Chapter 38

Chapter 38

I Installed a Dating App and Girls from Another World Became Obsessed with Me.

Episode 38: Gate (3)

Choi Hye-na momentarily doubted if there was something wrong with her ears.

“…What?”

“From now on, don’t use ‘you’ or ‘your’ or anything like that. Call me ‘honey’ sweetly.”

The moment she saw Kang Hyeon-u with a face full of smiles, it seemed like her insides were twisting.

“Are you finally crazy? Just because I’m being nice as your benefactor, do you think I’m easy?”

“Then starve.”

Ha! Threatening her with food? It was a cheap threat that wouldn’t work on her, who was born as the only successor of the Seongbuk Choi family and had learned restraint.

“How petty…!”

But she was too hungry to say that.

It didn’t seem like she had eaten dinner long ago, but her stomach was screaming for food.

She felt like she was getting heartburn from hunger, and her stomach was shrinking, but that damn guy was cooking ramen right next to her.

“…Gulp.”

The smell of ramen, which stimulated her sense of smell, was driving her crazy.

“Looks like you want to eat?”

Choi Hye-na felt something snap as he lifted the chewy noodles with chopsticks and showed them to her in a really annoying way.

“I won’t eat! I said I won’t eat!! You eat it all, you pig…”

At that moment, Kang Hyeon-u, who threw the ramen far away and rushed towards her urgently, came into Choi Hye-na’s sight.

‘Wh-what?? Did he hate being called a p-pig that much…??’

The momentum was so strong that she couldn’t help but close her eyes tightly.

“Dodge!!!”

“…Huh?”

Bang!! A huge and hideous arm that tore through the cloth-covered cave entrance and appeared covered Choi Hye-na.

‘Too late!’

Kang Hyeon-u, who judged that the activation of magic wouldn’t be in time in the rapidly accelerating thoughts, threw away his wand.

In a short moment that didn’t even take 0.1 seconds, he drew his sword from his inventory.

Mana vibrated intensely from the hand holding the sword hilt.

[Imperial Army’s Mana Sword]

[Grade: Rare]

[Sharpness increases when mana is imbued]

He poured most of his mana into the sword to increase its sharpness.

Due to the limitations of the rare grade and mana amount, it wouldn’t be powerful enough to cut through diamonds, but it was enough to cut through a mana beast’s arm.

“Hup!”

Swoosh- Blood spurted from the cleanly cut mana beast’s hand and wrist.

-Kuaaaa!!!

Ignoring the mana beast’s scream of terrible pain, Kang Hyeon-u pulled Choi Hye-na into his arms and ran out of the cave.

Outside, a mana beast with white fur covering its body was suffering, grabbing its severed wrist. It looked like a yeti.

He was surprised by the huge body that seemed to be at least 4m tall, but this was an opportunity as the guy was writhing in pain and showing his back defenselessly.

He put Choi Hye-na down on the snowfield and quickly ran towards him.

He gathered mana at the tips of his feet and thighs to strengthen his jumping power, and then stabbed his sword into the guy’s neck.

Thwack- The blade went in more easily than expected.

That wasn’t the end.

Even though the magic casting speed was slow because he didn’t have a wand, it didn’t even take 2 seconds.

[Flame Circle]

Boom!! The violently rotating and exploding flames erupted from the tip of the blade and blew off the yeti’s neck.

The body that lost its neck fell down on its knees.

It was a moment when the pure white snowfield became stained with dark red blood.

“…What the hell is that?”

It was a mana beast he had never seen before.

All I knew about mana beasts was fragmentary knowledge taught at school and the content of some high-viewed posts on the community.

“Wh-white Yeti…”

Choi Hye-na, whose red hair was covered in white snow, looked at the mana beast’s corpse with a pale face.

“White Yeti?”

“…It’s a C-grade mana beast.”

The moment he heard that, an unbearable word rose from the depths of his abdomen.

“…Damn it.”

Ding-

[You have defeated the White Yeti]

[First kill reward: 200 coins]

It seemed to have come in quite deep, but considering the general size of gates, this was still the beginning of the gate.

The fact that a C-grade mana beast came out in such a place meant that this gate was at least C+ or higher.

If they were unlucky, it could be B-grade.

“…I used too much mana.”

Even if it wasn’t an elite individual, the blade went in too easily against a C-grade opponent, but as expected, it seemed like he had squeezed out mana without realizing it.

Moreover, the mana that went into the Flame Circle was also significant.

“Do you have a wand or staff with you?”

“…No.”

Well, it was weird for someone to bring that to a blind date.

Of course, even if they didn’t have equipment, magicians didn’t become useless, but it was an undeniable fact that the overall magic power and casting speed decreased.

In a real battle where life and death were at stake with a 0.1-second difference, it was a fatal problem.

“Use this for now.”

He handed Choi Hye-na the wood wand and magic ring he used to use.

“Then what about you…?”

“One person has to stand in the front line. Who’s going to draw the mana beast’s aggro if both of us are in the back line?”

No matter how strong magicians were, they were ultimately back-line classes.

Continuing to hunt mana beasts without a front line was like a sandcastle that could collapse at any moment.

Since Choi Hye-na, a 3-circle magician, would be stronger than him in terms of firepower, it was right for him to stand in the front line.

“What kind of magician stands in the front line!”

“Then will you do it?”

“That’s…”

If there was a magician who was suitable for alchemy or summoning, the situation would have been much easier.

