A Player Who Eats Metal - Chapter 67: Seoul, Demon, Saint

< Chapter 67. Seoul, Demon, Saint – 1 >

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One hour had passed since Lee Hyunwook entered the first portal.

―Click- Identification and encirclement of 20 ‘Event Map’ locations created throughout Seoul completed, awaiting orders—

Immediately after hearing that transmission, Woo Seong-moon lifted his mana messenger.

“…From now on, we’re starting the annihilation operation.”

Secrecy was of utmost importance to the secret organization known as the villains.

They operated in the shadows, laying their eggs where the world couldn’t notice, awaiting the day their power and machinations would envelop the earth. That was their objective.

However, there were times when they had to take active steps to seize something.

For such times, they had ‘tails to be cut off’ ready to be put on the front line…

Among these were the known ‘Outliers’ of the antisocial terrorist organization.

“…Damn it, why did the boss give us such a task?”

“Holland, shut up and just do it, it’s almost over anyway.”

“I mean, we’re not miners, and for three days straight, what the hell is going on with this place without sunlight…”

The players mobilized for this ‘demon summoning’ mining operation were also members of the Outlier organization.

They were originally active mainly in South America, dealing with drug trafficking and human trafficking.

But three days ago, after receiving orders from the higher-ups, they were suddenly sent here through ‘Shadow Link’ and have been mining non-stop for three days. They couldn’t help but feel like slaves.

“Ha, damn it… But where the hell are we? It’s not under the Pacific Ocean, is it?”

“Holland, you really… Doesn’t it seem like Billy isn’t telling us on purpose? There must be a reason.”

Thus, they were being thoroughly used without even knowing the existence of the villains.

However, the leader of this site, Billy Smith, a member of the Outlier’s executive committee, was different.

He was a villain himself.

He knew very well what this operation ultimately meant.

‘Saint, that bitch should be stripped naked and hung in the streets…’

He had hated the saint after experiencing a certain incident.

Four years ago, he was caught smuggling drugs into the Republic of Chad.

Fortunately, he managed to burn all the potential evidence with flame magic…

The problem was that some of his colleagues were ‘warlocks’.

“Damn it, who arbitrarily decides that the dark magic category is evil…”

In the case of magicians, one could acquire dark magic skills through a certain ‘trigger’,

but many countries legally restricted the use or possession of dark magic by defining it as evil.

Especially in the Republic of Chad, being a land of the World Tree, there was considerable anti-dark magic sentiment.

Even the Saint herself would weirdly intervene to torture and punish players who learned dark magic… Billy’s colleagues were all ‘executed’ by her.

Fortunately, Billy had not learned dark magic yet, so he was able to save his own life.

‘That damn woman, laughing like a demon after gouging out Olynyk’s eyes… I can’t forget that face.’

He shuddered when he thought about that time.

“Huff— Billy! The work is done!”

Before they knew it, the last Fragment of Calamity had been mined.

“Good, I’ll contact them, tell the group to rest until the ‘Shadow Baron’ arrives.”

But then, it happened.

Dang——

The sound of a bell ringing from somewhere, it was the brass bell installed at the corner of the event map.

At that, the organization members about to take a break stood still with tense expressions.

“….”

It was the Watcher’s bell, an alert item signaling that a new player had entered this event map.

It was something that should never ring.

Billy pulled a wand from his waist and gestured with his head.

“Hey, what are you doing? Seal off the entrance right now and check what’s going on!”

In addition to the Watcher’s bell, there were also cameras installed at the entrance.

But then, the tankers blocking the entrance caught sight of something.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Whirr——

A small metallic sphere was slowly flying along the long corridor towards them. All eyes were fixed on this unknown object. It looked like… a very intricately crafted metal bead.

It stopped right in front of the tankers, and they had no choice but to retreat hesitantly.

“I don’t know what this is, but it doesn’t seem very dangerous. It’s just… a small bead.”

One of the tankers said this, tapping it with his shield.

Beep—Beep—Beep—Beep—

“…And when you touch it, it makes some cute sound like a chick.”

“No! That’s not a chick sound, it’s a countdown—”

At that moment, a blue light flashed, and five tankers were swept away by the explosion.

Zhe—ong——!

No one had anticipated that such destructive power would emanate from such a small object.

“Ugh—!”

Three of them died instantly, and the other two seemed to have sustained serious injuries, staggering.

“Crap— It’s an attack!”

“Pull yourselves together and grab your weapons!”

In the aftermath of the explosion and the rising smoke, Billy turned his head to look at someone.

“Damn it, Holton! Hurry up and contact the upper echelon to report this!”

“Yes!”

“And let the other locations know about the attack too, so they can prepare for any possible attacks!”

The man called Holton nodded and lifted his mana messenger, but…

“Ugh!”

