Chapter 28 – Terror Crept In

, .

“Please enter.”

It was an employee he had never seen before.

In the Raider Bureau, numerous support teams assist with raids all over South Korea. They often went together with members they frequently synced with, and in Se-min’s case, it was Joo Won-ho, whom he had asked for the Einkel raid.

But today, it was someone he had never seen in his life. On the name tag, “Support Team 4” was written.

The team number was one of the early ones.

“Are you Lee Se-min, the Blue-mark Raider?”

“Yes. Should I give you an autograph?”

“Go inside.”

There was no trace of a smile on his face.

Somehow, he was a desolate person. And that did not change much even after going inside. Everyone’s face was stiff.

Even though Einkel was a rare magic beast, the raid level was not that high.

The reason for it was soon known.

Raiders dressed in unified protective gear stood in disciplined postures. The affiliation engraved on their shoulders was one of the Big Three that divided South Korea’s raid industry.

It was the Limitless Association.

***

There were six Raiders belonging to the Limitless Association dressed in similar attire, and among them, one man had lined up the other five and was standing in front of them with crossed arms. It looked as if he was giving them a disciplinary talk.

Despite Se-min’s appearance, the five standing still only stared forward, and only the one man acting as the leader in front glanced toward Se-min.

He scanned Se-min.

Se-min cleared his throat once and dusted off his souvenir jacket.

The man tilted his head with a strange expression. As Se-min also tilted his head in return, the man’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Are you that…?”

It was a question that could be interpreted in several ways.

Se-min asked.

“That what?”

He did not answer and turned his head back to speak to his group.

“Limitless Association Rule Number 4.”

Then, the Raiders of the Limitless Association stared forward and shouted.

“There is no end to martial arts, and we are never conceited! No matter what raid we face, we prepare for the enemy with the best preparation!”

Se-min opened his mouth.

What on earth was that?

Without stopping, the man walked in front of them with his hands clasped behind his back and asked once more.

“Limitless Association Rule Number 8.”

“There is no end to martial arts, and we always put the team first! My mistake puts the team in danger!”

It seemed they had their own rules of the Limitless Association. Se-min watched blankly to see how far they would go.

The man said.

“At ease.”

At that, the Limitless Association Raiders relaxed their postures. However, it was only in appearance; they never turned their eyes or moved their bodies.

The man spoke to them.

“Even when dealing with a single Zorg, we wear all equipment. No matter how confident we are, we do not omit protective gear. Because of this, the Limitless Association was able to rise to the top spot.”

Only now did Se-min understand.

He was criticizing Se-min, who walked around holding only a single sword.

He said again.

“Limitless Association Rule Number 10.”

Then the five straightened their backs again and answered.

“There is no end to martial arts, and our responsibility is also infinite! We risk our lives for the mission of protecting human life!”

“Raid is not child’s play. If you are standing here with just such a thought, get lost right now.”

“No, sir!”

“Is it really not?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Yes. That is the Limitless Association.”

Se-min whispered to the Raider Bureau employee who was waiting beside the Raiders.

“Honestly, it’s funny, right?”

He did not answer with his stiff face.

Se-min continued to whisper.

“The ones who haven’t served are always worse.”

“Pfft.”

“For your information, I am a discharged Army Sergeant. You are too, aren’t you, employee-nim?”

The employee hung his head.

After calming his shoulders which had been shaking as if suppressing laughter, he lifted his head again with a stiff face. However, his face was already dyed red. Se-min said.

“So you stiffened your face like that because you were afraid you would laugh in front of them.”

“…No.”

“I understand.”

Perhaps having heard the conversation between the two, the Limitless Association man’s expression was not good.

He walked toward Se-min. Se-min smiled and spread his hands.

“Please take good care of me today.”

“You are a Blue-mark, but I heard your skills are decent.”

“Thanks. How many Limitless Association rules are there? Around twenty?”

He ignored Se-min’s question.

