Gate

In this world, true magic still did not exist.

There were Keepers who could create fire, freeze things solid, or hurl lightning. There were those who could fly, dig through earth, or sense enemies. But no one had ever awakened the real thing—the ability to do all of it. People who used mana and magical power to make anything they desired happen. The only power that could stand on equal footing with science.

Learning that kind of magic was never going to be easy.

“...Is this actually working?”

“(It is. Don’t doubt it. Doubt only makes it harder.)”

I had been writing the same character for a full hour. Just one character. A snaking, complicated glyph that Keira called a rune. Its meaning: Gather.

At first even copying it had been a struggle, but after an hour of nothing but that single stroke, I felt like I could draw it with my eyes closed.

When she first told me I would have to memorize all forty-eight runes to learn magic, I had been thrilled. Oh, runes! I never imagined I would spend an entire hour on just one of them.

“Shouldn’t something be happening by now? You said an hour would be enough.”

“(How are you so precise about the time... Ah. Timekeeping is exact here, isn’t it.)”

Apparently Archenia, Keira’s world, had never developed proper clocks. Even if they had something, it certainly wasn’t an electronic watch that counted minutes and seconds.

“(Then try borrowing black magic again.)”

“Finally...!”

I pressed a kiss to the back of her hand and borrowed Dimensional Common Black Magic. After kissing her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so many times yesterday and today, the act itself no longer carried any special thrill.

“(Use black magic to push the surrounding mana away, then use the ‘Gather’ rune to draw that mana into your heart.)”

Normally those words would have been pure gibberish. But with black magic currently flowing through me, I followed the instruction as naturally as eating a meal.

I raised my magical power and the mana obediently carved out an empty space around me. The rune I used for that was called “Distancing”—one I had never learned. Yet I formed it without effort. In this state I could freely use all forty-eight runes.

If only I could keep this knowledge after the contract ends...

Unfortunately, that was impossible. The Otherworld Residence Contract was useful, but it was not a balance-breaking cheat.

A faint hum. The mana I had pushed aside drifted aimlessly, unsure where to go. Sensing mana felt a lot like sensing wind. People with higher Sense stats supposedly felt it like being submerged underwater, but for me it was still just a light breeze. Maybe that was why the wind obeyed even my tiny amount of magical power so readily.

I drew the “Gather” rune over my heart, and the breeze immediately swirled toward it.

“(You’re doing well. Now complete the rune.)”

I completed it. Completing a rune was a concept I had never been taught, yet with the borrowed ability it came easily. A small amount of mana settled into a slow orbit around my heart and stayed there.

“I did it! It worked!”

“(Then shall we release the black magic?)”

I kissed the left hand she offered again. The instant the power left me, the mana around my heart began to scatter.

“(Focus on your heart. Keep the completed rune fixed in both your mind and your heart.)”

“Uh, uh, uh...”

The moment the ability vanished, everything went dark. Mana’s presence thinned to almost nothing, and the rune in my heart was already dissolving. I tried to rebuild it from the shape I had drawn for an hour, but even the image in my head wavered. In the end not a single scrap of mana remained in my heart. The rune was gone.

“It disappeared...?”

“(An hour must not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have been enough. Or maybe it’s because you still lack the concept of completing a rune.)”

“This is more of a pain than I expected.”

“(Still, a few more tries like this should do it. About a week?)”

“...What? A whole week?”

I still remembered, faintly, the sensation of mana settling into my heart. And it was still going to take a week?

“(A week is fast. Normally the first rune takes a full month. You’re already benefiting from the contract. Your mind may not remember, but your body does.)”

“If that’s how it works...”

In novels and comics people became overpowered in a single day. Reality made even one step forward feel like climbing a mountain. Looks like pure, relentless effort was still the only way.

“What about you? Have you memorized everything?”

“(The pronunciation is almost done.)”

“Already?”

Last night Keira had learned Hangul pronunciation from me. We had gone to bed late, but the actual study time couldn’t have been more than three or four hours. And she had already locked down the sounds?

“Hangul, (that’s what you called it, right? It’s a well-made language. Easy to learn.)”

“Wow...”

Her pronunciation of the word “Hangul” was perfect. For a test I wrote out “Gyeongchalcheong Changsal.”

“Read this.”

“Gyeongchalcheong Changsal.”

She had no idea what it meant, yet she read it flawlessly. Just as she said, the pronunciation was essentially complete. Incredible. From now on I would have to brag that even otherworlders acknowledged the excellence of Hangul. National pride swelled unbidden. Long live King Sejong.

Of course it wasn’t only because Hangul was easy. Keira’s intelligence and sheer passion were the real reason. While I had been grinding out one rune, she had filled three times as many sheets of A4 paper with dense practice.

“(How long will it take to learn Korean?)”

“I don’t know for sure, but with you? Maybe a month.”

All I had seen was her memorizing Hangul sounds in a few hours, but she was a mage. The rest of her intellect had to be just as sharp. At that rate Korean itself would come quickly.

“(Is that fast?)”

