Chapter 56
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: The Final Corrosion Factor - 2
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The Steel Company had entered Government Armory No. 2, a top-secret location.
The space, at 3,700 square meters, was five times larger than a battalion armory, with a ceiling that seemed to be over ten meters high.
‘…It’s like one of those massive warehouse stores in North America.’
Yet, there wasn't a single opening in the entire space. No doors, no windows, not even a ventilation shaft.
All the walls were thick concrete fortified with a magical barrier.
The internal air circulation was managed by magic, making it a truly perfect, sealed chamber.
"Seriously, am I… allowed to use something like this?”
Kim Se-hee asked, holding up two daggers.
Even at a glance, they were of a far superior quality than the weapons she had used before.
The thirty-centimeter, bluish blades curved and glinted menacingly.
It felt as though the slightest touch would tear flesh from bone.
Both daggers were ‘Expert’ grade ‘Player-Crafted Items.’
Regular items had five tiers: Common—Rare—Heroic—Legendary—Mythic.
Crafted items also had five tiers: Common—Advanced—Expert—Artisan—Master.
In a direct comparison, they were on par with ‘Heroic’ grade items.
‘But they can’t be equal to Heroic grade items in every aspect.’
In fact, their price could be similar to or even lower than ‘Rare’ grade items.
This was because Player-crafted items didn't come with ‘skills.’
While there were methods to imbue skills into crafted items, they were highly uneconomical, requiring a high-level blacksmith and a high-ranking mage to collaborate from the design stage for over half a year.
Even so, their value was in the hundreds of millions of won each, certainly not something an A.M.T. soldier could typically wield.
"Hmm, I feel like I'm going hiking with someone else's luxury handbag…"
Kim Se-hee still looked uncomfortable using such expensive weapons.
“Sergeant Kim, why the hesitation? It’s not like you.”
At Lee Hyun-wook's words, Kim Se-hee’s face soured.
"What do you mean, not like me? Would it be more fitting if I grinned greedily?”
"Well, turning around and smiling secretly would be best.”
"But you have to return them anyway, so don't count your chickens before they hatch.”
“Ah, right—”
Lee Hyun-wook turned his head and scanned the armory.
Members of the Steel Company were scattered about, picking out their items.
“—There’s a ton of Advanced grade shields here! Tankers, grab one each!”
"Whoa, look at this…"
"Heh, to think the day would come when I'd use adamantite-plated arrowheads…"
The entire Steel Company was equipping themselves with powerful items they had never even seen before.
They seemed to have forgotten they were heading into battle, enjoying it as if they were on a shopping spree.
Of course, once this situation was over, all the items had to be returned.
‘And… they’ll receive rewards far greater than these items.’
When the wave ended, the value of every member of the Steel Company would skyrocket.
Lee Hyun-wook wandered deeper inside, toward the area where items like rings and bracelets were stored.
He picked up a few rings made of orichalcum.
Gulp—
Naturally… he didn’t put them in his pocket.
‘Honestly, this is just part of the price for saving Seoul.’
He rationalized it to himself as he searched for his next meal.
‘Oh, this is…’
What caught his interest was a certain ring.
[Item Information]
- Name: Small Flash (Rare)
- Effect: Emits an electric current when mana is infused. (Cooldown: 5 minutes)
A blue gem was embedded in a ring made of adamantite.
‘It’s Sky Iron.’
It was a magical metal that possessed the ability to generate electricity.
Like orichalcum, it was an expensive special material. While slightly less versatile, it was far rarer.
‘Right, this one gave a pretty useful ability, too.’
Gulp—
- Warning! Multiple ‘Metals’ are already being absorbed. Absorption delay will be significantly increased.
The absorption time for the ‘Dwarven Greatmountain Engine’ was already listed as ‘Unknown,’ and he had just swallowed the orichalcum he’d gotten from the Zombie Trolls nearby. His stomach was, for all intents and purposes, at full capacity.
‘Still, if I use the furnace properly, I can digest them one by one pretty quickly.’
