-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: An Internal Gate, Part 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A purple shimmer flickered about 300 meters ahead. It was a gate.
'Almost there.'
Lee Hyun-wook's pace quickened as he ascended the mountain path. His eyes were fixed on the ground before him, but his unique senses were stretching out in all directions, detecting nearly every piece of metal in the vicinity.
His metal detection ability could currently sense an object weighing about 500 grams from roughly 102 meters away.
And he planned to use this ability to 'identify' the monsters' locations.
'Metal. To be precise, I need to pinpoint moving metal.'
The base was littered with metal.
Fences, guard posts, stakes—they all interfered with the identification process. But what Hyun-wook was trying to lock onto was moving metal—specifically, the blades carried by the goblins.
And just then…
Bee-beep—
"Th-this is Guard Post 6! We're… we're surrounded! It's goblins! A-a dozen goblins are closing in on the post! A g-gate! A gate opened inside the base! Requesting immediate backup!"
The frantic radio call was followed by a volley of gunshots from nearby.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
Hyun-wook and Park Jun-mo dropped low at the same time.
Park Jun-mo hit the dirt in a prone firing position, but Hyun-wook kept moving forward.
Cra-ack!
A flash of light erupted ahead.
It was lightning magic.
In that fleeting moment, Guard Post 6 was illuminated. It seemed one of the sentries at Guard Post 6 was a lightning-type mage; a goblin took a direct hit and was sent flying.
Kiiiii…
As Hyun-wook recalled, the sentries at Guard Post 6 were a rifleman and a mage.
'Those guys didn't last long. They'll probably be overrun soon.'
The guard post had a lantern, and the surrounding brush was kept short, but spotting and accurately shooting small, agile monsters like goblins in the dead of night was incredibly difficult.
In other words, without a warrior-class Player, stopping the goblins' advance was impossible.
"This is Guard Post 5. We're heading to support Guard Post 6 now."
Hyun-wook spoke into the radio as he continued up the path.
"This is Command and Control, Post 5! Hold your position—"
The operations soldier's voice was cut off, and another voice broke in.
"Hey! Post 5! Post 5! Aren't you two F-ranks? Dammit, who the hell paired two F-ranks for guard duty?"
It was a man's voice.
It sounded like the person in charge of the Command and Control Center, the duty commander.
"Hey! The QRF is on its way! Just stay put in your post! Don't go trying to be a hero and—"
Hyun-wook turned down the volume on his walkie-talkie.
It wasn't so much that the duty commander's angry voice was annoying, but that the noise could give away his position.
And…
'There's a QRF, but it takes them a while to get here from the barracks and climb the mountain.'
He'd experienced it in his past life. They waited for the QRF, and Guard Post 6 was brutally wiped out.
"Corporal Lee Hyun-wook! Didn't the duty commander just t-tell us not to go up there?"
"Jun-mo, if we don't go, those guys will get seriously hurt. They might even die."
"Ah…"
Honestly, though, Hyun-wook was more drawn by the significant gains to be had from that gate than by the thought of saving the sentries at Post 6. That was why he was moving with such urgency.
'An elite monster is killed on site, and it drops a pretty good item.'
A Goblin Shaman.
A creature classified as an 'elite monster' would appear, and hunting elite monsters yielded far better items than regular ones.
Hyun-wook lowered his stance. At the same time, he switched the selector to single fire.
Bee-beep—
"Th-this is Post 6! Corporal Kim Jeong-ok is h-hurt! Q-Quickly! Agh! Please, save us, quickly!"
The panicked voice coming through the walkie-talkie likely belonged to the assistant rifleman at Guard Post 6.
At that very moment, Hyun-wook raised his rifle.
'Hoo! Finally, I can feel them.'
He still couldn't see anything. But he could finally sense the 'moving metal'.
A weight of about 300 grams…
They were definitely the 'crude daggers' the goblins carried.
Aiming at those points, Hyun-wook fired without hesitation.
Bang! Bang!
After the two gunshots, a shriek came from the bushes ahead, followed by the sound of something collapsing with a thud.
Kiiiii…
A 5.56mm bullet had struck the goblin's head. Of course, an ordinary bullet couldn't penetrate a monster's skull, but a solid hit to the head could cause a concussion and bring it down.
Bang!
He fired again, and again heard the sound of a body falling. Another hit.
Just then, another bolt of lightning shot out from Guard Post 6.
Cra-ack!
The world was momentarily bathed in white light, expanding his field of vision…
In that instant, Park Jun-mo saw it.
"Huh?"
Kee-eek!
A goblin, which had been lying prone in the bushes, was lunging toward him.
"Oh, no!"
Park Jun-mo scrambled to raise his rifle.
"...Ah!"
In that moment, he realized he hadn't chambered a round yet.
He hurriedly tried to pull the bolt back to load the weapon, but the creature was already upon him.
