6

THE RED GATE

“What do you mean, a red gate?”

Yoonho Baek, president of the White Tiger Guild, had rushed to the site as soon as he received the news.

Kichul, the man in charge of trainees, looked ashen. “Sir, it’s……”

“I need to see for myself.”

President Baek breezed past the employees in front of the gate, who were standing gravely, as if attending a funeral.

It’s really a red gate!

His expression turned grim.

What was a red gate? It was a dangerous connection to the other world, which hunters could escape only by either killing the boss or waiting for a dungeon break to occur. Once a hunter went inside, that was it. The red gate would block out all external forces. It would be impossible to enter or exit.

The president touched the surface of the gate. It was, as he suspected, rock-hard.

This is not good.

No matter what they did, they wouldn’t be able to help the hunters on the inside.

He barked at Kichul. “Wasn’t this supposed to be a C-rank gate?”

“It was, sir.”

“Did you have the association confirm?”

“Yes, but……they insisted it was a C-rank gate……”

“Those sons of bitches!” Yoonho spat out curses.

A red gate could spawn only from higher-rank dungeons. The portals linked their world to another, so considering how much mana would’ve been flowing from the gate, it was impossible for it to have been measured as merely a C-rank dungeon. This particular one was at least a B rank. Worst-case scenario, it was an A rank or even higher.

And yet the association wouldn’t admit they’d messed up?

Kichul asked, “Sir, should we measure the gate again with our own mana meter?”

President Baek shook his head. “Red gates are sealed tight, so it’d be impossible to calibrate.”

There was no way to fine-tune the reading, so it was impossible to determine the actual rank of the problematic gate.

Besides, there were more important things to worry about than the rank.

“How many of our members are inside?”

“Twelve, sir.”

“How many of them are high-rank hunters?”

“The leader is Hunter Chul Kim, A rank, and with him are seven B-rank hunters.”

“One A-rank and seven B-rank hunters……”

“The new recruits…… Will they be okay?”

The president shook his head again. “Consider them all dead. If they’re lucky, two or three of the A and/or B ranks might make it out alive.”

But only if they were lucky. The odds were not in their favor. The hunters who’d gone in could barely clear a B-rank dungeon of the lowest difficulty. Anything beyond that would be too much for them. Barring any miracles, those trainees had zero chance of survival.

Baek looked very worried.

Kichul eyed the president and carefully spoke. “Um, one more thing, sir…… Another person went in with the new recruits.”

The president raised his head. What were the chances of it being a high-rank hunter who happened to be passing by and went in with them because he was curious about the training? Miracles could happen. This would truly be a miracle!

His voice got louder. “Who was it?”

“It’s the hunter I’ve been keeping an eye on lately, sir.”

The response came from somewhere behind them. Yoonho and Kichul turned around at the same time to see Sangmin breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

“Apologies for my tardiness. There was a traffic jam…” Sangmin had arrived last, as he lived the farthest away.

Sangmin glanced at the red gate. It looked like the entrance to an iron fortress. He felt suffocated just staring at it.

But if it’s Jinwoo Sung……

Jinwoo might be the game changer, defying the dire predictions being made here the way he’d defied fate so many times before. That was Sangmin’s vague hope.

Yoonho urgently approached him. “The hunter you’ve been personally monitoring, Manager An?”

“That’s right, sir.”

Ah, yes. Yoonho recalled hearing about this.

Thinking about it……

He’d heard Manager An had been quite busy these days. He’d been aiming for a particular hunter. Manager An had a knack for discovering exceptional talent.

Could that hunter be……?

There was a glimmer of hope.

“What’s his rank? A? Or B?”

If he was an S-rank hunter, there was no way Yoonho wouldn’t already know about him. There were barely ten S-rank hunters in all of Korea. But Sangmin shook his head.

Oh my God!

Baek’s face began to relax. “Then an S-rank hunter went in there?”

Sangmin replied calmly. “No, sir, he’s an E-rank.”

Baek looked like he’d swallowed a lemon.

Jinwoo was taken aback.

Does this gate lead to the other world?

This was his first time experiencing it for himself, but he’d read about other people’s experiences online. They all described it as feeling like they were “sucked into” the gate. Jinwoo thought it was an apt way to put it.

Once inside, he was surrounded by darkness, and it felt like he was sliding somewhere unknown.

Huh!

When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in the middle of a snow-covered forest.

“Where are we?”

“This isn’t the inside of the dungeon, is it?”

“The gate is gone!”

The hunters couldn’t hide their bewilderment as they looked around. While everyone else was dumbstruck, Jinwoo narrowed his eyes and scanned the area.

I don’t sense anything out of the ordinary.

Thanks to his training from the system, he was able to keep calm despite being thrust into a strange environment.

The first thing he noted were the trees. They were coniferous, rarely found in Korea, and grouped together tightly as they stretched up to the sky. He noted that the snow atop the trees could be dangerous if it fell, before looking back down and making eye contact with someone.

It was Chul Kim, the A-rank hunter who, like Jinwoo, was also warily scanning the area.

……

……

They sized each other up and eventually turned away.

In the meantime, Songyi had come over to Jinwoo and was tugging at his clothes. “Um… Something went wrong, right?”

She was frightened, and her attitude and fake confidence were nowhere to be found.

Jinwoo suddenly reached for her face.

……?

This startled Songyi.

Tup.

Jinwoo snatched an arrow out of the air, and it quivered as if angry that it had missed its target…which would have been right between Songyi’s eyes.

“Ah! Ahhh…” Her face went pale as soon as she realized what had just happened.

