Chapter 32
"Raebi, but are you all right?"
"Yes? What's wrong?"
Ribi asked a strange question on the way to the Japanese accommodations.
When I tilted my head, she said.
"It seems Mr. Cha-hoon doesn't use honorifics with you."
"Hmm... He was like that at Douglas Kim too, wasn't he?"
"We're from the same family, so that's understandable. Anyway, on paper, we're siblings."
'That's right. Come to think of it, it was a little strange.'
"Raebi hasn't really reacted, so I've let it be... But if it bothers you, you should say something."
"........"
What should I say?
Honestly, I didn't really care, but I couldn't tell what Ribi was thinking.
If she really was saying it for my sake, I could simply say it was fine,
but if she was pulling the 'Isn't that guy annoying?' routine, things could get a little complicated.
I gave the model answer for people with decision paralysis.
"I'm still inexperienced. If it's all right, could you guide me, Sis Ribi, so I don't cause the family any trouble?"
Ribi grinned.
"...You probably don't know what you're saying at that age. But thanks to your humility, you'll never have trouble wherever you go, Raebi."
"Thank you... But what do you know?"
"It's just one of those things. Come on, let's go in!"
Ribi gave Han Jihye a quick glance, then headed for the building entrance.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the Japanese accommodations.
As we approached the counter, the employee stood up before we could say anything.
"You're from Douglas Kim, right? Lady Iroha is waiting for you."
The employee signaled to a servant waiting nearby.
The servant nodded and led us to the elevator.
The elevator stopped at the fourth floor. When the doors opened, a wide, elongated hallway came into view.
Iroha's room was at the very end, directly ahead.
"Thank you for inviting us, Lady Iroha."
"Ah...! Lady Raebi..."
'......?'
But Iroha's complexion looked strangely pale.
She looked as though she'd hurried out in the middle of doing something.
Before I could ask why, Han Jihye raised her smartwatch. A green call-answer icon was displayed.
"......A reverse-direction Gate?"
‘What?’
In response to Han Jihye's brief question,
Ribi and I exchanged wide-eyed looks, then hurried after Iroha to the wall-mounted TV.
The screen displayed a large breaking-news banner.
[A-Rank Reverse-Direction Gate Created]
[Inwangsan Area Completely Closed Off]
......This can't be.
That would make clearing it nearly impossible.
Reverse-direction Gates are difficult to deal with.
With a normal Gate, we enter the portal from this side and clear the dungeon.
If we fail to clear it within the time limit, a Dungeon Break can occur, as it did in Egypt,
but viewed the other way, that means 'we're safe for a certain amount of time.'
But occasionally, altered Gates appear.
For example, there is an 'instant-type Gate,' whose time limit is so short that a Dungeon Break occurs within minutes,
or a 'reverse-direction Gate,' from which monsters keep pouring out while entry from this side is impossible.
Both are notorious for causing heavy casualties whenever they appear.
'And between those two, if I had to pick which was more troublesome...'
"A reverse-direction Gate. This is bad. Let's hope it isn't a summoning-type monster."
"Yes. Or a highly poisonous magic-type one."
The reason was simple.
An instant-type Gate could still be entered from this side, but a reverse-direction Gate could not.
If the dungeon boss remained inside the portal and kept sending out only its minions, there was no solution.
Since magic skills could also be used from inside, the land could become so contaminated that it was incapable of natural recovery.
Having to keep watch over the entrance for days on end until a Reverse Break occurred also resulted in serious manpower waste.
"The head of the family will have to move this time too. It's A-rank."
"......Who knows? He might ignore it again."
Ribi shook her head.
Apparently, he hadn't acted even when a C-rank instant-type Gate erupted in the middle of Incheon.
The TV continued broadcasting breaking news, including reports that nobles had been dispatched from Noble Island.
Douglas was on the list.
"......Huh?"
"The head of the family?"
'Douglas actually moved?'
It wasn't a false report or a misunderstanding.
The reporter had clearly mentioned Douglas, and the repeating news captions periodically displayed 'Douglas Kim' as well.
At the same time, Ribi's phone rang once.
"The head of the family left a message."
"What did he say?"
"......He says to lock Raebi in the accommodations so she can't go anywhere."
'No, why would you send that to Ribi?'
"That's strange. To think there's something he'd prioritize over his own secret...?"
"......"
"I'm curious..."
"......"
I avoided Ribi's 'zzzing' stare.
Fortunately, our respective attendants suggested returning to the accommodations, allowing us to get up naturally.
Iroha looked disappointed but didn't stop us.
"Oh, right! We can still give you what we prepared, right?"
When I paused to ask, Han Jihye nodded.
