Grandfather's First Gate
"So you've come to kill me now that I'm no longer useful?"
"Please. If that were the case, I wouldn't have left your forces alive."
"..."
At Do-ha's words, Alteir's brow twitched. That meant he still intended to use him.
"Stay quiet for a while. Halt all your members' activities too."
"You've got to be kidding me. You think I'll just obey that? Anyone listening would think I work for you."
"Let's keep this simple. No need to make it harder than it has to be."
"Planning to torture me? Go ahead."
A few hours. No—even days of torture wouldn't make him move as ordered. His body had been tempered by pain long before he ever Awakened.
"I've endured a full week of torture before. Give it your best shot."
"Hmm, is that so?"
Do-ha smiled at his words. Torture wasn't limited to the body alone. Forcing someone to see hallucinations, trapping them in nightmares—those were forms of torture too. But such methods wouldn't work on Alteir.
"You know a spell called Anist Answer?"
"The one that forces people to tell the truth?"
"That's the one. Do you know how it works?"
"What's this about all of a sudden?"
"Anist Answer touches the other person's mind—their will, specifically. And if you modify it a little, you can do all sorts of things."
With a faint, cold smile, Do-ha placed his hand on Alteir's head.
"For example, I could make you drop to both knees in front of the Pope and lick his feet."
"?!?!"
"It's less about controlling you and more about planting a will—making you want to do it. Sound fun?"
"Aaaaah! Wait!"
Alteir screamed in pure terror. He would rather die than do something like that to the Pope. That man was his sworn enemy—someone he had to kill. Licking his feet?
"Want me to show you I'm not bluffing?"
Whoosh— As Do-ha cast the spell, a blue light of energy flowed into Alteir.
"The rage you feel toward me—it's fading, isn't it?"
"Please..."
"If I push it further, I can turn you into the Pope's dog, just like I said."
"Aaaaaah!"
Do-ha withdrew his hand and sat back down in his chair.
"So it'd be in your best interest to do as I say."
"Hah... hah..."
Alteir gasped for breath. Thankfully, he hadn't become the Pope's dog.
"Now let's have a proper conversation. Understood?"
"..."
Unable to speak, Alteir carefully nodded. The moment Do-ha's power had seeped into him, his rage toward Baek Do-ha had genuinely vanished. Which meant he truly could touch a person's will.
Good. He bought it completely.
Watching Alteir, Do-ha smiled inwardly. In truth, Anist Answer couldn't fully control someone. More precisely, it could only plant a will—it couldn't brainwash them. In a state filled with rage toward the Pope like Alteir's current one, no amount of planted will would take hold.
"As I said earlier—keep all your forces quiet. Don't go hunting for the Cult for a while."
"...Why? Looking at how you're acting, you seem to be enemies with the Cult yourself."
"You don't need to know that much. Just stay quiet for a while. In return, I'll help you with your revenge. Mutual benefit."
The reason he was forcing New Age to halt operations was simple: he had no intention of dancing to the Cult's tune. The Cult in Belhart had exposed various locations, assuming he would act on them—but he planned to stay still instead.
They'll be puzzled. Going quiet all of a sudden.
Human nature—when noise suddenly turns to silence, curiosity makes people stick their necks out. And once New Age stopped operating, the Cult would seize the opportunity to expand their influence. Which would displease the Pope over in Belhart.
Curious about the silence, and then the pest they find annoying starts growing bigger—they'll definitely react.
Do-ha wore a cold smile. They dared try to use him? Those clueless insects who didn't know their place. Their own plans would end up tripping them up.
"One more question."
"You're full of questions, aren't you."
"You killed Belial, so you must have it."
"Have what?"
"The Dragon Heart."
Originally, his friend Durandor had possessed it—and when he died, Belial had taken it. So the Dragon Heart should be in Baek Do-ha's hands.
"Dragon Heart all of a sudden? There was nothing like that when I killed Belial."
"Don't lie to me."
"There was a Dragon Heart?? Damn it... if I'd known, I would've taken that first before killing him."
"...There really wasn't one?"
Watching Do-ha's performance, Alteir fell for it completely. If Canteas had been there, he would have applauded in admiration—the acting was that perfect.
"Belial must have already consumed it. There was nothing left when I killed him."
"Damn it..."
Completely deceived, Alteir let out a sigh. He had hoped he might recover the lost Dragon Heart. Of course, Do-ha had already thoroughly consumed it.
"I'm leaving."
"Wait...!"
"What now."
"How do I get in contact with you?"
"You're not under the delusion that we're friends, are you? What, planning to call me when you get lonely?"
"Th-that's not it. I need to know how long I have to stay inactive! I might run into the Pope or one of his close aides."
"Hmm, fair enough."
Do-ha nodded. He had a point.
"Contact Han Jeong-soo."
"Han Jeong-soo?"
"The manager of the Korean branch."
"...So he was the traitor."
"So what? What are you going to do about it? Kill him?"
"Ah... no."
