Chapter 30
Chapter 30
30.Night of Despair (1)
-We are in a situation where a Discharge-type Gate could erupt at any moment.
The danger of Mana density imbalance became well-known after the irregular Discharge-type Gate creation incident five years ago.
It was understandable why information was being controlled right now. It must be to prevent social chaos.
-Considering Han Hye's growth rate, we thought about waiting until she reached level 20, but we concluded that it would be better to subjugate it as quickly as possible. We don't know what Han Hye's level will be.
That was true. If a Discharge-type Gate erupted, E-grade or higher Hunters were obligated to defend.
If I became level 21 at that time, I wouldn't be able to enter the Level-restricted survival gate.
"Then, am I going in alone?"
-No. We plan to proceed with the team as scheduled.
"If the situation is urgent, wouldn't this be better?"
If a Discharge-type Gate could erupt at any moment, it seemed better for me to go and come back quickly alone.
It wouldn't consume an Escape Secretary, and that would be the safest option.
-There was that opinion, but we concluded that we should invest for the future. We are considering the people gathered this time as potential Vanguard Hunters.
Park Seo-woong added that they had made the decision after much deliberation.
It was an understandable judgment.
High-level Vanguard Hunters are very powerful, but they are not invincible. High-level Gates are dangerous.
It was a natural course of events that casualties gradually accumulated, and some retired or died.
On the other hand, promising talents with the potential to rise to high levels were not easy to find.
"Why? What's going on?"
Uncle whispered, noticing the serious expression on my face during the conversation.
"Well, nothing can be done."
Uncle nodded lightly after I conveyed Park Seo-woong's words. It didn't matter to us.
"I think it'll be fine. My level is 19 right now."
-Thank you.
"Oh, by the way, I don't know if you've checked, but we recruited a Guild member today. She's a level 17 Magician, is it okay if she goes with us?"
-A Magician? Congratulations.
Park Seo-woong's reaction was a bit ambiguous. It seemed to be because she was a Magician. It's a job that's avoided due to the problem of Secret Arts supply.
It was natural since he didn't know that I had many Secret Arts in my Subspace. Anyway, permission was granted.
-We will prepare an additional Escape Secretary.
"Then, when will we go in?"
-We would appreciate it if you could prepare as quickly as possible. The Healer and Elementalist are ready at any time.
It ended simply, but I had already entered and exited a Gate today.
"I can go from tomorrow."
-Thank you. We will prepare immediately. We will contact you again quickly.
* * *
The next day morning.
We all headed to the meeting place together.
"The people we're going into the Gate with today are potential team member candidates, right?"
"Yeah."
"I hope they're good people."
Uncle, who was driving, nodded at Seo Min-jae's words.
"Even so, the Association will have the best rear-guard of the same level on standby, so they'll be useful. Harmony is important."
That's right. The problem is whether the people match. Even if there are no problems with their skills, there are people who don't get along.
Uncle continued.
"I hope I get along well with the Healer."
"Right. In fact, if we just have a Healer, we'll have a perfect setup."
With me and Uncle at the forefront, two vanguards, the Magician Seo Min-jae, and if we add a Healer, the combination is good.
In fact, it didn't matter who the remaining person was.
Rather than an Elementalist, a reliable Warrior would be better. Someone who can stably protect the rear so that me and Uncle can run wild.
If Seo Min-jae wasn't there, an Elementalist would have been fine, but now it felt like she overlapped with Seo Min-jae's position.
Soon, we were able to meet the people at the meeting place.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Seung-tae."
"I'm Lee Shin-hee, the Healer."
The Elementalist Kim Seung-tae was a chubby man who looked to be in his late 30s, and Lee Shin-hee was a rare beauty.
Kim Seung-tae had a smiling face, and Lee Shin-hee looked a bit cold. Kim Seung-tae greeted us happily.
"Phew, I'm glad the Dinosaur Guild members came. I was wondering how long I would have to wait."
I heard that they had been waiting at level 20 for 5 months and 3 months respectively, which was understandable.
The Association would have compensated them for the time they waited, but it's a big blow for a Hunter to fall behind in growth.
"Right?"
"Yes?"
Kim Seung-tae looked at Lee Shin-hee and asked for her agreement, but Lee Shin-hee's response was quite stiff.
"Shin-hee, you waited a long time too, right?"
"Ah, yes. Well..."
"Haha."
Kim Seung-tae laughed awkwardly. Well, if there's an extroverted person, there's an introverted person.
"The Association said it's urgent, so let's move on to the Gate discussion right away."
The atmosphere was a bit awkward, so we immediately moved on to the Gate meeting. It wasn't anything grand.
[Night of Despair]
-Level Restriction: 16~20
-Entry Limit: 5 people
Night of Despair is one of the known survival Gates. Of course, it's not standardized.
The location, situation, and difficulty are all different, so it's hard to predict exactly what it is.
The common point is that when you enter the Gate, it starts at night, and you have to survive the approaching enemies.
Of course, it doesn't end when morning comes. It may not be just one night.
'There were cases where it lasted for 3 days.'
In the morning and daytime, the approach of Monsters becomes sparse, so they reorganize and endure until night.
In any case, it was definitely a difficult Gate.
That's how survival Gates are in the first place. You can clear the Gate just by surviving.
It's a place where Monsters that are impossible for players at the recommended level to catch appear.
Furthermore, there is a level restriction here, and several teams that entered earlier have not been able to come out.
