Chapter 44
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Seoul, the City of the Fourth Wave - 2
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The Integrated Command Center of the National Gate Response Committee, Gyeryongdae, Daejeon Metropolitan City.
The very people who held the fate of the Republic of Korea in their hands were gathered there.
They were the leaders of the major guilds and high-ranking government officials.
However, the majority were present as holograms projected by mana crystals, making it a remote conference. The agenda, naturally, was the lockdown and progressing corrosion of the 10-kilometer radius around Seoul Station—
In other words, the Fourth Wave.
"Hmm, this is quite... nothing but armchair theorizing."
Though the best minds in Korea had assembled, a viable countermeasure for the current situation remained elusive.
"I agree. What's going to change by wasting our time here?"
"Honestly, we just need to admit it... There's nothing we can do."
The words sounded irresponsible and incompetent, but they were the truth.
There was, truly, nothing they could do.
Unlike the Unlucky Event at Seoul Station, the Wave Zone didn't have an 'entry condition'.
It was a complete lockdown—no one could get in or out.
"We can't even get a clear picture of the situation inside..."
While communication was possible through 'Mental Link' between high-level mages, it was severely limited, with contact being established only once every thirty minutes or so.
"...Now, now, that's why I'm saying we need to act fast and prepare for the world after the wave!"
Some even went as far as to advocate for abandoning any active response.
The argument was that since they were powerless outside the Wave Zone, they should ignore what was happening inside and focus their efforts on 'post-wave countermeasures,' waiting for the entry restrictions to be lifted in five days.
"Just a moment..."
Of course, not everyone was willing to let it slide so indifferently.
A woman in a white blouse stepped forward to offer a rebuttal.
"Are you saying we should just abandon the more than one million citizens inside the Wave Zone?"
She was Kang Seo-yoon, ranked fourth among Korea's Players.
"And preparing for what comes after the corrosion? Ha—do you people, who know full well what happened to the corroded cities, really mean that? This is an unprecedented crisis where we could lose not just the Wave Zone, but all of Seoul, no, the entire capital region! Shouldn't we be thinking about how to stop the corrosion from happening in the first place!"
Her words were perfectly logical, yet the reaction from the attendees was lukewarm at best.
"Look here, Guild Master Kang, who doesn't want to save Seoul? But there has to be a way."
"That's right. We can't even properly communicate with the forces inside, let alone deploy new ones. What are we supposed to do?"
"Indeed. The earliest we can intervene is in five days. Preparing for that is a much more rational strategy. To save this country, not just Seoul, we need to choose our battles and focus our resources."
Faced with their individual refutations, Kang Seo-yoon clutched her head.
"Fuck, rationalizing it like that is easy... but does it make sense to just do nothing...?"
"—What did you just say!"
Kang Seo-yoon shot up from her seat.
She wasn't a hologram; she was physically present in the conference room.
"Let me say one more thing."
"......."
"Everyone, you must have guild members you can contact inside the Wave Zone, right? If those Players band together and act as one, they'd be a considerable force. Am I wrong?"
"......."
"Is there any Guild Master here who has assessed the number of their members in the Wave Zone and issued orders for a coordinated response?"
"......."
"...Right, I didn't think so. But for there to be not a single one is a bit much."
"......."
"The guilds have been so busy protecting their own interests and keeping each other in check that you can't even work together in a crisis like this. It's not too late. You need to order your members to join forces and fight back!"
She pleaded, but the response remained unenthusiastic.
"Ha—Guild Master Kang, a Wave is no ordinary event. Do you really think they'll just say 'yes, sir' and march off to their deaths because we order them to? You run a guild too, why don't you understand that? I just don't get it."
"She's right. Some might act out of a sense of justice, but the majority will just hide."
In this era, Players were at the top of the food chain, essentially freelancers.
Though they belonged to guilds, they had no reason to obediently follow orders if they had nothing to lose. A high-ranking Player could always move to another guild and live well.
So, how many would actually follow an order that was practically a suicide mission?
Kang Seo-yoon slammed her hand on the table.
"If they won't step up out of human decency, then fuck it, we'll have to entice them to!"
"—What, what did you say?"
"Fine. My Zmeun-narae Guild will offer items as rewards."
Everyone looked at her, confused.
"For every source of corrosion a Player in the Wave Zone eliminates, we'll give one 'Heroic Grade' item. And for the Player who contributes the most, we'll award one 'Legendary Grade' item."
Her intention was to make them respond actively, even if it meant dangling a reward.
