Chapter 30 : Gate Outbreak: Seoul

Ku gu gu gung—

With the screams of the people, a tremendous roar echoed.

A gate had appeared right in the middle of Seoul.

It was something impossible.

There had never been a single case anywhere in the world where a gate suddenly appeared after being completely invisible just moments ago.

Ogres and goblins poured out.

The people panicked and scattered in all directions.

This is no time for hesitation.

Quickly, let’s bring the Samhyungje.

“I’ll go right away.”

“Yes. I’ll get ready too.”

I nodded at Seolha as our eyes met.

Hurriedly, we entered the tower.

Calling the Samhyungje who were resting, we immediately stepped outside.

So far, there had been no large-scale accidents.

The number of monsters rushing out was quite high, but there didn’t appear to be any casualties.

Then, the first to fly up was Bbyak.

Spreading his crimson wings wide, he soared high into the sky.

Bbyak!

A red flame surrounded the area.

It blocked the ominous energy leaking from the gate.

Next came Toto’s attack.

Pachi pachi!

With yellow lightning bolts, he pierced through the monsters, instantly turning them into shredded remains.

Not to be outdone, Somi, who had climbed onto my shoulder, took something out.

A state-of-the-art rifle.

It was the invention she had been working hard on lately.

She wouldn’t lose to her older brother and younger brother.

With her eyes narrowed sharply, Somi unleashed a hail of bullets from the rifle.

Dudududu.

Red flares burst from the magazines in both her hands, taking down dozens of goblins.

But the number of monsters pouring out was too overwhelming.

Eventually, a goblin that slipped out of the newly formed gate pounced on a young woman.

“Get off!”

A scream pierced the air.

At that moment, a blue goredrim flew like an arrow, smashing the goblin’s head.

“Hurry and defend!”

Seolha shouted as she pulled out her magic staff.

How was she able to use skills outside the tower?

Anyway, that wasn’t the important part.

“Seolha, protect the people.”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

As expected from Korea’s number one ranked player.

With a confident expression, she swung her staff, sending dozens of goredrim flying.

There was no way a mere goblin could match Seolha.

Especially while wearing the Flower Bracer.

Although it was difficult to defend the gate itself, protecting the surrounding people was no problem.

Still, the numbers were insufficient.

Even if we were in chaos, it was impossible to cover everyone fleeing in panic — the area was just too vast.

There was no choice.

Let’s divide roles.

“Bbyak and Somi, protect the people.”

“Bbyak!”

“Bbiee!”

Bbyak and Somi nodded.

Bbyak, carrying Somi on his back, soared high into the sky.

Flare—

Bbyak fired flames that swept through a wide range of monsters, while the few that escaped were taken down by Seolha and Somi.

Dududu.

Paf—

Before long, the area was stained with blood.

But it wasn’t over yet.

We had to close the gates.

Suddenly, five gates appeared.

We had to attack as fast as possible.

“Toto, ready?”

Pachi pachi!

Toto, the lightning squirrel boasting the fastest speed among us, had no other choice.

While Bbyak and Somi bought us time, we had to close the gates.

With yellow sparks, we charged toward the gates.

I followed behind.

A swarm of hundreds of goblins gathered by the golden-colored gates.

A difficulty level that only an S-rank player could defend solo.

But for Toto, it was a piece of cake.

With lightning-fast movements, he scorched the surroundings to ashes.

In an instant, one gate was shut.

Then, one by one, the others were closed.

Five minutes.

That was the time it took to defend all the gates.

Only after successfully defending the last remaining ogre legion gate could we finally breathe a sigh of relief.

That was when Seolha came running from afar.

“W-Woo min.”

She looked quite exhausted as well.

Well, she had used a lot of magic — more than usual.

“I’m fine. How about you, Seolha?”

“I’m okay too. Thanks to you, we defended the gates without any casualties.”

Seolha let out a sigh of relief.

“By the way, what about your skills? Can you use them outside now?”

“Oh, I was just about to tell you today. After clearing the 50th floor, we can use our abilities for one hour each day.”

Somehow, it felt strange.

It was the reward for climbing the 50th floor.

Only then did the pieces start to fall into place.

Association officials who arrived late hurried to clean up the area.

Someone familiar was approaching in the distance.

It was Seo Rin.

“W-Woo min.”

She looked around cautiously.

Then grabbed my wrist and dragged me to a secluded spot.

“I prepared a car back there. Hurry and get in and leave.”

“Oh.”

Now that I thought about it, I was supposed to be hiding my identity.

But it was already too late.

“There they are! Chase them!”

Reporters had gathered, chasing after us with fierce determination.

This was a special scoop.

An exclusive, exclusive, exclusive scoop.

Seolha’s performance?

Of course, it was huge.

Watching her use skills that were supposed to be limited to inside the tower or gates, freely protecting citizens outside was like seeing a hero from a movie.

Click clack click clack—

Flashing cameras poured down.

All eyes were focused on us.

“Seolha player, may I ask a question?”

“Is that red bird on your shoulder a magic beast?”

“How were you able to use skills outside now?”

“What’s the name of the red bird? Is it the legendary Phoenix of the Black Time?”

The subject of all the questions was Bbyak.

