Episode 149 [Paldal Mountain, Secret of the Dragon Labyrinth – 3]
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Today’s Force and Power What do you need to pay most attention to in order to maintain it?
“…It may sound like a snob, but it’s definitely about image. And it’s probably the issue we need to pay the most attention to.”
Master Edward Woods of the huge guild [Slayers] defined it that way.
Even if you are a politician with the right to rule a country, a head of a company that collects the world’s money, or even the strongest player with overwhelming power, you will never be treated well if your image is ruined.
“Image is a product. If it is not good, you will be disadvantaged and may be gradually eliminated.
Stipe Marin, the second-in-command of [Slayers], who was listening to this, nodded.
“…Our position will decrease in the future and we will be able to attack the gate. “Even when bidding, it will get pushed down in priority.”
Chin –
Edward Woods somewhat nervously placed his tablet PC down on the desk.
A news article appeared on the screen, and the headline was…
– Players’ Magazine lowered Slayers Guild’s overall rating by 14 points to 64 points. Steele Lane disaster?
‘Players’ is an American media company that had considerable influence in the player world.
They downgraded the value of the Slayers Guild. The reason was that although it attracted too much public attention before the Dragon attack, Steele Lane It was said that it was because they lost their image as a unique dragon slayer after being defeated. And they even branded it with the so-called ‘Steelrain Disaster’. It was no exaggeration to say that the vision
of the Slayers Guild in the future would inevitably become unclear like this.
“But still, this labyrinth . If we attack well, we can wash away some of the past defeats…”
With that intention, Edward Woods provoked Steele Lane.
Although it may be a bit far-fetched, he brings up his name and enters the competition system once again.
If he wins here , The outcome of the match can be safely said to be 1 to 1.
A few hours later, news broke that Steel Lane was planning to conquer the Paldal Mountain Labyrinth.
– [Breaking News] Are they conscious of competition with the Slayers? Steel Lane will enter Paldal Mountain tomorrow. .
“Hmm, it looks like Steele Lane is in a hurry to start conquering the labyrinth?”
Amanda Anderson said that while watching a news article on her smartphone.
“…Well, you’ll end up getting stuck like us in front of the last room.”
And just like them, they would get three hints and leave in vain.
“So, is information on ‘qualified people’ being gathered well?”
When Edward Woods asked, the deputy stood up from the strategy table on one side of the suite.
“Yes! “Dozens of guilds are sending us information, so we’ll soon be able to pinpoint a target!”
Yesterday, Edward Woods asked the Korean community for help in finding one player at a press conference and promised huge compensation. Then, in this country alone, 21 private guilds and even several government agencies proposed cooperation and were now receiving all kinds of information.
Proof of this phenomenon was that there were many people in Korea who disliked Steele Rain.
‘Okay, let’s keep it this way. We’ll soon find the key to break through the final door.’
Edward Woods was still anxious for some reason, but he still expected to win this time.
And about an hour later, the long-awaited news finally arrived.
“—I found a boss level 71 paladin player!”
Edward Woods, who was standing by the window, turned around at the adjutant’s shout.
“Really? Where did the call come from?”
“Mr. Hwang, it’s him!”
Mr. Hwang, that person was an executive at the [Guild Support and Cooperation Agency], a Korean government agency.
He was a representative of the Korean government that had requested Edward Woods to conquer Dragon.
“He will come here in person right now.”
And after a while, a group of suits visited the Slayers’ suite:
“Haha—how are you?”
It was Director Hwang Yeon-soo, a middle-aged man named ‘Mr. Hwang’ who came in with a cheerful greeting.
He unbuttoned his jacket and sat down on the sofa in front of Edward Woods.
“I looked it up and there was a level 71 paladin from AMT called Seo Eun-ha. It’s perfect, right? “There is no way there are two people on the Korean Peninsula who fit the conditions that DS mentioned so precisely.”
The level 71 paladin player in this land was the key to the final door of the labyrinth.
Edward Woods took a sip of coffee with as calm a look as possible and then opened his mouth.
“If you are a member of AMT, how can you handle Mr. Hwang?”
“Well… there’s one problem, and that woman is related to Lee Hyun-wook.”
At that point, Edward Woods’ composure cracked and his eyebrows twitched.
“Haha, why are you so surprised? You don’t have to worry. No matter what your relationship is, aren’t you both soldiers anyway? If you criticize me from above, I will criticize you. That’s your direct line. One general is our line.”
Edward Woods nodded. If he came out like that, it was trustworthy.
