episode_0052

Episode.52 Fog in the red winter

Two days after receiving legal permission to pay monthly salary from the president of the association.

I have been leading a debauched life with the thought that I don’t have to go to work.

‘My cozy home.’

【But not four people.】

‘Warm space.’

【I guess it’s because I was holding that woman as white as drawing paper next to me.】

‘Relaxing days.’

【Abandoning the work entrusted to you by the president of the association?】

Yes, it all became a dream thanks to Harin.

What on earth does this mean… 24 hours after Yerim’s group returned. That is, at home for a day.

When everyone else goes to school or work on weekdays.

I was alone… no, I was living at home with Harin like a dog.

You might be thinking, what a fuss there is for just one day.

Two days like that.

I tried to oversleep again.

A boring afternoon.

Taking a nap after oversleeping can be said to be the happiest time in one’s life.

When I was in school, I liked playing games and interacting with people, but now I am happiest sleeping in a warm house with a warm blanket and a warm electric blanket in the winter.

However, Harin seemed to disapprove of this, so she woke me up and asked me to go out of the house.

So now, we are in the mountains.

Wearing the white coat with a little black decoration that Harin gave me as a gift.

Maybe it was because she and her were wearing matching coats, but on the way to the mountain, someone who recognized Harin took a picture, and I, who was next to her, was also taken.

Anyway, back to the main point, there are mountains in this city.

Although it was a little far away.

Anyway, on the mountain that seemed so far away from my house, I left footprints in the snow that had accumulated there.

“Are you using the gate finding app created by the association? Using that, I just do what I can to report to my superiors and then go back out into the street and go on a date. Because you can’t just not do the work.”

“… Surely you weren’t following the president’s words?”

Harin climbed the mountain while holding onto a tree.

When I saw her like that, I held her hand and escorted her out.

“Ah, thank you… Following the president’s words is not because I like it.”

“Yes, I know it when I see it.”

“Still, I have the mindset that I have to do what I have to do.”

Harin looked somewhat depressed.

“I also want to get away from the association… but that’s fine-”

– Beep! Beep! Beep!

The warning sound that came as I cut off Harin’s words rang from my smartphone.

“… I found it quickly. Let’s talk again later.”

She responded by nodding her head.

【Why are there all these apps? It’s really convenient. It was my first time seeing it.】

I have used an app like this before.

That was before I met Chaewon.

The moment I first got the system.

Honestly, I had a headache.

Like the main character in the novel, will I be able to do it well?

I’m not a big guy like those heroic characters.

He’s a really petty person.

He is a person with an ordinary personality who can be found wherever he goes.

Grace is halved, revenge is double.

Even the conditions for revenge may seem really bad to some.

… Now that I think about it, it’s all pointless.

Now I am living without all those thoughts.

I know that excessive hesitation is a bad habit.

But being cautious is a good habit.

“I think there is a gate nearby.”

I stopped thinking about useless things and looked around.

【Umm… Hey, is there something black?】

The black thing, in terms of gates, means the black gate.

Since this system was created, it has been heavily intertwined with Black Gate.

A place full of information that you can’t get at Blue Gate.

You can farm through Blue Gate and grow using the system.

However, every time I turn around the Blue Gate, deep in my heart, I feel like I’m walking in place, like a squirrel spinning in a treadmill.

I have no choice but to enter the Black Gate again this time.

But this time, a strong ally is with me.

There is nothing to worry about because Harin is there to treat most wounds.

“There is a black gate over there. How about that?”

“Black Gate? I simply thought that blue would be better… but still, if I want to buy time to go on a date with you, Black Gate would be the best. Now, let’s go.”

We started heading toward the Black Gate.

But at that moment.

The world flashed.

“The weather is nice today, so why-”

– Rumble, boom!

Lightning struck the gate in front of us.

We couldn’t overcome the shock and were pushed back a little, and Harin held on to me tightly.

【Well, what is it? Is it lightning in a dry sky?】

Right now, the sky is clear, there is no snow, and the sun is warming my hair.

Of all the places with a lot of lightning, a thunderstorm struck the ‘Black Gate’ right in front of us.

“All, you. W-what happened?”