It was something that could be handled by deploying golems or familiars as frontliners.

However, Choi Hye-na’s family was famous for their exceptional aptitude for elemental magic, particularly fire, and he hadn’t learned anything about summoning magic yet.

“I can handle this better than you, so just shut up and provide magical support from behind.”

The hideout they managed to find was no longer habitable due to the monster’s blood. Unfortunately, they had to pack up the tent and move.

“And put this on before we go.”

“Huh?”

He tossed the dried fur coat to Choi Hye-na.

It still didn’t make sense to him that the sole heir of the Seongbuk Choi family, famous for their fire magic, was more susceptible to the cold than he was, but they didn’t have time to leisurely listen to her backstory.

For now, it would be a relief if she didn’t collapse from the cold along the way.

“…Thanks.”

“If you’re grateful, call me ‘dear’.”

“Screw off.”

After the encounter with the White Yeti, we had two objectives.

One was to find a deep cave with a narrow entrance where we could barricade ourselves and hold out.

The other was to clear a certain area of monsters to create a sort of safe zone.

“White Yetis are monsters that live in packs. We were lucky to encounter only one earlier, but they usually form packs of at least ten, and sometimes up to thirty.”

Choi Hye-na’s explanation dashed our plan to create a safe zone where we had hunted the White Yeti.

Creating a safe zone in an area where there might be over 20 C-grade monsters was too reckless.

In the end, we had no choice but to head back to the starting point where we first opened our eyes when we entered the gate.

“It’s damn cold.”

Haa…

The icy air, cold enough to make my teeth ache, entered my lungs with every breath.

In six days, the gate’s entrance would open at the starting point.

We had to leave as soon as the gate break occurred, so it would be best to make a hideout near there, but there was no suitable place in the barren snowy field, and we didn’t know how many monsters would flock there to cross over to Earth.

It was an insane choice, logically speaking, but we had to return to the entrance, knowing that.

First, the stronger the monsters, the closer you were to the core of the gate. Conversely, relatively weak monsters inhabited the area around the starting point.

Now that we knew this gate was C+ grade or higher, we had to set up camp near the starting point to avoid encountering mid-boss-level monsters.

‘We should stay near there for now and move the hideout again a day or two before the gate break.’

Our lives would be in danger if we encountered a monster we couldn’t handle.

“…Or so I thought.”

What appeared before us as we were crossing the blizzard-swept snowy field was a bear.

It was incomparably larger than an ordinary bear.

Its ferocious appearance and deadly claws looked sharp enough to tear my body into dozens of pieces.

Wham!

Without any time for greetings, the giant bear swung its claws at me.

Thanks to a quick dodge, I wasn’t injured, but the impact left a deep dent in the snow.

“It’s an Ice Bear!”

“What’s its grade?!”

“C-grade!”

Another C-grade monster?

‘Should I be relieved that it’s not C+?’

It was no relief at all.

The appearance of a C-grade monster now, as we were getting closer to the starting point, meant that the gate’s grade could be B.

Damn it.

“I’ll draw its aggro, so prepare your magic!”

I charged towards the Ice Bear. Close combat was dangerous, but it would be even more dangerous if Choi Hye-na got involved.

The straight sword infused with mana was emitting a blue light, but I couldn’t expect the same cutting power as before.

In the first place, a C-grade monster was still too much for my level.

Even though all the monsters in the previous underground dungeon were elite individuals, they were still around C- grade.

I probably wouldn’t have fared well against the Ice Bear alone. Especially if it didn’t give me an opening like the Yeti did.

The distance between me and the Ice Bear closed. Not wanting to let me be, it charged at me with much greater speed than I expected, forcing me to roll across the snow to avoid it.

I quickly regained my stance and slashed at the Ice Bear’s hind leg.

Slash!

‘Damn it.’

It was shallow.

The Ice Bear, in pain from the burning sensation in its hind leg, glared at me with murderous intent and slammed its front paw down on me.

With the risk of being torn apart by its claws if I dodged poorly, I abandoned the idea of dodging altogether.

Clang! I blocked the Ice Bear’s claws with the flat of my sword.

‘Ugh…!!’

The immense impact made my head ring. If I hadn’t reinforced my entire body with mana beforehand, something would have definitely broken.

“Now…!! Shoot quickly!!”

A tremendous mana surge emanated from behind me, a high-powered spell created by a 3rd circle mage with full concentration.

[Water Cannon]

Wham!

A high-pressure water cannon shot at high speed, blowing away the Ice Bear’s brow.

Thump—The Ice Bear, with a gaping hole in its head, collapsed, gushing blood.

[Ice Bear defeated]

[First kill reward: 200 coins]

The snow turned red with the dark crimson blood pouring from the corpse, just like with the White Yeti.

I collapsed onto the snow, gasping for breath.

“Are you okay…?”

Choi Hye-na rushed over, her face filled with concern.

“…Wasn’t I supposed to be a noble?”

According to the original plan, I should have been a member of a stable C-grade party, casting spells from the rear and getting easy rewards.

But what was I doing now?

Fighting monsters head-on with a sword?

The reality of becoming a commoner warrior again made me want to cry.

If this wasn’t hell, what was?

As I was wallowing in self-pity, Choi Hye-na tapped me.

“What?”

“…I think you should take a look at that.”

But the real hell was just beginning.

In the distance, a huge wolf pack was running towards us.