Four full-time researchers of the Supernatural Science Research Institute.
Since the Gate Incident, the world had changed so bizarrely that they’d become some of the most important civil servants in the Nation.
But all four of them were, in their own ways, people with a few screws loose.
I set down the cup I was holding onto the table and looked at Dr. Kang.
While I was making coffee, he said he’d run a few image tests on the Compass.
“Thank you.”
Dr. Kang didn’t even look in my direction, just reached out and took the coffee.
“The Compass.”
“Oh, I checked earlier. That’s not really a Compass, you know. I used the 01 scanner to look inside, and it’s actually a very intricate device, with several rods made of Magic Stone fitted inside.”
“And it’s strangely heavy, too.”
A Compass that finds Monsters.
It was an item I’d never seen before my regression, so I didn’t know much else about it either.
“What’s the principle behind it?”
“I have no idea. But if I’d never learned Maxwell’s Equations, I’d probably have thought that Magic Engineering Railgun you touched earlier was just a weirdly shaped staff, too.”
He had a point.
Because we didn’t understand the core principles behind the Compass, it just looked like some kind of magical trinket.
There had to be something there, though. I was just joking.
“I think I could figure it out if I opened it up. But… I’m afraid to take it apart. Not sure if I could reassemble it afterward.”
At Dr. Kang’s words, I quickly pocketed the Compass.
“That’s fine, then.”
It wouldn’t do to break something that works just fine.
Dr. Kang sipped his coffee with a look of regret.
“Good coffee.”
As a side note, since there were no cafes near the Research Institute, we had to make our own coffee.
We’d received a coffee machine, but there were so many buttons that I was the only one who knew how to use it…
Thanks to that, I learned all four of their distinct coffee preferences.
Dr. Kang preferred a warm Americano with syrup.
“By the way, how is it crossing the Gate?”
“It’s tough. If you wear a gas mask for a long time, you start to get dizzy. I even considered switching to an oxygen tank.”
“I see…”
“Would you like to cross over sometime?”
“No.”
He’d always been that way.
Unlike the other researchers who were fascinated by the unknown, Dr. Kang wasn’t very interested in exploring the Gate. In fact, he seemed a bit scared of it.
That was an entirely normal reaction.
It was me and Dr. Ryoo who were the odd ones.
“Isn’t it dangerous just to get near it? Didn’t someone overturn Dr. Wi’s car not long ago? Those things should be left to the professionals… as much as possible.”
He was right.
“Yes, that’s true.”
“I’m afraid of what I don’t understand. If possible, I don’t want to see it at all. Sorry to Dr. Lee, but…”
He’d been that way before the regression, too.
Which is why Dr. Kang survived for a long time even back then.
It’s wise not to get close to dangerous things.
“I don’t want to get near the Gate.”
“That’s wise of you.”
“Yes. I’ll try re-designing the Railgun.”
Dr. Kang looked visibly more relaxed as he sipped his coffee.
“Right, you’ll be able to make it through.”
You’ve got to stay alive for a long time. Isn’t this still a time when life is bearable? This time, things should go more smoothly.
***
I hurried over to Dr. Wi’s office.
There was something I almost forgot.
As I pushed open the office door, a mountain of paperwork greeted me.
Apparently, she had a lot on her plate, as most of the desk’s surface was buried under paper.
I placed an iced Americano on Dr. Wi’s desk.
She quickly reached out and took the coffee.
The coffee disappeared behind the piles of paper, and Dr. Wi sighed.
“Won’t you sit down?”
I took a seat across from Dr. Wi’s desk.
At least she didn’t look injured anywhere.
Last time, I’d just confirmed she was alive and immediately went off to deal with the Gate…
For a moment, I felt a twinge of guilt.
“Are you all right?”
“I want to go into the Gate, too.”
“Huh?”
This was a bit different from before the regression.
Dr. Wi had barely ever fought before the regression.
She hardly ever left the Hunter Association building, always moving with escorts. What had changed her mind?
“I heard the Saintess—what was her name again?—told Dr. Yeon that the safest place is the front lines.”
“That’s certainly true, in a way.”
Dr. Wi nodded.
“After being attacked this time, I realized… this isn’t something I can avoid or be careful about and expect to stay safe.”
“I understand. I’ll take you.”
“I heard Dr. Lee helped several higher-ranked Awakened grow dramatically by hunting Monsters with them.”
So she wanted to come along and level up herself.
“One day should be enough.”
Dr. Wi’s ability was useful too, so it wasn’t a loss.
“It’s happened a few times before.”
“My thinking has changed. Please take me to the field, too. I want to fight Monsters myself, together with you.”
A new Awakened was always welcome.
The question was, what should I teach her? For now, since Dr. Wi was also an Awakened, she could just level up.
“Dr. Wi, you didn’t receive a weapon during your Awakening, did you?”
“No.”
“Hmm… In that case, I’ll lend you the Hunter Rifle I used to use. Try carrying that for now.”
She didn’t have a combat-related power from the start. So there was no reason for a weapon to appear.
Dr. Wi seemed to think it over.
“All right.”
The Hunter Rifle wasn’t something just anyone could use.
