A Player Who Eats Metal

Chapter 3: The Regression of an F-rank Player

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Climbing up the rear stairs, Park Junmo was sweating lightly.

“Uh, Corporal Lee Hyunwook…”

“Hmm?”

“Today’s duty officer is Corporal Kwak Jin-cheol.”

“Oh, I know. Saw him this morning.”

Park Junmo mentioned this specifically to warn Lee Hyunwook to be careful.

Kwak Jin-cheol really dislikes Lee Hyunwook.

Even the newest member of the platoon, Park Junmo, knew this well, as it was well-known.

‘Kwak Jin-cheol was utterly beaten by Lee Hyunwook back when they were both Privates.’

Losing to an F-rank in combat training is extremely embarrassing.

Anyway, after that incident, the then-platoon leader scolded Kwak Jin-cheol quite a bit. That night, it was said that you could hear Kwak Jin-cheol sobbing.

Of course, that was a year ago, and the situation has changed since.

Kwak Jin-cheol, who has been gradually improving, was promoted to D-rank and became the best “dealer” in the company.

Afterward, he asked Lee Hyunwook for another combat training match to regain his honor but…

‘Lee Hyunwook denied all of them, making Kwak hate him even more.’

That was the beginning.

Based on his newfound status within the company, Kwak Jin-cheol began to subtly torment Lee Hyunwook.

But Lee Hyunwook, lacking in all aspects, had no choice but to endure.

‘Will Lee Hyunwook eventually explode after enduring so much?’

Park Junmo worried as he watched Lee Hyunwook walk down the hallway.

Without any standing, Lee Hyunwook really couldn’t do anything.

He would probably face even more difficulties.

Squirm all you want, you’ll just be crushed even more.

However, contrary to Park Junmo’s worries, Lee Hyunwook was quite calm.

‘I need to exercise more to digest the metal I swallowed this morning, this is annoying.’

Lee Hyunwook had experienced far worse things that couldn’t compare to these petty injustices.

He wasn’t so weak-willed as to get angry over trivial matters.

‘I should get rid of this nuisance while I can.’

Injustice restrains freedom.

And constrained freedom hinders the effective use of time.

Meaning, it hinders growth.

He couldn’t overlook it.

‘People might find my sudden change strange, but I don’t care.’

Since his regression, he had often heard that he seemed different. That meant the change was noticeable.

But Lee Hyunwook had no intention of hiding the fact that he had changed 180 degrees.

‘I have quite a bit of time now, but I can’t waste it.’

He would be facing the axis of evil that has eroded the world. He didn’t have the luxury to worry about cause and effect or order in a mere company-wide dispute.

‘Perhaps it might be good to seize control of this company quickly.’

It might sound ridiculous that a soldier could control a company, but this is A·M·T. Battles always occur, and the one who makes contributions in these battles gains standing.

Now was a time when a single powerful soldier was more valuable than the most advanced combat weapons.

For instance, a single A-rank “Tanker” player was evaluated as more powerful than hundreds of tanks.

In this regard, he could gain various benefits in the remaining time of his ‘Player Mandatory Duty Period’ if he made the greatest contributions in upcoming battles.

Ability, items, allies, money, power…

If he didn’t do so…

‘Villains. They aren’t people you can defeat just by enhancing abilities.’

He would never be able to change the worst future.

* * *

Meanwhile, the remaining five members were gathered in the central corridor.

Click- Click- Click-

The rhythmic sound of a ballpoint pen button being pressed, full of discomfort. The one making the sound was Kwak Jin-cheol.

He was leaning against the wall, dressed in duty officer uniform, with a ballpoint pen in one hand.

“Hmm…”

He let out an irritated sigh and glanced at his wristwatch.

Gulp-

At his action, a few members of the fifth unit swallowed their dry saliva. Already, two streams of steam were rising from his nostrils.

This was not a good sign.

“Do I have to wait for you all this long?”

“……”

In the tension-filled silence, Kwak Jin-cheol’s teeth seemed to heat up like steel in a furnace.

“Huh? Why no answer? Are you ignoring me, too?”

“No, sir!”

“Support squad, have you lost your minds since Private Kim left?”

“I apologize!”

Private Kim Ho-jong, currently hospitalized, was the leader of the fifth unit.

As a man who had always willingly taken on menial tasks, he was a person much liked by the problematic members.

One of them jokingly said that Kim Ho-jong was the ideal ‘leader of the flock of sheep’ from the shepherd’s point of view.

He had led the group in the desired direction even without the shepherd dogs barking fiercely.

‘But Lee Hyunwook, his substitute, starts acting like he doesn’t know the world?’

