The Corridor of Sacred Blood (1)

The gate Chunbae mentioned was the Corridor of Sacred Blood. Its recommended level and party capacity were a flawless fit for us.

Divinity can be found here?

—Affirmative. While I have not ventured inside personally, I recall hearing during my days serving the previous Lord that divinity was acquired within this gate.

It certainly made sense given the name. Sacred blood. If holy blood was involved, it had to be tied to divinity.

—Acquiring sacred power will only benefit us. With adequate reserves, I may even offer advanced magical instruction to your party's mage.

Sacred power acts as your battery, doesn't it? Is it wise to burn it on something like that right now?

—Perhaps not in the far future, but for an advanced course at his current tier, I possess sufficient leeway to accommodate it. Provided, of course, that the divinity harvested reaches a certain threshold.

If Chunbae—the one who actually consumed the power—saw no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠issue, then neither did I.

Still, these gates are appearing far more frequently than I expected.

—To what do you refer, Master?

Gates that you already recognize.

Chunbae had witnessed the rise and fall of two separate worlds. It stood to reason that some dungeons might overlap, but considering the sheer cosmic scale, the number of familiar sites cropping up felt unnaturally high. Only one plausible suspect came to mind: the Surviving God, who had weathered the erosion of mana.

—There remains the slight possibility of an extraordinary coincidence, yet... your suspicion may well hold merit.

Whatever that cosmic entity was scheming was beyond me. Did it derive twisted amusement from watching mortals struggle against inevitable doom? Regardless of its motive, I had no intention of throwing away an advantage. Danger or not, a boon was a boon. If it wanted to play games, I would exploit every opening it provided and repay its arrogance in kind.

What kind of gate is it, exactly?

—Word reached me that vampires lurk within, but beyond that detail, I remain uninformed.

Vampires, huh? Not exactly your everyday monster.

—Given the level bracket, they will not be trivial adversaries.

It sounded promising. Putting divinity aside for a moment, encountering vampires was an experience well worth pursuing on its own.

When I shared Chunbae's information with the rest of the guild, everyone nodded in agreement.

"If Chunbae vouched for it, we have to go," Uncle declared. "Opportunities like this don't come around twice."

"Agreed," Minjae said in his usual measured tone. "Everything he's pointed us toward so far has yielded fantastic results."

Minjae answered calmly because I hadn't breathed a word about the potential magic tutoring. If I mentioned that now, he would probably scream in sheer ecstasy and bounce off the walls.

Better to break the news in private at the training facility later.

Besides, Chunbae had explicitly said it hinged on harvesting enough divinity from the gate. There was no point in inflating Minjae's expectations beforehand.

"Chunbae did mention that vampires inhabit the place, but that's all he knows," I cautioned. "Unlike the frozen snowfield, we won't have a detailed blueprint."

"Come on, with our firepower, what's there to worry about?" Uncle grinned, leaning back. "Can't we punch through a gate like that in our sleep?"

"Naturally," Minjae added. "Dungeons matching our level range pose little threat to us now."

The consensus was unanimous.

The Corridor of Sacred Blood.

A few other raid teams had submitted bids for it, but as long as we held a Priority Pass, there was no need to compete. We spent the pass without hesitation, leaving us with two remaining.

Now that the atmospheric mana concentration had stabilized, securing additional priority passes would be difficult unless another global Trial Gate emerged.

Still, two passes are more than enough. So long as we save them for the ones that truly matter.

Thanks to the pass, our assignment was confirmed almost instantaneously.

"It isn't far from here," I told the team. "I'm thinking we enter in two days. Does that schedule suit everyone?"

"Works for me."

With that settled, the raid date was locked. There wasn't much extra preparation required either. The only weakness officially recognized for vampires in standard hunter lore was silver weaponry.

Back when vampires broke out during an emergence gate, splashing holy water on them did absolutely nothing. Crosses were equally useless.

Out of sheer curiosity, I posed the question to Chunbae, and his answer was straightforward.

—That is because the water bore no true divinity. Holy water from a world where gods tangibly exist serves as an absolute bane to their kind.

Then silver blades should suffice for now?

—Affirmative. They should prove far more potent against vampires than they were against werewolves.

We already carried silver weapons from our earlier encounter with the lycanthropes. If they were even more lethal against vampires, they would make fine sidearms.

—However, their effectiveness scales inversely with the vampire's power. It will not be entirely futile, but against an elder bloodline...

I see. In that case, wouldn't the Sword of the Sky or the Windflow Sword be a better primary choice?

—Affirmative. Even considering supplementary elemental traits, the silver blades in your current possession are not of exceptional craftsmanship.

Makes sense.

—Truth be told, rather than standard cold steel, I suspect your Incineration will inflict the most devastating trauma upon them.

That made total sense. Incineration unleashed flames capable of burning mana itself. Against a vampire's rapid biological regeneration, it would be infinitely more terrifying than a dull silver blade.

"Hyung! My Jeweler skill leveled up!"

