Chapter 88
A languid, alluring voice drifted across the grounds.
"Anyone who's finished the gate entry drill, please come over here and get your confirmation stamp."
Students who had completed the gate entry training were half-shedding their protective gear as they made their way toward the staff member directing them. The staffer, for safety reasons, was still wearing an oversized helmet and full protective equipment. Every time she breathed, the inside of the helmet fogged over and cleared again — it looked genuinely miserable.
"Aren't you hot in that?"
One of the students asked, fiddling with the stamp freshly pressed onto his hand. The staffer rattled her enormous helmet in a nod. Finding her silence oddly unsettling, the student headed back to his place.
On the student's hand, a black spider-shaped stamp glowed with a faint light — so faint that hunters of the students' low rank would never have been able to sense it.
While the instructor rechecked the students who had finished the gate drill, the staffer shook her head hard and slipped away into a damp, secluded patch of shade. The moment she pulled off her helmet, a cascade of wavy purple hair spilled down like water pouring through a ravine. She clicked her tongue and sucked in a deep breath.
"Phew…"
She scanned her surroundings once, then fished a small crystal orb out from among a pile of odds and ends. A black spider design was etched into the orb, and a violet aura kept seeping out of it. She counted the number of flames floating inside the crystal — that was how she confirmed how many stamps she had issued.
At the same moment, on the far side of the training grounds, the twisted cages and the noise of the monsters inside them filled the path. People in thick, pitch-black outfits designed to hide their faces and identities huddled together, passing cigarettes around. They were waiting for nothing but the signal from the training grounds, fully prepared to open the cages at any second.
The monsters here were dangerous species ranging from C-rank to D-rank. Even an instructor would struggle to subdue them easily — they would take considerable time and effort. Beside the group, a small alarm device was already running.
The plan was to use the alarm system to broadcast that an A-rank monster — a Chariot — had appeared here, while simultaneously signaling another team waiting near the training grounds to unleash a flood of D-rank monsters.
The hunter leading the operation kept kicking the cages as the monsters inside tried to smash their way out.
"Shut up, you bastards. I'll let you out soon enough."
In front of the gate stood three people preparing for their D-rank promotion: Kim Jin-pyo, Oh Min-young, and Kim Ju-sung. Among this round's D-rank promotion candidates, they were scheduled to be the first team to challenge the gate and defeat a D-rank monster. While the gate maintenance crew bustled about opening a fresh gate, a staffer in a thick helmet gestured like a ghost and called the three of them over.
"Don't put on the protective gear just yet — hold out your hands first."
Hearing her soft, silky voice, the three of them extended their hands in order. Kim Ju-sung hung back as if telling Oh Min-young to go first, while Kim Jin-pyo examined the spider mark stamped on his hand from every angle before heading off to put on his gear. He was burning with impatience to rank up.
The moment Oh Min-young got her stamp, she clapped Kim Ju-sung once on the shoulder and dashed off to change. When the staffer faced Kim Ju-sung, she didn't stamp him at all — she simply nodded and shook his hand. Kim Ju-sung casually covered his hand as if a stamp were there and ran toward the protective equipment.
"Well done."
With the instructor's words of acknowledgment, the gate was closing. In front of it stood three hunters, still catching their breath — three people who had cleanly defeated a D-rank monster and proudly ranked up to D-rank hunters: Oh Min-young, Kim Jin-pyo, and Kim Ju-sung.
"Good work."
"Yeah, good work. Want to grab a drink later?"
"I'm good."
Amid the congratulatory chatter, Kim Jin-pyo threw Oh Min-young a none-too-subtle look. She shut him down flat, and Kim Ju-sung gave her shoulder a light pat.
"Don't dodge him like that. Just go have a drink, the two of you. Yeah?"
And at the same time, Kim Ju-sung lightly crushed the spray canister he'd been holding in his palm. The liquid inside vaporized and spread around Oh Min-young. She wrinkled her nose, sniffing, then frowned at Kim Ju-sung.
"Did you eat something without telling us?"
"No?"
As he said it, Kim Ju-sung dropped the broken pieces of the spray on the ground. Kim Jin-pyo, for his part, was already absorbed in searching his phone for recommended restaurants in the area. Oh Min-young turned to the instructor.
"Our promotion's done. Can we go?"
"Please wait. The rule is that everyone leaves together."
"Ah…"
Oh Min-young looked like she had a lot more to say. Kim Ju-sung confirmed the red hives rising around her neck and smiled with quiet satisfaction.
