CH 51

Perhaps it was because Ha Tae-heon refused to be interviewed in advance, the reporters were not seen. The atmosphere around the gate, where only officials gathered, was good without any noise.

“The schedule will run for a total of three days, and unless there is nothing else, the queue will remain as it is. We’ll be leaving in 10 minutes. Please check your items carefully.”

Ha Tae-heon, who was at the forefront, finished his briefing. Sitting in the middle of the queue, I waited quietly while others busily organized their equipment.

“Yo.”

The man standing next to me and rummaging through his bag called me.

“Han Yi-gyeol-ssi, right?”

“Yes.”

“I couldn’t attend the last meeting. Nice to meet you.”

His name is Kim Soo-hwan (김수환), who was described as a B-rank talented person, held my hand and shook it a couple of times.

“I wanted to meet you after watching the video. I heard you were close with the Requiem Guild Master?”

“There’s nothing particularly close…”

“Ei, rumours have spread. Besides, you’re a mercenary. If only I had the ability, I would have been promoting without an affiliate. It’s a dream.”

Even though I didn’t respond much, Kim Soo-hwan chimed in with excitement. As the departure time approached, he put a bunch of chocolate on my hand.

“Do you like sweets? When you enter the gate, you feel tired and stressed. I eat one each time.”

Sweets…

Come to think of it, I hadn’t been able to eat whole snacks these days, so I was really happy with the chocolate he gave me. When I peeled a piece of chocolate and put it in my mouth, the sweet flavour spread.

“Thank you.”

It felt like I was a little relieved from my gloomy mood. When I smiled sincerely, Kim Soo-hwan also smiled and confidently told me to trust only himself for snacks in the future.

He is a good man. As I rolled a square piece of chocolate into my mouth, I suddenly felt a gaze from the side. When I turned my head, I saw Ha Tae-heon looking at me.

“……?”

I wondered if he had something to say, but Ha Tae-heon immediately turned away from me. What.

“Let’s go!”

The guild member standing next to Ha Tae-heon shouted loudly. After confirming that the preparations were complete, Ha Tae-heon went through the gate without hesitation.

Following the line into the gate, I frowned at the bright light.

Thump.

A white, hard marble floor spread wide and in the centre stood a huge statue of a goddess holding a sword. The colourful stained glass surrounding the room shone brilliantly and golden statues with angel wings were seen below it.

“Isn’t it amazing? This is the only gate with this kind of atmosphere.”

“That’s for sure.”

I looked up at the ceiling so high that I could not see the end and nodded my head. It felt strange to see the goddess statues with delicate patterns and arrogant expressions engraved on the marble walls.

The interior of the gate where monsters appeared was filled with a noble atmosphere.

Ha Tae-heon led everyone past the statue and walked towards the front. After moving for some time, several huge doors that were invisible with their backs to the statue of the goddess appeared through the pure white mist.

“From now on, we will divide into two teams and move. There might be something wrong with the monster level, so don’t relax.”

Team 1 and Team 2 were divided from the point where I was standing. As the first team, Kim Soo-hwan and I entered the first room together with Ha Tae-heon.

When Ha Tae-heon, standing in front of the thick marble door, pressed the blue jewel embedded in the centre, white marble powder fell and the door slowly opened.

As I entered the room, the candle lit by itself and the door closed. The bodies that had been lying on the floor squirmed and got up.

Swoosh— swoooosh—

A mummy, wearing a pure white robe engraved with a gold pattern, looked at us with a bizarre sound. A gleam of light flashed across its twisted face.

“Close team, forward.”

“Yes!”

“Let the long-distance team protect the healer.”

Sararak, black dust gathered. Ha Tae-heon grabbed a sword made of dust and cut off the mummy that came close to his nose. The mummy, which had just collapsed, turned into a pure white powder and scattered. At first glance, it resembled marble powder.

The battle began in earnest as long-distance talented people including me stopped them. The guild members, each holding weapons, poured their abilities and destroyed the mummy. Mummies, who were weak even for a B-rank, collapsed without being able to attack properly.

“As expected, Deputy Master. So cool…”

Kim Soo-hwan, who was standing next to me and watching the battle, muttered in a moved voice.

“That’s right, Yi-gyeol-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t the Deputy Master so great?”

…what did you do?

I was taken aback for a moment, but I nodded my head.

“Yeah…”

“Of course, the Requiem Master is great, but our Deputy Master is no joke either. You may not know, Yi-gyeol-ssi as this is the first time we met. Haha!”

It was then that I found out who Kim Soo-hwan was. This person is a big fan of Ha Tae-heon.

A person similar to Kim Soo-hwan appeared several times in the novel. Most were women, but not without men. Come to think of it, I heard that he had many fan cafe members.

‘Wait, then… Are there any big fans of Cheon Sa-yeon?’

I shook my head at the terrible thought. I never wanted to meet them in my life.

“Let’s start measuring.”

When all the monsters died and turned to powder, the measuring ability with the healers ran to the centre. The person with the ability to measure with his hand on the powder closed his eyes for a moment and then opened it.

“There is nothing wrong with it.”

“Are you saying the numbers are the same as last time?”

“Yes. Although it increased by 0.5%… Changes like this often happen.”

