The Millennium Ancient City
Every morning when I woke up, the first thing I did was search for news about the Millennium Ancient City Gate. I scrolled through my phone while still lying in bed, but...
"There's nothing about the Gate, only news about the baseball stadium."
Perhaps because the investigation of the Gate hadn't officially begun yet, there wasn't much news on that front. Instead, the internet was abuzz with complaints about the baseball games being canceled. Of all places, it had to be Jamsil Baseball Stadium... Since two teams currently shared the stadium, neither could play their games, which apparently threw the entire league schedule into chaos.
"Tsk..."
Well, it had only been a single day. There was no way they would have cleared it or found anything substantial yet. I searched for information a while longer but came up empty-handed. Eventually, I got out of bed when my sister called me for breakfast.
Breakfast was a delicious soybean paste stew, doenjang-jjigae, that my sister had prepared.
"Seriously, Sis, I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing you like this," she said.
"Seeing what?"
"You look like a pretty foreign girl, yet you're devouring doenjang-jjigae like it's the best thing on Earth."
I suppose it did look a bit bizarre. Most foreigners didn't care for the stew, likely because of the strong smell.
"Well, that's because I am Korean, you know?"
"I know, I know. It's just funny to look at."
After finishing breakfast, we got into the car to head to the guild. On the way, I asked my sister about the Gate that had appeared yesterday.
"Well..." she mused, "usually, they send in a scouting party first before making any decisions. Are you worried it might be connected to you, Sis?"
"It's not that. I'm just worried something bad is going to happen."
Compared to dark elves, True Blood vampires were on a completely different level of strength. Even their subspecies—though weaker than dark elves—were incredibly tricky to deal with.
"Well, if you're that worried, why don't we go?"
"Huh? Us?"
"Yeah. We can just form a raid party within the guild and volunteer."
Is that so...?
"Though, I doubt it'll pay well..."
I wonder if anyone would even want to join...
When we arrived at the guild and looked into it, nobody showed any interest. Government-sponsored support missions were notoriously low-paying, and since the situation wasn't deemed an emergency yet, no one wanted to bother.
"Um... should I try to round up some people anyway?" Seo-hee asked, looking a bit apologetic.
"No, it's fine. Let's just wait and see."
Surely nothing will go wrong, right? They'll obviously take every precaution during the investigation. Yeah, there's no way...
I should never have indulged in such naive complacency.
Even though it nagged at the back of my mind, I had decided to just watch from the sidelines since it was a place I had already cleared once back in the Other World. But in the end, disaster struck.
On the fifth day after the Gate's appearance, the government mobilized the guilds to form an investigation team and sent them in. However...
"So you're saying all twenty hunters on the investigation team...?"
"It appears they have all been wiped out."
The news delivered by Jegal Cheon was shocking.
A mid-to-small guild that had volunteered on the very first day had sent in an investigation team, only to be completely annihilated. They hadn't even managed to retreat; it was a total wipeout. Even among the government personnel who accompanied them, only a single researcher had barely managed to escape alive...
"Sigh..."
I couldn't believe a disaster had actually happened.
"Did they let their guard down?"
"We cannot be certain. They seemed to have assembled a decent force, but..."
It was clear they had grossly underestimated the Gate's difficulty.
Listening to Jegal Cheon's explanation, a wave of guilt washed over me.
Haha...
If only I had warned them beforehand... Or if I had just gone in with them... But regret was useless now. The damage was already done.
"Is the Murim Alliance stepping in?"
"It is highly likely to turn out that way."
Now that a major incident had occurred, talks were already underway suggesting that both S-class hunters—myself and the Sword Saint—should be deployed.
"Alright, I understand."
I waited, deeply regretting my decision to stay out of it until now.
"Sis, did you hear?"
"Huh? Hear what?"
"They decided to send another guild to this Gate, not us."
"What?"
Did that mean... we wouldn't be going to the Millennium Ancient City?
"Is that true?"
"Yeah. Apparently, the Daehyeon Guild is taking charge this time."
