Chapter 12: The Second Research: Machine Church Gate (1)

I sat in my office, deep in thought.

Going to Busan and waiting wasn’t particularly difficult.

But Gate No. 2 was not something I could take so lightly.

In my previous life, Gate No. 2 opened in Busan.

It was just five days after the Gate Incident began.

So, we just needed to pack our gear, take along a few Hunters the Government recruited, and head to Busan in time.

As long as there weren’t any small issues, that is.

How could I convince people to prepare for a Gate opening in Busan before the Gate actually appeared?

If I stretched it, I could say, “Busan is the biggest city after Seoul, so wouldn’t the next Gate open in Busan?”

But I doubted that kind of reasoning would get through.

I wasn’t sure the Army would mobilize to Busan based on such a flimsy argument.

One thing was certain—I needed to be in Busan by the fifth day of the Gate Incident.

I had managed to suppress the Goblins and Orcs to some extent by species.

But the Gate No. 2 that would soon open in Busan was a much harder problem to solve.

Because it produced artificial Monsters created through Magic Engineering.

A Rank 5 Gate spewing out monsters made of Brass and Steel.

Even modern firearms were barely effective, and killing them with a Hunter was by far the most efficient method.

In any case, it was a situation that demanded thorough preparation…

The ringing of my phone snapped me out of my thoughts.

– Doctor Lee. The ostrich egg is moving. You need to come right now. It’s not dangerous, right?

A hasty message from Dr. Min.

A few hours ago, the ostrich…

No, the Monster egg—I had placed it in the incubator and set it to 40 degrees.

I rushed straight to Dr. Min’s laboratory, where the incubator was.

“Hurry up. That thing’s your work, right?”

“Yeah. I didn’t expect it to move this soon.”

Dr. Min was wearing goggles, sitting at a distance.

As soon as I entered the laboratory, Dr. Min tossed me a pair of goggles.

I caught them and put them on my face.

Dr. Min seemed a little wary.

“That thing is from the Otherworld, right?”

“Yes.”

“So… it’s not dangerous, is it? Did you know what it was when you put it in the incubator?”

He was right, so I couldn’t really answer.

“We’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?”

I opened the incubator, and carefully picked up the now-warm egg with both hands.

The surface of the egg was warm, and it was moving slightly.

Dr. Min stepped back a few paces.

Flinch.

The egg started to move, and as if responding to my touch, a crack began to appear slowly.

A single white tooth appeared under the newly formed crack in the shell.

“Dr. Lee Han, do you know what that is?”

“I’ve never seen it before either.”

“Then why did you put it in the incubator when you don’t even know what it is?”

Well, I was curious, wasn’t I?

Tap, tap, tap. The sound of the eggshell cracking, and a pale beak peeked out.

With another series of taps, the Monster egg continued to move.

I gently set the egg down on the workbench.

“Looks like a bird species.”

“It isn’t just a bird. It had a tail.”

Snap!

With a splitting sound, the hatched Monster finally appeared.

“Cheep.”

The Monster that emerged from the egg looked like a newborn chick, its few yellow feathers damp and bedraggled.

It had a snake-like long tail, a bird-like beak, and taloned feet…

“A chick?”

“Seems so.”

I thought for a long moment.

“A snake’s tail and a chicken’s body. Where have I seen that before?”

Dr. Min reached out toward the Monster chick that had broken out of its shell, but I grabbed his arm.

“Let’s not touch it.”

I had remembered what kind of Monster it was.

Basilisk.

Even before my regression, there was one being raised at the Research Institute.

A truly troublesome Monster to manage.

Its deadly poison would melt even the outer walls of the Containment Room, so we had to regularly spray Neutralizer inside.

There’s a way to unsummon it if it’s a Summoned Beast, but still.

“What is it, anyway?”

“Just remembered something. The King of Serpents, Basilisk, has the body of a rooster and a snake’s tail, doesn’t it? So this chick—”

A chick with a snake’s tail. It could very well be a baby Basilisk. A Monster with venom so potent it could turn a forest into a desert. Dr. Min crossed his arms and edged farther away from the weird chick Monster.

“So it is dangerous, isn’t it.”

“Seems so.”

Dr. Min fetched a Gas Mask.

I took out some Dog Food.

Since it looked like a chicken, I decided to name it Honey Combo.

The Basilisk looked around.

“Have you decided on a name?”

“Since it looks like a chicken, Honey Combo.”

What the…

Dr. Min tilted his head.

“Where’d you get the Dog Food?”

“You know, for Hedgewing.”

“Does that one eat dog food?”

I originally bought the Dog Food for Ming Ming.

I scooped some food into a bowl, but the Basilisk chick didn’t even look at it.

It must have a different taste from Ming Ming.

“What’s the problem?”

“Beats me.”

“Ah, come to think of it, there’s that.”

Dr. Min disappeared somewhere and returned holding a translucent plastic container.

“Ah, mealworms.”

Commonly known as animal feed.

Dr. Min tossed a mealworm in front of Honey Combo.

This time, the Monster chick showed some interest.

Honey Combo began eating the insects Dr. Min had given it.

“Good, found its main diet.”

While holding the Basilisk by the scruff, I checked the Status Window again.

[You have discovered a Basilisk.]

[Exploration Value +10. 100/100.]

[You have reached Enlightenment Stage 1.]

