The Illusion of the Zero-Level Gate
"You damn brats! Get over here, all of you!"
"I'm sorryyyyy, waaaaah!"
"What if one of you got hurt? Were you trying to make your mom worry?!"
"I won't do it again..."
"And why are you yelling right away? Are you hurt anywhere? You okay?"
"Ha, I can't live like this! No fear at all, seriously."
"Cheol-su. If you're the big brother, you should have acted like one and told the adults when your siblings wanted to play."
"I'm sorry..."
"You stop too. That's how kids grow up."
"No, this guy! When it's time to scold, you have to scold!"
The valiant, elite children's raid party was no more.
There were only naughty children being harshly scolded by their parents, who had finally calmed their startled hearts.
And what about Kim So-yeon, the captain of this raid party and the center of the whole commotion?
No need to say it—she was facing her father getting angry for the first time in her life.
"...Kim So-yeon, come with Dad."
"Stop it, honey. Nothing happened. So-yeon, come to Mom. Hurry!"
With tears and shouts bursting out, the big commotion finally ended. As if by prior agreement, the parents all approached Lee Shin and Yu Ri-ra.
"We heard that you and Miss Ri-ra took care of the disturbance. Thank you. We're sorry for the trouble."
"Thank you, Guild Master. And thank you, Miss Ri-ra."
"Ha, we didn't notice it at all either."
"We as parents should have paid more attention. We're sorry."
"Sorry for ruining your vacation because of our kids."
In truth, it had been just as much a bolt from the blue for Lee Shin's group. They had come to the campsite after so long, spending serious money to comfortably enjoy time with everyone, and had been savoring the best vacation...
Only to suddenly get caught up in a midnight uproar.
The parents bowed deeply, but Lee Shin and Yu Ri-ra reassured the troubled group instead.
"Not at all. If anything, I should have paid more attention. I'm sorry."
"Hehe, I'm fine too. Kids can be like that!"
"The kids are smart, that's why. They say smart kids are always a bit strange. They'll all grow up to be big shots, hahaha."
"Hehe, that's right~! When I was little I lied about going to academy and snuck off to my brothers' concert... oops."
"Hahaha, of course. Don't mind us and go look after your children."
The parents, who had come to express gratitude, ended up being the ones comforted and returned to their kids. Now it was their turn.
Kim Yu-shin and Kim So-yeon stood before him.
"Kim So-yeon."
"Hic, I'm sorry. Sob... I won't do anything dangerous again..."
"I'm sorry. Lee Shin, Ri-ra. I'll apologize with all my heart."
The situation was a little different from the previous visitors.
It seemed this cheeky little one was the leader.
So they were far more humble, but once again Lee Shin and Yu Ri-ra reassured Kim Yu-shin first.
We're fine. Were you very surprised? I already gave her a proper scolding. She knows exactly what she did wrong. Since she's a smart kid, she won't make the same mistake again.
Lee Shin squatted down and met So-yeon's eyes.
Her lips were pressed tightly together. She was desperately holding back her tears, clearly aware of what she had done wrong.
Lee Shin gently wiped the droplets from her eyes with a handkerchief and spoke.
"So-yeon. What did Uncle say earlier?"
"No matter how smart, a child is still a child."
It had been a heart-stopping incident, but ironically, because Lee Shin himself had once been called a genius, he understood this little girl perfectly.
The more you know, the more you see. The more you see, the more greed you feel.
You think you're different. Special.
Sometimes adults seem like fools, and you believe that if you were just given the chance, you could do it much better.
And the so-called 'prodigies' or 'geniuses' actually can.
But one fact never changes.
You are still a 'child'.
"It doesn't mean a child should act childish. It means that when you make plans, you have to factor in the calculation that you yourself are a child."
"Is it the self-objectification Uncle mentioned...?"
"Smart. That's why you're my 'Team 3 Leader.'"
Lee Shin stroked So-yeon's head.
There was nothing more to say. He shouldn't say more.
Beyond this was the domain of her father, Kim Yu-shin. Lee Shin kept the line as an advisor.
With the conversation over, Kim So-yeon took Yu Ri-ra's hand and walked off to the other side.
Meanwhile, Lee Shin and Kim Yu-shin watched the two retreating figures.
The interesting part was that both men were looking at the exact same spot, as if they'd promised to do so.
The fist-sized creature floating above Kim So-yeon's head.
The one called Mong-geul.
"No matter how I look at it, it looks like a slime."
"Right?"
"According to what you said, Guild Master, that thing is supposed to be incredible... Honestly, it's hard to believe."
"Haha, don't worry. I'll bet everything I have on it—your daughter has hit the jackpot."
At first glance it looked like a slime, but who was Lee Shin? He was the only truth and the ultimate veteran of this world.
He had identified Mong-geul's true nature at a glance.
The one called the Proto-type or Primordial Species.
The first phantom beast and the starting point of all phantom beasts.
Code 0. The Progenitor.
"...Honestly, I don't know any of that. Proto-type, primordial species, progenitor—it's my first time hearing those terms."
