The Hero Party Drops Into the Gate Apocalypse World of Atraxia
In the end... is this how it all ends?
S-Class Hunter Cheong Ho.
He was only twelve years old when the Gates first appeared and the world turned into a complete ruin.
The monsters poured out of the dimensional portals and dozens of billions of people perished. The very concept of nations was obliterated overnight.
Cheong Ho had fought with every ounce of strength he possessed just to survive.
He dodged the monsters, drank dirty water to stay alive, and at fifteen awakened his powers to clash with the beasts head-on.
He lived like that for fifty long years.
For Cheong Ho himself, those fifty years were nothing but endless battles against monsters.
But the world around him had grown, slowly but surely.
The survivors and the refugees who had fled across the Gates had joined forces to build cities from scratch.
Those who gained powers became known as Hunters, and they stood guard against the monsters that kept spilling out.
The old science of Terra and the new technologies from beyond the Gates had merged into a leap forward that matched the world before the apocalypse.
“Should we run?”
And now, right as humanity had begun to heal, the end stared them in the face.
An SS-Rank Gate. The Black Dragon that heralded doom.
The first SS-Rank Gate humanity had ever experienced.
In the face of unprecedented crisis, the world had thrown everything it had at the threat.
Seven S-Class Hunters and fifty A-Class Hunters.
Three Black-rank villains had even joined the fight in humanity’s hour of need.
This was the full force of the human race in this world.
And it had been shattered in a single breath.
“Pull yourself together! Don’t say weak things, uncle!”
Cheong Ho turned toward the voice that had shouted at him.
He had assumed everyone except himself had been wiped out by that dragon’s breath.
Yet four survivors remained.
Three S-Class Hunters and one Black-rank villain.
“If we run, we’re all going to die anyway. We have to fight!”
“Is this even a fair fight?”
“Hah! Maybe they didn’t mean for us to win? The ones who tossed this at us might just be expecting one good hit and then we’ll turn tail like a scared lizard. Right?”
“You’re surprisingly positive.”
“Don’t take it personally, uncle. I’m not your type.”
S-Class Hunter Han Yuna.
She comforted the heartbroken survivors and reignited their fighting spirit.
“He only hit us once, so we should give him one good one in return. Just once. Full power.”
Five S-Class Hunters raised every ounce of their strength at her words.
Cheong Ho’s ability was Mass Attribution.
He poured his power into his favorite hammer.
Five tons. Fifteen tons. Sixty tons.
The heavier it grew with every addition of strength, the heavier the hammer felt.
Cheong Ho leaped into the air and poured every last bit of power he had into the weapon.
The total mass was thirty thousand tons.
“Go!”
The other S-Class Hunters hurled their full-power attacks as well.
—KWA-AANG!
A nuclear-blast shockwave erupted from the impact.
No living creature could withstand that kind of force!
Even if they survived, they would have been mortally wounded!
That was what the S-Class Hunters had been hoping for when they unleashed their strikes.
—Goooooooh.
As the dust settled, the Black Dragon that emerged fell far short of their expectations.
Its scales were torn, blue blood gushing from deep wounds, yet it was not yet incapacitated.
The Black Dragon bared its fangs and roared.
Dragon Breath.
The devastating destructive power and slaughtering range were already burned into their memories.
“Is this it? We die here?”
The moment everyone here sensed their final hour, the situation shifted ever so slightly.
—Goooooooh.
The Black Dragon turned its head.
There stood six people they had not noticed until now.
‘Reinforcements?’
The conclusion came a heartbeat later.
The power radiating from them did not even reach E-Class Hunter level.
They were ordinary civilians, not suited for battle.
—KWA-A-A-AANG!
An incomprehensible thing had just happened.
The Black Dragon ignored the S-Class Hunters in front of it and blasted the civilians instead.
‘What a pity for those two... but it bought us time to catch our breath.’
Cheong Ho accepted the opening and began reorganizing his exhausted strength for the next clash.
But...
An even more incomprehensible event unfolded.
—Chwaak.
A man drew his sword and swung it down in one simple motion.
A mere downward cut.
The very act split the dragon in half.
The Black Dragon hung there in two pieces, utterly silent.
In this world, silence after such an event usually meant “dead.”
“...Did we really just see that? Uncle, how does the situation look to you right now?”
“The Black Dragon... is dead.”
“Right? I must have been mistaken, right? Yay!”
