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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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The mage bit his lip.
‘I’m not skilled enough to maintain the Light Ball any longer. I’m so sorry.’
Pop-!
As the light of the Light Ball disappeared, the monsters lurking in the darkness rushed towards them.
Kyaa!
Growl-!
The four hunters fought their best, but they felt death approaching.
‘I-I can’t hold on any longer!’
‘I don’t want to die…’
Just then.
“Kkikyu!”
Along with the familiar cry of the dungeon rat, the monsters began to collapse.
“…Huh?”
The surprised mage quickly gathered his remaining aura and cast Light Ball.
Pop-!
The sight that unfolded as the surroundings brightened was even more surprising.
The heads of all the undead, like zombies and ghouls, that had surrounded them were cut off, and they lay motionless.
But the person who saved them was nowhere to be seen.
And a moment later.
Rumble-!
The gate vibrated.
“Huh? Could this vibration be…?”
At the healer’s words, Jin Yong-pal nodded.
“Yes, the gate has been cleared.”
It was unbelievable, but it was true.
They had felt that vibration several times while clearing gates.
“H-How did this happen?”
“Just now, we were… because of the monsters…”
The monsters that had threatened their lives were now all lying dead in front of them.
Looking at the monsters’ wounds, they had been killed with a single strike.
“Could it be that Mr. Shin came to support us?”
Jin Yong-pal shook his head at that question.
“No, even he wouldn’t be able to close a gate in just three minutes.”
“Then could it be the rumored Zero-rank awakened individual?”
They couldn’t say anything.
Because they realized it was the truth.
“But…”
The mage said.
“I think I heard Kkorong’s cry earlier…”
Just then.
Tap tap tap-!
“Kkikyu!”
The dungeon rat ran towards them.
“Ah! Kkorong!”
“You’re alive!”
“Come here! We have to get out of here quickly!”
“But first, I’m going to collect some magic stones.”
They collected some magic stones from the nearby monsters and headed for the gate entrance.
The gate closed 12 hours after all the monsters inside were dealt with.
Meanwhile, Gang-so smiled as he watched Jin Yong-pal and his team heading for the exit.
‘So, the dungeon rat’s name is Kkorong.’
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When Gang-so had just entered the gate, he only sensed four living humans with his senses.
Gang-so ran to rescue them and encountered human-like monsters attacking them.
It was a common reaction to be at a loss for words when first seeing a zombie.
Because zombies had the same appearance as humans.
But Gang-so was a former assassin.
Therefore, he didn’t hesitate to swing his hand, but the zombie kept moving.
‘Most of its energy is concentrated in its head. Could it be… that the head is its weak point?’
Gang-so tried cutting off the zombie’s head.
That was the correct answer.
Gang-so thought about using his Sword Aura directly from his hand but picked up a sword lying nearby instead.
Using a weapon like a sword was more efficient than generating Sword Aura directly from his hand, and he could resolve the situation faster.
The sword Gang-so picked up was a fairly decent sword.
‘It must be the sword of an awakened individual who died here. I’ll borrow it for a while. I’ll avenge you, so please rest in peace.’
Gang-so’s gaze changed.
He relentlessly cut off the monsters’ heads.
Last time, because he didn’t know much about gates, he had left a few slimes alive, which caused the situation to escalate.
But this time, he didn’t intend to make the same mistake.
After killing all the monsters, Gang-so headed to the boss room and saw the Dullahan there.
“Who are you? Death to the intruder!”
Looking at the Dullahan swinging its massive sword towards him with a grating voice, Gang-so thought.
‘It’s a monster holding its own head! It looks quite unique. Could this monster’s weak point be its head too?’
Gang-so unleashed a sword strike towards the Dullahan.
Whoosh-!
“Kyaaagh!”
The fierce sword strike not only cut off the Dullahan’s head, but also tore its body to shreds.
It was a rather anticlimactic end for something that gave Blue Team such a hard time.
