Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Greenred Gate
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Entering the gate, the surrounding scenery shifted.
Suho muttered as he looked around the inside of the gate.
“Yep, just like before.”
It was exactly as he remembered from the past.
This made Suho truly feel that he had returned to the past.
Suho shifted his gaze to the goblin corpses scattered around.
Green-skinned goblin corpses.
They were typical goblins, with skinny limbs and bulging bellies.
But the ones strewn around outside the gate were found dead inside.
Suho knew why.
This place was ruled by special goblins that preyed on the ordinary ones as predators.
Suho began moving forward slowly.
After a while.
Squelch.
The sound of carelessly stepping in mud.
The terrain had changed.
The ground was no longer firm soil but sticky, moisture-laden earth.
The humidity had increased as well.
This environment was exactly what those guys loved most.
That was when it happened.
“Keee…”
“Kee…”
Turning toward the eerie cries, two red-skinned magic beasts were approaching.
‘They’ve finally shown up.’
Suho knew who they were.
Their identity: hobgoblins.
They looked similar to goblins but had red skin, larger builds, and fiercer temperaments.
That was right.
The reason this gate was called Greenred.
It was because of their skin color.
Spotting them, Suho immediately drew his sword.
And charged straight at them.
“Kirrk?”
“Kerrk?”
The hobgoblins who spotted Suho tilted their heads.
Even after making eye contact, he kept closing in, causing their thoughts to freeze momentarily.
But soon, they bared their aggression and raised their weapons.
‘Yeah, that’s how you should come at me.’
I knew you guys wouldn’t run and would charge right in.
Suho glanced at the levels above their heads.
- Hobgoblin Lv.10
- Hobgoblin Lv.12
Unlike the single-digit goblins, these had two-digit levels.
But so what?
Whether two digits or one, you’re just goblins to me.
Regular or hobgoblins—it doesn’t matter.
In my eyes, you’re all the same bugs.
Suho launched himself at them.
The startled pair thrust their weapons forward first.
A defensive instinct.
‘Knew it.’
Mid-lunge, Suho extended his left foot to plant it on the ground, halting his charge.
Simultaneously, he kicked off the ground with his right foot, stepping back and creating a brief gap with the hobgoblins who had raised their weapons to defend.
A feint.
Suho thrust his blade like a spear into the gap he’d created.
It plunged perfectly into one’s eye.
“Kerruk!!”
Suho didn’t stop there, twisting the sword in a full circle.
With the level gap, my sword might not cut their skin.
That’s why I targeted the eye, where level differences don’t get compensated.
Of course, if the level gap were huge or the magic beast had superior traits, even that might fail.
‘Not against mere hobgoblins.’
Pulling out the sword after the twist, Suho watched.
“Keeee!!”
With its face churned inside out by the spinning blade, it staggered in a groggy state.
It didn’t die.
Just scrambling the inside of its eye wouldn’t kill it easily.
But it created a one-on-one situation.
The other one, shocked, quickly recovered its weapon and swung at Suho again.
But.
‘Slow.’
Suho stared straight at its sword, dodging every swing’s trajectory.
He didn’t attack.
Suho wanted something from it.
After several dodges, it happened.
[Your understanding of dodging is exceptionally high.]
[The system is evaluating your talent.]
[Congratulations! You have acquired Dodge (B).]
Perfect.
He’d obtained one of the things he wanted.
Dodge was a skill that instantly evaded nearby attacks upon activation.
Now that he had Dodge, Suho finally drew his sword properly.
He stopped dodging, stood in place, and began deflecting the hobgoblin’s attacks with his blade.
“Kirrk?!”
It had put strength into its swings, yet its attack paths kept twisting.
Strange.
Enraged, the hobgoblin swung harder.
But the result was the same.
No matter how much it swung, Suho stood firm, deflecting with a few sword strokes.
After a while.
[Your understanding of deflecting is exceptionally high.]
[The system is evaluating your talent.]
[Congratulations! You have acquired Parrying (B).]
Parrying.
The skill of deflecting an opponent’s attack.
Parrying had a deep history, even with dedicated weapons.
That’s why it was one of the must-have skills.
It formed the foundation for many other crucial skills.
Suho nodded to himself.
‘This is enough from this one.’