Daehyeon, the second-ranked guild in the country, was stepping up.
"Why?"
Didn't large guilds usually avoid these kinds of unprofitable government missions?
"Because it's a golden opportunity to gain prestige."
Prestige...?
"The news of the initial failure has already spread everywhere. Everyone knows it was a disastrous defeat with only a single survivor."
If a guild stepped up to resolve such a perilous Gate, what would happen? It would be the ultimate proof of their strength, bringing them immense prestige.
"Sigh..."
So that was their angle...
"What if... just what if, Daehyeon fails too? What do you think will happen then?"
My sister tilted her head, looking at me as if I were talking nonsense.
"There's no way Daehyeon will fail."
She pointed out that Daehyeon had an S-class hunter of their own, and if an S-class was deployed, failure was practically out of the question.
"I-is that so?"
Well, if all S-class hunters possessed strength comparable to the Sword Saint... as long as there wasn't a terrible matchup issue, clearing the Millennium Ancient City should be entirely possible.
"Well, if—and this is a big if—they fail without deploying their S-class... it'll be absolute chaos."
If it were a simple failure, that would be one thing, but if the raid party suffered devastating casualties...
"Then the Gate's rating will probably be bumped up to A-class, or even S-class, and they'll summon every single S-class hunter in the country."
My sister shrugged, suggesting they would assemble the ultimate raid team.
"Right..."
"Why? Are you worried?"
"I'm just thinking they might struggle because they don't know the enemies' traits."
Seo-hee suggested that if I was that worried, I should just tell them.
"How could I explain the monsters of a Gate I've never even stepped foot in? Who would even believe me?"
"Ah, that's true."
After pondering for a moment, a good idea struck me.
"What if we offer to go in with them?"
Wouldn't that be much safer?
"I don't know if there's even time to discuss it..."
*Is that so?*
Seo-hee mentioned that they had likely already assembled their raid party and set off.
"The higher-ups might have rushed them, saying they need to clear it quickly to ease public anxiety."
Sigh...
"Yeah..."
At this point, all I could do was hope the Daehyeon Guild would successfully clear the Millennium Ancient City.
I chatted with my sister for a while longer, but we reached no real conclusions. Just as I was about to head home for the day, Guild Master Namgung Min and Vice Guild Master Jegal Cheon walked into the room.
"What brings you two here together?"
"It is an emergency."
"Those fools of the Daehyeon Guild have failed to conquer the Gate."
Huh...? Wait, what?
"Oppa? What do you mean by that?"
"The vanguard dispatched by Daehyeon was a small force, consisting of three A-class and seven B-class hunters. It appears they sent a small group for scouting purposes, but due to their haste, they met with defeat."
Three A-class hunters was by no means a weak force. They could easily clear a B-class Gate, and even an A-class Gate was manageable if they proceeded with caution. However... the Millennium Ancient City was far too difficult to be classified as a mere A-class Gate.
"I heard Daehyeon has an S-class hunter. What was that person doing?"
"I know not."
It seemed even Namgung Min was in the dark.
Jegal Cheon explained that due to Daehyeon's failure, the government had provisionally reclassified the Gate as S-class. They were planning to officially announce a mobilization order for all S-class hunters to form a joint raid team.
"So you came to tell us before the official announcement."
"Indeed. Thus, Nix, you shall accompany me to that place."
"Perfect. I was starting to get bored anyway."
Seeing this, my sister insisted that I shouldn't just go empty-handed and urged me to pack my gear just in case. Watching her fuss over me, I smiled.
"If you're that worried, why don't you come along?"
"What?!"
"Why not? I'm a healer, aren't I? I need a reliable shield to protect me."
"Well, that's..."
Seo-hee stole a glance at the Guild Master.
"I mind it not," Namgung Min said.
"Then I'll go with you."
Jegal Cheon gave us a brief overview of the situation, but I only half-listened. After all, the Guild Master was with us, and my sister would be right by my side; she could explain the details to me later. Once we finished our preparations, the three of us—Seo-hee, Namgung Min, and I—headed to Jamsil.
