Chapter 38

38

"Will he be okay?"

Yoo Ee-Na smiled awkwardly.

"Of course. He is much stronger than..."

No, that was not an accurate description. He was more like...

"A monster, I suppose."

"A monster?"

"Um... Was that not appropriate?"

She asked sheepishly.

"Maybe a little...?"

They exchanged smiles before Ee-Na hurried to prepare her things. Hwan had said that he was going to do everything by himself, which means that he was going to just clear the gate.

"What's wrong? You suddenly became so serious."

Kim So-Eun was able to spot her distress. Upon seeing this, Yoo Ee-Na kindly explained the reason.

"ROKHA is for emergencies."

"Emergencies?"

"Our job is to keep everyone who is nearby safe. We secure the place until Hunters from the guilds can come and clear the gate."

"Oh..."

"At the beginning, ROKHA used to enter the gates and clear them by themselves. Their work was considered very important and they were held in very high regard, but as the guilds appeared, they gradually replaced ROKHA's job. They were better at it."

Yoo Ee-Na then briefly explained the work of a ROKHA Hunter.

"Keep in mind that ROKHA is only for emergencies."

"Emergencies only..."

"Don't take this the wrong way; guilds earn a lot of money by clearing the gates. The only problem is that guilds have to compete with each other to take jobs."

In China, the government considered everything from the gate as the government's property. However, in Korea or the US, the guild who cleared the gate would be the owners of whatever they found. That was why guild masters regularly had conferences to decide who would clear a certain gate and how to deal with it.

Unfortunately, ROKHA was not strong enough to participate in these conferences. They became more like sidekicks. It was unfortunate, but someone had to do the dirty work. Gates could kill and absorb ordinary people, so they had to go and take control of the situation first.

When the first few gates had appeared, some streamers secretly went inside the gates to film and share their deaths with the public. There had been at least a hundred of those cases. Ever since the gates appeared, the world changed drastically. But did Lee Hwan know about this? If he did clear the gate by himself, the other guilds would certainly complain a lot.

"I hope things are not getting worse."

However, knowing Lee Hwan, she was fairly certain it would happen sooner or later.

Yoo Ee-Na sighed.

* * *

It was easy to spot the gate. I searched them up on the internet beforehand, and the image I saw in front of me was the same as what I saw online. When I first saw it in person, I felt something weird. I was not sure, but it seemed clear that this gate looked familiar to me. I was sure I had seen them in Valhalla a few times when I was there.

It utilizes some sort of magic called a dimensional portal.

I haven't mentioned this before, but there were three different stages of magic—Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary. Dragons could cast up to the Secondary scale, and someone with the Lord's power could cast Tertiary magic.

This gate had power that was equivalent to the Lord's.

That was why Yeo-Hwa was called a witch. She was the heir of a great wizard, and with a human body, she could cast magic as strong as that of a dragon's. She could also move around using portals and can even use a portal to distort space so that she could attack her opponents.

Yeo-Hwa was a genius, an absolute genius. That was why she was known as the 'dimensional witch.'

However, I could feel that the gate in front of me was much stronger than Yeo-Hwa.

I could sense power equivalent to hundreds of dragons from inside the gate. In fact, it felt like a Lord-class magic inside, which was much stronger than that of hundreds of dragons.

It was weird. I returned to Earth, but I didn't feel like I did.

Why did things from Valhalla keep appearing here? Why were dragons inside the gates and how was the system related to it?

To be perfectly honest, I felt confused. I had killed every last dragon, but they have suddenly appeared in this gate.

I stepped inside the gate, and my surroundings immediately changed.

I was suddenly in the middle of a forest. As soon as I stepped foot inside the gate, a long, thin object whizzed straight at me. I raised my hand and easily grabbed it from the air. It was an arrow. It was clear that something was attacking me.

"I guess you never learned how to talk. Alright. You started this. Don't regret what you've done."

Suddenly, the arrow I was holding exploded; it had been built to do exactly that.

Dust rose up and covered my eyes, obstructing my vision. I used my aura to clear the air and looked up to see tons of arrows raining down on me. There were so many of the flying weapons that it blocked out the sunlight and made my surroundings dark.

