Chapter 1: Going to Work Even When the Gate Opens (1)

The painfully white fluorescent lights of the Heo Boo Room shone down on the Monster’s corpse.

Researchers at the Research Institute bustled about.

I checked my Gas Mask strapped to my face once again.

This was the Heo Boo Room of the Supernatural Science Research Institute.

Day 14 of the Gate Incident.

“Dissection subject. Temporary name: Tentacle Dragon. Specimen No. 12 of Gate No. 3. Chief Researcher Lee Han.”

“Confirmed.”

“We’ll now begin the dissection.”

My fellow researchers solemnly nodded their heads.

The subject was a Monster that had appeared from Gate No. 3.

Those who first encountered the Monster on-site had provisionally named it Tentacle Dragon.

Even though rigor mortis had set in, the Monster’s dreadful tentacles were still twitching.

The sunken eyeballs in the Monster’s body seemed to stare right at me.

“There’s a risk the Monster might regenerate. First, let’s separate the head from the specimen.”

I figured it’d be best to start cutting quickly, and with that thought, I picked up the saw and began opening the Monster’s carcass.

“This reminds me of the time I dissected a shark as a Graduate Student. That was one odd research project.”

“These days, even Graduate Students dissect sharks?”

There’s nothing Graduate Students don’t do.

If it’s needed for research, we do it.

Ryoo, standing beside me, poked at one of the Monster’s many subtly twitching eyeballs with his finger, and the eyeball instantly shrank back.

Its nerves were still alive.

I hesitated for a moment.

If I used an electromyogram, I could check how much of its muscle was still alive, and see how autonomous the eyeballs still were.

“Looks like a bird-type eye. In vertebrates, the eye is directly connected to the brain with a short nerve, but with this many eyes… how does this guy process all that information? Wouldn’t it take too long for visual data from all these eyes to reach the brain?”

Makes sense.

The speed of nerve transmission is slow, so any info from eyes on the body would take quite a while to reach the brain.

Human brains distinguish between central and peripheral vision, processing each at different resolutions. If the same logic applies…

This Monster probably processes information from the main eye on its head differently from the eyes attached to its tentacles and body—

[Seeker’s Trait Activation.]

[You have dissected an Aspect Dragon.]

[Seeker Stat +20.]

[20/400 until Enlightenment Stage 4.]

I shook my head.

A system window, musings on Monster physiology—it’s all well and good, but…

“I believe there’s probably a separate nerve ganglion for information processing outside the brain, concentrated in the body part where the eyes cluster.”

“Ooh. As expected of you, Doctor.”

“Dr. Ryoo, could you help with the sawing?”

Fourteen days ago, all of this began.

The day I returned to the past.

The day the Research Institute was attacked. The day Seoul fell. The day I died. The second time I witnessed the Gate open for the very first time.

And the day I got my second chance.

***

– Research Institute under attack. Evacuate to the designated location immediately.

– This is not a drill. Evacuate now.

I sprinted down the Research Institute corridor, Monster Rifle in hand. What kind of disaster was this?

People called us Hunters, but honestly, I felt like I spent more time being hunted than hunting.

“Ah, I should’ve called in sick today.”

Today was day 1,500 of the Gate Incident.

Seoul was on the verge of fiery destruction, my Research Institute was under attack, and I was on the run.

I almost missed my days as a Graduate Student.

– Multiple intruders detected.

– Containment failure risk imminent.

I should’ve just stayed home instead of trying to earn money and ending up in this mess.

“This should be enough to lure them…”

I had to draw the enemy as far as possible into the underground Containment Area.

Only then could I deal with them all at once.

“Ming!”

My last remaining Summoned Beast, Ming Ming, cried out and led the way.

My Summoned Beast was finding our escape route.

A small, white dragon the size of a puppy.

During combat, it was quite fierce, but usually, it was hardly any different from an ordinary pet dog.

“Shh, we’re being chased, so let’s be quiet.”

Even now, it glanced at me with anxious puppy eyes, as if scolded moments before.

Before the Incident, I was a Scientist working at the Supernatural Science Research Institute, a place that investigated phenomena beyond the natural order.

My name was Lee Han. Everyone called me Dr. Lee.

Before the Incident, the Institute wasn’t exactly swamped with work.

Supernatural phenomena were pretty rare. Even at the Institute, you’d be lucky to see one once a year.

If only things had stayed peaceful like that forever…

But one day, Gates opened all over the world, and beings from another world began to pour through.

