The Heavy Burden of an S-Class Title
I wanted to raid Gates like a proper hunter of the Moorim Alliance... but the title of S-class was far too heavy. My very existence was treated as a national deterrent, meaning I couldn't move a finger without permission. More often than not, I found myself just killing time. This was a struggle shared by our guild master, the 'Sword Saint' Namgung Min, who was also an S-class.
"I understand your frustration," Namgung Min had said, his tone carrying its usual dignified weight. "But what if an S-class Gate manifests while we are away? We must remain vigilant."
He said that, but... considering the actual frequency of S-class Gates appearing worldwide, the probability was practically zero. Well, I decided to take it easy for a while. But I got bored almost immediately. I managed to endure it for about two weeks, loitering around the guild headquarters or playing by myself at home...
But my body had already been ruined by a taste of the good life; I could no longer be satisfied with such a mundane existence. I had tasted the joy of active duty with Ah-young and Gyuri, and the sheer happiness of going on outings with my little sister. That was why this confinement felt so suffocating.
"Sigh." Today, I was at the guild, watching Ah-young and Gyuri train. At least watching those two had a certain charm to it, which was a small mercy.
"Miss Nix, aren't you bored?" Gyuri asked, pausing her training to walk over to me.
"A little? Honestly, I don't get why this S-class title has to be so suffocating..."
"Haha..." Did I sound like a spoiled brat complaining about having too much?
"I want to go to Gates with you guys, but I can't even do that freely anymore. It's so frustrating."
Frankly, if I really wanted to go, I could. But unless I was taking these girls along... partying up with other hunters had become nearly impossible. Everyone walked on eggshells around me and avoided me like the plague. I had no idea why.
"Hmm, are you really that bored?" the instructor who had been training the recruits asked as he approached.
"There's nothing to do. I'm a hunter, but I can't even enter a Gate. Of course it's frustrating."
I used to think a lazy life wasn't so bad, so why had I changed so much? Then again, I never got a proper break in the Other World, so maybe my body had just adapted to constant movement. But then, I did spend a whole year slacking off after returning to Earth... I suppose the truth was simply that I had grown to enjoy being around people.
"Then why not find a new hobby?"
"A hobby?" Hmm... not a bad suggestion.
"Yes. The baseball season started recently. Watching baseball is a great way to kill time, isn't it?"
Baseball... I knew of the sport. It was already famous and wildly popular before I was summoned to the Other World. It was just that I never had a specific team to root for, nor had I ever set foot in a stadium.
When I was a kid, professional baseball was just launching in Korea... but my parents didn't care for it, so I naturally paid it no mind. I remembered a friend bragging about joining the official kids' fan club back then, and sometimes we'd listen to the games on the radio together. Looking back, those were ancient times.
"Baseball, huh..."
"Not interested?"
"Oh, it's not that. I just don't know much about it."
The man chuckled heartily. "These days, plenty of women love it too."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. To be honest, sports took a massive hit when the Gates first appeared."
The emergence of powerful beings called Awakened required major institutional overhauls, and there were constant safety concerns regarding the Gates. Yet, in the end, sports didn't vanish. They were bound to make a comeback—partly because the fans demanded it, but also...
"Because sports became a symbol of peace."
The fact that a stadium could open and host a game meant the Gate crisis was under control and peace had returned. That symbolic meaning had become incredibly important.
"We even held the Olympics as proof that the world has stabilized."
The Olympics... Korea had hosted them back in '88. I remembered having a blast watching various events back then. If the Olympics could be held, there was no reason other professional sports couldn't make a comeback. Apparently, baseball was the very first league to resume in Korea. It was already popular to begin with, and since it was an Olympic sport, they reassembled the national team, won a medal through some twist of fate, and its popularity skyrocketed. Anyway, why was he suddenly bringing up baseball?
"Ahem, here. Take these." The man suddenly pulled something out from his breast pocket.
"What are these?"
"Ahem, tickets to Jamsil Stadium." They were for this afternoon's game. Since they were already reserved, we could enter right away... If I were to ask why he was giving them to me...
