Chapter 3 Part 3: Return

The guild members of ‘Wildness’ and ‘Cultivation’.

Following the two guild leaders, all the awakened ones entered the gate.

After the mana wavelength of the last person to enter, Shin Hakcheol, confirming that no one else was entering, gave the order.

“Frontline, forward. The rest, quickly form ranks. Light up the surroundings.”

“Cultivation, follow his orders from now on.”

Everyone gathered there were veterans.

As soon as Shin Hakcheol’s order was given, the surroundings began to light up.

At the same time, men and women covered in equipment with hardly any gaps rushed to the front of the guild members, setting up shields similar in size to their own bodies to block the front.

Shin Hakcheol and Baek Ji-a at the forefront.

Immediately behind them were the vanguard of ‘Wildness’.

And behind them, the guild members of ‘Wildness’ and ‘Cultivation’ quickly began to move to their respective roles.

Most were A-rank.

Rarely, B-rank guild members also possessed skills comparable to A-rank awakened ones.

Therefore, based on their many experiences, they did not panic and become flustered.

The same was true for the guild members of ‘Cultivation’.

They were also veterans.

Even the guild leader, Baek Ji-a, handed over the authority of the raid leader to Shin Hakcheol. Therefore, they followed Shin Hakcheol’s orders without any complaints.

The two guild leaders, trusting their respective guild members, only looked at the inside of the gate covered in darkness without looking back.

Then, Shin Hakcheol frowned and muttered.

“…Damn it.”

“…It doesn’t seem like it, does it?”

“Yeah. Is the recording equipment working properly?”

Shin Hakcheol replied to Baek Ji-a.

To the words that followed, a guild member who was filming the inside of the gate in real-time and transmitting it to the association, while also reporting immediately, answered in a loud voice.

“It’s working fine!”

It was a woman’s voice, not as strong as Shin Hakcheol’s, but still firm.

“Good. Then report immediately. From now on, this gate is the third S-rank gate in Korea.”

“…Yes, I understand!”

After a brief pause, the answer came again. Shin Hakcheol nodded as if satisfied, then inhaled deeply, puffing out his chest.

While thinking.

It’s definitely S-rank.

No matter how hopefully he tried to underestimate it, it wasn’t at the level of A-rank.

Shin Hakcheol, who was the first to enter the gate, realized that there was an error in the mana measurement values outside and inside the gate.

Because the highest level of A-rank mana wavelength felt outside had changed into a very unfamiliar wavelength.

It was the moment he entered the gate. His intuition, honed by countless experiences, caught a faint sensation that stimulated his life.

As evidence, Shin Hakcheol’s pupils were vertically elongated like a reptile’s.

What could be there?

It was impossible to predict.

Because the precursor of the break was seen, they entered first without waiting for support after reporting.

If a break occurred, the damage would be uncontrollable.

“Hmm.”

However, Shin Hakcheol, who was standing still and staring at the inside of the gate, slowly exhaled and questioned.

“…It’s strange.”

It was the same for Baek Ji-a.

The two exchanged thoughts with their eyes at the same time.

Because they realized that they couldn’t answer each other’s questions.

Soon, the two, who thought it was meaningless, took their eyes off each other and looked inside the gate again.

Nothing existed.

Not even the monsters that were now common knowledge, or the magical stones that were the main source of income from the gate.

The wide space that could accommodate many guild members was empty, and there was only one long passage.

The walls blocking the surroundings reminded them of ancient architecture.

But Shin Hakcheol and Baek Ji-a’s questions were not about those things.

The reason why everyone entered the gate, formed ranks, but couldn’t move forward.

It was because of the very faint mana wavelength.

Every time it brushed past their skin, it felt like a cold snake was climbing up, but it was so faint that it was difficult to even catch it without concentrating.

Two S-rank awakened beings momentarily stopped breathing, and it was difficult to even realize it without extreme concentration.

The energy that the guild leaders noticed when it briefly decreased and then increased again.

The mana wavelength that felt like the regular inhaling and exhaling of a sleeping person, like breathing.

What is the identity of the being that emits this?

The mana wavelength was one strand.

It meant that only one being was emitting mana.

Considering that there were no monsters that interfered with the sense of feeling mana, and no magical stones containing mana.

Shin Hakcheol muttered at the same time as he judged.

“…The boss is f*cking strong.”

Baek Ji-a seemed to have the same thought, and replied with a slightly depressed face.

“A single boss gate… It’s been a while.”

Single boss gate.

Most gates have superior or exceptional boss-level entities and races of entities compared to ordinary monsters.

However, there were sometimes cases where there was only one boss-level entity, and the two guild leaders judged that this was such a case.

