Brrrrrrr.
A smartphone suddenly began vibrating. I, Im Kkeokjeong, and finally the Skeleton King checked the screen in rapid succession before opening our mouths one after another.
“What’s this?”
“T-Taekyung!”
“Oh. Ohoho. Look at this, you primitive humans. A girl-group member has sent this body a DM.”
“…”
“…”
That fucking bastard. I told him to stop screwing around on social media.
No wonder his phone was ringing when he isn’t even in the group chat.
I felt like stomping him until his illusion magic shattered, but that wasn’t important right now.
Which girl-group member… No. Another incident like this?
I barely swallowed my thoughts and stared at the smartphone screen.
Song Song had posted an urgent message in the group chat for the Peace Guild’s founding members, including Team Leader Choi and me.
Peace Guild
└ Song Song: Hey hey heyyy
└ Song Song: C-rank Gate anomaly.
└ Song Song: Just heard from the government hotline.
└ Song Song: They say the magical power readings are skyrocketing.
└ Song Song: Fuck; why aren’t you reading this?
└ Song Song: If you’ve read it, answer me, you crazy bastard.
└ Butler Kim: Sorry. I’m at the Blue House1 right now.
└ Song Song: S-sorry;; I didn’t know it was you, Butler Kim;;; Please get back to what you were doing……
└ Butler Kim: Of course. Have a happy day too, Song-i. ^^
└ Song Song: Huh. Everyone but one person has read it?
└ Song Song: Whoever’s seen this, get over there and check it out as fast as you can.
└ Song Song: It’s far from me, and I have something to take care of, so I can’t go right away.
└ Song Song: [Map attached]
└ Song Song: ?
└ Song Song: Oh, but now that I’ve checked, that Gate is kind of…
└ Song Song: Just go for now.
└ Song Song: Especially you, Jin Taekyung. Reply as soon as you read this.
Where is it?
What kind of Gate would make her react like that?
I put my questions aside, left a reply saying I had seen the message, and checked the attached map. The moment I did, I understood why Song Song had reacted that way.
“Ah. Hmm.”
The location was definitely a little… awkward.
Im Kkeokjeong checked the map a beat later, and his face hardened.
“Taekyung. Is this…?”
“Probably exactly where you think it is.”
The C-rank Gate marked on the map sat on prime land near a subway station in Bucheon. It was also one of those Gates blessed with what Hunters called “luck.”
The monsters that appeared there were relatively easy to deal with compared to those in other C-rank Gates, and Magic Gems dropped frequently.
Im Kkeokjeong had worked as a Hunter in Bucheon for over ten years. There was no way either of us wouldn’t know the Gate—or the name of the Guild that controlled it.
“This isn’t exactly welcome news…”
The Skeleton King looked up from the smartphone he had been fiddling with at Kkeokjeong’s low mutter.
“Humans. Where is this place that has you making such a fuss?”
I answered quietly.
“The place isn’t the problem. The owner is.”
“Hm? The owner?”
“That’s right.”
Gates couldn’t be privately owned, but mid-sized Guilds and larger effectively controlled them through long-term leases.
And there wasn’t a person in Korea—or anywhere else in the world—who didn’t know the Guild that controlled the C-rank Gate at this address.
“Then who owns it?”
Kkeokjeong gave the Skeleton King a curt answer.
“Ares Guild.”
My eyes went to both of his arms before I could stop them.
The arms severed on someone’s orders had been reattached so cleanly you would never have known anything had happened. But they were trembling faintly, as though he remembered the pain.
“Uncle Kkeokjeong. No—hyung.2”
“…I’m fine.”
The answer rang hollow. His trembling was growing worse, and his expression had darkened.
As if he’d noticed the look on my face, he made an effort to relax his own.
“I’m telling you, I’m fine. Now hurry up and go. If the magical power readings are skyrocketing, we could have another Mutated Gate on our hands.”
“…No. Those bastards can handle it themselves.”
How am I supposed to go? Not in this situation. Especially to help them, of all people.
I stood rooted to the spot. Kkeokjeong gave me a faint smile.
“Taekyung.”
“Yes?”
“I meant it when I said I’m fine. Everyone who cut off my arms, Lee Jungryong included, has paid for it. My rehabilitation’s practically finished, too. These days, I’m happy spending time with my wife and watching the kids grow up.”
“Hyung2…”
“I’m really fine, so hurry up and go. There must be plenty of good people in Ares Guild, too. If you let a petty personal reason stop you from helping, you’ll regret it for a long time. At least, the Taekyung I know would.”
“…!”
“I’d like to help too, but I can’t. My rehabilitation isn’t quite done, and honestly, I’m not strong enough.”
He laughed heartily at his own forced joke. I watched him for a moment, then nodded.
He was right. The people facing danger inside the Gate weren’t enemies of mine or the Peace Guild.
If I sensed danger and possessed the strength to save someone from it, then stepping forward was the right thing to do.
That’s why we created the rescue team.
Maybe what I had to do had been decided the moment I obtained the System.
I gave Im Kkeokjeong a brief look of acknowledgment.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“All right. Don’t get hurt.”
“Deal with it quickly and return, you wicked human. As a reward, I shall show you this girl-group member’s selfie.”
I smiled warmly at the Skeleton King.
“Quit screwing around and follow me. Or I’ll smash your smartphone as punishment.”
“…Understood.”
I should’ve done this from the start. You trying to get yourself killed?