Metal digestion didn't happen in the order they were swallowed but proceeded simultaneously.
Thus, the ones that took less time were absorbed first.
Just then, someone approached Lee Hyun-wook.
"Excuse me, Commander of the Steel Company?”
It was the caretakers stationed here at Armory No. 2, agents belonging to the government.
‘Don’t tell me they saw that.’
Lee Hyun-wook didn’t panic, calmly crossing his arms and nodding.
“…Yes?”
"If you don't mind, I'd like to offer a piece of advice.”
"Ah, please do.”
They weren't looking at him with any suspicion, so it seemed they hadn't witnessed his strange behavior.
"The… soldiers are currently equipping new items, but we would advise against items with skills. As you know, using an unfamiliar skill recklessly could lead to accidents, couldn't it? It's especially dangerous when large numbers of troops are gathered together.”
“Yes, I understand what you mean. Thank you.”
When a large force moved as one, individual skills could indeed become a hindrance.
Aware of this, Lee Hyun-wook had already instructed his men not to carelessly choose weapons with skills.
"Ah, and I have something for you. Officer Park, please bring that over.”
At the caretaker’s words, a subordinate brought over a very long metal case.
Click—
Inside was a long glass tube, and inside the tube was what looked like a tree branch.
"Please, have a touch. It's special magic-coated glass, so you don't have to worry about it breaking.”
Lee Hyun-wook used his Metal Control to lift the entire case and placed his hand on it.
- You have acquired ‘Leaf of the World Tree (Special)’.
[Item Information]
- Name: Leaf of the World Tree (Special)
- Effects
1. Emits a sacred light when dark-type monsters approach. (Passive)
2. Grants a ‘Sanctuary’ effect in a 500m radius. (Passive)
‘This is…’
He couldn't help but be surprised.
"This… is an item from the World Tree in Chad, isn't it?”
“Yes, it is. It's a very special item, with only 15 in the entire country."
"The most expensive specialty in the world, which the Republic of Chad sells for 400 billion won each…"
"Haha, that's right. They say it brings in 20 trillion won a year.”
This game had turned the world into a hellscape.
But some lands had been blessed instead.
The Republic of Chad was a prime example of a nation that had benefited.
Three years ago, in the center of the African continent, Lake Chad gave birth to the divine tree, the ‘World Tree.’
‘And with that, the Republic of Chad, once one of Africa's poorest nations, became one of the most important places on Earth.’
The infinite life force radiating from the World Tree transformed the desert into fertile forests and grasslands, and a stable flow of mana covered the area, leading to the rapid construction of Mage Towers, research institutions for mages.
With all these advantages, it was even emerging as the center of the cutting-edge industry of ‘Magitech.’
"Commander, is there anything else you need?”
"Yes, I have one more request.”
"Name it. You're the ones who are going to save Seoul.”
"In that case, do you have any weapons that can use lightning magic?”
"Hmm… we have something incredible.”
As expected of a government armory, they had everything he asked for.
Soon, two employees came back, pulling a cart with something on it.
Another metal case, this time an incredibly large one.
"Here, this is a support weapon called the ‘Mace of the Thunder God.’”
It was a weapon that looked like an anti-tank launcher, but with a spear attached to what looked like the muzzle.
However, the spear was firmly fixed, so it didn't seem to be a projectile.
Lee Hyun-wook placed his hand on it.
[Item Information]
- Name: Mace of the Thunder God (Artisan)
- Effect: When mana is infused, it discharges a powerful electric shock for 1 minute. (Cooldown: 10 minutes)
"It's an Artisan-grade crafted item, made by modifying a Heroic-grade spear called Indra's Blessing. What do you think? It's a bit heavy, but you could mount it on a vehicle and use it like a sort of magic tank.”
He spoke with pride, and Lee Hyun-wook nodded.
"Yes, this is exactly the weapon I was hoping for. Thank you.”
In every aspect, the Steel Company's combat power had been massively enhanced.
‘An incredible stroke of luck right before the final battle.’
***
After finishing all their preparations, Lee Hyun-wook passed through the portal and emerged from the armory.