But that wasn’t a reason to be relieved. It was the driving force to move forward because they realized the cause.

Perhaps the precursor of the break was caused by the boss-level entity, the owner of the gate, just taking a breath.

That’s what Shin Hakcheol thought.

And, the next moment.

“Maintain formation and stay alert. Then let’s depar—.”

Then let’s depart— That’s what.

Shin Hakcheol, who was about to say that, frowned at the strange sensation he suddenly felt.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Just now, something.”

Shin Hakcheol muttered, turning his head.

But Baek Ji-a, even though Shin Hakcheol had transformed into the shape of a giant crocodile, only tilted her head slightly and expressed her question.

‘…Am I too nervous?’

Therefore, Shin Hakcheol, who thought it was because he was nervous, returned his body to its original size and began to move forward.

While constantly questioning the heterogeneous energy that felt like a spiderweb was covering him.

The further they went, the brighter the surroundings became.

It was to the point where the guild members could turn off the fire and light they each created to drive away the darkness.

But in contrast, the faces of the two guild leaders and guild members walking at the very front became darker.

Baek Ji-a asked.

“…Should we run away, even now?”

Shin Hakcheol shook his head and replied.

“…No. The boss probably noticed that we entered, and he’ll try to track down the intruders.”

They kept going.

They couldn’t stop. Since they entered, they had to find out something.

Because they were the most righteous ‘Wildness’ and ‘Cultivation’ in Korea, they decided to willingly take any possible damage.

“It’s getting close.”

Shin Hakcheol’s words, which meant that the end of the gate was not far away, made some guild members swallow dryly.

Now they were also feeling it. A heterogeneous energy different from mana, so overwhelming that it made their skin tremble.

But even so, they didn’t stop. They continued to follow the guild leaders walking at the very front.

“The association won’t just stand by, will they?”

“It’s probably dawn outside, but they’ll be hiring every awakened one they can.”

They were thinking about the aftermath.

Shin Hakcheol and Baek Ji-a, who were thinking that they should buy as much time as possible, and the other guild members continued to move forward.

Soon after, they faced a large temple.

They couldn’t be sure right away. They were busy grasping the situation.

Soon after, it was right after.

It meant the very next moment.

Everyone who came to conquer the gate was, surprisingly, distracted from some point on.

It was a strange phenomenon, and a crazy thing to do. To be distracted inside an S-rank gate.

In fact, the association, which was watching the situation through a broadcast outside, was furious because the real-time reports were not continuing, and they didn’t know what was happening.

However, they couldn’t recklessly send personnel into the gate.

But Shin Hakcheol and Baek Ji-a, and the guild members, realized that they had reached the end of this gate.

A temple floating alone in the sky, with light entering through large pillars.

Everyone was overwhelmed by the reverent and dreamy atmosphere.

In fact, Baek Ji-a looked around the temple and its surroundings, and mistook it for being in the sky.

Because there was really a sky.

Clouds were floating, endlessly vast.

It wasn’t the horizon because there was no land.

It wasn’t the waterline because there was no sea, so what should they call the end of the wide sky?

They, soon after—.

“Welcome.”

They faced a statue that seemed to have been crafted by the hand of God.

Pure white hair that absorbs light.

A chiton, which could be seen in ancient Greece, was dragged along the floor as the woman approached. But even that was sacred.

Whether male or female, it was a beauty that made them inhale at the same time.

But Shin Hakcheol and Baek Ji-a had doubts about other parts than her appearance.

The surrounding scenery could be passed off as the inside of the gate, but the woman who appeared in front of them.

The fact that the being, which could only be a boss-level entity, was a woman of extreme beauty in the shape of a human, and even more so.

The fact that she spoke in human language.

They couldn’t help but be startled by the words that were clearly directed at them, not their own language.

Then, when the woman’s mouth opened again.

“—Intruders.”

A thick murderous intent was smeared.

Twelve wings rose behind the woman’s back.
The appearance was like an angel, but this time, they straightened their minds and prepared for battle.

The angel flew up.
She reached out her hand towards the blocked ceiling.

As soon as the woman’s hand reached under the temple’s ceiling, which looked heavy at a glance, the ceiling rose, separated from the temple, and settled on the woman’s palm.

While everyone was stunned by the overwhelming sight, the recording equipment of the woman at the very back of the formation, who was broadcasting the situation to the association.

Captured the white-haired woman floating in the air with her eyes closed, behind the space where the angel had risen into the sky.

And, when the temple’s ceiling slipped and fell from the angel’s hand.

The white-haired woman’s brow furrowed slightly.