Chapter 47
#47. Gate (12)
A heavy silence hung between us as we ate a late breakfast after finishing a round of morning sex.
“...Hey.”
“Huh?”
Just when the awkwardness was becoming unbearable, Choi Hye-na spoke first, her expression complex and conflicted.
“Last night was an accident. Forget all of it once we get out of the Gate.”
Even as she said that, Choi Hye-na’s face gradually grew red, as though she were remembering what had happened last night.
Judging by the way even her eyes were trembling, it was obvious who would end up being unable to forget it.
“Then what about when you said, ‘Baby, I’m so tired, can’t I rest just a little?’”
“Kyaaah!!”
Whack! I was hit by the spoon Choi Hye-na threw.
“Forget it! Forget it! I said forget it!!”
As punishment for running my mouth, I had to endure her furious kicks.
After kicking me twice, Choi Hye-na seemed to have calmed down somewhat. She carefully picked up her spoon again and silently resumed eating.
“By the way, what about Wendigo?”
“...Wendigo’s asleep.”
According to Choi Hye-na, she was currently under a temporary contract with Wendigo.
Even Choi Hye-na herself said she did not really know how she had managed to form a contract with Wendigo despite having no aptitude for spirit magic.
“Still, Wendigo won’t attack us like last time.”
Well, judging from the reaction it had shown at dawn, I doubted it would attack us even without a contract.
“Are you going to form a formal contract?”
“I don’t know. I’m a complete outsider when it comes to spirits too... I’d like to form a formal contract if I can, but I’m not sure it’ll agree so readily...”
Spirit mages were extremely rare to begin with.
To put that in perspective, there were fewer than thirty spirit mages in the entire country.
Because of that, very few people wanted to study spirits in depth, and since it was not a field that absolutely had to be learned, even someone born into a renowned mage family like Choi Hye-na was not taught much about spirits separately.
“Anyway, even a temporary contract is still a contract. Can’t we borrow some of its power until we escape the Gate?”
“...I don’t know about that either. It seems neither of us knows the terms of the contract in the first place. Well, it might know them, but even if it agrees to lend us its power, it won’t happen unless we pay an equivalent price.”
“There’s a price right here.”
“What is it?”
I proudly pointed at my lower half.
“...You might be the only human in the world who’s had sex with a spirit.”
“It seemed to enjoy it?”
“...It’s my body!!”
Wham!!
***
There was one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
The good news was that only two days remained until the Gate opened, while the bad news was that, with Wendigo’s appearance, there was an extremely high chance that this Gate was at least B-minus rank or higher.
It didn’t matter since we had no intention of fighting the boss, but if another B-minus-rank magical beast appeared, one of us might really die.
‘We can’t hide in the shelter until the Gate opens.’
The Gate opening meant that a Gate Break would occur, sending all the magical beasts inside the Gate into Earth at once.
Of course, countless powerful people outside would already be preparing thoroughly for that, but we were the problem.
To minimize combat during our escape, we had to clear out the magical beasts around the shelter whenever we had the chance.
I had considered waiting until all the magical beasts had escaped and then trying to take advantage of the empty Gate, but Choi Hye-na repeatedly insisted that would be completely insane.
-Outside, things must be in chaos right now because of the B-minus-rank-or-higher Gate that suddenly appeared in the middle of the city.
Choi Hye-na picked out one best method for handling the Gate Break while minimizing property damage and casualties.
Full-force firepower.
I had occasionally seen it on the news.
Mages and hunters surrounded the Gate, then unleashed a simultaneous barrage the moment it opened to reduce the number of magical beasts from the very beginning.
If we escaped too early, we would obviously be reduced to ashes by that barrage, and if we were too late, we would be discovered and killed by the boss-class magical beasts.
Ultimately, the only way we could survive was to escape the Gate one step ahead of the other magical beasts.
The people outside would know that we were trapped in here as well.
Besides, with Choi Hye-na’s presence and Grandmother Choi Yeong-ok’s clout, we would surely have at least a few minutes to get out after the Gate opened.
We had to take advantage of that time.
However, a Gate Break was the disaster the people feared most.
Even Grandmother Choi Yeong-ok would not be able to buy us much time.
We had to be first, without fail; once another magical beast got out ahead of us, the odds of dying would increase exponentially.
If we didn’t want to die, this was a death marathon in which we had to reach the finish line before anyone else.
“Is Wendigo still not answering?”
“Haa... I guess not.”
Wendigo could be considered the trump card for this escape.
Although Choi Hye-na’s abilities were still immature for a spirit mage, and her temporary contract was a flimsy connection that could not fully draw out the power of a B-minus-rank magical beast, that alone was enough for now.
If Wendigo could draw the magical beasts’ attention while we escaped, getting out would become much easier.
The problem was that I couldn’t tell whether this fucking sow was still sleeping or deliberately ignoring us, but it wasn’t answering Choi Hye-na’s calls.
It had been nearly two hours already.
“Can’t be helped. Let’s wait until this evening for now, and if it still doesn’t respond, we’ll have no choice but to break through on our own.”
“...No. If it doesn’t wake up by evening, I’ll force it awake.”
“Can you do that?”
“I think I can somehow.”
Seeing how confident Choi Hye-na looked, I decided not to press her any further.
There was something more important than that.
“Five o’clock direction, approximately 200 meters.”
“Confirmed.”
No sooner had I finished briefing her than Choi Hye-na composed herself and began preparing her magic.
Thump- thump-
As ten seconds passed, then thirty, a gigantic monster emerged beyond the vibrations that grew increasingly louder.
