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Chapter 18: Explosive Growth, and Opportunity
Chapter 18: Explosive Growth, and Opportunity
Chapter 18: Explosive Growth, and Opportunity
< Chapter 18: Explosive Growth, and Opportunity – 3 >
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“Huff!”
Lee Hyunwook let out a ragged breath.
Each time he exhaled, a grey smoke, reminiscent of burnt coal, puffed out.
The room was already filled with thick smoke.
Yet the fire alarm didn’t sound, because he had taped the sensors.
‘It’s almost over.’
He rolled off the bed and began crawling towards a destination.
His goal was the refrigerator.
Finally reaching it, he extended his trembling hand and pulled out a bottle of water.
Gulp- Gulp- Gulp- Gulp-
As the cold water flowed down his throat, white steam rose each time it hit his stomach.
The furnace was doing its job, melting and boiling everything that entered his body. And then completely absorbing it.
‘I feel like I’m going to die.’
That thought crossed his mind countless times, but he knew he wouldn’t.
After all, he had experienced this pain several times before.
He slowly scanned the message that appeared before his eyes.
[ Currently controllable metal weight: 17,499g ]
Now it’s a whopping 17.5kg.
If he were to move a 300g dagger, he could control about 60 of them simultaneously.
In this case, the force exerted on each dagger would be equivalent to Lee Hyunwook swinging it with one hand.
Moreover, his metal detection ability also improved, allowing him to detect metals weighing 500g up to 135 meters away.
’36 hours…’
He had been holed up in this room, absorbing only metal, and the 11kg of metal that had been piled up on the floor had disappeared without a trace.
But the aftermath was not to be underestimated.
On his skin, green lines were prominent. For some reason, the color of his veins had changed.
[ Warning! You have been ‘poisoned’ by various types of toxins ]
“Ughhh…”
Tingling, soreness, numbness, dizziness – such sensations ravaged his body.
He had developed symptoms of poisoning from swallowing metal that had been enchanted with a poisonous property.
However, these symptoms were now a kind of adaptation process.
[ Resistance to poison level 2 is being developed (81%) ]
‘It’s progressing steadily.’
Resistance ranged from level 1 to 3, and as the level increased, the abnormal reactions and damage from the poison decreased. If it progressed beyond that, one would become ‘immune’, making their body resistant to most poisons.
Of course, achieving this would require ingesting an unimaginable amount of poison.
‘…A level 2 resistance should be sufficient for now.’
But that wasn’t all.
[ Congratulations! You’ve successfully achieved the first latent breakthrough and acquired a ‘Trait Skill’ ]
Every time metal control power surpasses a certain level, such as 10kg, 100kg, or 1,000kg, a ‘Trait Skill’ is granted. He had just surpassed the first milestone.
The skill he acquired was…
[Skill Information]
-Name: Metal Pulverization
-Grade: D
-Effect: Consumes mana to ‘pulverize’ a certain amount of metal.
The amount of mana consumed varies depending on the quantity of the target metal.
‘As expected, I’ve gained something timely.’
He took a moment to catch his breath and slowly got up.
Then, he reached out toward the nail clipper placed on a table on one side of the room.
Vroom-
The nail clipper floated into the air.
‘…Pulverize.’
The moment he thought that,
Crackle-Crack!
With a chain of bursting sounds, the nail clipper exploded.
Just like a chunk of wood being shredded into sawdust, the fragments flew in all directions, scratching the wallpaper, table, bed, and various other places as they went.
Clatter-Clatter!
Some pieces even flew toward Lee Hyunwook’s face.
Swoosh!
Just as it seemed his face would be torn apart,
Vroom-
The fragments abruptly halted in mid-air.
They began to orbit in a circular motion, then moved according to Lee Hyunwook’s gaze and started to neatly pile up on the table.
If this was the result with a small nail clipper, what would happen if he used it on a sword several times larger… No, even further, if applied to dozens of kilograms of metal, the destructive power would be beyond imagination.
