Episode 76. [Hidden Stage, Ruins Exploration – 3]
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After returning to the past, Lee Hyun-wook has achieved achievements that he was unable to achieve in his previous life. was reaping.
Compared to his previous life, he realized how to develop his abilities several years ahead of time, took items that should have been taken by other characters, and made huge profits by preventing the villains’ schemes.
But even so, he knew full well that it was still not enough to stop the villain.
‘…No matter how fast my growth speed is, I can’t keep up with the villain’s expansion.’
This was the same principle as people with more money being able to grow their wealth faster.
Countries around the world, including the United States, China, and Germany, were already tied to the villain’s fate.
Germany’s Minister of Player Affairs, the United States’ Golden Cross Alliance, China’s Ministry of Public Security, and the private organization Cancer City were all villains who dug in and established themselves after a ‘wave’ occurred in the country.
Of course, they haven’t yet reached the point where they can come to the fore and control the country, but…
‘…that will happen soon.’
Therefore, the villain’s power was bound to grow day by day.
‘I originally planned to grow slowly and take advantage of their weaknesses, even if it
took a while…’ But now, from this moment on, there is a way to get ahead of the villains.
That’s…
‘…magical engineering.’
Originally, this was a time when the field of magical engineering was just taking its infancy.
The World Tree appears in the Republic of Chad, where ‘Magical Engineering Research’, the top skill of blacksmith players, has been ‘updated’ a few years ago, and blessings have been applied to the entire area – thanks to the mushrooming of all kinds of magic materials, the item manufacturing industry has grown. A revival was taking place.
‘In other words, at this point, even Villain has almost no foundation in the field of magic engineering.’
According to its original history, magical engineering will only reach a period of great revival in the next three to four years and influence history. Even at that time, Laputa was developed very quickly even though it belonged to the villains.
But now, Laputa, the best infrastructure, is in Seoul and in Lee Hyun-wook’s hands.
In other words, compared to my previous life, the item manufacturing industry centered on magical engineering will develop much faster.
‘…I will be at the forefront of that upheaval.’
Just as steam engine technology became the driving force of the Industrial Revolution and led to the explosive growth of Western society, magic engineering could create a super gap in this player society.
Thus, Lee Hyun-wook’s purpose was narrowed down.
Protecting this land, Korea, and developing magical engineering on top of it—in that respect, discovering a hidden stage related to ‘gnome,’ the founder of magical engineering, was timely news.
‘In this game, gnomes are the upper race of dwarves and are in the position of mentors.’
In other words, it meant that it was a place where you could obtain high-level magic engineering items.
Crunch-clunk-clunk-
Lee Hyun-wook was now breaking through the gnome’s ruins with Living Armor at the forefront.
The stone-walled hallway made of white bricks looked like a temple from an ancient civilization, but Lee Hyun-wook could feel that the space beyond the walls was all one giant mechanical device.
And each time they took a step, the metal devices inside the wall moved.
Buzz—clunk—Wing—clunk—
“Um… Team leader, there’s a strange sound coming from the wall.”
Jeongjun Lee tilted his head and said,
“Oh, it’s no big deal. “It’s probably the sound of a trap detecting our location and activating.”
“Oh, it’s nothing…”
And as this place was also a kind of secret dungeon, there were threatening elements scattered throughout it.
Clap-tung-!
Basic traps such as arrows shooting from the walls and ceiling are natural, of course
!
The moment I turned the corner, dozens of bullets flew in and
Pa-ji-ji-ji–!
It was a bloody composition that even 10 lives could be lost if you proceed without knowing how to
proceed to the electronic field, which turns the entire space of about 5 meters into electricity .
However, such traps were also made entirely of metal, so they did not work on Lee Hyun-wook.
Hung-hung-hung-hung-
All of those things were flying fiercely and then stopped tall in the air.
Hyunwook Lee pulled them out and held them in his hand.
– You have obtained the gnome-made Orihalcon-Adamant alloy bullet (rare).
– You have obtained the gnome-made Orihalcon-Adamant alloy bullet (rare).
– You have obtained the gnome-made Orihalcon-Adamant alloy bullet (rare).
A single bullet, which is no different from a consumable item, is given a ‘rare’ rating.
‘Yeah, I got a lot of these things from here back then too.’
Lee Hyun-wook took the iron beads the size of his thumbnail and put them in his pocket. As of now, even if Kang Jeong-doo was given generous support, he would not be able to produce this level of quality products.
– You have acquired a gnome-made Iron Iron Arrow (rare).
‘This… isn’t comparable to the Pale Note, but it’s not bad as auxiliary firepower.’
Since it was made of heavenly steel, an electric shock effect could be expected upon hitting the target.
