Chapter 37

Chapter 37

I Installed a Dating App and Girls from Another World Became Obsessed with Me.

Episode 37: Gate (2)

Choi Hye-na’s childhood couldn’t be called happy, even as a polite euphemism.

Despite being born as the eldest daughter of the prestigious magical family Seongbuk Choi, she had to lose her mother at the tender age of two.

Choi Tae-hyeon, Choi Hye-na’s father, repeatedly wailed and fainted in front of his wife’s body.

Originally, Choi Yeon-ju, Choi Hye-na’s mother, was frail.

She always suffered from minor illnesses, and even the hospital said she wouldn’t live long.

Nevertheless, Choi Yeon-ju, with the sole determination to bear the child of her beloved husband, defied everyone’s opposition and became pregnant with Choi Hye-na.

And ten months later, when she safely gave birth to Choi Hye-na, both of them were as happy as if they had gained the whole world.

But perhaps the heavens did not allow that happiness.

Immediately after giving birth, Choi Yeon-ju’s physical condition deteriorated uncontrollably.

Even if they poured money to buy elixirs, even if they hired excellent priests, her illness continued to worsen, heading towards the worst.

And so, before long, Choi Tae-hyeon had to lose his wife, and Choi Hye-na had to lose her mother.

Choi Tae-hyeon, who had to bury his wife in the cold ground, seemed to have given up everything as a parent from that day on, leaving the still young Choi Hye-na and wandering outside.

Choi Hye-na had no way of knowing what he was doing outside.

Even on the rare days he came home, he never even glanced at his daughter, Choi Hye-na.

Choi Hye-na, who was thirsty for parental love, couldn’t help but be disappointed by the cold attitude of her only parent.

The small wound that was created then grew bigger day by day.

It was only natural that Choi Hye-na, who was neglected by her parents, grew up in the hands of her grandparents and the family’s servants.

Except for her very young days, Choi Hye-na, who had never received affectionate words or touches from her parents, still loved her father.

Her grandparents told her that her father was hurting right now.

So, if she waited patiently, her father, whose wounds had healed, would surely embrace her warmly with a bright smile someday.

However, among the expressions of Choi Tae-hyeon that remained in Choi Hye-na’s memory, there was no smiling face.

Of course, there might have been when she was a baby, but now, all that remained were tragic expressions of crying, despair, and anger.

And so, time passed without Choi Tae-hyeon returning, and Choi Hye-na turned eight years old.

And summer came.

That summer was particularly hot and gloomy.

Because of the severe casualties that occurred one after another, the news always reported gloomy news, and the streets were always enveloped in a depressing atmosphere.

One day in that summer, when only the undertakers, who were flooded with work, could smile.

That day, as if a hole had been drilled in the sky, the heavy monsoon rain continued to pour down even in the middle of the night.

Cicadas and crickets did not cry in the sound of the rain. Or rather, they were buried in the sound of the rain even if they did cry.

Choi Hye-na woke up from her sleep in the late dawn due to her need to urinate and was walking down the empty hallway.

Choi Hye-na, who was walking in a daze, frowned at the strange stench she had never smelled before.

And something wet touched her feet.

Crack-

At the moment when the lightning that fell from the sky momentarily brightened the dark hallway.

And Choi Hye-na saw an unbelievable sight.

-Kyaak!!

The sight of the servant uncles, whom she was usually close to, lying dead in the hallway, and the sight of her ‘father’ looking down at her on top of their corpses.

-Our Hye-na…

When his blood-stained face and hands, dirty with flesh she didn’t want to know whose it was, reached out to her, Choi Hye-na instinctively stepped back.

-D-don’t come near me!!

-Our daughter, daddy came to pick you up.

Choi Hye-na trembled at his insane eyes, which she couldn’t understand what he was thinking or what emotions were mixed in them.

He was not the father she had been desperately waiting for.

Naturally, it was impossible for the terrified young Choi Hye-na to escape from Choi Tae-hyeon.

The critical moment when Choi Hye-na would be helplessly caught by his grotesque hands if he took one more step.

-Hye-na!

Choi Young-ok, Choi Hye-na’s grandmother, who was wrapped in red flames, appeared.

-You! How dare you set your dirty feet here!

Choi Hye-na was flustered by the anger beyond Choi Young-ok’s distorted expression, which she had never seen before.

On the other hand, she was relieved.

As far as she knew, her grandmother was really strong.

-Tsk, an old fox is just getting in the way.

Choi Tae-hyeon had no choice but to leave when he saw the appearance of Choi Young-ok, who was a 5-circle magician at the time, and the sound of people running from afar.