“Whew, good…”
Despite the overwhelming pain that threatened to bring him to his knees, he managed a smile.
* * *
Lee Hyunwook stood at Yeongdeungpo Station.
AM 11:31
19 hours until he returned from his vacation, and there were only 14 hours left until “that incident” would erupt.
‘There’s one more thing to do before that.’
During this vacation, Lee Hyunwook had two major goals.
The first objective was to significantly enhance his ‘metal control ability’ and, moreover, to establish a stable source of metal supply.
By making a deal with the blacksmith Kang Jung-du, he successfully achieved this according to plan.
And the second was…
‘…Money.’
Money, a word as simple as it is crucial and he needed it.
‘While there may be several reasons we lost to the villain, the core reason is undoubtedly money.’
Gordon Price’s “dirty money” operated behind the scenes, buying off power, hiring players, and purchasing items.
In this way, very slowly but surely, he took control of everything.
‘It might be impossible to possess more wealth than Gordon Price, but at the very least, I should have enough to not be swept up in his money games.’
Lee Hyunwook calculated the assets he had.
‘There’s about 7 million won left in the bank account…’
And with the three grade-5 orbs he exchanged for reward points and the additional grade-3 orb he got from the orc, roughly calculated, they were worth about 11 million won in total.
‘That totals up to 18 million won…’
It was a meager sum.
Even if he scraped together all his assets, compared to the owner of <Blue Tree>, Gordon Price, who already owned assets in the tens of trillions at the present moment, it was merely a drop in the ocean.
However, knowing the future meant knowing where and when money would accumulate.
‘I know what industry will thrive after the upcoming 4th wave.’
In other words, if he invested in such ‘stocks’ early on, even a small amount would soon snowball.
‘But I won’t be able to oversee every single detail of that process.’
While he could manage the initial small amount via the Internet, as the amount grew, the time spent on such operations would inevitably increase.
Moreover, numerous events were bound to unfold in the future. Given that most of these events would be life-threatening battles, there was a need to focus on enhancing his abilities and training.
In essence, he needed someone to manage his assets professionally.
Someone agile in the flow of money, diligent in their assigned tasks, and most importantly, trustworthy…
‘…There’s one person that comes to mind.’
His name was Park Cheolsu, Lee Hyunwook’s high school senior.
‘Right now, he might just be running a small guild, but he becomes the top player agent in the future.’
Moreover, as an ‘analyst’ type player leading the <Rediscovery of F-rank> in the future, he was the benefactor who identified Lee Hyunwook’s ‘ability enhancement method,’ which had been unknown for a whole decade.
‘After Kang Hee-seol, he’s the second human resource I need to secure.’
Perhaps, people could be even more valuable resources than money.
* * *
When Lee Hyunwook stood in front of the office of the <Hope Guild> located on the second floor of an old commercial building near Singil Station,
Clatter!
A sound of something breaking came from inside.
“Damn it! Bro! Seriously, stop making me want to hit you!”
It was a voice that sounded threatening.
‘That voice… It’s Lee Won-chul.’
It was the name of a thug who was Lee Hyunwook’s high school classmate.
And the one he was threatening… must be the guild master, Park Cheolsu.
‘He was one of the thorns in Park Cheolsu’s side.’
Park Cheolsu was a senior from Lee Hyunwook and Lee Won-chul’s high school.
Though they called him a senior, he was 8 years older.
By the time Lee Hyunwook and Lee Won-chul graduated high school, Park Cheolsu was already working as a mid-level member in a renowned guild.
Then one day, through the introduction of a vice principal who was once Park Cheolsu’s homeroom teacher, Park Cheolsu began helping the much younger junior players, and that’s how their relationship started.
‘Among the people I know, there weren’t many as selfless as Cheolsu…’
He had always helped the juniors he connected with until the very end.
The very reason he even decided to start his own guild was to take care of juniors who had nowhere to go.
It spoke volumes about his character.
‘Yet, Lee Won-chul repaid that kindness with betrayal.’
