Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: A Day's Deal (1)
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“An unusual gate…?”
“It was definitely something… that resembled a Red Gate.”
Han Hyeok-jun, who seemed to have never seen a Red Gate before, looked puzzled.
I recalled the time we were subjugating the goblins and gave a simple explanation.
“It's a phenomenon that occurs when a gate goes berserk. We call it a Red Gate because the space warps and turns blood-red.”
“What changes when it goes berserk?”
“The appearance of various traps called 'patterns.' The enhancement of the monsters that come out of the gate. Those are the two main things. It could be both, or it could be just one. At that point, it's up to luck.”
“Sounds like a pain.”
He nodded with a serious expression, as if he understood.
*‘But this one isn't that simple.’*
The ambiguous expressions on Kim Ji-hyeon and Lee Seon-yul's faces were part of the reason.
They must have noticed something was off just by observing from a distance without a detailed investigation.
That's why they didn't call it a Red Gate, but something that resembled one.
This Red Gate that was discovered isn't normal.
No, in terms of danger, it's far worse.
I glanced at Hwang Chan-jin and Jun Bo-ra.
They both had a look that said, ‘So, it's finally here.’
*‘Disaster.’*
A monster beyond measure.
While monsters a class above S-rank are considered disaster-class, the one appearing this time is a bit different.
In terms of rank, it's not even an S-rank.
Because it's not a mature adult, but a larva that just hatched.
However, despite that, it's an incredibly difficult and tricky opponent to face in the current chapter's situation.
Plus, its official name was 'Disaster,' so we called it that for convenience.
Jun Bo-ra composed herself and asked nonchalantly.
“Where was it found?”
“Not far. It's near Namsan Park.”
Southeast from Seoul City Hall. Where Namsan Seoul Tower is located.
I was worried the gate's location might have changed completely, but thankfully, it was one of the original spawn points.
“Let's go check it out right now.”
“…What? Why are you looking at me?”
“We're in a hurry. Isn't this the perfect time for your ability to shine?”
“I can only teleport with two people at a time! I only have two hands!”
“What are you talking about? As far as I know, Teleport can move everyone you're in physical contact with at once. The rank only affects the distance you can travel.”
"Ugh," Jun Bo-ra flinched and took a step back.
After glaring at me for a while, she reluctantly grabbed Kim Ji-hyeon's and Han Hyeok-jun's arms.
“I-If you put your hands anywhere weird, I'll teleport all of you into the ocean! Got it!?”
“Don't worry. I've got my hand on your head.”
“My head!? Get it off!?”
“I've got your shoulder.”
“I have her shoulder as well.”
“Geez…”
With her face full of displeasure, Jun Bo-ra gave up and obediently used Teleport.
After our vision blurred and shifted about four times, our surroundings had transformed into a jungle.
Teleport really is something else. Even with 100 agility, you couldn't achieve this level of mobility.
[The time limit for the sub-quest has expired. The quest will now end.]
[The effect of 'Devil's Curse' has worn off.]
[The trait 'Conqueror' has been deactivated.]
[Coins have been calculated.]
[117,800 Coins have been awarded.]
The crown I had just reclaimed turned to ash and vanished.
It was expected.
If anything, I should be happy that things are almost going according to plan.
The coins confiscated from the Rulers were a little less than I thought, but it was enough for my plan.
The deactivation of the Conqueror trait was expected, so I didn't mind.
“This is Namsan Park…?”
Han Hyeok-jun clicked his tongue in disbelief.
The area around Seoul City Hall was bad, but this was beyond comparison.
A green hell.
The dense vegetation all around made it seem as if we'd landed in the middle of the Amazon.
“Our investigation of the area revealed a tendency for the plants to spread out in all directions from here. It was the same for Seoul City Hall and the Dongdaemun area. This was the source of the plants that were growing at a common-sense-defying rate. We were focusing our search here when we happened to find it.”
Kim Ji-hyeon moved forward without hesitation.
Kim Ji-hyeon's main specialty was wind. She was likely reading the nearby terrain like a map, following the paths of the wind.
“But there were many strange things about it.”
“For example…?”
“The fact that there are no monsters nearby.”
Since monsters emerge from gates, the area around a gate should normally be teeming with them.
But strangely, we couldn't feel any presences.
No monster would fail to react when a group of six people invaded its territory.
There was more than enough reason to call it strange.
“The second thing is…”
After cutting through unnaturally thick vines—thicker than an athlete's thigh—that were blocking the path, we came upon a hut-like structure made of vines.
In a forest where little light penetrated anyway, the entrance to the hut looked like the gaping, black maw of a monster.
“The existence of this hut, which seems to have been made to protect the gate.”
“Are you saying the gate is inside the hut?”
“It'll be faster to see for yourself.”
As we stepped inside, the light dimmed even further.
It was like staring into the darkness in the middle of a night where all the world's lights had gone out.
Within it, there was nothing but a single, shimmering red gate.
The gate seemed to have already finished its berserk phase, as it didn't react even when we got close.
“No reaction at all, even when we're this close…”
“We've determined that the pattern has already ended.”
“For a gate's pattern to end, it's one of two things. Either it was cleared, or time ran out and it wasn't suppressed. And if it's the latter…”
Kim Ji-hyeon frowned.
The latter means failure to clear the pattern.
An ending where it doesn't just stop at a gate going berserk, but leads to the worst possible outcome for a single gate.
That outcome is usually pretty similar.
The appearance of a high-level monster. A resulting explosion in difficulty.
“Originally, the story should have been that the pattern activates at this timing, and we clear it…?”
Hwang Chan-jin muttered in a stiff voice.
I felt the same.
*‘Again.’*
Just like with the 'King of Waves,' the story has gone off track again.
