8 – Irregular Gate

-WEEEEEEEEE!!!

Immediately after the irregular gate was created.

Whether the mana detector installed in the building was activated, sirens began to blare in all directions.

People who were panicked by the sudden situation seemed to realize what was happening and began to scream and quickly evacuate the area.

It was utter chaos.

In the midst of it all, a message flew towards Ha-yeon.

[Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’ informs you that it is at least an A-rank gate.]

[Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’ advises that it would be better to finish it quickly.]

‘A-rank, huh?’

At first, Ha-yeon was surprised by the sudden appearance of the gate next to her, but frankly speaking, it wasn’t a tense situation.

With two S-ranks here, there was no way she would die.

She was more concerned about the artifacts inside.

Anyway,

“Right now, evacuating the people is the priority.”

Even though they were fine, they needed to sort out the chaos first.

Jin Ha-jeong, who was next to her, opened her mouth and shouted first.

“The gate’s magic interference may have disabled the elevators, so please evacuate via the stairs!”

As expected of the Association President, Jin Ha-jeong remained calm even in this situation and quickly told people to evacuate, and the people calmly went down the stairs.

Since the elevator used here was a magic-powered one, not the pulley type used before, using the stairs was more efficient now that the mana was tangled due to the gate.

Besides, anyone who came here would have a fairly high mental age, so they would listen to her words.

A little later, as they expected, when most of the people had left and only the two of them remained, Ha-yeon asked him.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“We have to go in. What big trouble could there be with two S-ranks?”

Jin Ha-jeong seemed to know that as well, and he said that, agreeing with his opinion, Ha-yeon summoned the Immortal Longsword in her right hand.

[Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’ chuckles, saying it’s two gates in two days.]

“If you’re going to laugh like that, you could at least give me something.”

[Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’ scoffs at you, saying you’re being too greedy.]

“…Shall we go in for now?”

It’s best to deal with irregular gates as quickly as possible.

Because gates that suddenly appear are much more unstable and have a higher chance of backfiring than natural gates, which are created when the concentration of mana gradually increases.

It was said that they were unstable because they were created by forcibly pulling in the surrounding mana.

Anyway, he was aware of that as well, so he quickly began to prepare for battle.

“Transform.”

He muttered, holding the luxurious fountain pen that was hanging in his suit pocket, and the pen transformed into a staff.

A long black handle with a round silver sphere at the end, and a green jewel inside.

A staff that could be mistaken for a beautiful work of art.

[Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’ has unlocked a very small portion of information about that staff.]

[Would you like to view it?]

‘Oh… this was possible?’

Ha-yeon thought that only skills could be viewed when reading Northern Demon Swordsmanship, but it could also be used for items, even someone else’s.

As expected of a Constellation.

[Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’ tells you not to worry, as only a very small portion has been unlocked.]

‘View.’

[Outputting the record of Item Name – Herald of Gale (S).]

+++

Item Name: Herald of Gale

Rank: S

Type: Magic, Supernatural Power

Effect: Wind attribute magic attack power increased by 2 times (the remaining effects have not been unlocked.)

Contents: Not unlocked.

+++

‘As expected of a weapon carried by the Association President.’

Ha-yeon only knew that the effect was a 2x increase in wind attribute magic attack power, but that alone was amazing, and she couldn’t help but be surprised knowing that there were other effects as well.

It was a S-rank weapon, so it was only natural…

While Ha-yeon was thinking about the staff, she heard Jin Ha-jeong’s voice.

“Shall we go in now?”

“Ah, okay. Let’s go in.”

The two of them stood in front of the gate that emitted a blue light.

It looked no different from an ordinary gate, but it was unstable.

[Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’ says that those blue particles are remnants of mana and evidence of instability.]

As the Constellation said, when Ha-yeon looked around the gate, she noticed the particles that she had thought were stardust.

Confirming that, Ha-yeon thought she had discovered something new and entered the gate.

“Oh…”

The sight that unfolded as soon as she entered.

“A desert?”

A place where countless sands formed mountains.

It was a desert.

[You have entered the Irregular A-rank Dungeon ‘Land of the Dead’.]

“The dead?”

If it’s the dead, then are they undead?

This is a bit troublesome.

“A-rank undead…”

A-rank undead.

