Episode 61 [End, declaration, hero – 1]
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The Great Condor was swimming above the clouds.
Lee Hyun-wook climbed on its back and closed his eyes.
‘There is no metal moving around here.’
If you move through the clouds like this, there is no fear of being attacked by a swarm of ironclad insects.
However, as he was located at a high altitude, the cold seeped into every part of his body and his skin started to ache. However, when he put ‘hard body’ on his whole body and even put on a ‘mana shield’, some of the cold was blocked.
Finally, he took out the ‘Mana Recovery Potion’ from his belt and swallowed it.
– Mana recovery speed increases significantly for 10 minutes. (+200%)
This completes the preparation.
“—Let’s go down! ”
With his cry, the Great Condor began gliding vertically.
Hung——
As I passed through a layer of clouds, the ground—Cheongryongsan Mountain—came into view.
Gray shimmers and black shimmers were blooming there. The gray shimmer was real smoke rising from the residual fire, but that black shimmer… was a group dance of a swarm of disgusting insects.
‘We have to go down through that.’
Hyunwook Lee jumped off the body of the Great Condor without a single thought.
He straightened his body towards Cheongryong Mountain, fell vertically in free fall, and closed his eyes.
Hoo—woo—woo—woo——
As if they had noticed his appearance, a ray of black shimmer began to shoot towards him.
Why—ae—ae—ae—ang——!
The number was exactly 374—Lee Hyun-wook ‘sensed’ their movements one by one.
Then he stretched his left hand forward.
‘—shred!’
Bub—bub—bub—bub—bung——!
Dozens of them exploded at once.
Dozens more followed.
Dozens of them were torn to pieces again.
As his left hand moved in a slow arc, all the ironclad bugs caught in its path exploded.
Bub—bub—bub—bub—bung——!
In this way, the 374 ironclad insects scattered into thousands of metal pieces.
however….
‘As expected, if you use Shredding recklessly, the mana consumption is unbearable.’
The metal shredding skill was definitely a one-hit kill attack when dealing with those things.
However, the number of ironclad insects was frighteningly large.
Even if all the mana was poured into it, it would not be possible to reduce the number significantly.
‘But the only thing that needs to be definitely eliminated is the erosion factor.’
Even if I couldn’t get rid of them all, I could at least clear a path ahead.
and…….
Sh—sh—sh—sh—sh——!
The ‘pieces of metal’ created in this way followed Hyunwook Lee and rotated around his body.
At that time, another group of ironclad insects flew up.
This time there were a total of 1,188.
It was an unbearable number.
‘It goes right through as if it were going through!’
Lee Hyun-wook crossed his arms to cover his head and focused his ‘strong body’ on his forearms.
Blah blah blah——!
He then pulled the ‘metal pieces’ that were floating around his body to the front of his arms and used ‘metal transformation’ to tangle them around in both forearms. Then, a heavy metal shield—a kind of bumper—was completed.
“—Now! Accelerate for me!”
At those words, Hani, the ‘spirit of wind’ riding on his shoulder, moved.
As the thing began to spin around Lee Hyun-wook’s body, a whirlwind enveloped Lee Hyun-wook.
Fuuuuuu——!
‘fast!’
Lee Hyun-wook’s fall accelerated.
Gliding at incredible speeds, covered in steel like a cannonball—
Soon he collided head-on with 1,188 ironclad poisonous insects.
Thong—thong—thong—thong—thong—thong——!
Breaking through one point
It hit the incoming group of ironclad poisonous insects and pierced them in one go.
They took a detour and chased after Lee Hyun-wook, but they could not keep up with his gliding speed.
Lee Hyun-wook closed his eyes again and began to look at all the metal on Cheongryongsan Mountain.
‘…I have to find it.’
It was impossible to tell with the naked eye where the erosion factor was.
This was the problem that Kim Kang-seok, Choi Jeong-cheol, and Kim Se-hee were all worried about.
Even if you reach Cheongryong Mountain with its defenses loose,
Because thousands of them still cover the surface of Cheongnyongsan Mountain, the cause of erosion cannot be easily detected.
In other words, it is impossible to remove the erosion factors through surprise attack.
Lee Hyun-wook responded.
‘…I can.’
Yes, that was something only Lee Hyun-wook could do.
‘As their shells are made of metal, I can detect and analyze their movements.’
‘Through that method, we will be able to infer the location of the erosion factor.’
A group of ironclad insects surround the erosion agent with their bodies, like bees guarding a nest.