The Gate Incident.

Research and response to the Incident became the Institute’s top priority.

Soon after the Gates opened, people with supernatural abilities or Traits began to appear.

I was one of them.

An Awakened, and the only government official with direct experience of Gates and supernatural phenomena.

“So I ended up taking on all the responsibility.”

I never wanted to become the youngest Institute Director like this.

The system assigned me two Traits: ‘Summoner’ and ‘Seeker.’

The ability to research things from another world, and to control beings from the other world based on understanding them.

We dissected Monsters that emerged from the Gates, analyzed the composition of their blood and tissues, and, after containing the Monsters, observed their behavior.

The biggest problem was this.

“Terraforming.”

The reason Monsters crossed into our world was to change its properties and take it over.

We had to stop them before they could get a foothold on Earth.

“Ming.”

Still, if there was one hope left, it was that my Summoned Beast was still alive, even now.

The enemy was approaching.

A group of Awakened that attacked the Institute.

They believed the Gates gave them power, and that it was natural for the Gates to seize the world.

Those who betrayed humanity. The Gate Worshippers.

A kind of apocalyptic cult.

They were actually working to bring about the end of human civilization, so in a way, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

There had to be dozens of intruders in the facility today alone. Maybe even over a hundred.

“If I’m going out, I’ll make sure they regret it.”

They would regret ever setting foot in my Research Institute.

Because I was the Chief Researcher here, and this entire facility was my domain.

This was the Monster Containment Area of the Institute.

My plan was simple.

Once the enemy Awakened entered the Containment Area, I’d open the Containment Rooms and unleash the Monsters to kill them all.

It was a last resort, but given the situation, there were probably no other options left.

First, secure the high ground.

I climbed onto the Quark above the Containment Area and surveyed the area.

Soon enough, several armed Awakened entered.

I aimed the Monster Rifle at the biggest one.

A sniper rifle fitted with a Gauss Coil, developed by the Institute to combat large Monsters.

The pinnacle of Magic Engineering and modern technology.

I didn’t know how tough these Awakened were, but if I hit them, they wouldn’t be walking anywhere.

Bang!

The biggest one in the group fell helplessly.

Without pausing, I squeezed the trigger again.

Before they could react, four of them went down.

Ming Ming growled at the enemies, but I placed my hand on his head to hold him back.

“Not yet, Ming Ming. This isn’t your time.”

I had to make sure the Summoned Beast wouldn’t get hurt unless there was no other choice. Ming Ming was my last trump card.

And my last remaining companion.

Reloading the Monster Rifle, I moved from my position.

Unless the enemy was a fool, they must have seen the muzzle flash and heard the gunshots.

From my new vantage point, I looked down at the Containment Area again.

Dozens of enemies were converging on the Containment Area from three directions. All Awakened, all armed.

“Looks like they plan to surround and catch me.”

Keep moving.

That was all I could do now.

“The target is above us!”

“He can’t have gone far!”

Voices of pursuers began to echo from behind.

I had to widen the distance.

I dashed across the Quark.

Most of the enemy were low-level Awakened.

As long as I avoided being surrounded, I could handle their numbers.

“Still, surviving will be tough.”

Bang!

Another one fell, and I paused for a moment.

“From here, I can see the Containment Pipes, so if I destroy the coolant pipes…”

Crash—!

With the butt of my gun, I smashed a coolant pipe, and white steam and liquid began to spill out.

I threw on the Artifact I recovered in a previous battle—the Chameleon Cloak—and leapt down into the Containment Area corridor.

Just like humanity suffered before…

“I’ll use fear.”

One of the Awakened searching the corridor heard my footsteps and looked around, but thanks to the steam and my Cloak, they couldn’t find me.

Bang!

A Traitor’s brains decorated the wall.

As another Traitor in the group looked this way, Ming Ming charged in from behind and bit his neck.

There was no time to linger.

I ran toward the center of the Containment Area.

Another Awakened blocked my way.

“Their leader is here!”

I hid in the mist and aimed my gun again.

Two more fell, but something faster than my reaction time lunged at me. I—

I managed to avoid a fatal blow, but was sent flying backward, my rifle knocked far away.

A speed even Awakened reflexes couldn’t follow.

This wasn’t a low-level Awakened.

Ming Ming growled at the black figure.

“So you’re the one—leader of these Scientists.”

It looked down at me.

“The Monster Summoner. Finally, we meet. I see you’ve been researching and raising Monsters here, in this accursed Institute.”

