Gangnam Station Gate (3)
During the Free Chapter period, many things had changed.
First, monsters had been reclassified from unpredictable disasters to manageable threats.
This was due to the nature of Gate Lv.2.
Unlike Gate Lv.1, where goblins used to pour out uncontrollably, a Gate opening didn’t mean monsters would immediately come flooding through.
Instead, once a Gate appeared, it gave humans a chance to prepare and respond.
[00:31:05]
It was even kind enough to display exactly how much time remained.
If managed properly, one could schedule things tightly according to the countdowns.
Perhaps that was why.
The government hadn’t been sitting idle. During the Free Chapter, they had developed quite a few response systems for Gate occurrences. They even assigned civil servants to assist Awakened near Gates that were about to open.
They were putting in serious effort to ensure the Awakened could arrive quickly and operate efficiently.
“Then what’s the point?”
Kim Daecheol, head of the Special Disaster Management Headquarters, muttered as he stroked his beard.
“The Awakened themselves can’t be controlled at all.”
The real problem was that the Awakened were completely uncontrollable.
Research showed their bodies couldn’t be restrained by ordinary weapons.
In other words, they had essentially escaped the constraints of society.
They were walking bombs that could turn into villains the moment they felt like it.
“At least there haven’t been any yet… That’s a relief.”
Fortunately, the existence of the Main Quest kept pushing them to level up, so they focused solely on hunting monsters and stacking experience without getting any funny ideas.
Combat classes hunted monsters, while production classes focused on crafting.
This was the first time South Korea had operated with such fierce intensity since the rapid development era of the 80s and 90s.
The Awakened were doing their best to maintain their social standing.
“This area should have been cleaned up by now… Why the hell did it burst?!”
Kim Daecheol exhaled a plume of cigarette smoke and barked at the woman beside him.
She was Song Jueun, his subordinate from his National Intelligence Service days. She wore a plain, expressionless suit.
“The countdown was miscalculated. The administrative system isn’t what it used to be.”
“What’s the reason for the error?”
“We don’t know.”
It was all the doing of the story trying to cause an incident in a key location, but the poor civil servants were the ones getting blamed for an “unknown error.”
“Damn it, is ‘we don’t know’ your answer for everything?! At least list the events in order of occurrence.”
“Yes, sir. When we checked the time, it was reported that there was still plenty of margin left. As a result, the Gangnam Station Gate was given low priority. Only one team was sent in.”
“And the result…?”
“Total annihilation in ten minutes.”
“……”
From far away, the sound of asphalt rumbling echoed.
Thud… Thump…
It wasn’t clearly visible from this distance, but the sound was ominous.
“What about the personnel currently deployed?”
“Field deployment is far more flexible and large-scale than Gate entry. Every Awakened who wants to try is going in.”
“How many?”
“Thirty-five in total. The Gate’s limit was ten people.”
A staggering 3.5 times the allowed number were fighting inside.
“Ha… Well, the more the merrier… At least it should get cleaned up.”
“Ah. Just received an update.”
Song Jueun tapped her smartwatch and reported in her dry, monotonous voice.
“Total annihilation.”
“!”
Click.
Kim Daecheol pulled out another cigarette and lit it.
“What a monster.”
Flick—
Song Jueun snatched the cigarette from his mouth.
“Sir, you’ve been smoking too much lately.”
“Just leave it. The world’s gone to hell. Who cares about lifespan at this point?”
“……”
Song Jueun looked like she wanted to say something, but simply withdrew her hand.
“That so-called S-rank guy… Why can’t we reach him? I thought we had his name and everything figured out last time?”
“He’s not picking up.”
“…What? Then go find him!”
“We don’t know where he lives. As you know, the administrative system these days…”
That was when it happened.
“Team Leader!!!”
A large man came running, bellowing at the top of his lungs.
“He’s here! He’s here!”
“Who? An orc?”
“N-no, that S-rank! The S-rank is here!”
“!”
He had come of his own accord after all.
“Now that’s a young man with some real conviction! You don’t see that much these days!”
Kim Daecheol spoke excitedly, but Song Jueun cut in.
“It’s not that. He’s probably just here to level up. An S-rank who can’t raise his level would hate to get kicked out of the Awakened system.”
“…Either way, the fact that he showed up is what matters. Hey! Treat him like a state guest!”
