A Player Who Eats Metal

Chapter 43: Seoul, City of the 4th Wave

Chapter 43: Seoul, City of the 4th Wave

< Chapter 43: Seoul, City of the 4th Wave – 1 >

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On the military road on the north face of Namsan, a convoy of trucks was passing down the slope.

It was the Steel Battalion.

Woo-woo-woo—

The lead K-153 armored scout vehicle was a hundred meters ahead of the vanguard.

Following were four trucks carrying weapons, a command vehicle, three trucks carrying troops, and a rear-guard vehicle, all moving at 40 km/h while vigilantly securing their surroundings.

Lee Hyunwook was sitting in the passenger seat of the command vehicle.

"...Uh, Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, it seems like that big bird has been following us for a while."

Park Junmo, who was on the lookout from the rear seat, said as he pointed outside.

Lee Hyunwook turned his head following Park Junmo's pointing finger.

Peee—

A clear cry resounded through the sky, and a bird of prey was flying with its wings fully spread.

"It just looks like an ordinary bird, but I thought I should mention it, just in case."

"No, it's not ordinary."

"What?"

"That's not any bird from this Earth."

"Ah! Could it be, the Battalion Commander's..."Yôur favorite novels at

Park Junmo seemed to realize and said so, and Lee Hyunwook nodded.

It was ‘Great Condor,' one of Battalion Commander Kim Kang-seok's ‘familiars.'

Its wingspan was an astonishing 12 meters. Its wings were larger than most trucks when fully spread,

and if seen up close, one could easily believe it was not a bird but a dinosaur.

It was flying above the Steel Battalion, securing the surroundings.

Of course, it couldn't stray far from its master, so it couldn't keep following indefinitely.

And under the shadow of the Great Condor, two ‘Magic Drones' were flying.

Wiiing—

Magic Drones were cutting-edge items manufactured with magical engineering technology, connected to a mage player who had infused them with mana, sharing the vision, and capable of detecting the mana emitted by monsters.

―Chk- This is Steel 3, no anomalies identified so far, we will soon enter downtown. Over.

It was Choi Tae-yong's voice. He was in the leading armored scout vehicle, keeping watch over the surroundings.

As the end of Namsan came into view, Lee Hyunwook picked up his radio.

Commonly known as a walkie-talkie, this military radio normally operated through radio waves but could switch to ‘mana communication' if radio waves were disrupted by mana scatter.

―Chk-

"This is Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, Steel Battalion Commander."

His voice echoed in all ten vehicles of the Steel Battalion.

―Chk- We are now entering downtown Seoul.

At those words, everyone couldn't help but feel an odd sense of unease.

Entering Seoul, the capital of South Korea, had never been so unsettling.

It was an unfamiliar sensation.

―...To find the cause of the erosion, we have no choice but to go where there are many monsters. In other words, numerous battles will ensue. And as everyone knows, our enemies are not just the monsters coming from the gates.

Although Lee Hyunwook didn't explicitly say it, the battalion members thought of ‘vampires.’

The terrorists who had infiltrated the unit and massacred the 5th platoon...

But only Lee Hyunwook knew that they were villains.

‘For now, it’s better that the world doesn’t know about the existence of villains. It’s an unbearable truth...'

Of the five killers, two—Carol Choi and Yang Hee-joo—had been captured but died suddenly before questioning.

According to the medical officer, it seemed their brains had burned due to some ‘latent magic.'

Lee Hyunwook had anticipated this. It was a sort of ‘safety mechanism' set up by Ki Baek-jun. A drastic measure in case his subordinates were captured and the veil over the villain organization was lifted.

―...It's a cliché, but finding the 'cause of erosion' in vast Seoul will be a long march. However, stay alert, don’t panic, and always focus on my commands.

A long, long march... it was supposed to be that way.

But Lee Hyunwook knew ‘their' locations.

So, it was bound to be a fortunate march.

―...I hope that we can meet again in Seoul after this operation is over. Over.

It was a promise that could only be kept if Seoul didn’t disappear.

"Um, I can see downtown."

Thus, the Steel Battalion left Namsan and faced Seoul, which might soon vanish.

They moved northward along ‘Jangchungdan Road,' between D University and S Hotel.

―Chk- A four-way intersection up ahead, be thoroughly vigilant. Over.

Soon they reached the Jangchung Gymnasium intersection.

The usually bustling intersection was strangely quiet.

"Um, thankfully, there aren't many cars blocking the road."

The driver from the headquarters platoon said.

As he said, the road in Seoul, a city of ten million, was unusually empty.

"It happened at dawn, and citizens probably moved on foot."

And so, the Steel Battalion's march continued without frequent stops.

Then, it happened.

―Monster identified in the proceeding lane— we will stop and verify! Over.

It was an emergency transmission from the lead vehicle.

Lee Hyunwook initiated 1-to-1 communication with Choi Tae-yong, the Private First Class in the lead.

"Choi Tae-yong, this is a private channel. Report the situation."

―There's one zombie lying flat on the road. But... something seems off.

"Skip your feelings, just report the facts."

―It's a single zombie with red skin. It’s just spinning in place.

At his report, the sound of swallowing dry saliva came from the back seat.

