Chapter 10

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: penny

Chapter: 10

Chapter Title: Cooperate

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Na Woojin was taken away somewhere, and afterward, the strike team and Seo Nayeong emerged from the gate.

Seo Nayeong was arrested as a criminal caught in the act, but the strike team faced no restrictions whatsoever.

The three descended from the building in silence, each heading toward their own vehicles.

Just as inside the gate, they didn't spare each other a single glance.

One of them got into the car and let out a deep sigh.

It was the tall swordsman who had faced the monster at the front.

"You seem a bit worn out today."

The elderly man at the wheel asked in a friendly tone.

The woman silently twisted the ring on her arm.

Shaaaa...

The combat suit covering her body melted away like snow and transformed into a form-fitting dress.

The ring on her arm was a Dress-Up Artifact, the pinnacle of gate engineering that money couldn't buy.

After gates appeared on Earth, artifacts dropped by bosses or found deep within gates were the essence of overtechnology.

Gate engineering was the field that analyzed their principles and combined them with existing technology to create new artifacts.

"The gate was weird. The gap between the field mobs and the boss was too extreme. I've never seen a summoned golem crumble like that."

"You still cleared it, though."

"We didn't clear it."

"Pardon?"

"We lost consciousness from the shockwave, and the boss was gone. Someone must have taken it down in the meantime."

"The hunters who entered first? A hunter stronger than the strike team... that's surprising."

"No. He came out with that one, and he didn't even seem A-Rank. One of them vanished, so it was probably him."

"No word from the Intelligence Bureau?"

"As if that fox woman would say anything."

The Hunter Agency and the guilds were organizations constantly at odds over gate interests.

In particular, the high-ranking officials of the Intelligence Bureau, who monopolized nearly all gate information, had poor relations with the top guild hunters who handled gate raids.

If the guilds and government organizations' interests aligned, there wouldn't even be a need for strike teams.

"That gate will definitely cause problems later."

"I'll let the lab director know. We can hack their terminal and see what comes up."

"Investigate the woman who came out with him. The Intelligence Bureau probably has her. Pull her out somehow. I have things to say to her."

"Understood."

The faintly visible summoned beast and someone's back.

The person who felled the boss that had the strike team pinned down and vanished like a ghost.

I want to meet whoever it was.

The woman grimaced and hiked up her skirt.

Her sleek, deer-like legs stretched alluringly.

"This outfit is uncomfortable. Can't I skip the party?"

"The guests from America want to see you, miss. The chairman insisted."

"Those crazy bastards. They slap huge tariffs on magic stones whenever they can, but drag me to parties every time they come to Korea. What am I, their doll?"

"You're that charming, miss. Even the president's grandson is head over heels for you these days."

"Tell him to choke on a bowl of kimchi soup."

The woman stared out the window with a sullen expression.

Her fiery red hair burned like flame, her sharp features were refreshingly striking, and the line from her nape down her chest to her waist was a work of art.

She was Yoon Jimin, heir to Daeyoung Department Store and a top model.

She was also an S-Rank Hunter with the Azure Dragon Guild.

What kind of investigation takes a whole week? I've been stuck at the Hunter Agency for days now.

[I've hidden your status window, master, so no matter what they do, it won't show up.]

'Then they'll just think I'm a semi-awakened.'

[Until they discover the status window, yeah.]

To raise my value, this is the crucial part.

There is the rarity of a 'male who awakened,' but there are plenty of other semi-awakened out there.

I need to maximize the fact that I'm not a disposable battery but an infinite power source.

[Why not just go into a gate and go on a rampage? Why stay as a semi-awakened?]

'I need time. My skills and status window are a bit off, aren't they?'

[And?]

'I'd love for you to explain why, but you only help up to a point, right? So I have to figure it out myself. Why my status window is like this, the limits of my abilities, and most importantly, ensure my 'safety' is guaranteed.'

The ability to materialize Yin Energy was more powerful than I thought.

If I raise my rank here, I'll definitely be assigned to a subjugation team on the front lines of gate raids.