Lee Hyunwook took another step towards the office door.
Then, the voice of Park Cheolsu, sounding much less authoritative than a guild master should, resonated.
“Lee Won-chul… you know we didn’t get many requests this month… I had to break into my savings to pay your salaries. I’m truly sorry, please be patient.”
“What do I care? Shouldn’t the master be securing quality jobs so that guild members can earn their pay? Aren’t you blaming others for your inability to do so?”
Lee Hyunwook peeked inside through the slightly open door.
In a leather jacket stood a large figure, Lee Won-chul, exhaling smoke from his cigarette. The smoke wafted over the desk and settled on the face of a man in a wrinkled shirt, Park Cheolsu. He displayed not an ounce of respect.
“Cough! Cough! I have been looking for jobs, but you guys keep refusing them…”
“Damn it, seriously!”
At Lee Won-chul’s shout, Park Cheolsu flinched in surprise.
“Bro! Are security detail tasks even considered assignments? Huh? Ah, this is so damn infuriating…”
“…”
“Bring proper assignments so that the guys and I can work with a sense of purpose! Damn, is a security guard position a joke to you? Isn’t that right, guys?”
As Lee Won-chul turned around after saying that, three men sitting on the sofa nodded in agreement.
“Yes, exactly! I also want to participate in operations like ‘Gate Strategy’ like other guilds.”
“Really, working these days just isn’t fun.”
“Ah, to be honest, I’m thinking of joining another guild.”
These three were guild members recruited by Lee Won-chul and were essentially his cronies.
‘From this point on, although Park Cheolsu was the guild master in name, the real power holder was Lee Won-chul.’
At that time, Lee Won-chul was a player with significant potential. He had reached C-rank just three years after awakening.
And so, Lee Won-chul, who had become exceedingly arrogant, was blinded by greed and decided to repay the kindness shown to him with betrayal.
‘Even the method he used was incredibly petty and dirty.’
He covertly forced out guild members he didn’t like and replaced them with his acquaintances, slowly taking over the guild and gaining control.
All of this happened while Park Cheolsu was preoccupied with various personal issues.
Eventually, Lee Won-chul took over the entire guild and then sold it to another guild.
Lee Hyunwook didn’t wait any longer and opened the door to enter.
Tinkle, tinkle-
As the bells attached to the office entrance rang, Park Cheolsu instinctively jumped up from his seat.
“Oh, welcome… Huh?”
“Huh? Hyunwook?”
“Ha, what’s going on here…”
Three people recognized Lee Hyunwook.
Park Cheolsu, Lee Won-chul, and a female classmate working in an administrative position in the guild office, Kim Ji-yeon.
“Hey, tin-can pilot, what are you doing here?”
Lee Won-chul said so, tapping off the ash from his cigarette onto the ground.
The relationship between Lee Hyunwook and Lee Won-chul had not been good for a long time.
No, it was quite bad.
“Hyunwook, it’s been a while… have you been well?”
In the momentarily awkward atmosphere, Kim Ji-yeon asked.
Then, Lee Won-chul snorted with a smirk.
“What could a soldier possibly be doing well?”
“…”
“Ah, I jumped straight to the guild so I don’t know, but I bet a life at the bottom is…”.
Lee Hyunwook didn’t say anything. He just walked in naturally and sat on a side of the sofa. Then, he looked around the office once and made eye contact with Park Cheolsu.
“Cheolsu, I came to talk to you, are you busy?”
“Ah, um, well, Hyunwook, right now…”
“-Hey!”
All eyes, except for Lee Hyunwook’s, turned to Lee Won-chul who suddenly raised his voice.
“… If you have something to say or whatever, fuck, shouldn’t you greet your friends first when you see them after a long time? Aren’t you ignoring everything I’m saying? How rude…”
Upon hearing that, the gaze of Lee Hyunwook, who had been looking at Park Cheolsu, very slowly shifted to Lee Won-chul.
“…Lee Won-chul.”
“What, you! Why do you speak with such a grave tone?”
