Chapter 44 – Friday the 13th

Semin headed straight to the company training ground after his meeting with Seol Mu-jin. He wanted to immediately test the things he had felt while meeting him.

Dokgo Cheonma was a genius standing in an unreachable place. Thus, her explanations and martial arts tended to be unkind to Se-min. However, Seol Mu-jin was someone much closer to Se-min than Dokgo Cheonma. What he said resonated with Se-min.

In the company office, Yoo Sang-heun was conversing with someone.

It was a familiar face.

“The Raider who lied to me?”

It was Bang Yu-bi’s younger sister, Bang Jin-young. She was sitting next to Yoo Sang-heun, then widened her eyes and pointed her finger at Se-min.

“What do you mean, a lie?”

“You said there were many handsome older brothers in the company.”

“Actually, there are not many. There is only me. Sorry for lying.”

“Again, again.”

“The CEO is not great, so terminate your contract.”

Yoo Sang-heun looked at Se-min.

“You, what are you saying to Jin-young, our company’s hope?”

Se-min shrugged. He had no time to talk with them further. He wanted to go to the training ground right away.

“At first, he is kind like that. But gradually, his words become rough… his hand goes up… exploiting wages and inflicting physical and mental violence…”

“Pardon?”

“Be careful.”

Yoo Sang-heun crumpled a piece of paper and threw it at Se-min. Se-min fled to the training ground.

Glancing back, he saw Yoo Sang-heun explaining to Bang Jin-young, but she had already moved a span away from him.

Hyeon Jae-yeong was in the training ground.

Se-min nodded.

“Splendid.”

“Brother.”

He was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. It was the act of observing one’s own aura and refining the aura method.

Se-min folded his arms and watched what Hyeon Jae-yeong was doing.

Meanwhile, Se-min had also been busy and had not watched Hyeon Jae-yeong’s training much, but his level had risen surprisingly.

The guy who had risen to Green Mark not long ago was now at the level of a Gold Mark.

A strange light shone in Se-min’s eyes.

“Did you eat an elixir or something?”

“Where would I get something like that?”

“In martial arts novels, people eat things like that and get stronger. You’ve gotten really good.”

“Hahaha.”

Hyeon Jae-yeong also nodded, as if he knew he had gotten stronger.

“My body feels good lately. I also applied for the promotion test, and my goal is Platinum.”

The fellow who had previously shaken his head, saying that Gold Mark was too far of a mountain, was now confidently speaking of Platinum.

Se-min laughed. Although he was still a long way off, with that kind of motivation, he might really become a Platinum.

To avoid being caught up, he would have to reach Black Mark quickly.

“Your aura has increased?”

Se-min tilted his head as he watched Hyeon Jae-yeong training. As aura rises, its increase is supposed to diminish. However, his aura had visibly increased in a short time.

“Do you have some secret method?”

“Huh?”

“It seems like your aura has increased.”

“You can tell even that, brother?”

“I am Lee Se-min.”

Hyeon Jae-yeong laughed.

“If it were in the past, I would have scoffed, but now I am truly convinced, so it feels strange.”

The mysterious man who had appeared while breaking through the gate of the otherworld and killing a drake.

He had now become a representative Raider running at the top of popularity in South Korea along with Ahn Seong-jun.

Hyeon Jae-yeong placed a hand on his chin and said.

“If there is a secret…”

Se-min focused on Hyeon Jae-yeong.

“Love…?”

“…”

The things he did when dating Kim Ye-na, he was now doing while dating Min Ji-hyeon.

Se-min silently approached and flicked aura at Hyeon Jae-yeong. It was the same technique he had used on Bang Yu-bi. Hyeon Jae-yeong squirmed at the stinging sensation.

“Ouch, what is this!”

“It is my love.”

“Did you throw aura? What kind of technique is this?”

Se-min ignored him and took a position far away from Hyeon Jae-yeong.

He recalled the questions and answers he had exchanged with Seol Mu-jin.

‘Tai Chi is not to be understood with the head, but to become Tai Chi.’

‘Human reason cannot transcend the phenomenal world.’

Se-min closed his eyes.

Tai Chi meant all the principles of the universe. He suddenly began to feel foolish for having tried to understand it himself. It was natural that he could not.

Se-min held the claymore.

He knew this fellow’s name.

Lupus, the fellow with the name of a wolf.

According to Seol Mu-jin, this was a mysterious sword buried in the basement of a cathedral. It had come to Se-min.

Jeon Woo-yeon was not the man he used to know, and the claymore from Geoseong Metal Industry had been broken in the hotbed of injustice he had committed.

And there, he met this fellow.

It was a connection difficult to understand.

However, perhaps it was natural.

Se-min felt Tai Chi Wisdom overflowing from his body.

His physical body grew faint. His ego floated up, and within it, he saw everything woven together as if it were natural. The physical body was a cage.

Then, he was suddenly bounced out of there.

Se-min’s heart beat rapidly.

He sat down and caught his breath. Hyeon Jae-yeong asked him if he was okay. He shrugged his shoulders.

He could not tell what realm he had just reached.

Just because one’s level had risen, a single realization did not change everything. Repeated training was always the answer. Se-min closed his eyes again and tried to regain the sensation from just now. However, it did not work.

“Tai Chi is Yin and Yang, Heaven, Earth, and Man, and furthermore, Origin, Prosperity, Benevolence, and Righteousness.”

He muttered that mnemonic formula.

At first, it was the aura method obtained to cure his blocked meridians, Tai Chi Wisdom.

However, now it had become his everything.

