Just like when entering the Tower.
I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them, and we were standing on a wide plain.
Grass grown up to our knees, a cool breeze blowing.
A vast grassland without a single tree stretched beyond the horizon.
Two-headed wild oxen ran frantically across it.
Those were E-rank magical beasts, the Idu-u.
Their bodies were black, and they were simple-minded, making them easy to hunt.
Even the rewards they dropped were good, so they were called black bulls.
“Looking for a party to hunt black bulls. We’ve got one dealer and one tanker.”
“Take our guild entrance test before you go. Catch just 10 black bulls and we’ll let you join.”
Unlike the Tower, gates allowed multiple people to enter at the same time.
Thanks to that, the area around the entrance was packed with hunters.
And wherever people gathered, merchants who bought and sold goods naturally appeared.
“Sell me the meat you get from hunting black bulls!”
“We’ll dismantle them for a fee.”
“Buying magic stones at high prices~”
There were even blacksmiths selling food or repairing equipment.
As expected of a gate. With so many people, it’s lively.
Unlike me, who nodded at the familiar sight, the two women standing on either side of me widened their eyes in surprise.
“This is a fissure?…”
“Wow, it’s my first time seeing people do business inside a rift.”
“You’ve never seen this before?”
The two of them nodded.
“No. In the empire where I lived, people avoided rifts because they were considered cursed lands.”
“It was similar for us. Fissures were dangerous because magical beasts kept coming out of them. The Magic Tower completely controlled them and only used them for research.”
As if she had learned a lot while investigating them, Aris’s expression was not good.
“To think they’d even consider doing business in a place like this… Just how fearless are they?”
“Rather than fearless, they’re blinded by money.”
The Korean racial trait was securing a spot first the moment they smelled money.
Hadn’t I seen it at the entrance too?
Charging one million won per person as an entry fee.
“How foolish. The moment the fissure goes awry, they’ll die along with that money they love so much.”
“You must be talking about the collapse of a rift. It definitely becomes dangerous once that happens.”
Suddenly, as if remembering something, Rachel looked up at me.
“That was when you saved me too, Brother! During the collapse of a rift!”
Whoa, wait a second.
Rachel, this strong, almost died?
Just what exactly happens?
I suddenly became curious.
“Can you tell me in detail?”
“W-well, when a rift collapses…”
“I’ll explain.”
Rifts, fissures, and gates were only different in name.
In practice, they were the same.
That was why Aris’s explanation hit home directly.
“The entrance goes boom! and closes, then the dimension goes shrrrk! and tears apart, and from the fissures that form inside the fissure, super-super-super strong magical beasts get summoned.”
“No, you can leave out those useless sound effects and adjectives in between…”
“That’s not the end! A boss even more ultra super-duper strong than the super-super-super strong magical beasts goes pop! and appears. You can’t leave until you kill it. When I faced one before, it was roughly around the 89th floor on Difficult difficulty.”
“I remember it being around the 91st floor on Divine difficulty.”
Difficult and Divine difficulty were probably numbers comparable to Hard difficulty.
So I could think of the difficulty as roughly the 90th floor on Hard, right?
‘Now I know why Rachel struggled.’
No matter how strong a hero was, limits existed.
Rather, she deserved applause for surviving without dying there.
‘And I know why Aris said that too.’
The floor humanity had currently cleared was only the 21st floor on Hard.
Even that had taken years to clear, and the prevailing opinion was that it would have been impossible without the SSS-rank hunter from America who had appeared like a comet.
What he said after clearing the 21st floor was probably something like—
While he was still alive, humanity would barely manage to clear the 30th floor at most.
That was how much harder clearing the Tower became the higher one climbed.
But the 90th floor on Hard?
It was so far above that you’d get a herniated disc just from looking up at it.
If a situation like that unfolded, everyone here would probably die without even being able to resist.
Except me.
“Still, don’t worry. I’m definitely stronger than I was back then. I’ll be able to protect you, Brother.”
“Hmph, same goes for me. For this great archmage, it would be a very simple matter.”
With people who had cleared the Tower beside me, was there any need to worry?
