A Player Who Eats Metal

Chapter 16: Explosive Growth and Opportunity

< Chapter 16: Explosive Growth and Opportunity – 1 >

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Lee Hyunwook faced the orc with a sword and shield in hand.

“Corporal Lee Hyunwook! Oh, orcs are too dangerous!”

From behind, the worried voice of Choi Seon-ah echoed.

Even though she had witnessed Lee Hyunwook’s incredible feats firsthand, she believed that taking on an orc would be pushing it.

And her judgment was only natural.

“No, we have to stay inside the bus…”

However, without a word in response, Lee Hyunwook approached the massive beast.

Now that they had come face to face, there was no avoiding the fight.

‘If I let my guard down for even a second, I could lose my head.’

All orcs were well-trained warriors, so even if it was Lee Hyunwook, there was absolutely no room for carelessness.

‘Fortunately, he hasn’t caught on to my ability yet.’

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have done something as foolish as pulling out the throwing axe embedded in his shoulder and tossing it behind him.

Lee Hyunwook checked the position of the axe and locked eyes with the orc.

The orc made the first move.

Roaaar!

The beast charged with its battle axe raised high.

‘It’s a power strike!’

He applied his ‘control’ to the tip of the raised battle axe, pulling it backward.

The orc’s body seemed to flinch ever so slightly.

Grrr!

Even for a massive creature like an orc, if a sudden additional weight of 5kg is attached to the end of their weapon, they’re bound to lose their balance momentarily.

At the same time, Lee Hyunwook took a step to the right, swiftly moving out of the orc’s line of sight, and naturally released the grip on the sword in his right hand.

He literally loosened his grip and let go of the sword.

Swish-

The pommel slid out of Lee Hyunwook’s grip.

However, the orc’s eyes were fixated on Lee Hyunwook’s head and did not notice the sword moving closely along the ground.

The next moment,

Thud!

The sword embedded itself in the orc’s right thigh.

Huh?

The orc wobbled with a puzzled expression on its face.

It was only natural.

‘Now’s the time.’

Lee Hyunwook charged and struck the orc’s chin with the edge of his shield.

Whack!

Following that, he swung his ‘strengthened’ fist at the backpedaling orc.

Smack!

Lee Hyunwook’s right hook landed precisely on the back of the orc’s head.

Groaaan…

Regardless of being an orc, after receiving three consecutive bone-rattling hits, it couldn’t stay standing.

The orc staggered and finally fell to its knees.

Despite being in a dazed state, the orc tried to defend against the subsequent attack, raising its battle axe to showcase its experienced warrior-like instincts but…

Crack!

A sound like a watermelon breaking,

A throwing axe embedded itself in the back of the orc’s head.

No matter how experienced a warrior, they can’t defend against an attack from behind.

“That’s what happens when you leave dangerous things lying around.”

He slowly lowered his raised hand.

“Wow…”

“Wow, that’s amazing…”

“That rumor about him, it was all true!”

Murmurs of admiration faintly came from inside the bus.

They were the soldiers from the headquarters unit who, just moments ago, had dismissed Lee Hyunwook for being F-rank.

Shoop-

Lee Hyunwook pulled the sword out of the orc’s thigh.

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“No! Be careful!”

Someone shouted.

Turning around, he saw another orc charging towards him like a raging bull.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-

Just before colliding with the beast, Lee Hyunwook applied ‘strengthening’ to both arms.

‘I can’t block this with one hand!’

It was quite literally like the charge of a bull.

He dropped the sword and gripped the shield with both hands.

He shifted his right foot back, channeling all his weight and metal-controlling ability into the shield.

Immediately after, the battle axe descended onto the shield.

Clang!

Metal-on-metal collision,

The immense shock traveled up his wrist, jolting his shoulders and knees.

“Ugh…”

He felt his insides churn and a wave of nausea.

But even at that moment, Lee Hyunwook’s senses didn’t lose track of the ‘sword’ freely falling beneath the shield.

‘Go!’

At Lee Hyunwook’s will, the sword lifted.

Swish!

The sword shot up vertically, grazing past the orc’s groin.

Perhaps as a tendon in its thigh was cut, the orc collapsed to its knees.

Just like the one he’d killed moments before, a face full of bewilderment showed.

The expression conveyed that it had no idea where the sword suddenly came from.

“Yes, I understand how you feel.”

By positioning the sword out of the enemy’s sight and then controlling it for a surprise attack, Lee Hyunwook named this maneuver the ‘Hidden Sword.’

‘Nobody considers a sword that’s left an opponent’s hand to be a threat. Thus, they focus solely on the immediate threat in front of them.’

