‘Emergency situation.’
Knock, knock, knock.
The golem, having hurried back, rapped frantically on the window.
“What?”
‘Break imminent.’
He hastily opened the window.
Opsireu climbed in and settled into the passenger seat, then spoke again.
‘Evidence secured. Confirmed that they are scattering Gates.’
“Damn it.”
‘The Gate will soon show signs of a Break.’
Vroooom.
He immediately floored the accelerator.
“Where?!”
‘Turn right in 300 meters!’
Following Opsireu’s steady directions, they arrived at the scene.
“Damn it……”
Three Gates, overlapping.
They were rippling ominously, gradually expanding.
At the same time, the interior was being faintly projected outward.
“There’s not much time left.”
As he was wondering what to do, he heard the sound of a car racing noisily toward them.
“Hmm?”
When he turned his head, someone familiar was inside.
“Mr. Sinhyeok, would you please not forget to report things?”
National Intelligence Service agent Hong Juyeon got out of the car and spoke while staring at the Gate.
“How did you get here?”
She smiled and answered as if it were obvious.
“I came at just the right time, didn’t I?”
“Did you perhaps wiretap me?”
Hong Juyeon approached the Gate to check its condition and said,
“Think of it as insurance, just in case. Your track record is rather spectacular, after all.”
“Ugh……”
For now, Sinhyeok reported to her everything he had figured out so far.
“I’ll report first.”
“So it seems a guild did this?”
“Ha, so you were wiretapping.”
She already had a grasp of the whole situation.
“Which guild was it?”
“Novasis. Right?”
‘Correct.’
The golem answered with razor-sharp precision.
She quickly reported the information she had gathered to someone.
“Thank you for the information. Thanks to you, this has become much easier.”
“What are you going to do about this Gate?”
Sinhyeok pointed at the triple-overlapped Gate.
“We’ll have to quickly arrange a unit to clear it.”
At her calm reaction, Sinhyeok frowned.
“What unit?”
“Well, an appropriate nearby Awakened military unit?”
Sinhyeok pointed out what she had missed, since she was being far too calm.
“There probably isn’t one right now.”
“Ah……”
Hong Juyeon realized that the entire country was currently in a state of emergency.
“Oh dear.”
She looked at the Gate with a troubled expression.
“Then I’ll go in myself. That’s all right, isn’t it?”
“Uh, probably?”
Sinhyeok had intended to go in no matter what she said anyway.
From what Sinhyeok could feel, this Gate truly had very little time left.
“Then keep up the good work. I’ll take care of this Gate first.”
“What? You’re going in there?”
Sinhyeok looked at her calmly and asked,
“Then who’s going to handle it?”
“Ah. That’s true, but.”
He stared closely at the Gate and watched it.
“If you have time, could you report to my unit for me? There are at least a few of my kids there, so they’ll be of some help.”
“That much, sure.”
Sinhyeok gestured to Opsireu.
“You can scout inside, right? Like when I use mapping.”
‘It is possible. Shall I begin identifying the core and dangerous entities within?’
“Yeah, quickly, please. There isn’t much time left.”
‘Yes, understood!’
Opsireu slipped right into the triple-overlapped Gate.
Sinhyeok walked over to the car and checked the belongings he had tucked into his uniform.
“Hmm, I don’t have a separate weapon.”
No matter how much he searched, nothing came out.
“Agent, do you have anything usable?”
He could still see her standing there.
Sinhyeok showed her his empty hands and asked.
“I have one handgun. Would you like even this?”
A plain Glock appeared.
“No, that’s too modest.”
Judging that it would be hard to deal damage with it, Sinhyeok decided to go in barehanded.
[Golem: Opsireu has begun scouting.]
[Iron ore has been discovered.]
[Copper has been discovered.]
[A small amount of magic crystal has been discovered.]
[Hard stone has been discovered.]
[A small amount of blue mana grass has been discovered.]
‘He’s doing it properly.’
Thinking about the resources being discovered, he rapidly worked his mind.
