Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Sudden Double Gate Break
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I'd been busy for the past few days, and now I was finally enjoying a proper vacation when Pablo came rushing in.
"What's wrong?"
"A Gate Break has occurred. I've got the private jet ready, so we need to head to the airport right away."
"Huh? Where?"
"Not far from here. The cartel Hunters and the military have already mobilized, so it should be under control, but just to be safe, it would be best if you returned home quickly."
Ever since the kidnapping incident, Pablo had been beating himself up over it, even prostrating himself in apology until his head touched the floor. He'd finally started to calm down, but now this Gate Break had him completely flustered.
"You said it was being managed.... I'm heading to the site. Get the gear for those who are coming with me."
"I've already packed it."
Sang-hun came out carrying his armor and sword, and the rest of the group behind him were all geared up.
"Where do you think you're going? You need to escape now!"
If only this place were collapsing without affecting our side, I might not have considered risking my life and my party's to stop it. But if we let this slide, it would soon spread to Korea—to everyone living there.
"I'm not going anywhere. Can a Hunter run from monsters?"
"Gate Breaks are getting so common they're boring now, huh?"
Sang-hun and Si-hwan were acting all nonchalant. Sang-hun had started to give off a real veteran vibe, but even as Si-hwan talked big, his hands were trembling slightly.
"Pablo, you evacuate. We'll take the car."
"No.... That's...."
Leaving Pablo standing there unsure of what to do, we climbed into the Hummer limousine.
I opened the sunroof and looked around. Traffic was backed up as tourists headed to the airport.
"Taho, send me the Gate Break location. We're coming to help."
I called Taho.
"You didn't run? I'll send you the ops map. Thanks."
I gave the map to Si-hwan in the passenger seat to navigate.
Sang-hun, who always handled driving, floored the limousine recklessly.
"Sang-hun! Easy on the turns!"
Na-young gripped the handle tightly to keep from rolling around inside.
"Sis, we gotta hurry!"
He zigzagged across lanes as a matter of course and didn't even slow for speed bumps. It was a bulletproof car, but it was getting banged up from all the collisions.
"I see it!"
Chang-hee, up on the roof, spotted the Gate Break site.
"....Doesn't look that intense?"
Si-hwan squinted at the Gate where the break had happened.
An endless stream of ogres was pouring out in front of the broken Gate. But that was it. No giant variants, no D-Rank ogres even—nothing above C-Rank monsters in sight.
"Looks manageable?"
Si-hwan puffed up right away.
In fact, cartel and military Hunters and soldiers were arriving in droves, sealing off every direction.
"Huh.... I figured the cartel wouldn't care about a Gate Break, but they're responding fast."
Na-young marveled at the cartel's handling.
"If the people disappear, the cartel does too."
"The military's rolling better than I thought."
"They run on cartel funding. They take orders from the cartel too, so they're basically cartel in uniforms."
I'd worried they wouldn't respond properly after Jax died, but thankfully Taho had rallied the remaining forces well.
"Good to see you."
Taho welcomed us.
"We probably didn't even need to come."
With the cartel and soldiers steadily arriving, it looked like they could handle the ogres just fine. Regular bullets didn't work on ogres, but missiles, tank rounds, white phosphorus—plenty of modern weapons did the trick.
"No, you never know with a Gate Break. Just having an S-Rank Hunter on standby is a huge help."
"Got it. Oh brothers, Ye-seul, Sang-hun—don't push to the front. Just help catch any that leak out."
Charging ahead would just mess up their chain of command.
"Yes, sir!"
They all rushed off.
"They'll handle it fine on their own, but I'll lend a hand."
"You planning to go in yourself?"
"Nah, my girlfriend's got skills."
I enlarged myself, put Na-young on my shoulder, and climbed a hill where I could overlook the ogre horde.
I looked at Na-young, and she nodded.
Her eyes turned purple, and a purple aura spread around us. I was fine, but for anyone without resistance, mere exposure to that dense mana concentration could cause damage.
It wouldn't be visible to normal eyes—like clouds blocking the sun casting shadows—but Na-young's curse enveloped the ogre horde.
The ogres hit by Corruption had their skin peeling off as they writhed in agony, instantly combat-ineffective.
"My god.... And she's not even S-Rank?"
Taho's jaw dropped. He'd seen her skill at the Gate before, but this was several times bigger in scale.
Every ogre in front of the Gate was affected, and new ones emerging were cursed the moment they appeared.
And one by one, the ogres started collapsing.
"What are you gawking at! Push now! Watch out not to enter the wide-area skill range!"
Taho bellowed at the rear guard who'd been staring in a daze. They finally snapped to and unleashed their firepower.
More reinforcements kept arriving, forming a thick defensive line. No more ogres broke through.
Na-young released Corruption.
"Hoo...."