[Your Level has increased to 10 due to advancing to a new Enlightenment Stage.]

[Your Summoner Trait has been strengthened due to Enlightenment Stage advancement. The maximum number of Summoned Beasts you can summon at once has increased to two.]

[Your Seeker Trait has been strengthened due to Enlightenment Stage advancement.]

[Your ability to analyze, understand, and create tools related to things from the Otherworld has been enhanced.]

Summoning a high-level Monster is no simple feat.

By pure luck, I discovered the Basilisk and reached Enlightenment at the same time.

This fellow would soon be usable as a Summoned Beast.

“From now on, your name is Honey Combo.”

The Basilisk chick kept looking around.

It might seem small now, but once it grows, it’ll be a truly fearsome Monster.

I held Honey Combo in my hands.

[Would you like to designate this being as a Summoned Beast?]

As I closed my eyes and accepted the swirling energy around me, blue-tinged Mana began to connect me with the Basilisk.

The Monster chick stared at me with a predator’s gaze.

If the Basilisk grew up well, it would become an incredibly powerful Summoned Beast.

It still looked small and cute in chick form, but when faced as an enemy, there was no greater calamity.

Basilisk.

Its mustard gas-like venom, sprayed from its beak, would make the entire operational area inaccessible without a Gas Mask…

***

Day 5 of the Gate Incident.

Busan.

[Safety Alert Message]

According to Earthquake Wave monitoring results, there is a possibility that the next Gate will open in the Busan area. Please be careful on your commute.

– Supernatural Science Research Institute –

A message filled with irony. In many ways.

I was waiting with Ryoo in a research vehicle, while Ryoo scrolled through a Tablet looking bored.

“By the way, Dr. Lee, you’re certain the Gate will open in Busan, right?”

I nodded.

Ryoo sat with his arms folded.

“What’s your reasoning?”

“Busan is the logical next step. Since the attempt in Seoul failed, it makes sense to target the next largest city. It’s a target we need to protect.”

The real reason was that in my previous life, the second Gate did indeed open in Busan. Still, it was fortunate they trusted me and followed along.

“Glad the preparations have been made, at least.”

Just as Ryoo said, several military helicopters were flying around Busan.

Some had landed on the rooftops of tall buildings.

From what I saw on the way, dozens must have been mobilized in Busan alone.

“What did you tell the soldiers?”

“The same thing I told you, Dr. Ryoo.”

“But, did the Government and Army actually buy that explanation? Won’t we look like fools if the Gate doesn’t open in Busan?”

“If it doesn’t, then so be it.”

I adjusted the vehicle’s antenna.

It would open. There was nothing to worry about.

“This is that, right?”

This was the method devised by the Research Institute before my regression.

Back then, it took nearly a month to devise this method and prepare the equipment, but this time I participated directly in the work, so we could use it to locate the second Gate.

“With this, we’ll detect the unique electromagnetic waves the Gate emits. The Research Institute sent out three vehicles, so we can triangulate the Gate’s location right before it appears.”

“Oh, does the electromagnetic anomaly happen before the Gate actually opens? I didn’t know that.”

Strange phenomena start occurring a few minutes before it opens.

I nodded.

Of course, it was possible that the media or social media would report it before we actually arrived.

Now all we could do was wait for the Gate to appear… though I didn’t remember exactly what time it was supposed to show up.

Several hours on stakeout.

“Are you sure it’s opening today?”

“Probably?”

I hadn’t expected the Gate to take this long to appear.

Maybe because there was nothing else to do, Ryoo looked bored and grumbled.

“As we did for the last Gate—check the atmosphere composition, gravitational acceleration, check for any life forms. If the pressure beyond the Gate is higher, we prepare countermeasures.”

There was a lot to do.

Of course, that’s all for after the Gate opens.

We’ll need to collect Monster specimens from the Gate, but unlike with Goblins or Orcs, the situation is different here. With mechanical Monsters, you can’t draw blood or cut out tissue samples. It’s been on my mind.”

“That’s true, but… wait. How did you know mechanical Monsters would come out here?”

“Ming Ming told me that too.”

“What…”

Ryoo let out a deep sigh.

Four hours into the stakeout.

Finally, a hit.

A unique electromagnetic signal from the Gate.

“There!”

Ryoo, half asleep, spilled his Coffee and let out a sharp cry.

“I told you not to bring Coffee.”

I brushed the spilled Coffee off my lap and grabbed the steering wheel again.

“Is it real this time?”

“Yes. Let’s move out.”

“Wait, let me just—my Coffee—”

Triangulation complete.

The Gate was a fifteen-minute drive from here.

I started the engine and immediately hit the gas.

Screeeeech!

With the squeal of tires, we sped off in the direction of the Gate.

Ryoo finished spilling the rest of his Coffee.

“Ugh.”

“This is Supernatural Science Research Institute Team 1. We’ve confirmed the location where the Gate will appear. Moving to the scene now.”

Ryoo sighed beside me.

He seemed to have given up on cleaning the Coffee spill properly.

The exact location of the Gate had been identified.

Several armored vehicles encircled the Gate, and Institute agents began putting up Barriers around the area where the Gate would appear.

A few minutes passed—

A strange light shimmered in the air, followed by a painful, eye-wrenching distortion as if space itself was being torn. A black sphere appeared.