Chapter 88

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"…I came to negotiate for the hostages."

In the lobby of Building B, the man in the AMT combat suit said this.

In the eerily quiet hostage situation, his calm voice was decidedly out of place.

"…"

Not only the 18 terrorists scattered around, but also the hundreds of hostages crouched in a corner looked at the man.

In other words, everyone in the building had their eyes fixed on one spot.

'…What is this? How did he get in?'

The leader of the terrorists, Mr. Lee, couldn't help but wonder. After a brief moment of thought, his conclusion was 'stealth.'

'Even after threatening to kill the hostages if we were approached, he still came in this way…'

Mr. Lee let out a derisive snort and aimed his gun at the man.

His subordinates also raised their guns.

Click— Click—

"Tsk tsk— What a bunch of stupid kids, coming in stealth mode even after I warned you?"

The magazine of the 7.62mm rifle, loaded with about 20 rounds, had 'Enchant' applied to about 10 of them.

If he fired these, they could deal significant damage to players.

"Hey, do you really think this is just a gun? You'll die too, not just the hostages!"

"I heard something like that a while ago…"

"Huh? What's this guy talking about?"

The man, Lee Hyun-wook, shrugged and approached them without hesitation.

This caused screams to erupt from among the hostages.

"No, don't!"

To them, it seemed like a reckless, if not insane, response.

"There are bombs on our bodies!"

"Please, stop!"

If he made a mistake, hundreds of people here could die.

But Lee Hyun-wook continued to walk forward without a hint of hesitation.

Thud— Thud—

"Damn, shoot! Just kill them all!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Mr. Lee shouted, and screams erupted once again.

However, when the screams died down,

strangely enough… nothing happened.

"The gun…"

Tick— Tick— Tick— Tick—

All that could be heard were insignificant metallic sounds, and not a single gunshot.

Click—

Then, a sound like a finger snapping was heard, and the guns they held disintegrated and scattered. They saw these turn into sharp spikes, but they couldn't react.

Pierce— Pierce— Pierce— Pierce—!

These spikes simultaneously stabbed the terrorists' necks.

In the blink of an eye, 17 bodies collapsed helplessly.

"What the—!"

But Mr. Lee, who was a mage player, was not so easily defeated.

He added a 'Mana Shield' to his head, deflecting the incoming metal spikes.

Thud!

"Damn it! I don't know what trick you're pulling, but you're not saving the hostages!"

He reached out his hand toward the hostages. Even though he was unarmed, the hostages screamed in terror.

Rumble—

He infused mana into the bomb vests worn by the hostages, which would activate the 'trigger switch' and cause them to explode.

This was something he had already threatened the hostages with several times.

"Ah, ah—"

"—Scream!"

Thus, the hostages hugged each other and closed their eyes tightly.

But once again, nothing happened.

"Hey, why are you just pretending to do it?"

Lee Hyun-wook smirked and mocked.

"Huh? What, what…"

"So, do you have a third plan?"

"Then… the negotiation is over."

The 18 rifle parts transformed into chains of metal and flew like snakes, wrapping around Mr. Lee's neck and lifting him into the air.

"Gu, gu—!"

He struggled as if hanging from a gallows, and from Lee Hyun-wook's waist, 10 metal balls flew out.

Snap—!

The first strike hit his side— the ball almost embedded itself halfway before bouncing off.

The impact shattered his ribs, and he let out a terrifying scream.

"Ah— Save me!"

"Unfortunately, I don't take hostages."

The 10 metal balls orbited around him, mercilessly pummeling him.

Bang— Bang— Bang— Bang—!

In just a few seconds, dozens of hits— his bones shattered into tiny pieces.

Soon, the light in his eyes faded.

Thud—

In total, it took less than a minute to subdue all 18 terrorists.

"…"

The hostages looked at the scene in disbelief and then at Lee Hyun-wook.

"Ah…"

"Is that him? Lee Hyun-wook… the savior of Seoul!"

"Wow! That's right! He came to save us!"

They recognized Lee Hyun-wook and showed intense interest, but he showed no reaction. He slowly scanned the inside of the building and picked up a mana messenger from his waist.

Click—

"…The negotiation is over."

Even as he sent the message, his eyes were fixed on the open elevator shaft, sensing a strange noise coming from the deep darkness below.

Rumble—

He felt the strange movement below becoming more intense.

'It's about to start.'

And then…

– Attention! You have entered 'The Demon's Testing Ground.'

* An unknown calamity is brewing in this area.

The system message appeared in front of him.

***

Captain Lee Gil-hyun, the leader of the elite team 'Cobra Squad' of the 999th Special Mission Battalion, snorted after seeing Lee Hyun-wook infiltrate Building B using the stealth skill.