Even all other martial arts were ultimately nothing more than means to achieve Tai Chi Wisdom.

A peerless divine art that sublimated the Way of Tai Chi into an aura method.

Se-min once again felt overwhelming awe and gratitude toward Dokgo Cheonma.

And, at the same time, he felt as if he had caught a dim glimpse of the path to reaching the entities known as transcendents.

A transcendent realm beyond Black Mark, and even Unique Mark, lay there.

‘The world will fall into chaos.’

He recalled Seol Mu-jin’s words.

Whether it was him back when he was rotting in a small room, or him now who had become a Platinum Raider and received the admiration of people, there was something that did not change.

The world always gave him obstacles. Back then, it was the door separating his room and the world, and now, it was the plans of the monsters and the mysterious organizations.

The reality lay always beyond that.

And the method of overcoming it was also the same.

He had to become stronger.

Se-min instilled a sense of crisis in himself once again.

Otherwise, the pastoral days of killing monsters from early morning and only washing off the blood by evening would come to an end.

***

There was a sound that woke Se-min from his morning sleep.

He opened his eyes.

His cell phone was ringing. The time displayed on the screen was four in the morning, and the darkness before dawn still surrounded the window. Se-min rubbed his eyes as he answered the phone.

“What is the matter?”

[A missing gate has occurred.]

The caller was the Raider Bureau.

His voice was urgent.

[We request your cooperation. We will propagate the raid schedule right now. Please set out immediately.]

It was not often that the Raider Bureau spoke so abruptly.

No matter what the higher-ups thought, the frontline staff were always humble toward Raiders. If Raiders did not cooperate, nothing could proceed.

Thus, at the request for cooperation that could seem rude at first glance, Se-min instead recognized the severity of the situation.

“Is the situation bad?”

[It is the worst.]

The other party’s voice was terrified.

[Gates are occurring sequentially nationwide. We are summoning Raiders across the country. We will keep propagating the situation.]

Perhaps the entire Raider Bureau was in an emergency, as clamorous voices could be heard over the call. Other employees were also calling Raiders.

Se-min confirmed that a text message had been sent to his cell phone and ended the call.

“Understood. I will go right away.”

While disheveled, he threw on some clothes and picked up the claymore.

Hyeon Jae-yeong was also just coming out of his room.

“Did you get the call?”

“Yeah.”

Se-min turned on the television. An emergency broadcast was airing. Sudden missing gates had occurred nationwide. There was news that places where monsters had already appeared were in shambles.

They took the elevator down to the underground parking lot together.

Before parting to their respective parking spaces, Se-min spoke.

“Do not get hurt.”

“You be careful too, brother.”

They exchanged a brief look and split up.

The gate location shown on Se-min’s cell phone was nearby. It had not opened yet, and the deployment speed was fast compared to usual forecasts, leaving only twenty minutes.

Se-min pulled the scooter’s throttle to the maximum.

In times like this, he regretted not having switched to a high-speed bike.

He had always thought that carrying a weapon was a Raider’s virtue, but now it seemed that using a fast vehicle should be added to that.

Se-min sped along.

Because it was early morning, there was no traffic. Se-min increased his speed as much as possible. About ten minutes remained until the gate deployed, but since it was a missing gate, there was no guarantee that the forecast was correct.

The gate was at the level of Gold Mark to Platinum Mark.

News continued to be delivered. The Raider Bureau’s computer system was assigning tasks to Raiders with the fastest and most efficient routes.

It was a red light.

Se-min ran through the signal, ignoring it.

“It is a green light, what are you doing!”

As Se-min swerved to avoid a person, someone shouted from behind. He did not care. The vehicle’s body vibrated.

When he arrived at the destination, he could see a drake that had just emerged from the gate and was rushing toward people.

Sirens wailed everywhere, and people fled from their homes.

He was the only Raider there.

“Damn it.”

There was no time.

Se-min immediately leaped off the scooter. The scooter rolled along the ground, idling.

And his sword split the drake’s face.

“Kieeeeeeee!”

The drake shrieked, scattering blood. Angry claws destroyed the surroundings. Se-min evaded the attack lines and scanned the area.

A young child was crying on the ground after falling. No guardian was in sight. No one paid attention to the child.

Se-min stood with his back to the child, blocking the way. The drake turned away to avoid Se-min. Realizing the gap in power, it was spreading its wings.

Se-min pursued it from behind and drove his sword into its back.

Lupus cleanly sliced through the drake’s scales.

However, the drake was not the end.

From the gate that had not closed, an emerit appeared. It looked at the drake and Se-min in turn, finished its judgment, and rushed toward Se-min.

Se-min kicked off the drake’s body, leaping up to distance himself from the emerit.

Soon, another Raider joined from afar.

“I will join you!”

Gold epaulets were attached to his shoulders.

Se-min nodded, sliced the drake’s wings to bring its body down, and kicked the drake’s torso toward the Raider.

The drake’s body tilted from the kick laden with aura.

The Raider was flustered, and the drake attacked him as it was. He blocked the attack with his shield and began to steadily strike the drake.

After leaving the drake to him, Se-min dealt with the emerit. The emerit was pierced through the neck and died.

The gate showed no signs of closing. Soon, it summoned a new monster, a raigo with flowing white fur.

It was a creature resembling a lion.

Se-min used the Cloud-Stepping Technique to float above the raigo’s head. The raigo leaped up to snatch him. The ground shook in an instant.

The sight of the giant monster leaping into the air was spectacular.

Se-min raised his claymore as it was, rushed toward the ground, and sliced the raigo.

