Sirvelis's Sacrificial Sword (2)
"Uh... Lady Ram. That bastard's laughing."
"Hmph. Laugh all he wants."
Ram huffed, cheeks puffed out in clear embarrassment at having been caught.
That damn fool. Why did he stop right before going in?
It hadn't been Julian's intention, but the moment he paused at the gate entrance to lecture the kids, Ram's coin toss had been exposed.
Still, she rationalized it immediately.
"He's the type who can't do anything anyway because he's terrified of getting caught. What does it matter if he knows the difficulty is rising?"
"Right?"
It was a fair point. There was no benefit in Julian having seen it first, but knowing didn't give him any real power to act.
"What if he uses Belzerak's Tears?"
That alone would be enough to steal the entire run without raising a single eyebrow.
"He'd need the bottle completely filled first. There's no way he can fill it inside the gate, is there? What can a porter even do?"
The fairies had now fully grasped Julian's dilemma. Wearing the Sagosul mask was one thing, but in porter form his options were severely limited. Avoiding suspicion came before everything else.
Yet it was precisely in that porter state that he had earned Kang Hae-il's absolute, unshakable trust.
Bro. Now that I think about it, I sent the money to your account.
Huh? Account? Money? What are you talking about?
The settlement payment.
Ah... the items? How much did they sell for...
It came out to 4.3 million won.
...Then how much is mine?
You got 4.3 million won, bro.
The storyboard system zoomed in tight on Kang Hae-il’s face. He looked genuinely moved.
What? That's higher than my monthly salary. As expected, even an F-rank has good skills.
A dramatic dun-dun sound effect played.
"Why are you zooming in on this?! Damn it! That guy made over two thousand!"
Ram's exact outburst was already scrolling through the chat.
"Sigh..."
Ram glanced at the chat, then shoved her monitor aside.
"I have to look after Hae-il myself. What else can I do?"
She slowly raised the gate rewards a little more.
"At least eat this and grow strong, Hae-il."
The gate's faint crimson glow grew sharper by the second.
Two men vanished into it.
⊳ 1. Kang Hae-il — S-rank
⊳ 2. Moon Junil — F-rank
The residents couldn't hide their anxiety.
"Wait... aren't eight people supposed to enter? How are just two of them going to clear it?"
"It's Kang Hae-il. He'll manage, right?"
"Who knows. He's got a tumor stuck to his side."
In this world ruled by the gaze of the Constellations, where monsters, gates, and awakeners were everything, the meaning of F-rank was painfully clear.
"This is worrying."
Unease. Misfortune. Despair. Everything hopeless.
The gate had spawned inside their apartment complex. If it exploded, the damage would be catastrophic. They could evacuate before casualties occurred, but...
"Property values are going to tank. How did a gate appear in a high-end complex like this?"
There was no stopping the drop in real estate prices.
"Did someone report it?"
"I did. But... there are so many gates opening simultaneously these days that they said nothing can be done right away."
Even police and government personnel had their limits. Gates were appearing everywhere, all the time. Unless it was a major incident like the Gangnam Station gate, no manpower was dispatched. This one was just ambiguous enough to be ignored by the district office.
"Still, at least Kang Hae-il showed up. He'll probably clear it right away and come out."
A man with the scholarly air of a university professor was trying to calm the crowd.
"Kang Hae-il might, sure. But everyone's nervous because that F-rank tagged along with him."
"An S-rank entered. What's the problem? I heard he's been clearing every gate that appears lately. It'll be fine."
Just then, a man in a sleeveless shirt walked over.
"Hey! Isn't our country the land of semiconductors?!"
"...Excuse me?"
The sudden non-sequitur caught everyone off guard. Besides, Taiwan had overtaken them in semiconductors some time ago.
"Semiconductors! In the semiconductor process! Do you know what happens if even a single hair gets in?!"
"It causes defects, I suppose?"
"Exactly! Isn't this the same situation?! If you're going in, send only pure S-ranks! Why is there foreign matter mixed in?!"
The other residents nodded in fervent agreement.
"Aigo~! Exactly! This isn't even a hair, it's like a piece of shit got mixed in!"
"I'm so anxious I could die... If this gate explodes, we're all finished!"
The professor-like man gave a bitter smile and nodded.
"Yes, I understand. However... since S-rank Kang Hae-il chose to bring that young man along, there must be a reason. Calling him impurity or excrement is a bit..."
The crowd buzzed.
"We said shit, now it's excrement?"
"It was foreign matter, now it's impurity."
"That professor knows the truth deep down."
"Huh? Professor?"
"You didn't know? He's that economics professor from S University~"
"Ah... even someone that educated can't understand the situation?"
"Right. They say that F-rank guy graduated from a good university too... Must be school ties or something?"
It was true. The man was Kim Yu-sik, economics professor at S University.
Junil... how did it come to this...
He actually knew Moon Junil. The boy had been one of his students. When he first saw the news article with his face, he'd been stunned. To think he was now running around as Kang Hae-il's partner. Considering his usual campus life, it was almost impossible to imagine.
I hoped I'd seen wrong. He was such a brilliant student.
Even after reading the article he'd remained half in doubt. But seeing the face and confirming the name here, it was definitely the same Moon Junil.
"Sigh. He should have just come to graduate school under me..."
The professor muttered to himself while staring at the gate.
"See! He's one of your students, isn't he?"
Oh no. He'd spoken aloud. They said the older you got, the more you talked to yourself.
"That university cartel really is something else."
"How can you cover for an F-rank?! Huh?! He's a resident of our apartment complex, you know?!"
The residents closed in on him.
"...N-no, it's a misunderstanding. I don't know that guy at all."
