Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Wall
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Late afternoon.
I looked around at everyone working and headed home.
Planning to eat dinner early and then tackle the Gate.
"We're preparing it now. Please wait just a moment."
Go Mi-hye was already getting things ready.
Of course, she wasn't doing all the cooking herself.
There were dedicated kitchen staff in the main building.
They provided the base ingredients, and the women living in my house added a few extra dishes.
By my personal standards, Seol-hee had the best cooking skills.
After her came Na-go.
'I wish she wouldn't bother.'
Go Mi-hye's cooking was abysmal.
It would be better if we just took everything from the main kitchen.
But she always insisted on slipping in one or two dishes she'd made herself.
I had to admire her diligence, at least.
"What do you think, noona? Do the people seem worn out?"
"They do. But in a situation like this, who isn't?"
Today, as I toured Sa-mira's territory, one thing stood out to me.
My faction could grow even larger.
I'd been about to discuss it with Bom noona when Seol-hee emerged from her room.
"Welcome back... safely."
Seol-hee must have been preparing to enter the Gate.
She was wearing an inner lining made from beast hide.
But her face was pale, and she looked unwell.
"Whoa? Seol-ah. You okay? You don't look good."
"Yeah... I'm fine."
Bom noona jumped in surprise and hurried over to her.
She placed a hand on Seol-hee's forehead.
"Hey! You're burning up! What do you mean fine?!"
"It's not that bad. Just a slight fever..."
"Hyeon-ah. Seol-hee can't go like this."
I touched the back of my hand to her forehead as well.
It was hot.
"Have you tried using any skills, by chance?"
"Yes. Nothing seemed off."
I asked about her symptoms.
It sounded like a cold, but Seol-hee kept insisting she was okay.
"Be honest. The Gate isn't something you tackle alone. And it's no place to take lightly."
At my words, Seol-hee's feelings of guilt intensified.
I thought she was being stubborn out of selfishness, but that wasn't it.
"I'm sorry... I just feel really awful."
Finally, she answered truthfully.
"Rest and recover."
"I'm sorry. Really, I'm sorry..."
What was strange was how suddenly her condition had worsened.
Entering the Gate had been a scheduled plan.
So Seol-hee hadn't been assigned any special tasks today.
And even outside the Gate, she didn't have much that would strain her.
She was directly under me and considered essential personnel.
"Seol-hee, I'm not blaming you. Is there some specific reason you suddenly feel this bad?"
"No, I just did some housework and stuff... I'm sorry."
That made it even stranger.
Go Mi-hye handled all the housework.
Of course, Bom noona and Seol-hee didn't completely sit idle.
Even so, they were both Fundamental Skill awakeners.
Even if they'd been active all day, their levels should prevent something like a cold.
"Was it from doing consecutive Gates?"
Bom noona tilted her head as she spoke.
"I don't know..."
In any case, I told Seol-hee to rest.
It had already happened, and even she didn't know why.
Seol-hee headed back to her room.
Bom noona sat beside me and murmured softly.
Pit-a-pat-pit-a-pat...
Rain began drumming against the window.
A heavy downpour.
Bom noona gazed out the window and continued.
"Tackling Gates can be mentally draining."
"I even had her switch midway with Kang I-seon in case something happened."
"Still. You're fine with it, Hyeon, but everyone else gets super tense every single time."
Was it because I'd ramped up the Gate assault pace?
Maybe someone got worn down trying to keep up.
"Seol-hee has Hye-rin too. Not seeing her often might be weighing on her more."
I nodded at Bom noona's words.
It could very well be a case of mental strain manifesting physically.
"Noona."
"Yeah?"
"When the group returns later, tell them to double-check the surrounding factions' positions."
Having decided to talk to Seol-hee separately later, I finished what I'd meant to say.
"Got it! That's all?"
"Tell them to think about ways to expand Sa-mira's forces too."
"Okay. I'll think about it myself!"
