Chapter 5: Ah! Hello There! (1)
[Date: May 22, 2040
A C-Class Gate was created in the Jirisan National Park. Lee Ji-Yeon was active at the D-Class Gate in the Jirisan National Park, and later, entered the newly created Gate. She made a contract with a greater fire spirit and grew from a D-Class Hunter to A-Class Hunter.]
***
At Jirisan National Park, Kim Ki-Rok sat on a bench that had been temporarily installed next to the D-Class Gate, Goblin Forest. He had been absentmindedly gazed at the sky but swiftly turned his head at the sight of Hunters approaching the Gate.
"Alright, alright."
The target had not arrived yet.
"Alriiight."
Kim Ki-Rok repeated the same words rhythmically, and this time, took out his smartphone.
A C-Class Gate, Garden of Flames, was scheduled to be created on May 22 at 3 p.m.
"It's 9 a.m."
Kim Ki-Rok looked at his smartphone and then toward the entrance straight ahead. The target was supposed to arrive at 9:30 a.m. The target and her temporary companions had then entered the Gate at 10 a.m. and finished their activities at 5 p.m.
However, the target had not returned home after parting ways with her temporary colleagues following their first collaboration. Instead, the target had walked around and eventually stumbled upon The Invaded Garden of Flames Gate for the first time.
[The Invaded Garden of Flames]
Difficulty: 41–60
Reward: Unknown
After using Record to look at the seventy-six books on May 22 at random, Kim Ki-Rok cancelled the skill and gazed at the sky again.
A Hunter's Class was divided into six levels.
Level 1 to 20 was classified as E-Class Hunters, Level 21 to 40 as D-Class Hunters, Level 41 to 60 as C-Class Hunters, 61 to 80 as B-Class Hunters, Level 81 to 99 as A-Class Hunters, and Level 100 onwards was classified as S-Class Hunters.
"Garden of Flames was a C-Class Gate that my target could just walk in out of pure curiosity," Kim Ki-Rok muttered.
Fighting had been difficult but most of the monsters that had appeared near the Gate were low-level monsters. So the target had most likely entered the Gate for curious exploration , faced a situation different from expectations, and then proceeded with the the Gate destruction process to close the Gate.
Kim Ki-Rok scratched his head. "What did I get again?"
He used his skill again to take out the earlier volumes of the seventy-six books to refresh his memory.
"Ah, a lesser fire spirit."
Hunter Lee Ji-Yeon, who had destroyed the C-Class Gate, The Invaded Garden of Flames, had forged a contract with a greater fire spirit as a reward. So Kim Ki-Rok had gone to the same Gate on his 4th Attempt.
As a result, he had managed to contract with a lesser fire spirit.
"Shake it off. I need to forget about it," Kim Ki-Rok said to himself.
On his 31st Attempt, Kim Ki-Rok had entered the Gate with Lee Ji-Yeon. They had destroyed the Gate together and had contracted with a spirit each as a reward.
And the result of this Attempt? Lee Ji-Yeon had contracted with a greater fire spirit and Kim Ki-Rok had once again contracted with a lesser fire spirit.
"I need to shake it off."
Kim Ki-Rok brushed off that memory and looked up at the sky again.
"What should I do?"
He could enter and destroy the Gate with Lee Ji-Yeon. Since he lacked talent, he would most likely contract with a lesser fire spirit, but that was fine.
As the saying goes, the more the merrier. As he lived through life, or rather repeated life through his Attempts, Kim Ki-Rok realized that any ability was useful in some way.
"Hmm! Still, wouldn't it have been nicer to face a little hardship and adversity?"
In his past Attempts, Lee Ji-Yeon had borrowed the power of a fire spirit to vanquish the tree monster and clear the Gate. In fact, not only had she defeated the regular monsters, but she had also beaten the Gate boss. Unfortunately, that's where the problem lay.
"She didn't gain any additional stats."
Thanks to the fire spirit carrying her performance, Lee Ji-Yeon had only secured the stats from leveling up without gaining the additional stats that could be obtained through training or real combat experience.
As one progressed through the levels, acquiring additional stats through training or real combat experiences that were risky and perilous would become more difficult.
Therefore, Lee Ji-Yeon had found it highly challenging to obtain additional stats by leveling up too quickly.
"This time, I'll provide her with perfect support." Kim Ki-Rok decided on his action plan.
She possessed exceptional talent, to the extent that it allowed her to make a contract with a higher spirit immediately.
She was fortunate enough to level up quickly and become an A-Class Hunter in the shortest time possible.
She was kind, so kind that she was called a hero.
She had everything—talent, luck, personality and, remarkably, she was beautiful.
"Ah, I should skip the last one."