Harin, who couldn’t see, was relying on me for her center of gravity.

“Lightning struck the gate in front of us.”

“Yes?… What?”

She asked me again, as if she hadn’t heard correctly.

“You said the lightning… fell on the gate?… And on black?”

“Uh, yes. Right?”

“Dad, get out of this place quickly!”

【Well, that gate over there looks a little strange?】

Stinging lightning continues to swirl through the black gate.

Then, the gate gradually turned dark red and was spinning rapidly like a whirlpool, as if trying to suck in all living things.

We could feel like dust being sucked into a vacuum cleaner.

“Uh, come on!”

After confirming that, I tried to get as far away as possible while holding the screaming Harin.

But the gate’s power to suck us in was greater than my power to escape.

– Hwiiing.

The suction power was so strong that not only the snow around but even the trees broke and were sucked into the gate.

So what happens to humans who are smaller than that tree?

We couldn’t touch the ground and ended up floating in the air.

I had no choice but to be sucked into the gate.

A dark red gate that rotates very quickly.

At that speed, I felt dizzy and was forced to throw myself into the gate.

**********

– Tiring!

[A powerful energy is detected.]

[The most noble being is watching over you.]

[A distortion of space and time is detected.]

[Time has been warped and we have returned to a moment in the past.]

[Space is distorted and the sky turns red.]

I thought things would get better as I continued my life as a hunter, but the strange sensation I felt every time I passed through the gate became creepy again.

It’s not a pleasant goosebump.

Um…yeah.

To use a metaphor, it feels like a huge fly on my leg or arm on a summer day.

Then I feel an unpleasant goosebumps.

It feels exactly like that.

“Are you… are you inside the gate? It’s suddenly snowing. Obviously, it wasn’t snowing when we climbed the mountain.”

I do not know.

Because I’m closing my eyes right now too.

I think I probably hit my head as I was coming out of the gate.

There is severe pain in the head.

Thanks to you, I think it will take some time to open my eyes.

I now reported this situation to Harin.

“Well, it looks like you hit your head and have difficulty opening your eyes due to dizziness. I’ll heal you… But, you can’t see. It’s pretty scary, right?”

“Ah, I see… You’ve always lived with this dark background, right? It must have been difficult.”

【Oh… You came all the way here to salt it? I wonder when my turn will really come…】

‘I have to die for your turn to come.’

“Hehehe, I don’t think it will be difficult…”

Harin let out a strange laugh.

Each time her healing enveloped my body, a little light came into my eyes.

And the first thing I saw was the system in front of me.

‘W-what… is space and time distorted? What does this mean? ‘You mean you’ve returned to the past?’

【Oh, you finally opened your eyes!】

I started again from the beginning, slowly imprinting the sentences that appeared on the system into my eyes one by one.

[A powerful energy is detected.]

This phrase means that Harin and I successfully entered the gate.

[The most noble being is watching over you.]

I can’t understand the meaning because it doesn’t say who, where, how, or why is watching me.

… Luke may be the most noble being, but we don’t know what that is.

My thoughts based on the time I had at Black Gate… I think that in a fantasy world, the most noble beings would be ‘elves’.

That’s what I thought because the elves in that fantasy world always think of themselves as noble beings.

[A distortion of space and time is detected.]

This might be… The Black Gate, struck by lightning in the outside world, turned dark red and sucked us in.

Error caused by that? bug? I think it might be the same.

But this isn’t some kind of game world. I never thought I would experience something like this.

“Now that you have come to your senses, listen to me.”

“Uh, what is it?”

“Well… lightning struck the Black Gate a while ago, right?”

“Right?”

“As far as I know, I heard that among the people who were sucked into the Black Gate, which turned dark red after lightning struck it, none came out unharmed.”

“What, is it true?”

“Yes, there are people who did not come back alive, but the most important thing is. This is the appearance of people who came back alive.”

Harin stood up from her seat, patting her knees and buttocks, and continued her sentence.

In the meantime, when I was dusting my butt, my gaze unknowingly went in that direction.

【What you looking at?】

‘nothing.’

“It is said that all the people who came back alive came back looking gaunt, as if they had been mummified. I’ve never actually seen it, so I’m not sure.”