Seeing the look in Do-ha's eyes, Alteir shook his head. There were already plenty of traitors inside New Age. One more hardly made a difference.
"I'm going."
Whoosh! With that, Do-ha vanished via teleportation.
Clink.
"...Y-you... told the boss... about me?"
Han Jeong-soo, mid-meal, dropped his spoon at Do-ha's words. What had he just heard? That Do-ha had told Alteir—the boss of New Age—about his identity...?
"Don't worry. He can't do a thing about it."
"..."
Watching Do-ha speak so casually, Han Jeong-soo wept inwardly. Of course it was nothing to him—he was absurdly strong... But Han Jeong-soo couldn't handle someone of Alteir's caliber. Did he think an SSS-rank Awakened was some neighborhood thug...?
"Come on, I said don't worry. Want me to go kill him right now if it makes you feel better?"
"No, sir. I'm fine."
Han Jeong-soo shook his head, on the verge of tears. Do-ha had spared Alteir to take down the Cult. He couldn't let him kill Alteir over something as small as this.
"So what brings you here?"
"Ah!"
Click. At Do-ha's question, Han Jeong-soo pulled a document from his bag. Do-ha had shown up at his house and immediately told him to eat if he hadn't already, so he'd completely forgotten why he came.
"It's a Gate entry record."
"Why this?"
"Baek Chul-nim entered a Gate today."
"He did?!"
Do-ha, still chewing, set down his spoon and read the document. As far as he knew, this was his grandfather's first time entering a Gate. Until now, it had only been sparring with Selenia or crossing over to Alfheim for training. But this—this was real combat.
"He told me he was going to meet some friends..."
Do-ha smiled. His first real battle—how excited and nervous he must be. If Do-ha had known, he would have cast a spell on him or at least given him a gift.
"His first real fight, and he didn't even tell me... I'm a little hurt."
"You say that, but you look happy."
"Of course I am. Grandfather is an SSS-rank Awakened now. It means he's gotten skilled enough with his power to jump into real combat."
"If you're worried, should I go check on him?"
"No."
Do-ha shook his head and set the document down. The fact that his grandfather had gone into a Gate without saying a word meant he wanted to experience the Hunter world for himself. Raw and unfiltered. If Do-ha or Han Jeong-soo had been with him, the people around them would have fussed over his grandfather excessively.
"Which guild did he go in with? Hod? Is that the guild's name?"
"Yes. Hod Guild—they have a solid track record. Apparently 'Hod' means 'glory' in Hebrew."
"Short on members? They posted a recruitment notice for a scouting team on outsourcing boards?"
Guilds short on personnel would post recruitment notices through outsourcing services when heading out on a hunt—combat teams, scouting teams, recovery teams, and so on. Combat teams fought monsters head-on. Scouting teams surveyed the situation before the combat team moved in and reported nearby hazards. Recovery teams collected monster remains and mana stones from the dead. Normally, recovery team postings were the most common—but this time, it was a scouting team notice.
"Not exactly. The people who usually handle scouting had to go to a different Gate, so they put up the notice."
"Hmm, I wonder if Grandfather will do well on a scouting team... A combat team would have been more comfortable for him."
Even a recovery team wouldn't have been bad for a first time. Collecting monster parts and mana stones while observing real combat was experience in itself.
"Which Gate did he enter?"
"An A-rank Gate at Gyeryongsan National Park in Daejeon. It's an orc Gate."
"Orcs... those things move in packs, so it can get dangerous if you're not careful... The combat team that went in with him should all be strong, right?"
"Do-ha-nim. If you're that worried, maybe you should go check—"
Faced with a side of Do-ha he'd never seen before, Han Jeong-soo let out a dry laugh. He was fretting over Baek Chul like a parent who'd left a child by the water's edge.
"Nah, I'm not worried. Grandfather is SSS-rank too."
"I've already stationed a few extra staff members outside the Gate. If anything happens, they can respond immediately."
"Ah... you did?"
"Yes. They're not going in with him—just standing guard outside—so Baek Chul-nim won't even know. So please stop worrying and put down that poor spoon."
Han Jeong-soo looked at the spoon in Do-ha's hand. It was bent like a piece of taffy from how much force he'd been applying. He claimed he wasn't worried, but the strength in his grip kept growing, didn't it?
"Ah... that was a good meal."
Do-ha set down the spoon and stood up. Was it because he'd heard good news? He already felt full.
"Did I overeat? My stomach feels a bit heavy all of a sudden. I should run to the pharmacy."
"Yes, go right ahead."
"Keep eating. I'll just swing by the pharmacy."
Do-ha grabbed his coat and hurried out, and Han Jeong-soo shook his head as he resumed his meal. They'd only been sitting at the table for a few minutes—what did he mean, he'd finished eating? Looking at Do-ha's bowl across the table, there were traces of maybe three spoonfuls. And more than anything, his words didn't add up. He said he'd eaten well, then suddenly claimed he was bloated...?
"Do-ha-nim really can't be honest, can he."
Han Jeong-soo chuckled and dug into the meal that had been set out.