A scream erupted from elsewhere.

“Eeeeek!”

“Aaargh!”

Whump.

A male hunter struck in the forehead by an arrow fell to the ground. Blood spilled over his eyes and out of his mouth.

“Ah…ah…” Some of the hunters began sobbing.

The arrow had been shot simultaneously with the one aimed at Songyi. Thanks to this, no one else had seen Jinwoo catch the arrow mid-flight.

“Over there!”

“It’s those bastards!”

One of the B-rank hunters motioned to the top of a tree quite a distance from where they were. Before he even pointed it out, Jinwoo’s and Chul’s eyes were already trained on the spot.

Two people were standing there.

Two people. Or should I say two creatures?

They had white hair and skin, with silver eyes. Their kind also had a unique feature: pointy ears. These magic beasts were well-known for their beauty and rarity, as well as the fact that they could be encountered only in higher level dungeons.

Ice elves.

Otherwise known as Ice Slayers. People who had never run into them referred to them as ice elves, but anyone who’d ever fought them called them Ice Slayers. The latter group often added that a pretty name like elf didn’t suit the bastards.

Jinwoo immediately understood why experienced hunters held so much contempt for Ice Slayers.

……They’re smiling.

The two creatures lowered their bows and smiled eerily at the hunters. They seemed like they were standing before a grand buffet, trying to decide what to eat first.

And what was your decision?

Jinwoo frowned in thought. One arrow had been aimed to the group’s far left and the other to the far right. That was not random. The hunter struck down by the arrow was a man in his thirties who had awakened as a C rank not too long ago. Other than Songyi, he was the weakest of the bunch. And the other arrow…

It targeted Songyi.

They had gone after the two weakest members.

If it wasn’t for the system, I’d be the one with an arrow in my head.

Jinwoo was put off by the Ice Slayers’ superficial moves. He lifted the arrow above his head so the Ice Slayers could see it and broke it in two.

Crack!

Viewing this as a challenge, the archer who had fired that arrow gestured that he would slit Jinwoo’s throat.

Ha! Jinwoo had to laugh, but his eyes were deadly serious.

……I’m going to kill you with my own hands.

Jinwoo responded to the threat with an icy glare. Soon, the Ice Slayers disappeared down the tree.

“Guess that was the welcoming party.” Finally, Chul spoke up. Since he was the only A-rank hunter in the group, everyone looked at him as the de facto leader. He was the designated leader of this strike squad anyway.

“As some of you may have already figured out, we’re inside a red gate.” Chul didn’t bother to mince his words, which came off a little arrogant. Of course, no one complained.

“That means we’ll all die, or they’ll come to help us once the gate expires and there’s a dungeon break.”

The group was despondent.

“Ugh.”

“Haaah……”

The fact that they couldn’t count on being rescued came as a big shock.

Chul continued. “If we stay here, we’ll either freeze to death or get killed by those ice bastards. I’m going to clear this dungeon and get out, even if I have to do it myself. Will anyone join me?”

People tended to trust Chul because of his wide shoulders and strong gaze. The hunters exchanged looks before deciding to go with him.

“Let’s stay together.”

“I’m in.”

“Let’s get out of here alive.”

“I’ll help, too!”

But Chul shoved the last hunter in the chest when he approached, saying he wanted to help.

“Oof!”

Chul had kept his strength in check, but strength as an A rank was just that high.

The other hunter stumbled back, wincing at the pain.

“Not you.”

“Huh?”

“Or you, you, you, or you, either.”

Chul was pointing to a few more people, including the man. Jinwoo and Songyi were among the ones he indicated.

Jinwoo’s eyebrow twitched. He had singled out five hunters in total. All were C rank or lower.

“Sorry, but I can’t have you tagging along.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you know anything about red gates?”

The other man shook his head.

“One hour outside the gate is a whole day in here. Worst-case scenario, it’ll be several months in here before a dungeon break or I defeat the boss. I don’t need the excess baggage.”

“We’re just baggage to you?” The hunters singled out by Chul were pissed, but they all went quiet when he glowered at them.

He spoke as if he were doing them a favor. “Don’t get too upset. If you can stay alive until we kill the boss, then everyone gets to go home.”

“But still……”

The rejected hunters turned desperately to the ones Chul was taking with him, but none of them did anything. They were too busy avoiding eye contact.

That was when…

“Excuse me.”

A female B-rank hunter on Chul’s team raised her hand.

……?

When Chul looked at her, she pointed at Jinwoo.

“Can I switch to their side?”

“……Up to you.”

She walked over to Jinwoo without a moment’s hesitation.

Chul looked back and forth between her and Jinwoo and then sneered. “Since we have a spot available, I’ll take one more.”

“Me! Me!” The male hunter who had been shoved by Chul quickly ran forward before changing his mind.

That was a normal reaction Jinwoo could understand.

This woman is weird.

He looked over at her suspiciously. The female hunter met his gaze and whispered quietly to him.

“That Chul guy didn’t even see those arrows coming.”

Even if a person was a high-rank hunter, it didn’t mean all their stats were equally high. Even an A-rank hunter could have low agility. Since Jinwoo understood the concept of stats, her comment didn’t strike him as anything strange.

“Yeah, so?”

She grinned from ear to ear. “You… You’re not E rank, are you?”

Outside the red gate, President Baek’s expression was dark. Even though Sangmin had briefed him about Jinwoo, he still felt uneasy.

“This is only speculation?”

“That’s right, sir.” Sangmin had to admit it. Nothing had been definitively proven about Jinwoo.