Kieeeeeh!
There was no time to react.
Park Jun-mo fell backward, shielding his head with his arms.
Thwack!
At the same time, he heard the sound of flesh being pierced.
"...Huh?"
But for some reason, his body was unharmed. He saw that the goblin that had lunged at him had pitched forward.
And an M9 bayonet was embedded in the back of its head.
"Ah…"
Beyond it, Lee Hyun-wook was looking this way.
When he lightly raised his left hand…
Shwwwk—
The M9 bayonet pulled itself from the back of the goblin's head and rose into the air, where it hovered, motionless.
"See, Park Jun-mo? I told you you couldn't even handle one goblin with a body like that."
Those were the exact words he had said not long ago.
"Ah… I-I'm sorr…"
"Snap out of it and get up. And instead of the rifle, use the magic you're good at. That's how you'll change."
With those words, Hyun-wook turned his head forward again. The M9 bayonet hovering in the air turned horizontal and, following his gaze, shot into the darkness.
It was pursuing an enemy.
Shwiiiiish!
In the bayonet's wake, blades of grass were sliced and scattered chaotically in the lantern light. Hyun-wook charged into the midst of it, continuing his aimed shots.
Bang! Bang!
And before he knew it, three more daggers had risen to float behind his back.
Crude daggers, weapons dropped by the goblins.
"...Huh?"
That's right. He was now controlling a total of four daggers.
'Change… can I really change?'
Park Jun-mo found it hard to believe that the man before him was an 'F-rank'.
The three daggers hovered menacingly like giant hornets before diving into the undergrowth.
The movement was so swift and precise it was like watching a hawk dive toward the water's surface.
Park Jun-mo suppressed his ragged breathing and focused on the situation unfolding before him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Between the loud gunshots, the intermittent screams of goblins could be heard.
Park Jun-mo watched the entire process, dumbfounded.
'…He's changed. He's definitely changed.'
Park Jun-mo was the first to realize that it wasn't just his mindset that had transformed.
***
'As easy as expected.'
Nine goblins. That was the number of monsters Hyun-wook had dealt with in just three minutes.
His body and abilities were those of his past, but the memories of his previous life hadn't faded. He had not only hunted low-level monsters like goblins but had even taken down monsters powerful enough to overthrow a nation.
Honestly, he was confident he could handle this with just a single dagger.
Hyun-wook had now approached a distance where he could identify Guard Post 6.
In that time, Hyun-wook had circled around behind them.
Since every goblin was carrying a crude dagger, Hyun-wook could pinpoint their locations and easily slip past them.
And…
'Found it.'
Near the gate, he spotted a goblin in strange attire. Its body was covered in tattoos and gaudy accessories, and it stood a full head taller than a normal goblin…
That was the boss monster of this gate, the elite monster 'Goblin Shaman'.
'If I don't take it down in one go, every goblin will come charging at me.'
Hyun-wook held his breath and aimed for the creature's knee.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three single shots, perfectly aimed.
Three bullets struck the creature's knee.
Kieeeeeh!
The creature shrieked, and at the same time, the daggers shot forward from behind Hyun-wook.
But the creature, befitting an 'elite monster', sensed the daggers' approach and immediately raised a small wooden shield to cover its body.
Thunk! Thunk!
Two of the daggers were blocked by the shield, but…
'Useless.'
Shwip—
The remaining one changed direction in mid-air, bypassing the shield. He had mastered the art of controlling the 'flight trajectory' of multiple metal objects over many years.
Thwump!
The dagger plunged into the creature's side, causing its filthy body to stagger violently.
Guk!
Despite the rather fatal blow, the creature's fighting spirit didn't waver. It pulled out the dagger in its side and the ones embedded in its shield, then threw them all behind it, through the gate.
He couldn't control metal that had passed into another dimension like that.
Did it figure out how the daggers were moving?
'It's living up to its name, I see.'
But nothing had changed.
"In that case…"
Hyun-wook's senses were detecting numerous metal objects within a 150-meter radius.
"...I'll just borrow yours for a moment."
Hyun-wook reached his hand out toward the Goblin Shaman.
The creature was adorned with various accessories on its neck and forearms, some of which were pieces of metal. As Hyun-wook moved them, a long necklace instantly began to coil tightly around its owner's neck.
…Kh, keck!
Choking, the Goblin Shaman dropped its shield and clawed at its throat.
Snap!
It managed to break the necklace with its sheer strength, but…
"You shouldn't take your eyes off your enemy, no matter how urgent things get."
A crude dagger that had been hanging at the creature's waist suddenly shot into the air.
The creature looked up, startled.
Even for an elite monster, it seemed it hadn't anticipated something like this.
The next moment, the dagger fell, aimed for the crown of its head.
Thwack!
The creature's body collapsed vertically.
Thud—
That was the end of it.
