After the raid, Hae-in taking the sword did create a small dispute between the Hunters Guild and the Association.
Si-woo did not want Hae-in to know of the situation, so he personally set up a private meeting involving himself, Choi Jong-in, and the Association representative responsible for splitting the dungeon loot between the Association and the guild.
Although a direct word from him would have caused the Association to back off from the claim entirely, Si-woo did not wish for the Association to incur a significant financial loss.
He understood that the earnings made by guilds mainly went straight to individuals, while the Association’s earnings directly helped the general population in case of dungeon breaks and other monster-related issues that most private guilds simply did not involve themselves in.
The meeting remained completely amiable throughout.
It was decided that the sword was worth the rest of the dungeon loot combined in the minds of both the Association and Jong-in anyway.
Not like they could get a clear idea of how powerful the sword truly was, because the blade only showed its full magical prowess when held in Hae-in’s hands.
It was Jong-in himself who suggested that the Association could keep all the mana crystals and monster parts obtained from the entire raid, and the Hunters Guild would pay their participating hunters out of pocket for the raid.
“Could you not mention this conversation to Hae-in?” Si-woo asked Jong-in after the Association representative happily left the room.
“But of course.
It was a trivial matter, nothing to worry her over,” Jong-in agreed in a heartbeat.
The guild was easily big enough to absorb this sort of loss without any internal strain.
Not like they had taken a true loss anyways, as one of their core members had successfully obtained a magic item worth a thousand times more than the materials they had surrendered.
They walked in silence for about a minute before turning a corner to see Hae-in walking toward them as well.
“Well done on the raid today, Hunter Cha.
I’ll leave you two alone for the debriefing,” Jong-in said softly, exiting with a warm smile as if he had just won a grand lottery.
“I’ll admit the praise seems hollow when I know it was you who did most of the actual work in there,” Hae-in spoke quietly, keeping her hands tucked behind her back and her head lowered slightly.
Si-woo smiled softly at her display.
He gently placed his finger right under her chin, lifting her head up so she could look straight at him.
“Chin up, Hae-in.
You can now defeat A-rank dungeon bosses completely solo.
And I will expect you to do that at our next raid,” he said softly, caressing her cheek with his thumb lightly before pulling his hand back.
“See you then.” Hae-in nodded as he turned and started walking away.
For a brief second, she raised her hand to stop him but she paused and lowered it back down after a moment of hesitation.
‘I have kept him to myself for long enough today.’ she thought to herself.
She placed her right hand firmly on the hilt of her new sword, turning toward the training area with a newfound fire burning in her eyes.
As was his usual habit, Si-woo immediately went out in search of an active dungeon to raid.
He quickly located a B-rank gate situated about an hour’s distance from his current location.
Though that hour was calculating if he were traveling in a car.
On foot, the journey took him less than ten minutes, even while moving at a leisurely pace.
Luckily, he found a raid party at the site that he had cleared a gate with before, and he greeted them like an old friend.
“I’ll go in first and scout things out ahead,” he told them while they were still busy checking over their armor and gear.
The hunters nodded and let him be, comfortable with his strength.
Si-woo hummed a light tune and stepped through the shimmering gate, only to find a high orc standing directly in front of the inner entrance as if he were guarding it.
The creature did not attack him immediately.
Si-woo could actually sense a wave of surprise manifesting on the orc’s face.
He noticed a necklace of bones hanging from the orc’s neck, and coupled with the glowing white and green markings painted across his body, he could tell this was a high orc shaman.
‘Far from something that should be inside a standard B-rank gate.’ Si-woo thought.
He watched the orc shaman raise his hand.
The boy still did not move to strike, as the hand was not pointing at him, It was pointing directly toward the glowing gate behind him.
| Orc Shaman POV | Our god is a god of war.
His eternal promise states that all of his children who die fighting will go straight to his grand halls, where they will feast, fight, and die for all eternity.
Our god created the universe by splitting the primeval darkness with a single swing of his bone sword.
He then created the common orcs with a wave of his hand, and the lesser monsters emerged from his sweat.
However, the high orcs he made completely by hand.
He shaped us carefully from clay and added a living part of the eternal fire into all of us to create a species that would eventually conquer all things.
I, however, do not follow the god that created me.
I follow his son instead, the god of prosperity and the knowledge that comes after war.
I have learned all my life, advancing the art of shamanism to a height never seen before.
Though, the other orcs saw me and my fellow believers as simple betrayers and ungrateful weaklings.
They claimed we would never be allowed into the grand halls of our creator.
So, we packed up, left our original world, and moved to a new one.
In a thousand years, we turned our small settlement into a massive city containing thousands of our people.
It was only a group of monsters that held us back from taking the whole world as our own.
Thunderbirds, winged serpents, and forest spirits ruled the new world before we arrived.
It took us some time, but we eventually formed a balance.
It was delicate, but present.
Though, time eventually proved we were all mere pawns in the end.
From time to time, a strong high orc and some weaker orcs would be randomly taken from my tribe and deposited in a place far away from us.
