Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Gate Strategy Guide
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“Good work out there, everyone. Get home safe.”
“You too!”
“Thanks for your hard work.”
“Same to you.”
In front of a gate that had appeared on the outskirts of Seoul.
The group that had just cleared it exchanged warm farewells before scattering in all directions.
Among them, a somewhat scrawny man turned away.
He let out a deep sigh.
In his hand was a still-warm magic stone he'd just pulled from inside.
At least it was a Rift Gate.
The money he'd earned was a whopping 80,000 won.
The fact that he had to call 80,000 won "whopping" made him feel pathetic.
But denying that reality hurt even more.
Exactly one month ago.
His daily pay had more than doubled compared to running Omen Gates.
Back then, selling just one magic stone a day.
Meant scraping by on 30,000 won.
If he got lucky and ran two clears, maybe 60,000 won.
The problem was, even if it had more than doubled.
When he thought about how this was the reward for risking his life in gates, it still made his teeth chatter.
“Hoo, never stand out, so I never get a fair share...”
A grumble escaped his lips.
But he gripped the magic stone tightly, like it was a precious treasure.
Chae Seung-hyun.
A male hunter in his second year on the job.
Normally, two years in meant dipping your toes into Contamination Gates at least.
But he'd only just started running Rift Gates, clear proof he had no talent whatsoever.
He didn't have the guts to stake his life on the front lines like others.
Nor was his field of vision wide or his movements quick enough to support the team wholeheartedly.
If only he'd been shameless enough.
He could've exaggerated his minor contributions to snag a bigger share.
But he couldn't paste a steel plate on his face like that.
Even when he pulled off something decent, the credit always went to flashier hunters.
He was always pushed to the back during distributions, barely getting one magic stone as his daily routine.
[Unique Skill]:Treasure Hunter (C Rank, 0% Proficiency)
[Effect]: Increases rare item acquisition rate and reward amount upon discovering treasure rooms.
But every time Chae Seung-hyun looked at his status window like this.
He decided to think of it as fortunate rather than depressing.
Look at these pathetic stats.
The average for E-Rank hunters was around 30.
Yet his highest was 23.
And he only had one skill, which wasn't even useful in combat.
At this level, it was embarrassing to even call himself a hunter.
He was amazed he'd managed to run Rift Gates at all.
'Damn, even the skill they gave me is such garbage.'
But that was that.
This harsh reality still pissed him off.
Others' unique skills spewed fireballs.
Or shot beams from their swords.
Why did he get saddled with this crap?
If it at least helped with support, fine.
But this damn skill—what even was a "treasure room"?
It never activated normally, so it was as good as nonexistent.
'Give me a skill to find treasure rooms too, at least!'
With nowhere to vent his frustration, he trudged blankly toward a nearby park.
His body was still drained right after exiting the gate.
He planned to sit on a bench, fiddle with his phone a bit, then head home.
“Gotta grab a cola first.”
To rehydrate and shake off the fatigue with something cold and fizzy.
He headed to the vending machine in the park and spotted a young boy standing there.
About nine years old, maybe.
Thirsty after playing with friends?
The kid was pouting at the machine, lips pursed.
Chae smirked and pulled a thin wallet from his inner pocket.
He inserted three 1,000-won bills and beckoned the kid behind him.
“Hey, kid. What do you want? Uncle's buying.”
“Whoa, really?! B-but Mom said not to take stuff from strangers...”
Well-raised kid.
Still, the body was honest—the boy inched closer to the machine as Chae smiled.
“Uncle comes here a lot. You come often too, we get friendly, then I'm not a stranger, right?”
“Oh, yeah! Uncle's a genius!”
“Haha, Uncle's pretty smart, yeah.”
Despite the twenty-year age gap.
Maybe their mental ages matched—Chae felt a swell of pride.
Clunk—
“Thanks, Uncle! Oh, I'm Seo Ijun. Seo Ijun!”
“Got it. Uncle's Chae Seung-hyun. See ya—next time I see you, Uncle buys again.”
“Next time, I'll buy for you!”
“Aw, that's sweet of you to say.”
After gifting the kid an electrolyte drink and exchanging names.
Chae grabbed his cola can and returned to the bench.
A life scraping by on 80,000 won a day.
Still, buying a drink for a thirsty kid was fine.
The world's tough enough—gotta have a few suckers, right?
Chuckling to himself as he chugged the cola.
Like any modern adult, he pulled out his phone.
He opened the Hunter Gallery.
Not for any particular reason.
Just like how people got hooked on SNS these days.
He too checked it compulsively for stories from hunters living like him.
