The Iron That Enters the Gates
6 AM arrived. Nam Gyuil, who had been sleeping on the cold factory floor, stretched and woke up. He recalled making a contract with the spirit.
'Who would've thought Phoenix would appear.'
It was a bird made of flames, its form breathtakingly beautiful, its eyes sparkling with a sacred glow. And astonishingly, it was an upper spirit. Nam Gyuil had exceptionally high spirit affinity. That's why the contract succeeded in one go.
But an unexpected problem arose.
'I can't utilize Phoenix at all because I lack mana.'
It was a deep regret. The moment he contracted with Phoenix, a massive chunk of mana drained from his body, nearly causing him to faint. His head spun, and he dropped to one knee. Sensing his mana deficiency, Phoenix canceled the summoning on its own. Thanks to that, he avoided passing out.
'To acquire such a powerful spirit but be too weak to use it yet.'
It stung bitterly. But once he grew strong enough in the future, he could roam gates alongside Phoenix.
'So I need to work harder from now on.'
For now, though, he'd set that aside—there was urgent business at hand. Testing the weapon prototype. He could only convince investors after putting it through trials.
He looked around. The chilly factory landscape filled his view.
'Buying this one factory took a whole week of exhaustion. Days busy at the Hunter Agency, nights scouting factories.'
He'd bought a shuttered factory. Through a court auction, he snagged it cheaper than expected for just 70 million won. A hefty sum, but the bonus from the Hunter Agency covered it.
'The 100 million won reward from the Chungcheong support mission let me buy without strain. Being in the provinces kept building and land prices low too.'
That money had proven its worth. The factory building was small. With the remaining 30 million, he bought surrounding land, but funds ran dry there. Building expansions, modernizing equipment, adding warehouses—it would take over 1 billion won.
But he wasn't worried.
'The Defense Acquisition Agency's investment will cover that.'
And to secure investment, he needed a high-quality prototype.
Nam Gyuil eyed the iron pieces made by different methods. These were the prototypes. 6 cm wide, 4 cm long.
'Made two for now.'
Each used a different process, so pros and cons varied. The first was cast from molten iron. Unable to handle an upper spirit yet, he left it to the kobolds. Contracted to lower spirits, they struggled with temperature, borrowing machine heat and their flames to barely forge it.
'The molten method took forever. Quality wasn't great either.'
Mass production seemed impossible. Honestly, it wasn't satisfactory.
Nam Gyuil examined the other piece. This one skipped melting—stainless steel plates bought in Pohang, final heat-treated with spirit fire. No need for melting, so lower temps worked.
'This method's easy for production. Stamp plates to shape with machines, heat with fire spirits.'
Viable for mass production with solid quality. But since not fully spirit-forged, he needed to check mana infusion.
Nam Gyuil pocketed both pieces and got in his car. Time to head to the Hunter Agency. He'd woken at this ungodly hour to travel from the provincial factory to Seoul.
Vroom.
His car sped down the road.
Upon arriving at the Hunter Agency, he got immediate dispatch orders. He headed straight to the gate site.
'Time to test.'
Nam Gyuil pulled out the iron pieces from his pocket.
Whoosh.
He secretly tossed both—made differently—into the gate. Both entered.
Nam Gyuil clenched his fist. Final heat treatment with spirit fire alone worked, enabling mass production.
As he pumped his fist, Hong Shinu approached with a question.
"Sergeant Nam Gyuil."
"Yeah?"
"You look especially cheerful today, sir."
"Something good happened."
"What is it?"
"Check the newspapers later."
Hong Shinu tilted her head at his words. No clue why he'd say that out of the blue.
Defense Acquisition Agency civil servant Park Jongwoo yawned hugely as he slumped into his office chair. 10 minutes to 9 AM. He sipped his drink and shed his jacket.
"Oof, chilly today."
He sniffed. The agency researched and procured defense weapons. Park Jongwoo specifically handled Hunter Agency weapon buys.
Not a standout guy. Performance average.
Park Jongwoo sighed deeply.
'Hunter Agency'll request weapons again today, huh?'