“I’m not here as your classmate, but as a guest to the guild master, so you better shut up.”
For a moment, a vein popped on Lee Won-chul’s forehead.
Simultaneously, the three men sitting on the sofa, the loyal underlings of Lee Won-chul, began to glare at Lee Hyunwook with hostility, and a heavy tension descended upon the entire office.
“Hahaha… This F-rank guy, maybe he got hit in the army and lost his old memories… I was already in a bad mood, but man- you’re really pushing it with this.”
“…”
“You came because you wanted to get hit like you did back in middle school, right, Hyunwook?”
Lee Won-chul spewed all sorts of malicious remarks and then stubbed out his cigarette on the ashtray on the desk.
“It’s already done. It’s too late to run, bastard.”
Then, lifting the ashtray close to his mouth, he coughed up phlegm.
“Ka-ack! Spit!”
However…
“…Huh? What? What’s this?”
Even though he surely spat into the ashtray, the phlegm was on his own thigh. And the aluminum ashtray he was holding…
Woong-
…was floating in mid-air, detached from his hand.
Lee Won-chul’s left cheek trembled.
It was clear to anyone that this was Lee Hyunwook’s doing.
“Ha… Lee Hyunwook, this, this son of a…”
Lee Won-chul kicked his chair and stood up, then rapidly approached Lee Hyunwook.
“…You’re really done for!”
Being a player in the “Fighter” category, he could handle himself even without a particular weapon. He was even confident enough to boast that he could win a hand-to-hand fight against an orc.
“Wo, Won-chul, no!”
“Hey! Don’t do it!”
Park Cheolsu jumped up in surprise, and Kim Ji-yeon screamed, but there was no stopping him.
But at that moment, something truly strange happened.
Swoosh!
Lee Won-chul’s pants, with the skull-patterned belt, came undone in the blink of an eye,
“Huh?”
It was as if someone had grabbed and pulled them down.
Just like that, Lee Won-chul’s yellow Winnie-the-Pooh underwear was exposed for all to see, and moreover…
“…Ugh!”
Lee Won-chul tripped over his own fallen pants, presenting a comical scene as he toppled over.
“…Hyung!”
But that wasn’t the end.
The belt moved like a snake, sliding across his hips and thighs. It then wrapped tightly around both ankles and fused into one.
Swoosh!
Without a single hand gesture, his legs were bound in an instant.
“Uh, yo-you, bastard! Hey! What are you doing!? Grab that jerk!”
Lee Won-chul cried out in rage,
However, the three loyal hooligans sitting on the sofa couldn’t do anything.
“Uh, uhh…”
They just sat up, their eyes wide, looking back and forth between Lee Hyunwook and Lee Won-chul.
“Uh…”
Throughout all this, Lee Hyunwook hadn’t moved an inch from where he was leaning on the sofa.
Without even giving a glance at Lee Won-chul, he spoke in a very calm voice,
“Cheolsu hyung, I don’t have much time. Can we talk briefly right now?”
Even as he spoke, another eerie scene unfolded.
Hiss-hiss-hiss-hiss…
From the black bag that Lee Hyunwook had put down, gray lines began to crawl out on their own, writhing like living snakes and advancing toward Lee Won-chul, who was struggling on the floor.
It was the steel wire, commonly referred to as a wire rope.
Hiss-hiss-hiss-hiss…
“Ahhh! What is this!? Sa-save me!”
The sight of the thick steel ropes lunging as if alive was truly eerie.
Lee Won-chul tried to escape frantically, but he didn’t even have time to put his pants back on properly.
Four strands of the steel wire wrapped around Lee Won-chul’s body, binding him tightly like an anaconda.
“…Eeeeee!”
Watching Lee Hyunwook subdue C-ranked Level 21 player Lee Won-chul without lifting a finger, the members of the Hope Guild were left with their mouths agape.
Park Cheolsu slowly nodded.
“Yes, Hyunwook… You’ve changed a lot… What do you want to talk about?”