Ch.6Chapter 6 – Gate

As Shin Jaehyuk, who had bought a gift fruit basket from the fruit store, reached the pork soup restaurant, it was already 2 PM. Still, being late lunchtime, there were quite a few customers inside the restaurant visible through the stickers on the glass door.

He could see a sturdy young man sitting with his back to the door and Ms. Jung Malsuk sitting across from him, firmly holding the young man’s hand. Ms. Jung noticed him entering and greeted him.

“Student Jaehyuk! My goodness, what brings you here so often! Someone who used to come only once every few months.”

“Hello.”

Seeing Ms. Jung greeting someone behind him, the young man turned around.

He had a sharp demeanor. Between his eyelids were unusual eyes. The deep regret and fatigue reflected in them made him look like a 60-year-old man. If Shin Jaehyuk had to determine which was older between Ms. Jung and the young man by looking only at their eyes with their faces covered, he would certainly have chosen the young man’s eyes.

Those inscrutable eyes scrutinized Shin Jaehyuk warily, looking him up and down.

“I heard that your missing son returned, so I came to visit. This is a fruit basket, a gift. I’ll put it over there.”

“Oh my, you shouldn’t have. Thank you, really thank you. But how did you know my son returned?”

“Ah, I’m acquainted with the detective in charge… I heard about it by chance. They seem busy trying to find the kidnapper.”

“Ah! That officer, for our Jaemin… His heart is as beautiful as his face. I’m so grateful…”

She exclaimed with emotion, her voice trembling. Perhaps the emotional strain of the past ten years was too much, as both sorrow and joy seemed to overwhelm her at once. The son, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke.

“You, are you a Watcher?”

“Pardon?”

Shin Jaehyuk questioned the unexpected inquiry.

“Indeed, admitting it so readily. I suppose you’re confident in your abilities?”

“No, I don’t understand what you’re saying…”

“Are you trying to back out now?”

Taking Shin Jaehyuk’s question literally, the young man stood up with a distorted, threatening expression. The rough cotton fabric of his shorts made a slithering sound like a snake flicking its tongue. His lean but firm arm muscles flexed, intimidating Shin Jaehyuk.

Judging by his demeanor, this wasn’t just a threat—he really seemed about to throw a punch. Sensing the confrontation, the customers in the restaurant turned their attention toward them.

‘Combat-compressed muscles… Impressive.’

Shin Jaehyuk was extremely perplexed. He had expected someone frail and emaciated after working like a slave for ten years—someone who would be immediately classified for civil service at a military physical—but instead, here was someone who looked like he could be drafted into special forces right away.

Even though Shin Jaehyuk had been a battle-hardened paladin in his previous life, in his current physical state, one hit from this man would knock him down. While he might manage in a life-or-death battle, he wasn’t confident he could subdue someone of that build without causing injury.

He looked at Ms. Jung in confusion, not knowing what to do. Ms. Jung, seemingly bewildered herself, laughed with tears in her voice as she tried to stop her son.

“Jaemin, this young man is a regular customer who visits often. Jaehyuk, as you might know, this is my son, Kim Jaemin. As you can see, he’s still awkward in many ways, so please be friendly with him.”

Kim Jaemin looked back and forth between his mother and Shin Jaehyuk a few times, then, as if finally understanding the situation, bowed his head toward Shin Jaehyuk.

“I apologize for the misunderstanding. I’m sorry for my rudeness.”

“It’s fine, but…”

In such a situation, why would he think I’m a Watcher?

Shin Jaehyuk looked at Ms. Jung with that question in his eyes. Noticing his gaze, Ms. Jung explained apologetically.

Perhaps it was a side effect of ten years on a fishing boat. Despite praying desperately before Buddha statues, begging only for her son’s safe return, when he finally came home, he returned with two afflictions.

Physically, hearing impairment; mentally, paranoid personality disorder—a disease of suspicion.

She drank a glass of water as if her throat was parched, then composed herself and explained carefully.

Her son had injured both ears and couldn’t hear sounds, understanding speech only by reading lips. Because of this, he couldn’t detect paralinguistic expressions like intonation or tone, taking words literally. Her son couldn’t trust strangers due to his deep-seated paranoia. But she believed he would gradually improve through interaction with others.

