Chapter 11 …
EX-Class Reincarnation,
I slowly opened my eyes.
I lifted my heavy eyelids in a place I had arrived at out of nowhere. And then—
“Where is this?”
An unexpected space came into view. A forest filled with bamboo. The air was thick with fog, making it impossible to see even a short distance ahead.
This is inside a gate? At that moment, a system notification appeared in my mind:
[■ You have entered the Gate.]
[■ EX-class Gate. Arriving at the Martial God’s Mind.]
[■ Caution. The difficulty of this Gate is extremely high.]
[■ Warning. If you die inside the Gate, you will die in reality as well.]
[■ Survive.]
“…….”
The system windows appeared the moment I arrived. I blinked at what I saw.
“……What does this mean?”
An EX-class Gate was already absurd enough.
“You mean if I die, I really die?”
The warning made my breath falter slightly.
‘A death-penalty Gate.’
Normally, dying in a Gate wouldn’t mean dying in reality—but for some, it would.
‘……High-rank Gate.’
For high-level Gates, sometimes warnings like this would appear: if you die in the Gate, you die in reality.
“…….”
Cold sweat ran down my back.
“……But this is supposed to be a reward.”
I had received this as a reward for clearing an achievement, yet what was this terrifying warning?
I swallowed dryly. What was I supposed to do here?
If it’s a Gate, the goal is to clear it.
But since I got this as a reward, maybe it’s different? I didn’t know. How can I think if I don’t know what’s going on?
I frowned and assessed the situation.
Fssssss–!
Suddenly, the bamboo in front of me moved, forming a path.
It parted perfectly, as if guiding me forward.
“…….”
Should I go? After hesitating, I moved forward.
Crunch.
I stepped on some unknown fallen leaves on the ground and slowly advanced.
The fog was so thick that I couldn’t see what lay ahead.
It made me hesitate repeatedly, but somehow I pressed on.
“Ah.”
Something began to appear ahead.
“……A house?”
It was a house—a worn, shabby one. Its presence in this forest felt subtly out of place.
‘What is this?’
What was this house? I approached. A door came into view.
I naturally reached out to open it, but then—
I froze.
“…….”
My hand stopped in front of the doorknob. Something felt off.
‘How should I put this—’
I had a strange feeling that I shouldn’t touch it. Somehow, I just knew.
What was this feeling?
Chilling. It felt as if someone were poking the back of my neck, as if my heart could be grabbed at any moment.
A shiver ran down my spine. It was an indescribable, icy feeling.
Because of that—
“…….”
I lowered my hand from the doorknob and stepped back.
I looked back. As I tried to move back into the bamboo forest,
“……!!”
I froze like stone. Someone was standing right in front of me.
A thin, elderly man with a large frame. When had he appeared? I hadn’t noticed him at all. Who was he? I held my breath at this sudden presence.
“Why did you stop?”
The old man asked me suddenly.
“……Huh?”
“I asked why you didn’t open the door.”
Such a sudden question. Why didn’t I open it? Should I answer that? I hesitated, but—
“……I felt like I shouldn’t open it.”
Strangely, my mouth spoke honestly to the old man.
I felt like I shouldn’t. Even though it was just a shabby old house.
“…….”
The old man stared at me silently. His hair covered his face, so I couldn’t see his eyes, but I could clearly feel his gaze.
My body stiffened. I felt like I couldn’t move at all. It was far scarier than when I touched the doorknob earlier.
What was this old man? I swallowed dryly as I stared at him.
“I’m not satisfied with your answer this time either…”
The old man said.
“But you seem to have some talent, so I’ll let it slide this time as well.”
Swish. A finger rose. Thin and bony. Should I dodge it?
I couldn’t move to dodge.
Then—
Tap.
His finger touched my forehead.
“Well done.”
A small compliment, and—
[■ EX-class Gate: Martial God’s Mind clearance conditions fulfilled.]
[■ The Gate has been cleared.]
[■ Contribution: 100% achieved.]
[■ Reward: Life Sense (SS) acquired.]
The system notifications popped up all at once. My mind went hazy.
The alley reeked of countless rotting corpses.
The starving scavenged without distinguishing between dead and alive, struggling to survive.
It had been a long time since a calamity had fallen on the world. Though there was no drought, the land had long since begun to dry up.
In that place—
“…….”
A small, thin child looked up at the sky.
It was clear. Unlike the decayed world below, the sky was strangely clear.
“…….”
So clear… damn it.
The child thought so silently.
They didn’t know their parents’ faces, had lived in this land for who knew how many years.
They didn’t know their age or their name.
There was no need to. That had become irrelevant in this world.
They simply survived.
The child only wanted to live.
Even in this dead world, they dreamed of survival.
“Child, I want to ask something.”
At that moment, a middle-aged man approached the child.
“I need to ask for directions.”
