Chapter 10 Part 3: Commission – Gate Missing

As I once again felt satisfaction with my past choices, they seemed to judge that I was feeling ashamed, putting their hands on my shoulders and smiling.

“You might not know since it’s your first time. Now that it’s come to this, we’ll tell you everything today.”

“Yeah, don’t worry too much.”

“…Thank you.”

To think I have to give thanks to these kinds of guys.

I lowered my head as much as possible to hide my expression souring.

Do they really think I don’t know they’re subtly trying to make physical contact while putting their arms around my shoulders?

I adopted the persona of a naive porter, but their intentions to subtly take advantage of me were so obvious that I couldn’t help but feel disgusted.

Should I take out a weapon right here and gift them with lead bullets between their eyebrows?

No, no. Let’s be patient. If I cause any more trouble here, the Hresvelgr or whatever they’re called will come looking for me.

According to those guys, a B-grade or higher Awakened dying from a gun would be an unprecedented event, so they must be searching for a returnee who uses guns.

I need to secure my position quickly while they haven’t found me, but causing more trouble would really complicate things.

I neutralized the CCTV, and since there’s almost no information about me, I easily escaped back then, but I don’t know what kind of preparations they’ll make next time.

So, I can’t lose my temper here and blow their heads off.

I shouldn’t…

But the way they subtly groped my shoulder was so disgusting that it was hard to bear.

“Hey, after work, how about we grab a bite together? We’ll treat you.”

“No, it’s okay. Thank you.”

‘Don’t do that…’

“Really, it’s okay. I have plans.”

‘What do you mean, ‘oppa’?’

Even if it’s acting, I absolutely hate calling a guy ‘oppa.’

I’m older than you to begin with.

How many years do you think I lived in Neo City?

As I put up an iron wall and kept my distance, they eventually seemed to give up and started changing the subject.

“Haha, yeah. Now that I think about it, we don’t even know your name… um, what should we call you…?”

“Please call me Ella.”

“Okay, Ella. Ahem, it’s almost our turn, so shall we enter the gate?”

“Huh? What about weapons? To protect myself, I should have at least one weapon to replace the revolver…”

“Oops, we’re going to be late. Let’s go quickly.”

“Wait a minute…”

Was it because I started showing that I was uncomfortable?

The guys, not wanting to lose the porter who came to them on their own, clumsily changed the subject and moved towards the gate.

These guys are really something. How can they be so sloppy?

They’re so sloppy that I’m starting to wonder if I’m being deceived by them.

With the mindset of seeing how far they’ll go, I quietly followed them, and before I knew it, the guys who approached the gate handed something to the man standing in front of it.

“Hey, gatekeeper. Two people are going in.”

‘…Two people? I don’t see two people in front of me.’

“You know. It’s a porter.”

“A porter… I hope you haven’t forgotten that porters also count as people.”

As the gatekeeper, who seemed to be annoyed with everything, started gesturing, the two men standing in front of me frowned.

When the two men took something out of their pockets and gave it to the gatekeeper, the gatekeeper put his hand into his pocket and smiled.

“Okay, two people. Confirmed. Don’t kill the porter.”

“Got it.”

“Have a good hunt.”

Unlike me, the client’s wife was supposed to be familiar with this world, so the reason she died must be that these guys were maintaining some kind of transaction with this gatekeeper.

Judging by the way they handed over money, it doesn’t seem like they’re colleagues…

Maybe he’s turning a blind eye to their criminal acts in exchange for money.

I thought it was unlikely that such sloppy guys wouldn’t leave any traces of their crimes.

It seems like this guy was taking a portion of the profits as his share and turning a blind eye.

…Should I deal with that guy too?

“Let’s go in, Ella.”

“Ah, yes.”

Since the guys started entering the gate, I decided to think about it later.

For now, my target is those two, so I’ll judge the situation later.

I followed the guys into the gate together.

“…This is, a little amazing.”

How long has it been since I entered the gate and started walking?

My vision flickered for a moment, and the concrete jungle full of buildings that stretched high into the sky and people disappeared in an instant, and a completely different landscape unfolded before my eyes.

A forest overgrown with trees of enormous size that would have rotted away long ago if it were in the world of Neo City.

A sight I had never seen anywhere before was spread out vast before my eyes.

“Are you amazed?”

“…Yes, very.”

