Chapter 59
Rewinding time a little, to around when Namgung Min hid with the children.
Outside the Gate, Hwi-min was frowning.
It was because of the information he'd just overheard.
'So the old man was an Awakener… Why was he doing manual labor?'
Hwi-min couldn't make sense of it.
Maybe he'd fallen into despair after losing his daughter and stopped working as an Awakener.
Naturally, it was difficult to imagine.
So could he perhaps be the same type as me?
Or perhaps a 'villain,' an outlaw almost nonexistent in Korea?
He even came up with conspiracy theories like that, but
-Snicker.
'Well, he must have had his reasons.'
Hwi-min brushed it off.
As far as he knew, the old man wasn't that kind of person.
'I might as well go in.'
Taat—!!
Hwi-min ran toward the Gate.
'Could he be from the Fifth Tier of Hard Tower?'
Anyone who had entered with that much confidence
had to be an incredible powerhouse.
Believing this, Hwi-min had gone to see just how amazing his benefactor was, but…
-Ding.
[The Trait 'Dragon Eyes' activates….]
[Namgung Min]
Level: 151
"……?"
'He's from Egen Tower?'
What he saw after entering the Gate was, in every respect, the opposite of what he had expected.
Hwi-min frowned.
Then he surveyed his surroundings.
Before long, a glint appeared in his eyes.
-Ding.
[Builder (Rare)]
'Oh, a Trait optimized for manual labor.'
The artificial rock attached to the wall, and the two little girls hidden inside it.
It was obvious that Namgung Min had done this using his Trait.
He still didn't know why Namgung Min had come out into the open after going to all the trouble of making a hiding place…
But one thing was certain.
Namgung Min was a good person after all.
"Hmm."
'Now what?'
Hwi-min fell into brief thought.
Solving the Gate himself would be slightly easier than eating cake while lying down.
But if he did that, it would be revealed that 'Iron Gangmin' had appeared.
Hwi-min found that troublesome.
'That's a little awkward.'
If someone wanted to ask Iron Gangmin for something, they had to pay the price.
It hadn't been long since he'd threatened people with that.
But what if he simply cleared this Gate?
Attention would inevitably be drawn to him.
All sorts of speculation would run rampant over why he'd cleared this Gate for free.
One theory would be that he had an acquaintance among the civilians trapped inside the Gate.
That could expose the connection between Namgung Min and himself.
If Namgung Min hadn't entered the Gate, it would be a different matter, but Iron Gangmin couldn't step forward in the current situation.
'Until another guild arrives… No, this will take too long. I need to resolve it faster.'
Therefore, after thinking for a moment,
Hwi-min came up with a desperate expedient.
'Can't be helped.'
"Dohwa, summon."
After he muttered quietly,
Pop.
A pink fluffball appeared in midair.
It was Dohwa.
"Ke… bwerp."
"Quiet. Giantification—can you control your size? Just keep it small enough that the cave won't collapse."
He whispered as quietly as possible.
The monster's footsteps were booming loudly enough that there was no danger of Namgung Min overhearing him.
Having grasped the situation, Dohwa answered with a silent nod.
"Good. Then wipe out every monster here and come back. Giantify yourself so they can see you."
"Keng."
And the moment Hwi-min let go of Dohwa,
Dohwa lightly jumped down, and…
"Dohwa, Giantification."
"Keng."
Fwoooosh—!!!
Dohwa's body rapidly grew.
It took less than a second for Dohwa to change from the size of a cute medium-sized dog to something almost as large as an elephant.
Boom.
When Dohwa landed, a heavy sound rang out, utterly different from the previous dainty footsteps.
"……!!!?"
'A monster behind me too!? When did it get there… The children!!'
Namgung Min sensed it as well and turned around, but
"You bastard… Huh?"
"Kyaeung~!!!"
A monster… no, a life-form that was almost absurdly fluffy and cute to be called a monster.
Dohwa was leaping over Namgung Min.