“I don’t know what connection you have with the Raider Bureau that you joined here, but you can just stand in the back. Because you will be in the way.”

He blatantly scanned Se-min’s attire once again.

“You must be confident. In our Limitless Association, even the Association Leader wears all equipment when participating in real combat.”

“Oh, impressive. Our boss is busy leaving malicious comments on overseas football articles, though.”

“I’ve seen many people die after fooling around like that.”

“Your name is…”

Se-min looked at his chest. Like a group mimicking the military, his name was also engraved.

His name was Yoon Mu-jin.

It was a name he had seen somewhere before.

Se-min pondered. Somehow, hearing Yoon Mu-jin reminded him of John McKellan, and brother McKellan who had now become a business partner.

“Do you happen to know me?”

“You? You are not that great of a person to us. You must be conceited, thinking you’ve become someone great because of the nickname Factory…”

“You are the person who got beaten up by Brother John McKellan during the Raider qualification exam, right?”

His eyes widened.

“No way, you…”

“If it weren’t for me back then, you would have had to eat porridge for the rest of your life. Grateful, right?”

“The second exam’s…”

“For your information, I failed back then.”

At the time of the Raider qualification exam, Yoon Mu-jin was right before being pounded after being caught by John McKellan in the battle royale. If Se-min had not knocked out John McKellan, he would have faced a rough situation.

Yoon Mu-jin glared at Se-min and said.

“Putting aside the past, just don’t get in the way. I’ll let you spin the roulette as long as you stand still and don’t interfere.”

“Let me know the Limitless Association rules from the beginning when the raid ends. I’m curious.”

Se-min glanced at the remaining Limitless Association Raiders. The look in their eyes was also not good.

Se-min winked at them and said to the employee standing nearby.

“It would be quite a sight during their group raids. Right? They’d probably be doing headstands and all.”

“…”

He did not deny it.

Se-min put his hands in his pockets, let the claymore dangle, and got acquainted with the staff of Support Team 4 whom he was meeting for the first time.

Most of the staff were also taciturn. It was probably because of the Limitless Association. Seeing the way they behaved, they were rude even to the support team.

“No-fun bastards.”

The Renegade brothers had at least some manly flavor instead.

It was time for the briefing.

Chairs had been prepared to match the number of people, but the only ones who actually sat down were Se-min and Yoon Mu-jin. The rest stood behind him in an at-ease posture. Se-min urged them to sit, but they did not even answer.

“Don’t your legs hurt? You are all impressive.”

Yoon Mu-jin glared at him.

The support team leader began the briefing.

“As you all know, the entity predicted to appear today is Einkel. The roulette will be spun by dividing it fairly into seven parts. Of course, those who retire due to problems other than injuries will be excluded from the roulette.”

The talk of the roulette came out first.

“It is assumed there is one Einkel. There are no traces of other magic beasts. It is just a single entity. Even if an exceptional situation occurs, only a lower-grade magic beast on the level of Blue will likely appear. Since there are two Gold-marks today, and most of you are Green-marks.”

The support team leader looked at Se-min once and continued speaking.

“There won’t be any major problems. Everyone, please respond calmly.”

It was a Gate that made him wonder if it could really be this convenient.

It was a single Einkel.

Although tricky, it was not a magic beast with exceptional combat power. This size of workforce was more than excessive. Due to its value, more people than necessary had been allocated.

Somehow, Se-min did not have a good feeling.

He had never walked an easy path. Obstacles always blocked him. He had thought life was getting better through the Tai Chi Wisdom by the grace of Dokgo Cheonma, but in the end, he rolled in the military and fell beyond the Gate, barely surviving to return.

Compared to that, did this not seem like a favor without a price?

Since he had been assigned to the Einkel raid, he had thought that perhaps a tremendous magic beast would appear to restore balance.

Yet, they said it was a single Einkel.

“They say trouble follows good fortune.”

He decided to look on the bright side. Since he had lived a rolling life so far, maybe his luck was finally opening up now.

