Chapter 64: The Small Ball I Tossed Up
A week had passed in Earth time. That meant five weeks in our territory, and a full ten weeks inside Gate 2.
Nunchi had put the kobolds living in the mine to work developing it. The funny thing was, these kobolds weren't registered as territory residents but as slaves. I appointed the smartest one as their leader and set daily mining quotas for them.
Surprisingly, the kobolds weren't just miners—they could handle smelting too. Capable slaves, every one. What they lacked was...
Krak! Krak!
Food. So I bought even more feed from the company and supplied it to them. At first, they devoured it like mad, but once I kept the self-serve troughs full, they eventually only ate when hungry. Just like training dogs for free-feeding.
The kobolds weren't as grotesque as they were in novels. They had a certain cuteness to them, maybe. Or perhaps that was just because they were working so hard in my mine.
Of course, the mine wasn't just a mine—it had dungeon-like hunting grounds inside. Mostly minotaurs. According to Nunchi, these were corrupted minotaurs, so it was fine for me to kill them. But the idiots who'd entered the gate before had hunted kobolds without knowing better, which was a bad move. These guys were workers, after all.
That must be why the Self-Defense Forces had ground through so much manpower to develop the mine.
"Nunchi."
Ummeo!
"You ever seen a dwarf? Short guys, about chest-high to me, good at making stuff?"
Shake, shake. No idea. Looked like there were no dwarves in this gate.
"Talk's over. Time to hunt."
Dad.
"This mithril shield is pretty damn useful."
Mom.
"Take this, from the beautiful blacksmith lady—hammer time!"
Si-yeon. Seon-woo, watching her, asked,
"Hey, isn't your main weapon a sword? You've got sword skills—why the hammer?"
"It's the concept. I fight with a sword in real battles."
"Ah... you really live life to the fullest, huh."
"What else is there to life? Gotta enjoy it."
I couldn't help wondering if Si-yeon understood life better than any of us. She was always so intuitive. No wonder she seemed the least stressed.
Two days ago, she'd started going back to school, but she'd given up on her dream of being the typhoon transfer student. The other kids were too study-obsessed. So as soon as classes ended, she rocketed straight to the gate.
Dad was busy outside handling company affairs, and I was on standby until the company officially launched, so no need to go in. The president probably knew I was a gate owner and was being considerate—while also wanting to keep me around. No complaints, though; they paid my salary without any hassle, so I had no reason to quit.
Mom spent most of her time inside the gate. The air was great, and she got along wonderfully with the orcs. Their architecture skill had leveled up enough that they'd started building the lord's castle. When I showed Karak photos of what a lord's castle looked like outside, his motivation exploded.
"Alright, everyone, go hunt. Nunchi, you know what to do?"
Ummeo!
Excluding Hoya and me, Nunchi was still the strongest, so I ordered him to protect my family and Seon-woo.
Back in Siho Territory, I checked on Karak's castle construction briefly, then headed into the forest.
Oh, and outside, the Self-Defense Forces' atrocities had leaked, and Japan was catching hell for trying to promote them to a full military. Human experimentation—on their own people, no less—was bad enough, but trying to control a gate owner by turning them into a vegetable? Gate owners worldwide were furious.
Once it got out, gate owners in Japan started switching nationalities. Normally, defectors can't return home, but this was special. The world aggressively recruited Japan's gate owners, and a global special law was proposed: defectors could stay in their home country. Every nation except Japan voted yes.
To me, it seemed like a law that could backfire on anyone. But from the gate owners' perspective, it opened up options. I figured treatment of gate owners would change from here on.
Gate owners currently faced mobility limits—no way to move their gates. So they were stuck near them, often bound to their birth country.
But with this law, they could defect abroad, and if accepted, their residence would temporarily become that nation's territory. The host nation footed the bill, but it was still a win. Competition for gate owners was about to heat up.
"Looks like I accidentally gave gate owners their freedom."
Nyaaang.
Hoya yawned indifferently and settled on my shoulder. The fact that she could nap like that while I moved showed how incredible she was.
"So, where to today?"
Hoya pointed one way.
"What's over there?"
Nyang!
Shut up and go.
So I went. Trolls infested the area.
"What'd Dad do wrong?"
Whack!
Shut up and hunt.
Following Her Majesty's orders, I started hunting. I lit a fire, and the trolls charged like maniacs. I gave them a taste of Korean spice—fire-style.
But the trolls kept coming, engulfed in flames. Watching closely, the burned flesh regenerated in real time, new skin bubbling up. A chill ran down my spine. These weren't for burning.
"Huh... but..."
One other thought hit me. Their movements slowed after taking fire damage—for regeneration. They returned to normal once the flames died, but before that, they were sluggish. Enough time for me to finish them with my sword.
But what if I used it to level Fire Control more reliably?
"Fire Control—again!"
Five trolls entered fire hell. And I raised Fire Control to level 10.
During that, I observed and understood the flames' movements intimately. Then, what I'd hoped for appeared.
Your understanding of fire has exceeded the threshold.
You can now create fire-related magic directly.
That explained why I couldn't use magic before—lack of elemental understanding. Made sense. In novels, mages go through theory, mana circulation training, then elementals. Reality might differ, but novels reflect plausible logic. Human imagination follows patterns: "This is probably how learning works."
I had high mana understanding but low fire comprehension. I'd never worked with fire professionally. Most folks only know stove flames. That's why campfires mesmerize us—unfamiliar motion captivates.
Anyway, time for basic fire magic.
"Fire Arrow!"
Fire Arrow (Active) Level 5 created.
My arrow comprehension wasn't bad—I'd seen Si-yeon make water arrows plenty. Why Fire Arrow not "fire bolt"? Sounds cooler. My whim, and the system obliged.
Level 5 Fire Arrow packed a punch, piercing and incinerating a troll's heart. The five met their end.
Whack!
"Ow, why!"
Hoya sighed and pointed at my bag.
"Ah, blood."
No blood since I burned the hearts.
"Shall we head that way, Professor Ho?"
I dashed to more trolls. Ultimately, I created three spells: Fire Arrow, Fire Ball, Fire Shield. Levels 5, 3, and 7. Fire Shield highest, probably from combining with my existing shield.
I farmed trolls like mad, hitting level 52. Pumped all points into Intelligence for firepower.
"Let's go."
Hoya hopped on my shoulder, satisfied. That meant enough for today.
Back at the territory, prepping dinner when the family and Seon-woo returned. All hit level 43, faces beaming. Si-yeon brightest, hauling a cartload of mithril pulled by four oxen. Massive haul—no complaints; it'd benefit us.
Lately, we'd armed orcs with "failures"—not bad, just unsatisfying prototypes. Orcs hunted independently now, mid-30s levels.
"You beat us here."
"Yeah, making potions."
I was with Uwing brewing potions—proper healing ones from novels. Troll blood was key, and I'd brought drums full today for experiments.
"Time to bring in Gapyeong folks?"
"Housing sorted?"
"Tons of houses for sale nearby. No clue why, but we're buying them all. Company name."
"So Gapyeong people as company hires?"
"Yep. Easiest for everyone."
No land means sharecropping. Gapyeong villagers' fields ruined by quakes, so they'd farm in our gate and supply the company.
"Busy days ahead."
"Yep. Time to grow the territory for real."
"Damn right."
Growing the territory strengthened me and my people. From now on, openly. Gate owners had more freedom post-SDF scandal.
The small ball I'd tossed was changing gate society.