We were last in line. Thanks to that, we had time to shower and change in our respective rooms without rushing. Just as Senior Yu-jung had said — ranking up to D-rank is extremely easy — by the time we finished getting ready and stepped outside, a whole handful of our academy classmates had already become D-rank. Kim Ju-sung was fiddling with his phone with a thoroughly relaxed expression. Kim Jin-pyo was off in a corner smoking a cigarette and talking to someone on the phone.
Oh Min-young's face was flushed bright red; she was coughing and scowling. Had she overworked her throat and was paying for it now? Beside the instructor, a new gate was opening. The instructor in the red cap checked the roster and called our names.
"Miss Ichigaya Ichie. Mr. Jung Su-hyeon. Please step forward."
The staffer in front of the gate handed each of us a set of protective gear. Just as we were about to put the clothes on, a staffer holding a small pad waved us over from the corner of the gate. She was wearing a large, thick helmet with tinted glass inside, so the blue light of the gate reflected off it cleanly.
"I'll stamp you for confirmation first."
"Yes."
"Yes."
At the words confirmation stamp, the corner of my mouth tugged up before I could stop it. It reminded me of the first-place stamps they used to give out at elementary school field days. The black stamp pressed firmly onto my skin looked just like those transfer stickers they always sold at stationery shops. I picked up my protective gear again and turned to Ichie.
"Ichie. Do you know what transfer stickers are?"
"I know."
"Oh, you do?"
"You're saying it's the same thing."
"…Right."
"Is it not?"
"No, it is."
Chatting idly, we changed into our gear. Over the solidly fastened protective equipment I took up my spear and shield, while Ichie checked the edge of her Japanese sword one more time. The instructor spoke.
"Any issues with your equipment?"
"None."
"No."
The instructor turned his body sideways and shouted.
"Gate! Enter!"
Beyond the gate stretched a humid forest. In the distance, Jungle Cats bobbed their heads with curiosity about the entrance. According to the position marker linked to the leader, the boss was a fair distance away. The round trip was going to take a while, so we needed to be thoroughly prepared.
"Ichie. Should we grab two more bottles of water?"
"Yes."
I added the two bottles Ichie handed me to my pack, and together we charged hard into the gate.
And the moment she confirmed that Jung Su-hyeon and Ichie had plunged into the gate, the helmeted staffer pressed a small switch in her pocket.
That single press sent a confirmation signal to the group hidden in the woods on the far side of the training grounds. The leader, who had been chain-smoking, threw open the cage doors and roared. The monsters inside burst forward as if they had been waiting for exactly this. From Larvas to Strong Boars — monsters that were second to none in close-quarters combat — they tore up the mountain terrain and raised hell.
"Sound the alarm!"
And with his shout, an A-rank monster appearance alert blared for the instructors and B-rank hunter teachers waiting at the gate. Lee Jung-ah, who had been drinking coffee in the rest area, saw the alert that appeared on her pad and bolted upright in shock, snatching up her gear and racing outside.
A-RANK DETECTED
Chariot
The instructor in the red cap set his face hard and spoke to the staff.
"Have everyone wait here for now. There's an urgent deployment matter — I'll handle it and come back."
The moment the instructors vanished in a rush, a D-rank hunter in a suit stepped out from a shadowed corner of the building. The helmeted staffer nodded the instant she saw him, then walked in the opposite direction from the gate and called out.
"Everyone, look over here for a moment!"
While every gaze locked onto her voice, the Diamond Club's D-rank hunter dove through the gate.
"Hey! Hey! What's wrong with her?"
Kim Jin-pyo shook Oh Min-young with a panicked face. Hives covered her skin, her cheeks were swollen puffy, and she could barely breathe, let alone speak. Thanks to the emergency team's treatment she had kept her life, but the aftereffects of the allergic reaction still clung to her body everywhere.
Kim Ju-sung gently rubbed Oh Min-young's arm.
"It's fine. She'll get better."
And then Kim Ju-sung noticed it — on every student's wrist, a black spider mark was glittering, however faintly. He whipped his head around. From a back alley, a crystal orb of the same light was glowing weakly.
"M-Mom…!"
Kim Jin-pyo, who had been sitting beside Oh Min-young fretting over her, suddenly started sniffling and calling for his mother.
"I w-want to go home…"
One after another, the other students were sinking into depression and lethargy. Kim Ju-sung felt a strange, soaring exhilaration at the situation. A board laid out so perfectly for him alone — he liked it far too much.
He could hear it. The sound of small monsters charging in from beyond the brush. And the sensation of someone's buff wrapping around his body.
"It's okay, everyone."
Kim Ju-sung spoke in a calm voice. The students, drowning in fear, all turned to look at him. In that instant he used his ability to swell his body, then said:
"I'll protect you. For now, everyone get inside the building."