Waving his hand to brush away the lingering thought, Kim Ki-Rok crossed his legs and looked toward the entrance of the D-Class Gate. His target, Lee Ji-Yeon, had not arrived yet. He soon lowered his head as he waited for her.
"No, beauty is important too," he muttered to himself.
Although it may not be useful in Hunter activities, appearance was a very important factor in gathering Hunters. Between guilds with attractive Hunters and those without, the majority of Hunters were more interested in guilds with beautiful and handsome members. Although infuriating, that was the harsh reality.
Kim Ki-Rok, who had been looking at the entrance, uncrossed his legs. "There she is, there she is."
A black-haired woman holding a long staff in both hands hummed as she walked. Suddenly, a hologram appeared in front of Kim Ki-Rok while he watched his target approach. He turned his head to address the Time Rabbit in the hologram.
[The Time Rabbit asks, "The princess first this time?"]
"We will proceed with the princess first. After seventy-six Attempts, I have found that we still have about a month."
It was June 15, 2040. The group that had succeeded in a very shocking study would carry out a catastrophic project on the twentieth, so there was still time.
"Our guy, Su-Wang, will evolve on the eighteenth of June..."
[The Time Rabbit nods and mutters, "So that's why the princess comes first."]
Kim Ki-Rok turned his head to gaze at the black-haired beauty, Lee Ji-Yeon. She had approached an Association staff member standing near the entrance and was talking briefly with them. Would she enter the Gate right after her conversation?
No.
She approached the other Hunters who were gathering temporary companions.
[The Time Rabbit asks, "So you're going in with her?"]
The hologram with the Time Rabbit's message appeared again.
Kim Ki-Rok shifted his gaze slightly to read the content, then stood up.
"No. This time, I'm going in first."
[The Time Rabbit asks, "For monopoly?"]
"No. Didn't I say that I am going to end it this time?"
[The Time Rabbit mutters, "Right, you did."]
"So, I plan to make the first meeting very shocking."
[The Time Rabbit tilts his head in confusion as he says, "What does ending it have to do with making a shocking first impression?"]
Kim Ki-Rok did not answer.
[The Time Rabbit asks, "How are you going to meet her?"]
But Kim Ki-Rok stayed quiet and continued walking. Perhaps it was due to the appearance of a Gate, but there was no one around. As Kim Ki-Rok continued to walk through the dense bushes outside the trail at the Jirisan National Park, he pulled out his smartphone to check the time. Upon reaching a small clearing, Kim Ki-Rok started to take off his clothes.
[The Time Rabbit asks, "What are you doing?"]
"I'm changing," Kim Ki-Rok replied.
[The Time Rabbit says, "That's not what I was asking."]
Ignoring the retort, Kim Ki-Rok took a suit from his pocket dimension, changed into it, and then looked back at the clearing.
"Three, two, one," he counted and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, a Gate glowing with red light appeared in the previously empty clearing.
Kim Ki-Rok walked confidently through the Gate, neatly adjusting his tie without hesitation. A bright light filled his vision as he passed through it, forcing him to close his eyes.
Many people wanted to witness the world change as they passed the Gate, but all their attempts had failed.
Artifacts? Useless.
Science? Also useless.
Nothing could prevent anyone from closing their eyes while passing through the Gate. Kim Ki-Rok was no exception.
As he stepped into the Gate with closed eyes, Kim Ki-Rok confirmed the distant world's changes through his sense of smell and hearing before opening his eyes.
The clearing surrounded by giant trees and tall bushes was no longer there. Instead, in front of him lay a circular garden enclosed in white marble, blooming with red flowers. Although he had visited this place dozens of times, the garden with the captivating red flowers strangely enthralled him.
While gazing at the flowers, Kim Ki-Rok looked up, feeling someone's gaze and the energy of nature. Before him stood boys and girls with tiny and cute butterfly wings. No, they weren't standing but floating in the air.
Kim Ki-Rok smiled broadly at the boys and girls looking at him with puzzled expressions. Waving his hand toward the girl wearing a unique crown among them, he said, "Ah! Hello there!"
***
Humans weren't aware of other species in the past, when only monsters had emerged from inside the Gates. But when they encountered Gates with intelligent species, such as giants and Beastfolk, various attempts were made to communicate with them.
Even though people cleared the conditions for Gate destruction, they did not escape from the Gates. Instead, they stayed and conversed with these intelligent species to gather information and learn more about the Gates.
[Earth has become a nexus connecting different dimensions.]
[Too many dimensions have been linked to Earth. In preparation for the chaos to come, Earth has launched several support systems.]
Research was done to understand why Holograms appeared in front of people worldwide on January 1, 2030, and why dimensions were connected.