-Hye-na, your father will come back for you someday.

Choi Tae-hyeon disappeared, leaving behind those words that would become a curse for Choi Hye-na.

The damage ended with two unfortunate servants that day, but Choi Hye-na could not forget the memory of that day.

The sight of the servants lying in a pool of blood.

The sight of her father who killed them.

The incomprehensible look in her father’s eyes as he looked at her.

Even after nearly 13 years, she could not forget the memory of that day.

-…Dad.

The very young Choi Hye-na hugged the small bear doll that her mother had left behind and shed tears.

Only her voice, which could not reach, echoed emptily.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not your dad.”

“…Huh?”

Choi Hye-na, who opened her eyes at the voice that should never have been heard, met eyes with Kang Hyeon-u, who was at a distance where their lips seemed to touch at any moment.

And then, after three seconds of silence.

“Kyaaak!!!”

Choi Hye-na’s scream echoed in the narrow tent.

Amidst the noisy siren of the police car and the attention of the bustling crowd.

A man standing inside the police line threw the cigarette he was smoking on the floor.

“This is driving me crazy.”

The isolated gate incident that occurred around 19:49, after reviewing the CCTV, it was revealed that two civilians were swallowed.

No, they weren’t ordinary civilians.

Both of them were magicians registered in the magic tower, and one of them was even Choi Hye-na, the precious daughter of the Seongbuk Choi family.

Because of that, the police upper management was now in an uproar because of Choi Young-ok, a 6-circle magician from the magic tower who appeared in the command room.

That’s right. It’s Choi Young-ok, who was called the crazy fire magician.

No one could dare to guess what kind of chaos she would cause if her granddaughter didn’t come out safely.

Thanks to the upper management urging him to solve it somehow, he, who was assigned as the investigating officer, ended up being crushed like a shrimp in a whale fight.

If Choi Hye-na didn’t come out of the gate safely, he’d be the first one to lose his job.

Even though he had already finished a pack of cigarettes, Inspector Go Min-seok had to rack his brains.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

At that moment, a man who seemed to belong to the World Hunter Association appeared at the scene like a savior.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Yoo Seong-bin, the team leader of Special Gate Team 1.”

“Ah, you’ve arrived.”

“Yes, the traffic was very heavy.”

Yoo Seong-bin had to hold back a hollow laugh at Go Min-seok’s overly humble attitude.

Well, it wasn’t that he didn’t understand.

It was obvious that this person would be the one to get fired because of this incident.

“Um… but Team Leader Yoo Seong-bin?”

“Yes? What is it?”

“What are you planning to do now?”

Inspector Go Min-seok was desperate.

He had three children, and his wife cooked three packs of Neoguri at once.

If he lost his job at this time, the future of his family would be bleak.

“Well… we have to wait.”

“…Yes?”

“There’s no other way. We have to wait a week before we can go in and rescue them or not. Until then, this is the best we can do.”

If only one team coming was enough to solve the problem, isolated gates wouldn’t be called special gates in the first place.

Now it was a matter of prayer.

All they could do was pray that the two magicians inside would survive for a week.

“Team leader, the inspection results are out.”

“Really? What does it say?”

The employee who was in charge of investigating the gate’s grade didn’t have a good expression.

“…It’s B-grade.”

Inside the narrow cave, silence lingered between Kang Hyeon-u and Choi Hye-na.

“…This is unfair.”

Kang Hyeon-u, who was sitting in front of the campfire, holding his slightly reddened cheek, and Choi Hye-na, who was glancing around nervously as if she was uncomfortable.

“Th-that’s because who told you to hug me naked…”

Choi Hye-na had no choice but to stop talking.

No matter how shameful it was, her conscience still had a sharp edge to it, so she couldn’t keep complaining about an action taken to save her life.

Moreover, after she remembered Kang Hyeon-u’s back as he struggled to run across the snowfield while carrying her, the guilt she felt for slapping him as soon as she woke up soared endlessly like a stock with wings.

“Haa… I saved your life, and I get treated like a sex offender and slapped…”

“…”

“Tsk, what kind of apology can I expect from a commoner? I should be grateful if I don’t get slapped a few more times for calling me a beggar.”

His tone was infuriating, but every word was true, so she couldn’t argue.

Although the process was lewd and shameful, it was an undeniable fact that her attitude towards the benefactor who saved her life was not right.

Apologizing was the right thing to do here.

“I, I…!!”

But Choi Hye-na had never apologized to anyone before.

Who would dare ask the only successor of the Seongbuk Choi family for an apology?

As a result, that simple word didn’t come out as if it was stuck in her throat.