Only gate-looted weapons could enter gates, so auctions or markets it was. Problem: insanely expensive. Even a dagger cost a fortune.
His role? 'Whining for discounts.' Begging sellers everywhere. Treatment outside was abysmal.
'Market logic says buyer is king, but supply's low, so we're the beggars even paying top dollar.'
Park Jongwoo gulped his drink.
"Aah, why'd I get stuck with this? Dying here. Jealous of other departments."
He grumbled aloud. His ugly mutt of a boss barked instantly.
"Park Jongwoo, enjoying taxpayer-funded ease?"
"No, sir."
The boss cut off his lecture for a phone call. Someone summoning him, apparently. He hung up, grabbed files, and left—after nagging the drowsy Park Jongwoo one last time.
"Park Jongwoo, quit whining and work hard."
"Yes, sir."
"I'm watching you personally."
"Understood."
The boss departed. Park Jongwoo inwardly clicked his tongue.
'Bad luck today.'
Didn't expect his mutter to reach the boss's ears. He set his bag on the desk; something thudded to the floor. A package.
Distracted, he'd missed it.
"What's this?"
Park Jongwoo inspected it. Packaging already torn. The agency, handling defense, was security-obsessed. Packages scanned before delivery. Contents classified top-secret.
No leaks. Senders requesting media silence got government press control too.
Security tightened post-2-year-old China leak that tanked the president's ratings.
Park Jongwoo scratched his head.
'Who sent it?'
He frowned at the name.
"Nam Gyuil? That national hunter who dined with the president? Made waves recently."
I have created iron that can be brought into gates. Enclosed is the prototype—please test and contact me.
P.S.: Do not inform the media.
The back had a smartphone number. Park Jongwoo tsked.
'Iron enterable in gates? Snake oil sales. Famous name for scam, probably.'
He leaned back. No belief it was really from Nam Gyuil. Experience told him so.
Early gate days brought package mountains like this. All fakes—scams or pranks.
Park Jongwoo pulled out a model pistol from the package. No trigger. Shaped unlike gate loot. Simple forms might pass as monster drops, so this clever design.
He snickered.
'First prototype-sender in ages.'
He aimed the model at the front, mumbling.
"Bang bang."
Play-pretend shot, then desk-placed. Duty called: verify if real. Gate site trip to check entry...
But today, lazier than ever. Waste time on another fake?
Park Jongwoo eyed the newbie next seat. Perfect for dumping.
"Hey, newbie."
"Yes?"
"Check if this enters gates."
Casually tossed the model pistol. Newbie caught it, phoned Hunter Agency for cooperation. Got nearby gate coords.
Newbie stood.
"I'll be back."
"Good luck."
Park Jongwoo waved lazily.
"Yaaawn."
Another yawn escaped.
'Why so sleepy today?'
Stretching, he booted his PC. Scoured domestic/international news for guild gate weapon yields and quality.
'Acacia Guild topped domestically?'
Park Jongwoo scratched his scalp furiously, fuming.
'Damn it, why them?'
Expected reaction. Acacia never sold cheap. Hunter Agency dagger supply meant groveling to their rep— at premium prices.
"Argh, frustrating!"
Already hating work, now more so.
Then—
Ring ring. Ring ring.
Desk phone blared. Click.
"Yes, Defense Acquisition Agency Weapons Support Division, Park Jongwoo."
Turned out to be the dumped-task newbie.
"I-it entered!!"
Newbie's voice trembled in shock. Park Jongwoo rubbed his face dry, frowning hard.
"What entered?"
"The model pistol. The one you told me to check."
"Model pistol? The one I gave?"
"Yes."
Park Jongwoo fell silent. Brain freeze—couldn't process. Blinking dumbly, the newbie yelled excitedly over the line.
"The model pistol went into the gate!"
"......"
"It's real—!!"
Park Jongwoo shot up reflexively. He frantically rummaged the package, confirming the letter's name and number.
'Nam Gyuil.'
Park Jongwoo was convinced. He was the key to ending the weapon shortage crisis.