Chapter 483. Temporary Alliance |
Chapter 483. Temporary Alliance
Upon checking, it turned out that these messages had been sent by a national government agency.
‘Could this be a report about the hunt?’
Contacting me abruptly at 5 a.m. felt a bit questionable in terms of etiquette. But actually, the information from the Association was usually on topics I had requested first, so there was no real reason to complain.
–Hunter Kim Giryeo! We’re sending you the information about the rare case you mentioned earlier.
–An EX-class gate with unusual patterns was discovered near Oo Mountain in Gangwon Province. The professional EX-class response team that entered first reported that they were completely unable to tackle it.
A rare case, in these chaotic times, information is a weapon like no other. This is something I absolutely cannot afford to miss—I have to go investigate.
“Hmm.”
I checked the Association’s message and immediately started getting ready to head out. For reference, ever since the busy days of clearing gates across the country began, the agency had been providing a professional driver and a vehicle, so getting to a site was never a problem. The only obstacle was my own feelings.
Suddenly, a pang of regret hit me.
However, even if some of the genes on this planet were somewhat displeasing, the residents were ultimately my neighbors—people I would have to live alongside from now on. Moreover, there were far too many individuals I selfishly wanted to look out for.
The number one Hunter in Korea, the number two Hunter. And Jeong Haseong — since he could become depressed without family, even a middle-aged woman needed to be strategically ensured survival. For the same reason, many of Esther’s siblings had to be monitored just enough to make sure they didn’t die unnecessarily...
Including even the acquaintances of acquaintances, the circle of people I had to protect became virtually endless. How could I ever recklessly quit this job?
“Hmm.”
Analyzing the magical disasters that struck Earth wasn’t optional; it was a necessity. Therefore, I quickly headed to the site to achieve my objective today as well.
Before long, I arrived at the site where the dungeon had appeared.
“It’s desolate.”
Now that I was on-site, the chirping of various diurnal birds echoed from the surrounding area. The location of the EX-class gate the Hunter Association had informed me about was none other than the entrance to a mountain.
“Hm.”
Of course, since it was still early, there wasn’t a single passerby around.
‘It doesn’t seem like this path is even used as a hiking trail anyway...’
Swish.
I leaned my head into the white passageway for about a second. Then, after quickly scanning the interior layout with my eyes, I pulled back.
‘The dungeon’s structure matches exactly what the advance team reported.’
What followed was a brief replay of memory.
‘—There really is nothing but a ‘door’.’
Like the [White Maze] or the [Fairy Kingdom] gate, the entrance was filled with an abundance of white light. However, what truly made this dungeon unusual was that all of its other key components were completely absent.
Monsters.
Or devices designed to test human intelligence and emotions, and the like.
‘Well, there’s nothing here at all. Once you enter the dungeon, it seems like monsters could be generated, but at least for now, it’s an empty space with no noticeable activity.’
This was giving me a headache. If you just hang a door there without properly connecting the mechanisms, attackers can never move on to the next area. So what exactly is this gate asking of living things?
‘Spatial teleportation? Or just smash the big gate with brute force?’
Several strategies immediately came to mind. But none of them were normal solutions, so I quickly reached a different conclusion.
‘But honestly, I don’t think there’s some grand intent behind this... It feels more like a common mistake mages make. A far all, the technique of creating space out of nothing is incredibly delicate—even the slightest ‘breeze’ in the formulas can cause the entire outcome to be scrapped.’
If this gate had formed due to nothing more than a simple error, then investigating it would be a complete waste of time.
‘Should I just withdraw?’
A gate that fails to capture its prey—an intelligent being—usually collapses within a short period. Places where monsters are produced endlessly are dangerous, as that process can lead to a dungeon break. But if no hostile entities have appeared yet, there’s no benefit in poking at it for no reason. So, I eventually decided to take it easy.
‘At this rate, it’d be better to keep an eye on this EX-class gate and deal with other gates first.’