Thus, even when Choi Jeong-cheol’s ‘Semi-Armageddon’ hit, the erosion factor was able to be maintained.
In other words, the point where the ironclad poisonous insects were particularly concentrated was the cause of erosion.
but….
‘Damn, there are so many….’
I felt dizzy as I felt so much movement of metal on the surface of Cheongryongsan Mountain.
I felt my nerves becoming overloaded as I sensed thousands of movements simultaneously.
Fuuuuuu——!
Meanwhile, the altitude was rapidly decreasing.
‘You must find it before you reach the ground. If I don’t get it done right away, I will die.’
However, I was able to find an area that felt strange.
A spot where an unusually large number of ironclad insects gather to form thick insects.
And for some reason, their movements are somewhat slow and cautious.
It was like a swarm of worker ants embracing and protecting a queen ant.
‘Yes, it’s somewhere around there.’
Hyunwook Lee turned his body towards that point.
And right before hitting the ground, he gave his body metal control.
His body floated in the opposite direction of gravity and landed on the black, burning ground.
chin-
Immediately after landing, thousands of metal pieces that fell with him rained down like steel rain.
Bur—bur—bur—bur—bur—!
The iron armored insects sitting around the landing site were swept away by the piece of metal, and the whirlwind of honey surrounding Lee Hyun-wook’s body exploded around him, pushing away the iron armored insects in the area.
However, that was only at the level of scooping up a handful of sand from the beach.
Why—ae—ae—ae—ang——!
Thousands of ironclad poisonous insects flew towards Lee Hyun-wook all at once.
It felt like a black wave was crashing over me.
But Lee Hyun-wook was able to control the wave.
He raised both his hands and spread his palms.
‘It rotates.’
Lee Hyun-wook pulled numerous pieces of metal and made them rotate at high speed around his body. And Hani created a whirlwind in the same orbit, greatly increasing the rotational speed of the piece of iron.
Ku—gu—gu—gu—gu——!
A whirlwind of steel arose and surrounded Lee Hyun-wook’s body.
Metal Control and Wind Spirit
It was a powerful inertial defense that could not have been achieved without either party.
Tong—! Tong—! Tong—! Tong—!
They tried to get through the steel tornado, but they were hit and swept away.
However, this was only a temporary measure.
‘I probably won’t last very long.’
Soon they will gather together and force their way through the steel vortex…
Hyunwook Lee felt like he was standing between the teeth of a monster.
If he was a little late, he would have been chopped into small pieces and swallowed.
‘The erosion factor is nearby. But we have to find a definite location.’
He closed his eyes again.
The moment an intruder named Lee Hyun-wook appeared, the ironclad insect showed two movements.
The majority rushed towards Lee Hyun-wook, but a significant number headed in a completely different direction.
‘…it is a procession to protect against erosion factors.’
Hyunwook Lee read their movements.
And finally….
“So there you are?”
The exact coordinates of just one point were pointed out.
Lee Hyun-wook led the steel whirlwind and walked to that point.
Then something huge rose up from the floor.
– The boss monster ‘Ironclad Giant’ has appeared.
Ke—eh—eh—eh—eh——!
A beetle-shaped monster that is likely to be 7 to 8 meters in size.
Its front legs looked like scissors, and it had a spear-like horn on its head.
And the spout had a tube that spewed out an acidic solution.
‘We have finally reached the final gateway.’
The fact that the boss monster appeared meant that things were going very well.
‘This ironclad beetle is a type of cover that protects its body from erosion factors.’
Like the Hell Mutant, it was a ‘watchman’ type boss monster that guards the gate.
It must have been blocking external attacks by covering the erosion factors with its hard body.
However, as Lee Hyun-wook approached, he had no choice but to stand up.
The guy came towards Lee Hyun-wook.
‘Okay, come out a little more… so that the erosion factors are fully revealed…’
It kicked off the ground, draped its horns towards Lee Hyun-wook and charged at him like a rhinoceros.
Thump—thump—thump—thud——!
If you hit that thing, even an armored vehicle would have a hole in it.
The guy broke through the steel tornado without any hesitation and soon hit Lee Hyun-wook.
Twa—t——!
But the spear-like horn was blocked by something.
yes–
A golden shield surrounded Lee Hyun-wook.
“Seo Eun-ha… she’s my first shield, too.”
The bracelet on his wrist was glowing.
That was the bracelet that Seo Eun-ha gave to Lee Hyun-wook just before the Steel Company departed.
