Chapter 2
Chapter 2
If I Could Go Back – 2
Blood splattered into the air.
It came from the team leader’s arm, thrown up when he had thrown himself in front of the attack to protect Aren.
I watched it with a detached, unreal expression. I thought it might be a life-flash or a dream one has before dying.
‘Gate Management Team 3 Leader. Name… Arthur.’
I had lost many colleagues over the years, but I had never forgotten a single one of them. Especially the first team Aren ever lost.
‘F-class Gate GT-078, named Great Garden. A D-class monster burst from a gate rated safe—a wolf-type Mana Eater.’
The unforgettable memory replayed.
The first department I was assigned to after joining the company was Gate Management Team 3. The job was to periodically manage gates isolated by the company.
At first, I was happy to be assigned to a team that could handle gates directly. I thought I would finally get hands-on experience managing a gate.
But before I even completed a year, I lost my first team and realized.
Ah, this isn’t management.
They didn’t even know under what conditions a gate was stable. They just patched things over because it seemed okay for now.
Humans were too ignorant to assign proper danger ratings to gates. And too weak to control them with force.
I quietly closed my eyes.
No matter how much of a life-flash this was, I didn’t want to relive losing my teammates.
Then it happened.
Splatter.
Warm, sticky blood hit my cheek.
It was real blood from the team leader’s arm, bitten by the Mana Eater.
“…?”
I opened my eyes again.
This was too vivid to be a life-flash.
Arthur shouting for them to retreat. The senior agent frozen in place. The rookie collapsed in panic.
I moved my body.
‘This isn’t a dream.’
Moments ago, I had been holding a cold, dying Lan. Now, all I sensed was the fear of my team and the smell of Arthur’s blood.
Lan’s words flashed in my mind. Yes, in the past I had run. Hid miserably, shaking with my eyes closed. I had survived only thanks to the late-arriving rescue team.
I would forever regret that. If I had fought alongside them, maybe they wouldn’t have all died.
Whoosh.
My body moved before I realized it. I tried to draw my greatsword, but my hand cut only through empty air.
“Ah.”
At that time, I had no specialized weapons—just a standard-issued sword and pistol for emergencies.
‘A gun won’t work.’
The characteristics of the wolf-type Mana Eater came back to me instantly. Not from studying, but from experience, from rolling through fights and learning.
‘If it bites for long, it drains all your mana and kills you.’
My gaze locked onto the Mana Eater clamped onto the team leader’s arm. Whoever it bit immediately had their mana absorbed. But paradoxically, that’s when it was at its weakest.
‘Its weak point is the neck.’
A grotesque, half-wolf creature. Its upper body only, in human terms. The target area was small, making it hard to hit—but when it drained mana, its neck was fully exposed.
Shing—
As I drew the emergency sword, the Mana Eater’s neck flew through the air.
The team leader being bitten. The senior agent frozen. The rookie trembling. Shock covered their faces. Even the decapitated Mana Eater didn’t realize it was dead.
Everyone looked at Aren.
That movement wasn’t from an E-class Hunter. It was the precision of a veteran with at least ten years of aura training.
“Cough… Has my body returned to that time too?”
While everyone was stunned, I remained calm.
“Spit it out… Everyone, focus.”
I spat out the blood that surged from the rapid aura use and glared sharply.
“We can all get out alive.”
I had no idea how this had happened. But we could survive. That was enough.
The past memories resurfaced.
The team leader had been drained of all his mana and died.
The senior agent had been impaled by claws through his abdomen.
The rookie had been torn apart by multiple bites.
And I had run like a coward.
This time, I don’t have to.
A D-class Mana Eater was nothing. Even if I was only an E-class Hunter, the knowledge I gained from rolling in combat didn’t vanish.
Swish.
I wiped the blood from my emergency sword and memorized the positions of my teammates.
“Arthur, team leader.”
“Uh… uh?”
The middle-aged man, who had just tried to sacrifice himself, blinked dumbfounded. A natural reaction—he had thrown his body to protect me, only for me to cut the monster’s neck in one strike.
“You need to step back. If the Mana Eater bit you once, mana will continue leaking.”
The Mana Eater was a minor nuisance, but its effect was annoying. Whoever it bit faced a choice: die instantly from mana drain, or slowly lose mana until death.
The former was fatal on the field. The latter allowed for treatment from the medical team, giving a slim chance to survive.