– You have acquired the gnome current generator (rare).
‘This will come in handy someday…’
As each trap was made with ultra-advanced ancient technology, it was practically a bargain.
‘It’s also nodada. I’ll have to scrape it all off.’
That’s why Lee Hyun-wook deliberately stepped on all the traps and took the gifts pouring from there.
And besides traps, ‘mechanical monsters’ often appeared.
Mechanical scorpions, mechanical guard dogs, mechanical dolls, automatic turrets, etc.
Lee Hyun-wook caught them, ripped off the outer skin, and pulled out something.
– You have acquired a gnome-made small mana generator (rare).
Ung—
The size of the circular mechanical device was smaller than that of the Mana Stone, but it was a mana generating device.
[Item Information]
– Name: Gnomish Small Mana Generating Device (Rare)
– Effect: Mana Total: 12000 Mana Production: 5 Producing
5 mana per second may seem small at first glance, but Lee Hyun-wook’s Heart—Ether Engine’s mana recovery speed per second is Considering that it is currently at 100, it was definitely not a weak level.
‘And the effect of producing mana in the first place is very valuable.’
Looking at this, it was a bit disappointing that when the entrance to the ruins was forcibly opened, all the ‘mechanical scorpions’ that came out in droves were torn apart as punishment… but honestly, it was an unavoidable decision.
Lee Hyun-wook secretly put the small mana generator he had saved into his mouth.
Gulp—
digesting this would probably increase the speed of mana recovery.
‘As expected, there’s really nothing to throw away here.’
Lee Hyeon-wook felt that this place was like a huge gift box for himself.
But the real gift was deeper, and I hadn’t even seen the wrapping paper yet.
After walking for so many hours, the winding corridor of the stone chamber finally came to an end.
“Oh there! It is the door!”
Dusky light was flowing from inside the huge door. It seemed like a very large space.
“Now, from here on, as the terrain changes drastically, there will be a completely different threat than before.”
After Hyunwook Lee said that, he moved forward without hesitation.
Because I already knew what kind of threat would appear here.
‘Soon the guardian of the ruins will appear. It was a pretty difficult opponent…’
The moment the entire attack team entered the door—
– Caution! The [Guardian of the Ruins] is enraged by this illegal intrusion that violates the rules!
Boom——
As soon as the entrance they came through closed, something began to come down from near the ceiling.
Char-la-la-la–!
There was the sound of six thick chains connected to a pulley installed on the ceiling being rewinded,
and something huge attached to the end was falling rapidly toward the floor.
thud–!
– caution! The guardian of the ruins, ‘Bronze Sentinel (Alpha)’ has appeared!
Ki—i—i—ing——
It was a metal giant about 4 meters tall.
His head was wide and long like a tower shield, and magic circuits were embroidered all over his body like full-body tattoos… It
was a strange appearance that reminded me of a warrior from the Mayan civilization.
Suddenly, a blue light flashed in his eyes.
And the six chains that were restraining it were removed, as if releasing a vicious prisoner.
“Wow, just looking at that looks like it’s going to be huge!”
“Even the entrance is closed and I feel very uneasy…”
Everyone on both sides, Hope and Cheonghwa, were so shocked just by looking at the appearance that they had no choice but to wince and retreat.
But that wasn’t the end.
Clunk—clunk— it
folded with the sound of metal meeting together. The body unfolded and grew about 1.5 times larger.
“……”
It took out two blunt weapons from behind its back and began to move in this direction.
Boom—Thump—Thump—Thump—
At the forefront. Lee Hyun-wook’s living armors reflexively moved their bodies and guarded against it.
‘But the living armor cannot stop that monster.’
Sure enough….
Kang——!
The Living Armor that was hit by the blunt object he swung flew away like a kicked tin can and hit the wall.
Bang——!
– The connection with your descendants (Living Armor) is broken. It was cut off.
With just that one blow, the armor that was over 2 meters long was reduced to rags and retired.
“Wow!”
“You’re crazy…”
The moment they saw that scene, the tanks of the Cheonghwa guild, including Park Mu-han, had no choice but to hesitate and retreat. Even if it was a living armor, it was an existence with defense power equivalent to that of a C-class tank player.
In other words, there was a strong possibility that they too would be knocked out like that in just one hit.
But Lee Hyun-wook just smiled.
‘Yeah, it’s been a while. That is the power of the battle machine created by the gnomes.’
Even as the name ‘Alpha’ suggests, it was an early version and was not very powerful.
Lee Hyun-wook had attacked much larger gnome ruins several times, and at that time, there were about 15 of them pouring out like random mobs.
‘And Kang Xi-seol took them and studied them, and the result is the [Magic Machine Corps].’
