Chapter 25
The A-rank gate smelled different from the start.
Maybe it was because I had gotten stronger, but the magic energy inside this gate was on a completely different level compared to a B-rank one.
If an average hunter came in, they’d probably be crushed by the pressure and wouldn’t even be able to breathe properly.
[It’s really cold. Even though I’m covered in the blackened state.]
[This is actually blocking a lot. Without it, you’d freeze to death immediately.]
That much was obvious.
A snowstorm was blowing so hard that I couldn’t see ahead, and frozen corpses of all kinds of creatures were scattered across the snowy ground.
If I hadn’t come prepared, even an S-rank hunter would’ve had a hard time here.
[Where are the monsters?]
[Below, and all around.]
[Huh? What does that—ugh!]
Stab!
Something suddenly grabbed my ankle.
I quickly pulled my foot back, but the thing holding me started to show itself.
Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!
It was a snow-covered, white skeleton hand.
[Frozen Skeletons. Just grunts. The real monsters are over there. Block them first.]
As I heard Iujae’s voice, something huge came flying at me from the front.
It was a massive spear.
I blocked it with a glowing shield covered in dark light. As I did, I could see figures through the snowstorm.
They were warriors with pig heads, riding giant boars.
Blue-skinned orcs.
[Frozen Orcs. A-rank monsters.]
A-ranks weren’t scary anymore.
What was scary…
Was how many there were.
They just kept coming. An endless wave.
‘Tenfold Darklight Burst.’
———!
The explosion rang in my ears, wiping out skeletons and orcs alike.
Even though the snowstorm was supposed to weaken the firepower of my Burst and black flames, the darklight made up for it by fully activating.
In an instant, a hundred monsters were torn apart and turned into corpses.
But…
Stab stab stab stab stab!
Crack, crunch…
“Chhh! Don’t fall back! It’s only one enemy!”
Their morale didn’t drop at all.
Of course. They had what looked like infinite numbers from my point of view.
[What should I do? This might take a while.]
[There’s a skill made for times like this.]
[Huh? Oh…!]
‘Darklight, Hypnosis, Enemy-Friend Reversal.’
As soon as I used the hypnosis skill, the orcs all froze at once—then began to aim their weapons at each other.
Some even looked hungrily at the boars they were riding and then killed them.
Of course, they were immediately killed by another orc.
[Wow… that’s really effective. It burns through a ton of mana though.]
[Well, controlling someone’s perception isn’t easy.]
[Right. Let’s move before the effect wears off.]
I flew through the snowstorm, past the orcs, and found a huge castle ahead.
It was made entirely of ice, but it looked tougher than most metals.
[We made it through all that, and now there’s a castle?]
It was clear there were even stronger and more numerous monsters inside.
And the castle was a fortress. Attacking it would be way harder than defending it.
Still, it wasn’t like I didn’t have a plan.
“Chhh! Human! How did you break through our troops?!”
[Easily.]
“Chhh! Arrogant human! Fire at once!”
From the castle walls, they fired arrows as big as spears.
But their defensive effort crumbled in seconds.
I used my light skill to become a beam of light and zipped past the walls without injury, then blasted the castle gate with a laser.
Ziiing—
The gate was sliced apart, revealing a fully prepared orc army.
And behind them stood the boss monster.
They were all stunned. Clearly, they didn’t expect the wall to fall so easily.
[Now it’s my turn.]
I’d already handled the swarm with magic.
Now it was time to cut down the boss monster.
I gave control of the body back to Iujae. As the magic of the blackened state faded, he drew his sword.
It was a sleek black blade, full of energy that felt nearly human—definitely no ordinary weapon.
“Chhh, what? A mage pulled out a sword? Is he some kind of magic swordsman?”
“Chhh! He’s already way too strong. Can he really use both magic and swordsmanship?”
“Quiet!”
The boss monster, the Frozen Orc Chieftain, shouted to calm the panicking orcs.
“Chhh! It’s just one guy! Are you warriors scared of one man?!”
“N-No, sir! Chhh!”
“Then go take his head! Whoever brings it first will be—”
Sshk—
Thud. Roll…
[Ah. Maybe I should’ve let him finish his sentence. Feels kind of unfinished now.]
It was a clean strike—almost disappointingly easy.
The same thing happened in the other gates too.
I handled the mobs with wide-area attacks, and Iwoojae defeated the strong monsters, including the boss monsters.
It was totally different from how scared we were when we first dropped in—it was so easy to clear the gates.
It didn’t even take 30 minutes to clear one gate.
After clearing two of them, I ran toward the boss monster in the final gate and started talking.
[But even if we’re S-rank or higher, isn’t it strange that we can clear an A-rank boss monster this fast?]
If it was always this easy to clear, then the rule that one S-rank Hunter and five A-rank Hunters must enter an A-rank gate wouldn’t even exist.
That just meant… the combo of Iwoojae and me was abnormal.
Of course, my skills synergized well with the blackening, and the skills themselves were strong. Iwoojae was super powerful too.
But even a great Hunter can’t just kill an A-rank boss monster—which is almost as strong as an S-rank—with a single sword swing.
The reason was actually simple.
[Tyrfing. It’s because of that myth-grade weapon.]
