Chapter 5

While leaving the rest of the group on the bridge, Minjoon and Taebyeong came with me.

It wasn’t actually necessary for Minjoon to be there, but my goal was to minimize the risks and divide the contribution points. If he was trained properly, he’d become quite a force in the future.

“C-c-can I really do this?”

Taebyeong was a bit of a scaredy-cat. His temperament was too weak for him to become a Tanker. However, neither Minjoon nor I had the warm temperament to provide comfort, so we just ignored him.

“You have to.”

“O-okay!”

Our movements became more cautious as we got closer to the oil whale. As the monster was nearly deaf, a little rustling wouldn’t matter, but every time we heard a sound, we’d start sweating profusely.

“You remember what I told you, right? We have to stick as close as we can to each other.”

Though we were walking as slowly as possible, it seemed like time was passing slowly too. It was a tedious and tortuous process. As we got closer, the stench got worse, and the oily smell made us all nauseous.

Once we got to the agreed-upon spot, we could see the oil whale clearly. Its regenerative eyes could barely be seen between the layers of droopy skin, and the oily mucus that covered its skin made it look dirty. Like a snail, it left behind oil trails whenever it moved.

I closed my eyes and opened them.

A blue light shimmered and formed in my eye. In an instant, the spatial coordinates appeared. At times, my Skill seemed like virtual reality or detailed 3D modeling.

I looked at the point where I would arrive while awakening my mana. Along with a floating sensation, I felt my body being delicately disassembled and then reassembled. As soon as I opened my eyes, the stench mercilessly attacked my nose. I wanted to vomit, but I had a job to do.

The lighter made a cheerful flicking noise.

The oil whale sensed my sudden appearance. As soon as it swung its body in my direction, I yelled.

“Now!”

Taebyeong started pounding the ground with the iron plate.

Just like footsteps, the thudding vibrations resonated through the ground. It changed the oil whale’s focus to another direction. At that moment, I threw the lighter at it.

The lighter arced as it flew through the air. As it landed on the oil whale’s body, it burst into flames. Once I saw this, I dropped down and rolled away on the ground a couple of times. Taebyeong then immediately blocked my path. I heard the crackle as both the oil and whale burned together. The monster let out a blood-curdling cry.

“Ugh.”

Sparks flew to where I was, but the heat was probably worse for Taebyeong in the front. I quickly got up.

“Let’s go back.”

He nodded as he wiped his burning cheeks with a piece of his clothing.

Minjoon wordlessly handed me a lighter. We had brought it as backup just in case. If I had failed, Minjoon would’ve had to throw it. If Taebyeong and I had both died, he would’ve had to return to the others with the sad news.

Neither was a pleasant task, which was why Minjoon was so withdrawn.

***

“Good work,” Seongmin said as we returned to the group. I nodded briefly, and then everyone started moving again. As soon as we crossed the bridge, the indoor gym wouldn’t be far.

“I wanted to help too.”

As he scratched the back of his neck, Seongmin seemed like a reliable young man. But...

It’s best to not be hasty and trust just anyone in the Gate. No matter how trustworthy someone looked, they could have the title of “Two-Faced Gentleman.”

If I were to make a guess, Seongmin would have something like “Natural Leader” as one title and a second one that revealed his true nature. It was common for Awakened ones that didn’t have any special achievements to have two titles. As long as I didn’t know his second title, I couldn’t just trust him.

Speaking of titles, when is that error going to be resolved?

[Status Window]

Name: Seoha Han

Title: Re ■■■ Player, One Who ■■■,■■■’s Star, ■■■’s Genius

Unique Skill: Spatial Interference

I still couldn’t clearly see the titles in my status window. It’s the first time I’ve seen something like this. Once I escape this Gate, I should go to the Awakened Research Institute or the Gate Research Institute to get it fixed.

Minjoon still looked a bit dazed while Taebyeong was disgusted by his clothes that still reeked of the stench. But we could relax a little bit now.

“Finally, over there!”

Beyond the collapsed concrete buildings was a familiar building in the distance.

The indoor gym. As it was a designated shelter, it had emergency electricity and water fountains. There really was no better fort in this area. In addition, the walls of the shelter were required by law to be constructed with anti-monster defense materials, so it could withstand attacks from most monsters.

Since it originally took three long years to clear this Gate, we needed to come here despite the risks.

Everyone’s faces brightened. Their nerves must’ve been on edge after encountering monsters one after the other. While we’d only encountered three, including the land general, we passed by several others as we walked. There probably were a lot of people who had trouble sleeping at night.

Before the Gate Conversion, it would’ve taken a day to get to the indoor gym. But since we were carrying supplies and wary of our surroundings, it had taken three days.

We quickened our pace. We were all desperate for a comfortable place to rest and wash up.

***

Before we got to the indoor gym, there was an incident.