The professor waved his hands and backed away. Defending an F-rank? That would be disastrous. He desperately shouted to prove his ideological purity.
"Damn F-ranks! Damn F! FUCK!"
In today's South Korea, the law only functioned on the surface. If the residents got truly angry?
He couldn't guarantee his life.
"Fucking! F!"
He shouted with fiery eyes, but it was useless.
"Boo!"
"Die, S University cartel!"
"Our country is ruined because of these damn school ties!"
Clang!
A resident on their way to recycling threw an empty can at him.
"School ties must die! Only real estate is recognized!"
"Waaaaah! Get lost!"
"Ah, ma'am, throw me a can too."
"One more can over here!"
Clang! Clunk!
The professor batted away the cans, recalling his days as an awakener fighting goblins, and prayed desperately.
"Ugh... d-damn it... please... Junil. Prove your worth...!"
"Thanks for sending the money. I'll carry you properly."
Kang Hae-il rolled up his sleeves, energized by the 4.3 million won.
"No... it's the money you were supposed to receive anyway."
"Still. If it wasn't for you, that money wouldn't have existed. I have no clue how to liquidate items like that."
"That's true."
Even Junil had to admit he was right. To Kang Hae-il, it would have been money thrown on the ground.
In the warm atmosphere, Kang Hae-il suddenly turned his head.
"They're coming."
Dun-dun...!
At that moment the quest arrived.
Defeat every monster inside the dungeon!
Monsters immediately burst forth.
"Kwaaaaaah!"
"Enemy!"
[Orc Warrior Lv.22]
[Orc Warrior Lv.24]
The first enemies to greet them were orcs.
"Stay back."
Whoosh—
Flash Step.
Kang Hae-il vanished in a burst of flame and drove his fist into their stomachs.
Oh, he's gotten faster.
He was now using Flash Step with real proficiency. To Junil's eyes the movement was still clear, but the orcs never saw it coming.
Thud!
"Huk?!"
"What the..."
Their eyes lost focus as they took a punch to the gut. Their mouths fell open and flames erupted from within.
Boom!
"Kwaaaaaah!"
Their skin looked untouched, but the organs and bones inside had been cooked by intense heat. The agony was unimaginable.
A new technique?
Kang Hae-il's strikes, once focused purely on external damage, were now inflicting devastating internal injuries as well.
...That would really hurt if it hit me.
Gulp.
Junil thought he absolutely could not let his Sagosul identity be discovered. Kang Hae-il would only keep growing stronger. If he ever surpassed him and learned the truth later...
It would mean having his insides burned to ash.
"Kuuuuurgh?!"
The brave orc warrior wet himself and clamped his legs together before collapsing.
Thud.
The orcs were no longer worthy opponents for Kang Hae-il. They relied on tough hides and powerful muscles, but an approach that instantly delivered internal damage was their kryptonite.
He's really getting strong fast.
Boom! Bang!
It was over in the blink of an eye. That was why he'd promised to carry the run. Even though quite a few orc warriors appeared throughout the dungeon, every single one died with their insides burned to a crisp.
"Kuuuurgh?!"
"Kuuuuurgh?!"
After slaughtering around twenty orcs in succession, Kang Hae-il swept back his long hair and asked.
"Porter. What's your level right now?"
The visual was straight out of an action movie—the hero standing amid defeated enemies with the sunset behind him in a dramatic solo shot.
Yet the line was pure nonsense.
"It's 17. I have to leave the gate to level up."
"Ah... right."
Soon after, what appeared to be a mid-boss arrived.
[Elite Orc Warrior Lv.30]
Boom!
"Kuuuurgh?!"
It too collapsed to its knees after taking one of Kang Hae-il's organ-rupturing punches.
"Porter. What's your level?"
Kang Hae-il turned around theatrically, like he was performing a ceremony, and asked again.
"I told you, I have to leave the gate."
"What level?"
"It's 17! Seventeen! The experience only comes in all at once after I exit!"
"I know that."
The corner of Kang Hae-il's mouth twitched.
I saw it! Constellations! Look at him! He's laughing!
But then—
"Grrrr...! You show your back to a warrior?!"
The elite orc warrior rose again.
Whoosh—
Its heavy axe slammed into Kang Hae-il from the side. He blocked with his arm, and the sound of metal clashing against metal rang out.
Craaaang!
"What the... why is it still alive? How did you revive, you bastard!"
Kang Hae-il looked genuinely confused.
It was alive the whole time.
The orc had never died. Kang Hae-il had simply let his guard down while trying to ask about the level.
"Kuhahaha! Yes! I have revived, human!"
Boom! Bang!
Having seized the momentum, the elite orc pressed its attack on Kang Hae-il.
Bang!
"Ugh...!"
Kang Hae-il endured, looking for a chance to counter.
"A reviving orc. First time I've seen that. And it even admitted it itself."
He was still convinced it had revived and looked utterly bewildered.
At that moment Junil stepped forward.
"Bro. Shouldn't I fight a little too so we can share the experience?"
"That would be better, but... how? You're F-rank."
It was a purely worried question. He was in the middle of a brawl—what could Junil possibly do to help? As far as he knew, the porter had zero combat ability.
Whoosh.
Junil pulled something from his inventory.
"If it revived, then what is it?"
"...Jesus?"
"It's black magic, obviously."
Clink.
What Junil took out was a plastic water bottle.
"What? Samdasoo?"
"It's holy water."
"......?"
He applied the water to his dagger, then hurled it with force.
"Return to hell! You orc bastard!"
Booom!
Contribution + 487
With the mid-boss defeated, Junil's contribution score shot up in an instant.
Current Constellations Watching: 2,843