▶ Chapter 21. I Can't Give Up! (1)
“I really need to go out now…”
For the past week, I had focused entirely on cleaning out my studio apartment and moving.
(Of course, I also danced around my new house whenever I had the chance.)
How did I manage to fit so much stuff into that tiny place?
It was the place where I had lived for three years after my protection period ended.
I had been incredibly busy getting worked to the bone at the company, but whenever I had some free time, I would still put effort into decorating it.
After all, it was the first home I had ever truly called my own.
Every single item there carried some kind of memory.
I gave myself a headache trying to decide what to throw away and what to bring with me.
But then I thought about it.
My new house was huge anyway.
Was there really any reason to throw anything away?
In the end, I simply brought everything with me and made one of the four bedrooms look almost exactly like my old studio apartment.
After that, I spent my time searching through UTube videos and the internet, trying to figure out how I should decorate my new house.
The basic interior is already finished, though.
But I wanted to buy something new.
I want! To spend! Money!
I wanted to shop.
I wanted to buy things!
I want to live extravagantly!
And now, I had more than enough money to do exactly that.
No.
It wasn't just enough.
I need to keep ten billion won because of the Skill Abandonment Ticket, but even after that, I'm rich! I have more than four billion won!
However…
The National Tax Service…!
Because of them, I couldn't do anything.
If I wanted to buy a decent building, I'd probably need to spend at least three billion won.
But considering my officially reported financial situation, the moment I spent even three hundred million won, the tax office would probably come knocking at my door.
Sob, sob.
I had money, but I couldn't even buy a building.
I couldn't even enjoy being rich!
What am I supposed to do?
I collapsed face-down and agonized over the problem for quite a while.
That was when—
+ Chapter 7. I Can't Give Up!
[Alarm: A Rank 9 Sudden Gate has appeared at Songjeong Beach, Gangneung.]
Like a bolt of lightning, bold red letters appeared before my eyes.
“…!”
I immediately activated Stealth and Search before rushing out of the building.
Then I activated another skill.
[Notification: The World Rank No. 1 privilege, ‘Search - Map Integration Skill,’ has activated.]
Something resembling a Gugle Map appeared in one corner of my vision.
It even showed how long the journey would take depending on the method of transportation.
Naturally, I chose this.
≪Flight≫
I wrapped my entire body in a barrier and shot into the sky.
My maximum flying speed was roughly five hundred kilometers per hour.
From here to Songjeong Beach in Gangneung, the straight-line distance was 168.1 kilometers.
I can get there within thirty minutes!
I knew.
I already knew.
Anyone who had already been caught inside the Gate might be impossible to save.
But even so—
I can't give up!
I pushed myself even harder.
Instead of thirty minutes, I reached Songjeong Beach in Gangneung in only twenty-five.
The ominous silver Gate wasn't on the sandy beach.
It was floating above the surface of the sea.
There were probably fewer people caught inside than if it had appeared directly on the beach.
But I couldn't be certain.
Several of the people standing along the nearby beach looked completely crushed by fear and despair.
Without releasing Stealth, I entered the Gate.
[Notification: You have entered the Bat Den (Rank 9, Sudden) Gate.]
[Mission: Eliminate every monster inside the Gate.
Time Limit: Within 18 days of the Gate's creation.
Reward: Determined according to contribution.]
[People inside the Gate will be recognized as members of the same party. Offensive skills will not damage them.]
[You will become visible to monsters after 10 seconds.
Remaining Time: 10 seconds, 9 seconds, 8 seconds…]
[Mission Progress: Monsters 0/90, Boss 0/1
Remaining Time: 17 days, 23 hours, 34 minutes, 47 seconds…]
≪Search≫
Just like before, the Map Integration Skill displayed the terrain, the number of monsters, and their locations.
[Survivors: 3 / Dead: 0]
No one's dead! And there are survivors!
A bright smile spread across my face.
I forced even more strength out of my body and flew toward them.
I soon discovered how they had managed to survive until now.
One of the people hiding inside a narrow cave had used an extremely powerful SS-rank barrier item.
Unfortunately, their situation was still terrible.
Monsters were gathering around the cave, trying to destroy it.
I used my skill to inspect the inside of the cave more closely.
There was one child.
One adult man.
And one adult woman.
What is this?
Something didn't feel right.
I immediately focused on what was happening inside.
“HunterAnham will definitely come to save us. But it'll take time. We need to buy as much time as possible!”
“Yeah. You're right. So let's use that kid to buy some time first.”
The man pointed toward the child in the woman's arms.
