Wild Sanctuary 02: The Gate Awakens
While two members of the Special Mobile Team kept their eyes fixed on the red pillar.
“Ah, yeah, I can hear you. So, uh… I know who it is already. That….”
“Team Leader Jeong Eunhye.”
“Right. Anyway, thanks as always.”
“Whew. Thanks for your hard work.”
Kang Cheolhan was publicly recognized as the top ace of the Special Mobile Team. He was also a solid leader. Naturally, he understood and empathized not just with the hunters out in the field, but also with the efforts of the Hunter Support Agency providing backup from behind the scenes.
“Hm? Different how?”
“Haha. I'm honored you felt good about it. But did I ever say something like that?”
The person Jeong Eunhye was thinking of wasn't Kang Cheolhan. It was the girl she'd met almost two months ago at My Little Hunter. She hadn't shown up in ages, which worried her, but knowing she was making waves out there filled her with quiet joy.
Of course, Jeong Eunhye had contacted Kang Cheolhan for a specific reason. Their roles were predefined, so there'd be no need to report otherwise.
“Is that okay?”
The female hunter watching nearby chimed in. Naturally, she hadn't pressed the radio transmit button, so Team Leader Jeong Eunhye couldn't hear.
“What is?”
“…That's the Crazy Chihuahua.”
Crazy Chihuahua. That was Jeong Eunhye's nickname within the Hunter Support Agency. As the team leader handling the VIP counter in Integrated Support, it wasn't a position anyone with a normal temperament could endure. Yeonwoo had just been a special case.
“That's why we get so much help from her. Plus, this girl's got killer instincts. Especially when it comes to judging people—she's got eyes like a sage or something.”
“Says the guy who can't even remember her name.”
The Special Mobile Team used the Hunter Center as their base. Jeong Eunhye handled all the perks and info there, so they had a mutually beneficial relationship.
“Yeah, I get it.”
“You feel it sometimes too, right? That sharp intuition.”
“Nah. Just realizing again how much you love wuxia novels, Captain.”
“Is that so.”
Kang Cheolhan muttered awkwardly. Then he pressed the radio transmit button again.
“Yes, go ahead, Team Leader.”
“Ho.”
Kang Cheolhan turned his gaze to the gate's red pillar. No matter how safe an event was supposed to be, you couldn't fully trust the capricious nature of a gate. Especially as a national agency, they were extra strict. That's why they evacuated all residents near the gate once the event started.
This gate was at the foot of Bukhansan Mountain, but it was still part of the urban area with schools and apartment complexes nearby. They'd already evacuated everyone within a roughly 700-meter radius, including two elementary schools and one middle school.
“You mean even further from here?”
“Aigoo.”
Kang Cheolhan let out a weak groan. It couldn't be helped. Most of the current evacuation radius was Bukhansan itself, so the numbers weren't too bad. But expanding further would push into the urban side, ballooning the evacuees exponentially.
It wasn't easy, and even wielding his authority, it was a burden for Kang Cheolhan.
“Wait, who was it that just called her a sage again?”
“…Fine.”
Prodded by the female hunter beside him, Kang Cheolhan reluctantly nodded.
“Got it. You're with the Center Director anyway, right? I'll authorize it.”
“We weren't planning to, but their enthusiasm is off the charts, so everyone's going in. Feels like they're hunting for someone specific.”
“Yeah, pretty much. Whatever went down in that Ant Nest Gate, their drive and skills are insane. It'd be great if all newbies were like this.”
Jeong Eunhye had been the one dealing with those new recruits.
“Of course. You seemed to know who the Saintess was too. Was that why you mentioned it?”
“Heh. If she shows up herself, I bet she'll listen to you over me, the captain. Still, thanks to you, we've scouted some great talent.”
The most standout newbies right now were dubbed the Ant Nest Kids. During the month Yeonwoo had been out, quite a few had applied to the Hunter Management Agency's Special Mobile Team.
It wasn't an easy choice. They lacked the power of companies and the glory that came with it. Bluntly put, it was cleanup duty. But it was work for ordinary people who weren't hunters, so someone had to do it.
Yet applicants were plentiful. All thanks to the Ant Nest's Saintess, the Gate Liberator. They'd learned a sense of duty and altruism inside, survived by fighting with their own hands, and used that experience as fuel for growth.
“I'd love to meet her someday.”
“I didn't even bring it up! Come on, I'm Kang Cheolhan of the Special Mobile Team. I'd be useful somehow.”
“I'm just really grateful. Seriously.”
It wasn't a lie. If she joined the Special Mobile Team, he'd be over the moon, but he wasn't even hoping for that. He just wanted to express his thanks in every sense.
For most people, the Ant Nest incident was just gossip about its liberation. But if the gate had gone berserk, it would've been a catastrophe.
“Being a Gate Liberator isn't as easy as it looks.”