My thoughts might have been casual, but before leaving the site, it was only natural to thoroughly recheck every element inside the dungeon one last time.
—Swish.
“...”
But wait, what was that information that had just brushed the edge of my senses?
“Hm?”
While I was extending my Earth-style tendrils into the gate to examine its internal mana structure in detail, I caught an unusual signal at the tip of my heightened senses.
‘A living being?’
I heard the sound of breathing from somewhere. But it was a completely different kind of breath from that of monsters that clumsily move their shells with mana cores and the like.
Shallow.
Insignificant.
And devoid of even the slightest trace of magic—I nearly missed it. But eventually, the various signs of a living creature were detected.
‘Ah, this one’s a human.’
I realized the new information and my eyes widened. But that wasn’t the end of the problem. Of course, for now it might be peaceful enough not to require a hunter—but...
‘Damn it. There’s a human in there? This gate may not have monsters at the moment, but it’s the kind of structure where new hostile entities can emerge at any time if a trap is triggered.’
Now that I looked more closely, the deeper one went into the gate, the more anomalies it revealed. But how on earth had a person ended up being blatantly left inside a gate this rife with errors?
‘Don’t tell me, like its predecessor the [White Maze], they got caught by one of those lights that shoot up from the ground...?’
This was irritating. A sudden premonition struck me that things were about to get complicated. So I stood there a few seconds, thinking it over—but it wasn’t like any new solution would suddenly appear.
‘Besides, if this dungeon is dangerous enough to threaten even me, an Archmage, then the outcome would be the same even if Jeong Haseong and Esther came along.’
What followed was a rather obvious line of reasoning.
‘Calling allies would only unnecessarily make the funeral company nervous, and at this point, it wouldn’t even matter...’
It seemed I would have to investigate the gate alone, just as I had originally planned. Fortunately, however, if there was a silver lining to this misfortune, it was that I had spent the last twenty-four hours preparing a brand-new spell
‘Just in case, let’s carry out a ‘disconnection’ task today to block any information gathering from the feed box.’
In truth, I hadn’t invented it from scratch. It was a technique long used in Alphauri, subtly adapted into an Earth-style version.
‘Even if the gate is cleared at an abnormal speed, I’ll need to add settings to make it appear as if it’s being completed at an average pace.’
I wasn’t sure if this old-fashioned method would work against an unknown gate creator. But I couldn’t avoid life’s problems forever.
‘Let’s go in.’
With a do-or-die mindset, I began what had been a long-awaited dungeon run. Once again, I had to summon a fair amount of resolve for the sake of the inferior mammals inside.
A few seconds later.
Crack—!
For reference, that loud sound I just heard was the first door inside the gate breaking.
‘It’s massive, with ornate, classical reliefs... all the doors follow a typical design.’
—Crack—!
This was the commotion that occurred as the second door began to split more delicately.
‘The preference for an old style is just like a Gisinche. Who on Earth is the owner of this gate? At this point, I’m dying of curiosity. Seriously.’
Normally, an EX-class main gate couldn’t be moved even with two 5-rank Hunters working together, but in the presence of Archmage-level mana, it’s a completely different story.
‘By the way, every time I break a door, I can’t help feeling like someone’s watching... but it should still be within the capability of a modern human, right? Well, the original [Beast] could probably tear through a door with spatial magic too.’
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Step by step, I smashed through the dungeon doors, which, in terms of this alien planet’s standards, were practically nothing more than bundles of bugs.
—Thud!
And just as I carefully split open the sixth main door, I finally came face-to-face with the faint breathing I had sensed deep inside the dungeon. But the real problem was the detailed personal information of the human I had just encountered.
‘Huh? That face looks... familiar.’
As I instinctively stared at the person, a memory suddenly surfaced in my mind.
‘Could that be the human who often appears on the news?’
Thin-framed glasses. A pastel-colored t-shirt. And a strangely hunched posture, among other things.
