The Silver Gatekeeper Awakens

Gatekeeper. The first thing that came to mind was a curse laced with every emotion imaginable. It hurt. I was exhausted. And I was extremely pissed off. I forced my body upright. A sharp, stinging pain stabbed through me with every movement. For a fleeting second, I just wanted to lie back down and stay there. I shoved that ridiculous thought away and checked the ability user standing in front of me.

“Hey.”

After examining the man who had collapsed beside me, I bit my lip. No breathing. No pulse. I checked again and again. Same result.

“Examiner!”

Kang Hana’s voice rang out from the side. Why the hell is she coming over here when she should be focused on the fight? If you leave the front line, our firepower drops that much more.

“Are you okay, Examiner?! Dasom! Dasom!”

“Get back to your position right now. We’re in the middle of combat—if a Platinum like you steps away…”

I was about to start CPR on instinct when Kang Hana suddenly grabbed my hand and shook her head.

“What are you doing? Let go. We have to save him first—”

“Examiner.”

Her pupils were trembling. She was trying to act calm, but the fear behind her eyes was unmistakable. Only then did I truly see the state of the man sprawled on the ground. It was different from what I’d thought.

“Fuck…”

It looked like the spell had landed right next to him. If his limbs had been intact, maybe I could have tried emergency treatment. If he’d still been breathing, Yu Dasom might have been able to save him.

“It’s too late.”

Yu Dasom, who had come running, shook her head and turned to me. A person had just died right in front of her, yet her expression remained completely blank. Even though the corpse looked utterly horrifying, her face was so devoid of emotion it sent a chill down even my spine.

“Examiner. Your wounds.”

I couldn’t answer right away. My head was spinning. My body felt heavy.

“Examiner!”

Yu Dasom’s sharp shout finally snapped me back to reality. The fog in my mind cleared just a little.

“Your wounds. Only tell me the serious ones. We’re still in combat, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I can’t expend all my mana.”

“…My leg.”

“Confirmed.”

Just like last time, a burning sensation flared in my leg before vanishing. While the healing took effect, I stared blankly at the man whose body was growing cold. He was someone I had been talking to just moments ago. I never imagined this would happen. That made the shock even worse.

I had thought we would be safe once we left the dungeon. But when I really thought about it, humanity’s enemies weren’t only monsters. In some ways, the humans were far worse.

“Ugh!”

“Aaaargh!!”

A quick glance around showed screams and shouts coming from every direction. Students and ability users locked in battle with the villains. Whenever someone fell, another person would urgently drag them to the rear. Then yet another would rush in to begin emergency treatment. All the while, their comrades gritted their teeth and held back the enemies targeting them.

“Kang Hana. Can you give me a situation report?”

“We just confirmed the villains’ attack. Normally ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we should have noticed something, but it was such a perfect ambush that neither we nor the national ability users sensed anything coming.”

“What about the students? Don’t tell me…”

“There are some injured, but they’re okay. The first spell happened to land right next to you, Examiner, so…”

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my being the first one hit had bought everyone else a split-second to prepare. I stood up immediately.

The current fighting strength here was far from ideal. At best, we had a handful of national B-rank ability users and five Platinum-rank students as our top combatants. There were quite a few Gold-rank students too, and they weren’t bad by any means. But even at their best, they were barely scraping B-rank—nowhere near true, solid B-rank.

The difference between ability users was obvious. On top of that, everyone’s a little worn out after clearing the dungeon. Especially the third squad.

In contrast, the villains were fresh. They had waited for the perfect moment to launch their surprise attack. These were people who had grown accustomed to harming innocents. They had no hesitation. And though I hated to admit it, they were unreasonably strong.

Those who excelled in their abilities yet refused to be bound by society’s rules. It made sense that a gathering of such outcasts would form the villains.

“Watch out!”

One of the villains slipped through the students and charged. He seemed to be aiming for the rear-line mages or supports.

“Gah!”

My body moved before my mind could catch up. When I came to my senses, the villain had already crumpled in front of me. The sensation that had traveled from the sword through my fingertips and into my entire body. The man I had just killed was a villain, but he was still a person. Was this feeling pity? Or guilt? I couldn’t tell.

