At dawn the day after the Association President meeting.
Song Ji-hu opened his eyes while inhaling air steeped in the smell of mold.
The bluish light of dawn coming through the window filled the room over the old ceiling.
As Song Ji-hu raised himself, he summoned his skill window out of habit.
[Name : Song Ji-hu]
[Level: 1]
[Skill 1: Mental Detection - C-rank] - 3.5%
[Skill 2: Mental Barrier - C-rank] - 10.7%
[Skill 3: Residual Thought - C-rank] - 8.9%
[Skill 4: Thought Projection - C-rank] - 11.3%
[Skill 5: Mental Dive - EX-rank]
Thanks to the desperate struggle he had fought inside Eun Seo-jin’s mental imagery world, his skill proficiency had risen, but his Level was still 1.
‘Which means….’
Mental Dive grew his skills, and he had to run Gates to raise his Level.
“So it’s telling me to get worked like a damn dog.”
With a bitter sigh, Song Ji-hu finished washing his face and put on his old jumper.
The moment he opened the door and stepped outside, his feet stopped.
“Eun Seo-jin…?”
Silver hair fluttered in the dawn air. Cold breath bloomed between his lips. It was Eun Seo-jin.
“How long have you been here?”
“I just arrived.”
His tone was calm, but the tip of his nose, red from the cold, was saying it was a lie. Song Ji-hu did not bother pointing that out and lifted the corner of his mouth.
“Let’s go. The schedule is tight.”
Song Ji-hu climbed into Eun Seo-jin’s vehicle.
“Today, your first Gate has been assigned as a B-rank Gate.”
“Not C-rank, but B-rank?”
Song Ji-hu’s eyebrow rose. Assigning a B-rank Gate as a C-rank’s first real combat was outside common sense.
Even for an S-rank, it was normal to assign a C-rank Gate as their first assignment.
“The Association said they wanted to confirm the effects of the Mental Barrier skill. And because it is a dangerous place, Mental Barrier is all the more necessary there…. If it feels burdensome, shall I speak to the Association?”
“Hmm… No, it’s fine. This is better, actually.”
Song Ji-hu looked out the window and gave a faint laugh.
‘As expected, Park Jeong-ho is transparent. So he wants to test me even in the middle of all this? Since Eun Seo-jin will be there anyway?’
It bore the name of a test, but in practice, it was pressure from the Association saying, Prove how useful you are.
“What’s the Gate’s name?”
“Fortress of the Silent Sentinel.”
Song Ji-hu’s eyes sank slightly.
‘Ah, that Gate.’
He remembered. A place notorious for its atrocious mental contamination debuff. A place that had produced casualties even among A-rank raid teams despite being B-rank.
‘By now… they’ve probably failed to clear it twice.’
***
When the vehicle arrived at the destination, a gigantic blue portal was floating above a desolate field on the outskirts of Uijeongbu.
[B-rank Gate - Fortress of the Silent Sentinel]
In the parking lot near the Gate, Yoon Yeong-su stood gripping a tablet with an anxious face. When his eyes met Song Ji-hu’s, he bowed awkwardly.
“…I have been dispatched as the supervisor.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, and I also have something to tell you after the raid is over.”
“All right.”
Behind Song Ji-hu’s short answer, a man with a rough-looking face approached. He seemed to be the raid leader for this raid.
“So this is that Hunter? But… is this really okay?”
After looking Song Ji-hu up and down, he frowned heavily and looked at Yoon Yeong-su.
“Even if he has Mental Barrier… I mean, of course it’s good for us. But it’s his first Gate. And he’s still C-rank….”
“That is… the Association also….”
“No… The Association is the problem here…. He has Mental Barrier, right? If something goes wrong for no reason and we get blamed….”
Just as Yoon Yeong-su was about to say something.
“Do not run your mouth just because you have one.”
Eun Seo-jin, who had appeared at some point, held a blade to the raid leader’s neck.
“What bas…tard…!”
“Boss, wait!”
