CH 131

The members of the Blue Dragon Guild greeted the Cain Guild members, but they ignored everyone else, including Gi-Gyu and the Morningstar-Child Guild members.

Sun-Pil frowned and murmured, “Does being in the top ten make them better than everyone?” 

Honestly, it did make them better than most, but Morningstar-Child Guild was a new guild that was gaining public recognition fast. Meanwhile, the Blue Dragon Guild was a mid-sized guild that already held a firm position in the top ten. 

Trying to change the uncomfortable subject, Gi-Gyu asked, “Is the Angela Guild entering any of the gates?”

Gi-Gyu glanced at the Blue Dragon Guild’s master, Choi Chang-Yong, and wondered, ‘Is he ignoring me and the Morningstar-Child Guild because of what happened with the Iron Guild branch?’

Back then, Gi-Gyu, the Morningstar-Child Guild, and the Cain Guild had destroyed the Iron Guild branch in Yeoksam with the association’s blessing. As the head of one of the top ten guilds in Korea, Choi Chang-Yong must have a good idea of what happened that day. That meant Choi Chang-Yong also knew Gi-Gyu was the shining new star that the KPA favored. It was no wonder every Korean power player resented Gi-Gyu. 

‘Even so, this is unreasonable. He should know better,’ thought Gi-Gyu in disappointment. The situation in Korea was grim; the whole world was facing unprecedented danger. As a professional, Choi Chang-Yong should have greeted everyone or at least Gi-Gyu. After all, they were going into the same gate to close it together. It would have been in Choi Chang-Yong’s interest to familiarize himself with Gi-Gyu and his power. 

Sun-Pil replied, “I heard the Angela Guild would be taking on one of the gates by itself. You know how one of the top ten guilds, the Hephaestus, is a blacksmith guild, right? The plan was to send two of the top ten guilds per gate, which means they’re short one guild. The Angela Guild will be compensating for this by going alone.” 

Dong-Hae nodded and exclaimed, “That’s amazing.” 

Several parties were tackling each gate together, yet the Angela Guild refused outside help and was going in alone. 

Remembering Lee Sun-Ho, Gi-Gyu thought, ‘I would have expected no less from him.’

Just then, Sung-Hoon arrived. He was a little late because he wanted to spend extra time with his mother. Gi-Gyu asked him, “Sung-Hoon, what is happening with Soo-Jung?”

“I was told she’ll finish up whatever is going on abroad and return to Korea soon.” 

“I see,” replied Gi-Gyu. Regardless of how late she joined the battle, he knew she would be helpful. After all, Soo-Jung and Lee Sun-Ho were the two most powerful players Gi-Gyu knew. 

‘But then, there is also Michael…,’ The above statement didn’t factor in Michael since Gi-Gyu still couldn’t trust him.

Finally, the last participating players joined them: Shin Yoo-Bin and ten of her Gypsophila Guild members. When she spotted Gi-Gyu, she greeted, “Oppa.” 

“Ah, there you are,” Gi-Gyu greeted her back. Shin Yoo-Bin looked tense as she walked toward him. Now, everyone responsible for the Gangnam gate was here. 

Choi Chang-Yong and 100 Blue Dragon Guild members.

Lee Bum-Jun, Cain Guild’s deputy guild master, and 100 Cain Guild members.

Shin Yoo-Bin and 10 Gypsophila Guild members. 

There were to be four additional individual members. Two of them, Gi-Gyu and Sung-Hoon, were from Korea, and two more would be sent by foreign countries. Everyone was here except for the foreign players. 

Sung-Hoon added, “General Manager Oh Tae-Shik will be entering another gate along with other guilds.” 

Gi-Gyu nodded. Since the Gangnam gate group was already quite powerful, Tae-Shik being dispatched to another gate made sense. 

Choi Chang-Yong was the assigned leader of this gate party. In his baritone voice, he announced, “After the head count, we will ration out the supplies and enter the gate.” 

Without a word, everyone began to gather around him.

***

“That was the summary of our strategy,” Choi Chang-Yong finished his explanation. Launching an offense momentarily after entering an exceptional gate wasn’t uncommon, so it was decided that the Blue Dragon Guild, the strongest group here, should enter first. Once it had established a safe perimeter, the rest were to follow. 

