Chapter 8 – Contact

It was Kim Seon-ha.

She was with another group, and their attire was that of Raiders. It seemed they had come to cheer on someone called a rising star from their company.

“They just have to show it off.”

Se-min muttered grumpily.

Since one never knew when a missing gate would open, Raiders were always encouraged to carry their equipment. However, there weren’t many who carried them around like that.

Only those who had just become Raiders showed off themselves with weapons, and if someone who had some experience in the industry showed off, they would be laughed at; that was the general atmosphere of the Raider industry.

Nevertheless, all of Kim Seon-ha’s companions wore weapons forged with modern technology.

“Equipment, huh.”

Se-min also had a greedy side for equipment.

If he passed the qualification exam, he planned to pull out a loan and visit a Raider-exclusive select shop first.

“Brother!”

While thinking of various weapons, someone shouted from behind Se-min.

“You startled me, punk.”

“Did you do well on the exam?”

“I did it easily.”

It was Park In-jae.

Park In-jae was standing with that chubby friend of his, Kim Ji-min, who usually came to the gym with him. Although they hadn’t talked much, he could feel that the kid was a good guy.

“Hello.”

“Glad you came. Today, this brother will buy you something delicious. Is there anything you want to eat?”

“Meat.”

“Yeah, let’s go eat meat.”

Se-min led them.

He didn’t know the geography here well, but there was a place he had spotted while waiting for them. It was a franchise-type unlimited refill meat restaurant that was popular these days.

The owner welcomed them with a warm smile.

Se-min responded with a smile, but in fact, he harbored a sword inside.

“We’re going to eat until the smile disappears from the owner’s face. Got it?”

As Se-min whispered, Park In-jae and Kim Ji-min nodded solemnly.

Soon, thick pork that was hard to believe for the cheap price went up on the grill and puffed up smoke.

In the past, while living as a recluse, Se-min had grilled and eaten all kinds of meat alone. Since he was a big eater who used to inhale pork belly for breakfast, his control of the grill was beyond the category of ordinary people.

“Wow, brother, instead of being a Raider, why don’t you open a meat restaurant?”

Now that they had gotten a bit closer, Park In-jae bantered. Se-min let out a chuckle.

“It’s a national waste for a talent like me to do that, kid.”

“In-jae is my name, though? Hehehe.”

“Geez. Ji-min, is he like this at school too?”

He turned the conversation to Park In-jae’s friend, Kim Ji-min.

“He’s like that at school too.”

“Don’t the kids beat him up?”

“They used to, but ever since he took the aura aptitude test, they don’t beat him up.”

“That won’t do. I’ll beat him up periodically on their behalf.”

“If a Raider beats someone, it’s attempted murder, brother.”

“Do you think I’ll stop at attempted? Hey, that’s not cooked yet. Eat this one first.”

Se-min pushed the cooked meat to the edge of the grill. Toasting their cokes like beer, they wrapped the meat in lettuce according to their tastes.

While they were filling their bellies with trivial talk, a group entered the meat restaurant.

It was the group of Kim Seon-ha he had seen earlier.

At the appearance of Raiders wearing weapons, people’s attention was focused. In particular, men’s eyes gathered on Kim Seon-ha, who puffed out her chest and showed off her beauty at the very front.

Se-min frowned.

“It’s a celebration today. This big sister will treat.”

“Thank you.”

Se-min stared at the woman answering behind Kim Seon-ha. She was the only one who did not carry a weapon.

She was probably the examinee who was the so-called rising star.

Park In-jae whispered.

“They’re Raiders.”

“Ignore them.”

If they were Raiders, they should go eat something good, why did they have to come to a meat restaurant and ruin the mood?

Se-min lowered his head and focused on controlling the grill until they sat down.

However, Kim Seon-ha’s senses were sharp.

“Oh. I see a very familiar back of a head somewhere.”

Se-min let out a groan. Kim Seon-ha walked over and smiled annoyingly.

“I hope your score was good. Our rising star reportedly set a new record this year in terms of aura level. I wonder how it was for you.”

“Mind your own business and just eat your meat.”

As Kim Seon-ha and Se-min suddenly talked, the gazes of both sides crossed.

Se-min was a man who, at first glance, had nothing special about him.

“That guy is quite something.”

But like a needle in a pouch, there was someone who recognized Se-min’s true worth even in that brief glance.

“He is controlling the pork perfectly. He has realized the best meat quality that can be reached with unlimited refill meat.”

“His eyes are looking at Seon-ha, but his tongs are moving busily. He has a cautious style of never letting down his guard.”

