Chapter 15
Chapter 15
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Named (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Let's head to a Gate."
"Pardon?"
It was what they said to me after the two of them stepped aside for a moment to discuss and then approached.
A Gate, out of nowhere?
Han Sehee continued the explanation.
"We've concluded that continuing experiments like this won't yield anything meaningful. No matter how much we scan with MEI, we'll just get photos we can't make sense of."
"What does that have to do with a Gate?"
"We want to observe your ability in real combat and gather data that way."
It wasn't a perfect solution, but her explanation made it clear we couldn't just give up like this.
Kim Beomsu nodded vigorously in agreement.
"We'll handle the Gate and all the personnel for the raid, so you just need to show up."
"It's a chance to build up your magic power without any real risk. Not a bad deal for you, right, Mr. Han Yujin?"
It was definitely tempting.
It had been a while since my abilities had stagnated from not raiding Gates.
If they were preparing everything and I just had to hop on the bus, there was no reason to turn it down.
"Are we going right now?"
"Of course not. We need time to prepare too. A week from now should work perfectly timing-wise."
I nodded.
That gave me enough time to get ready myself.
"You've had a long day. We'll be in touch later."
My heart was pounding.
Finally, my own workshop—no, my alchemy lab—was complete.
Not all the ordered tools had arrived yet, but this setup was more than enough to handle alchemy production without issue.
I set down my bag and rummaged through its contents.
Alchemy materials gathered from the last Gate.
Quite some time had passed, so they didn't look as vibrant as before.
But as long as they weren't spoiled, they'd do just fine.
I couldn't expect top quality, but crafting them shouldn't be a problem.
"Time to get started."
The potion I planned to make this time was already decided.
No hesitation needed.
I added the materials one by one to the mortar and ground them into powder.
Once finely ground, I transferred them to a prepared bowl, then repeated with the next material.
I placed the finished powder on the precision scale.
The ratio was 3:1— even a slight deviation could greatly affect the result.
I carefully divided the powder, ensuring no margin for error.
"Whew..."
I'd been so focused that a bead of sweat trickled down my forehead.
Still, I'd passed the trickiest part.
Carrying the bowls of powder, I moved to the gas burner.
Not a household one, but a high-output burner designed specifically for alchemy.
I measured distilled water into a beaker and poured it into a pan.
Placed the pan on the burner and lit it.
Bubbling away, right when the water boiled and bubbles rose.
No room for mixing up the order.
I added the prepared green powder first.
The water turned a juice-like green, and I slowly stirred with a rod.
The moment the solution's color deepened.
I immediately lowered the flame and poured in the next powder.
Stirring slowly with deliberate motions, now for the final step.
The instant the solution thickened, I turned off the heat.
Done.
Careful not to spill, I divided it into glass vials—enough for two bottles.
The materials were limited, so this was all for now.
I sealed the vials and lifted one, and a translucent window appeared before my eyes.
Slosh—the green liquid tilted with my touch.
An antidote potion that cured poisoning.
Only Common grade, so it wouldn't cover many types of poison, but better than nothing.
"Inferior quality, huh."
In the game, crafting quality had five tiers.
Abysmal, Inferior, Average, Superior, Perfect.
Even among the same grade, higher quality meant greater effects.
I'd hoped for Average, but no such luck.
I recalled the interrogation from before.
Park Sugwang, caught for trafficking illegal alchemy potions.
According to the Inspection Department guy, they were at least four tiers up.
And here I was struggling at tier two— no wonder no one bought his lone wolf criminal story; who'd believe an idiot like that.
This was everything I'd originally planned to make.
"..."
But lingering regret remained.
My gaze drifted to one remaining sealed material.
Dragon Flower, one of the ingredients gathered from that Gate.
Usually found in higher-grade Gates than a C-rank—not something you'd expect here.
Pretty rare stuff.
If used as a material, it could produce a Heroic-grade potion, two steps above Common.
Problem was, the supporting ingredients were hard to come by, so I couldn't use it right away...
But there was exactly one recipe I could make with Dragon Flower right now.
Tough call.
Gather more materials later, and I could make something far more useful.
Better to wait than waste it on something with vague uses, right?
But how long was I supposed to wait?
Leave it too long, and it'd spoil and go to waste.
Better to craft it now while I could.
I sighed.
Fine, penny wise and pound foolish, as they say.
Might as well do it all at once.
I broke the seal on the Dragon Flower.
The tedious process repeated, yielding one bottle of orange potion.
