Chapter 52
Chapter 52
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Gate Entry
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Gate exploration day.
[Mino: Am I the only one nervous about today's gate exploration ;;;;]
[Enkar: You too...]
[Enkar: Doesn't this feel exactly like right before a siege?]
[Mino: Yeah]
[Mino: Spot on]
[Maya: Whaaat?? Even Mino-nim and Enkar-nim get nervous???]
[Mino: Of course we do ;;;; We're human too ;;;;]
[Taurin: Lol, gotcha]
[Gentleman: Surprising]
[Samshin: I reflect on my ways]
[Kim Whale: Somehow I feel like reflecting too.... Sorry for not realizing until now, guys......]
[Mino: Reflecting on what lololol]
[Enkar: Honestly, I was a bit surprised Mino admitted to being nervous]
[Mino: You traitor bastard]
[Maya: lolololol]
[Taurin: lololololol]
As the appointed meeting time approached, the game system's chatroom grew noisier.
It felt just like before a siege.
[Kali: You guys done with finals?]
[Enkar: Yup, finally on break]
[Mino: Obviously!! Once we enter the gate this time, we're grinding levels hard!!! Seclusion training let's gooooo!!!!]
[Kim Whale: Hmm... But it's still just an F-rank gate....]
[Mino: ;;;;;]
[Kali: At the very least, let's get to level 12. Gotta finish tutorial mode and secure the first floor of the skill tree.]
[Mino: Just the first floor??]
[Mino: Ugh, so frustrating ;]
[Mino: Give me back my max level....]
[Enkar: Argh, seriously, Bipa starts at max level and now level reset?]
[Kali: But we're all reset equally fair and square]
Clothes were strictly comfortable attire.
Skill window, chat window, and inventory window stuffed with various items—all neatly arranged.
Overstuff the inventory, though, and you might not be able to pick up items from monsters inside the gate.
Surprisingly, the game system's sync rate with reality was quite high. Not just the system window, but skill window, chat window, inventory window, and even the mostly useless bound hero management window were all present.
A few things like the shop were missing, so it wasn't a perfect system transfer.
But ultimately, it was almost identical to the game.
[Kaisha: I've arrived]
[Kaisha: Take your time coming over]
[Maya: Already there?!]
[Mino: Uwaaaah Guild Master!!! I'll fly over so wait just a bit!!!!!!]
[Enkar: I'm almost there]
[Mino: You traitor]
[Enkar: lol]
* * *
Level reset.
That was why awakened hunters hesitated to enter gates.
No way to know what level of monsters awaited inside, or how far low levels could handle it.
In the game, you just dove in and learned the hard way, but in reality, everyone cherished their lives.
In front of the gate.
I declared confidently.
“Of course the rankers go in first. Otherwise, it'd be a waste of the ranker name.”
“You bet!”
“Even though I was dying to go in despite the fear, everyone else was holding back, so I couldn't either. As expected, we needed the guild master.”
Mino and Enkar responded enthusiastically to my words, their motivation ignited.
Truly the ultimate social animals.
Seeing Enkar and Mino in reality, they looked just like their game selves, making it easy to adjust.
Since Bipa was a VR game played in virtual space rather than a 2D game, it felt eerily similar even in reality.
Looking at the guild members, I said.
“Names still feel unfamiliar, so I'll call you by your game nicknames.”
“Sure.”
“Why not just stick to nicknames from now on? Goldbunker basically declared it national custom on stream, calling hunters by their nicks.”
Mino's words tempted me.
“......Yeah?”
“Yeah. Easier to call people what you're used to. Ranker nicks are all two or three letters anyway.”
True that.
For convenience during sieges, we'd all shortened them neatly.
Mino said to Enkar.
“If there were nicks like Strawberry Gangdu, it'd be hilarious.”
“Puhaha! There were tons, but they all got wiped out early in Bipa sieges! Names like that mean zero faith from NPCs.”
“Strawberry Gangdu-nim! Strawberry Gangdu-nim!”
“Argh. Even I'd have zero faith, just wanna ignore the hell outta them.”
“Pukikik!”
Enkar and Mino bantered on as Kali and I glanced at each other.
They were late starters to Bipa, so they'd gauged the vibe and picked decent nicknames.
“......”
We'd had our share too.
The incident where Kali's original nick was so lame NPCs straight-up ignored her.
Kali muttered softly.
“Fuck......”
Oblivious to Kali reliving her deep shame from their own chat, Mino and Enkar kept giggling cluelessly.
Kali's original nick.
DwanduHanVillain.
Thinking about it, Kali's nick was straight-up netkama bait.
She'd played an attractive female char so boldly claiming to be a girl that naive Maya and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
Nostalgia hit, so I teased.
“Dwanduya.”
“Gyaaah! Don't! Evil!!”
Kali's near-seizure reaction drew the guild members' attention, wondering what was up.
Kali clasped her hands quietly toward me.
Kaisha-nim.
Please don't say it.
Nod.
I graciously nodded back, and Kali mumbled 'Kamen'.
Believer +1, Faith +1.
But the damn notification was busted or something—no popup.
Anyway, thanks to siege convenience and NPCs' faith for territory management, rankers en masse changed names and saved themselves.
Who could've imagined the game becoming reality.
For reference, Maya and I had agonized over nicks at start thanks to the 'guide' saying users were gods, so pick well.
Now that I think about it, that startup guide felt like ancient history.
No numbers or emotes in names from the get-go.
“Ha, so sorry for being late!”
“Come on in, Whale-nim.”