If the president personally met Hunter Sung, he’d understand.

There was something about Jinwoo that was different. Sangmin was frustrated by his inability to explain himself.

Yoonho turned back to the gate. “Then we only have Chul to rely on……”

Just then…

“This shouldn’t be a problem for Chul.”

One more person joined their group. All three turned toward the newcomer. It was Sungchan Ju, the department manager of the first administration team.

He spoke confidently. “I’ve thoroughly trained Hunter Kim to be prepared for every possible contingency.”

Ordinarily, the second administration team was in charge of training new hunters, but the first administration team had jurisdiction over training awakened beings who were A rank or higher. Those selected for the elite strike squad took a different route.

Sungchan’s confidence allowed the president’s features to smooth slightly. “How were Chul’s results?”

“Excellent, sir. His combat abilities alone were as good as the current members of the elite strike squad.”

“Really?” Yoonho finally had his smile back.

Chul was an A-rank hunter and the type of talent who stood out among his peers. Perhaps he could successfully lead the B-rank hunters and clear the dungeon! Casualties among the C-rank hunters were to be expected, but the survival of the high-rank hunters was more important to the White Tiger Guild.

Fortunately, Chul seems to be among the best of the best……

The flame of hope, once dead, now sparked again.

After managing to reassure the president, Sungchan now raised an eyebrow at Sangmin. “You were saying something about an E-rank hunter who has potentially reawakened…?”

He scoffed at the idea. “Our man Chul is much more reliable than some hunter we can’t really count on.”

Sangmin clenched his jaw at the condescension, but he didn’t see a need to raise his voice or get angry.

We’ll see who’s right in the end……

All four men turned in unison toward the red gate, where their hunters were being held captive.

Hwooooo…

The crimson color of the gate seemed even more ominous today.

“You… You’re not E rank, are you?”

It was a daring question.

Jinwoo replied, “Then let me also ask you something.”

“Sure.”

He looked toward Chul and the hunters gathered around him. They were discussing strategy before heading out.

“How are you rookies so calm, considering the situation?”

“The first thing trainees are taught is to expect the unexpected in a dungeon.”

Anything could happen in a dungeon. Jinwoo knew this better than anyone here.

“We’ve all been trained well, especially that guy Chul. He was being groomed for the White Tiger’s elite strike squad.”

Their training kept their fear in check. Jinwoo thought this was absolutely absurd and realized with a start that they were no different from Songyi. She claimed they were prepared, but were they really? They could brag about their training all they liked, but they had no idea how terrifying dungeons could actually be.

Knowing something and experiencing something are two very different things.

A dungeon could easily shake one’s confidence, and all it would take was a small crack for everything to fall apart. It took time to build up a wall but only seconds to break it down. Jinwoo could predict what was in store for Chul’s team. They looked tough on the outside, but they were beginners nonetheless.

“You still haven’t answered me.”

“Excuse me?” Jinwoo looked to the woman.

“I asked you a question.”

About whether he was an E rank. She was more tenacious than he thought.

“Why do I have to answer you?” He was blunt, but in her mind, Heejin Park considered it a victory. She’d been around the block enough times to know what his reaction meant.

He was self-assured.

I knew I wasn’t seeing things!

And there was another reason she was sure about him. While training with the White Tiger Guild, she had witnessed how a lot of high-rank hunters moved. But Jinwoo’s hand earlier… She had never seen anyone move as fast as he did.

I was barely able to make out what happened with my own eyes.

She was an athlete who had awakened as a combat hunter, so she was confident with what she could do physically.

Heejin’s eyes sparkled.

This man is at least A rank.

No, maybe even…… She asked again to try and extract the answer she wanted. “Come on. Can’t you please just tell me?”

“It’s none of your business.”

That was enough small talk. Jinwoo turned away. He was done with the third degree, and anyway, Chul was approaching them.

Chul and Jinwoo looked each other over.

“We’re going”—Chul’s voice was very deep and gravelly, so he sounded threatening no matter what his intentions were—“down that path.”

He wasn’t simply reporting his team’s itinerary. His expression made it clear he was asking Jinwoo what his plan was, as well as issuing a veiled threat to not follow them.

……

Jinwoo had a look around before turning back to him. “We’ll be going toward the forest.”

“……Good luck.”

Chul’s team was the one that would need luck, but Jinwoo kept his thoughts to himself.

“You too.”

Jinwoo’s team started heading into the forest. As soon as they were out of his line of sight, Chul burst out laughing. “Morons.”

“Pardon?”

“Look over there.”

Chul uncrossed his arms and gestured at the trees. Everywhere he pointed, there were claw marks on the trunks, clearly made by some large animal.

“Th-those are……!”

“Bears.”

“Ice bears!”

Among animal-type magic beasts, bearlike magic beasts were especially dangerous. Those claw marks were their way of marking their territory.

The hunters on Chul’s team shook their heads.

“Tsk, tsk.”

“They would’ve been better off waiting for us here.”

“The E-rank hunter just led innocent people to their deaths.”

“Is he even properly trained?”

Chul laughed derisively in the direction of the woods.

What do you expect from an E-rank hunter?

……Wait a minute. His grin was suddenly wiped away.

Most of that group were C rank, and there was one B-rank hunter with them……

So why did Chul assume that Jinwoo was the leader? He hadn’t considered anything wrong or even odd about that until now. He shrugged it off.

So what……?

Jinwoo was a dead man walking anyway. He should be thinking about his own neck instead of those weaklings with no chance of survival. It was unfortunate that anyone had to die, but shouldn’t the living keep on living?

