6. Leopard and Buffalo – 1
—————==
A gate refers to a phenomenon in which a dimensional crack occurs and monsters invade through the gap.
Although about 11 years have passed since such an unknown phenomenon was first observed, there is still no way to predict the ’cause’ or ‘time of occurrence’.
Therefore, the ‘best option’ for the gate security operation was to simply monitor all key locations in real time and respond as soon as the gate occurred.
“It’s really good that our sentries responded well. By the way.”
As battalion commander Lt. Col. Kim Kang-seok’s words faded, a cold feeling filled the command and control room.
He was a capable soldier with the rank of lieutenant colonel at the young age of 35. But there was a greater reputation than that…
It was that he was ranked 166th in the ‘Korean Player Ranking’.
That was precisely why his every word felt heavy.
“… you have to make sure. You all know very well that it is not reasonable to report to the Brigadier that an F-rank soldier single-handedly stopped the first ‘eruption’ of the gate. It’s not a matter of format. It’s a matter of common sense. What I mean is that you should report it as much as possible using common sense.”
He literally did not believe that an F-class soldier was active right now.
“Everyone, let me ask you again. “What on earth happened to our unit this morning?”
None of the executives from the ‘initial response team’ within the command and control room could give a hasty answer.
There was no evidence whatsoever.
CCTVs were installed throughout the unit, but a large amount of mana that exploded as soon as the gate occurred temporarily disabled electronic equipment in the area.
All that remained was fragmented testimony.
The sentries at guard post No. 6, who witnessed the situation closest, had not yet recovered, and the deputy gunner at guard post No. 5 was a private, so for some reason I could not trust them.
It was then.
“The soldier you called by the battalion commander has arrived.”
When Kim Kang-seok gestured to let him in, Lee Hyun-wook entered the command and control room.
“Loyalty!”
However, Kim Kang-seok did not receive the salute.
Captain Kwak Yong-jun, the 1st company commander, stood up.
“Battalion Commander, this soldier is Corporal Lee Hyeon-wook, who worked at guard post 5 during the time of the incident.”
Kim Kang-seok nodded and looked Lee Hyun-wook up and down.
And Lee Hyun-wook also looked at him.
Although he is full of fatigue as he hastily woke up at dawn, his eyes feel even sharper… Not only the soldiers, but even most of the executives become discouraged without even realizing it.
‘Gim Kang-seok is a B-level druid player known as the mountain army of Namsan…’
As long as Kim Kang-seok and Lee Hyun-wook know it, it was a name they would hear often in the future. He is currently B-class, but will soon be promoted to A-class. And in just a few years, he became a one-star ‘Brigade Commander’, and within a few years he was a big man who rose to a three-star ‘AMT offensive operation commander’.
He paused for a while to think about what he was thinking, then slowly opened his mouth.
“······I heard that the soldier caught the elite boss by himself, so I thought he was Sergeant Youngjun Choi’s friend.”
It was a sullen voice. And it was about ignoring Lee Hyun-wook.
“Hmm, but are you… soldier, is it true that you repelled the first eruption?”
“Yes that’s right. We caught gate occurrences while on duty and responded immediately.”
Lee Hyun-wook answered right away. However, Kim Kang-seok’s expression was still hard.
He stood up from his seat without speaking.
As the 193cm tall, long-boned man stood up, a thick shadow was cast over the strategy table.
His appearance was so menacing that his title ‘Sangun (山君) of Namsan’ was worthless.
“Well, under normal circumstances, soldier, you would have been torn to pieces and died on the spot.”
He continued his somewhat harsh words as if he was trying to pressure Lee Hyun-wook to get the truth out of him.
“It is my judgment that there is no way an F-class could have defeated the ‘elite boss monster’ alone. There seem to be quite a few things omitted. For example, the lightning magic that bounced from guard post number 6 luckily hit the ‘Goblin Shaman’ and left him in a dying state… Well, don’t you think that would make more sense?”
Lee Hyun-wook boldly shook his head at Kim Kang-seok’s cynical words. And then…
“Battalion Commander, I don’t understand what you’re saying right now. And… I feel like I was cheated.”
He made a bombshell statement out of nowhere, sending chills through the command and control room.
“······fraud? Did you say it was a scam?”
Kangseok Kim’s eyebrows twitched.
“Yes that’s right.”
“Why?”
Lee Hyun-wook looked straight into Kim Kang-seok’s eyes and answered.
“There is something that the battalion commander emphasized every time he gave group training to the battalion members. This is something that has been said without fail. Do you remember?”