Unfortunately, no solid information was obtained, but the humans weren't left empty-handed either.
First, they discovered that Gates were dimensional portals allowing one to travel to other dimensions.
Second, they found that negotiations had occurred between the "gods" of each dimension and Earth. The gods opened the dimensional portals to request help in protecting their planets, while Earth accepted these requests to provide Hunters with an opportunity for growth. Thus, Earth opened the Gates, or in other words, the dimensional portals.
People focused on the second discovery: Earth's intention of opening the Gates to help those on other planets for the sake of Hunters' growth.
The Gates went out of control after a specific time since its creation, and monsters emerged from these Gates. This could be seen as a threat in Earth's eyes, indicating a significant disparity in Earth's intention and execution.
Everyone pondered how to understand Earth's intention and came to a hypothesis: there were dangerous dimensions that could open a dimensional portal to Earth without Earth's permission, and the beings from these dimensions could not be stopped with the current strength of the Hunters. Therefore, Earth received requests for support from different dimensions to expedite the growth of the Hunters.
In reality, no Gates above Level 50 were created before the year 2030. From 2030 to 2032, the Gates that had appeared on Earth were below Level 40. So, had anything changed in the way that Hunters acted once this conclusion was reached?
Simply put, yes. Hunters started building relationships with different species. Once a connection was established between dimensions, it was not easily broken, and by building relationships with a particular dimension's species, help could be received from that dimension.
Of course, this was all hypothetical. Earth was full of scams, and the same could be said for other dimensions. However, the Association requested that Hunters be accepting of any intelligent species encountered at the Gates, and the Hunters respected their request.
Even if Hunters had the choice to turn these other species away as enemies, there was no reason to do that. In fact, by building relationships, Hunters were rewarded greatly when they solved the problems of their newly allied species according to the requests they received.
"Delicious!"
Dozens of small and cute boys and girls stood on the wooden table for humans, eagerly eating with forks.
"Human! What is this?"
"That is a roll cake. Ha ha ha!"
"Human! Human! Give me the black one!"
"Oh, the chocolate cake? I'll bring it right away! Ha ha ha!"
Elementals wielded the power of nature. They were a species that moved through dimensions via the power of contracts and had the biggest love for desserts.
When Kim Ki-Rok took a chocolate cake from his pocket dimension, the Elementals quickly flew over. Each of their actions showcased their unique personalities—some eagerly buried their faces in the chocolate cake to devour it while others used forks to cut and eat the cake with grace.
Even though Kim Ki-Rok had prepared tiny dessert forks, they were still significantly larger than the Elementals. Kim Ki-Rok watched the cute Elementals with a pleased smile and slowly turned to look at the Queen of the Elementals holding a shot glass. More precisely, a shot glass filled with cocoa.
As the leader of the Elementals, the Queen of the Elementals wore a crown. She felt Kim Ki-Rok's gaze, and before he could speak, she said, "Thank you."
"Oh, no. Thank you. I'm doing this because I have ulterior motives, you know," Kim Ki-Rok said.
The Queen of the Elementals did not tolerate lies. So when Kim Ki-Rok willingly revealed the purpose of his visit, the eagerly feasting Elementals froze and turned their heads to look at him.
"Of course, the Elementals will not be harmed," he continued.
The Elementals turned to the Queen of the Elementals. As she nodded, they smiled again and resumed eating their cake.
"What is your purpose?" the Queen of Elementals asked.
"Two things. As I mentioned, both of them will not harm the Elementals."
A moment of silence followed.
Staring at Kim Ki-Rok, the Queen of the Elementals sipped the cocoa in the shot glass and nodded. "I see. So what is it that you want?"
"First, I would like to build a friendship. It's a small request to help a friend out when Earth is in danger."
Hunters were very friendly to the Elementals they met at Gates related to Elementals. The Elementals were cute. Hunters gave them delicious food and wholeheartedly listened to their requests. To reciprocate this kindness, when Earth had been in danger due to the appearance of an S-Class Gate, they had bravely assisted the humans by opening a Gate to the spirit world.
"What about the second one?" the Queen of Elementals asked.
Kim Ki-Rok poured cocoa into the empty shot glass and grinned. "Someone will come to solve your problems shortly."
"Are you asking us to help them?"
"No. Make it difficult for her."
"What?" the Queen of Elementals asked, baffled.
"Make it difficult for them. Very difficult. Intense. Make her job difficult to a point where it would seem as if she wouldn't be able to clear the Gate."
The Queen of the Elementals' eyes flickered with confusion.
"It'll be harder than you think. She has the potential to become a Greater Elementalist," Kim Ki-Rok said.
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