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Chapter 48 – Dragon’s Yeouiju (3)

Dragon’s Yeouiju (3)

Irregular gates would appear at random, but this was the first time Kang Shin-hyuk had heard that an irregular gate would reveal its entrance through the body of a monster inside of another gate.

-She’s a great fool.

The message from the administrator was full of anger.

-If she hadn’t stopped it, there would be other victims to ensure your safety.

“No, don’t say such terrifying things…” Shin Eunah used her magic to save everyone, including him. All the others except for him were saved, so she was at least seventy-five percent successful.

“But what the hell?”

-An irregular gate is a gate whose timing, scale, and location cannot be predicted. However, someone who can manipulate such a gate certainly exists in this world.

“Is that so?” Shin-hyuk nodded, recalling the troll he had confronted in the previous irregular gate situation. Somehow, the troll had been wandering in search of spiritual power while wielding a weapon that was made by Anvil. It was unlikely that it had just been a coincidence. The existence of Kang Shin-hyuk and the Godslayer sword…no doubt, someone had been confirming that. Now, he was convinced of it.

“Is this about the sword again?”

-I can’t be sure, but maybe not. There were too many uncertain elements. There is a high probability that all the people who entered the gate with you, or at least someone among that group, were targeted.

Aiming at people and attracting them into this irregular gate. If that proved to be true, it’d make a huge fuss. It wasn’t lost on him how absurd it was that he was the first to get caught in it.

“Can you come to help?”

-It’s annoying to give praise, but that woman is the highest-ranking wizard who has mastered not only her own traits but the magic allowed for humans. If you take the right action with the right product, she should come to your rescue. The problem is not her, however…

“Ah, the other’s outside can’t be left alone.”

-That’s right. However, when it comes to priorities, your priority should be yourself over anything else, so keep that in mind. Moreover, because of your own mistake, you were left alone in this dangerous place…

The administrator suddenly cut off his message. Shin-hyuk wondered what sort of things he might be telling Shin Eunah, or if he was even communicating with her. Kang Shin-hyuk speculated at will but decided he should first take a closer look at his environment.

“Big.” He couldn’t see the sky. The place where he was now was a cave full of dark and humid energy. Sticky mucus covered the floor, and there were thread strands all over. But, above all, it was big. This natural-looking cave was clearly not something that could exist on earth. Absurdly high ceiling, passages that even a troll could leisurely enter, and above all, rocks were rolling around him.

‘So the monsters that appear here will also be huge…damn it.’ B+ rank gate. Although Shin-hyuk had grown rapidly over the past month, enough to reach Class B, this gate had greater difficulty than that. It was common sense that when entering a gate, enter only the ones that were at least one level lower than yourself. It was rare, but even monsters that shouldn’t appear could. Therefore, that was the common belief established among professionals.

‘But I was sucked into a gate that is higher than me…’ Moreover, the worst part was that someone artificially created this irregular gate to pull him into it. Which meant there was someone who held malice towards him that wasn’t a monster.

-Eunah’s whisper: Grandpa…

It was then that a message arrived from Eunah.

-Eunah’s whisper: What would you do…Grandpa, what can I do? What do I do? Grandpa, help me…!

-Eunah’s whisper: Grandpa, grandpa. What should I do, what should I do…!

Kang Shin-hyuk stared at it blankly for a moment. It wasn’t uncommon that he thought Eunah was out of her mind, but now she was especially going at it. How did she plan on asking for help if she wouldn’t talk about the situation? That said, she wasn’t necessarily calm right now…but it was clear to him that she was really worried about Shin-hyuk, not Anvil.

-Eunah’s whisper: Grandpa, grandpa…!

-It’s okay.

Kang Shin-hyuk, who was reading her messages constantly, came through and suddenly replied. It felt only natural.

-Eunah’s whisper: Yes…?

-It’s okay.

-Eunah’s whisper: It’s really okay?

-Yeah.

-Eunah’s whisper: Why, how…? I haven’t said anything yet.

-That’s… I’ll tell you a little later.

Shin-hyuk wondered if he would be caught since he sent such a message. No, he might have been caught already. However, for him, it was more important to care for Eunah right now, who was surely worrying herself silly outside.

-It’s really okay, though. So believe and wait.

He couldn’t help it. As the synchronization rate gradually increased, he became more aware of Anvil’s feelings, who cared for Eunah. He figured it would be more important to calm her down now than worry about what would happen if he were caught. Perhaps it was because he was feeling guilty of hiding it from her.

-Eunah’s whisper: Yes…

-Eunah’s whisper: Yes!

Fortunately, her answer was positive. He checked the message with a smile, but he couldn’t help but worry about the future now that she had calmed damn. The administrator’s message flew in the next moment to comfort him.

-Your actions were appropriate. She has regained her composure at a phenomenal pace. It seems that in about five minutes, you will be able to find the entrance to the irregular gate and open it again.

“I just need to hold on for five minutes? Thank god…”

-But you have to last five hours.

He stiffened at the message that flew in right after. The administrator began to explain as if it were only natural.

-There are many cases where there is a time gap between the outer dimension and the irregular gate. This one appears to be a particular offender…in other words, you will have to be careful.

“Ha…” Perhaps that was why it took a moment for the messages to fly in from Eunah at first. There was a fair bit of time in-between them as well. He thought it was just because she was agitated, but that wasn’t it. He felt like he wanted to shout out loud but desperately suppressed it because he knew it would be foolish.

Five hours.

Three-hundred minutes.

