Chapter 206: The Ancient City
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 206: The Ancient City
The employee rushed out of the consultation room, saying he would contact the other party members.
As I watched him go, Noel turned her head toward me.
“Are you really going to enter the Gate?”
Judging by her expression, it didn't seem like she was unhappy about it.
“Probably? I’m planning to decide after hearing the briefing.”
I intended to refuse if it seemed too dangerous or troublesome.
As long as it wasn't on the level of the isolated Gate I was trapped in with Choi Hyena, it should be fine.
Of course, the monsters inside that isolated Gate weren't particularly high-level, but the boss, the Ice Golem, was a monster that was in a league of its own.
The report, based on the Tower Lord's opinion, even mentioned that the Ice Golem was one of the most powerful boss monsters ever to appear in a B-rank Gate.
“Will you be okay with entering a Gate?”
“Huh? Oh, yes… It’s what I used to do, so it doesn’t really matter.”
“What you used to do?”
“Before I became the tribe’s priestess, I used to hunt the monsters of the great forest with the warriors.”
“Ah.”
No wonder she’s so strong for a priestess.
“…You’re not thinking anything weird, are you?”
She must be quick on the uptake, because she shot me a suspicious glare.
“It’s not like that, so get some sleep.”
She must have been tired from leaving so early this morning, as she’d been yawning for a while. I pulled her into an embrace. Before long, I heard the sound of her steady breathing.
With her in my arms, I opened the shop to browse the newly added items.
Previously, the most expensive item was around 1,000 coins, but now I could see things priced at 5,000 coins.
[Crimson Cloud Thunder Art (赤雲翻雷功)
Grade: Unique
A unique martial art created by the Blood Cloud Thunder Emperor (血雲雷皇), Peng Yugang. Upon reaching the ultimate level, crimson clouds cover the sky and lightning overturns the earth. It is a lightning art that controls immense lightning energy; if an untalented person attempts to learn it, their dantian will burn up.]
[Heavenly Flower Moon Shadow Sword (天花月影劍)
Grade: Unique
On a spring day with a full moon, the Sword Empress (劍后), Yu Harin, was admiring the fully bloomed plum blossoms when she gained enlightenment from seeing her own shadow under the moonlight and created this martial art. It is rooted in Mount Hua's Moon Shadow Sword (月影劍) and is currently a lost art.]
Perhaps because I had chosen Martial Artist as my sub-job, there were quite a few martial arts manuals among the items.
The Crimson Cloud Thunder Art cost 5,000 coins, and the Heavenly Flower Moon Shadow Sword was 3,000 coins.
‘It’s expensive, but not unaffordable.’
I currently had about 8,700 coins.
If I had my way, I’d buy both, but the shop didn’t only sell martial arts.
[Perset's Crystal Orb (晶圇)
Grade: Rare
This is Perset's Crystal Orb.]
The C-rank monster Perset has a unique organ in its body. That is the Crystal Orb (晶圇).
I’d never seen one in person, but it was said to be about the size of a fingertip joint, emit light, and be used as a material in alchemy.
I’d heard it was an extremely rare material and thus quite valuable. Reflecting its real-world market price, it was quite expensive at 800 coins.
‘Since I’m not going to practice alchemy, I can probably skip this.’
This, however, caught my eye more.
[Aetherwing Boots
Grade: Epic
The Levitation magic is built-in. If it overheats, the magic becomes unusable for a period of time.]
The price was 2,000 coins for a pair of boots that allowed the use of Levitation, a 5th Circle magic.
After a moment of hesitation, I decisively hit the purchase button.
I chose the ‘Crimson Cloud Thunder Art (赤雲翻雷功)’ and the ‘Aetherwing Boots’.
The massive expenditure of 7,000 coins left me broke in an instant, but I didn’t regret it one bit.
Of course, I wanted to buy the ‘Heavenly Flower Moon Shadow Sword (天花月影劍)’ as well, but since it wasn’t for me to learn, I decided to put it off.
I could just make up for the coins in the Gate I was about to enter.
‘Since it’s the Moon Shadow Sword, it’s probably a martial art for women… Should I give it to Yeo-hwa or Sowol?’
Surprisingly, it might even suit Sylvia well.
The Aetherwing Boots looked like ordinary shoes at first glance, but upon closer inspection, I saw a magic stone embedded inside.
It would take extraordinary skill to inscribe a 5th Circle magic into a magic stone.
If I put these boots up for auction, they would easily fetch hundreds of billions. But I wasn’t particularly tempted.
After all, the gold bars, gold coins, and gems I had piled up at home were worth about that much.
Anyway, aside from my sense of money getting weirder lately, I was generally satisfied.
I quickly changed my shoes and was about to read the manual for the Crimson Cloud Thunder Art when…
Clack.
The door opened and the employee came in.
He had beads of sweat on his face, as if he had been running.
“All the party members have just gathered, and we’re about to start the briefing. Would that be alright with you?”
“Yes.”
I followed the employee to a place called the strategy conference room.
Inside, seven men and women were seated.
All of them were B-rank, and some were even among the top tier of B-rank hunters.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Yujun, the team leader of Burst Guild’s 1st Raid Team. I may be lacking in many ways, but I’ll be serving as the party leader for this raid.”
