Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 135
#135. The Hidden Enemy (敵)
2022.12.13.
A hotel located in Seoul.
Andrea, a member of the secret global hunter alliance GIA, also known as the Fortune Teller, rested his chin on his hand and gazed out the window.
The sky over Seoul, without a single cloud, was just peaceful.
A sky so clear it was hard to believe a large-scale Unknown Gate had occurred somewhere in the south.
Averting his gaze from the window, he once again looked at the tablet PC on the table.
「《LIVE》 The Association's Secret Operation?! I've Personally Participated in the South Coast Unknown Gate! │ BJ: HyukieWorld │ Viewers: 500k」
Lightly tapping the edge of the screen, the folded chat window scrolled down.
The chat window, updating at a speed that was hard to follow with the eyes, was literally a scene of chaos.
[This is just the country and the association being crazy; the fact that they didn't even inform the public about such a large-scale Unknown Gate is just hopeless]
[If this gate subjugation fails, it's only a matter of time before the currents carry the impact from the south coast to the inland regions. The country and the association should have predicted and prepared for this situation.]
[Real-time train tickets are all sold outㅋㅋ ticket prices on second-hand markets are going crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Is Yeosu Bam Bada now going to be covered with hordes of monsters?]
[Maybe it's just me, but it seems like there are a lot fewer hunters than at the beginning??ㄷㄷ]
[Aren't all the S-classes gathered there? Where did they all go?]
[They either felt it was a lost cause and escaped, or they're secretly hiding and just watching like Hyukie, or they're just dead~]
[Should I just immigrate now;;;;;;; I'm scared;;;]
[The government and the association must explain, the government and the association must explain, the government and the association must explain, the government and the association must explain, the government and the association must explain]
'I still don't quite understand internet slang...'
Though Andrea was quite confident in his Korean, this rapidly updating chat was still hard to follow.
Andrea tapped the edge of the screen once more.
The chat window that had been covering the screen disappeared, and HyukieWorld's broadcast screen was once again fully revealed on the screen.
「N-now, the Vice-Master of Wolf is commanding the scene. Do you see? It's that man in the mask over there. Ah, Trickster? He seems to have moved to the healing unit with the Corps guild members. For now, I'm... Ugh, aargh! A bug! A bug!」
HyukieWorld on the screen shrieked and began to jump around.
A frantically shaking camera.
Andrea elegantly lifted the coffee cup beside him and quietly appreciated his broadcast.
The South Coast Gate subjugation, which the Association had secretly conducted, was revealed to the entire nation of Korea... no, to the whole world, through the unique ability of this hunter called 'HyukieWorld'.
Currently, about 500,000 people were watching his broadcast.
Including proxy rooms, it was probably even more.
At this rate, it would only be a matter of time before it surpassed 1 million.
The success or failure of this gate subjugation, the whole world would now be watching.
Some were showing anxiety and unrest.
The endlessly regenerating monsters were one thing, but there were also things that could be inferred from the video.
Such a compartmentalized gate was unfamiliar to most people.
It was the same for Andrea, a member of GIA.
As far as he knew and had experienced, most gates consisted of a single field.
It was the first time he had seen a case where a separate, hidden space existed, like the 'Root of Incubation' the Phantom Thief in the video had entered.
Was it because what they had entered was an Unknown Gate, where anything could happen?
No, to say that, it seemed to be on a different level from the Unknown Gates so far.
...However.
"Let's see."
What Andrea was focusing on at this very moment was a different point.
Minimizing the broadcast for a moment, Andrea opened the You-Tube app instead.
<My Heart Swells at the Return of the Phantom Thief - King Korea S-Class Hunter>
The first thing that caught his eye was a short video, about 4 minutes long.
The Phantom Thief, who had suddenly appeared after several years at the South Coast Unknown Gate.
The scene of her cleanly splitting a Sucker Parasite in two with her dagger was already uploaded as an edited video on You-Tube and was rapidly gaining views.
However, what Andrea clicked on was not the Phantom Thief's video.
It was the one right below, one of the top 3 real-time popular videos.
The woman in the black dress, peeking through the thumbnail, was the Princess of Dark Flare, known to the public as an F-Class hunter.