After finishing, the woman went to the kitchen, asking Shin Jaehyuk to chat with her son while she prepared the soup he had ordered. It was a considerate gesture to let the two talk comfortably. Of course, Shin Jaehyuk didn’t mention that he had noticed the moisture in her eyes.

Shin Jaehyuk sat down across from Kim Jaemin, in the empty seat where she had been sitting.

“Um, hello. You’re 24, right? I’m a year older, so I’ll speak informally.”

“…If you say so.”

‘His way of speaking is… Well, he’s had it rough, so I should be understanding.’

“Do you know Officer Cha Eunkyung?”

“Cha Eunkyung…? Ah, yes. The one in charge of my missing person case.”

“Right, that person. I was asked by her to investigate your disappearance. Is it okay if I ask you a few questions?”

“…Fine.”

His voice dripped with reluctance to discuss the incident.

Ignoring this paralinguistic assertion, Shin Jaehyuk reached into his pocket to take out his smartphone to take notes.

***

At that moment.

Shin Jaehyuk paused, struck by an indescribably strange sensation. His intuition rang alarm bells, warning of something ominous and catastrophic. Though he had never felt it on Earth before, he had experienced this sensation several times in his previous life when facing mortal danger. Shin Jaehyuk concentrated to detect the harbinger of this destruction.

Immediately after, he was hit by a massive wave of force that ordinary people couldn’t perceive. Like people being swept away by waves in a water park wave pool, his spirit and body staggered from the impact of this enormous force.

“Ugh..!”

An inexplicable wave swept through the area. Even those who couldn’t sense the wave could tell something strange had happened. The fluorescent lights flickered rapidly along the path of the wave, as if malfunctioning.

“Hey, what’s wrong with the lights in this restaurant?”

“Looking at other stores outside, it seems like a power outage.”

“Damn it! Nothing’s gone right since that idiot Park Jukwan became Prime Minister.”

“Hey, why blame Park Jukwan? It’s probably some civil servant who messed up at the power plant.”

“What the hell, my smartphone suddenly turned off. Is it dead?”

The other customers in the restaurant grumbled and complained about the strange phenomenon.

But Shin Jaehyuk had no time to care. Cold sweat ran down his back. He knew the identity of that wave.

A component of Eden, the blessing of Eloah, the source of magical mystery.

Mana.

‘Who could it be? How could such a mana wave appear on Earth? Even those arrogant dragons couldn’t generate this much mana..!’

Questions cascaded through his mind. Shin Jaehyuk was forced to stop thinking as the aftershock hit. Perhaps related to the rapid flow of mana, a gale swept through the area. Trees swayed as if about to fall, and with a shockwave, the restaurant’s windows shattered. Customers screamed, but their voices were drowned out by the howling wind.

Shin Jaehyuk raised his head against the air resistance to look ahead. Somehow maintaining his balance in this wind, Kim Jaemin had jumped to his feet, his back visible in Shin Jaehyuk’s wavering vision. His gaze was fixed on something outside the glass door. Shin Jaehyuk followed his line of sight.

In the middle of the road in front of the restaurant, there was a black dot in midair. The dot was expanding at an incredible speed, causing the air to be rapidly displaced and creating the storm. The black dot continued to grow until it became a massive sphere reaching the height of an eight-story building.

The black sphere revealed itself between the forest of tall buildings.

As the wind subsided, people cautiously emerged from buildings to assess the situation and gathered around, staring at the enormous sphere.

Shin Jaehyuk’s mind was clouded with shock. His hands trembled. He desperately tried to deny the truth.

‘No, it can’t be…’

The sphere was floating just above the asphalt. Cars that had collided due to the wind were visible.

Several vehicles were stopped, unable to pass because the sphere was blocking the road. Or perhaps their engines had died. But despite the chaos, the area was eerily quiet, without even a honk.

The sphere that had captured everyone’s attention made this possible.

It was a sphere that defied shadow and perspective. A flat surface like a lake. But a blackbody that only absorbed light without reflecting it, appearing pitch black. A defier of physical laws.

“Eloah have mercy…”

Shin Jaehyuk knew what this was. Better than anyone else on Earth. He couldn’t not know it. After all, he had seen it countless times in his previous life.

Hell Gate.