She moved hundreds of such monstrous weapons at once, launched imitation versions of Hugin and Munin into the sky, and collided head-on with the necromancer’s army of death in the ‘Paju Ruins’.
‘That was the best tank corps.’
With them as the vanguard, Lee Hyun-wook poured out a rain of steel and several tons of metal, and the combination was truly destructive.
So, only once did I defeat a necromancer in a head-to-head match.
‘But this time, I’ve been able to control the Demon Machine Corps.’
This was because his central nervous system changed into a ‘signal core’ and his heart changed into an ‘ether engine’.
For the big picture, Lee Hyun-wook retired the ‘Ruins Guardian (Alpha)’ and took it out of the gate and gave it to Kang Jeong-du and Kang Hee-seol – he was planning to create a prototype of the magic machine corps.
‘Okay, within the next few days, the lineage will be completed even more than the Living Armor.’
With that in mind, Lee Hyun-wook took a step forward.
Woowoowoo——
An airdrop device flew over his head.
Because the passageway to the ruins was so narrow, I brought only one item with me, but this one was enough.
“Hey, Team Leader… that thing looks like metal too, so how can you not smash it like before?”
Behind Lee Hyun-wook, Park Mu-han asked with a rather nervous expression.
But Lee Hyun-wook shook his head.
“Unfortunately, boss monsters are impossible.”
“Oh, of course… Then it would be a bit difficult to fight that monster in this narrow place…”
Park Mu-han honestly wanted to say that we should retreat.
In his opinion, as he had the most experience in attacking, it was a level of monster that would be difficult to handle.
Even if he could catch it somehow , … There would definitely be quite a few casualties.
‘No matter how precious the hidden stage is, the lives of team members take priority over strategy.’
Park Moo-han is said to have a tendency to make hasty judgments, but he did not make reckless judgments.
‘But seeing as Lee Hyun-wook is completely unfazed, I wonder what he can do….’
However, having already witnessed this man’s activities several times, I kept quiet without realizing it. That’s it.
‘If I can accomplish something this time… really…’
He was unknowingly anticipating Lee Hyun-wook’s performance.
At that time, the thing moved again. The sound
of gears
and chains engaging was heard, and both sides of the thing were struck. The area around the shoulder opened.
“Be careful! “He’s trying something!”
A red crystal emerged from within, emitting light, and countless small magic circles appeared around it.
“Uh! It’s a fire attack!”
The moment a wizard who interpreted the meaning of the magic circle shouted like that—
wo—r—r—r—r——!
Two pillars of fire spewed out and struck the Living Armor—the surface of the armor became red and melted like a candle. It began to fall.
Then the flames filled the floor and surged in like a tide.
“—Ugh! Avoid!”
A tremendous amount of heat enveloped the entire place, as if entering the crater of a volcano.
“No, you can’t avoid it! “We have to stop it!”
There was no time to escape.
The wizards quickly used freezing magic to create an ice wall around their allies.
However, the heat alone began to melt the ice walls.
P-uh-uh-uh-uh–!
The flames collided with the ice, a huge amount of steam spewed out, and a deafening roar rang out.
Still, since the two energies were polar opposites, it was successful in blocking the waves of flame.
“Damn it! How can a machine use such high-level magic!”
Park Moo-han gritted his teeth and filled both hands with
energy. If he thought things weren’t going to work, he planned to rush in and target the back. Although it was reckless, he knew very well as the leader of the strategy team that it was important to divert attention when dealing with a large person with such good firepower. ‘And if it were me
, Even if I allow him to take one hit, I’ll be able to survive!’
But that was when.
Gulp—gulp—
something that looked like a liquid began to rise into the air from the floor in front.
It was… molten metal made by melting the molten metal living armor.
It wriggled in the air like a living creature, like slime, and started to kill the thing. It flew toward.
Iron—pop——!
The sticky molten metal splashed on the guy’s head and shoulders.
Then it quickly cooled and hardened…
Ki—ing— Knock! Knock! Knock!
Flame spray on the shoulder. Isn’t the molten metal stuck in the crevices of the device and causing a malfunction?
“Oh!”
Yes, even if it melts, metal is still metal. Lee Hyun-wook took advantage of that.
He then began to slowly raise both hands.
‘oh! good! It has finally begun!’
Park Moo-han now knew what that action meant, and he swallowed his saliva without realizing it.
‘That man is moving something! Oh, but what on earth are you controlling?’
Right now, there was nothing around him that could be called metal.
But its identity is….
Ch—r—r—r—r——!
The six chains that were originally restraining him behind his back rose into the air as if dancing, and they flew in and began to wrap around his arms, legs, and neck indiscriminately like an anaconda.
