Chapter 561
Wuuung— My smartphone suddenly vibrated. I quickly checked the screen, and then Im Jeok-jung and finally Skeleton King each spoke in turn.
“What’s this?”
“Taekyung!”
“Ohh. Ohhhh. Look at this. Primitive humans, a girl group member has sent this great one a DM.”
That bastard, seriously. I told him to cut back on SNS.
‘No wonder his phone is ringing when he’s not even in the group chat.’ Honestly, I wanted to stomp him until his illusion magic shattered, but that wasn’t the issue right now.
‘Which girl group member… no, that’s not the point. Something like this is happening again.’ I barely swallowed my thoughts and stared at the phone screen.
It was the group chat with me, Chief Choi, and the original Peace Guild members. Song-Yi had urgently posted some information there.
Song-Yi: Hey 02
Song-Yi: (: Emergency Gate anomaly.
Song-Yi: Just got word from the government hotline—Mana levels are spiking.
Song-Yi: Hey, why aren’t you reading this.
Song-Yi: If you read it, answer. You lunatic.
Butler Kim: Apologies. I’m at the Blue House right now.
Song-Yi: I-I’m sorry;; I didn’t know it was you, Mr. Kim;;; Please carry on…
Butler Kim: Okay. Hope you have a good day too, Song-Yi.
Song-Yi: Oh. Everyone but one person has read this?
Song-Yi: If you’ve read it, please go check it out as soon as possible. I can’t go right away, I’ve got things to deal with and I’m far away.
Song-Yi: [Map attached]
Song-Yi: ? Wait, checking again, that Gate… Just go see for yourself. Especially Jin Taekyung, reply immediately if you’ve read this.
‘Location?’ What kind of Gate is it for them to react like this?
Putting aside my questions, I posted a confirmation in the group chat and checked the attached map. The moment I saw it, I immediately understood why Song-Yi reacted that way.
“Ah, hmm.”
The location really was a bit… yeah, awkward.
Im Jeok-jung, who checked the map a moment later, also stiffened.
“Taekyung. Is this…?”
“It’s probably exactly what you’re thinking.”
The C-rank Gate marked on the map was in a prime location near a station in Bucheon—a spot Hunters often said was ‘blessed by luck.’
Compared to other C-rank Gates, monsters were easier to handle here and they dropped plenty of magic stones.
Im Jeok-jung had been a Hunter in Bucheon for over ten years, and I couldn’t not know this Gate.
And the name of the guild that owned this place…
“This isn’t exactly welcome news…”
Seeing Im Jeok-jung muttering in a low voice, Skeleton King looked up from playing with his phone.
“Humans, what’s with the fuss? Where is it?”
I replied quietly.
“It’s not about the place. It’s the owner.”
“Huh? Owner?”
“Yeah.”
Gates technically couldn’t be privately owned, but mid-sized guilds and above often leased Gates for long periods, acting as their de facto owners.
And the C-rank Gate at this address belonged to a guild everyone in Korea—no, the world—knew.
“So who owns it?” Skeleton King asked. Im Jeok-jung answered bluntly.
“Ares Guild.”
For a moment, my gaze reflexively went to his arms.
The arms that had once been cut off on someone’s orders were perfectly fine now, but he trembled faintly as if remembering old pain.
Uncle—no, Hyung…
“…I’m fine.”
It was an empty answer.
His growing tremor and dark expression proved otherwise.
Noticing my serious gaze, he forced a smile.
“I’m really okay. More importantly, you’d better get going. If the Mana levels are spiking, it could turn into a mutated Gate again.”
“…No. Let them handle it. There’s no way I can go help them, especially not those guys.”
As I stood frozen in place, Im Jeok-jung gave me a faint smile.
“Taekyung.”
“Yes?”
“I mean it when I say I’m fine. The ones who cut off my arms—Lee Jeong-ryong included—all paid for what they did, and I’ve nearly finished rehab. These days, spending time with my wife and watching the kids grow up really makes me happy.”
“I’m really fine, so go on. I’m sure there are good people in Ares Guild too. If you don’t help just because of a personal reason like this, you’ll regret it later The you I know isn’t like that.”
“Honestly, I’d like to help too, but I can’t. Rehab isn’t over, and I just don’t have the skills anymore.”
I quietly watched Im Jeok-jung force a laugh with a clumsy joke, then nodded.
He was right. The people facing danger in that Gate weren’t my enemies or the Peace Guild’s.
If I could sense danger inside and had the strength to help, it was right to step up.
‘That’s what I made the rescue team for.’ Maybe from the moment I got the system, what I had to do was already decided.
I gave Im Jeok-jung a small nod.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Yeah, don’t get hurt.”