Chul roared at his group. “Let’s move!”

Jinwoo led the way, but Heejin soon moved to block his path.

“What’re you doing?”

“Are you crazy?”

Jinwoo crossed his arms, his expression making it clear he wasn’t impressed. It was a warning to choose her next words wisely.

She quieted down as if she’d gotten the message. “I’m sorry, but I really need to say this.” Heejin pointed at one of the nearby trees. “Do you see that?”

There were huge claw marks gouged into a tree trunk.

“And there! And over there, too!”

It was difficult to find a tree without any claw marks or significant damage.

“Those are all signs of bears marking this whole place as their territory! This forest is filled with bear-type magic beasts!”

Dogs and monkeys are weaker than tigers or lions. Magic beasts worked the same way. Tiger- or lion-type magic beasts were more powerful than dog- or monkey-type magic beasts. So what about bears? Bears, especially polar bears, were among the strongest carnivorous animals around. Jinwoo’s team had walked right into the territory of magic beasts reminiscent of that terrifying animal.

No wonder she was so heated. “We need to turn back right now! Before the magic beasts come after us!”

Tsk. Jinwoo clicked his tongue.

What?

Heejin had expected Jinwoo to react either by getting mad, being shocked, or accepting the facts. All her guesses were wrong, though. She was giving him solid advice, yet he regarded her as if she were an idiot.

Why…? Why is he looking at me like that?

Heejin’s face turned red from embarrassment. “Wh-what?” Her voice had risen again.

Jinwoo sighed before explaining. “It’s hard to find an unmarked tree, which means there’s more than one or two ice bears here.”

“Th-that’s why we need to go ba—”

“That’s why we’re going into the forest.”

“What?”

Heejin blinked, perplexed.

She still doesn’t get it.

Jinwoo had no choice but to spell it out. “While we’re making our way through the woods, all we have to worry about are ice bears.”

“Oh!” She finally understood what he was trying to say.

The presence of so many ice bears meant that there were no predators stronger than them in this forest, which in turn meant they didn’t have to worry about coming across more powerful magic beasts.

Why didn’t I think of that?

She felt embarrassed about her outburst. Her face and neck flushed, and she hung her head low.

Jinwoo kept his disapproval to himself.

The unknown is what makes dungeons so frightening. No one could prepare for an unknown enemy, after all. But here, their opponents were clear.

Bear-type magic beasts.

He didn’t know how strong ice bears were, but they were definitely weaker than those elves they’d encountered. The elves wore clothes made of bearskin. That’s why he had chosen the forest. Jinwoo planned to level up in the forest, keeping an eye on Chul’s team as well as the Ice Slayers, while waiting for the right time to make a move.

This was the safest course of action.

……?

Something caught his eye. “Why is your face so red?”

Heejin’s face was abnormally beet colored. She could barely raise her head to speak in a tiny voice. “B-because I’m cold…”

“Haah…” Jinwoo gave a long sigh before calling up the shop and picking out thick fur jackets and winter shoes from the list of items for purchase.

Ping!

A fur jacket and a pair of boots only cost ten gold each.

Unlike items with buffs and debuffs, miscellaneous items were inexpensive. Compared to how much gold he had, they were dirt cheap.

Though I can’t believe I have to spend my gold on these kinds of things……

Jinwoo bought the items. Since he couldn’t discriminate, he bought enough for all five members of the party and spent one hundred gold.

Hwoom.

Five coats and five pairs of boots appeared at Jinwoo’s feet. Everyone besides him looked like their eyes would pop out of their heads.

“Whoa!”

“Wh-what? Spatial magic?”

Even Heejin was so surprised, she managed to raise her head.

Jinwoo said coolly, “Please help yourselves.”

As he reached for the closest fur jacket, Songyi suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

……?

Their eyes met, and eventually, Songyi was able to get out the words. “Wh-what exactly are you, mister? You caught an arrow earlier, and now you used some kind of strange magic to get these clothes.”

Jinwoo made a face. It was obvious they’d start asking questions relentlessly, and things would get troublesome if they continued like this.

Okay, this is where I need to draw a line.

He spoke firmly. “I brought you here, so I promise to take responsibility and protect you, but…” He lowered his voice. “Do not ask me any questions.”

He looked at Heejin and the other hunters in turn. “This goes for all of you. No questions, no demands.”

And finally… “If you don’t like it, you can leave. I won’t stop you.”

The other two male hunters who had initially followed willingly because of the B-rank Heejin looked back and forth between Jinwoo and the fur jackets they were about to put on before shaking their heads hard.

There was one more reason why Jinwoo had chosen the forest.

Stats.

[Name: Jinwoo Sung]
[Class: Shadow Monarch]

[Level: 51]
[Title: The One Who Overcame Adversity (and 1 other)]

Careful not to alert the others in any way, Jinwoo called up the stat window and changed his title from The One Who Overcame Adversity to Wolf Assassin.

The buff was perfect for his current situation, so why not take advantage of it?

Ping!

Jinwoo grinned at the confirmation message.

Perfect.

That was when the other hunters started screaming.

“I-it’s a bear!”

“Ice bear!”

An ice bear had picked up their scent and was now lumbering toward them. Strangers had invaded its territory, and the ice bear did not look kindly on intruders.

Grrrr.

It bared its translucent, icelike teeth and slowly rose up on its hind legs. Its enormous body was all the hunters could see.

“Ahhh……”

It resembled a polar bear but was twice as big, and embedded in the middle of its chest was an essence stone, like an emblem signaling that it was a magic beast.