When Kim Daecheol shouted at the gathered staff, they all snapped to attention.
“Yes, sir!”
A short while later.
Vrooooom!
A police motorcycle came racing toward them.
Kim Daecheol compared the rider to a photo of Kang Hae-il.
“!?”
He practically sprinted out in his socks, waving his hands wildly.
“Are you perhaps the S-rank, Kang Hae-il?”
“…Ranks are just numbers.”
“It’s you. Thank you for coming.”
This exact exchange had already been written into the manual.
“But the person behind you…”
Kim Daecheol looked on with a puzzled expression.
“Ah. He’s my party member.”
“I see. Where are the rest of your party members…?”
“I only came with this guy.”
“Excuse me? Just the two of you?”
Since it had become a Level 2 Gate, parties were formed with a minimum of four and a maximum of ten people.
That was the maximum number allowed to enter a Gate.
The crowd began to murmur.
‘Are there too few of them?’
Junil had been worried they would be looked down on for having such a small number, but—
“As expected of an S-rank.”
“No way. A lone wolf… That’s so cool.”
“The way he casually speaks informally is kinda hot… Super arrogant though…”
“So this is what an S-rank looks like.”
“They look like Batman and Robin.”
Thanks to the halo effect of the S-rank and the protagonist buff, everyone’s brains seemed paralyzed. Everything just looked cool to them.
Even Kim Daecheol nodded in agreement.
“Hmm. Batman and Robin. That makes sense.”
“Huh?”
Junil let out an involuntary snort of laughter.
His rank hadn’t even been revealed yet, but he was already being treated as Batman’s sidekick Robin.
‘What if they said Naruto and Sasuke?!’
While Junil was internally screaming, Song Jueun approached and asked.
“Excuse me, but for our records, may I ask your rank?”
“……”
Junil suddenly became solemn.
“Uh…”
“Uh-rank?”
“F… F…”
“F-rank!?”
“F-rank.”
“……?”
A silence as cold as ice fell over the area.
“F-rank?”
Song Jueun looked genuinely angry for a moment.
But remembering Kang Hae-il was standing right there, she quickly smoothed out her expression.
“You’re joking, right? Well, that’s fine. Humor in a situation like this might even be necessary…”
Ding~
Junil, who couldn’t be bothered to explain any further, activated his forbidden technique.
“!”
“N-no way…”
“What the hell is that?”
“Huh?”
Everyone looked more shocked than when they had seen Kang Hae-il.
“U-uaaaagh!?”
Someone even screamed.
The area grew incredibly noisy.
“Why the hell is Kang Hae-il hanging out with an F-rank?”
“Does he seriously think ranks are just numbers? He probably thinks it’s a 4-rank or something.”
“I get it. That guy came to die in Kang Hae-il’s place.”
“That actually makes sense.”
“Ha. Fuck. An F-rank. I need another cigarette.”
Click.
Having witnessed an F-rank in person, Kim Daecheol lit another cigarette and spoke.
“Huu. So… Mr. Kang Hae-il?”
“Yes.”
“It’s too dangerous for just the two of you to go in against the monsters that have appeared. Another team is on the way, so please go in with them.”
“Do we have time for that?”
“Fortunately, it seems the rampaging has slowed down a bit. They might be in the middle of reconnaissance.”
“What kind of monsters are inside?”
“There are many reports of orcs.”
“Orcs, huh…”
Kang Hae-il nodded.
Seeing his rather confident expression, Kim Daecheol asked.
“Have you fought orcs before? Everyone says it’s their first time.”
“No.”
“……?”
“Do you know what they are?”
“Well, this is our first time seeing them too…”
“No, not you. Junil.”
Hae-il turned to look at Junil.
“…You’re saying that person knows what an orc is?”
Kim Daecheol laughed and shrugged.
“There have only been three reported cases so far. Besides, even Mr. Kang Hae-il doesn’t know. How could an F-rank possibly know?”
“He’s pretty smart.”
“I’m not sure being smart solves this particular issue…”
Hae-il whispered as if revealing a tremendous secret.
“His rank is F… but he graduated from an S-tier university.”
“No, even if he graduated from an S-tier university, that doesn’t mean he’s fought orcs before! Unless he majored in Gate Studies!”
“He’s also friends with an elf.”
“Excuse me!?”
‘You idiot, why would you say that?!’
