## Chapter 47 – 47. Gate (12)
#47. Gate (12)
A heavy silence hung between us as we ate a late breakfast after our morning romp.
“…Hey.”
“Huh?”
Just when I thought I’d die from the awkwardness, Choi Hyena spoke first, her expression complex.
“Last night was an accident. Forget everything that happened once we get out of this gate.”
Even as she said that, I could see her face turning redder and redder as she recalled the events of last night.
Judging by the trembling in her eyes, it was obvious who would be the one unable to forget.
“So, when you said to me, ‘Honey, I’m so tired, can’t we rest for a bit?’ that was also…?”
“Kyaaaaaah!!”
Thwack! I got hit by the spoon Choi Hyena threw.
“Forget it! Forget it! I said forget it!!”
As punishment for my loose tongue, I had to endure a furious barrage of kicks.
After two rounds of kicks, Choi Hyena seemed to have calmed down a bit, cautiously picking up the spoon again and silently continuing her meal.
“By the way, what about the Wendigo?”
“…It’s asleep.”
Choi Hyena said that she had a temporary contract with the Wendigo.
She didn’t know how she, who had no aptitude for spiritism, had managed to make a contract with the Wendigo.
“Still, the Wendigo won’t attack us like last time.”
Well, judging by its reaction at dawn, it didn’t seem like it would attack us even without a contract.
“Are you going to make a formal contract?”
“I don’t know. I’m a complete novice when it comes to spirits… It would be nice if I could make a formal contract, but I don’t know if it will agree so easily…”
In the first place, spiritists are extremely rare.
So rare that there were fewer than thirty spiritists in the entire country.
As such, there were very few people who tried to delve deeply into spirits, and it wasn’t necessarily a required field of study. Even if you were born into a prestigious magical family like Choi Hyena, they wouldn’t necessarily teach you about spirits.
“Anyway, even a temporary contract is still a contract. Can’t we borrow some of its power until we escape the gate?”
“…I don’t know about that either. It seems like neither of us knows the details of the contract. Well, maybe it knows, but even if it does lend us its power, it won’t do it without a corresponding price.”
“We have a price.”
“What is it?”
I proudly pointed to my lower body.
“…You’re probably the only human in the world who’s had relations with a spirit.”
“It seemed to love it.”
“…That’s my body!!”
Paak!!
***
I have good news and bad news.
The good news is that there are only two days left until the gate opens, and the bad news is that the appearance of the Wendigo has made it highly likely that this gate is B-grade or higher.
We wouldn’t be facing the boss, so it wouldn’t matter, but if another B-grade monster appeared, one of us could really die.
‘We can’t just hide in the shelter until the gate opens.’
The opening of the gate meant that a gate break would occur, and all the monsters within the gate would rush to Earth.
Of course, countless skilled people would already be prepared outside to deal with it, but the problem was us.
To minimize combat during our escape, we had to clear out the monsters around the shelter bit by bit.
Of course, we had considered the option of waiting for all the monsters to leave and then sneaking out of the empty gate, but Choi Hyena insisted that it was a crazy idea.
-The outside world must be in chaos right now, due to the sudden appearance of a B-grade or higher gate in the middle of the city.
Choi Hyena said that the best way to handle a gate break while minimizing property damage and casualties was a full-force attack.
I had seen it on the news from time to time.
Magicians and hunters would surround the gate, and the moment it opened, they would unleash a barrage of attacks to reduce the number of monsters in the initial stage.
If we escaped too early, we would be turned to ashes by the barrage, and if we were too late, we would be discovered by a boss-level monster and killed.
In the end, escaping the gate one step ahead of the other monsters was the only way for us to survive.
The outside world must know that we are trapped here.
Moreover, with Choi Hyena’s presence and Grandma Choi Young-ok’s influence, we should have at least a few minutes of leeway after the gate opens.
We had to take advantage of that time.
However, a gate break is the disaster that people fear the most.
Even Grandma Choi Young-ok wouldn’t be able to buy us much time.
We had to be first. If another monster got out first, our chances of survival would plummet.
If we didn’t want to die, we had to reach the finish line before anyone else in this death marathon.
“Still no response from the Wendigo?”
“Haa… I guess not.”
The Wendigo was the key card for this escape.
Due to Choi Hyena’s inexperience as a spiritist and the flimsy connection of a temporary contract, we wouldn’t be able to fully unleash the power of a B-grade monster, but it was enough for now.
If the Wendigo could draw the attention of the monsters while we escaped, it would make our escape much easier.
The problem was that the Wendigo, that damn sow, was either still asleep or deliberately ignoring us, and wasn’t responding to Choi Hyena’s calls.
And it had been like that for almost two hours.
“I guess we have no choice. Let’s wait until this evening, and if it still doesn’t wake up, we’ll have to break through on our own.”
“…No, if it doesn’t wake up by evening, I’ll force it to wake up.”
“Can you do that?”
“I think I can somehow.”
Seeing Choi Hyena’s confident expression, I decided not to ask any further.
There was something more important than that.
“5 o’clock, about 200 meters.”
“Confirmed.”
No sooner had I finished briefing than Choi Hyena composed herself and began preparing her magic.
Thump- Thump-
Ten seconds passed, then thirty seconds, and a huge monster emerged from beyond the increasingly loud vibrations.
