The Undisclosed Gate

I was doing some long-overdue inventory sorting.

Every hunter had one — an Inventory.

It worked exactly like a video game. A set number of slots, and you could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stash anything you wanted inside them. The defining feature was that it wasn't bound by time or space, which was why even after I'd regressed, everything I'd collected in my previous life was still sitting there, perfectly intact.

"Hmm. Not as much I can actually put in the noodles as I'd hoped."

I'd known about this before I even came back, so I'd packed the thing to bursting with all kinds of treasures. One by one, I'd gathered cheat items to give my Chaewon later. And if it came down to it, I could always sell them.

The problem was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that equipment and accessories ate up a ridiculous amount of inventory space. I'd maxed out my slots, but my greed to spoil Chaewon had led me to cram in way too much gear. Which meant consumables were few and far between.

Elixirs were in slightly better supply, at least. Those were essential for accelerating Chaewon's growth.

"But these are way too potent. Dump them in the noodles and I'll ruin everything."

I nodded to myself. Handing these over directly was still too soon. Mixing them into the noodles was the most practical approach, and I could only use things that were tasteless and odorless — which were extremely limited. Mostly herbs. But what I had in my inventory were almost all finished products: round little pills. To blend them into noodles without anyone noticing, they at least needed to look like grass or vegetables.

Anyway, the conclusion was simple.

"Guess I need to do some farming."

It wasn't hard. Just a hassle. But I needed it. Even setting Chaewon aside, if I wanted to look after the people around me without raising suspicion, slipping something into the noodles was the most realistic way.

Yujin's coming tomorrow anyway. Might as well go farming today.

Things that permanently boosted your abilities usually turned up in the forgotten corners of high-difficulty dungeons — places people rarely set foot in. Naturally, I was confident I could come and go like it was my own bedroom. And among the undisclosed gates sitting in my memory, there was a place where ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those kinds of herbs grew in abundance.

"Alright. Let's go wandering today."

I made up my mind quickly and locked the shop. And just as I was about to pull down the shutter… a familiar face appeared.

A peek.

It was Shion, the Japanese S-rank hunter.

Her eyes went round as she spotted me through the glass, and she tried to open the door. I'd just locked it, so it didn't budge. Shion's face crumpled into a pout as she knocked.

I shook my head firmly and crossed my arms into an X. Closed today.

Shion's eyes flew wide, as if she'd been personally betrayed. Tears welled at the corners. She rubbed her stomach. The message was unmistakable: I'm starving to death.

"Nope. Not happening. Go home."

I smiled with the utmost kindness as I rubbed it in.

She was desperate enough to hold up a single finger, mouthing the words.

Just once.

I shook my head. Nothing in this world was more fun than messing with someone.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, a realization flashed through my mind.

Wait a second.

Come to think of it… I couldn't actually get there by myself, could I?

All the rare stuff was in that place. On top of that, my inventory was already full. The golden rule of farming: when you go, you go all out. Even bringing a sturdy backpack wouldn't be enough. Hiring a porter was out of the question — security issues aside, we were heading into a powerful gate. Impossible.

She's Japanese, so she won't know Korean geography… and she won't pick up on how important the gate is, either.

When it came to gates, undisclosed ones were the real honey. Untouched by human hands — a gold mine among gold mines.

She's S-rank, so every dungeon will look more or less the same to her, right?

And Shion ranked among the top even among fellow S-ranks. Unless it was a disaster-class raid, everything else would look like fodder to her.

"…Heh. Is this what they call a willing slave?"

I beamed and opened the shop door. Shion came barreling in and seized my collar.

"Shopkeeper. Me. Noodles. Hungry. Money. As much as you want."

"Money? I don't need money."

"But. Shion. Only thing I can give. Is money."

She looked up at me with worried eyes.

"There's a saying in Korea."

"?"

"…If you can't pay with money, pay with your body."

I looked at Shion like a devil.

"Shopkeeper. Lying. Bad."

Shion followed after me with quick little steps, staring at me with distrustful eyes.

"I'm telling you, I wasn't lying."

Shion was genuinely innocent. Even I had to admit that statement had some room for misunderstanding, but as long as she could eat noodles, she didn't seem to care. Moved by that attitude, I offered her a deal: help me with my work, and I'd give her free noodles every day. I wasn't that much of a bastard.

Shion nodded immediately, and so we were on our way to go farming together. An enormous backpack hung from her shoulders. Just imagining that thing stuffed to bursting already had me in a good mood.

"Dungeon. Protect shopkeeper. Carry bags. You said noodles every day."

Shion looked up at me with transparent eyes. I nodded. There wasn't a shred of a lie in that.

Does she not know her own worth?

An S-rank hunter tagging along into a gate, and she was the one worried I wouldn't keep my promise. Something was… not quite right with this one either.

"Promise. Must keep. Or apology and compensation."

"Okay, now you're crossing a line."

"…Joke."

While we chatted, we arrived at the undisclosed gate I'd marked in advance.

"Alright. This way."

"Here. Nothing."

Shion looked around as she spoke.

"That's right. Watch your step. The ground caves in."

A green field stretched out before us. Shion and I stopped at a certain spot.

Around here?

I brought my heel down hard on the mud-caked earth.

A deep rumble answered, and the weak ground gave way with a heavy collapse.

"What was that?"

Shion looked at me, puzzled.

"A fun place. We're going in through here."

I threw myself into the hole — just wide enough for a person to fit through. A moment later, a thud told me Shion had followed.

"Dark. Where is this?"

Light filtering through the hole we'd punched illuminated her face.

