Is It So Wrong to Seek Product Placement in a Gate? (1)
Is It So Wrong to Seek Product Placement in a Gate? (1)
The instant I realized we'd been transferred,
I immediately went on guard against threats from every direction.
I was more serious than I'd ever been, even before my regression.
-Whip.
'What had changed from the First Round? An A+-rank Gate? I had never even heard of one.'
That level of caution was unlike me, a veteran who'd cleared countless Gates before regressing. But I couldn't help it.
According to the Status Window notification, this was an A+-rank Gate.
It was a danger neither humanity nor I had ever faced.
———Just like the colossal Gate that unfurled across the sky that day.
'If those monsters appeared, I wouldn't last even a minute with my current stats. Everyone would be slaughtered before support arrived!!!'
In the worst-case scenario, those monsters might appear.
The monsters that had taken one of my master's arms and one of mine.
The monsters that had massacred Alice's family.
The monsters that had reduced Sia's clan to ashes.
Monsters that seemed to embody injustice itself.
My hands trembled just thinking about them.
If I had been the only one in danger, that'd have been one thing...
But I wasn't alone here.
Alice—my everything—was here with me.
"Hah... Y-Yujin? It looks safe here for now. You can let me go now..."
—Squeeze.
"H-hhk!!?"
Just in case, I pulled her even tighter.
I meant to protect her with my life if anything happened.
We remained pressed tightly together like that.
I turned only my head as I scanned our surroundings.
The internal layout was identical to the First Round.
As for monsters, a mana sweep showed none within at least a hundred meters.
Traps were probably absent too, but...
because there could be a type of trap even I didn't know about.
I absolutely could not let my guard down.
It took me three minutes to relax.
'At least the entrance was exactly the same as in the First Round. We were safe here.'
"Hoooh..."
Only after I was certain we were safe did I finally sigh.
I quickly glanced down.
I wanted to reassure my wife, who was surely trembling in fear.
"Alice. It's safe—"
"Heh, hehhh..."
My eyes met Alice's as she was tucked snugly in my arms.
Her face was red all the way to her ears, and her eyes would not focus.
It took me less than a second to realize the cause.
—Squish.
"...!!!!!!!!?"
'Shit. The shock had made me hold Alice exactly the way I used to before regressing...!!!'
I had both arms wrapped tightly around Alice.
We were pressed so close that our stomachs touched.
That inevitably meant we were touching in several other places too.
Her chest. Her breasts. Her soft mounds.
Even the placement of my hands was suggestive.
One was behind her back, right over her bra clasp.
The other rested at the boundary between her waist and butt.
...This was the kind of pose couples took right before having sex.
The kind where they deep-kissed, undressed each other, and caressed each other's bodies.
Fortunately, Alice had her back to a wall, so the civilians probably had not seen where my wandering hands were, but...
Alice herself had definitely noticed.
One hand was on her bra clasp, and the other was a moment away from stroking her butt.
Even Alice, who knew nothing about anything sexual, must have understood that much.
'She was only in her early twenties right now... No, that was beside the point. This was sexual harassment!!'
-Flail.
"S-s-sorry! I was trying to protect you in case something happened, and I just—!"
I immediately let go and apologized.
I really had only meant to protect her.
But my damned hands had gone and done the whole 'Breeding Guy' routine on their own.
I had not meant to, but if I had embarrassed her, I was truly sorry.
Even I thought it was a zero out of ten apology...
"...? Why are you apologizing, Yujin?"
"My hands were in the wrong places... and our ch-chests touched..."
"That was fine, though. You didn't touch anywhere inappropriate, and my waist is no problem."
She was actually letting me off the hook.
My wife was an angel. I loved her so much. Marry me all over again.
-Mutter, mutter.
"I-I should be the one apologizing..."
Her face was bright red as she muttered, so even Alice was clearly embarrassed. But pressing her for more apologies would only make it more awkward, so I left her alone and turned away.
Judging by the size of the affected area, hundreds of civilians had been swept inside with us.
By now, they should have been on the verge of panicking in terror.
I would have to use hypnosis to calm them somehow.
"Ahem. Everyone, rest assured. This area is safe—"
-Murmur, murmur.
"Wow, so this is a Gate! It's really creepy."
"Feels like we're on a movie set."
"I'm jealous... If a man like that squeezed me until I broke, I could die happy."
...Panic, my ass. Everyone was busy taking pictures.
For the first time, I was grateful for their complacency about safety.
Even though that same complacency was what had gotten us into this mess.
—Clap!!
"Quiet! You have entered an A+-rank Gate. It is extremely dangerous, so please follow the instructions of Seo Yujin, an A-rank awakener."
A single clap silenced the cavern.
My voice rang through it.
The Gate was dangerous, but at least the entrance was safe.
They only needed to listen to me and wait quietly.
"Support from Cheonhwa will arrive soon, so please wait here until the assault team completely clears the Gate."
"What!? You're not going to clear it yourself, Yujin?"
"That would be suicide."
After saying that, I set an example by sitting comfortably on the floor.
It was a bit undignified, but...
because I had no idea what might be deeper inside.
To be safe, it made sense to enter with clan members capable of clearing even an S-rank Gate.
'This was Seoul, not some remote backwater. They'd arrive within fifteen minutes with time to spare.'
* * *
One hour later.
My expression grew grave.
'Why weren't they here? At this rate, were we all going to die?'
We were civilians and cadets trapped inside an A-rank Gate, for God's sake.