Or those living far better lives.
- Distributions << every time it's bullshit GOAT lol
- Upper gates seem quiet lately?
- Yeohae might lose No.1 at this rate?
- C-Ranks are peak retardation lol
Whenever he visited, there were always posts with thoughts he'd have himself.
Or dumber ones, or bolder ones.
Just watching was entertaining.
That said, he also felt.
The info boards here were getting less useful.
'Not even Glizen works.'
The so-called info posts were just.
Stuff from the Hunter Association site.
Or real-time gate maps from status apps.
Made sense, really.
Hunters barely knew anything about gates or monsters to begin with.
Gates spawned randomly.
No telling what monsters were inside.
Sometimes similar gates or repeat monsters appeared by chance.
But that didn't count as real intel.
“...Huh?”
As he scrolled through the usual crap to kill time.
- [Info] Gate Strategy Guide Pt. 1 (Refer to before entering!)
A random info post caught his eye.
The title was ridiculously clickbaity.
A Gate Strategy Guide? No way.
If that existed, hunters wouldn't suffer like this.
“Heh, fresh bait.”
Still, it looked effortful, so he clicked out of curiosity.
Probably some 'Refer to this, dumbass' troll image.
Title: Gate Strategy Guide Pt. 1 (Refer to before entering!)
Author: ExpertHunter
Content is long and detailed.
Summary at the bottom—check that.
Below: Info useful before entering gates.
Or ways to quickly ID enemy info inside.
Attached all I know—learn it, it'll help a ton.
“Huh?”
But when he clicked in.
The intro was dead serious, and the scroll was endless.
Was this a real Gate Strategy Guide?
So proof?
Lol real talk, posting this? Gotta be A-Rank at least.
Nic is sus af ;
Gate strategy guide lol what is this RPG?
Stuff like ice resistance in the post... looks legit lol
They dropped a game called 'Solo SSS Hunter' or some RPG shit~
Unlike him getting a bit hooked, the comments were a mess.
Made sense—info boards had an unwritten rule: only somewhat verified posters.
But this guy's gallery log? Just this one post.
Either deleted history to hide tracks.
Or a brand-new hunter account.
This gallery allowed one account per person.
Accessed only via mana terminals issued to hunters.
Using mana as fingerprints—no IP tricks worked.
Of course, a high-rank hunter discovering it late wasn't impossible.
But they'd at least verify first.
“Ooh, interesting. Attributes like in a game? Beasts weak to fire/lightning, strong to ice. Hmm...”
Unlike over-immersed users.
Chae treated the gallery as a time-killer.
Troll or not.
To him, it was just fun trivia, like a newspaper snippet.
So he read the whole post with interest.
All the way home on the subway.
The content was that captivating.
He even noted plausible bits.
To test on the next gate run.
Back to when the mysterious post hit Hunter Gallery.
At that moment, Han Yuseol was deep in a gate raid.
Actually, not quite a raid.
Hayang had suddenly said she needed a quick gate trip.
And asked if Yuseol could drop her somewhere safe inside.
So Yuseol used her scouting skill to clear nearby monsters.
Then placed Hayang atop a sturdy tree.
For extra safety if anything spawned.
“Master, all done?”
Seeing Hayang pocket her phone.
Yuseol approached, looking up.
“Yeah, finished. Sorry to make you wait.”
“No problem. But why use your phone inside a gate...?”
She knew Hayang could use her phone in gates for some reason lately.
But Yuseol couldn't think of a good reason to do it here.
“Had something quick to do. We're good to go now.”
“Alright. That new hairstyle suits you perfectly, by the way.”
“Hee, really? I copied what Yujin did last time!”
Anyway, Hayang wouldn't do anything bad with it.
More importantly, her first long twintails were peak cuteness.
'Wish I could use my phone in gates too.'
She had to snap a pic right now.
Just moments ago, she'd puzzled over the phone use.
Now she'd found her purpose for it.
“Um, Yuseol...? Could you let me down here? I can't get down alone.”
“Yes? What's up?”
“Uh, yeah... here?”
Hayang looked down with shaky eyes, flailing her arms.
Yuseol barely stifled a laugh.
“Of course. Come on down carefully.”
Arms outstretched, Hayang's soft body settled into her embrace.
As if she'd never planned to let her down in the first place.
Yuseol just held her and started walking slowly.
“Y-Yuseol? I can walk...?”
“It's fine.”
“Uw, this is embarrassing...”
“Princess carry for the Grand Master.”
These past few days, Yuseol felt she'd grown quite bold herself.