"That makes sense. Probably only three or four people in the entire world know. Including me, the Saintess probably knows, and maybe a few others?"
"That's why I'm asking."
"??"
"Why would something that amazing contract with our So-yeon?"
"Aaaah..."
It was a perfectly understandable question.
A normal person with no magic power, and an eight-year-old at that. Why?
So Lee Shin decided to resolve his older brother's curiosity as the younger brother.
"Because your daughter has the talent of a summoner."
"?!"
Kim Yu-shin widened his eyes, and Lee Shin smiled at him.
Yes.
The child currently showing the fist-sized Mong-geul to Yu Ri-ra.
The future possessor of the summoner trait Monster Lord, just as fraudulent as Friend of the Four Sacred Beasts.
The one-man army who would represent the third generation of hunters in this game.
Monster Lord Kim So-yeon.
That was exactly who the child was.
"Do you remember by any chance? What I said when I made the contract with you, Yu-shin hyung."
"That was..."
"If you don't remember, I'll say it again. You will have to thank So-yeon for the rest of your life."
Originally, she was a world-class summoner with two-hundred potential who would have displayed her talent in America following Hwarang.
Whenever she shone in world raids, all of Korea would shake. And if she ever scored lower than America? The entire peninsula would flip upside down.
And the words she repeated until her mouth went sore.
"The best hunter I've ever seen is my dad. I like being Hwarang's daughter more than the title Monster Lord."
Originally, she was the strongest filial daughter on earth, the one who would gift Hwarang all the career achievements he had lacked. So of course he should be grateful.
Ah, of course Lee Shin was also deeply grateful that such a child would become the future Team 3 Leader of Mir Guild.
"I'm already looking forward to it."
Kk kk kk.
After sending Kim Yu-shin away, Lee Shin was left alone.
"This is organized for now."
There was still one thing left to organize.
Lee Shin entered the camper, locked the door, and took something out from his pocket.
A white magic stone.
Yes.
The true culprit behind all this commotion.
It had been called a terror gate, but this also had its own accurate name.
"A 0-Level Gate. So this has already appeared."
Why did it appear? For what reason?
He didn't entertain such half-baked thoughts.
Ever since the South American incident, he had realized that the order of the patch notes was meaningless.
Rather than wasting time on that, it was far more beneficial to think about what he could gain and how to use it.
"Let's see. Where should I start?"
Lee Shin organized the plan in his head.
Drawing a new roadmap and sorting out what could be extracted to match it...
Tap. Tap. Tap. The moment his finger stopped tapping the table, a phone was already in his other hand.
"Information Team Leader. Work with President Jang on something for me."
* * *
A residential district in the city center.
A van stopped and a group of people got out.
Brilliant light casts that much bigger a shadow. They were the information team that willingly became the shadow for Mir Guild's glory.
And the name of the woman wearing horn-rimmed glasses was Choi Ji-min. She was the team leader commanding this shadow unit.
Soon two people followed after Choi Ji-min.
"Let's talk while walking."
Choi Ji-min set off first, and everyone matched her pace.
"Get straight to the work report."
"We've finished talking with the police. In exchange for their cooperation in blocking information, we've agreed to hand over all the credit to them."
"Dispatch time."
"Scheduled to dispatch at exactly oh-five-hundred."
"Five o'clock... Isn't that too tight? We need to give them time to clean up the scene."
"I'm sorry. It was to block the information more perfectly."
"Since this isn't Busan, the longer it drags on, the higher the chance we'll be exposed."
"Tsk, fine. I'll ask the outsourcing team. You've also prepared the local station and department in charge?"
"We proceeded with gift certificates and airline tickets exactly as per the manual."
"Good."
While talking, Choi Ji-min arrived at the scene.
From the other side came people wearing hard hats that read 'Safety First,' vests from the Korea Electric Power Corporation, and vehicles and barricades controlling the area.
They were information team employees.
She put on the vest and hard hat her subordinate handed her and spoke.
"We'll hand over to the police at five, so maintain strict control."
"Understood."
As soon as they crossed the barricade, an alien sensation hit them.
It was a magic power blocking membrane that completely separated the interior from the exterior.
Choi Ji-min was an Awakener herself. What greeted her after she instantly adapted to the magic power was the smell of dust and acrid blood. It was coming from the old three-story commercial building in the distance.
"Looking at the size, time's going to be tight. We'll have to move fast."
At her casually spoken words, the information team members scattered in every direction without a sound.
Then a familiar face appeared from across the way.
A white man with a rough impression. Jang Bo-ri, whose bald head featured a wolf tattoo that seemed to growl as if alive, stood guarding the building entrance with a magic herb in his mouth.
"Mr. Jang Bo-ri."
"You're here. Ji-min."
"You've worked hard."
"Easy work. Nothing much."
Since one of the information team's main duties was cleaning up after Brothers Outsourcing, the two were quite close.
"How did it go? I thought President Jang would go with you and finish it quietly."
"Opponent's strength exceeded expectations. We took a hit."
"Oh my, badly? How many injured?"
"No need to worry. All minor injuries. The guy who went in first got hurt though..."
