251 – True ending? (4)
One day.
Anomalous phenomena occurred simultaneously around the world.
-That…
If we were to define the abnormal phenomenon in one word –
It was a door.
A cultural object created by humans to separate and connect space at the same time.
-Mom! There’s a strange door in my closet!
-Hmm? Mr. Kim, who locked the door here?
-Hey, next to the top of the Eiffel Tower- What is that? Door?
-What is this? Is it a hidden camera?
The door suddenly appeared all over the world, regardless of location.
On the street.
On the wall.
Inside someone’s house.
Next to great architecture.
Even on the floor, in the air, and in the sea.
-It is said that the door you see now was suddenly installed in this location one day.
-Also, doors of the same shape but with different sizes were discovered throughout the country-
-Even though so many doors were discovered, who installed them, why they were installed, and how they were installed-
-It is said that nothing has been revealed yet.
-Wow, it’s true!? The door is floating in the sky???
– Well, just by looking at it, it looks like a device using optical illusion.
-It’s not an optical illusion, but you can actually touch it with your hand.
-Well, I guess it’s something that’s floating like a transparent thread that can’t be seen just by looking at it.
-I can’t see anything around me?
-What the f*ck, Ukehangyeo?
The existence of the door was impossible to explain scientifically or rationally.
Literally an abnormal phenomenon.
-So. How on earth did you do this deal? There are so many doors – we still don’t know who did it or how they did it. And why did they do it? What on earth makes sense when nothing has been revealed yet? In today’s world, CCTV is everywhere.
-Looking at it, I heard that the CCTV was not working in the area where the problem occurred.
-Something like a hacker? Anonymous? Did those kids collectively do something like a protest?
-Why is it a door?
-In our country, there are many regulated sites, so loosen regulations as if opening a door- something like that?
-Then what about other countries?
-Oh, I don’t know. Let’s take a video.
-hehehehe, f*ck. Let’s copy the number of views~
The door naturally attracted the world’s attention.
Until then, people viewed the door as just a strange event.
But-
-Hey, by the way, how long on earth is this going to be here?
-What do you think? It’s not even a problem.
-No, why isn’t this a problem? You know that door stuck in the street that we saw on our way to the bar back then?
-Uh. Why is that?
-They say it’s still there.
-Huh?
-Now, there are not just one or two gates across the country that are so blocked, so traffic has become very chaotic.
-No, that’s a bit weird. No. It’s not a joke, isn’t that a really serious problem? What are local governments doing? I didn’t remove the door.
-They say it wasn’t demolished.
-Ugh, you idiots. What on earth are you doing by collecting taxes?
-No, that’s not true, they literally said it couldn’t be demolished.
-What?
-Even if you push it with a crane, explode it with dynamite, hold a memorial service next to it, and do all kinds of crazy things, the door doesn’t even get a scratch.
-No, what the f*ck is a ancestral rite? Is it a debuff? Rather, what kind of vibranium is it made from?
-So, the scientists came and did a lot of research on ingredients and all.
-So what happened?
-No, you don’t watch the news? Even now, the whole country is in an uproar over this.
-I only look at webtoons and game communities.
-I’m proud of you, bastard. That ingredient doesn’t appear.
-What are you talking about?
-It’s too hard to collect, so I just put a microscope or something on the door itself and check its ingredients – They say nothing comes out. Well, it’s like there’s nothing there.
-… Hey, f*ck. Am I starting to get scared?
-So. I’m screwed now. Isn’t this a joke across the country?
Moon.
Beyond the fact that it is an incomprehensible phenomenon –
Let’s realize that this is an uncontrollable phenomenon.
People’s interest was rapidly deteriorating.
With anxiety.
Then one day.
The door that had been tightly closed gradually began to open.
Only then did people focus on the fact that the abnormal phenomenon was in the shape of a ‘door’.
Moon.
It is a passage connecting different spaces.
Do those ‘doors’ function as ‘doors’ as they appear?
Then what kind of space are those doors connected to?
It was 15 days after the moon first occurred.
Finally, the doors were completely opened.
There was nothing visible beyond the door.
From Noble mtl dot com
Internet influencer.
Creator.
Broadcasters.
Broadcasting station officials.
Countless people, for numerous reasons, stepped into that unknown world.
And no one came back.
The military was deployed.
Then, finally, something began to return from beyond the door.
Moon.
It is a passage connecting different spaces.
What came out of the door were beings that clearly looked like they had come from another world.
And, these were phenomena that clearly seemed to come from another world.
They have in common the implication of surreal energy that did not exist in the existing world.
It was later named Mana, and it brought a new phase to the world.
A gate occurred and an alien being armed with mana – a world where it became natural for monsters to appear.