“I see. But I still want to go to him in person and persuade him in person.”
“Huh? Is there any need for the Dragon Slayer to move it himself?”
“No matter how much we can handle, we must show sincerity to those who help us.”
“Hahaha—as expected of you coming from a country of gentlemen, you have great manners!”
This was a serious matter that depended on the fate of the Slayers and could never be dealt with lightly. Rather than unconditionally securing the woman who was presumed to be the ‘qualified person’ through force, it was better to appease her.
‘You shouldn’t make things complicated by making someone feel bad for no reason.’
But, of course, that person had a relationship with Stillane… I couldn’t help but be concerned.
“Anyway, if DS says so, I will talk to the general and have him build a bridge.”
At his call, Lieutenant General Jeong Sang-sik, commander of the Seoul Operation Command, flew in on a military helicopter as if on a five-minute standby. “
Commander, you have the respect of a general, so is it okay for you to fly in like this in person?”
“Oh my—our Director Hwang is calling, how could you not come running?”
Edward Woods boarded the helicopter with them and immediately moved to where Seo Eun-ha was.
Doo doo doo——
The 1st Battalion of the 3rd Port Horse Brigade in Namsan arrived like that… Battalion Commander Kim Kang-seok was in front of the helicopter port.
“Loyalty— Commander. What is this….”
He was in a state of bewilderment as he had rushed out of his official residence after receiving a sudden call.
“Oh, Kim Kang-seok, you know who these people are, right?”
A little distance away, Edward Woods and his group were peeking in this direction.
“…Yes, I know very well.”
Kim Kang-seok’s expression as he looked at them couldn’t have been good. It was already a well-known fact that he had a close relationship with Lee Hyun-wook. Jeong Sang-sik patted his shoulder and nodded somewhere.
“Hey, Kim Kang-seok, take care of your facial expressions well! This is an opportunity for you too. Do you see that guy in the suit over there?”
I saw a middle-aged man slowly getting off the helicopter. He looked at me and grinned.
“Yes, aren’t you Director Hwang Yeon-soo of the Guild Support and Cooperation Office?”
“Yes, and… I’m the next head of the National Gate Response Strategy Office.”
In other words, it meant that they would bring down Director Woo Seong-moon.
“Ah…”
“Why? “Do you think it won’t work?”
“…….”
It was a presidential election soon, and Oh Tae-moon, head of the Guild Support and Cooperation Office, was considered a strong presidential candidate.
This was thanks to the ‘image’ that was gradually built up through close relationships with numerous private guilds.
And as always, those in power were wary of Woo Seong-moon’s enormous authority.
Even so, once he took power, he realized that he couldn’t do it without his abilities.
However, if a president who was a player was born, there would be no need for Woo Seong-moon.
‘In particular, Oh Tae-moon has been building a close relationship with private guilds for a long time. One of the reasons they are pushing Oh Tae-mun is to further expand their power by removing Woo Seong-mun, who is a thorn in their eyes…’ It seemed that
Woo Seong-mun’s chain, which had been keeping the large private guilds in check and controlling them, was gradually cracking.
Above all, the guilds’ backlash intensified due to the fact that the entire [Taesan] guild was blown up. Since the exact details of what happened could not be revealed to the public, in their eyes, it seemed like Woo Seong-moon’s attempt to tame the guild.
‘Ha—you’ve prevented so many threats, but you were still festering inside…”
Kim Kang-seok could barely suppress the deep sigh that burst out from inside him.
However, the unpleasant emotion seemed to show on his face, and Jeong Sang-sik clicked his tongue.
“Where are you from? Decide where to catch it, man! Just because a guy like Lee Hyun-wook is doing well doesn’t mean you expect him to do anything in the future, right? Think about it carefully. “That bastard… he’s not destined to live long.”
He said that and smiled meaningfully.
But what does this mean when you say you are destined not to live long?
“…yes? “Commander, what did you just mean?”
“What? What did I mean by that? It was just an insult.”
He tapped Kim Kang-seok’s thick shoulder and then said as if admonishing,
“Do you know how many enemies that bastard has? I tried to make him look good and make him pretty, but what happened in the end? You were suddenly discharged from the military, right? It’s a world where it wouldn’t be strange if a weakling who stabs someone in the back like that gets killed by someone right away. “There’s so much fuss going on… who would have noticed?”
“And it’s dangerous to put too much power in the hands of a young bastard. I’ve been very talented so far, but that’s only possible because I have a monopoly on [Laputa]! “Kim Kang-sik, don’t be fooled.”
