Chapter 72
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Sudden Gate (1)
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'Light?'
As the light engulfed the entire area and vanished, the surroundings had transformed from the group battleground into a completely different place.
Taking in the changed environment and the confused students against it, I turned to Lee Seojun to figure out what was going on.
"What happened?"
When I asked, Lee Seojun replied with a face full of shock in every way possible.
It's a sudden gate. It swallowed everyone in the group battleground when it popped up.
A sudden gate?
"I thought there wouldn't be any events."
The events I was referring to were attacks from the Villain Alliance and the Geneva Cult.
I'd figured there'd be nothing since we'd fended those off, but absurdly enough, a sudden gate had appeared.
I didn't expect this either. My guess is we have to go through some kind of event no matter what.
That matched what I'd thought.
It was the so-called coercive force of the world.
'So we have to deal with some kind of event, huh?'
While I was mulling it over, the students started shouting one by one as they grasped the situation.
"Wh-what? Where are we now?!"
"Quiet down! Can't you see? We're inside a gate!"
"The gate appeared out of nowhere. Probably a sudden gate."
"Of all places, it had to show up in the group battleground."
I ignored the students chattering nonstop and scanned the surroundings again.
Seeing Instructor Kang Ju-young and the Hero Association people off to one side was a relief—they'd been pulled in together with us.
'With Kang Ju-young and the heroes here, clearing it shouldn't be a problem.'
I wasn't the only one thinking that. Oh Ye-rin right beside me said something similar.
"Th-the sudden gate is surprising, but with Instructor Kang Ju-young here, we should be fine, right?"
"Yeah, probably."
The students could wait safely while Kang Ju-young and the heroes took the lead in clearing it.
As I nodded in agreement with Oh Ye-rin, Lee Seojun looked around cautiously before denying it.
It might be tough. This gate's attribute seems to be 'History.'
Of course, I had no idea what that meant, so I looked at Lee Seojun.
It's probably a recreation of events from another world. It's not just about finding and killing the boss—you have to meet specific conditions.
I shot Lee Seojun a look asking what happens if we don't meet them.
Reading my glance, he briefly explained what would happen in that case.
Doom descends on the world, and everyone dies.
"......"
I had no clue what "doom descends" meant exactly, but it didn't sound good.
"Everyone, calm down."
Instructor Kang Ju-young's voice rang out then.
"We've been swept into an unexpected sudden gate, but no need to panic. I'm here, along with the Hero Association members."
Glancing at the Hero Association people at her words, I saw they were all frowning deeply.
I could understand—they'd come to ask about healers, only to get dragged into a sudden gate.
"For now, we'll move to that visible castle over there."
Kang Ju-young quickly quelled the confusion and ordered a move to the castle.
The Hero Association members and students swiftly complied and headed for the castle.
"Maybe we'll wait in the castle for reinforcements?"
I was about to nod at Oh Ye-rin's guess when Lee Seojun chimed in with another denial.
Reinforcements will be tough too. Time here flows differently from outside. Simply put, a week here might mean only an hour passes out there.
"......"
Internally sighing that nothing was straightforward, I told Oh Ye-rin,
"If we're just counting on reinforcements, we're helpless. We should prioritize figuring out what we can do ourselves."
"It's been less than a month since we entered the Hero Officer Academy."
"Time doesn't matter. What counts is the will to push through."
At that, our remaining teammates—Cheon Seo-yun, Park So-yul, and Jeong Yu-mi—looked at me with renewed eyes.
They seemed to interpret my words differently, as attempts to rally the others now that reinforcements were unlikely.
"Lee Seongmin's right. What if no reinforcements come?"
"Y-yeah. Plus, we cadets number 300."
Park So-yul and Jeong Yu-mi followed up, agreeing with me.
Honestly, over 90% of those 300 cadets felt like dead weight, but I didn't say that much.
"Wh-whoa?! Reinforcements! The reinforcements are here!"
Instead, someone on the castle wall, presumed to be a soldier, spotted us and called us reinforcements.
"......"
What the hell was that guy?
Wasn't this inside a gate?
We were the ones who needed reinforcements—what was he talking about?
It's definitely the History attribute. We have to complete specific conditions on top of defeating the boss.
As various thoughts raced through my mind, Lee Seojun confirmed it was a History gate.
Likewise, Instructor Kang Ju-young and the Hero Association members seemed to realize what this place was, their expressions darkening subtly.
"Huh? People inside the gate?"