And, it was a world where it became natural for humans who had awakened the power of ‘mana’ to subdue those monsters.
***
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Until a few years ago, if you asked that question to young children who had no idea about the world, the answer you would get was, “YouTuber!”
Being a successful YouTuber is a dream job that guarantees a free work environment and a huge high income with a chance to rise in status.
But now.
If you ask young children who don’t know anything about the world, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’
Ten out of ten people talk about jobs other than being YouTubers.
‘Hunter!’
Hunter.
It was a name for a professional whose job was to solve abnormal phenomena related to gates among those who had awakened ‘mana’.
Hunters manipulated the surreal power called mana.
We protected citizens from the surreal threat of monsters.
Due to such characteristics, hunters replaced the previously existing concept of ‘hero’.
He has become an idol for everyone, surpassing YouTubers, actors, and singers.
Lee Hwa-rin.
She was one of Korea’s leading hunters.
If you look at the grade itself that divides the hunters, it was an ambiguous position, being Class A, two levels above it.
The popularity of hunters was not determined simply by ability.
Befitting the position of idol-
The splendor of the ability to handle.
And an outstanding appearance.
If those two things are added together, it is the job called hunter that is more popular than its ability.
This was the case with Lee Hwa-rin.
An elegant yet sharp atmosphere reminiscent of a leopard.
The sight of her freely wielding the white flame called ‘white flame’ made it seem like a movie hero had just stepped out of the screen.
After the first awakening, a video showing him subduing a monster that was attacking citizens was spread on the Internet.
As a hunter, there was never a single moment when she did not attract the attention of those around her.
It was still like that.
Here now.
In front of a building in Sillim where a specific gate occurred.
Ttogak.
Ttogak.
When Lee Hwa-rin appeared at the place where most of the B-level and higher hunters in Korea who had been summoned by the association were gathered, the attention of all the hunters was focused on her.
“Team leader, please shut up, will you?”
“Hmm? Ah, hmm.”
“Hey, isn’t that Lee Hwarin?”
“Wow, crazy. “This is my first time seeing Lee Hwa-rin in person.”
Every time Lee Hwa-rin made eye contact with them, she smiled with a relaxed smile.
It was that perfect smile that can be easily seen in countless promotional materials and advertisements.
A longing smile appeared on the faces of the hunters who were the targets of her smile, regardless of their gender.
“It sucked because of the forced convocation, but thanks to you, I can finally see Lee Hwa-rin.”
“That’s right. By the way, if it comes to Lee Hwarin – I guess the situation is definitely serious.”
“Well, just looking at it-“
Ttogak.
Lee Hwa-rin stopped walking.
She looked up at the gate that brought together the high-ranking hunters of Korea.
It was too huge.
At first glance, you might think it’s a building.
“Oh, sh*t. If this had been an emission gate, it would have been a disaster, right?”
A hunter spoke as if he was tired, but his words had a joking tone to them.
When the gate just occurred, it was a gate to hell that spit out monsters among people –
It turned out later that there were actually several types of gates.
It was broadly classified into two types.
An ’emission-type’ gate that releases monsters and otherworldly beings and then disappears.
And, a ‘space-type’ gate that remains as a passage connecting to other worlds.
With the gate not open, the most common way to distinguish between the two was ‘size’.
The size of the gate was proportional to the mana of the object contained within the gate –
In general, ‘space’ contained more mana than ‘creatures’.
Just as buildings are bigger and heavier than living things.
Based on that.
The hunters decided that the huge gate standing in front of them was a ‘space-type’ gate.
Space-type gates were significantly safer than emission-type gates.
At least it didn’t cause any active damage, such as spitting out monsters.
“What if it’s a real emission gate?”
Of course.
In some cases, it was too large for an emission-type gate and was classified as a space-type gate, which later led to a disaster –
“Say something that makes sense.”
“Tsk, that’s right.”
This time the case was different.
No spatial gate reported so far was as large as the gate in front of them right now.
Even the gate that occurred in Beijing, the capital of China, once a powerful hunter nation, and devastated the entire country.
It was much smaller than that.
Is that gate an emission gate?
It would be more realistic to say that the Himalayan Mountains are the shell of some giant turtle.
Nine times out of ten.
No, ten out of ten.
There must be ruins or a dungeon on a scale comparable to that of a city.
So.
Strictly speaking, that gate was not a threat.
Then why did high-ranking hunters receive an emergency call and gather in front of the gate at this late hour, past noon?
“Ha, damn… If only it weren’t for those bastards…”
Not all awakened people obeyed the rules of the world.
Those who are awakened but do not belong to an association and act as individuals or unauthorized groups.
Outerwear.
A group of people called by the derogatory name Assa.
