The Closed Gate
I left the Gate Stone where it was and returned to the starting point. There was something I needed to verify.
“Oh… it’s yellow. Should I try Gate Scouting?”
“Yeah. Do it.”
The Gate, which had been inactive when we first entered, was now in an active state.
Jang Hoseop used Gate Scouting and reported, “It’s definitely connected to our side. I can see the people waiting on the other end.”
It was indeed connected to Earth. I called over an Awakened with the lowest combat power.
“Go across, check the status of the Gate, and if you can come back, do so.”
“Understood.”
“Oh, and take these with you. Go ahead.”
I placed several things into the female Awakened’s hands. A few byproducts from the Jingso I’d brought along, some ordinary rocks I’d picked up here, and even a fragment of the cold-emitting mineral I’d found in the burrow.
She disappeared shortly after. It seemed she had passed through the Gate safely.
About a minute later.
“Ah.”
The female Awakened returned empty-handed.
“How was it?”
“I was outside for about a minute. I gave a rough explanation to the people waiting and came back.”
“So, round trips are possible.”
“It seems so. When I exited, the number of people at the Gate was displayed as 29. The entry limit remained at 30.”
Jang Hoseop’s prediction was correct. A Closed Gate allows for free movement. Even after the Awakened had gone out and come back in, the Gate before my eyes remained in its active state. And it appeared that the flow of time between Earth and this world was nearly identical.
‘Impressive.’
This was what Jang Hoseop had suggested back at Mumu’s burrow. He had proposed checking if it was possible to pass through the Gate even before destroying the Gate Stone. Jang Hoseop hadn’t made that suggestion lightly. Unlike an Open Gate, this one required returning to the starting point and crossing the Gate again, and the system had specifically used the expression that the Gate would “close.” Based on this, Jang Hoseop had deduced that the Closed Gate was currently in an “open” state.
“Good job. Your deductive skills are sharp.”
I offered a brief word of praise while looking at Jang Hoseop. He scratched the back of his head in response.
“Anyone with hobbies similar to mine would have thought of it. There’s still more to figure out, though…”
“Still. Good work.”
I ended the small talk and turned my gaze to the Awakened who had made the round trip.
“What about the items you took?”
“Everything was able to pass through the Gate.”
“Everything? Even the rocks?”
“Yes. Even the dirt on the rocks remained.”
This was different from what I expected.
“Any system messages? Regarding missions… or anything else?”
“There haven’t been any messages so far.”
I quickly organized my thoughts, then turned to the group and spoke.
“Hoseop.”
“Yes?”
“You handle the rest. Find out if there’s a limit to the number of times one can pass through, if the time limit for the Gate can be extended… things like that.”
“Understood!”
There were things that needed to be verified using Jang Hoseop’s fundamental skills. For that purpose, I had first confirmed what could be tested directly.
“Once Hoseop finishes verifying with his skills, we start the operation.”
“Yes. How should we proceed?”
“Strip this Gate of everything we need. Monster byproducts are a given, and take minerals or soil as well.”
I gave orders to loot everything, even a single blade of grass, if it was needed for Samira. The first Closed Gate was a gold mine.
The day after we cleared Mumu’s Sanctuary. I had rested well since coming out of the Gate yesterday. Although we had fought a fierce battle, the time spent clearing the Gate hadn’t been very long, so I had effectively rested for a full day. It was because something was wrong with my body. It was the price of using mana explosively. My physical body had surpassed human limits, but it could still be wounded by the violent flow of mana. It was like the backlash that comes after over-exercising.
It wasn’t just my body that was affected. Using mana itself had become difficult. Whenever I used a skill, I felt an unfamiliar pain, which Jang Hoseop described as “internal injury.”
“Hyun. Are you awake?”
“Yeah, Noona. Good morning.”
In times like these, rest is the best medicine. I had even turned off Target Detection and truly rested. And once this rest was over, I would grow even further. It wouldn’t show up in my level, but I would be stronger than before.
“How’s your condition?”
As I was rolling around in bed, Bom Noona entered the master bedroom and asked. ‘Was it that obvious?’ I hadn’t told anyone else that something was wrong with my body. I had just said I was taking a day off, and everyone had agreed. Perhaps the very fact that I said I would rest was strange in itself.
“I’m fine. I’m just feeling a bit sluggish.”
“Yeah. You need days like that sometimes.”
“What about you? Are you heading out?”
“In a little while. I wanted to let you know about the progress. I have a few reports to go over. Is that okay?”
Bom Noona sat down next to me. I nodded and moved my body to rest my head on her lap, burying my face in her soft body, which was so different from my own.
“By the way, it’s not very hot today, is it?”
