179 - The Golden Gate

The expedition returned to the surface before sunset, although the strange pale sky of the World Dungeon made the passage of time difficult to judge. The fox-like creatures that had guided them to the underground chamber remained in the forest, watching from between the white trees as the group climbed back through the circular platform. None followed them.

Ara immediately transmitted the recorded information to Director Kang.

The response came within minutes.

"Don't activate the gate again."

Director Kang's voice was unusually firm.

Subin stood beside the platform while the others gathered around the communication device. "We weren't planning to."

"I know. I'm saying nobody is to experiment with it until we understand what happened. The Arctic entrance is stable, but we've already had enough unexpected connections in this expedition."

Ara nodded. "We have complete readings from the chamber."

"Send them."

She transmitted the data.

For several seconds, the connection remained silent.

Then Director Kang spoke again.

"There's something you need to know."

Everyone became attentive.

"While you were underground, one of the external gates on Earth briefly changed its destination."

Ara immediately looked at her equipment.

"Which one?"

"Canada."

She frowned.

"That gate was connected to the Frozen Region."

"It still is. But for approximately eleven seconds, its signature changed."

"To what?"

"We don't know."

The answer created a heavier silence than any dramatic warning could have.

Subin looked toward the northern horizon.

"Did anything come through?"

"No."

"Any environmental change?"

"None that we've detected."

Ara frowned. "Then the connection was probably incomplete."

"Probably," Director Kang replied. "That's why I want you to report everything before taking another step."

Subin nodded.

"We'll return to the Citadel."

The communication ended.

Jae-hyun looked at Ara. "So we're going back?"

"We should."

He glanced toward Subin. "You agree?"

Subin looked toward the forest.

The underground chamber had changed his understanding of the expedition.

Until now, they had been mapping a sequence of regions connected through the World Dungeon. Forest, ruined city, frozen frontier, and the routes leading toward other environments had given them a structure they could understand.

The underground gate had broken that pattern.

It wasn't necessarily dangerous.

But it was unpredictable.

"We go back," Subin said. "Then we decide what to do with what we found."

The team began moving.

They had covered only a few kilometers when Ara suddenly stopped.

"Wait."

Everyone turned.

She was looking at the ground.

A thin line of golden light had appeared beneath the snow.

It extended northward.

Jae-hyun crouched beside her. "Was that there before?"

"No."

Subin knelt.

He brushed the snow aside.

The light came from a narrow crystalline line buried beneath the ground. It was not part of the route they had been following. Instead, it stretched away from the forest toward the mountains.

Ara scanned it.

"This is new."

"Another route?" Yerin asked.

"Maybe."

Subin touched the crystal.

A faint vibration traveled through his hand.

Simple Edge responded with a barely perceptible tremor.

He withdrew his hand.

"We follow it."

Ara looked surprised. "I thought we were returning."

"We are. But if the route appeared because of the gate we just encountered, we should know where it leads before leaving."

Jae-hyun smiled. "That's more like you."

They followed the golden line.

It remained beneath the snow for several hundred meters before emerging completely. What had seemed like a thin crystal vein became a broad path of golden crystalline plates stretching between the trees.

The surrounding forest changed as they progressed.

The white trees gradually became taller.

Their trunks developed golden veins.

The snow became thinner.

Even the air felt warmer.

Yerin glanced around.

"We're leaving the Frozen Region."

Ara checked her equipment.

"Yes."

"How?"

"I don't know."

Subin continued forward.

The golden path eventually reached a cliff.

Beyond it lay an enormous valley.

The expedition stopped.

The landscape below was nothing like the frozen environment behind them.

Golden grass covered the valley floor, moving gently despite the absence of wind. Huge trees with dark trunks grew along the slopes, their leaves shining like polished metal. Farther away, enormous stone formations rose from the earth, each shaped like a broken pillar.

And beyond those pillars was a city.

Not the ruined city they had already visited.

This one was alive.

Lights moved between tall structures.

Something resembling flying beasts crossed the sky.