Se-min leaned back against the backrest and asked Yoon Mu-jin.

“Have you ever faced Einkel?”

“I have not.”

“Me neither. It’s the first time for everyone.”

“But I received training from seniors of the Limitless Association. I am different from you. Both in experience and mark.”

And he turned his head sharply.

He was a coy person.

“How sorrowful…”

Se-min grumbled.

He drank a cup of tea handed to him by the support team and warmed up. The time predicted for the raid arrived.

The support team activated the Gate Opener.

A strange light flowed out of the equipment installed on the tactical vehicle.

Mana stones.

The crystallization of power.

It shone eerily, sometimes red, sometimes blue, and sometimes green. It was not common for Raiders to see it directly, but Se-min had seen it numerous times while hunting magic beasts beyond the Gate.

The Raiders of the Limitless Association formed a long line one step ahead of Se-min. It was a posture showing they would not allow him a spot.

Se-min smirked and took a step back.

Watching the battle of the Big Three would also be a good experience.

Soon, the Gate opened.

A red current formed the shape of an eye and watched them, then slowly split to the left and right. At its end, a pitch-black darkness unfolded.

Se-min stared beyond the Gate. It was the pathway to the other world where he had wandered to his sick discontent.

Somehow, the damp smell of that place seemed to be conveyed.

Se-min suddenly gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

His body was tensing.

Instinctively, he checked his dantian. The Tai Chi Wisdom slowly rose. Rotating, it began to prepare for the upcoming battle.

The Tai Chi Wisdom was a divine art.

It manifested the harmony of all things in nature.

It was connected to the principles of the universe that even Se-min did not know. The Tai Chi Wisdom occasionally rang warnings to Se-min as if it were an independent living organism, helping him survive.

What saved him beyond the Gate was none other than the Tai Chi Wisdom.

Therefore, Se-min could understand the voice of the Tai Chi Wisdom to some extent.

He realized that something was wrong.

“Damn it.”

Se-min spat out a curse. The members of the Limitless Association glanced back at him. Se-min contacted the support team through the radio channel he was wearing.

“I think something is wrong.”

[What do you mean?]

“That is not Einkel.”

[Pardon?]

At his words, the Limitless Association Raiders looked back at him again. Yoon Mu-jin was frowning heavily.

“What are you talking about right now?”

“You guys step back too.”

“Stop talking nonsense and just stay still.”

Se-min was watching the Gate closely.

In the gap of the split Gate, the appearance of the magic beast was being revealed. Pure white hair protruding beyond the Gate fluttered in the wind.

Einkel was not a hairy entity. It was a creature that, like a slime, was slippery and altered its own shape.

It soon became the monster’s forefoot.

“Does that look like Einkel to you?”

Yoon Mu-jin shut his mouth. The entire Limitless Association was agitated. A commotion broke out in the support team.

Only Se-min raised his claymore and prepared for the enemy’s appearance.

*Thud.*

When the monster’s forefoot touched the ground, the earth shook lightly.

It was a large-scale species.

Yoon Mu-jin’s complexion turned pale. He looked back and forth between the magic beast and the support team’s tactical vehicle. He wanted to say something, but his face looked confused as to what to say.

Se-min noticed the identity of the enemy.

“Request backup.”

[Pardon?]

“That is Kesia.”

At Se-min’s words, the chaotic radio channel fell silent.

The magic beast twisted its body as if the Gate was cramped. At that, the Gate wavered and cracked. The growling roar of a beast was conveyed. Soon, the Gate broke apart, became a larger hole, and spat out the magic beast.

A hideous maw splitting left and right.

Four legs, and two arms attached to the shoulders with hooks at their ends.

A house-sized quadrupedal beast with fluttering white hair.

Kesia was there.

The beast roared, flashing its purple eyes.

It was an emergency.

The tactical vehicle immediately turned its wheels and began to flee. The connection was not yet severed. Yoon Mu-jin grabbed the radio on his ear and shouted.

“Backup! Request backup!”

