Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Frigid Gate Preparations
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“I’ll put on the cold-weather gear!”
The B- and C-Rank Hunters who had come as support pulled insulated suits from their bags and distributed them to the lead A-Rank Hunters. Sanghun also took out the insulated suit he had brought and put it on.
An A-Rank Gate was on another level entirely compared to a B-Rank. Not only did you have to fight stronger monsters, but you also had to battle the environment itself. Some Gates were scorching hot, like your body was melting, while others rained down toxic acid. This Gate’s temperature hovered around minus 30 degrees Celsius—extremely frigid.
Hunting in such conditions was difficult enough even without the added hardship.
“Hunter, here you go.”
A C-Rank Hunter helped Jeong Ji-eun with her insulated suit.
“Hey, it’s dragging on the ground?”
“Pardon?”
“Can’t you see? It’s touching the floor! Shouldn’t you have brought something that fits?!”
Because Jeong Ji-eun was so short, the pant legs of her insulated suit dragged on the ground. The oversized outfit made her look like a child dressed in adult clothes.
“I’m sorry. This was the smallest size available in the guild’s special insulated suits.”
Hunters were all tall. It was common for them to grow taller upon awakening, so almost none were under 160 cm. Yet Jeong Ji-eun was barely in the low 150s.
“Then you should’ve had one custom-made!”
Jeong Ji-eun stripped off the suit and threw it on the ground.
“I’m sorry. I’ll just fold up the arms and legs.”
He turned at the familiar voice from behind. Seeing Choi Ye-seul, who was in the middle of—or rather, unilaterally getting chewed out by—Jeong Ji-eun, a hollow laugh escaped him.
Unlike the villain Na Young from his past life, the serial killer Seo Kyung-hyun, or S-Rank Hunter Jeong Min-ki, who he’d had little connection with in his previous life, this woman actually had ties to him. Not bad blood, but someone he owed a debt of gratitude to. He’d planned to repay that kindness if they ever met again, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.
* * *
It had been about a year before his death in his past life. He was riding in a large mountain transport truck loaded with food supplies alongside his comrades.
After monsters wiped out most of humanity’s farmland, food was always in short supply. That made escorting food convoys—nicknamed “rice trucks”—more important than anything.
His comrades at the time were just fellow mission-mates; they weren’t particularly close. Was it because they lived not knowing when death might come? Or had constant fighting and witnessing death up close dulled basic human emotions?
“...I’m hungry.”
He muttered from his seat at the back of the truck.
“Me too.”
Across from him sat Choi Ye-seul, his peer. She had recently leveled up to A-Rank Hunter, and since their abilities synergized well, they were often paired for combat or missions. She was one of the few comrades he talked to the most.
“There’s so much food in the back—eating a little wouldn’t even show, right?”
“If you eat until you’re full, it’d all be gone. There are people hungrier than us, so hold out.”
“Who knew a Job like Saintess would fit you so perfectly. Impressive.”
“...What’s that supposed to mean.”
Ye-seul’s expression didn’t change, but he could tell she was embarrassed. He could read her otherwise unreadable expressions and intentions. His sharpened senses for detecting lies and micro-expressions had been honed practicing on her blank face.
Unlike him, most people couldn’t read Ye-seul’s face, so they mistook her for cold. In truth, she was incredibly fragile. She’d even share her meager rations with someone hungrier. She seemed embarrassed by her Job name, Saintess, but he’d never seen anyone more suited to it.
She’d always been slim, but constantly giving away her meals had left her gaunt lately—her cheekbones protruded sharply. Her blank expression already made her look sharp-featured, and now she seemed even more angular.
“Should we catch a Mad Bull or something to eat?”
“It’s poisonous.”
Monster venom was more lethal to civilians, but even Hunters couldn’t eat it unscathed. Mana wasn’t all the same—you could tell from the differing colors of auras. It was like transfusing incompatible blood types; you’d die.
“I won’t die.”
“Don’t rely too much on your Skill.”
Maybe Ye-seul had foreseen his future then. Or maybe not—either way, they’d all be dead in a year, so it didn’t matter.
KABOOM!
“Ambush!!”
Something slammed into the truck’s side, shaking the vehicle violently. He and Ye-seul inside crashed against the walls from the impact and the deafening roar, his head ringing.
He scooped up Ye-seul and leaped from the truck’s rear. Glancing back, he saw the truck’s reinforced side armor—layered multiple times—ablaze from fire magic.
From the forest emerged a B-Rank Ogre Lord and Ogre Mage, leading hundreds of Ogres.
“Stay back!”
He set Ye-seul down and charged forward. He’d just hit B-Rank then, but with support from healer Ye-seul, he could punch above his weight.
With his Regeneration and Ye-seul’s healing, dodging wasn’t necessary. Better to attack one more time instead. He slaughtered Ogres to hold the front, but there were only about ten of them against overwhelming numbers. Still, they couldn’t abandon the food. It was flavorless compressed rations, but rationed carefully, it could feed hundreds or thousands for a month.
“Ah…. No…. Run!”
They could barely handle the Ogres, but when an A-Rank Dullahan on horseback crested the hill, the other Hunters assigned to the mission bolted.