Grrraaahhh!

Its loud roar shook the entire area, and everyone except Jinwoo froze in terror.

Heejin scowled.

How is only having to worry about ice bears a good thing?!

How could anyone say that after seeing this creature? She’d almost fallen for Jinwoo’s BS, but as soon as she caught sight of the magic beast, she was certain she’d been right all along.

We shouldn’t have come into the forest!

Sensing the impending danger, Heejin got in front of the group and yelled at them. “I’m going to draw its attention, so you guys— Agh!”

Someone forcefully tugged at Heejin’s clothes, and she had to stagger backward to stay on her feet. By the time she regained her balance, Jinwoo was standing in front of her.

“What’re you doing?!”

Jinwoo stabbed his finger at her. “Listen to me loud and clear. I’ll deal with the magic beasts.”

He didn’t want to lose out on any experience points. These teddy bears were going to help him level up before he had to deal with the real enemies, the Ice Slayers.

“What?!” Heejin couldn’t hide her exasperation.

He pulled me back just so he could kill the magic beasts by himself?

The two mage hunters also stopped casting, completely dumbfounded.

“I don’t care how strong you think you are—that is a magic beast in a high-rank dungeon!”

Ignoring Heejin’s irate voice coming from behind him, Jinwoo walked toward the bear.

If I use a dagger…

It would get too messy with blood spraying all over the place. He’d pulled his daggers out of reflex, but he put them back into his inventory. He clenched his fists instead.

I was only supposed to observe, but I’m sure they’ll understand, since this is an emergency situation.

Jinwoo locked eyes with the ice bear.

Grawr!

Despite being as thick as a telephone pole, the ice bear’s foreleg was lightning quick.

Shwik!

But all it struck was air.

It’s huge but also fast.

Jinwoo understood why these creatures were infamous as he leaped above it.

Still……

All his leveling-up had not been in vain. Before the bear could raise its head, Jinwoo struck down on its forehead with all his might.

Wham!

The bear’s head slammed into the ground. With its skull smashed in and its long tongue trailing out the side of its mouth, it lay there lifeless.

There it was! Jinwoo had expected to level up this time around, so it was a good thing he’d stopped Heejin.

“Wh-what in the world are you…?”

Jinwoo turned around at that shaky voice and took in the faces of the four speechless hunters.

Jinwoo exhaled.

I told them no questions in advance exactly because I wanted to avoid this.

But temporary memory loss during a shocking experience was to be expected. Jinwoo had no choice but to repeat himself forcefully.

“I said no questions. If you don’t like my way, the exit”—Jinwoo pointed in the direction Chul’s team had gone—“is back there.”

Heejin had gotten herself together in the meantime. “I just saw how you killed that bear. Do you really think I’d leave you now?”

She was overwhelmed. She’d gone with her gut in choosing Jinwoo over Chul, thinking he was the better choice, but only now did she realize she’d hit the nail on the head. Heejin had a good sense for self-preservation, so her decision had come quickly. She knew the smartest thing to do would be to follow Jinwoo if she wanted to get out of there alive.

Just in case he was thinking of abandoning them, she frantically said, “Please be our party leader, Jinwoo. We’ll do whatever you say.”

I did say no demands, but……

He thought about it for a second, then readily agreed. Thinking ahead, he realized this might be a convenient arrangement.

Heejin looked back at the others. Since Songyi had arrived with Jinwoo, Heejin didn’t need to ask her opinion on the matter, but that left two people.

“You’re good with this, right?”

With all eyes on them, the two hunters glanced between the ice bear’s carcass and Jinwoo, then nodded vigorously.

Outside the red gate, Kichul checked his watch while wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

President Baek turned to him. “How long has it been?”

“About three hours, sir.”

“Three hours… That means three days have already passed inside the dungeon.”

President Baek’s voice was heavy. Among the four of them, he was the only one with firsthand experience being on the other side of a red gate. He was Yoonho Baek, one of the S-rank hunters who represented Korea. But even for him, a red gate wasn’t easy to deal with.

Yoonho recalled his memories of that time with mixed feelings. “The scariest part of a red gate is that you never know what’ll be on the other side.”

S-rank hunters rarely spoke of their experiences inside a red gate, so Sangmin, Sungchan, and Kichul were completely focused on him.

The president continued. “The place beyond the gate could be a desert with temperatures of over sixty degrees Celsius, the heart of a jungle filled with poisonous snakes and insects, or a snowy landscape so cold that you could lose your toes to frostbite.”

Gulp.

The three listeners were hanging on to his every word.

“As you enter, you have no idea whether it’s a red gate, so what preparations could you possibly make?”

Which is precisely what had happened today. The gate had seemed normal, only turning red once the hunters entered.

“Your skin burns from the heat of the sun, poisonous insects relentlessly attack you at all hours, the cold rots your flesh…… That’s how the weakest in the group start dying off.”

“Oh my goodness…,” Kichul whispered in disbelief.

“And in that unforgiving environment, you have to fight magic beasts.”

Just listening to Yoonho, the other three could feel how hopeless the situation was.

However, he had more to add. “But let’s say you’re able to adapt to this new environment. Now you have to find food.”

They’d have to find enough nourishment for a minimum of a few weeks, possibly up to several months. That was no easy task.

“Between the starvation and the grueling environment, the only thing you can trust is a mana compass.”

A mana compass pointed the user toward strong sources of mana. Other than waiting for the gate to expire, the only way out was to use the mana compass to find the boss and defeat it.

“Think about enduring in a place where all your hopes lie solely on the needle of a compass for several days, weeks, or months. That would drive anyone insane.”

