Chapter 22
Instructor Choi Mi-hee (3)
“Strange. Why aren’t they coming out?”
The employee in charge of the Cheorwon Rift, who had been stuck with weekend duty because of seniority, put down the phone he had been using to play a mobile game and looked toward the Rift.
The scheduled training period had already passed, and there had been no real-time situation report either.
Had something gone wrong?
‘Well... it’s probably fine.’
The inside and outside of a Rift existed in separate dimensions, making communication impossible.
By the book, he was obligated to enter personally and check the situation.
But after being saddled with an unwanted weekend shift, the employee had no desire to go looking for extra work.
‘How many years has it been since the last field-training accident?’
Scratching his head, the employee flopped back into his seat.
Then came a knock at the control room door.
Knock, knock.
Thinking they had finally returned, the employee opened the door and found a fierce-looking man standing outside.
“Let’s conduct an on-site verification.”
“Excuse me?”
“Haven’t we already gone well past the scheduled time? By procedure, even a one-second delay should mean contacting your superiors immediately and dispatching a rescue team.... Looks like getting stuck with weekend duty because of seniority made you a little lax.”
The employee swallowed without realizing it.
“I’ll go in with the four Hunters here and conduct the field check. I’ll take that as agreed. You contact your superiors right now and request a rescue team.”
“No, I mean, what kind of rescue team would we need for the Cheorwon Rift...?”
“If you say you called because they exceeded the scheduled time, nobody’s going to blame you even if nothing happened. Problems don’t arise because you did what you were supposed to do. They arise because you failed to do what you were supposed to do. That’s what happened at the Paju Rift in the past too. So do as I tell you. And shut up.”
The man pulled back his coat and revealed the Dawn emblem attached over his chest.
The employee stopped arguing.
He picked up his phone and began doing exactly as instructed.
That was how much weight the name Dawn carried in this industry.
After leaving the control room, the man—Kim Dong-seok—looked at the nearby security detail, four Hunters in total.
“I know none of you are happy about being called in on the weekend. Even so, I’d appreciate it if you could help me out this once, if only for my sake. I’m grateful to all of you.”
“Not at all, Manager.”
“If you call us, we’ll even come help make kimchi during the holidays. Isn’t this why we became Hunters in the first place? Don’t make us uncomfortable by bowing your head. Come on, let’s go.”
Kim Dong-seok smiled in satisfaction.
And the instant they entered the Cheorwon Rift, Kim Dong-seok and the four Hunters with him could immediately tell that something was wrong.
A pitch-black sky.
Pitch-black earth.
An oppressive pressure that seemed to constrict their breathing.
Kim Dong-seok clenched his teeth.
“...This is going to be rough.”
While Kim Dong-seok entered the Cheorwon Rift with Dawn’s Hunters, word quickly spread that the employee responsible for the Rift had requested a rescue team because the field exercise had exceeded its time limit.
That was because many of the trainees at the Hunter Academy were children from wealthy and influential families.
They were the kind of people who had ears everywhere.
And although they had been assured it was safe, the parents had still been anxious about their children going on field training for the first time.
No matter how powerful or accomplished someone was, worrying about their own child was unavoidable.
And then, sure enough, an incident happened.
“Now! Go save my son right now!”
“Hunter Park Nam-il, I have a favor to ask.... What? You’re in Beijing right now? Even so, could you help me just this once? I’m begging you....”
“Aaaaaah! Are you insane?! What are you going to do?! You said there wouldn’t be any problems! What do you mean you’re sorry?! What good does ‘sorry’ do?!”
It had been twenty years since Rifts first appeared.
As systematic procedures were established, everyone had gradually grown complacent.
Now, the nightmare of the past—something everyone except a handful of field personnel had forgotten—began resurfacing like old trauma.
Most of the trainees’ parents remembered the tragedy of January 1, 2000.
Time had dulled that memory, turning the crisis into something that felt as though it belonged to another world.
But when that same danger came for their own children, they completely lost their composure.
“Hey, Mr. Choi! Your daughter didn’t come today?”
“Ah, our Bom went on field training. They said she’d enter a Rift once, just like real Hunters do. That’s why she’ll be back next week. Haha.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Nah, they say it’s all safe these days.”
Meanwhile, Choi Bom’s father, Choi Seung-baek, who had raised her alone and was far removed from those socially powerful parents, had no idea what was happening.
“Still, you must be worried.”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.... But I have to trust her. Feels like just yesterday that whenever she had surgery as a child, I prayed for nothing more than for her to grow up healthy. And now she’s grown into such a fine young woman, someone I can be proud of despite having a useless father like me. Haha.”
With his hands clasped behind his back, Choi Seung-baek’s phone wallpaper showed Choi Bom smiling innocently.
After losing his wife long ago, she was the only family he had left.
A treasure he would not trade for anything in the world.
“I’m not that worried, though. Someone more dependable than me is watching over Bom. I trust him.”
“Oh? She’s already found herself a partner?”
“Haha, I don’t know about that....”
Choi Seung-baek smiled broadly.
“Our Bom is a child watched over by God.”
***
By ignoring every traffic signal and speeding all the way there, Lee Shin managed to reach the Cheorwon Rift in less than an hour.
As always, the driver did not ask why he had come there or what his destination was.
He had merely been following prior instructions, but even without them, the driver believed he never would have dared speak to Lee Shin after seeing that look in his eyes.
“Are there any prerequisites for entering a Rift?”
“Nothing like that. Normally, you submit an application in advance, receive authorization, and enter through the control station. But I know that isn’t the kind of prerequisite you’re asking about, God.”
“Any Awakened can enter.”
After receiving Seong Chan-yang’s confirmation, Lee Shin moved without hesitation.