By the time we reached the C-rank Gate Orc Wasteland, marked on Song Song’s map, the area was full of frantic voices and shouting.
“The magical power readings are more than twice their usual level!”
“I know that. What about the request for backup?”
“N-Nothing yet!”
“Fuck, there have to be people left at the Bucheon branch! Tell them it’s urgent and ask again for at least one A-rank Hunter!”
“We already passed that along, but most of the A-rank Hunters stationed in Bucheon are deployed overseas, and some of the others are on vacation, so they’re refusing…”
“What? Vacation? They’re refusing because they’re on vacation? Those fucking—!”
It happened in an instant.
A fist filled with rage slammed into a parked car.
Bam!
With a thunderous crash, the foreign car worth more than a hundred million won3 crumpled, sending large and small fragments flying in every direction.
That was when the flushed, hard-breathing B-rank Hunter spotted the Skeleton King and me.
“Hell, this is driving me crazy. No matter how urgent things are, they should still be controlling access properly—”
His voice trailed off. His eyes went wide.
“Huh? Uh? Huh? Huhhhhh?”
Question after question spilled from his lips, his gaze fixed on my face. The Skeleton King snorted and opened his mouth with a meaningful expression.
“Heh heh. Yes, this human is that human.”
“…?”
Why is this bastard stepping in and making a scene when I’m just standing here?
I shot the Skeleton King a wary look and cleared my throat. Everyone who had been rushing around was now standing frozen, staring at us.
“Ahem. In case anyone here doesn’t know who I am—”
“Jin Taekyung!”
“Lord Fuck!”
“Lord Sibu-leol!”
“…though I guess that won’t be necessary.”
I hated to say it myself, but at this point, I’d have to wonder if any Hunter who didn’t recognize my face was actually a monster.
“Is that r-really Jin Taekyung?”
“I don’t think he’s a fake Jin Taekyung.”
“Ah, that’s not what I meant…”
“It’s fine. That isn’t important right now.”
I turned to the B-rank Hunter who had smashed the car.
“From what I’ve seen, you seem to be in charge here. Am I right?”
“Y-Yes. I’m Gwak Hangu, Branch Leader of Ares Guild’s Yeokgok Branch.”
He wasn’t even the Bucheon Branch Leader. He was one of the dozens of lower Branch Leaders beneath him, and he was a B-rank Hunter.
It reminded me just how large Ares Guild was—and how deep its talent pool ran. It also reminded me of something I’d briefly overlooked.
Maybe because of their public image, but the atmosphere here is better than I expected.
Ares Guild, the Peace Guild, and I had plenty of bad blood between us. But that fight had taken place beneath the surface. To people who knew nothing about it, everything above the surface looked calm.
No. If anything, the eyes of the Ares Guild members here held expectation and even goodwill.
Maybe we can build up our strength faster than Team Leader Choi expected.
But something more important needed my attention. I pushed the thought aside and spoke to the Branch Leader.
“Let’s skip the rest and get straight to the point.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Getting backup from the Guild is difficult, isn’t it? Ares Guild has more than one or two Gates to look after, and you’re sending people overseas too.”
“Pardon?”
“Even if someone leaves now, they’ll arrive too late. That A-rank Hunter on vacation probably has his phone and pager turned off while he enjoys himself. And if the people here rush in, there’s a good chance they’ll die without rescuing anyone. Am I right?”
“W-We don’t know that—”
“Come on. What we don’t know is how long the people inside can hold out.”
He gasped.
“It’s been fifteen minutes since the readings first started rising. Your team members could be dying in there right now.”
“W-Wait.”
The B-rank Hunter barely managed to stop me before continuing in a trembling voice.
“I know. I know that too. But… letting an outsider intervene would be a serious violation of Guild policy.”
“So?”
“Everyone here, including me, desperately wants to ask you for help. But we can’t. You already know that. You’ve heard about it.”
Anyone who worked as a Hunter had to know how strict and difficult Ares Guild’s rules were.
Lee Jungryong had selected only the most capable Hunters from each rank and locked them inside a tall, enormous cage. The fact that no Guild would accept a Hunter expelled from Ares Guild wasn’t some vague urban legend.
“Ha…”
“Fuck…”
Sighs and curses came from all around me. I looked at the Ares Guild members, then asked abruptly, “One person? Or two?”
“Huh? What are you—”
“I have a feeling two people have died while you’ve been hesitating.”
“M-Mr. Jin Taekyung!”
“Hey, you by the measuring device. What’s the reading now?”
A C-rank Hunter who had kept chewing his nails in front of the device even after I arrived answered with something close to a scream.
“Three times! It’s passed three times the average magical power level!”
“…!”
Everyone there knew what that meant.
A Mutated Gate.
The third Mutated Gate to erupt in the week since the new year began.
I clicked my tongue softly and looked straight at the Branch Leader.
“What are you waiting for? Open it.”
“…!”
“I wasn’t going to enter without the person in charge’s consent because it would be illegal. But people need to be saved, don’t they? So just say that I barged in while making a huge fucking scene and open it right now.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, his clenched fists trembling.
As I turned away from the silent Branch Leader, a trembling voice came from behind me.
“Let’s say… I gave my consent.”
I’d thought he was a complete moron. Maybe he was only a fool.
I let out a short laugh and left him with one final remark before striding toward the Gate.
“Call me if you get fired. The Peace Guild will take you in.”
Comments
Comments need a network connection.