Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Unregistered Blue Gate
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To pick up Nayeong and head to Incheon, I needed a car.
"Lend me one."
"No way, boss. You don't have a car?"
This punk, poking at my sore spot like that.
"I've been looking into buying one. Didn't expect to need it so suddenly."
It wasn't a lie.
I'd just moved up my timeline for getting one.
[…….]
'I'm telling you, it's true.'
"If you're gonna ride in it, of course I have to give you one. Head down to the parking lot now."
The underground lot was lined with some seriously expensive rides.
"Pick any one. I'll get you the keys right away."
"These are all yours?"
"They're mixed with the guys' cars and company vehicles, but if you want one, how could I say no? Take your pick."
After getting burned by me twice, Yang Taesik had turned into a meek lamb.
He was using this chance to leverage my abilities and escape the church's clutches.
To do that, he was trying to get in my good graces.
If that was his angle, I'd play along perfectly.
"I'll take that one."
I picked the white sports car in the middle.
A Porsche Cayenne—one I'd wanted to buy if I ever struck it rich.
It was the entry-level model in the lineup, but still over 150 million won.
I could already picture Nayeong freaking out in the passenger seat.
*
As expected, Nayeong's eyes went wide when she saw the Porsche.
"Where'd you get this? Did you steal it?"
"Steal something like this? You think I'm the type to go around jacking cars?"
"Rental? Stuff like this costs a fortune even for a day."
I told her it was a company car and to just take it.
The guy had the big-hearted swagger of a gangster boss who'd tamed Gangbuk.
"Get in. We can talk on the way."
It was over an hour to Incheon—plenty of time to chat in the car.
"Never thought I'd live to hear Woojin tell me to hop in. Anyway, thanks. I'll ride shotgun."
With that, she slipped into the passenger seat.
As a C-Rank, she could easily afford a decent magic stone car, but she'd sunk her money into her parents' house and gym expansions, then the rest into coins. So far, she'd been stuck with a magic stone bike and public transit.
"What's this about suddenly raiding a gate? Another unregistered one?"
I filled her in on how I'd roughed up Yang Taesik at the Gangbuk crew's hideout.
When I explained how his tongue had killed an A-Rank hunter, she grimaced.
"Ugh, that bitch Yumi really fucked up. Nothing good ever comes from tangling with the church."
"No idea if he was a believer from the start or joined to avenge his daughter. Either way, he had no choice—the church was the only way to save her."
"Yumi's a real piece of work. Pulls shit like that and then comes after me."
"Can't wrap my head around it either. How obsessed was she with you to go that far?"
"Don't look at me like that. I didn't do anything. I like guys!"
She got pissed when I gave her a once-over.
Not in that way, though.
Her top was a crop top with a jacket that fully exposed her waist and navel.
The bottoms were hot pants barely more than panties, emphasizing her smooth thighs.
"Can't blame a guy for going cross-eyed over a body like that. Girls probably lose it too."
"What? So you're just horny for me?"
"Jeez. Why skip the nice stuff like 'pretty' or 'sexy' and go straight to horny?"
"You've never said anything like that before. Just kept yapping about wanting to eat me out."
I guess I never gave her a straight compliment.
Just vague stuff like she was fine as-is, and then all that testosterone-fueled pussy talk.
She was a girl too—made me feel kinda bad.
"That was the Yin Energy messing with me back then. I've got it under control now, so no more crude talk. Sorry for teasing you."
Her expression softened when I got serious.
"So you won't eat me out anymore?"
"Huh?"
"I said, you won't anymore?!"
She yelled, face flushing red.
Wait... was she even a little hopeful?
"How'd you twist 'no more teasing' into 'no eating out'? That's a promise, remember."
"R-right."
Why did she suddenly look relieved?
Did she actually want it?
The vibe was getting weird, so I changed the subject.
"What about the guild master's offer? Joining Mito Guild."
"Tried going freelance, but it's tough solo. I have to hunt down gate intel myself and hire my own manager."
She took a cut after selling gate hauls, but guilds earned their fee.
They let hunters focus purely on raids.