Amid our raid preparations, welcome news arrived. Min-seok, who had recently reached level 3 after running another low-tier gate, burst in beaming with pride.

"It's all thanks to you, Hyung!"

Under the Association's personal coaching, Min-seok had prioritized his mana pool and stamina. Supplemented by the elixirs I provided, his daily skill activations had surged, allowing him to practice relentlessly.

"What do you mean, thanks to me? You're the one who faced your fears and cleared those gates," I said, offering him an easy smile.

Though I had certainly lent a hand, playing it down helped cultivate his confidence. For a kid who had once dreaded the mere thought of entering a dungeon, keeping his enthusiasm stoked was essential.

"So... can I try artificing one of your weapons now, Hyung? I really want to help out! I can handle C-rank gate metals now!" Min-seok looked up at me eagerly, gauging my reaction.

I hesitated for a heartbeat. The reason I hadn't let him touch my gear right after his awakening was to wait until his proficiency matured.

Still, when he looks at me with those pleading eyes... it's hard to say no.

Besides, it wasn't a terrible idea. My primary weapons were the Windflow Sword and the Sword of the Sky. Typically, I wielded the Windflow Sword as my daily driver and drew the Sword of the Sky whenever the encounter demanded raw destructive weight. Between the two, the Windflow Sword was a safe candidate for experimentation. It was originally D-rank, while the Sword of the Sky was a solid B-rank.

As my level climbed, I would naturally lean more heavily on the Sword of the Sky anyway.

In terms of pure fundamental blade craft, the Sword of the Sky outclasses it completely.

Even Chunbae had affirmed that truth. Grade discrepancies existed for a reason, regardless of unique passive perks. The only reason I kept the Windflow Sword sheathed at my hip was the tactical versatility of Wind Slash. But as monsters grew tougher and higher in rank, the Windflow Sword was inevitably bound to be relegated to third-string status.

"Alright, Min-seok. Want to try your hand at the Windflow Sword?"

"Yes! Absolutely!"

Min-seok beamed, practically glowing. The disappointment he had worn when I previously told him to wait vanished entirely. Seeing the guild featured on television and reading the forum threads had clearly stirred an earnest desire within him to contribute. Having awakened as a classified artisan that had to be kept strictly secret, he couldn't showcase his talents to the world. Proving his worth to us was his only outlet.

"What material are you planning to use?"

"The one you gave me before! The red stone!"

A red stone?

Did I buy something like that for him? I racked my memory for a second until the answer clicked: the Fire Essence Jade from the gate Uncle and I had tackled together. We had harvested it from the Flame Valley before putting down the Magma Warden. Since it was C-rank, it fell right into Min-seok's newly expanded crafting capacity.

"You mean the Fire Essence Jade?"

"Yes! You gave it to me, so I want to use it to make you stronger!"

"Good boy."

Having a weapon enhanced using a rare mineral I had personally gifted him—and crafted by Min-seok's own hands—felt unexpectedly touching. Yet a curious thought struck me.

The Windflow Sword was inherently attuned to the wind. What would happen if it merged with the fiery essence of the jade? Would Wind Slash transform into a ranged wave of roaring flame instead?

"Go ahead and give it a shot."

I unbuckled the Windflow Sword and handed it over. Min-seok cradled the blade in one hand and pressed the polished crimson jade against the steel with the other. Having practiced his craft intensely over the past weeks, his demeanor was entirely different from the nervous kid who had clumsily handled his first ore. Back then, he had simply pressed the metal against an object with blind hope; now, a deep, quiet concentration washed over his features.

He guided the Fire Essence Jade across the flat of the blade, searching intently for the weapon's invisible mana veins and optimal resonance points.

"Found it!" Min-seok gasped.

The instant he shouted, the jade flared with a rich scarlet brilliance and began to liquefy, melting straight into the steel. Min-seok's hands moved with astonishing speed and deft precision, tracing the glowing mineral down the full length of the blade from hilt to tip. Crimson tracer lines dissolved and knitted themselves into the metal grain in the stone's wake.

It was a night-and-day difference from his early, unrefined attempts.

—The boy possesses remarkable innate aptitude. Without instruction, he intuitively perceives the path where gate metal and weaponry achieve harmonious equilibrium.

Looks like it.

Even to my untrained eyes, his movements exuded meticulous finesse.

—Though rough edges remain, he will master the nuances swiftly. This artisan may reach maturity far sooner than I originally anticipated.

Hearing Chunbae shower him with genuine praise brought an instinctive smile to my face. A moment later, Min-seok exhaled sharply and pulled his hands back.

The Fire Essence Jade was entirely gone.

In its stead, a shimmering, radiant crimson lacquer coated the silver edge of the Windflow Sword. At a glance, the patterns resembled flowing ripples of water, but a closer look revealed flickering tongues of flame dancing on an unfelt breeze.

"All done!"

"Let's see what we've got."

