CH 176

The inside of the wall was much larger than expected. Traces of life were left everywhere as if there were actually humans living there, and if they walked a little, a monster that had been hiding appeared.

“A-grade, 12.35%.”

The good news was that all of the monsters appearing, including the first appearing goblin race, were A-rank. It was too easy for a clear team that had SS-rank Cheon Sa-yeon and Ha Tae-heon and S-rank Lee Joo-ha and had 20 healers. That’s why the speed didn’t slow down even when constantly facing monsters.

In the morning of the dawn, after taking a break, Lee Joo-ha approached Ha Tae-heon after looking around the team members who were cleaning up to move again.

“Because there’s no difference between day and night inside the gate… it must be the morning of the fourth day outside. The gate exit should come out soon.”

“The exit may be hidden, like the SS-grade gate of Requiem.”

“I’m thinking about it too, but… there’s a high possibility that it won’t be that difficult if you see that only A-grade monsters have been released so far.”

They weren’t quite sure it was random, though.

With a sigh, Ha Tae-heon opened his mouth with a face saying not to worry too much.

“There’s no gate anomaly, so we will be able to get out safely without any major problems.”

“Phew, yeah. It’s meaningless to think about it.”

Lee Joo-ha, who had been forced to smile, heard the report that she had finished preparing and left first. Ha Tae-heon, who looked at her back for a moment as she was moving away, turned around and went to find his seat.

“Then he brought an injured woman and asked me to treat her…”

“Oh. Really?”

Do Ha-seok and Min Ah-rin, who became close friends, had a friendly atmosphere throughout the clearing. To Do Ha-seok’s exaggeration as if Ha Tae-heon wanted to hear it, Min Ah-rin responded that it was very surprising.

“It’s because Ha Tae-heon is the type of person who doesn’t stop people who come and doesn’t catch people who go, even though he looks like that gentleman.”

“I see.”

“Shut up.”

Ha Tae-heon, who hadn’t heard, intervened with a single word, but Do Ha-seok and Min Ah-rin, who filled their faces with similar smile, continued talking without paying attention.

“Indeed. Our master is a bit quiet these days, but there was never such a riot in the past. A woman who had just been kicked out of the guild comes and makes a fuss.”

“Oh, I think I’ve heard of it. Ha Tae-heon and Master Cheon Sa-yeon are bad guys.”

“That’s right~”

Min Ah-rin covered her mouth with her hand and gave Ha Tae-heon a strange gaze. Those slightly suspicious eyes seemed to measure how light Ha Tae-heon’s feelings for Han Yi-gyeol were.

“……”

Ha Tae-heon wanted to rebut right away that Han Yi-gyeol was different from those people, but he forcibly endured it. If he had been the first to speak up in this situation, it would have only been heard as an excuse.

“But Ha Tae-heon-ssi, like Master Cheon Sa-yeon, hasn’t met anyone for a while, hasn’t he? It was the last time that A-rank talented person came to get rescued when being injured.”

“If it’s A-rank… maybe Talented Han Yi-gyeol?”

“Yes, that’s right. Come to think of it, he said he lives in Requiem, do you know him, Min Ah-rin-ssi?”

Min Ah-rin, who glanced at Ha Tae-heon lightly, answered with a smile.

“We’re very close.”

“Oh, really? How is he doing? I haven’t seen him since Ha Tae-heon brought him, but I’ve heard about him often in the news.”

“…he’s doing well. I never thought that Ha-seok-ssi would know Yi-gyeol-ssi.”

“Haha, I’ve only met him for a while, so maybe Han Yi-gyeol-ssi doesn’t remember me.”

He thought he should separate those two. When Ha Tae-heon was seriously thinking about it, a guild member called out in front of him.

“There’s the gate exit!”

When the team members looked up to where he was pointing, they really saw the gate exit. At the top of the steep staircase, it was in front of a baroque-style building that had been broken down to the point where it was difficult to recognize its shape.

A sincere smile now appeared on the lips of Lee Joo-ha, who was more worried than anyone else. Everyone was trying to move toward the gate exit with peace of mind, but a sharp scream resounded in the air in the distance.

Kkiaaaak—!

Dozens of monsters with huge bat wings and long necks and dragon heads flew in a swarm.

“Wyvern (와이번)!”

“It’s Wyvern!”

“They are coming from the east too!”

Wyverns flocked from all directions. Lee Joo-ha, who was confused for a moment, quickly came to her senses and shouted.

“Non-combat team gathers in the centre and the close team protects them. The long-distance team follows me out!”

The Wyvern with sharp teeth and claws flying through the air at high speed was one of the most difficult monsters to deal with. They had to be shot down with a long-distance attack before they got close.

Following Lee Joo-ha’s orders, the team quickly formed a formation. From those with huge longbows to those with sharply forged boomerangs, talented people specialized in long distances came out with Lee Joo-ha.

Squeak!

Kkuak, kiiik!

The sky was filled with Wyverns without nowhere to spare. A few Wyverns who were hit with direct hits from the long-distance team’s attack fell down, but it didn’t mean much.

“There are too many!”

“Be careful!”

“Argh!”

A swarm of northern Wyverns flew in an instant and attacked the close team and the non-combat team. Huge claws shoved away those who ran away. A few close fighters screamed at the attack and flew off then crashed into the wall.