“Is that an Ice Troll...? Isn’t it too big?”
It was a C+-rank magical beast known to be larger than a White Yeti and more ferocious than an Ice Bear.
With its powerful strength, excellent regenerative abilities, and hide resistant to physical attacks, it was undoubtedly a troublesome opponent.
However, unlike an Ogre, a higher-rank magical beast whose hide possessed powerful magical resistance, it was little more than a walking target for us.
After confirming its position, direction, and speed, I raised my mana just like Choi Hye-na.
The water element had the disadvantage of being the weakest of the elemental types in terms of destructive power, but in exchange, its versatility allowed it to adapt flexibly to various situations.
The fire element, on the other hand, had the disadvantage of being unable to change as flexibly as water, but its destructive power was undoubtedly among the very best of all elemental types.
[Thought Acceleration]
When I used the new skill, everything around me—including objects and the environment—slowed down noticeably.
The snow falling from the sky, the breath flowing from my mouth, and even the movements of my own body.
Only then did I understand what ‘Thought Acceleration’ was.
In that moment when everything slowed down, I alone could think at my normal speed.
‘If this is only Rare grade, then Weakness Detection really is Epic??’
Now that I had acquired ‘Thought Acceleration,’ I could display twice or even more than twice the performance of the magic I had shown in ordinary battles.
[Fire Spear]
The magic I was casting now was the spear of fire I had used in the underground dungeon last time.
Of course, both its power and speed were so far beyond what they had been then that comparing them would be an insult. The Fire Spear now radiated enough heat to melt all the surrounding snow.
The increased amount of mana compared to last time, the longer casting time, and my improved condition thanks to having thoroughly relieved my sexual desire last night all contributed to its power.
“I’ll acknowledge you if you regenerate even after I blow your head open.”
I launched my spear before Choi Hye-na finished her magic.
Since water and fire were extremely incompatible, firing them together would only weaken each other’s magic.
Boom!!
The Fire Spear tore through the air at tremendous speed and embedded itself directly between the Ice Troll’s brows.
-Guuuuurgh!!!
The Fire Spear exploded the instant it struck between its brows.
I was surprised by its considerable power, but the Ice Troll’s C+-rank status was not merely decorative; a single spell was not enough to bring it down.
However, I had definitely dealt it significant damage.
[Aqua Rage]
The finishing blow belonged to Choi Hye-na.
Thud-
The troll collapsed, spraying its brain matter as a laser of high-pressure water tore through it.
Afterward, we harvested a reasonable amount of mana stones and methodically hunted the magical beasts that came swarming toward us, one after another.
We continued until the sun went down.
Another day in the Gate passed like that, but Wendigo still did not answer.
***
Only a day and a few hours remained until the Gate opened, but the schedule for the final day was not much different from usual.
We hunted the magical beasts around the shelter while checking the route leading to the Gate.
After dealing with quite a large number of magical beasts again, we finished our day and returned to the shelter.
Although we had made it through another day safely, not a single word passed between us.
We were exhausted from hunting magical beasts, but the bigger reason was that we simply could not forget the sight we had seen during the day.
Choi Hye-na in particular seemed deeply shocked.
While we were hunting magical beasts as usual, we felt as though the earth itself were shaking, so we hurried up a hill and looked around.
-W-what is that...?
-...Fuck.
There, not far from us, we saw a horde of magical beasts—easily more than a hundred—marching in orderly formation toward some destination.
It was unbelievable that so many magical beasts had gathered in one place, but even more unbelievable was that they were not attacking one another.
It was impossible for me to believe with my common sense, but Choi Hye-na explained that it was thanks to the boss creature’s domination.
Only then did I understand why so many hunters were gathering around the Gate shown in news footage before a scheduled Gate Break.
That was a disaster.
A disaster capable of effortlessly grinding an entire city to dust if it was not stopped.
“...Can we make it back alive?”
Choi Hye-na’s shoulders trembled slightly as she lay with her back to me.
I quietly pulled Choi Hye-na into my arms.
Normally, Choi Hye-na would have punched me, but she silently and obediently nestled into my embrace and went to sleep.
When the next sun rose, we would have to break through that army and escape.
I did not show it, but I couldn’t help feeling a little nervous too.
***
In the predawn hours.
Kraaa-boom!!!
“?!”
“Kyaaah?!”
A massive earthquake struck.
We hurriedly leaped out of the tent, jolted awake from our deep sleep.
Then we could hardly believe our eyes.
“...What is that now?”
A small mountain was moving, and its glowing blue eyes were fixed on us.
“A-an Ice Golem... It’s a B-rank boss-class creature...”
The moment I saw that enormous body, I did not even dare consider fighting it.
Even if it were a motionless punching bag, I doubted whether we could bring it down.
While we stood there dumbfounded, it began walking again.
Kraaa-boom!!
It had merely taken one step, yet it felt as though a tremendous earthquake had struck.
In a snowy field and mountain range like this, an earthquake of that magnitude naturally had another disaster following close behind.
Kuuuuuu-
An overwhelming and colossal avalanche, too massive to describe in words, was revealing itself.
The sight of snow covering an entire mountain range sliding down all at once brought me back to my senses.
“Hey!”
I seized Choi Hye-na’s wrist and ran, regaining my composure a split second before her while she was still dazed. Only then did Choi Hye-na come to her senses and start running on her own.
We pushed our mana to its limit and ran at full speed away from the avalanche, but considering the unfavorable terrain that made our feet sink at every turn and the avalanche’s top speed of 120 kilometers per hour...
“Fuck!!”
Kra-boom!!!
There was no way for us to escape from that pure-white wave.