Earlier this morning, an unclassifiable Gate appeared without warning in the skies above Seoul and began sucking in everything nearby.
The number of people believed to have been caught and pulled inside quickly rose into the dozens.
To rescue them, the Korea Hunter Association hastily assembled a raid team by mobilizing several of the country's major guilds. But as though the Gate's sole purpose had been to swallow everything around it, the abnormal phenomenon completely blocked anyone else from entering.
"Hunter Kim Seokgu. Any changes?"
"Ah... Team Leader Yoon."
"Still no reaction?"
"No, sir... As you can see. We keep trying to get in, but it keeps throwing us back."
A restricted perimeter had been set up around the crimson Gate. The streets, usually packed with people even on weekdays, now looked eerily deserted like an abandoned city.
Most of Seoul's citizens had already evacuated in preparation for a possible Dungeon Break.
Standing guard before the Gate, Hunter Kim Seokgu turned to Team Leader Yoon.
"Has the Gate Research Division said anything?"
"Not yet. They don't seem to understand what's going on either. It'll probably take them some time to figure it out."
"Do you think the people who got sucked inside are still alive?"
"Hard to say... But at least Hunter Seo Munhyeok is in there. That's about the only thing we can hope for."
"Ah, right."
Kim Seokgu nodded, the tension in his face easing ever so slightly.
Seo Munhyeok.
That name alone carried enormous weight.
About five years ago, when Gates first appeared and threw the entire world into chaos, a young man in his twenties had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and slaughtered monster after monster, bringing the great catastrophe to an end.
Afterward, he sought out others who had awakened supernatural abilities like his own, organized them to protect civilians, and personally took the lead in clearing dungeons to restore peace and safety.
He was the world's very first Hunter.
The first S-rank Hunter in history.
People had always placed tremendous faith in him.
Of course, from Seo Munhyeok's perspective—having the rotten luck to be dragged into that Gate himself—that faith probably wasn't all that welcome.
"Knowing Hunter Seo Munhyeok is inside makes me feel a lot more at ease."
Despite the Gate being officially classified as "Unclassifiable," everyone still believed in Seo Munhyeok.
As far as they knew, he had never once lost a battle.
The man inside would surely wipe out every monster again, rescue the civilians, and once the dungeon was cleared, the Gate would reopen.
And naturally, the first person to emerge would be Hunter Seo Munhyeok himself.
"U-Um! It's... it's happening!"
At that moment, one of the researchers examining the Gate with monitoring equipment suddenly cried out in alarm and fell backward onto his backside.
The commotion immediately drew everyone's attention.
Kim Seokgu, Team Leader Yoon, and everyone nearby all turned toward the Gate.
"...!"
The Gate's dark crimson color was rapidly turning pure white.
The color that appeared only after a dungeon had been successfully cleared.
"What should we do? Should we go inside?"
"...No. Wait."
Swallowing nervously, Team Leader Yoon stared into the Gate.
Far in the distance, a single silhouette seemed to be approaching.
"Someone's coming out!"
"Get the ambulances ready! Contact every nearby hospital! Hurry!"
Wee-ooo—
The wail of ambulance sirens filled the air.
Meanwhile, the figure slowly emerged from the Gate, its outline becoming clearer with every step.
Huh...?
Someone unconsciously voiced their confusion.
The survivor wasn't Seo Munhyeok.
Messy curly hair hanging over his eyes.
A stretched-out T-shirt beneath a worn-out hoodie.
Baggy gray sweatpants with bulging knees.
Tap... scraape... Tap... scraape...
The unidentified man leaned on a black scabbard as though it were a cane, dragging his left leg behind him with every step.
Finally, the unknown man crossed the Gate's boundary.
"W-Whoa...!"
His body suddenly tilted.
Then he collapsed face-first onto the ground with a heavy thud.
Everyone watching cried out in panic and rushed toward him.
