A Player Who Eats Metal - Chapter 37: Rain Falling Over the Waves

< Chapter 37: Rain Falling Over the Waves – 4 >

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“…Yes, he’s dead.”

The man wearing a trilby said as he descended from the tree.

“Both of them?”

Leaning against a tree on the other side and smoking a cigarette was a woman, the leader of the Five Slaughterers, Carol, who asked the question.

But something was unnatural. The hand holding the cigarette wasn’t hers.

She had her arms crossed, and a third arm sprouting from behind her back was holding the cigarette.

“The one near Gate 2, Yang Hee-joo, isn’t dead, but seems to have lost consciousness.”

The Five Slaughterers could sense each other’s presence as they were connected.

But for some reason, their connection was severed simultaneously.

“…”

It was something utterly incomprehensible to them.

“…Didn’t you say Sang-gun isn’t here right now?”

“That’s correct. It was confirmed before the infiltration.”

“Then… Seo Eunha, is it her?”

“At present, isn’t she the only one we can suspect?”

Within the first battalion, there were only two players who could stand against the Five Slaughterers.

The B-grade Druid Kim Kang-seok, known as the Mountain God of Namsan,

And the B-grade Paladin Seo Eunha, the daughter of the Holy Knight Commander,

Besides them, there were no other names worth being wary of.

“It’s fine, after we finish things here, we just need to spare a few lives of those we capture.”

“Yes. It seems Gate 3 hasn’t been noticed yet, so our plan won’t be disrupted.”

They were halfway up Namsan, where they could look up at Namsan’s tower.

An additional gate was opened there.

A purple light flickered between the lush trees.

“Hmm, did the master anticipate this and increase it to three?”

“From what I perceive, it seemed more like an order to utterly annihilate them. Plus, there’s something we need to find…”

Originally, they planned to induce the creation of two gates here.

But their master, Ki Baek-jun, suddenly added one more.

Then, a deep voice echoed from somewhere.

“…Hey, Carol! Can I install it here?”

About 20 meters away in a valley, a big man was standing, holding something aloft.

As Carol nodded, the big man began to break a nearby tree with his bare hands.

Uduk! Uduk!

It looked as easy as pulling up weeds.

After manually leveling the terrain, he brought down the huge green stone he had been carrying.

He then drove it into the ground as if hammering it down.

Poo-euk-!

Then….

Gooooooo–

[ Warning! The ‘Den of Malice’ has been declared in this area! ]

-Dark attribute stats increase. (50%)

-Undead attribute recovery rate increases. (50%)

-The number of monsters coming out of the gate increases. (100%)

The man grinned and dusted off his hands.

“Installed! It works well, what!”

This game featured a plethora of various types of items, some of which harbored grotesquely bizarre effects. These were absolutely useless to ‘humanity’, requiring careful handling.

Of course, depending on the purpose of use, the outcomes could vary…

“Now the zombies will sluggishly crawl out and devour all those Seoul bastards, won’t they?”

The purpose here seemed far from benevolent.

Gurgle- Gurgle-

Suddenly, the third gate that was open behind them responded. It was an eruption.

Soon heavily armored knights began to walk out one by one.

Thud- Thud- Thud- Thud-

The weight that shook the ground…

However, there was one strange thing.

There was nothing inside the armor.

Literally, only the ‘armor’ was alive and moving.

At a glance, it looked like ‘Living Armor’, enchanted to move autonomously to guard a house when a mage cast a ‘control magic’ on it.

But this was ‘Haunted Armor’, a product of ‘death magic’, inhabited by spirits. It was quite a high-ranking entity among undead monsters.

Thud- Thud- Thud- Thud-

“Awesome. Even that pompous female paladin of class B won’t be able to handle those.”

Carol chuckled.

The undead ‘Haunted Armor’ squadron, dressed in steel armor, was deployed halfway up the mountain, and behind them, a swarm of zombies began to squirm out.

“Ah, and Oh Kang-muk! I have a task for you!”

“Huh?”

The bulky man who had installed the obelisk raised his head.