The stress Dohwa had built up from protecting Hwi-min from those horny elves all day had also turned into savage frenzy and gone berserk.
-Ding.
[The Trait 'Lightning Speed' activates….]
'Dohwa's fighting!!'
Krrr—!!
Dohwa charged forward, leaving adorable pawprints in the ground.
Could the one-eyed monster charging toward Dohwa possibly stop it?
Of course not.
"Graaa…."
"Keng!!"
Booooom!!!
The monster went flying with a sound like a drum bursting after taking a single body slam from Dohwa.
It eventually crashed into the soft wall.
Then it scattered into dust.
In other words, it died instantly.
Namgung Min was aghast.
"Th-that can't be!!"
'It must be at least Level 500!!'
This was a Gate.
It was an inhuman hellscape swarming with monsters that could turn someone like him into minced meat with a single blow.
And yet, one of the Gate's monsters had been defeated in a single strike?
Not by some mighty attack, but by a simple charge?
-Gulp.
'Just what level could Dohwa be…?'
Namgung Min's eyes shook violently.
He couldn't begin to understand what he was looking at.
"That's Abigail."
Abigail.
The gatekeeper of Floor 1 of the Beginner's Tower.
A monster that was merely fast and didn't attack people, making it easy even for Awakeners below Level 30 to defeat, wasn't it?
Its size was the only thing that differed greatly,
but that was definitely Abigail.
The weakest boss monster across all the Towers was tearing through the Gate.
"Kyaeung~!!"
A cute cry.
-KABOOM!!
"Khyaaaaakkk!!!!?"
The result was anything but.
Faced with such an extreme imbalance, Namgung Min's legs finally gave out, and he sank to the ground.
"Wh-what is that…."
"……."
'It'll be over within a minute.'
Meanwhile, Hwi-min, watching while invisible,
casually began to stretch.
There was only one thing left for him to do.
…He just had to do something Iron Gangmin would never do.
'I should make it as flashy as possible. That'll make denying it later easier.'
Taat—!!
Hwi-min leaped after Dohwa.
Using Baekrihyang-style footwork, he sprinted at full speed and soon caught up with Dohwa.
"Spatial Slash."
"Kyaeung… Keng?"
Slash.
After vertically slicing apart the boss monster Dohwa had just been about to catch,
Hwi-min moved beneath Dohwa.
Then he raised his arms and placed his hands against Dohwa's soft belly.
-Grab.
"Kyaeung!?"
"Dohwa, the Gate's going to close now. When I give the signal, Giantify even more."
"Kyaeung… Krrng…."
Dohwa flinched when he touched a particularly sensitive spot, but anyway.
-Ssss… Fwoosh!!!
'The Gate is cleared.'
The surroundings rippled, and Hwi-min and Dohwa were teleported.
The two of them were transported to a spot in front of a large supermarket.
Namgung Min and the two children stood beside them.
The Gate had closed and spat the humans inside back out.
-Murmur murmur.
"What, did he clear it alone?"
"They said that old man was C-rank. How did he…?"
The people around them began to stir, but…
'It's the finale!!'
"Dohwa, Giantification."
After ordering Dohwa to Giantify, Hwi-min leaped as hard as he could while carrying Dohwa.
At the same time, he cut off the mana flowing toward Dohwa, dispelling only Dohwa's invisibility.
To everyone else, it looked as though Dohwa had suddenly appeared and shot into the sky.
"Oh my!? Wh-what is that…."
"Kyaeung!!!"
"It's getting bigger!!!?"
Dohwa was even faithfully following his order and Giantifying.
Its elephant-sized body continued to grow larger.
From a distance, it looked as though a cute, fluffy fur balloon was rising into the air.
Up close…
it was nothing less than a monster the size of a building leaping high into the sky.
"Eek!!!?"
"R-run!!!"
The crowd that had gathered quickly dispersed.
The gazes that had been directed at Namgung Min scattered as well.
Thanks to that, Namgung Min could quietly watch
the Abigail that might have saved him, crying with an utterly innocent expression.