Kang Cheolhan was one too. It came with honor and power, but also immense pressure. Against pressure from mega-corporations, individual strength alone couldn't hold out. You'd end up forced to choose amid floods of money and threats.
That's why he wanted to ease some of that pressure on the noble Saintess. Active support would suffice. He had the power, honor, and position for it.
“Eden will handle it anyway.”
There was no confirmation yet that the Ant Nest Saintess was the liberator. Eden's priest Mikael was another candidate. As were Jeong Eunhye. And Kang Cheolhan himself.
Before long, event talk took a backseat to nonstop chatter about the Saintess. It stemmed from genuine fondness and heartfelt gratitude.
“Um, talking about her is fine, but isn't this dragging on too long?”
The female hunter finally stepped in to mediate.
“Understood.”
“Me.”
“Want a relay?”
The female hunter, Lee Seongsim, asked Jeong Eunhye in return.
“Demanding meat sides instead of fish for the next week.”
Jeong Eunhye replied reluctantly. Nutritional balance was serious business.
That was when it happened. The red light pillar rising from the gate began to fade.
“Finally starting.”
It was proof that entry time had ended and the event had begun. But something felt off.
Kang Cheolhan narrowed his eyes at the translucent structure now at the gate entrance. Lee Seongsim reacted the same.
“Is that… a house?”
“Shape-wise, yeah.”
A simple boxy cube with a triangular roof. A transparent toy-like house covered the gate entrance.
* * *
Right after the light pillar appeared at the gate.
Yeonwoo and Shin Gaon arrived safely at the entrance to Battle on the Eve of the Wild Sanctuary Gate. Having anticipated the event, the parking lot was wide open.
“Alright, let's go.”
Shin Gaon swung her arms like she was warming up. She naturally tried to drape one over Yeonwoo's shoulder, but—
“Yeah. No slacking—let's move.”
Swoosh.
Yeonwoo deftly and smoothly dodged Shin Gaon's arm.
“Hmng.”
Shin Gaon hummed through her nose and closed in again, but she only grasped air once more.
“Fine, let's see how long you can keep it up.”
Shin Gaon grinned, rolled up her sleeves, and charged desperately at Yeonwoo's shoulder.
The ridiculous chase continued all the way to the light pillar.
“Cut it out, you crazy…!”
Whoosh.
The pillar turned red, swallowing Yeonwoo and Shin Gaon.
“…bitch?”
Her unrestrained shout echoed into the gate. But it reached no one, fading into emptiness.
“What the—.”
It was an empty space. No one but Yeonwoo.
“This the event?”
Yeonwoo scanned her surroundings immediately. Coarse grass on the ground, broken pillars, foundation stones. It matched the ruins landscape of Battle on the Eve.
But the difference was—
“It's daytime.”
The sun hung where the moon should be.
Another oddity: a system window floating in the sky.
Four panels total: Gold | Silver | Bronze | Yeonwoo
The system window had four panels. From left to right: gold, silver, bronze. Yeonwoo's name was in the empty white one.
It didn't feel ominous like the Ant Nest anomaly.
“Ranking, huh.”
The gold/silver/bronze zones were fairly wide, seemingly dividing hunters into three tiers by some metric. And that metric was obvious.
-Grrr.
A low-tier wolf from Battle on the Eve appeared.
Yeonwoo instantly drew her weapon. No eyes on her, so she pulled out the two-handed axe Must Cleave and spun it in place.
-Grk?
The wolf tilted its head at the bizarre display. In that instant—
“Hyah!”
Yeonwoo released the axe. It flew in a sharp arc.
Kwachak!
The blade shredded the wolf.
“This it?”
Yeonwoo looked up and reached out.
Drag.
The axe scraped back to her hand. Then—
Tick.
A light keypress sound, and Yeonwoo's name shifted to the gold zone.
“Knew it.”
But only briefly.
Tick.
Another sound, and it moved to bronze.
“Everyone's starting to rack up kills, huh.”
Events were competitions among participating hunters. A contest under identical conditions and rules.
-Grrr.
-Woof, woof!
More wolves appeared. Two this time.
“Simple.”
Yeonwoo flicked her wrist. The weapon morphed into daggers.
* * *
Some time passed. No more keypress sounds.
They only played when shifting between gold/silver/bronze. Fixed in gold, Yeonwoo heard nothing more.
Puk!
Yeonwoo's dagger pierced under a wolf's jaw, bursting out the top of its head.
“Hoo.”
The wolves' numbers had crept up one by one, now six at once. As she felled the last—
“Oh.”
She felt inner power surging full. Her first stage-up since reaching Tier II.
For hunters, the first growth in each tier was special. It almost always granted a trait.
Yeonwoo's Tier I first-stage trait had been Weapon Block, tied to her weapon-focused Stigma.
Yeonwoo hurriedly tapped her earring.
“What… no way…!”
The moment she confirmed the new trait, her gaze involuntarily dropped downward.