Gwanaksan Gate, the Empty-House Heist
Top floor of the Hunter Association headquarters, Juran lay sprawled across the sofa, searching the gallery for information about Gwanaksan Gate — the place rumored to hide the Cheongryong Sect's secret hideout.
"Four years ago...?"
A post from quite a while back popped up.
"Hmm... it's a four-year-old post, I guess, but this explanation is completely out of step with how things are now... They're not managing it separately at all?"
Juran combed through the comments, but nowhere did anyone mention that the gate had been completely taken over by the Cheongryong Sect. Curiosity getting the better of her, she tossed the question to Seoa, who knew far more than she did.
"Unni, about Gwanaksan Gate. You said the Cheongryong Sect kids have their hideout there, right? But there's nothing about it in the gallery?"
Seoa, who had been flipping through documents, answered without lifting her eyes from the page.
"Juran. Do you honestly think a secret hideout is something people go around advertising?"
"Huh? It was a secret? Everyone at the Association seems to know about it, though?"
"Secret hideout or not, it's still just a spot stashed away by a mere pack of hunters. They can't hide it from the Association's tracking forever."
That cleared up the mystery — and replaced it with worry for the hunters' safety.
"Unni, then what if a new hunter wanders in without knowing the Cheongryong thugs are camped out in there? If they run into each other, isn't that dangerous?"
Seoa turned her gaze back to the paperwork and answered breezily.
"That's exactly why it won't happen. The guidebook for newly registered hunters lists that area as a restricted zone. Any hunter who values their life won't go anywhere near it."
"Hmm... still."
Juran rested her chin on the back of the sofa and looked out the window.
A gate that spawned only weak monsters. It was far from the Association's sphere of control, and the profits to be had there were modest at best.
Then why is the Association just letting underground hunters squat in it?
"It kind of bugs me... Can't we just go raid the place?"
"Even if the Association seized it by force, it's in the Gangnam region — a nightmare to administer. On top of that, the Cheongryong Sect's true base is presumed to be elsewhere. If they notice the Association moving and slip away, we'd fail to sweep them up and end up with nothing but an ambiguous, low-value gate in our hands."
"Ah... so instead, they outsourced monster control to them and just look the other way?"
"Exactly. The Association needs its manpower for sites far more important than Gwanaksan Gate."
"What a headache..."
Then a good idea struck her, and Juran sat up.
A gate that had appeared in the early days, when the world flipped upside down. An S-rank among S-ranks — Juran could clear it single-handedly without breaking a sweat.
"Then why not just close the gate for good? Want me to go handle it?"
"The boss of Gwanaksan Gate was killed long ago. And yet no dungeon core was ever found, and it was never cleared."
"Then I'll just flatten the whole gate and come back!"
Seoa set down her documents and fixed Juran with a icy, unamused stare.
"Juran. Don't you have an escort mission coming up soon?"
"Hmm... it shouldn't take long, though? I'll just pop over real quick and—"
Before she could finish, Seoa's hand pressed down on Juran's shoulder and planted her back onto the sofa.
"This gate has stayed open for four years. It's been ages since anyone surveyed the terrain in full. What exactly do you expect to find during your little look-around?"
Doha was making her way through the forest, following the map she'd seen in the gallery.
I just have to avoid drawing aggro from the big monster packs...!
To keep her presence hidden as much as possible, she had tucked Ddaengdaengi away in the gap of empty space as well.
But Ddaengdaengi kept worrying about Doha wandering the forest alone, poking his snout out again and again.
"...Ddaengdaengi, you can't come out."
Grrr—
Each time, Doha would gently scold him in a tiny voice and push him back in.
She was lowering herself, hiding her body in the underbrush and inching forward, when—
SKREEEEE—!
"H-hiiek!"
A scream rang out from somewhere not far away.
A p-person...?
Steadying her startled heart, Doha turned her head toward the source of the cry.