“Can you go down and eliminate the military command?”

“Why me? Weren’t the kids supposed to do that?”

Carol heaved a deep sigh and clenched her temple.

“We can’t help it since the connection with both suddenly cut off.”

“Oh, both of them got knocked out? Ha, those stupid brats, making things troublesome…”

Despite the rather cheap language, it was quite brutal coming from a giant exceeding 2 meters and weighing over 250 kilograms.

“Well, can’t help it. Since it’s come to this, shall we create a noble related to a paladin?”

“No, I told you to annihilate the command, not to create a paladin lineage.”

“Oh, I get it. I mean to do both.”

“Don’t be careless. It’s strange that both Heo Young-tae and Yang Hee-Joo were defeated.”

“Hey, Carol, why are you like this? Don’t you know me? Am I the same as them?”

Yes, even among vampires, there was a level of difference.

If the previously defeated vampires, Heo Young-tae and Yang Hee-Joo were ‘lower class’, then this man, Oh Kang-muk was ‘middle class’.

While it was just a one-step difference, it implied a colossal gap, necessitating the ‘draining’ of several hundred people.

Oh Kang-muk had drained 301 people so far.

Today, he thought to increase that number a bit.

* * *

At some point near Namsan, the moment a totem was hammered down, a red warning message appeared before the eyes of all the players in the vicinity.

[ Caution! The ‘Den of Evil’ has been declared in this area! ]

-The stat of darkness attributes increases. (50%)

-Undead attribute recovery rate increases. (50%)

-The number of monsters coming out of the gate increases. (100%)

“This is …”

Everyone in the underground command control room swallowed their dry saliva as they stared into space.

“…it’s a totem.”

“…it’s a totem.”

Lee Hyunwook and Seo Eunha said at the same time.

A totem was an installation-type item that exerted a magical influence over a region.

What kind of totem was installed this time was well described in the warning message.

Everyone wore a look of despair.

However, only Lee Hyunwook was smiling inwardly.

‘If it’s a totem … it’s an item embedded with a Demon’s medal.’

A while ago, he managed to absorb the ‘Demon’s Medal (Inferno)’ he obtained from defeating the Kobold Warlock and acquired powerful skills like ‘Fire Breath’ and ‘Internal Furnace’.

Now another opportunity to obtain it had arrived.

Unconsciously, his mouth watered.

What kind would it be this time … perhaps it would be related to vitality or control.

Lee Hyunwook had somewhat anticipated that the situation would turn out like this.

Heo Young-tae; it was because that person, who originally should not have been here, had appeared.

That meant there might be a few more unexpected threats.

Like, for instance, ‘the third gate’…

‘But to plant a totem too? They’re bringing me something to eat themselves.’

To Lee Hyunwook, it felt more like a stroke of good fortune rather than a crisis.

Lee Hyunwook looked at Seo Eunha.

“Platoon leader, that guy earlier, he isn’t alone.”

At Lee Hyunwook’s words, Seo Eunha nodded.

She had been suspecting as much.

“This seems like an organized terror attack, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it seems we have to view it that way.”

“…but using monsters, is that even possible?”

Seo Eunha couldn’t comprehend it. A terror using the system…

If this phenomenon became known, it would turn the world upside down.

But that wasn’t the pressing issue at the moment.

“Whatever the case, we need to remove that totem immediately. Otherwise, we won’t be able to handle it.”

“Right. We need to assemble a search party immediately.”

If the totem continued to function and its effects persisted, soon a tremendous number of monsters would emerge from the gate and gather near the ‘Den of Evil’.

This signaled the birth of a ‘Legion’.

“Duty commander, we will go to find the totem right away.”

At Seo Eunha’s words, the duty commander, Lieutenant Colonel Moon Tae-ho, nodded.

“How many people do you think will be needed for this operation?”

“For now, I, Private Lee Hyunwook, and … we also need Private Choi Young-jun.”

The news of Choi Young-jun’s return had already reached here.

“Oh, and coincidentally, a few members from the 1st company are armed with holy weapons.”