Eighteen-thousand seconds.

He would have to endure eighteen-thousand seconds in a gate where death could come at any moment.

-Kiiii…

At the same time, from the other side of the cave, a noise that distinctly belonged to a monster sounded out. He held his breath as much as he could and went to the rock wall in search of a place to hide. Immediately after, the cavity began to fill with dense mana.

-Kii…

The cry of the monster had a clear intention. Did it have something to do with the mana that just filled the room? Shin-hyuk squeezed the javelin tight in his hand, his knuckles whitening. Fortunately, he had his weapon. He could throw it or just swing it.

-Kiii.

It took another step and made a short cry. It was accompanied by the slight sound of wings. Shin-hyuk instinctively activated his spiritual power and rolled forward, the rock he was hiding behind breaking into pieces.

-Kiiii!

The monster’s cry seemed to say, ‘As expected!’ From the beginning, it had guessed that Shin-hyuk was somewhere in this room. He focused on the creature. It was a mantis, wrapped in a gum-purple colored shell and nearly four meters tall. A long blade on its arm was flashing out.

-Venom Blade Mantis, a B+ monster.

“So it can poison me?”

-That’s right.

“Great.” Kang Shin-hyuk muttered and began to flee again. The moment his shoulder turned, the blade swung, and a sharp wind flew along his trajectory. The place where Shin-hyuk had been was smashed once more. Pebbles rained down all around him.

-Kiiiii!

“Kh!” When it tried to swing the blade again, this time, Shin-hyuk swung his javelin. No matter how hard the carapace was, the joints were likely to be weak. The javelin precisely shot out towards the elbow joint that supported the blade, flying too fast for even a B rank monster to react easily.

-Ting!

It bounced off the joint harmlessly.

“Seriously?”

-Kyaaaahhhh!

He was dumbstruck by the ridiculous sight. The monster began to scream and spit something out of its mouth. Shin-hyuk jumped away without looking at what it was, something with an acrid smell passed and grazed the end of his uniform. Shortly after, his uniform top completely melted away. Looking behind him, he could see that purple saliva covered part of the floor, sizzling and breaking the rock down.

“Seriously…” He pressed his heart down and held back his desire to cry, moving again. Combining his spiritual power to his agility, he was able to escape the next attack. He still had an agility potion he could drink as well, so at least he could beat his enemy in terms of speed.

‘No.’ He had only met his first enemy; resorting to drinking potions already would be too much. He needed to save it for the direst of situations. If so…

“Fuck.” He had no choice but to fight back. He prepared a steel javelin, avoiding the attack that came as he swung it forward, once again aimed at the joints. As much as he could, he poured his spiritual power into the weapon that contained his best efforts. However, it also bounced off without an effect this time. As a result, he concluded that a normal steel javelin couldn’t do anything to this mantis.

-Kyaaaahhhhh!

The mantis rushed in with a shout, brushing away the attack. Whenever it took a step, a dull vibration resonated throughout the cavity. Kang Shin-hyuk jumped away desperately, rolling on the ground. ‘Should I close the gap instead? Would it be easier to block his arm at close range? No, he has that acid…’

Kang Shin-hyuk calmed his breathing while taking evasive movements. He had one more shot at this. This time, he prepared the falcon’s steel javelin.

-Kyaaaaah!

“Kh!” Avoiding its wind blade, he carefully threw the spear. Luckily, the javelin’s split option activated. The javelin found its target, as it stuck itself into the monster’s elbow.

-Quoooh!

It made a terrible noise, but Shin-hyuk was happy to hear it. Three javelins tore at the elbow joint, and the blade on it’s left arm fell neatly to the floor.

-Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

The mantis screamed loudly, spraying acid in every direction. Shin-hyuk ducked behind the largest rock he could find. It melted away, but he was able to stop it from hitting him.

“It works.”

-It works.

The artifact he created had a great effect. There was no happier feeling for a craftsman. The only problem was that he just threw the only artifact he had.

-Gyoaaaahhhhh!

The mantis was thrashing about, and Shin-hyuk examined the arm that fell below it. The javelin was stuck in its joint. If he could recover that, he could get rid of the other arm too. Would that be possible? It seemed difficult, but he had to try it. However, in the next moment, his thoughts were cut off as a thread flew in.

-Gyaaaah!

The mantis screamed, yet the thread that was now connected to him never broke. More strands began to fall down from the ceiling, gradually restraining the mantis and pulling him into the air.

-Click, click-click

There was an unpleasant sound that couldn’t be compared to that of the mantis. Kang Shin-hyuk held his breath as he looked up towards the ceiling. A giant spider was pulling up the mantis and began to cocoon it.

“…” He wanted to compliment himself for not making any sound. Fortunately, the spider didn’t notice him as it focused on recovering the mantis.

-Very well done. 200HP bonus to members.

Even the message from the administrator sounded quiet. He couldn’t say anything out of fear and only spoke once he was convinced the spider was completely gone.

“So, it’s the Mantis’ Graveyard.”

In normal gates, monsters rarely hunt each other, but it’s not uncommon in irregular gates.

“I see…” He felt dizzy after holding his breath for too long. If it weren’t for his regenerative power, his limit would’ve arrived long ago. He moved slowly, very slowly, with gratitude for his power. He retrieved the javelin he threw and grabbed the mantis’s bladed arm. At that moment, he could feel his spiritual power permeating and resonating with the mantis blade. He was able to acquire one piece of valuable information as a result.

He realized that both a great crisis and a great opportunity had arrived