Past Grudges (2)
Debut match. In other words, making their S-rank gate debut. They'd probably grinded experience in lower gates beforehand, but an S-rank was still an S-rank.
People assumed high-rank hunters could breeze through A-rank gates and above, but reality was different.
To tackle an A-rank gate, you needed at least a 5-star hunter. That was the bare minimum—most who cleared them safely were 6-stars. For the tier above that, S-rank gates, you wanted 7-stars to feel comfortable.
7-stars weren't exactly common to begin with. Across the entire country, there might be around 300 in total.
Clearing gates was never easy, but from A-rank onward, the difficulty spiked to another level. The number and quality of monsters changed drastically, and S-rank gates often had bosses capable of wiping out a whole region without breaking a sweat.
Take Evrika, for example. Its main body wasn't that overpowering, but the sandstorm it unleashed had turned everything in its vicinity to ruins.
Still, no one would bet against Yuseonje's debut succeeding.
The genius from Babel Academy who'd never lost the top spot, a prodigy on another level entirely. Paired with Sirius, the number-one ranked guild in Korea.
That combination screamed success—no room for failure.
Yuseonje was officially 5-stars, but that was just due to lack of feats. In truth, he was 7-star material or higher.
But against everyone's expectations, that debut ended in utter catastrophe.
The gate raid failed, and Sirius's entire first-string team—deployed for Yuseonje's big moment—got wiped out. The fallout was brutal. The incident dropped Sirius four whole spots in the rankings, down to fifth. Anything below top five was considered mid-tier at best, so you can imagine the blow to their prestige.
The government seized ownership of that S-rank gate from Sirius under excuses like "raid failure."
And then a second raid team, made up of other guilds, cleared it successfully.
Meaning the gate itself wasn't the problem.
Ambush wipes happened, sure—but this was Korea's top-ranked guild, betting big on their S-rank rookie.
Jin Yeonhwa of Sirius couldn't shake it off easily. Yuseonje was supposed to be the pillar propping up the brilliant future she envisioned for the guild.
But Jin Yeonhwa wasn't foolish enough to obsess over losses. She quickly pivoted, scouting for the next big thing to launch Sirius's second act.
She found it in a fresh Chinese rookie straight out of Babel Academy.
The catch? That rookie was a spy sent to bleed Korea dry.
Tech, artifacts—everything leaked out, nearly dooming the country once.
Either way, to prevent all that, Yuseonje had to survive. He was an S-rank hunter with overflowing potential; it would be weirder if he died here.
Just 21 and already 7-stars. The guy had 8-star written all over him.
Keep him alive right, and he'd be a massive asset.
To me, who knew how this world ended, Yuseonje was one of those must-save cases.
The clear cause of his death made my intervention point obvious, too.
'Problem is, the timeline's different from what I remember.'
Still, Seol Rokjin would make a move somehow. His motive for targeting Yuseonje hadn't changed.
Like it or not, I'd have to join that raid team.
—Why the long face? Looks like you bit into a bug.
I let out a smirk at Ray's words.
"That obvious?"
—Yeah. Like you're being dragged to the slaughterhouse. You're the one who said we have to save that guy—why the reluctance?
Truth was, I didn't particularly want to save him.
"Guy's kind of an asshole."
* * *
"Ugh, you're grouped with that jerk and Yuseonje?"
"Must suck."
"Ha, maybe I should've tanked last in the whole school too."
"Hey! Be real. How do you out-last that guy for dead last?"
"Fair, even scraping bottom takes skill."
In this simulated gate raid, I got stuck in the same group as overall number one, Yuseonje. For the reason those idiots were yapping about: I was dead last in the school rankings.
I'd seen this backlash coming the moment groups were announced. Nothing new, really. I'd endured this crap for the past two years.
They wouldn't believe it, but even I wasn't thrilled about grouping with Yuseonje.
Babel's top prodigy and its biggest disgrace, teamed up. Not even funny. What the hell were they expecting me to do?
Teams needed some baseline compatibility to function. Pairing someone this mismatched wasn't consideration.
It was a hint to know my place and quit—or just leech a free ride.
Neither appealed.
I had no intention of coasting through this exam like the others said. Quite the opposite. I'd pour everything into making my mark.