And not the kind that comes out of tombs, but the kind that lives in the desert…

“There are mummies, right? The boss is probably one of the lich types.”

“Ah.”

High-level mummies, which are no exaggeration to say are the highest species of mummies.

Those mummies were probably going to appear.

“But the land?”

The name of the dungeon was Land of the Dead.

Ha-yeon understood the dead to some extent, but what about the land?

The name given by the system was always related to it in some way, even if only slightly.

It was a bit of a stretch to name it the land just because it was a desert.

“Shall we go for now? We’ll know when we get there.”

“Well, I guess so.”

As he suggested, they began to cross the desert.

It wasn’t hot.

Of course, the desert environment wasn’t not hot. If an ordinary person were to enter this place, they would collapse from dehydration before long.

But since they had overcome almost all temperature, pressure, and water pressure, this was only slightly lukewarm.

It was still unpleasant, though.

“I think it’s over there?”

“Do you think there’s another place besides there?”

“No.”

When they reached the top of the huge sand mountain in front of them, they saw a vast desert.

And in the middle of that desert was a building.

It was easy to find because it stood out like a black stone in a pile of white stones.

“Then shall we go?”

They began to walk towards the building, and before long, they were finally able to meet their first enemy.

And a pretty strong one at that.

[You have encountered the A+ rank gatekeeper monster ‘Great Death Worm’.]

A giant worm-like creature suddenly rose from the ground.

The mouth part had a truly huge maw and sharp teeth densely filling the inside.

“A gatekeeper?”

But what Ha-yeon was curious about was the title of gatekeeper.

Usually, gatekeeper monsters in gates are monsters that guard important buildings in that place.

But there were very few of them, so she had never met one directly.

To meet one here.

-Groooooar!!

The creature let out a strange cry.

The two of them dodged the saliva that came out with it.

And before long, they were able to see a slightly shocking sight.

“Acidic?”

The saliva was melting the sand.

If they had been hit by that without dodging, it would have been a disaster… well, maybe not.

“Association President! What are we going to do!”

“Association President? That’s too much!”

“Shut up and tell me the plan!”

They could just cut off its head right away, but there might be a better way.

“Use your artifact to stop that guy’s body for a moment. Then I’ll block it from moving with a wind barrier, so you see that split gap!”

“You’re telling me to cut off its head based on that?”

“Correct!”

With those words, the plan was immediately put into action.

The Death Worm quickly charged towards Ha-yeon, as if it had noticed that they were going to move.

But without paying any attention to it, Ha-yeon grabbed the artifact in her hand, designated the worm, and poured mana into it.

“Restraint.”

The worm stopped for a moment.

The restraint was released soon after, but it was already too late.

“Wind 8th Circle Magic.”

Jin Ha-jeong planted his staff on the ground and chanted the magic.

8th Circle Magic from the start. How intense.

“Wind King Barrier.”

At the same time, a storm raged from the ground, revealing the worm’s body.

The storm soon rose to its mouth and stopped its body.

-Groaaaaaaar!!!

The worm pulled up the sand from the surrounding desert with a strange cry.

“The ground…”

It became difficult to jump up.

Then.

“Just climb up its body!”

With those words, Ha-yeon climbed onto the Death Worm’s body and sprinted towards its head.

She rushed forward at an unbelievable speed, covering a distance that would take an ordinary person several hours in just 10 seconds.

Then, she grabbed the Immortal Longsword with both hands and swung it down towards the gap.

“Slash!”

A Moon-Cleaving Flash that cuts through its neck.

The giant slash cut off the giant worm’s neck in one go.

Thud!

The head fell to the ground.

No, the mouth pretending to be the head.

[You have defeated the A+ rank gatekeeper.]

[Attack power received from enemies inside the temple is reduced.]

[You have acquired the item – Great Death Worm’s Fang.]

Ha-yeon smiled slightly at the system window that appeared as if confirming that the worm’s breath had been cut off, jumped off its corpse, and landed lightly on the ground.

“Easy.”

“We’re just strong. If you tell that to a hunter below A-rank, they’ll curse you.”

Ha-yeon handed the Great Death Worm’s Fang, which she had obtained as spoils, to Jin Ha-jeong.

Jin Ha-jeong received the fang and quickly put it into his subspace pocket.

And with that, the two of them walked towards the temple as if they had promised each other.

The temple exploration had begun.