Kwak Jin-cheol, who considered himself the next shepherd candidate, laughed sarcastically.

Then, two figures appeared at the end of the corridor.

Kwak Jin-cheol clicked his tongue.

“Look there, two lost dumb sheep are finally crawling in.”

It was Lee Hyunwook and Park Junmo.

At that moment, Kwak Jin-cheol’s expression severely distorted.

“Hey! Why aren’t you running?”

Along with the shout, grey smoke billowed from Kwak Jin-cheol’s mouth.

But…

“Huh? What? Are those guys really crazy…”

The two did not run.

Park Junmo was startled by Kwak Jin-cheol’s shout and tried to run, but Lee Hyunwook grabbed his shoulder. To Kwak Jin-cheol, it was an absolutely baffling scene.

“……”

Confused, Park Junmo and relaxed Lee Hyunwook slowly walked up.

Soon, the two colleagues, Lee Hyunwook and Kwak Jin-cheol, faced each other.

“Why did you call our unit?”

At Lee Hyunwook’s short question, Kwak Jin-cheol snorted, emitting smoke once again.

“Why? Why? For work, what else? Lee Hyunwook, you don’t even know—”

“No.”

Lee Hyunwook interrupted as he took a step closer.

“I’m asking why it’s us. We already worked on the rear drainage in the morning. Isn’t it strange for us to do it again?”

“What?”

“Have someone else do it. This is unfair.”

At Lee Hyunwook’s words, Kwak Jin-cheol was momentarily speechless.

‘As expected, when confronted strongly, they get flustered.’

It was just as Lee Hyunwook had predicted. Kwak Jin-cheol opened his mouth and closed it again.

Even in an organization rife with unfairness, when the victim directly demands fairness, the perpetrator is usually taken aback.

Unless stupid, nine out of ten would be.

Because even the perpetrator usually knows that unfairness is something to be ashamed of. That’s why they target people who don’t resist and continue the harassment in ‘silence.’

‘Neither my past self nor anyone else had ever been this confrontational.’

In short, for Kwak Jin-cheol, this was an entirely unexpected response.

“You know this is unfair, right? Kwak Jin-cheol.”

Lee Hyunwook asked again.

“……”

Kwak Jin-cheol already felt cornered. But he tried to laugh it off as if incredulous. However, the corners of his mouth were trembling slightly.

“Hey, Lee Hyunwook. Is it just a day or two? Why are you acting like an amateur?”

Yes, it’s usually like this.

‘Those who know they are doing wrong try to rationalize it when they are caught, saying that it’s just how things are.’

At that point, Lee Hyunwook nodded his head.

“The problem is that it’s not just for a day or two. That’s why it’s unfair. Our squad also has the right to maintain combat effectiveness through rest time and to increase combat effectiveness through training time. Fairly. So divide the work fairly.”

“Training? Haha! An F-rank is going to train? Hey, even a passing goblin would laugh. You’re going to train?”

This was also too obvious a repertoire. Insulting by bringing up the F-rank, he had experienced that countless times in his past life. There was no way it would hurt him.

“Right, from now on, our squad will train, so find someone else for the job. And for the record, this is our guaranteed training time. It’s specified in the A·M·T military regulations, so if you have a problem, take it up with someone higher up.”

“What, this crazy guy…”

Unable to win the argument, Kwak Jin-cheol angrily clenched his fist.

However, Lee Hyunwook did not back down. Not that he was going to fight with Kwak Jin-cheol. There was a calmness in his eyes, and Kwak Jin-cheol unknowingly looked away, glaring at poor Park Junmo instead.

“… Look at this guy? Suddenly got a mouth, huh? People have been saying that Lee Hyunwook has changed lately, and it looks like it’s true. Completely…gone crazy, huh?”

Baffled and excited, Kwak Jin-cheol’s neck veins bulged, and an orange heat seemed to bubble in his throat as if he would breathe fire at any moment.

“Uh, Lee Hyunwook, sir. Let’s just…stop now.”

Then the squad members started to dissuade Lee Hyunwook. Obviously, if the problem escalated, the one to get hurt would be Lee Hyunwook.

However, Lee Hyunwook didn’t blink an eye. Rather, he looked amused by the agitated Kwak Jin-cheol.

“Hey, don’t waste your energy and just call someone else. We’re going in. Let’s go, guys.”

“Hey! You’re defying the on-duty lieutenant’s orders now?”

“So it’s the on-duty lieutenant’s orders…” Kwak Jin-cheol tried to argue logically. However, he wasn’t smart enough, and he made a mistake.

“Is that so? Is the on-duty officer around?”