"I originally bought them as a gift for those two, since they've been training so hard." The instructor looked over at Ah-young and Gyuri.
"Even though they're young women, they've been keeping up remarkably well."
He had trained plenty of men who struggled, complained, or just flat-out quit. Seeing these girls push through with such grit made him proud, and he wanted to reward them.
"Hmm..."
"I originally booked three seats intending to go with them, so it's the perfect number for the three of you. Why don't you all go together?"
"But didn't you say you wanted to go?"
"It's fine. I can just watch it on TV."
Do they broadcast games on TV these days? Back in my day, I felt like they only did that during major holidays... I decided to ask the girls first.
"Us?" Gyuri replied that she wasn't particularly interested, but...
"I want to go!" Ah-young showed immediate interest.
"Do you like baseball?"
"No, not really, but..."
She explained that back in school, during the Olympics, an older teacher had turned on the broadcast during class. It was some bizarre, old-school logic about how it was a national event and they had a duty to cheer for their country... and that was how she ended up watching baseball.
"We ended up winning a medal right then, so it was really exciting."
She didn't really know the rules, but she had enjoyed it simply because our country won.
"You two have been doing great for three weeks now. Especially you, Ah-young—you have a surprising talent for the sword."
"R-really?"
"Yes. It's almost time to wrap up your basic training and get some real-world experience."
He added that it was still a bit too early to fully graduate, then glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.
"Ahem. Make sure you keep up with your training."
"Yes, sir!"
As for Gyuri... since she was a mage anyway, he advised her to treat the physical training as a form of mental discipline.
In any case, thanks to the instructor, we had scored baseball tickets. We decided to go, heading toward Jamsil via the subway.
"U-um, Miss Nix, will you be okay?" Gyuri asked, looking worried. My face and body were far too eye-catching. I had pulled a cap low over my face and wore an oversized jumper, but still...
"Eh, what's the worst that could happen?" Surely no one would try anything weird at a crowded baseball stadium. Besides, our tickets were for the expensive table seats, so we'd have our own space.
In fact, the people around the stadium were so focused on the upcoming game that they didn't even register my presence.
"Wow, there are so many people." Since the stadium could hold nearly twenty thousand spectators, the surrounding area was packed. Street vendors lined the paths, selling cheering gear, food, and alcohol...
We bought some fried chicken, snacks, drinks, and water to enjoy during the game, then headed inside. A quick ticket check, and we were in.
"Whoa, it's much bigger than I thought."
"Indeed." We found our seats, which came with a handy table perfect for setting down our food and drinks.
"We got here early." Since there was still plenty of time before the game started, the players were out on the field doing drills. Warming up, probably?
But as I watched them... something caught my eye. I could see lingering injuries on some of the players' elbows and shoulders. Another player seemed to have a bad knee...
"Hmm..."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just... some of them look injured." Once I noticed it, I couldn't unsee it.
"They probably overexert themselves," Gyuri said nonchalantly, tapping away on her phone. She started rattling off information—which teams were playing, where they ranked last year... For someone who claimed not to care, she seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit.
Eventually, the game began, and the atmosphere was electric. People sang and shouted to cheer on the players... gasping at every pitch, roaring when the batter connected. It was surprisingly thrilling.
But... unfortunately, it seemed our fun was about to be cut short.
"What is that?" Right in the middle of the field—or rather, near the outfield—a strange mana reaction flared up. It was still incredibly faint, a subtle shift that ordinary people wouldn't notice.
Ah-young and Gyuri were completely absorbed in the game and hadn't noticed a thing.
Sigh, it's too dangerous to ignore, isn't it? When a Gate forms, its gravitational pull sucks in nearby living organisms. If a Gate's pull manifested here, in a packed stadium? There was no telling how many people would be dragged inside.
On top of that, we had no idea what kind of Gate would appear. If it was a high-rank, dangerous one...? I had to report this immediately, stop the game, and evacuate the spectators.
"Ah-young, Gyuri."
"Yes?"
