Chapter 11
Immediately after Team Leader Myo transferred command authority to him.
The first thing Kang Yul said to Team Leader Myo wasn't about entering the Gate or explaining the skill he'd use to explore it.
Something far more important.
"From now on, Team Leader Myo, you need to give it your all to protect me."
It was Kang Yul's self-preservation.
'If I die, all of this is meaningless.'
It was an extremely individualistic way of thinking, befitting a Hunter who'd do anything to survive.
The problem was that the person who heard him was also a Hunter with that mindset.
And not just any Hunter, but a veteran who'd risen to a position so high Kang Yul couldn't even compare himself to her.
So, now.
"…"
It was only natural that Team Leader Myo glared at Kang Yul without a word after hearing him.
From the perspective of someone who'd been through thick and thin, he must have seemed utterly ridiculous.
'That's one hell of a murderous stare…'
But Kang Yul tried not to let it show on his face.
If Kang Yul was a capable Hunter operating in the shadows, he needed to have the thick skin not to back down over something like this.
Of course, he had no intention of engaging in a staring contest for the rest of his life with Team Leader Myo, who was cursing him with her eyes.
Because Kang Yul was after more than just getting his illegal transaction records covered up.
'Since we're already involved, I should at least try to turn this into a good relationship.'
It might have been a little greedy, but Kang Yul decided that if he was going to go for it, he might as well go all in.
Team Leader Myo was a Hunter representing one of Seoul's boroughs.
He judged that if he could somehow maintain a good relationship with her, the benefits would far outweigh the drawbacks during his life as a Hunter.
Mainly, a discreet sales route for unregistered Gate by-products.
'Selling to the Favor Merchant is convenient, but the transaction volume is too limited.'
Once a day. Put payment in the wooden box, make a wish, and you get something you want worth that much.
The problem was that the wooden box was so small, and it was only efficient when he put in high-value by-products.
After all, Kang Yul hadn't found any high-value mineral veins or gemstones yet.
'So if I can make a sales route this time…'
Kang Yul's Gate exploration could speed up dramatically from here on.
He might even find a way out of the cave.
So Kang Yul needed to somehow build a good relationship with Team Leader Myo, who was sending him a vicious glare.
So, here…
Ding-!
[You have discovered the Spore Colony Forest (Entrance).]
[Exploration rate has increased.]
[Some Gate information has been revealed.]
───────────
[Gate Compendium] - [Spore Colony Forest]
- A forest transformed into a dreamlike realm by the mana of a Spore Colony.
───────────
Kang Yul looked at the notification that appeared as they neared the mountain and thought.
Rather than a hundred kind words, solving the problem weighing on Team Leader Myo would be the best way to build a relationship.
"I'll start exploring now, so Team Leader Myo, please watch me and rescue me if things look dangerous."
Then, without waiting for a reply, he walked past her and into the dreamlike forest that seemed to be the entrance to the quarantine zone.
He thought a capable Hunter operating in the shadows like Kang Yul needed to be a little rude.
'She'll follow me, right…?'
Of course, unlike his behavior, Kang Yul was still a scaredy-cat at heart, so he was secretly worried about what he'd do if she didn't follow.
Thud—
'Th-thank goodness…'
Hearing her footsteps following silently behind him, Kang Yul felt relieved and entered deeper into the forest.
And so, Kang Yul and Team Leader Myo's bizarre exploration of Suraksan Gate began.
#####
Erosion Quarantine Zone - Suraksan Mountain.
Its official name, according to the Gate Compendium, was [Spore Colony Forest].
True to its description as a forest transformed into a dreamlike realm by the mana of a Spore Colony, the farther they walked in, the more a forest utterly divorced from reality spread before them.
'A forest straight out of a fairy tale.'
Kang Yul walked along the trail, looking around the forest.
The moss-covered trees along the trail glowed green, creating a dreamlike atmosphere.
Around those green trees, all sorts of colorful plants and mushrooms he'd never seen before were growing.
Flowers resembling butterflies, flowers resembling ants, mushrooms resembling cats, mushrooms resembling snakes, mushrooms that looked vaguely like human figures, and so on…
This fairytale-like, dreamlike forest continued on and on, and Kang Yul walked farther in along the trail.
'Is there anything here that could raise the exploration rate…?'
Under Team Leader Myo's protection, he wandered through the forest looking for something that could raise the exploration rate. Then, just for a moment…
A new type of mushroom caught Kang Yul's eye.
Ding-!
[Exploration rate has increased.]
"!"
A familiar sound rang in Kang Yul's ears.
As he approached to take a closer look, he saw a grotesque mushroom that didn't fit the atmosphere here, as if clusters of human eyeballs had grown all over it.
'So that's the Spore Colony.'
He'd heard that they looked like human eyeballs, but seeing one in person, it was even more realistic than Kang Yul had imagined.
It looked as if human eyeballs had become the mushroom caps, with the many optic nerves, blood vessels, muscles, and other parts connected to them serving as the stalks.