The two Raiders boasting muscular bodies nodded.

They had a belief that the skill of grilling meat was connected to the technique of handling aura.

“He seems to be an examinee of this year, and I look forward to his future.”

“His muscles are also quite good. He’ll make it big.”

Kim Seon-ha ignored the pathetic conversation of the two muscle-heads behind her and spoke to their rising star standing beside her, Bang Yu-bi.

“Yu-bi. Look at him. This is the man who said he could make someone like you like chewed-up gum. When you meet him later, don’t go easy on him.”

“Ah, so this was that person.”

Murderous intent swirled in the eyes of the expressionless woman.

Se-min gaped.

“No, when did I ever say such a—”

“Eat well. Don’t forget our bet. Let’s go, Yu-bi.”

“Excuse me, young lady. Yu-bi. That is alienation. I never said such—”

“See you in the second exam, Gum Mister.”

Kim Seon-ha took Bang Yu-bi and headed to the empty table guided by the staff.

Looking at her back, Se-min beat his chest in injustice.

“I will seriously crush them.”

He had no grievance against the woman called Yu-bi, but since the bad connection named Kim Seon-ha was driving him to the dead end, he couldn’t help but become a demon to survive.

Whether that woman was the rumored monster with 30,000 aura or a high-flying elite, he would crush her with the grit of having endured as a half-wit Raider.

Meanwhile, the two bulky men among Kim Seon-ha’s group gave Se-min a silent thumbs-up and turned away.

“What is that again?”

In any case, those called Raiders are people one shouldn’t associate with.

“Brother, who are those people?”

“I don’t know either. Just a woman I met while jogging who shouldn’t be associated with. You guys be careful of Raiders too. There are no normal ones.”

“She was very pretty, though.”

“One must not judge a person by their skin.”

Se-min concentrated more on inhaling the meat to compensate for his ruined mood.

Eating with the capacity of his past days, Se-min inhaled an amount that even surprised the growing high schoolers, finished a bowl of rice mixed with soybean paste, and stood up while patting his stomach.

Kim Seon-ha’s group had no intention of rising, sitting and laughing and chatting.

Suddenly, his eyes met the woman named Bang Yu-bi.

She boldly did not avoid his gaze.

Se-min cast down his eyes, harboring his boiling anger.

“Is it everything just because you have a bit of aura?”

Se-min muttered in a small voice that couldn’t be heard and walked to the cash register.

The owner’s expression was not good because of how much they had eaten. He had removed the smile from the owner’s face as targeted.

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Yes. Did you enjoy it? Please come again.”

Still, a professional was indeed a professional. The owner immediately changed his sour expression into a smile and offered a friendly remark to come again.

This was the conversation of adults.

In contrast, how childish were Kim Seon-ha and Bang Yu-bi who spat out whatever they thought?

“It was really delicious. I’ll post it on my blog. Hahaha.”

Se-min didn’t run a blog, but he decided to run one starting today. The owner grinned, showing his teeth.

“Hmm…”

As he went outside, dusk had settled.

As the sun fell, neon signs lit up in turn. Scanning the busy business signs, Se-min wanted to have a drink with these guys, but unfortunately, his companions were minors.

“You should go home now, right?”

“Brother, let’s go to a karaoke room.”

“Karaoke room?”

“Yes. A PC room is fine too.”

Se-min closed his eyes. There was a time when he also enjoyed going to PC rooms and karaoke rooms.

Although he had cut them all off after dropping out.

“Let’s do that.”

Se-min nodded, lost in old memories.

When he was stuck in the back room, he thought he would never be able to return to the crowd of the world again.

Broken meridians consumed his mind and body.

However, he stood here again. People who lived today as if nothing had happened were passing back and forth on the same street.

Se-min stopped for a step, lost in sentiment, then moved his steps again.

“This brother used to be Im Chang-jung in the old days.”

“What era is that singer from…”

At the moment Se-min smiled and put his arms around Park In-jae and Kim Ji-min’s shoulders.

He felt a faint distortion.

Se-min stopped.

“Brother?”

Se-min looked back.

Something was strange.

However, no anomaly stood out. It was just the noisy and busy scene of a college street.

Se-min looked around to know what was touching his chest.

His danqian beat once.

The aura of Tai Chi Wisdom spread to his entire body.

“In-jae. Ji-min.”

Se-min’s voice sank.

“Let’s get out of here first.”

“Pardon?”

“I have a bad feeling.”

“About what?”

Se-min couldn’t explain that feeling.

It was just ominous.