The master bedroom of an ordinary house appeared before him.
No one would ever suspect that a portal to a government armory was hidden in such a detached house.
And gathered in the garden were the members of the 2nd Assault Platoon from the Brigade HQ.
"Ah, Company Commander Lee, are you heading out now?”
Their commander, Captain Go Jin-han, asked.
He didn't look down on him for being a soldier; instead, he addressed him by his title of Company Commander.
It was likely thanks to the unintentional display of power Lee Hyun-wook had shown during their first meeting.
‘Good. At least I won't have to deal with tiresome officers.’
If they treated him with respect, Lee Hyun-wook was more than willing to return the favor.
"Yes, I believe we need to move out. Could I ask you to get ready?”
“Okay—”
"And, if it's alright with you, may I take command of this operation?”
Go Jin-han chuckled and nodded.
“Well, we were sent here to support the Steel Company in the first place, and I saw what you can do with my own eyes, so I’m not salty about it… but that guy over there is a bit sensitive about these things.”
The muscular, burly Sergeant Kim Dong-hoon glanced their way.
“…Yes? Me, sir?”
"Didn't you say you had something to say to Company Commander Lee? Hahaha—”
"Ah, sir? No, wow, seriously…"
Lee Hyun-wook looked at Kim Dong-hoon, wondering what was going on.
For some reason, the sergeant quickly averted his gaze, staring at the ground.
‘What the…?’
"…Well, anyway, we'll prepare to depart."
As Lee Hyun-wook was about to leave through the front gate of the house, Go Jin-han casually sidled up to him.
"Sorry to ask, but how are you so strong for an F-rank?”
“Ah… I’ve completed a few achievements.”
“Oh, achievements? I guess that makes sense, clearing a corrosion factor and even taking down a world boss monster…”
The lie about achievements still worked, though now it was partially true.
[Achievement List]
1) Purifier
- Condition: Destroy an object that proclaims a domain of death.
- Effect: Dark Resistance (Stage 1), Increased Total Mana (+200), Increased Holy Power (+20%)
2) World Boss Monster Slayer
- Condition: Hunt a world boss monster.
- Effect: All stats increased (+5%)
He now had two achievements after defeating the chimera.
They were very useful ones, too. An increase in all stats included ‘Metal Control.’
- Current Controllable ‘Metal’ Weight: 91,958g
* Transcendent Senses (+30%) is active.
* Iron Bones (+10%) is active.
* World Boss Monster Slayer (+5%) is active.
‘Good… I’ll reach 100kg soon.’
But Go Jin-han still seemed to have more questions.
"And how on earth do you find those corrosion factors? Weren't all the previous waves lost because we couldn't find them? But you're finding one a day. How do you do it?”
"It's simple. You just have to push into the areas with the most monsters.”
Go Jin-han tilted his head at that.
"Well, um… isn't that the most basic of basics when searching a gate?”
If that was all it took, the responses to the first three waves wouldn't have failed so miserably. Wave zones always opened in vast urban areas, accompanied by countless gates.
This meant there was a high chance of wasting effort chasing the wrong gate. It was an inefficient method.
Lee Hyun-wook added a few more details.
"You don't just follow the monsters' tails; you have to track event elements. It was a multi-racial dark magic society, but they didn't kill people, they kidnapped them all. That meant they were plotting something special.”
“Ah…”
That sounded plausible enough for him to nod, but Go Jin-han still didn't look completely satisfied.
Honestly, at this point, he was running out of excuses.
"And to be honest… I’ve been very lucky in many ways.”
In times like these, chalking it up to luck was the only way…
"Hmm? So we should just keep hoping to get lucky while we scour all of Seoul?”
"I suppose so.”
"Haha, well I'll be damned…”
But there was no need for that.
‘The Anyang Duo is about to clear the third corrosion factor.’
That would trigger an ‘additional event,’ causing the ‘Iron-Armored Venom Beetles’ to pour out of Cheongryongsan Mountain.
