Chapter 9
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 9: Dual Gate
The meeting, from which the woman called Baek Yeon had exited, concluded shortly after.
"Then we will conclude by maintaining surveillance on the dragon 'Nidhogg,' but approaching him in a friendly manner at the same time. And since the mutated Gate shows no signs of a Gate Break, we will separately form an expedition team in the near future."
"Sounds good."
"Let's do that."
Just before the opinions were unified and the meeting concluded like that, one person raised their hand and asked the branch manager.
"What will you do about Guild Master Baek Yeon of the Sungcheon Guild? No matter how friendly we approach, considering her track record..."
"I will meet her separately to talk."
"Understood."
The meeting completely concluded, and I withdrew my gaze that had been watching the inside of the conference hall.
When I shifted my gaze forward, a VIP room, excessively spacious for one person to use alone, caught my eye.
Confirming that I had withdrawn my gaze and returned, Shin Su-ah asked.
"How did it go?"
"They say they will keep us under surveillance but approach with a friendly stance."
"Phew... It went according to plan."
"Indeed. By any chance, do you know about the Sungcheon Guild?"
"Are you talking about Sungcheon?"
"Yeah. The Guild Master there seemed to be at a level of hatred rather than just hostility toward this side."
"That's natural."
"Explain in detail."
Shin Su-ah sat next to me and explained about the Sungcheon Guild in detail.
The Sungcheon Guild.
It was originally nothing more than an ordinary small-to-medium-sized Guild, but it is said to be a Guild that completely transformed when the current Guild Master lost her parents due to a Gate Break that happened 3 years ago.
Currently, it is the Guild that hunts monsters most actively among the Guilds in South Korea, and it is said that most of the Guild executives consist of people who lost precious people to monsters.
"Then isn't my burning the world in the future related to them too?"
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because the Sungcheon Guild will disappear within the next 2 years."
According to the explanation that followed, it's good that they grew by using their hatred and anger toward monsters as a driving force, but because of that, the Sungcheon Guild ends up burning even themselves in the end.
Among the new Gates that will appear in the next 2 years, an SS-rank Gate will emerge, and it is said that most of the executives of the Sungcheon Guild, which had grown in the meantime, will participate in the first expedition to the SS-rank Gate.
However, that was an arrogant choice, and as a result, most of the Sungcheon Guild executives die or return with disabilities severe enough to make operating as Awakened impossible, bringing the short and intense history of the Sungcheon Guild to an end.
At Shin Su-ah's calm words that such is their future, my interest, wondering if I had obtained a clue as soon as I came out, cooled down completely.
Instead, an empty stomach filled that spot.
Growl-
"Are you hungry?"
"It seems this body has worse fuel efficiency than I thought."
In the past, I rarely had a reason to use the clone, and since I only tried it a few times and didn't use it, I didn't know, but it seems that to maintain the clone, I need to replenish energy on its own aside from the power I supplied.
As I looked at Shin Su-ah, thinking it really isn't a good ability, she nodded and brought over a booklet.
"You can order the food you want from here."
"Ooh..."
Earth's food, seen for the first time in a long while.
My mouth watered at the sight of truly diverse foods listed with pictures.
I quickly read through the booklet and decided on the food to order.
"Let's go with chicken for today first."
"Yes, how much should I order?"
"Three fried, three soy sauce, three seasoned, and three green onion chicken."
"Isn't that too much for two people to eat?"
"What are you talking about? What I just said is what I'm going to eat, so add what you're going to eat and order separately."
It's just about 12 chickens.
Compared to the amount the main body eats, let alone a drop in the bucket, it's not even enough for a snack.
Shin Su-ah was shocked by my appetite, but she soon nodded and ordered the food.
The Association employee who took the order returned with the finished food in less than 30 minutes.
Fried, seasoned, soy sauce, and even green onion chicken.
Once the perfectly fried chicken was set up, I picked up a piece among them and popped it into my mouth.
Crunch. Crunch, crunch!
The taste of chicken, tasted for the first time in a long while, was truly ecstatic.
It's not that the Yggdrasil roots I usually ate tasted bad, but those only tasted like fruit, not this kind of flavor.
After chewing and swallowing the chicken without leaving a single piece of bone behind, finding one piece unsatisfying, I popped five or six pieces into my mouth at a time.
Emptying my share of 12 chickens took only an instant.
And I also realized the fact that a mere 12 chickens wouldn't fill my stomach.
"Let's go with pizza next."
"Are you perhaps still hungry?"