Kim Kang-seok did not answer, and Lee Hyun-wook continued talking.
“He emphasized that no matter how low a level a player is, if they attack based on the correct response method, they can deal with trolls even if they are D or E level.”
I heard this a long time ago, but I still remember it because I was so sick of it.
“According to the battalion commander’s training, it doesn’t seem that strange that I, an F-class person, could have subdued at least a goblin, even if it wasn’t a troll. I fought back and defeated the enemy according to AMT’s [Anti-Monster Tactics Manual]. But now you are saying that the victory I risked my life for is impossible…”
I felt like I had been cheated, so
I didn’t bother mentioning it again.
However, it must have already had a significant impact on Kim Kang-seok’s thinking.
“······.”
Kim Kang-seok looked at Lee Hyun-wook without a word. Lee Hyun-wook did not avoid that gaze. There was no change in his expression, but the anger he had shown at first glance when he heard that he felt cheated had disappeared.
‘This has been emotional pressure, and from now on, rational persuasion is needed.’
Lee Hyun-wook caught his breath and continued talking.
“Of course I was lucky. The moment the lightning magic exploded at guard post 6, we captured the goblin shaman near the gate. At that time, I noticed that it was an elite level, not an ordinary goblin gate, and I decided that it would be better to move in a different direction than to blindly go to support.”
Suddenly, Kim Kang-seok’s expression subtly changed.
Lee Hyun-wook said he was lucky, but Kim Kang-seok would not consider that to be truly lucky, and would rather highly evaluate him for carefully understanding the situation.
As a soldier and player who had fought countless battles, he knew how important that little judgment was.
“…Wherever you go, continue.”
He also seems interested. Hyunwook Lee nodded and continued talking.
Due to the nature of the ‘Goblin Shaman’, which commands a large number of goblin subordinates, rather than supporting guard post 6, which was in crisis, he decided to use guard post 6 as bait to directly attack the boss monster Goblin Shaman… and later, he He explained how he was able to defeat the elite boss monster one-on-one.
“······Although it is an F-class ability that can only control small metals, I moved the goblin shaman’s necklace to strangle him, and when he showed me an opportunity, I moved the goblin shaman’s dagger and stabbed his neck. “I think I harmed him in the best way I could.”
Overall, it was a tight report on how F-class was able to play an active part in the field.
“As the battalion commander said, I am an F-level weapon, so I only have an enchanted M9 bayonet. So all I can do is prepare for the worst and fight the best.”
Prepare for the worst and fight the best. Even those last words were words that Kim Kang-seok often said.
This was both a claim and flattery.
Kangseok Kim nodded slowly.
“······I get it. Stop going out.”
He turned and said, and Lee Hyun-wook saluted and went out of the command and control room.
Then silence fell again.
The watch commander who was sitting in his seat swallowed a dry saliva.
It was because it didn’t seem like a good scene for a single soldier to assert himself so clearly in front of a battalion commander who would otherwise have been sensitive because of an unsavory incident in the field.
Kim Kang-seok was lost in thought with his pods on, and no one opened his mouth.
After about a minute, he finally spoke.
“······If you were Class F, do you think you would have been able to fight like that friend just said?”
No one could answer. It was a moment that neither positive nor negative suited.
In the silence of the staff, Kim Kang-seok looked into the air.
And for a moment, I was lost in old thoughts.
When the gate first opened, when I was a second lieutenant, when I first encountered a monster…
I recalled the old memories of countless real soldiers fleeing to Paris and dying.
“Now I understand. That friend, Corporal Lee Hyun-wook, was not an F-level player, but he faced him as a prepared soldier, and that’s how he won. Embarrassingly, I overlooked and judged that friend was a soldier.”
He decided to believe Lee Hyun-wook’s testimony.
“1st company commander.”
“Yes, battalion commander!”
Kim Kang-seok smiled lightly. It was a look you wouldn’t normally see.
“I will give that friend a special reward as a battalion commander. Oh, and tell them to choose any weapon they need from the battalion armory without restrictions. Does it make sense that a friend like that’s only weapon is a greatsword?”
***
Lee Hyun-wook came out to the command and control room without hearing the results, but was confident that everything went as planned.
‘It must have been a sniping answer.’
Lieutenant Colonel Kim Kang-seok was what is commonly called a true soldier.
When he graduated from the Military Academy and was just commissioned as a second lieutenant, the gates began to open. And a few days later, there was a battle with a group of orcs… and at that time, all of the platoon members were lost.