“Master, the shield doesn’t work…!”

“There are S-grade Wyverns!”

“Move under the building! Protect the non-combat team!”

The cries and screams of the wyverns that stabbed in their ears harmonized the surroundings. The non-combat team, which evacuated as the close team led them, began to treat the injured without a moment to catch their breath.

“Ha Tae-heon!”

Ha Tae-heon, who descended at a high speed and cut the Wyvern’s neck wide open at the healer at once, turned to the call. Cheon Sa-yeon, holding a colourful sword wrapped in fire, stared straight at the Wyvern flying towards him and said.

“Build a foothold with your ability.”

“What?”

Without listening to Ha Tae-heon’s answer, Cheon Sa-yeon hanging from the Wyvern’s claws swiftly stood on his feet and swung his sword.

Squeak!

Wyvern, who had been stabbed in the centre of its bulging chest, collapsed in the air, pouring out blood. Ha Tae-heon, who understood what the request was, used his ability when he saw Cheon Sa-yeon flying upward again using the falling Wyvern’s corpse as a support.

The distance was insufficient to reach other Wyverns. In the meantime, dust collected and formed a small scaffold. Cheon Sa-yeon, who stepped on it correctly, got on the back of the second Wyvern and cut off both wings in an instant.

Wyvern, which was stained with the blood of Cheon Sa-yeon, couldn’t withstand the burning fire and twisted its body and fell down. The fire spread easily as the numbers were large and gathered together.

The long-distance team blocked the lead and Cheon Sa-yeon, Ha Tae-heon, and the close team blocked the Wyverns they missed.

“Take it down! The chest under the neck is their weakness!”

Lee Joo-ha, putting her gun in her leg holster, quickly knocked twice on the largest of the round marbles in the leather bracelet. Then, along with the smoke, a long weapon appeared.

A modified RPG-7 item rocket weapon. Lee Joo-ha, kneeling on one knee and putting the item on her shoulder, aimed at the centre of the swarm of Wyverns.

Kuung!

The grenade that flew accurately collided with the Wyverns, and sparks burst out with a strong explosion. Tuduk, tuk. The torn corpse of the Wyvern caught in the explosion fell to the ground.

* * *

For some reason, as soon as I opened my eyes, I saw rain pouring out the window. It was always a warm place on a sunny day, but suddenly it was raining.

Looking up at the sky full of dark clouds, I bowed my head and touched the corners of my eyes. The slightly roughened skin touched the palm of my hand.

It was getting harder to dream as the time went by. This time… was it the eighth time? Yesterday was the seventh time when Elohim came to visit.

Even though it had only been two days, it felt so far away. The dream was so vivid that I felt like I lost my sense of time every time I slept.

I checked the time that was 2 p.m. on the clock on the nightstand and realized that I had only been asleep for five hours. In my dream, I stayed for three full days. That long time was only five hours.

With a sigh, I went into the bathroom, washed quickly, and left the room. Yesterday, I couldn’t see Elohim and Elahah because they were both busy, but I still couldn’t see them today.

I looked around the inside of the temple, which had a dark atmosphere, and moved to eat in a depressed mood.

This time too, the table was full of various foods as Elohim and Elahah took care of the meals without missing anything else.

I looked down at the soup, which still had warm energy and tilted my head. Did they ever know when I would wake up? How could they prepare it so that it didn’t cool down every time?

As I sat on my chair and stirred the soup, thinking about something, I heard a familiar sound from below.

Pii.

It was the fox. When I found the fox wagging its tail and looking up at me, I somehow felt a sense of joy. It was the joy of not having to eat alone in this silence.

Piik.

The fox continued to cry as if asked to put him on the table. After looking at him for a while, I finally hugged the fox and put him down on the table.

“You can fly.”

Even though I grumbled for nothing, he didn’t pretend to listen and sniffed while pushing his face here and there. I gave the fox such a strawberry and turned on the TV in front of me.

[This morning, there was a bombing in front of the newly appeared D45 Area gate. It is an unusual incident that has never happened in the past 10 years, both at domestic and abroad…]

“……?”

I was just trying to keep it on because I was bored. I put down the spoon at the unusual content of the announcer and fixed my gaze on the screen.

The screen was switched and the grey CCTV video was played. The video showed a man who approached the gate entrance with an uneasy step and exploded like a bomb.

[That in the form of an ordinary man is not a real person, but a bomb. The number of casualties and injuries is expected to continue increasing as the accident is currently being handled.]

As soon as the bomb exploded, the screen was switched back to the announcer, but it was enough to know that the damage wouldn’t be little just by explaining it.

[After the bomb exploded, an unidentified group appeared in the place of havoc. All of them were wearing black masks, numbering thirty. They all went inside the gate without hesitation.]

“What the…”

[Roheon Guild, who heard the news late, recruited support personnel and entered the gate, but there was a difference of six hours…]

Those who wore black masks. Chilling goosebumps ran up my spine.

Ha Tae-heon is at that gate…

“Se-hyun-ah.”

“……!”

I heard Elohim’s voice calling for me, who had become enthralled by the shocking fact. Without realizing it, I jumped up and looked at Elohim as he opened his mouth with a bitter smile.

“The situation isn’t good.”

“El…”

“I have work for you to do.”