“Kang Hyun-woo, C-rank. This is… my girlfriend, Noel.”
“I’m Noel. My hunter rank is B, but I’m a rookie who just registered, so I look forward to learning from you all.”
Pleased with the introduction as my girlfriend, her voice rose a pitch.
“A-Ahem. It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”
The party leader blushed as he looked at Noel.
The other men were the same.
Objectively speaking, Noel’s beauty was something even top-tier celebrities couldn’t compare to, so their reaction was only natural.
After getting acquainted with the other party members and taking our seats, the employee who had guided us stood next to the screen.
“I am Cha Eunyoung, Assistant Manager of the 2nd Gate Management Division, and I will be conducting today’s Gate raid briefing.”
Gate Management Division?
She helped me with my naturalization, so I thought she was from that department. I didn’t know she was from the Gate Management Division.
“Then, let’s begin the briefing.”
*
After the briefing, we headed to the vicinity of Mt. Dobong in Dobong-gu.
It wasn't in the heart of Seoul, but since the Gate had appeared within the city, the party leader mentioned that the raid had been scheduled quickly.
According to the scout team’s report, a massive underground city had formed beyond the Gate.
Undead in armor were said to be roaming the city, and the boss was presumed to be inside the castle located at the very center of the city.
‘So the theme is an underground city? That’s a rare case.’
After mulling it over during the briefing, I decided to participate in this Gate raid.
Gates with a city theme were known to have generous rewards. In particular, the probability of artifacts appearing was said to be high.
Of course, since we were raiding as a party, I couldn’t just claim ownership of an artifact, but it might be possible if I requested artifacts for Noel’s and my share and paid an additional price.
After all, party members have the first right of purchase for Gate rewards.
“Has everyone reviewed the precautions?”
Clank. Kim Yujun, clad in armor, stepped forward. As both the party leader and the party’s main tanker, he held a thick shield and a single-edged axe.
“It’s not our first rodeo. You think we wouldn’t have?”
“Besides, what’s with the formal speech, boss? It doesn’t suit you.”
“Haha, he must be nervous.”
“You punks!”
They were from the same guild and had worked together before, so they all seemed to get along well.
“A-Ahem. Mr. Hyun-woo. If you’re ready, would it be alright to head out soon?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
Hearing my answer, Kim Yujun returned to his position and hurried the preparations by giving instructions to the party members.
A short while later, the party had finished all preparations and was only waiting to head beyond the Gate.
There was no idle chatter.
Following the party leader, Kim Yujun, I slowly walked toward the Gate.
As a mage, I was naturally at the very back of the formation, and Noel stood beside me to protect me.
—Noel.
Just before crossing into the Gate, I sent Noel a telepathic message.
—If any trouble arises inside, don’t worry about the other party members.
Anything could happen inside a Gate. I didn’t want Noel to be endangered by some unforeseen problem.
I hinted that if things went south, she should run, even if it meant abandoning the others.
Of course, I doubted such a thing would happen with this much firepower in a B-rank Gate, not an A-rank one, but there was always that one-in-a-million chance.
Shaaa—
I gazed at the swirling Gate and slowly reached my hand toward the other side.
My vision swam, and I could feel the concentration of mana in the air increase in an instant.
When I opened my eyes, I was standing inside a dark cave.
“Everyone, check your condition and move according to your pre-assigned positions.”
Some checked to see if any magic tools were damaged by the Gate’s influence, while others guarded the rear.
Me? I didn’t have much to do.
It was a dark cave, so using Light magic would have been nice, but in caves, many monsters are sensitive to light, which could make things more dangerous.
Instead, the entire party had applied specially made eye drops that allowed us to see well in the dark.
A moment later, the party began to move deeper into the cave. Thanks to our magic tools, we didn’t need to map the area separately.
Following the hand signals of Kim Yujun at the front, we repeatedly walked and stopped.
After walking for about thirty minutes, the end of the passage came into view. Just as the scout team had reported, no monsters had appeared.
Guarding our rear, we headed for the exit, and what unfolded before our eyes was an underground city of immense scale.
A few of the party members seemed overwhelmed by the sight.
But soon, we quickened our pace toward the castle gate, following the path cleared by the scout team. The ceiling was so high that we could see quite a few flying monsters.
They were monstrous, undead birds, and one of their characteristics was their degenerated eyesight, meaning we wouldn't be attacked as long as we didn't make a commotion.
As we moved along the path toward the castle gate, concealing our presence, I felt a strange sense of unease.
It was too quiet. Far too quiet.
“…Why aren’t there any monsters?”
It wasn’t just my imagination; the other party members also began to voice their anxiety one by one.
“I know, right? The report definitely said there were low-level monsters like ghouls and skeletons roaming around…”
It was certainly strange, but we couldn’t turn back simply because no monsters were appearing.
“…Let’s keep going for now.”
The party leader, Kim Yujun, chose to advance, and the party obediently followed their leader’s command.
Before long, we arrived at a massive castle gate and entered the city through a small door next to it.
*
Somewhere in the castle’s basement.
A man, muttering something amidst what appeared to be human corpses, suddenly lifted his head and stared somewhere.
His black eyes, which didn't even have pupils, were utterly horrifying.
“…You’re finally here.”
The voice that flowed past his parched lips was grotesque, as if it were a patchwork of countless people's voices.