In mid-air, the raigo’s body split in half, spilling blood and intestines. The stench of the monster filled the street. Se-min glanced at the deceased raigo, then glared back at the gate. No more monsters were visible now.

Gradually, the gate’s eye shrank.

The other Raider was still dealing with the drake. Se-min helped him and killed the drake.

All three monsters became corpses.

As the battle ended, things he had not seen also caught his eye. They were human corpses.

Those who had already been killed by the drake before Se-min’s arrival were scattered on the ground.

The parentless child he had seen earlier came to mind.

Looking back, the child was no longer in sight.

Looking at the corpses that must have been someone’s family, Se-min spat on the ground. Then he checked his cell phone. The next raid was waiting for him.

Suddenly, the date caught his eye.

It was the 13th, and it was Friday.

It seemed like it would be a long day.

***

Not all of the mobilizable personnel participated in the raid.

Not a few Raiders rejected the Raider Bureau’s requests due to personal schedules or rest. The staff earnestly requested them and sometimes even got angry, but they did not reverse their decisions.

Thus, contact was even made with retired Raiders who would normally not have been deployed.

It was a request to prevent this situation just for today.

Among them was Kang Jong-hak, the manager of the Human Resources Department of the Raider Bureau.

“A raid…”

He was formerly a Gold Mark Raider.

Unlike now, back in the days when the raid system was less organized, he had also participated in gate subjugation battles that were allowed for anyone. He was a young Raider full of confidence, dealing with bizarre environments and monsters in the otherworld.

However, he lost his colleagues upon meeting a monster, and only he and his team leader returned, covered in wounds.

There, he faced a monster that humans seemed completely unable to win against.

An unidentified monster that was not registered anywhere in the monster encyclopedia.

The name he and the team leader had named together as the first discoverers: Black Castle.

It was like a black castle that could never be crossed.

Its presence was not inferior to that of disaster-class monsters he had met only in records. The experience of facing it back then was so terrifying that he lost confidence in humanity.

So he quit being a Raider.

He was afraid of monsters.

He thought humans would eventually lose.

Time passed.

Although he was occasionally dispatched to small-scale gates with no raid applicants, dealing with one or two trivial zorgs, weak species of Blue grade, was all.

A phone call came for such a person.

As an employee of the Raider Bureau, he knew better than anyone how urgent this situation was.

Dots were marked all over the national territory.

All of them were missing gates that had suddenly appeared.

They would all deploy within today.

[Manager. Will you help us?]

“I will do so.”

Was it because of his long bureaucratic life? The answer came out first. After answering like that, he sat on the edge of the bed and thought for a moment.

Somehow, his heart was beating.

It was an unknown premonition.

In the room where he stored his luggage, there would be his equipment that he had not used for a while.

“Honey, what is the matter?”

His wife, who was lying in bed, asked him. Kang Jong-hak pulled the blanket up to cover her and said.

“They told me to report to work early because there is work today.”

“At dawn?”

“Yes. I must leave quickly.”

“Go carefully.”

“Yeah.”

Her face was still showing traces of sleep.

“If by chance a problem occurs, quickly evacuate to the shelter.”

“Huh?”

“The world is like that these days. You know the shelter’s location, right?”

“Yeah…”

Kang Jong-hak nodded and stood up.

He went to his daughter’s room and opened the door. The child was sleeping soundly, knowing nothing. He stared at that face for a moment. She was a daughter whose daily routine was spending the day in a study room as the college entrance exam was not far off.

He closed the door.

He went to a room he rarely used and took out his equipment. It was kept cleanly inside a box. Although he had developed a belly unlike before, it was not to the extent that he could not wear the armor.

He grabbed the handle of the sword wrapped in its sheath.

It fit perfectly in his grip.

“I guess I still have it.”

When he held the sword in his hand, somehow his fighting spirit surged.

“It seems like it will be a long day.”

In the case of the missing gate chain that devastated Southeast Asia in the past, the first day was the crisis.

Because they could not hold out for a day, the number of monsters accumulated. Even though the gates gradually decreased, the number of monsters grew.

Consequently, Raiders from all over the world supported.

The areas destroyed at that time were still experiencing difficulties in reconstruction.

As an employee of the Raider Bureau, he knew the simulation results when the same situation occurred in South Korea.

South Korea’s territory was narrow.

However, talented individuals were many.

The Korean Peninsula did not lose.

And in the statistics of Raider power for that simulation, the already retired Kang Jong-hak himself was listed as one of the Gold Marks.

“Numbers do not lie.”

His cell phone rang. It was a message from the Raider Bureau.

A gate was just about to open a short distance away. Perhaps out of consideration for him, the level was about Blue to Green Mark.

He drank a glass of milk and left the house, just like when he went to work every morning.

***

Hyeon Jae-yeong safely arrived at the gate and was dealing with the monsters. There were also two Green Mark Raiders who arrived at a similar time.

The three Raiders dealt with mantises that had the shape of praying mantises together.

The enemy in front was not that difficult.

The problem was the creature that the gate began to vomit out again.

Although it had not fully appeared, several strands of purple tentacles hung down and wriggled. When the tip of its tentacle touched a telephone pole, it gently wrapped around it and broke it with force.

Harmful Monster Classification Number 99, Irat.

A large pupil operating the tentacles.

That guy was Gold grade. Although there were multiple Green Mark Raiders, and Hyeon Jae-yeong himself had gained confidence recently and did not think he was at the level of an ordinary Green Mark, he still did not know if they could deal with that guy right away.

“What should we do about that guy?”

“Let’s get rid of these guys first.”