The team member beside him went pale and snatched the man’s arm. His gaze was fixed on the silver-haired man standing behind Song Ji-hu.
“What’s wrong with you? Let go of my hand….”
“Th-that person! He’s the Frost Swordmaster! Eun Seo-jin!”
No matter how long his absence had been, an S-rank was still an S-rank. When Eun Seo-jin’s cold gaze turned toward the man, it felt as if the surrounding temperature had instantly dropped below freezing.
“Uh, uhh… How…?”
The man’s body creaked as he looked at Yoon Yeong-su.
“Um, Mr. Association employee. Why is an S-rank Hunter here? This is a B-rank Gate. And wasn’t his mental contamination definitely….”
“Ah, boss… I sent you the link yesterday. I told you the community was in an uproar. You didn’t see it because you were drinking again, did you?”
At the team member’s words, the man seemed to remember something and stared blankly at Song Ji-hu with an aghast expression.
“He is here as the guardian of Hunter Song Ji-hu, who possesses Mental Barrier. As you can see, his mental contamination has been completely cured.”
Yoon Yeong-su adjusted his glasses and answered.
“Furthermore, Hunter Song Ji-hu and Hunter Eun Seo-jin belong to the recently established Zero Point Guild. This has been approved as both practical rehabilitation for Hunter Eun Seo-jin and a cooperative raid. Does that answer your question?”
“Ah, ah… I see. Zero Point….”
The raid leader’s attitude changed one hundred eighty degrees. With a sly smile spread across his face, he bowed his head over and over.
“Oh my, you should’ve told us sooner! Hahaha, it’s truly an honor to be together with someone legendary! I look forward to working with you, sir!”
The man hid behind the formation as if tucking his tail. “What’s there to worry about when we’ve got an S-rank here?” His relieved mutter reached Song Ji-hu’s ears faintly.
“……!”
Eun Seo-jin’s eyebrow twitched. As he opened his mouth, unable to hide his displeasure, Song Ji-hu lightly raised a hand and stopped him.
“Leave it.”
“But is their attitude not far too rude?”
“We’re people who’ll see them today and never again anyway. They aren’t worth paying attention to.”
Song Ji-hu’s voice was calm, but his eyes were following the raid leader’s back.
‘I need word of mouth.’
Wasn’t rumor fastest when it spread from mouth to mouth? It was even better if the person had a loose tongue.
The community’s reaction was just about that level. Is it real? Is it fake? They could not believe it until evidence appeared before their eyes.
In that sense, a character like that was the most suitable loudspeaker.
It was obvious that after today’s raid ended, he would run his mouth eagerly at a bar or on the community.
“Everyone, please gather. We will begin today’s raid briefing.”
Yoon Yeong-su stepped forward with a cough.
A hologram appeared from the tablet.
“Previously, two B-rank raid teams attempted to clear this Gate, but both failed. Therefore, the Association has upgraded the Gate’s rank from B-rank to A-minus rank.”
Images of collapsed castle walls and ghostly knights appeared within the hologram.
“The theme of Fortress of the Silent Sentinel is the frontier fortress of a fallen ancient kingdom. Once you enter, you will be afflicted with a debuff that compels you to guard the fortress gate until death.”
At Yoon Yeong-su’s explanation, sighs burst from the raid team.
“So they’ve been repeating the act of guarding the fortress gate for hundreds of years, following the orders of a king who ran away.”
“If two teams have already been wiped out… then they couldn’t even run because of the debuff.”
“That is correct. That is why this raid is being conducted with an A-rank raid team and Hunter Song Ji-hu, who possesses Mental Barrier. Of course, Hunter Eun Seo-jin, an S-rank, is also present.”
Yoon Yeong-su looked at Song Ji-hu and Eun Seo-jin, then continued his explanation.
“When exposed to the debuff, you will be seized by groundless pressure, fear, and the compulsion that the enemy must die. And in the end….”
“You either die to the enemies flooding in, or run away and offer your neck to the knights’ blades.”
Song Ji-hu picked up the explanation again. His tone was dry.
