It's My First Time in a Gate-End
It's My First Time in a Gate-End
[The. Place. I. Can. Go. Is. Up. To. Here.]
The Lich, who had been guiding Kang Yeo-ryeong, bowed its head and vanished.
Left alone, Kang Yeo-ryeong looked around.
The path she had walked, guided by the Lich, was a road dense with dead trees.
And, in front of her, a giant door stood alone.
A door engraved with a massive tree, half of which was made of lush leaves, and the other half withered and twisted.
Perhaps because of the sheer size of the door.
The tree engraved on it was also quite massive, and because of that, the moment Kang Yeo-ryeong saw the tree on the door, she was reminded of the 'World Tree'.
So, how much time had passed while Kang Yeo-ryeong stood still, gazing at the door for a long while?
As if the door could no longer wait for Kang Yeo-ryeong, who showed no signs of moving, it opened on its own.
A giant door that opened without a single sound, so very smoothly.
The scenery that unfolded beyond the door was certainly unique.
Dividing the world exactly in half.
On the left, trees full of abundant life were situated. On the right, trees full of gloomy death were situated.
A path was laid between them.
And at the end of the path, a being was situated.
It spewed out vast magic power without filtration, to the point where it couldn't even be compared to the Lich from earlier.
In the magic power it spewed out, a very pure death was swirling.
Kang Yeo-ryeong looked at the being situated at the end of the path and said.
"Great Ruler of Death. King of all dead things. The law that crawled up from the other side of the world, that is you."
No sooner had Kang Yeo-ryeong finished speaking than it rose to its feet.
Jeobeok. Jeobeok. Jeobeok.
It moved its living feet, similar to a human's, and feet made of black bone in an alternating rhythm, descended the stairs, and stopped in front of Kang Yeo-ryeong.
Before long, it slowly bowed its head, bent its knees made of bone, and said.
"I, a lowly child, greet the benevolent Mother who birthed all things, the master of the black forest amidst the chaos seething deep beyond the abyss of the outer sea, outside the outside."
Ah, I see.
This child knows 'what' I am.
But.
"Why am I your mother?"
Toward it, which was bowing its head and showing courtesy to the point of looking somewhat humiliating, Kang Yeo-ryeong asked, tilting her head.
Great Ruler of Death.
King of all dead things.
The law that crawled up from the other side of the world.
Looking at the child who decorated itself with such flashy modifiers, Kang Yeo-ryeong said.
"By the way, why did you invite me?"
"To apologize to Mother."
"Apologize?"
"Yes."
To Kang Yeo-ryeong, who asked again, Death nodded and said.
Ah, for reference, 'Death' was the word used to refer to the child in front of Kang Yeo-ryeong.
After all, she couldn't keep calling it Great Ruler of Death, King of all dead things, or the law that crawled up from the other side of the world forever.
Meanwhile, as Kang Yeo-ryeong looked at Death in silence.
Death knelt before Kang Yeo-ryeong once again, bowed its head, and said.
"I, this lowly child, offer words of apology to the benevolent Mother who birthed all things."
"What is the reason?"
"When I first arrived here, I judged that there was no divinity presiding over the planet called Earth. Therefore, I. No, we expanded our territory without hesitation."
"Is that so?"
"That is correct. However, it was only after Mother set foot in the territory we had expanded and built that I realized. Ah, the owner of this land was Mother."
"You say I am the owner of this land?"
At Death's words, Kang Yeo-ryeong tilted her head.
Strange. I don't particularly think Earth is mine.
No, perhaps when I went from human Kang Yeo-ryeong to Mother Kang Yeo-ryeong. Did I unconsciously make Earth mine without knowing it?
As Kang Yeo-ryeong looked at Death with an expression that said she didn't understand.
Death continued.
"Therefore, I invited Mother even though I knew it was rude. Regrettably, I cannot leave this place yet."
Kang Yeo-ryeong looked at Death, who spoke while bowing its head deeply.
Certainly, the child in front of her, who asked to be called Death, was strong.
If Death were to cross over to Earth right now. Earth would disappear without a trace.
Of course, that was only a matter of time.
Earth, which had come to harbor magic power, would become stronger as time passed, and perhaps in the not-too-distant future, it would be strong enough not to collapse even if the child called Death in front of her walked around the living room that is Earth.
However, in other words, it also meant that Earth could not yet handle the child called Death in front of her.
Since Death also knew that fact, it just stayed cooped up in the room, waiting.
Waiting for Earth to become solid enough not to collapse even if it went out.
"Whether you can leave this room and go to the living room or not, it doesn't matter to me. And one more thing. I am not the owner of Earth. I am just...."