This time, Lee Hyunwook spoke up.

The former members of the special strategy squad were equipped with holy weapons; they had been nurtured for times like this.

“Really? Communications soldier, connect with Lieutenant Kwak Yong-jun right away.”

“Yes, sir!”

Lieutenant Colonel Moon Tae-ho immediately contacted Lieutenant Kwak Yong-jun at the guard post and loaned the required personnel.

“… Done. Those guys will arrive within 5 minutes.”

Thus, a ‘Totem Search Party’ consisting of 23 people was swiftly formed.

“We will depart immediately.”

“Sigh… Lieutenant Seo, you must succeed. All our lives are at stake.”

“Yes, of course. See you later.”

At that moment,

Thud-

Somewhere, there was a vibration, and the fluorescent light flickered.

“….”

The bustling command control room froze for a moment.

It seemed like there was a large impact just above them.

“What was that just now?”

Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!

Again, there was a sound of impacts – but this time it wasn’t from above.

Their gazes turned toward the wall.

It resonated from the same floor, underground.

“….”

The next moment…

Click-

“…Eh?”

A bewildered voice of the situation soldier rang out.

“Uh, over there….”

Outside the iron door, in the corridor, the lower half of a body wearing combat boots was sprawling.

The problem was… it was literally ‘just the lower half’.

It appeared to be the corpse of a code room guard.

Lee Hyunwook and Seo Eunha exchanged glances.

Schwing-

Seo Eunha drew her sword, and from behind Lee Hyunwook, a sword automatically unsheathed itself.

Both of them were the first to rush out.

“….”

In the darkness at the end of the corridor, a giant figure stood.

He looked like he was wearing a black suit with something resembling a raincoat over it.

He was holding a flail with a chain as large as a human head.

However, the length of that chain was… incredibly long.

“….”

The two didn’t bother to ask who the monstrous figure was.

Lee Hyunwook obviously knew that this man was a being similar to the vampire Heo Young-tae they had encountered before, and Seo Eunha also noticed it.

“…Who, who are you?”

However, Moon Tae-ho, who followed behind them, had no choice but to ask.

Yet there was no answer.

The brute was just chuckling, seemingly enjoying the moment.

Seo Eunha moved forward with her shield drawn. The monstrous man’s flail could potentially smash all three of them with a single swing, so she prepared herself for that threat.

“Subunit leader, this is their plan to stall for time.”

Lee Hyunwook whispered.

“And in this narrow corridor, even for a subunit leader like you… it would be difficult to end this quickly.”

“…”

No, the problem wasn’t about ending it quickly.

Facing an opponent with monstrous strength in a narrow space was akin to a suicide mission.

“I think, subunit leader, you should go first.”

“…What?”

“Please trust me with this once again.”

“But…”

“If we find the totem too late, we won’t be able to protect anything.”

Seo Eunha pondered briefly and then nodded.

Once again, his words were nearly the correct answer.

“I will finish this quickly and join you.”

“…Just don’t die.”

Seo Eunha looked back at Moon Tae-ho.

“Commander on duty, I will go to find the totem. Here… please take care of it.”

Moon Tae-ho was stunned but silently nodded.

Seo Eunha gave Lee Hyunwook one more look before dashing up the adjacent stairs.

“…”

Moon Tae-ho was taken aback, but he silently nodded.

Seo Eunha took one more glance at Lee Hyunwook and then dashed up the nearby stairs.

“…”

With the shield gone, the two found themselves facing a brute wielding a sledgehammer, unarmed.

The brute laughed again and moved his tree-trunk-like thick legs, taking a step closer.

Thump-

When a person walks, it’s usually a ‘step’, not a ‘thump’…

“Damn it, move aside. There! If you come any closer, I’ll kill you!”

Moon Tae-ho shouted, raising both of his hands.

Yet, he was a magician of C-grade 1st tier.

His title as a Wide Area Magic Controller meant he wasn’t particularly skilled in interpersonal magic. Still, he believed he was the one who should confront this brute at this moment.

Thump-

But the brute, unphased, took another step.