Hung—Hung—Hung—Hung—
They got tangled up once, twice, three times, and the guy who was walking forward had no choice but to stop.
“Oh! That’s it! Completely tied up!”
Park Moo-han shouted like that without even realizing it and started walking towards Lee Hyun-wook.
Cheeeee ——
The floor was hot like a grill, but the ‘mana shield’ used on his body blocked the heat.
But then, a blue magic circle appeared on the guy’s chest . A thought occurred to me:
“Uh—be careful!”
Immediately afterwards, blue spheres poured out. This time, the freezing magic spread out like a fan, covering Lee Hyun-wook’s head with so many spheres that there was no time to avoid them.
But Lee Hyun-wook’s body rose vertically into the air.
T-that-that-that-that-!
Sharp icicles mushroomed beneath his feet, but his body rose instantly and did not even touch him.
“What… can I even fly?”
Lee Hyun-wook flew up like that and stretched out his hand behind his back.
Then, a weapon—an incredibly large weapon—was summoned from outer space.
Whoop——!
It was the appearance of the giant sword Mogley.
Lee Hyun-wook grabbed it and shot it at the guy. He flew over and swung that huge sword with all his might.
Kwa-ang–!
At that moment, the guy also threw out his left hand, and the two steel collided with an explosion, and sparks fell.
“Ugh—”
The tremendous shock caused Lee Hyun-wook’s body to fall backwards. He was pushed away and lost sight of Moglei.
But the guy’s left hand was completely shattered, causing him to lose his balance and wince.
At that moment, Lee Hyun-wook’s body became blurred and soon completely disappeared from sight.
“What! Oh my… are you hiding this time?”
Park Moo-han laughed with an expression that was now absurd.
Meanwhile, the Moglay stuck in the ceiling was pulled out and moved, and the ruins guardian’s gaze began to follow the Moglay.
It was the limit of artificial intelligence given to a mass of machines.
While he was chasing the wrong target, Lee Hyeon-wook appeared behind him.
Blah blah blah——
His hands turned into claws of an animal.
And then he grabbed something on the back of the ruins guardian.
Kak! How-go-each——!
He ripped open a cover on the back of his head with tremendous grip strength, and in an instant
, grabbed
something inside… !
…I pulled it out.
U—Ugh…
Then the huge ruin guardian (Alpha) stopped standing tall and the light in his eyes began to fade.
“Huh… There’s a target recognition device here as expected?”
Lee Hyun-wook had watched Kang Hee-seol create a magic machine corps from the sidelines, so he knew very well where the fatal weakness of these mechanical weapons was, and he exploited that weakness in any way possible to
take it out in as intact a condition as possible.
– Congratulations! You have disabled the guardian (alpha) of Gnome Ruins A3!
Such a system message appeared before everyone’s eyes, and
beyond it, the steel giant began to slowly tilt.
Boom——!
“—It’s over!”
Park Moo-han clapped once without realizing it, then lowered his arm thinking it was strange.
‘I wonder how many times I’ve been surprised today… I have no choice but to admit that man, Lee Hyun-wook.’
He thought so, then shook his head.
‘No, it’s not at the level where I dare to admit it. ‘He is a man of skill who deserves to be called a hero.’ He
witnessed several shocking scenes today, and before he knew
it, he went beyond acknowledging Lee Hyun-wook and began to admire him.
At that time, something shiny fell from the head of the fallen guardian of the ruins.
that was the key
– Hidden Message: The [Secret Space] of the Gnome Ruins (A3) has been opened.
“Oh! Look there! A door has opened at the end!”
“…Oh, it’s a treasure trove of hidden stages!”
Players from both guilds cheered, everyone.
The treasure trove of the ‘Hidden Stage’ must have contained incredible things.
“Oh, but… there are two doors, so why is there only one key?”
As Jeongjun Lee said, there were two huge doors at the end of the room.
And a red ‘lock’ icon floating in the air meant that both were locked.
“Oh, no way…isn’t there another key in the place we just passed by?”
“Oh, I guess so.”
Other players thought so.
They thought they had missed something because they came in recklessly, rather than solving the puzzle with precision.
‘That might be right.’
Even Lee Hyun-wook wasn’t convinced that he could open that second door yet.
It was only a guess that the master key of the ancient heritage would be the answer…
And when Lee Hyun-wook was standing in the middle of the two doors, a two-line message appeared before his eyes.
– Gnome’s Safe No. 1: Locked (Opening Conditions Satisfied)
– Gnome’s Safe No. 2: Locked (Opening Conditions Satisfied)
“Haha….”
Now it was time to unpack the real gift box.