The Hidden Sword exploited this bias.

Even now, the Hidden Sword had determined the outcome.

Lee Hyunwook raised his shield and struck the orc’s face.

Thump!

One hit and its nose was flattened.

Crack!

Two hits and teeth shattered.

Thud!

Three strikes and it was over.

“Phew, two of them like this…”

Lee Hyunwook picked up his sword and looked around.

Orc scouts usually moved in groups of three. There had to be one more somewhere.

But then…

“Scream!”

A woman’s scream came from somewhere. Lee Hyunwook dashed towards the back of the bus.

“Corporal Lee Hyunwook! Over there!”

Choi Seon-ah, leaning out of the window, pointed in a direction.

An orc was hopping over the guardrail, running into the forest.

And hanging onto the orc’s shoulder was a female soldier.

She seemed unconscious, hanging limply.

Using his ability, Lee Hyunwook tried to pull the metal – the battle axe – attached to the orc’s back, but that alone wouldn’t be enough to stop it.

“Damn it!”

This was unexpected.

Although Lee Hyunwook did well to save two people, one Orc changed its course to kidnap the female soldier.

‘I can’t just let this happen.’

In unforeseen situations, the most important things are clear judgment,

And the decisiveness to act upon it.

Thud!

Lee Hyunwook placed his shield on the ground and gripped his sword in a reverse hold.

“Sigh…”

And after taking a breath, he pulled the sword behind him,

Whoosh-

And with all his strength, he threw it.

In reality, throwing a blade at the back of a running orc was genuinely insane.

Because the hostage hanging on its shoulder might get hit.

‘But I am different.’

The sword that left Lee Hyunwook’s hand flew unnaturally.

Instead of following a parabolic trajectory, it chased the orc’s back like a guided missile.

It was extremely accurate.

Thud-

The sword penetrated the orc’s neck.

The giant creature tumbled and fell over the grass.

After dealing with the three orcs, he kept an eye on the surroundings, but no other movement was seen.

As expected, since they were ‘scouts,’ they seemed to move separately from the main group.

‘The kidnapping attempt must have been because they were scouts.’

Orcs were not a race that avoided battle by any means, especially not those that would turn their backs.

However, being scouts, they seemed to prioritize reconnaissance, search, and reporting to the main group over combat.

Lee Hyunwook searched the orc bodies.

He found 3 mana stones and one decent item emerged.

[ ‘Orb of Earth (Grade 3)’ acquired ]

It was a higher grade than the ‘orb’ he bought yesterday at the PX military item store.

“If an Orb of Earth of Grade 3… maybe it’s worth about 4 million won?”

Usually, the ownership of items belongs to organizations with dungeon exploration rights.

Like guilds or AMT.

However, in cases like now, where the exploration rights haven’t been decided, or if they were attacked by monsters outside of the ‘Red Ground’ and retaliated, the ownership of the items goes to the initial acquirer.

So, this item belonged to Lee Hyunwook. He had made a significant amount of money from a brief encounter.

At that moment,

Vroom-

Two black SUVs ascended from the base of the mountain and parked right next to the bus.

“What’s this?”

The platoon leader approached with a frown.

“Who are you? This road isn’t a public one; it’s a military road. You shouldn’t come up here without permission!”

The rear door of the first SUV opened, and someone stepped out.

It was a woman.

But at a glance, her appearance was extraordinary.

“What, what is this…”

Dreadlocks, purple-lens sunglasses, a gray-striped suit set…

If you only looked at that, she’d seem just unusually styled. However, if you saw the palm-sized spider crawling on her shoulder and neck…

Shiver! Shiver!

The perception of her would drastically change.

She walked past the lieutenant blocking her path without a glance.

“…Huh?”

While the lieutenant seemed taken aback, a man who got out from the co-driver’s seat handed over a business card.

“It’s the Cheonghwa Guild.”

“…Oh, is it?”

The ones who arrived before the 2nd battalion’s 5th unit were the ‘Raid Team’ from the Cheonghwa Guild, who happened to be passing nearby.

If Lee Hyunwook hadn’t intervened, they would probably have arrived to clean up the situation only after two people had died.

The woman stopped in front of Lee Hyunwook.

“You, there.”

She called out to Lee Hyunwook and took off her sunglasses.

“Yes?”

However, the moment Lee Hyunwook recognized her features, he couldn’t help but frown.

‘…Why is she here?’

It was a familiar face.

And it was one he didn’t want to remember.

This woman, who at a glance seemed full of self-love, was the daughter of Korea’s strongest private guild <Cheonghwa>, and an A-rank player, Catherine Yoo.

‘Yoo Haena….’

