Tearing the Gate Apart - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 22.
The buzz around the Ranking Tournament flared for a brief moment.
Then it died down just as quickly.
It wasn’t opening anytime soon, after all.
Right now, it was still just an idea in its infancy.
For a proper tournament to be held, they’d need at least until next year.
Apart from the Ranking Tournament, Ha Gyeong returned to his ordinary routine.
‘Whatever anyone else says, this matters more to me.’
He visited the Abyss every single day.
Not that he was deliberately hunting for Dungeons.
He was simply adapting to that hellish environment.
Eventually, it would come to feel like home.
After all, hadn’t the Deep Abyss been the same way?
But today, something unusual happened right at the entrance of the Abyss.
“Excuse me? Who’s there?”
Someone called out to Ha Gyeong unexpectedly.
At first, he couldn’t make out their face.
The thick fog was to blame.
As he drew closer, Ha Gyeong finally recognized them.
“Ma Do Hyuk?”
“Oh! Glad to see you. It’s been a while.”
The person he’d run into was none other than Ma Do Hyuk.
In truth, Ha Gyeong had somewhat anticipated this situation.
Only a handful of people knew of the Abyss’s existence.
He’d figured they’d cross paths eventually.
Though he hadn’t expected it to be today.
Ma Do Hyuk extended his hand warmly.
The two exchanged a light handshake.
Ha Gyeong then posed a question.
“You don’t seem to be here to conquer a Dungeon. Are you exploring?”
“Yes, that’s right. I actually planned to come with a friend, but that fell through because of someone.”
“Surely you don’t mean me?”
“Who else? You cranked up the Tower of Judgment’s difficulty sky-high.”
Ha Gyeong tilted his head in confusion.
He didn’t understand what Ma Do Hyuk was getting at.
But then, a particular monster flashed through his mind.
The Tower of Judgment’s final boss—the Mirror Shade.
That creature had a gimmick where it transformed into whoever had defeated it.
So Ha Gyeong had fought Ma Do Hyuk’s Mirror Shade form, hadn’t he?
‘Then that means…?’
Probably now it took his form instead.
At Ha Gyeong’s bewildered look, Ma Do Hyuk laughed brightly.
“Of course, I’m not blaming you. Getting access to the Abyss is supposed to be difficult—there has to be some challenge to it.”
“But you just said your friend couldn’t pass, which is why it fell through.”
“That’s a bit frustrating, but what can you do? The guy’s just weak.”
“Still, I feel bad about it.”
“Don’t. Really, it’s fine. Besides, he won’t fail forever. The Mirror Shade can’t perfectly copy you, after all. There’s always some opening.”
Well, that was a relief.
Ha Gyeong preferred having more Awakeners in the Abyss anyway.
He couldn’t clear a Dungeon with a capacity limit of tens of people by himself.
In that sense, Ma Do Hyuk was a rather welcome prospect.
“Since we’ve run into each other, shall we explore the Abyss together?”
“Sounds good. Let’s do it.”
Ha Gyeong nodded readily.
The Abyss was uncharted territory where few Awakeners had set foot.
It would be far better going with company than alone.
The two carefully made their way forward.
The Abyss was a place teeming with bizarre phenomena and vicious monsters.
As they ventured deeper, all manner of dangers descended upon them.
First came a swarm of monsters.
“Grrrrrrowl!”
“Shrieeeek!”
In the upper layers, they were called Reapers.
But these seemed twisted somehow.
Their canine-like heads split into four branches like a fortune teller’s cards.
The densely packed teeth within their skulls added to the grotesqueness.
Ha Gyeong decided to call them Split Reapers.
‘Regardless of their name, dealing with them is the priority… but this won’t be easy.’
There were roughly a hundred Split Reapers.
Moreover, each individual had formidable combat power, making them hard to fell quickly.
Approaching them the way you would ordinary upper-layer Reapers would result in disaster.
So Ha Gyeong and Ma Do Hyuk had no choice but to wage a war of attrition.
With their backs against a large stone wall.
But the Split Reapers were relentless.
Seeing no end in sight, Ha Gyeong spoke first.
“This won’t work. I’m going to unleash something big. Can you cover me?”
“Absolutely! Without question!”
At Ma Do Hyuk’s reassuring reply, Ha Gyeong immediately took his stance.
‘Kin Predation isn’t the right call here.’
There was no single enemy strong enough to justify using it.
And he had no intention of simply deploying Sword of the Soul either.
[The Abyss Challenger’s Compression Authority increases the density of Abyss Energy]
Thwip—!
The Abyss Solidification embedded in his Kalambit shifted.
What had extended three meters suddenly compressed to half that length.
Because of this, Ha Gyeong could wield his weapon more freely.
A blade that long would be cumbersome to swing, after all.
But then, a fresh idea struck him.
‘What if I only extend it at the moment of impact?’
If he could handle Abyss Energy more precisely with Compression…
He might be able to deploy far more varied swordplay.
Ha Gyeong immediately put the insight into practice.
“Hah!”
He held his breath and drew the Sword of the Soul across horizontally.
As the slash began to accelerate.
Ha Gyeong extended the Abyss Solidification to its maximum.
While maintaining his Compression Authority.
The long blade then swept through the mass of Split Reapers.
Though the blade was narrow, its power hadn’t diminished one bit.
Screeeech—!
Thanks to this, Ha Gyeong could cleave a vast area at once.
By radius, it seemed to cover roughly ten meters.
The Split Reapers caught by his Compressed Sword of the Soul were all split in half.