His eyes were kind, and he lowered his posture to avoid alarming the child.
“This is your first time here, so you don’t know the geography well. Do you know Cheongyeong Palace?”
The child nodded.
“I ask you to guide me. If you guide me properly, I will give you this silver coin.”
A silver coin.
For an ordinary person, that would be enough money to eat well for several years.
Just as the child reached for the coin—
“…….”
The child suddenly didn’t touch the coin and stared at the man. Then—
Shiiik—! They swung a stone they had grabbed at the man’s head.
Snap!
Their weak hand was effortlessly caught by the man’s arm.
“Haha.”
The man laughed at that action instead.
“You have good instincts.”
His smile was terrifying. That was the child’s first impression of him.
“You can already sense life energy. I like that.”
“…….”
“You will come with me from now on.”
There was no choice.
In this cursed world of the strong, the strong’s word was law.
The child was dragged along.
That was the first time the child had felt death.
“…….”
I opened my eyes. The ceiling, which I had now become somewhat familiar with, came into view. I blinked.
‘What was that?’
Was that a dream? It was too vivid to be a dream—it felt more like a memory.
The problem… was that I couldn’t possibly have that memory.
‘It was a world I had never seen before.’
A place I didn’t know. I narrowed my eyes, recalling it.
‘Ah, could it be…’
One possibility came to mind. I thought about it just in case.
Ding-!!
[■ Synchronization rate increased.]
[■ Synchronization rate: 5%]
“…….”
As expected, a message appeared saying my synchronization rate had increased. That meant—
‘That memory just now…’
It was a memory from my past life.
The child’s memory. And—
‘……Death.’
The moment they sensed death. That was the memory.
And death meant—
“……A newly acquired skill.”
I checked the skill that appeared before my eyes.
[■ Life Sense (SS)]
An SS-rank skill. I swallowed hard.
‘How is it even SS rank?’
I got this skill for not opening the door.
‘Then… that old man, was he from my past life?’
I remembered him claiming to be a Martial God.
‘……This is SS-rank, huh?’
If so, this was an incredible skill.
SS-rank itself was an absurdly high tier—a power only a handful of SS-class superhumans in the world possessed.
And I got it.
‘……From the name, I can tell it’s a detection-type skill.’
But how to use it? No explanation. I had no idea.
“Hmm……”
I pondered the skill deeply when suddenly—
Ding-ding-ding-!!!
An alarm rang. Not the hospital alarm. This one—
‘System alarm?’
The system alarm was ringing. I widened my eyes.
Ah, right.
‘……Is it that time?’
I moved hurriedly. The sun was already up outside, so the time limit had long passed.
[■ Entering the Reincarnator Network.]
[■ Pay attention to the time limit.]
I opened the bulletin board immediately.
[Comet Gunslinger: Let’s go!]
[Rororan the Dark Sorcerer: Anyone joining me?]
[Italian Spaghetti: Looking for party members.]
[East’s Playboy: Looking for party.]
The bulletin board was as noisy as before, but the atmosphere felt different this time.
‘……Right.’
It was exactly the right timing. I had been confused by the mutant Gate, but now—
‘It’s Gate opening time.’
The Gate was opening according to schedule.
I checked the Gate entry immediately.
[■ B-rank Gate has appeared.]
[■ This Gate’s meta: Salvation.]
[■ Multiple worlds will be created.]
“……B-rank Gate.”
A rank far beyond the D-rank I had gone to before. And this time, it wasn’t limited to 100 people only.
This was—
‘A group Gate.’
A large-scale Gate that a group could enter.
‘……Right. That’s why the Association Chairman spoke to me.’
He had said thanks for accepting the offer and that we should meet after the Gate ends to talk.
I recalled his words.
“…….”
I stared at the Gate entrance. Should I go?
‘It’s B-rank.’
Far above D-rank. I hesitated, wondering if I should enter.
Ding.
[■ Quest has appeared.]
“……!”
A quest. Just like last time, a quest had appeared.
What quest could it be? I looked at the system notification that appeared next.
[■ Show overwhelming power in the Gate.]
“……Wow.”
Such a simple and straightforward quest. Overwhelming power? It felt abstract, but—
‘……In other words, I’m supposed to go in.’
The quest was giving me justification to enter the Gate. Pushing me forward.
‘Then—’
No need to run away.
I accepted the entry.
[■ Gate entry accepted.]
The clarity I had just regained immediately became hazy again.
Leaving my disoriented mind as it was, I entered the Gate once more.
Then—
[■ The gap in power between the Reincarnator and the Gate is extreme.]
[■ Calculating rank difference and adjusting power multiplier.]
[■ Reincarnator’s stats increased by 5,000%.]
A familiar system message.
But then—
[■ Warning.]
[■ Failure to clear this Gate will increase corruption by 10%.]
The following words were something no one in the world could have expected.
