Ch.7Chapter 7 – The Gate Opens

The seeds of war were passed down from son to son, devastating the continent of Eden.

The one-sided war continued. A war where demons overwhelmingly violated humanity. For mankind, war was merely a desperate struggle for survival against demons.

Priests and holy knights who served the Creator God Eloach performed miracles with divine power to defeat demons. But even this asymmetric warfare couldn’t reverse humanity’s disadvantage. There were simply too many demons.

Since the birth of Hell by the evil god Rohim at the beginning of time, demons trapped in Hell dreamed of invading the material world and reproduced endlessly. Two became four, four became eight, eight became sixteen. This process repeated for an unimaginably long time by human standards.

So when the first hellgate finally opened on the continent of Eden, it presented a sight more fitting to be called a pump or faucet than a gate. A hellish faucet spewing waves of demons hungry for blood and flesh.

Although most were merely lowest-ranking demons, even those wielding divine power often lost their lives, swept away by overwhelming swarm tactics.

When the first hellgate opened in Eden, Eden lost 30% of its population and 40% of its territory.

***

Fearless people gathered around the sphere out of curiosity.

Some even went right up to it, tapping it curiously to see what material it was made of. Their hands passed through the sphere without resistance and came back out. People took turns amazedly putting their hands and feet in and out of the sphere.

Of course, no one was brave enough to actually enter the sphere. The crowd surrounding it raised their smartphones to be the first to post this strange phenomenon on social media.

“Huh? Why isn’t it working suddenly? It was fine just a moment ago…”

“You too? I thought my phone battery had died.”

Shin Jaehyuk saw their absurdly casual behavior and tried urgently to warn everyone of the danger, to step back.

At that moment, something shot out from inside the gate and grazed the neck of a person standing in front. Some people must have spotted the object too, as they let out confused groans. But they couldn’t guess what the object was.

However, Jaehyuk knew. He could see it. His superior dynamic vision, superior to ordinary people’s despite lack of training due to his past life’s influence, made it possible. It was a tail split into three prongs at the end. Jaehyuk knew whose tail it was and what its appearance meant.

The lowest-ranking demon and the worst of demons.

Hell’s scout that pours out first when a hellgate opens.

Hell’s cockroach.

Imp.

A middle-aged man clutched his neck where the sharp tail had grazed and coughed.

“Keck, keck… Huh?”

Blood sprayed across the asphalt road like a bursting dam. The pot-bellied man’s body collapsed like a stringless puppet and sprawled on the road. A deep wound was cut into his thick neck that he had been covering with his hands.

People who had been staring blankly at the scene, their brains not functioning properly, regained their sense of reality after being splattered with blood from the front and screamed, fleeing to get away from the gate.

That scream became the signal. Imps poured out from the gate. Not just one or two. A waterfall of flesh poured out like a swarm of locusts. Imps on the ground were crushed to death by the weight above them. The legion of imps crawled and squeezed out of the hellgate, stepping on those corpses. Demons who successfully set foot on Earth’s ground pounced on the backs of fleeing humans.

A woman rolled on the ground trying to shake off an imp clinging to her back. The small demon attached to her back fell off. Her face, momentarily lit with joy, soon sank back into despair as five pursuing imps pounced on her. Flesh was torn and intestines scattered. Ten more imps joined the group. Fifteen minor demons in total played with her, dismembering her. They made sounds like seagulls—kiruruk kiruruk. It sounded like laughter.

By now, the number of imps that had escaped the hellgate exceeded hundreds and was approaching four digits. If filmed from the sky, one would see rapidly spreading green dots, like ink dropped in a glass of water. The green dots covered the asphalt like ants. Seoul’s roads, humanity’s territory, were being trampled and conquered.

The hot sunlight heated up this scene of carnage.

It was the height of summer.

***

Shin Jaehyuk was bewildered. But even in his confusion, he didn’t stop moving. With his current state—a skinny body with terrible stamina and inactive divine power—he couldn’t defeat those demon swarms. He would only be humiliatingly beaten and become a plaything for the lowest-ranking demons. Though the citizens’ sacrifices were regrettable, now was the time to flee.

He tried to think coldly, but guilt welled up inside Jaehyuk. He bit his lip hard. His master’s voice thundered in his mind: A holy knight abandoning citizens and running away? How ridiculous.

Unconsciously, Jaehyuk tightly squeezed the hand he was holding. The owner of that hand, Kim Jaemin, glanced at him.

