## Chapter 38 – 38. Gate (3)
#38. Gate (3)
Choi Hyena momentarily wondered if there was something wrong with her ears.
“…What?”
“From now on, don’t call me ‘you’ or ‘that,’ call me ‘honey’ affectionately.”
Seeing the smile plastered on Kang Hyunwoo’s face made her stomach churn.
“Are you finally crazy? Just because I’m treating you like a benefactor doesn’t mean you can take advantage of me!”
“Then starve.”
Ha! Threatening her with food, as if she, born as the sole heir of the Seongbuk Choi family and trained in self-restraint, would be swayed by such cheap blackmail.
“How petty…!”
But she was too hungry to say that.
It felt like she hadn’t eaten dinner long ago, but her stomach was already clamoring for food.
The feeling of emptiness made her feel like acid was rising, and her stomach was shrinking. And that damned guy was even cooking ramen next to her.
“…Gulp.”
The smell of ramen was driving her crazy.
“Looks like you want some?”
The way he teasingly lifted the perfectly cooked noodles with his chopsticks made Choi Hyena feel something snap.
“I don’t want it! I said I don’t want it!! You eat it all, you pig…”
At that moment, Kang Hyunwoo threw the ramen far away and rushed towards her, entering Choi Hyena’s view.
‘Huh, uh?? Was the word ‘p-pig’ that offensive…??’
His momentum was so intense that she reflexively squeezed her eyes shut.
“Get down!!!”
“…Huh?”
Bang!! A huge, grotesque arm tore through the cloth-covered cave entrance and lunged at Choi Hyena.
‘Too late!’
In the rapidly accelerating thought process, Kang Hyunwoo judged that activating magic wouldn’t be in time and discarded his wand.
In a brief moment that wouldn’t even take 0.1 seconds, he drew his sword from his inventory.
Mana surged intensely from the hand gripping the sword hilt.
[Imperial Army’s Mana Sword]
[Grade: Rare]
[Sharpness increases when imbued with mana]
He poured most of his mana into the sword, maximizing its cutting power.
Due to the limitations of the rare grade and the amount of mana, it wouldn’t be powerful enough to cut through diamonds, but it was enough to sever a monster’s arm.
“Hah!”
Swish- The monster’s hand and wrist were cleanly severed, and blood spurted out.
-Kreeaaaaagh!!!
Ignoring the monster’s scream of agony, Kang Hyunwoo embraced Choi Hyena and dashed out of the cave.
Outside, a monster covered in white fur was clutching its severed wrist in pain. It looked like a Yeti.
Barely registering the massive body that seemed to be at least 4 meters tall, he realized that now was his chance, with the monster writhing in pain and exposing its defenseless back.
He set Choi Hyena down on the snowy field and quickly ran towards the monster.
Gathering mana at his toes and thighs to enhance his jumping power, he plunged the sword into the monster’s neck.
Thwack- The blade went in more easily than expected.
But that wasn’t the end.
Even though his magic casting speed was slow without a wand, it still wouldn’t take more than 2 seconds.
[Flame Circle]
Whoosh!! The violently rotating and exploding flames erupted from the tip of the blade, blowing the Yeti’s head off.
The headless body knelt and collapsed.
In an instant, the pure white snowfield was stained crimson with blood.
“…What the hell is that?”
It was a monster he’d never seen before.
All he knew about monsters was the fragmented knowledge taught at school and the contents of a few high-view count posts on the community forum.
“Wh, White Yeti…”
Choi Hyena, her red hair covered in white snow, stared at the monster’s corpse with a pale face.
“White Yeti?”
“…It’s a C-rank monster.”
Hearing those words, an uncontrollable phrase rose from the depths of his gut.
“…Shit.”
Ding-
[You have defeated the White Yeti]
[First Kill Reward: 200 Coins]
It seemed like they had come quite deep, but considering the size of a typical gate, this was still just the entrance.
A C-rank monster appearing in such a place meant that this gate was at least C+ or higher.
If they were unlucky, it could even be B-rank.
“…I used too much mana.”
Even if it wasn’t an elite individual, he thought the blade had cut through too easily for a C-rank monster. Sure enough, he had unknowingly squeezed out his mana.
Moreover, the mana used for Flame Circle wasn’t insignificant either.
“Do you have a wand or staff with you?”
“…No.”
Well, it would be strange for someone to bring something like that to a matchmaking meeting.
Of course, not having equipment didn’t turn a mage into a useless bum, but the overall power and casting speed of magic would decrease, which was undeniable.
In a real battle where lives were at stake with a difference of 0.1 seconds, it was a fatal problem.
“Use this for now.”
He handed Choi Hyena the wooden wand and magic ring he had been using.
“Then what about you…?”
“Someone has to be in the front. Who’s going to draw the monsters’ aggro if we’re both in the back?”
No matter how strong a mage was, they were still a backline class.
Continuing to hunt monsters without a frontline was like a sandcastle that could collapse at any moment.
Since Choi Hyena, a 3-circle mage, was stronger in terms of firepower than him, it was right for him to be in the front.
“What kind of mage stands in the front!”
“Then do you want to do it?”
“That’s…”
If there was a mage with an aptitude for alchemy or summoning, the situation would have been much easier.
They could just put a golem or familiar in the front.
But Choi Hyena’s family was famous for their excellent aptitude for elemental magic, especially fire, and he hadn’t learned anything about summoning magic yet.
