“Hup!”
Daehyun gathered Divine Power in his hand and drove his fist into the monkey swinging its claws before him.
[Skill, Divine Fist (LV.2), activates.]
[You have succeeded in controlling Divine Power!]
[The power of Skill, Divine Fist (LV.2), has been set to an appropriate level!]
CRACK—!
“Screeeech!”
The monkey screamed as it was sent flying far away, and before it could hit the wall, it turned to dust and disappeared.
[The target of Skill, Divine Fist (LV.2), has been eliminated.]
[The eliminated target is too weak!]
[Skill proficiency rises slightly!]
The pleasant notification sound stimulated Daehyun’s ears.
‘Is it not rising much because the target is too weak?’
Daehyun smiled bitterly and walked toward the place where the monkey had disappeared.
There was something there that resembled a violet gem.
Daehyun silently picked it up.
“Hmm. Is this what they were collecting?”
A trace of a “real monster” that could not be obtained in a virtual Gate.
When he looked around, he saw ores of the same color embedded here and there in the Gate walls.
‘I do not know how much Magic Stones are worth. For now, it would be best to take as many as possible.’
These were probably the things the two men who had entered first had been trying to gather.
“A D-rank Gate…….”
Was it because his own strength had increased?
Or was it because that Gate back then had been strange? Either way, the sensation he felt in this place now was not particularly bad.
“Not bad.”
Of course, his condition was also at its best.
For now, since it was a D-rank Gate, the monsters seemed stronger than goblins, but to Daehyun, the difference was not enough for him to feel it physically.
‘I suppose that means I have grown that much stronger.’
[Skill, Divine Shield (LV.2), activates.]
Screech—!
Daehyun lightly deflected the monkey ambushing him from the ceiling with his shield, then silently continued in the direction he had been heading.
Several minutes passed like that.
“…….”
The inside of the Gate was deeper than he had expected. And wider.
Monsters came from anywhere and appeared at any time.
Screeech!
When their number exceeded two hundred, Daehyun stopped counting them.
“I am starting to get tired of this.”
Since he had eliminated all of them using only the bare minimum amount of Divine Power, there was no burden on his body, but he had no choice but to feel bored by the repeated appearance of weak beings.
‘I need to find the boss quickly.’
It was surely somewhere inside the Gate. The strongest being in this Gate, different from these minor monsters.
Daehyun lightly struck the monkey that leaped out from behind him with his shield and said,
“I want to know how strong it is.”
At that moment.
BOOOOM—!
A thunderous roar rang out, and the Gate shook violently.
***
“Huff, huff……!”
A C-rank Superhuman. Choi Iljang ran with all his might.
BANG! BOOM—!
Behind him was an existence chasing him while creating tremendous roars, and if what Choi Iljang knew was correct, that was a “gargoyle.”
“Damn it! Daaamn it!”
He had no time to look back.
If, by some tiny chance, he showed even the slightest opening, he knew very well that there would be no turning back.
BOOOOM—!
Each time he fled, a huge roar rang out, and the inside of the Gate shook violently at the same time.
They had said it was D-rank, but for a gargoyle to appear of all things, this was too unlucky.
“……Hah!”
After running like that for a long while, Choi Iljang came to a stop.
There was nowhere left to run.
“…….”
He had been so focused on fleeing that it seemed he had taken the wrong path, not the direction he had entered from.
“Ha ha…….”
I am screwed.
I am dead.
There was no other way to describe it.
Choi Iljang looked at the emergency radio in his left hand.
Beep— beep—.
It was a radio he had prepared just in case, one that could request support from a nearby guild with the press of a single button.
‘Entering an unreported Gate illegally and then asking for help. Even I think this is absurd.’
But he had no time to think about such things.
He had left the Magic Stones he had been gathering somewhere inside the Gate, and right now, he was on the verge of death.
If he could live, what would he not do?
Choi Iljang tightened his grip on the radio in his hand.
Beep— beep—.
The red light on it meant that he had already requested support.
‘For Superhumans to arrive…… it will take a few minutes.’
At that moment, a chill ran down his back.
Choi Iljang tightened his grip on the axe in his hand and turned around.
BANG!
Sure enough, the gargoyle that had caught up right behind him stopped walking.
“Good, good…….”
I will hold out until support arrives.
With eyes that had lost all hope, he quickly scanned the gargoyle’s entire body.
It was the instinct and survival sense of a born C-rank Superhuman.
Grrk!
Its appearance was simple.
A moving monstrous stone statue with wings.
There was no phrase that described those creatures better than that.
Grrrrk…….
Grrk!
And there were five of them right in front of him.
For Choi Iljang, who would have had difficulty dealing with even one, facing five at once was impossible.
‘Ilchan…….’
Choi Ilchan. Suddenly, he thought of his younger brother, who had entered this Gate with him.
His younger brother, who had warned him again and again before they came to the Gate, asking whether it was not dangerous.
‘Ilchan…… your older brother will join you soon!’
And his beloved younger brother, who had been frightened by the gargoyle that appeared out of nowhere, fled, and ultimately had his head eaten.
Beep— beep—.
Even as he thought that, the transmitter continued sending its signal.
“……I should ask them to bury my body properly.”
If possible, beside his brother.
Choi Iljang lifted his axe with a trembling body.
Grrrrrk!
As if it saw that as an opportunity, one of the gargoyles charged toward Choi Iljang.
A straight and honest charge.
He could tell where it was aiming and which direction he had to strike from in order to attack it.
