Ch.211Side Story 11

When Seojin Baek arrived at the location where the gate had appeared, he wasn’t the only one there.

Including Jiyoon Han, there were other S-rank hunters who were either off-duty or waiting nearby as support.

People who rarely gathered in one place were all assembled there.

“Oh? Seojin came too?”

“I got an emergency standby order. Rina should be coming too.”

“She’s going to be really grumpy about it.”

“She was, but when I told her to come, she replied that she would.”

“That’s entirely thanks to you, Seojin. I thought Rina might have finally grown up.”

Jiyoon Han shook her head as if she’d expected this.

Meanwhile, another S-rank hunter approached her casually and asked a question.

“I just arrived, so what’s going on?”

“You know about the gate appearance, right? But no matter what we do, we can’t measure its rank. Even the experts are stumped. And there’s not a single monster in sight.”

“That’s troublesome. We need to know the rank to allocate the appropriate personnel.”

The S-rank hunters couldn’t just wait here indefinitely.

They needed to determine the rank quickly so that unnecessary personnel could return to their posts.

Proper rest plays a major role in improving combat capabilities, after all.

“Should I give it a try?”

At Seojin Baek’s words, Jiyoon and her colleague looked at him with surprise.

Come to think of it, Seojin Baek’s abilities were so combat-oriented that they’d forgotten.

His actual superpower classification was Support Class. Specifically detection and measurement!

“That’s right! Seojin, you’re in detection and measurement, aren’t you?”

“I momentarily forgot. Your combat sense is so good I thought you were Martial Arts or Weaponry Class.”

“I actually think I might be more suited for those classes, but there’s been no change.”

After this brief exchange, Seojin went with them toward the gate.

There, personnel specialized in identifying dungeon ranks were struggling with their task.

“Ah, welcome everyone. I apologize. It seems we’ll need a bit more time.”

The person who appeared to be in charge offered both a greeting and an apology.

They probably thought the S-rank hunters had come to hurry them along since their work was taking so long.

“No, no. Why apologize when you’re working so hard? By the way, would it be alright if I helped? Despite appearances, I’m actually in the detection and measurement field.”

“Eh? Oh, you’re Support Class? My goodness. I thought you were combat-oriented all this time.”

Everyone he met had this major misunderstanding, but it was understandable.

Come to think of it, he’d engaged in combat with The Elder more often than other S-rank hunters.

“Then I’ll leave it to you, Seojin. I’m off-duty but got called in, so I’d like to see results quickly.”

Days off are precious. Nothing’s more miserable than being dragged in on your rest day.

Promising to do his best, Seojin approached the measurement personnel.

“How’s the situation?”

“Same as before. No mana vibration response, and no sense of disturbance from inside.”

“We can’t even detect any monster presence.”

“Yes. It would be better if it were at least open, but it’s not, which is frustrating.”

At those words, Seojin let out a contemplative sigh while looking at the gate.

If this were a normal gate, it would have opened its maw and spewed out monsters by now.

Even if not, there should at least be mana vibrations or waves to determine its rank.

For some reason, this gate was eerily quiet.

He gently placed his hand on it and let his mana flow through.

Normally, the gate would react violently to the impact, unable to hide its hostile presence.

In a way, this world and the gates were like enemy nations.

‘Yet there’s no reaction at all. Beyond this, it’s as quiet as some vast empty space.’

Could it really be just an empty void with nothing inside?

Or was it such an enormous world that a brief mana probe wouldn’t even register?

After a moment of silence, Seojin decided there was no other way forward.

“Everyone, please step back immediately. You might even want to consider a full withdrawal.”

“Excuse me?”

“Since we have no other options, I think we need to force it open to check.”

They couldn’t just keep watching indefinitely.

A gate opening is a nightmare, but staring at a gate that won’t open is also torturous.

They needed certainty to allocate personnel and resolve the situation.

From that perspective, taking action was the right move.

“Seojin oppa! I’m here!”

Just then, Rina Lee’s loud shout came from behind.

Normally, he would have scolded her for yelling, but right now her arrival was quite welcome.

“Rina! Come over here for a second!”

“Eh? Now? I was going to chat with Jiyoon unnie.”