It was something slightly too large to be human, wearing a Black Mask.

Unfortunately, I knew exactly who this was.

A Fifth-Rank Awakened, the King of the Gate Worshippers.

It felt strange to give him a fancy title, so the Institute simply called him Bat-1.

The Black Mask walked toward me, slowly.

“You made things much harder, you know that? If it weren’t for you, we could have built a world at the Gate’s center long ago.”

His sword tip pointed at me.

“It’s all over. You’re surrounded, your Institute and your allies are all dead. There’s nothing left for you to do.”

If we’d properly researched and stopped the Gates from the beginning, we could’ve eliminated these vermin without a trace.

“No, there’s still one thing left I can do.”

I reached into my lab coat pocket and pressed a switch.

WEE-OO—WEE-OO—.

The siren blared through the Containment Area.

The Mask looked around in confusion.

“What did you do?”

Instead of replying, I flashed a sly grin at the Mask.

He was right—my allies were all dead, or unable to help me. But there was one thing he didn’t know.

That the Containment Area of the Institute held countless Monsters, some of them truly horrific.

– Containment Room No. 1.

– All Containment Rooms released.

– Containment Room No. 1 sealed.

Containment released.

The warning siren continued to wail.

All the partitions in the Containment Area had just opened, and the area itself was sealed. No one could leave alive now.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

With heavy sounds, the doors of the Containment Area opened one by one.

An ominous chorus of dozens of Monsters, suddenly freed, began to rise. Accompanied by the screams of the enemy Hunters.

“Let’s all die together, you bastards.”

“Damn it.”

No sooner had I spoken than the Mask lunged at me.

But Ming Ming leapt in at the perfect moment, managing to knock him away.

Ming Ming, now badly wounded, glared at the Mask with heightened ferocity.

But… my Summoned Beast had accomplished its purpose.

Startled by the movement of a massive creature, the Mask turned just in time to be grabbed and lifted into the air by a tentacle.

A Monster from Containment Room No. 1.

Takoyaki.

“So all those night patrols paid off after all.”

Maybe because he was being whipped around, the Mask cracked, and the face of the King of the Gate Worshippers was finally revealed.

His face was shockingly ordinary.

“You coward—”

The Monster twisted, and Bat-1’s words were cut off by the sound of breaking bones.

Before long, blood and bodily fluids poured onto the ground like a squeezed wet rag.

The King of the Gate Worshippers died a meaningless death.

Isn’t this what those bastards wanted? Since they’re Gate Worshippers, now they could befriend as many otherworldly beings as they liked.

As the tension left me, I slumped to the floor, red blood gradually staining the ground.

“So it’s my blood…”

When did I get hurt? When I was knocked away before?

Ming Ming ran up to me.

“Run, quickly.”

Ming Ming didn’t listen.

If I were alone, maybe I could escape.

In the distance, I saw enemy Hunters and contained Monsters rampaging throughout the Containment Area.

No matter how I looked at it, I didn’t see a way out alive.

From all around came the screams of enemy Awakened and the heavy footsteps of Monsters.

Still sitting, I closed my eyes.

This is where it ends for me.

“Ming…”

“I hope you don’t die.”

Since I’m wishing, I might as well go all out.

I wished the burning city could be restored, and the last bastion, the Institute, could be saved.

My fellow researchers who died fighting the Gate, the Hunters who battled at my side. Countless people flashed behind my closed eyes.

If I got another chance…

I wanted to prevent the tragedy myself.

My eyelids felt so heavy.

But I could still feel warmth beside me, so it seemed Ming Ming never left my side.

Soon, I heard many footsteps around me.

Strangely, they didn’t sound human.

Ah, the Monsters must have arrived already.

***

I thought dying wouldn’t hurt, but why did it still ache so much?

With that thought, I forced my heavy eyelids open.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar bed.

For a moment, I tried to remember where this was.

Here…

My old home?

“Ming!”

My Summoned Beast’s sky-blue eyes looked at me.

I stroked my head.

Ming Ming looked purely delighted that I was alive.

Bzz—

A phone alarm made me frown again.

It was the Disaster Alert.

“The Government collapsed, but they still send texts…”

– An abnormal phenomenon has occurred at Night Island, Seoul. The authorities cannot yet comment on the identity of the phenomenon.

– If you witness the abnormal phenomenon, evacuate immediately and report to the authorities. Do not panic and continue your daily life.

Wait, this…?

It was the same disaster alert I’d received on the very first day of the Gate Incident.