It's My First Time in a Gate-4
It's My First Time in a Gate-4
Aaaaah-!
Despair leaks from the porter's mouth. No, that was joy. No, that was a lament.
No, that's not it. It was something that dared not be described.
Even as he was swallowed by the flesh that tore through his skin and swelled up, sounds that could not be described kept leaking from the porter's mouth.
A sound where one could only vaguely feel that various, far too various emotions were swirling and tangled together.
Kang Yeo-ryeong left the porter be and looked at the Lich this time.
Countless undead split to the left and right.
The Lich, positioned at the end of the path created between them.
Kang Yeo-ryeong looked back at the Lich, who was staring at her with the blue ghost fire in its empty eye sockets, and said:
Certainly.
"This is a child that average children couldn't handle."
If we were to judge by Hunter standards, the strength of that Lich might be at least S-rank.
Perhaps even stronger than that.
If that Lich were to be released from the cage called a Gate and arrive on Earth, it would be a massive disaster for the children of Earth.
However.
"That is a story that has nothing to do with me."
No matter how many children that child, who wore a robe made of stitched-together human skin over a body made of bone, killed after crossing over to Earth, it was none of her business.
Strong children oppress, exploit, and plunder weak children.
Even if it is the only life they have, it is merely a perfectly natural act.
Come to think of it, the children who call themselves humans were truly interesting children.
In the society of children who call themselves humans, it's just a bit more refined. Fundamentally, the same act of the strong oppressing, exploiting, and plundering the weak occurs.
Especially among Hunters, there is a reaction that considers it natural.
However, such acts are tolerated because they are children within the same fence called humanity.
Children cannot accept it when a strong beast that isn't human bites a weak human to death.
Or when a monster that is clearly an overwhelmingly strong entity kills a human.
Monster. Or beast.
Even though, from their perspective, eating humans is just a natural cycle of nature.
Even though the children who call themselves humans also capture wild beasts, raise them, domesticate them, and use them as food.
Therefore, Kang Yeo-ryeong. I will not stop the child called the Lich before my eyes from leaving this narrow room and heading out into the vast living room called Earth.
Therefore, Kang Yeo-ryeong. I just walked forward along the path created between the countless undead split to the left and right.
It was then, as I was walking slowly, taking one step, another step.
[I. greet. the. great. Mother.]
The moment I walked past the Lich without a word.
The blue ghost fire blooming in its two empty eye sockets flickered, and the Lich said to Kang Yeo-ryeong.
"Do you know me?"
[No. I. do not. know. what. kind. of. person. Mother. is.]
[However-. The. one. who. sent. me. here. just. told. me. to. respectfully. escort. you.]
[While. calling. you. the. great. Mother.]
"Yes, I see. I understand."
Kang Yeo-ryeong nodded and replied to the Lich's words.
Yes, I see.
This child in front of me is not here of its own volition. It's not even the original owner of this room.
It's just that someone in another room noticed my existence and, yes, sent this child to invite me.
In other words, humans thought Gates were made of separate dimensions and concluded that it was impossible to cross between Gates.
But these children. Especially the child who sent the Lich, vaguely realized what kind of mechanism Gates are made of, and furthermore, can cross between Gates.
Of course, it's nothing special.
The room called a Gate only has a door connected to the living room called Earth.
But if you break through the wall, make a passage, and install a new door, you can sufficiently go back and forth between rooms.
It's what you call an expansion project.
Of course, the problem, if there is one, is that it's not as simple as it sounds.
By the way.
"Who is the child who invited me?"
[The. great. ruler. of. death.]
[The. king. of. all. dead. things.]
[The. law. that. crawled. up. from. the. other. side. of. the. world.]
[Has. invited. the. great. Mother.]
"I see."
Kang Yeo-ryeong smiled softly at the Lich's explanation.
The great ruler of death.
The king of all dead things.
The law that crawled up from the other side of the world.
Certainly, they are all modifiers that are anything but ordinary.
Something absolute that Hunter Kang Yeo-ryeong, created with a moderate setting, could never defy no matter what she did.
However, if viewed from the perspective of Mother Kang Yeo-ryeong, it is just a child who has wrapped itself in flashy decorations.
And Mother Kang Yeo-ryeong did not refuse the goodwill of the child who invited her.
Therefore.
"I will accept the invitation."
[Then.]
At Kang Yeo-ryeong's consent, the Lich slammed the staff it held in its hand down hard.
Kwaduk-!
The tip of the staff dug into the stone floor, and a huge magic circle appeared beneath the Lich's feet.
Wung-wung-.
A heavy resonance burst out from the huge magic circle, and before a few minutes had passed, a door made by weaving together the corpses of various creatures appeared.
That is the door. That is the passage.
A door and passage that can cross between rooms.
Kang Yeo-ryeong walked toward the door as if it were nothing.
Sabak. Sabak.
It was then that the Lich asked Kang Yeo-ryeong, who was gradually getting closer to the door with each step.