“That’s an Ice Troll… Isn’t it too big?”
It was a C+ grade monster, known to be larger than a White Yeti and more ferocious than an Ice Bear.
With its powerful strength, excellent regeneration, and skin resistant to physical attacks, it was definitely a tricky opponent.
However, unlike higher-grade monsters like Ogres, it didn’t have strong magic resistance in its skin, making it nothing more than a walking target for us.
After confirming its position, direction, and speed, I gathered my magic power like Choi Hyena.
Among the elemental attributes, water was the weakest in terms of destructive power, but it had the advantage of being versatile and adaptable to various situations.
In contrast, the fire element was not as flexible as the water element, but its power was by far the highest among the elemental attributes.
[Thought Acceleration]
When I used the newly acquired skill, everything around me, including the surrounding objects, environment, and everything else, noticeably slowed down.
The snow falling from the sky, the breath flowing from my mouth, even the movements of my body.
Now I understood what ‘Thought Acceleration’ was.
In a moment where everything slowed down, I alone could think as usual.
‘To be able to reduce the magic casting time by nearly half… If this is what a Rare-grade skill is like, then Weakness Detection must be Epic, right??’
With ‘Thought Acceleration,’ I could now perform twice or even more than twice as well as I had in previous battles.
[Fire Spear]
The magic I was about to unleash was the Fire Spear I had used in the underground dungeon before.
Of course, both its power and speed were incomparable to what they were back then. The current Fire Spear was emitting so much heat that it was melting all the snow around it.
The increased amount of magic power compared to last time, the increased casting time, and even my improved condition thanks to satisfying my sexual desires last night.
“If it regenerates even after its head is pierced, I’ll acknowledge it.”
Before Choi Hyena’s magic was complete, I launched the spear first.
After all, water and fire were polar opposites, and launching them together would only diminish each other’s magic.
Whoosh!!
The Fire Spear, tearing through the air at an incredible speed, pierced the Ice Troll’s forehead.
-Kkeueooooh!!!
The Fire Spear exploded the moment it pierced its forehead.
I was surprised by the immense power, but the title of C+ grade monster wasn’t just for show. It couldn’t be defeated with just one magic attack.
However, it had definitely taken some damage.
[Aqua Rage]
The finishing blow was Choi Hyena’s responsibility.
Thump-
The troll collapsed, scattering its brains, from the laser made of high-pressure water.
After that, we only collected the magic stones and gradually hunted down the approaching monsters one by one.
Continuing until the sun went down.
Another day in the gate passed like that, but the Wendigo still didn’t respond.
***
There were only a day and a few hours left until the gate opened, but the schedule for the last day was no different from usual.
Hunting the monsters around the shelter and checking the path to the gate.
Having finished our daily routine by dealing with a considerable number of monsters again today, we returned to the shelter.
Even though we had safely spent another day, there was no conversation between us.
It was partly because we were exhausted from hunting monsters, but mostly because the sight we had seen during the day was still unforgettable.
Choi Hyena, in particular, seemed to be in shock.
While we were hunting monsters as usual, we felt as if the ground was shaking, and we hurriedly climbed up a hill to survey the surroundings.
-W-what is that…?
-…No way.
There, not far from us, we saw a horde of at least 100 monsters marching in an orderly fashion towards somewhere.
It was unbelievable that so many monsters were gathered together, and they weren’t even attacking each other.
It was beyond my comprehension, but Choi Hyena explained that it was due to the boss’s control.
Now I understood why so many hunters gathered in front of the gate on the news screens showing the gate break.
It was a disaster.
A disaster that could easily wipe out an entire city if it wasn’t stopped.
“…Will we be able to return alive?”
Choi Hyena’s shoulders were trembling slightly as she lay on her back.
I quietly hugged Choi Hyena.
Normally, a fist would have come flying, but Choi Hyena quietly snuggled into my arms and fell asleep without saying a word.
When the next day dawned, we would have to break through that army and escape.
I didn’t show it, but I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.
***
Late at night.
Kwaaaang!!!
“?!”
“Kyaaak?!”
A huge earthquake occurred.
We, who had been fast asleep, hurriedly rushed out of the tent.
And we couldn’t believe our eyes.
“…What the hell is that?”
A small mountain was moving, and its blue glowing eyes were fixed on us.
“A-an Ice Golem… It’s a B-grade boss monster…”
The moment I saw its massive form, I couldn’t even think of fighting it.
Even if it was a stationary sandbag, I doubted whether we could defeat it.
While we were stunned by its appearance, it began to walk again.
Kwaaaang!!
It felt like a huge earthquake had occurred just from taking a step.
If an earthquake of this magnitude occurred in this snowy mountain range, there would naturally be a disaster following it.
Kuuuuuu-
An overwhelmingly huge avalanche that was beyond description was revealing itself.
The sight of the snow covering an entire mountain range being swept away was enough to bring me back to my senses.
“Hey!”
Having regained my senses a step ahead, I grabbed Choi Hyena’s wrist, who was still dazed, and ran. Only then did Choi Hyena seem to come to her senses and start running on her own.
We gathered our magic power and ran with all our might in the opposite direction of the avalanche, but considering the environmental disadvantage of our feet sinking in the snow and the avalanche’s speed reaching up to 120 km/h.
“Shit!!”
Kwaang!!!
There was no way for us to escape from that white wave.