The world was out of alignment.

Soon, Se-min realized the identity of the sense of incompatibility.

“Gate.”

“Pardon?”

“A gate is opening.”

Still, there was no visible change.

However, Se-min could feel an ominous power hammering the space above the square where people’s paths crossed. It was a premonition close to a sixth sense, which couldn’t be expressed in words.

The aura dwelling in his body began to struggle gradually.

“Let’s go.”

Se-min grabbed the collars of the two and walked away from the gate.

“Why are you suddenly like this, brother? You’re scaring me.”

“A missing gate is over there…”

A tearing sound rang out.

Everyone looked back.

The space was torn apart, a crack appeared, and the huge forepaw of a reptile coming from beyond was trampling the ground.

Everyone standing there.

Died instantly.

Blood spread beneath the magic beast’s forepaw.

Screams erupted.

The street became a shambles.

“Run away!”

“Arghhhhh!”

Se-min pushed Park In-jae and Kim Ji-min. The two running forward were soon mixed into the crowd.

Se-min watched them distance themselves, then looked back.

The paw that tore through the gate struggled to widen the space. Gradually, the gate widened, and the beast’s full body began to reveal.

Se-min realized the beast’s identity.

A monster resembling a huge lizard.

Harmful magic beast System No. 22, Sincus.

A long-standing magic beast that had harmed countless human lives since the gates opened.

The beast set its feet, looked around, and let out a large roar as if stretching.

At the shockwave, glass shattered and people collapsed.

Sincus’s footsteps shook the earth.

Belatedly, the gate warning siren began to ring through the street. The ear-piercing warning sound and noises tangled.

Se-min belonged to the so-called Raid generation.

He was born after the period when gates opened and people began to awaken. So he took gates for granted.

However, it was his first time actually facing one.

Korea was a country that responded quickly to gates and magic beasts, and since the launch of the Raider Bureau and the National Security Agency, it had managed gates thoroughly.

So, it was rare for civilians to actually face gates and magic beasts.

“My God.”

Se-min’s first encounter with a gate was tragic and unrealistic.

The magic beast of another dimension destroyed everything in sight and trampled people as if killing flies. Seeing people’s bodies breaking easily and fountains of blood, his sense of reality disappeared.

Se-min realized that he was shaking.

Fear.

The fear that every species has toward its natural enemy.

It paralyzed his mind.

Without realizing it, he took a step back.

“Everyone evacuate!”

A sharp shout pierced his ears.

The cry carrying aura cut through the chaos and warned the people.

“Iron Horse Company is responding. Everyone get out of here!”

It was Kim Seon-ha.

She and her group ran out and unsheathed their weapons along with their colleagues. Aura flared from their bodies.

Iron Horse Company.

Not a large corporation called the Big Three, but a Raid company that made a name for itself as a small elite.

Se-min saw them rush forward to confront Sincus.

Sincus, discovering the enemies, pounced on them. The Raiders jumped left and right, evading the attack.

The Raiders raised aura to attack the magic beast, but Sincus was not damaged at all. Rather, it provoked the beast’s temper.

Sincus began to destroy the surroundings. The huge tail collapsed buildings.

Sincus roared.

The monstrous sound shook the city center.

The Raiders calmly surrounded Sincus.

At this rate, it seemed the magic beast would be stopped by them.

However, anomalies were continuing.

From beyond the gate, new magic beasts began to drop one by one.

“Keeeyaaaah…”

An otherworld beast resembling a hyena, harmful magic beast System No. 8, Zorg.

The beasts looked around, searching for prey. The Zorg pack looked back and forth between Sincus and the Raiders.

The Raiders of the Iron Horse Company hesitated and backed away.

If these beasts joined in, it would be too much for them as well.

“Keeeyaaaah!”

The Zorgs rushed out all at once. The Raiders raised their weapons and prepared for the clash.

However, the beasts bypassed the Raiders.

“Block them!”

“Damn it!”

The Zorgs charged to bypass the gate and attack the citizens.

Se-min clenched his teeth as he saw a Zorg leaping toward him.

It gradually drew closer.

The beast bared its teeth toward Se-min.

Scattered Zorgs charged to pounce on the citizens.

The Raiders of the Iron Horse Company chased them and struck their weapons into their backs, but they couldn’t stop them all.

One of them pounced toward Se-min.

The bizarre appearance of the otherworld, teeth as sharp as knives and saw-toothed claws, and the shape of muscles different from humans since structure enlarged in front of his eyes.

He would die.

Se-min premonished death.

His whole body trembled.

