Chapter 51: I’ll come find you, so wait, you punk

[Title: Submission of Black Gate Forced Entry Footage of the Masked Instructor]

[Would you like to send it?]

[Y]

‘I… I sent it, but… why are they acting like this?’

The person who submitted the footage of the Masked Instructor to the broadcasting station was none other than Jang Hyena. The incident began with a single message she sent to Seol Euna.

– Seol Euna! I had a question while editing the Masked Instructor’s video. Do you have some time?

– Ah… I don’t think I’ll be free today.

– In that case, I guess it can’t be helped… Is something going on?

– I’m meeting the Masked Instructor after a while.

– Oh, really? Is it a date?…

– Wh… what are you talking about! It’s just to have a quick chat in front of the gate!

– A gate? Did the Masked Instructor enter another gate?

– Ah… not exactly. I heard he sent his students to train in a C-rank gate he arranged. I told him I’d stop by to discuss something.

‘Hmm…’

After ending her conversation with Seol Euna, Jang Hyena logged into the gate reservation site to check the scheduled C-rank gates for today.

– Three C-rank gates scheduled.

There weren’t many C-rank gates reserved that day, and once she ruled out places far from the Masked Instructor’s home, a clear candidate emerged.

‘Could he have gone here?’

It was hard to be sure, as the reservation name wasn’t displayed, but with some free time and the possibility of catching an exclusive scoop, she decided to head over.

Just as she expected, the Masked Instructor was at a C-rank gate near Helmunt Academy.

“Masked Instruc…”

The moment she was about to call out to him, she heard the Masked Instructor speaking harshly with Instructor Yang Han-gil beside him.

– Are you planning to stay here and loiter? If you don’t want to see me, why not just leave?

– Mind your own business. If you keep provoking me like this, I won’t stay quiet. Or would you like me to shut that mouth of yours first?

Sensing the tension, Jang Hyena instinctively hid.

‘Uh… what should I do?’

Time passed while she stayed hidden. The cold tension between the Masked Instructor and Yang Han-gil hadn’t lessened one bit. She felt that if she suddenly appeared, she’d get scolded for showing up unexpectedly.

She was hesitating, wondering whether she should just sneak away or speak up. Just then…

– Fwooosh

The gate they were watching transformed into a Black Gate.

– Thump

Jang Hyena nearly screamed but quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

– Vrrrm

She took out her filming artifact. As a creator who ran a NATUBE channel focusing on controversies and issues, her habit of turning on the camera in such a moment was almost automatic. Her body moved before her brain even registered it.

‘Huh…?’

Jang Hyena couldn’t believe what she was witnessing.

As soon as the Black Gate appeared, Yang Han-gil ran off somewhere.

‘Wha… what’s wrong with him? Is he insane, running away like that?’

She was flustered but continued recording everything. Soon after, she captured Choi Juwon placing his hand on the Black Gate.

‘What is he planning to do?’

As she kept watching, Seol Euna came rushing over from somewhere.

– Wha… what are you doing? You’re not planning to absorb the Black Gate’s mana and release it, like with the Death Knight, right?

Exactly.

While listening to their conversation, Jang Hyena was filled with disbelief. She knew the Masked Instructor was remarkable, but the idea of absorbing and releasing mana from a Black Gate to forcefully open it seemed insane.

Yet, before long, it became reality.

• Kkaaaah!

As the mana began to gather around Choi Joo-won, his entire body turned a deep blue. The mana released from his hands filled the sky.

• Paaaang-!

‘This is unbelievable…’

Jang Hye-na stared blankly at the sky. The mana shot up into the air for quite a while before exploding.

• Kwaaang-!

Then, Seol Eun-ah extended her arm so that the mask instructor could absorb the mana, and before long, the mask instructor entered the gate.

Jiiing!

The camera clearly captured the scene.

• Thud.

Seeing Seol Eun-ah collapse, Jang Hye-na quickly took out her phone.

‘This… I can’t just sit here. I need to call an ambulance, an ambulance!’

After confirming that the ambulance had been dispatched and that Choi Joo-won had safely exited the gate, she quietly slipped away from the scene.

Once home, Jang Hye-na shook her head and tried to gather her thoughts.

‘He really cleared the Black Gate all by himself… just how strong is he…?’

Eventually, she thought to herself.

‘More than anything, I’m relieved… I thought something terrible was going to happen… No, something terrible did happen…’

Though several casualties had occurred, this was something that had to happen once the Black Gate phenomenon took place. It was a miracle that they hadn’t been completely wiped out.

Jang Hye-na felt relieved that the mask instructor had survived the Black Gate incident. Perhaps it was because she had known him for a long time? Or perhaps it was because they had been involved in work together multiple times?

A considerable sense of inner intimacy had formed regarding the mask instructor.

‘This… no matter how I think about it, it’s a scoop… but I can’t use it.’

The video she had shot without notifying the mask instructor in advance. If he found out, he might accuse her of stalking, and she didn’t know what kind of backlash she could face. While she had instinctively filmed it, now that she thought of uploading it to her YouTube channel for views, she felt guilty and had many concerns.