With Kim Whale-nim's arrival, Fullminak's siege first-string elite members were all assembled.
Not quite.
Hyunwoo-nim and Mura-nim were missing.
I hadn't given them the detailed schedule.
Mura-nim usually moved with Hyunwoo-nim, and Hyunwoo-nim seemed busy with family business.
“Shall we head in?”
Friday evening.
Originally planned for tomorrow, but I advanced it a day fearing a backstab from Space King.
Kali said to me.
“While Goldbunker obsesses over money and Space King hesitates, let's grind levels hard.”
“Gotta. Leaving the gate like this endangers people too.”
Even F-rank, it periodically rampaged, spewing monsters that harmed folks.
Needed to close it fast.
I scanned the Fullminak first-string guild members one by one.
Eleven including me.
Kali, Maya, Enkar, Mino, Kim Whale, Gentleman, Abyss, Naga, Samshin, Taurin.
“......”
I glanced at Kim Whale-nim.
Such a timid person, thought maybe fear kept him away, but he'd mustered courage to come.
Abyss was here too.
In comfy workout clothes today.
And like during game sieges, switched to silent mode.
After confirming every guild member one by one, I gave a slight nod to the police side, signaling we'd be back.
“Be right back.”
I went to the police, informed them of our decision, and explained the situation.
“All eleven of us going in. Please keep outsiders from entering. Block camera folks too if you can.”
The police nodded vigorously as they listened.
“Yes, got it!”
They listened so intently, faces set with some resolute determination.
The way they looked at me brimmed with a sense of mission and respect, like they'd definitely fulfill my request.
Why the fuss.
Ah. Maybe, to them, we looked like heroes risking lives to save the city or something.
“Ahem.”
Caught in the odd vibe, I cleared my throat awkwardly, then startled at some figures who caught my eye.
“Huh, Hyunwoo-nim?”
Hyunwoo-nim was running over with Mura-nim.
Monster appearances had the gate area fully cordoned. A luxury car parked conspicuously on the empty road stood out big time.
The cops at the control line who saw the car glanced my way.
Eyes asking if I'd okayed letting Hyunwoo-nim and Mura-nim inside the barricade.
Felt kinda weird.
Strangers watching my cue, showing respect—like I owned this turf.
Hyunwoo-nim ran up and stopped.
“Ga-hyun, no, Kaisha-nim!”
“How'd you know to come.”
Hyunwoo-nim said.
“Kali-nim tipped me off if I could make it. Ha. Glad I wasn't late.”
“Ah......”
Felt a bit guilty.
Gentle Knights' alliance with Fullminak was so huge-scale, I'd subconsciously put those two outside Fullminak's scope.
Honestly, calling Hyunwoo-nim and Mura-nim casually like guildmates felt off.
Mura-nim beside him still had hat and mask pulled low.
“Hi, Mura-nim.”
“Yes. Honored to meet like this.”
Honored, even.
The tone trying to impress me, the sidelong glances conscious of me—eerily like in-game.
Annoying when he kept asking to meet again, but now that he was here, might as well show his face properly.
Remembered him saying he was pretty famous—what kinda bigshot hid so thoroughly? Made me curious.
I still couldn't guess Mura-nim's identity, but hiding his face wouldn't fool anyone who knew his build.
Hyunwoo-nim smiled at me.
“First gate entry today, right? I'm joining too.”
“Thanks for coming.”
We'd met briefly at the second raid site.
Shockingly, Gentle Knights' guild master Hyunwoo-nim had the exact look and vibe I liked in reality too.
Honest, upright face.
Pale skin and nicely long legs gave him an elegant young master air no matter what he wore.
Armored in luxury gear to boot.
'No wonder hard to call casually.'
Thinking that, I said to Hyunwoo-nim.
“Must be busy managing family business, yet you made time.”
“No, it's fine. Bipa's my one hobby. Game moved to reality somehow, but can't quit.”
Such diligence, treating game like work.
Gazing warmly at Hyunwoo-nim, Mura-nim next to him seemed fidgety.
-nim, ditch the mask first.
I stepped up and guided the two toward the gate.
“Shall we go in?”
“Yes.”
Glancing back, all guild members waiting at the gate stared our way.
Waved to Kali signaling join up, then curiosity struck.
“But what field is your family business in? Not ours, but I have relatives on mom's side in management.”
Pure curiosity,
But at my question, Hyunwoo-nim flinched, then answered shyly yet excitedly like he'd been waiting.
“Ah. It's YM.”
Thought I misheard for a sec.
“......Pardon?”
“We specialize in software and electronics. As you know, VR games are the trend now, so expanding there too—which is why I'm grinding game so hard—”
If it was that mega-corp I knew, any Korean worth their salt knew without explanation.
Stunned, I stared at Hyunwoo-nim.
This guy's a chaebol heir?
Recalled him mentioning inheriting family biz as successor.
“From what I know, YM Group's heir is that famous......”
“That's my uncle.”
“Ahh, I see.”
So Hyunwoo-nim inherits a portion, not the whole. Or maybe successor battle raging internally.
That world's internals were endlessly complex anyway.
YM, huh.
Gotta ask Kim Je-hyun about it.
* * *
With Hyunwoo-nim and Mura-nim joining late, thirteen of us entered the gate total.
“As expected, cave inside feels kinda creepy.”
“Good thing we brought outerwear.”
“Bigger than expected.”
“Definitely more realistic than the game.”
“Ahaha! Of course!”
Guild members chattered.
A bit tense, sure, but with so many and all close friends, not too scary.
Felt familiar once thinking of it as a dungeon-ish place.
* * *