I didn’t want to agree with their question, but it was amazing. Extremely.

The forest, which spread out vast as if untouched by human hands, was a sight I was seeing for the first time, having lived in the city my whole life.

The sounds of birds chirping and insects chirping noisily were truly mysterious.

I heard that nature was literally shattered due to the nuclear war thirty years ago, so I never thought I would be able to see such a sight with my own eyes.

I think the gate is a much more interesting thing than I thought.

“It’s good that you’re amazed, but now you need to prepare.”

“Yes? What do you mean…?”

“Enemy. Prepare.”

“Krrr! Krrr!”

Was it because they didn’t like that I was distracted by a different sight like a child after a long time?

As I was walking through the beautiful forest, a grotesque monster of a different shape appeared before my eyes.

A height that seems to be only about half of my height.

A crooked hooked nose and green skin.

An alien monster with an appearance that can be easily seen in games or cartoons.

“Ella, why aren’t you jumping forward quickly?”

“Yes, yes…? What do you mean…! I’m a porter?!”

“We’re telling you to stand in front because you’re a porter. If you’re not going to be helpful in a fight, don’t you appreciate our consideration in telling you to do that?”

…Are these guys serious? Telling the porter to go forward?

They took the revolver to protect myself, and they must understand that I’m a porter without any other weapons.

“Jump forward right now.”

“Bu, but…”

“If you don’t want to play the role of bait, that’s fine, but where are you going to go? Front? Back?”

The appearance of being kind until just now was nowhere to be found, and their mouths were filled with ridicule.

The people who were sparsely present at the gate entrance scattered in their own directions long ago so as not to interfere with each other’s hunting.

As soon as they judged that there was no one around, they revealed their true nature.

“Uh, well, that is…”

“Dance or do whatever in front of that goblin bastard to attract attention. Right now.”

“Bu, but my Awakened rank is low… It’s definitely dangerous…!”

“That’s none of our business.”

“Having come this far, how is an F-grade Awakened porter going to escape? Shut up and do as you’re told.”

Thinking that they were in control of every situation, the guys shook my revolver and started laughing.

They firmly believed my lie that I was an F-grade Awakened, and seemed satisfied that they had trapped me.

“It’s a big mistake if you think we can’t kill people. If you don’t listen, I don’t know if you die.”

“Yeah, last time, a woman didn’t listen to us and became orc food.”

“What was it? Was it Jihyun? Was that her name?”

“Ah, that’s right. It was so funny how she screamed for help…”

I immediately understood who the woman they mentioned was.

The client’s wife. The people who killed her were definitely them.

“…So it was you guys?”

“Hmm?”

I didn’t need to listen anymore, and I didn’t need to act like a weak porter anymore, so I sighed.

Did I come expecting something too great? At this rate, they’re just dumb idiots.

The client told me that the awakened had already killed several people, so I thought there would be something great.

It was my fault for not noticing the existence of monsters.

A person who was supposed to be attacked together with several people would die easily in this way if they were suddenly betrayed by an ally.

Is this kind of crime easily happening because it’s a special place called the gate?

“How did she die?”

“…What the f*ck?”

“How did she die?”

“Answer me! Who the f*ck are you!”

“Hey, hey. Why are you suddenly…”

“Shut up!”

I just thought they were hopeless, stupid idiots, but one of them seemed to have a better sense than I thought.

Well, otherwise, it’s amazing that they’ve survived until now after killing so many people.

Since he’s going to die soon anyway, I decided to tell him as a gift for his trip to the afterlife.

“A hitman.”

“…I’ve never heard of a guy like you.”

“I just opened up shop. Congratulations, you’re the first customer’s target.”

Slyly, slyly.

The guy with a good sense of sight was subtly looking behind me.

Although it was an unexpected situation, he seemed to be thinking that he could kill me without much damage if he aimed with the monster.

“Ah, you shouldn’t think of having hope.”

Without even looking behind me, I roughly stretched out my left hand behind me.

Then, lead bullets poured out mercilessly from the gun barrel that popped out, cutting through my hand in an instant.

There was no need to aim. Anyway, if I shot the entire area around me, they would be dead.

Dddrrr.

After the thunderous sound, like typing at a fast speed, subsided.

I declared to the guys who were sweating in the face of the scene unfolding before my eyes.

“You guys are going to die here today.”