“…What?”

“Don’t you know that an on-duty lieutenant is a representative of the on-duty officer? If they’re around, it would be the on-duty officer’s command. Let me go and ask directly whether they have ordered our squad.”

Kwak Jin-cheol had to shut his mouth.

‘Did this guy suddenly go off and study regulations? What the hell is he doing making things complicated?’

If it was a dumb fight of words, Kwak Jin-cheol was confident. He had spent his life doing such ignorant fights.

However, when attacked with logic and evidence like this, he was at a loss for words, became confused, and slowly started to lose his spirit.

“…”

Kwak Jin-cheol looked toward the area where the duty officer was stationed, toward the administrative section.

‘Today’s duty officer is… Damn, it just has to be Lieutenant Seo Eunha!’

If the officer in charge had been indifferent to such issues, particularly if it had been a non-commissioned officer who had been enlisted as a soldier, then they might have taken Kwak Jin-cheol’s side. A few such officers even crossed Kwak Jin-cheol’s mind.

‘Like Staff Sergeant Kang Seong-chun who is on duty tomorrow…’

But it wasn’t Seo Eunha.

She was a B-ranked player with a ‘Paladin’ attribute.

Furthermore, she seemed to embody those traits, being an extremely upright individual. She was even the second daughter of General Seo Baek-jin, the commander of the <Army Holy Knights Division>.

In other words, she wielded considerable influence, far beyond her rank of Lieutenant.

‘Damn it…’

If she were to find out about this situation, it would cause not only headaches but significant issues for Kwak Jin-cheol. She was not the type to tolerate injustice.

‘Is this bastard aware of this, and pulling some trick? Is he planning to screw me over?’

Becoming flustered, all kinds of victim mentality began to surface.

“Hey, Kwak Jin-cheol. Why are you silent?”

“…”

“Nothing to say? Then I guess I’ll have to speak directly to the duty officer.”

Lee Hyunwook said so and walked past Kwak Jin-cheol.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Aren’t you going to stop there?”

That’s when it happened.

“… Duty Lieutenant.”

Someone emerged from the administrative section.

It was a tall woman.

She was dressed in AMT’s black military uniform and wore a black beret.

Even without makeup, her skin was pale white, and her facial features were distinct.

One might give her a second look, but meeting her cold gaze would naturally make you turn your head.

“What’s going on here?”

Duty officer, Lieutenant Seo Eunha, asked in a stern voice.

“A-ah, no!”

Kwak Jin-cheol denied, but Seo Eunha looked at him with suspicion.

“Um, I’ve got some business to go up to headquarters for a moment.”

“Ah! Is that so?”

“Take care of the administrative section for me. Also, not that much manpower is needed for the fuel work. I’ve asked for only three people from your side. And I see people who worked in the morning as well… um, surely you’re not only putting the privates to work?”

“Ah! No, don’t worry. We’ll handle it rationally.”

Seo Eunha nodded and turned around, and Kwak Jin-cheol offered her a salute.

With just the appearance of Seo Eunha and a few words, Kwak Jin-cheol’s emotions became much more complicated. He stood staring blankly at her retreating figure, not turning his head.

It was Lee Hyunwook who spoke first.

“Since you said you’d handle it rationally, we’ll go in without worrying.”

“…”

“Hey guys, what are you doing? Let’s go in.”

Lee Hyunwook turned his body, and Kwak Jin-cheol could no longer hold him back.

The members of the 5th platoon, who had been standing in the central corridor, hesitated before reluctantly following Lee Hyunwook in.

Park Junmo stood there, drenched in cold sweat, watching the situation before finally turning away.

At that moment, he heard Kwak Jin-cheol muttering.

“That… bastard…”

It was a voice tinged with malice.

Park Junmo had a feeling that something even bigger was going to happen from now on.

* * *

“Corporal Lee Hyunwook, why have you been acting like this lately? No, what were you thinking just now?”

Lee Hyunwook’s junior, Ahn Min-cheol, asked.

Naturally, the most rattled were the members of the 5th platoon. Rather than being grateful for having injustice prevented on their behalf, they felt burdened.

They were already worried about how Kwak Jin-cheol, that guy, would retaliate in the future.

Wasn’t Kwak Jin-cheol friendly with influential sergeants in the company, treating them like brothers?

“Min-cheol.”

“…Yes.”

“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”

“…If we can’t trust your words, Corporal Lee Hyunwook, would you be offended?”

“No, it’s normal to feel that way. Just wait and see. Everything will go back to normal.”

Even though he confidently reassured them, the atmosphere in the 5th platoon that day remained chilly.

