Chapter 65

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About 30 seconds ago,

Lee Hyun-wook boldly threw himself into the event zone, inside the wall where the illusion magic was cast.

And he infused mana into the 'Gueges' Ring.'

- The 'Invisibility' magic of Gueges' Ring is in effect. (Remaining time: 29 seconds)

The time given to Lee Hyun-wook was a mere 30 seconds, but he was not anxious.

First, he simply passed by the two guards with shields blocking the entrance.

“What? Didn’t someone just come in?”

“Yeah, but there’s no one… Ah! It’s a stealth spell!”

The guards noticed faster than expected.

Since he was seen entering, it couldn’t be helped.

However, Lee Hyun-wook didn’t care.

‘If I move hastily, I’ll make more noise.’

He walked calmly into the cave, examining the 'event map' everywhere.

An event map refers to a supernatural space formed under special circumstances.

Unlike a 'dungeon,' which exists in a completely different dimension,

it is a transformation of the physical space in reality.

Thus, a 'secret cave' was formed beneath the commercial building.

‘And the opening of the event map is a sign of some incident.’

He began to grasp the characteristics of the cave to understand the details.

‘Metallic terrain, bizarre wall paintings, sulfur smell…’

The event map had a certain 'theme.'

And the theme here was…

‘…a secret demon altar.’

As he had overheard in the previous conversation, it was indeed related to a 'demon.'

And the various patterns carved in relief on the walls… most of them depicted 'swarms of insects.'

Lee Hyun-wook knew very well what demon they represented.

‘Abaddon…’

Abaddon (Abaddon) is a demon that appears in the Bible, the king of insects, and a symbol of disaster that brings destruction to the world.

In other words, it could be inferred that a quest to summon Abaddon in Seoul was underway.

‘In Paris, France, three demons, including Abaddon, descended during the 4th Wave.’

According to Lee Hyun-wook’s memory, it happened right after the 4th Wave and the assassination of the saint.

It was a large-scale offensive aimed at the point when the most powerful holy weapon, the saint, was eliminated.

‘In other words, they have advanced a plan that was originally scheduled. I need to find out what’s happening.’

He quickly advanced into the cave and soon reached the end of the passage.

Three people were blocking that point.

Two snipers and one mage.

He could hear their voices.

“…The guy can probably use a stealth skill, so be careful.”

“If that’s the case, he might approach quietly, so set the floor on fire—”

At that, the man at the back, the mage, raised his staff,

Whoosh—aa—aa—aa—!

Flames poured from the tip of the staff, turning the narrow passage into a sea of fire.

It was a very reasonable response to a very reasonable deduction…

“Hmm… there doesn’t seem to be anything here?”

“Someone definitely came in, so where are they?”

The reason this effort was in vain was simple.

Lee Hyun-wook had cast 'Hardening' on his entire body and used metal control to levitate and stick to the ceiling.

As he leisurely passed over their heads…

- The magic of Gueges' Ring is in effect. (Remaining time: 2 seconds)

Unfortunately, the skill duration expired.

Lee Hyun-wook slowly descended behind them while attempting 'Metal Creation' with both hands.

Clank—clank—clank—

The strange sound slowly echoed throughout the cave.

“—Huh?”

The two sniper players, who had sensitive senses, detected the sound and quickly turned around, but

it was already too late.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“—Gah!”

Black spikes pierced the necks of the three one after another, killing them instantly.

However, with the stealth effect gone, he could no longer hide.

“—Who’s there!”

A shout erupted from the wide area inside the cave, a cavern.

“There, he’s standing there!”

Lee Hyun-wook cast 'Hardening' on his face to create a 'metal mask' and slowly turned around, lifting all the arrows scattered on the ground.

Eight people appeared inside the cavern, more than he had expected.

Some of them didn’t have metal on their bodies, so he couldn’t detect them.

Including the two he had passed by at the entrance, there were a total of ten.

“What are you doing! Surround that kid!”

At the command of the man with a mustache, who seemed to be the leader, nine people began to surround Lee Hyun-wook.

‘What, they’re foreigners.’

They appeared to be Hispanic.

However, there was no problem with communication.

The system automatically translates player conversations.

“Hey, you bastard, who are you?”

The mustached man said this while pulling something out of his pocket.

A mana messenger, apparently trying to send a mana communication to somewhere…

“Eh, eh? Why isn’t this working, damn it!”

For some reason, it wasn’t working well.

This was naturally due to Lee Hyun-wook.

He had synchronized with it and forced a 'communication termination.'

“Why, are you trying to report to the police?”

