“Well, look who’s living the good life.”
As I slowly opened my eyes, a familiar face came into view.
“What is this, a picnic? Sleeping at a Gate?”
Must have dozed off. I responded with a shameless face.
“I wasn’t sleeping. Who says I was?”
“Wipe the drool marks off your mouth before you try lying.”
“Shit.”
“Oh boy, would you look at this.”
Though I raised my fist threateningly, a smile played on my lips. I massaged my stiff neck.
“Ugh, I’m tired.”
“Did you meet a woman last night or something? Why are you nodding off like a sick chicken even during raids?”
“Where would I have time to meet women? You know my situation.”
“True enough.”
From our first battle until now. We’d shared hardships for five years. Just as I knew him well, he knew me too.
“Then what’s going on?”
“What else? Money, of course.”
“Money? Don’t tell me you’re working two jobs?”
His voice dropped low. I nodded while looking at our team members resting beyond his back.
“Damn, look at this guy. Gets a little experience and starts padding his back pocket. And you’re the deputy team leader too.”
“Raids have been down lately, and I’m desperate. Just desperate. Come on, you’ve been there too.”
Professional licensed hunters are legally prohibited from working second jobs. If we were D-rank we wouldn’t have to live like this, but F-ranks like us have no choice.
The guild turns a blind eye even when they know, because they understand our circumstances.
“That’s true… but be careful. It’ll be a headache if someone files a complaint with the Administration.”
“It’s a reliable place. Pay is same-day cash so no problems. I wouldn’t do it otherwise.”
“Yeah?”
Judging by his expression, it seems to have piqued his interest.
“You need money too?”
“I’ve got three kids. Need an oil well to spring up in my yard.”
He poured out words with sad eyes. A repertoire I’d heard dozens of times. After venting about the pains of child-rearing, rising formula prices, and merchants’ shamelessness, he patted my shoulder.
“Don’t get married.”
“I won’t.”
More accurately, I can’t.
No woman, no money. As someone whose life goal was buying a house in a safe zone within five years, I secretly envied him.
A loving spouse and children. A happy family. I wonder when I’ll ever have such things.
“Marriage is a swamp.”
Though he talks like that, he’s a famous devoted husband and good father. I knew he’d sometimes take out family photos and smile contentedly.
I might have been wrong about that.
“Life gets sucked in. When you come to your senses, you’re buried up to your chest, barely breathing.”
“So don’t just work all the time. Take breaks while you work. Dating, hobbies—those are good things.”
“Well… I still need money urgently.”
I answered while scratching my head. He looked at me with pitying eyes.
“I saw you earlier, sleeping while drenched in cold sweat. Keep that up and you’ll drop dead from overwork.”
“Me?”
Come to think of it, my back is damp with cold sweat. Must have had some bad dream, but…
Can’t remember.
Probably just some stupid dream anyway.
Gate.
Though it now serves as a lifeline for hunters like me, its true nature is an invasion route for demon realm legions.
When Demon Lord Asmodeus fell and his mighty army retreated, the Gates alone remained even after decades.
“Defense formation!”
At his command, three hunters carrying massive tower shields blocked the front. In narrow cave passages, this alone can negate most attacks.
Clang. Kaclang!
“Keeeek!”
Twenty or so goblins threw poison needles, axes, and spears, but all bounced off the large, beautiful tower shields.
“Archers!”
While tanks block all attacks from the front, archers rain arrows from behind. After taking down about half while maintaining forward pressure, the goblins let out panicked cries.
“Kaaaak!”
“Keek!”
Right on cue, he gave the order.
“Attack formation!”
The tanks dropped their tower shields and charged forward. But I was faster.
“Ha!”
As I swung my iron spear wide, green blood burst and their front line crumbled. I dove through the gap, stabbing and slashing everything in reach, and their formation collapsed.
“Charge!”
When the DPS and tanks joined in, the goblin horde became corpses in an instant.
“Today seems really easy?”
“Honestly, the deputy captain did half the work. Flying around like that—when did his skills get so go— Shh. Team leader’s pissed.”
The people chatting shut their mouths the moment he appeared.
“Hey, Jin Tae-kyung!”
Jesus!