In short, it was an extremely grotesque and disgusting sight.
'Someone actually decided to study something like this…'
Despite its appearance, it was apparently a material with high trade value, used as a key ingredient in tranquilizers.
He couldn't help admiring the guts of the researcher who first began studying the Spore Colony.
Anyway. Kang Yul looked around for a moment, then approached the Spore Colony until he was right beside it and examined it closely.
'Ugh, disgusting.'
Fortunately, he'd developed some immunity from seeing all kinds of supernatural gross-out images on Hunter Gallery.
Otherwise, he might have failed to keep a straight face and thrown up by now.
Right now, he had to act like Kang Yul, a rude but capable Hunter operating in the shadows. If he left such a pathetic impression, he might raise suspicion in all sorts of ways.
On top of that.
'I almost got caught mixing coal and dirt into my milk.'
Before leaving that morning, he'd scooped up dirt and eaten it like cereal.
He'd almost been treated as some kind of creature disguised as a human and sent to the "lab" after they saw him throw up.
'Having to watch every little thing I do is so stressful…'
Still, what could he do?
If he wanted to cover up his criminal record and secure a new sales route, he had no choice but to put up with this.
Kang Yul silently looked at the Spore Colony, thinking he should finish quickly and head back, but…
'?'
For some reason, the Spore Colony didn't react at all.
'That's strange… If I've been staring at it this long, shouldn't it show what it's thinking, like the Worm did?'
Kang Yul opened his status window and checked the skill.
Ding-!
[Skill]: Gate Compendium
You can check brief information about Gates you have observed.
The more of a Gate you explore, the more detailed the information you can check.
※ If your class is 'Gate Summoner', you can check the ﹝Special Features﹞ of life-forms encountered inside a Gate.
'Nothing's changed, though?'
If that were the case, he should've been able to see the ﹝Special Features﹞ of a life-form he'd encountered, just like with the Worm.
But no matter how long he stared, the Spore Colony's ﹝Special Features﹞ didn't appear.
'Does it not work on plants?'
Just in case, Kang Yul tried using the skill while looking at the nearby trees, flowers, and mushrooms.
Then.
﹝Special Features﹞
: It wants to bask in the sunlight.
﹝Special Features﹞
: It feels a little thirsty.
﹝Special Features﹞
: It is short on nutrients.
The skill activated just fine.
It didn't seem that it failed because the target was a plant.
'Then why doesn't it work on the Spore Colony…?'
Kang Yul crouched near the Spore Colony for a while, thinking about the skill's conditions.
He wondered why the Spore Colony alone wasn't a valid target when the other plants were.
Then, suddenly.
'Hm? Wait a second. Come to think of it…'
As he looked at the skill window, Kang Yul realized there was something unnatural about it.
Ding-!
[Exploration rate has increased.]
"?"
'…When I found the Spore Colony earlier, didn't the notification just say the exploration rate had increased, without saying what I'd discovered?'
Come to think of it, that was true.
When he'd found the forest's entrance, the skill had even helpfully labeled it (Entrance).
But when he found the Spore Colony, the main body of the forest, it only showed a notification saying the exploration rate had increased?
Something about that felt unnatural.
'The exploration rate went up, but the notification was bare-bones… and on top of that, it isn't a target for ﹝Special Features﹞… Ah, could it be?'
Kang Yul looked over the skill window again.
Then he came up with a hypothesis for why the Spore Colony wasn't a target for the skill.
※ If your class is 'Gate Summoner', you can check the ﹝Special Features﹞ of life-forms encountered inside a Gate.
What if the Spore Colony before him wasn't the main body, but a part that had broken off from it?
Since he'd discovered a living "part," the exploration rate would go up…
But because it was a detached "part," it had no self-awareness, so the skill wouldn't activate? That was his thought.
And at that moment.
Ding-!
[You have discovered a Spore Drone.]
[Exploration rate has increased.]
[Some Gate information has been revealed.]
───────────
[Gate Compendium] - [Spore Colony Forest]
- A forest transformed into a dreamlike realm by the mana of a Spore Colony.
- Somewhere in the forest, a 'Sentient Individual' that spreads Spore Drones is hiding.
───────────
As if to confirm that his hypothesis was right, the exploration rate rose and a notification containing new information appeared.
'A Sentient Individual?'
That must be the source currently eroding Suraksan.
Judging by how it spread Spore Drones while hiding its main body somewhere in the forest, it didn't seem all that unintelligent.
The Association's ongoing management had made it difficult to expand its territory, and the fact that it had even tried to evolve toward causing confusion instead of proliferating confirmed that.
'How am I supposed to find it…?'
They said supernatural life-forms like that could be cunning, and if they really set their minds to hiding, they were difficult to find.
Even Kang Yul, a rude but capable Hunter operating in the shadows (acting), found this a little challenging, and while he was deep in thought…
"This is a special potion that removes spores from the body."
