Chapter 48

Chapter 48

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

Episode 48: Gate (13)

My parents were good people.

They even sacrificed themselves to save me during that war. However, despite their sacrifice, I had few memories of them.

Since they passed away when I was five, it was only natural that I remembered less than I didn’t.

Still, the fact that I couldn’t even recall their faces sometimes tormented me.

Of course, I wasn’t the only unfortunate one.

Losing parents overnight and becoming an orphan was commonplace in those days.

There was even talk of East Asia collapsing entirely, so a small peninsular nation couldn’t afford to take care of orphaned children.

-Oh, are you alright?

If I hadn’t met the head nun then, I would have died on the cold streets like the other children.

In those days when the country couldn’t provide any support to orphanages, ours was overflowing with children who had lost their parents in the war.

The nuns farmed until their hands were blistered and burst to feed us, and begged for donations everywhere.

Despite their hardships, they always smiled warmly at us, a sight I never forgot.

I had always vowed to repay their kindness when I succeeded.

‘Yes, I must visit her first when I get out of this gate.’

Unlike my parents, whose faces I couldn’t recall even by racking my brain, the head nun, who came to mind relatively clearly, was always smiling brightly at me.

Sometimes sternly, sometimes kindly, she loved us as if we were her own.

How would she react if she heard I died in the gate?

At that thought, I felt a hammer blow to my head, and the head nun’s face vanished.

“…Huh?!”

And I returned to reality.

Here, where everything was covered in white snow.

Thankfully, Choi Hye-na was unconscious in my arms.

“Haa…”

Thanks to the barrier I hastily erected just before being engulfed by the avalanche, we weren’t buried alive.

It consumed a lot of mana, but being alive was what mattered now.

Frankly, the avalanche’s force was so intense that I wasn’t sure we’d survive. And if the Ice Golem had attacked us directly, the barrier would have been useless.

I didn’t know what whim it had, but it was a close call.

‘Is Choi Hye-na okay?’

Thankfully, she was breathing evenly, so she seemed only unconscious.

‘What do I do now…’

I took out my phone to check the time. It was designed to work inside the gate, so checking the time was possible.

About two hours were left until the gate opened. The time we were unconscious wasn’t as long as I thought.

“Whew…”

Surviving that catastrophic avalanche and being left alone by the Ice Golem were nothing short of miracles, but many problems remained.

The Ice Golem was on a different level from any monster we had faced.

Its enormous size, crushing pressure, and the feeling of utter helplessness.

I couldn’t think of any way to deal with it.

Even if we escaped and ran to where the gate opened, many monsters would be heading there.

Even if we avoided them all, could we withstand the Ice Golem’s attack?

Boss monsters typically leave the gate after all other monsters, but I doubted it would let us out, treating us as monsters.

“Hey, Choi Hye-na!”

My head was a mess, but I decided to wake Choi Hye-na first. Time was short.

“…Ugh.”

Thankfully, she soon stirred and opened her eyes with a faint groan.

“W-where is this…”

“Did you sleep well?”

“…Ah.”

Choi Hye-na looked around and then at me, finally understanding our situation.

“…Thank you.”

She thanked me for protecting her during the chaos.

“Are you starting to respect your future husband?”

“Shut up.”

“A feisty wife is good too.”

After exchanging a few unfiltered words, we looked at each other and laughed like idiots.

The tension seemed to ease.

“What do we do now?”

“What do you mean? We have to get out of here.”

I was starting to feel the strain of maintaining the barrier.

And there wasn’t much time left until the gate opened.

Even running in a straight line would take over an hour, and avoiding monsters would make it two hours at best.

We would encounter monsters along the way, and I doubted the Ice Golem would stay still.

“…Hey.”

Then, Choi Hye-na called me cautiously, her voice sounding uneasy.

“What?”

“Can we get out of here alive…?”

Her uncharacteristic weakness made me chuckle.

‘Come to think of it, it hasn’t even been a week since we met.’

Our first meeting was the worst.

A rich man’s daughter and me, excited about a blind date, and Choi Hye-na, treating me like a beggar.