But as a member of the Seongbuk Choi family, she had been taught that it was only natural for a human to repay the favor she had received, so she regained her composure and resolved to apologize politely.

No, she only resolved to do so.

“Yo, you… you crazy pervert!! Even so, how could you take off a woman’s clothes and hug her?!”

“Oh, your boobs were amazing.”

“Kyaaaah!!!”

Choi Hye-na screamed and rushed at Kang Hyeon-u, but there was no way she could win against Kang Hyeon-u in a physical fight.

Rather, Choi Hye-na, who was caught in reverse, ended up being trapped in Kang Hyeon-u’s arms.

“St-stop…!! You crazy pervert!! Let me go!!”

Kang Hyeon-u was not one to forgive such trivial resistance.

Kang Hyeon-u, who suppressed her resistance by hugging Choi Hye-na in reverse, had a nonchalant expression.

“Don’t cause trouble and faint again. I’ll just throw you outside next time.”

“…L-let me go.”

“Why, are you afraid I’ll touch your boobs again?”

“…Again?”

At that moment, Kang Hyeon-u thought, “Oops.”

“You… how many times did you… while I was sleeping?!”

Kang Hyeon-u quietly avoided her gaze and released Choi Hye-na from his arms.

At that sight, Choi Hye-na only wanted to pull out all the hair of that damn pervert, but she endured it with superhuman patience.

It was the last respect for the benefactor who saved her life.

“…By the way, where did this tent and blanket come from?”

“It’s a secret.”

He had no intention of telling Choi Hye-na, who was not his matching partner, about the app.

Choi Hye-na turned her head away as if she had no intention of asking deeply.

It was unexpected.

Since magicians were all crazy about curiosity, he thought Choi Hye-na would persistently dig into it.

It was surprisingly showing the minimum courtesy. It didn’t seem like they were in a position to be formal anymore.

‘By the way, she was talking strangely in her sleep earlier.’

It was shocking to see Choi Hye-na constantly looking for her father and shedding tears.

He thought she was as strong as Cheon Yeo-hwa.

But he understood.

He felt a strange sense of kinship with Choi Hye-na, whose face was covered in cold sweat as if she was suffering from a terrible nightmare, not just a simple dream.

When I was young, I often woke up from dreams where my parents appeared and screamed at me.

Every time that happened, the nun comforted me all night and made me feel safe so I could sleep comfortably.

I didn’t realize how grateful I was at the time.

Come to think of it, I thought I would visit the nun when I returned to Earth, but I seemed to have forgotten about it.

I vowed to visit her without fail when I escaped from here.

‘Should I eat something now?’

I don’t know exactly, but I guess it’s morning outside.

While I was hugging Choi Hye-na, I also took a nap, and I ran like crazy on the snowfield yesterday, so I was quite hungry.

I calculated how many more days I could survive with the remaining food in my inventory.

Hmm, even if five more people are added here, it should be enough for a week.

“Are you going to eat?”

“No!”

What a temper.

Was it because I said I touched her boobs earlier?

Well, I couldn’t force someone who didn’t want to eat to eat, so I decided to prepare only what I would eat.

It was seafood ramen this morning.

I put a small crab that was being sold at a discount at the mart into boiling water with ramen soup and noodles.

Even though the lid was closed, the ramen smell that stimulated my appetite quickly filled the cave.

Apart from that, I had a lot of concerns about the future plan.

‘…First, I need to know what kind of mana beasts live in the gate.’

I wanted to endure in the cave for a week and then escape, but the situation wouldn’t be that easy.

Even if the gate boss didn’t move because he was guarding the core, if a mid-boss level mana beast appeared, this place would be just a small prison with no place to retreat.

It was right to scout around at least.

I wouldn’t have to worry so much if I knew the gate’s grade.

Grumble-

“Huh?”

As my head was filled with complicated thoughts, my gaze turned to Choi Hye-na, who was sitting with her back turned, at the familiar sound I heard from somewhere.

I couldn’t see her face, but her earlobes, which were as red as her hair, seemed to show Choi Hye-na’s expression.

“Are you hungry?”

“…Whatever.”

“Don’t be stubborn and come eat.”

If she collapsed from hunger later, I’d have to carry her again.

I would definitely want to abandon her then.

“So come and eat.”

“…”

Choi Hye-na, who sat in front of the pot as if crawling, had a face that was, as expected, as red as if it would burst at any moment.

“…But where are the chopsticks?”

“Before that, I think we need to sort out our titles.”

“What…?”

Looking at Choi Hye-na, I suddenly remembered what happened at the blind date.

How dare she ruin my precious first experience?

“Call me ‘honey’.”