With this, I cracked my neck leisurely.

I was so ready to deal with this.

***

Ten minutes passed, and two women arrived at the irregular gate in Goo-Ryong mountain.

"Huff, huff..."

They had run all the way there, and both of them were dripping with sweat.

It was Yoo Ee-Na and Kim So-Eun. After about a minute, another man arrived at the gate.

"Yoo Ee-Na and Kim So-Eun?"

It was Jung Gi-Hoon. It was the first time So-Eun was meeting him, so she was surprised at his response. How did he know her?

She hid behind Ee-Na. Gi-Hoon knew that he had made a mistake; he should have approached them more carefully. When he was still in Cheon-Myeong's secretary team, he had collected information on So-Eun and read all the documents about her. To put it simply, he had been caught investigating her behind her back.

He smiled awkwardly and was about to introduce himself properly when Ee-Na spoke.

"Mr. Jung? What are you doing here?"

His answer was brief and simple.

"I saw the message."

"Oh..."

"He said that he would be clearing the gate, but as far as I know, he doesn't know much about the Hunter's rules."

Gi-Hoon and Ee-Na were thinking the same thing, and they exchanged a smile. They both knew that Hwan is strong, but because of that gate, the entire country is in a state of emergency.

This was also what happened during the Bi-Bong mountain gate.

ROKHA's main goal was to control the situation. Ee-Na, along with Gi-Hoon, analyzed their plan of action.

"So, can we consider this as a division? I can see that the irregular gate is divided into two parts."

"Indeed. We should conduct more research about this."

Jeong Gi-Hoon opened his inventory and brought out his weapons. In a moment, he was armed with gauntlets, guns, and a longsword. His strength is his physical ability. Most of his skills covered his body like an aura; this means that he can use it anytime without consuming too much. Hunters can't use guns inside the gate, but Gi-Hoon can make a bullet using his aura. It is not as strong as gunpowder, but it was an effective weapon against his opponents.

Yoo Ee-Na also tried to equip her weapon, but Gi-Hoon shook his head.

"Why?"

"You need to control the situation. The police and the army will provide reinforcements, but they need a person to guide them. Also, you have to keep this newcomer safe."

He gestured to Kim So-Eun hiding at her back. He then looked at the girl's eyes and spoke.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself next time."

When he was about to step foot inside the gate, they heard the sound of heavy footsteps from their backs. The three of them turned their heads and saw the other members of ROKHA. Despite Lee Hwan telling them to rest, most of them had still come here to help.

Yoo Ee-Na laughed. Lee Joo-Heon was a jackass, but he was the exception. This was how the members of ROKHA were. Even if Lee Hwan had told them to rest, it was their responsibility to control the situation. Resting was nonsense to them.

Everyone quietly looked at each other. The two team leaders, Yoon Jeong-Soo and Jung Gi-Hoon, exchanged glances.

"We will enter."

Jung Gi-Hoon nodded. They knew that Lee Hwan was strong, but someone must still go with him. Gi-Hoon was more suitable for this job. Aside from Hwan, he was the strongest member in ROKHA and knew Lee Hwan much more more than Jeong-Soo did.

Aside from that, they didn't really know anything about the gate. It might be a dungeon related to a myth, and monsters from fiction stories like goblins or orcs might appear.

Jeong Gi-Hoon was a veteran Hunter that had more experience than Jeong-Soo. His archeology and interpreting skills were acknowledged by Lee Ho himself, the hero of this country.

He not only had the strength of an S-rated Hunter, but also had the intelligence to help anyone in any situation. That was why Jong-Geun had chosen him as his successor. He was certainly a talented man.

At Gi-Hoon's gesture, his team members gathered around him.

"We've never had time to plan our attack, so I'll give you simple instructions. Move with a person with whom you can be good partners with. When a monster appears, fight it together. Call me if you need help. Remember to concentrate."

After the brief instructions, they were ready to head in.

Suddenly, a loud cracking sound reverberated around them. It was coming from the gate, which was breaking from the top. Soon, the gate shattered, breaking off into a lot of tiny pieces that rained down on them.