Honestly, if we had parted ways without incident that day, we would have never met again. Or we would have become bitter enemies.

But we got caught in an isolated gate, and now we had done everything together.

People say you couldn’t predict the future, but was this too eventful?

I hugged the trembling Choi Hye-na tightly.

“No matter what, I’ll make sure you get out, so don’t worry.”

“…”

If necessary, I could use matching.

It would take time, but I could get strong enough to escape on my own and survive the firepower outside.

I didn’t know how many matches it would take, but I was better off than Choi Hye-na, who didn’t have spare lives.

Thump!

Escaping from under the snow, we quickly surveyed the surroundings.

Thankfully, there were no signs of monsters nearby.

We ran towards the gate, taking the roughest path as planned.

Going straight was the fastest route, but after seeing the monster horde on the hill yesterday, we couldn’t risk it.

And the massive Ice Golem was nowhere to be seen.

Better safe than sorry.

Running on the snow was tough, but we had learned some tricks over the past few days, so it wasn’t impossible.

Of course, Choi Hye-na, not being physically fit, struggled, but we couldn’t afford to rest.

Resting was a luxury if we wanted to survive.

After running for a while, we hadn’t encountered a single monster, which was strange.

Instead of relief, an unsettling feeling lingered in my heart.

Normally, we would have encountered at least three or four monsters.

‘Is it because it’s the gate break day?’

That was possible, but nothing was certain.

For now, I could only suppress my unease and keep moving forward.

Despite my resolve, the unease lingered. I fiddled with the sword hilt at my waist, trying to ignore it.

“Kang Hyeon-u! 11 o’clock on the left!”

“?!”

In the brief moment I looked away, I sensed a monster nearby.

The monster, having noticed us, was rushing towards us at an alarming speed.

Kwaang!

The monster, barreling through the trees, was a C-class monster, the Snow Caribou, a massive deer-like creature.

“Choi Hye-na! Conserve your mana!”

I shouted at Choi Hye-na, who was preparing a spell.

Unlike me, she took a long time to recover mana.

To prepare for what lay ahead, I had to deal with it alone.

The sword, swiftly drawn from its sheath, emitted a shimmering blue light.

The mana-enhanced sword gained far greater cutting power, and my mana-enhanced body allowed me to close the distance to the Snow Caribou in an instant.

Surprised by my unexpected speed, it swung its massive antlers at me, but my combat experience from living here made it less threatening.

Seogeok, with a single strike, I severed its antlers and unleashed my prepared spell.

[Flame Circle]

Engulfed in the close-range explosion, the Snow Caribou had half its head blown off and collapsed, never to rise again.

Despite quickly dispatching the C-class monster, I wasn’t satisfied.

The monsters I dealt with in the underground dungeon were D+, which, considering they were elites, was about C-.

The Snow Caribou was half a grade higher.

Of course, grade wasn’t absolute in monster strength, but if I had learned some swordsmanship from that beast-woman who used sword aura…

‘…I wouldn’t have needed magic.’

Even as I rushed onward, I couldn’t shake the feeling of regret for not finishing it with the first strike.

If I had stepped a little further?

If I had extended my arm a little more?

I couldn’t help but feel it was a shame.

Once I got out, I vowed to visit the head nun and then immediately go to a swordsmanship dojo.

With proper swordsmanship, I was sure I could easily defeat the monster blocking the way to the second floor of the underground dungeon.

Lost in thought, we reached the hill near the starting point where we first arrived in the gate.

About 20 minutes were left until the gate opened. We arrived with some time to spare, having encountered only one monster.

However.

“…Hey, Kang Hyeon-u.”

“…Damn.”

The area around where the gate was supposed to open was swarming with an enormous number of monsters.

Easily over 100, maybe even 200.

And in the mountains a little further away, the Ice Golem was situated.

Even sitting, it was as huge as a small mountain.

Its size, comparable to a high-rise building, made my hands tremble again.

But this was also an opportunity.

It was quite far from the gate.

A rare piece of good news in this dire situation. Being so large, it would be slow, meaning it wouldn’t interfere with our escape.

