Chapter 198

"An anomaly-type Gate? What's that?"

"A Gate where the boss room only opens if you meet a specific condition. Brute force alone won't solve it."

At my baffled look, Seo Jihyeok pushed his cracked glasses up and went on.

"Take the S-rank [Monastery of Silence] Gate that appeared in Europe three years ago — the condition to make the boss appear was maintain ambient noise below 30 decibels, offer up five hidden relics. The first team in had an explosion-type Awakened. They were wiped out without ever laying eyes on the boss."

Leo picked it up, face grim.

"The really nasty thing about anomaly-type Gates is that every one of those conditions is whatever the boss monster decides it should be. Anomaly-Gate bosses have off-the-charts intelligence — some of them have actually spoken in human language."

"Monsters, speaking human language?!"

At my horrified outburst, Seo Jihyeok answered, heavy.

"And they won't just tell you what the condition is, either. The hunters have to dig up the clues themselves. If time runs out before they piece it together… the boss room seals shut for good, and the raid ends in failure."

Leo swept the wrecked banquet hall with a grimace.

"Usually you can get a rough read from the environment, but… a banquet hall? I honestly can't get a feel for this one."

My face went white as their explanation went on.

The kids are in a place like this?

Without thinking, I hauled the kids clustered against me into a tight embrace.

Then I turned and shot Leo a resentful glare.

"Why on earth did you bring the kids in the first place?!"

Under the sharp scolding, Leo pursed his lip and muttered, playing wronged.

"Look, how was I supposed to know a Gate was going to open here…"

I was so exasperated I was about to unload another round, when—

The kids clinging to my chest wriggled around, tugging at my collar and putting themselves between me and Leo.

"Direektuh, don't be angwy. We begged him 'cause we wanted to come. We mished you sho much…"

"That's right, Director. Getting angry might make you sick, so please don't."

Bright, wide-eyed and laying on the wheedling like little puppies — every last drop of the boiling anger fizzled out.

"Nnngh…"

In the end I gave a small groan and buried my face in the little shoulders pressed against me.

The soft, powdery smell of children and the wriggly warmth of their bodies pressed into me, and my razor-taut nerves eased like snow melting.

"Haah… Fine. I won't be mad. But whatever happens, none of you push out in front. Understood? Julia's here, and Han Jewoon."

At my instruction, Cha Yul's mouth worked as if he wanted to object, but I fixed a harder look on him than any I'd given before and shut it down cold.

"So what do we do now? We figure out the condition?"

Seo Jihyeok answered, calm.

"Hard to say. For now, all we can do is sweep the field around the banquet hall and gather clues."

"Before that — let's get the situation in order. There are too many civilians here."

At Han Jewoon's words, I glanced around and saw the non-Awakened huddled in a terrified cluster in one corner.

He was about to start issuing proper orders when a familiar cluster approached from a way off.

Cheonun Group's three siblings.

Cheon Sangmin, Cheon Sangyeon, and Cheon Sangcheol.

Each brought their own retinue, and the makeup of each entourage spoke volumes about the person leading it.

Cheon Sangmin, flanked by bodyguards in sharply pressed suits.

Cheon Sangyeon, ringed by Awakened in flamboyant, individual outfits.

Meanwhile — astonishingly — next to Cheon Sangcheol, the youngest and the biggest preener of the three on any normal day, there wasn't a single guard in sight.

"Someone explain the situation."

Cheon Sangmin's voice was measured, entirely rational and composed.

Cheon Sangyeon, by contrast, was recoiling in horror at the thought of monster blood on her clothes, face pulled tight in disgust.

"Ugh… a Gate out of nowhere? Are you kidding me. All my clothes are going to be ruined."

"Sangyeon. Read the room and shut your mouth for once."

"Says my brother, still trying to play calm and collected — you're shaking inside and we all know it."

Behind the two elder siblings' cold jockeying, Cheon Sangcheol was in full-blown panic.

"A — a Gate…?! Why me, why now, again — I don't want this! Get me out of here right now, you bastards!"

I stared at him, baffled — foam gathering at the corners of his mouth, the whole grotesque display.