Lost in thought, I startled and asked back.
“What?”
“Who told you to act alone? Are you a tank? Forgot the attack order? And you call yourself deputy captain?”
“That’s not—”
“If you’re gonna do this, switch teams. You’re endangering other members too.”
Looking at his fierce expression, I sighed.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. It just suddenly seemed like nothing. Must have gone crazy for a moment.”
It felt strange. The moment I saw the goblin horde, I thought I could sweep them away alone.
No, it was certainty.
“You…”
He swallowed his words. In five years of fighting back-to-back like brothers, like father and son, this was my first such impulsive action.
“Don’t do this again. If something’s troubling you, talk to me.”
I watched his back as he left after patting my shoulder. For some reason, my chest ached.
Should I see a doctor?
But soon I stopped caring about the pain.
“Magic stone!”
“We got one!”
“Another!”
“It dropped! It dropped! It dropped!”
“Mom! Hayeon!”
Ah, that last shout was me.
Even he muttered with a flushed face.
“Hey, what is all this…” Twenty magic stones, large and small, lay neatly arranged on the ground.
Magic stones. Though they look like red rocks, they’re called the flowers of the Gate. These mana clusters carried by monsters are high-dimensional energy and the most valuable monster byproduct.
“These should be worth over a million won each.”
That’s coming from our team leader, an E-rank hunter with 10 years in the field. People’s eyes glazed over at the magnificent sight.
“Is this normal?”
Everyone shook their heads violently at the rookie’s question.
“Absolutely not.”
F-rank Gates average one or two, and even with great luck you won’t get five. I was busy calculating money.
Just the magic stones are minimum twenty million, materials and equipment another five million. Add in various allowances… holy shit. How much is this total? The biggest jackpot since I started hunting.
And the raid wasn’t even over yet.
“How far have we come?”
“Almost there. The boss zone is right around the right turn.”
Boss zone. Everyone’s eyes lit up at those words.
Naturally, boss zones have bosses. The boss monster is the strongest in the Gate. And the monster with the most expensive byproducts, equipment, and magic stones.
If we take down the boss monster?
A literal jackpot. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as an F-rank hunter. Just as everyone was smiling brightly with such thoughts—
“Let’s think about this for a minute.”
No, what is this guy saying?
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it. We’re only encountering normal goblins, but this many magic stones? Something’s off.”
He sighed. His face was still red with excitement, showing internal conflict.
“I know how you feel. I do… but we’ve already scored big. Let’s be satisfied with this and head back.”
Satisfied? Now, after coming all this way?
I looked at the other team members. Some I’d worked with for two or three years, some were rookies. But they all wore the same expression as me.
“I object—” That moment, my breath caught. Damn it. The chest pain again.
Though I tried to continue speaking, no voice came out. Now even tinnitus was starting to ring.
What is this?
Both pain and ringing were getting worse. I fell to my knees, gasping.
Someone help me. Please help me.
I grabbed someone’s pant leg and clung on. It was him. The one who’d cared for me like a brother, like a father for the past five years.
Brother. Please save me.
He looked down at me with calm eyes.
“Me? You who ran away and left everyone?”
What?
“I wanted to live too.”
I stared at him blankly, forgetting the pain. His clothes and skin melted away, revealing bone. Everyone except me lay strewn about as skeletons.
Ah. That’s right.
Everyone died. That day two years ago. Everyone died in that boss zone I’d insisted on entering.
I alone survived.
I thrashed about, buried in memories.
I recalled the ominous darkness settling in the boss zone. Remembered the foul smell and damp floor, and its massive wings.
Bodies being torn apart in midair. Screams of terror and people fleeing.
You fucking bastard!
But even my skill that poured out everything I had couldn’t kill it. He raised me up as I waited for death.
Tae-kyung!
Brother. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.
If not for me. If I hadn’t been greedy, everyone could have lived. Could have returned to their families.
As I wailed like a child, he forced a smile.
Why would that be your fault? Look at this kid, playing team leader now.
The massive body floated through the cave.
Stalactites rained down and the last team member screamed in death throes. In the darkness, its red eyes turned toward us.
You arrogant bastard. Tae-kyung. Go first.
Brother. Cheons-hyung!