With a death rattle, Holton’s pupils dilated, and his body collapsed.

A black spike-like object was embedded in his neck.

Then, an unfamiliar voice came from somewhere.

“…Anyway, contacting them will be useless.”

And from the ceiling, something blurred slowly descended.

Soon, the invisibility magic dissipated, and its true form was gradually revealed…

A man dressed in a black combat suit, it was Lee Hyunwook.

He reached out his hand towards Billy. Then, as if Billy’s thick gold necklace had become a dog collar, it dragged him forward, and Lee Hyunwook strode forward, grasping Billy’s neck.

“Gurk—!”

“Because you guys are the last…”

“Crap, the last, what do you mean by that…”

Even as his carotid artery was being compressed, Billy tried to swing the wand in his left hand.

Thump——!

That was, until his wristwatch exploded, blowing his wrist clean off.

“Arghhhhh——!”

Following that, Lee Hyunwook’s hand, which was gripping Billy’s neck, twisted, and Billy’s cervical spine broke.

Billy thus closed his eyes in vain, his deep-seated heartfelt desire to witness the saint’s end unfulfilled.

Meanwhile, 8 shadows poured down from the ceiling.

They clung to the scrambling organization members’ heads like evil spirits.

The next moment, fountains of blood simultaneously erupted from the necks of 11 organization members.

Swoosh——

Those shadows were 8 assassin-class players.

“—Clear!”

In just a few seconds, the thugs in the pit were all subdued.

Lee Hyunwook looked around at the scene that had unfolded in the blink of an eye and nodded his head in amazement.

‘As expected of the Shadow Dragon Syndicate. Clean work.’

The special forces of AMT Intelligence Secret Services, the <Shadow Dragon Syndicate>, were formidable opponents. This infiltration unit, composed of players of rank B and above, were likely direct disciples of Cheon Myung-ho, a master of assassination.

‘And the existence of the organization called Shadow Dragon Syndicate is probably still unknown to the villains.’

It was a secret organization formed so covertly under the leadership of Woo Seong-moon that even the president was unaware of it.

Woo Seong-moon predicted that in the future, it would be not governments or corporations, but individual players who would influence the world and secretly cultivated this organization of assassin players to keep in check the power of those absolute players.

And for the security of the organization, he took great care in selecting only trustworthy agents and assured their loyalty personally.

Lee Hyunwook heard somewhere that there was a bit of brainwashing involved using ‘curses.’

‘Woo Seong-moon is a man who would tolerate such unethical acts for the sake of the country.’

At that moment, one of the special forces members approached Lee Hyunwook and offered a mana messenger.

“Director Woo Seong-moon’s mana communication.”

―This is Director Woo Seong-moon. As of the current time, all targets have been successfully subdued.

It was a success for all the surprise operations conducted at 18 other locations as well.

“But the quest is still in progress. It seems we need to destroy the Fragments of Calamity.”

Just as destroying the World Stone would close the gates, the goal of this quest’s success was the ‘Fragments of Calamity.’

And as Lee Hyunwook said, when they took those fragments out of the event map and crushed them,

Rumble——

With a vibration, the event map was closed.

Such operations occurred simultaneously at 20 locations, and soon…

[Congratulations! You have successfully completed the Event Quest <Demon Pursuit>!]

‘It’s really over.’

It had been only 1 hour and 40 minutes since Lee Hyunwook entered the first portal.

A total of 19 simultaneous attacks on the event maps, a perfect success.

With swift and decisive counter-terrorism operations, Seoul was once again protected.

Then, the rewards began to fall before his eyes.

[You have acquired Special Awakening (Unique)]

-This item is bound upon acquisition.

‘I did well to hold onto the one I got during the last wave without using it.’

The Special Awakening item could be fused with another to upgrade to a ‘Level 2′, which could then be used to raise the rank of one skill by two levels.

[You have obtained an Ancient Coin of the Underground Kingdom.]

[You have obtained an Ancient Coin of the Underground Kingdom.]

[You have obtained an Ancient Coin of the Underground Kingdom.]

‘Why are there three… Ah, is it time to start scattering these?’

This was a hint of the imminent appearance of the Dwarf race.

At this time, players who obtained this would probably have thought it was just junk, so it might be possible to collect them from auctions or something.

And that wasn’t all.

[Congratulations! You have achieved a special achievement.]

-A new achievement had been added.

Lee Hyunwook checked the details and could not help but be surprised.

[Achievements List]

3)Savior of Seoul

-Condition: Prevent the destruction of Seoul twice.

-Effect: ‘All abilities’ greatly increased within Seoul (+100%)

…All abilities increased by a whopping 2 times.

Even though it was limited to Seoul, this was an unbelievable figure.

‘Savior of Seoul, I never thought I would be the first to obtain this title…’

Inferno is commonly called ‘The Savior of Busan.’