“Don’t run! Where do you think you’re going?! If we don’t take it down here, we’re all dead anyway!”
Some fought to the end. But he had a strong premonition that this would be his last day. They were outnumbered, outmatched, and morale was crumbling.
“Ji-seok, take the others and run.”
“What?!”
“I’ll hold them. Go.”
“Don’t use that! You don’t know yet!”
He bellowed amid the fight.
Ye-seul closed her eyes and gripped her pure white staff tightly with both hands. A brilliant white light burst from the embedded gem, enveloping the monsters and them.
The dome-shaped light immobilized the monsters inside, as if bound by chains. They thrashed and roared futilely. Meanwhile, their side moved freely, wounds healing.
It was Ye-seul’s new Skill from leveling up: Sacrifice. She traded her life to create an indestructible sanctuary. The cost for such a barrier wouldn’t be small.
“Why’d you use it?!”
He rushed back to her and yelled.
“I’ll give you my share of the food. It won’t fill you up much, but.”
Ye-seul, who never smiled, curved her lips. It was the first smile he’d seen from her in all their time together. To smile even in death. Or why was the first smile he saw from her at the moment of dying?
“Go on, hurry.”
Ye-seul’s body bleached white, her skin crumbling like ash.
While Ye-seul held the monsters, the truck had already departed.
He glanced between Ye-seul and the truck, squeezed his eyes shut, and ran after it.
That day’s memory haunted him like a nightmare for the remaining year. Staying wouldn’t have guaranteed he could save her. They’d have died together. But maybe his evolution could have saved her. Even as the world neared apocalypse, he’d held back.
Would his death have meant more if he’d stayed by her dying side? Could he sacrifice for others like Ye-seul? She’d made him reflect deeply, profoundly shaping his actions in this life.
* * *
Seeing her now, she overlapped with that final image. Back then, hardship had ravaged her face, but now she looked youthful and healthy. Her stoic expression was the same, though.
“Hey, you know you’re only in this A-Rank Gate because of me, right? Think you can find someone to drag a C-Rank around and babysit you? Do better. Just do better.”
“Yes.”
The short Jeong Ji-eun Hunter poked the tall Choi Ye-seul Hunter’s forehead repeatedly while berating her. It must happen often—Ye-seul obligingly lowered her head to make it easy. She’d probably been teased for her height before.
Ye-seul’s face was expressionless as ever, but she actually felt sorry.
Hunters were supposed to provide their own gear like insulated suits. Supporters carried bags and handed out necessities as an unspoken duty, but their primary role was combat support—not personal managers for A-Ranks.
So there was no reason to tolerate such treatment. And she hadn’t even done anything wrong—why feel sorry? But her blank, curt responses didn’t convey that remorse to Jeong Ji-eun.
“Ugh, this isn’t a joke. Go on.”
Ye-seul folded the limbs, and Jeong Ji-eun reluctantly put it on.
He wanted to help Ye-seul, but as a stranger butting in, he’d just look suspicious defending her. Handing over money or items out of nowhere would raise eyebrows too. He pondered how to assist.
“Alright, gather up for briefing. This Gate has Minotaurs and Owl Bears, plus the A-Rank Wyvern, so stay alert for aerial threats as we proceed. Oh, manage your insulated suits carefully and conserve thermal items.”
After the brief briefing, the fully geared Hunters lined up before the Gate under Shim Hee-ho Hunter’s orders. Meanwhile, with nothing special to carry, he casually hung back with Sanghun at the rear.
“Hey. Where’s your insulated suit?”
Jeong Ji-eun snapped at him. He was in a black short-sleeve shirt and shorts—an item made by his blacksmith.
“I don’t need one.”
“...The Guild Master didn’t forbid you from coming, but stay back so you don’t hinder the raid. I don’t want pointless mana waste.”
“We’ll see.”
“What?”
“I came to hunt. Can’t do that from the back.”
“You show up with no protective suit, no armor, no weapon—bare-handed—and talk about hunting?!”
She shrieked. Small stature, big voice. Truthfully, an unheard-of Hunter joining the team empty-handed like him would irk anyone.
But after seeing her bully Ye-seul, he didn’t feel like smiling it off. Plus, why was she the only one making a fuss when no one else cared?
“Ehey, Ji-eun, calm down. Big bro already vetted his skills.”
Shim Hee-ho Hunter soothed Jeong Ji-eun.
She seemed to respect Shim Hee-ho as team leader, glaring at him with a loud huff before spinning back to her spot.
“Um…. Want to wear mine? It’ll be small, but better than nothing.”
Ye-seul took off her own insulated suit and offered it.
“What about you?”
“I’ve got heals. I’ll heal if it gets cold.”
Heals didn’t eliminate pain. She meant healing frostbite in extreme cold. Saintess or not, this was next-level pushover.
“Thanks, but don’t worry. I have a Skill—I don’t get cold.”
He politely declined Ye-seul’s offer and entered the Gate. It was indeed freezing, but the environment of the deep sea posed no issue to him.
Pushing through the cold and fierce winds, he advanced.
“Minotaur pack spotted ahead!”