[Please evacuate.]

“What about us!”

[Kesia is not something we can face. In accordance with the raid regulations, immediately avoid engagement. Everyone, flee.]

Yoon Mu-jin clenched his teeth.

“We are the Limitless Association! We do not run!”

[You must evacuate.]

Se-min wanted to clap, but Kesia’s eyes were directed at them.

“We have two Gold-marks, and the rest are Green-marks close to Gold. We can hold out until backup arrives!”

[It will take an hour.]

“What?”

[There are no Raiders of Platinum-grade or higher waiting nearby.]

“Why?”

[We are sorry. The situation got twisted. Everyone is in a raid or has left Seoul.]

Yoon Mu-jin closed his mouth.

He looked at Se-min.

Se-min smirked. When he had killed the Drake and returned from the Gate, the expressions of the Raiders he saw for the first time were just like that.

They were terrified, not knowing what to do at the crossroads of life and death.

Yes, and at that time, one fellow shouted.

‘Draw your sword!’

Even if we die, we hold out until backup arrives! If you want to die, die then!

A pushover kid who usually could not say a bad word to others had, at that time, shouted with his eyes wide open and shoulders squared.

Recalling that time, Se-min opened his mouth.

“Hey. Draw your sword.”

The gazes of the Limitless Association members, who had been in confusion, gathered on him.

“Even if we die, we hold out until backup arrives, and if you want to die, die then.”

“But. How…”

Harmful magic beast system number 63, Kesia.

Solo raids are not permitted for those below Platinum.

Of course, just because a raid was permitted did not mean they could subdue it in one breath. It was a terrifying opponent that even Raiders who had reached the Platinum-mark had to be at least three to conduct a raid.

Although it was said Ahn Seong-jun raided a Kesia alone, it was unknown how proper of an entity it had been.

Such an existence was looking down on them, opening its maw left and right.

Yoon Mu-jin opened his cell phone and started a call. Listening to the conversation, the opponent was the Limitless Association. As if frustrated, his face flushed red.

His rough voice stimulated Kesia.

Kesia rushed toward Yoon Mu-jin.

“Damn it!”

Yoon Mu-jin threw away his cell phone and leaped. He was also a Raider who had reached the Gold-mark. He would not be caught easily.

However, Kesia was a notorious magic beast that had killed countless such Gold-mark Raiders.

Even among magic beasts, there were dangerous ones. They were highly lethal entities that perpetrated massacres in an instant if one took one’s eyes off them even for a moment.

Kesia was exactly such a species.

Kesia pursued Yoon Mu-jin and immediately kicked off the ground. The giant magic beast soared. The ugly maw split wide open left and right was right near him.

Common sense number one.

A person floating in empty air cannot change direction on their own.

Yoon Mu-jin closed his eyes.

However, nothing happened. Yoon Mu-jin opened his eyes again in the sensation of falling.

There was someone’s back.

On that back, a single dragon opening its mouth and roaring was embroidered.

A familiar souvenir jacket.

“Get a grip!”

Se-min shouted and swung the claymore, slashing Kesia’s maw. It collided with Kesia’s teeth and bounced off.

Watching blankly as Kesia and Se-min hovered in the air exchanging attacks, Yoon Mu-jin fell.

“Assistant Manager!”

Yoon Mu-jin spun and landed on the ground. The Limitless Association Raiders ran to him. Yoon Mu-jin did not answer and stared at the sky.

A guy whom they did not call Factory, but belittled as a manual laborer in jest, was blocking Kesia.

At a low estimate, his skill was above the Gold-mark.

“Was the rumor true?”

The rumor was that although his skill was above the Blue-mark, he remained at the Blue-mark due to promotion requirements.

But he had thought it would be at the Green-mark level at best. Otherwise, why would he perform low-grade raids in a nameless small company?

It was a miscalculation.

In addition, though he only learned it today, Factory had taken the same exam as him. He was someone who possessed the aptitude to subdue him and McKellan in one breath.