Anyone would be able to see that was the location of the corrosion factor. There was no need to search any further.
‘It’s about time for the sky to change…’
Lee Hyun-wook checked his watch and looked up at the sky.
There were no signs yet.
But about five minutes later, the comms operators started getting busy.
Lee Hyun-wook noticed the strange atmosphere.
Soon, the leader of the comms squad came running toward him, out of breath.
“Corporal Lee Hyun-wook—!”
"...Yeah?"
“The third corrosion factor was discovered in Yeonsinnae, and it was just cleared!”
At those words, everyone except Lee Hyun-wook gasped in surprise and let out cheers.
"Wow! So there are other people fighting properly besides us!”
"I was dreading the thought of having to find two more. This is awesome.”
"Hah… I'm starting to think we can actually save Seoul.”
But this wasn't entirely a good omen.
‘…It’s starting.’
He slowly raised his head.
At that moment…
Gu—u—u—u—ung——!
A deafening roar, as if the sky itself were crumbling, began to fill the world.
"Whoa! What's that?”
This roar was a kind of ‘bell.’
Something to draw people's attention…
In other words, it was to deliver a message.
To be precise, it was the precursor to a global announcement.
Everyone looked up at the purple-toned sky.
There, words began to appear.
- Warning! Due to the remarkable achievements of you Players, an <Additional Event> will now be granted!
It was that message, just as he expected.
"Dammit!”
Go Jin-han, also realizing the implications, cursed under his breath.
“Something fucked up is about to happen…”
Soon, the specifics of that event appeared.
- Warning! The last remaining corrosion factor will now ‘rapidly evolve’ to its ‘Final’ stage!
"Final stage? What does that mean? Company Commander Lee, you getting any feelings about this?”
"I also have a feeling that something fucked up is about to happen.”
"Oh, so I wasn't wrong?”
Lee Hyun-wook immediately had the comms operator connect a mana transmission to Kim Kang-seok.
“…Battalion Commander, from now on, I think we should look for a point where the number of monsters increases explosively.”
- Right, I was just thinking the same thing.
"And… I think we need to gather all allied forces in Seoul. Not just our A.M.T. troops, but every guild… every Player force needs to gather and pull this thing out by the roots.”
The final act had begun.
***
In case of a gate opening, evacuate to the nearest shelter!
That was the single most important sentence that every citizen of the Republic of Korea knew by heart.
In a world where monsters could appear anytime, anywhere, there was no place safer than a ‘shelter.’
Their superior ‘magic barriers’ could withstand monster attacks for extended periods.
And if you waited just a little while, a Player rescue team would arrive to eliminate all threats.
The Republic of Korea had the most shelters per capita and per square kilometer.
In other words, this land was the safest in the world. That was the belief of the people who lived here.
And yet…
One of this land's shelters was now collapsing in a gruesome heap.
Immediately after the global announcement appeared, a ‘black fog’ came flooding down from within Cheongryongsan Mountain.
It had instantly swallowed a shelter in an elementary school at the foot of the mountain.
As it drew near, the people in the shelter could see.
It wasn't black fog.
It was…
Bzzzzzz—!
…insects the size of a human head, an innumerable swarm of them.
Bzzzzzz—!
The sickening sound of their wingbeats filled the entire world.
Within that sound, they couldn't even hear each other's voices.
Bzzzzzz—!
As the creatures began to cling to the windows, their horrifying forms became visible.
Human-fist-sized heads that jerked at sharp angles…
A swarm of monstrous flies with scythe-like legs and saw-like teeth…
"G-good god…"
Just a few seconds after they latched on, the magic barrier was breached.
Next, the school building itself began to melt away.
Concrete crumbled into dust, and steel rebar twisted and vanished.
“…W-we have to get out of here!”
Someone shouted.
People scattered, running for different exits.
But there was no escaping the clutches of the horrific swarm.
“Aaargh— S-save me— Gack—”
The swarm descended, lifting people into the air.
“Gyaaaaaahhh—!”
Tossed about in the air like they were caught in a violent current, they were torn to pieces.