―How should we... it's just one, shall we eliminate it?

Lee Hyunwook pondered.

What people commonly call zombies, ‘Hell's Residents,' were of various kinds.

Therefore, dealing with them all as ‘zombies' without properly identifying their characteristics wasn't ideal.

‘But we don't have time now... even if Hell’s Residents swarm us, we can handle it.'

While he was pondering, Choi Tae-yong's voice came through the radio again.

―Uh, there's something else. That is... a person. They're approaching us, waving their hands as if to signal not to shoot. They seem to be armed, so they're probably a player. What should we do?

A player...

"...Wait, I'll go."

Lee Hyunwook took off his sergeant rank insignia and got out of the vehicle, lifting his K2C1 rifle.

Ke-e-e-e-e-

In the quiet city, the inhuman howl resonated... instinctively, bodies shrank back.

The faces of the players, including the man, turned pale white.

"Damn it, are you insane? Do you realize what you've just done? If you're going to attack, you should have cut off its lifeline immediately—what kind of—"

"No, I did that on purpose. Please step back."

"What on earth..."

Lee Hyunwook raised his walkie-talkie again.

"Truck 4, move forward and open up."

At Lee Hyunwook's command, one truck pulled out of the column and came right behind him.

Four soldiers disembarked from it; two stood guard while the other two opened the doors of the cargo compartment.

Still facing forward, Lee Hyunwook reached back with his left hand toward the truck.

Whoosh-

Two metal boxes flew out from inside the cargo compartment and landed on either side of Lee Hyunwook.

With a flick of his finger, the lids of the boxes opened automatically with a clang.

Inside, something shiny was packed to the brim.

The contents of the two boxes started to bubble up as if boiling, then shot up into the air.

They were... an enormous number of iron beads, made from dungeon steel.

‘550 in each box, a total of 1,100.'

The beads rolled along the asphalt floor, making a noisy sound.

Chya-la-la-la-la-

It looked as if a horde of white mice were migrating along the road,

or as if a tidal wave was surging in.

‘Aura-‘

Lee Hyunwook bestowed ‘Aura' onto some of the beads.

After recently absorbing a ‘Mana Tank' from Heo Young-tae, both his mana pool and recovery rate had greatly increased, allowing him to use mana more boldly.

Thus, the 1,100 sanctified iron beads rolled fiercely, colliding with the hundreds of zombies swarming toward them. The moment the beads were placed under the zombies' legs—

Lee Hyunwook's mouth moved.

"Shatter-"

Cra-a-a-a-ack—

With a deafening sound, a mist of blood spurted out.

"Ah..."

Hundreds of zombies collapsed almost instantly.

It was because the enormous number of iron beads had simultaneously exploded, blowing off their ankles.

Bits of their flesh flew in all directions and dropped to the ground.

Kang-kwee-e-

As zombies, they wouldn't die from that alone, but they would never be able to stand on two legs again.

In other words, they had become non-threatening entities that could only crawl along the ground.

In that case...

"An Min-tae, we'll start farming experience points now."

Upon hearing that, the soldiers who had been waiting behind Lee Hyunwook came forward.

Leading with 8 shields, they advanced towards the incapacitated horde of zombies.

"What, what did you say? You're going to... farm experience points?"

The advancing AMT troops began to wield their sacred weapons, finishing off the zombies one by one.

Yes, they were actually farming.

They were effortlessly sucking up experience points.

"......."

The players who were watching them felt as if they were in a daze.

To consider a horde of zombies of that scale not as a disaster to be avoided, but as mere experience points to be gained—only a player of at least grade B could say something like that half-jokingly.

No, even if they were grade B, they couldn't have dealt with that many zombies in one go.

‘...Who are these people? Are they really AMT?'

The man couldn't help but be amazed.

He felt embarrassed compared to his earlier bravado.

But then he snapped back to reality.

‘No matter what, this is not the time for this!'

The biggest threat was still to come.

Swallowing, he ran toward Lee Hyunwook.

"That move just now was truly impressive. Yes, I admit it! But..."

He glanced around nervously.

"Yes, we must run away right now! It’s coming! Zombie Troll—"

But his warning was cut off.

Ku-woong—

With a vibration that shook the earth, a gigantic head rose above the building in front of them.

Groo-oo—

A green giant, about 5 meters tall with rotting, fish-like eyes, slowly rolled its eyes to look down at them.

That was the Zombie Troll.

"Ah... we're screwed..."

The players hesitated and retreated, and the advancing AMT troops also quickly retreated.

A troll is a giant monster with unbelievable regenerative capabilities.

To the point where a troll's blood is used as the core ingredient for the highest-grade healing potions.

If such a troll became a zombie...

It was best to give up on the idea of killing it from the get-go.

Koong—

It took a step toward them.

Worms fell out from various spots in its rotting flesh each time it moved.

"What do we do now? Tell them to turn the car around quickly!"

The man was trembling as he shouted. Running away wouldn't be easy.

However, Lee Hyunwook grinned.

‘As expected, it's there.’

He sensed some ‘high-quality metal' within the massive zombie's body.

He pressed his walkie-talkie.

Beep—

And he issued just one brief command.

"Open all the remaining trucks."