On top of that, from what I heard, it was something that might happen once every thousand years.
And it wasn’t as if this was the only gate; they existed all over the world.
For it to specifically happen here?
Winning first prize in the lottery would probably have higher odds.
Worrying about something that wouldn’t happen would only give me a headache.
“Now then, let’s stop chatting and go hunt. I need to see Aris’s skills too.”
“I’ll show you the power of this super-super-super archmage!”
In the first place, I had a purpose for coming here under the excuse of a first experience.
It was to see the abilities of the newly summoned Aris.
Since I never knew what might happen in the Tower, I wanted to grasp our combat strength beforehand.
Of course, since I had paid an expensive entry fee, I wasn’t going to leave quickly.
‘I should at least get my money’s worth before I go.’
After all, I paid three million won to come here. It’d feel bad to take a loss.
***
We passed the shops lined up on both sides of the safe zone and moved to the edge of the fence.
Beyond it, hunters were fighting black bulls.
“Mmooooo!”
“Hyaaaah!”
Hunters hunted in their own chosen spots.
There were so many people that each person didn’t have that many to hunt.
This was probably because it was near the entrance; once we went deeper in, it would get quieter.
“Now then, shall we go?”
Just as we were about to enter the hunting ground.
Piiiiiip—!
A whistle sounded from somewhere.
When I turned my head toward the sound,
a woman wearing a vest that said Safety Staff was running over.
“… Did we do something wrong?”
“Just stay still for now.”
I calmed Aris, who was reading the mood, and waited for a moment.
“Hoo…”
Soon, the safety staff member standing in front of us caught her breath for a moment, then handed us a few sheets of paper.
“Before entering the hunting ground, you need to read the safety rules and receive name tags for headcount purposes.”
Was there always something like this?
I didn’t think there was when I came here with my friend last time.
When I tilted my head, the safety staff member scratched the back of her head awkwardly and quietly explained the reason.
“Association employees came to inspect civilian gates. We might get nitpicked, so please cooperate.”
Ah, if that was the reason, I could cooperate as much as they wanted.
“Please make sure to wear your name tags inside the hunting ground.”
At her request, we put on the name tags.
And then I read the safety rules.
There was exactly one line.
[Our company bears no responsibility for anything that occurs inside.]
This crap was a safety rule?
When I looked at the safety staff member, she also had an embarrassed expression.
“Haha… Well, being a hunter is originally a job where you risk your life. Then I’ll be off!”
Piiiiiip—!
The safety staff member blew her whistle and ran off somewhere else.
She sure looked busy.
Well, anyway.
Now should we really go hunting?
“Let’s hunt as inconspicuously as possible while moving inward.”
The area around here wasn’t exactly an appropriate environment for a hero who had saved the world and a mage of the White Tower Lord to show off.
There were so many people that it was hard to move.
‘Of course, they could if they wanted to…’
But if they showed their skills here,
the Association and guilds from all over the country would immediately come looking.
Just imagining it made me tired.
On top of that, Rachel and I had already had our faces spread on social media, so if we got found out, it would definitely become even more annoying.
‘Especially Yu Seol-hwa might come looking.’
After all, her desire for talent as the team leader of the Hunter Association’s Talent Management Department was beyond imagination.
Since I didn’t particularly want to go through that, we moved as far inward as possible.
The farther in we went, the fewer people there were, and the more magical beasts there were.
“Now I see why this place is called the Infinite Plain.”
Even after walking for quite a long time, the plain continued without end.
There were still quite a few people.
Perhaps bored, Aris asked.
“Come to think of it, why do you two go around hiding your faces like that?”
“Ah, you wouldn’t know.”
I took out my phone and showed Aris the video.
After watching the video, Aris became furious.
“What the hell is this rude bastard? How dare he spout such nonsense at our you? Maybe I should just turn him into an orc.”
“It’s fine, hold back.”
I was scared she might actually do it.
Because it seemed like magic of that level was probably possible for her.
Wait a second…
“Is there no magic that can make it so people don’t recognize our faces?”
“You mean perception-inhibiting magic? That much is simple.”