‘……Damn it.’
But he could not block it.
Fundamentally, the difference in speed was enormous.
It was not at a level that he could keep up with using the reaction speed of a C-rank like himself.
“…….”
The creature was aiming for his heart.
If he failed to block it, the result was obvious.
In the end, Choi Iljang closed his eyes.
He had resolved himself to accept death.
Grrrk!
The gargoyle’s hand reached toward his heart, and…….
At that moment.
BOOOOM—!
An enormous roar rang out.
“……Huh?”
At the same time, Choi Iljang’s closed eyes opened.
As soon as he opened them, he began patting down his own body as if something were strange.
“……I am alive.”
The roar was one thing, but to him, the fact that his heart had not been pierced was even more astonishing.
“……?”
On top of that, the number of gargoyles, which had been five, had decreased to four.
The one that had vanished was none other than the one that had been charging toward him.
When he looked around, the creature that had been charging was now embedded in the wall and slowly turning to powder.
‘What is this……?’
A strange phenomenon he could not explain.
Unless he had suddenly undergone reawakening out of nowhere, there was only one thing Choi Iljang could think of.
‘Support!’
I am saved!
A smile spread across Choi Iljang’s face.
If someone could turn a gargoyle into that state in an instant, then it seemed a fairly high-ranking Superhuman had arrived.
‘……B-rank? No, A-rank?’
Suddenly, he grew curious.
Who was the savior who had quickly come here after receiving his support request?
Who was the powerful person who had reduced a gargoyle to powder like that?
‘Ext Guild should be the closest one around here.’
Then could it be Superhuman An Gihyeon?
No, even Baek Sangmin would be fine!
With curiosity in his heart, Choi Iljang looked into the cloud of dust, and…….
“Hmm.”
At last, when all the dust cleared.
“It is softer than I expected.”
Along with a low hum, a man wearing a hood appeared.
***
It had not been long since Daehyun discovered this situation.
While walking through the Gate, he suddenly felt a vibration from somewhere, and Daehyun, who had grown tired of the repetitive monkey hunting, had rushed over in an instant, thinking that the creature might be the boss.
‘It was not just one.’
In the end, it was not the boss, but he found five monsters stronger than the monkeys.
‘The odds are higher if I strike first.’
And among the five gargoyles, he roughly drove his fist into one of them.
“……W-who are you?”
That was what had led to the current situation.
“…….”
Daehyun looked at the man speaking in a trembling voice.
He was not the type to remember human faces one by one, but he was certain.
This man was one of the two he had seen before entering the workshop.
‘I do not know where the other one is.’
Whether he was dead or alive, what did it matter? Daehyun clenched his fist and suddenly turned his head.
Grrk!
Grrrrk!
The remaining four gargoyles were warily watching Daehyun.
That was only natural.
One of their companions had vanished in an instant.
In other words, it had told the gargoyles that this human was different.
‘A hood…… Who is he?’
Choi Iljang looked the person who had come to save him up and down.
‘Is he in his right mind? Entering a Gate dressed like that?’
Jeans and a hoodie.
No matter how one looked at him, it was an ordinary outfit, not something one would call Superhuman gear, and certainly not the armament of a Superhuman entering a Gate.
‘On top of that, bare fists?’
Not only that, but there was not even a common blade on his body.
Had he not had time to arm himself?
Or was he a Superhuman in the tank position?
Countless guesses came and went inside Choi Iljang’s head, but.
Grrrk!
“Hup!”
As if to deny them all, the person before him swung his fist with all his might toward the leaping gargoyle.
BOOOOM—!
Another thunderous roar rang out.
Dust rose, and the Gate shook violently.
“That just now was his fist…….”
At last, when he turned his eyes.
The gargoyle that had taken the fist head-on had already become dust, and only a Magic Stone remained on the ground in its place.
‘……A tank? This?’
Nonsense.
Choi Iljang shook his head.
If one looked solely at the power of the attack, it was already on the level of a B-rank damage dealer.
‘No, that is not what matters right now.’
Whoever he was, he was a considerably strong person.
At this level, leaving the gargoyles to this person and slowly disappearing would be helpful.
“W-well then!”
Because of that, Choi Iljang dragged his trembling body to his feet.
And then…….
“I will leave this place to you!”
He began running without the slightest hesitation. Since the gargoyles’ attention was focused on that man, this was his chance.
No, this was his only chance.
“Thank you!”
If he was a strong person of that level, would he not handle everything on his own?
Choi Iljang comforted himself with that thought.
‘Besides, I am already a lawbreaker!’
Seeing a Gate and not reporting it was illegal, and entering it and acting inside on one’s own was even more illegal.
And right now, it was as good as being caught in the middle of that illegal act.
‘I need to quickly take only that and run!’
If no variable had occurred inside the Gate, “that” should definitely still be in its place.
Thinking that, Choi Iljang stepped forward.
“…….”
Meanwhile,
as he watched the man quickly disappear, Daehyun scratched his head.
“I thought he was on the verge of death, but he is still full of energy.”
The sight of him running away on his own was somewhat unpleasant, but it did not matter.
He had intended to face them all alone anyway, and since the one who would have gotten in the way had removed himself, it was something to be grateful for instead.
“Well then.”
Thinking that, Daehyun looked at the gargoyles before him.
Grrrrk—!
Grrk!
[Skill, Divine Fist (LV.2), activates!]
“I suppose that means one of you is the boss.”