We knew this Gate was safe, but to the people outside, we must have looked like we were one step from death.
And no one had come to rescue us? For a whole hour?
If this had been some minor clan, maybe. But Cheonhwa would never do that.
There had to be a valid reason.
-Whisper, whisper.
"Alice, listen without making a sound. Something must have happened outside."
"...?"
"There is no way an assault team would take an hour to arrive. The Gate must have some mechanism—a limit on entrants, a ban on further transfers, or something like that."
The Gate itself probably had some special property.
It was the first A+-rank Gate in human history.
It wouldn't be strange for it to have some bizarre gimmick.
"Then..."
"In the worst case, we might have to clear this Gate with only the people here."
That meant the only people who could clear the Gate were already inside.
Excluding the civilians...
Alice and I would have to clear it by ourselves.
Of course she was horrified.
"You said earlier that going in alone would be suicide."
"Honestly, I was exaggerating. But it would still be extremely dangerous."
"Then what do we do? I would be nowhere near as useful as you..."
"That's what I wanted to discuss..."
I wanted us to put our heads together and work out a plan.
My IQ was 100. Alice's was 140.
Together, our married-couple IQ came to 240.
That was what I was about to say—
———until a pained groan echoed through the cavern.
"G-guhhk..."
"Yujin!! A pregnant woman's water just broke!!"
"Crap."
Of all things, a nearly full-term pregnant woman had been caught in the Gate, and her water had broken after only an hour?
I was so dumbfounded I couldn't even speak.
But I couldn't let it show.
Because the pregnant woman's eyes were on me.
"Wh-when is the assault team coming...?"
"Th-that's..."
"If you tell me... I can try to hold on..."
Even with her face pale from pain, she managed to smile.
Her smile held...
faith in me and in awakeners.
This was Korea, the world's strongest nation of awakeners.
An assault team would come rescue them soon.
She only had to endure a little longer.
That was the kind of faith she had.
My expression grew serious.
"I presume there's a problem outside. It's strange that not a single awakener has entered in the past hour."
"Yujin!? Why would you tell her that—"
"We may have to clear the Gate with only the people here—without additional support. In practical terms, I may have to do it alone."
Despite Alice's attempt to stop me, I told them the truth.
No rescue might come, no matter how long we waited.
We were in serious trouble.
Despair began to settle over the pregnant woman's face...
"Th-then..."
"So, what the hell—I'll go clear it in no time!"
"...Huh?"
Like hell I'd let despair take hold.
With an exaggerated motion, I hoisted the katana onto my shoulder.
I wore the confident smile befitting the former S-rank No. 1.
"You know who I am, right? I'm Seo Yujin—the future S-rank awakener Cheonhwa paid twenty billion won to recruit. To an S-rank, an A-rank Gate is child's play."
"B-but you said earlier it would be suicide..."
"I only said that as a joke because I thought the Clan Head would scold me if I cleared it before her."
I took one step closer, then another.
My eyes flashed gold.
"I'll be back soon, so wait here and try to relax. As for the pain... feeling none at all would be dangerous, so feel only one-tenth of it."
—Ding!
[The target falls 'completely' under hypnosis.]
"...Okay!"
Her pain-wracked face relaxed considerably.
The chorus of oohs and aahs that burst out around us was a bonus.
But Alice's expression was completely different.
—Whispering.
"Are you crazy, Yujin? You said it was dangerous."
"It'll be fine. We can handle it."
"But still...!"
"I told you back then. I'm pretty damn strong."
I didn't budge despite Alice's concern.
Who was I? The former S-rank No. 1.
I was a battle-hardened veteran who'd closed dozens of S-rank Gates alone.
This Gate, on the other hand?
It was only A-rank, even with a plus attached.
There was no way those monsters would appear in a mere A-rank Gate.
In other words, this Gate was no match for me.
And above all.
"Besides, I'm not the only awakener here."
"Huh?"
"Alice. You're here."
She was often overshadowed by me, but a genius awakener who'd swept through Stage 8 of the entrance exam on firepower alone was standing right here.
With Alice beside me, even at my current stats, I could break through a lower-tier S-rank Gate.
I'd been putting it off because I hated the idea of taking my wife onto a battlefield at all, but...
Well, circumstances had forced my hand.
It was pathetic, but I would have to rely on my wife a little.
'In return, I promised that no matter what happened, I'd protect her with my life.'
-Smile.
"Lend me your strength, fellow Pine-Needle Snow fan."
"...!!!"
Alice's anxious expression shifted.
At first, she looked slightly puzzled.
Then her expression filled with emotion.
"Yes!!! I-I'll make sure I'm useful to you, Yujin!"
"...?"
She looked strangely delighted.
Did she really like Pine-Needle Snow that much?
Well, at least she trusted me enough to follow my lead.
"Thanks. Then let's go, Alice."
"Yes!!"
"The rest of you, stay right where you are. Once you pass through this barrier, you can't come back, so don't wander near it."
We started walking at the same moment, as though we had planned it.
We headed for the downward staircase sealed by a translucent barrier.
Toward the entrance to a dungeon we could not leave until we defeated its boss monster.
Our footsteps echoed side by side as we descended.
Without a hint of fear or hesitation.
Step. Step. Two sets of footsteps.
———Then, belatedly, came one slightly off-beat, hesitant step from behind. Step.
'Wait. Footsteps behind us... A monster was ambushing us on the stairs!!!'
-Whip.
"Alice, get behind me!!"
The katana came free with a sound like a lightning strike.
Sschlik.