They focused on the mantises in front of them.

The mantises felt Irat’s presence and began to withdraw their bodies. They were waiting for its appearance.

They must not give it time. Hyeon Jae-yeong signaled the Raiders and rushed forward.

However, it was too much to completely eliminate those who had gone completely on the defensive.

As expected, they were clever fellows.

Eventually, Irat appeared and brandished its tentacles.

Hyeon Jae-yeong raised his sword and blocked it. A mantis rushed in again. As Irat joined in, the Raiders were pushed onto the defensive.

“Damn it.”

Hyeon Jae-yeong and the Raiders scanned the surroundings while backing away.

Fortunately, it seemed that all civilians had evacuated.

Since the siren wailed like that, there was no way any remaining people would be there. It was a relief, at least.

Hyeon Jae-yeong gripped his sword tightly and avoided the forefoot of the mantis rushing toward him.

“Kuuk!”

“Are you okay?”

One person had their arm cut.

He immediately regained his posture and thrust his spear to attack the mantis. The mantis died. He grinned despite bleeding.

“I am fine.”

Each of them gripped their weapons tightly. There were three or four mantises left, but because of the presence of Irat lurking behind them, they could not attack easily. With Irat there, they were at a disadvantage in power.

However, today was not an ordinary raid.

There was no combat support team, and it was not a formal raid carefully arranged by the Raider Bureau.

It was a fight hastily faced through a missing gate whose location or timing could not be predicted.

It was unavoidable.

Hyeon Jae-yeong muttered.

“It is too early to die…”

While saying such words, he ended up laughing to himself. Was it the influence of the man he lived with, Lee Se-min? He felt like throwing a joke rather than despairing even in this situation.

“Oh, were you going to die today? Not me.”

“I will go eat spicy beef soup.”

The two Raiders took it as a joke. Hyeon Jae-yeong laughed.

Irat’s tentacles were gradually drawing near.

Just before the clash.

Irat’s tentacles turned urgently. It was not attacking them but defending itself from something. However, swept by a white air current, several tentacles were severed.

Everyone’s gaze turned.

There was a man who leaped at Irat and split its body.

“That person is…”

His body was not that of a Raider. He had a protruding belly, the equipment was tight, and the overall look of wearing combat gear was awkward.

However, his body movements were fast and delicate. He was a man who gave a strange sense of incongruity because his body and movements did not match. Yet, his blade was honest, and Irat’s flesh fell away wherever he cut.

After clashing with Irat, he backed away.

Irat shrieked and twisted its body.

“Is everyone okay?”

His face, seen beyond his glasses, looked exhausted.

“Are you not Manager Kang…?”

One Raider recognized him.

“Long time no see.”

“What brings you here, Manager…?”

“Since today is the day it is, I came to help.”

The middle-aged man grinned.

Hyeon Jae-yeong also had a memory of seeing him somewhere. A Raider who had been active for a long time would see the Raider Bureau employees of their region at least once. That man was a Raider Bureau employee.

A Gold Mark badge was attached to the man’s collar.

Gold Mark.

Although he had retired and worked at the Raider Bureau, he was a skilled person belonging to the Gold Mark.

“I will deal with Irat. You all, please deal with the mantises first without worrying about the tentacles.”

He commanded.

Until yesterday, they were raiding and that man was in a position following them, but now it had changed.

His judgment was swift and accurate.

He was a Raider of the past.

He was not a Raider of the days when one only had to hunt monsters according to a given manual systematically like now. He was a fighter of the days when they crossed over to the otherworld to survive in the jaws of death and kill the enemies.

Even if his senses had dulled over time, his nature did not change. He showed a decision-making ability different from other Raiders.

Kang Jong-hak did not mind his body getting dirty and dug into the tentacles to hack away at Irat.

Tentacles flew at him aiming for his body, but Kang Jong-hak evaded them with nimble movements. He was too fast to look like someone with a plump body.

His aura formed a white haze and wrapped around his physical body.

Hyeon Jae-yeong killed and toppled the mantis in front of him, watching Kang Jong-hak’s martial prowess.

His movements were elegant.

The Gold Mark of the old days seemed more elegant and stronger than the active Gold Marks he met.

“Huh, huh.”

Perhaps running out of physical strength, Kang Jong-hak caught his breath. Sweat poured down. His body, which had gained weight all over, was heavy. It was different from his youth.

However, there was no lack in killing a single Irat.

Soon, the gate disappeared.

They finished dealing with all the monsters and reported to the Raider Bureau. The sirens turned off, and an announcement broadcast rang out.

“Where is everyone going now?”

Kang Jong-hak asked.

The sight of a middle-aged man with a protruding belly clad in slightly tight armor was at first glance ridiculous, but the Raiders who fought together felt respect toward him instead.

Each revealed their next raid location.

There was no time. The Raider Bureau did not let them rest. They would have to fight all day long.

“It must be hard, but please follow the instructions. The Raider Bureau’s system is planning the schedule for the best outcome.”

The Raider Bureau had built a response system in preparation for such situations.

It was a schedule derived to understand the strength of Raider resources and minimize casualties.

“It will be a long day. I hope everyone does not get hurt.”

“Yes.”

“You also work hard today, Manager.”

“Let’s set out immediately.”

Kang Jong-hak and Hyeon Jae-yeong’s next raid location was the same.

The two set out together.

Following behind Hyeon Jae-yeong’s Ferrari, Kang Jong-hak somehow had a heavy heart.