The battlefield fell silent in an instant.
“…….”
No more snarling from the Split Reapers.
Ma Do Hyuk stood with his mouth agape, utterly stunned.
Then a dazed voice reached Ha Gyeong’s ears.
“Wasn’t the last time we met a month ago?”
“About that, I’d say.”
“Did you inject yourself with steroids or something? No, even then, you shouldn’t get that strong. Awakeners can’t be affected by drugs anyway.”
Ma Do Hyuk seemed thoroughly astounded by Ha Gyeong’s growth.
He laughed nervously, but didn’t abandon his duty.
He surged forward, drawing the Split Reapers’ attention properly.
This gave Ha Gyeong a moment to catch his breath.
‘Less backlash than Kin Predation, but Compression still takes careful control.’
Of course, that wasn’t about to stop him from using it.
Why would he leave such a powerful skill unused?
He’d have to adapt to it, difficult or not.
Ha Gyeong followed behind Ma Do Hyuk and provided support.
The Split Reapers then scattered in every direction.
With their numbers dwindling, they’d lost their cohesion.
The two climbed onto a large pile of rocks and rested for a moment.
But Ma Do Hyuk clearly had much to say.
“You came to the Abyss several months after me, yet you’re so adept at it. And what was that incredible technique?”
The last time Ma Do Hyuk had seen Ha Gyeong was when he was fighting a Fusion Tyrant.
Since then, he’d acquired the Tyrant’s Bracelet and the Restoration Veil.
And Compression Authority.
Of course, he’d also obtained a Fragment of the Ultimate Abyss Key.
Ha Gyeong felt a strange sense of recognition.
‘I’ve changed more than I realized.’
Compression, in particular, had become one of his one-two punches.
It lacked the raw power of Kin Predation, but he could use it in any situation.
Ha Gyeong smiled faintly and spoke.
“I explored the Abyss with Dae Hyun Ja and cleared a few Dungeons. Even defeated a Field Boss.”
“Wow! That’s impressive. But honestly, I kind of expected this from you.”
“Really? How could you have predicted that?”
“Ha ha! It’s not wishful thinking. I just saw the makings of something special. The moment I first laid eyes on you, I thought, ‘Now there’s a real deal.'”
Ma Do Hyuk was quite a direct person.
Though his ruthless epithet—Beast of the Deep Abyss—had another origin.
It came from dealing with garbage.
Ha Gyeong’s expression turned embarrassed.
“You’re too kind.”
“Come on! You were plastered all over the news, and you’re acting like this?”
“It was just a small internet article.”
“The Association cited it, you know?”
“What do you mean?”
Hearing this account, Ha Gyeong couldn’t help but laugh.
The situation was simple.
Ha Gyeong’s name had been mentioned at a press conference for the Ranking Tournament.
The Association had simply quoted an article from the National Journal.
Ultimately, it was the ripple effect of a small article lobbed by reporter Mun Jeong Hoon.
Ha Gyeong fell into thought.
‘I’m going to participate anyway, so it doesn’t really bother me, but I can’t just let it slide.’
Would such an article have been written if he’d belonged to one of the Four Great Guilds?
Never in a million years.
Awakener Guilds were a type of private military contractor.
A double-edged sword that exploded if mishandled.
The facts bore this out.
Hundreds of superhuman individuals gathered in one place.
Who would dare speak carelessly?
But for someone unaffiliated like Ha Gyeong, recklessness was equally forbidden.
‘When you think about it, the guy had some guts. An Awakener can tear a person apart with bare hands.’
Still, some corrective education seemed necessary.
To ensure false articles became a dream he’d never dare pursue.
While lost in thought, Ma Do Hyuk suddenly spoke.
“In the end, it all comes down to reporter Mun Jeong Hoon.”
“He did write false articles, after all.”
“A hack like that really needs to be taught a proper lesson…”
Watching Ma Do Hyuk bristle with anger,
Ha Gyeong suddenly thought of someone.
An idea struck him.
‘If I play this right, I might be able to do it without lifting a finger.’
He wore a meaningful smile.
* * *
Reporter Mun Jeong Hoon was in exceptionally high spirits these days.
He’d sweet-talked an innocent Awakener into giving him material for an article, and the attention had been phenomenal.
Not a shred of guilt.
This was how Mun Jeong Hoon saw it.
“They all act proper on the surface, but underneath they’re all the same. They’re just trying to raise their market value anyway—might as well put on a show. They should be thanking me, really.”
His article had indeed been rehashed in multiple places.
Even cited at the Association’s Ranking Tournament press conference.
Online communities spawned all sorts of gossip.
Rumors were already circulating that Ha Gyeong’s contract was worth hundreds of billions.
In such circumstances, Mun Jeong Hoon had become shamelessly arrogant.
But he was about to receive an unexpected visit.
Zip—!
“What—why are you doing this?!”
Men appeared without warning and restrained him.
Shortly after, Mun Jeong Hoon was bundled into a black van.
A man vanished in an instant—a kidnapping.
Mun Jeong Hoon screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Stop this! I’m a reporter for the National Journal!”
“…….”
“Who the hell are you people?!”
But Mun Jeong Hoon’s struggling didn’t last long.
The silent men—
One of them finally spoke quietly.
With a pale smile.
“We’re the Raiders. Anything else you want to know?”
“…….”
This time, Mun Jeong Hoon shut his mouth.
Mad dogs nobody could reason with had found him.
gate-Ripping
author |
Morae Tob
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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