But a Legendary item...
As the word left her lips, many in the audience raised their heads.
"...Yeah, tempting, isn't it? Please, do me a favor and spread the word to your guild members."
"Ahem..."
Perhaps thinking it was the most reasonable response they had, Guild Masters began to join her plan one by one.
"In that case, our Ohsang Group will put up 30 million dollars for the group that eliminates a source of corrosion."
"Excellent, our Haetae Guild will add another 20 million!"
A total of 50 million dollars, roughly 55 billion won, was added to the reward pool. Of course, with the Korean won plummeting since the start of the Fourth Wave, a direct comparison was difficult, but it was an undeniably massive sum.
Kang Seo-yoon watched the scene unfold and clicked her tongue.
"This is so pathetic. Having to buy a solution to a national crisis with money..."
Indeed, there was something deeply wrong with the times.
***
*Thump— Thump—*
The Zombie Troll, an elite undead monster, was a peculiar creature.
It was a troll, possessing supreme regenerative abilities, that had fallen under a necromantic curse and become a creature of death.
As such, it felt no pain and recovered instantly from any damage it took.
It even regenerated from damage inflicted by 'holy power,' the weakness of the undead.
For those facing it, it was an... unspeakably difficult opponent.
*Splat—*
That horrific monster was now in pieces, collapsed on the road.
"N-No way..."
Lee Jeong-jun, the man who had blocked the A.M.T.'s path, couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.
Watching the man devour hundreds of zombies like they were experience points was surprising enough, but this was...
'How is that even possible?'
He couldn't comprehend it even after seeing it.
Lee Jeong-jun replayed the moments leading up to the Zombie Troll's fall.
'...First, the cargo holds of two trucks opened.'
Inside was an incredible number of weapons.
When the A.M.T. commander of unknown rank, Lee Hyun-wook, raised his hand, the weapons floated into the air—
*Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh-swoosh-swoosh-!*
Like missiles, hundreds of spears flew on their own and began to embed themselves in the Zombie Troll's body.
*Thud-thud-thud-thud-thwack-!*
But mere physical damage like that stood no chance of stopping the hulking troll.
No, it didn't even seem to faze it in the slightest.
The beast charged forward without a care, spears dangling from its body...
*Thump— Thump— Thump— Thump—*
Its pace even quickened.
The distance until they were trampled was now a mere two hundred meters.
Until that moment, Lee Jeong-jun had...
"Ugh! Don't you see it's useless? If you want to save your men, retreat now!"
...shouted at the top of his lungs, completely stunned.
If he could, he would have left them and fled, but if he were that kind of person, he wouldn't have set out to rescue the refugees at the Jangchung-dong community center in the first place.
He didn't want to see these brave soldiers die in vain.
But Lee Hyun-wook merely frowned for a brief moment, paying him no mind and continuing with his task.
There wasn't a hint of fear in his eyes. It was as if victory was a foregone conclusion...
Even the soldiers under his command, though sweating, were diligently carrying out their duties.
"—Ahn Min-tae, is the freezing magic ready?"
"Yes! A total of 21 shots are ready."
At his gesture, the mages ran forward and unleashed a barrage of freezing magic.
*C-c-c-c-c-c-crack—*
All the spells struck the troll's upper body, forming a solid 'ice restraint'.
But once again, it was useless.
With dozens of spears stuck in its body and half of its torso frozen, the beast refused to stop.
*Thump— Thump— Thump— Thump—*
It was now very close. Just fifty meters away—
The stench of rot from its body began to sting his nostrils.
'It's no use. We have to leave them and run.'
Just as Lee Jeong-jun thought this and turned to signal his comrades, a single word from Lee Hyun-wook stopped them in their tracks.
"Shatter."
*BOOM—!*
"...Huh?"
With a deafening explosion, a significant portion of the Zombie Troll's upper body was blown away.
Its left arm, in particular, was completely severed, spinning through the air and spraying blood everywhere before,
*CRASH—!*
it smashed through a shop's display window and disappeared inside.
"Wh-What was that?"
It was a scene that defied all logic.
He had seen them use exploding steel balls to blow off zombies' ankles, but that level of destructive power shouldn't have been enough to harm the troll. A Zombie Troll's skin and flesh were incomparably tougher and more durable than a regular zombie's.
So how...
'...Ah! It's because of the freezing magic!'
Yes, that made it possible.
First, embed the spears, then cast freezing magic over them for rapid cooling.
This would cause the beast's blood to coagulate, freezing it solidly to the spearheads.