Although they were flustered by the sudden situation, everyone was responding quickly. The scale of damage linked with the Raider Bureau was also not as large as expected. With close cooperation from each company, the number of joining Raiders also increased.

However, the problem was that it was going too well.

The creatures called monsters were not that easy.

Once they failed, they were creatures that returned after evolving a step further.

The missing gate situation that occurred in Southeast Asia was eventually resolved. Although it was a pyrrhic victory, humans ultimately annihilated the monsters.

What the Raider Bureau worried about was also that they showed a pattern different from before.

The situation was continuing.

“It is still morning.”

Thanks to the systematized raid system, some regarded monsters merely as a resource of the new era. Mana crystals were a new power replacing fossil resources.

At one time, he had been like that too.

He had thought of the otherworld, the base of monsters, as merely a new colony of humanity.

But he folded all those thoughts after meeting the unidentified monster, Black Castle.

Perhaps the extinction of humanity was only temporarily suspended.

He just prayed that it would not be today.

***

Ryu Gwan-cheol was floating in the sky.

He had just killed a monster.

A Black-grade monster, Harmful Monster Classification Number 190, Bucannon.

It was a liquid monster with no fixed shape. It was a species that stretched out like a giant swamp and advanced, dissolving and absorbing everything it touched into itself.

It was certainly different from the missing gate chain that was in Southeast Asia.

The level of monsters had improved.

However, South Korea’s Raider power was also incomparable. The Korean Peninsula was a place where there were as many as five Black Marks.

Thus, the Black-grade monsters appearing in various places were being eliminated one after another.

However, Ryu Gwan-cheol’s forehead did not unfurrow.

Contacts from the Raider Bureau kept coming.

He had to set out again to catch a Black-grade monster.

The location was Jeju Island.

A helicopter was flying toward him.

“Where is Oh Jeong-hui?”

[He has set out for Busan.]

“What about Chairman Seol Mu-jin?”

[He is in Samcheok.]

“Is that so.”

Monsters emerged all over the country. Black-grade monsters were no exception.

Thus, all five Black Mark Raiders left Seoul. Ju Ho-san and Jang Geon were also in Gangjin and Cheongju, respectively. Currently, there were no Black Mark Raiders left in Seoul.

“Is it a groundless fear?”

The missing gate chain in South Korea, which had started since dawn, was becoming even more intense as it reached noon. However, through quick responses, the scale of damage continued to decrease.

The Raiders steadily performed their assigned duties despite the forced march they had never experienced before.

Already on the news, panels were appearing, paying condolences to the casualties and praising the quick response of the Raider Bureau.

Ryu Gwan-cheol looked at the corpse of the dead Bucannon with hollow eyes.

Although the creatures called monsters seemed at first glance like animals engaged in destruction, Ryu Gwan-cheol, who had conducted raids for a long time, believed that there was something that could be called intelligence in them.

He even had thoughts like whether there was a king-like existence leading the monsters.

[You will be busy today. We request your hard work.]

“You all work hard too.”

A helicopter was flying in the far distance. Ryu Gwan-cheol gathered his aura and boarded directly from the air. The pilot shouted to him.

“It is an honor to serve you! We will set out for Jeju Island immediately! Please fasten your belt!”

Soon, the helicopter flew toward Jeju Island.

Ryu Gwan-cheol moved further away from Seoul.

***

Kang Jong-hak killed and eliminated monsters, not knowing how many it had been. As he repeatedly hunted monsters, his former sense was returning.

The Raider Bureau considered him and did not assign monsters above Green grade. Therefore, he could quickly deal with the gates he was responsible for.

Kang Jong-hak moved faster than the schedule designated by the Raider Bureau.

Since there was a margin of time before his next schedule after clearing the raid, Kang Jong-hak sat down for a moment to catch his breath. The Raiders who fought with him handed him drinks and expressed their gratitude.

“Thanks to you, it ended quickly.”

“It is too early to say it has ended since there are still many left.”

“That is true. I did not know such a thing would happen in South Korea.”

“Nothing major will happen.”

He suddenly heard the cry of a monster echoing in the far distance.

If his memory was not wrong, it was definitely a Platinum-grade monster.

Although he could not recall the name, he remembered dealing with it together in the past alongside upper-grade Raiders. It was certainly not an easy opponent.

He reflexively stood up from his seat.

“That is…”

The source of that sound was not very far.

“You do not need to worry.”

One of the individuals who had raided together said.

“I heard that Raider Lee Se-min is over there.”

“Is that so.”

He also remembered hearing the name.

Lee Se-min was a man who began to make his name known while jumping into the Kesia raid and blocking two of them alone. He made his name famous once again not long ago by blocking a missing gate alone.

Kang Jong-hak had also watched his battle video.

He was a splendid Raider.

He was strong and elegant, and above all, had the mindset necessary for a Raider.

And his face dimly reflected in the hazy video was somehow familiar.

He might be one of the countless applicants for the Raider qualification exam he had seen in the past.

“It seems that place has ended too.”

The siren sound disappeared from the direction where Lee Se-min was said to be.

It was a terrifying raid speed.

“My colleague from the company was over there together, and they said he has already set out for the next location.”

“It is embarrassing to stay still.”

Kang Jong-hak also stood up.

The raid time displayed on the cell phone was gradually drawing near. Although there was still a margin, it would be better to go in advance just in case.

He kept in contact with the Raider Bureau and obtained information about the situation.

The frequency of gates that kept being created from dawn until noon began to decrease, albeit minutely.

It was a pattern similar to the past Southeast Asian missing gate chain.

At first, as the gates rapidly increase, monsters pop out randomly. The chain soon reaches a peak, and then decreases little by little, with the gates gradually dying down.