Wasn't he supposed to be a B-rank Awakened? Why is he shaking like that?

Reading my open stare, Cheon Sangyeon crossed her arms and let out a scornful laugh.

"Don't mind him. Just between us — after what happened eight years ago, our baby brother turned into a coward who can't so much as go near a Gate."

"Eight years ago…"

That's the Gate he went into with Choi Jiyeon and Yeon Minjun, isn't it?

All at once, it clicked why Cheon Sangcheol had never been able to build his own power base inside Cheonun Group.

A B-rank Awakened who couldn't even set foot inside a Gate for eight years running.

Under a coward who couldn't even set foot in a dungeon, no subordinate was ever going to feel real loyalty.

Cheon Sangmin looked at his brother with plain disgust, then turned to Han Jewoon and spoke, courteous.

"How would you like us to move? In here, we'll follow your lead without question. Cheonun Group will spare nothing in the way of support, either."

A clean handover of authority, no strings attached.

At the words, Han Jewoon's eyes met Julia's, quiet.

A wordless exchange in the middle of the chaos: which of them was going to lead the search parties?

At the end of the silence, it was Julia who stepped back first.

"This is your country. We'll follow your lead."

A clean acknowledgment with not a speck of stubbornness or petty ego in it.

Beside her, Leo pulled a face, brow tightening in obvious displeasure, but he didn't push back against Julia's decision.

"Thank you."

Not a trace of his usual sly, easy manner remained.

The overwhelming charisma of a mega-guild leader and the country's top hunter came pouring off him.

"Let's separate Awakened from non-Awakened. Get the civilians gathered at the center of the hall."

"Understood."

At a jerk of Cheon Sangmin's chin, the bodyguards moved with drilled precision to corral the survivors.

Of course, complaints erupted.

Political and business figures who hadn't caught up with the situation flew into red-faced fits.

"Have you lost your minds?! Do you have any idea who I am, shoving me around like that! Get me my secretary this instant!"

In that moment, an ice-sculpture monster that everyone had assumed was dead made a horrible squelching sound as it dragged itself back together, then came slashing in with razor claws.

"H — hii—!"

Krak—!

Before the man could even finish his scream, the bodyguards shredded the monster.

Faced with that display of raw force, the VIPs snapped their mouths shut and fell in with instructions.

Han Jewoon spoke, sweeping the situation over with a calm eye.

"The monsters don't seem to be high-tier. C-rank and below hunters, remain in the hall to protect the civilians. S-rank down to B-rank, you're sweeping the venue with me."

Between the sheer scale of the party, the head count of hunters was thankfully not bad.

Cutting down to viable combatants, five raid parties came together in short order.

Raid One, led by Han Jewoon and Seo Jihyeok.

Raid Two, led by Julia and Leo.

Raid Three, made up of Awakened under Cheon Sangmin.

Raid Four, made up of Awakened under Cheon Sangyeon.

And… Raid Five, made up entirely of me and the kids.

Cheon Sangcheol was B-rank too, but with him still shaking on the floor, we left him in the hall.

I bit down softly on my lip.

So the kids have to go in too.

But high-rank Awakened or not, I couldn't just keep them tucked behind me because I was afraid.

And the kids wouldn't want that kind of shielding either.

[In the Awakened world, age is just a number.]

Feeling that cold truth all over again, I pulled the three glass vials of Refined Chaos Mana Stone from the inventory artifact.

Thank god I brought them.

I hadn't been planning to give them the stones now, but this was no time to be picky.

Given that an anomaly-type Gate was a place where even S-rank hunters lost their lives, the kids needed a way to punch past their limits — immediately.

Side effects have me a little worried…

Because when Sea-ah had drunk hers, she'd run a high fever the very next day.

But the inventory was packed with top-grade healing potions, and if it came to it, Han Jewoon and Julia were solid backup right beside us.

The best I could do was to get us out of the dungeon as fast as humanly possible, before the side effects hit tomorrow.

Decision made, I held out the vials. Cha Yul and Sea-ah, who knew what was inside, went wide-eyed.