Team Leader Myo, who'd been quietly watching him, suddenly came over and handed him a bottle filled with liquid.
"Why are you giving me this…?"
"When exposed to spores, people tend to stay in one place for a long time."
"Ah."
It seemed she'd mistaken his contemplation for a sign he'd been exposed to spores.
Kang Yul was about to explain that wasn't the case and that he hadn't been exposed yet, when…
"I'm fine…."
"Also, when exposed to spores, people tend to feel an urge to put anything they see around them into their mouths. So stop eating dirt and drink the potion."
"…What? No, what are you even talking about….'
But Kang Yul couldn't continue speaking.
Because by this point, even Kang Yul had realized something was strange.
'…Marshmallow flavor?'
Only belatedly did Kang Yul notice the chewy, fluffy sweetness spreading through his mouth.
And in one hand, he was holding what appeared to be the source of that sweetness: dirt.
Only then did Kang Yul realize.
'Of all times, my habit of eating it during breaks after mining…!'
While he was thinking about how to find the Spore Colony, his bad habit of unconsciously scooping up the dirt around him and eating it had surfaced.
So perhaps it was only natural that Team Leader Myo had formed that impression of Kang Yul after witnessing such a pathetic display.
"Do I need to feed it to you?"
﹝Special Features﹞
: She is wary of you.
: She despises you.
"…Team Leader Myo. I think this is a time when we need to talk."
The ability to check the ﹝Special Features﹞ of life-forms encountered inside a Gate.
It worked on people too?
His knowledge had increased, but somehow he felt like his humanity had decreased in return.
######
Under Team Leader Myo's contemptuous gaze, Kang Yul explained the whole situation as plausibly as he could.
He explained what had happened in a way that was suspicious, but at least somewhat understandable.
"I'm really fine. I just have a habit of eating dirt when I'm concentrating."
"Dirt?"
"Yes. I can't tell you the details, but let's just say it's related to the class I awakened as."
It wasn't a complete lie.
After all, the ability had come from the Worm he'd met in the Gate after awakening as a Gate Summoner.
It was about as honest as drawing stripes on a melon and insisting it was a watermelon, so it deserved to be considered a white lie.
For a while after that.
"…"
﹝Special Features﹞
: She is wary of you.
: She doubts what you're saying.
Kang Yul had to spend a long time persuading her that he was really fine, even though he'd taken off his mask and eaten dirt without realizing it.
"Even if I accept that about the dirt, how do you explain being exposed to spores?"
"That's because my stomach is strong enough to chew and eat minerals too. The spores dissolved in my stomach acid."
"Then eat one."
"…What?"
"I'll believe you if you eat a mushroom raw."
As their conversation dragged on, things had reached the point where he had to chew up a mushroom to prove he could handle spore exposure.
Kang Yul couldn't really back out now, so he picked up one of the Spore Drones and thought.
'Worm, I believe in you…!'
Mushrooms were plants that grew on mountains too.
So if he had the 'Way to Eat Mountains' he'd learned from the Worm, this should be fine too.
No, it had to be fine. Otherwise, he'd die!
"If anything goes wrong, I'll immediately use the potion to flush out my stomach, so don't worry."
"Ah, yes."
…That's what she said, anyway.
Anyway, after hesitating for a moment, Kang Yul brought the mushroom resembling a human eyeball in his hand to his mouth and took a bite.
Crunch—
'Ugh… this texture…'
Crunch— crunch— crunch—
'…Huh? It's not bad, actually. It tastes good, too.'
Kang Yul looked at the mushroom in his hand.
Its appearance was enough to make him want to throw up on the spot, but surprisingly, its chewy, crunchy texture and subtle sweetness made it taste like expensive squid.
'It might be fine if I ate it with my eyes closed or stir-fried it with some seasoning.'
In the end, Kang Yul seriously considered that and chewed and swallowed the entire mushroom in his hand.
"…"
﹝Special Features﹞
: She is extremely wary of you!!!
: She despises you even more!!!
: She doesn't want you to come near her!!!
Team Leader Myo, who'd watched the whole thing, began looking at Kang Yul as if he were the most disgusting supernatural life-form in the world.
'No, you're the one who told me to…'
But he didn't dare complain about it.
If he approached carelessly, Team Leader Myo might really fold him in half.
And as a result…
Ding-!
[You have consumed a Spore Drone.]
[Exploration rate has increased.]
[Some Gate information has been revealed.]
───────────
[Gate Compendium] - [Spore Colony Forest]
- A forest transformed into a dreamlike realm by the mana of a Spore Colony.
- Somewhere in the forest, a 'Sentient Individual' that spreads Spore Drones is hiding.
- A hidden area concealed by an illusion barrier exists in the forest.
───────────
…he'd obtained a clue to a place where the Sentient Individual might be hiding.
'Ah, I want to go home and mine with the Worm…'
Worm, are you doing okay…? I miss you so much today.