Bom noona nodded without raising any questions.
Once she relayed my words, Soo-jung and Ho-seop would come up with ideas.
I stared at the dark, rainy sky, lost in thought.
Bom noona quietly leaned her head on my shoulder.
We entered the Gate.
Kang I-seon was filling in for Seol-hee.
In my eyes, Kang I-seon was a cheerful person.
Serious when working, but always smiling otherwise.
Yet Jang Ho-seop had said she made him uncomfortable.
"Sa-mira is basically a class-based society, right? With you as the king."
Kang I-seon walked beside me, speaking in a quiet voice.
This Gate's mission was straightforward.
Find a certain cave within the time limit and retrieve the Energy Stone inside.
We even had a solid hint for locating it.
Follow the river flowing beside me now, and we'd find the cave.
"Is there some special reason for creating a system like this?"
"Are you asking because you have complaints?"
"No. Just curious."
The mission itself was simple, but the time limit was a tight two days.
And who knew what might be in the cave.
Retrieving an Energy Stone meant it probably wouldn't be a cakewalk.
"It's my decision. Everyone agreed."
"Ah~ But do I really have to attend training sessions? They're helpful, but it feels a bit forced."
"It's mandatory. No exceptions."
"Why?"
I gave vague replies to Kang I-seon's questions while scanning our surroundings.
A river flowed steadily to our right, with a cliff on the left.
Across the river was rocky barren ground.
So the cave we needed was likely in the cliff.
"Yi Hyun... Ah, right, you said to call you Yi Hyun-nim. You're really handsome, Yi Hyun-nim. The most I've ever seen..."
Kang I-seon's questions kept coming.
She wanted to resolve all her curiosities.
She didn't pry into every little detail, though.
Listening to her, I could tell she was trying to understand me.
'She wasn't this talkative last time.'
She'd been almost silent then.
Considering her emotions, it seemed her wariness toward me had eased.
'Innocent for her age, I guess...'
It felt like hanging out with a kid.
With that in mind, I adjusted my attitude toward her.
"I-seon."
"Yes?"
"Keep your mouth shut from now on."
"Uh... That's something my little brother used to say a lot..."
Having a childish side didn't mean no sense of hierarchy.
And while I wasn't sure, she'd had an office job before, so she could read the room.
"I smell blood."
"Pardon?"
Kang I-seon widened her eyes and sniffed.
Then she nodded and covered her mouth with her hand.
I focused on Target Detection.
I kneaded the steamed-bun-shaped detection field like dough.
'Of course it works. It's my skill.'
Visualizing in my mind, I stretched it into a long banana shape.
Perfect for this river-following terrain.
I'd seen Yu-na create various applications with her water-manipulation skill for a while now.
So I changed my perception.
The default Target Detection shape was just the starting point.
The detection field was like dough—naturally malleable to my will.
'Got it.'
Surprisingly, it worked on the first try.
Why hadn't I thought of something this simple before?
"I-seon, keep watch up high."
"Y-Yes! I'll do my best!"
I wanted to experiment with shrinking the range too, but held off.
The blood scent was a clear danger sign.
As we proceeded, the smell grew stronger, and soon we found numerous corpses.
Corpses littered the riverbank.
Nearly thirty bodies.
They wore matching armor and hadn't been dead long.
And there was one survivor.
"So you're saying you don't know anything?"
A man with crushed limbs knelt before me.
He was a foreigner who'd crossed through a Gate.
He gulped as he glanced at his already-dead comrades.
"Fuck it, just kill me! You crazy ching-chong...!"
I smashed his head with my club.
Why were there never any normal humans in Gates?
Was it because the world had changed so much?
These foreigners had swaggered up when I revealed myself.
And told me to strip.
"You can come out now."
I signaled to the hidden Kang I-seon and examined the items these foreigners had looted from the corpses.
"Um... Yi Hyun-nim."
"Yes."
Kang I-seon approached, her voice trembling.
I could sense her fear.
