The Han River was gentle on a spring day. My mother, my father, and I were eating packed lunches on a mat.
Cherry blossom petals drifting in from somewhere brushed against my cheek. I sighed inwardly.
‘It's this dream again.’
Perhaps the shock from that day had been too great. It was a dream that came back whenever I was about to forget it. A shitty dream in which I couldn't do anything.
I looked at my parents' faces once, then turned my gaze to the Han River.
It will happen soon.
RUMBLE-.
Just as expected. Along with a strange sound, an abnormal phenomenon began taking place in the Han River.
A ring of blue light had begun to rotate.
“What's that? Are they filming a movie?”
“Huh? I can see something in front of me. A status window?”
“Hye!”
Sensing that something was wrong, my father picked me up in his arms. Then the ring of blue light suddenly expanded, and a massive Gate appeared.
And monsters began to pour out of it.
It took less than twenty seconds for the Han River on a spring day to become a scene of utter chaos.
The most conspicuous of them was the Zaratan.
A turtle-like monster the size of a small island crawled out of the Gate. Its shell was covered in holes.
In addition to the four legs supporting it, dozens of earthworm-like heads burst out of those holes.
“Aaaah!”
We began to run, but it was too late. An earthworm-like head that had shot out from the Zaratan headed toward us.
Gritting her teeth, Mother leaped toward the head to protect me.
Soon, another earthworm-like head targeted us. This time, Father stepped in front of it.
“Hye! Keep running! Don't stop! Don't look back!”
Father disappeared. I didn't know how I survived when I was so young. I had only kept running. I must have had extraordinary luck.
After running without stopping, I woke from the dream.
“Haaah.......”
When I came to, cold sweat was streaming down my body. Naturally, I never felt good after having a shitty dream.
It had been nice to see my parents again, but in the end, I had to witness their deaths again as well.
‘Zaratan. That turtle bastard.’
It annoyed me, but the dream was not entirely bad.
Whenever I was about to forget, it appeared to remind me so that my anger and desire for revenge would not fade.
“Whew.”
I let out a deep breath and got up. Today was the day I would enter a Gate.
Contrary to my concerns, the Association had allowed me to enter the Dead End of the Labyrinth alone.
I intended to vent this anger on the monsters.
.
.
.
“I've still got to do what needs doing.”
Even so, I stopped by the training center before entering the gate. I had no intention of skipping training on any day.
I could always rest in Subspace.
“Your skin seems to be getting better and better.”
Uncle looked at my face as he spoke.
“Really?”
“Could it be because you sleep in Subspace every day?”
Could be. It did seem that way. Whenever I felt even a little tired, I rested in Subspace.
“By the way, I feel a little self-conscious.”
Uncle cleared his throat as he spoke.
“They said it's fine, so why are you acting like that?”
“Even so. It's free.”
“Once the Dragon hatches, you'll be a real Dragon Knight. You should be getting paid extra to come here.”
I had received a full refund on what I had paid. The reason was simple.
It was a courtesy from the Hunter Association.
“Hello? Are you Mr. Han Hye, who registered yesterday?”
“Yes. How did you......?”
“The Hunter Association contacted us. They said the Association will cover all of Mr. Han Hye's expenses from now on.”
It seemed the Association was really trying to look after me. Even if we had established ties, we had not signed a contract yet, so they were probably being attentive.
It was not a large sum, but it made me feel rather good. You could call it thoughtful consideration.
‘I have to train at a specialized facility regularly anyway.’
Subspace could be used as a training space, but.......
It could not surpass a proper facility.
A Hunter training center did not only have things like gyms. That applied to what I was doing right then.
“Whew.”
I was manipulating mana in a space filled with magic stones, where mana density was high.
Since it was harder to use mana than usual, I had to control it more precisely.
There were many other things too. For example, reaction-speed training for Hunters.
It was a training device in which one had to reflexively dodge, deflect, or catch by hand baseballs traveling at least 250 kilometers per hour.
This sort of training was essential. The research results were already in.
To draw out physical ability to its limit, it took more than simply assigning stats. Training was necessary.