That’s because Inferno actually saved Busan,

but also because he also holds the title ‘Savior of Busan.’

‘In Busan, Inferno’s abilities are doubled, so no one dared to target Busan.’

Thus, until the Necromancer’s invasion, Busan had been an impregnable fortress.

‘Frequent attacks will continue targeting Seoul, whether it’s now or in the future. This has turned out very favorably for me.’

[Current controllable metal weight: 302kg]

-Enhanced Sensing (+30%) is in effect.

-Strong Bones (+10%) is in effect.

-World Boss Monster Slayer (+5%) is in effect.

[Savior of Seoul (+100%) is in effect: Stacks with other upper effects.]

This meant that the previous boosts could be doubled too due to the stacking ability.

‘Good, this makes things a bit easier.’

Lee Hyunwook suddenly looked up at the sky.

‘This isn’t the end for you guys…’

He predicted correctly that the battle against the demon summoning would not end here so simply.

* * *

Ki Baek-jun had really lost his temper only once this year. It was when the 4th wave had failed, and the traces of his fury remained in the form of a huge hole on one side of the office wall.

And now…

Kwa—ang——!

A new hole adorned his office when the wall right next to it crumbled down.

With all this commotion, the secretarial staff on the other side of the wall were startled, jumping up from their seats.

“…F*ck, damn it, how the hell did—?”

Ki Baek-jun unleashed his fury as he took off his watch.

Black ripples of energy began to swirl around his hands.

The employee who had just started his report to him began stepping back slowly, trembling all the while.

“Tell me again, what just happened? Come on, say it again…”

“Yes, yes, all over Seoul… at all 20 locations, communication has been cut off, simultaneously.”

It meant that the demon summoning had failed.

“What’s the reason for this!? There should have been surveillance around the event map, right?!!”

“That… Suddenly they just appeared out of nowhere, threw smoke bombs, and infiltrated in the blink of an eye, so they couldn’t be properly identified. However, considering the consistency of their uniforms, it suggests that they might be a special forces group affiliated with the government.”

The villains had long since planted informants within the Republic of Korea’s higher ranks. The fact that this incursion went undetected even by their information network meant that whoever was behind it had moved very secretly.

“Damn it! Why do problems that have never happened before keep happening—!”

Kwa—ang!

As he smashed a third hole in another of his walls and yelled his frustration, laughter erupted from somewhere.

“Uhahaha— It’s the first time I see President Ki so heated!”

Sitting on a leather sofa, there was a Hispanic man with slicked-back white hair laughing.

He had a Cuban cigar in his mouth, and the skin visible beyond the smoke was as pale as a corpse.

“…Ricardo, you find this situation funny?”

Ricardo Oliveira, better known by his moniker ‘Blood Lord’,

He was also the master of the ‘Five Slaughterers’, a ‘Vampire Lord’.

“Calm down, President Ki, you prepared for the 4th wave’s failure by planning the demon summoning, and you even prepared the ‘Sacrificial Brigade’ in case that failed. You’ve prepared for everything, so why so heated?”

Yes, unexpected failure had ignited his anger,

but it was also true that he had prepared the next plan for this moment.

“Phew— Seems like I have no choice but to use my last resort now…”

Ki Baek-jun tried to suppress his anger, pouring whiskey into a glass deliberately slowly.

“Ah, this is the last resort? There’s no 4th plan?”

“Ricardo… Had you even anticipated the failure of the 4th wave in the first place?”

Ricardo inhaled his cigar deeply and nodded.

“Well, I never dreamed that Carol would die there. I was rather fond of that woman, tsk, a pity… she was really something in bed… Ah, did you have your turn with her yet?”

Ki Baek-jun ignored his comment and made a phone call somewhere.

“Team Leader Choi, it’s me. Begin Plan B, the Sacrifice Operation, now.”

At those words, Ricardo chuckled.

“Heh— To think you can say ‘commit mass suicide’ so blandly…”

At that remark, Ki Baek-jun frowned, turned away, and yelled into the phone.

“Team Leader Choi, damn it, why all the talk! Do you think I’ll spare you if you don’t throw yourself into it?”

Somewhere in Seoul, there were 40 warlocks gathered.

Their main mission was to open a gate to the ‘Abyss’ and pour the ‘Fragments of Calamity’ into it. That was the official method for summoning ‘Abaddon’ as specified in the ‘quest’.

However, there were other methods of summoning a demon as well.

One of them involved sacrificing several lives of warlocks who had gained power from a demon.

That was Ki Baek-jun’s ‘Plan B’, and for this moment, he had placed a ‘suggestive spell’ on the warlocks.

“…If it’s not done within 5 minutes, the suggestive spell will be triggered and burn their brains out.”

It was his resolve to summon a demon to this land by any means necessary to call forth the Saint.