Starting with Blue Gates, the unknown realms of Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red await.

I don't want to enter those without fully understanding my abilities.

For someone whose motto is peace and safety first, that's too heavy a burden!

[Don't you just want to live comfortably?]

'I'm being cautious. Now that I've awakened, gate raids are practically mandatory. I'll have to do them eventually, but I want to do it as safely as possible. I don't want to scream my way to death in a gate.'

Become a top-tier hunter, and you'll get social prestige and wealth rivaling chaebols.

But no glory or riches are worth more than my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠life.

[As long as I'm here, you won't die screaming, master. Such worries.]

'You never know with people. I even tap Olhalcon bridges before crossing.'

I pulled up the status window.

These past few days, staring at this thing open has become my routine.

The class now included 'Contractor of the Great Spirits.'

Probably from contracting with the Gnome.

'When will that last hidden one appear? What's missing for it to show?'

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

[It's not the last one. Depending on how many women you take under your wing, master, the skills will keep increasing. The gate will show it when the time comes, so don't worry.]

One line in the middle catches my attention.

'Take women under my wing? What's that about?'

[Exactly what it sounds like—becoming an emperor. Show the qualities of an emperor, and the status window will update itself. See for yourself then.]

What? Make a harem or something?

A week later, I met the woman who had flashed her panties at me in front of the gate.

"Na Woojin, 26 years old, senior at Korea University Hunter Administration Department. Correct?"

"It's all written there. Why ask?"

"Touchy, aren't we? Stuck here for a week must have you full of complaints."

"A bit of inspection then wait, fill out a form then wait, wait, wait, wait... What exactly are we doing here?"

"We said cooperating with the inspection comes with ample compensation. Hourly pay, even."

"Even so..."

"Five times your daily wage from that part-time job."

"Lots of inspections left, right? Take your time with any forms."

Damn, what a sweet gig.

She crossed her legs in front of me.

The tight H-line skirt, stockings I wanted to rip, and high heels were a lethal combination.

Why is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a woman like this working as a Hunter Agency clerk?

"Three days ago, I met Hunter Han Chaewon. She wouldn't say a word about what happened in the gate."

I told her I'd been sucked into the gate and met Han Chaewon.

Of course, I skipped the part about injecting Yin Energy and making Han Chaewon climax.

"That's everything I told the investigators. I came to, found myself in the boss room, injected Yin Energy into Han Chaewon who was about to collapse, and then got sucked in again."

"And you woke up on the trail near N-21's mountainside?"

"Yes."

I told her everything except Han Chaewon climaxing.

Something might have happened after I vanished, but no way for me to know.

"We're wondering what changes happened after you injected Yin Energy. Changes you can't put into words yourself."

Reasonable deduction.

If she couldn't properly say she took down the boss after receiving Yin Energy, something definitely went down.

"From all the tests so far, Woojin, you have no skills. You do have Yin Energy, so you're a semi-awakened."

The Hunter Agency's measurement devices are all top-tier artifacts.

If they can't detect it, whatever's inside me is seriously powerful.

"Unauthorized entry into a Blue Gate is obviously breaking the law. By the book, you and Nayeong face up to three years in prison or a fine of 50 million won."

'Fuck, jail and a fine just for entering a gate once?'

"But you're a very special case—a male who awakened. The research lab under the agency wants you as a subject. Some researcher is even insisting on dissecting you right now."

"What? Dissect? No, which crazy bastard said that?"

Government agency's trying to kill people now.

"Just a figure of speech. What era do we live in for human experiments? They're full of crazy weirdos there, so forgive them, Woojin."

Then don't say it.

"Still, they want to investigate what happens when a male enters a gate. Whether you're just a freak mutation or the precursor to males awakening too. It's worth looking into."

She leans in close.

That blouse showing off her cleavage is burdensome.

"Cooperate with us. Of course, we'll guarantee your safety. Even as a semi-awakened, we can give you hunter-level benefits specially."

They want to turn me into an experiment subject.