In the video, she was literally 'slaughtering' Level 30 monsters in less than 3 minutes.
Her glamorous attire, a speed so fast the camera couldn't follow, and her clean, flawless attacks using a parasol had caught people's attention.
Not only the citizens of Korea, but also foreign netizens were starting to take an interest in her identity.
"【...This is bad, Johan.】"
Andrea reached out and slightly opened the birdcage that was by the window.
A white carrier pigeon, as if it had been waiting, landed on Andrea's index finger.
"【I hope Johan will be honest this time. Before it's too late.】"
You think so too, don't you, William?
Andrea murmured, gently stroking the bird's feathers.
"Ugh..."
Ayeon opened her eyes, clutching her throbbing head.
Pushing on her brow due to the dizzying, spinning sensation, she blankly scanned her surroundings.
'...What happened?'
There was no one around.
Judging by the scenery, it wasn't the temple... and it didn't seem to be the root area where they were originally.
Then where on earth was this?
Feeling a sense of doubt, Ayeon slowly got up.
No, she tried to get up.
Whip!
"Ah!"
Ayeon, letting out a sound, staggered.
A beat later, she discovered the tree root clutching her ankle.
"What's this?"
Frowning in annoyance, she took out her dagger and cut off the cumbersome tree root wrapped around her ankle in one go.
First, as if it were a matter of course, she looked for Eunha's shadow.
Ayeon shouted loudly towards her surroundings.
"Unnie!"
Unnie— Unnie— nie—...
However, all that came back was a hollow echo, mimicking her own voice.
Ayeon lightly bit her lower lip.
Though it wasn't certain yet, it was highly likely that Eunha, who had ascended the 'Altar of Eternal Rest', had not been able to come 'outside'.
'That crazy X.'
Recalling Yijun, Ayeon ground her teeth.
Either way, what she had to do right now was decided.
To find that yellow-headed bastard who had branded her unnie as a monster and smack him on the back of the head.
If anything happened to her unnie, she would never forgive him.
"I won't let him get away, that Yankee bastard."
Ayeon, spitting out a chilling curse, strode forward.
Meanwhile, at the same time, Siwoo—
'This place is also empty.'
Like Ayeon, he was walking through this strange, unknown space.
He had grasped the situation that they had returned to the 'outside' after completing the sudden quest, but...
'Where is this? Where are the other S-Classes?'
It felt as if he had been dropped into a separate space.
Siwoo bent his knees and touched the soil with his hand.
And he lightly brought it to his nose.
'...A faint scent of monsters.'
Siwoo, who had confirmed the scent lingering on the soil, soon shoved his hands deep into his hoodie pockets.
Judging by the current situation, it was highly likely that something had happened to the main force remaining near the root.
However, he probably didn't need to worry too much.
He had left the aftermath to Hagyun.
He was a man who had served as Gwihoon's right-hand man for a long time.
What was more worrying was...
'Sunbae!'
'It's alright, Shin Siwoo.'
Her retreating figure as she jumped into the giant scale, the Altar of Eternal Rest.
'...Is she okay, Sunbae?'
Siwoo recalled the sudden quest window that had popped up the moment he entered the 'Scales of Choice'.
Though it was marked with a question mark, the quest window had clearly mentioned a completion reward.
However, Siwoo, who had escaped that place, had not been given any reward.
Perhaps there was something beyond that giant scale Eunha had crossed, Siwoo thought.
There must be a way back.
...There had to be.
"...?"
Siwoo, who had been fiddling with his fingers in his hoodie pocket, stopped moving.
It was because something hard had touched his fingertips.
'A terminal...'
His blue eyes, looking down at it on his palm, sank deep.
Eunha had once entrusted her terminal to Siwoo.
Saying that the experience points gained were not displayed even when she defeated monsters.
At that time, Eunha's terminal showed no signs of being broken or water-damaged.
In fact, Siwoo had had people completely disassemble it and meticulously examine the inside.
However, the result was that there was nothing wrong with the terminal.
Siwoo hadn't thought deeply about it.
He had dismissed it as just an unknown error, since it was an electronic device.
But thinking about it now, the terminal error phenomenon, the rank measurement result at the Association, and the fact that a terrible stench of monster blood had emanated from her... perhaps.