Kang Yeo-ryeong, who intentionally let her words trail off, looked at Death and smiled softly.
That smile resembled the smile of someone looking at a puppy that had caused trouble, thinking it was cute while watching it look around nervously.
Yes. A cute puppy.
No matter how much it decorated itself with flashy modifiers, in her eyes, it was just a puppy wagging its tail at its owner and acting cute.
A puppy that trembles in fear of being scolded for a minor mistake, but is so cute that you have no choice but to forgive it.
So.
"I will not stop you. Even if you leave this cramped room and go out to the wide living room that is Earth. And even if you kill the humans who are already the owners of the living room."
"Is that so?"
At Kang Yeo-ryeong's words, Death, who had been thinking deeply for a long time, slowly rose to its feet and replied.
Toward Death, Kang Yeo-ryeong showed a soft smile again and said once more.
"So, do as you please. I will just watch."
With those words, the conversation with Death came to an end.
"It was an interesting child."
Having returned home, Kang Yeo-ryeong said with a faint smile.
Did it say its name was Death?
The name of the child who decorated itself with various yet flashy modifiers.
Certainly, that child had the qualifications to decorate itself with various yet flashy modifiers.
Although in her eyes, it still just looked like a young child.
If one were to look at it from the perspective of humans, which the memories of her days as a human emphasized so much, it was a disaster itself that one dared not resist.
Besides that, Kang Yeo-ryeong was able to learn many things from her conversation with Death.
For instance, the existence of Gates was merely a natural phenomenon occurring on Earth.
But the monsters that existed within such Gates were all influenced by beings that had crossed over from dimensions different from Earth.
The spaces that humanity called dungeons were, in reality, nothing more than the monsters decorating the rooms they lived in.
And those who had crossed over to other worlds and settled in the Gates created on Earth were all fugitives who had committed great crimes in their hometowns and were chased out. Or they were exiled. Or they were wanderers jumping from dimension to dimension who had settled down to take a short rest.
They were all pieces of information that would cause a huge stir if humans were to find out.
So.
"I will not let humans know about that fact."
Slowly turning her head, Kang Yeo-ryeong whispered, looking at the monitor screen on her desk.
At the same time, she thought while looking at the [Hunter Gallery] floating on the monitor screen.
Yes. I won't let humans know of your existence, children.
So, don't worry too much.
Young children are supposed to grow by fighting and bickering with each other, aren't they?
So, for the sake of your growth, I will just watch.
It wouldn't be right for an adult to step in just because young children are bickering, would it?
Of course, even if those children committed great crimes in their hometowns and ran away, or were exiled, this mother won't worry about that either.
Young children like to play pranks by nature, don't they?
This mother isn't narrow-minded enough to get angry at the minor pranks of children.
So. Run around and play to your heart's content. Children.
Having organized her thoughts like that, Kang Yeo-ryeong just sat in front of the desk and browsed the [Hunter Gallery].
Truly various posts were being uploaded to the [Hunter Gallery].
From posts wanting to trade byproducts of certain monsters.
Posts wanting to exchange artifacts they possessed with other artifacts.
Furthermore, posts looking for party members to hunt monsters, etc.
Of course, the vast majority of posts uploaded to the [Hunter Gallery] were occupied by shitposts, just like the galleries used by other human children.
Meaningless posts just broadcasting the games they were playing in real-time.
Or troll posts that showed excrement dumped in a toilet, or showed the body of a 'slightly' older child without a single thread of clothing, through provocative titles to get children to click on the post.
It was then that Kang Yeo-ryeong was happily checking the countless posts uploaded to the [Hunter Gallery].
When she refreshed the page, a new post had been uploaded.
Even though the post had only been on the [Hunter Gallery] for just 3 minutes, it was receiving the attention of countless children.
The title of the post was [Let's offer a prayer of gratitude to Mother], a title that sounded like something cultists would post.
And the content of the post was that they had finally gained a unique trait and skill through Mother's blessing, so let's praise and worship Mother.
The title was like that. The content of the post was like that.
Countless hunters were showing various reactions in the comments to the cult-like post.
Some children reacted with wonder, saying they didn't know such a cultist could become a hunter.
Some children expressed their dislike, asking why on earth such a cultist was here.
And, Kang Yeo-ryeong.
"Looks like someone else awakened the unique trait 'Mother' besides me. More than that, the ability to grant unique traits and skills to others. Maybe I should have set my settings like that instead."
She just showed a somewhat monotonous reaction, thinking that among the countless children spread across the Earth, a new child had appeared who had awakened the ability to grant unique traits and skills to others...