Immediately after, he awakens as a player and becomes an early member of the founding of AMT.
He is a man who lives with a sense of duty to protect this land in response to an unknown invasion.
‘You can’t hate him for carrying out exactly what he emphasized.’
Each and every word of Lee Hyun-wook was composed of keywords that thoroughly targeted Kim Kang-seok.
After a while, the company commander, Captain Kwak Yong-jun, came to see Lee Hyun-wook.
“Thank you Hyunwook Lee for your hard work. Although I spoke too boldly… fortunately, it seems like the battalion commander viewed you favorably. ‘Reward points’ will be paid out tomorrow, and you will probably also receive a commendation.”
Reward Points As part of AMT’s reward system, it was possible to exchange items for not only vacations and overnight stays, but also items at military item stores. The items exchanged in this way become yours alone.
“And when I go to the military governor tomorrow, I will transfer possession of an item from the battalion armory. However, under the command of the battalion commander, anything is possible without restrictions, so you must choose carefully.”
Lee Hyun-wook was internally delighted. As expected, the prize I wanted was given away.
Kim Kang-seok placed the most importance on combat power, so he usually gave item awards like this, but Lee Hyun-wook’s intentional comment that he only had an enchanted M9 greatsword because he was an F-class player probably played a big role.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen an F-class receive a commendation while I was in the military. “I saw you again, Lee Hyun-wook.”
“I was lucky. thank you.”
“Yes, of course I had some luck, but I did well.”
Kwak Yong-jun smiled kindly and tapped Lee Hyun-wook on the shoulder.
He still thought it was luck.
What made sense was that the soldier he commanded for several months, Lee Hyun-wook, did not possess the combat power to deal with the goblin shaman alone.
“Okay then, take a good rest and see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, I understand.”
It was already 8:00 AM. I woke up at 3:30 in the morning, so I was tired, but I couldn’t rest.
– Until metal absorption (05:12:49) left.
Adamant It was necessary to quickly absorb this expensive metal and then quickly consume the secretly hidden ‘Mana Stone’. For that, it was necessary to shorten the absorption time through exercise.
‘Sleep is a luxury. I’ll do some exercise and plan a vacation.’
And with reward points, you can go on a reward vacation.
***
The story of the compound gate incident that occurred early in the morning and the activities of the F-class players at the scene quickly spread throughout the unit. Most of the responses were a mix of wonder and surprise.
but······.
In the company counseling room, Kwak Jin-cheol and Oh Sang-guk were sitting on the sofa.
“Oh Sergeant, does this make sense? “That bastard captured the goblin shaman all by himself.”
Even though his duty as an on-duty deputy was over, Kwak Jin-cheol could not sleep.
“I feel like I’m dreaming about this. If I wake up like this, I wonder if I’ll be dozing off at the administrative desk and eating Kusari from Lieutenant Seo Eun-ha… I’d rather be in that situation. “It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
He blew out smoke with a puffy face.
“Don’t worry dude.”
On the other hand, Sergeant Oh Sang-guk was still full of leisure.
“I can’t believe it either, but it worked out. If the baby is overwhelmed by it, isn’t it likely to stick out when the gemstone applied for a confrontation? Ughhh…”
Although the Goblin Shaman was a difficult monster to deal with, Oh Sang-guk thought that it was not at a level that could be compared to a D-level barbarian player, which was actually rated as a C-level player.
“Probably a few bones are shattered, so I’ll need a couple of healers to heal until the mana oring comes back. If he is disgraced like that, the rumors that Lee Hyun-wook seems to have done something great will disappear.”
Oh Sang-guk giggled as he said that. Kwak Jin-cheol also smiled, but was somehow uneasy.
‘But no matter how much I think about it, it feels ominous and something has changed.’
He recalled the moment he had a confrontation with Lee Hyun-wook yesterday. Should I say that Lee Hyun-wook’s expression at that time was like that of an old beast? Anyway, I felt a sense of heterogeneity.
At that time, someone knocked on the counseling room door.
“Private First Class Lee Won-seok! “Can I come in?”
“Oh, come in!”
Large black ravens came rushing in. It was the barbarian Private Wonseok Lee and his comrades.
“Hey… look at our June military bundles, they really look like an Orc tribe?”
“Seriously, if you put them in green clothes, they might get shot with machine guns.”
The privates burst into laughter at the words of the two seniors.
These June privates were called ‘Kkakdugi’. It was because regardless of their characteristics, they were all big, so when they were all together, the intimidation was no joke, just like gangsters.