Jaehyuk was running while holding the hands of Kim Jaemin and Jung Malsuk. To get away from the hellgate. Ms. Jung occasionally looked back, her face turning pale, but Kim Jaemin was surprisingly calm.

When Ms. Jung kept falling behind due to her slow running speed, Jaemin picked her up in a princess carry and ran.

‘Impressive stamina… I’m glad I didn’t fight him earlier.’

Jaehyuk continued thinking while running. What should he do now? They needed to escape from those demon swarms. But where to? Was there anywhere on Earth beyond the reach of the wicked hellish army?

‘Right, let’s go home. To my home, my secret basement. There’s emergency food there, and imps shouldn’t be able to get in. At least for a while…’

***

Imp. A very well-known demon species in Eden. Long pointed ears, bulging eyes like a madman’s, a pointed nose, two small horns on the head, a long tail split into three prongs, and large hands disproportionate to their small, thin build. This is common knowledge even children in Eden know.

Originally, demons are so diverse that each individual demon could be considered a different species. Apart from special cases like zombies or ghouls that are artificially created undead, the same type of demon rarely exists.

But imps were different. From a numerical perspective, imps are Hell’s greatest military force. They made up over 90% of the demons that invaded Eden. Whenever a hellgate opened, waves of imps poured out. They served as scouts, shock troops, and infantry—excellent suicide squads.

Even in his past life, the secret of their overwhelming numbers was never revealed. Imps have no reproductive organs and thus no gender distinction. Even renowned scholars couldn’t discover how imps are born. A demonologist Jaehyuk knew well speculated that there might be an “original” Imp Queen who gives birth to all imps, like a queen ant.

But despite their fame, imps are weak. They have weak physical abilities and low intelligence. These minor demons, as small as elementary school children, aren’t scary individually. Even ordinary people could easily kill a single imp if armed.

But they are cunning and vicious. Imps don’t fight alone. When encountering a human alone, unless they judge they can easily kill that human like eating a piece of cake, they always return to their group to bring reinforcements. And they hold their long tails—which they can’t wield voluntarily due to weak tail muscles—in their hands like tridents and stab with them.

***

Jaehyuk was confused. Demons invading Earth? Had Eden truly fallen to demons? No, focus on the immediate situation. Through his thoughts, Jaemin’s voice reached him.

“Where are we going now?”

“My house! If we hide in the basement, we should be safe for a while.”

Since Jaehyuk was running in front of the two, Jaemin couldn’t see his lips. So Ms. Jung, who was being carried by Jaemin, repeated those words. Jaemin understood through lip-reading and continued running through the alleyways.

Then they came to a fork in the road. Two imps appeared from one side. It was the direction toward his house.

‘Shit. They couldn’t have reached here faster than us from the restaurant… Damn, hellgates must have opened elsewhere too!’

What to do? Jaemin can’t fight while carrying his mother. Could Jaehyuk’s physical abilities handle both imps? No, while he dealt with one, the other would surely bring reinforcements. Then the group would definitely be annihilated.

Even if they defeated both imps, the fact that imps appeared from that direction meant there was a high probability of imps near Jaehyuk’s house too. They had no choice.

“Run the opposite way! We’re heading to Gwanak District Office!”

Jaehyuk ran toward the other fork. Jaemin, having reached the same conclusion, followed at full speed. The imps, noticing human presence from the footsteps, followed them. The distance was still far. It’s fine. Jaehyuk rechecked his plan.

“My house area seems dangerous already, so let’s head uphill to Gwanak Police Station! They should at least have guns there.”

“No! Jaemin, it’s dangerous!”

At the sudden scream, Jaehyuk quickly looked back. Jaemin had put down his mother and was running toward the imps.

“Jaemin! What are you doing! Come back! No!”

‘What the hell is he doing suddenly!’

Ms. Jung screamed in a shrill voice, surprised by her son’s impulsive action. Of course, the deaf Jaemin couldn’t hear her. The two imps, also not expecting this sudden situation, continued running with kiruruk sounds. Jaehyuk, having assessed the situation, also quickly turned and ran toward him.

One imp jumped high to pounce on his face. While that body blocked his view, the imp running behind aimed for his legs. A typical double attack. Jaehyuk, expecting him to fall victim to this demonic attack, moved his legs with all his might.

Running toward the demons, a habit formed from 30 years of combat experience unconsciously used divine power to strengthen his body. As intended, a faint divine power flowed through his body, strengthening his leg muscles. His body shot forward with explosive speed unmatched to his thin build.