It didn't take long. They vanished as if melting away, not a single speck of flesh left behind.
A single person, divided into the stomachs of hundreds of insects.
Forty-four lucky ones managed to get on a bus and break through the swarm.
“—Hold on tight!”
And now, they were heading north along the straight stretch of Gwanak-ro.
“Dammit, they’re right behind us!”
But they couldn't shake the swarm.
Bzzzzzz—!
Every time they looked back, the black cloud was swallowing the city, drawing closer.
Bzzzzzz—!
It was moving with the ferocious speed of black smoke from an explosion, squeezing between buildings.
“Dammit—! Step on it!”
Someone yelled.
But the bus was already at top speed.
"It's over… it's all over…"
The people on the bus trembled with an indescribable fear.
There was nothing they could do, nothing they could hope for.
“Sob— sob—”
One by one, they began to cry.
Seventeen-year-old Min Hye-yeon also hugged her little brother and just wept.
There was nothing she could do but cry.
But then, someone tapped her on the shoulder.
"…Hey, you crying?”
At the playful voice, she looked up.
It was the boy from next door, Lee Yoon-taek.
He had the same teasing look on his face as always.
…She couldn't understand it at all.
“…What?”
"Why are you crying? It's okay, kid!”
They’d been next-door neighbors since birth, so she knew he had an optimistic personality, but…
"What are you doing! Oppa, do you feel like joking around right now?”
"I'm telling you, it's okay… you can live.”
Lee Yoon-taek said with a bittersweet smile.
He ruffled her little brother's hair, then turned away abruptly.
Behind him, the other Players were getting to their feet.
They had resolute expressions, as if they had made a decision.
"Team leader… it's time to go.”
At Lee Yoon-taek's words, a man with a bushy beard nodded grimly.
He went to the front of the bus and spoke to the driver.
"Pastor, let us off here.”
The other passengers were startled.
“What are you talking about! No!”
“Please, don’t do it!”
People tried frantically to stop them, but the bearded man was firm.
"If we get caught like this, everyone… will die. Please, stop the bus, quickly!”
"So you're just going to die? Absolutely not!”
"If we buy some time, you can reach the next shelter.”
A brief silence fell at his words.
Everyone here knew it was the only way.
"There's no other choice. Please, trust us.”
"It's not that we don't trust you, it's just that this is…”
At that moment—
Screeeech—!
The bus came to a sudden halt.
Simultaneously, the front door opened.
“—Pastor, what are you— no!”
People tried to stop them, but the Players quickly jumped off.
"Thank you… thank you…"
The man called Pastor buried his head in the steering wheel, muttering the words over and over.
“—Go! Now!”
Leaving the seven behind, the bus sped off again.
The passengers turned to look at their retreating figures.
They were firing flame and ice magic, seeming to push back the black, roiling mass for a moment.
But it was only for a moment.
"Oh, no…"
“Please—!”
Hearing the people's groans, Min Hye-yeon turned her head despite herself, and what she saw was…
"Ah…"
The seven of them being pulled into the sky, disappearing into the black swarm.
"Don't look, you can't look…"
She hugged her brother's head and sobbed.
But their heroic sacrifice, tragic as it was, seemed to have been in vain.
Bzzzzzz—!
The swarm began to catch up to the bus in an instant.
The sacrifice of seven people.
That brief moment had only bought them a few more minutes of life.
"S-stupid… acting all cool…"
Min Hye-yeon muttered, feeling hollow.
"It was a lie… in the end, we're all going to die too.”
A sense of resentment began to well up.
It was then.
“…Huh? What’s that!”
The one who shouted was the driver, the pastor.
Honk—!
With a blare of a horn, a convoy of vehicles was speeding toward the front of the bus.
Some of them recognized the convoy's identity.
They had heard the rumors.
The A.M.T. unit that moved in a convoy of trucks, hunting monsters and destroying corrosion factors…
"The Steel Company…"
They had arrived before the final corrosion factor.
And this was the moment the sacrifice of the seven before them would not be in vain.