Guided by a male guild member, Baek Sangmin headed toward a mountain about five minutes away from the Superhuman Training School.
“It is here.”
In the center of the mountain where they arrived, in a place thick with trees, they stopped walking.
‘The grade is D, and it seems to have been left unattended for quite some time…….’
Looking at the rift—the Gate—that appeared before him, Baek Sangmin lightly clicked his tongue.
‘Because it appeared in such an isolated place, it was left unregistered and neglected.’
Perhaps not to Superhumans, but to powerless ordinary people, a D-rank Gate was not something that could be ignored. If this thing opened automatically and monsters poured out, it would not end as a simple accident.
“What should we do, Superhuman Baek?”
The guild member asked after seeing Baek Sangmin’s bitter expression.
‘I do not really feel like going in alone.’
He felt even more reluctant to enter empty-handed.
As Baek Sangmin thought it over, his gaze turned toward the guild member.
“How long will it take for support to arrive?”
“Considering the distance, even if they come as quickly as possible, they say it will take forty minutes.”
“Forty minutes…….”
Baek Sangmin’s expression turned slightly subtle.
Going in without anything was a little dangerous, but calling for support over a mere D-rank Gate felt excessive.
‘I have many places I need to go today as well.’
Suddenly, his gaze turned toward the guild member’s hand. In the guild member’s hand was a spear, because he had come as Baek Sangmin’s escort.
“I will borrow that.”
“Yes……? Huh?”
This worked out nicely.
Baek Sangmin naturally took the spear from the guild member’s hand.
“Hmm…….”
A long spear with a moderate air that did not look particularly expensive. It was a self-defense artifact of so-so performance, provided by Ext Guild.
Whoosh— whoosh—.
“This is enough.”
After swinging the long spear through the air a few times, he took out the documents from his chest and handed them to the guild member.
“I will handle this place myself, so please take care of that instead.”
“……Pardon?”
The guild member stared blankly at the documents he had been given in place of the spear. They were files listing all the places Baek Sangmin had visited today, or had yet to visit.
“I will submit the Gate report in thirty minutes at the earliest, so please go to the next location in my place for now.”
“B-but…….”
“It is fine.”
This much is fine.
As if Baek Sangmin were saying that, the guild member hesitated for a moment.
It was not that he doubted Baek Sangmin’s strength. It was simply that, as an escort, he had something like a sense of responsibility, which made it difficult for him to speak easily.
However…….
“Hurry and go. You will be late at this rate.”
“……Understood.”
Was he not saying that himself?
Above all, if it was Superhuman Baek Sangmin, he would surely handle it well on his own.
“Please be careful.”
Accepting it like that, the guild member left.
In the end, around the time the guild member’s figure descending the mountain had nearly vanished from sight.
“It has been a long time since I acted alone.”
Baek Sangmin stepped toward the D-rank Gate before him.
***
Inside the D-rank Gate.
Kieeeek!
Pshhk—!
A goblin’s stomach was pierced, and dark-red blood burst from its mouth.
Kieeek!
Kiek!
The other goblins, who witnessed their comrade’s death, quickly took up guarded stances, but…….
Slash—! Stab!
Before they could even show resistance, the swift long spear pierced through their stomachs, ending their lives.
In less than three seconds.
In that fleeting instant, ten goblins returned to Magic Stones.
“Hmm…….”
At the scene of that massacre, Baek Sangmin maintained a graceful stride. Not a drop of blood had splattered on his suit, and his face was full of composure.
“As expected, it is cheap.”
He silently looked at the spear in his hand. Perhaps because he had handled it too roughly, the pointed spearhead had dulled slightly.
A small flaw, but by no means a trivial one.
Normally, he would have immediately left the Gate or quickly performed maintenance.
This was a place where even a problem of this level could be directly connected to one’s life.
That was what a Gate was.
“It is a good thing this is D-rank.”
Kieeeek!
Baek Sangmin lightly cut down the goblins charging toward him with the spear, then quickened his steps.
The deeper he went, the darker his surroundings became, and an unpleasant chill was added to it.
If not for the faint light coming from the Magic Stones, it would have been difficult to distinguish even an inch ahead.
He had already killed dozens of goblins here. Based on his experience, it was now time for the boss to appear.
“Oh.”
After walking a little farther.
Kieeeek!
Kiyaak!
As if they had been waiting, dozens of goblins appeared as a group.
Each and every one of them was holding a small dagger or a stone.
The one fortunate thing was that none of them held bows.
“There must be a reason you are gathered like this.”
Baek Sangmin lightly scanned the gathered goblins.
And then…….
“Found you.”
Because they were monsters, most of them looked similar, but among them was one different creature.
A creature holding a staff and wearing a necklace made of bones.
‘A Goblin Mage.’
It was not a weak creature, but it was not a particularly strong one either.
It was truly a boss suited to a D-rank Gate.
“Nice to meet you.”
Since it was an unregistered Gate, he had wondered what he would do if an unfamiliar creature appeared, but fortunately, it was a creature whose strategy he knew and one he had experienced before.
‘Still, there are quite a lot of them.’
It seemed difficult to end this without a single injury.
‘I will know once I try.’
Baek Sangmin lifted his spear.
It was the moment the goblins’ roars toward him rang out.
***
[Quest]
[Hidden Hero]
[Details: ???????]
[※ You cannot check the quest details yet.]
[Completion Conditions: ???]
[※ You cannot check the quest details yet.]
[Reward: ???]
[※ You cannot check the quest reward yet.]
Daehyun silently looked at the quest window hanging before his eyes.