Kangseok Kim had a bad intuition at that point.
‘…It was said that some forces in the country are converging on the idea that Laputa should be nationalized.’
I had previously heard from Director Woo Seong-moon that there was such a movement in the political and business world.
“Big—Anyway, I guess we should explain why we came today, right?”
Jeong Sang-sik smiled mechanically again and brought Kim Kang-seok to Edward Woods.
“Well… Captain Seo, the second daughter of General Seo, is probably in the compound right now, right?”
At that point, Kim Kang-seok realized what their intentions were.
‘As expected… As Lee Hyun-wook said, Seo Eun-ha is needed to conquer the labyrinth?’
When I realized that, it became funny how they were talking triumphantly.
Lee Hyun-wook had already predicted this dastardly move yesterday and made a comment.
‘Ha— these people only have their mouths alive, so in the end, they can’t even reach Lee Hyun-wook’s toes, right?’
Kim Kang-seok grinned and slowly shook his head.
“This is so… I’m sorry, but Captain Seo is away.”
“Oh really? Hmm… It’s probably not a vacation, but it’s an attack operation?”
“Yes, I am involved in a very important operation, so it will likely take some time.”
In response, Edward Woods and Jeong Sang-sik opened their mouths one after another with disappointed expressions.
“Then, can you tell me what operation it was deployed in?”
“So, I think we should entrust the captain with a more important mission than that!”
To that urging, Kim Kang-seok responded with an expression as if he couldn’t help it.
“…Well, this is a pretty important operation, so it will be on TV soon.”
***
Two hours before the start of the labyrinth attack, Lee Hyun-wook received a call from team leader Lee Kyo-jun:
– We are continuously tracking players who recently entered the country from abroad and have deployed a number of sniper teams near Paldalsan Mountain. If an attack occurs, our teams will respond quickly.
“Yes, thank you.”
Lee Hyun-wook’s security was the most important issue within the National Gate Response Strategy Office and the Black Swan.
Wouldn’t the day of such an official action be the best day for an assassination attempt?
As there are more than one male and female targeting Lee Hyun-wook, the Black Swan is fully committed to his security. ‘ That
honestly does not mean that the attack itself can be prevented.’
No matter how hard I tried, I had no idea what kind of strange skills and items he might use to approach me secretly.
The best way to prevent that was to make Hyunwook Lee himself overwhelmingly stronger.
‘So that I could respond without difficulty in any emergency situation.’ ‘
And when he opened his eyes this morning, he had grown even further.
– Congratulations! By satisfying the special conditions, the ‘Insight Lens’ skill has been greatly strengthened.
‘Huh, the absorption is finally finished?’
It was by absorbing the ‘Eye of Horus Piece No. 2’ that I had recently obtained.
So…
[Skill Information]
– Name: Insight Lens
– Grade: C
– Effect
1) System Analysis (2): Hidden ‘System Information’ You can interpret more deeply.
2) Clairvoyance: Vision is greatly improved. (+400%)
* Skill grade improves when hidden conditions are met.
System analysis skill No. 1 is improved to level 2, ‘ The explanatory phrase ‘More deeply’ was added.
‘Well, I guess I’ll have to write it down to find out to what extent it is?’
And number 2 Clairvoyance also improved from 300% to 400%.
‘Now that I think about it, I don’t really remember using this?’
This was because observation using ‘Hugin’ was much more effective.
At that time, the door to the Order Tower opened and Kim Se-hee came in.
“Boss, I’ve finished preparing to attack the guild members and am waiting. When you’re ready, please come out.”
Lee Hyun-wook stood up and looked at Kim Se-hee’s head.
“Huh? why? “What did you get on my head?”
Isn’t there something floating above her head…?
– Player (LV: 68)
‘Ah, now you can see the player’s level?’
In the first stage, we could only know the hidden information of the item and the level of the monster.
Additionally, information about the wind spirit ‘Hani’ sitting on her shoulder was also displayed.
– Intermediate Wind Spirit (LV. 68)
“Team Leader Kim, you’ll be level 70 in a little while, right?”
“Oh, how did you know? Did I tell you?”
“I just guessed it based on the amount of training these days.”
“Oh, is that possible? “I’ve given up on math…”
It was only level-level information, but it could be useful in many ways.
***
AMT troops were stationed at the plaza at the entrance to Mt. Paldal, guarding the area.