Woosh-

A magic circle began to form in the palm of Moon Tae-ho’s hand.

Just at that moment, the brute’s iron mace flew toward him like a missile.

Whooosh!

“What-”

Crash!

Moon Tae-ho couldn’t react in time.

In the blink of an eye, Lee Hyunwook exerted his metal control on the end of that flail. The iron mace swerved slightly and instead of hitting Moon Tae-ho’s head, it struck his left shoulder.

But with that impact alone, Moon Tae-ho’s body was thrown back, slamming into the wall behind him.

Thump-

…He seemed to have passed out.

‘Blood-sucking Flame Bear, Oh Kang-muk, his strength is truly tremendous.’

Lee Hyunwook recognized him.

That mace was metal, but controlling it seemed difficult.

It wasn’t due to some magical effect that hindered control, like the shell of the Queen Spider or the kukri of the Gnoll Alpha Male. Simply put, its overwhelming force overpowered Lee Hyunwook’s control.

Even if he wanted to ‘shatter’ it outright, the mace seemed to have been compressed to its maximum density through magical engineering. In other words, its mass was so large that a significant amount of mana would be required to ‘shatter’ it.

‘I can’t waste all my mana just to blow that thing up.’

Lee Hyunwook thought of another strategy.

“Hey, someone, take care of the Commander on duty.”

“Huh? Oh! Yes!”

At Lee Hyunwook’s words, a soldier rushed over and dragged away the unconscious Colonel Moon Tae-ho.

“…Hey, after witnessing that, you still want to fight me?”

“…”

“You’re quite brave, aren’t you?”

Oh Kang-muk said as he approached.

“And you just touched the tip of my weapon, didn’t you? Right?”

He had instantly noticed the metal control exerted by Lee Hyunwook, clearly demonstrating a remarkable sense.

“You’re quick to notice. Thank you for recognizing that.”

“You’re polite and quite impressive? This old man should give you a gift, shouldn’t he?”

Oh Kang-muk said so with a snickering laugh.

A gift, huh? Why are all the vampires like this, perverted…

With such thoughts, Lee Hyunwook drew his Sword of Clouds and used the Water Mist skill.

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-

A large amount of steam gushed out from the tip of the sword.

The narrow corridor quickly became cloudy.

“Oh, planning to use a smoke screen?”

The last thing he saw before his vision was completely obscured was the brute raising his mace.

But Lee Hyunwook could still sense the location of the mace.

Simultaneously sending out thirteen steel beads and the Failnaught, he –

Thump!

kicked off the ground and charged forward.

Brrrr-brrrr-brrrr-brrrr-

There was a sound of what seemed to be steel beads hitting one after another.

Breaking through the steam, he saw Oh Kang-muk raising his left hand to shield his head.

He had blocked all the steel beads and the Failnaught.

Right after, the brute’s right hand – the one holding the mace – moved.

Whooosh-

That massive chunk of iron was launched towards Lee Hyunwook’s head.

Lee Hyunwook slid over the wet floor, leaning his body backward to dodge.

Evading the mace, he slid between Oh Kang-muk’s legs, drawing out his KG19.

Sshhh-wack!

“Argh!”

He slashed past the brute’s crotch and got up, running in the opposite direction.

Using his metal control, he simultaneously opened all four doors on both sides of the corridor.

Creak- creak- creak- creak-

The doors opening to the corridor,

At that exact moment, the brute hurled his mace.

Kwa-bang-bang-bang!

All four doors crumpled like cardboard.

Still, he was able to fend off the mace attack for the moment with a quick wit.

“Eeeek… Stand there! Are you trying to escape?”

In the meantime, Lee Hyunwook had reached the end of the corridor.

It was… a dead-end.

Oh Kang-muk was approaching, ripping off the crumpled warehouse door with thudding steps.

Chiiiiii…

Smoke was billowing out from between his legs.

Snarling, the brute pulled out a strange flask and drank from it.

Upon drinking it, black smoke surged from his mouth, and the smoke from between his legs stopped.

