The Cross Gate Horror Returns
Park Minho returned to Hyunmoo Base and immediately gave Colonel Jeong Seungcheol a summary of the situation.
“There was friction with the Chinese hunters.”
Some embellishments had occurred.
“I happened to run into Chinese hunters, but they immediately launched a preemptive attack.”
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. As you can see.”
During the fight, the barrier was noticed, or something like that.
“Absolutely not.”
“I didn’t attack first.”
“All I did was counterattack out of necessity and somehow discover the barrier.”
“Of course.”
“The kind and gentle Minho doesn’t know about preemptive attacks.”
“So to summarize, Hunter Park ran into Chinese hunters by chance.”
“Yes. Really bad luck, huh.”
“Anyway, during the battle, I felt uneasy and checked. There was a barrier.”
“That’s right. It was a special concealment barrier.”
“Then when I climbed up normally, I discovered the Chinese side’s base.”
“Yup.”
“A place where more than a hundred A-class hunters and over a hundred B-class hunters are stationed.”
“There were 142 B-class hunters.”
“…”
Colonel Jeong Seungcheol’s lips twisted as if he was about to say something, then he stopped.
“Sigh.”
“You don’t smoke, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good job. This kind of thing only makes you unhealthy.”
His posture was exactly like ‘sigh, you shouldn’t do this kind of thing’.
Colonel Jeong Seungcheol fidgeted with his chest pocket, clearly regretful, and spoke again.
“Let me summarize. Hunter Park discovered a Chinese base, buried the hunters there in hundreds, right?”
“Wow. You summarized it well.”
“Kkhueng.”
“Why are you groaning?”
“Honestly, I don’t believe it right away, so that’s why.”
“Even in a desert island, I killed ten A-class hunters.”
“Anyway, I’ll send a research team to the place you mentioned.”
“The Gaia Former… I destroyed it, so the monsters are going to be everywhere.”
“Can you wait until the research results come out?”
“Yes. I’ll be training.”
The Cross Gate is rich in mana.
Because of that, training results are even greater, so I can’t just waste it.
“Hahaha. What a good mindset.”
The other person was even more excited.
At the base, the support team that had been waiting for him was still there.
“Hyung. You’re back.”
“I’m not hurt. Hyung?”
“How did it go with your work?”
“When are we going to catch the troll!”
The words came out like a machine gun.
“You trained properly, right?”
“Hic. Isra knight.”
“We worked hard too?”
“I hope your skills have grown as much as your spirit.”
Isra knight smiled sweetly.
“Ah.”
“Why are you all like this?”
“I have to roll with them too, why did you guys get all motivated!”
“No one is excluded, Lord.”
“Damn it.”
***
While Minho’s group was covered in tears and sweat at Hyunmoo Base.
Colonel Jeong Seungcheol climbed the mountain with his subordinate hunters.
“I have to check it with my own two eyes.”
He didn’t doubt Minho.
But he didn’t completely trust him either.
Exaggerating one’s achievements is something young people often do, isn’t it?
I just need to check how much exaggeration there was.
“It’s probably true that I ran into Chinese hunters.”
Colonel Jeong Seungcheol, thinking along these lines, showed his anger.
He knew there was a basin at the summit of the mountain.
The Korean government had been exploring the Cross Gate for over ten years.
Would they not have surveyed the terrain around the entrance?
“Built an outpost in a place like a basin?”
Colonel Jeong thought that spot was unlikely to be a base made with a Gaia Former.
Shifting tens of tons of equipment by any means?
Even if disassembled, the difficulties would be the same.
Then reassembling and inputting on-site data would be more than a couple of things.
That was also one of the reasons countries didn’t easily expand their bases.
“Just guarding the Cross Gate entrance would require enormous manpower and funds.”
So, while angry, Colonel Jeong weighed the possibility that Minho’s words were exaggerated and didn’t take it too seriously.
Before arriving at the site.
“Major. The unit is battalion-level.”
“There is a dimensional reversal pattern.”
The traces of a large base in the basin.
The residual traces of dimensional reversal were still suppressing monster generation.
Even without the Gaia Former, the suppression force was still active.
That was why monsters were especially scarce around the basin.
“There was also a pattern of aura collision.”
“It looks like they clashed in units of dozens.”
When auras collided, the mana that scattered would leave holes the size of a sesame seed on the ground.
Those traces were scattered all over the battlefield.
The wounds on the ground were created at around the same time.
It was clear proof that Minho’s statement had no exaggeration.
“Even fighting them alone, twenty A-class hunters?”
“Ping!” Suddenly, dizziness hit.
A promising young hunter?
No.
It was overwhelming power that far exceeded that.
In theory, twenty A-class hunters charging while sacrificing their lives could bring down an S-class hunter.
Of course.
p>That was just theory, since an S-class hunter wouldn’t sit idly by.
Anyway, it was a fact that the Chinese hunters, who had the advantage of being defenders, were taken down by one person.
“Recently, I heard they were killing about ten A-class hunters?”
Colonel Jeong Seungcheol’s head spun.