The strong one would be turned into a living anchor for a bridge connecting our world to another world inhabited by a species I learned were called humans.
Against their will, my orcs were compelled to fight the humans.
If the anchor died, the bridge would close.
And if the humans died, the orcs were forced to enter through the bridge and do god knows what.
My guess was slaughter innocents against their wills.
I have been studying this phenomenon ever since it started.
The magic, the compulsion, the chains.
I prepared extensively for the day it would happen to me.
And it did.
I manipulated the bridge to show significantly less magical energy than it normally would because of its connection to me.
Then, I broke the magical shackles binding me to my throne, acting as if I were the final obstacle the humans were supposed to reach after defeating everyone else.
What I could not destroy was the core compulsion, though I could not feel its pull yet because I was not standing directly in front of a human at the time.
So, I ordered my tribe to not come out of their houses and added strong rune protections all over my city to protect them.
Then, I stood alone in front of the bridge.
My goal was not to fight, but to break my compulsion and find a way to reason with the humans that would eventually exit the bridge.
Though, the one who came through the gate was a single human from whom I felt absolutely no compulsion to kill or fight.
He stood there leisurely, though his gaze alone was enough to root me to my spot.
I still somehow mustered enough strength to raise my hand, praying he would not see the motion as me trying to attack him.
I closed the bridge.
Not completely, as I was not powerful enough to do that.
But I made it so that no one else would be able to enter from either side.
The act turned the bridge completely red, and because of the laws of the powers that made the thing, the passage of time on my world slowed down significantly compared to the rest of the universe.
| General POV | Si-woo looked from the changing gate to the orc in surprise, as the creature’s gesture had turned the gate into a red one.
‘The fuck?
Since when could monsters do that?’ he thought to himself.
And the high orc in front of him was clearly not trying to fight him either.
He knew the high orc was not hearing the voice in his head, but orcs by culture were traditionally warlike beings who lived to fight.
“Interesting,” two distinct voices spoke at the exact same time in different languages.
Si-woo paused for a moment and gestured for the orc to speak first.
The orc pointed directly at himself.
“I am called Razgoren,” he said slowly, emphasizing his name, thinking Si-woo would not be able to understand him.
“I can understand your language,” Si-woo interrupted.
“I am called Kang Si-woo.
Just call me Si-woo,” he said, pointing at himself as well.
The orc nodded and slowly sat down on the ground.
In their culture, sitting was a clear sign of considering someone as an equal during peace talks.
Si-woo followed suit after a moment, resting his cheek on his fist.
“You have impressive magical knowledge,” Si-woo commented.
He had used his dragon sight on the orc and had found a complex weave of different magic spells swirling around the creature, concentrating directly from the talisman on his neck.
“You as well.
I have never seen someone using a constant coat of magic on themselves for protection and strength,” the orc observed, using a similar inspection technique to Si-woo as one of his talismans glowed a faint blue.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but let’s skip the pleasantries.
The people on the other side of the gate will be getting worried about me by now,” Si-woo said directly.
The orc straightened his posture and nodded.
“I request a diplomatic exchange between our species.
A non-aggression pact.
Every time a bridge opens between our worlds, I request you do not send your hunters inside.” “How would we know a specific gate is connected to your world specifically?” Si-woo asked.
“I will ensure I am the first and only orc the ones who enter will see.” “I take it you will be stopping your people from attacking us?” “Yes, I will be personally restraining them, as it may still be beyond my current power to completely reduce the compulsion over them.” “And what happens when a dungeon break happens and they are forced to exit the gate to enter our world?” Si-woo pressed.
“I will chain them down within the city.
I think the bridge will close on its own after some time passes.” “You are not like the other orcs, are you,” Si-woo observed mid-conversation.
That specific comment prompted Razgoren to explain the long history of his particular tribe and their divergence from the god of war.
“Sorry to disappoint you, Razgoren.
But it will be hard to relay this information to every single country in my world.
And I am sure most of them will just ignore it altogether,” Si-woo sighed, rubbing his face.
“It seems our species are not so different after all,” the orc chuckled with a heavy hint of resignation.
He had been able to turn the specific gate red because it was connected to him.
Even turning every gate red was not a possibility.
Si-woo raised his head to the ceiling in deep thought.
The orc in front of him was smart enough to have actually deduced the mechanics behind the gates.
He knew that any party that entered a gate connecting to his world would be met with him, and that meeting would likely be followed by the party getting slaughtered if things went wrong.
Which, Si-woo was sure they would as its was not like humans could understand orc language.
Si-woo looked back at the red gate behind him and clicked his tongue.
‘I hate to worry my family on earth.’ he thought before turning back to Razgoren.
“One day in here is an hour in my world.
And I don’t even know how long the days on your planet actually are.
They may even be longer than the days in my world.
We have seven days of my world before this gate forces a break, which is a very long time in yours.
Let’s find a way to stop the gates from appearing in your world altogether,” Si-woo proposed.