At the shimmering entrance to the Rift stood the employee responsible for the Cheorwon Rift.
The moment he saw Seong Chan-yang, his eyes widened in shock.
“H-Hunter Seong Chan-yang...? What brings you here?”
“I heard there was a problem here, so I came. There obviously won’t be any issue with me going in, right? You know who I am.”
Seong Chan-yang spoke in a completely different tone from the one she used with Lee Shin.
She was one of the Republic of Korea’s representative Hunters, standing at the very top even among the country’s elite Hunters.
The employee immediately stepped aside.
With every obstacle removed, Lee Shin entered the Rift.
His vision warped for an instant.
The first thing he saw was an endless stretch of pitch-black earth beneath a pitch-black sky.
The moment he entered, a thunderous pounding came from the distance as a gigantic rhinoceros charged toward them.
Its bulk was closer to an elephant’s than a rhino’s.
“That’s a Gray Rhino. It’s one of the [Legion] soldiers that appears in fourth-cycle Rifts.... One moment.”
Seong Chan-yang kicked off the ground.
Snap.
With a single flick of her fingers, pure-white armor covered her body, and a massive mace appeared in her hand.
At the same time, light enveloped her.
「Low-Rank Believer [Seong Chan-yang] has cast [Holy Armament].」
「Low-Rank Believer [Seong Chan-yang] casts [Holy Strike].」
Seong Chan-yang soared into the air and brought her mace crashing down.
CRAAACK!
Light exploded, and the Gray Rhino’s body shattered apart.
“Haa....”
Seong Chan-yang exhaled.
Then came the clear chime of a notification.
「A demon’s minion has been slain.」
「Despair has been purified.」
「Divine Power increases by 1.」
「Interference permanently increases by 1.」
‘Hug me!’
The energy flowing from the shattered monster was absorbed into Lee Shin’s body.
As a faint sense of fulfillment spread through him, Seong Chan-yang spoke.
“This is strange. They should have exterminated all the monsters the day before the field training, and probably again this morning. Running into one right at the entrance.... The Cheorwon Rift isn’t some newly formed, unstable Rift either. It’s one of the most stable Rifts in the Republic of Korea....”
“Let’s go. We don’t have time.”
Seong Chan-yang’s combat ability had now been confirmed.
More rhinos came pouring toward them.
And now the monsters were no longer appearing one at a time.
They came in groups.
“...This is almost at the level of a Rift going berserk.”
“Is it hard to break through?”
“I can hold them off, but clearing a path all at once is difficult for me. I’m not the type who just smashes straight through everything. I take monster attacks, draw aggro, and protect my allies.... I’m what people call a ‘tank type.’”
Choi Bom’s prayers were still reaching him.
His usually strong and cheerful friend was crying.
Lee Shin did not want to waste another second.
‘My God, don’t worry! You have Jude!’
At that moment, Jude’s prayer reached him.
Perhaps sensing Lee Shin’s concern, Jude requested a [Summon].
But if Lee Shin summoned Jude all the way from the outskirts of the Rift, he might not have enough Interference.
He hesitated briefly.
Then Seong Chan-yang spoke.
“God, don’t worry.”
BOOM!
She stomped the ground.
「Low-Rank Believer Seong Chan-yang uses [Sanctuary Declaration].」
「Holy energy rises beneath your feet!」
「TIP: A [Sanctuary] declared by your believer is treated as part of your world.」
「TIP: Nothing is required to move believers between worlds.」
「TIP: Show those wicked creatures your greatness!」
「TIP: (>0<)」
WHOOOOSH!
A pillar of light descended.
And soon, a resident of the bleakest and loneliest world was transferred into reality.
Landing in a comically awkward pose, the skeleton Jude clacked his teeth together and snapped his fingers.
「All lifeforms that die within [Land of Death], cast by Low-Rank Believer Jude, are automatically incorporated into Jude’s Legion.」
RUMBLE—
The flesh and muscles of the Gray Rhinos Seong Chan-yang had killed, each more than three meters tall, began melting away.
The next instant, rhinos made entirely of white bone charged in from the distance like cannonballs.
BAM!
They smashed headlong into the approaching monsters.
Two Gray Rhinos died in a single charge.
Jude clacked his teeth and snapped his fingers again.
This time, instead of rising as new undead, the rhino corpses began bubbling violently.
Then—
BOOOOM!
They exploded with a deafening roar.
「Low-Rank Believer Jude casts [Corpse Explosion].」
Two corpses killed seven more monsters.
The blocked road was cleared.
And instead of returning to the earth, the nine dead Gray Rhinos began rattling back to their feet.
They lowered their heads before their new master.
“...Wow.”
Even among America’s Hunters, reputed to gather only the absolute best of the best, Seong Chan-yang had never seen anything like this.
She swallowed as she stared at the tiny skeleton who had wiped out an entire horde of monsters in an instant.
Jude tilted his head.
“New friend?”
“Yes.”
“New friend!”
“...?”
“Hug me!”
Jude threw himself against Seong Chan-yang and clung to her.
She blinked, her expression plainly asking, What is happening?
But Seong Chan-yang did not know.
‘God! God! Eve is readyyyy!’
‘The dwarf legion is fully prepared!’
‘Gray Rhinos? Hah! Mere fourth-cycle monsters dare disturb God’s peace of mind? Back when this old man was still active, those oversized hunks of meat wouldn’t even have dared raise their heads....’
This had not even begun yet.
「A demon can be sensed nearby.」
「Your soul shines brilliantly.」
「“You are the natural enemy of demons.”」
Truly.
「The activation conditions for the skill [True Justice] have been fulfilled.」