It was because of them that they gathered in this place.
Most of the outer workers were criminals who only worked for money.
And the spatial gates containing various treasures and relics were the biggest prey for Outers.
A spatial gate of this size?
Probably, even at this very moment, the outerwear is hiding around, looking at the gate and quenching their appetite.
If it weren’t for the hunters guarding the gate, they would have moved long ago.
This is the center of the city.
There is a perception-impairing spell on the gate, so civilians with low mana sensitivity will not see the gate and cause confusion.
The story changes when the outers targeting the gate cause a commotion.
In a word, the role of most of the hunters gathered here was as a scarecrow.
Lee Hwa-rin was dissatisfied with that.
The image of Lee Hwa-rin known to the public is that of a just and devoted hero with a benevolent smile – the ideal hunter herself.
But.
It was, after all, a public image she had polished to increase her value as a hunter.
And as you can see from that point, the real Lee Hwa-rin had a quite realistic personality.
“Ah, this is so annoying. When on earth are the Association guys coming?”
“So, ha-am. Ah, I’m tired after attacking the gate today.”
“…Hey, but Lee Hwa-rin doesn’t show any signs of displeasure during this time. Didn’t that person attack the B-class gate today?”
“Ugh… Don’t compare. Don’t compare. If we compare ourselves to that person, we’ll only suffer.”
Now, other hunters were saying such things about Lee Hwa-rin, but-
Tsk.
‘I am. This time. ‘I can’t believe I’m here just to act as a scarecrow.’
It was Hunter Lee Hwa-rin who was thinking such things while clicking her tongue quietly so that others could not hear.
‘Oh, it’s boring.’
Lee Hua-lin took out her cell phone and checked the time with a bored look on her face, and then she could barely resist wanting to play a game on her cell phone.
‘Now that I think about it, I haven’t done my homework yet today. ‘You’re in big trouble.’
Is it because it is a particularly frustrating situation?
She especially missed the feeling of frustration by mercilessly beating other people with overwhelming financial power in pay-to-play mobile games where competition between users is the main content.
‘The guys from the association are calling out people in such a hurry, when will they arrive?’
She was bored and cursed the association in her mind, but at the same time, she also understood their situation.
As a fellow hunter, she knew how complicated it was to handle a gate of this size.
This is true even when looking at the ‘gate exploration’, which is the first procedure to be completed when discovering a gate.
To explore a gate of this size, you would need at least several S-class hunters.
S-class hunters were untouchables – non-standard beings that even the association could not handle at will.
Perhaps by now, the president of the association has persistently tried to persuade the S-class hunters, but failed in the end, and is preparing to take action himself?
While thinking about this, Lee Hwa-rin was looking up at her gate.
‘Anyway, it’s really big.’
Lee Hwa-rin suddenly became curious.
What on earth is inside that ridiculously huge gate?
This was the reason why Lee Hwa-rin, who could not have responded to the summons if she wanted to, did not respond to the summons.
‘If you put your name on the gate exploration team list – hehehehe.’
Whatever.
It was obvious that inside that historically large gate, there would be a historically large-scale dungeon or gate.
Lee Hwa-rin was thinking of gaining the honor she would gain by exploring the gate.
“…Huh?”
It was a time when Lee Hwa-rin was looking at her gate and letting her imagination (or desire) unfold in her own way.
“What, what!?”
“Why is it like that!?”
The audience was in an uproar.
The gate began to shake unstably.
Similarly, an emission gate is trying to spit out a monster.
No way!?
No!?
The expressions of the hunters, who had been drenched in boredom, quickly turned into one of astonishment.
Lee Hwa-rin was no exception.
‘Should I run away!?’
Fame is good.
Hunter’s fame truly enriches life.
But if you die, everything is useless.
Lee Hwa-rin watched her surroundings and slowly took a step back.
That moment-
“Ugh!!!”
“f*ck, jump!!!”
The shaking of the gate became more severe.
It was a time when everyone realized the seriousness of the situation and was about to make a decision similar to Lee Hwa-rin.
It happened in an instant.
“Huh…?”
The gate has disappeared.
It was a typical pattern of a gate that had finished emitting.
But.
Where the large gate has disappeared, let alone a large monster similar to the dragon that devastated Beijing –
Nothing was visible.
“…What is it?”
Lee Hwa-rin and other hunters looked as if they were possessed by a ghost and looked at the place where the gate was located in confusion.
There was someone watching them hidden in the dark.
‘No, those humans, why are they looking at the gate as if they are familiar with it? Why do I feel mana again?”
No other than a being emitted by the Gate.
It was Ceylon.
‘Is this the world I lived in? ‘Where have all our friends gone?’
The owner of the gate was just as confused as the hunters.