Choi Chang-Yong also decided to divide the hunting party into two groups. 

‘Is that necessary?’ Gi-Gyu wondered. He didn’t like Choi Chang-Yong’s plan. This was probably the best strategy for the weak players' safety. But…

‘There is no time to waste.’ Gi-Gyu thought in concern. They still couldn’t contact Suk-Woo, who had entered this exceptional gate earlier. Since electronics didn’t work inside the gates, it made sense that the other players inside couldn’t be contacted. However, Suk-Woo could create portals, yet he was still missing. It had to mean that something terrible had happened to him. 

Gi-Gyu noticed Do Bong-Gu biting his fingernails. It was clear that Do Bong-Gu was feeling very nervous too. 

After the meeting, Blue Dragon was getting ready to enter the gate first. Quietly, Gi-Gyu called out to Cain Guild’s deputy guild master, “Deputy Guild Master Lee Bum-Jun!”

“Did you need something from me, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu?” Lee Bum-Jun answered quickly. Since he was from Suk-Woo’s guild, Lee Bum-Jun had met Gi-Gyu many times. He treated Gi-Gyu with great respect for two reasons: Gi-Gyu was Suk-Woo’s good friend, and Lee Bum-Jun had also participated in the Iron Guild branch’s annihilation. 

“I would like to make a suggestion. Would you mind speaking with me for a moment?”  When Gi-Gyu asked, Lee Bum-Jun looked confused. He was well aware of Gi-Gyu’s strength because he had witnessed it during the Yeoksam incident. So, he felt a little nervous and curious about what Gi-Gyu wanted to suggest.

After Gi-Gyu finished explaining, Lee Bum-Jun nodded with a rigid face. He had to admit that it was a very attractive offer.

But…

Lee Bum-Jun asked, “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

What he proposed would put him in danger. Based on what Lee Bum-Jun remembered, he shouldn’t have been powerful enough to pull off something like this alone.

Gi-Gyu replied, “Yes, I’m pretty confident I can do it. And if it doesn’t work out for me, I’m certain I can run fast enough.”

“Well, if you insist,” murmured Lee Bum-Jun. If things worked out according to Gi-Gyu’s plan, the Cain Guild would remain relatively safe. However, Lee Bum-Jun still doubted Gi-Gyu could accomplish what he claimed.  

Lee Bum-Jun looked at the players standing behind Gi-Gyu, which included Sung-Hoon.

‘Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu’s power has attracted so many people,’ Lee Bum-Jun thought in awe. All the players that followed him were powerful in their own rights. Gi-Gyu was an unusual player, so he did overshadow them, but that didn’t make those high-level players any weaker. 

Lee Bum-Jun replied, “All right. I will do as you suggest, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu.”

“Thank you.” Gi-Gyu and Lee Bum-Jun shook their hands.

Just then, Choi Chang-Yong, a man of sharp features, approached Gi-Gyu and asked, “Are you Kim Gi-Gyu?”

Choi Chang-Yong should have greeted Gi-Gyu much sooner. When Gi-Gyu silently nodded, Choi Chang-Yong frowned and muttered, “Hmph. All that arrogance just because you have the association’s support.” 

Although Choi Chang-Yong tried to act nonchalant, he couldn’t hide his interest in Gi-Gyu. It was because he couldn’t sense Gi-Gyu’s power at all. 

“Just don’t slow me down inside the gate,” Choi Chang-Yong murmured, but Gi-Gyu kept silent.  

Gi-Gyu watched as Choi Chang-Yong left, and Lee Bum-Jun scratched his head and explained, “He isn’t a bad man. You just have a bad reputation among the players right now, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu.”

“Well, I guess I did get the chance to attend the GPA meeting when it should’ve been one of the top ten guilds. The association favors me, and I hear I’m quite popular with the public. I suppose it makes sense,” replied Gi-Gyu. That was why the top ten guilds hated him. 

‘But they will change their minds soon enough.’ Gi-Gyu felt certain about this. Power was everything; the world hadn’t even seen half of what he had. Everyone would bow before him once the world saw his true strength. 

“Now! Let’s get going!” Choi Chang-Yong yelled as he led his guild. 

Thud, thud, thud.

As everyone marched, the footsteps created palpable vibrations on the ground. When the Blue Dragon Guild disappeared into the gate, Lee Bum-Jun announced, “We’ll be up soon.” 