There was a battle going on near where we were. Seongmin asked what we should do, and I said that while we’d get closer to inspect, we wouldn’t interfere.

I remembered that around this time, the indoor gym selected fairly skilled Awakened ones and sent them out. Among them was probably...

“Uh-uh, hold on just a little more!”

“Damn it, do you know how many times you’ve said that already?!

“I’m realllly sorry! Just a little more.”

A young-sounding voice that didn’t fit the surroundings rang out, and light-colored hair moved quickly.

Just as I expected, they were already here.

The twins, Yusu and Yura An. Through their genius Ranger combination, they were credited with turning the indoor gym into an unbreakable castle. As two of the few survivors of this Gate, as soon as they stepped outside, they went on a winning streak as genius Hunters.

As if to prove this, these kids—who were just in their late teens—were declaring war against the monster called the hairy insect. While they had a separate Tanker to pull aggro, what they were doing was impressive. They were already performing the roles of proper combatants.

“Okay, now the final shot!”

“Wait! The last strike is mine!”

As they bickered back and forth, they both pulled the bowstring.

They’ve already allocated items?

Even though it’s a world ruled by Hunters and Gates, a bow was not common. There was a big chance that they had obtained that in an item drop after killing a monster. It looked like the system had been established quicker than I thought.

“You damned twins... I’m the one doing all the work!”

“C’mon, uncle! You received a kill contribution.”

“Although an item didn’t come out!”

As I saw the kids laughing and chatting, it seemed like it was time to slowly head out. Just as I turned my head to give a signal, I heard an urgent gasp right beside me.

At the same time, I heard the sound of something piercing through the air violently.

When I lifted my hand to grab it instinctively, I saw that it was an arrow.

What?

“Whoa, she caught that?”

“It’s because you lack skill, moron.”

“Our Skills are the same!”

The sight of them arguing wasn’t so cute anymore. Ah, I forgot. These twins weren’t just famous for their skills.

“It was spying on us like a mouse, but I had no idea it was a person!”

“Oops, my mistake!”

The sight of them pretending not to know anything and hitting their foreheads was pretty despicable. I had forgotten that the brother and sister were also famous for their tempers.

Seongmin asked me if I was okay, and I said I was. We had no right to get angry. We were uninvited guests and had to ask for their mercy to enter their fort. As if he knew that too, Seongmin didn’t ask questions and kept his mouth shut.

The mood had suddenly turned chaotic. Although dozens of people were looking at them coldly, the twins didn’t seem to care.

“Why you little stinkers!”

The mood instantly got better when a middle-aged man appeared and humorously bopped the twins on their heads. Judging from the sound we could hear from here, he had whacked them pretty hard. The two grabbed their heads and groaned.

“I deeply apologize. Please excuse their rudeness. These brats are like this because they’re quite spoiled.”

He politely bowed his head. At that, the twins started to make a fuss about why he was bowing his head, why there was no need to do that, and saying that those people spying on them too.

The man ignored them and approached us. “You’re survivors, right?”

“Yes, we are.” Seongmin stepped up as the representative.

“Where are you coming from?”

“The H Mart in the next neighborhood.”

“You came all the way from there? That must’ve been quite a tough journey.”

His face looked shocked. Even though a system with item allocation was in place, they could only get this far from the indoor gym.

“We were lucky. We’ve brought food and various daily necessities from the mart. By any chance, could we meet the person in charge of the indoor gym?”

“That won’t be hard. The hunt just finished, so...” The man then turned around to shout at the twins. “You brats! Why aren’t you cleaning up?”

“Huh? But you’re resting.”

“Respect your elders, you punk.”

The kids moved with familiarity and started to deal with the hairy insect. In order to not attract other monsters, they covered its body fluid and blood with dirt. They then began to cut off parts of its body that weren’t needed, such as its antennae, the outer skin of its legs, and outer fur. Their quick hands were steady.

“This neighborhood is like their hideout, so they’re masters at that.”

“I see.”

“And while those vermin look disgusting, if you take out their guts and grill them, they taste like shrimp.”

I guess the thought of eating monster meat churned Taebyeong’s stomach because he started gagging next to me. I’ll say it again. His mentality is too weak to become a top-tier Tanker.

“Uncle, we’re done!”

“Okay, don’t forget anything and follow me.”

“Ah, seriously! This is exploitation of minors! I’m going to report you to the Ministry of Employment and Labor!”

“Sure, go ahead.”

While the man was acting childish, it was actually nice to see. It had been a long time since we had heard lighthearted conversation. This soft feeling felt so foreign that both Seongmin and I were captivated by their talk without realizing it. It was obviously the same for the people behind us.

Relaxation, jokes, and mischief... These were luxuries that were only allowed in times of abundance. We hadn’t been able to afford such gestures up until this point.

“Anyway, follow me. There are strict rules in regards to accepting survivors.”