Ch.111Chapter 111 – Eden (2)

After the war ended, Korea quickly returned to normalcy. The downtown areas, which had been empty due to the conscription of reservists and hunters and the evacuation of refugees to Busan, regained their vitality.

One reason for the swift return to daily life was that buildings remained intact. Thanks to the military’s excellent defense of the 38th parallel, monsters couldn’t advance into Gangwon Province or Seoul, and South Korea’s only real damage was human casualties.

As paralyzed work and social functions resumed, Shin Jaehyuk was holed up at home enjoying a brief leisure period. He needed time to acquire new equipment since his weapons and armor had melted in the Bone Dragon’s breath, and he also needed to recover from the stress of forty-one days of torture.

“Kwak Taewoo seems to be running gates without even taking a break… But I’m delicate and fragile. After a battle, I need proper rest. I deserve to rest. Yes, of course…”

Thus, Shin Jaehyuk was embracing his hikikomori lifestyle, shut in his room. He enjoyed online games he hadn’t played recently or devoured new comics and light novels.

“Ah shit, this is another work that Belphegor completely spoiled… That real bastard, truly demonic asshole.”

“Useless even in death.” Jaehyuk cursed as he closed a new comic. Belphegor had talked so much during those forty-one days that every book he picked up had been spoiled by him.

Shin Jaehyuk sighed.

“Did I use up all my luck killing Belphegor? Why has nothing gone right since then… I couldn’t figure out what the ‘Path to Eden’ is, and I can’t even contact Noona Seongha.”

The North-South War ended in less than a week, but for Shin Jaehyuk, trapped in Belphegor’s mental world, it had been over forty days.

Naturally, after being freed from his long solitude, Jaehyuk reached out to his acquaintances. Though his circle was limited to Lee Yujin, Hong Harin, Yoo Seongha, and Sister Grace and others from the orphanage.

He managed to contact everyone except Yoo Seongha. When he asked Sister Grace, she explained why.

“She left to volunteer in Pyongyang… It could be dangerous since there might be monsters that survived the bombing.”

Recently, various religious and civic groups had been actively providing emergency aid to North Korean residents—rescuing survivors hiding in places like sewers and distributing relief supplies.

Though the Korean military was stationed in Pyongyang, Jaehyuk was worried. What if she, not even an awakened person, encountered an imp? …It was terrifying.

Of course, worrying wouldn’t keep her safe, so all Jaehyuk could do was pray that nothing would happen to her.

-Ding.

Just then, a clear message tone pierced his ears. Could it be from Seongha? Jaehyuk quickly checked the sender.

“Ah… it’s Yujin. Did she find something?”

A few days ago, Jaehyuk had asked Yujin for a favor during a call—to investigate what the Path to Eden was. Had her investigation yielded results? He checked the message.

-Senior! I finally found a lead!!!

Jaehyuk replied:

-Oh, already? Pretty impressive. Your skills have improved a lot.

-Of course, whose assistant am I! Phew, you have no idea how hard this was! I couldn’t find anything through normal means, so I searched the deep web, and finally found a photo circulating without a source.

Jaehyuk checked the attached photo.

-This is Pyongyang, right? Where the gate appeared. But what’s that blue sphere?

-Exactly! Looks like a photoshop job, right? But I was curious, so I looked further… and surprisingly! There’s absolutely no information.

No information at all? Jaehyuk raised his eyebrows in confusion.

-I don’t know who first distributed it, who took the photo, nothing. No traces either. But when I used this photo as bait in a post, it was immediately deleted and I was tracked. When I traced it back, it led to the National Intelligence Service.

-The NIS again….

Sure enough, the NIS was concealing and strictly controlling the information. Yujin suspected that not only the NIS but also the Hunter Association was behind this case.

-So? You said you found a lead.

-Hehe, don’t rush me. Would the genius hacker Yujin give up so easily!…I’d like to say that confidently, but breaking through NIS security is beyond my skills… Instead, I hacked a satellite!

-[Photo attached 512kb]

-When I checked a satellite monitoring Pyongyang… Ta-da!

He clicked on the photo. The satellite image clearly showed the blue sphere from the first photo, which he had thought was a Photoshop creation.

-There’s definitely… something there. Something the Hunter Association wants to hide.

-Hehe, sorry as the one who took the request, but that’s all the information I have. My skills aren’t good enough to find out more. But this is enough, right?

-Yes, you’re not a professional investigator, just doing this part-time, so this is more than enough. I’ll look into the rest. Thanks.