“There are two ways to clear it. Either annihilate every monster that floods in endlessly, or somehow escape.”
Yoon Yeong-su concluded the briefing.
“Once inside the dungeon, please follow the instructions of Hunter Yu Heon-sik, the raid leader.”
“Still… there is an S-rank Hunter here.”
“Please give instructions the same way. Hunter Eun Seo-jin has agreed to this as well.”
Ahead of entering the Gate, an uneasy current flowed among the Hunters. But Song Ji-hu’s expression did not change from beginning to end.
“Now, everyone, please take your body cams.”
When the final check was underway just before entering the Gate, Eun Seo-jin tilted his head at Song Ji-hu’s utterly calm reaction.
“Are you… not nervous?”
“Nervous? Ah….”
“Well, not particularly?”
“You have a strong heart. I had many worries when I entered my first dungeon.”
Song Ji-hu gave a faint laugh, shrugged, and turned his head to stare straight at Yoon Yeong-su, who was preparing to enter the Gate.
The moment Yoon Yeong-su met Song Ji-hu’s ash-gray eyes, he felt a chill run down his spine.
“All right! If preparations are complete, let’s depart!”
Song Ji-hu withdrew his gaze from Yoon Yeong-su. Then he walked toward the Gate.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, understood.”
***
The moment they entered the Gate, blue light swallowed their vision and spat it back out.
The instant they set foot inside the dungeon, suffocating pressure tightened around them from all sides.
“Ghk…!”
As soon as the Hunters who had entered ahead left the safe zone, they all grimaced at once and let out groans. It was as if an invisible gigantic hand were pressing down on their entire bodies.
The air was as heavy as lead, and their chests tightened until they could not even breathe properly.
‘We must not run.’
‘We have to protect it. Even if we die, we must protect this place.’
The obsession of knights who had died hundreds of years ago was steeped throughout the entire dungeon like poison, tormenting the Hunters.
“Is th-this really B-rank? The pressure is ridiculous.”
“This is what it’s like in the safe zone? Didn’t the Association people measure the Gate wrong?”
“Exactly. At this level, it’s straight-up A-rank, isn’t it?”
The Hunters’ complexions turned pale in an instant. For a B-rank, the intensity of the debuff far exceeded expectations.
Even Eun Seo-jin, an S-rank, furrowed his brow and faltered.
‘So this is the condition my body is in right now.’
Compared to the other Hunters, he was much better off, but his body was not as light as he thought it should be.
‘If this were my prime, a debuff of this level would be….’
Then, Song Ji-hu’s calm voice reached them.
“Hold still.”
Song Ji-hu closed his eyes and lightly raised both hands.
“Mental Barrier.”
Soft silver light shimmered from his hands. That light began spreading like a ripple.
With Song Ji-hu at the center, it drew concentric circles and wrapped every nearby Hunter one by one in a transparent film.
“Huh…?”
The first to react was the raid leader. The pressure that had been crushing his entire body suddenly decreased.
“Holy shit…! The pressure disappeared right away!”
“It works this well?”
“Is he really C-rank? This is completely broken, isn’t it?”
The Hunters murmured noisily. He was clearly said to be a C-rank Hunter, yet the effect was beyond imagination.
Once the bizarre echoes ringing inside their heads were blocked, life returned to the Hunters’ eyes.
The debuff had not disappeared completely. Compared to normal, their feet were still heavy, and echoes still rang inside their minds, but it was no longer a compulsion like before.
“My goodness… He covers this many people with a single skill?”
Yoon Yeong-su was astonished by Mental Barrier’s overwhelming utility and Song Ji-hu’s skill application ability, and he began taking notes.
He intended to have his usefulness acknowledged by carefully reporting everything that happened in the dungeon to Park Jeong-ho.
“Huh? But….”
Someone pointed at Song Ji-hu as he prepared for battle.
“Why doesn’t Hunter Song Ji-hu himself have a barrier?”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Song Ji-hu, who was moving freely as if he were merely out for a walk.
Calmly, as if he were completely unaffected by the dungeon.