Wait... those are water deer?
The scream belonged to a pack of water deer prowling through the forest — one of the signature monsters that haunted Gwanaksan Gate.
True to their name, the jagged teeth jutting from their jaws were shaped like sharp hooks. Worse, they gleamed an ominous black.
Th-those horrifying teeth bite people...?
Doha carefully parted the grass blocking her view and gauged the size of the pack.
A good ten or more water deer had gathered in front of a massive boulder, squabbling over the mana stones embedded in the rock.
Ugh... this isn't the spot from the walkthrough...! Did I look at a post that's way too old...?
Doha was just about to circle around the pack when—
Skreek—! Skreeek—!
The water deer's tug-of-war over the mana stones boiled over into full-on brawling, teeth clashing against teeth.
Skreeeee—!
Thud—
One water deer took a body slam and came tumbling right up to the very bush where Doha was hiding.
"Hnk— mmph!"
Doha clamped a hand over her mouth just in time to swallow the scream — but,
Skreek—?
The monster's keen hearing didn't miss even that tiny sound.
Wh-what do I do...?! Should I call Ddaengdaengi...? But there's over ten water deer over there. Could Ddaengdaengi even win...?
A dozen scenarios flashed through the mind of Doha, pressed flat against the underbrush.
P-please! Just walk away...!
Despite her desperate prayer, the water deer's nose caught the unfamiliar scent.
The moment it crept right up to the edge of the bush—
Directly above Doha's bowed head, from a patch of air that had held nothing at all, Ddaengdaengi's enormous head emerged.
Following Doha's instructions, Ddaengdaengi made no sound — but he fixed a long, unblinking stare on the water deer standing mere steps away.
S-skreeek...?
Sensing the gulf between itself and Ddaengdaengi, the water deer dropped its gaze at once and stumbled backward.
Ddaengdaengi's eyes stayed locked on it until it left the underbrush behind and made it back to the pack.
Skreeek—!
Skreek!
The deer that had bolted to safety spread the word to its companions: a colossal predator was here.
The pack threw down the mana stones they'd been fighting over and hurriedly abandoned the spot. The sound of them kicking through fallen leaves as they fled echoed on for a long while.
Are they gone...?
Feeling the water deer's presence fade away, Doha rose again and eyed the boulder.
Whoa whoa whoa... mana stones are scattered everywhere...!
Fragments dropped during the deer's quarrel lay strewn all around the base of the rock. Doha's instincts screamed at her to leap out of the bushes that instant and scoop up every last one.
But reason grabbed her by the ankle.
What if the water deer are just hiding out of sight, lying in ambush...!
She had finally resigned herself to leaving the stones behind and moving on when—
Tap— tap—
"Ddaengdaengi, stop shoving...!"
The snout that had slipped back out of the gap in the air pushed Doha bodily toward the mana stones.
"It could be dangerous...!"
Doha tried to shove the snout back in, but this time no amount of pushing would budge it.
What's gotten into him...?
Just as Doha was floundering, a deep, low voice resonated through her mind.
— Monsters, gone
— Mana stones, safe
"Wh-what...?! Ddaengdaengi, you can TALK now...?"
Nod nod—
At her question, Ddaengdaengi bobbed his head.
Skill carry...! I can talk to monsters...!
If the Tower's words were to be believed, Doha's skill had already crossed into superhuman territory. A beast tamer who had transcended humanity itself had now, with her own body, learned the truth: she could communicate with monsters.
He can only manage simple words so far, but... if I raise the skill level even higher...!
"Ddaengdaengi, I'll run over and grab the mana stones fast. Think you can store them in your sub-space for me?"
Nod nod—
Ddaengdaengi understood the order and nodded.
Vwomm—
And before Doha had even stepped out of the bushes, the power of the Treasure swept up every mana stone in one go.
"...Ddaengdaengi?"
— ?
"You could grab them from a distance the whole time, so why did you shove me out there...?"
