to what looked like a muzzle.

However, judging from the fact that the spear was firmly fixed, at least it did not seem to be a ‘projectile’.

Hyunwook Lee put his hand on it.

[Item Information]

– Name: Thunder God’s Mace (Craftsman)

– Effect: When mana is injected, powerful electricity is sprayed for 1 minute. (Cooldown: 10 minutes)

“It is an artisan-grade manufacturing item made by modifying a hero-grade spear called Indra’s Blessing. What do you think? It’s a bit heavy, but you can mount it on a vehicle and use it as a kind of magic chariot.”

He said proudly and Lee Hyun-wook also nodded.

“Yes, this is exactly the weapon I was hoping for. thank you.”

In this way, the strength of the Steel Company increased significantly in all aspects.

‘There was a great deal of luck just before the final battle.’

***

After completing all the work, Lee Hyun-wook passed through the portal and came out of the armory.

Then, the master bedroom of an ordinary home unfolded before my eyes.

No one would have thought that a single-family home like this would have a portal leading to a government armory.

And in the garden there, members of the Brigade Headquarters’ 2nd Strategy Platoon were gathered.

“Ah, company commander, are we leaving now?”

Their commander, Captain Go Jin-han, asked.

Instead of ignoring him as a soldier, he called him by the title of company commander.

Perhaps it was because Lee Hyun-wook showed his ability unintentionally during their first meeting.

‘That’s good. You won’t be tired from dealing with executives.’ ‘

If Lee Hyun-wook showed up like that, he also planned to treat him like an executive.

“Yes, I think I should move. “Can I ask you to prepare?”

“Okay—”

“Oh, and do you mind if I lead this operation?”

Then Go Jin-han smiled and nodded.

“Well, we originally came here to support the Steel Company, and I’ve seen with my own eyes how amazing this company commander is, so I’m not really attracted to him… That guy over there is a bit sensitive to things like that.”

Sergeant Kim Dong-hoon, a large, muscular man, glanced in this direction.

“…yes? “You mean me?”

“Didn’t you say you had something to say to this company commander? Hahaha—”

“Oh yeah? No, really….”

Lee Hyun-wook looked at Kim Dong-hoon to see what kind of situation this was,

but for some reason, he turned his eyes to the floor and avoided his gaze.

‘What….’

“….. .Well, anyway, I’ll get ready to leave.”

As Lee Hyun-wook was leaving the front door of the single-family home, Go Jin-han quietly approached him.

“I’m sorry to ask this, but you said you’re in F grade. How can you do that?”

“Ah… I achieved a few achievements.”

“Oh achievement? Well, I broke the erosion factor and even caught the Woldo boss monster…”

As expected, it was an achievement lie that worked, but now it was true to some extent.

[List of achievements]

1) Purifier

– Condition: Destroy the object that declares the realm of death. – Effect: Forms darkness resistance (Step 1) Increases total mana

amount (+200) Increases sacred power (+20%)

2) World Boss Monster Slayer

– Condition: Hunts the world boss monster.

– Effect: Increases all abilities ( +5%)

After catching the chimera like this, two achievements became available.

It was also a very useful achievement, and if all abilities are increased, ‘metal control’ is also included.

– Current weight of ‘metal’ that can be controlled: 91958g

* Transcendent sense (+30%) ) is being applied.

* Gangol (+10%) is being applied.

* World Boss Monster Slayer (+5%) is being applied.

‘Good… I’ll soon reach 100kg.’

However, Go Jin-han still seemed to have many questions.

“And how do you find the erosion factor? Haven’t we been able to stop it because we couldn’t find the cause of erosion during the wave? But how do you do that when you just find it one day at a time?”

“It’s simple. “You just have to dig into a place where there are a lot of monsters.”

Go Jinhan tilted his head at those words.

“No, um… isn’t that one of the basics of gate search?”

If only that had been taken care of, the response to the 1st to 3rd waves so far would not have failed so miserably. The wave zone always opens in a vast urban area and is accompanied by countless gates. In other words, the possibility of chasing the gate in vain was too high. Inefficient

. In response,

Hyunwook Lee added a few things:

“You need to track event elements rather than just chasing monsters. It was a multi-ethnic warlock, and instead of killing people, they kidnapped them all. “It meant they were planning something special.”

