Chapter 52
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: E-Rank Gate (1)
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E-Rank Gate.
The grade of gate where the most hunters experienced accidents when gates first appeared on Earth.
They would let their guard down because it was a low-grade gate, then fail to properly respond to unexpected situations, leading to accidents.
Even now, high-rank hunters lacking experience frequently ran into trouble from suddenly triggered traps or monsters ambushing them out of nowhere.
Of course, since they were low-grade gates, fatalities were extremely rare. Still, conquering the gate would ultimately end in failure.
"That's why you shouldn't get complacent just because you have higher-rank hunters on your team compared to an E-Rank Gate. Got it?"
"Yes, Professor!"
The team members all answered Professor Kim Se-yeon's explanation in unison.
"And one more thing. Taking more than a certain amount of damage based on your estimated ranks counts as a failure. Taking too long also counts as a failure."
"Yes!"
The next explanation was something I already knew.
They applied protective magic to our bodies to measure damage taken.
If that damage exceeded a certain threshold, the gate conquest was deemed a failure.
It made perfect sense.
E-Rank Gates existed to show just how dangerous hunter work could be.
If they only sent high-rank academy students matching the gate's grade, clearing it would probably be easy.
But even low-grade gates like E-Rank ones could inflict serious damage on high-rank hunters. That was the key lesson of an E-Rank Gate.
Now that the system was established, such issues were a thing of the past. Back then, gates on the verge of breaking were sometimes raided once more to reset them.
That led to S-Rank hunters occasionally getting caught in unexpected Dungeon Breaks and losing their lives.
The time limit existed precisely because of that—to prevent guilds from repeatedly failing on gates they owned and triggering a Dungeon Break.
Of course, with time limits set at least three days before a Dungeon Break these days, accidents were exceedingly rare.
In that sense, E-Rank Gates could be dangerous even for high-rank hunters. For our team—short on experience and barely settled into the academy—challenging an E-Rank Gate was headline-worthy news in itself.
"Your team's estimated ranks are Lee Ji-hyun at A-Rank, Baek Hwa at B-Rank, and the rest at E-Rank. Average team rank is treated as D-Rank."
Professor Kim Se-yeon spoke with her arms akimbo and a stern expression, but I couldn't hold back the laughter bubbling up.
The white blouse and black suit jacket with white pinstripes she wore.
Nothing unusual there.
But up close like this, the way her massive chest strained against the white blouse, revealing the black bra beneath...
Poke poke-!
Park A-young poked my side, clearly catching on to what I was staring at, but I didn't bother looking away.
If anything, I stared even harder at her cleavage.
How could I miss prime bitch appeal time from Professor Kim Se-yeon, who always seemed so flawlessly strict?!
Any guy would do the same.
Squeeze-!!
"Aaack!!"
"Park A-jun. If you have time to bore holes into cleavage, maybe focus on my words instead?"
Maybe I stared too intently.
The professor started tugging my earlobe.
Sex Master does not get scolded by bitches!
EXP decreased!
EXP dropped, but luckily, she hadn't noticed I was eyeing the black bra peeking through her white blouse rather than just the cleavage.
"S-Sorry!!!"
"Tch. Focus. I get that your job makes it tempting, but don't stare so blatantly. Getting ogled by a guy you don't even like is just unpleasant."
The professor released my precious earlobe.
'It's not like it's gonna wear out from looking.'
Honestly, no complaints about the bra, but she always left one or two blouse buttons undone to flaunt her cleavage, practically begging to be stared at—then scolds me publicly like this!
Even for a professor, that was an outrage I couldn't tolerate.
If the chance came, I'd make her repay every bit of that lost EXP...
I vowed as much.
Whether that chance would ever come was another story.
Imagination was free, after all.
Daydreaming about groping those huge melons with both hands, I realized the professor's long explanation was finally wrapping up.
"Finally, you'll have 10 minutes of rest time before entering. Use it for a last strategy huddle with your team... or give interviews to those swarming reporters over there."
Looking where the professor pointed, I saw reporters popping flashes nonstop, along with hunters from famous guilds I recognized.
With academy freshmen—less than a semester in—challenging an E-Rank Gate for the first time in ages, they had no choice but to swarm.
The academy had pulled some aggro too, hanging massive banners to boast about their curriculum.
Even when Lee Ha-eun—Ji-hyun's older sister and a current fourth-year—challenged one, crowds like this had gathered. It showed just how much hype we were getting.
"Lee Ji-hyun! This is A Broadcasting Network! Rumors online say you're tackling it with help from the teammate who tamed an SS-Rank monster—is that true?"
"Partially true. It's true we're conquering the gate with the teammate who tamed the SS-Rank monster. But we won't be getting help from Bianca, the SS-Rank monster herself. She's staying outside the gate and will broadcast our progress inside in real-time!"
Strategy planning was already done, so Lee Ji-hyun stepped forward confidently to face the reporters. As expected from the Star Cloud Guild Master's daughter, she handled the barrage without a hint of nerves.
Gates weren't the only thing—life experience made all the difference. Lack it, and everything seemed lacking.
But Lee Ji-hyun, fielding questions so boldly right now, showed none of that.
She brimmed with confidence, as if she'd clear the gate in one go.
"Following in my sister's footsteps, I'll show you all that I can clear an E-Rank Gate on my first try. That way, those worried about a potential Dungeon Break from a gate owned by Star Cloud Guild can rest a little easier. Thank you."
"That's enough!! Ten minutes are up."
Kim Se-yeon swept the reporters aside with a single gesture, approaching us casually—as you'd expect from an A-Rank hunter.
"Alright, it's go time. I hope for the best results."
With those words from the professor, we entered the gate immediately.
"Cave... Let's stick to the plan."
Cave-type gate.
No need to scout for paths, but traps abounded, and branching tunnels made it prone to becoming a maze.
Mana stones embedded in the walls throughout emitted a soft glow, illuminating the cave interior.
"Hound Wolf Summon. Skeleton Summon."
Lee Ji-hyun's class was Black Mage. Naturally, she could use undead skills typically wielded by Necromancers. Though inefficient due to class penalties on skill EXP, making them hard to level.
Here, though, they were incredibly useful.
Dozens of skeletons summoned without sparing mana filled the cave, advancing forward.
Clack-!
Whoosh-!!
A lead skeleton's head was pierced by a wind-cutting arrow and crumpled.
It was creepy... or not. The skeletons were doing their job perfectly. Normal arrows couldn't deal lethal damage to our hunter bodies anyway—just superficial wounds. As long as mana remained.
Hunters' bodies were tough because internal mana automatically reacted to block attacks.
Not as effective as dedicated protective magic, sure, but for a hunter like me, a non-mana arrow would sting at worst.
Still, better than wasting mana inefficiently. Sending skeletons ahead was far more efficient.
"Enemies ahead."
With monsters finally appearing in earnest, the conquest of the E-Rank Gate truly began.