I had no idea why he was holding himself in that posture. But the oddly dressed mammal inside the dungeon was... No one other than a South Korean politician. To be more precise, he was someone who had recently fallen into all sorts of worries after failing to receive a party nomination. But since I didn’t fully understand Earth’s proper social systems, I’ll skip the details.
‘Oho. This is definitely that guy!’
Because I was an alien, I needed to consume authoritative, reliable information on a daily basis. Therefore, I frequently checked official reports from various news outlets. As a result, I actually recognized the politician in front of me more skillfully than most Earthlings would. After all, as a public figure craving popularity, he maintained his visibility by appearing in newspapers here and there to manage his recognition.
But, the real reason his face had stuck in my mind wasn’t that I had seen him often. There was one other reason.
‘That bastard who’s always shouting that there should be a law restricting superpowered employment... it’s really him...’
Well, that’s pretty much what happened. Honestly, who would’ve guessed that I’d run into the top official of that ‘anti-superpowered faction’—the same one some shadowy reporter had tipped me off about—right here?
I had been digging into this because I was annoyed by the swarm of internet cockroaches that have been popping up recently... but I never expected to see a famous person like this in person.’
The mammal wearing the lilac-colored top was, in fact, the very person leading the online movement to stir up public hatred against Awakened humans. Moreover, the reporter who had been telling me had taken money straight from that man’s subordinate. It might not seem connected at first glance, but the name listed as the sender on the reporter’s bank deposit turned out to be a descendant of that man’s relative.
‘In the early days after mana was discovered, Earth really did have an extremely small number of mages.’
What followed was a brief moment of thought.
‘So, this person intended to suppress mages while winning over the hearts of the general public to get elected. Logical enough.’
It was around the time I was recalling the Earthling’s background in detail.
—...!
Finally, a civilian suddenly appeared inside the dungeon and hastily spoke their first words. They were in the position of having been kidnapped. In fact, they had no idea where they were, and before regaining consciousness, they had just been gotten beaten in a dark room by their captors.
‘Oh my goodness.’
Kidnapped? As soon as that shocking word slipped out, I pricked up my ears. The person rambled, struggling to explain further. It seemed that what had left him in such a shabby state was none other than an extremist Awakened faction within the country.
‘This isn’t the Middle Ages or anything...’
After all, the lightly dressed individual was the same person who always appeared on TV, loudly disparaging magic. So, the general idea that they had been wronged by superpowered beings was at least somewhat understandable.
‘Quite the bold move.’
Magic is an alluring tool that can make the impossible possible, but precisely because of that, it’s also easily abused.
‘Pushing an ordinary human into another world is a common method for removing opponents. But how did they end up leaving a politician in the middle of this empty gate? Ah... could it be that, like the example I saw before, this gate was created by a human from the very beginning...?’
It was at that moment, as I was lost in all these thoughts, that something happened.
“Hm?”
The politician in front of me suddenly started shouting curses at the top of his lungs.
“No, the more I think about it, the more ridiculous this gets. You XX b*stard, Kim Giryeo! You already know everything, so are you seriously standing there messing with me right now?”
Startled, I froze for a moment, my face going blank.
“No matter how much you disliked my activities, how could you do this far and try to get someone killed like this? You thug-like piece of trash!”
I tried to say something in my defense, but the trapped mammal kept talking without pause.
“Honestly, at first I thought, no way, no—but now that Hunter Kim Giryeo himself has shown up to personally watch me starve to death, I can’t help but be convinced.”
“Excuse me—”
“Damn it, these Awakened really should’ve all been cracked down on early, just like I said. The moment I badmouth you, Kim Giryeo, something like this happens—wasn’t it obvious? In the end, the b*stards who beat me up were your people, weren’t they? Huh?”
This was clearly anger born of a misunderstanding. Realizing that, I hurriedly began to try to calm him down.