Like a tongue sticking to a cold ice cream bar—
If the metal exploded in that state—it would result in that horrific, destructive phenomenon.
It was a simple but brilliant maneuver that had dealt immense damage.
'An incredibly clever attack. He's using everything at his disposal to conduct this raid.'
But even then, Lee Jeong-jun couldn't feel at ease.
*Grrrrr...*
Even after that massive attack, the Zombie Troll did not fall.
It only staggered for a moment before taking another step forward.
*Thump—*
'It's still undead! Tearing off one arm isn't enough to take it down!'
Even if they had used so many weapons and skills to sever one arm, it wasn't enough to put it out of commission.
And if the fight continued like this, the beast would regenerate its wounds while their side would run out of weapons...
Despite the brilliant strategy and abilities on display, it was an opponent they couldn't defeat.
But then...
*C-c-c-c-c-c-crunch-!*
Suddenly, a strange noise started coming from inside the beast's body.
Its massive frame began to convulse and tremble violently. Then, from every orifice, including its wounds and the severed stump of its arm, dark blood gushed out as if from a bursting pipe.
*Splurrrrt—*
Those were its innards.
To be precise, its pulverized innards.
"Uh..."
After a long moment of thought, Lee Jeong-jun finally understood what had happened.
'Crazy... He ground the Zombie Troll... from the inside out!'
When the embedded spears exploded, countless metal fragments must have entered its body. By detonating those fragments again and manipulating them, he had literally shredded its organs from within.
*C-c-c-c-c-c-crunch-!*
Even a Zombie Troll couldn't withstand such an insane attack.
And so, its colossal body collapsed onto the asphalt with a sickening *splat*.
...That was all it took.
Recalling what he had witnessed, Lee Jeong-jun finally realized.
'Who is this man? And... this wasn't a situation for me to interfere in... at all, was it?'
At that moment, Lee Jeong-jun's eyes met Lee Hyun-wook's, and he flinched in surprise.
"Ah, uh..."
Lee Hyun-wook's brow furrowed ever so slightly, but that alone made his heart sink.
"What you know isn't the entirety of the world."
The short rebuke snapped Lee Jeong-jun back to his senses.
"...Did you assume we couldn't do it just because we're the A.M.T.?"
Lee Jeong-jun couldn't argue and was left speechless.
Lee Hyun-wook turned and slowly surveyed the gruesome scene he had created.
Now that the battle was over, it was time to collect the rewards and regroup.
'I used up a lot of weapons, but I still have plenty left.'
He had brought half of the battalion's arsenal, and he'd also had the battalion's engineers and blacksmiths quickly forge weapons specifically for the 'Shatter' ability.
As for the steel balls, he had pre-ordered a large quantity from Kang Jeong-du before the wave started, so he still had three boxes, 1,650 of them, remaining.
"Park Jun-mo, bring out four sacks."
"Yes, sir!"
Park Jun-mo soon brought the sacks and held them open wide, and Lee Hyun-wook extended a hand toward the blood-soaked battlefield.
From among the piles of undead corpses, something shot up.
They were Mana Stones, the energy source dropped by monsters... and there was an incredible number of them.
*Clatter—*
Following Lee Hyun-wook's command, they flew through the air and began to fall into the sacks.
"Wow... Corporal Ahn Min-tae, how much do you think this is all worth?"
"Even at 60,000 to 80,000 won each, it's probably around forty or fifty million won."
While the company members marveled at the immense number of Mana Stones, Lee Hyun-wook's hands held not such common drops, but three genuine treasures.
'A good haul, indeed.'
First,
- You have acquired 'Secret Key (Event)'.
'A Wave event item. A lucky box must have spawned somewhere in Seoul.'
A box that could be opened with the key, which would surely contain a high-value item.
Of course, such boxes spawned randomly, making them difficult to find.
But finding it would grant a special benefit unobtainable through other means.
Next, the second item,
- You have acquired 'Spirit Stone (Grade 3)'.
'This is an actual stone, so I can't swallow it. I'll have to give it to Kim Se-hee, the spirit user.'
And finally...
- You have acquired 'Orichalcum'.
Of the three, the most satisfying was this one, the legendary metal 'Orichalcum'.
'Orichalcum, a metal more valuable than Adamant.'
While Adamant fetched 1.3 million won per 10 grams, Orichalcum was worth over a hundred times that.
It exhibited the highest affinity for magic, making it virtually the best among magical metals.