In the meantime, Lee Hyun-wook went around to the side and inserted a male and female Unsa into the cracks of its shell.
‘—Electric release!’
I support you!
The electricity that erupted from the tip of the sword passed through every inch of the guy’s body.
Its huge body trembled and became paralyzed for a moment.
In other words, it was a perfect gap.
“Now!”
With his cry, Hani sent a steel tornado forward, blowing away everything in the area.
Then finally…
‘It’s there!’
The red gem World Stone (a factor of erosion) that was embedded in the ground was clearly revealed.
Target identification and zero-point aiming have already been completed.
Sh——i——i——!
Something heavy was falling on top of it.
Of course it was ‘Mogley’.
They had lost the physical defense ability to block the blow.
Kwa——ah——ang——!
Binge drinking—what lay beneath it was a force so strong that it could never be fully recovered.
and….
– You have destroyed the ‘World Stone (Wave)’!
A system message appeared, indicating that everything was over.
The assault operation that only Lee Hyeon-wook could carry out was successfully completed.
“under….”
Lee Hyun-wook let out a hot breath and looked up at the sky.
The gate might be closed now, but thousands of ironclad insects were still filling the sky.
However, they seemed to have lost some purpose and were scattered in all directions.
“Command collapse… It’s all over.”
Command Collapse This was a phenomenon in which a monster that was moving not by its own will but by a certain spell lost its goal and wandered when the ‘subject of the spell’ disappeared.
In other words, they would lose their aggressiveness.
Of course, since its very existence was a threat, an eradication operation would have to be implemented for a while, but that was for a later date.
And the gate was collapsing about 20 meters away.
Hyunwook Lee approached there.
As expected, this time too, an item appeared at the point where the gate collapsed.
– Obtained the Ring of Gyges (Heroic).
[Item information]
– Name: Ring of Gyges (Hero)
– Effect: When infusing mana, you become invisible for 30 seconds. (Cooldown: 30 minutes)
‘Quite a few heroes disappeared in vain because of this item…’
In this way, their lives were also saved.
And that wasn’t all.
– congratulations! You have successfully completed the event quest [Disaster Expedition]!
* Achieve the best performance and receive a ‘1st place’ reward.
“Ah quest…”
Come to think of it, the quest was given to the entire Steel Company after attacking the first erosion factor.
I hadn’t paid much attention until now, but of course Lee Hyun-wook, who was the most active, took first place.
Two lights appeared before Hyunwook Lee’s eyes.
He reached out and grabbed them.
– Acquired the trait Bloom (Special).
* This item is bound upon acquisition.
‘I can’t believe I’m getting this again….’
And the other thing………
‘What is this?’
– You have acquired the ‘Master Key’ of Ancient Heritage.
* This item is bound upon acquisition.
It was something that even Lee Hyeon-wook knew nothing about.
***
“—They scatter!”
A player in the first floor lobby of the school shouted that.
Just as he said, the black shimmer that was covering the sky was dispersing.
The ironclad insect that had crept into the school also flew out the window.
The situation couldn’t have ended so suddenly.
“How did this… uh, happen?”
The players, who had a premonition of death in the moment between life and death, were dumbfounded.
They carefully walked out of the school and looked up at the sky.
Indeed, the swarm of insects had completely disappeared, and the purple color that had colored the sky was fading.
“…finished.”
All of these phenomena meant that the wave was over.
In other words, someone had targeted the erosion factor.
“Who on earth broke the erosion factor?”
“Ah! Isn’t this Anyang Duo?”
“Huh? They haven’t arrived yet…”
Then someone brought up another name.
“I heard earlier that the steel company commander attacked the rear alone.”
“Huh? By yourself… Is that possible?”
“That… I don’t know.”
And if that were true, it would truly be a major event worthy of lasting memory in history.
“So in effect, the Steel Company has chewed up the entire wave, right?”
“Wow, I see… I wonder what it really is.”
It was a self-evident fact that the name Steel Company embroidered this entire wave.
Meanwhile, Choi Jeong-cheol and Kim Kang-seok also climbed to the roof of the building and looked around.
“…Brigade Commander Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook really did it.”
Kim Kang-seok said that as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Yes, you have accomplished something incredible.”
“Haha… that’s right.”
“Did you, too, think it was difficult for him to do?”
To be honest, the plan that Lee Hyun-wook came up with was not convincing at all.