It was the same thing I had felt during the last battle with the villains. I wasn’t sad. But I didn’t enjoy it either. The only thing that mattered right now was preventing these bastards from getting what they wanted.

Yes. All I needed to focus on was blocking what should be blocked and protecting what needed to be protected.

“Kang Hana, I trust you’ll do well. Be careful.”

“Yes! You too, Examiner!”

I nodded and immediately rejoined the fray. I swiftly cut down a villain who was aiming for a student’s back.

“Hup!”

The unpleasant sensation remained. The irritation rose naturally. But there was nothing I could do about it. They might look human, but they weren’t. If I hesitated, either I would get hurt or someone else would. It was one or the other.

That one’s C-rank. Those over there are B-rank. This is going to get tough if it drags on.

It would have been better if this had happened in the middle of a city like last time. The moment we called for help, every nearby ability user would have rushed over. But this was a region packed with dungeons. Civilians had already been evacuated long ago as a precaution. Although ability users were on standby nearby, this was a relatively remote area. It would take time for reinforcements to notice the commotion and arrive.

And if the villains set up ambushes on the reinforcement routes, it’ll take even longer.

Clang—!

“Ugh!”

A student lost the contest of strength and dropped to one knee. Thinking he had won, the villain bared his teeth in a grin. So a human can smile that disgustingly. I dashed behind him and sliced through his back.

“Guh!”

The villain let out a short scream and collapsed sideways. The student, whose face had gone deathly pale, let out a sigh of relief as if he had been given a new lease on life.

“Th-thank you! Thank you, Examiner!”

I helped the student to his feet and sent him back to the others. Then I took his place and continued the fight.

We’re holding for now, but it doesn’t look good.

The longer we fought, the stronger one hypothesis became. The fact that they knew our exact location, the precise timing of the villain attack, and especially the way they had deployed enough forces to overwhelm Team 5.

The information was leaked. The details about external support were completely compromised.

When the Academy sends students out for field training, it isn’t treated as top secret. But for various reasons, they don’t advertise it openly either. The only people who know the exact schedule and location are Academy faculty, security personnel, the students participating in the training, and the national ability users assigned to support them.

The villains had attacked as if they had been waiting for this exact moment. It stank. Something was off. Otherwise, such a meticulously planned ambush would have been impossible. Where did the leak come from? Who was responsible and how—

“Die!”

Yeah, you die. I lightly dodged the incoming fist and smashed the hilt of my sword into the bastard’s face. A dull crack sounded as saliva, blood, and teeth poured from his mouth. As he fell, another ability user nearby finished him off. It might seem cruel, but leaving them alive only risked getting stabbed in the back later. So we showed the villains no mercy either.

“Hoo…”

I took a breath and assessed the battlefield. We were holding up better than I expected. The students in particular were exceeding expectations. The Gold-ranks refused to retreat despite sustaining injuries. The Platinum-ranks sometimes bought time at the very front, and at other times provided fire support from the rear to plug any gaps. The national ability users were also fighting admirably, clearly showing why they belonged to the state.

But there was a separate problem.

Those three bastards over there.

Three men standing far ahead, simply watching. I could feel it. Those villains had reached—or had already surpassed—A-rank. Sadly, no one on our side could defeat them in the current situation. Even the national ability users would struggle in a one-on-one fight. If those three joined the battle now, our defensive line would collapse in an instant. They must know that too. If the information was leaked, they would definitely know.

So why weren’t they joining the fight? Their main objective was supposed to be killing ability users. Why were they just standing there with their arms crossed, watching?

It was almost as if…

…they were waiting for someone.

Shit.

A tingling sensation ran through my entire body. The icy chill crawling down my spine was exactly the same feeling I had experienced before. I desperately hoped it was just my imagination. There was no one here who could help us. I even found myself wishing that woman who wielded shadows—Hyun Sujin—would show up. At least she seemed like someone I might be able to talk to, even if only a little.

“…We meet again.”

But damn it all. Sure enough, my bad premonitions were never wrong.

A man dragging one leg behind him, holding a terrifyingly large spear. His appearance was so ghastly it reminded me of a water ghost.

“Silver-rank Examiner.”

The same bastard who had even said he would remember me. An Elder. Spear Demon, Kwak Hyuk. He had appeared before us.