Gate of Hell (1)

The boss chamber was a massive, cavernous space. It was so vast, in fact, that it almost tricked one into believing it stretched endlessly in every direction.

Lights adorned the walls, and despite their sparse number, they illuminated the chamber as brightly as midday.

Several other Awakener groups, who had arrived earlier, were already visible within the boss chamber.

From a rough estimate, it seemed we were about the tenth group to arrive.

Being the tenth out of a total of twenty-one teams, we had arrived precisely in the middle.

While I considered it a decent outcome for a first practical assessment, Kim Gwanhyo clearly did not share my sentiment.

“Ah, if only we hadn’t fallen into quite so many traps, we would have been first, honestly…”

I let his grumbling wash over me, dismissing it entirely.

‘You got your moment in front, shaming yourself and making a good show of it for me. What more is there to whine about?’

Given its immense size, the boss chamber boasted numerous entrances, and through them, other teams were steadily gathering.

“Filming is complete. You may now move to the center.”

Lee Jinwoo, an Awakener from the Association who had silently followed us with a camera, turned to address us.

“The recorded footage will be uploaded to the Association’s website within the week, and you’ll receive a notification message when it’s live, so please check then.”

Beyond Lee Jinwoo, as he spoke, I caught sight of Lee Heejin.

However, her appearance was strikingly unfamiliar.

‘Strange… something is strange…’

She looked incredibly agitated, a sight completely at odds with Lee Heejin’s usual image of composure and nonchalance. It struck me as deeply unsettling.

Kim Gwanhyo must have noticed her too, as he approached Lee Heejin a step ahead of me.

“Heejin?”

I also moved closer, but Lee Heejin seemed oblivious to our presence, frantically scanning every corner of the boss chamber.

Then, as her gaze fixated on a particular spot, her pupils dilated uncontrollably.

“The center! Get away!”

Lee Heejin’s scream-like voice echoed sharply through the vast boss chamber, yet most people didn’t even glance her way.

In the center of the boss chamber, where the largest crowd had gathered, a network of cracks spread across the air like spiderwebs. From within these fissures, a blood-red liquid began to drip.

“W-What is this?!”

Some recoiled in confusion.

“Is this something the Association prepared?”

Others, oblivious, tried to approach.

“Don’t go near it!”

Those attempting to control the situation shouted.

“An anomaly has occurred at the final practical assessment site…”

Still others reported the incident to the Association.

A cacophony of voices and actions quickly plunged the situation into chaos.

And finally.

CRACKLE!

With a spine-chilling, bizarre sound, the crimson mass coalesced, beginning to take on a definitive form.

Its appearance was akin to…

“…A door?”

“A portal?”

“Provisional Awakeners, fall back!”

It assumed the shape of a ‘door’ leading somewhere.

For me, it wasn’t difficult to surmise the purpose of this newly manifested door.

‘…It’s starting already.’

I had continued to train diligently since returning from the dimensional rift. I consistently circulated the Heavenly Thunder Emperor’s Heart Technique morning and night, steadily building my internal energy, and I never skipped my training in imbuing weapons with elemental properties.

However, this level of preparation was utterly insufficient. I had even touched Kim Gwanhyo in hopes of a noticeable boost, but he was merely an empty shell, utterly useless.

Lost in these thoughts, I slowly drew the ordinary iron sword from my hip.

Soon, everyone here—perhaps even everyone across the entire world—would learn its true nature.

After all, messages had appeared.

[A gate connected to Hell is activating.]

[The invasion of Hell begins.]

“…Hell?”

“I don’t know what kind of nonsense that is, but it means monsters are going to pop out of there!”

I heard Lee Heejin’s murmur and Kim Gwanhyo’s assertive shout. I did my best to ignore both of them, recommencing the resonance with the iron sword in my hand. The moment I heard the low hum of the blade, a crimson-black aura erupted from the gate, instantly filling the vast chamber.

Whoosh!

[The aura of Hell dominates the area.]

[You are afflicted with the ‘Fear’ status effect.]

[Skill ‘Heavenly Thunder Emperor’s Heart Technique (S)’ activates.]

[Status effect has been dispelled.]

[The aura of Hell attempts to infiltrate.]

[Trait ‘Mana Dominator’ completely blocks the aura of Hell.]

And finally,

[Skill ‘Witch’s Eye (S)’ activates.]

Amidst the thick, red mist, only a piercing blue light flashed.

****

Lee Heejin could not conceal her disappointment at Park Minhyuk’s actions. She had been certain he was hiding something, yet the reality was quite the opposite.

Park Minhyuk had fallen into obvious, basic traps with utterly no grace. At first, she wondered if even this was an act, but after it happened repeatedly, she became convinced it was not. If it were an act, he would have been a renowned actor long before awakening.

Still, he showed no signs of tension when confronting monsters. Novice Awakeners, no matter how courageous, would naturally tense up and their muscles would stiffen when fighting monsters close enough to hear their breath. Yet, Park Minhyuk displayed none of that.

On the contrary, his sword work even seemed proficient.

…But that was all. He was merely fearless and competent with a sword.

She simply couldn’t believe there was anything more to him. After the Great Cataclysm, the number of people learning swordsmanship had drastically increased, so his skill was perfectly understandable. As for his fearlessness, his previous actions suggested he was quite distant from tension, so that too seemed plausible.

Then what exactly was that intuition? That mysterious intuition that made the ominous feeling vanish as if washed away whenever their eyes met.

‘A mistake… perhaps.’