She'd sweated through nearly depleting her mana on that large-scale Corruption over 20 minutes.
"Good work."
"It was nothing."
"Still the best at wide-area attacks."
Na-young beamed, a bit embarrassed.
"But...."
I turned toward the Gate. The military had it surrounded, I was here, Taho was an A-Rank Hunter. With only ogres coming out, we could block it leisurely.
"Why, oppa?"
"Too easy?"
"Isn't easy good?"
"Yeah."
The problem was, this was so minor that Mexico's forces could've handled it without me—even without the late Jax.
In my past life, Mexico tried holding alone and got pushed back until the US sent aid. But they failed anyway, and southeast Mexico became monster territory.
I stuck around in case big ones started coming out, but after over an hour, nothing. Just ogres, which the Mexican units rotated teams to block effortlessly.
Clearing the mountain of ogre corpses looked harder than killing them.
This can't be right....
"Lee Ji-seok Hunter, thank you for your cooperation. We contained it without major casualties thanks to you."
Taho offered premature thanks.
"No problem. But didn't you say Gate management was solid? Any idea how this Break happened?"
"It was well-managed. All the Gates we knew about."
"Gates you knew? So this was a new one?"
"Exactly. There was no Gate here yesterday. They say the ogre horde burst out the moment it appeared."
"No way...."
Normally, Gates form and Break if not cleared in time.
No way it Breaks this fast.
"I don't want to believe it either, but that's what happened."
In my past life, overwhelmed by tens of thousands of monsters, we never figured out the details. I hadn't known about this.
"Wait.... Then maybe others opened too?"
"What?"
"No guarantee this was the only one. Can you use satellites?"
"We can borrow US satellites. Good thing Jax is gone."
"Jax? Why?"
"He hated America. Even if help was available, he never would've asked first."
That explained the delayed US response in my past life. Without sharing intel with the US or Awakener Association, and with him dead or fled, no wonder mutant Gate info never spread.
"Request it now. Launch every drone and aircraft to scan hundreds of kilometers around."
"You think there are more?"
If history hadn't changed, definitely.
"If you find none, great. But if open ones go undetected and monsters swarm out, it won't be this easy to stop."
"Understood."
"Bro, I think we're done with vacation. Time to head home."
Sang-hun wiped the blood off his weapon and armor.
We'd come for fun and ended up hacking ogres instead—exhausting, but no one complained. I appreciated that.
"Rest up a bit. Something feels off."
We waited a few more hours, but no word.
"Lee Ji-seok Hunter."
Taho came to where we were waiting.
"Fortunately, no signs of Gates opening elsewhere. Why not head back and rest? Mexico won't forget your help. Once we're done here, I'll visit with our thanks."
Taho saluted formally.
"Good to hear."
Had history changed? Or would they open later?
"Boss!"
Just as I was about to relax and leave, a Mexican in uniform came running up in a panic.
"What? We're with VIPs here...."
"Another Gate Break!"
My eyes met Taho's.
"Where?"
"Two kilometers west of here."
"Split the forces. Divide the troops and block the western Break. Request reinforcements for the west."
"Taho, we'll head to the second Break too."
"Truly grateful. I'll repay this debt later."
I told Taho that and got into the already battered Hummer limousine.
"Damn...."
Seeing the ogre horde already spilling out and lining up, everyone was speechless. Under the Ogre Lord's orders, they formed perfect ranks like a real army.
"Commence attack from prepared units! Empty every round you've got!"
The commander in charge of the area barked orders the moment he arrived. Tank shells, multiple rocket launchers, white phosphorus missiles rained down on the ogres like a downpour.
Shells and missiles exploded, flames hot enough to consume everything engulfing the ogres' heads, billowing thick black smoke.
The commander smirked confidently, assuming they'd thinned the numbers.
But his face hardened as the smoke cleared.
Dozens of Ogre Mages had erected dozens of dome-shaped barriers. The military's attack hadn't inflicted a scratch.
"Kuaaaak!"
The Ogre Lord roared from in front of the Gate, and the ogres stamped and bellowed in response.
Ogres were tough D-Ranks on their own, but with the Ogre Lord, they got buffs pushing them to at least C-Rank strength.
"Ruaato gua!"
A short chant followed, and the ogres stepped forward once. Then again. And the great ogre charge began.
"Chang-hee, target the Mages only. Everyone else, focus on protecting Ye-seul and Chang-hee. No overdoing it."
Chang-hee handled hundreds of ogres with the sniper rifle from Regen, shooting up several levels in moments. Even Ogre Mages couldn't withstand that gun's barrier-breaking power.
"Shall we?"
Sang-hun stood beside me, sword glowing.
"You sure?"
"I've not been slacking either."
"Alright, show me that B-Rank Hunter skill."
I enlarged, donned my armor, put Na-young on my shoulder, and charged.