Astonishingly, he had instantly healed the wounds inflicted by the holy weapon.

‘Potion of death…’

It was a recovery potion made with death magic, utilizing human souls as an ingredient.

It wasn’t something just anyone could consume; it dramatically increased the recovery rate for those of the ‘beast series’ or ‘undead series’. It could even heal wounds inflicted by holy power.

“Phew… Kid, it seems like you have no place to escape now, is this all?”

Oh Kang-muk said, his face twisting sinisterly.

However, Lee Hyunwook grinned.

Seeing the expression that didn’t match the situation at all, Oh Kang-muk tilted his head in confusion.

“…Why are you smiling?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s not me who needs to find a way out, it’s you.”

Saying this, Lee Hyunwook was standing, leaning against a massive iron door.

It was an immensely thick, dark rust-colored door unlike any other in the compound.

-3rd Cavalry Division 1st Battalion Armory: Restricted Area

Creak-

The iron door began to automatically open to both sides.

Coo-goo-goo-goo-goo-

A cold wind blew out from inside.

Unlike natural wind, it carried a stuffy energy filled with the scent of the warehouse…

“Huh?”

Although the lights were off, Oh Kang-muk’s eyes pierced through the darkness.

There was a very deep hole pierced in the center of the armory.

It was a massive passage leading down to the floor below, the stairs.

It was then.

Goo-goo-goo-goo-goo-

A vibration began to resonate from beneath their feet.

“What the…”

Oh Kang-muk felt a sense of danger and stopped in his tracks.

At that moment, something was fired from inside the armory.

Ssssh-

It was a single spear.

Oh Kang-muk swiftly dodged it with a slight backward movement of his shoulder, avoiding it with ease.

“Shit, what the hell is this? Just this kind of joke…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence.

Because soon, he felt something was terribly wrong.

Then-

Ssh-ssh-ssh-ssh-ssh-ssh-!

The sound of harsh wind filled the corridor, and from the darkness a floor below, dozens of all kinds of metal weapons began to pour out like a horde of wild beasts.

“Shit! What is this!”

They naturally passed by Lee Hyunwook and charged towards Oh Kang-muk.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Sharp metals began to pierce into his entire body.

“Ugh! Ugh! Damn it!”

Oh Kang-muk had no chance to counterattack, he covered his head and stepped backward.

But he felt his body getting heavier and heavier.

It wasn’t that he was losing strength; it was because of the weight of the metal weapons impaled in his body.

Ssh-ssh-ssh-ssh-ssh-ssh-!

“This, what is this- Ugh!”

It felt like hundreds of people were shooting arrows and throwing spears at him all at once.

Or like being swept away by a giant rush of water, he couldn’t control his body at all.

It was a momentary transformation into a porcupine-like state.

Lee Hyunwook walked slowly towards him.

‘In front of the armory, my ability can exhibit the best performance.’

The weight Lee Hyunwook could control was clearly defined.

Therefore, the number of weapons he could move at one time was inevitably limited.

But if he keeps sending them out like this…

‘It can seem infinite.’

Once a piece of metal gains momentum, it flies and impales on its own without needing ‘control’.

In other words, as long as there is enough mana and weapons, an endless assault is possible.

Gaining control of the armory was for the purpose of utilizing many weapons like this.

But using the armory itself was a different dimension.

‘A strategy that became possible because he came here himself… I was lucky.’

Of course, even with this, Oh Kang-muk won’t die.

“Eurgh- Ack! Ack-Ugh!”

A different approach was needed to finish him off.

Among the flow of metal weapons, Lee Hyunwook walked towards Oh Kang-muk.

He stretched out his left hand towards him.

At that moment, a spear shot out in a straight line from his wrist.

Thud-

“-Cough!”

It hit Oh Kang-muk in the left chest.

Unlike when he was hit by other weapons, the giant’s body momentarily shook.

The name of that spear was ‘Spear of Achilles’

A hero-class spear with an incurable effect had pierced through Oh Kang-muk’s chest – his heart.

“…Try and recover from that, if you can.”