But Jaehyuk couldn’t marvel at the miraculous movement of divine power for the first time in 24 years. More precisely, he had no time to. What happened next was too astonishing to believe.

Jaemin quickly swung his hand horizontally and grabbed the airborne imp’s head with his right hand. It was like catching a dodgeball flying from the front from the side. Then, stepping forward with his right foot, he rotated his upper body and right arm. The imp’s head smashed into the wall with the same momentum. The wall dented with a bang, and the disgusting green head shattered, spraying brain matter and blood.

Without stopping, Jaemin maintained his rotational momentum using his right foot as an axis and delivered a left roundhouse kick. The imp running from below was hit in the abdomen and flew backward. Jaemin ran toward the imp sprawled on the ground in pain and stomped down hard. A second skull shattered, and Jaemin’s Nike sneakers were soaked with green blood.

“Ah… He fights really well. I didn’t even need to help.”

Ms. Jung ran toward Jaemin, who was looking down at the corpse with a calm expression, and slapped his back. Nagging was heard about how dangerous that was, how he was lucky to kill those monsters this time but should never do it again.

‘That’s not ordinary physical ability. Was he taken to a laboratory for body modification rather than slave labor? Strong nerves, clean form too. Anyway, it’s fortunate in our current situation. He can definitely pull his weight if needed.’

“I apologize. I didn’t see any more demons following us, so I judged it better to deal with them now.”

“Uh… You did well. But next time, give me a signal before moving. It could be dangerous.”

Jaehyuk accepted Jaemin’s apology. It was an unexpected event, but the outcome was beneficial. With no imps following, the group could manage their stamina and head more safely to the police station.

Plus, there was an unexpected gain. Jaehyuk finally realized he could use divine power and inwardly rejoiced deeply. He gathered divine power in his hand. Unfortunately, he couldn’t use all the vast amount dormant in his soul. If his divine power were compared to an ocean, the amount he could use was about one bucket of water.

‘Has the connection with Lord Eloach been partially restored with the opening of the hellgate? At least I can use basic body enhancement and simple divine spells.’

Jaehyuk was satisfied with this much, thinking positively. It was much better than the past 24 years when he couldn’t use divine power at all. With continued training, the amount of divine power he could wield would gradually increase.

‘Still, I should hide my power for now. Using divine power openly in this situation would make anyone suspicious. I’ll just use body enhancement discreetly…’

The group paused to catch their breath and check their plan. Fortunately, as Jaemin had said, there were no more imps following them, so no additional attacks occurred.

“We originally planned to hold out in my house’s basement until the situation stabilized, but judging from the imps that appeared at the fork toward my house, another hellgate must have opened near there.”

‘Shit, that’s right. My figurines…’

Jaehyuk inwardly cried out thinking about his figurines, manga, and other collectibles at home. He sighed softly and continued.

“For now, the police station seems safest with the most weapons, so let’s try to hold out there… There are many restaurants nearby, so food supply should be manageable somehow.”

“Imp? Hellgate? You call those small monsters imps? How does a student know that?”

Jaehyuk realized his mistake at Ms. Jung’s question. Such a basic slip-up.

“Ah, they’re demons from a game I play called Dungeon Online. And since those demons are pouring out, it must be a hellgate.”

“Computer game monsters… These are truly the end times.”

The woman believed him readily and lamented, calling for Buddha.

“Do you think the situation can stabilize?”

“Maybe… Many people will die, but eventually the army will come.”

‘But…’

When the hellgate opened and mana waves swept across Earth, nearby electronic devices went dead. In the worst case, the army’s tanks and weapons might be neutralized. Jaehyuk didn’t voice his ominous speculation. He feared that mentioning it might make it come true.

‘Right, Seongha, Sister Grace, the orphanage kids. And my assistant!’

Jaehyuk’s thoughts extended to the safety of his few acquaintances. He wanted to call and check on them, warning them to stay as far away from hellgates as possible. But like everyone else’s, his smartphone wasn’t working.

“Fucking hell.”

‘No. Please. I can’t lose them again.’

Jaehyuk’s face contorted. He was visibly anxious. Memories he wanted to forget surfaced. Memories from his past life. Faces of his comrades. And, hers.

“Enough. Break’s over. Let’s run again.”

“Oh, oh… Yes, student.”

Jaehyuk urged the group on. And so the three figures began running toward their destination once more.