Aris snapped her fingers.
I didn’t feel anything in my body.
But Aris was certain.
“Done. Now even if you take those off, no one will recognize you. They might remember a vague impression or some distinguishing features, but even that will be forgotten once you disappear from their sight.”
Just in case, I took off my sunglasses.
“Oh.”
Really, no one recognized me.
They even passed by Rachel after she removed her disguise.
Ah, they didn’t just pass by.
“… Wow, damn, both of them have huge boobs.”
“I’m so jealous. Did that guy save a country in his past life?”
Even when disguised, the two of them had outstanding appearances, so they inevitably drew people’s gazes.
“But is it okay if we get photographed like this?”
“This is magic that distorts people’s visual information, so if you’re talking about videos like the one from before, your faces will appear as they are.”
As luck would have it, there were people who had set up cameras here and there in the hunting ground to record their own hunts.
“It’s annoying to disguise ourselves because of those…”
Well, we could just avoid appearing on camera.
Since I didn’t particularly want to put the stuffy disguise back on, I ignored them and kept moving.
In the end, as the price of our lack of safety awareness, someone recognized us.
“Hey, wait, isn’t that guy caught on here the Bak Si-hyeok confession rejection guy?”
“Fuck, you’re right. He looks uglier in real life than on screen, so I almost didn’t recognize him.”
Two men who looked like college students approached us, grinning.
“Excuse me, could we take a picture?”
“Ah, yes…”
“You really do have a blurry impression.”
“You looked really pretty on screen, though.”
The life of a celebrity sure was tiring.
I should hurry up and take one before people gathered.
I took the phone they handed me and was about to take a selfie.
“Ah, we only want to take it with these ladies.”
“We don’t want to look like squids next to someone, so please take it well.”
“Hey, you’re saying that right in front of him? That’s seriously hilarious.”
These bastards?
They were unbelievably rude. I was human too, so I got heated.
“Pretty noonas, why are you dating a guy like that? The numbers match too, so how about a date with us?”
“Hey, they even rejected Bak Si-hyeok. You think they’d date us?”
“Still, you never know. It’s confirmed their standards are fucking low, so we might as well give it a shot.”
They were even hitting on Rachel and Aris.
If I endured this, I wouldn’t be human.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”
“… Pardon?”
When I lowered my voice and spoke, the two of them looked utterly flustered.
To pull them away, I grabbed their shoulders and put strength into my grip.
But they didn’t budge at all.
“What the hell. Did you really put strength into that?”
“Just like I saw online, he really is a weak-ass loser.”
Their shoulders were as hard as steel, so my hand hurt instead.
Actually, more than that, my heart hurt.
‘I finally tried acting cool for once, and now I’m so embarrassed I could die.’
I must’ve been crazy too.
Normally, I would’ve laughed it off.
Why was it that today, I wasn’t intimidated by them?
‘… Don’t tell me, is it because of that skill?’
I had completely forgotten that I had an A-rank skill I’d received as an achievement reward.
===========
【Upset (A)】
Type: Passive
Ability: You do not feel intimidated when facing the strong.
===========
It was my first passive skill, so I hadn’t known how it worked, but now I realized.
‘Looks like it activates on its own when I’m in that kind of situation.’
In other words, compared to me, these guys were definitely strong.
Being reminded of a fact I already knew made me feel freshly pissed off.
I glanced at the familiars I had summoned, giving them a look.
The familiars’ eyes reddened as if they were moved.
“Brother is fighting to protect us…”
“That look in his eyes means he’s telling us to get somewhere safe, right? So manly.”
I can tell what kind of misunderstanding they’re having.
But won’t you help me a little?
Someone’s going to die at this rate, you know?
“Ah, I’m already exhausted after clearing the second floor on Hard. And some nobody decides to throw the first punch.”
“With no one around to stop us, you got a death wish?”
“Yeah, come at me, brats.”
Maybe it was because of the passive skill.
Even seeing them put their arms around each other’s shoulders, I wasn’t intimidated at all.
If anything, I raised my head stiffly like a fighting cock and kept butting in.