It was a fortunate result. The team immediately finished cleaning up and left the room. The jewel stuck in the centre of the door no longer shone as it did when we entered but dimmed. It seemed that if all the monsters were dealt with, the state of the jewels would change as well.

Following the first team, the second team managed to handle the monsters and got out of the room safely. The S-rank guild member in charge of the second team reported to Ha Tae-heon in a calm voice.

“As expected, a B-grade skeleton appeared. The measurement results remain the same.”

Ha Tae-heon nodded and said.

“Then it would be better to keep the team going.”

“Yes. It seems that there is no problem with this gate.”

As I watched the conversation between the two, I turned around, startled by the chilling sensation that hit my back at the moment.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi, what’s wrong?”

“No…”

I caressed the cold nape of my neck and looked at the statue slowly. The statue of the goddess standing with a sword had not changed from the first time I saw it.

‘Is it because of my mood?’

It was difficult to take my eyes off of the goddess statue in a strange feeling. After I stared at the goddess statue for a while, Kim Soo-hwan grabbed my arm and pulled me out saying that we had to leave.

Like in the first room, when he pressed the blue jewel, the ground vibrated and the door opened. Perhaps because they thought there was no problem with the gate, the team members entered the room with a much more relaxed expression than before.

As I entered the room with my teammates, someone grabbed my wrist. The owner of the strong and large hands was Ha Tae-heon. The leather of the black half-palm gloves he was wearing was clearly felt.

“…what is it?”

“What were you looking at?”

Ha Tae-heon, who lowered his head slightly, whispered in a low voice. When I tried to pull my wrist reflexively due to the sense of closeness, Ha Tae-heon held it even harder.

I looked at the guild members around me and said quickly.

“Let it go.”

“Answer me first.”

Fortunately, this room was very dark with no lights on. I heard people looking for things to brighten up the surroundings. Kugugung, when the open door closed, nothing was seen except Ha Tae-heon’s face.

“Not really, it doesn’t matter. Just…”

“Say it. I’ll decide whether it’s a big deal or not.”

I frowned. I couldn’t understand Ha Tae-heon’s tenacity.

“Nothing really—”

“I found a device that turns on the light!”

A light was lit up in the room while I was answering. As I hurriedly pushed Ha Tae-heon away, Kim Soo-hwan spoke in a bewildered voice.

“Deputy Master?”

“…let the close team at the back and the long-distance team follow me.”

Ha Tae-heon passed me by ordering as if nothing had happened. After that, Kim Soo-hwan whispered to me.

“Hey, Yi-gyeol-ssi. What did the Deputy Master do? I thought you were talking.”

“No. What’s there for the Deputy Master to talk to me about?”

“Really? I must have misread it.”

Kim Soo-hwan, who was nodding his head, accepted my answer with a look that said yes. I was glad he was simple.

“In line with the long-distance team.”

Something wavy appeared from the pure white wall in front. A monster with an opaque and limp body looked similar to a stingray swimming in the sea.

A B-grade monster spewed poison, Shriker (쉬리커). In the case of this monster, the blood also contained poison, so the closer it got, the more dangerous it was. Dozens of Shrikers found us trembling and emitting white poisonous smoke.

Chwiiiik—

I knew what to do without Ha Tae-heon’s command. I raised my ability and gathered dozens of poisonous smoke in one place.

“Attack.”

As soon as the pale azure curtain was erected, the powerful men attacked the Shriker.

Kim Soo-hwan also swung the transparent, thin fishing line he was holding in his hand towards Shriker. Then the Shriker was cut into several pieces as if cut by a sword.

Siiiit! Siiik!

The white blood of the poison-filled Shriker splashed here and there, but it was all blocked by an open azure curtain. When all the Shrikers died, the poison smoke I was holding slowly disappeared.

“I will take the shield. Back off.”

The poison smoke, which was Shriker’s ability, disappeared, but the blood remained. When all the guild members stepped down, the shield-talented man carefully reaped his abilities.

“Hey, you did a great job.”

“As expected, Shriker is a B-grade and it’s difficult to deal with.”

The close team who was watching the returning long-distance team welcomed them. Meanwhile, the person with the ability to measure who finished measuring near the blood of the Shriker told Ha Tae-heon.

“It’s normal.”

“Just in case, keep continuing to measure the rest of the room.”

“Yes.”

I forgot the chocolate I got from Kim Soo-hwan earlier and thought.

‘Certainly, each guild has a different fighting style and atmosphere.’

Woo Seo-hyuk’s words that it would be better to experience different guilds and gates made sense. The clear team led by Cheon Sa-yeon was free and individual, while the clear team led by Ha Tae-heon was more organized and orderly.

‘Neither of them is bad.’

Cheon Sa-yeon had a hard time, instead of having fun and Ha Tae-heon was comfortable, instead of a little bored. Should I say that I could see the leader’s personality? (리더의 성격이 보인다고 해야 하나, not sure how to translate here)

“Second team, this room has also been cleaned up. There’s nothing special.”

When I came out of the room, the second team who came out first reported. Ha Tae-heon nodded his head and opened his mouth to the guild members.

“We will rest here. Check your weapons and don’t go too far.”

The guild members sighed and sat down. I glanced around and slowly slipped back.

I’ll have to check the goddess statue properly during this time.