The Goblin Who Throws a Mountain

A temporary tent set up next to the open space for the follow-up teams waiting for their turn.

Inside the exclusive tent prepared for the leaders among them, So-eun, sitting on the sofa facing Shin-yeon and Yeon-ah, could hear a proper explanation of what the current situation was.

“So… The ancestor who woke up while I was out with Jinhyun is this Shin-yeon, and her race is goblin…?”

“Yes. And since she wants to be active as a hunter, she took the hunter exam like this and is active as an A-rank hunter, since it wouldn’t be known anyway.”

“Ha, hahaha… What a dream-like situation…”

The only problem was that even after hearing the truthful explanation, the current situation still felt like a lie.

The ancestor who had been sleeping for decades while she was away from the defense city had awakened, and that ancestor’s race was the goblin race only mentioned in history books, and she was active as a hunter while hiding her identity.

At content that wouldn’t be funny even if it were a comic book, So-eun let out a hollow laugh and grabbed her forehead, then soon suppressed her headache and raised her head.

‘Unnie isn’t someone who would lie about something like this.’

Although Yeon-ah was said to have a gentle personality towards her siblings, she tended to clearly distinguish between public and private matters.

In other words, there was no way she had lied, so the explanation she had just heard was all true.

And although it was hard to believe, when accepting it all as truth, So-eun caught on one fact that immediately stood out.

“…Really, this person called unnie.”

“Hm?”

“How could you let the ancestor walk around outside so proudly?! You say it wouldn’t be known anyway? Do you think things in the world are that easy?! Besides, if the Punishment Team already knows, there must be one or two places among the Five Major Powers that have caught the scent, right?!”

Although she knew that Yeon-ah had always treated the ancestor with utmost respect and tried to accommodate everything from before, she didn’t know she would act so recklessly like this.

Even though Yeon-ah lost a screw when it came to the ancestor, she didn’t know it would be like this even when it became reality.

Therefore, So-eun shouted like that with anxiety that made her hands and feet tremble because she was more than worried, but to this, Yeon-ah answered while picking up her teacup with a very relaxed expression.

“Don’t worry. The preparation for that part is already perfect. As you said, there was something that went a bit wrong recently, but now flawless preparation has been made.”

“Oh my, how reliable you sound when you say it like that.”

At Yeon-ah’s answer that was not just relaxed but overflowing with confidence, So-eun snorted and answered grumpily.

She had unconsciously blurted out those words upon hearing words imbued with Yeon-ah’s usual narcissism.

However, unlike that reflexive attitude, So-eun had seen Yeon-ah’s track record of actually accomplishing what she said she would do many times, so there wasn’t much else she could say.

‘If I say something like that and it turns out wrong, I’ll just be embarrassed.’

Therefore, rather than talking more with Yeon-ah, So-eun turned to look at Shin-yeon, who was gulping down rice crackers and tea beside her.

‘This person is…’

She had thought she was just a pretty girl earlier, but now she knew that girl was the ancestor named Shin-yeon.

The ancestor who seemed like she would never wake up until So-eun died.

The ancestor who had been sleeping in a pumpkin wearing tiger-patterned clothes had appeared before her eyes wearing modern clothes and with the job of a hunter.

Then what should she do, who hadn’t been by her side at the moment she woke up?

The answer was simple, without needing to be said.

Thud—

“I apologize for the late greeting, Ancestor. I am Lee So-eun, the second daughter of the General Management Team family.”

“Oomph…?”

What So-eun herself had to do was to give the greeting she couldn’t give due to unavoidable circumstances.

Therefore, So-eun knelt politely and gave her greeting, and at that greeting, Shin-yeon’s hand that had been busily picking up snacks stopped.

Then gulp, she swallowed the snacks filling her mouth along with tea, and Shin-yeon lightly raised her hand to So-eun who had given her greeting.

“Yeah, nice to meet you.”

After uttering those brief words, Shin-yeon started eating snacks again.

“…?”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

At that sight, So-eun looked back on her words and actions so far, wondering if she had done something to offend, but what came back was only Shin-yeon’s question containing pure curiosity.

Shin-yeon’s gaze asking as if there was some problem.

And what corrected the somewhat off-kilter situation was Yeon-ah, who was laughing beside them.

“Hehe, this is just how the Ancestor’s personality is. She’s someone who always takes greetings lightly, so it’s not that you did anything wrong, So-eun.”

“Hm? Ah, was it because of the greeting? Don’t worry, don’t worry. As Yeon-ah said, I don’t really care about greetings.”

“I-is that so?”

Fortunately, it seemed Shin-yeon’s personality had been like this from the beginning, not that So-eun had offended her in some way.

At that fact, So-eun let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

No matter how indifferent So-eun was to interpersonal relationships, she couldn’t be indifferent to being disliked by the ancestor.

For that reason, as So-eun was letting out deep sighs of relief inwardly, suddenly Shin-yeon raised her head while dusting off her hands that had been craving snacks.

“Hmm…?”

“Is something the matter, Ancestor?”

At that sudden movement, Yeon-ah sitting beside her asked Shin-yeon like that, and Shin-yeon maintained silence for a moment before slowly getting up from her seat.

“No, well I was going to wait since they said to enter the gate together with the follow-up team… but it seems something has happened at the gate first?”

“…Pardon?”

The one who answered Shin-yeon’s words this time was not Yeon-ah but So-eun.

That was because what Shin-yeon mentioned was not other issues but a problem related to the gate.

