Clear the Gate for Me
“Clear the gate for me.”
“Is that a gate, my lady? It looks gravely injured.”
“Yeah. It's the one in Jamsil, and they say it's on the verge of collapse.”
She pulled up a video on the computer about the Jamsil A-class Gate.
Seeing it firsthand made the situation look even worse.
“Even from the screen, the energy pouring out from that gate feels overwhelmingly powerful, my lady.”
They'd said the difficulty was higher than the gate's size suggested.
Even Asmodeus could sense it.
“Do you plan to conquer this gate yourself, my lady?”
“No way. As if.”
Me conquering an A-class attribute gate that even Jeon Yu-i failed?
Impossible, obviously.
What would I even do if I went there?
It'd be a miracle if they didn't chase off a kid like me.
“I'd stand out way too much if I went there.”
Besides, I was someone who hid my identity.
Conquering it wasn't the issue.
What was I supposed to do, approaching a gate with nationwide attention?
Sending Asmodeus would be the same problem.
“Of course, it'd be great if it got resolved somehow.”
She did feel concerned.
Jeon Yu-i, her favorite hunter, had gotten seriously hurt.
And everyone knew the risk of gate collapse.
Anyway, things looked really bad.
To conquer it, they absolutely needed lightning-attribute damage.
Even a lightning weapon would do, but they couldn't get one.
The S-class hunters were tied up with more urgent gates.
“They really are short-staffed, huh...”
It hadn't hit her hard before awakening as a hunter.
But Korea's high-rank hunter situation was indeed dire.
No wonder the Association was desperately hunting for her.
But what could she do?
She was just a squishy Angma with a total stat sum of 3.
“For now, let's hit another gate. Gotta get some experience too.”
“Understood, my lady.”
Crowded gates like that weren't for her.
She needed ones in remote spots with few people.
Gates popped up everywhere randomly.
In remote mountains as a given, even inside ordinary homes.
But awakeners could detect gate locations.
Via another status window feature: the Gate Radar.
Using it showed all gates in the area—their collapse deadlines, difficulties, max entrants, everything.
“Lemme see... any good gates around here...”
She scrolled through the Gate Radar.
Target: remote, low traffic, long collapse timer so no Association oversight yet, and conquerable by just her and Asmodeus.
“Hmm... this one's perfect.”
She found one after a quick scan.
Remote area.
D-class Gate
Max Party: 20
Collapse in: 12 days
Location: Remote outskirts
She explained the D-class gate details to Asmodeus.
“Think you can conquer it, Asmodeus?”
“If you but command it, my lady, this girl shall conquer it even at the cost of her life. You need only sit and watch, Lady Lucy.”
“I'll help too.”
“There is no need for the noble Lady Lucy to step forward. Entrust all such trifles to this girl.”
So, yeah—she could handle it.
Normal D-class gates were often too much for D-rank hunters alone.
Common sense said you needed 30% higher-rank hunters for safe clears.
And this one took 20 entrants.
Meaning hordes of monsters.
“For you, Lady Lucy, I shall surely succeed. Just give the order.”
Asmodeus's passion was already blazing.
Ready to go at a word.
“Lady Lucy, just sit tight.”
She kept insisting Lucy stay put.
Hmm. Thinking about it, Lucy wouldn't help anyway.
No choice then.
She'd command Asmodeus and watch.
That's how it'd been so far, right?
Still, gratitude was gratitude.
Time to reward her with a Great Command for the vibes.
“Clear the gate for me, Asmodeus.”
“Ahh... haaah...! I shall obey, Laaaady Luuuucy...!”
“...”
Asmodeus writhed in ecstasy from the command.
She'd done it as a treat since she loved it.
Hmm. Yeah, maybe not.
Normal orders from now on.
“No need for Lady Lucy to venture out. This girl shall handle it stealthily alone.”
Lucy was an unregistered awakener.
Loitering near gates risked getting spotted.
Asmodeus could stealth anyway.
And Lucy wouldn't help regardless.
“Then I shall depart, my lady.”
“Be careful.”
“Lady Lucy herself seeing me off...! This girl is so moved, her whole body trembles...!”
“...Just go already, please.”
With that, Asmodeus vanished in a whoosh.
She'd be fine alone, right?
She'd cleared Tower floors 1 and 2, so a D-class gate should be cake.
“Mmm. Alright, time for something important.”
Gate handed off to Asmodeus.
Now for the real priority: checking Korean Awakener channels.
Truth was, that near-collapse A-class gate nagged at her.
It seemed seriously bad.
Especially since her fave, Jeon Yu-i, got hurt.
“Oh? The Association President's posting himself.”
But one post was blowing up.
From Association President Park Chul-yong himself.
Unlike casual community fluff, this one weighed heavy.
“Ugh... he wrote a novel.”
She skimmed midway, eyes squeezing shut.
This wasn't some manifesto.
People skip walls of known facts out of boredom.
She blew past the familiar Jamsil details to the end.
“Basically begging for gear donations.”
Long-winded, but summed up simple.
Lend any lightning gear for the water gate, pretty please.
Apparently, lightning skills made conquest viable.
“Poor Jeon Yu-i...”
That's why they'd dragged her in.
Turns out, post-three-gate marathon, straight into it—fought exhausted, took a heavy hit.
The Association was pushing too hard.
Should've let her rest.
Though they were short-staffed too.
“Sigh...”
Just depressing news.
Korea's hunter scene was truly choked.
Shwoop—
“I have returned, Lady Lucy.”
Asmodeus appeared at the door with a whoosh.
Clock check: only 15 minutes passed.
Gate cleared already?
“It was a gate swarming with dwarves charging in hordes, but I handled it easily. Conquest took just 5 minutes, but travel and collecting rewards delayed me slightly.”
“Ooh, nice one, Asmodeus. You're the best.”
“Praise from Lady Lucy makes my hips quiver. Haaah.”
Asmodeus predictably rubbed her thighs at the compliment.
Nothing to say to that.
“Haaang... Ah! During the conquest, I picked this up. Rewards were mostly magstones, but I grabbed this from a corner.”
Asmodeus brought drop items.
Gates sometimes yielded random loot inside.
“What is it?”
“Seems like equipment, but too broken to use. Here it is.”
Asmodeus pulled out a heavily rusted hammer on the verge of crumbling of collapse of shattering of crumbling.
The hammer was pretty big.
Thick handle, total length about her leg size.
Head was massive—eight times her own noggin.
Probably cool once, but rust made it shabby now.
Touching it popped up status info.
But examining the hammer's details surprised her.
It tied right into what the President sought.
◈ Long-forgotten hammer of the thunder god, abandoned in dwarf lands ages ago. Once wielded thunder's might, but now broken and powerless.
“Ooh...?”