“Is it really okay to be so happy about this? We couldn’t even bring down a Black Dragon with everything we had, and now these people killed it in one blow. If they have bad intentions...”
“Uncle, you’re an idiot! Otherwise we’d all be dead, right? You saved our lives! We have to trust that they’re not bad people. Let’s go!”
Among the survivors, only Cheong Ho and Han Yuna still had the strength to move.
Cheong Ho approached them cautiously, tension coiled in every muscle.
***
“Hmm... Not good at all.”
“What? What’s not good?”
“I used up more than ninety percent of my strength with that one strike. If we keep fighting, we’re in serious trouble.”
The Hero looked at the two people approaching him and spoke calmly.
No hostility could be felt in their steps, but caution was still required.
“Thank you! We owe you our lives!”
Contrary to his worries, the woman who stepped closer bowed ninety degrees and shouted loudly.
“I’m S-Class Hunter Han Yuna! This is Uncle Cheong Ho. We’re both S-Class Hunters, just like you!”
Han Yuna introduced herself with sparkling energy.
She was a beautiful woman radiating pure optimism.
“Park Yeon. These are my companions. Should I introduce everyone right here?”
“Please do! Everyone is so beautiful and handsome!”
Lily. Sakaha. Yunia. Raha. Ribbon.
Even while briefly presenting himself, Han Yuna tossed in every bit of teasing she could muster.
“Sakaha-ssi is so pretty! Do you use cosmetics?”
“Cosmetics? What’s that?”
“Wow! Your skin is flawless even without any makeup? I’m so jealous!”
“Heh. Cosmetics, huh. I’ll learn more later.”
The others began to relax their guard as Han Yuna showered them with active reactions and praise.
Once the introductions were finished, Han Yuna turned serious.
“You’re not from Atraxia, are you?”
“Atraxia?”
“That’s the name of the city we live in. Your reaction confirms it. You’ve come from another world!”
“Eh, how did you know? Does this world have a lot of people coming through from other dimensions?”
“People called Gate Refugees come over often, but people as strong as you? This is the first time!”
“Um... you don’t seem to know much about this world. Where should I start explaining?”
Han Yuna hesitated for a moment and stole a glance at Cheong Ho.
Cheong Ho was a walking archive of history—someone who had been alive since before the Gate disaster.
If anyone could explain, it would be him.
“A detailed explanation would be better outside the Gate. It’s not safe to keep talking inside.”
Cheong Ho understood Yuna’s intention and naturally took the lead.
He checked the living members of the expedition team and carried the ones who had collapsed from exhaustion out of the Gate.
“Whoa... the buildings are huge!”
As they stepped out of the swirling Gate, the sight of a colossal city greeted them.
Towering skyscrapers. Perfectly paved roads.
The modern urban atmosphere filled the air, and the Hero felt a faint spark of hope.
“Before the Gate outbreak... what was the name of the country?”
“Country... when I was little I used to unfold a world map and look for the name of the land I lived in. It was Bakra Nation. Fifty years later, I still remember it clearly.”
“Hero, then this world is—”
“Not my original home dimension.”
“Hehe... cheer up together, Hero!”
After leaving the Gate, Han Yuna spoke into her communication device.
The moment she turned the device off, a chime echoed across the entire city and an announcement blared out.
【SS-Rank Gate resolved. SS-Rank Gate resolved. Emergency evacuation is now canceled.】
“Welcome to Atraxia! From today onward, you are heroes of our world!”
Han Yuna bowed once more.
“We’ve reported everything we witnessed to the Association. Once we finish a simple investigation, Park Yeon-ssi will receive S-Class Hunter status and be treated as a VIP.”
“Hmm... I won’t end up in some kind of human experiment, right?”
“Huh? How did you know?”
“...”
“Krrk. Just kidding. Atraxia was basically built by Gate Refugees and local residents joining forces. We won’t treat outsiders unfairly. I give you my word!”
Han Yuna laughed as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
“Park Yeon-ssi is strong anyway. Atraxia gives strong people rewards that match their power. Park Yeon-ssi might even become the first SS-Rank Hunter. Ah, here’s the car!”
A sleek black luxury sedan stopped right in front of the Hero’s party.
A man stepped out, deeply bowing in greeting.
“Vice Chairman of the Hunter Association, Kang Cheol-sik. I’ve heard a lot. Thank you for saving our world!”