'No.'
Siwoo soon shook his head firmly.
Something must have been wrong.
Perhaps because she had been trapped in the Unknown Gate for too long... anyway, it must be that kind of problem.
There was no way Sunbae was a monster.
She was a hunter who had more human aspects than anyone he had ever seen.
That's why he respected her, and that's why his eyes were drawn to her.
Anyone who had watched her up close would have to think so.
So he couldn't understand.
'How dare you, a mere monster.'
Maestro, that bastard, who had attacked Sunbae without hesitation despite being a long-time comrade.
What kind of face had Sunbae made at that moment?
Siwoo didn't know.
Because he couldn't bring himself to check her expression.
—But there was no way she was unaffected.
Because Sunbae was human.
Because she was human, there was no way she would be unaffected.
"..."
It was the moment he squeezed the terminal as if to crush it.
"Kyaaak!"
Siwoo snapped his head up.
A scream from somewhere.
It was a woman's voice.
Probably not too far from here.
Could it be Sunbae? Or... Phantom Thief?
It would be best to check first.
Siwoo, pulling his hood down firmly, kicked off the ground and moved quickly.
Thwack!
"...Huh?"
While moving towards the source of the sound, he encountered a girl wearing a baseball cap.
Phantom Thief.
Seeing that she was also here, it seemed she too had been teleported from the 'Scales of Choice' like Siwoo.
Which meant... it was highly likely that the Monkey King and Maestro had also been moved somewhere in this space.
"Did you hear that just now?"
Ayeon asked, slightly lifting her cap.
As Siwoo nodded, Ayeon wrinkled her nose slightly.
"It's definitely not... but it couldn't be my unnie, right?"
As Ayeon bit her nails, this time it was Siwoo who frowned.
"Sunbae doesn't scream like that."
"That's true... no, wait a minute."
Ayeon, who had trailed off, snapped her head up.
Her pink eyes, looking into Siwoo's, held a somehow displeased look.
"You, acting like you know Unnie so well is a bit nauseating, you know?"
Siwoo stared intently at Ayeon with his piercing blue eyes, then quickly turned his head away.
A tiring type to deal with.
That's how he judged it.
It was definitely not because he was holding a grudge about her pushing him at the previous meeting.
...Probably.
Siwoo sighed softly and pulled his hood down again.
It was more important to find out the source of that scream than to have a pointless verbal squabble here.
Was she offended by Siwoo's sigh?
Ayeon's face crumpled.
"Hey? If you heard someone talk, at least say something back, won't you?"
Ignoring the chattering Ayeon, Siwoo began to run forward again.
Ayeon, without batting an eye, kept up with his full speed.
"No, how do you know what kind of scream my unnie makes, huh? No, you bastard... don't tell me...!"
As if having some thought, Ayeon covered her mouth.
Towards Ayeon, whose face was turning red and blue, Siwoo extended his hand as if to stop her.
"..."
Ayeon, who was about to say something, closed her mouth again.
Following Siwoo, who had narrowed his eyes sharply, Ayeon also slowly lifted her head and checked her surroundings.
Soon, spotting something, Ayeon's eyes widened.
'What is that?'
A 5-story apartment... no, a 10-story height?
Perhaps even more.
It was so massive that one had to crane their neck to see the top,
'A goddess statue?'
Ayeon, slightly lifting the brim of her cap, tilted her chin and stared blankly up at it.
Seeing the broken and worn-out marks here and there, it seemed to be a very old goddess statue.
Its face, which seemed to have been meticulously carved, was half-covered in blue moss, and nameless flowers bloomed near its cracked arms and legs.
What was most eye-catching was...
'A sword and scales.'
The sword and scales the goddess was holding in both hands.
Why is there such a goddess statue in a place like this...?
Before that question could even fade,
Ssshhh—!
A sound, as if something were sharply cutting through the wind, was heard.
Siwoo and Ayeon, whose attention had been stolen by the goddess statue, simultaneously turned their heads that way.
And they discovered.
"Keok...!"
—Roje, with a snake wrapped tightly around her neck, and,
"..."
Yijun, staring at her with a blank expression in front of her.