"Do you see the mana in the center over there?"
"Mana?" Gyuri looked at me in confusion, then turned her gaze to where I was pointing. It was extremely faint... It would take some time for the Gate to fully manifest, but the process had definitely begun.
"Huh?" It seemed Ah-young had spotted it.
"Is that... a Gate?"
"Yeah, looks like it." When I answered calmly, both girls gasped in shock.
"But that's incredibly dangerous!"
"Exactly. That's why we need to step in right away."
"What are you going to do?"
"First, I'll inform the security guard over there." We would explain the situation and have them make an announcement to guide the spectators out in an orderly fashion. After that, we'd secure the perimeter and wait for the Gate to manifest.
"U-um, what about reporting it to the authorities...?" They had learned about it at the Academy, but they had never done it in practice.
"I'll leave that to you two." My role, as always, was to stand guard in front of the Gate. No matter what happened, I could handle it.
"Understood." Once the plan was set, Ah-young and Gyuri sprang into action. Gyuri went to alert the security guard, while Ah-young pulled out her phone to report the Gate. Meanwhile, I kept an eye on the field, figuring out the best way to get down there.
But seriously... Tsk, am I just incredibly unlucky? Why did Gates keep popping up around me? First the incident the other day, and now this? I heard Gates weren't supposed to appear this frequently. Could it be... that they were appearing because of me?
The possibility wasn't zero. I was a being who had crossed over from another world. And I hadn't returned in my original body, but in the highly magical body I used over there. There was no telling what kind of anomalous effect I was having on this world's laws. If that was the case...
"Then I'm basically a walking plague." I couldn't know for sure yet, but the thought lingered uncomfortably in my mind.
"Miss Nix, the security guard won't believe us!"
"Really?" I walked over to the guard with Gyuri.
"What do you mean a Gate is opening? If that were true, we'd all get emergency alert texts on our phones." Well, he wasn't entirely wrong. After the gravitational pull phenomenon was discovered, the government had established an automated system. Once early signs of a Gate were detected, it would blast alerts to the surrounding area, advising evacuation.
"Yes, I am well aware." I pulled my hunter license out of my wallet. It was time to use the authority of my S-class rank. "I am speaking to you now as an S-class hunter."
"Wh-what...?" The guard took the license, his eyes darting back and forth between the card and my face. I pulled off my cap to give him a clear view.
"A-Are you really...?"
"Yes. The official alarm will likely trigger soon. I simply happened to be here and detected it first."
"U-Understood!" The weight of an S-class hunter's word was immense. The guard immediately grabbed his radio, shouting "Code Mirror!" as he frantically relayed the details we had given him.
Even as he spoke, the currents of mana on the field grew stronger and more distinct.
"I can see it now too," Gyuri whispered.
"Can you?" I was glad to know my eyes hadn't played tricks on me.
"Did Ah-young report it?"
"Yes, but since the early signatures are still weak, they said they'll dispatch an investigation team first." Their response was a bit sluggish.
A moment later, the stadium's speakers crackled to life.
The announcement repeated over and over. Though a few sections showed signs of panic, the crowd evacuated relatively smoothly without any major incidents.
"Sigh... why does this always happen when I'm trying to relax?" It was time to get onto the field. I explained this to Ah-young and Gyuri, and the three of us headed down.
Ah-young and Gyuri headed down toward the player dugouts, while I... lightly leaped over the high safety netting. Once my feet touched the grass, I walked calmly toward the spot where the Gate was forming.
"Hmm..." I hadn't experienced the gravitational pull during the last Gate incident, so I wondered how it would feel this time. Judging by the fluctuations in mana, the Gate would manifest in thirty minutes at the earliest, and an hour at the latest.
"Sigh, what a way to spend my day off." Still, maybe it was a blessing in disguise. What if I hadn't come here today? What if we had noticed the Gate too late? Countless people might have been dragged into the gravitational pull.
Perhaps my presence here was a divine sign, a calling to save these people. Standing tall and resolute, I watched the space before me as the Gate began to tear open.