“Ah…”

That sounded quite plausible, so he nodded, but Go Jin-han still didn’t look cool. To be

honest, at this point, he had reached the limit of making excuses.

“And actually… I was lucky in many ways.”

In times like this, the only thing we can do is call it luck…

“Hmm? Then I guess I’ll have to go through all of Seoul hoping to keep getting lucky?”

“I guess so.”

“Haha, this is it…”

But there was no need for that.

‘Anyang duo will soon attack the third erosion factor.’

Thus, an ‘additional event’ occurs and ‘ironclad poisonous insects’ emerge from Mt. Cheongryong.

There was no need to search further as anyone would know that the area was causing erosion.

‘The time has come for the sky to change…’

Lee Hyun-wook checked his watch and looked up at the sky.

There were no signs yet.

But about 5 minutes later, the signal soldiers started to get busy.

Lee Hyun-wook noticed that strange feeling. After noticing it,

the communication squad leader came running towards Lee Hyun-wook in a huff,

“Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook—!”

“……Huh?”

“They say the third erosion factor has been discovered in Yeonsinnae and has just been attacked!”

At those words, everyone except Lee Hyun-wook was shocked and cheered.

“Wow! “There are people other than us who are fighting properly!”

“I was thinking about finding two more in the future, and this is amazing.”

“Ha… I really think we can save Seoul.”

But that wasn’t a good sign.

‘…It begins.’

He slowly raised his head.

At that moment…

Goo—u—u—u—un——!

A roar that felt like the sky was collapsing began to fill the world.

“Uh! What is it?”

This roar was a kind of ‘bell’.

It was meant to draw people’s attention…

that is, to convey a certain message

. In other words, it was a foreshadowing of the entire announcement.

Everyone looked up at the purple-toned sky.

A letter appeared there.

– Caution . ! [Additional events] will be granted due to players’ amazing achievements!

As expected, that was the message.

“Damn it!”

Go Jin-han also sensed the meaning and let out a scathing scolding.

“I guess something bad is going to happen…”

Soon, the specific details of the incident came to mind.

– Caution! The last remaining erosion factor is ‘dramatically changing’ into the ‘final’ stage!

“What does that mean, the final stage? “Do you feel something, company commander?”

“I also feel like something shit is going to happen.”

“Oh, I wasn’t wrong?”

Lee Hyeon-wook immediately had the signal soldier connect mana communication to Kim Kang-seok.

“…Battalion Commander, from now on, I think we just need to find the point where the monsters increase explosively.”

– Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too.

“And… I think we need to gather all our troops in Seoul. Not just our AMT troops, but all the guilds… all the player forces, we need to come together and properly root them out.”

The final match has begun.

***

When a gate occurs, evacuate to the nearest shelter!

That was the most important sentence that every citizen of the Republic of Korea knew.

Nowadays, when and where monsters may appear, there is no place as safe as a ‘shelter’.

Excellent ‘magic’ Through the ‘shield’, monster attacks can be withstood for a long time, and

if the player waits just a little bit, the player’s rescue team will arrive and eliminate all threats.

And South Korea was the country with the most shelters compared to the same area compared to the population.

In other words, this land is the safest in the world. Yes. That was the belief of the people living in this land.

But…

a shelter in this land was now collapsing in a tragic way.

Immediately after the entire notice emerged, a ‘black fog’ poured down from inside Cheongryongsan Mountain.

And the mountain It had engulfed an elementary school shelter below in one fell swoop.

The moment it got close, I could tell the people in the shelter were there.

It wasn’t black fog.

That…

why-a-ae-ae-ang- —!

…There were countless insects the size of a human head.

Why—a—a—a—aeng——!

The disgusting sound of flapping wings filled the whole world.

In that sound, not even each other’s voices could be heard.

Why— As it began to stick to the window, I could see its terrible sight:

a head the size of a human fist bending at right angles… A swarm

of

monster flies with legs like sickles and teeth like saws. ….

“Oh my god…”

They stuck, and in just a few seconds, the magic shield broke through.

And the next thing you knew, the entire school building began to melt.

The concrete crumbled into powder and the rebar shriveled and disappeared. “

…We have to get out of here!”

Someone shouted like that.

People scattered and ran to different entrances.