‘How should I fight? Long range? I don’t have a gun. How?’
[TIP. Make active use of Transmutation. Transmutation is also the reverse side of magic.]
As he agonized over it, the system—that is, Yggdrasil—kindly offered him a useful tip.
“What?”
[Think of it simply. Transmutation is magic. A mystical magic performed by hand without incantations, and substituted with materials instead of mana.]
“Without incantations, without mana?”
Opsireu sent an urgent telepathic message.
‘Emergency! Core on the move!’
“Damn it! I’m going in first!”
“What? Wait a moment!”
Hong Juyeon, who had been watching, was flustered when he immediately entered.
“This is driving me insane.”
She hurriedly called the Deputy Director.
“What? I’m busy!”
“Deputy Director, that lunatic just jumped into a Gate that’s about to burst all by himself! What do I do?!”
“What?! That crazy bastard! Hey! You go with him! Hold out!”
“Seriously! You know I’m a non-combat type!”
“Hey! What kind of excuse is that! Does a sword avoid your neck? Hurry up and go!”
Click.
The call ended, and she loaded her handgun, took out a dagger to check it, then let out a sigh.
“I’m going. I’m going!”
* * *
Sinhyeok, who had charged straight inside, witnessed three different terrains interlocking.
“This gives me chills.”
The monsters were consistent.
Orcs, goblins, and trolls.
A collaboration between three races.
An overwhelming number of orcs and goblins, and even a group of trolls several times larger than ordinary men.
“This will go B to A rank.”
‘Core on the move!’
Hearing Opsireu’s urgent telepathy, he checked the core’s location again.
Far off, behind the overwhelming army, a dark red crystal was moving.
“Kraaaaaaagh!”
A sudden, fierce roar erupted.
“Hup!”
Dense mana was contained in the roar.
The boss monster commanding the three cores stared at Sinhyeok.
An orc with sharp tusks, bulging muscles, and a massive axe stood there.
A being twice the size of an ordinary orc smiled with certainty of victory.
When he saw Sinhyeok, he drove his axe into the ground. Then the entire army stopped in its tracks.
“What the hell.”
When the boss brushed a hand over the tattoos engraved across his whole body, a bizarre phenomenon occurred.
‘Ahh, can you hear me?’
“Ha. Now boss mobs can use magic too?”
‘It is shamanism. A technique twice as advanced as that of you savages. Keke.’
The fact that the boss monster had spoken to him made alarm bells ring madly in Sinhyeok’s head.
‘A clear civilization, intelligence capable of distinguishing friend from foe, and even dangerous shamanism.’
All of these factors meant that it would not be strange at all for this Gate’s danger level to be rated A-class.
‘My almighty master personally desires you.’
At the ominous declaration, Sinhyeok wondered if he should be looking for a way to escape.
“I got caught properly this time.”
‘Receive him. The great lord of the Demon Realm!’
The axe embedded in the ground turned blood-red, then exploded outward in every direction.
A blood-colored shadow covering the surroundings swallowed half the army.
“Kraak!”
“Grrk!”
“Guhk!”
The goblins flailed, struggling to escape the swamp that dragged them down.
‘Be grateful that you may die as sacrifices!’
“That crazy bastard.”
Wooooong.
At the wavering of the portal behind him, Sinhyeok turned with a disbelieving expression.
When he saw Hong Juyeon enter with a solemn expression, he felt troubled.
“Soldier boy. Let’s hurry up and clean this up, then go back.”
“Talk about unlucky.”
“What?”
Hong Juyeon looked past Sinhyeok and flinched.
Half the monsters had been offered as sacrifices, and the great boss monster orc who had offered them up was laughing ominously.
‘That is enough.’
The orc pulled out his axe and struck the ground violently.
Kwaaaaang!
With the impact, the earth split open and a spatial rift appeared.
“No, what is that?!”
“Whatever it is, something pretty significant is about to pop out.”
The rift opened, and the orc knelt reverently to greet him.
“Huuuuup.”
From beyond the rift, a man with silver-white skin looked through.