“Wow, mana control this good after only three days? You're really talented. Mana control depends more on talent than stats.”
There were even trainers here who specialized in Awakened. The bodies of ordinary people and Awakened were different.
Based on data, they trained Awakened more efficiently.
“One more, sir! You can do it!”
“Grrraaah!”
When I came out briefly for water, Uncle was doing a leg workout. I did not know much about it, but the weight was considerable.
He said he was building lower-body strength to ride a Dragon, and he was working hard.
‘The weight is higher than yesterday.’
The same went for me. Was it because I was Awakened?
I could feel my body growing stronger every day. My physical recovery speed was also incomparable to that of an ordinary person.
The same went for other aspects. I was professionally developing my physical abilities and practicing mana control.
My stats remained the same, but my reflexes and skill at handling mana itself were improving.
‘I'll keep getting better.’
After training intensely, I entered Subspace.
I planned to rest a little until it was time to enter the Gate. I slept in Subspace for about three hours.
“Gasp, gasp.......”
I came out after sleeping for a while and was yawning when Uncle Cheolgi emerged from the training center, his legs trembling.
It seemed his training had just ended.
“Come on, will your stamina do at this rate?”
“...I'm going to die, seriously.”
***
“Hunter.”
An Association employee approached me before I entered the Gate.
“We were instructed by higher-ups to give you this.”
When I accepted it and looked, it was a sheet of paper.
[Gate Escape Scroll (B-Grade)]
-If the scroll is torn, you can escape a Gate under any circumstances.
Huh? A Gate Escape Scroll?
It was an unbelievably valuable item. Normally, once one entered a Gate, one could not leave until it had been cleared.
The only exception was this scroll. I had heard it appeared in high-level Gates at an extremely low rate.
Every country possessed only a small number of them, and they were items exclusively for the Advance Teams.
That was because the loss when an Advance Team died was enormous.
“You're giving this to me?”
“Yes. Keep it in one hand at all times, and if you feel you are in danger, please use it immediately.”
“If I clear the Gate without using it, do I have to return it?”
“No. You may keep it.”
Their permission had come a little too easily, but this must have been why they intended to give it to me. Honestly, I was touched.
It was an item given only to Advance Teams challenging the highest-level Gates.
They were respecting my choice while giving me a valuable item as insurance, just in case.
And if I did not use it, I could simply keep it?
‘I never imagined they would give me something like this.’
I knew my value, but even I did not know whether I was valuable enough to receive this.
I had felt it since last time, but the Korean Hunter Association seemed to be really looking after me.
‘Well. I won't have any reason to use it.’
.
.
.
[Dead End of the Labyrinth]
-Recommended Level: 5~10
-Entry Limit: 5 people
-Kill all enemies swarming down the dead end and survive. Time remaining: 50 minutes 59 seconds.
-Time until the next monsters appear: 59 seconds.
When I entered the Gate, a long corridor appeared in front of me. It was like a cave, perhaps. I had been given one minute, so I quickly examined my surroundings.
It was about four meters across and three meters high. It was the perfect place to use Wind Cleave.
There was about ten meters of passage behind me, but it ended in a dead end. Torches had been installed along the corridor in front of me.
I headed forward for now.
‘I need to secure some distance.’
The Dead End of the Labyrinth was already a known Gate, so of course I had gathered information beforehand.
It was possible to advance up to a certain point ahead. Beyond that point, there was a transparent wall.
At that time, it was best to go as far forward as possible. There were many enemies, so one had to fight while retreating.
It was like making space for myself.
‘Is this the end?’
After moving forward about twenty meters with my hand outstretched, I felt the transparent wall. This seemed to be the limit of how far I could advance.
When I pressed my sword against it, it bounced back with a THUNK.
Past the wall, stairs were visible about ten meters away.
The monsters would come up from there. I took a step back, raised the Windflow Sword, and assumed a stance.
-Time until the next monsters appear: 15 seconds.
It would soon be time for the enemies to swarm in.
Although it was classified as a survival-type Gate, this was why it was not a conventional survival-type Gate.
In other survival-type Gates, it was possible to survive by running away, but that was impossible here because the path was blocked.