“Ah.”

However, the Zorg passed Se-min.

The stench the beast exuded as it passed pierced his nose.

That was a magic beast.

The opponents he had to fight.

Se-min wanted to collapse as his legs gave out.

In the distance, the figures of the Raiders fighting Sincus and Zorgs were faint.

“Arghhhhh!”

The scream echoed from behind Se-min.

Se-min looked back.

The Zorg that had passed him was pouncing on another citizen.

A man struggled as he was bitten by the beast. The Zorg shook the man while chewing on one leg as if enjoying the prey’s reaction. The man convulsed and sought help.

Se-min couldn’t move.

He was an aura-aptitude holder.

Perhaps he, a prospective Raider, had to stop it.

However, he thought.

He was unqualified, and with his power, it was impossible to save the opponent. Since meddling would only add a meaningless death, what he could do was just mourn the man and run away to survive. He comforted himself that way.

The dim pupils of the dying person convinced him that any action was useless.

Thus, he just stopped.

He watched the innocent death.

A single spark was fading.

The Zorg chewed the man’s leg, completely severing it, and was now thrusting its head toward his windpipe.

The beast’s stench still hovered in his nose.

The Zorg must be baring its teeth toward the man with joyful eyes, exuding a foul smell rising from its stomach.

He could do nothing.

It was at that moment.

Someone smacked the Zorg’s head.

Clang!

The Zorg’s head turned.

A boy holding an iron pipe.

It was Park In-jae.

“In-jae!”

Se-min shouted. Park In-jae swung the iron pipe consecutively. The clubbing containing aura separated the Zorg from the man.

The blow was minor.

Conversely, the enraged Zorg pounced on Park In-jae.

Park In-jae avoided the Zorg’s front claws, turned laterally, and struck down the iron pipe. The Zorg tumbled on the ground, then leaped toward Park In-jae again like a spring.

The beast’s teeth bit the iron pipe.

The tug-of-war of the two continued.

Park In-jae released one hand supporting the iron pipe and poked his finger into the Zorg’s eye.

The Zorg, which seemed to pounce on Park In-jae as the balance of power broke, let out a shriek as one eye was gouged out and slammed its head on the ground.

Panting, Park In-jae lifted the iron pipe and swung it at the Zorg.

Struck once, the Zorg pounced on Park In-jae again.

The beast’s teeth cut the air.

Backing away, Park In-jae counterattacked by swinging the iron pipe.

Watching that battle, Se-min realized.

Park In-jae.

Was a genius.

The movement of the boy, who had not even taken the aura aptitude test long ago and had never entered a training facility, was grasping the pulse of the battle.

His aura, which he said he hadn’t trained much, had already grown enough to be effective in a fight against a magic beast.

Perhaps a great talent with which Se-min himself couldn’t be compared.

If time passed, and thus he was more refined, Park In-jae would surely make it big.

So.

When the Zorg bit and tore off Park In-jae’s shoulder, Se-min felt a sinking despair in his chest.

As the Zorg’s claws began to rake Park In-jae’s abdomen, he rushed out without realizing.

As Se-min approached, the Zorg raised its head.

His eyes met the beast still holding Park In-jae’s flesh.

A chill ran down his spine. Desperately raising aura, he tried to support himself by putting strength in his lower abdomen. However, without realizing it, he took a step back.

The Zorg slowly walked toward Se-min.

Blood gushed from the mouth of the lying Park In-jae.

Se-min raised his aura. The Zorg bared its teeth savagely. It was a threat. The aura rising from his danqian was crushed by fear and faded.

Feeling his fear, the Zorg began to walk closer. The beast’s muscles contracted.

It would leap soon.

What should he do?

At that moment when Se-min’s head was tangled in a mess.

A javelin flying from afar pierced the Zorg’s head.

“Are you okay!”

It was a Raider of the Iron Horse Company.

The Zorg, pierced through the head, trembled and went limp.

Se-min ran to Park In-jae. He was lying down, breathing faintly. Blood kept pouring out.

The Raider took out a hemostatic kit from his pocket and wrapped Park In-jae’s abdomen and arm. Aura rose from his hands.

Although it was a tool with much better performance than ordinary equipment, it was useless without aura.

Se-min placed his hands on the hemostatic kit.

“I’ll do it.”

“Ah, are you an aptitude holder? The rescue team will arrive soon, so watch him until then.”

The Raider stood up, feeling Se-min taking over his aura.

Park In-jae dimly opened his eyes.

“Brother?”

“Don’t speak.”

“Haha, I won’t die…”

He wouldn’t die.