However, Lee Hyunwook himself seemed oblivious or simply did not care.

He just continued with the training and exercises.

* * *

It was that night.

Park Junmo went to the outdoor drying area to collect his laundry and happened to overhear a conversation coming from the nearby smoking area. It was a coincidence.

“…Damn it! That guy Lee Hyunwook definitely screwed something up.”

It was the voice of Kwak Jin-cheol.

As expected, he was still fuming about the incident that happened that morning.

At that moment, a bright light spilled into the drying area.

“Hey! Hey! You’re going to burn all the cigarettes, idiot!”

“Be careful with your power even when you’re angry! If the battalion commander sees this, we’re in trouble.”

“…Huh, alright.”

The people in conversation with Kwak Jin-cheol seemed to be Platoon Leader Oh Sang-guk and Platoon Leader Kim Gang-jun.

They were individuals who could be called influential figures in this company.

“Huh… Anyway, that guy really did that?”

“Yes, for real. Should we just let this slide?”

“No way. How dare some F-grade nobody talk back to our Ace?”

The one speaking was Platoon Leader Oh Sang-guk.

He had already favored Kwak Jin-cheol, his junior, and had marked him as the next platoon leader, so there was no way he would let this matter go quietly.

“I almost melted that guy’s face off.”

“Jin-cheol, this isn’t something you should confront and handle directly.”

“Then what should I do? I’m so angry I can’t even sleep at night.”

At this, Oh Sang-guk took a long puff of his cigarette and then slowly opened his mouth.

“If that guy suddenly developed some self-esteem, then well, we should trample that self-esteem. This is good timing. Isn’t that troublemaker Choi Young-jun on sick leave right now? Hehe!”

“Ah, you’re right. If Corporal Choi Young-jun were here, it would have been more of a headache.”

“Exactly. If that scholarly guy were here, ugh…”

It almost sounded like villains hatching a scheme.

Park Junmo slowly gathered his laundry, doing his best to suppress his breathing.

“Is it true that Lee Hyunwook goes to the training ground these days?”

“Yes, he’s F-grade but he’s obsessed with training.”

“Okay, then what about those diligent privates in training? Uh, like Won-seok and his peers?”

“Ah, you mean Barbarian? I heard he’s already risen to C-grade.”

Barbarian was a fairly high-ranking attribute in the field of close combat. The Private Won-seok being referred to here was Private 3rd Class 3, who was already becoming one of the so-called ‘aces’ of the company.

Rumor even had it that he might be appointed as a non-commissioned officer soon. That’s why even the seniors couldn’t mess with him freely. You never knew when he might suddenly become an officer.

“Right. That guy is really strong. Did you see him tear a goblin apart with his bare hands during the last operation?”

“Yes… That was really insane. No matter how strong you are, who thinks about tearing something apart with their bare hands? That guy has a screw loose.”

During the last operation, Private Won-seok had made quite a name for himself with such feats.

As a maniac who enjoyed the slaughter.

“Anyway, let’s send those guys to put him in his place in a duel training. If he loses, that should take care of his newfound self-esteem. If he refuses, we can label him as a coward.”

“Oh, that sounds like a really good idea.”

“Yeah, Jin-cheol. This is how you handle issues. Calmly. I’ll talk to Won-seok about it.”

“Thank you. I really owe my resilience in the military to you, sir.”

Park Junmo felt a chill run down his spine. He had heard enough and left the drying ground.

“Ah… what should I do…”

Lee Hyunwook was genuinely a good person.

But as far as Park Junmo could see…

He was someone who had absolutely no power to protect himself.

* * *

10:00 PM.

“Lights out for bedtime.”

As the lights turned off, Lee Hyunwook took out a padlock he had tucked behind his pillow. Then very boldly, he put it in his mouth.

Gulp-

Incredibly, like a vending machine sucking in a banknote, the heavy padlock smoothly slid down his throat.

Thanks to his Metal Absorption ability, swallowing it was easy as long as there was the will to consume it.

Of course, metals too large to fit in his mouth were out of the question.

[ Time remaining until Metal Absorption: (03:59:59) ]

‘Just around the time I’ll be setting out for night watch, I’ll have about 60g more.’

Being able to raise his abilities even while sleeping was honestly very convenient.

Before falling asleep, he checked his current ability status.

[ Current controllable ‘metal’ weight: 1,297g ]

At this level, he could now manipulate four daggers simultaneously.

‘This should be enough to deal with the incident that’s going to happen at dawn.’

During his night duty today, a minor commotion was scheduled to take place.

And if he played that situation correctly…

‘Huge gains will begin, one leading to the next.’