"Kyaeunguuuu~!!!"
'Dohwa, this is fun!!!'
For Dohwa, this was merely a game to relieve the stress accumulated from fending off those horny elves.
But neither Namgung Min nor even Hwi-min would ever know that.
* * *
The situation finally settled down after Hwi-min turned Dohwa invisible again.
"It disappeared…."
"What on earth was that?"
The people who had fled initially returned after confirming that Dohwa was gone.
But unlike them,
there was someone who hadn't moved an inch from the beginning.
It was the woman who had almost lost her two children.
-Squeeze.
"Thank God…."
"Mom, you're squeezing too hard~."
"……Heh."
And beside the woman,
a middle-aged man laughed in disbelief.
Then he brushed himself off and stood up.
'As for that mutated Abigail… I can report it to the Administration. I'm tired now, so later.'
Honestly, he had no idea what had happened.
But the children were alive, weren't they?
That was enough for him.
He genuinely thought so.
'I don't care if I get disciplined. Let's go home and rest.'
Namgung Min was about to turn and leave, but
"That mister protected us!"
"Hmm?"
A voice came from behind him.
Namgung Min turned around.
The two children, whose faces he hadn't even been able to see properly, were pointing at him and smiling.
"That man… Thank you, thank you!!"
"No, I didn't do anything."
"You should say thank you too!!"
"Thank you~."
"Tank youuu~."
The two little girls bowed deeply.
For a moment, the sight of his lost daughter overlapped with them, making the bridge of his nose sting.
'There shouldn't be another child like Ye-eun, right?'
"Listen to your mom and dad, and grow up healthy."
He gave them a vague wave and turned away.
Then he trudged toward home.
It had been the most absurd five minutes of his life.
But he didn't feel particularly bad about it.
…After his unexpected encounter, he felt even better.
"Mister, mister."
"Hmm?"
As he passed by the side of an alley, he heard a voice.
Namgung Min followed it with his gaze.
Then an exclamation burst from him.
"Hwi-min, what brings you here?"
"I happened to be nearby, and I heard a Gate had appeared, so I rushed over. You weren't answering your phone, so I was worried. You didn't get caught up in it, did you?"
Standing before him, Hwi-min asked in the most natural manner.
There was no sign that he had just put on a gigantic Dohwa show moments ago.
Namgung Min accepted it without question.
'The kid—did he hail a taxi because he was worried?'
"What can a cripple with one arm do? Anyway, since I ran into you, how about a drink? Grilled hagfish okay?"
He didn't mention what had just happened.
If Hwi-min learned that he was an Awakener, he might start keeping his distance.
As always, he acted only as the manual-labor foreman he had always been.
Hwi-min played along.
'I do want to ask why he does manual labor, but… I'll pretend not to know until he tells me himself.'
"I appreciate it, but some other time."
Step.
Hwi-min backed away into the alley.
A smile spread across his lips.
"My little sister made dinner and is waiting for me!"
"…Dinner? Don't tell me she's recovered?!"
"Yes!! So I'll see you Saturday!!!"
Then, patter—!!
Hwi-min sprinted down the alley.
His figure disappeared into the darkness.
His retreating back looked as admirable as a son's,
so Namgung Min couldn't help but laugh.
-Snicker.
"…Yeah, you protected them."
He had no idea what had happened.
But regardless, it was a good thing.
"Then I'll really get going… Hmm."
'But what on earth was that gigantic Abigail? It was definitely Abigail, wasn't it?'
The fact that he spent the night tossing and turning, curious about Abigail's identity, wasn't exactly a good thing.
* * *
That night.
[Awakener Minor Gallery]
Author: Iron Gangmin's Awakener Analysis 2
Title: Is this for real;;
I just saw the news…
ㄴ Iron Noona doesn't know?
ㄴㄴ Fuck, South Korea is totally fucked!!!
"……No, fuck."
'Don't call me noona.'
The internet was ablaze with speculation about the giant Abigail.