“It’s better for me to do it than you, so shut up and support me with magic from behind.”
The hideout they had found was no longer habitable due to the monster’s blood. Unfortunately, they had to pack up the tent and move.
“And put this on before we go.”
“Huh?”
He threw the completely dried fur coat at Choi Hyena.
He still didn’t understand how the sole heir of the Seongbuk Choi family, famous for fire magic, could be more susceptible to the cold than him, but there was no time to leisurely listen to the details.
For now, it would be fortunate if she didn’t collapse from the cold on the way.
“…Thank you.”
“If you’re thankful, call me ‘honey’.”
“Get lost.”
***
After encountering the White Yeti, their goals were twofold.
One was to find a deep cave with a narrow entrance where they could barricade themselves and hold out.
The other was to create a kind of safe zone by clearing out the monsters in a certain area.
“White Yetis are monsters that live in groups. We were lucky that there was only one earlier, but they usually form groups of at least ten to as many as thirty.”
Choi Hyena’s explanation made the plan to create a safe zone in the area where they had hunted the White Yeti impossible.
Creating a safe zone in a place where there might be more than 20 C-rank monsters was too reckless.
In the end, they had no choice but to head back to the starting point where they had first opened their eyes when they entered the gate.
“It’s damn cold.”
Haa…
The air was so cold that it made his teeth ache with every breath.
In six days, the gate’s entrance would open at the starting point.
If they didn’t escape as soon as the gate break occurred, they would be in danger, so it would be best to create a hideout around that area. But there was no suitable place in the empty snowfield, and they didn’t know how many monsters would flock there to cross over to Earth.
It was a logically insane choice, but now they had to return near the entrance, knowing that.
First of all, stronger monsters appeared inside the gate as they got closer to the core. Conversely, relatively weak monsters inhabited the area around the starting point.
Now that they knew this was a C+ or higher gate, they had to set up camp around the starting point to avoid encountering mid-boss level monsters.
‘For now, we should stay near there and move the hideout again when there are only a day or two left.’
If they encountered a monster they couldn’t handle, their lives would be in danger.
“…Or so I thought.”
What appeared before them as they were traversing the blizzard-swept snowfield was a bear.
It was incomparably larger than an ordinary bear.
Its ferocious appearance and savage claws were sharp enough to tear his body into dozens of pieces at any moment.
Bang!
Without even exchanging greetings, the giant bear cub swung its claws at him.
Thanks to his quick dodge, there was no damage, but the impact left a deep indentation in the snow.
“Ice Bear!”
“What’s the rank?!”
“C-rank!”
What’s with all the C-ranks?
‘Should I take comfort in the fact that it’s not C+?’
It was no comfort at all.
The fact that a C-rank monster had appeared now that they were getting closer to the starting point meant that the possibility of this gate being B-rank had also increased.
Shit.
“I’ll draw the aggro, so prepare the magic!”
He ran towards the Ice Bear. Close combat was dangerous, but if Choi Hyena got involved, an even more dangerous situation could arise.
The mana-infused straight sword was emitting a blue light, but he couldn’t expect the same cutting power as before.
In the first place, a C-rank monster was still too much for his level.
Even though the monsters in the underground dungeon he had faced before were all elite individuals, they were still around C-rank.
He probably wouldn’t have been able to hold his own against the Ice Bear if he was alone. Especially if the opponent didn’t give him an opening like the Yeti had.
The distance between him and the Ice Bear was getting closer. As if it had no intention of letting him get away, the Ice Bear charged towards him at a much faster speed than he had expected, forcing him to roll once on the snowfield to avoid it.
He quickly regained his posture and slashed at the Ice Bear’s hind leg.
Slash!
‘Shit.’
It was shallow.
The Ice Bear, in pain from the burning sensation in its hind leg, glared at him with murderous eyes and slammed its front paw down hard.
In a situation where he could be torn apart by its claws if he dodged poorly, he abandoned the option of dodging early on.
Bang! He blocked the Ice Bear’s claws with the flat of his sword.
‘Ugh…!!’
The tremendous impact made his head ring. If he hadn’t reinforced his whole body with mana in advance, something would have definitely broken.
“N…Now!! Shoot quickly!!”
An enormous surge of mana was felt from behind, the high-powered magic created by a 3-circle mage focusing intently.
[Water Cannon]
Whoosh!!
A cannon of highly compressed water flew at high speed and blew away the Ice Bear’s forehead.
Thud- The Ice Bear, with a large hole in its head, collapsed, gushing blood.
[You have defeated the Ice Bear]
[First Kill Reward: 200 Coins]
As with the White Yeti, the snowfield was stained red with the crimson blood pouring out of the corpse.
He collapsed on the snowfield, panting heavily.
“Are you okay…?”
Choi Hyena rushed over, her face full of worry.
“…Wasn’t I supposed to be a noble?”
According to the original plan, he should have been leeching off as a member of a stable C-rank party, casting magic from the back.
But what was he doing now?
He was facing monsters head-on with a sword?
The reality of becoming an untouchable warrior again made him feel like crying.
If this wasn’t hell, what was it?
As he was wallowing in self-pity, Choi Hyena tapped him.
“What.”
“…I think you should look at that?”
But the real hell was just beginning.
In the distance, a pack of huge wolves was running towards them.
