Gate
Whoosh.
A rush of wind sounded from behind.
It didn't sound like the cry of anything living.
What is that? What the hell?
I wanted to look back, but there was no time.
Whoooosh.
The sound drew closer.
Soyeon and I ran for all we were worth, but it looked like we'd be caught before the passage ended. There was still a long stretch of tunnel left; getting out would take more than ten minutes of running like this.
"Aah!"
Didn't they say bad things come in pairs?
Soyeon screamed and went down. It wasn't a urethane track—racing through a rough, uneven mine shaft, a fall was almost inevitable.
"Soyeon!"
I had no choice but to stop. When I turned my head, I saw her sprawled on the ground. But the big red-eyed dog was nowhere in sight.
"Senior! Dodge!"
The instant I heard her, I threw myself into a roll across the dirt. Something whooshed over me.
Whoooosh.
A sound that iced my guts. It came from in front now. The red eyes were blocking the tunnel.
We're fucked.
I rose slowly, sizing up the dog. It stood about waist-high, its hide reflecting the light. Whatever it was made of, it was metal. The teeth, of course, were metal too. With those fangs, an arm or a leg would shear clean off.
Maybe because of the headlight, it was still wary. But it would charge any second. It had already learned our reflexes weren't anything special.
Could I handle it with my magic? A mini fireball wouldn't even scratch it. And this was a mine shaft—one bad blast and we'd be buried.
Other spells, then…
My brain whirred and spat out information. I snagged a usable one and raised my mana at once. My own mana was nothing special, and the raw power of my spells wasn't strong. But the proficiency of skills borrowed through the Otherworld Residence Contract matched the original owner's. In other words, I could finish a spell the moment I thought of it.
Whoosh!
So when the metal dog coiled to leap, I already had the activation word ready.
"Grease!"
Bang.
The metal dog went sprawling on the suddenly slick floor.
Whooosh?
Bang, bang, bang.
It fell three times in a row before it finally scrambled up and found its footing. Its legs still trembled; it looked far from steady.
"Soyeon! Throw rocks!"
She obeyed at once. Chunks of stone lying everywhere sailed toward the dog.
Thud, thud.
The hits didn't seem to do real damage—fist-sized rocks, not even that fast—but they were enough to wreck its balance.
Bang, bang.
The dog kept slipping, flattening itself against the ground.
Now!
I closed in. I had to cripple it with a new spell before Grease wore off. This one had a shorter range and took longer to cast.
"Soyeon, keep the rocks coming!"
"…Okay!"
While the dog flailed under grease and stone, I forced mana through my circuits and finished the dark spell. Barely a meter separated us. I pointed at its eyes and spoke the word.
"Blind!"
At that exact moment Grease ended. The dog snapped upright and lifted its head—only the head was pointed the wrong way. Not at me, not at Soyeon. Blind had taken hold cleanly.
Yes!
It swung its head up, down, left, right. Nothing to see. The spell saw to that. I waved at Soyeon. She read my clumsy signals, lifted more stones with telekinesis, and hurled them from a third direction—neither where I stood nor where she did.
Thud.
Blind, the dog never dodged. Its stance didn't even waver, though. It simply charged the way the rock had come—deeper into the tunnel.
"Sen—"
I clapped a finger over my lips; Soyeon went silent at once. The only sound left was the metallic dog's thudding echo as it raced around the shaft. After a while the noise faded. I moved carefully, making no sound; Soyeon watched me and matched my pace. Quick-witted, quick on her feet. With abilities like hers she was going to make a fine Keeper.
We walked until the humming vanished completely. The dog had stopped. We'd half shaken it, but we still kept quiet. Safety first. If it turned around now, Soyeon and I had nothing left. Two spells and my mana—my stamina—already felt scraped raw.
Time stretched. Far ahead, another light appeared. We glanced at each other, then without a word both broke into a run toward it. At the fork where the light spilled out stood the B-class Keeper who had come as escort.
"It's a monster!"
Soyeon and I shouted almost together. Relief flooded our voices—we're alive.
Only two B-class Keepers went back into the tunnel. Roughly two hours later they emerged carrying the metal dog's corpse. Both looked thoroughly spent.
"Are you all right?"
Kim Sangki asked. The male Keeper nodded.
"Yes. Neither of us is hurt. Just tired."
"Was it that hard?"
Kim Sangki pointed at the carcass. Dark-gray metal hide. Its neck had been severed; the inside was metal too. At that point you had to call it a dog-shaped golem. A species I'd never seen. Apparently the B-class Keepers hadn't either.
"Not easy. Attacks were simple, so dodging wasn't the problem—but the skin was metal, so nothing landed clean. If we hadn't gotten lucky and stabbed the eyes at the end, we never would have taken it down."
"What rank would you put it at?"
"Enhancement-types would need at least two B-class Keepers. Even with special skills you'd still want a B-class along. So… B-class, I'd say."