She handed Iroha's attendant a neatly wrapped ring box, and Iroha, looking curious, took it almost as if snatching it away.
She carefully clicked it open, and her eyes filled with surprise.
"Th-this is...!"
"It's a small token of our sincerity for the invitation. It may be far from enough for the Shimizu family, but please accept it."
"……That's far too generous! It's wonderful! I'll put it to good use, Lady Raebi!"
She apologized with an embarrassed expression and said she would prepare a return gift.
Since there was no time for that right then, we promised to exchange gifts another time.
Ribi and I hurried out of Iroha's room and returned to the Korean accommodations.
When we arrived, Kim Cha-hoon was already waiting.
"You heard the news, right? You little ladies need to stay put."
Despite his words, his face held no trace of a smile.
From the way he anxiously watched the breaking news, he seemed desperate to run there.
'Will they be all right?'
I was worried too.
The breaking news called it A-rank for now, but even among A-rank Gates, the danger varied considerably depending on mana levels.
In the worst case, at least two S-ranks would have to step in for a stable clear.
Considering that the monsters could pour out all at once, every noble remaining on the island might have to mobilize.
Otherwise, the casualties would continue to rise.
Unfortunately, half of Noble Island was currently deployed at other Gates.
"At least Douglas Kim, Banwol, and Aragan are still fully available."
"My father will move too."
Ribi looked at Kim Cha-hoon with an expression that said, 'Huh?'
"You're changing your schedule with the future emperor to rescue commoners?"
"......It's fortunate that Douglas Kim decided to join the fight."
Kim Cha-hoon didn't seem certain either.
After all, an A-rank Gate was still within the remaining forces' ability to handle.
The people who were going to die had probably already died, and from the nobles' perspective, it might even look like overkill.
'It depends on Aiden's character.'
"Oh! They've identified the boss type!"
"An arachne... Maybe there are still many people who haven't died yet."
Giant spiders had taken over the Inwangsan area.
The aerial footage filmed by drones showed mosaic-blurred corpses and white spiderwebs.
The Arachne identified as the boss was an S-rank monster shaped like a spider with a human upper body instead of a head.
Although it could endlessly produce powerful B-rank-or-higher creatures, now that three S-ranks were moving, we had to assume they were all dead.
"We hoped it wouldn't be a summoning type, but we got a quasi-summoning type instead. It feels like God is deliberately teasing us."
"Hmm... Do you think there is one? A god."
"If the boss appeared, let's count that as proof."
"Pfft...! I agree, Raebi."
If the boss hadn't appeared, at least one S-rank would have had to remain stationed there continuously.
Since a Reverse Break took at least a week to occur, we'd be in for a headache.
Fortunately, the Arachne was defeated within a day.
At dawn, dozens of A-rank creatures burst out in a swarm, followed by the Arachne's appearance.
The heads of the families blocked the Gate's entrance to cut off its escape route, then defeated it.
Fortunately, its intelligence wasn't high compared to its vast mana.
My phone buzzed.
"Hello?"
-Whoa, Raebi! Did you hear about my exploits?
"Oh, right! Brother Vincent went too, didn't he?"
-I... did...? What? I wasn't on the news?
"You weren't. Anyway, you worked hard. Did you get hurt..."
The call disconnected. Judging by his mutter right before it ended—'Damn commoners even got interviews'—he seemed to have been hoping for major coverage.
Unfortunately, every newspaper headline and news broadcast was plastered with reports about the heads of the families.
Douglas's decision to move had caused an especially huge commotion. They say even a problem child looks good after doing one good deed, and that was exactly what had happened.
"Anyway, it was resolved safely, Mr. Cha-hoon."
"......If I'd moved just a little earlier, I could have saved a hundred more."
Kim Cha-hoon was so deeply somber that he had forgotten even his usual manner of speaking.
This Gate had resulted in around seven hundred casualties, with approximately 250 deaths—a minor loss for an A-rank reverse-direction Gate.
Even so, he apparently wasn't satisfied with the outcome.
Ribi said that ten times as many people would have died if the Gate had been farther away, and told me we should consider ourselves incredibly fortunate that it had ended this well.
'I know that... but it's still horrifying.'
They said there might still be spiders remaining.
The more eggs the creatures laid, the weaker their mana became, so complete extermination might take quite a while.
The weaker their mana, the harder they were to track.
Since classes had been postponed anyway, I decided to take a little time away after hearing the news.
"Ms. Jihye, so we're free for a few days, right?"
"That's true, but... where are you going?"
"I'm feeling cooped up, so I want to go outside Eight City. Is that all right?"
"......Please permit me to accompany you."
Of course. I wasn't planning to go myself, so it was fine.
Ding-
[The Pygmies enter the ‘Battlefield Turmoil’ state.]