CH 13

“This is…” Min Ah-rin, who came in behind, also looked surprised. “It’s like Mars.”

I only thought of the desert at best, but I looked back at Min Ah-rin with a strange feeling at the word Mars.

“Mars?”

“Yes,” Min Ah-rin said to me, looking excited. “This is exactly what Mars looks like in documentaries! It’s full of red sand.”

“Oh… yeah.”

“If it was actually Mars, we wouldn’t be able to breathe because of carbon dioxide, right? That’s amazing! If electronic devices could work inside the gate, I would have taken a picture. What a shame.”

“……”

Her fear at the gate entrance was nowhere to be found. Min Ah-rin was so excited that she began to look around. It was quite refreshing because it was my first time seeing her like that.

“I guess you watch that kind of documentary a lot.”

“Yes! It’s a lot of fun. Isn’t it interesting? It’s an unknown planet you’ve never been to. When I was young, my dream was to be a scientist. I gave up because I couldn’t study well.”

“I see.”

“The briefing begins now! Please gather around!”

It was not long before all guild members came over and a voice was heard to gather people. I and Min Ah-rin moved in the direction where guild members gathered.

“My name is Park Geon-ho (박건호), the head of the gate-clearing team. Before we get started, I will give you a final overview of the overall process.” A man standing on a big rock spoke as he looked back at the guild members.

Park Geon-ho. It was a familiar name.

He had appeared several times in the novel. I think his ability was pretty useful, too, but I couldn’t remember what it was.

“Park Geon-ho is one of the team leaders of the Special Operations Division. This is the first time I’ve actually seen him,” Min Ah-rin, who was standing next to me, whispered to me. I couldn’t think of any information because I didn’t have a lot of references on him.

“Special Operations?”

“Don’t you know? The dispatch division (including Special Operations) selects only high-level gates and clears them. There was a lot of talk about how the Master had personally recruited the ability users he liked. I guess that’s true, seeing that you’re participating in this clearing as well.”

“He must be incredibly strong. What’s his ability?”

“Oh, what was it again? I heard he does something with beads? I don’t really remember.”

I nodded for now. I’ll find out by myself as I proceed through the clearing process anyway. After a brief conversation with Min Ah-rin, I focused on Park Geon-ho’s words.

“If you look far north, you can faintly see a building, and that’s our destination. As with existing gates, the first monsters will flock in around 20 minutes and the grade inside of the gate will be rated first by measuring the monster’s rating.”

Cheon Sa-yeon or I knew that this gate was a ranked gate, even an SS-rank gate, but the other guild members didn’t know. Judging from the atmosphere, Cheon Sa-yeon didn’t seem to care enough to give the information to the guild members. In the novel, it was stated that the gate was cleared without any damage and the weapon was successfully obtained, so I didn’t have much to worry about…

“The grade inside the gate will continue to change according to the monster levels, so please don’t let down your guard until you clear it. It will be difficult to find you if you get lost inside the gate, so please follow me. From now on, Master and I will take the lead. That is all.”

After finishing the explanation, Park Geon-ho went down from the rock and soon, we started moving. I looked at the other healers and ability users around Min Ah-rin.

‘Based on these ability users, they must all be B -rank. It seems like it won’t be easy.’

As they are guild members deployed to protect the healer team, they would not be fools. At that moment, among all the unfamiliar faces, I saw a man who seemed strange to me. I looked at the man for a long time, wondering what this uncomfortable feeling was, and just in case I grabbed him by the back of his neck.

“Fuck, what the hell!”

“Oh wow.”

He didn’t even hide his tone because he expected to be found out quickly. I sighed, crossed my arms, and looked at him.

“You’ve been following me.”

“……”

“Turn off your ability right now.”

“I was going to anyway!”

Grumbling, the stranger disappeared and Kim Woo-jin’s face was revealed. He already came in, so there was no point in getting angry.

I said, tilting my head, “I thought you’d have run away since I couldn’t see you, but you still followed me? Do you want to die so badly?”

“Shut up. I’ll walk out fine, you’ll see.”