"What happened here...?"
"They don't know either. These guys came through a Gate, and the bodies were already there when they arrived."
I picked up a cloak.
The material was clearly exceptional at a glance.
Not ordinary cloth—monster hide.
'It's spotless.'
Surprisingly, no blood had soaked into the cloak.
I shook it out a few times and draped it over my shoulders.
It had adjustable fasteners to avoid hindering arm movement.
Strange runes were engraved on the fasteners too.
This wasn't some rag—it was a finely crafted cloak.
"I-seon, go through what they've gathered. We'll take as much as we can carry."
"Okay. Uh... What should I prioritize?"
"Monster byproducts, and any weapons or armor that looks good."
Thanks to them, we didn't have to search every body ourselves.
They'd already sorted once, so we'd just take the standout items.
"I don't have an eye for this stuff."
"Neither do I. Just pick what looks good."
I left it to Kang I-seon and started Mana Stone Extraction.
I used the skill on the Earth humans I'd finished off, then on the scattered corpses.
'Can't do two at once?'
I extended one hand over each of two bodies.
"Mana Stone Extraction."
Imagining Mana Stones emerging from both.
Mana consumption spiked.
'It works.'
A bizarre sensation.
Felt like my mana was splitting.
I'd never sensed anything like it before.
I experimented while moving around.
Tried using it from afar, or imagining sucking harder.
Some worked, some didn't.
Succeeding from one step away, but not farther.
Extraction speed stayed the same no matter what.
'More focus or a level up should do it.'
If it were safe here, I'd burn more mana trying.
Regrettable, but not the time.
I finished the rest normally.
No bodies resisted Mana Stone Extraction.
"All done?"
"Yes. I picked what I could."
We split the load with Kang I-seon and set off again.
Didn't take long to spot the cave.
"The cave looks pretty deep, huh?"
"Yeah... Ah, hold on."
Kang I-seon rummaged in her bundle.
Pulled out something like a toy magic wand.
Dark and murky color.
"Figured it out while fiddling earlier."
She twisted the round orb at the tip.
Bright light emanated from it.
"Good pick."
"Hee-hee. Thanks."
Kang I-seon smiled brightly.
Her fear of me had vanished.
She liked praise, it seemed.
We decided to call the glowing magic wand a mana wand.
I led with the mana wand in hand.
As expected, the cave was deep—we'd walked nearly ten minutes without reaching the end.
"Which way?"
A fork appeared.
"First split, so maybe just pick one?"
Neither Kang I-seon nor I knew which path.
I nodded at her suggestion and chose left.
'Another fork would complicate things...'
About five minutes in.
Fortunately, no further splits.
Just a dead end.
The problem was...
As I turned to leave, a system message I'd never seen popped up.
"Huh? Yi Hyun-nim."
"Emergency mission, right?"
"Yes."
The same message appeared for Kang I-seon.
"Let's get out."
No mention of the Energy Stone.
The emergency mission felt like a warning.
Drop everything and run.
So we bolted right away.
"Ah..."
But we stopped before even reaching the fork.
Target Detection had picked up a presence.
"Yi Hyun-nim?"
"Someone's coming."
The opponent's energy was stronger than mine.
I handed my load to Kang I-seon and told her to hide and douse the mana light.
"Luceter's hounds dare..."
Soon, a man draped in burlap appeared.
He glared at me, grinding his teeth.
Unfortunately, he carried a torch, foiling any plan to fight in the dark.
Fwoosh—
My bad feeling was spot on.
The man hurled the torch at me and charged.
'Fast.'
I dodged the torch flying at my face and moved to counter.
But the man was already upon me, raising a sharp sword.
Shing...
I angled my club diagonally.
Blocked the downward slash while leaning my body.
Shoved him with my shoulder for a follow-up.
Slash.
That was what I'd imagined.
"Guhk..."
Shockingly, the man's sword cleanly severed my club.
The blade buried into my shoulder.