“Hmm.”
Everything except the quest name was invisible.
This was already the second time.
‘That means…….’
A Demon Realm Rift.
The phenomenon they called Gate Backflow here. It seemed that it was about to happen again.
[Kang Daehyun]
[Stats: Strength (95), Agility (80), Intelligence (60), Unique Stat = Divine Power (170)]
[Assignable Stat Points: 25 (Choose one from Strength, Agility, and Divine Power.)]
[Type: Healing-Type (C)]
[Traits: Speed Reading (E), Quick Thinking (C), Observation (C+), ??? (EX)]
[Skills: Lesser Healing (LV.1), Divine Shield (LV.2), Divine Fist (LV.2)]
He had certainly grown stronger.
At the very least, he could say he had grown far stronger than the moment he first fought the Hellhound.
‘I should go for now.’
When a quest appeared, following it was more convenient. Besides, if a Hellhound appeared again this time, he wanted to fight it once more. He wanted to fight it and properly confirm his current standing.
“Then I should start preparing…….”
There was no time to hesitate.
Thinking that, Daehyun slowly rose from his seat.
At that moment.
BOOM—!
Someone burst into the principal’s office with enough force to smash the door.
“S-Student Daehyun! How did it go?”
“You did not say anything, did you?”
Faces that had now become familiar, yet strangely unpleasant.
They were the principal and vice principal.
Apparently, they had been waiting outside the entire time he was speaking.
“Right? Surely you did not say anything strange while living at our Superhuman Training School, did you?”
“Of course! Naturally! If that happened, then at the Superhuman Training School, immediately……!”
Watching the two men sweat profusely with nervous faces, Daehyun silently walked toward them.
“Do not worry. I did not say much.”
They were noisy and ugly.
Their faces, their behavior, and most decisively, the fact that they had forced him to keep quiet. He disliked everything about them.
“Then, in exchange for accommodating the two of you.”
But there was no need to get angry at them right now. They were somewhat troublesome, but they had not yet caused him direct harm, and above all, he felt they might be useful later.
“My head hurts today, so I will leave school early.”
Daehyun lightly closed the principal’s office door and stepped out into the hallway.
“…….”
The principal and vice principal could only silently watch that sight.
***
After leaving the Superhuman Training School, Daehyun wore a hoodie instead of his school uniform, and on his face was a pure white mask.
‘It is fortunate there was a mask among the training props.’
This should be enough to keep his face from being discovered.
It was not that he absolutely had to hide his identity, but if his face was discovered now for no reason, he would not be able to avoid Ext Guild’s questioning.
“That does not mean I can stay holed up at school.”
Neither the reward nor the completion conditions were visible, but even so, it was not a quest he could throw away. Becoming stronger came first, so would moving not be the best thing to do for now?
‘What matters is where the Gate is.’
The Gate’s location.
Baek Sangmin had said “around here,” but Daehyun did not know where he had to go from here to find it, nor how long it would take.
‘Searching everywhere would be inefficient…… Hm?’
As he turned his head like that,
something entered Daehyun’s eyes.
A man in a suit holding documents, descending from the mountain.
At a glance, he looked like an ordinary office worker, but Daehyun could tell from the documents he was holding.
‘The documents Baek Sangmin brought.’
The color of the document envelope was the same.
There was a high chance that Baek Sangmin had handed them over.
If a Gate had been left unattended long enough to remain unregistered, it meant the place where the Gate was located had few people around.
‘I am lucky.’
After confirming that the man in the suit had disappeared, Daehyun lightly climbed the mountain.
***
“Hup.”
Baek Sangmin sank down on top of the corpses of the goblins surrounding him.
His once-neat suit was torn here and there and stained with blood.
It was the result of a battle that had continued for about ten minutes.
“Haa…….”
He let out a sigh and looked at the necklace in his right hand.
It was the “trophy” obtainable inside the dungeon, the necklace that had hung around the Goblin Mage’s neck.
‘If I sell this together with the Magic Stones, it should bring in a decent amount of money.’
In the end, it was only a D-rank Gate, so he could not receive that high of a price, but was this not a decent result?
Rumble rumble—.
As if congratulating him on his victory, the inside of the Gate began to tremble.
Since he had defeated the boss, it was time for the Gate to close.
“Then shall I head out?”
He had killed the boss, and he could leave the cleanup to the support team that would come later.
Baek Sangmin used the spear as support and rose to his feet.
“……!”
At the same time, Baek Sangmin felt it.
A chill running down his spine.
An unpleasant aura that differed in nature from an ordinary monster.
‘No, no…… It cannot be.’
And.
This energy, which felt slightly familiar.
The unique senses of a Superhuman, beyond an ordinary human, were telling him.
Something was strange. Something was coming.
‘……I definitely killed the boss. This thing is the boss.’
Baek Sangmin’s gaze turned toward the corpse of the Goblin Mage beneath his feet.
It was dead. His spear had accurately pierced its stomach. The necklace in his hand was proof of his victory.
However.
Rumble rumble rumble—.
The Gate’s increasingly violent tremors were telling him.
The “real thing” had not even begun yet, and it was about to begin now.
“Do not tell me this is…….”
Baek Sangmin took one step back at a time with a hardened face. It was something he had already experienced before. But right now, the situation was far too bad.
BOOM—!
A thunderous sound rang out beside him.
Sensing something extraordinary, Baek Sangmin raised his head.
Kuwaaaa!
As if they had been waiting.
Monsters of tremendous majesty appeared.
“…….”
Three of them at the same time.