Black blood splattered everywhere, but not a single drop touched Gang-so’s body.
Just then, the gate vibrated.
He remembered learning during the training that the gate vibrating meant it was closing.
Roll, roll.
Gang-so looked at the Dullahan’s magic stone, which had rolled to his feet.
It was a thumb-sized, transparent, purple orb.
‘Is this a magic stone? This magic stone was the source of the demonic energy I was sensing here!’
Gang-so was able to see real magic stones during his isolated person training, so he could tell that sensing demonic energy from the magic stone wasn’t normal.
So he took the stone and carefully contained it with his energy.
Now that he had fulfilled the dungeon rat’s request for help, it was time for him to return.
Gang-so took out the dungeon rat that was dangling from inside his shirt and placed it on the ground.
“Is that enough?”
“Kkikyu!”
“Then go to your owner.”
“Kki! Kkikyu!”
The dungeon rat hopped around in gratitude and then ran towards the four surviving hunters.
Gang-so stabbed the sword he was using into the ground.
“Live well.”
And then his figure disappeared from the gate.
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“Are you back?”
As Gang-so entered Yang Chun Gak, Yoo Soon-tae, who seemed to have been waiting, greeted him, sitting at a table.
“Yes, I’m back.”
“How’s the dungeon rat?”
“It went to its owner.”
“That’s good. Ha-young will be sad for a while, but you can’t just take a pet that has an owner.”
“It seems like you got a call from your wife.”
Yoo Soon-tae was holding his phone.
“Right. I just got off the phone, she seems to be having fun.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
The TV in the restaurant was turned on, as if Yoo Soon-tae had been watching while waiting for Gang-so.
Just then.
– This is breaking news! Today, at Gate C-0145237, someone suspected to be a Zero-rank awakened individual appeared and rescued four members of Legend Guild’s Blue Team, who were on the brink of annihilation, and then disappeared. With this, it seems certain that Korea also has a Zero-rank awakened individual…
The footage in the news showed the battered Jin Yong-pal and his three teammates, along with a man followed by the curled-up dungeon rat, Kkorong, in the man’s hand.
“The dungeon rat’s name is Kkorong. And he asked me for help because his owner was in danger inside the gate.”
“I see.”
Yoo Soon-tae was suddenly taken aback.
“Did you go inside the gate?”
“Yes.”
“You were able to go inside?”
Gang-so nodded, and Yoo Soon-tae chuckled.
“Anyway, the martial arts you showed before are truly amazing. To close a gate alone, even if it’s a C-rank.”
“Well, it was nothing much.”
“Go and get some rest. It’s getting late.”
“Yes, you too, get some rest.”
Gang-so went into his room, and Yoo Soon-tae, who was sitting in the restaurant, sighed.
On TV, an expert was explaining the reasons why the individual who appeared at Gate C-0145237 was believed to be a Zero-rank awakened individual.
Yoo Soon-tae didn’t think Gang-so was a Zero-rank awakened individual since he didn’t feel the same oppressive aura from him that he felt when he saw the S-rank awakened individual, Shin.
But he had entered a gate that was impossible to enter!
His true identity was increasingly suspicious.
However, Yoo Soon-tae quickly dismissed the thought.
‘What am I doing worrying about something like that? Whether Gang-so is a Zero-rank or not, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s my friend.’
Yoo Soon-tae decided to think about it simply.
* * *
A few days later.
Ha-young was still looking glum.
“It’s gone. I couldn’t even say goodbye…”
“We returned it to its owner.”
At Yoo Soon-tae’s words, Ha-young replied,
“I know. We should return what has an owner to its owner. But I couldn’t say goodbye. That’s why I’m sad.”
At Ha-young’s reaction, Gang-so felt guilty.
‘I should have let Ha-young say goodbye before sending it back!’
But what was done was done.
‘But which of those four awakened individuals was Kkorong’s owner?’
