To the Asilius Plains

Taejeong returned home feeling quietly proud and logged into the hunter community.

Now that he'd graduated from the basics, it was time to tackle higher-level dungeons. With his new skills and weapons, he had no hesitation.

"Let's see. Where should I go?"

The upper dungeons in the Bukhansan Rock Mountains consisted of one within ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the same gate and three in the fields: the White-level underground caves and Ground Blues scattered across the country. But Taejeong planned to skip them all.

Fields required porters, which meant costs, and the underground caves offered no significant difference in rewards.

"I've got the Flame Thrower now. Blue 1-rank should be doable."

The place Taejeong had in mind was Asilius Plains, the lowest rank among Blue Gates. It was the most feasible challenge for him at the moment.

Scanning the dungeon info, Taejeong ran the numbers in his head. Though his level was only 40—F-rank—he'd soloed the Bukhansan Rock Mountains for fun, so combat-wise, he was effectively E-rank.

The issue was party composition. He already had firepower exceeding a standard party. No buffer or healer was a problem, but he could just overwhelm with raw power.

After meticulously reviewing the reviews, he turned in early for tomorrow's hunt.

The next morning, Taejeong drove toward Mia-dong for the dungeon he'd scouted.

Mia-dong housed one of the few remaining public hunting grounds in Korea—areas not owned by the government or guilds. Most Blue Gates had owners, but something like the Plains was awkwardly ranked, so no guild bothered claiming it. That made it the last free hunting spot for unaffiliated hunters.

"Traffic's backed up bad."

Not long after leaving home, the road jammed. He figured it was just congestion, but after ten minutes with no movement, boredom set in. He switched on the radio.

"What? No way—that's back?"

Earth had various portal types: Gates (dungeon portals), Recalls (instance portals), World Wars (national war portals), Guild Wars (territory war portals). And the most dangerous: the mobile portals now on the radio.

Mobile portals formed randomly across regions, spewing monsters outward. Just ten years ago, they appeared four or five times a month in Korea, devastating civilians. Back then, they were pure disasters.

Guilds and the government had prepared countermeasures, but the damage happened in an instant—anyone at the epicenter died en masse.

But three years ago, after the Seoul Station incident, they vanished completely. Until now.

"Gonna be chaos."

Taejeong had been nearby during the last event and seen the aftermath: countless corpses, shattered buildings, roads choked with debris. The shock kept him from eating for a week. It was horrific.

"If these start up again, we're in trouble."

Unlike other portals affecting only Awakeners, mobile portals hit everyone—hunters and civilians alike. No one knew when or where they'd strike, leaving ordinary people helpless. That meant his sister So-young was at risk too.

Schools were safe under government protection, as were busy districts and high-rises. But residential areas were vast—too big for full coverage. Local guilds helped, but manpower was short. Delayed response could mean catastrophe, so even So-young wasn't guaranteed safe.

"Gotta grind cash fast and move somewhere secure."

An hour passed before detours opened. It'd take forever to loop around, but he turned without hesitation. A road half-destroyed wouldn't clear today.

Crawling like a snail through backroads, Taejeong finally escaped Sinlim-dong and reached Mia-ri Pass, his destination.

There it was—the shimmering blue gate in the distance. He parked nearby and eyed the other vehicles: one sedan, one van. Hunters or not, it didn't matter. The dungeon was huge; encounters were unlikely.

"Alright, let's do this."

Bukhansan Rock Mountains White Gate.

A group entered the mountain range, armed to the teeth. They were the reconnaissance team from Korea's prestigious Hanrasan Guild.

"Where'd you say?"

At reconnaissance captain Cha Min-su's question, his deputy Park Jeong-min unfolded a map and pointed.

"From the entrance to this point, they're spread out. We can sweep up slowly."

"Good. Fan out wide and climb."

While ascending the foothills with his team, Cha Min-su had overheard a guild member fresh from night hunting: someone was deliberately wrecking the dungeon.

Low-level places had such vandals often, but the details felt off.

'Over a thousand corpses with headshots.'

'Ogre heads completely blown off.'

'Tons killed way more brutally than necessary.'

Veteran hunter Cha Min-su knew instantly this was unusual. Few classes could pierce heads regardless of level. Piercing skills existed, but scaled to orc head size? That narrowed it.

Wizard's Magic Missile, maybe. Others blasted rather than pierced—the spells were too big.

But no one maxed the unpopular Magic Missile for orc heads; it'd waste points better spent on stronger skills.

Something wasn't normal.

'Hope I'm right.'

Soon after starting, a scout shouted from ahead.

"Captain! Here!"

Cha Min-su rushed over to a gruesome sight: over a hundred orcs in grotesque poses.

"Hmm."

As reported, every corpse had a head puncture. Park Jeong-min stroked his chin.

"Freaky, right? Seen plenty of severed heads, but this is new."

"Doesn't look like our Magic Missile guess."

"Yeah. Even the smallest wouldn't just gouge the eyeball like this."

The bodies were weirder than described: precise eye-entry, rear-exit holes. Too small for Magic Missile.

And other corpses confirmed it: hundreds of dots riddling bodies. Not single-shot work.

Same piercing wounds. Hundreds of attacks minimum here. How? No standard skill...Wait.

Cha Min-su asked, "Ever hear of Tanji Singeong?"

"Who hasn't? One of only four Martial Artist skills worldwide. You think...?"

"Never seen it myself. But nothing else fits. Unprecedented technique."

Park Jeong-min nodded, then added, "What about Archer? With Spirit Arrows..."

"Archer? Oh, yeah—Spirit Arrows could make pinholes."

As they speculated, a comms voice crackled.

They moved and found orc and troll skeletons.

"This... Hmm."

Cha Min-su fixed on the fan-shaped scorched earth.

"Flame magic. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠High-level too..."

"What is this? C-rank flame spell at least, maybe higher?"

"Blast-type, but baffling. Why here? Your take?"

"On what?"

"This situation."

"If all at once, at least two movers. One C-rank+ Mage. The other... hard to say. But if Martial Artist or Archer, jackpot. Hidden classes—not in Korea yet."

"Exactly. Recruit them, and we're top-tier overnight."

"Now what?"

"Not confirmed, so use recon team to check all Seoul gates. Focus White and Blue—they're low-level. Reds are limited anyway. You handle it."

"Got it. Implementing on return."

"Hope ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'm right..."