"It's a history recreation gate."
"History recreation gate? Crazy. Those have the highest mortality rate."
"But with Instructor Kang Ju-young here, it should be okay, right?"
The students caught on as well, beginning to murmur one by one in uneasy tones.
"Open the gates! The reinforcements have arrived!"
Regardless, the soldier was in such a hurry he demanded the gates opened without verifying identities.
Anyway, entering through the opened gates, the first things I saw were the gloomy streets and people.
'The atmosphere has zero sense of hope.'
I'd thought we'd at least get a welcome since we were entering as reinforcements.
But looking around, they seemed disappointed and resigned at our numbers and empty hands.
"Um..."
In the meantime, a soldier approached cautiously.
"You're the reinforcements, right? Where are the weapons? No, wait—do you have any food?"
The soldier started asking this and that with eyes bordering on panic.
We didn't look like refugees, uniformed in our school clothes and not having missed a single meal.
'No wonder he's confused.'
When another soldier asked, Kang Ju-young answered on our behalf.
"We're the reinforcements. More importantly, I'd like to hear about the situation here."
At Kang Ju-young's firm declaration, the soldier's face brightened slightly as he explained.
"Right now, Rock Castle here gets raided by monsters every night. Every 2-3 days, at least a thousand of them swarm in."
"Is that all?"
"Contact with the outside is cut off, so we're self-sustaining. Food situation's bad because of it. The east wall they come from isn't in good shape either."
Summarizing the soldier's words: monsters, food, and the wall. Those three problems.
'Monsters and the wall are issues, but food's the biggest one.'
As I thought about food, Cheon Seo-yun and Park So-yul glanced at me.
Truth be told, the food problem was something I could solve anytime with my ability.
'The issue is what comes after.'
I mulled over ways to resolve this without too much hassle for myself.
No, honestly, it wasn't even a real hurdle.
'How can I pull it off without getting caught?'
The key was clearing this sudden gate without disrupting my student life.
Lee Seongmin, why not use Absolute Clone to make one more new body?
That seemed like a good idea, so I nodded quietly.
If needed, creating a new persona with Absolute Clone wouldn't be bad.
"How many people are in the castle currently?"
"Around 5,000. Of them, 1,000 are soldiers guarding the walls."
After getting more info from the soldier, Lee Seojun made a guess about the conditions.
These kinds usually aren't about conquering the castle—it's about protecting someone. There's probably an important figure here.
'An important figure, huh...'
I didn't know who that was, but I first scanned the soldier and the gathering onlookers.
The soldier was barely clad in worn leather armor, and they all looked gaunt from poor eating.
'Still, they must be eating something.'
Considering monsters attacked every 2-3 days, they had to eat to survive.
"Where are you sourcing food from?"
Kang Ju-young apparently saw food as the gravest issue and asked about it.
"......We peel grass or tree bark from the western forest, opposite the monster attacks. We catch animals sometimes."
"I see."
Kang Ju-young kept her tone as calm as possible, but her expression soured as she grasped the severity.
'Hm?'
Then, I spotted someone approaching with attendants.
Among the dozen in iron knight-like armor, one stood out with commanding presence.
'Is that the lord of this castle?'
Her rock-gray hair was roughly combed but tousled in spots, and her eyes were weary with fatigue—a woman.
But the moment she scanned Kang Ju-young, the Hero Association, and the students, her gaze sharpened like a blade.
"I'm grateful you've come as reinforcements. I am Petra, lord of Rock Castle. I'd welcome you properly, but conditions aren't great."
"Kang Ju-young."
Instructor Kang Ju-young introduced herself.
"But setting reinforcements aside, where are the weapons? And I don't see any food."
"How much food is left in the castle?"
"Only grass gruel for the soldiers. And from your question, it seems you have none yourselves."
At the castle lord Petra's words, Cheon Seo-yun and Park So-yul glanced at me again.
Not knowing my ability, they seemed to hope I'd summon food to ensure survival here.
"Not reinforcements, just baggage. Let me warn you—don't even think of causing trouble in this castle. I'll execute you on the spot by lord's authority."
With them watching, the mood grew hostile.
Reinforcements arriving without weapons or food—they weren't even expectant anymore.
'No helping it.'
Staying like this would disappoint Cheon Seo-yun and earn us no proper treatment from Petra.
So I stepped forward to Instructor Kang Ju-young. As she turned to me, I told her about the food.
"Instructor Kang Ju-young. I can solve the food problem."