Gi-Gyu nodded gravely.

***

Sung-Hoon whispered to Gi-Gyu, “I’m sure glad the Blue Dragon Guild went in first.” 

Three hours after the Blue Dragon entered the gate, the Cain Guild and the rest joined. Inside, countless corpses of the players and the monsters awaited them. The battle must have been intense because the ground was still smoking. The magic inside the gate was so thick that it was suffocating.

Lee Bum-Jun saw the flag on the ground and murmured, “They must’ve gone left.” 

The Blue Dragon Guild had marked where they headed: Left. Therefore, Gi-Gyu’s group now needed to go right. 

Lee Bum-Jun announced, “Let’s get going.” 

Blue Dragon Guild cleared the area well because they couldn’t sense any monsters nearby. The group members felt safe, as they would be out of harm’s way, at least for a little while. 

The Cain Guild members began marching when someone approached Gi-Gyu and asked, “Are you the young man Yoo-Bin mentioned?” 

The speaker was an elderly woman; the mighty magical storm around her seemed immune to her age.

Gi-Gyu asked, “Yoo-Bin? Are you referring to Guild Master Shin Yoo-Bin?”

“That’s right. Yoo-Bin hates men in general, but she couldn’t stop talking about you. So I came to have a look myself, and… I can tell that you’re special.”

Gi-Gyu stared at the elderly woman in confusion, but all she did was laugh without explaining what she meant.

Yoo-Bin ran toward them and shouted, “Grandma!” 

Yoo-Bin asked the elderly player, “What are you doing here?!” 

“I knew I wouldn’t get another chance to talk to this young man, so I came to chat.” When the elderly woman replied, Yoo-Bin blushed and grabbed her arm. Pulling her away, Yoo-Bin turned toward Gi-Gyu and explained, “She is an advisor in the Gypsophila Guild. Without her, I would’ve never become as strong as I am today.”

With an embarrassed bow, Yoo-Bin quickly dragged the elderly woman back to their guild formation. 

Everyone was uninjured, but no one could hide their anxiety after seeing the Blue Dragon players’ corpses. 

-This isn’t good.

Lou murmured. Gi-Gyu continued to walk as he asked silently. 

‘Why? What’s wrong?’

-I can’t tell whose territory this is, but it definitely belongs to a high-level demon.

‘A high-level demon?’

-The landlord of this gate could be a high-level demon lord—someone like Baal.

Gi-Gyu couldn’t respond to Lou’s statement. He had never felt the extent of Baal’s power, but he could make an educated guess. 

He couldn’t fully understand the situation, but he knew one thing for certain: The journey ahead would be fraught with dangers and disasters.  

-Don’t be too nervous. This gate hasn’t completely connected to your world yet, so I would guess this demon won’t be as powerful as Baal. 

Gi-Gyu nodded and sighed deeply, “Haa…,” He was trying to breathe to prevent his body from tensing. 

“A monster!” one of the players in the sensor category screamed. Based on what they saw earlier, everyone could guess what kind of monsters inhabited this gate. 

“Chimeras! We’ve got chimeras here!” the players began to shout even louder as more and more monsters appeared. Chimeras had various appearances: Some had lion’s heads and horse’s legs, while others had human heads and torsos with spider legs. There were also monsters moving about in the sky.

Lee Bum-Jun shouted, “Get the battle formation in order!” 

Now that Lee Bum-Jun was the assigned leader, following his order, the players began to get into battle positions. 

Gulp.

Someone gulped. Despite the thunderous galloping sounds and the monstrous screeches, everyone heard it. 

Turning toward Sung-Hoon, standing right next to him, Gi-Gyu murmured, “Sung-Hoon, don’t overdo it.”

“I got it,” Sung-Hoon replied with a nod. He had no intention of pushing himself too far. But…

‘I’m certainly not going to cower behind either.’  Sung-Hoon thought in determination as he switched his pike with a long spear. 

Suddenly, a giant light ray fell from the sky and annihilated the monsters. 

Zap.

“Kirrrrk!” the chimeras screamed in pain.

All the players became speechless. The dust particles of the dead monsters floated in the air, and the players slowly looked up in shock. 

“Hey!” someone in the sky greeted as he waved at Gi-Gyu.