Da-hong and Ruby stepped outside.
“Where should we start?”
“Mrow.”
Ruby looked up at Da-hong.
There was no particular destination in mind.
Da-hong simply walked, soaking in the sunlight.
Ruby’s eyes tracked a pigeon passing by.
Her pupils dilated.
Her haunches began to wiggle.
But she didn’t lunge.
Da-hong’s hand was already stroking her back.
“Nyaa.”
Her tail flicked with barely contained longing.
Da-hong walked for a good while before suddenly stopping.
She felt mana swirling through the air.
From multiple directions.
Gates.
Da-hong thought for a moment, then turned toward one of them.
No particular reason.
If she had to pick one—it was the closest.
***
The area in front of the Gate was crowded.
A long line of people waited to enter.
All Hunters.
Protective gear, weapons, combat wear that looked like hiking clothes.
Their equipment varied, but the atmosphere was the same.
Tension.
The kind that clung to people who weren’t used to fighting.
In terms of rank, most of them hovered somewhere around F to E.
Da-hong joined the end of the line.
Glances drifted toward her from all sides.
White tee, jeans, leather jacket.
No weapons, no gear.
A black cat cradled in her arms.
The large horns on her head made it clear she wasn’t an ordinary person—but no matter how you looked at her, she didn’t look like someone about to enter a Gate.
“…”
Still, no one said anything.
They were too busy checking their own equipment before heading in.
Da-hong paid it no mind and stroked Ruby’s back.
That was when it happened.
“Hey there, sis.”
Someone called out to Da-hong.
She turned.
Three men stood behind her.
Tall men.
Da-hong was quite tall herself, but even the shortest of the three was about her height.
They were all smiling, though not in any way that suggested good intentions.
The way their eyes kept sliding over certain parts of her body made that especially clear.
“Is this your first Gate?”
“No.”
“Oh, really? How many times have you been?”
“Once.”
“Ahaha.”
The man who’d asked laughed as if he’d just heard a funny joke.
“So this would be your second time, then. Still pretty unfamiliar with it all, I’d imagine.”
“Yeah.”
Da-hong nodded without hesitation.
It was the truth.
“And your party?”
“Don’t have one.”
The men exchanged glances.
Their smiles deepened.
“People like you—no experience, coming alone—are the most at risk, you know. If you don’t mind, why not come with us? We can split the earnings, something fair.”
“No thanks.”
Da-hong started to turn away, disinterested.
The man quickly stepped in front of her.
“Hey, hey, hold on. We’re all D-rank, okay? We were planning to go in just the three of us, but honestly, looking at you, I’m genuinely worried something bad might happen.”
“He’s right. Even an F-rank Gate can have all kinds of dangers lurking inside. Especially for someone with no experience going in alone.”
“So come with us. We’ll show you the ropes. Heheh.”
One of the men reached toward Da-hong’s arm.
At that moment—
Whoosh!
Someone grabbed Da-hong’s arm first.
“Unni, there you are!”
It was a woman about Se-ha’s height.
Light chest armor, comfortable clothes built for movement, a single sword hanging from her thigh.
“…”
Da-hong wasn’t startled.
She’d sensed the woman approaching.
The ones who were startled were the men.
The man who’d been reaching for Da-hong’s arm narrowed his eyes.
“Unni?”
“Yes—do you have some business with my sister?”
The woman spoke without missing a beat, acting warmly familiar with Da-hong.
“Oh, nothing much. She looked like she came alone, so we were just trying to help.”
“Ah?”
The woman nodded.
“That’s kind of you, but it’s fine now. She’s already agreed to come with us. Right?”
She winked at Da-hong—just enough that only Da-hong could see it.
But the men weren’t ready to give up.
One of them clicked his tongue and stepped toward the woman.
“Look, miss, this lady here clearly said she doesn’t have a party. You’d be better off not sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
“Hmm… It’s true we didn’t make any plans in advance, but wouldn’t she be better off going with people she knows rather than strangers like you?”
“Ji-su, what’s going on?”
“Oh, ajeossi.” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Three more people approached—apparently the woman’s companions.
A middle-aged man with a slight belly and thinning hair, carrying the heaviest gear of the group—clearly the tank.
A tall young man who looked to be in his early twenties, dressed lightly—probably a ranger.
And a short young woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a small wand in her hand.
The middle-aged man wiped sweat from his brow and greeted Da-hong as if they knew each other.