If they did not respond quickly until then, the monsters would keep increasing.

The monsters that appeared up to now were being immediately annihilated.

The flow was good.

“I must go to the next location now. Everyone, work hard.”

“Yes. You work hard too, Manager.”

“I will see you again next time.”

The Raiders took a brief rest and scattered. They rode their own vehicles toward their next raid locations. Because of the texts sent from the Raider Bureau, their cell phones rang without rest.

Their raid schedule was already fully prepared. The system did not let them rest even a bit.

An emergency had already been declared, and the entirety of South Korea had come to a halt.

There were almost no vehicles on the road. Most of those visible were Raiders like Kang Jong-hak.

And there were also ambulances.

No matter how well they fought, it did not mean that those who died or were injured did not appear.

Kang Jong-hak increased his speed, wishing that the victim in the ambulance would recover safely.

He suddenly saw a scooter pulling up beside him.

A large sheath was slung across the man’s back, and beyond it, the shape of a gold-embroidered dragon was roaring.

It was a scenery that had already become one man’s trademark.

It was Lee Se-min, the opponent of the Platinum monster he had heard of earlier.

Kang Jong-hak admired him. When that monster had appeared and roared earlier, it was only a short while ago. Yet he was already here, and his body was soiled here and there with bodily fluids presumed to be blood. Blood also dripped from his scabbard.

He moved forward without looking around. It was a speed not like that of an old scooter. The vibration of the body was visible.

Kang Jong-hak also increased his speed further. Today, he was also a Raider, not an employee of the Raider Bureau. And Raiders must always hurry. Fighting monsters was fighting time.

He split from Lee Se-min.

It was a bit regrettable.

He had been looking forward to whether he would fight together with him.

“I will see him again someday.”

Helicopters and airplanes went back and forth in the sky. They must have been dispatched by the government to move Raiders or deliver relief goods.

And he saw a flock of crows following them.

They cried out long.

A sudden uneasy feeling crept in. Although crows’ cries were originally said not to be ominous, to him, the crows’ cawing sounded like a young child’s scream.

He could not tell why his heart suddenly throbbed.

Kang Jong-hak soon arrived at the raid location. It was already his several-th raid today. As he waited for the gate, the wounds inflicted by monsters throbbed.

“Are you okay?”

At this raid location, a tactical support team vehicle dispatched from the Raider Bureau was waiting.

They could not be at every raid site, but went looking for dangerous or chaotic places to support Raiders.

The face of the tactical support team employee changed upon discovering Kang Jong-hak.

“Manager, is your body okay?”

“I am fine.”

“Please be careful. They say gates are also gradually decreasing. It will end soon.”

“That is a relief.”

Although he did not really believe it, since they said so, he also wanted to believe it. Only ten minutes remained until the gate opened. However, he was the only one who had arrived.

Originally, several should have arrived already. Gradually, the raid time drew near. Kang Jong-hak looked back while packing his gear. Still, no one was coming.

“Is contact not being made?”

“Yes. That is…”

They checked something. The Raider Bureau employee’s face turned serious.

“They say the pattern has changed.”

“The pattern?”

“Yes. Following the sudden occurrence of missing gates, this time, monsters of a grade completely different from what the Bureau predicted have appeared from the gates.”

That meant the Raider Bureau’s quick response might now become useless. It becomes impossible to calculate who should be sent where. And it was the same for Kang Jong-hak.

Monsters of a grade higher than what he could deal with could suddenly appear from the gate.

“Are there no others?”

“Yes.”

Eventually, the time came.

The only one who gathered for this raid was Kang Jong-hak himself. His heart grew anxious. Originally, it was a location where four Raiders should have gathered together to face the monsters.

This meant that a crack had formed in the Raider Bureau’s response system.

Praying that nothing would happen, Kang Jong-hak stood alone at the gate forecast location.

Against the backdrop of city buildings, a black air current rose. It was the shape of an eye. It was a sight he had not seen for a long time until he did raids again today.

It formed an iris, blinked its eyes wide open toward Kang Jong-hak, and soon opened a passage in space and began to vomit out creatures of the otherworld.

Although monsters’ grades were distinguished like Raiders’ marks, it did not necessarily translate to a one-to-one mapping. There were species that could be dealt with alone within the same grade, some by several, and sometimes multiple Raiders of that mark were needed to face the monster.

However, usually, they did not escape from the color of that mark and grade.

Therefore, when several Gold-grade monsters began to appear from the gate, Kang Jong-hak sensed something.

The tactical vehicle of the tactical support team, which had been cheering him on until just now, turned its wheels and began to leave.

Kang Jong-hak did not even blame them.

He was a retired Gold Mark Raider.

Thus, as two drakes appeared, followed by the body of another drake showing beyond the gate, he understood that he could never win.

“Should I have come out a bit more slowly in the morning?”

In such a moment, he instead became calm.

There was a time like this in the past too.

He was a human who sank in the face of crisis. That was why on that day, he was barely able to survive the moment he should have died.

Three drakes.

He could not win.

If so, he had to buy time.

The body that had not moved for a long time had now reached its limit, groaning in various places.

It was then.

His cell phone rang.

Kang Jong-hak backed away slowly, pointing his sword at the drake observing him.

There was a message from the Raider Bureau, from the tactical support team that had just fled.

We are sorry.

We requested backup.

News just arrived. Raider Lee Se-min is on his way. He has just set out.

Please hold out.

Kang Jong-hak’s eyes shook.

Lee Se-min was near his own raid location until a while ago.