What kind of beings were A-class hunters?
In the martial world, mana strengthened the body or aura release cut steel like tofu.
No modern defense system could stop aura users.
Magicians were at the level of handling and using powerful forces like natural disasters locally.
Each A-class hunter was treated as a tactical weapon.
“Such A-class hunters, thirty of them died to one person?”
Even in the early days of the Great Cataclysm, that much casualty wasn’t common.
Colonel Jeong Seungcheol didn’t know about that fact, but he could easily figure out that China had suffered enormous damage in a short time.
“How far will the ripples of this incident spread?”
China had deployed its superhuman legion hunters to multiple countries.
Activity areas were Southeast Asia and East Africa.
p>They sent hunters to countries bordering the sea and interfered in both legal and illegal activities.
“If thirty A-class hunters disappear, it will restrict China’s external activities.”
Colonel Jeong Seungcheol shook his head vigorously.
Predicting what lay beyond was something for the higher-ups.
He only needed to focus on managing Hyunmoo Base.
“It’s a monster. It’s a monster.”
When he heard that Director Jeong Seungil had been selected as the next SS-class, he hadn’t thought much of it.
If a great hunter appeared domestically, there was no harm in it.
But.
When he confirmed the place where Minho showed his power, his mouth fell open.
“I wonder if one hunter could change the East Asian situation.”
Colonel Jeong Seungcheol gritted his teeth to keep from gaping in shock.
***
[Level Up.]
[Reached the maximum level.]
The max level was hit in the evening.
Instead of three steps, just one step into the Cross Gate where monsters appeared.
It turned out to be a place where the support team gave me troll meat as a gift.
“Kkiriririk!”
“Isra knight.”
“It’s noisy, you monster.”
[Imperial Sword Style - Modified Isra Form]
[3rd Form - Full Moon Slash]
Along with the troll, several other monsters came and surrendered their necks in one strike.
[Variant Red Boost Corpse]
[Variant Owl Beast Corpse]
[Variant Troll Corpse]
…
I don’t know how many monsters with variant titles I met.
When the number exceeded ten, I stopped counting.
Imperial Sword Style - Modified Isra Form
“Kk. You have a pretty bad head.”
“Noisy, you thing.”
“Zaug. Don’t neglect the youngest management.”
“No! This guy! I’ll punish him right now!”
“I don’t know magic, so I can’t use it.”
“That’s a weakness of the great alchemist.”
“Since it’s said, there’s nothing special to do with it.”
“When are you going to analyze the variant corpses?”
“You can go back.”
Just as I discovered the [Devour] ability from the variant ghoul.
The variant monsters in the Cross Gate might also have special abilities for the undead.
Monster corpses that are hard to get outside.
I wanted to analyze them leisurely with time, but it was too time-consuming while visiting the Cross Gate.
“I need to train.”
“Correct mindset!”
I didn’t know what would come out as a promotion exam topic.
Check, magic, and blacksmithing.
I had to maximize achievements in three completely different fields.
“Want me to teach you Memorize?”
“I didn’t know that was a skill you could learn right away.”
“Of course not. The master is an exception.”
“…”
Throwing a too-high hurdle at someone who still couldn’t wake up from multiple chants.
Magic was set aside for now.
Just like last time’s promotion exam, it might be covered by subordinates’ achievements.
“Aaah. Master~”
“Stop! Where are you doing something to the lord?”
“You’re so lucky. Huh? Because you’re learning swordsmanship!”
Ingrid.
When the promotion exam asked me to do Memorize, I’d train magic then.
So, first, calm down.
“Hwoong!”
“Hwang!”
“Put more strength in your legs.”
“Eh.”
“Your waist is twisted too much.”
“Okay.”
“Pull back the mana release timing a little more.”
“…”
“Knight.”
“Isn’t this a lot of requirements?”
I thought that if I went a bit further, it would give instructions like standing on one foot and spinning a plate with the right foot and juggling a Galaron with the left.
But the most unfair thing was that my body was perfectly executing Isra knight’s unreasonable orders.
“Ah! Why does this work!”
“It’s natural because I have the same talent.”
“Damn it.”
It would have been less painful if my limbs had gotten tangled and I fell.
But, following Isra knight’s guidance, my hands and feet moved.
And the mana release improved quickly.
“Growing day by day.”
There was fun, but my tongue wanted to bite because it was too hard.
“But why do we all receive it at the same intensity?”
“To encourage the master’s enthusiasm.”
“Hek! We’re not that good!”
“So you have to suffer more. When are you going to awaken aura and help the master?”
Looking at it, it seemed like you could buy aura in a convenience store for five hundred won.
“It would have been nice if we brought Yoon Du too.”
“Tsk.”
If we had participated in this pain, no, in the training process, our strength would have increased a lot.
“Absolutely not.”
It wasn’t because I thought I couldn’t suffer alone.
“There’s also the support team?”
“That’s not the point.”
Receiving Isra knight’s harsh criticism.
Before the promotion exam arrived, I swung the sword madly.
“Hek.”
Save me.
This is hell!