“Oh, then please do that. Okay?”

Looking disgusted, Kim Woo-jin exhaled roughly with an angry look on his face. What are you staring at me for?

“Yi-gyeol-ssi. Who is this?”

Min Ah-rin, who was listening to the conversation next to me, intervened with a curious expression. I was about to introduce him, so I quickly grabbed Kim Woo-jin.

“He’s Kim Woo-jin, an assistant. Hey, say hello to her. Min Ah-rin-ssi. She is a healer.”

She was a very important person who was going to be responsible for your life. As I looked at Kim Woo-jin with a strong meaning, he greeted Min Ah-rin with a pouting mouth.

“I’m Kim Woo-jin.”

“My name is Min Ah-rin. You’re the one working next to the Master, right? I remember seeing you a few times.”

“Yes.”

“Here comes the first monster!”

While I was leisurely watching Kim Woo-jin and Min Ah-rin shaking hands, I heard Park Geon-ho’s cry in front of me. I quickly grabbed Kim Woo-jin’s shoulder in a hurry and said, “Don’t be stupid, and stay close to Min Ah-rin-ssi. Do you understand?”

“I—I got it!”

Kim Woo-jin, who came in with a mind that couldn’t be changed, was also scared when the monster appeared, so he nodded his head obediently and stepped back behind me. I took a deep breath and looked away. Something was coming, trampling on the red sand.

There were several monster attacks inside the gate. It was more than three times when it was low-level, and more than 20 times when it was high-level, and how many monsters attacked at one time was also random. The most important thing was the flocking pattern. Even if it came from only one direction, it could suddenly come pouring out from all directions, so I always had to look around.

So the back row where the healers were located wasn’t safe either. I watched the monsters getting closer through the sand and dust.

Kyeeek! Kyeek! (키에에엑! 키에엑!)

The creature covered in rough grey leather howled with a ripping sound. The open mouth had dozens of pointed teeth, and its tongue was long and thick. The head looked like a crocodile, but the legs were extremely thin and numerous, and the overall appearance was more like a spider. It seemed like there was poison at the ends of the legs, which were a bizarre red color.

‘It sure is gross.’

It was the first time I had personally faced a monster inside the gate, so I was nervous. In the future, I would have to continue to face such disgusting bastards… The psychological pain was greater than the physical pain. I didn’t want to see them in my dreams.

The total number of monsters rushing towards us was four. I raised my arms, pulling up my ability.

Kwadeudeuk! (콰드득!)

As soon as I blew up the two legs of the monster running at the forefront, the monster jumped up and swung its legs exactly where I was. 

“Hurgh!” (큭!) I managed to fly up into the air and dodge the attack, swallowing back the scream that came up my throat. There was a chill and goosebumps on my back.

Kyeeek!

Perhaps dissatisfied with my avoidance, the monster opened its mouth menacingly as it dripped blood from its legs. I frowned at the unpleasant scene. Even the blood dripping out was blue—was it an alien or something?

I formed a wind blade again and sent it to the monster. Unlike the first time, I made several and threw them. The monster evaded the first wind blade nimbly, but the second and third hit it. The monster, whose left arm and half of the upper body were cut off by the wind blade aimed at the heart, fell on the sand with a gurgling sound.

“Hah…”

Fortunately, it was a monster with low intelligence and no defense characteristics. In a similar way, I killed two monsters that rushed at me. The two of them rushed at the same time, so I hurriedly used my ability and got splashed with blue blood when I couldn’t dodge in time.

‘Ugh, disgusting.’

I turned my head to the side as much as possible to avoid getting my clothes wet, but the state of my face was hopeless. I looked back, wiping off the blue blood that had been smeared on the left side of my face. The one I missed was caught safely by the other guild member protecting the healer team.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi!”

As I trudged back, Kim Woo-jin and Min Ah-rin ran up to me in surprise. Min Ah-rin shouted, “Are—are you hurt?”

“No… My blood isn’t blue.”

When I answered shakily, Min Ah-rin said “Ah,” and brought out a handkerchief. She handed it over to me, and I took it, grateful.