It was a sword from ancient Norse mythology.
But as far as I knew, that thing was really dangerous.
[Isn’t that a cursed sword?]
[Yeah, it is.]
Just as I thought.
It was a sword that thirsts for blood.
I’d seen it somewhere before. Anyone who holds that sword can’t help but slash. It doesn’t care if it’s friend or enemy—even your own parents.
[It’s more of a mad sword than a cursed one. It’s not evil, but it chases its own desires without caring about good or evil.]
[Hmm…]
That’s… even scarier?
An evil sword is easier to understand because it has a clear goal.
But a crazy sword that just does what it wants? That’s even more unsettling.
[…Are you sure it’s safe?]
[Don’t worry. I’ve completely tamed it.]
Well, he is its master…
If he hadn’t tamed it, I wouldn’t be able to feel this calm and stable energy coming off it.
Otherwise, it would’ve felt much more dangerous.
Even so, the sword still gave off a flicker like it was craving blood.
I was just glad the one wielding that thing was on our side.
[This is the last one.]
[We’re already here.]
Unlike when we started, I was feeling a lot more relaxed now.
Even seeing the boss monster didn’t make me nervous anymore.
“Guaaargh!”
This time it was a giant—a super huge one, with a massive and tough body that looked hard to deal with quickly.
Slash—
Whoosh—
Boom!!
But that wasn’t our problem.
“Haah… haah…”
“G-Guild Master! Please, slow down just a little…”
“Damn it… can’t we go faster?”
“Huff… I’m already at my limit!”
There was no time.
Every minute they delayed, more people outside were dying.
But it was impossible to expect the guild members to keep up with the same pace as an S-rank Hunter.
Ju Ho-yeon could only pace around anxiously.
‘There are still three gates left…’
Trying to stop all four gates in Seoul was nearly impossible.
Just clearing one A-rank gate required rest afterward—clearing four meant extreme exhaustion.
And there was a time limit.
The longer it took to stop a gate from breaking, the more people would die.
Even if Hunters like Kim Yooyeon were saving people from the gate breaks, there was a limit. They would soon reach their limits too.
This was the burden carried by the strongest S-rank Hunter and elder of the guild.
‘But still… if we just clear one more, things will get so much better.’
If they could reduce the number of active gates from four to two, the monster count would drop in half. The Hunters could finally fight back.
Right now, Ju Ho-yeon was carrying all the weight alone. But if he could just handle one more gate, they could share the burden.
But when he finally made it outside, what he saw on the streets was completely different from what he expected.
In a good way.
When they had first entered, people were running from monsters and dying. But now, there were no victims in sight.
In fact, people were cheering from the rooftops and buildings, shouting to someone.
“What… is this?”
That wasn’t the only change.
The magical energy from the gates that had covered Seoul had disappeared.
“What on earth…”
Nothing made sense.
His brain tried to come up with crazy explanations to understand what happened.
Was time twisted inside the gate? Did more time pass than they thought?
But even so, could someone really clear three A-rank gates? That’s insane.
“Kill them all, V!”
“You’re Korea’s number one!”
“We believe in you!”
Finally, a familiar name started reaching his ears.
Wait—V?
That mysterious S-rank-level Hunter who instantly stopped that B-rank gate break recently?
If it was him, this would all make sense.
Whoever he was, that person was definitely S-rank.
If he had worked with an A-rank Hunter to clear the gates, it wouldn’t be impossible.
Well, maybe not three gates, but…
At that moment, he heard something running down the road.
Monsters that had escaped from the gate were still alive.
At a glance, there were at least 500 of them.
‘Okay… Let’s make sure the civilians are safe first. I can figure out the rest later.’
The situation was so unbelievable that he had frozen for a moment.
But his own questions could wait until everything was over.
Ho-yeon stretched out his hand and began gathering mana for his signature flame magic.
‘Huh?’
Something was off.
The monsters running toward them didn’t look like they were coming to kill people.
They looked more like…
‘They’re scared?’
Monsters rarely ran away. Even when dying, they usually fought to the end.
But now, they were clearly running away in fear.
The reason wasn’t far off—someone was calmly walking behind the monsters.
———!
With a loud explosion, black flames lit up the path behind the monsters.
“Gyaaaah!”
“Skreee!”
The monsters turned to ash in seconds.
Those who didn’t die were left burning with black flames, screaming in agony.
With just one 3-second blast, over 500 monsters were either dead or half-dead.
A one-man army.
Step—step—
As the explosions died down, the screams of people and monsters echoed everywhere.
But Ho-yeon could still hear the approaching footsteps.
He was wondering whether to greet this person, but the man passed by without even looking at him and walked straight toward the remaining monsters.
It felt like he was silently saying, “What are you standing around for? Go save the civilians already.”
‘Damn… that’s embarrassing.’
A wave of shame hit him. He had been doing this job for years—how could he freeze up?
“G-Guild Master! Ready to—huh? What’s going on?”
“All gates have been cleared. Kill the remaining monsters and save the civilians.”
“…What?”
“Don’t think. Just act. Go.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
You’ve still got a long way to go, man.
He could almost hear his best friend’s nagging voice in his head.