The rest of the kids, seeing it for the first time, cocked their heads, mystified.

"Direektuh, whash the bwack liquid?"

"Uh… medicine that makes you stronger?"

Fudging it neatly, I handed a vial to each of Cha Yul, Sihyeok, and Suho in order of age.

"Here, drink."

Sihyeok and Suho, baffled but trusting because I was the one giving it to them, popped the caps and threw the contents back in one go.

Immediately, both of them screwed up their faces at the horrific taste.

The problem was Cha Yul.

He'd been the one who flatly refused last time, and I braced for another rejection.

But my worry turned out to be for nothing — he stared at the liquid for a beat, then tossed it back without a moment's hesitation.

"Y — you drank it?"

Startled, I asked, and the kid tipped his chin up, indifferent.

"…Because I have to get strong."

Blood-red eyes fixed on me hard.

"I've got a reason to get strong now. So I'm not being picky about how anymore."

A reason? What reason?

Before I had time to wonder at the loaded words, the twins clinging to my trouser legs started whining.

"Waahh! Direektuh! Why don't we get any?!"

"We wanna get shtwong too!!!"

They didn't even know what it was, but being left out was clearly the injustice.

"I'm sorry. I only managed to get three. Next time I'll make sure to get some for you too."

While I was feeding the kids and coaxing the little ones, Han Jewoon started the briefing.

"The key to an anomaly-type Gate is identifying the condition. We have to hit the ground and find clues ourselves."

Seo Jihyeok added, gravely.

"If we're unlucky, the boss might state the condition directly."

"Why is that unlucky? Isn't that easier?"

"It means the boss is confident it can wipe us out even after telling us. The worst possible sign — that the boss is a monster outside the norms."

At Seo Jihyeok's answer, I clamped my mouth shut.

What on earth is a dungeon.

Beyond simple disaster — another world, run on grotesque rules and its own ecology.

Decades since Gates first appeared, and humanity still knew next to nothing about this unknown space.

Han Jewoon spoke, pulling the situation back together.

"This place breaks down into three areas: the main hall where the non-Awakened are sheltering, the outdoor terrace beyond it, and the annex rooms running along the banquet hall corridor."

His finger pointed to a corner of the venue.

There, an enormous door sat, giving off an oppressive weight.

"We've already tested that door. Julia and I put our full force into breaking it, and it didn't budge. From the setup, it's very likely the boss room."

He stared at the door a moment longer, then turned his head as if his mind was made up.

"I can fight in the air, so I'll take Raid One around the outdoor terrace. Getting a top-down view should give us an edge."

He stretched a hand into the air, and with a crack of splitting sound, space tore open behind him.

Through the fissure, hundreds of swords poured out like driving rain.

Han Jewoon's raid members, used to it, hopped lightly onto the floating swords.

Watching, Julia nodded.

"Then the remaining four raids will sweep the annex rooms."

At that, Leo opened a pocket in space and pulled out small in-ear artifacts.

"Everyone take one. Comms artifacts I made."

Tossing one to each raid leader, he added—

"No distance limit. Any clues turn up, share them right away."

Marveling at Leo's genius all over again, I obediently fitted the earbud in.

"All right — begin the search!"

The real hunt was on.

Raid Five — me and the kids — moved into the endless corridor, throwing open door after door.

Every room was uselessly enormous, and the layouts were copy-pasted identical, but the small mercy was that the monsters coming out of them were low-tier trash.

Pow—! Krak!

"Hahah! This is easy!"

"Oppa, I got thwee more than you!"

The kids popped monsters like popcorn, laughing brightly.

For something supposedly unfolding in the middle of a deadly dungeon, the mood was adorable — and, in its own way, chilling.

Our kids really are strong…

Some number of rooms in — I'd lost count — I glanced down at the floor without thinking.

"This is…?"

Something out of place lay on the marble floor.

I picked it up carefully; the cold, metallic feel came through my fingers.

A long, sharp, needle-like object.

A shape I'd seen somewhere before.

Hold on — is this… a clock hand?

In that instant, the massive golden clock tower in the main hall flashed sharp through my mind.