‘Could that blue sphere be the Path to Eden? A gate connecting Earth and Eden?’

No way…. Gates are means for demons to cross from hell to the material world. All the gates Jaehyuk had seen so far were black, reminiscent of black holes, connecting hell and the material world.

A gate connecting material world to material world? That’s something he’d never heard of…

‘Wait… there was an exception. A gate that didn’t connect hell and the material world, but material world to material world.’

The image of Mr. B flashed through his mind. A demon with the ability to freely open gates. Baphomet had used a gate in America to rescue him from the skyscraper. And the gate led to a back alley in New York. Not to hell.

‘Come to think of it, the first gate I ever entered, the dungeon where the slime demon appeared, wasn’t a hell ecosystem either…. What’s going on?’

In his previous life, all gates were entrances to hell. Faucets spewing demons. Immersing oneself in that black sphere invariably revealed hell’s red sky. But Earth’s gates were subtly different from Eden’s….

“Were they fundamentally different in principle or type from the beginning? Did the method of opening gates change because the Demon King changed? That makes sense…. Then what’s the difference with the ‘Path to Eden’ gate that the system gave as a reward?”

With limited information, his reasoning hit a wall. Fortunately, Jaehyuk knew two people who could provide him with information.

“Right… I have such a wide network. If I don’t know something, I can just ask my acquaintances! I know someone who experienced this incident directly, and someone who belongs to the NIS…”

***

Shin Jaehyuk contacted Kwak Taewoo first—someone who would have directly witnessed the “Path to Eden” reward in the first timeline.

“What is it? I’m in the middle of training… Keep it short.”

“You’re being so cold to a comrade in the same situation…”

“Bullshit.”

‘Same situation? That talented bastard…’

Kwak Taewoo was about to respond harshly but stopped, realizing it would only make him look bad.

When the sounds of exercise stopped on the other end of the phone and the heavy breathing subsided, Jaehyuk asked directly:

“You saw the message that appeared after Belphegor died, right? The reward. What is the ‘Path to Eden’?”

“Oh, that….”

Kwak Taewoo trailed off with an I-know-this tone. So he does know! Jaehyuk excitedly urged him to continue.

“What is it? Tell me quickly.”

“It’s nothing special.”

“You’re making me curious.”

“You’re talking about the blue gate, right?”

“Yes, that! So it is a gate! Then surely on the other side is the Eden continent…!”

“Hmm. On the other side was a world already destroyed by demons.”

Jaehyuk froze. He wanted to believe he had misheard and asked again hopefully:

“What…?”

“There were traces of civilization, but no humans existed. It was a world teeming with demons. We called that gate the Infinite Dungeon.”

Unlike the black gates, the world beyond the blue gate wasn’t covered in gray fog. In RPG terms, it wasn’t an instance dungeon with system-imposed boundaries in all directions, but an open world with no restrictions.

“It’s only open in Pyongyang now, right? In a few months, one will open in France too.”

Blue gates began appearing around the world, starting with Pyongyang. People wondered: Were the worlds beyond each blue gate different, or were they all the same world?

Scientists conducted experiments. They assembled radios beyond different gates and transmitted signals. A transmission sent from the Paris gate reached the Pyongyang gate. The result was clear: The world connected to the Paris gate was the same world connected to the Pyongyang gate, existing in the same space-time.

Initially, people rejoiced. Killing the Four Heavenly Kings had rewarded them with an entire planet complete with breathable atmosphere, water, vegetation, and mineral resources. Entrepreneurs and politicians were elated. How many resources could they gain by claiming that land?

Dreaming of an isekai gold rush, people crossed the gates to begin exploration. But like any gold rush, hope quickly shattered. What awaited the expedition teams wasn’t gold mines, but demons covering 70% of the surface.

“Some tried to develop resources, but all failed. Whether building factories or paving roads, construction requires workers, and whenever people gathered and made noise, demons inevitably attacked. Eventually, entrepreneurs who suffered massive losses had no choice but to abandon the land beyond the gates.”

Thus, the dream of isekai imperialism faded in less than a month. Afterward, the land beyond the blue gates—the Infinite Dungeon—became a burden.

Governments despised blue gates opening in their territories. They were extremely dangerous, but there was no way to close them. A passage connected to a world devoured by demons, open 24 hours a day. Countries where blue gates opened reluctantly had to allocate security forces to monitor the passages.

Of course, the Infinite Dungeon wasn’t completely useless. A world destroyed by demons meant many secrets and treasures lay dormant. Archaeologists, artifact hunters, and hunters liked the Infinite Dungeon.