And from what Lee Hyun-wook had experienced in his past life, it was one of the few metals that could increase magic resistance.
But regardless of its price, it was so rare that he couldn't just absorb it freely.
'Which means I have to eat as much as I can when I get the chance.'
*Gulp—*
Lee Hyun-wook swallowed the precious Orichalcum in one go.
However, he couldn't activate his internal furnace to absorb it quickly.
He had expended all his mana in the previous battle.
- Mana (12/1681)
And that was after chugging three large mana potions during the fight.
- Warning! You have overused your mana. Forcibly accelerating mana recovery will result in side effects.
He couldn't take any more mana potions. As the message said, it would only cause adverse effects.
"Choi Tae-yong, maintain a tight perimeter. There might be another Zombie Troll."
"Yes, don't worry, sir!"
However, given that nothing had appeared despite the noise, it seemed they were safe for now.
Lee Hyun-wook checked his watch.
- 18:01
The sun was setting. When night fell, some undead would become even more ferocious.
'I need to hurry.'
Just then, someone approached.
"Um..."
It was Lee Jeong-jun and his comrades.
The expressions on their faces had changed completely.
Where before they had been red-faced, somewhat condescending, and trying to lecture him, they were now pale and at a loss for what to do.
He bowed his head deeply.
"I am truly sorry! I believe I overstepped my bounds far too much!"
Having apparently done some quick self-reflection, he bowed a full ninety degrees, his forehead nearly touching his knees. Though his words had been grating, he didn't seem like a bad person.
"I sincerely apologize! I got ahead of myself, thinking only of saving the civilians!"
"Yes, I know your advice came from a good place. But your words contained a prejudiced frame of mind, assuming that anyone belonging to a certain group must be subpar."
"Yes, you're right. To be honest, I did approach you with that mindset at first... I'm truly, truly ashamed and embarrassed."
Lee Hyun-wook nodded.
Since the man was remorseful and acting amicably, there was no need to push him away.
And if he could be of use, all the better.
"Then, we'll escort you. Will you take the civilians and head north?"
"Ah, where to, if I may ask..."
"The shelter at DDP Station is small, so we'll have to go to Dongdaemun Station, which has a large one."
But for some reason, a troubled look crossed Lee Jeong-jun's face.
"Well, about that..."
"Yes?"
"Actually... we were there just a few hours ago."
"Hmm, what happened?"
"It's not a huge deal, but it's just..."
Lee Jeong-jun explained what had happened over the past few hours.
Before the wave hit, he and his comrades had been near Dongdaemun Station.
They had been assigned to security detail for a certain guild's event, which lasted until dawn.
That was when the wave struck, and they took refuge in the Dongdaemun Station shelter along with the event attendees.
"...While we were in the shelter, around 8 AM, we received a distress signal."
"From the Jangchung-dong community center, about the magic barrier failing?"
"Yes. We said we'd go rescue those people and come back, but, ha... our employer objected. But how could we just leave over a thousand citizens in danger? We said we would go, even if it was just us, and then that man..."
Lee Jeong-jun let out another long sigh.
"He fired us and warned us not to even think about coming back if we left. Said he'd never open the door for us. Well, there were a ton of zombies near DDP anyway, so we decided to head south."
Lee Hyun-wook tilted his head.
"I don't quite understand. Who is this person to deny entry to a shelter? What right does he have?"
"Well..."
Lee Jeong-jun swallowed dryly before speaking.
"He's a C-rank Player and a second-term congressman you'd know by name. He's also the de facto majority shareholder of the <Jonggak Guild>, the ones who were holding that shitty event until dawn."
Lee Jeong-jun spoke with a grave expression, but Lee Hyun-wook remained unfazed.
His face seemed to ask what any of that had to do with anything.
"I mean, given his personality, he really might not open the door. He's the most stubborn bull of all stubborn bulls..."
Lee Jeong-jun emphasized his point again, but Lee Hyun-wook simply shook his head.
"Monopolizing a public shelter is a serious crime that endangers the lives of others. If he doesn't open it, we'll force our way in, arrest him, and detain him. Depending on the situation, we may even shoot him after a warning."
"Ah..."
"If you treat a man who only cares about his own life with deference, more lives will inevitably be lost. It's fine. You have nothing to worry about."
"Ah, you're right, but..."
"Let's go, then. We need to get the civilians, so we don't have time."
With that, Lee Hyun-wook got into his vehicle.
Lee Jeong-jun had a feeling.
A considerable commotion was about to unfold...