I've been controlling and utilizing variables as much as possible.
I can't control every variable. That's why I've been making plans that account for a certain margin of error and executing them.
But this is far beyond that margin of error.
This confirms it.
Some force I'm unaware of is continuously intervening.
And in a way that hastens the apocalypse.
“Kim Ji-hyeon-ssi. You said the gate was already in that state when you arrived?”
“That's right. There's no way I saw it wrong.”
“There's no way it could have been cleared by itself, so it's safe to assume it was a failure. Then something resulting from that failure should already be in motion…”
Jun Bo-ra began to move busily, observing the surroundings.
Hwang Chan-jin and I exchanged a look before splitting up to inspect the inside of the hut.
Kim Ji-hyeon rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought, then spoke to me.
“Kim Se-hyeon. Do you know anything?”
“You seem to assume I'd know, of course.”
“Well… Hmm. I just have a feeling that you'd know everything.”
“…Wait.”
Han Hyeok-jun's voice trembled as he examined the gate.
Just as everyone's gazes gathered, wondering if he'd found something, Han Hyeok-jun pointed inside the gate.
“What… is that…?”
Something was visible beyond the gate.
A large flower bud, like a lotus.
Inside, something that looked like the figure of a girl hung with its eyes closed, naked.
The moment we confirmed it, the gate vanished, and 'it' materialized in its place.
The reactions were split.
Three of them, bewildered.
And the other three, myself included, felt a chill at the impossible situation, alarms blaring in our heads.
This can't be. How could it be this early?
“A person? What in the world is that flower bud…”
Before Lee Seon-yul could finish his dazed muttering, the three of us, myself included, shouted as if on cue.
“Attack it now!!”
Bypassing the stunned Han Hyeok-jun, Hwang Chan-jin, Jun Bo-ra, and I all swung our swords at once.
This can't be happening.
There's no way that thing should have appeared already.
That's a creature that's supposed to appear in Chapter 7, two chapters from now.
If it hatches now, before Chapter 6 has even begun, it'll lead to an unprecedented disaster where two chapters break out at the same time…!
*Kwang!*
But their sword strikes couldn't even scratch the flower bud.
The vines that formed the hut had moved on their own to block the swords.
At least my attack got through, easily slicing the next set of vines, but I couldn't advance any further.
I have to break through in one go.
As I imbued my sword with darkness to attack again, Han Hyeok-jun grabbed my shoulder and snapped.
“What are you doing! Attacking instead of trying to save her!”
“A person?”
I shook off Han Hyeok-jun's hand and pointed a finger at the flower bud.
“Do you really think that looks like a person?”
A massive, pink flower bud, seemingly three meters wide, with the figure of a girl revealed only from the chest up.
At a glance, it looks like a girl is trapped in the flower bud.
In reality, it's the opposite.
“A person's body isn't connected to a plant like that!”
Even from the visible parts, you can faintly see it.
Here and there, thin, stem-like things are pulsing, connecting the plant and the girl's form.
Like an umbilical cord.
On top of that, there's a large flower on its head. The skin on its face has patterns like plant leaves. And its hair emits a golden light in time with its pulsing heart.
No matter how you look at it, that's not human.
It's a monster that has merely taken a human form.
“Han Hyeok-jun! What Kim Se-hyeon said is true! We have to destroy it before that flower bud blooms!!”
“He's right. We must cooperate and deal with this disaster as quickly as possible!”
With even Jun Bo-ra and Hwang Chan-jin chiming in, Han Hyeok-jun became distressed, unsure of what to do.
“I'll help. What exactly do we need to do?”
“I will help as well.”
Instead, it was Kim Ji-hyeon and Lee Seon-yul who quickly finished their deliberation and chose to help.
They were still just as confused, but I let out a short chuckle at the look in their eyes that said they would trust me.
“We either destroy the flower bud before it blooms, or we kill the thing in the shape of that girl.”
“Understood.”
If that thing fully awakens, half of Seoul will be devastated. If we can deal with it before then, we obviously have to.
*Wooooong.*
Kim Ji-hyeon's sword vibrated intensely.
Wind Sever. Kim Ji-hyeon's specialty, which boasts cutting power on par with an S-rank skill.
As if sensing the danger, the vines, which had only been defending against attacks until now, went on the offensive.
*Chwaaak!*
Not to be outdone, Kim Ji-hyeon also swung her sword like a gale.
The vines, which boasted of their toughness, were split in two.
Seeing this, Hwang Chan-jin also changed his approach, deciding to make full use of his specialty rather than just trying to cut the vines.
“Freeze.”
*Crack!*
An explosive chill spread from his sword, freezing all the nearby vines solid.
As expected of the S-rank skill, Glacier. Its crowd control is superb.
I, too, infused the vines with darkness, preventing them from being properly controlled by the main body.
Mindlessly cutting them would only result in them regenerating.
So it's better to disable them completely.
“Jun Bo-ra! Use your power to attack its weak point!”
Jun Bo-ra was using a method of teleporting her dagger inside the vines to destroy them.
With her teleportation ability, it should be easy to target that weak point.
But Jun Bo-ra immediately shook her head.
“I already tried that! But it's like it's telling me not to use any tricks; there's a coordinate interference field, so I can't teleport to the location I want!”
Damn it. It's not going to be that easy.
I fixed my gaze on the small flower blooming on its head.
The moment I saw that flower, my agitated mind slowly cooled, and things I had momentarily forgotten came back to me.
“…There's something I want to try.”
“Something to try?”
“It's worth a shot.”
Just once.
A method that will only work now, before it opens its eyes—a method that, if it fails, can never be attempted again.
“I'm going to attack its weak point. Prepare to cover your ears.”