However, he had lost an arm.

Se-min couldn’t look at Park In-jae any longer and turned his gaze away.

In the distance, the battle was continuing.

Sincus pounced on a Raider. A sword strike flew from the side, blocking Sincus.

“Come on, bastard!”

Kim Seon-ha shouted. She was also covered in blood. With a hobbled step from a mangled leg, she dragged her leg.

Still, she raised her sword and shouted.

“Over here!”

Spirit.

Even the magic beast paused for a moment.

Kim Seon-ha consecutively swung her sword. Her movements became so fast they couldn’t even be seen. The body movements containing aura were swift and elusive, exceeding Sincus’s reaction speed.

However, blocked by the difference in weight class, she was thrown back again.

She rolled miserably, scraping her entire body on the asphalt. Her blood spilled onto the ground. Her place was taken by another Raider.

No one’s body was intact.

Still, they did not widen the encirclement.

As the fight did not go as wanted, Sincus twisted its body and roared. And it charged straight ahead to break the encirclement.

The Raiders on the left and right gathered to block the breakthrough. Several Raiders flew through the air. However, the rest desperately chased and drove weapons into Sincus’s hide. Body fluid burst out.

“Block it!”

The siren kept ringing the danger warning.

The corpses of the dead were torn to pieces without a trace, swept up in the battle.

The ground was all blood.

While the desperate fight continued, a support team joined.

“Gwanghae is supporting. Seon-ha! Are you okay!”

“I’m fine. Deal with this guy first.”

It was the Raid Company Gwanghae.

Perhaps acquainted with Kim Seon-ha, they shared a few words and immediately joined forces against Sincus.

Sincus, feeling there was no chance of winning, stood in place.

Against the backdrop of the burning city, the lizard-like magic beast of another dimension looked at the small humans opposing it in turn.

Did the magic beast also have sentiments?

Soon, the beast bared its teeth.

Humans and the magic beast clashed again.

The Raiders in front of Sincus scattered, and they drove weapons into Sincus from the left, right, and rear.

Such operations were repeated.

Like primitive humans hunting ancient mammoths, they persistently attacked Sincus.

Sincus’s huge body collapsed.

It was Kim Seon-ha who drove the final blow into the crown of the fallen magic beast.

Sincus’s movements stopped.

“It’s over. Good work, everyone.”

The fight ended.

Gate was slowly closing.

Everyone relaxed and scattered to clean up the situation.

Only Se-min glared at the gate until the end.

Suddenly, something faint flickered beyond it.

…

Se-min’s eyes widened.

It was there.

Did no one see it?

Se-min was frozen and couldn’t move. The beast’s gaze fixed toward Se-min. If he moved even a little, he might die. It was the same pressure as when he faced the transcendents in the past.

Something more heterogeneous, close to a fear inherent in his genes.

Fear of a natural enemy.

The beast grinned.

And the gate closed.

Se-min gasped. Sweat soaked his whole body. His heart was beating rapidly.

Se-min knew very well what he had seen.

It was definitely that.

The high-ranking species of the harmful magic beast.

The first magic beast that created the classification of disaster rank.

Disaster Magic Beast Identification No. 1.

Orc.

From beyond the gate, it was looking into Earth.

No, was it an illusion?

There was no sense of reality.

Se-min wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around.

Numerous corpses lay scattered. Buildings were destroyed, fires spread, and Raiders lay groaning in the ruins.

Fire engines and ambulances were rushing with sirens blaring.

“Ugh…”

A groan flowed from Park In-jae’s mouth. Se-min came to his senses.

“You punk. Why did you step forward instead of staying still…”

“Haha… But I lived, right?”

Se-min looked back.

The man Park In-jae saved was receiving emergency treatment surrounded by other Raiders.

He didn’t die.

Park In-jae saved him.

“I’m a prospective Raider… I should do at least this much.”

Se-min could say nothing.

He had stopped because he was afraid.

Frozen by the murderous intent of the magic beast he saw for the first time, he was rooted in place. He was too precious to take risks.

However, Park In-jae went forward.

The high school kid he thought was nothing was much braver than him.

“Raider is… the best job, you know…”

Se-min realized.

Just as they had talked earlier, Raider was the best job.

However, the meaning was different for each of them.

Park In-jae closed his eyes and whispered like a sigh.

“Saving people…”

“In-jae. Don’t talk.”

Paramedics collected Park In-jae. Se-min boarded with them toward the hospital.

Watching Park In-jae’s parents crying after being contacted, Se-min could say nothing.