And he had also split off somewhere for his next raid.

It was a very short time.

While he cleared one raid and prepared for the next, he had already cleared another raid.

Had he already reached Black Mark?

Otherwise, it made no sense.

Before his thoughts could be cut off, one drake opened its mouth wide. It was a breath attack right from the start.

Kang Jong-hak raised his aura greatly, which he had not neglected to circulate even after retiring. Then, protecting his body, he turned and ran from the drakes.

As the enemy showed his back, the monsters began to pursue him.

Kang Jong-hak kicked off the outer wall of a building and flew up to avoid the fiery breath chasing his back.

Before the drake’s breath could touch him, a sudden swirling gale cleared the flames.

Kang Jong-hak realized Se-min had arrived.

A man flew in the air with his dragon-patterned souvenir jacket fluttering. To him, the drake’s fierce attacks did not seem to be any obstacle. He glided through the air and slit their necks.

Kang Jong-hak also moved immediately to help him. Although he was not of much help, he could not stand still. While Kang Jong-hak’s sword dealt with one drake, the remaining two died.

This was why upper-level Raiders were precious.

They were a force beyond numbers.

Kang Jong-hak realized that this man had surpassed even the level of an ordinary Platinum.

“Thank you.”

He lightly nodded, slinging the claymore across his back.

The eyes of the two met.

At that moment, they realized that they were familiar with each other. However, unable to remember, each frowned and turned their bodies, pretending to think about something else.

Kang Jong-hak guessed that this young Raider had definitely taken the exam under him. However, how could he remember so many people?

Yet, strangely, it did not seem like he had passed him by without any impression.

That arrogant eyes looked familiar.

And Se-min was also having that thought.

Kang Jong-hak’s thick belly and glasses, and the state of his scalp, which was contemplating whether to go bald or not, were like that.

Eventually, Se-min and Kang Jong-hak recalled their memories and looked at each other, speaking.

“The guy from back then…!”

“You are…!”

Each swallowed their following words.

To Kang Jong-hak, Se-min was the ‘brat who was good at flattery,’ and to Se-min, Kang Jong-hak was the ‘ahjussi who was bragging about his heroic tales.’

“I meet you here like this. Aren’t you the examiner from back then who told me about the subjugation battle?”

“So you are the applicant who was circulating aura alone back then. I failed to recognize a future star. Hahaha.”

Theirs was also a strange relationship.

They were merely an examiner and an examinee who had briefly met during the written subject of the Raider qualification exam a few years ago, but their memories of each other remained vivid.

“I still remember the story of Black Castle you spoke of back then.”

“You have a good memory.”

“I failed the exam back then, but well, it turned out like this.”

Se-min grinned.

“Get some rest. I must go again.”

Only then could Kang Jong-hak see Se-min’s appearance in detail.

His entire body was a mess with the bodily fluids and blood of monsters, showing how much he had fought. A strange stench could even be felt. He could guess the number of monsters Se-min had killed today.

Se-min shook off the drake’s blood on his body. However, it did not fall away but spread into the sleeves of his souvenir jacket.

“It is lunchtime now.”

“It will be the most difficult period.”

Their cell phones kept ringing.

Kang Jong-hak let out a sigh. He had been abandoned by the tactical support team until just now, but the next raid location was transmitted without a single mention of that.

He understood.

He was also a member of the Raider Bureau. Furthermore, he was a manager of the Human Resources Department who analyzed people through data in the system. Human feelings were not a consideration for the Raider Bureau. It was even more so in such an urgent situation.

It was the moment Kang Jong-hak expressed his gratitude to Se-min and was about to part.

A message was transmitted again.

This one was strange.

Cancel. Cancel. Cancel.

We cancel all schedules dispatched to Mr. Kang Jong-hak. Reassigning the raids. From now on, please follow the new instructions.

Current situation: ‘Azalea’.

Azalea meant a disaster situation.

When a problem occurred but there was no immediate solution, and thus the goal was to delay the situation as much as possible, they issued Azalea.

It was used in the past but was not a system used lately.

Raiders who receive this message, please head to Heron immediately.

Raiders who have received this message, please finish all raids and go to Heron.

Raider Kang Jong-hak, please go to Heron.

Somehow, it was ominous.

When the Raider Bureau’s computer system detected a crisis and issued special orders, it proceeded in this manner.

And perhaps that message had gone to Se-min as well, as he frowned while looking at his cell phone.

“Heron?”

“You too?”

They looked at each other.

Se-min was bewildered by the sudden news, but since it was work, he had to go anyway.

“What is Azalea? You are going, right?”

However, Kang Jong-hak stopped for a moment.

The vague premonition that had been following him since this morning was now clinging to him, shaking his heart.

His intuition was telling him not to go there.

It was also the first time he saw the ‘Azalea’ situation. Originally, these terms were not directly delivered to Raiders. It was like a code of their own used when sharing the situation inside the Raider Bureau.

Yet, the fact that a message was sent to everyone like this meant that the Raider Bureau’s current situation was not normal.

“I…”

However, Se-min was already walking ahead.

“Seeing them act suddenly like this, the situation seems unusual.”

“Are you going even though you do not know what will happen?”

“It is obvious. There will either be many monsters or a strong fellow.”

Se-min spoke in a calm voice.

“If there are monsters, we must go.”

It seemed that whether the enemy was strong or the situation was dangerous was not a consideration.

Kang Jong-hak also nodded.

“Let’s go.”

Perhaps it was inevitable since he had taken up the sword again and entered battle.