My chest hurt. Pain swept in enough to make my vision blur. Everything inside me felt like it was burning as if I’d swallowed lava. The occasional ringing in my ears changed to a monster’s roar.
KYAAAAH!
I opened my eyes with a scream. But it wasn’t the Gate, and there were no monsters or team members. Someone rose from the window where sunlight poured in.
“Did you dream about my lord? He’ll be pleased when I tell him.”
A face dripping with coldness.
Wi-peng, Jin Wi-gyeong’s right hand. Seeing him made it feel real that I was still in the game.
“Are you alright?”
“No. It was a nightmare.”
“Then I’ll leave that part out when reporting.”
“Do as you please.”
My whole body was drenched in sweat.
Through gaps in the bandages wrapped around my body, I could see scabbed flesh.
“How long was I out?”
“You were unconscious for five days. Your condition was so critical that the Medicine King Sect Master concluded you wouldn’t last a day.”
“Really?”
“When my lord heard that, he went berserk. If I hadn’t stopped him, he would have beaten the Medicine King Sect Master to death.”
“Ah.”
I remembered the old man who’d threatened to stick acupuncture needles in the White Tiger Sect Leader’s anus during the meeting days ago. He really prayed for my death, huh.
“Anything else happen?”
“Many things. Among them are good news and better news… which would you like to hear first?”
“The good news.”
“First, the patrol team and Shuozhou Branch survivors returned safely. Though two were seriously injured, their lives aren’t in danger.”
Survivors. Those three syllables made my heart sink.
Number Seven.
I remembered that face taking his last breath with daggers in his throat and between his eyes. Was he even twenty?
Too young an age to lose his life.
“Are you thinking of the dead?”
“The body… did you recover the body?”
“We recovered and buried it properly. Being an orphan, there were no relatives.”
“May I say something?”
Wi-peng didn’t wait for an answer.
Taking a step toward me, he spoke.
“Third Young Master, don’t let your subordinate’s death be meaningless.”
“What do you—”
“Martial artists aren’t protected beings—they’re those who prove themselves by fighting enemies. Though he died facing an overwhelmingly strong enemy, it wasn’t a mere death but a warrior’s end.”
Saying it’s an honorable death because he died in battle is Grade-A bullshit.
There’s no such thing as an honorable death.
Even now, the screams of colleagues who died two years ago and Number Seven’s bulging eyes as he breathed his last remain vivid.
“The fact that he’s dead doesn’t change.”
“Some people obsess over facts that can never change. I won’t name names.”
“…”
“Do you regret it?”
“Of course.”
“Then live for his share too.”
Wi-peng continued in the gentlest voice I’d ever heard from him.
“I’m not saying to forget the dead. Bury them in your heart, engrave them in your mind. Using that regret as a stepping stone to soar to the heights they dreamed of—that is the path you must walk.”
The path I must walk…
After pondering those words that made my heart flutter just hearing them, I burst out laughing.
“Damn. I’ll break my legs on the way.”
“It might take a lifetime.”
“If I dedicate my whole life, will I reach it?”
“I don’t know. I don’t even know where my own path leads, how could I know yours?”
“What’s at the end of your path, Senior Wei?”
“The World’s Strongest.”
A joke? No. Wi-peng was more serious and resolute than ever.
“Sounds difficult.”
“That’s why it’s a dream.”
Right. Dreams are always hard to achieve.
Even more so when carrying the dreams of those we’ve lost.
“Senior Wi. Can I ask one thing?”
“Anything.”
“That guy, what was his name?”
“His name was…”
As Wi-peng’s lips opened, the winter wind rattled the window.
Whoosh. Beyond the cool wind sound came Number Seven’s name.
“That’s a great name.”
“I heard he chose it himself. His dreams were just as big.”
“What was it?”
“The Strongest of Past and Present.”
“You’re going to have a hard time.”
“Indeed. It’s ridiculous.”
A laugh escaped. Only then did I feel the heaviness in my heart lighten. All thanks to Wi-peng.
“Now you’re back to your old self.”
“Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it.”
Wi-peng nodded slightly and spoke.
“Now for the better news.”
Ah, right. Good news and better news.
I waited expectantly for his next words.