He then took a long drink of his whiskey, trying to calm his excitement, and uttered one last command.

“Oh, and… tell Team Okita Kaito to get ready, it’s about to start.”

“Oh— Sword Saint Okita Kaito—!”

Upon hearing that name, Ricardo also seemed excited and straightened up.

“I’d like to see his Subspace Iai Technique for myself, I should go watch it!”

* * *

After successfully completing the operation, Lee Hyunwook stood in front of a military truck.

The truck belonged to the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Anti-Demon Brigade, and the person who got out from the passenger seat was An Min-tae.

“Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, I’ve brought the items you requested!”

When the truck’s cargo area was opened, there were two ‘Aerial Drop Device (Prototype)’ inside.

“But what’s the matter all of a sudden? Why does something serious always happen wherever you go?”

“It’s a big problem for me too.”

“It seems like Sergeant Lee Hyunwook always brings bad luck.”

Actually, it was because he always ran towards the bad things, but this time was an exception.

This was a problem that even Lee Hyunwook hadn’t anticipated.

“Hey, don’t jinx it. If you say things like that, something might really happen.”

“Eh, as if I have that kind of talent…”

But then—

Zhe—eee—eee—eee—eee—eee——

A loud noise resonated from somewhere, and An Min-tae’s mouth slowly opened.

Far away in the north, a red pillar of energy shot up into the sky.

As it reached the clouds, the color of the clouds began to stain with the hue of blood.

“What is that?”

“What the heck is….”

“Wait, seriously?? He really jinxed it??”

Everyone nearby gaped at the unknown phenomenon unfolding before them.

At a glance, it was evident that a serious incident was occurring.

For those who had just recently endured the hellish wave a few days prior, it was a scene that could only bring PTSD.

However, Lee Hyunwook didn’t seem as surprised as everyone else.

He lightly tapped An Min-tae’s shoulder.

“An Min-tae, this is on you. As they say words can become seeds, right? Looks like something serious has happened again.”

“What? What the… what is this?”

Lee Hyunwook closed the truck’s cargo area and looked up at the northern sky.

He knew all too well what that was.

‘So, they’ve really summoned an avatar of a demon with a massive sacrifice.’

Throughout this operation, Lee Hyunwook was troubled.

He wondered how they would react if he thwarted their plans…

The conclusion he came to was ‘they will not give up.’

‘They are determined to eliminate the Saint here by any means necessary.’

Lee Hyunwook took the truck to the assembly point in Yongsan—where Woo Seong-moon was located.

Upon his arrival, Woo Seong-moon, who had been receiving reports from his aides, turned around.

And along with the aides, they crowded toward Lee Hyunwook.

“Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, let’s have a word.”

His voice remained calm, but his face had tightened somewhat.

“You have done an excellent job so far, but it seems we have another situation to address now.”

Lee Hyunwook nodded.

“The demon is being summoned by another method. Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, you see it that way too, don’t you?”

“Yes, it certainly looks like it. It seems the terrorists had prepared another method.”

Woosungmoon nodded and continued speaking.

“As I mentioned before, the easiest way to stop this demon summoning is undoubtedly through the Saint. Of course, there are other methods, as demonstrated by the actions of Sergeant Lee Hyunwook just now, but it seems the time has come to choose a definitive solution. The Saint will come and will enfold the entirety of Seoul into a ‘Holy Field.'”

The skill ‘Holy Field’, one of the Saint’s abilities, was meant to block the descent of a demon’s power.

Of course, the cost of this move would be astronomical, but it was something that had to be humbly accepted.

“And just now, the Saint has arrived in Seoul.”

Even using a jet from Africa to the Korean Peninsula, it wouldn’t have been possible to come this quickly.

She must have used ‘hyper-regional teleportation’ with the power of the World Tree.

“But as you know… the Saint has been subjected to assassination threats.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

There had been three assassination attempts so far. Of course, there had not actually been any real danger yet.

The twelve Paladins who protected her had been an incredibly solid barrier.

However, the second threat had been quite traumatic for her since a close one had betrayed her,

and since then, she had been reluctant to leave the Saint’s Dome.

“While her guard forces are indeed impressive, we also have a duty to ensure the Saint’s safety on our side. Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, I would like to request your participation in this operation as well.”

“Yes, if we use Huginn, it would be a significant help in the protection operation.”

Huginn’s extended senses and high-altitude vision provided the best surveillance capabilities.

“Yes, that’s right. Sergeant Lee Hyunwook is the only one who can handle Huginn.”

Lee Hyunwook nodded his head.

“Understood. I will do my best as well.”

The Saint, who in her past life had set out to purify a Seoul that had been corrupted,

was murdered by the hands of villains just three days after arriving in Seoul.

‘I know the cause behind her senseless assassination.’