“Oh hey, isn’t this Ji-yeon? Small world, running into you here.”
Da-hong didn’t respond.
The tall young man smiled brightly.
“It’s been a while, really. How’ve you been? Haven’t heard from you since we went in together last time.”
“…”
The three men exchanged looks.
Now that familiar faces had shown up, the situation had gotten more trouble than it was worth.
“Tch.”
They turned and walked away.
The middle-aged man watched them go, then spoke to Da-hong.
“I’m Park Man-su. Those guys are bad news—they prey on beginners inside Gates. Figured I’d play along.”
“Hmm.”
Da-hong made a small sound through her nose.
The woman who’d grabbed her arm—Ji-su—asked, “I’m Han Ji-su, by the way. Did you really come alone?”
“Mrow.”
Ruby stretched a paw out from Da-hong’s arms, as if insisting she counted too.
“Oh, a cat!”
“Wait, it has horns? Is she a Tamer? Is that why you’re alone?”
Da-hong didn’t answer.
The young man spoke up.
“If you don’t mind, you’re welcome to come with us. Those guys will definitely bother you inside too.”
Ji-su squinted at him.
“Im Do-hyeon, you’re only saying that because she’s pretty, aren’t you?”
“Ah, caught me…? Ahaha!”
“This guy, honestly!”
While Ji-su jabbed Do-hyeon in the ribs, the girl in the wide-brimmed hat stepped forward.
“…Can I pet it?”
“Go ahead.”
The girl carefully extended her hand toward Ruby.
Ruby tracked it with golden eyes, then batted it lightly with one paw.
“Wow…”
The girl smiled.
“Oh—I’m Lee Ha-neul. Sorry for the late introduction.”
“I’m Da-hong. This is Ruby.”
“Da-hong unni! What a pretty name. And Ruby is so cute.”
Ji-su stopped poking Do-hyeon and came over.
“Now that we’ve all introduced ourselves—we’re going in together, right?”
Da-hong nodded without protest.
“Sure.”
“Great! Let’s head to the entrance then! It’s almost our turn.”
Da-hong and Ruby followed the four of them toward the gate.
Ji-su greeted the management staff cheerfully.
“Hello!”
“Back again, Ms. Han Ji-su. Not missing a single day, even on weekends.”
“Ahaha, I can’t afford to embarrass myself in front of my little sibling…”
“Your sibling’s at the Academy, wasn’t it? That’s impressive.”
“Ugh, having a genius for a sibling is exhausting.”
Ji-su laughed awkwardly.
The staff member smiled warmly in return.
“Keep at it. Alright, everyone, please show your licenses.”
The party members all produced their card-shaped licenses.
The staff checked them one by one, letting each person through.
Da-hong’s turn.
Da-hong moved to walk through the Gate with an indifferent expression—and was stopped.
“Excuse me? I’ll need to see your license.”
“License.”
Da-hong stared at the staff member blankly.
“No digital copy either?”
“No.”
“That’s fine—a government ID and a provisional license will work too.”
Da-hong thought for a moment.
Did she have anything that could prove her identity, let alone a license?
“Oh.”
She did.
Da-hong reached into her pocket and pulled out her summon registration card.
“Hmm? This is…”
It was card-shaped, stamped with the Academy director’s official seal.
It was certainly a valid form of identification.
“You’re a… summon?”
“Yeah.”
The staff member scanned the card with an uncertain expression.
It read normally.
‘Well, whoever summoned her must’ve gone in ahead.’
The staff member thought nothing more of it and said,
“All good. You can go through.”
Da-hong and Ruby passed the checkpoint and walked toward the Gate.
Whoosh.
A different kind of air swept over her entire body, and then an unfamiliar landscape appeared before her.
***
At the same time.
Crash!
“Ugh!”
Se-ha, dressed in workout clothes, hit the ground hard.
“Hmm, you run better than I expected. But your flexibility is lacking. That fall just now—it happened because your joint range of motion isn’t there yet.”
Oh Dae-hyeon stroked his chin as he assessed.
Se-ha trembled as he pushed himself back up.
Still, he’d been told he ran well.
Was that thanks to Ha-rin chasing him half to death all this time? Get faster updates on g.com.
“Short break! You don’t have to get up.”
“Haah—!”
At Dae-hyeon’s words, Se-ha flopped flat on his back.