Of course, that did not apply to me. If it became dangerous, I could simply enter Subspace and wait out the time.
Of course, that would not happen today.
With five seconds remaining, I gripped the Windflow Sword and prepared Wind Cleave.
‘I'm excited.’
To be honest, I had been looking forward to this moment.
I could use a technique that seemed like it belonged in a comic book, yet I had never used it in real combat until now.
All right, time was up.
CLANK-!
A heavy metallic sound came from below the stairs. It sounded as though an iron door had opened.
THUD, THUD-.
Footsteps followed from the bottom of the stairs. The monster that appeared was...a Goblin.
Holding the entrance. Since it was the first wave, it was natural for simple monsters to appear.
There were five of them.
They looked at me. Although they were still blocked by the transparent wall, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘Can Wind Cleave pass through this transparent wall?’
I immediately swung my sword. Some of my mana was consumed, and a blade of wind shot forward.
There was no sound of it hitting the transparent wall.
SHNK-. Then, beyond the transparent wall, the wind cut through the bodies of the Goblins that had just begun to charge at me.
The bodies of the Goblins, cut in half, dropped with a thud.
“This works?”
All I had to do was slice them apart the moment they came up.
Normally, fighting like this would be impossible.
It was combat without giving the slightest thought to mana distribution.
But I could do it.
Because I had Subspace.
When my mana ran out, I could simply rest and come back.
“Ah, wait.......”
I had swung the Windflow Sword in excitement, but an issue I had not considered arose.
“My magic stones.......”
I had to extract the magic stones from the Goblin corpses, but the transparent wall kept me from reaching them.
It seemed I would have to kill the monsters after they crossed the transparent wall.
-Time until the next monsters appear: 4 minutes 59 seconds.
In the meantime, the time reset.
Five monsters and five minutes. That was plenty of time for my mana to recover. It was only the first wave, so it was naturally easy.
.
.
.
Seven waves passed like that. The five-minute break stayed the same, but the difficulty increased bit by bit.
The second wave had seven Goblins and one Awakened Goblin. The third had eight Goblins and two Awakened Goblins.
The numbers increased little by little in that manner, and Awakened Monsters appeared.
It was my first time fighting Awakened Monsters, but it was nothing special. When I used Wind Cleave from a distance, they simply died.
It was not only Goblins, either. Orcs and Slimes came crawling and squelching along afterward.
Of course, they were all cut in half before Wind Cleave.
“Yaaawn.”
Standing still and waiting for five minutes was boring too, so I began going all the way into Subspace.
I opened the Subspace entrance wide, half-reclined on the beanbag I had placed there, and waited for the monsters.
“Is it time?”
Then I checked the monsters climbing up. There were eight Orcs and two Awakened Orcs.
An ordinary Hunter would have been horrified. An Awakened Orc required around Level 15 just to fight one-on-one.
But not me. I merely lay on the beanbag inside Subspace and swung the Windflow Sword.
SHNK-. Perhaps because the Orcs were large, they did not die in one strike.
The ones in front were swept aside, and those behind them came running again. I yawned and swung the Windflow Sword.
If one swing did not cut them apart, I only had to swing twice or three times.
[Level increased.]
‘...Can leveling up really be this easy?’
Honestly, this was no different from lying down and watching television.
This morning.......
For me, it had been fifteen hours ago because I had been resting, but the time I spent at the training center had been much harder.
Now, I had gained two levels while lying down.
‘Current level: 8.’
This was an absurd rate of growth. Even gaining one level in a single Gate was considered fast.
Normally, people entered safe Gates with several others.
This was the result of hunting Awakened Orcs alone in a survival-type Gate.
‘Should I stop using Wind Cleave and use my swordsmanship in real combat?’
If I left the Subspace entrance open right behind me, I could take shelter right away if it became dangerous, so it seemed fine.
Just as I stood up and stepped out through the Subspace entrance.
An ingenious thought suddenly came to mind.
That translucent wall.
If I could open Subspace straddling the exact middle of that wall, then enter Subspace and come back out.......
Could I cross to the other side?