"Yes! I'm really confident about this one!" Min-seok puffed out his small chest with unbridled pride. "This is the hardest I've ever focused on an enhancement, and it turned out better than anything I've ever made!"

Chuckling at his adorable pride, I took the hilt into my grip and inspected its properties. My eyes instantly widened.

The core flavor description hadn't changed dramatically—it didn't swap out Wind Slash for a wave of fire. But a crucial transformation had occurred right at the very top.

First, the elemental suffix (Fire) had attached itself to the name. Far more importantly, its base rank had escalated from D-rank straight to C-rank.

"The edge looked a little worn out and nicked, so I filled in all the micro-cracks with the melted jade!" Min-seok beamed.

Did reinforcing the blade's structural integrity trigger an automatic rank promotion?

It was breathtaking. Min-seok had every right to stand proud. While I couldn't quite fathom yet how the explosive kinetic release would feel when coating the blade in fire, the weapon had undeniably gained a potent offensive passive.

Wait... can this synergy trigger off Incineration?

The thought flashed through my mind, but watching Min-seok practically vibrate with anticipation, my immediate priority was praising him.

"How is it, Hyung?"

"It's incredible. Truly. I couldn't be happier with it. You did amazing, Min-seok."

"Really?!"

"Of course."

I wasn't flattering him. The only reason I had contemplated replacing the Windflow Sword was its low D-rank durability and base damage. As an heirloom retrieved from the first compartment of my subspace—a beginner's training weapon—it lacked the resilience for sustained high-level combat. But as a reinforced C-rank blade, its combat lifespan had been massively extended.

Hearing my genuine praise, Min-seok let out a delighted cheer and began hopping around the room. The commotion drew Uncle through the doorway.

"What's all the racket about?"

"Min-seok just artificed the Windflow Sword, and its rank jumped to C."

"Say what?"

Uncle's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. He glanced toward Min-seok and silently mouthed, Is the sword still in one piece? Clearly, he was worried about my primary weapon getting ruined by a low-level rookie artisan. But then his brain caught up to my words.

"Hold on. Did you say the rank increased?"

"Yeah."

"He's never managed a rank ascension before! Not once!"

"Wait, seriously?"

I had been too occupied with dungeon runs to track his minor crafts, but apparently, this was unprecedented. In gaming terms, Min-seok had just landed a legendary 'Great Success' enchantment roll on his first attempt on my gear.

"Take a look for yourself."

Since Uncle had wielded the Windflow Sword before, he knew its original parameters well. I held out the blade for him to inspect.

"Holy shi—"

Remembering that a young teenager was standing right next to him, Uncle clamped his jaw shut, swallowing the curse before it could escape. He whipped out his phone with trembling fingers.

"I... I need to call Seo Woong right this second."

Through the receiver, Seo Woong's panicked, incredulous squawking was loud enough for the entire room to hear. It was safe to say Min-seok's market value had just shattered another glass ceiling.

Leaving Min-seok's triumph behind, the Dinosaur Guild stood at the threshold of our next objective.

The mandate assigned to us upon crossing the dimensional rift was blissfully direct. Just as Chunbae had forecasted, the gate was infested with vampires, and our job was simply to wipe every last one of them off the face of the earth.

The physical circumstances we spawned into, however, were anything but simple.

"What in the blazes is this...?"

"You've got to be kidding me."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Well, this is an awkward start."

The moment the transition light faded, we found ourselves locked inside a damp, suffocating subterranean dungeon. Our high-grade armor and dimensional rings were nowhere in sight; instead, our bodies were draped in filthy, moth-eaten rags, and our wrists were locked together in heavy, rust-bitten iron manacles.

"Is this a story-type gate?" Uncle asked, rattling his chains.

"Seems like it," I replied dryly.

Gates on Earth couldn't always be neatly sorted into rigid categories. While our mission objective functioned like an extermination hunt, the initial conditions clearly threw us into a predefined narrative scenario.

"Quiet down, you filthy heretics!" a coarse voice barked from the shadows down the corridor. A burly guard slammed a heavy wooden club violently against the stone flagstones. "Keep squawking and I'll end your miserable lives before the execution ceremony even starts!"

"Heretics, huh... So the vampires pulling the strings of the Holy Order locked us away as scapegoats," I whispered, keeping my tone hushed so as not to provoke another pointless outburst.

"Forget our gear for a second—how do we get these shackles off?" Minjae murmured anxiously, testing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the thick metal around his wrists. "We don't have a rogue or a thief to pick the locks."

I simply smirked.

"That's the easiest part."

Blink.

Activating Leap, I teleported a foot forward into the open cell, cleanly phasing right through the manacles. The heavy iron cuffs clattered harmlessly onto the stone floor where I had been standing a split second before.

Minjae stared at me with wide eyes, then groaned at his own oversight. "Right... I completely forgot you could do that, Hyung."

"And besides, we have this," I added with a grin.

Reaching into my subspace, I pulled out the shimmering form of the Caduceus Key.

"Shall we break out of this cell first?"