"I think my stomach will be somewhat full if I eat about twice this amount."
"...I will order immediately."
That day, I finished my meal only after eating 5 pizzas, 3 large portions of jokbal, and 15 waffles.
Three days have passed since we started staying at the Association.
During that time, all Shin Su-ah and I did was eat and sleep, except for conversing with the branch manager.
Even so, if you ask why we are staying here, it's because there was a request from Branch Manager Gu Do-han.
His request was one thing.
He hoped we would join the expedition team for investigating the immeasurable rank Gate I came out of.
In the process, there was an incident where the branch manager was shocked upon finding out that my main body was still inside the Gate, but that's none of my concern.
"I-in that case, that place could be considered a sort of lair for Lord Nidhogg. May we explore that place?"
"As long as you don't get on my nerves near me, I don't care what you do."
"Yes, we will be careful not to get on Lord Nidhogg's nerves."
Two days after that conversation passed, finally hearing that the Gate expedition team was fully prepared, we finished getting ready and joined the expedition team.
The expedition team we joined consisted entirely of high-ranking Awakened, to the point where I could see a few faces I saw in the conference hall that day.
And among them was also the woman named Baek Yeon who had stormed out.
"It's Guild Master Baek Yeon."
"Yeah. Pretty much the only person hostile to us."
Her gaze, meeting mine as if brushing past, contained a hatred she couldn't possibly hide.
Still, perhaps she heard something from the Association president, as she didn't do anything more than that.
Since there was no one else to particularly pay attention to, I waited quietly, and the branch manager went up to the podium.
"Thank you all for gathering. The Gate we will be exploring today is an immeasurable rank Gate tentatively named 'Dragon's Nest' for now. It is the Gate the dragon over there came out of, and the place where his main body is located."
At the branch manager's explanation, the other Awakened, who hadn't known about my main body at all, showed surprised reactions.
'That wasn't the main body?' 'Then how strong is the main body?' 'We need to build a more friendly relationship...'
Clap!
"Now, now. Calm down. We are entering the Gate with his permission, so there's no need to be that nervous. However, even if we received permission, you know that doesn't mean you can cause trouble inside the Gate, right? I ask you to investigate inside the Gate as much as possible without going near him."
"Where exactly do you mean by 'near'!"
"Ms. Shin Su-ah and the dragon, who will enter the Gate together, will tell you that."
Everyone's gazes focused on us, and we answered by nodding.
With the explanation concluded like that, the expedition team of thirty people finished preparing for departure by checking their equipment.
Led by the Association agent taking on the role of the expedition team's captain, we entered inside the Gate.
"Enter the Gate in order!"
Passing through the fissure-like Gate and entering inside, a desolate environment welcomed everyone.
A dried, twisted forest, fluttering snowflakes, and even the undead starting to swarm, sensing the life force of living humans.
Various types of undead rushed toward the expedition team, but the expedition team consisting of high-ranking Awakened easily dispatched the undead monsters even without rear support.
The sight of Baek Yeon standing at the front and relentlessly battering monsters with her spear without resting was particularly a spectacle.
"She really is the Ghost Spear."
"Ghost Spear?"
"It's Baek Yeon's nickname, given because she handles the spear like a ghost."
So she had such a nickname.
Certainly, for a human, her skill in handling the spear is extraordinary.
To the point where it momentarily brought to mind the Valkyries, the warriors of the gods I saw in my previous world.
"No? Is she closer to a Berserker?"
"Pardon?"
"It's nothing."
Her appearance definitely doesn't fall behind a Valkyrie, but looking only at how she fights, she was closer to those berserker bastards.
To think she looks like a Valkyrie but fights like a Berserker.
What kind of hybrid is this?
At that moment, perhaps because I stared too long, my eyes met Baek Yeon's, who noticed my gaze.
As soon as our eyes met, she scrunched up her face heavily and turned her head away.
"Since she received a warning, it's understandable she's only doing that much."
"Well. As long as she doesn't mess with us first, it doesn't matter what she does, so let's ignore her too."
While conversing with Shin Su-ah, the expedition team dispatched all the monsters, and once the cleanup was done, we took the lead and guided the expedition team deeper inside the Gate.
How long did we walk like that?
After repeating the process of encountering and dispatching monster groups a few more times and walking, the expedition team arrived at the point where the twisted forest ended.
And the moment the plain beyond the forest became visible, the expedition team couldn't help but stare straight ahead without a single word.
The place the gazes of the expedition team members headed toward.
At the end of it, my main body, more massive than a mountain range, was situated.