If you weren’t an Awakened, you couldn’t use it at all.
Both charging and firing required magic power.
And the weapon’s power also depended on the level of the Awakened who wielded it.
The more magic power you had, the more you could break through magical defenses.
Still, she was a high-rank Awakened, so she should manage.
I’d have to come up with a plan.
“A place where Monster hunting is needed…”
I was eager to head out and wipe out the Gate Worshippers as soon as possible, but the battlefield I’d take Dr. Wi to wasn’t going to be that intense.
And no matter how many human Hunters you kill, you don’t level up.
“If you could, people would be killing each other all day long.”
We moved straight to the First Gate.
The First Gate was an area with active exploration and no dangerous Monsters, but that didn’t mean it was problem-free.
There were still Ruins remaining in the First Gate.
If you didn’t regularly hunt the surrounding Monsters, there was the problem of the Stronghold being attacked.
Dr. Wi was holding a Tarot Card in her hand.
“Draw one. Think of it as foretelling what’s going to happen to you in the near Future, and pick one.”
“Is this for real?”
“It’s not absolute.”
I frowned and drew Dr. Wi’s card.
“The Moon.”
“Go on.”
Not exactly a cheerful fortune.
If the Sun symbolized the light that shone upon the world, the Moon was the opposite. It was also a symbol associated with the black Gates.
“What does it mean?”
“The Moon card stands for riddles and deception. Something may be different from how it appears, or there may be misunderstandings, or maybe there’s a truth you’re hiding yourself.”
“So, is the world deceiving me, or am I the one doing the deceiving?”
“Interesting, I never even considered the latter. Sounds like you have some ideas popping up after seeing the reading.”
Dr. Wi covered her mouth and laughed, amused.
The power of the Astrologer.
I didn’t know whether she was actually using a skill or just picking any card at random, but it still felt strangely unsettling.
Or rather, the real issue was that—for some reason—Dr. Wi’s words sounded genuine.
And, soon after—
Dr. Wi, Pineapple, and I entered the Gate’s inner space.
The inside of the Gate was bustling.
That was because the First Gate was actively being explored.
Monster hordes were constantly watching for a chance to break through, but in the past few weeks, none had succeeded.
Would the defense line ever collapse? It might, someday.
That’s why preemptive strikes were needed.
Today’s party: me, Dr. Wi, and Pineapple.
Plus Ming Ming, perched atop my head.
This time, Pineapple was riding in the cargo compartment of the military Buggy Car. It was the two-seater Field Operations Vehicle we’d used before.
I grabbed the steering wheel, and Dr. Wi sat beside me, holding the Hunter Rifle.
“I’ll explain the operation plan.”
“Okay.”
“We’re going Monster hunting now. At present, the Government Army only actively protects about three hundred seven meters around the Stronghold with direct-fire weapons and mortars.”
Dr. Wi nodded.
“Outside that, Monsters are still out there. We’ll go beyond the safe zone, lure in Monsters, and take them down.”
“Understood.”
Since we had the Compass that tracked Monsters, I figured the operation would go smoothly.
Fights in the Gate rarely went exactly as planned, but it wasn’t a particularly dangerous operation.
The Field Operations Vehicle started moving.
Dr. Wi looked around in fascination.
It was a new world, so it made sense to be curious…
Of course, now it bore plenty of marks of human intervention.
“Amazing.”
“There used to be a forest around the Base. The military burned most of it, so now it’s become grassland.”
“Really?”
Still, after driving for a few minutes, the weirdly alien trees began to appear again, along with brilliantly colored birds.
I held the Compass in one hand.
The Compass—
Even now, it was glowing, pointing south.
The southern part of the Gate was the least explored.
It was also the roughest terrain.
If there were Monsters nearby, chances were highest they’d be there.
I headed in the direction the Compass indicated.
“What’s that?”
“Ruins.”
The operations vehicle sped ahead, several standing stones flashing past us.
I wanted to check the Ruins first, but since there was a high-rank Monster nearby, that had to take priority.
The terrain grew rougher the further south we went.
The number of collapsed stones increased, and the untouched trees became more and more frequent.
After quite a while, we seemed to have arrived at our destination.
I’d thought the Ruins at the Gate’s opening were all there was, but now that I thought about it…
There were quite a lot of Ruins scattered throughout the area, and the one we were using as a Stronghold was just one of them.
I parked the car at a suitable spot and got out.
Pineapple and Dr. Wi looked at me.
“There’s a high-rank Monster nearby.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s move cautiously.”
It’d be great if we could level up all at once.
But it didn’t seem like there’d be a horde of strong enemies like when we fought the Giant Army Ant or the Behemoth.
This was just a Gate with weak Goblins.
“Right, there were Orcs here, too.”
If they got troublesome, they could be a real nuisance.
Judging by the surroundings, this area hadn’t been hit by artillery much.
Since these were Ruins too, if there was a way inside a building, maybe we’d find a treasure vault again.
“Ming Ming. See anything nearby?”
“Ming.”
Ming Ming nodded.
We moved forward warily, walking slowly between the Ruins.
Before long, a heavy thudding sound began to echo from ahead.
What kind of Monster would it be this time…?