“Insanely fast. We can already talk through magic, so why the rush?”

“(I just want to read books as soon as possible.)”

Keira stared hungrily at the books lined up on my shelves. Once she started reading, surfing the internet, and gathering information... Magic meeting science. I might have just invited a monster into this world.

“Want breakfast?”

I normally skipped breakfast, but after studying since morning my stomach was growling. At the word “breakfast,” Keira’s eyes lit up.

“(Yes. Give me ramen.)”

She was completely hooked on the ramen she had eaten last night. The power of MSG transcended dimensions. Ramen for breakfast... a true freeloader’s meal.

To work as a Gate Keeper you had to register with the state. Registration could be done at any metropolitan-level government office. In Seoul there were two places: City Hall, and the Gate Keeper Association headquarters where I now stood.

The front of the Association was packed with people. Where money gathered, people gathered—that was only natural. The fact that I could now walk among them as one of them made my chest swell with pride.

Of course, wherever people gathered, so did the opposition.

“Gates are the devil’s trap! Enter a Gate and you will become a demon! Keepers are demons!”

They waved banners and shouted slogans. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The group called itself the Earth Liberation Project. Before I became a Keeper I had entertained the tiniest possibility that they might have a point. After awakening, their claims sounded completely ridiculous. It was nothing more than the bitter complaining of people who had never become Keepers themselves. Despite being an old organization, public support was thin and the media ignored them. Of course it did. The twenty-first century ran on Gates and Keepers.

The thought that I could now be part of that world made my chest swell all over again. I strode past the protesters and into the Association with long, confident steps.

The registration process was simple. Submit an application, demonstrate your awakened ability, wait, and receive a license.

I received the license from the Association staff. During registration I had demonstrated Mini Fireball, the lowest-tier black magic spell. With that same low-tier black magic I could have done other things—make surfaces slippery, siphon a tiny bit of life force—but revealing I was a mage felt premature. So I simply claimed I could handle a little fire.

“Your rank will rise naturally as you build a record. An S-rank license is made of platinum, you know.”

A platinum card! I had seen them on broadcasts. Flashy, satisfying things to look at. Would I ever hold one? Right now even C-class felt distant. Considering magic’s sheer utility, maybe B-class was possible someday.

“With the code on your license you can access the Association community. You’ll need it often if you plan to enter Gates.”

The community exclusive to Gate Keepers, nicknamed The Gate. Millions of people wanted in; every day leaked posts from it flooded ordinary forums. Receiving a code that let me enter made the reality finally sink in—I was a real Gate Keeper now.

“Casual chat can leak without much trouble, but this is a private community. Absolute secrecy is required. Understood?”

“Of course.”

“For newly registered Keepers, the Association offers a free Gate reconnaissance service. Interested?”

Gate reconnaissance. No one knew what waited inside a Gate until someone went in and found out. For a fresh Keeper that was dangerous—strong monsters could be waiting. You needed protection. You also needed someone who could identify which resources were worth harvesting. That was why specialized teams existed, people who charged hundreds of millions per call. The Association provided one free use of such a team.

On the surface it looked generous. In reality you should never accept. Anything the Association team discovered sent ten percent of the profits straight back to the Association.

I shook my head. Not for that reason, though. My Gate was a summoning Gate; there was nothing inside that needed scouting.

“I’m fine. I’ll handle it myself.”

“It’ll cost you a lot of money.”

“Once I start working as a Keeper I’ll earn it back quickly.”

“...Understood. Then shall I show you some Gates suitable for beginners?”

“Please do.”

The staff member handed me a tablet. Recruitment ads filled the screen.

Enter a Gate that spawns goblins and wipe the settlement clean. It sounded simple on paper. Spending five or six hours in constant combat tension was anything but simple for a modern person. Standard practice was to rest for several days afterward just to recover.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Pure manual labor. Even people with pathetic abilities could do it, which only meant the work was that much more brutal. After three or four days every muscle in your body would be screaming.

Pack-mule work. Dangerous enough that the pay was a little higher. The preference for shooting experience meant they handed out guns. Being able to use a firearm lowered the risk enough that the staff member was recommending it.

“All three are Association-guaranteed safe jobs. No incidents in the last several years.”

Safety. Inside a Gate, safety mattered more than anything else. You were cut off from the real world; anything could happen. Worse, if a crime occurred inside a Gate there was no way to pursue the perpetrator. That was why newly awakened Keepers were told to be careful, then careful again, and to follow Association guidelines to the letter.

“Do you exercise regularly?”

“A little.”

Saying no would have been too embarrassing, so I bluffed. The staff member smiled faintly and continued. ...Had he seen through the bluff?

“Then I recommend the mining job. It’s the safest starting point. Once you’re more comfortable with your ability, you can move on to goblins and the like.”

The textbook answer. I decided to take it.

“The ore-mining team has approved you. Come back to the Association in three days. Under Association supervision you’ll enter the Gate.”

My first Gate. My heart was pounding. Somehow this felt more nerve-wracking than my actual first time.