We just had to watch out for ranged attacks, which was definitely good news.

Choi Hye-na, realizing this, showed a glimmer of hope in her anxious expression.

“Choi Hye-na.”

This was the most crucial moment.

“See where the monsters are looking? We’re going to run towards there.”

There was a spot where the monsters were all looking, like an audience watching a movie.

“Don’t worry about the time. We have to run at full speed to make it.”

Choi Hye-na swallowed hard.

I understood. I was nervous too.

“Don’t be nervous.”

“…I’m not nervous.”

Yeah, sure. She was wiping away cold sweat.

“I told you, I’ll get you out of here no matter what.”

It wasn’t something to say to someone I’d known for less than a week.

It was just a common platitude, but Choi Hye-na was grateful.

Her pounding heart calmed down.

Covered in various support spells, we ran down the hill simultaneously.

The small movement stirred some of the monsters, but we ignored them.

The only important thing was to get through the gate before it opened.

But breaking through the monster horde was easier said than done.

White Yetis, Ice Bears, White Wolves, and other monsters we had never seen charged at us.

-Kuaaaaah!!!

Thump!

A massive paw swung at us.

With no time to hunt leisurely, we had to dodge like clowns.

Thankfully, because there were so many monsters, they often hit each other.

Some even started fighting among themselves.

It was somewhat hopeful, but Choi Hye-na was falling behind.

I had no choice but to grab her and carry her after dodging an attack.

“…Sorry.”

“If you have time to apologize, cast support spells.”

The mana-draining support spells made me faster and stronger.

Carrying Choi Hye-na wasn’t a problem.

“7 o’clock on the left!”

Choi Hye-na used magic to fend off monsters and cover my blind spots.

I could focus on running forward.

The escape plan was smoother than expected.

Even though we were in a horde of over 100 monsters, fewer attacked us than I thought.

Or so I thought.

“Behind you!”

At Choi Hye-na’s urgent shout, I looked back.

“?!”

A massive rock was flying towards us.

I had no choice but to run away from the gate.

Kwaaaang!!!

The rock slammed into the ground.

Many monsters were killed, and we were thrown backward by the impact.

Thankfully, we weren’t seriously injured. But we were back at the starting line.

We didn’t have the stamina, mana, or time to run again.

And to make matters worse, the gate was opening.

Much earlier than expected.

‘…Too far.’

Even in a straight line, it would take five minutes.

The monsters would get out first.

I had no choice but to use my last resort.

I ran towards the rock thrown by the Ice Golem.

I only had one chance.

I enhanced my legs with mana and jumped onto the rock.

Quickly, I jumped to a height beyond the monsters’ reach, and the direct path to the gate was clear.

“Shield!”

At my command, Choi Hye-na immediately cast a shield around us.

Confirming this, I threw Choi Hye-na upward.

“Kyaaak?!”

I gathered all my remaining mana in my right hand and launched the shield forward.

Thump!!

“K-Kang Hyeon-u?!”

She was still panicking as she flew.

“Go first.”

Choi Hye-na flew over the monsters.

Some monsters jumped to attack, but they were too slow and too short.

“I’ll follow soon.”

“…?!! …!!”

Choi Hye-na made it through the gate before the other monsters.

I thought she shouted something, but I couldn’t hear her.

After sending her off, I landed on the ground, exhausted from using most of my mana.

-Keureureu…

The monsters, having missed their prey, glared at me.

The suffocating pressure made my legs weak.

With no way to predict when they would attack, I had only one option.

[Rematch with Iris Remeria Bayart Pelledia?]

[Y/N]

Just as a tiger-like monster was about to slash me with its claws, I tried to press the match button.

But it was in vain.

Because I was dead?

No.

“Staying back alone to save the woman you love.”

A woman with gray hair appeared from the gate, and the tiger-like monster’s head was severed.

It was a face I had seen on the news.

The youngest tower master of the illustrious 12 Magic Towers, and the youngest 7th circle mage.

“A romantic, aren’t you?”

It was Han Ra-el.