Why on earth did he fail the exam and not show up all this time?

“Damn it. We will help too.”

“Assistant Manager. The opponent is Kesia.”

“Still, it’s just one entity. If we all combine our strength, we can block it somehow.”

“Got it.”

“Everyone, prepare yourselves…”

However, something strange caught his eye.

The Gate was not closed yet.

The Gate, which had cracked while spitting out Kesia, did not vanish just like that, but was preparing something again, rising with red currents.

His face turned pale.

“Flee.”

“Pardon?”

“Go to the cars right now.”

When Yoon Mu-jin changed his words, the Raiders stared at him.

Yoon Mu-jin stared at the Gate. Through the red cracks, white hair shimmered.

“There are two of them.”

There were two Kesias.

***

Kesia was a tough opponent even for Se-min. He settled the Tai Chi Wisdom and suppressed aura on the blade.

Since that white hair cancels out ordinary impacts, he had to penetrate to the core in one breath.

However, because Kesia’s speed was so fast, he could not deliver a fatal blow.

Instead, only Se-min suffered damage.

“Flee!”

Turning around at the sound heard suddenly, he saw.

The Limitless Association Raiders had already boarded their respective vehicles and were leaving. Only Yoon Mu-jin drove his car back to Se-min and was shouting.

“Another one is coming out!”

“What?”

Se-min finally looked back at the Gate. There, Kesia’s forefoot was fully revealed, and the beast was exerting force to drag the rest of its body.

“Don’t die in vain and flee!”

Suddenly, Kesia swung its forefoot. Se-min lifted his sword and blocked, but he was thrown back by the impact. He rolled on the asphalt floor. His skin was scraped and blood flowed. Se-min raised his aura to suppress the bleeding.

After spitting out spit once, Se-min shouted.

“Whether it is one or two, shouldn’t we block it first!”

Yoon Mu-jin looked at him.

His face was blank.

Annoyance surged in Se-min.

That expression, yes, he had seen that expression before.

When someone reaches out a hand, the face of the person swatting it away stiffens like that.

“Where did that great Limitless Association code go?”

“The lives of Raiders are more precious.”

“What?”

“If a Raider dies, the capacity to prepare for the next also vanishes.”

The Raiders’ regulations.

Never risk death.

Raiders were rare and precious personnel. The existence of Raiders supported society against the invasion of magic beasts. One Raider was more effective against magic beasts than hundreds of ordinary people.

Therefore, although their mission was to protect civilians, at the same time, they could willingly escape in situations where their sacrifice was feared.

In the past, there was no such rule. Being pulverized to save lives was a virtue of Raiders. So numerous Raiders died. Even the legend of raid, Han Su-in, passed away like that.

The entire world watched as he was swallowed by a magic beast while saving people.

Afterwards, the World Headquarters of the Raid Association changed the supreme rule of raids from the safety of civilians to the safety of the Raider themselves.

“Is that so?”

Se-min smirked.

“As expected, they’re hopeless.”

He had known it for a long time.

Raiders.

Most of them are hopeless.

Se-min stood up, relying on the claymore.

“Go if you’re going.”

“What about you?”

“Why do you care to know?”

Se-min glared at the approaching Kesia and said.

“If you are that scared, get the hell out.”

Yoon Mu-jin stared at him, then turned his head. The car roared its exhaust and sped away.

Everyone had left.

Se-min let out a sigh.

It was not like he had a solution either.

There were two Kesias.

If it was one, maybe, but two was too much even for him.

“An hour…”

Suddenly, Se-min felt Kesia’s gaze turning.

“Hey?”

Se-min turned his head along with the beast’s gaze.

Yoon Mu-jin’s yellow Lamborghini was speeding.

“Stupid bastard.”

Se-min sighed.

Beyond the Gate, the color of the Mohaim, which is Kesia’s staple food, was exactly that yellow.

And Yoon Mu-jin was driving along the road toward the downtown area.

“Stupid bastard…”