After a moment of silence, they saw someone walking out of the rubble. The gate disappeared as if nothing had happened.

The gate had been cleared perfectly.

"Holy shit."

Someone murmured. That expression represented the collective amazement of the members of ROKHA.

Lee Hwan was also surprised to see them.

"Didn't I tell you to take a rest?"

"........."

Jeong Gi-Hoon knew that the shortest time in history that a gate was cleared was twenty-two minutes. It was achieved by ten S-rated Hunters clearing a B-rated dungeon.

Lee Hwan had been in there for just twelve minutes. Unofficially, the record was broken.

Jeong Gi-Hoon's jaw dropped in surprise, Hwan chuckled.

"What hardworking guys you all are! I told you to rest!"

Then they could hear the sound of something falling from above. Lee Hwan had thrown the object he had been holding into the air. It was an orc's head.

With shock still on his face, Gi-Hoon murmured.

"Black...Orc King?"

It was a monster that was commonly summoned for Hunter's exams to prove they deserve to be called S-rated Hunters.

This was truly unusual, and the people were frightened. Their faces indicated that. Even Jeong Gi-Hoon could feel the fear they felt.

Surprisingly, Lee Hwan had more than one of those orc heads.

Everyone knew that the gate was at least A-rated, but he had cleared it in twelve minutes, and he was alone.

As if everyone were thinking the same thing, the members of ROKHA collectively stepped back.

To them, Lee Hwan was like a monster, but his eyes as he looked at them were soft.

He spotted something and frowned, turning to Kim Yoo-Jeong, the teleport user.

"What a stubborn person. I pointed it out already, but you still wore a skirt on the battlefield?"

"...I was in the middle of a date, sir."

It might have sounded like an excuse, but it was an emergency. That was why she came immediately. She didn't have time to change her outfit.

Lee Hwan shrugged.

"It was just a joke."

".........."

It was a joke that only he himself could laugh at. Hwan, sensing that his joke was not well-received, smiled awkwardly.

Then he called out to Kim So-Eun.

"I told you to stay home."

"Yes... But I was worried about you."

It was nice of her to say that, but Lee Hwan didn't care about it. It was not that he didn't have feelings; he was a person too. However, So-Eun was too soft. That was what he had thought from the beginning. She was far too kind to hurt someone.

He didn't intend to bring the orc head for this purpose, but he knew that this could be a good learning tool.

Hwan gestured for Kim So-Eun to come to him, so she did. He pointed at the orc's head with his index finger.

"Look at it."

"Oh..."

She was too afraid to look at it and immediately turned her head away.

"Are you just going to hide from what you have to face?"

".........."

"Hunters must face that every single time. If you can't do that, then you can't be a Hunter."

".........."

"Didn't you tell me that you wanted to change your life? You didn't want to live as you did before."

Unlike his usual mood, Lee Hwan was very serious. He didn't smile or joke around. He walked toward So-Eun and stood beside her.

"This is what your world will look like. Your arms and legs may get sliced off—even your head, I suppose. You will eventually kill a living creature. Don't hide from it if you wish to be a Hunter."

No one stopped him because what he was telling her was true. Unfortunately, Hunters' lives are not as dreamy as many people imagine them to be. It was not like a fairy tale. You have to fight to take away life or risk your own life instead. They were more likely to die in the gate.

Power was everything here.

A person's age, education, and personality didn't matter. That was how the job was. They must have a strong heart to do this job. If a person couldn't even look at a dead body, then he didn't deserve to be a Hunter.

That was why Hunters were selected carefully. It was even more applicable for So-Eun, whose ability is regeneration. Because for now, she could only use it on herself.

Then, Kim So-Eun turned to look at the orc head as if she had made up her mind. She looked straight and unflinching at the orc, feeling nauseous but keeping her resolved stare. She had to get used to a Hunter's life.

Lee Hwan then put his hand on So-Eun's head to clear her thoughts. He used his aura to make sure that her mind was okay. Her eyes were full of tears, but she didn't run away from the situation.

With this, Lee Hwan smiled and complimented her.

"Well done, kid."