Meanwhile, many reporters from home and abroad were there . They came and surrounded him.
When Lee Hyun-wook appeared, spotlights and questions poured in from all over.
“Hey, Lee Hyun-wook! Please take a moment to interview me!”
“—Did DS’s press conference yesterday influence your decision to attack?”
However, he only glanced in that direction and then disappeared towards the mountain.
“Wow… you’re really not even looking? “Are you cool or cheesy?”
“Okay, I guess I can write an article about how upset you are about DS’s interview?”
However, Lee Hyun-wook’s gaze was examining the reporters through ‘Hugin’ flying above the clouds.
‘…What is that kid?’
To be precise, it was to monitor a very suspicious man hiding among the reporters.
– Player (LV. 81)
The level 81 player was obviously too high for a reporter.
The usefulness of this upgraded Insight Lens was discovered earlier than expected.
‘At that level, he is the highest level of talent at the moment. In other words, it would be a disguised identity.’
Lee Hyun-wook launched Hugin to check on the man and at the same time hacked the Mana Messenger.
And about 10 minutes later, he heard strangers talking in his ears.
– Jenny’s scoop just arrived. Was the article organized well?
– Yes, you can post it right now.
– Okay, can I just wait for the confirmation and use the ‘city vacuum cleaner’ prepared this time without restrictions?
– Well, I was told to use it as much as I wanted at the desk.
At first glance, it sounded like an ordinary conversation between seniors and juniors at a media company.
However, Hyunwook Lee caught one word that was foreign to the conversation.
‘Wait a minute… did you just say city cleaner?’
In his memory, there was only one object with the bizarre name ‘City Vacuum Cleaner’.
‘That’s… the code name for the spirit colony bomb used by the villains, right?’
After hearing that, the rather large truck they were riding caught my eye. It was a 5-ton truck neatly painted black… no matter how you looked at it, it was a size that was unlikely to be used by media employees.
‘Is there a city vacuum cleaner in there?’
The city vacuum cleaner was a kind of magical prison item that imprisoned the highest level spirit colony. However, if you open or break it and cause angry spirits to run wild, it will have the same effect as a bomb.
Above all, the thing trapped inside the city vacuum cleaner was the ‘Earth Spirit’. In other words, when it gets angry, it crushes and absorbs all the stones, earth, and metal in the area, and since these are all the components of a city… ‘…even if it goes wild for just a moment, a
catastrophe occurs where buildings collapse like sand castles.’
That terrible item was a monster created while researching spirits at the [International Alchemy Society].
However, at this point, alchemy was not a very promising field, and the Gangdong-gu alchemy research complex collapsed not long ago, cutting off his livelihood… so he probably received money and handed it over to the villain.
It was originally released in the middle of Manhattan about two years later and devastated the world’s greatest city center.
In other words, there was no reason for such a scary thing to be here now… in Lee Hyun-wook’s memory.
– If you use this, there will be a party that no matter how ‘he’ is, he can never handle.
– Yes, when you come out after work and are exhausted, we pop champagne for you.
– And it’s okay to make a little mess, right? From what I heard, the landlord is looking after your back.
‘Ha, look at these…’
There was no need to worry too much about who ‘he’ meant here. It was Lee Hyun-wook himself.
It seems that as the future was changed by Lee Hyun-wook, the use of that item also changed.
‘Well, if it were a city vacuum cleaner, it would suck up most of the metal weapons I use…’
In other words, it was Lee Hyun-wook’s hard counter item.
‘You said you’d write it once I come out, right? Should I change the usage once more?’
First, after conquering the labyrinth, I came up with a plan to safely hand over that great item.
‘If you don’t explode it and appease the spirits inside, there are endless ways to use it.’
However, by attaching Hugin to them right before entering the labyrinth, I was able to obtain additional information.
– Once the cleaning begins, the landlord will also help indirectly.
– It seems like the landlord is more anxious than us?
– That’s right. Didn’t you even dream that your house would eventually collapse?
‘Hmm… the landlord keeps being mentioned.’
In his previous life, Lee Hyeon-wook worked in the Guardian Intelligence Department and tracked down villain organizations.
Therefore, I was able to roughly interpret several codes that are constantly mentioned here.
‘Here, the landlord or host often refers to an internal collaborator.’
In other words, it meant that there was someone in this country who cooperated with them.
Who it was was somewhat conspicuous.
It’s just that I didn’t have a chance to deal with it…
‘If this goes on… I guess I’ll have to do some cleaning with water unintentionally?’