“It is still cramped.”
He closed the book he was holding in one hand and reached through the rift.
As his hand extended out, the atmosphere wavered, and space itself seemed about to shatter.
“What a shame. I wished to speak with you face-to-face.”
He stared at Sinhyeok.
When Sinhyeok met his eyes, where blue flames flickered, a pressure descended upon him.
[You have directly faced the Great Demon Paimon.]
[Your soul is being crushed by the demon’s presence.]
“Ghk.”
His hands and feet trembled, and his body felt as though it would sink heavily to the ground.
“Hmm, has the seed only just sprouted?”
Paimon looked over Sinhyeok’s condition and assessed him.
“Do you know who I am?”
Seeing the name the system had called him by, Sinhyeok gritted his teeth.
“I know, you son of a bitch!”
“Kkukkukkul.”
From beyond the rift, he stared at Sinhyeok and said,
“I shall make you an offer myself. Come over to me. If you do, I will return what is precious to you.”
Paimon pointed beside him.
At his side, Sinhyeok’s mother and younger sister could be seen in faint spirit form.
“Don’t. Don’t do it!”
“You need not worry they are fake. They are souls I personally saved for your sake.”
At the demon’s mockery, Sinhyeok felt as if his brain were melting.
Grit, grit, grit.
Sinhyeok clenched his fists tightly, grinding his teeth as he glared at Paimon.
At that sight, Paimon smiled with certainty.
“As expected, you are not one to bend.”
Paimon scattered the souls and gestured to the orc, giving an order.
“Kill him.”
The rift shook, and from within it poured monsters stained blood-red.
Paimon stared at Sinhyeok and smiled.
“If you survive, we shall meet again soon. And by then, I hope you will have ripened a little more. As you are now, it is far too disappointing.”
The rift dispersed, and the Orc Warlord rose from his knees.
‘The great Supreme One of Demonkind has commanded your death.’
As soon as Sinhyeok was released from the pressure, he loosened up his body and glared at him.
“Hey, call that bastard back.”
‘You will see him soon enough. After dying miserably and becoming a wraith, that is.’
The Warlord lifted his axe high and gave an order to all his subordinates.
‘Kill him!’
At the same time, a fierce roar rang out once more.
“Kraaaaaaagh!”
When the roar sounded, madness filled the monsters’ eyes.
Sinhyeok first checked whether the agent was all right.
“Are you okay over there?”
“Yes, yes. Surprisingly, I’m fine.”
She was watching calmly.
“So what are you planning to do about that? In about thirty seconds, I think we’ll both be ground meat.”
Hong Juyeon aimed forward with a slightly resigned face.
“I can only put holes in the heads of exactly fifteen of them.”
Sinhyeok looked around and pondered.
“So are you going to run even now?”
“I’m not going. If we retreat now, we’ll have to play with that orc outside. Would you want that?”
Hong Juyeon let out a hollow laugh.
“True. Ah, fuck, that shitty Deputy Director bastard. If I get out, I just want to flick him on the forehead once.”
At the curse filled with her regret, Sinhyeok couldn’t help but laugh.
“By any chance, is that Deputy Director Deputy Director Cha Gicheol?”
“Yes, yes. You can tattle if you want. I’ll hit him first and resign, that son of a bitch. All he ever does is work me to death.”
Watching her, Sinhyeok smiled and said,
“If you make it out alive, make sure you do that.”
“Ah, yes. That looks rather difficult.”
Looking at the horde charging toward them, Sinhyeok stretched out his hand.
“What are you going to do?”
Hong Juyeon asked as she watched Sinhyeok confidently extend his hand.
“Now then, from this moment on, I am Moses.”
“Hmm?”
“Part!”
[Beginning Transmutation.]
The rift in the earth that the orc had opened to offer sacrifices.
He intended to widen it.
[Beginning Magic Transmutation.]
[Executing Magic Transmutation - Earth.]
The ground split apart, and soil was drawn up to form walls.
In an instant, a valley appeared between the horde and the two of them.
“How’s that?”