If he had really wanted to spare himself, he could have just said he would not fight. However, he eventually picked up his weapon again and stood before the monsters.

Therefore, until today passed, he would keep fighting.

They each boarded their vehicles and moved.

***

When they drew near to Heron, Kang Jong-hak realized the reason why the Raider Bureau had acted that way.

In addition, he could confirm the identity of the anxiety he had kept feeling today right before his eyes.

Buildings were collapsing.

And there, an existence as giant as a building had raised its massive body and was advancing while destroying the city.

People screamed and evacuated.

Se-min belatedly realized that the giant hole in front of his eyes was a gate.

The gate was so huge that it looked like a meteorological anomaly. The black air current was like dark clouds filling the sky, and the monster that appeared from it had just collapsed a building as its first greeting while raising its body.

Se-min realized its identity and looked at Kang Jong-hak.

“…”

His face was pale.

In the past, he had talked about the mysterious, unidentified monster he met in the otherworld.

The reason he retired was also because of that.

It had an incredibly giant, black body, and bounced off all ordinary attacks. Because there was no means of attack that could threaten its heavy outer hide, his colleagues died. Only he and the team leader barely escaped.

They named it like this:

Black Castle.

A fellow like a black fortress.

And the fellow he saw back then was now in front of his eyes.

This time, it was not the otherworld, but Earth, in the middle of Seoul.

Sirens wailed.

Although shelters were built in each area, they were not of a scale to accommodate Seoul’s population. People fled one after another, and chaos arose.

Black Castle stood still, watching that scene.

What was more terrible was that this giant monster was not the end.

The gate that had just vomited out Black Castle now vomited out new monsters. They were creatures like zorgs, syncus, and emerits. Unlike Black Castle, which moved slowly, as soon as they landed on the ground, they began to run looking for people.

It was a disaster.

Kang Jong-hak looked at Se-min and looked around the surroundings.

Besides them, Raiders who received the message arrived one after another. Everyone stood blankly, frozen at the sight in front of them.

In that crowd of Raiders, there was also the face of someone Se-min knew.

It was Jin Bu-sik.

Their eyes met. He glared at Se-min once, then turned around. Then, he spoke toward the members of Wugeukhoe.

“Guys, run away.”

He had already made his judgment.

“That is a monster. We were called here merely to buy time.”

“Manager.”

“You guys go.”

Jin Bu-sik commanded the Raiders of Wugeukhoe.

“Leave this place to me.”

“Manager!”

Everyone looked at him.

“The Raider Bureau has no intention of saving us anyway. We are just cannon fodder holding out until the Black Marks return. I’m telling you to go because you can’t do it anyway.”

“What about you, Manager…?”

“I am Jin Bu-sik. Did you forget?”

They bit their lips, unable to speak. Jin Bu-sik chuckled and patted their shoulders.

“The experts will block this place, so you guys go deal with the small fry. Heheh!”

The Raiders of Wugeukhoe kept looking back even while being pushed away by Jin Bu-sik. Jin Bu-sik opened the car door and stuffed them inside. They eventually retreated by car.

Se-min watched that scene, then turned his eyes to look at the giant monster, Black Castle, again.

Black Castle moved slowly, collapsing the buildings it bumped into as they were.

Its speed was not fast.

Slowly, it destroyed everything blocking its way.

Se-min held the claymore. Lupus trembled. As Se-min looked down, the rune letters engraved on the blade were dimly absorbing aura. However, their purpose was unknown.

Se-min raised his head again.

Black Castle advanced one more step.

Se-min also took a step forward.

“Are you going?”

Kang Jong-hak, who was standing beside him, asked. Se-min nodded. The shadow cast around Kang Jong-hak’s eyes darkened further. He adjusted his glasses. Se-min said to him.

“Do not come.”

Kang Jong-hak’s eyes trembled.

Se-min delivered the same words that Jin Bu-sik had said.

“It is dangerous.”

What he had said about the creature called Black Castle was not an exaggeration. That size, that grand resonance, looked more ominous than the Black-grade monsters they had faced before. It was definitely a monster of Black grade or higher. No, it might be even higher.

Perhaps it was disaster-grade.

However, Kang Jong-hak shook his head.

If he had really wanted to leave him behind, he should not have said those words.

“I will help.”

At this moment, he recalled his past days from Black Castle making its way through the forest of buildings.

His teammates had encountered a mysterious monster.

The creature was slow now, but the moment it recognized an attack on itself, it would transform into a ruthless pursuer.

‘Do not come.’

One of his close teammates had told him that.

‘Because it is dangerous. I will just buy time and run away.’

Thus, Kang Jong-hak had turned around and fled.

The result was total annihilation. Everyone died except for him and the team leader.

He had to watch through binoculars as the teammates who were barely escaping were eventually trampled to death by Black Castle.

He regretted it.

If he had gone, and thus helped even a little, could they have lived by that hairsbreadth of a difference?

Could he have influenced the result slightly? What would he do if the moment of choice came again?

And today, he received the same question in front of Black Castle, which he met again. Having heard those words, he had no choice but to step forward.

“Understood.”

Se-min nodded.

Raiders continued to arrive by car. And they were divided into two categories: someone left upon seeing Black Castle, and someone remained.

Those who remained looked at each other.

Among them was also Jin Bu-sik.

Se-min was a Raider fighting on the death line, and thus had seen various aspects of humans. A person was not a consistent existence. Even right and wrong flipped easily like a coin.

Therefore, he looked at monsters instead of people.

All complex things were erased before them.

Kill the monsters.

Neither interpretation nor disagreement was needed.