If I pulled my weight in this sim raid, perceptions might shift. I wasn't planning to wear the "half-ass" label forever. I'd climb, somehow.
To that end, I'd holed up in the library for days, digging through data. Not just likely monsters for the sim gate—I'd sourced missing info from classmates too.
My rep at Babel made folks reluctant, but I managed. Trades, threats, whatever it took.
Bled resources hard, but whatever.
Without this, I'd be dead weight for real.
The compiled intel clocked in at 150 pages. Solid raid material, no matter the gate or mobs.
I'd even tailored strategies to Yuseonje's lightning powers. How I'd support him.
My talents limited me to backup, but I'd figured ways to make the clear smoother.
Armed with the stack, I approached Yuseonje. His entourage shot me dirty looks.
Made sense. Babel's shame, bothering its shining star.
"Hey, Yuseonje."
Just saying his name had my heart pounding. One of his hangers-on opened his mouth.
"Who the hell are—"
But Yuseonje raised a hand. He turned those inorganic blue eyes on me—flawless face worthy of awe.
"Why're you here?"
"Didn't hear? We're grouped for the sim gate."
"I heard."
His expression stayed ice-cold. I'd rehearsed deep breaths just to get this far; even I flinched. His buddies smirked at my fumble.
No backing down. I forced a grin.
"Obviously for the sim gate drill."
I flipped open my prep materials.
"I asked around seniors—got a rough on what might spawn, pulled likely monsters."
"Don't need it."
"What?"
Stunned, but I recovered. A guy like him probably didn't need tactics. Fine—explain it was for the normies, for me to contribute.
"Maybe not for you, but regular folks need plans. If I wanna do anything..."
"That's what I'm saying."
He cut me off again.
"Why would you need to do anything?"
"Huh?"
"You're no asset to me. Those papers? Useless. What can you even do?"
Breath caught. I'd heard it endless times. Babel's disgrace. You'll amount to nothing. Gate fodder—why not quit?
Still, I was an awakener. I'd pushed, scraping for ways to contribute.
"But... this plan, if we follow it..."
Trembling hands flipped pages—my ideas for aiding him inside. Like staking metal rods into monsters...
"Why should I follow your plan?"
Cold dismissal. His eyes drifted to the open page, lips curling.
"Why should I 'consider' you? Hear you out, dance to your tune? I can just smash whatever comes. Stake your rod, sure—my lightning amps up. But time wasted waiting for you?"
His words stabbed.
"No need for your stakes. Miss once? Twice. Thrice. My lightning's a hundred times faster than you planting one."
Speechless.
Yeah.
All my plans hinged on him playing along.
If he ignored me, blitzing mobs solo with his talent...
I'd contribute zilch.
But who cared? Not his problem.
"I don't need you."
He brushed past.
Laughter erupted around me.
"Serves you right."
"Acting like you mattered."
I'd never acted above my station. With this pathetic talent, I'd rolled in the dirt just to prove my worth once.
"Trying to lie your way into usefulness with that talent? 'Yuseonje, I can help~'?"
"Haha! Gold."
I bit my lip bloody. Hadn't used my talent.
I hated Lie most of all.
I didn't choose this curse. If I could've had something else, I'd have ditched lies long ago.
While everyone advanced, I'd stagnated alone for three years.
I stared at the report in my hands.
Two weeks of sweat.
"Guess guys like me don't cut it."
Chest ached sharply. Eyes burned red.
"Don't cry."
I told myself. Caving here would crumble three years of grit. I swallowed tears. Not worth crying over. Toughen up.
I talked myself down.
"That guy's always been a dick."
Blame him.
"Knew he was trash. Expecting cooperation? Delusional. Life's solo anyway."
Just grind through this group assignment too.
I had the mobs memorized. Nail one—any one—with my own hands, minds might change.
But I contributed nothing. Like he said, he didn't need me. Everything ended before I could step in.
I did zilch, but our group took first.
They called me lucky. Teacher hauled me in, scolded for freeloading.
Irresponsible attitude. Unlike Yuseonje, my score's getting slashed. Should've tried something.
To the teacher, silent.
Recalling it all, I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Big talk, but you still got backstabbed and died."
Damn it all—this time, Yuseonje needed me.