Junil quickly jumped in.
“O-orcs! I have encountered them before!”
“Oh? Really?”
He had no choice.
He had to stop Hae-il from blurting out anything about elves.
Trading with that elf was Junil’s exclusive privilege, after all.
“I’m a porter, you see. I’ve been dragged around by many different parties, so I have a lot of experience.”
“A porter?”
Kim Daecheol asked as if hearing this for the first time.
“Yes.”
“Then you really know a lot about orcs?”
“Of course. Orcs are individually very strong and aggressive…”
That was when it happened.
“What? You’ve fought orcs too?”
A group of Awakened approached.
The man who spoke had long hair and sharp features.
A+
He displayed his rank like a greeting and continued.
“I’m Yu Jihun, A+. I’m an ice magic swordsman. But… what rank are you to be talking so much about orcs? I lost four of my comrades to orcs.”
Junil asked back with a look of disbelief.
“Are you bragging?”
“…What?”
Kim Daecheol stepped in with a friendly greeting.
“Ah, there you are! Mr. Yu Jihun. Allow me to introduce you. This is Mr. Kang Hae-il’s F-rank porter, and this is the real S-rank Kang Hae-il himself.”
Instead of focusing on the introduction of Kang Hae-il, Yu Jihun exploded at the mention of the F-rank.
“What? F-rank? You’re seriously an F-rank?!”
“Yeah… I guess.”
Junil answered with an irritated expression.
“What the F…! But you’re saying you’ve fought orcs? What kind of bullshit are you spouting?! You bastard!”
“Mr. Yu Jihun, does that mean you have experience with orcs?”
Kim Daecheol interjected with a question.
“Of course. It should be in the reports. The Gate that almost exploded in Daejeon.”
“…Your team stopped it?”
“That’s right. That one was orcs. The expedition team failed four times and we were almost out of time. The other cowards didn’t want to go in anymore. So I led my team in myself.”
“Ah… Then what about the orcs? You should give a briefing to everyone who will be fighting.”
“Well, my team members already know… Do I really have to explain it to these guys too?”
Yu Jihun provocatively glanced at Kang Hae-il and Junil.
Neither of them took the bait.
‘He already said the porter is smart and knows everything anyway.’
‘What an idiot.’
They were thinking completely different things, but their timing matched perfectly.
And even without a response, Yu Jihun kept talking.
“Fine… I’ll tell you since I feel bad for you. Orcs have absurdly strong physical abilities. But they’re dumber than goblins. If you use that against them, they’re surprisingly easy.”
Dumber than goblins?
Junil was dumbfounded.
Unless the setting had changed, that couldn’t possibly be true.
“Ohh. You’ve fought them and even won! That’s reassuring. Then with S-rank Kang Hae-il, it should be a guaranteed victory, right?”
Yu Jihun grinned.
“I don’t even need that guy. I’ve already mastered everything about orcs.”
“Is that why you lost four comrades?”
Junil threw a jab, but Yu Jihun ignored him like he was talking to an insect and walked up to Kang Hae-il.
“You and your porter can just watch from the back.”
Yu Jihun’s party completely treated Junil like he didn’t exist as they walked past.
That was when it happened.
‘Hm?’
Someone’s eyes met Junil’s.
‘……?’
There was an unusual aura about them.
“Let’s go, porter.”
“Yes.”
“By the way, when did you fight orcs?”
“I haven’t.”
“……?”
“Why did you lie?”
“Because you suddenly said I met an elf. I had to cut you off.”
“Elf?”
“That’s information only we have exclusive rights to. Why would you say that?”
“…So that’s what it was?”
Kang Hae-il looked surprised.
Exclusive rights? He hadn’t gained anything from the elf at all.
“Ugh. Anyway, don’t talk about the elf.”
“…Alright.”
Maybe because Junil had saved his life, Hae-il listened obediently.
“Then you don’t actually know about orcs?”
“How could I?! It’s my first time seeing them!?”
“But you graduated from an S-tier university.”
After thinking for a moment, Junil muttered quietly.
“Well… I can figure out most things just by looking.”
“By looking?”
“I’m pretty quick on the uptake.”
As he spoke, Junil stared intensely at the back of someone in Yu Jihun’s party.
‘That’s a bit too quick.’
Kang Hae-il nodded.
“Then let’s go.”