Quality was Inferior again, as expected.
A week passed.
I left home in an outfit completely different from my usual.
Joint guards on my knees and elbows.
Stab-proof vest under my clothes, combat boots covering my ankles.
My backpack held the alchemy potions I'd crafted.
Gear bought specifically for today.
Far from full Gate raid armor, but it was enough for me.
I was just along for the ride, after all.
As long as it protected against blind attacks, I'd be fine.
This was my first time raiding in a proper party, so I felt a bit excited.
"Mr. Han Yujin! Over here!"
At the base of a mountain in Gyeonggi Province.
Following Kim Beomsu's voice, I saw six people waiting.
I recalled the raid party's lineup I'd heard about beforehand.
Two B-ranks, two C-ranks, two D-ranks.
The two B-ranks were Han Sehee and Kim Beomsu, so the key was the two C-ranks.
Among the four, two stood out with their superior gear, making them easy to spot.
One of them, a man in heavy plate armor, extended a hand to me.
"You're the VIP this time, huh? The clients kept stressing your safety first, so I thought I was babysitting some princess."
An Changsu, the C-rank Hunter with physical enhancement awakening, laughed heartily.
One of the frontline members for this raid.
I shook his outstretched hand and introduced myself.
"Han Yujin."
"You've probably heard all about us already, so no need for formal intros? Let's get in, smash it quick, and get out."
Han Sehee's expression soured slightly at An Changsu's words.
"We haven't even done the pre-entry briefing. I get it's urgent, but we need to follow procedure."
"Why so by-the-book? Everyone here knows the drill. You don't need a briefing either, right, buddy?"
An Changsu turned to me.
His personality was overly boisterous.
A bit off-putting, but it was true I didn't need a briefing, so I nodded.
He didn't seem out of line.
The others' expressions showed they agreed, even if unspoken.
Han Sehee looked flustered and glanced at Kim Beomsu.
But he just shrugged, as if there was nothing to be done.
"Haa... Fine, got it. Form up and enter immediately."
An Changsu took the lead, with the other two beside him.
The three frontliners ahead, the remaining four behind.
Next to me, the other C-rank Hunter, Park Bomi, spoke up.
"Mr. Han Yujin? Nice to meet you."
She gripped the bow slung on her back and smiled.
Rather rudely, her build didn't match her name at all.
I was pretty tall myself, but her eye level was about the same.
Her muscles looked substantial even at a glance.
No joke—she could probably fold me in half in a fight.
A physically enhanced awakener with a honed physique.
Which made the longbow in her hands puzzling.
"Just out of curiosity—why the bow, Ms. Park Bomi? Doesn't really match your ability, does it?"
My question seemed familiar to her; she answered nonchalantly.
"I was an archery athlete. Tried swords too, but nothing beats what's familiar. Want to give it a pull?"
I took it on impulse.
Not as heavy as I thought?
I drew the string,
"...?"
It didn't budge an inch.
"Hahaha!"
She laughed for a good while at my confusion, then took the bow back.
"It's a composite bow made from ogre tendons. One shot from this and most monsters just burst."
A bow only a physical enhancer could draw.
Plus archery skills from her pro athlete days.
Explained how she'd reached C-rank with a bow as her main weapon.
A sound from ahead made me turn.
"Tch."
A man glaring this way in clear displeasure before looking forward again.
One of the D-rank frontliners.
Kim Taemin, was it?
He'd take the money and do the job, but resented babysitting an E-rank like me.
Park Bomi shrugged.
"Don't mind him."
I wasn't bothered.
I really was just bus-riding, and he couldn't start trouble in the Gate anyway.
I lost interest in him quickly.
Instead, the man beside him caught my eye—walking ahead with constant tension.
I'd doubted it when I got the message, but...
Dungeon of Gate was a roguelite game.
Meaning Gates and characters generated randomly each run.
This C-rank Gate was unfamiliar, and the Hunters walking beside me were faces I'd never seen in the game.
Not because I forgot— this world had been newly created upon my possession, randomly generated.
But not everything was random.
Even in random worlds, fixed elements always appeared—like the solo Gate I'd cleared.
Characters too.
The Four Great Guild masters and S-rank Hunters were always constant.
So, those who appeared unchanging in the game, no matter what, we called them one thing.
Named.
Jin Seohyeon was one, the only Named I'd met as a Hunter so far.
But now, one more had been added.
The man walking beside An Changsu.
The other D-rank frontliner.
'Lee Seonwoo.'
He was a Named too.