"Damn, that unlucky bastard… let's see how well he does. If he loses even one hostage, I'll go on TV and tell everyone how he insisted on doing it alone!"

Lee Hyun-wook, a name known to all today, had been seen in action by very few.

There wasn't even a single video or photo of his exploits.

In the 4th Wave Zone where he had performed, all electronic equipment had failed.

"Still, no matter how good he is, he should seek advice from experts, right?"

Though he didn't doubt the man's abilities, as a state-recognized hero, it was annoying to see him suddenly appear and try to take over.

"Captain, still, be careful. If he reports you to the higher-ups, what will you do?"

Team Leader Oh Sung-hoon advised him.

"Even the Blue House line, the U Seong-moon line… if you get on that old tiger's bad side, it's troublesome."

"…Even so, is it right to treat us like this?"

"Of course, I'm not happy either, but you started the argument, didn't you?"

"First, let's focus on the mission. Since he's in there, a big commotion will happen soon. And no matter how unlucky, we hope he handles this well, right?"

At that moment, the first message came in unexpectedly.

– Click— The negotiation is over.

Upon hearing this, the two men could only stare at each other in disbelief.

"…What?"

"What, what's over?"

That was definitely Lee Hyun-wook's voice.

"Ah, even if he's good, to do it so quickly…"

It had been just over a minute since he entered.

Finding it hard to believe, they lowered the altitude of a magic drone to check inside the building.

And indeed, the scene of the terrorists lying on the ground unfolded before them.

The pools of blood around their bodies suggested they had been dealt with mercilessly.

"Huh… Raid team, move in!"

Following Team Leader Oh Sung-hoon's order, the raid team quickly moved in.

"Prioritize the safety of the hostages above all else!"

Oh Sung-hoon followed the raid team into the building.

But as soon as he stepped into the lobby…

– Attention! You have entered 'The Demon's Testing Ground.'

* An unknown calamity is brewing in this area.

A red system message appeared before his eyes.

"…Team Leader, can you see this? Something seems to be happening."

Oh Sung-hoon slowly nodded, feeling a chill run down his spine.

The feeling that something bad was about to happen… this was the instinct of a veteran.

"Right, I see it too. Where is Private Lee Hyun-wook?"

"Over there, in front of the elevator entrance."

Lee Hyun-wook was inspecting the open elevator, which was a freight elevator large enough to fit a truck, leading to the underground facility.

He turned his head to face Oh Sung-hoon.

"Team Leader Oh, this wasn't just a hostage situation."

"Yes, I saw the system message. Damn, what the hell was going on here…"

At that moment, two raid team members brought a man who appeared to be a hostage.

"Team Leader, this man has something to say about the current situation."

The man was dressed in a white lab coat, likely a researcher.

"I am Dr. Ahn Yong-won, the head researcher of the Mana Control Research Department."

"Yes, is what you have to say about some 'event' happening underground?"

"Yes, that's right. We had no idea things would turn out this way…"

He swallowed hard and began to speak.

"Down there, there are terrifying monsters that eat humans. And they are increasing in number. So, there are probably no survivors."

"Hmm… When you say monsters, do you mean like the ones from the gates?"

Dr. Ahn shook his head in response to Oh Sung-hoon's question.

"I don't know the details, but it's not a gate. These monsters were created in the laboratory."

"Really? Creating monsters… that sounds absurd…"

This was a shocking revelation.

Initially, the research was about immortality, but it gradually veered into a different direction, influenced by demonic temptation. The goal was to offer humans to the demon in exchange for 'power.'

'The easiest way to achieve immortality, by borrowing the demon's power.'

Thus, following the demon's will, they began to cultivate the eggs of 'Agui (織鬼).'

There were over 3,800 of them…

Now, they were hatching and starting their first hunt.

"Damn, whatever it is, we need to block them from coming out…"

Oh Sung-hoon couldn't fully grasp the situation from the researcher's explanation, but the system message indicated that this was a significant event.

"…Within a 5km radius, there are many apartment complexes. This is no ordinary problem."

He muttered this and pressed the button on the 'Mana Messenger' on his shoulder.

"Ah— This is Team Leader. Maintain combat readiness, and immediately surround this building."

However, the researcher shook his head, as if disagreeing with his judgment, and pleaded.

"To stop them, we need to prepare. We need a significant number of priests and paladins… no, we need to bring a lot of holy relics and set up a 'sanctuary' like a bunker in this area."

"…Why do we need holy relics?"

"When you kill these monsters, a black smoke comes out. If you touch it, you are cursed."

He explained that after the security team killed an Agui, they were exposed to some 'smoke' and soon fell ill, eventually transforming into 'residents of hell.'

Killing these