In the end, the swaggering college guys took off their shirts.
“This bastard still doesn’t get what’s going on.”
“Acting tough because there are girls watching?”
“You’re the ones acting tough. Getting all full of yourselves just because you made it to the second floor on Hard is pathetic as hell.”
“Why, you little—!”
A fist carrying blue energy flew at me.
Normally, I would have shut my eyes, but now I could keep them wide open and read the trajectory of the attack.
I thought this skill only had drawbacks, but I guess it has its advantages too.
‘…Right!’
I moved and dodged the attack.
“F-Fuck. What the hell…!”
I’m surprised too.
This is possible even with Agility at 1?
Just how weak are these guys?
“You guys lied about clearing the second floor on Hard, didn’t you? Ah, no, with stats like that, there’s no way you’d be here in the first place.”
“G-Guh…!”
“What the hell are you saying, you cocky bastard!”
Even when their attacks came in at the same time, I could dodge them without much trouble.
They were definitely stronger than me, but it seemed the difference wasn’t all that large.
“F-Fuck. They said he was a pushover!”
“I only found out from the comments! If I’d known he was this strong, I wouldn’t have mouthed off.”
Maybe they were flustered because I was dodging so well.
The two of them began to fall apart rapidly.
Their timing didn’t match, so they hit each other, and at some point, they started fighting among themselves.
I just stood still and watched their behavior.
Thwack!
In the end, counterpunches landed on both their faces at the same time, and the two of them passed out on the spot.
“As expected of you, Brother! To use your opponents’ strength against them and subdue them so easily. I learned something new!”
“Even after losing your power, you can still easily beat fools who don’t know their place. That’s just like you!”
I peeled the two clinging to my sides away and looked down at the unconscious college students.
Honestly, they looked ridiculous, but this was inside a Gate.
If we left them like this, they might get torn apart by monsters.
“Can you move them somewhere safe?”
“Yees!”
Rachel grabbed one man by the ankle and dragged him along as if she were hauling a trash bag.
“Is there any need to move that inefficiently?”
Aris, on the other hand, lightly snapped her fingers.
At the same time, the man’s body floated up and flew off beyond the horizon.
“He’ll go all the way back to the safe zone from earlier like that.”
“Wow….”
So this is magic.
“It’s too early to be surprised.”
The greatness of magic did not end there.
The moment Aris snapped her fingers again,
all the Black Oxen in the area were engulfed in flames and vanished.
And with another snap,
all the components that appeared flew through the air and gathered together.
“Subspace is basic magic, simple enough for even a 1st Circle mage to use. The size of the space depends on how much mana you have. As for me, I could fit a continent inside mine.”
A black hole appeared in midair.
All kinds of items were sucked into it like a black hole.
Without needing to pick them up one by one, she collected everything.
“How is it! Amazing, right! Awesome, right! Hurry up and praise this body! This is the power of a super-super-super archmage.”
“That’s impressive.”
“Wahahaha! That’s me!”
She was strong, sure, but more than that, it looked incredibly convenient.
“Now I kind of want to learn magic too.”
“Want me to teach you?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But only when it’s just the two of us.”
Rachel, who had been staring blankly at the scene, raised her sword as if she couldn’t let herself lose either.
“You would prefer learning swordsmanship from me, Brother.”
Just once.
The sword strike that swept horizontally cut through the Two-Headed Oxen that had just been summoned.
A crescent-shaped sword energy sped away beyond the endlessly stretching plain.
I’d seen it many times, but every time I did, its power felt incredible.
“I’ll teach only you in a special accelerated lesson, Brother.”
“That’s tempting too.”
If magic was efficient, swordsmanship was powerful.
‘Efficient magic, or powerful swordsmanship. Which one would be better to learn?’
While I was thinking that, a translucent window suddenly appeared.
【Lucius, a Grade 1 Demon Species, will be summoned to the “Infinite Plain.”】
【From this moment onward, entry and exit are impossible.】
【The E-rank monster “Two-Headed Ox,” empowered by dark energy, is transforming into the A-rank monster “Abyssal Minotaur.”】