The three men nodded. If ordinary people like themselves fell into that kind of environment, they wouldn’t last a day even without the threat of a magic beast.

“We established that three days have passed, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

Yoonho’s face fell at Kichul’s response. “It’s likely that all the C- and lower-rank hunters are already dead.”

Chul was an excellent A rank, but even for him, it’d be impossible to protect the entire team. If only they had an S-rank hunter with them.

And yet……

“At this point, we have to pray for the safe return of the high-rank hunters.”

This was his conclusion based on personal experience. In the president’s mind, the low-rank hunters were as good as gone.

Dinnertime. A big chunk of meat was roasting nicely on a campfire.

“Bear meat’s a little tough, but it’s not bad, eh?”

“Would you like some more?”

“Oh, thank you.”

Myunghwan Ko sliced off some well-done ice-bear meat and put it on the plate held out by Kijoong Yoon.

They were the two C-rank hunters on Jinwoo’s team. Heejin and Songyi were also enjoying the food, though not as much as the other two.

“Heejin, could you pass me the pepper?”

“Some salt, too?”

“No thanks.”

Everyone had adapted to living in the dungeon. They had a campfire, blankets, and even a tent. They didn’t need much else, and it all felt almost cozy.

Myunghwan surveyed the area before speaking up. “Have you noticed that the bear attacks have decreased lately?”

Heejin answered. “It’s probably because the captain is single-handedly making them an endangered species.”

“Yeah, it’s like they’re mortal enemies or something. He gets this crazed look in his eyes whenever he fights a bear. It’s kinda scary.”

Somewhere along the way, they’d started referring to Jinwoo as “Captain.”

Heejin suddenly noticed his absence and craned her neck to try to spot him. “Speaking of our captain, where did he go?”

Kijoong raised his head from where he’d been shoveling food into his mouth. “He took off a while ago, saying he wanted to explore the area.”

Huh. Heejin shook her head in wonder. “He just wanders around as he pleases… Doesn’t he get scared?”

Kijoong grinned. “He can take care of himself.”

Myunghwan snorted. “You’re right. He can kill a freaking ice bear with his bare hands.”

He considered for a bit before continuing. “So…since we’re on the topic… What rank would you have to be before you’re able to kill a massive beast like that with your bare hands?”

Everyone fell silent. They were all equally curious, but no one dared answer that question for fear of getting kicked off the team.

“……Let’s just finish eating.”

Everyone nodded in agreement with Heejin.

Jinwoo emerged from some bushes as he explored the forest.

It’s here somewhere……

He’d sensed the presence of a group of ice bears nearby. Instead of waiting for them to attack, he had started tracking the beasts last night. He’d come to the realization a while ago that they were all attacking from the same direction.

Jinwoo’s search continued until his eyes lit up.

Gotcha!

Just past some bushes, he spied a large number of caves. He could sense even without using perception that there was at least one ice bear in each. He could clearly see the ice bears entering and exiting the caves. There were roughly thirty or so. It was like a neighborhood of bruins.

He grinned. Jinwoo had intentionally ventured out alone so no one would see him. This was a perfect opportunity to use his shadow soldiers. He’d been waiting for a moment like this.

Come.

As he summoned them with his mind, the armored shadows wordlessly materialized around him.

“Remember, this is your first outing, right?”

Their results here would dictate his impressions of them.

……

……

The shadow soldiers stood silently at attention. Good.

Jinwoo smirked.

Sniff, sniff.

The ice bears had caught a whiff of Jinwoo and were starting to emerge from their caves.

They’re also ready on their end……

Jinwoo pointed toward the ice bears.

“Go.”

With that, the shadow soldiers charged forward like they were gliding on ice. Jinwoo’s minions advanced quickly…but the ice bears’ angry paws were even faster.

Fwoosh!

Clang!

A shadow soldier was crushed with one hit. The attack would’ve split apart a human body if there had been one inside the armor.

Hmm……

Jinwoo watched disapprovingly.

Was I expecting too much from them?

The bears’ size and strength appeared to be more than the shadow soldiers could handle.

Just then, something unexpected happened.

Whoa!

Jinwoo stared in amazement.

Before the crushed soldier could hit the ground, it turned into a puff of black smoke.

Fwssshhh…

The black smoke then re-formed into a knight, good as new.

Nice!

Jinwoo was delighted.

He’d almost forgotten what these soldiers were—undead. The ice bear was enraged after seeing how futile its attack had been.

Grrraaahhh!

While the infantry bought time, the mage soldiers completed their spells.

Boom!

Krakoom!

Fireballs flew from their hands, causing explosions left and right. Knights caught in the middle of the blasts simply regenerated, but the bears caught on fire and cried out in pain.

Arrroooooo!

Arrroo!

The shadow soldiers then went in for the kill, stabbing the moribund bears with their swords.

Shhhk!

Shunk!

The ice bears fell to the combined attacks of the infantry and mage soldiers.

Wow……

Jinwoo observed the battle with fascination. With the infantry’s quick regeneration ability and the mages’ powerful fire attacks, the shadow soldiers’ combat skills far exceeded his expectations.

The bears were forced to retreat into their caves. Jinwoo thought the battle was almost over when…

GRAAAAAAWR!

Something enormous emerged from one of the caves with an ear-piercing roar.

“That’s……”

Jinwoo could only stare. It was an ice bear a head taller and with shoulders twice as broad as any of the other bruins around.

Graaah!

The beast destroyed the shadow soldiers with one blow.

Hwoooosh!