“Then… where did you get all your strength from?”

“Yes, I heard that he had no blood at all, like a jiangshi without any blood in his body.”

“I see. It’s probably the work of the monsters here. There is no problem if you are careful.”

[Time has been warped and we have returned to a moment in the past.]

Now this is the past.

I guess I’ll have to think of it as time travel for a moment.

Anyway, if you catch the boss and go out of the gate, things will go back to normal.

I decided to check my information briefly for maintenance.

‘system.’

– Tiring!

‘My Info.’

[Check your information.]

[information]

Name: Han Si-woo (21)

Level: 30

Position: Dealer

Status possessed: 0

-Current stats-

Strength: 11

Agility: 8

Intelligence: 5

Luck: 7

-Technology Possessed-

Attenuation-nerf (EX) LV.1 (Max)

[If you use a command after making physical contact with a person with abilities of the same race, the target’s abilities are reduced by two levels.]

P. System Blessing (EX) LV.1 (Max)

[Helping holder Han Si-woo grow. You can obtain various rewards as you grow.]

Inheritance of Ability (S) LV.1 (Max)

[You can inherit abilities from the corpse of the creature you killed. (You can select one.)]

King’s Insight (S) LV.3

[You can obtain more information. (The amount of information you can obtain increases as the level increases.)]

Soul Protection (S) LV.1

[Nullifies the effects of abilities that cause mental damage. (Cooldown: 24 hours. / Prevents only harmful effects.)]

Soul Summon (A) LV.1 (Max)

[The soul contained in the sword can be summoned. (However, it can be liberated if both sides wish.)]

Invisibility (A) LV.1

[Makes the body transparent when not in combat. However, the duration is proportional to the intelligence level. (Intelligence stat x 5 minutes)]

Acceleration (B) LV.1

[The erosion speed of debuffs on ‘enemies’ increases.]

P. Sharp Swordsmanship (D) LV.5

[You can handle your sword more sharply.]

4 consecutive attacks (D) LV.5

[Attacks 4 times quickly.]

P. Druggist’s Grace (D) LV.3 (Max)

[Increases the duration of the drug’s beneficial effects by 20 times. (Drug effects overlap.)]

Painless Transplantation (F) LV.0 (Max)

[…]

==========

Obviously, a painless transplant that I got after reading ‘Apocalypse of the Betrayer’ in a place full of skeletons.

The only level is 0, but it says that the highest level has been achieved.

Is this technology truly useless?

When I thought about it, the Traitor’s Apocalypse had written about various races that might appear in fantasy novels.

Obviously… if the monsters in the gate appear in the order according to the apocalypse.

The first is a goblin.

Next is the snake.

And a human full of skeletons.

Now the fourth has to be an elf.

Are elves really noble beings?

I don’t think I’ll know until I see it with my own eyes.

Elves are a race that loves nature.

But now, all the leaves have fallen here and only bare branches remain.

Even if I looked hard, I couldn’t see anything like the lush World Tree.

[Space is distorted and the sky turns red.]

Even if you don’t watch this, it’s a video.

Just raise your head up to the sky and see the red sky.

And pure white snow falling from there.

This is like.

Doesn’t it seem like the sky is whispering to everyone that it’s time to sleep?

There are coffins everywhere with what looks like cross-shaped decorations painted on them.

It seemed like it was very similar to the cemetery I saw there, full of skeletons.

– Jeopuk. – Jeopuk.

“Hmm, is that gentleman over there the ‘stranger who will come to the mansion’ that the owner was talking about? A strange blind lady is also there.”

Harin and I looked in the direction where we heard the sound.

There was a lot of fog where he was standing.

I immediately looked at my ears first.

Pointed ears are a characteristic of elves.

The ears of the guy who called us strangers visiting the mansion were clearly not human ears.

But they weren’t even elf ears.

And it wasn’t an elf’s tone to begin with.

Elves are beings who always look down on humans, so they do not use such honorifics or honorifics.

Then, the 5th race that appeared in the Traitor’s Apocalypse.

A race with sharp fangs.

A race better suited to the rank of nobleman than to the rank of commoner.

The race that appeared before us was vampires.

It was a vampire.