People focused their spotlight on Bbyak and Seolha.

I should have known this would reveal our identities.

But something felt awkward.

I moved a lot too.

Of course, compared to Bbyak, I was almost invisible.

Most of the time, I was inside the gate.

Toto was the same.

He moved alongside me.

And Somi?

With her small frame, it was understandable she’d be on top of Bbyak.

Still, it felt a little lonely.

It was like nobody noticed my efforts.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Seorin led me away.

Then she bowed her head deeply, conveying thanks on behalf of everyone.

“Thanks to Woo min, there were no casualties. The Association will definitely reward you.”

Hiding my identity felt this lonely.

Should I just reveal it all?

That I was an SSS-rank player?

No.

Hold on.

There’s still a lot to do.

I have to find those threatening my people behind the scenes, and I don’t want to cause unnecessary suspicion.

Yeah.

Even if the masses don’t know, the people who truly matter do.

That’s enough.

For now, let’s go back to Pyeongya.

At least I can boast to our bunnies and the two dudermoles.

***

“I found it! Finally found it!”

Yamamoto Takehiko clenched his fists tightly as he looked at the newspaper in his private library.

His voice was filled with joy.

He had finally found the baby Phoenix he had been hunting.

The gate collapse incident in Korea.

Behind it was the Seryu Group.

They had used a newly developed drug.

A gate runaway acceleration liquid made using massive amounts of magic stones.

Just a single drop could accelerate the existing collapse phenomenon by more than five times.

They sprayed the entire bottle in downtown Seoul.

Naturally, there was no time to prepare, and the gates went berserk, flooding monsters out.

The so-called bloody funeral was simply a massacre of countless victims.

The insignificant lives of Chosun people meant nothing to them.

However, the sudden appearance of the number one ranked player and the red bird ruined everything.

Not a single casualty occurred.

Still, Takehiko was overjoyed.

He had finally found it.

Another divine Shinsu that could hatch the Blue Dragon’s egg — the Phoenix.

The baby Phoenix that Korea had lost track of had suddenly revealed itself.

And it was with the number one ranked player.

“Mitsuru, you left me a final gift.”

Takehiko whispered softly.

With the Blue Dragon’s hatching, the coming new world was near.

***

Player Association U.S. branch located in New York.

Today, James, dressed in his blue suit, shouted with excitement as he worked.

The gate runaway phenomenon in Korea.

The red bird had appeared there.

“As expected, it was in Korea!”

He was confident his intuition had been correct.

How could he forget the Flower Bracer of the Phoenix he had seen before?

He was certain the owner of that item was an SSS-rank player.

Still, there was a reason he pretended not to know.

He didn’t trust the Association at present.

Something ugly was happening somewhere unknown.

So he decided to trust and wait for Dohyun.

He believed that someday, together with an SSS-rank player, they would save the world.

And now, it had appeared!

Alongside the former number one ranked player, Seolha.

The bird on her shoulder was definitely a Phoenix.

They must have plucked its feathers to make the item.

Pieces inside his head started to click into place perfectly.

Because of this, the secret magic beast breeding program would be temporarily suspended.

Now that the Phoenix had appeared, who would care about the mediocre magic beasts they were raising before?

They would do anything to reclaim the Phoenix.

It was dangerous.

But crisis was opportunity.

It was a chance to wipe out the crazy fools dreaming of a new world by using magic beasts!

That was when it happened.

Ding—

A message arrived on James’s phone.

– Trail found. Suspicious activity detected in Japan and China.

“Here it comes.”

His blue pupils flickered.

He had finally found their trail.

***

Shanghai, China.

People hiding their identities behind masks sat side by side watching a screen.

On the screen appeared the images of Seolha and Bbyak.

“We finally found it. A Grade S magic beast.”

A man with a distorted voice spoke in a low tone.

The screen shifted.

It was filled with photos of countless magic beasts sacrificed so far.

Starting from those captured at gates, subjected to forced breeding, body part modifications, drug experiments — they were all magic beasts tamed through inhumane methods.

“Among about 27 tests conducted so far, the only successful taming method was using the orb.”

The screen changed again.

“But the creatures in the photos don’t appear infected with the orb. However, what’s certain is that the real master is someone else.”

He knew much more than they thought.

“Judging by the Phoenix’s gaze and behavior, we believe the true master was nearby, and we are currently collecting all satellite images and nearby ‘007’ data. But unknown interference has damaged all remaining data.”

When his presentation ended, a man sitting at the back spoke.

“How do we capture it?”

“We’re leaking information to the Japanese Seryu Group. If it’s Takehiko, he will definitely make a move. If he succeeds in acquiring the Phoenix, he plans to swallow the company using an embedded spy.”

“I see.”

The masked man nodded slightly.

They had cooperated with the Seryu Group once before.

Takehiko was obsessed with the divine Shinsu, but since he controlled much of Japan’s economy, he wasn’t a bad pawn to use.

If he succeeded, they could intercept him in the middle. If he failed, no losses.

They just had to step back and look for other methods.

“Proceed.”

“Understood.”

At his words, all the officials present stood and bowed.

A new dark force was emerging.

The world was increasingly slipping into chaos.