“Ah, Yuna came by a little while ago. She even came in the early morning… she kept coming by so you could rest comfortably.”
It meant Yuna had come to remove the humidity. As her proficiency in her level 20 general skill, Mana Conversion, increased, she had become capable of controlling the humidity in the air. This morning, the temperature itself seemed lower than yesterday. On top of that, with the low humidity, it was pleasant despite it being summer.
“I’m grateful.”
“Yeah, should I put a face mask on you? If you’re going to proceed with the Hunter appointment ceremony as planned today.”
“I’m going to stick to today’s schedule… but I’m too lazy to get up right now. I’d have to go wash my face.”
“No~ I’ll take care of it for you. Just lie there.”
Bom Noona stood back up, rustled around preparing things, then returned to me and put a headband on me. She began to gently stroke my face with something she had applied to her hands. It seemed this was my face wash.
“Hehe. You’re cute. About that Mumu’s Sanctuary…”
“Yeah.”
“Ah, you don’t have to answer.”
Bom Noona busily moved her hands as she summarized the reports from each department.
“It seems there’s an activity range. They say you can’t go beyond a certain radius.”
The mountainous area near the Gate and the field with almost no trees. And the vicinity of the burrow where Mumu used to live. This was the extent of the area people could roam.
“They said if you try to go outside, you’re blocked by some kind of barrier.”
“Can’t you force your way through?”
“No. And they say you get the feeling that you shouldn’t, either.”
Noona’s hands meticulously rubbed my face. Her slender fingers started from my forehead, pressed firmly near my eyebrows and the bridge of my nose, then moved along the contours of my face.
“Anyway, farming has started. They said they’re going to mobilize job applicants to run it 24 hours a day.”
Surprisingly, ordinary people could also enter the Closed Gate. As long as they followed the personnel limit, they could move supplies and people in and out as much as they wanted. Thanks to that, we decided to farm absolutely everything inside the Gate. Mining, which Jangsu-ajusshi had requested. Soil needed to expand the farmland. Depending on the situation, I planned to bring out resources like boulders and wood later on. Since there was no way to extend the time limit, we were constantly rotating workers.
“Alright, next is… ah, close your eyes.”
Noona wiped my face with a towel. Then, she applied something to a cotton pad and wiped it across my face.
“We’re going to raise the calves there and bring them back before the Gate closes.”
“We have to consider their size when building the barn. They’re huge.”
“Ajusshi saw them, so he’ll figure it out.”
Bom Noona began mixing something in a small plastic container. It felt thick and gooey.
“And we succeeded in separating Mumu’s horns!”
“Oh. Nice work. How was the test?”
“They’re much harder than the Jingso horns. The problem is that they’re too heavy? And they’re difficult to process.”
When we came out of the Gate, we had brought Mumu’s head out in its entirety. We had just separated the horns from it.
“Even with Jangsu-ajusshi’s skill?”
“That would work, but… it seems the entire horn is one complete structure. They say if you touch it here and there, it might become weak.”
“Hmm… I see. I’ll have to head to the Weapon Development Lab later.”
“Yeah, yeah. I think you can just go and discuss it to decide.”
The Weapon Development Lab developed a variety of weapons. Not only weapons for Awakened, but also weapons for ordinary people to use.
“Hyun. I’m applying this now, okay? I’m going to cover your mouth too.”
Noona spread what she had mixed in the container onto my face. She said this was a face mask. It felt cool.
“You know… Hoseop posted information about the Closed Gate on the Square, right?”
That was what I had ordered yesterday. I had told him to emphasize that there had been a large monster inside the Gate and that if a Closed Gate was left alone, it would cause an explosion. I was letting them know the fact that it was much more difficult and dangerous than an Open Gate.
“I checked a little while ago, and the reaction was extremely intense. There are a lot of people asking if it’s for real…”
Now, people would have to make a choice. If there was a Closed Gate nearby, they would have to clear it or move their settlement. Or, they could ignore it with baseless, optimistic belief. It was to shake up those who were holding out, and we planned to expand our rescue-capable zones to absorb as many people as possible.
“All done. You can take it off in about 15 minutes.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Ah, don’t talk. Stay as still as possible.”
Bom Noona talked about a few more things and tidied up. A short while later, I felt the presence of her leaving the room. I lay still and enjoyed the remaining bit of laziness. Then, just as sleep began to creep back in.
Swish.
Someone entered the room and carefully lifted my head. A soft thigh touched the back of my head. I reached out and touched her chest. It was Seolhee-ssi.
“You need to take it off now.”
I opened my eyes to see Seolhee-ssi looking down at me. I rose without a word, took her hand, and headed to the bathroom.