That’s what she might be called now, but not in the future.

‘After being pushed out in the succession battle of the Cheonghwa Guild, she joins Blue Tree.’

<Blue Tree> is the world’s top corporation led by the villain leader, Golden Price. It’s also the core of the villain organization.

In other words, this woman becomes a ‘villain’ player in the future.

She raised her index finger toward Lee Hyunwook’s chest badge.

She was checking the name tag on his combat uniform.

“Your name is Lee Hyunwook, and your rank is… corporal? Am I right? I don’t know much about military ranks.”

“…”

Lee Hyunwook did not respond.

He felt disgusted.

Not just because of her arrogant attitude, but because her very existence was repugnant to him.

‘She killed Seo Eunha…’

Seo Eunha, who had thrown herself to protect Lee Hyunwook…

She was swept away by the ‘man-eating magical bugs’ controlled by this woman, Yoo Haena.

The memory surfaced involuntarily, causing Lee Hyunwook to frown.

Looking at Lee Hyunwook’s face, she continued with a smirk.

“It’s startling, isn’t it? I know.”

It seemed she misinterpreted his expression…

“I saw everything, how you dealt with those three orcs. You have quite the skill.”

Anyway, Yoo Haena’s ability was to control bugs. Not just any bugs, but magically bred ‘magical bugs’—controlling millions of them.

She must have sent out flying bugs to survey the scene after receiving the ‘public emergency rescue signal’.

“I’m late to introduce myself. I’m Catherine Yoo, the Seoul strategy director of the Cheonghwa Guild. From the short glimpse, your fighting style was quite interesting.”

Being praised by the daughter of the Cheonghwa Guild… a normal AMT soldier would have been drooling in this situation, but it was annoying to Lee Hyunwook.

She pulled out a business card between her index and middle fingers and elegantly extended it toward him.

“What’s your rank?”

But Lee Hyunwook knew her cunning nature very well.

It wasn’t so much that she genuinely admired Lee Hyunwook’s skills and wanted to recruit him; she was the type of person who enjoyed flaunting her authority and position by giving out her business card, especially to those she deemed beneath her.

‘But I know another side of her. A very childish side.’

Being the daughter of a huge guild, she was treated like a princess all her life and continued to receive the best treatment even after becoming a player.

Anything she wanted, she had always managed to obtain, and with just a single word from her, most would automatically bow their heads.

‘Anyone who threatens her pride becomes her target.’

Whether it was her brothers who always held a position above her,

S-rank players with powers she could never attain,

Or even the lower-ranked players who dared to refuse her petty hobby of distributing her business cards.

‘She tries to conquer anything that irks her.’

Yes, it was less of a ‘challenge’ and more of a peculiar ‘desire to dominate’ that she possessed.

‘So, to effectively use this woman who hasn’t become a villain yet…’

Lee Hyunwook didn’t even glance at her business card, acting purely on calculated discretion.

“….”

At that, Yoo Haena’s expression slowly hardened.

The elegant tip of her fingers, seemingly lost, quivered slightly.

“I don’t understand why I should disclose my personal information to you.”

“Hmm, one phone call would be enough for me to find out. Just tell me.”

“Then, make that call.”

Lee Hyunwook responded as such and turned away.

At that moment, Yoo Haena’s left eyebrow twitched twice.

Her pride must have taken quite a hit.

‘He seems more… interesting than he looks.’

One corner of her mouth rose in a smirk.

Surely, that peculiar desire of hers to dominate was surfacing again.

The strange desire to somehow take control and place someone beneath her.

‘It was the same in my past life.’

Lee Hyunwook knew well about this woman’s psychology because he had experienced it in his previous life.

When he had just discovered how to grow his abilities, Lee Hyunwook had been part of a small guild.

By chance, he encountered Yoo Haena. She blatantly disregarded his guild and its master and gracefully handed out a business card with the word ‘Cheonghwa’ printed on it.

Lee Hyunwook did not accept the card.

Furthermore, he ignored her and moved past her.

‘She gave me a hard time afterward. She caused all sorts of chaos trying to recruit me, even until I had to kill her with my own hands…’

Thinking of that time, Lee Hyunwook’s teeth clenched.

“Hey, at least take the card. A card of this value isn’t easy to come by.”

“I’m fine.”

“…”

Just then, a truck approached from the direction of the troops.

Making an entrance that was hardly notable, it was the 5-minute squad.

And following behind it was a white sedan…

‘Why is that woman here again…’

Of all the people, the driver was Seo Eunha.

‘Why does she always appear after I’ve dealt with all the monsters? Especially in a place where Yoo Haena is…’

He was becoming genuinely suspicious of these coincidences.