But Hyun-wook didn't let his guard down. With the Goblin Shaman eliminated, the goblin horde under its command would fall into chaos and become a disorganized rabble, but there were still many of them left.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
With precise, aimed shots and the use of multiple daggers, he literally hunted the remaining creatures.
At the same time, he levitated the 'metal' objects scattered on the ground and gathered them into his pockets.
Most were spent casings, but occasionally, small, blue-glowing stones were mixed in.
Mana Stones.
They were items dropped by almost every monster and served as an energy source from the other world. Though called stones, they were actually composed of metallic elements.
And if Hyun-wook swallowed them, not only his 'Total Metal' but also his 'Total Mana' would increase.
He continued to gather the metal as he approached the Goblin Shaman's corpse.
'It must have dropped *that*…'
He used his metal control ability to scan the area around the shaman. Various metal objects were detected around its body.
Most were accessories.
But what he was looking for was not such trivial junk.
'…Found it.'
Soon, he sensed something very heavy.
Whirr— Thunk!
He pulled it toward him, catching it in his left hand. It was a solid lump of black metal.
- You have acquired 'Adamant'.
"...This is?"
Adamant.
An item known as a legendary metal.
It was an extremely rare magical metal used in crafting top-tier weapons, and it was the hardest material among them.
For a tank-class Player, acquiring armor made of an adamant alloy was a lifelong goal. As such, it was also an incredibly expensive item.
'To get this already…'
Wary of prying eyes, Hyun-wook quickly popped the object, which was about 6cm in diameter, into his mouth.
Gulp—
Its size made it difficult to swallow, but he managed to force it down his throat.
- Warning! There is 'metal' already being absorbed. Absorption delay will occur.
The lock he had swallowed earlier hadn't been fully digested yet, triggering an 'absorption delay' penalty. In simple terms, it was 'indigestion', which drastically increased the absorption time.
- Time until metal absorption: (09:48:51).
In some ways, it was a rather inefficient choice, but…
'But if I didn't do this, the military would have confiscated it.'
According to A.M.T regulations, all items obtained through military operations become military property.
That was also why he had only taken a few of the Mana Stones instead of sweeping them all up.
Getting too greedy could arouse suspicion, and it would be a headache if he ended up under close scrutiny.
It was then.
Vwoooom—
A pure white light erupted from somewhere, shooting into the sky and bathing the area in brilliant white.
It wasn't a fleeting flash like lightning magic, but a pillar of light so bright it washed out the nearby security lights.
'It's Holy Light.'
It was one of the basic skills of a divine-class Player.
'The paladin's finally here.'
It was the Duty Officer, First Lieutenant Seo Eun-ha.
"...Everyone, fall back!"
With a shout, she landed in front of Guard Post 6.
She gripped a longsword with both hands and scanned her surroundings.
Normally, she would be equipped with a shield and full plate armor, looking like a true knight, but she had clearly rushed here with just her weapon.
"Assist the wounded and move away from the gate— Huh?"
But it was already over.
With a dazed expression, Seo Eun-ha began to survey the area once more.
Soon, her eyes met those of the lone soldier standing amidst the blood-stained bushes: Lee Hyun-wook.
"...What? What happened here?"
As she stared at him with a look of utter bewilderment, Hyun-wook calmly raised his hand in a salute.
"…"
From her perspective, the scene was completely incomprehensible.
***
Soon, the QRF arrived, followed by the battalion commander, who had come down from his official residence.
Hyun-wook was ordered to return to the barracks and wait.
Some time passed…
"Ahem! Announcement from the administration office. Corporal Lee Hyun-wook… please report to the Command and Control Center immediately. You are summoned by the battalion commander. I repeat…"
The voice belonged to the duty adjutant, Gwak Jin-cheol, and it was tinged with a strange gloom.
Knowing his personality, he must have been sick with envy after hearing about Hyun-wook's heroic deeds.
Hyun-wook stood up as if he had been expecting it.
'A reward.'
An F-rank Player had single-handedly stopped an internal gate outbreak.
In a way, it was like a private capturing an enemy spy.
A handsome reward was only fitting.
'In that case… I'll ask for *that*.'
Though his military life was highly restrictive, the benefits he could gain during this period were surprisingly substantial.
'One of the undervalued items, a potential item, is in the battalion armory.'
Just like F-rank Players, whose methods for improvement would remain shrouded in mystery for a long time, there were items with 'hidden details'.
They were called 'potential items'.
Typically, an item's performance is fixed. While it's possible to enhance an item's abilities through 'enchanting', the success rate, much like in any game, isn't very high, making it a risky endeavor.
Potential items, however, 'grow' under specific conditions without such limitations.
A list of them was written in the notebook Hyun-wook had started after his regression.
'If I request it as my reward, they should hand it over without much trouble.'
In an era where even the potential of F-rank Players had yet to be revealed, only one person knew that item's true value.