Since he has the ability to detect metal, he penetrates from high altitudes and at the same time infers the erosion factors from their movements, and destroys the giant sword Mogley by dropping it from high altitude and striking it…
‘Yes, honestly, I thought it was no different from a suicide attempt.’
However, Lee Hyun-wook, who was no one else, confidently insisted, and there was no other way at the time, so he approved the plan… but regretted not being able to stop it until the last moment.
“Yes, that’s right. “I believed in Lee Hyun-wook’s skills… but I don’t tend to believe in miracles.”
Choi Jeong-cheol chuckled at those words.
“But a miracle happened.”
“Yes, really… I feel saved.”
“Haha, then they will come from outside soon, so we…”
However, Choi Jeong-cheol’s words were not heard.
Gu—u—u—u—un——!
Because a familiar roar sounded from somewhere.
A heavy ringing sound that shook the sky. This was the bell announcing the general announcement.
However, unlike the previous bell, which was somewhat bizarre, the sound was somewhat clear.
And the letters floating in the sky were green, not red.
– congratulations! For the first time in history, we succeeded in capturing the ‘wave’!
* A very special reward will be given to Seoul.
At the same time, everyone cheered.
“and–!”
“It’s true! Seoul is safe!”
“We won!”
It was a fact I had already noticed, but when I remembered the announcement confirming it like that, it finally made me realize it.
Seoul, which seemed like it would be lost forever, was saved without any damage.
But their cheering had to stop quickly.
“uh-?”
This is because that ‘very special reward’ began to appear in the sky.
“Gasp! What is that!”
A huge gate opened in the sky near Seoul Station in the west.
And something was coming down from there.
It was so huge that its shadow engulfed the upper part of Seoul.
“…….”
People could only stand with their mouths open, watching the scene.
“Planet Sun…”
Yes, it was a scene where you would think that a planet—that is, a moon-like satellite—was falling to Earth.
“No, no… it’s just floating in the sky. And the top part is a little weird.”
On the lower part of the hemisphere, buildings that looked like buildings were erected mushrooms.
Everyone could clearly see it.
It was a floating city.
– ‘Laputa’ is appearing in the Seoul area!
* The proficiency of all ‘production skills’ increases significantly.
* The ‘production success probability’ of all items increases significantly.
* All ‘magical engineering research progress’ increases significantly.
* A ‘mana ecosystem’ will be established in the area.
.
.
.
An incredibly long message appeared before the eyes of every player in this place.
It was the moment when Seoul escaped from hell and at the same time took off as the world’s best city.
***
Meanwhile, members of the Taesan guild, including Chu Kyo-yong, were found dead in a classroom.
The reason was announced as currently unknown, but Lee Hyun-wook noticed the reason.
‘The game is over because the villain quest failed.’
The results of the Villain Quest were merciless.
It appears that Lee Hyun-wook destroyed the erosion factor while plotting another plan.
And 8,000 AMT troops were deployed throughout Seoul.
Each guild also deployed 6,900 players to ensure safety and recover.
The Seoul clearing/restoration operation was carried out under the command of General Seo Baek-jin, leader of the AMT Holy Knights.
There were still quite a few undead monsters wandering around Seoul, so a clearing operation was necessary.
‘…What was originally supposed to be a recapture operation in history turned into a clearing operation.’
And the order given to the Steel Company was to rest.
‘Okay, now I really need to get some sleep…’
Hyunwook Lee arrived at the dormitory and fell asleep right after taking a shower.
***
How long had passed before his eyes opened of their own accord?
– Metal absorption is complete. Small Flash (Rare)
– congratulations! New ‘skills’ are given by satisfying special conditions.
– Metal hop count is complete. (Mana Heart)
– Metal absorption is complete. (Mana Heart)
– Metal absorption is complete. (Mana Heart)
Before I knew it, numerous messages were appearing before my eyes.
It was the ‘Cheoncheol’ ring I ate and the ‘Mana Generator’ I got from Chu Kyo-yong’s ‘Black Orc’.
“hmm…….”
However, the ‘Dweppe Great Mountain Engine’ was still not completely absorbed.
The time was also ‘unknown’, so I didn’t know how many more days it would take.
At that time, the door to the dormitory opened and someone came in.
“Uh—loyalty!”
Park Jun-mo, who was standing up, stiffened and saluted.
Battalion Commander Kim Kang-seok had come to the dormitory.
“No, don’t worry about it, everyone, just rest.”
He approached Lee Hyun-wook.
Lee Hyun-wook got up from the bed and saluted.