"H-Hey! Sir! Can you hear me?!"
"Medical team! Where's the medical team?! We have a survivor!"
"Sir! Can you see me? Stay with us!"
Surrounded by people, the man lay flat on his back and weakly moved his lips.
His voice was so faint that it disappeared beneath the surrounding noise.
"Huh? W-What did you say?"
"What?"
"No, I think he just said something..."
Only then did everyone fall silent and lean closer.
Surely he was trying to tell them what had happened inside the Gate.
Why had this man come out before Seo Munhyeok?
What had happened to the others?
What kind of monsters had been inside?
Everyone had countless questions.
Holding their breath, they waited for the man to speak.
At last, under everyone's watchful gaze, his lips parted.
"...Fuck... that exit was so damn far...."
"...?"
With those words, his eyes finally closed.
* * *
"This is breaking news. Earlier today, the unclassifiable dungeon that appeared in Seoul's Mapo District has officially been cleared. We now go live to reporter Lee Jinhee at the scene."
"...Yes. I'm currently at the Gate site in Mapo District. The mysterious barrier that had been preventing entry has now disappeared, and the Korea Hunter Association's search teams have begun searching for the missing..."
Inside the spotless hospital lobby, the television someone had left on continued broadcasting the breaking news.
"Oh dear... I thought we were in for a real disaster..."
"They cleared it already? Does that mean we don't have to worry about a Dungeon Break anymore?"
Patients and guardians walking through the hallway all stopped to stare at the television.
A dungeon so dangerous that its rank couldn't even be measured...
And it had been conquered on the very day it appeared.
The welcome news washed over everyone, and the people who had been stiff with anxiety finally let out sighs of relief.
"Thank goodness..."
"I heard Hunter Seo Munhyeok handled it again."
Someone repeated an unverified rumor already spreading online.
The people nearby nodded in agreement.
Of course it was Seo Munhyeok.
If it was that young man, there was nothing to worry about.
One after another, they praised Seo Munhyeok's abilities.
The news reported a considerable number of missing persons and casualties, yet the atmosphere among those gathered was still one of gratitude that things hadn't turned out even worse.
"Clear the emergency room! Multiple trauma cases from the Gate incident!"
"Call the surgical teams! Clear the corridors!"
Just then, hurried footsteps shattered the calm that had only just returned.
Doctors in white coats, interns, and nurses poured out from deeper inside the hospital, sprinting toward the entrance.
"Oh my... what's happening?"
As the crowd hesitated in confusion, one intern and several nurses quickly began directing people aside.
"Please move! Emergency patient coming through!"
The remaining medical staff rushed toward the ambulance parked outside.
At that moment, the first survivor from the Gate was being lowered from the back on a stretcher.
"...!"
Someone walking ahead gasped.
The man was drenched from head to toe in dark, dried blood.
Unconscious, he hung limply on the stretcher like a corpse.
"What are you standing around for?! Move!"
"R-Right!"
Snapped back to reality by a colleague's shout, one of the interns hurried over to the paramedics.
"Is he conscious? What are his external injuries?"
As they drew closer, the metallic scent of blood struck their noses.
The expressions of the medical staff instantly hardened.
To be soaked in this much blood...
His injuries had to be catastrophic.
"Uh... well..."
Unlike the tense medical team, however, the paramedics who had transported him here wore strangely conflicted expressions.
'Is something wrong?'
The intern nervously licked his lips.
Surely he hadn't died on the way...
That was when an unexpected sound came from the patient, who had been so still he looked dead.
...Khrr... Grrr... Fwooo...
Silence fell over the area.
The intern's anxious eyes slowly went cold.
This patient couldn't possibly...
"It looks like he's asleep. Um... he was unconscious from the very beginning, but he kept snoring the whole trip..."
While the paramedic awkwardly continued explaining, the patient smacked his lips in his sleep.
The tightly wound nerves of the entire medical staff instantly went slack.