So-eun looked at Shin-yeon with an expression demanding explanation for what she meant, but rather than answering that, Shin-yeon moved first and started walking.

“I should go out and take a look. Both of you come with me.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Understood!”

Although Shin-yeon had been lying on the sofa languidly until just now, when she started moving, So-eun and Yeon-ah hurriedly got up from their seats and followed behind her at her strides that stretched out.

As if using some kind of teleportation technique, when Shin-yeon takes one step to run, two or three tents pass by on the side.

“As expected, she’s incredibly fast…!”

“This is too fast!”

At that speed that couldn’t be followed normally, in the end Yeon-ah barely kept up using wind propulsion, and So-eun using water explosion, and how long did they run like that?

“As I thought, it seems something happened.”

“This is…?”

“Such a thing…”

Finally stopping in front of the gate entrance.

Arriving at the place where some hunters were gathered and whispering, Shin-yeon, Yeon-ah, and So-eun each uttered a word.

Thump– Thump–

Indeed, as Shin-yeon had said, the gate was not in its usual state, but throbbing as if in labor and emitting an ominous energy.

At the same time, remnants of mana falling from the gate as if its shell was peeling off.

The surrounding hunters were busy whispering among themselves at the unfamiliar appearance of the gate, but Yeon-ah and So-eun, who knew all too well what this phenomenon was, opened their mouths and muttered without needing to be first:

“Don’t tell me…”

“Gate Break…”

“You say Gate Break?”

Only Shin-yeon, who didn’t know about Gate Break, tilted her head and turned to look at the two, and to her question, So-eun answered while wiping away cold sweat.

“Do you know that gates are originally connection doors to ruined parallel worlds?”

“Of course I know that. It’s close to common knowledge.”

“Yes… Usually, since it’s a ruined world, all that remains in the dungeon inside the gate are monsters that have changed after being swallowed by mana, but occasionally there exist lumps of monsters created by fusing and tangling with each other.”

Fusion monster masses that could be said to be incomparably stronger and more transcendent than ordinary monsters.

There were cases where fusion monster masses existed in gates with a probability of about one in a hundred.

The monsters that pop out of gates are creatures that have melted in mana and their flesh has changed, becoming one with mana.

Monsters trying to survive in a ruined world use mana as a medium to clump together and merge, becoming a single intelligent being.

“And Gate Break is a phenomenon that occurs when that fusion monster mass starts rampaging during dungeon exploration. Most of them have enormous bodies and unbelievable strength, so…”

“The gate collapses like this.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Fusion monster masses born from tens, hundreds, or even thousands of monsters merging together.

As such, the size of fusion monster masses was unimaginably huge, and even their simple strength was so great that ordinary monsters couldn’t even match up.

Therefore, if a fusion monster mass starts rampaging, the dungeon itself begins to shake, and afterwards, even the gate containing the dungeon collapses.

That is the rare phenomenon called Gate Break.

And So-eun gritted her teeth looking at the quiet radio at her waist despite Gate Break occurring.

“Seeing that there’s no radio communication, it seems they couldn’t avoid battle.”

Since the Gate Break situation itself was a phenomenon observed only five times so far, there was almost no response manual, but there was one common saying.

It was ‘When Gate Break occurs, immediately abandon the gate and evacuate’.

However, seeing that no radio communication came, it meant they had immediately engaged in battle without even having time to radio.

Then it meant that even at this moment, Jinhyun and the advance team were fighting against the fusion monster mass inside the gate.

“Right now… leading all the follow-up teams…”

Therefore, So-eun tried to execute one method that could be called the best among the given alternatives right before her eyes, but before So-eun could fully utter her decision.

“Let’s go in just the three of us.”

“…Pardon?”

Shin-yeon standing beside her cut off So-eun’s words.

Turning her head at those ridiculous words, what she saw was Shin-yeon tapping her shoulder with her club and smiling.

As if she was so happy, Shin-yeon with her mouth corners raised high turned to So-eun and said in a voice tinged with fighting spirit:

“The follow-up teams… I saw earlier there seemed to be over 400 people, when are you going to lead and bring all those guys in? If we just take down that fusion monster mass or whatever, it’s solved anyway, right?”

“What? Ah, yes… That’s true, but…”

“Then the three of us are enough. To be precise, I alone would be enough, but if it’s really, really a guy I can’t beat, we need to bring out the advance team members, so let’s go together, you two.”

Since with just the three of us, we can either kill that guy or escape from him in any case.

Truly confidence beyond even Yeon-ah’s.

Saying she would take down a fusion monster mass alone was something that couldn’t be said even as a joke, but Shin-yeon was calm as if stating an obvious fact.

Rather, she looked at So-eun as if asking what the problem was.

And before So-eun could even utter an objection, Yeon-ah carefully followed behind Shin-yeon who was one step ahead.

“If the Ancestor says it’s possible, it must be possible, right So-eun?”

“…Sigh, alright, I got it.”

Following that, sticking behind Shin-yeon and turning to look at her, So-eun had no choice but to swallow the objection that had risen to her throat and follow the two with tears in her eyes.

Although there had clearly only been smooth sailing in the undeveloped gate pioneering, why such a thing had happened… So-eun truly resented reality, but.

‘What kind of hardship is this at this age…!’

Unfortunately, there was no such thing as changing the reality that had already unfolded.

Shin-yeon, Yeon-ah, and So-eun finally set foot inside the dungeon, leaving behind the gazes of the hunters piercing their backs.

Into the tiger’s mouth where Gate Break was occurring.