“Hurry up and finish, wicked human. If you do, I’ll show you this girl group member’s selfie as a reward.”
I smiled warmly and spoke to Skeleton King.
“If you don’t hurry up, I’ll smash your smartphone as punishment.”
“…Fine.”
That’s more like it. About time.
* * *
When I arrived at the C-rank Gate [Orc Wasteland] marked by Song-Yi’s map, the place was already filled with urgent shouts and yells.
“Th-the Mana level has more than doubled!”
“I know that! What about the request for backup?”
“Ah, they say it hasn’t gone through yet!”
“Dammit, is there anyone left in the Bucheon branch? If not, send at least one A-rank Hunter—even if you have to pull them off vacation!”
“They said almost all the A-rank Hunters assigned to Bucheon are overseas or on vacation and refused to come…”
“What? Vacation? Refused because of vacation? Are you kidding me?!”
It happened in an instant. A fist, heavy with rage, smashed a parked car.
Kwaang!
With a deafening crash, the imported car worth over a hundred million won was crushed, and large and small fragments scattered everywhere.
The B-rank Hunter, still flushed and fuming, spotted me and Skeleton King at that moment.
“Are you kidding me? No matter how urgent things are, you can’t just ignore crowd control—”
The end of his sentence dragged out, his eyes widening.
“Huh? Uh? Uhhhh?”
A stream of question marks flowed out from between his lips, his gaze fixed on my face. Skeleton King sneered and spoke with a meaningful look.
“Heh. Yes, this human is that human.”
Why’s this guy acting up when I’m just standing here?
I shot Skeleton King a displeased look and cleared my throat.
By now, everyone who had been busy moving around had frozen, staring at us.
“Ahem. Just in case there are people who don’t recognize—”
“Jin Taekyung!”
“Sibal Lord!”
“Sibal Lord!”
“…Well, I guess there’s no need for introductions.”
Really. As much as I hate to say it, if there’s a Hunter who doesn’t know my face by now, they’re probably a monster in disguise.
“Is that really Jin Taekyung?”
“Would a fake Jin Taekyung be here?”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
“It’s fine. That’s not important right now.” I turned to the B-rank Hunter who had smashed the car.
“Judging by what I’ve seen, you seem to be in charge here, right?”
“Y-yes. I’m Gwak Hangoo, head of the Ares Guild’s Yeokgok branch.”
Not even the Bucheon branch head—just one of the dozens of sub-branch heads, and he’s a B-rank Hunter.
It really shows Ares Guild’s size and talent pool. And it reminded me of something I’d overlooked.
‘Maybe because of their public image, but the atmosphere isn’t as bad as I thought.’
Ares Guild and I—and our Peace Guild—have a long, twisted history.
But that was all under the surface. On the outside, people who didn’t know the truth saw only calm waters.
In fact, the Ares Guild members here were looking at me with expectation and even goodwill.
‘Maybe… we can grow stronger even faster than Chief Choi expected.’
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
I shoved the stray thoughts aside and spoke to the branch head.
“Let’s skip the small talk and get to the point.”
“Y-yes?”
“You’re short on support, right? Ares Guild manages a ton of Gates, even overseas.”
“Uh, yes?”
“Even if you send for help, it’ll be too late when they arrive. That A-rank Hunter on vacation probably turned off their phone and pager. If you try to go in with just the people here, you’ll probably die before you can save anyone. Am I right?”
“W-we can’t be sure…”
“Oh, come on. The only thing you don’t know is how long the people inside can hold out.”
“…”
“It’s been fifteen minutes since the Mana spike started. Your team members could already be dying in there.”
“P-please wait a second.” The B-rank Hunter barely managed to stop me, his voice trembling.
“I know. I do. But… outside intervention is a serious breach of guild policy.”
“So?”
“I—everyone here would love to ask for your help, Jin Taekyung. But we can’t. You already know.”
I do know. Anyone working as a Hunter knows how strict and rigid Ares Guild’s rules are.
Lee Jeong-ryong handpicked the most skilled people at every level and kept them in a high, walled cage. The rumor that any Hunter expelled from Ares Guild would never be accepted by another guild isn’t just an urban legend.
“Ha.”
“Damn it…” Sighs and curses echoed around us. I stared intently at the Ares Guild members and suddenly spoke.
“One? Or two?”
“Excuse me? What do you mean…?”
“I just get the feeling that, in the time you’ve hesitated, at least two people have already died.”
“Jin Taekyung!”
“Hey, the guy monitoring the readings. What’s the Mana level right now?”
Even with my arrival, the C-rank Hunter biting his nails in front of the measuring device screamed out an answer.
“Three times! It’s three times the average Mana!”