— Attention, communication
"..."
At that absurd answer, Doha retaliated the only way she knew how: grabbing his cheeks and stretching them out with both hands.
Because she showed a measure of mercy and stopped in time, tragedy was averted — Ddaengdaengi's cheeks were spared from turning into rice cakes.
Having confirmed the Treasure's outrageously overpowered farming ability, Doha felt a flicker of greed stir within her.
This forest is probably full of those mana stone deposits... which means... maybe...?
"Ddaengdaengi, I'll hide here in the bushes, so could you go gather all the mana stones nearby and bring them back?"
Nod nod—
At that very moment, a pair of unsavory shadows was prowling through Doha's neighborhood.
The hulking giant rapped the black magician on the shoulder.
"Hey. We come out like this and the hideout's still safe, right?"
"Ah, Hyung-nim. You're a grown man, not a little girl — why so jittery...?"
"You punk! Do you have any idea how much the mana stones stockpiled in there are worth?!"
The giant couldn't stop fretting over the mana stones gathered inside the hideout within Gwanaksan Gate — the war chest set aside for recruiting talent. Just thinking about how much he'd blown bringing in a single man, Park Cheolmin, still made his stomach churn. And what remained after that lay piled up like a mountain deep inside the cave.
He'd refused to leave the hideout precisely because he feared someone might get their hands on the slush fund — and now, away from it, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"You know my magical skill, don't you? Stop worrying yourself to death."
"You mean those black arts of yours that got fleeced by a rookie hunter?"
"Ah, Hyung-nim!"
Unable to bring himself to strike someone stronger than him, the black magician took his frustration out on his poor, innocent staff.
"This time, trust me for real! Haven't you heard the saying — never fight a mage who's had time to prepare?"
"I've heard it, but..."
"The hideout's security doesn't even use necromancy, which is all about matchups — it's properly fortified, so relax!"
"Yeah? You mean that thing — your new technique or whatever?"
"That's the one!"
The black magician answered with total confidence, thinking of Isolation, the spatial skill he had only recently acquired.
At Doha's command, Fenrir sniffed the surrounding air.
He could not leave his little master alone for a long stretch of time.
The plan was to raid only the spot with the densest concentration of mana stones, and fast.
Sniff sniff—
Fenrir's Exploration pinpointed the place where the scent of mana ran thickest, and he leapt straight across space.
He arrived in front of a cave entrance — and midway inside, he slammed face-first into a transparent wall.
Grroff?
WHAM—
Fenrir threw his whole body into the charge, but the barrier did not so much as bend.
Grrrr—!
He gave up the contest of strength against the wall. His pride stung a little, but gathering the mana stones and hurrying back to his little master's side came first.
Vwomm—
Using the power of the Treasure to skip across space, Fenrir slipped into the cave. Following the scent, he soon discovered a chamber where mana stones lay piled in heaps.
Grrr—
A dragon carved into mid-flight was etched into the wall, but Fenrir, being a wolf, had no way of recognizing the emblem. He hastily shoved the mana stones into his sub-space and returned to Doha's side.
When Ddaengdaengi came back in under ten minutes, Doha grew a little suspicious.
D-don't tell me... Ddaengdaengi didn't cut corners just because I've been treating him nice and easy...?
She asked the wolf, whose tail was swishing briskly without a trace of fatigue.
"Ddaengdaengi...? Think you can show me how much you gathered?"
At Doha's words, Ddaengdaengi opened the sub-space where he'd just swept up the stones.
Russshh—
"..."
Faced with a mountain of mana stones stacked well past eye level, Doha very nearly lost her mind on the spot.
H-how much is all this worth...?
"Ddaengdaengi... don't tell me you gathered up every mana stone in the entire gate in that tiny window of time...?"
Arrooo—!
Answering her question with a howl brimming with confidence, Ddaengdaengi threw back his head proudly.