“So, Hyunwook Lee, did you rest well?”
“Yes that’s right.”
“Yes, you should rest more, but there are many people looking for you.”
I couldn’t guess why the battalion commander came in person like this because someone was looking for him.
After roughly preparing, Lee Hyun-wook followed him to the battalion commander’s office.
Besides General Choi Jeong-cheol, two other people were sitting there…
‘Really great people came by.’
It was a face they both knew.
They were Kang Seo-yoon, the master of the Zumunnarae guild, and Woo Seong-moon, head of the National Gate Response Strategy Office.
Even if you exclude their ranks, they were the 3rd and 9th biggest players in Korea’s rankings, respectively.
“Everyone, let me introduce you. I am Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, the person who contributed the most to this operation.”
Lee Hyun-wook lowered his head and sat in front of them.
Although they were the strongest players in Korea, Lee Hyun-wook was not that nervous.
This is because they were people he had already met numerous times in his past life.
‘And they are both trustworthy people.’
Kang Seo-yoon held out her business card first.
“Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, you ended the three erosion factors with your own hands, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Did you hear what the reward was?”
Hyunwook Lee nodded his head.
“I came to give it to you today.”
For each erosion factor, 50 million dollars and hero-grade items are given, and the best performing player is given the legendary-grade weapon ‘Ge—Bolg’, the value of which cannot be put on a hard estimate.
“But the reason why you came so suddenly… I have my own interests, but I don’t know why Director Woo came here. Why did he not originally intend to come, but then suddenly follow me when I told him I was going?”
Kang Seo-yoon said that and glared at Woo Seong-moon.
“Haha, someone like Representative Kang is trying to steal the nation’s manpower, but who will stop it if not me?”
Hyunwook Lee had a blank expression between the two.
I felt like I would be courted by big guys as soon as I woke up.
“Oh really? Mr. Lee Hyun-wook, I will outfit you with hero grade equipment from head to toe.”
“…yes?”
“So, when you are discharged from the military, come to our [Zmunnarae].”
Kim Kang-seok’s face couldn’t help but harden at those words.
[Jumunnarae], a small elite strategy guild, was a guild that was like the face of Korea.
In terms of scale, [Cheonghwa] was overwhelmingly large and had the image of being the number one guild.
Zmunnarae, which had many of Korea’s top rankers, was actually the strongest guild.
Above all, Lee Seong-yoon, the ‘Gravity Wizard’ ranked first in Korea, was a member of Jeumunnarae.
Next, Woo Seong-moon’s business card came before my eyes.
“Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, I am Seong-moon Woo, the head of the National Gate Response Strategy Office. We talked through Mana Messenger once before, right? I am the person who gave you permission to use the government’s second armory.”
I think I spoke informally back then, but now I feel somewhat polite.
“Oh yes, it was a great help back then.”
“A great help is what this sergeant has done for all of us. And… if this sergeant says he will work for the country, the country will provide ample support. And the Steel Company… a special unit for this sergeant. “I plan to create a .”
The intention was not to appoint officers, but to create a unit and grant commander authority.
Actually, a person like Woo Seong-moon could have made such a ridiculous exception.
“hmm…….”
Lee Hyun-wook rubbed his eyes while listening to the story.
After he woke up, he was a bit distracted by the sudden flood of suggestions.
He looked down at the two business cards.
“Well, for now…”
Everyone looked at his mouth.
He paused and slowly raised his head.
Then he made eye contact with the two people one after another and opened his mouth.
“…I think my ransom will be more expensive than I thought.”
Everyone had a puzzled look.
I had no idea such arrogant words would come out.
“Oh, I know you’ve done a great job. I’m going to treat you accordingly.”
“Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook”
Kang Seo-yoon and Woo Seong-moon each added one more word.
But Lee Hyun-wook shook his head.
He has somehow managed to hide his abilities until now.
This was because it was advantageous for him to grow up quietly and unnoticed.
‘But now the limit has come.’
The biggest reason for hiding his abilities was to escape from the eyes of many people and work freely.
But now that I had made so much effort that I couldn’t do that, so I was thinking of changing my strategy.
“I… achieved this achievement and awakened to S rank.”
There was silence at his declaration.
“…….”
No one showed any reaction.
Because it was that shocking.
“So, even if you two give me anything, it won’t be an appropriate price.”
There were 33 S-class players known to date, and only 3 in Korea.
From now on, I planned to make profits blatantly with a certain aura.