“Luckily, it was just the arm. Not fatal, so step back.”
“A-Aren… what… what did you just do?”
“I saved the team leader.”
“…….”
Arthur wasn’t asking that. He was shocked by the swordsmanship and calmness that an E-class Hunter shouldn’t possess. But Aren prioritized safety, pushing him back.
“Everyone, focus.”
I turned to the senior and rookie, both still frozen. Fear could demoralize the team; it needed to be contained.
I looked at the trembling rookie. Her name was…
“Lua, agent.”
“…Y-yes?!”
She had been muttering, ‘It was supposed to be safe…’ but now her head snapped up in surprise.
Shoulder-length ponytail, large round eyes, innocent-looking. Despite the gruesome memory of teammates being torn apart, she answered faithfully.
“What is our team’s hunter rank?”
“Eh… rank…?”
She seemed confused but answered steadily.
“Team leader Arthur is D-class, Eric, Aren, and I are E-class.”
“That’s enough to handle D-class monsters.”
“D-class monsters?!”
The ones who died so easily were caught off-guard by a sudden D-class spawn. If they had been prepared, this tragedy wouldn’t have occurred.
“That’s how gates work. Don’t blindly trust the rank; it can change at any time.”
“R-really…?”
She nodded, pointing at Arthur bleeding from his arm.
“But he’s injured… what do we do?”
“Three E-class hunters can handle it. So focus and get up.”
I had decapitated the Mana Eater, but half its mana had already leaked. My body was E-class, but I fought like an A-class, trying to ensure survival for all.
Everyone needed to regain their wits to survive.
“Eric, agent.”
I looked at the senior agent next.
Slicked-back brown hair, neat uniform, stiff expression. Strict but not a bad senior.
“Draw your sword. We have to fight.”
“Fight?”
No reply from Aren.
Howl—!
The distant howl of wolves. Eric turned pale.
“Do we have to? Can’t we run?”
The swordsmanship Aren showed was artistic—unthinkable for a junior E-class. But courage didn’t surge automatically.
“If we retreat, the number of creatures will increase. We need to eliminate them before containment becomes impossible.”
Eric’s eyes showed doubt at Aren’s confidence.
“How do you know it will increase?”
“Long story.”
“Make it short.”
“The Mana Eaters are sprouting from a tree somewhere in the Great Garden.”
“…Start from the beginning.”
A tree that spawns monsters? Unheard of.
“You’ll see a lot soon. I’ll explain quickly based on the manual and my observations.”
I didn’t reveal I had returned in time. I used the manual as an excuse.
“F-class spatial gate GT-078, ‘Great Garden’. Inside, countless plants grow, including ones nonexistent in reality.”
F-class meant safe—no mana or monsters usually. The Mana Eater appearing indicated misclassification.
“Ranking is wrong. This gate is at least E-class. Certain trees have a high chance of spawning Mana Eaters depending on the environment.”
Even though it seemed unbelievable, my team listened because of my confidence.
“They are D-class, wolf-type Mana Eaters. Upper body only, but incredibly fast on two legs. Avoid getting bitten—it drains mana rapidly.”
Lua swallowed hard behind me.
“The weak point is the neck. You can give your body to strike it, but mana will leak. You’ll survive but can’t continue as a Hunter. Not recommended.”
The team leader grimaced, feeling mana drain firsthand.
I laid out the plan.
“First, don’t use aura unless in combat. The Mana Eater will detect it and more will come. Second, the goal is to cut down the trees spawning Mana Eaters. Questions?”
Simple objective, though execution would be far from simple.
“W-what if we encounter Mana Eaters before reaching the tree?”
Lua raised a trembling hand.
“Kill them as quickly as possible before calling for reinforcements. Minimize aura use to move discreetly.”
I took the lead, sword in hand. There was no time to waste thinking of the Mana Eaters likely spawning from trees.
“But don’t overextend. I’ll finish it if it drags on.”
After rapid instructions, I strode into the forest as if I knew the way. My elegant swordsmanship and confident posture led the team.
After a short walk, I stopped.
“One spotted ahead. Prepare for combat.”
Whuuum—
I lightly cloaked myself in aura, appropriate for my E-class body.
Grrrr…!
The half-bodied wolf fixed its eyes on us. Before it charged on two legs, I quietly pleaded.
“Please… don’t die this time.”
All the time traveler wanted from his team was just that.