The Trap in the Dunhuang Desert
Winning over the hearts of the Yellow Storm team and the members of Team Mugeuk wasn't difficult at all.
After all, I had taken on their coordinated assault and not only held my ground—I completely overwhelmed them. No persuasion was necessary.
"Director Jinho, how did you gain such power in less than a year...!"
"Please, we won't ask you to teach us your secrets. Just put us through training!"
"Will we get stronger too if we follow the Guild Leader?"
Shock. And admiration.
Shin Junseok puffed out his chest with pride.
"I told you, I gained enlightenment thanks to my junior here."
The Fist Gang shimmering around his fist.
"At that speed, you won't be able to use it in real combat, Senior."
"I'm working on it, but it's not going as smoothly as I'd like."
"It's a matter of qi emission control."
"I keep learning from my junior. Haha."
"Guild Leader, aren't you going to give me any feedback?"
Hong Yunsu sidled up beside me.
"I'm not well-versed in that area. Let's spar again later."
"After you've settled things with China—or rather, the Nine Dragons Syndicate, you mean."
I smiled faintly.
They call him the Lord of the Tempest, but damn, he's good at stirring up the winds.
The team members watched me with eyes full of reverence. It didn't take long to win them over completely.
"I'll take care of the others after we return from China. Analyst Thomas, I'd appreciate your help as well."
"Heh heh heh. Just leave it to me."
After coordinating the guild members' opinions, I immediately accepted the request from the Chinese embassy.
Alright. I've cast the bait. Now let's see how they react.
The Chinese embassy responded almost immediately. They said that since Dunhuang Airport only handled domestic flights and had poor accessibility, they would send a private jet.
"They're getting desperate."
Why do you think so?
"The government would never provide something like that."
Private jets were something only tycoons with mountains of money operated. There was no way bureaucrats would hand one over so easily. The paperwork alone would be a nightmare.
"It confirms that the Nine Dragons Syndicate is pulling the strings behind this."
Hmm. It seems your suspicions about a trap were correct.
A high-difficulty gate that had appeared in the Dunhuang Desert.
No matter how much I combed through my memories from before the regression, I couldn't recall any Gate Break incident ever occurring in the Dunhuang region. It was suspicious whether a gate even existed there in the first place.
"With this much firepower, it'll be fine."
I answered lightly.
The Nine Dragons Syndicate.
I didn't know what kind of trap they'd prepared, but it was best to go in thoroughly prepared. If I went in half-assed, I wouldn't be the one doing the devouring—I'd be the one getting devoured.
The moment we landed at Dunhuang Airport, a man in a suit approached and greeted us.
"Yu Jinho, it is an honor to meet you. I am Liu, assigned as your guide."
"Are you from the government?"
"Yes. We are truly grateful that you've agreed to lend us your strength for this gate raid..."
"We're short on time. Let's head straight to the gate."
I cut the man off.
Flattery should be kept in moderation. The fact that his tongue was so well-oiled meant he had other motives. That truth hadn't changed between my previous life and now.
Does that mean you praised me with ulterior motives as well?
"No way. That was sincere."
Hmm~
Nyx made a strange expression.
Sigh. This is why you can never let your guard down around a sharp-eyed goddess. Not even for a second.
We boarded the bus that had been prepared in advance and headed toward the gate.
An oppressive silence filled the vehicle.
The nearly twenty guild members kept completely quiet. Being in a foreign land—moreover, deep in enemy territory—seemed to have them all on edge. Even Jiyoung, who usually loved to chatter, kept her mouth shut and stared out the window.
"The Dunhuang Desert was once a major route along the ancient Silk Road..."
The guide's droning voice echoed hollowly inside the bus.
About an hour after leaving the city, the vehicle came to a stop.
A shimmering blue light hovering above a sand dune.
It was the gate.
"This is the place, Director Yu Jinho."
I followed the guide out of the bus and looked around.
A desert covered entirely in sand.
I activated Thousand Eyes to its maximum, but I couldn't detect any flow of mana nearby.
I slipped my right hand behind my back and extended my index and middle fingers.
The guild members behind me watched with meaningful looks in their eyes.
In a casual voice, I spoke to the guide.
"I'd like to have the guild members participate in this gate raid as well."
"Ah, unfortunately, this gate only allows a single person to enter. Our country has already lost several players to it."
"Then I suppose it can't be helped."
I smiled faintly as I stood before the gate.
[Dunhuang Desert - Into the Sands]
[Condition - Gold (1 person)]
Time remaining until Gate Break - 107:34:25
Wow. How blatantly obvious.
When I glanced sideways, I saw the guide swallow nervously.
That one is clearly tense.
"Yeah."
Was he worried whether I could actually clear the gate?
Or was he afraid I might refuse to enter?
Either way, the answer would reveal itself once I stepped inside.
Without hesitation, I stepped into the gate shimmering with blue light.
At that moment—
Instinct has detected killing intent.
My head, neck, heart, groin—killing intent poured toward all my vital points.
Partner!
Don't worry.
I'd already anticipated this.
If they hadn't set a trap in the desert itself, the only place left was inside the gate.
I wrapped my entire body in Metal Reflection Gloves, Dark Shadow Aura, and the power of Polar Night.