Going around Gates and responding to rescue requests. A few days passed busily. Today, we cleared a Closed Gate near Yongsan Station and came out.
“So, be careful near the Gate Stone. If you accidentally touch it the wrong way and destroy it, it will close even if there’s time left.”
“Yeah. I will.”
“We have to close Mumu’s Sanctuary first anyway, so I’ll let you know exactly then. How much force it takes to break it.”
This Gate clearing was done together with the Awakened of Yongsan Station. Naturally, Kang Hyeseon had also entered and exited the Gate with us.
‘Since it’s a river, there won’t be any water worries for a while. There are plenty of fish, too…’
There was a lot to extract from this Gate as well. I shared the information I had gathered and told Kang Hyeseon to secure resources as diligently as possible.
“Lee Hyun.”
“Yeah?”
“Always, thank you. I’m always indebted to you.”
While we were talking for a while, Kang Hyeseon suddenly said thank you.
“What for? It’s not like I’m teaching you for free.”
“Still. Having someone who’s ahead of you versus hitting your head against a wall from scratch is a world of difference.”
That was true. I nodded and said what I had intended to say next.
“How are the people lately? The population here has increased a lot, right?”
“Huh? Ah, yes. It’s increased a lot. I don’t know where they were all hiding… there aren’t any major problems. Thanks to the Day-Night Wheat, there’s no worry about food…”
Her answer sounded like there were minor problems.
“Are there a lot of people causing trouble?”
“Hmm… a little?”
It seemed my guess was correct.
“Are you still just locking them up?”
“Uh… uh.”
“Why? Punish them strictly. That’s the only way to prevent the same thing from happening again.”
Kang Hyeseon stared at me, choosing her words. Then she finally opened her mouth.
“I… I don’t think I’m right.”
“What are you talking about?”
“At Yongsan Station… my power is too overwhelming. I’m guarding myself because I shouldn’t set a bad precedent.”
I really didn’t understand what she meant. She seemed to sense that, too.
“I’m a coward, that’s why. Um… you introduced a system called Hunter in Samira, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m afraid of creating such a system according to my own thoughts. People die and are forgotten, but a system remains for a long time. Correcting that later is too difficult.”
She was worried someone might abuse the system. She was worried that people would suffer because of a system she created. Kang Hyeseon was harboring such concerns. I wasn’t sure if I understood correctly, but…
“I got it. Then I’ll take them all later.”
“Yeah… okay.”
Kang Hyeseon answered in a somewhat bitter tone. I didn’t challenge her thoughts. Kang Hyeseon was the same. We just had different ways of moving forward.
‘Anyway, it’s a gain for me since Samira’s manpower is increasing.’
The conversation paused for a moment as we were each lost in our own thoughts. Kang Hyeseon broke the silence.
“Um… and I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
I felt both a sense of longing and anxiety at the same time.
“Ah, never mind. When are you going back?”
“After we finish talking, let’s grab a bite to eat…”
I drew out my words, observing her emotions and expression. The sense of longing was much greater.
“Ah, right. Did you install a private bathroom?”
The place where we were talking now was her private space. It was about a two-room size, and I had previously delivered various technologies needed for bathroom installation through Jangsu-ajusshi.
“Yes. I did. I was really fine, but it seemed like you were uncomfortable every time you came…”
Kang Hyeseon, who used to eat and live just like everyone else, was no more. There were parts that remained unchanged, but some parts were eventually flowing according to my will.
“Yeah. Good job. Then, let’s wash up first.”
We could talk about the rest slowly. As I tried to take off my gear, Kang Hyeseon quickly approached to help.
“But what were you going to say?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I’ll tell you when it’s certain later. Um… should I wash up with you?”
“Of course.”
After taking off all my clothes, I reached out to Kang Hyeseon. Without much hesitation, I undressed her. A little while later, we lay side by side on her bed, and I said,
“You can just think you’re right.”
“Huh?”
“You’re doing well. It’s good to worry, too. At least you’re not a coward.”
After having a sufficient conversation with Kang Hyeseon, I returned to Samira.
We had received many prisoners from Yongsan Station. Kang Hyeseon had meticulously recorded the crimes they had committed this time as well. It was the moment we arrived on Samira’s land and passed through the main gate guard post.
“No, a person needs to be flexible.”
“I told you, it’s not possible.”
At the trading post, some middle-aged woman was raising her voice. In front of the woman sat the trading post’s window clerk, looking troubled.
“Don’t you see the people lined up over there?”
“Even so, there are regulations, so it’s not possible. I told you, this is a window exclusively for Hunters. And please don’t use informal language.”
The woman shouted again. Her voice was loud and fierce. The good mood I had thanks to Kang Hyeseon plummeted. I walked toward them.