I don't know what's coming out, but it meant that it might be difficult to survive just by running away.
'There's a reason why it's called Despair.'
This time, there was no information about the inside of the Gate. There are cases where they get information in advance by using the Escape Secretary, but they didn't do that.
It was because we were being given the Escape Secretary.
'Just because one person goes in with the Escape Secretary doesn't guarantee that they'll get accurate information about the inside.'
Since we didn't know the internal information properly, all we knew was the team's formation and how to deal with certain situations.
It wasn't anything special. There are often cases where there is no information when entering a Gate.
About an hour later.
We finished the meeting and entered the Gate.
* * *
[Night of Despair]
-Level Restriction: 16~20
-Personnel Limit: 5 people
-Survive. Time remaining: 11 hours 59 minutes.
"Huh? This is..."
"Huh?"
We who entered the Gate couldn't help but be embarrassed. It was because we saw a very familiar cityscape.
That was possible. There have been times when the appearance of a modern city was seen inside the Gate.
"This is... Korea?"
However, it was the first time we saw Korean signs. Everyone looked around in embarrassment.
Of course, it wasn't a normal downtown scene.
No one was felt, and we saw a ruined city as if Monsters had swept through it.
"The Namsan Tower is over there."
Lee Shin-hee pointed to one side. Really, the Namsan Tower came into view. Uncle nodded.
"That's right. This is near Yaksu Station."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I went to college here. I know this area well because I lived near here."
Uncle, who was looking around, swallowed hard.
"And to be precise, it's the Yaksu Station of the past. I went near the school recently, and the pork cutlet restaurant you see over there had been turned into a cafe."
"The past?"
"Looking at the broken cars around... about 10 years ago?"
Everyone was wary of their surroundings but couldn't hide their bewilderment. I was the same.
I knew that other worlds came out of the Gate.
However, I didn't know that a place on Earth would come out. There had never been such a case before.
But when I thought about it, it wasn't strange.
Seeing that worlds that had suffered Magical Erosion in the past come out in the Gate, Earth could definitely do that too.
'Since there's no notification, it's not because of Space Master.'
I drew my Elegant Sword and guarded my surroundings, but first of all, no enemies were caught in my Spatial Sense.
I didn't feel anyone either. It was a bit strange. I realized something.
"This place probably didn't really bring the timeline of the past."
Everyone's attention was focused on me.
"As far as I know, the Gate hasn't opened in this area."
"That's right. The collapsed building over there was still intact recently."
Uncle nodded.
"It seems that only the space of Earth has been brought. There will be Monsters in this place."
"They'll probably appear soon."
Looking at the color of the sky, it looked like it was just past 6 PM. That meant it would be night soon.
The Night of Despair Gate is about enduring the night.
The given time was 11 hours. It was a Gate where we had to endure for one day.
"Nothing has changed. Rather, think of it as a good thing. It's not an unfamiliar place, and Uncle knows the geography."
I could see that the party members who had been embarrassed were regaining some stability. I turned my gaze to Uncle.
"Let's hide and watch the situation as we decided."
The strategy that came out of the short meeting was simple.
Exploration, base, combat decision.
If the enemies that appear seem manageable, we'll step up and fight, and if not, we'll hide and spend time.
"Is there a good place nearby? A place that's easy to escape from."
A suitable choice was needed for a hiding place. There must be a reason why the previous parties didn't survive.
For example, the enemies that appear here may have the ability to find us hiding.
That's why the words I said to my teammates weren't empty words. It's actually a good situation.
It's much better to know the place than to explore the battlefield in a place where you don't know anything.
"Jangchung Gymnasium would be better."
"Wouldn't it be better to go up towards Namsan? Cheol-gi's university would be there too. We can see the enemies coming from the highlands, so we can escape quickly..."
Kim Seung-tae expressed his opinion, but he only knew one thing and didn't know two. Uncle also shook his head.
"I was thinking about it too, but the gymnasium seems better for now. Monsters can be more active in the mountains."
Certain Monsters or animal types are freer in the mountains than we are. It could actually be a bad condition.
Furthermore, if we engage in street battles in the city center, we can fight with the walls even if Monsters swarm in.
"And we don't know when the night will start again. Time is running out."
"Ah... that's right."
Kim Seung-tae was convinced by Uncle's words.
"Let's move."
We moved in the formation we had decided in advance. I was at the front, Uncle was at the rear, and the rest were in the center.
I opened my mouth just in case.
"Everyone, don't forget to use the Escape Secretary if you think it's dangerous."
"Yes!"
"Don't worry."
Seo Min-jae answered cheerfully, and Kim Seung-tae joked confidently.
That's when we were heading to Jangchung Gymnasium following Uncle's guidance.
Wooong-.
A strong Mana wave was felt from afar, from behind. The wave that went out in concentric circles, we all knew what it was.
It was a signal that the Gate was opening. Everyone in the group turned their eyes back.
And about 2km away in the distant sky, a Gate of not a small size was opening.
So, a Discharge-type Gate opened inside an Entrance-type Gate.
Judging by the size, it wasn't small or large, but it looked like a medium size.
"Oh dear..."
"C, crazy, a medium size?"
Uncle clicked his tongue, and Kim Seung-tae was noticeably embarrassed.
That was understandable. Medium-sized Gates were Gates where Monsters of levels 30-40 could come out.
There was a reason why all the parties that had entered earlier hadn't come back alive.