Prologue
“All right, everyone, move carefully. Just because this gate has been cleared does not mean the ground itself is safe.”
The voice of the Management Bureau’s field supervisor echoed through the gate.
This was a cleared gate.
It was a space where the boss monster inside the gate had been killed and the center of the rift had stabilized.
Put simply, all hazards had already been dealt with. All they had to do was go in and collect the rewards and byproducts.
Byproducts that had fallen from monster carcasses.
Broken equipment.
Mana Stone Fragments.
Special minerals clinging to the gate walls.
And miscellaneous salvage the Raid Team had overlooked.
Collecting and sorting all of it brought in money.
It had been ten years since the gates first opened.
By now, humanity had learned more than how to kill monsters.
It had also become quite adept at turning monsters into money.
“Hey, there’s a Mana Stone Fragment over here.”
“But it’s broken.”
“Even broken, it’ll pay for a meal. Bag it.”
“This really is safe, right?”
“It’s safe. They wouldn’t have brought a trainee like you otherwise.”
The people moved about with relaxed expressions.
Some joked, while others yawned behind their masks.
A few who had tried to slack off had been caught and were getting an earful.
They looked thoroughly relaxed, but with good reason.
The gate had been cleared thoroughly, and there was nothing dangerous left inside.
“Mr. Lee Ji-hoon.”
The supervisor turned his head.
“Yes.”
Lee Ji-hoon raised his head, a pair of salvage tongs in hand.
“Do not be too nervous just because it is your first time. Think of this as a practical training site.”
“Yes. I understand.”
“Even at F-rank, you are perfectly capable of this kind of work. Just do not venture toward the front without good reason.”
“Understood.”
Even as he answered, Ji-hoon’s gaze remained fixed on the depths of the gate.
The path leading to the boss room.
The boss was already dead, its core had been recovered, and even the system message declaring the raid complete had appeared.
“…Why do I keep smelling it?”
A smell that could not possibly come from a gate on Earth.
The smell of damp weeds on the farm behind the Demon King’s Castle.
The smell of the fur he had brushed every morning inside the pens at Hell Farm.
Then came the sound of wind.
WHOOOOOOOOOSH.
The supervisor furrowed his brow.
“What is that?”
“The wind suddenly….”
“Wind?”
As the supervisor surveyed the situation, a blue rift formed in front of him.
“Wh-What, wh-wh-wh-what is that?!”
DING–
[Warning: Gate reactivation underway.]
“Reactivation?”
“What does that mean? Why is a cleared gate opening again?”
“Everyone, get outside! Hurry!”
“Bring in the Hunters on standby!”
WHOOOOOOOOSH–
RRRRRUMBLE–!
The gate’s mana churned, and the gate shook as though it might run wild at any moment.
“Management Bureau control room! Small gate reactivation! I repeat! Cleared gate reactivation!”
Before the supervisor had even finished his radio transmission, a massive shadow emerged from the boss room.
GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
The people thought it was the roar of a monstrous beast.
“Run!”
“It’s the boss!”
“Fucking hell, the boss was still alive!”
“Did it come back to life?”
“Either way! Run!”
Everyone ran outside.
“Trainee Lee Ji-hoon! Hurry, run!”
“….”
“I said run! You fucking lunatic… Fine, then! Live or die, that’s your problem!”
Even as he heard his colleague curse at him, Ji-hoon simply stood where he was.
His eyes were fixed on the depths of the boss room.
“That’s not a roar.”
It was a cry.
A sound he had heard for a hundred years.
A signal he had heard every day at Hell Farm behind the Demon King’s Castle.
The one who never cried first, even when hungry.
The one who always looked after the younger ones at Hell Farm first.
And yet, whenever it caused trouble, it would cry before it was even scolded.
“Poppy…?”
It was the cry of Hell Farm’s eldest, who would start crying first after knocking over its food bowl, afraid of being scolded.