His chest heaved up and down in great swells.
“But honestly—does this kid even need to learn combat techniques? He’s a Summoner, right?”
Dae-hyeon asked Seo-yeon.
She shot the idea down immediately.
“Being a Summoner doesn’t mean you can’t fight directly.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
Seo-yeon herself was a prime example—her personal combat ability was considerable.
Her mana-enhanced physical reinforcement was excellent, and her hand-to-hand technique was top-tier.
On top of that, she could use intermediate-level magic.
Effectively an all-rounder.
Noeul walked over, tapping the ground with her staff.
“Are you planning to make him your prized disciple or something?”
“No.”
“Then why are you setting such brutal standards?”
“I told you. It’s for contingencies.”
“And what contingency is that, exactly?”
Seo-yeon exhaled.
“It’s classified. I can’t say.”
Noeul tapped her staff, and an invisible barrier spread around them.
Then she tilted her chin as if to say: now talk.
Seo-yeon glanced briefly at Se-ha.
He had his eyes closed, steadying his breathing.
He didn’t even know the barrier had been raised.
Seo-yeon hesitated, then opened her mouth.
“You know he got a summon.”
“Right, wasn’t he a demon Summoner? That kid.”
“Yeah. So he got a demon summon. But it doesn’t seem like an ordinary demon.”
“Not ordinary?”
Noeul tilted her head.
Demon summons were universally known for their violent temperaments and demanding contract terms.
That was why demon Summoners were often ranked a full tier above elemental, angel, or beast-type Summoners of equivalent ability.
They were simply that difficult to handle.
Just how unusual was this demon, to warrant this kind of assessment?
“The appearance is low-rank, but the threat level is beyond imagination. The number of people it’s killed without the Summoner’s knowledge is already in the double digits. And whether a summoning contract was even properly formed—I’m not sure.”
Dae-hyeon frowned.
“Without the Summoner knowing?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that even possible?”
“I don’t know.”
“…”
Silence settled between the three of them.
If an S-rank Hunter like Seo-yeon didn’t know, the number of people who might was vanishingly small.
Dae-hyeon spoke first.
“Then can’t you just report it to the Association and forcibly separate them? Mobilize a few S-ranks and——”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“A few S-ranks might not be enough to handle it. I’ve faced it directly. It’s not the type to run when threatened.”
“Then what type is it?”
“The type that looks forward to a fight.”
“So it’s a battle maniac?”
“It didn’t feel like that. …More like it was looking at an interesting toy.”
“…”
Noeul spoke.
“You’re saying this demon’s threat level is at least that of a Greater Demon.”
“Right. If the entire Management Bureau mobilized and failed, the damage would be catastrophic.”
“So it’s better not to provoke it carelessly?”
“Yeah. At least until we’re confident we can suppress it.”
Noeul and Dae-hyeon looked at each other.
Then turned back to Seo-yeon.
“Then why are you trying to develop that kid?”
He didn’t have a proper summon, she’d said.
Which meant even if Se-ha grew stronger, it wouldn’t matter.
Without a contract, any command he gave would be meaningless.
“I asked the demon why it was staying with Se-ha.”
“What did it say?”
“Because it’s interesting.”
“…”
“When it stops being interesting, it’ll kill him and leave.”
“Good grief…”
“Demon summons killing their Summoners—it’s happened before.”
Two Greater Demons and one Archfiend.
All had killed their Summoners and returned.
All three had been S-rank Hunters.
Da-hong.
That demon was probably aiming for the same thing.
‘It’s just waiting for him to grow into something worth eating.’
Dae-hyeon seemed to have reached the same conclusion—he grimaced.
“So you want to grow the kid as fast as possible and get the demon to leave on its own?”
“No. Like I said, a proper contract was never formed. Even if Se-ha dies, there’s a good chance the demon won’t leave.”
“Then?”
“He has to keep growing. Keep the demon’s interest alive.”
If it would kill him when it stopped being interesting, then keeping it interested meant staying alive.
A demon that enjoyed combat.
A boy with genius-level mana.
What that demon was expecting from Se-ha—it didn’t need to be said.
“We need to keep developing that kid until he reaches a level that can bind the demon.”
“Subjugation.”
“That’s right.”
Noeul said it, and Seo-yeon nodded.
A contract that could be forced upon a soul—binding it completely.
Subjugation.
That was what Seo-yeon was aiming for.