"Don't wanna join any other guild. No guarantee crap like that won't happen again."
The more affiliated hunters, the more coupling incidents.
Nayeong, popular with the ladies, was prime for drama.
"Was gonna wait for a coin boom, start my own one-person guild, hire a master and staff. But his pitch got me thinking."
She glanced my way.
"What about you?"
She clearly wanted me to join too.
With inexhaustible Yin Energy and Great Spirit power to share, leveling would skyrocket compared to other managers.
At this pace, A-Rank—no, even S-Rank was in reach.
"Hadn't thought about guilds, but his offer sounds decent. I'll mull it over."
"Okay..."
She stared out the window, lost in thought, then turned to me.
"Not sure if this is smart."
"What?"
"Taking on the church. You're faking a kidnapping to slip into the gate, right?"
"You got it. Only way to meet the bastards."
"Whatever comes, the Great Spirits have your back, but what about next time? You think we can handle the church?"
"Why 'we'? Stick by me, and you'll be in danger too. Level up sensibly and bow out."
Nayeong exploded.
"You asshole! You call that talk? Why should I bail? You're the one in danger—why the hell would I leave?!"
"No, I don't know their full power... and you're a victim this time— no real reason to keep fighting them..."
"There is! Yumi lured them in, and Juyeon died because of it! I'm the root cause! So I'll see it through with those fuckers. Don't you dare go behind my back!"
"Not worried about me, huh."
"What?"
"Thought my one and only childhood friend was fretting. Can't just sit back while you dive into danger—gotta tag along, right?"
"Th-that's... obvious! If I don't look out for you, who will?!"
She blustered with a 'caught' look on her face.
Kinda cute.
Incheon harbor came into view ahead.
Whoever sent me here would pay dearly.
I parked the car far from the container warehouse.
The goons who'd arrived early and Yang Taesik rushed over, bowing their heads.
"“Welcome, boss?”"
Yang Taesik spotted Nayeong and said to the goons,
"That's the boss's wife. Pay your respects."
"“Welcome, ma'am?”"
Nayeong, face red, elbowed my side.
"Hey, what the hell? Tell 'em straight."
"Gotta explain that? Just roll with 'boss's wife'."
"You little shit..."
"Enough. No time—let's move."
The spot that called for my pickup was a Blue Gate the church was raiding.
"Unregistered gates even include Blues? Church raid teams must be solid."
"Higher rank means better loot. Branch chief mentioned they're prepping for Greens too."
"What? Greens already?"
I'd heard the Hunter Agency was gearing up for Green Gates.
If true, the church was digging gates at government speed.
What kind of outfit moved that fast?
"Told 'em to handle both you and the wife. They were thrilled about two hunters."
"Thrilled why?"
"No clue. We can't enter gates anyway."
Yang Taesik didn't know what went down inside.
I was the target he wanted taken out, fine—but why happy about Nayeong too?
'Guess I'll find out inside.'
"Hop in the van and fake passing out. We'll cart you to the gate."
"Got it. You know what happens if you double-cross me, right?"
"Of course. I swear on my life—no more betrayals. Won't let you down, boss."
After his pledge, Nayeong and I climbed into the van and closed our eyes.
*
I cracked my eyes now and then to gauge the situation, but it wasn't necessary.
「We're in the warehouse. Guys in robes—looks like the ones from that other dimension.」
「Cart powered by magic stones. Wild how it moves on its own. Modified artifact?」
「Relic site? Tons of stones—Gramps would love it.」
With live commentary from the three Great Spirits, I knew exactly what was happening even with my eyes shut.
At the gate, they loaded us onto some cart that rolled straight in on its own.
Undine's words suggested a ruins terrain.
"Real guy's meat? Fuck, gonna taste like heaven today."
"Mine, so you take the bitch."
"No fair. Gimme an arm at least."
"Fine, but her arm and leg are mine."
"Shit, why you get two?"
"Gotta be worth a man's arm."
Vicious talk.
What kind of psychos were these?
"Why ain't he waking?"
"Hit 'em hard with the drugs. Toss 'em on the floor."
My body jolted as Nayeong and I hit the ground.