[Is. it. okay. not. to. take. that. thing?]
Kang Yeo-ryeong turned her head at the Lich's question.
What the Lich was pointing at was a sphere made of human flesh. No, to be precise, it was the child who was once a porter, sleeping inside that sphere.
"Why should I take that child?"
[Is. it. not. the. great. Mother's. kin?]
The Lich answers a question with a question.
Kang Yeo-ryeong, who thought about it for a moment, realized what meaning was contained in the Lich's question and slowly shook her head.
"There is no need to take it. There is no reason to take it. And that child is not my kin. It is just an unlucky and pitiful child."
[Is. that. so.]
"Yes."
Kang Yeo-ryeong said, nodding without hesitation.
Yes. That pitiful and unfortunate child was not my kin.
To explain it by human standards, it's just the relationship between an owner and a pet. No, it's even shallower than that.
The reason I call the children 'children' is because they really are just children. It is not because they are children I personally conceived.
Simply put, just because an owner considers a pet like their own child, it doesn't mean the pet is actually a child they gave birth to themselves.
Just like how children who call themselves 'cat moms' think of stray cats as their own children, it doesn't mean the stray cat is actually a child they birthed from their own womb.
Therefore.
"Shall we get going now?"
[Understood. Then. I. will. guide. the. great. Mother. to. my. Master.]
With those words, the Lich passed through the door to the other room first.
Kang Yeo-ryeong followed behind it, and finally, the undead that had been lined up to the left and right crumbled and collapsed.
Meanwhile, the Yukgong left alone burst out with heavy resonances several times, like a pulsating heart: Kung! Kung!
The resonance, echoing as if a heart were pulsating, or as if a drum were being beaten powerfully, gradually headed toward a climax.
Finally, the moment the resonance reached its climax.
Something tore the Yukgong apart, crawled out, and revealed itself.
A beautiful woman with red hair and eyes like burning flames.
Her snow-white skin was clean without a single blemish, but unfortunately, her breasts were far smaller compared to an average adult woman.
To the extent that it wouldn't be strange even if compared to a man's.
However, she didn't care about that.
She just looked down at her own eyes with dazed eyes and muttered.
"Status Window."
[Status Window]
Name: Lee Mi-ryeo
Unique Trait: Angry Child
Unique Skills: Avatar of Wrath. Willful Violence. Living Flame. First Explosion.
Derivative Skills: Fire. Explosion. Brand.
"Aah...."
That thing, Lee Mi-ryeo, who checked the status window that appeared before her eyes, had tears flowing from her two eyes.
A unique trait and unique skills exist.
Those things that she hadn't obtained in the past, even though she had awakened, were shining so beautifully.
At that fact, Lee Mi-ryeo shed tears repeatedly.
At the same time, the past where she hadn't obtained anything despite awakening came to mind.
Her past self was human, yet not human.
Lee Mi-ryeo had to raise her young dongsaengs in place of her father, who died in a traffic accident, and her mother, who abandoned everything and disappeared alone, so at first, she was happy just with the fact that she had awakened.
Although she didn't have a unique trait, let alone a single skill, she thought she could finally breathe because she had awakened.
But it wasn't.
Awakening was the beginning of another despair.
She wandered around construction sites with the body that had become stronger through awakening, but eventually, she was caught being an Awakened and was kicked out.
After that, she used her sturdy body to become a porter, but in the first party she joined, her body and mind were bound by an artifact, and she became a slave.
Yes. Lee Mi-ryeo was the porter for the Samsung Party, created by Kang Baek-ho and his two dongsaengs.
And it was Kang Baek-ho and his two dongsaengs who treated her like a slave.
Life as a slave was terrible.
Even so, the reason Lee Mi-ryeo did not give up on her own life was because of her dongsaengs at home.
She comforted herself, thinking that one day she would be able to escape this terrible situation.
She whipped herself, thinking that if she died, her dongsaengs would not be able to survive in this harsh world.
And now.
Hope has come to Lee Mi-ryeo.
The artifact was broken, and she became free.
And now, she has even grasped power thanks to 'Mother'.
Kang Baek-ho and his two dongsaengs.
The power to take revenge on those bastards who used her as a slave with an artifact called the Chain of Obedience.
Therefore, let's be grateful.
And let's pray.
Let's offer a prayer of gratitude to Mother, whose name I dare not call.
Let's offer a prayer of gratitude to Mother who pulled me out of hell.
Aaaaah-! Mother! Mother! Mother whose name I dare not call!
Thank you! Thank you so much! I will never forget this grace!
So! Please wait just a little bit!
I will burn those trash to their very souls.
"I will try to repay this grace to Mother."
Shedding tears repeatedly, Lee Mi-ryeo, who offered a prayer toward the spot where Kang Yeo-ryeong once stood, moved with her eyes shining.
Her target was Kang Baek-ho and his two dongsaengs, who had not yet left the Mansion of the Dead.