Kraaaak!

The undead warriors couldn’t regenerate fast enough to keep up with the ice bear.

Crack!

Bam!

Jinwoo groaned. “So that’s the head of the pack…?”

He had expected there to be some kind of leader, since the bears lived in a pack, but this creature was bigger and stronger than anything he’d imagined.

Gwooooh! The beast was speedily tearing its way through the soldiers toward Jinwoo.

A message suddenly popped up.

Ping!

What?

When Jinwoo urgently checked how much mana he had left, it was as the system indicated.

With his mana exhausted, the defeated soldiers transformed back into shadows and returned to Jinwoo instead of regenerating. Apparently, the caster required mana in order to regenerate soldiers.

Damn mana……

Yet another reason Jinwoo needed to increase his intelligence stat.

He hummed in thought. The tide had turned with the appearance of the leader.

But he remained unconcerned.

I think it’s time to fight fire with fire.

Jinwoo crossed his arms and summoned his top shadow soldier.

“Igris!”

A shadow separated from Jinwoo’s own, and a knight wearing a helmet with a long mane quietly emerged. Jinwoo pointed with his chin. Igris bowed to Jinwoo and immediately charged.

Tmp, tmp, tmp, tmp!

Igris evaded the massive bear’s front paw by sliding between its legs and, taking a dagger from his waist, severed its hamstring.

Graaaah!

That was just the beginning. Igris unsheathed his sword and easily avoided the bear’s continuous attacks while hacking away at its body. A hamstring, a claw, a paw, and a leg. The bear was diced like a hunk of meat.

“Wha……?” Jinwoo was rendered speechless by Igris’s graceful moves.

The final cut was to the ice bear’s neck.

Shhhk!

The huge head was severed from the body. Igris caught it before it hit the ground, marched over to Jinwoo, and knelt before him.

Thud.

The head was placed at Jinwoo’s feet like an offering to a king. Jinwoo could only stare at the kneeling Igris.

Would I have been able to defeat Igris if it used its sword in our fight?

Lost without their leader, the remaining ice bears were easily slaughtered by shadow soldiers. With that, the battle was over.

The results were greatly satisfying.

The soldiers’ levels rose steadily, and because his minions were linked to Jinwoo’s skills, he leveled up three times.

And the part he most enjoyed…

“Arise.”

He gained new comrades.

Grrrrr…

Jinwoo handpicked a few of the fallen bears, including the leader, to extract and watched the inky creatures rise.

I thought they’d look like armored bears, but……

It wasn’t what he was expecting. The new soldiers had the name Shadow Magic Beast, and while they were vaguely bear shaped, it was difficult to tell if they were a solid or gas. As the creatures panted, black vapor rose from their shoulders.

Not the best visually speaking, but they’re clearly the shadows of ice bears.

Their great strength and destructive power would prove useful in time.

Just then…

Graaaawr!

Jinwoo’s ears twitched at the roars of more bruins. By the sound of it, there were quite a few of them, too.

So there’s another bear neighborhood close by?

Since it was already late, he decided to investigate that area the following day.

His face split into a happy smile.

“Gaaaah!”

“Argh!”

His colleagues were screaming. Chul couldn’t believe his eyes.

This can’t be happening!

He’d…

To think that he’d failed! He was supposed to be destined to be among the best in the White Tiger Guild. He’d received special training for that purpose. And yet, he’d failed? He couldn’t accept that fact.

His party had fought against a horde of yetis even as they struggled against hypothermia and hunger. Next, they’d run into frost giants. They’d lost two teammates, but they had won. It appeared as though the raid was going well.

However…

However…!

As soon as they finished their bout with the frost giants, they were attacked from behind by the Ice Slayers. Those evil bastards had been watching and lying in wait for when the party’s stamina was depleted.

What came next was a massacre. Hunters were eliminated in a flash.

“B-boss!” A collapsed hunter held his bloody hand out for help.

Chul stumbled backward as an Ice Slayer suddenly leaped onto the hunter’s back and slit his throat.

Gak!

Looking up from the gash, the Ice Slayer gave him a serene smile.

Chul screamed. “Ah… Aaaaaaaah!”

He ran into the forest without looking back. Ice bears in the forest? Bears in the forest were nothing compared to yetis, frost giants, and Ice Slayers in front of him. Chul was literally running for his life.

Several Ice Slayers noticed his fleeing back and took aim, but an Ice Slayer with hair down to its waist raised an arm. The archers put down their bows.

……

When the long-haired Slayer signaled the others to follow Chul, one by one, the Ice Slayers disappeared from view.

Chul burst through the underbrush.

“Huff, huff, huff…”

He was gasping for breath. He thought about the Ice Slayers that had giggled derisively as they slaughtered the hunters, and he trembled again in fear.

He looked down at his hands. They were frozen, and he had difficulty sensing anything. He had lost feeling in his toes a long time ago. In this condition, he couldn’t put up much of a fight.

If it wasn’t for this cold weather… No, if we hadn’t been starving these past few days, we wouldn’t have been defeated like this.

He still couldn’t accept the party’s, or rather, his own failure.

Chul mumbled to himself as he raised his head.

How deep into the forest did I go?

He surveyed the area around him. The faint smell of blood was coming from somewhere nearby. Chul followed the scent.

He didn’t have to go far. He passed between some trees and came to a clearing where he saw something unbelievable.

Impossible!

There were over twenty ice bears lying dead around the entrance to some caves. He’d wondered why he hadn’t encountered a single ice bear despite every tree having some kind of territorial mark.

“What is this?”