"Got hurt?"
"See for yourself."
When the iron door opened, the interior was completely devastated.
Everything was smashed. The building was damaged to the point that bare rebar and concrete were exposed.
There, organization members who looked like extreme fundamentalists were tied up with ropes and huddled against the wall.
The outsourcing employees were packaging them for easy transport.
And in the middle of it all, the owner of the 'see for yourself' that Jang Bo-ri had mentioned—Jang Ji-na—was looking at herself in a mirror.
"Fuck! What do I do?!"
"What do you mean, what?"
"Sister, you're here?"
"Good work. But you look unfamiliar. Are you actually looking in a mirror? You, who never looked in one your whole life... Is it a guy?"
"Fuck, what guy? My little sister did my hair and it turned out like this."
"Ah, your younger sister's beauty salon?"
"Yeah. She said thanks for the flower pot I gave her before."
Sure enough, Jang Ji-na's hair was a mess. It was scorched and frizzy as if it had taken a direct hit from flames.
She must have been struck by fire magic.
"Fuuuuck! If it had hit my face or body it would've healed, but why the hell did it hit my hair?!"
"Wear this first. It's hard to watch."
"Huh? Thanks."
Choi Ji-min handed her clothes from her subspace pouch.
Logically, if her hair was burned that badly, her clothes wouldn't be fine either. Of course her top had been split apart.
Jang Ji-na was so carefree she hadn't cared, but Choi Ji-min, who still retained some femininity, found it difficult to watch a grown woman walking around in rags.
"Busy? The boss has the data. Just go that way."
"Yeah. Let's talk again after this is done."
As Jang Ji-na said, when she stepped through the door, Jang Anton was sitting there.
"Information team lady. You're here."
"Yes, President. You've worked hard."
"What hardship? Where are the cops?"
"They arrive at five."
"Five o'clock, huh. Then I should get moving soon. Hoo."
He said that, but Jang Anton was busy reading something.
It looked like he was confirming something. In the meantime, Choi Ji-min checked the woman crumpled against the wall.
"Is that the boss over there?"
"She's the branch leader. Oh, I didn't kill her. She's just unconscious. A screw's a bit loose. That recently famous so, so..."
"Are you talking about a sociopath?"
"Yeah, socio-path. So I made sure her anger control is properly adjusted."
She had no idea what relation a sociopath had to 'good' anger control, but she didn't ask. She was a professional.
"Is it a cell-based organization?"
"Have I done this once or twice? I saw everything. Take it."
"Thank you."
Choi Ji-min stored the blue box containing the documents into her subspace.
Recovery complete.
* * *
The place where the data recovered by the information team arrived was Songdo in Busan.
It was where the Olympus Magic Tower's Korean branch was located.
"I picked it up on the way."
Lee Shin had handed over the data as a gift for the establishment of the Korean branch, and Porter and the Olympus mages' eyes nearly popped out.
"Ooooh——!!"
"A gate with no fixed coordinates and no precursor phenomenon!!"
A mage is a being that pursues truth.
What mage in the world wouldn't burn with passion after seeing such data?
Porter and the mages stayed up all night in a temporary building constructed next to the magic tower that was still under construction.
As a result of this group of geniuses—comparable to the Bureau—rushing in with burning passion...
Porter had come to a certain judgment regarding the data.
"Teacher, this is an illusion."
"Huh? Illusion? Can you explain it more simply?"
"Do you remember the 'superconductor' that caused a stir some time ago?"
"Ah, I've heard of it. The Japanese kids were making a big fuss about it, right?"
"Yes. They claimed the center of world magic science was Tokyo University and that Japanese would become the world common language. Complete nonsense."
It was similar to that.
The theory was quite plausible and technically possible, but commercialization and achieving the desired effect were nearly impossible.
Lee Shin, listening to the explanation, nodded.
"It's the 0-level gate I know."
"As expected of you, teacher. The term 0-level gate is extremely accurate. Honestly, I thought the name 'terror gate' didn't fit at all."
This was obvious.
They must have wanted to remove the fixed coordinates from the gate so it could open anywhere, anytime. They probably believed that by also removing the precursor phenomenon, they had completed a true time bomb.
But in Lee Shin's view, this was a completely mistaken idea. A gate being fixed in place was not a need but an essential condition.
Growing completely from level zero without fixed coordinates? It was like planting a seed in flowing water and hoping it would sprout and bloom. Was that even possible?
"As a mage, I won't claim zero. There will definitely be a possibility. However, confirming even that slim possibility would require astronomical support and additional technology."
"What if I provide it?"
"Ah... I almost forgot about time. Our Olympus Magic Tower values time quite highly."
A waste of time.
The final conclusion from Porter and the Olympus Magic Tower was that it was an illusion.
It was attractive as a research subject but had no practical use.
"There won't be any way to utilize it right away."
The moment Porter tried to wash his hands of the matter.
Despite such a negative opinion, Lee Shin was smiling.
He bared teeth as white as the white magic stone in his hand.
"Why not? This interesting thing."
I'll show you. The land of illusions.