The instant I fully crossed through the gate—
BOOOOOOM!
Fire Explosion
The explosion originated from a magic circle installed at the gate entrance.
It was a powerful explosive spell on par with Solar Explosion.
I absorbed most of the impact with my Dark Shadow Aura and Metal Reflection Gloves, but I held my breath tightly. Inhaling the superheated air would damage my lungs.
Just as I thought—it was a trap aimed at me.
Through the acrid smoke, the interior of the gate came into view.
The area around the entrance had been turned into a sunken basin.
A group of armed players surrounded the basin in a semicircular formation. Roughly thirty of them.
The claim that the gate only allowed one person to enter was laughable.
"If you'd died from that last attack, your suffering would've been brief. What a shame."
A voice I'd heard just a few days ago.
Seth's contractor, Abdul Hamad, revealed himself at the edge of the basin.
Why is that child here?
"He has the ability to create gates."
I wasn't particularly surprised.
Even before the regression, Abdul Hamad had artificially created gates and used them for various terrorist acts.
It was a powerful ability that only an extremely small number of players contracted with Sinister constellations could wield.
"Actually, this is perfect."
I smiled.
Not only had I confirmed that Abdul Hamad and the Nine Dragons Syndicate were working together, but the bastard who could only torment me inside the Tower had now shown himself in reality.
And he'd walked right into my hands.
"If I kill you here, I won't need to waste any more CP."
"You bastard. Your arrogance ends here!"
Abdul Hamad's neck bulged with veins as he gave the signal to attack.
Abdul was certain of victory.
The Red Desert's Nine Great Gods.
And twenty Platinum-rank players provided by the Nine Dragons Syndicate.
Having suffered consecutive defeats against Jinho inside the Tower, he had prepared so thoroughly that even the Nine Dragons Syndicate had taken notice.
I will offer this man's corpse to my master!
He had dug deep trenches around the entry path to maximize their numerical advantage.
They had even mobilized skilled mages from the Nine Dragons Syndicate to install destructive magic and Fire Explosion.
A deadly trap!
With this much firepower, they could even take down one of the world's top rankers—Zhang Wufei.
When Jinho took the Fire Explosion head-on, Abdul had been convinced of victory.
He should have been...
"What? Is this all you prepared?"
CRACK!
One of the Nine Dragons Syndicate players fell into the basin with his neck snapped.
Rashid and Hamil interlocked their fingers.
Water soaked the rising sand, then combined with powerful winds to seize Jinho's ankles.
Baektaek Sovereign Step
The entire gate shook.
All he'd done was take a single step.
Yet every blessing and blessing that had been restraining Jinho was erased.
"Hah!"
"I'll show you the power of the martial arts bestowed upon us by our lord!"
While Jinho dispelled the constellations' blessings, the encircling players charged at him all at once.
Spears, swords, fists.
True to China's preference for martial artists, every one of them wielded first-class or higher martial techniques.
"No wonder martial arts manuals are so expensive."
Jinho grumbled briefly.
It reminded him of right after his regression, when he'd tried to buy martial arts manuals only to smile bitterly at how expensive they were.
Body of Darkness
Dark Dominion
Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword
Blades spun like gears at terrifying speed.
The sword energy formed atop the dark blades tried to strike down the martial artists' weapons.
"Is that... sword energy?"
"It will be inferior to the true martial arts of our People's Republic. Do not fear—attack!"
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Materialized qi collided in midair.
These were martial artists worthy of being called first-class.
Among the countless players in China, they ranked in the top 0.1%.
Yet TANG!—before Jinho's sword energy, they could not display their full power.
Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword, enhanced by its fusion with the nature of night.
It fell slightly short of true Fist Gang, but it was more than enough to overwhelm martial artists who needed to focus just to infuse their weapons with qi.
"This can't be..."
"Next time, learn how to properly hold a sword first."
SLASH!
The martial artist who had been staring blankly at his severed weapon was sliced clean in half.
In an instant, a third of their forces had vanished.
"Th-this is impossible."
Abdul stumbled backward.
The martial artists of the Nine Dragons Syndicate were by no means weak.
After setting the trap in the Dunhuang Desert, they had practiced their coordination many times with the forces Zhang Wufei had sent. He knew exactly how strong they were.
Even the man Jinho had just cut down was strong enough to have made a name for himself in Egypt.
To see such men crushed by Jinho without even putting up a proper fight—it didn't feel real.
"Abdul, there's one thing I should thank you for."
"Hiiiiiiik!"
"Thanks to you, I've been spared a lot of annoying work."
"Don't make me laugh! As long as the great ones stand with me, there will be no humiliating defeat!"
"But I have the great Goddess of Night standing with me?"
"How dare you mock me!"
Abdul's neck flushed red with rage.
At that moment—
"I granted you the honor of beholding me, yet you are truly a vulgar lot."
Nyx manifested in her homunculus body.
"Leave the entrance to me."
"Don't let a single one escape."
"Heh heh. Without your permission, no one shall leave this place."
With those words, the fate of Abdul and his group was sealed.
Twenty minutes after Jinho entered the gate, not a single member of Abdul Hamad's party—including Abdul himself—was left breathing inside.