“Just hurry up! It’s urgent!”

“Yes, yes— I’m coming, coming—”

How could she be so carefree when the situation was so dire?

Perhaps this was the true composure of someone who could “smash through any situation.”

“…Wait a minute. Rina, you brought them?”

“Don’t blame me. They whined about wanting to come along.”

“Even though we don’t know the rank yet?”

“Yes, exactly. If it’s an S-rank, you and I will definitely handle it. But what if it’s A-rank or lower? It wouldn’t make sense for us to take the lead then. That’s when these friends should be used.”

Rina looked at him with an expression that said “Am I wrong?”

Thanks to her, Seojin’s head throbbed slightly, but he couldn’t argue with her logic.

She was right—if it turned out to be a lower rank, then the people before him…

“Don’t worry, Arbiter. I’ve been training really hard!”

“That’s right! Ah, don’t worry about the Academy! We got permission!”

“Speak properly, junior. They had no choice but to give permission.”

“That’s true. How could they stop us with Rina standing behind us?”

Starting with Soohyun Kim, then Hyunwoo Lee, Dasom Yoo, and Hana Kang.

Somehow, the entire team had gathered in one place.

He thought “This is maddening,” but then wondered if it might actually be appropriate.

After all, with himself, Rina, Jiyoon Han, and other S-rank colleagues nearby,

There was no way the team members could be in any real danger with such powerful forces deployed.

“Alright, team members stand by. Rina, come to my side.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“Nothing special. Just forcing the gate open.”

“Brute-forcing it with mana? Will that be okay? You’ll definitely get written up for this.”

“The Association President will understand. We can’t just keep staring at a gate whose rank we can’t measure. And Jiyoon is here on her day off.”

“Well, that’s just Jiyoon unnie’s fate… Ah! Jiyoon unnie, I’m sorry!!”

Rina immediately apologized when she felt the burning gaze on the back of her head.

“Anyway! So I just do what I do best, right?”

“Yes. And Soohyun and the rest, please wait behind us just in case.”

“Not ‘the rest,’ Arbiter!”

“Alright, Hyunwoo. I understand, so please take Hana and your girlfriend and wait behind us.”

“A-Arbiter!”

“…I will definitely get a boyfriend someday…”

Ignoring their various reactions, Seojin and Rina positioned themselves at opposite ends of the gate.

After taking a moment to catch their breath, the two looked at each other, nodded, and—

Rumble!—

They began injecting mana to force the gate open.

“…Wow, oppa. This gate is really sturdy? It’s not opening even with this much force?”

At this point, he was starting to worry.

Maybe this was something they shouldn’t be opening, something they shouldn’t force.

But they couldn’t leave a gate that had already appeared unattended indefinitely.

If trouble was coming anyway, it might be better to deal with it now.

“I’m going stronger. Get ready!”

“Yes, yes. Here I go!”

Boom!—

The mana of the two powerhouses surged wildly, hammering at the gate.

Soon, a crack formed between the tightly closed massive doors with a splitting sound.

“It’s opening! Gate open!!”

“Measurement personnel, just check the rank and step back!”

Those who could finally see inside got to work immediately.

But the news that came shortly after was still not good.

“M-measurement impossible! Still impossible to measure!!”

“Is it because the rank is too high?”

“I don’t think that’s it! It’s simply unmeasurable!”

“Understood! As of now, all Support Class personnel withdraw! Combat personnel will take over!”

Following Jiyoon Han’s order, the Support Class personnel quickly retreated.

In their place, various combat personnel who had been waiting stepped forward.

The lowest rank was B-rank, with everyone else above that.

And there were four S-rank hunters on standby.

This meant they were determined to resolve everything right here, no matter what happened.

“Seojin! How does it look inside!”

“…”

“Seojin!?”

“…”

“Hey, Rina! What’s wrong! Tell us what’s happening there!”

When Seojin didn’t answer, she called out to Rina, but she was also silent.

Sensing something was wrong, she rushed toward the front of the gate.

And—

“…Holy shit. What the hell is this?”

With a face drained of all color and a voice filled with shock,

Jiyoon Han could only sigh at the other world that had unfolded beyond the gate.