Thinking of that time, he remembered the magic stone he had picked up.
‘The demonic energy felt from that magic stone was similar to the demonic energy I felt when I first woke up.’
In other words, it was the energy from when those crazy people in the world he used to live in had used forbidden spells.
‘Could it be that those spells are related to the gates?’
He felt like he needed to revisit the place where the gate had been.
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It was raining.
“Kkikyu… Kkikyu…”
The place where Gate C-0145237 had been was now a hill with nicely maintained walking paths, just like before.
Kkorong was looking vacantly at the spot where the gate entrance had been, whimpering.
The Awakened Association staff who came for post-gate processing whispered,
“Why is that dungeon rat still here?”
“You don’t know? That dungeon rat is quite famous.”
“Famous?”
“Yeah. That dungeon rat belonged to a hunter who died in this gate, and you know how loyal dungeon rats are!”
“I heard they pine away and die if their owner dies. But that dungeon rat’s owner was from the Legend Guild, right? Didn’t they say anything?”
“They already have a mountain of work to deal with, why would they care about a dungeon rat that belonged to a D-rank hunter? And I heard that hunter didn’t have any family.”
“Poor thing.”
Kkorong’s glossy fur had become dull after not eating for several days and being in the rain.
It had been happy that it had saved its owner, but only its four comrades had survived.
It ran to the place where its owner’s scent lingered, but all that was left was a cold corpse.
It blamed itself for its owner’s death, for asking for help too late.
“Kkikyu…”
Kkorong remembered the human who had helped him.
It was thanks to that incredibly strong human that he had been able to avenge his owner and save his comrades.
He wanted to serve that human as his new owner.
Because then, he too would become stronger and would be able to prevent his owner from dying.
He couldn’t forget the strange sense of security he felt inside that human’s shirt.
Although it felt disloyal, he still couldn’t forget it.
“Kko… Kkikyu…”
His vision blurred.
It must have been because he hadn’t eaten for days and had been in the rain.
Hoping to see his owner again when he opened his eyes, Kkorong closed them.
“You.”
“…!”
It was a familiar voice.
Kkorong opened his eyes in surprise and looked up.
A human with an umbrella was looking at him.
“Your name is Kkorong, right? I thought your owner was among those awakened ones… I guess not. Did your owner die?”
“Kkikyu…”
“This makes me feel even worse towards Ha-young…”
Gang-so had come to the location of the former Gate C-0145237 to confirm the source of the demonic energy.
The gate that had been there was completely gone, and the demonic energy that had lingered there had also disappeared without a trace.
‘Was the magic stone I have the source after all?’
Although it wasn’t dangerous because he had contained it securely, he thought he should get a personal storage unit and store it there soon.
‘I can’t keep such an ominous thing at Yang Chun Gak anymore.’
And as he was about to return to Yang Chun Gak, he spotted a dungeon rat that looked familiar.
And he overheard the conversation of the staff members who were talking about the dungeon rat.
If he had known that the owner had died, he wouldn’t have sent Kkorong back to them.
Gang-so kept talking to Kkorong.
“Are you planning to die like this? Don’t tell me you’re doing this for your owner? That’s a dog’s death.”
“Kkikyu?”
“I’ve seen many people like that. Those who die following their lord, even though their lord wouldn’t have wanted that. I’m sure your owner wouldn’t have wanted that either.”
At Gang-so’s words, Kkorong came to his senses.
His owner wouldn’t have wanted him to do this. Kkorong reproached himself for his foolishness.
“Kkikyu…”
Gang-so remembered Yoo Soon-tae saying that they might need to get a pet for Ha-young.
“Do you want to come with me?”
“Kkikyu?”
“I will be your new owner. Let’s go together.”
At that offer, Kkorong blinked its eyes.
If he had to live, it wouldn’t be bad living with the human in front of him.
Kkorong hesitantly touched Gang-so’s finger.
On that rainy day, Kkorong got a new owner.
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