A river reflected the golden sunlight as it passed through the valley.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Ara checked her equipment twice.

"This isn't recorded."

"Then we're not supposed to be here," Rafael said.

Subin shook his head.

"That's not necessarily true."

He pointed toward the golden path behind them.

"It brought us here."

The team remained on the cliff.

Nobody moved forward.

There was no need to rush.

The city was too large to enter blindly, and the valley contained more life than anything they had encountered since entering the World Dungeon.

Then a sound rose from below.

A horn.

Deep.

Powerful.

It echoed through the valley.

The flying creatures scattered.

The golden grass bent outward as something enormous moved through it.

Ara's equipment began producing warning signals.

"Large mana signature approaching."

The others prepared themselves.

A creature emerged from the valley.

It resembled a massive feline, but its body was covered in golden armor-like scales and six long horns curved backward from its head. Its shoulders were high enough to rise above the trees, and every step caused the ground to tremble.

Golden Horned Beast — Level 226 — A+

It stopped beneath the cliff.

Its eyes moved across the expedition.

Subin didn't draw his sword.

The creature stared at him.

Then it lowered its head.

Yerin whispered, "It isn't attacking."

"No," Subin said.

The creature turned toward the city.

It released another deep call.

A response came from far beyond the valley.

Then another.

Then dozens.

The expedition slowly realized what they were hearing.

The city wasn't silent because it was abandoned.

It was simply far away.

And the creatures of the valley were communicating with one another.

The Golden Horned Beast turned back toward Subin.

For a moment, the two stared at each other.

Then it moved away.

It didn't retreat.

It simply continued along the valley as though the expedition were another part of the landscape.

Jae-hyun lowered his weapon.

"That was unexpected."

Subin watched the creature disappear between the golden trees.

"Everything here is."

Ara looked down at her equipment.

A new reading had appeared.

She stared at it for several seconds.

"What?"

Yerin stepped closer.

Ara pointed toward the screen.

Regional Environment Detected

Classification: Golden Valley

Known Connection: None

External Gate: None

Status: Unmapped

Jae-hyun frowned.

"So this isn't one of the regions from the Citadel."

"No."

Subin looked at the distant city.

"Then we found another region."

Ara shook her head.

"Not exactly."

She enlarged the map.

A thin line appeared behind their position, stretching all the way back toward the underground gate.

Then the line continued beyond the valley.

It connected to another distant point.

Ara's expression changed.

"This isn't a dead-end route."

Subin looked at her.

"Where does it go?"

"I can't tell yet."

The signal extended far beyond the range of her equipment.

Then another line appeared.

This one moved east.

And another appeared to the south.

The Golden Valley was not isolated.

It was connected to several unexplored areas.

The expedition remained silent.

Subin finally looked back toward the frozen forest.

They had entered this dungeon to understand its known regions and establish safe routes to Earth.

Now they had discovered something else entirely.

Not another monster.

Not another damaged junction.

A living region with a functioning civilization.

And unlike the ruined city they had already explored, this place had inhabitants who had never disappeared.

Yerin stood beside Subin.

"Should we enter?"

Subin looked at the distant city again.

"Not yet."

She glanced at him.

"Why?"

"We don't know anything about them."

Jae-hyun nodded. "And we're carrying equipment from Earth, weapons, and enough power to look like an invading force."

Subin sheathed Simple Edge.

"We observe first."

Ara smiled faintly.

"That's going to be difficult with an entire city watching us."

Subin looked down.

The Golden Horned Beast had stopped in the valley.

Behind it, several smaller creatures had emerged from the trees.

They weren't attacking.

They were watching.

Then, far beyond the valley, movement appeared along the walls of the city.

Figures were gathering.

They had noticed the expedition.

The first contact had already begun.

Subin remained on the cliff with the others, making no attempt to advance.

For now, neither side crossed the distance between them.

But the World Dungeon had changed again.

The expedition had found a region that wasn't abandoned, sealed, or collapsing.

It was alive.

And somewhere beyond the golden valley, an entire civilization had just become aware that visitors from another world were standing at its border.