Archaeologists were interested in the secrets hidden in the destroyed world, artifact hunters searched for artifacts buried under ruined castles, and for hunters, a demon-infested world was like a hunting ground with endless respawns—the perfect environment for leveling up.

“In my first timeline, I reached A-rank by power-leveling there. But now I’m already A-rank, so if I hunt demons there diligently, I might reach S-rank… Hey, are you listening? …What the hell. How dare he hang up on me.”

***

Shin Jaehyuk pressed the phone buttons with trembling hands like a drug addict.

“Eden has already been destroyed…? No, that’s a lie.”

Jaehyuk couldn’t believe Kwak Taewoo’s words. Eden destroyed? That’s impossible. Kim Jaemin killed the Demon King. He succeeded in returning by killing the Demon King. How many years has it been…

“I can’t believe it. I’ll confirm it with my own eyes.”

His bloodshot eyes revealed the immense mental pressure he was feeling. Jaehyuk took a deep breath to calm himself, though it had little effect, and made a call. The recipient was, of course, Hong Harin. Being affiliated with the NIS, she would know the truth…

-Hello? Shin Jaehyuk? What’s going on. You’re actually calling me first.

Jaehyuk immediately demanded in an excited voice:

“You! You know what the ‘Path to Eden’ is! The thing the Association and the NIS are hiding!”

“…How did you find out? Did you hack our database again? Sigh… The security chief and I got scolded by the director because of that. I’ll have to write another incident report.”

Hong Harin sighed lightly. But Jaehyuk had no time to worry about NIS matters. He continued to demand answers.

“Tell me everything you know, everything the NIS has investigated!”

“…Why are you so excited? I’ve never seen you this aggressive. And if you’ve already hacked in, don’t you know everything?”

“Just answer me, please… please…”

Now Jaehyuk’s voice sounded like a child about to cry. Hong Harin was surprised. She’d never seen him show such weakness before. While concerned and confused about his state, like a well-trained agent, she calmly provided what he wanted without revealing her emotions.

“Sigh… You won’t leak this, right? You must know from the documents you saw. We’re currently negotiating an agreement with otherworlders who came through the blue gate—from ‘Eden.’ I don’t want journalists getting this information and causing a commotion. The Association will hold a press conference after negotiations are complete, so just stay quiet until then.”

“…Otherworlders?”

“Yes, yes. Self-proclaimed nobles who claim they were sent by their empire’s emperor. They seem as surprised about the blue gate opening as we are, so they sent envoys to negotiate with us. Territorial issues, defense matters, and such.”

‘Empire? Survivors…!’

Jaehyuk’s knees gave out and he collapsed. A slight pain shot through him, but he didn’t care. His chest was now filled with relief and joy gushing like groundwater. Clutching his heaving chest, Jaehyuk offered a prayer.

‘So humanity on Eden survived. They didn’t perish after all…! God, thank you! Thank you…!’

But it was too early for prayers of gratitude. Hong Harin soon delivered shocking news.

“We actually had a significant development just hours ago. Their situation seems pretty dire. Except for the Empire, all nations have been destroyed by monsters, and even the Empire only has its capital left, with battles raging at the walls daily.”

‘Only the Empire remains?! When Kim Jaemin was active, there were still a few non-human kingdoms left, but they’ve all perished and only the Empire survives….’

While Jaehyuk compared the information he’d heard from Kim Jaemin with Harin’s words, she continued her explanation.

“It’s not the time for cultural exchange or trade. They’re on the brink of extinction—if the walls break, they’ll be destroyed immediately. The Association was shocked and quickly agreed to dispatch hunters as an emergency measure. Under the guise of an envoy mission.”

Hearing this, Jaehyuk understood why Kwak Taewoo believed Eden had been destroyed.

‘We defeated Belphegor about three months earlier than in the first timeline…! That’s why the Empire hasn’t fallen yet!’

This led to another inference: a catastrophic event would destroy the Empire within three months.

Jaehyuk’s expression hardened. The Empire was once ruled by his friend, humanity’s greatest nation and Eden’s last country. If the Empire falls, Eden falls. He must prevent that at all costs…

“Hong Harin, I have one favor to ask.”

Harin detected the serious tone in Jaehyuk’s voice. For some reason, she felt she wouldn’t be able to refuse his request. Silently praying it would be something minor, she cautiously asked:

“…What’s the favor?”

“Include me in that envoy mission. I need to cross over to that world myself.”