The atmosphere around Jamsil Stadium was heavy, perfectly fitting the gravity of the situation. A long line of large, bus-like vehicles was parked nearby. Some were labeled 'Special Forces,' others were standard police buses, and a wide variety of other official vehicles filled the streets. Police officers armed with riot shields were actively controlling the perimeter.
"Wow, things really are serious."
On the opposite side of the police line, a chaotic crowd had gathered. There was a swarm of reporters clutching cameras, and next to them, a group of people shouting while waving flags and crosses. Behind them, I could see people weeping blankly, completely lost in grief...
"What a mess."
"Those people crying in the back... they're probably the families of the hunters from that small guild."
Having lost their loved ones to a failed raid, they must be feeling an overwhelming sense of injustice and sorrow.
"I see..."
After verifying our identities, we were permitted to pass through the barricade.
We got out of the car and entered the stadium, where the atmosphere was palpably grim.
"It seems we are the first to arrive," Namgung Min noted.
There was only one other S-class hunter present—apparently the Vice Guild Master of the Daehyeon Guild. He exuded a powerful aura befitting an S-class, though he looked incredibly displeased due to the failed raid.
"Thank you for coming, Sword Saint."
"Mmm."
An emergency response committee was convened, and the discussion quickly turned toward assembling an S-class raid team to close the Gate.
"First, I would have you explain the situation," Namgung Min requested.
"Ah, I will do that."
A low-ranking official stepped forward and began the briefing.
The raid party sent by Daehyeon had marched in with high spirits, but they were ambushed the moment they entered. For reasons unknown, the enemy had been lying in wait right at the entrance of the Gate... Of course, the raid party hadn't just taken the beating lying down; they had fought back and adapted. However...
"We received reports that members of the previous raid party were among the enemy forces."
When asked what that meant...
"The people who went in first?"
"Yes, that is correct."
For some reason, their eyes had turned blood-red as they turned to attack the Daehyeon raid party.
Vampires didn't need to be True Bloods to turn others into their own kind. The subspecies had turned the defeated members of the first raid party into their thralls...
"We believe..."
I cut off the official before he could finish.
"So, the monsters inside the Gate used some method to brainwash the raid party."
"Y-yes, that is correct..."
He looked at me as if wondering how I could possibly know that, but honestly, anyone could have figured it out just from the description. Of course, in my case, I knew the exact abilities of vampires, which made it easy to pinpoint.
"Which means..."
"Realizing they couldn't win under those conditions, the Daehyeon raid party decided to retreat."
They claimed they retreated because they believed delivering the crucial information about the enemy's brainwashing ability was more important. The problem was...
"The raid party retreated to prioritize the information, but... well, they were in rather poor shape when they emerged from the Gate, and they were spotted."
To be precise, a reporter who had snuck into the stadium looking for a scoop captured the scene and published a massive front-page story.
But the article had already been published. A headline screaming that Daehyeon had failed their raid...
What would the higher-ups think when they saw that?
"The truth of the matter no longer carries any weight," Namgung Min pointed out. He was exactly right.
To the politicians and higher-ups, whether information-gathering was important or not was completely irrelevant now. Once the article was out, any explanation of the facts would just sound like a pathetic excuse to the public.
"So they summoned the S-class hunters because they absolutely must clear it now," I said.
"Yes, that is correct."
Naturally, the ones most furious about this were the members of the Daehyeon Guild. Their raid party had assessed the situation perfectly, identified the enemy's abilities, and made a tactical retreat to prepare a countermeasure—only to have their reputation dragged through the mud. Now, simply to reassure the public of their safety, the government was determined to clear the Gate at all costs, completely ignoring any potential resources they could harvest from the Millennium Ancient City.
Was that why the reporters outside were in such a frenzy, and why people were protesting? *'The greed of guilds threatens public safety'*—was that the narrative? Man, this country is a circus. At any rate, we decided to wait until the remaining five S-class hunters arrived.