‘Should I delete it?’

She hesitated for a moment. But she decided to postpone that judgment.

‘Haah…’

Jang Hye-na kept staring at her camera. The conflict over whether to delete the data continued. In the end, she made a decision: she would be honest with the mask instructor.

• “Mask instructor, I have something to tell you.”
• “Is it you, Jang Hye-na? Please go ahead.”
• “I filmed a video…”
• “A video? What kind of…?…”
• “Actually, I happened to be near where you were, and I filmed everything from the moment the gate turned into a Black Gate. I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to film secretly; it was just a habit. I won’t use this commercially. If you ask me to delete it, I will do so right away.”

While taking a bath, Choi Joo-won thought about it.

‘What? She filmed it?’

He was slightly taken aback by her words but didn’t feel particularly bad about it.

‘Is this something to be that sorry about?’

Even if she did film it, she hadn’t uploaded it to a channel or used it anywhere, so there didn’t seem to be any reason for her to apologize.

He didn’t quite believe that she had been nearby by chance, but since that was unverifiable, he decided not to dig into it. After all, whether it was true or not didn’t really matter much.

‘Jang Hye-na helped me out last time too.’

Though she probably didn’t realize it, when President Baek Joo-seok was suspected of abusing the academy’s intranet due to the testimony of the Baldena sub-guild leader, the media had hesitated to report on it out of fear of Baek Joo-seok.

• [Exclusive report by Jang Hye-na! The atrocities of President Baek Joo-seok! Under investigation for illegal intranet use! Confession of the Baldena sub-guild leader!]

At that time, Jang Hye-na had been the first to step up, uploading a clear video of the Baldena sub-guild leader’s testimony and various allegations without hesitating, leading to all media reporting that President Baek Joo-seok had been framed and that Choi Joo-won, who had been expelled, had been wrongfully accused.

Since the intranet had still not been forcibly opened, they couldn’t impose certain punishment, but at least she had succeeded in clearing her wrongful accusations in front of the public.

‘Jang Hye-na doesn’t know I’m Choi Joo-won, so she didn’t intend it that way.’

Regardless, just the fact that she had taken the initiative to report made him feel grateful toward her. If it hadn’t been for her, everyone might have stayed silent.

He continued to think while reading her message.

‘If I let her use the recorded video, would that at least be a form of gratitude?’

Was it because I was grateful to her? I didn’t feel angry even though I had secretly recorded it.

Thinking this, I sent her a message.

• You can use the video however you want. Just be careful not to include any conversation details.
• R… really!? You don’t have to worry! The conversation is only in the beginning, and after the magic exploded, the mic broke and didn’t record anything! I was too far away to hear anything. I’ll cut the beginning part in the edit!

Seeing her excitement made me smile a little.

‘Anyway, if the video spreads, my recognition will go up as well.’

Once the video is released, I could prove that I had made an effort and wouldn’t shy away from responsibility.

There was a chance I could be blamed for letting my students enter the gate without supervision. But with Jang Hyena’s video, no one would blame me for risking my life to open the black gate and save my students. In a way, it became a piece of evidence.

‘That bastard Yang Hangil ran away; I wonder if that was captured too?’

If it was recorded, Yang Hangil would face severe backlash from the media.

‘Hyena pays a lot of attention to views, so if that scene is included, she’ll probably release it too.’

As I was thinking this while watching TV, some doctor was passionately criticizing me.

• It’s nonsense to say that you entered after the black gate phenomenon occurred. I stake my doctorate in magic; such a thing is impossible for a human. If there’s any possibility, it would be that the masked instructor accidentally went into the dungeon, and the black gate phenomenon occurred afterward, and he dealt with the monsters.

‘Is this guy for real?’

I could feel the blatant malice in the words of Doctor Shim Ji-hyeok, as if he was trying to portray me as a national fool.

I immediately sent a message to Jang Hyena.

• Jang Hyena, about the video you recorded? Please send the part where I forcibly opened the gate to Broadcasting Station A.
• Y… yes?!
• It’s urgent. Quickly.
• Understood!

Jang Hyena followed my instructions and sent the video to the broadcasting station, and it was aired live nationwide.

• This is ridiculous! It’s a setup!

Shim Ji-hyeok rambled on, seemingly unable to believe what he saw.

Afterward, he continued to spout bizarre claims until the broadcast ended.

However, the audience’s reaction, having seen the evidence video, was extremely cold toward Shim Ji-hyeok.

‘This bastard is so hell-bent on tearing me down until the end.’

I checked the location of Broadcasting Station A on my phone.

‘I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I can’t let it slide. Just wait and see.’

• Screeech

Broadcasting Station A is located close to my house. Since the live broadcast just ended, if I move quickly, I can catch him waiting there.

‘What the hell is with these bastards lately? I guess I have to meet him once.’

I need to talk to him face-to-face to figure out why he’s annoying me with such ridiculous comments.

‘Just wait, you bastard. I’ll be coming for you.’

• Flap

I donned my invisibility cloak and headed to the broadcasting station.