Lee Hyun-wook’s silly joke made the man put away the mana messenger and glare.

“You, damn it, where did you suddenly come from? What’s with that damn mask….”

Lee Hyun-wook had created a mask with 'Hardening' to hide his identity.

Now that he was a celebrity, he needed to be careful about exposing his identity.

“Why are you asking where I came from when a Korean is on Korean soil? You guys look like illegal immigrants to me. Do you know that player illegal immigration is a serious crime?”

As Lee Hyun-wook said this and took a step forward, the mustached man sneered.

“Hey, you’re surrounded right now. Do you really think you can escape and act cocky?”

Lee Hyun-wook shrugged and slowly looked around.

Inside the cave, about 3 meters wide, there were 10 opponents.

Clearly, he was surrounded without a gap.

But…

‘This terrain is full of metal.’

This cave was a metallic mine.

In other words, it was a place where dungeon iron ore was abundantly buried.

“Get a grip, you weird yellow monkey with the strange mask! You’re completely surrounded!”

“Haha— Now, even if you use stealth, you can’t escape!”

The men slowly tightened their circle, shouting one by one.

Lee Hyun-wook shook his head.

“…Actually, the ones surrounded are not me, but you.”

As he said this and slowly raised his hands, laughter erupted from all sides.

“What kind of nonsense is that! Just die—”

As the mustached man shouted and was about to give an attack order—

Rumble—rumble—rumble—rumble—!

Suddenly, the entire cave began to shake.

The men who were charging had to stop reflexively.

“What?!”

“…Is it an earthquake?”

Lee Hyun-wook stretched his hands above the men’s heads.

“No, it’s not an earthquake.”

“…What?”

“You were inside my mouth from the beginning.”

“Just shoot that crazy bastard—!”

As soon as the mustached man finished speaking, all kinds of magic flew at Lee Hyun-wook.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Flames, electricity, and magic missiles mixed, creating a strange current.

However, when the smoke cleared, they were shocked by the scene.

“What? How….”

Lee Hyun-wook stood motionless.

His body had turned as hard as metal, and a blue 'mana shield' was boiling all over him.

He had taken damage from the magic attacks, but it didn’t break.

‘Hardening, if I can go a few more levels, I won’t need Seung-ha’s help.’

Lee Hyun-wook smiled and looked at the men.

“Now it’s my turn. I’ll chew you up and spit you out—Crush—!”

Kaboom—!

With a loud noise, the ceiling suddenly collapsed, and two men were crushed by the heavy debris.

The rest hastily retreated and took defensive positions.

But there was no place to hide in this narrow cave.

Crack—crack—crack—

The ceiling, walls, and floor split, and rocks tumbled down.

“Ugh, damn it, let’s retreat!”

As the men retreated, something flew from the smoky haze.

Plink—plink—plink—plink—

The 'dungeon iron ore' that had been transformed into sharp metal spikes flew like javelins, piercing various parts of their bodies.

“—Ugh!”

“Damn! He’s using ranged attacks! Protect your vital points!”

But there was no place to hide in this narrow cave.

Lee Hyun-wook positioned a huge number of dungeon iron ore above the men’s heads and

‘Crush—!’

detonated them all at once.

Kaboom—kaboom—kaboom—kaboom—!

A chain explosion,

like dynamite exploding in a mine, thick smoke spewed through the passage.

“Ugh….”

“Cough—cough— Help….”

When the noise subsided, all that remained were pitiful groans.

Lee Hyun-wook slowly walked into the smoke.

***

Lee Hyun-wook stood at the end of the cave.

In the wide cavern illuminated by a lantern, three 'Magic Engineering Drills' were placed on one side of the wall.

It seemed that they were mining something here.

“Is this it….”

Among the ordinary dungeon iron ore, something with a purple glow was mixed.

Lee Hyun-wook placed his palm on it.

– You do not have the authority to mine the 'Fragment of Catastrophe (4th Wave)!'

‘Fragment of Catastrophe…’

In context, it felt like some evil power scattered after the 4th Wave ended.

And it seemed to be a mechanism to revive the demon 'Abaddon' by collecting these fragments.

“…Now, I have one more question.”

Lee Hyun-wook said this and looked down at someone lying at his feet.

“Ugh….”

The leader of this operation, the mustached man.

His limbs were restrained by sharp metal devices created by 'Metal Transformation,'

and his stomach was filled with Lee Hyun-wook’s 'special torture technique.'

Lee Hyun-wook stepped on the man’s neck and spoke,

“…So, you’ve