And among them, Barbarian Lee Won-seok stood out about a span more.
‘Well, he’s the kind of guy who could kill a goblin shaman with his bare hands.’
How can a guy who can only do pull-ups win against a human with a grip that can split logs?
“Okay, Wonseok, do you remember what I told you?”
“Yes that’s right. “Corporal Lee Hyun-wook of the 5th squad…”
“Okay, okay, let’s not say it out loud. Should I be careful?”
“ah! That’s right, I forget often.”
Originally, it was the right time to say ‘I’m sorry’, but Lee Won-seok smiled as he said that. However, Sergeant Oh Sang-guk also did not raise any objections. It was special treatment.
“That friend is at the training ground right now? “Do you want to go and meet me for a bit?”
“ah! “Can I come back from my visit right now?”
“Okay, we’ll follow you a little later. “Wouldn’t it be weird if we went together?”
It was an order to beat up a senior, but Lee Won-seok did not look nervous.
“You don’t have to worry. I’ll handle it very smoothly. haha!”
Wonseok Lee worked as a club guard from the age of 18 to 24, but woke up at the age of 25 and enlisted in the AMT to fulfill the ‘player’s mandatory service period’.
And he was a player with great potential who could soon be commissioned as a non-commissioned officer and who had a high possibility of joining a decent guild after being discharged from the military.
“When I worked at a club, there were quite a few times when I took unruly guests to the bathroom and lost. “If you beat it moderately, it will cause a fuss and be bothersome, but if you hit it properly without breaking anything, it will be so scared that it will just go away quietly.”
“Hahaha! This bastard is a complete expert?”
“Then I’ll take care of it and come back!”
Like this, since he was a bully at heart, he was used to being bullied for going against these rules.
***
“Hu…”
Lee Hyun-wook was sitting in the combat box inside the [2nd Indoor Training Center], catching his breath.
To put it simply, a battle box was a square ring. However, it was a space blocked on all sides by a ‘magic shield’ so that players could use skills.
Hyunwook Lee had just trained in close combat against the AI scarecrow there.
I didn’t sleep well so I felt dizzy, but I felt refreshed.
And above all…
– Absorption is complete.
– Controllable ‘metal’ weight: 2558g
‘As expected, despite the delay in adamant absorption, the total amount of metal increased significantly.’
The amount of metal that can be controlled jumped by more than 1 kg at once. The increase was incomparable to the scrap metal such as locks that had been swallowed up so far. As expected, swallowing high-quality metal was effective.
‘With this level, I’ll be able to control not just a dagger, but a long sword as well.’
That wasn’t all.
– congratulations! New ‘skills’ are given by satisfying special conditions.
There are no growth characteristic levels other than the level, but abilities are improved through hidden methods. And that was also true when acquiring these ‘skills’.
In the case of Lee Hyeon-wook, if he swallows a ‘magic metal’ with a special effect, he will acquire a suitable skill. And if you swallow that metal repeatedly, the skill is strengthened.
‘Adamant gives a particularly useful skill, and it’s fortunate that he got it this early.’
[Skill Information]
– Name: Strong Body
– Grade: D
– Effect: Temporarily ‘strengthens’ part of the body by consuming mana (5).
* If you swallow a certain amount of ‘high-hardness magic metal’, your skill level will increase.
Although the level is still low, even at this level, it can defend against most weapons or blunt weapons.
“and······.”
Hyunwook Lee raised his left hand.
My fist
began to harden like a diamond.
‘This alone increases the grip strength three times.’
At that time, the door to the training center opened and a group of large people came rushing in.
‘what?’
Lee Hyun-wook felt strange.
It was because they were approaching, staring at him blatantly.
As if that feeling wasn’t an illusion, they stopped in front of the battle box where Lee Hyun-wook was.
Among them, the largest man, Lee Won-seok, came forward.
“Corporal Hyunwook Lee, are you using that box now?”
Lee Hyun-wook silently nodded at Lee Won-seok’s question.
“Hmm… I think you used it a lot on your own. Can we use it now?”
When he said that, he laughed, and the gang also giggled.
It was blatant disregard.
‘Look at these…’
“Or would you like to play a game with me? I want to learn a few things.”
Lee Hyun-wook realized the context of this situation.
‘Oh Sang-guk and Kwak Jin-cheol are childish. Playing pranks like this.’
Hyunwook Lee gestured as he released the rigid body of his left hand.
“Okay, come up.”
That prank would never be done again.