But they could not escape from the clutches of the terrible swarm of insects.

“Ugh—save me—kkk—”

The swarm of insects rushed in and dragged the people up into the air. went.

“Egga-ga-ga-ga-—!”

It is torn to pieces as it is dragged back and forth in the air, as if caught in a rough current.

It didn’t take long. It was as if it had melted away and not a single piece of flesh remained.

It was the moment when one person was divided into the stomachs of hundreds of bugs.

The 44 lucky people boarded the bus and set off through the swarm of bugs.

“—Hold on tight!”

And now we were heading north along the stretch of Gwanak-ro.

“Damn, they got behind us!”

But I couldn’t escape the swarm of insects.

Why—ae—ae—ae—ang——!

Every time I turned my head, the black clouds were engulfing the city and getting closer little by little.

Why—ae—ae—ae—ang——!

It was at a fierce speed, as if black smoke from the explosion was billowing between the buildings.

“Damn it—! Step on it faster!”

someone shouted

But the bus was already at full speed.

“It’s over… It’s over…”

The people on the bus trembled with indescribable fear.

There was nothing to do and nothing to expect.

“Black—black—”

She started shedding tears one by one.

17-year-old Min Hye-yeon also hugged her younger sister and just cried.

There was nothing she could do other than cry.

But then someone tapped her on the shoulder.

“.. ….Hey, are you crying?”

She raised her head at the playful voice.

It was Lee Yun-taek, the older brother next door.

He had a grumpy expression as usual.

…I couldn’t understand it at first.

“…what?”

“Why are you crying? It’s okay, man!”

As we have been neighbors since birth, I knew that you always had such an optimistic personality, but…

“What are you doing!” “Do you feel like playing around now?”

“It’s okay. You can live.”

Lee Yun-taek said with a bitter smile.

Then, she patted her younger brother’s head and turned around.

Behind him, the players were standing up.

They had a determined look on their faces, as if they had made up their minds.

“Team leader… we have to go now.”

At Lee Yun-taek’s words, the bushy-bearded man nodded with a stern expression.

Then he went to the front of the bus and spoke to the driver.

“Pastor, please drop us off.”

Then the people were shocked and said,

“What are you talking about? No!”

“Please don’t do that!”

People were scared and tried to stop him, but the bearded man was stubborn.

“If we get caught like this, we’ll all die.” Please stop quickly!”

“So you’re the only one dying? Absolutely not!”

“Buy a little time and you’ll be able to reach the next shelter.”

There was a moment of silence at those words.

They all knew it was the only way.

“There is no way. Trust us.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe it, right now…”

At that moment—

kiiiii——!

The bus stopped suddenly.

At the same time, the front door of the bus opened.

“—Pastor, what’s wrong now!”

People tried to stop them, but the players quickly jumped out.

“Thank you… Thank you…”

The one called Pastor muttered over and over again with his head buried in the steering wheel.

“—Let’s go! Now!”

After putting down the seven people, the bus started to run again.

People turned their heads and looked at their backs.

They fired fire magic and ice magic and seemed to push away the black shimmer for a moment.

But it was only for a moment. .

“Oh no….”

“Please—!”

Min Hye-sun unconsciously turned her head at the people’s moans, and what caught her eye was…

“Ah…”

The scene where the seven people were lifted up into the sky and disappeared in a black shimmer.

“Don’t look, don’t look…”

She sobbed, hugging her younger brother’s head.

But unfortunately, their fierce sacrifice seemed to be in vain.

Why—ae—ae—ae—ang——!

The swarm of insects quickly began to catch up with the bus.

The sacrifice of 7 people

only saved a few minutes of life by saving time.

“You idiot… You pretended to be cool…”

Min Hye-sun muttered so helplessly.

“It was a lie… In the end, we all die too.”

I even felt a bit of resentment

at that time.

“…Huh? What is that!”

It was the driver, the pastor, who shouted that.

Bah!

A procession of cars was rushing in front of the bus with a clang sound.

And some of them noticed the identity of the procession.

They had heard the rumor well. This is because

the AMT unit moved in a truck train, hunting monsters and destroying the erosion factor…

“Steel Company…”

They arrived in front of the last erosion factor.

And the sacrifices of the previous seven people were in vain. It was the moment when it couldn’t happen.