Lee Heejin’s skill, ‘Warrior’s Intuition,’ boasted an extremely high accuracy rate. Nevertheless, as the skill itself was named ‘Intuition,’ it wasn’t infallible; there was about a one-in-a-hundred chance of it being wrong. She wondered if this was one of those times.

As this thought took hold, her interest in Park Minhyuk rapidly waned. Although the frequency of him falling into traps decreased, it only served to further solidify her conviction that her intuition about him had been mistaken. He was nothing more than an unremarkable novice Awakener.

What concerned her more was the ominous feeling that had grown intensely stronger since entering this dungeon. This dire intuition surged wildly the moment they entered the boss chamber.

‘Strange. Something is wrong.’

It felt as though something was about to erupt at any moment. While everyone else conversed casually, Lee Heejin alone moved frantically, sweeping her gaze across every part of the boss chamber.

‘Where is it? What on earth is coming out from where…!’

The ominous feeling had now escalated beyond mere unease, reaching a chilling climax. In the meantime, all the Awakeners had reached the boss chamber.

And almost simultaneously,

CRACK!

“The center! Get away!”

Cracks spread across the air, and crimson masses began to fall. Those bizarre entities quickly converged, forming the shape of a gate.

[A gate connected to Hell is activating.]

[The invasion of Hell begins.]

“…Hell?”

There was no time for questions.

WHOOSH—

A crimson mist erupted from the Gate of Hell, engulfing the entire area in an instant. Lee Heejin instinctively held her breath and covered her eyes, but it was futile.

[The aura of Hell dominates the area.]

[You are afflicted with the ‘Fear’ status effect.]

[All stats are reduced by 70%.]

Her limbs trembled uncontrollably, and her intuition screamed warnings at her like a madwoman. It urged her to flee. This was not something that could be resisted. It was a primal fear etched into the very instincts of living beings.

Moreover, her stats had plummeted to an absurd degree. And the situation didn’t end there.

[The aura of Hell attempts to infiltrate.]

[Skill ‘Iron Blood (B)’ partially obstructs the aura of Hell.]

[The aura of Hell permeates.]

[Mana loses control.]

[Skills are restricted.]

To make matters worse, some of her skills were even restricted. Despite her body refusing to obey due to the fear, Lee Heejin opened her status window to check which skills were unusable.

It was a clear demonstration of the mental fortitude and resolve with which the first-generation Awakeners had overcome the Great Cataclysm.

‘There’s almost nothing left.’

In short, it was the worst possible scenario. Her vision was obscured by the red mist, her stats were severely diminished, leaving her feeling like she had just crawled out of water after being submerged all day. On top of that, most of her skills were blocked.

She had to choose: should she escape, or should she fight whatever emerged from that gate in her current state? The choice, in truth, was obvious. The most logical course of action was to retreat and regroup with her guild. Baekje had highly capable individuals who could dispel such status effects, so fighting alongside them would give them a sufficient chance of victory, no matter the odds.

However, the problem was…

“Ugh… ugh…”

A weak groan, followed by the sound of someone collapsing, came from nearby. No, sounds of people collapsing echoed from everywhere across the vast chamber.

Lee Heejin, with her high stats, mental fortitude born from countless experiences, and the ‘Iron Blood’ skill, was barely holding on. But the other Awakeners couldn’t. They must have collapsed, either terrified by the bizarre fear emanating from the gate or experiencing their own mana backfiring as they tried to force their skills.

Provisional Awakeners and Association Awakeners alike, without exception, had all fallen. This meant that Lee Heejin was the only one left standing. Her single decision could lead to the deaths of nearly a hundred individuals gathered here, or, however slim the chance, their survival.

While this was the worst set of conditions she had ever faced, the situation itself was not entirely new. Since the day she first awakened ten years ago, Lee Heejin had always made the same choice.

‘Fight back.’

Once her resolve hardened, her trembling limbs steadied slightly. Just looking at the crimson-black, blood-colored gate sent shivers down her spine. What exactly was Hell that merely gazing upon its door could instill such terror?

‘…Now is not the time to think about such things.’

She had to do what she could. Lee Heejin quickly opened her guild chat window.

Lee Heejin: – Help. To my location, fast!

Without time to wait for a reply, she closed the chat and began to strategize. Her top priority was to clear the red mist that obscured her vision. After that, she would confront the enemies pouring through the gate, be they dozens or hundreds.

Fortunately, she still had a skill capable of dispelling the crimson mist. Concentrating her remaining mana into her feet, she stamped forcefully on the ground.

[Skill ‘Wind Stomp (C+)’ activates.]

The aftermath of the skill pushed the mist outward from Lee Heejin, creating a noticeable clearing. However, with her stats diminished, its power was also weakened, amounting to little more than a slightly strong gust of wind. This time, she clenched both fists.

[Skill ‘Fist Wind (B)’ activates.]

She desperately squeezed out her mana, unleashing the skill repeatedly.

[Skill ‘Fist Wind (B)’ activates.]

[Skill ‘Fist Wind (B)’ activates.]

…

Her body was already beginning to creak. Due to her lowered stats and nearly depleted mana, her already heavy body struggled to remain upright. And yet, the unknown enemy had not even appeared.

Still, her efforts yielded results; the red mist had cleared enough for the surrounding area to become visible. The sight that met her eyes as the red mist receded was precisely as she had anticipated.

Dozens of Awakeners lay motionless on the floor.

And then.

“Huh?”

An familiar figure stood alone before the gate, their eyes burning with a chilling blue light, starkly contrasting with the crimson gate.