Chul inspected the carcasses. Every one of them had multiple lacerations. Some had burns here and there as well. He recalled Jinwoo’s motley crew.

“No way…… Could they have killed these monsters?”

No, that wasn’t possible. All the lacerations looked like they’d been made by swords, and as far as he knew, none of the hunters who’d gone into the forest favored a sword.

And those two E ranks didn’t even have any weapons.

Objectively speaking, the possibility they were still alive was little to none.

There was only one other logical conclusion.

There have to be Ice Slayers nearby!

His heart sank. He thought he’d finally evaded them, but they seemed to be everywhere. Terrified, Chul headed deeper into the forest while trying to breathe quietly.

He needed to get farther away from here, and fast. He wanted to get out of the Ice Slayers’ territory.

At the same time…

Aroooo! an ice bear cried out as it fell to the ground. Shadow soldiers swarmed it and made sure it stayed down.

“Excellent.”

Jinwoo located another bruin neighborhood. Five days had passed on their side since they’d entered the red gate, and he’d crashed three different settlements.

I think I’ve gotten rid of all the bears in this forest.

Both he and his soldiers had leveled up quite a bit. Initially, it had taken two soldiers to defeat a bear, but they could now handle one-on-one combat.

Jinwoo was quite satisfied with his setup. As soldiers became more capable, he assigned them different tasks.

He was able to store thirty soldiers now. Twenty-eight soldiers fought the bears, one collected essence stones, and the last butchered the meat. Jinwoo didn’t have to lift a finger.

I don’t sense any more magic beasts.

It looked like he had defeated all the magic beasts roaming the forest, which meant…

I should start heading to the boss soon.

A dungeon break could take a month or several months. He couldn’t just sit patiently and wait for an exit.

Plus, I have to catch that impudent elf.

How dare a mere magic beast provoke a hunter? The thought of that smug grin infuriated Jinwoo every time.

He could smell roasting meat.

Sniff, sniff.

Chul’s sense of smell was now extremely keen from hunger. The only thing he’d eaten since getting stuck inside the red gate was a single rabbit. The smell of food made him drool reflexively.

The meat might belong to Ice Slayers.

But if there are only a few of them……

He might be able to beat them and steal their food. He was so hungry that it seemed like a good plan.

Let’s do it.

Chul trod as lightly as possible, cautiously approached the source of the tantalizing scent, and found…the other party of hunters.

He was flabbergasted.

Huh?

The smell of roasting meat came from their campfire.

How are they still alive?

His eyes narrowed. He couldn’t see one of the E-rank hunters.

Looks like he was so cocky that he was the first to die.

That much was easy to understand, but he found the rest of the scene rather difficult to process. Something was off, and Chul struggled to comprehend it.

Wait a minute, their clothes are……?

He spotted winter jackets, thick blankets, a tent, and various tools. They were well stocked on supplies.

How is this possible?

The befuddled hunter’s eyes zoomed in on something. There was bread next to the meat. They had even brought food. His hunger gave way to anger.

These bastards……

He gnashed his teeth. How could they keep all these supplies to themselves?

If my hands weren’t frozen—or hell, if I wasn’t starving, I could’ve handled ice elves no problem.

Once he reached the conclusion that the other group had stolen supplies meant to be equally distributed, he could no longer contain his rage.

He rushed out of the bushes. “You bastards!”

Heejin jumped up, startled. “Chul Kim? What are you doing here?”

She was about to lie and say she was glad to see him but found she couldn’t get the words out, because the way Chul looked at them was rather hostile. He wasn’t trying to hide his animosity.

“Our team failed to clear the dungeon because we didn’t have enough food and equipment. How do you have all this?”

“That’s, uh……” Heejin couldn’t say.

If she mentioned Jinwoo now, Chul’s rage would be redirected at him, and Jinwoo was basically their guardian angel.

He didn’t like Jinwoo from the start.

Heejin shut her mouth. Chul’s eyes were fiery.

“I don’t think all of you are accomplices, so who hid all this from the others? If you tell me who, I’ll leave the rest of you alone!”

The veins on his neck began to bulge. “I said, who hogged all the tools and put their colleagues in danger?”

His howl echoed throughout the forest. Chul was ready to wreak vengeance for his fallen colleagues, even if he spilled some blood.

“I’m going to count to three. If you don’t tell me who did this, I’ll consider all of you accomplices.”

Frightened, Songyi gripped Heejin’s sleeve.

“H-Heejin……”

Heejin pulled the girl into her arms. Myunghwan and Kijoong broke into a cold sweat.

Chul was A rank. Even if they fought him together, there was no guarantee they could defeat him. Still, they refused to mention Jinwoo’s name.

“One.”

Chul drew his sword.

Shhhing.

“Two.”

Even now, the low-rank hunters wouldn’t open their mouths. How dare these low-ranking fools not do as he ordered? That made Chul even angrier.

Who do they think I am…?

His eyes gleamed viciously.

This woman would be the first to go. Heejin had betrayed Chul’s team and left with the low-rank hunters.

Yes, she left because she was up to something.

That was the only conclusion he could come up with.

He stood in front of Heejin and spat out the final count. “Three.”

Heejin squeezed her eyes shut when…

“Four.”

Smack!

Something hit Chul in the back of the head, sending him flying face-first into the ground, where his prone body skid farther by a few meters.

The other hunters were taken by surprise.

“Captain!”

Jinwoo had smacked Chul’s head so hard that steam rose from his palm.

He was dumbfounded. “What kind of nonsense is he spouting? Who put whom in danger?”