The child didn't seem injured, but perhaps because the shock had been too much, they were unconscious.
The woman's face went pale.
“What do you mean? Don't tell me… you're saying we should throw this child to the monsters as food…?”
The man hesitated for a moment.
But when the woman glared sharply at him, he finally admitted it.
“Yes. We don't have any other choice.”
“You crazy bastard! I don't care how bad the situation is! How can you even suggest throwing a child to monsters?!”
“We have no choice if we want to survive! We don't even know this kid! Nobody will ever know!”
“What do you mean nobody will know?! I'll know! You'll know! The kid will know! Even the system will know!”
“Once the kid dies, that's the end of it! And the system doesn't lower contribution points for something like this! As long as you and I keep our mouths shut, it'll be fine!”
The man continued arguing loudly.
And then the woman exploded.
“Keep our mouths shut, my ass, you fucking bastard! Your mouth smells like shit, so why don't you shut the fuck up instead?! Damn it! I only dated you because your face was exactly my type, but your personality is fucking disgusting! Are you even human, you piece of shit?!”
“You're a Hunter too! Fine, you're C-rank and this is a freaking Rank 9 Gate, so I understand that you're scared! But if you're still human, there are things you can say and things you should never say! You worthless piece of trash! SHUT THE HELL UP!!!”
“……”
Her curses poured out like a waterfall.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one stunned.
The man couldn't say anything for a moment either.
Then his face turned bright red.
He raised one hand toward the woman.
Before I could intervene—
Thud!
The woman's uppercut landed perfectly on the man's chin.
His eyes shook from the impact.
“Guh! W-Why does that hurt so much?! Weren't you a civilian?!”
“Wrong! I'm actually a Hunter. I was disguised as a civilian.”
The man stared at her.
“Now that I look at your face, you remind me of someone—”
“Shut up!”
The woman drove another uppercut into him.
Smack!
It seemed she'd held back with the first punch.
She definitely didn't this time.
The man's eyes rolled back as he collapsed onto the ground.
Blood streamed from both nostrils.
The woman let out one long, exhausted sigh after another.
“Ah… Why do I keep collecting trashy bastards like this? Like mother, like daughter, I guess…”
She even threw in a comment insulting her own mother!
The whole situation was so absurd that I couldn't help finding it a little entertaining.
But this wasn't the time to keep watching.
Perhaps because she had finally remembered that death was right outside the cave, the woman's expression became even darker.
Judging from what I can sense, her rank and level seem pretty high.
But this was a Rank 9 Gate.
Unless you were someone like me, there was no way anyone could clear it alone.
Judging from the traces outside, she had somehow managed to break one wing of a monster.
That was probably the absolute limit of what she could do.
I wanted to reassure them as soon as possible.
≪Destruction≫
I quickly eliminated all ninety normal monsters.
Only the boss remained.
≪Destruction≫
But the boss didn't die immediately.
The reason was obvious.
My damn stamina!
For the past week, going back and forth had been annoying, but I'd still faithfully attended my personal training sessions.
My PT instructor, Health King, had been working me relentlessly.
Even so, my stats hadn't increased recently.
And because I'd flown here at full speed as soon as I received the notification, most of my stamina was already gone.
Maybe I really should use portals.
There was one in every reasonably large city.
Using one allowed you to travel somewhere almost instantly.
However, every activation required permission from the Hunter Association.
And naturally, to receive permission, I would first need to officially register myself.
Is there some way to register without revealing my identity?
While thinking about that, I used a different skill against the boss.
≪Severance≫
It consumed less mana and stamina than Destruction.
I didn't use it very often because it didn't always kill enemies instantly.
But this time, it was more than enough to finish the boss off.
[Notification: Mission Complete.]
[This Sudden Gate will close in 10 seconds. Everyone currently inside will return to the original world at that time.]
[Mission contribution rankings are as follows.]
[1st. HunterAnham — Approximately 99.3%
Reward: Pet Stealth Item, 13 Random Draw Boxes (Rank 8), 5 Inventory Slots]
[2nd. Mundal — Approximately 0.7%
Reward: 1 Inventory Slot]
[Rewards will automatically be placed in your inventory.]
Pet Stealth Item!
I was delighted.
But then another thought immediately came to mind.
Mundal? That name sounds familiar.
Then I remembered.
She was an incredibly beautiful Hunter who had once been a ballerina.
Ten years ago, at the age of eighteen, she had awakened as an extremely rare SS-rank Buffer.
The entire country had believed another exceptional Hunter had appeared to protect the nation.
But they were wrong.