He’d gained two skills from his first hobgoblins.
But no more—it felt like the limit.
The hobgoblin was getting tired.
So he decided to discard it boldly.
“Had fun.”
Stab!
Dodging its next attack, Suho thrust into its nape from the side.
The blade’s narrow tip maximized piercing power, going clean through to the other side. Suho twisted it again to increase damage.
“Gruk!”
The hobgoblin collapsed, unable to endure the pain.
[Hobgoblin defeated.]
The system kindly confirmed its death.
Suho then approached the first hobgoblin, still unfinished.
Stab!
[Hobgoblin defeated.]
No need to think twice.
Suho plunged his sword into the gasping one’s nape.
[Level up.]
[All stats increased by 1.]
[Acquired 1 bonus stat.]
Another level up.
Suho allocated the bonus stat to mana, then pressed forward.
No—before moving, he turned back and stabbed into the hobgoblins’ hearts.
Something hard caught on the blade tip. Digging it out revealed a small mana stone.
A D-Grade mana stone.
‘Yeah, this I gotta take.’
Hunters lived off loot from magic beasts, like their corpses and byproducts.
Mana stones were the most important income source.
Their value depended on size; thumbnail-sized ones like this were typically D-Grade.
‘Smaller ones are E-Grade.’
These would fetch 50,000 won each.
In the old days, he wouldn’t have bothered collecting them one by one, but now he had to.
He’d returned to the past, and his past self had no money.
Of course, he skipped the outside goblins.
They were bottom-tier, rarely dropped mana stones, and even if they did, they weren’t marketable.
Having collected two mana stones, Suho moved on.
He encountered more hobgoblins and swung his sword at them.
***
Outside the gate.
Chaos reigned.
Sudden gates appearing in the middle of the city weren’t common.
That’s why civilian guild hunters and government hunters had rushed in late to resolve it.
The perimeter monsters were cleared; all that remained was entering to conquer the gate.
But someone had already gone in without consulting them.
One hunter scowled upon learning this.
“Who the hell goes into a gate solo without a word? Which group?”
“Gonna beat the crap out of them when they come out.”
“Make sure they never work this field again.”
“If they die in there, it’ll be legendary.”
For sudden gates, unless special circumstances, they held on-site bids, sending in the winning group’s hunters first.
Gates were precious livelihoods for hunters.
Entry order was crucial.
Once even one entered, the gate sealed automatically. If conquered, the rest got nothing—like dogs chasing a chicken.
That was when.
“What? A healer went in alone?”
“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes.”
A citizen’s report.
But it was odd.
A healer entering alone?
The firefighter witness insisted he saw it clearly, even showing arrow wounds to back his claim.
“No other hunters?”
“Yes, he sliced a few perimeter goblins, healed my wound, and just went in.”
“That’s ridiculous…”
Judging by the cleared monsters, the gate itself didn’t seem hard.
At most, green goblins?
But a healer alone?
And slicing goblins before entering?
Jeong Cheol-min, team leader of the Gate Management Team dispatched urgently by the Korean Hunter Association, furrowed his brow.
He soon told his subordinates.
“Wait here and report any changes in the gate immediately. Report anyone coming out too.”
“Yes, sir.”
Their resounding reply.
Lighting a cigarette, Jeong Cheol-min thought.
‘Probably just cluelessly went in. No way a crazy healer solos a gate.’
Chic-chic—
He inhaled.
Assuming nothing would happen.
But if this wasn’t nothing, and that lone healer actually cleared it…
‘I’ll make them one of ours, no matter what.’
Jeong Cheol-min was serious.
The nation’s safety seemed guarded by government and guilds alike, but in reality, the government was at the guilds’ mercy.
Simple reason.
To control guilds, the nation needed power…
Outstanding player talent. But sadly, it couldn’t match guild pay.
Sure, more than other agencies, but laughable compared to guilds’ perks.
Hence, government hunters’ nickname: “Patriot Pay Warriors.”
Just a nickname, though—civil servant hunters, especially field ones, were mostly filled with patriotism and altruism.
No other mindset could survive here.
Recruiting for the association was tough, but Jeong Cheol-min never gave up.
Occasionally, some did join the government.
Jeong Cheol-min pulled out his phone and dialed.