Enhancement-type Keepers—those who boost their own physical abilities—are the most common kind. The two who had come on this job were both enhancement-types.
"B-class? Then how did the two of you get out alive?"
"We were wondering the same thing the whole way back."
Kim Sangki, the two Keepers, then everyone else—eyes swung to us one after another. Last of all, Soyeon looked at me. Her look said you talk.
Do I tell the truth? Honestly, I didn't want to. Reveal "magic" and attention would pour in from every direction. Even if I conceded that much might be manageable, Keira was waiting at home—an otherworlder, an issue several times bigger than any magic ability. I had to deflect. We hadn't coordinated a story, but from Soyeon's glances and her sharp instincts so far, I figured she'd play along. If not… well, I'd just throw it out there first.
"We killed the headlights, held our breath, and shook it off with Miss Soyeon's telekinesis."
"Telekinesis? How?"
"Throw rocks the other way with telekinesis and the dog thinks something's over there, so it charges that direction."
Improvised on the spot, but it sounded plausible even to me. Done that way, we really might have escaped.
"Resourceful under pressure. Impressive, Miss Soyeon."
Kim Sangki praised her; the others stared in surprise. Soyeon waved a shy hand.
"I didn't do much… Jungmin telling us to kill the lights was more important. The second we found something in the wall he said it."
"Oh-ho, true enough. Very cool-headed response, Jungmin."
When Kim Sangki praised me I found myself waving too. All that attention still felt awkward.
"Anyone would have done the same. You've all read plenty of Keeper novels, right?"
Everyone laughed. Scenes of outwitting a crisis with cleverness show up constantly in Keeper novels—and those novels are modern life's favorite time-killer, Keepers and civilians alike. Reality, of course, was different.
One of the B-class Keepers who hadn't joined the laughter muttered almost to himself.
"So not infrared vision? Creatures that live in the dark usually have infrared…"
Sharp question. One I couldn't answer. I'd blinded the dog with magic and run; infrared or ordinary light, it made no difference.
"I don't really know. How was it when you fought?"
"We don't either… well, that'll come out eventually."
When you don't know, reverse the question—best move. The male Keeper seemed to decide it wasn't his problem and changed the subject.
"Mr. Kim Sangki, we roughly sealed the hole the dog came from. Next time you go in, you'll want a proper survey team."
"Well handled. Thank you. Today was the last day of the schedule anyway, so wrapping it here seems best."
"Before we leave, maybe block the mine entrance too. Just in case of accidents."
"Good idea. You two rest; these people will seal it."
Kim Sangki indicated the eight miners, Soyeon and me included. Eight of us could close the entrance in under thirty minutes.
"And I'll add a small bonus for everyone on this job. The two who took down the new monster, of course included."
Clap clap clap.
Applause broke out among the miners on its own. A smile rose on my face too. Think about it a second, though, and a bonus like that was nothing to Kim Sangki. A brand-new monster was big money by itself. Primary value came from whether it dropped Magic Stones and how often; secondary value from its byproducts. This one's hide was metal. Metal. Gates yield all sorts of materials, but nothing matches metal for price and impact. Common wisdom says otherworld metals have made modern life at least twice as convenient. A living lump of the stuff turning up inside a Gate… Whether the metal proved useful would need study, but if it did, jackpot was certain. No wonder Kim Sangki looked happier about handing out bonuses than the miners or Keepers did.
That's why I need my own Gate…
Ah. I don't have one.
Still fine. I have Keira instead. Thinking of the beautiful woman waiting at home, I felt full even without the bonus.
Whoosh.
Blue light wrapped us the same way it had on the way in, and we stepped out of the Gate. The Association's small auditorium—the place we'd first entered—greeted us. Our early return, the new monster, the new metal: the Association grew busy at once. As first discoverers, Soyeon and I even sat through a short debrief. When the whole process finally ended, we were free.
"Senior, can we talk a bit?"
Soyeon asked the moment we left the Association doors. The conversation I'd been waiting for. We needed to talk.
"Sure. Where to?"
"Didn't you say your place is close? It's important, so maybe after we—"
During mining chatter we'd mentioned roughly where we lived. I hadn't expected it to come back like this.
"No. My place is out."
"Why? Got a girl… friend or something?"
Why did "girl" come first? The flow of conversation made it natural, sure—but having a "girl" at home in a completely different sense left me flustered.
"Huh? No, not that. Anyway, my place is no good. It's a mess. Filthy, seriously."
"Okay. Then my house. A little farther, though."
"Your house? Why there?"
"Otherwise a cafe nearby? Security…"
Security… risk of eavesdroppers, sure, but did we need to go that far? A stranger overhearing would just think we were talking about a novel.
"Wouldn't a cafe be fine? Just—"
"No. Security matters, so my place. I'll grab a taxi!"
She cut me off and strode out to the main road.
…Huh?
…Something feels off.