"Here? A subway."

This was a subway line that had been in operation thirty years ago. It wasn't running anymore, so no one set foot here — which was why it still hadn't been discovered.

About three years from now, was it? I remembered it getting found by some mystery YouTuber, completely by accident.

"Strange plants. Many."

Shion was stroking the leafy jaws of a plant lined with teeth.

"Hey, don't just touch that! If you do—"

A wet crunch.

"—it'll take your hand off…"

I stared at Shion in shock.

"Daijoubu."

Shion flashed a bright, sunny smile and waved her hand, like a niece who'd just gotten caught causing trouble.

Right. She's S-rank ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too.

A pointless worry. Right before her hand could be severed, the plant's head had already been sliced clean off.

"That's a monster called a Nepenthes. It releases pollen that bewitches people. If you don't touch it, it won't attack."

"Confirmed. But I want to touch."

"Fight it with willpower. That's the pollen talking. A mid-tier hunter would've already been eaten by now."

Shion and I had high enough mental fortitude to handle this much. A regular hunter would've been digested already. Nepenthes released pollen that induced powerful hallucinations — which was why, later on, a drug made from that powder ended up circulating on the streets.

Should I wipe them out in advance?

It was an incident that caused a lot of chaos down the line. Didn't really have much to do with me, but it could mess with Chaewon's emotional well-being in the future.

I pulled something from my inventory and gave it a gentle toss. A moment later, a spherical orb rose into the air and bloomed with brilliant light, driving back the dark. An illumination artifact.

"Shion. You see them?"

As the area lit up, Nepenthes packed the railway tracks from end to end. At a glance, there had to be at least a hundred of them.

"Mhm. I see."

"Can you kill all of these?"

"Yeah."

"Then go ahead and try."

A nod. A white blade materialized in Shion's hand.

The instant she swung her sword, more than a hundred Nepenthes were sliced apart all at once.

"Not bad."

I looked at Shion with surprised eyes. I hadn't had much contact with her in my previous life, which was why I'd told her to kill the monsters — to get a look at her ability. But just watching with the naked eye, I couldn't tell what it actually was.

I considered asking her directly. But that was a breach of etiquette among hunters. Most of them kept their authorities and traits under tight wraps.

"Shion. Curious about power?"

As if she'd read my mind, Shion spoke to me in awkward Korean.

"Can I ask?"

"Sure."

"That's pretty chill of you. What is it?"

"In exchange."

Shion smiled faintly.

"Seonghun. Tell me your ability too."

"…My ability?"

I looked at her, caught off guard. Give and take was only fair, of course. I just hadn't expected her to cut in without even signaling.

"Never mind. Then I won't ask."

I turned my back on her and walked ahead. I didn't know what she was after by asking, but I didn't need to know Shion's authority badly enough to reveal my own.

Oh. Found something useful.

As I kept walking, I spotted blue flowers blooming between the gaps in the tracks. They were called Phinium — eating them helped restore stamina.

These would be perfect in the noodles.

I yanked them up by the roots, every one I could see, and stuffed them into my inventory.

Anyway, it was about time.

We'd been walking for a while. Enough of these small fries. From here on, I needed to find the truly rare herbs. The problem was, those rare herbs were in that place — and that place was somewhere I couldn't find on my own two feet.

"Seonghun."

Just then, Shion called my name quietly.

"What, bored? Then come over here and pick some flowers. I'll make you something tasty later."

"Sound. You don't hear?"

Shion's brow was furrowed.

It's started, then.

"Calling. Me."

I nodded and looked at her.

"Yes! Yes! It's calling you. Lead the way. Over there."

This was the biggest reason I'd brought her along. A gate within a gate. A place overflowing with rare herbs and precious elixirs. Shion would guide me there.

Queen Nepenthes.

It resembled an ordinary Nepenthes, but the differences were vast — a colossal body, high intelligence, and hallucination pollen hundreds of times more potent. Perhaps that was why the plants growing in its domain became rare medicinal herbs, elixirs no amount of money could buy.

If it were easy to find, I'd have come here all the time.

The gate where the Queen Nepenthes lived shifted location constantly. The pollen was so potent it warped even the gate's position.

I'd had a hell of a time with it in my previous life.

But they say even if the sky falls, there's a hole to crawl through. It wasn't like there was no method at all.

"This way."

"You're doing great, Shion."

Stay inside the gate long enough, and the Queen Nepenthes's pollen would poison you until you started hearing the auditory hallucination of her calling. Follow that sound, and the gate where she waited would pop into existence — just like that.

Status resistance is a pain at times like this.

Of course, I was the exception. My status resistance was maxed out, so no matter how long I stayed, I couldn't hear that sound. Which was why I'd brought Shion today. Guide and porter, all in one. She was a huge help either way.

"Shall we go in?"

Shion and I stood still before the gate.

"Feeling. Not good."

"Don't you dare touch any flowers, okay? You'll actually die."

"Shion doesn't die."

"Just in case. And keep your eyes shut. You might go crazy from the hallucinations."

"But. Seonghun."

"Yeah?"

"How. Do you know? This stuff."

I went quiet. Had I gotten too comfortable because she was Japanese? I might've spoken a little too freely. I scratched my head.

"…It's all in books."

"Sugoi. Korea. Good. Even this. Comes out."

Shion's eyes sparkled as she looked at me. Looking at her innocent face, I felt a twinge of guilt.

"You should read more books too."

"Don't wanna."

Shion shook her head.

"…So Japanese people hate books too, huh?"

With those words, I stepped into the gate.