Tearing the Gate Apart - Chapter 24

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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 24.
The Raiders Guild’s reputation was not a good one.
They’d abandon guest members and flee at the first sign of trouble.
Yet they’d never fallen from their position among the top four guilds.
Other guilds made similar choices, after all.
What earned the Raiders their notoriety wasn’t the decision itself—it was their attitude.
They abandoned teammates far too readily.
And whenever someone criticized them, they’d just shrug with an “So what?”
No wonder public opinion of them was in the gutter.
Ha Gyeong quickly assessed his surroundings.
‘I have to stop thinking they might come back. We survive on our own.’
Three tanks remained besides him.
Including Ha Gyeong and Ma Do Hyeok, that made five.
There was no way five of them could handle that overwhelming number of enemies.
Which meant finding an Escape Mechanic was their only option.
Ha Gyeong quickly moved to regroup with the tanks.
“We need to get out of here. The Raiders abandoned us.”
“Already? So soon?”
“They bolted the moment they saw how many monsters were down here. We’re on our own!”
“Damn it. Understood.”
The tanks fell into line behind him without hesitation.
From how quickly they moved, they’d all been expecting betrayal.
They’d just never thought it would come this fast.
Ha Gyeong predicted the movement patterns of the Spectral Monsters.
‘There are a lot of them, but we can push through. These Specters can’t see us properly anyway.’
As long as the Wails didn’t sound, the chances of being attacked were low.
Unlike those Raiders idiots who just pushed firepower and brute force.
Ha Gyeong was confident they could escape.
Of course, it wasn’t without its dangers.
Sometimes when their paths crossed, combat became unavoidable.
But every time that happened, Ha Gyeong’s overwhelming power shone through.
―Keee…….
Burst―!
Just as the Specter tried to cry out.
Ha Gyeong’s Abyss Resonance cleaved it vertically in two.
It happened in an instant.
Ma Do Hyeok’s eyes went wide, and he mimicked clapping.
“Wow! That was insanely fast. What exactly are you?”
“We’ve been together for over a week. Where’s this coming from?”
“It’s different every time I see it. Look at those guys—their jaws are on the floor.”
Ha Gyeong glanced back over his shoulder.
The bewildered tanks came into view.
Huddled in quiet conversation.
They didn’t even notice he was looking.
“How is he slicing an Incomprehensible Grade monster in one hit?”
“And he’s a close-range dealer, so shouldn’t he be weak to Spectral Monsters?”
“All that stuff on the community boards—about him being some Final Awakening prodigy, or an undead demon king—it was all true?”
Even top-tier Awakened Ones seemed amazed by Ha Gyeong’s performance.
Then again, hadn’t Yun Chang Ho himself—a Four Guilds Master—acknowledged it?
Ha Gyeong was stronger now than during the Fusion Abyss; such reactions were only natural.
Of course, Ha Gyeong quickly turned his gaze away.
‘This is embarrassing.’
Anyone would feel the same way.
They were questioning, sure, but in the end their words were nothing but praise.
Ha Gyeong focused on clearing the path ahead.
After pushing through and slaughtering Specters for a while longer, he finally saw the end.
A staircase leading up to the newly formed 2nd Floor appeared.
Ha Gyeong stopped midway up the stairs and peered upward.
‘Better to check carefully, just in case.’
There hadn’t been any traps so far, but caution never hurt.
Monsters could be lurking, ready to ambush.
Fortunately, no such disaster occurred.
As Ha Gyeong climbed onto the 2nd Floor, he let out a small sigh.
“Huh. What in…….”
“Why suddenly……. Huh!”
Ma Do Hyeok, who followed him up, let out a hollow laugh.
The sight on the 2nd Floor was truly startling.
A massive shape planted squarely in the center.
A Spectral Monster, perhaps a hundred times the size of a normal Specter.
This must be the dungeon’s boss.
Almost certainly a Shroud Race.
But on the far side, a group of people stood waiting.
Members of the Raiders Guild.
Ha Gyeong immediately raised his Whisperer.
“Front line survivors—five of us—have reached the 2nd Floor. Shall we continue the raid?”
―……Of course.
After a brief pause, Choi Hyun Ki’s voice came through.
Ma Do Hyeok immediately erupted.
“Quick to abandon us when things got bad, but now that the boss is here, suddenly you want to fight?”
Without a front line, the raid couldn’t even function.
In a moment, Choi Hyun Ki seemed to have made his decision.
Ha Gyeong turned to address the tanks.
“Will you continue fighting?”
“Honestly, I’d rather not. But we’ve come this far—we can’t just give up. Let’s go.”
“A wise choice.”
This wasn’t the time to let emotion rule.
The tanks had made a rational decision.
Now it was just a matter of regrouping.
And resuming the raid.
Ha Gyeong made a wide loop around the 2nd Floor’s perimeter.
But the Raiders were moving in the opposite direction.
He found it utterly bewildering.
“Wait—why are you going that way?”
―Monsters from the 1st Floor came up the stairs. We had to move. Change your direction.
“Understood.”
He’d have to backtrack, but there was nothing for it.
He couldn’t waste energy before the boss raid.
Ha Gyeong thought it better to take the long way around.
But right then.
[The Stratified Abyss generates new terrain]
They’d apparently taken too long.
Rumble! Rumble!
Boulders cascaded down.
And now a 3rd Floor had formed.
The Shroud Race vanished without a trace.
And just like on the 1st Floor, countless Spectral Monsters poured in.
They were back to square one.
Ma Do Hyeok, boiling with rage, gripped his Whisperer irritably.
But he couldn’t curse them out.
Ha Gyeong stopped him with a gesture.
“Save the criticism for later. Finding the way up is the priority.”
“Ugh! I’m becoming a saint at this rate.”
“Just think of it as rational decision-making. That’ll be easier.”
“Right, right. I’m no amateur, so I can’t just act on instinct.”
His words said one thing, but Ma Do Hyeok ground his teeth.
He looked ready to grab Choi Hyun Ki by the collar.
Either way, they’d need to climb one more floor to reach the boss.
But Ha Gyeong’s senses picked up on the Specters moving differently.
‘What? They’ve gotten stronger.’
On the surface, there wasn’t much visible difference.
But each individual monster had accumulated more Abyss energy.
It seemed the monsters grew stronger with each new floor that formed.
Ha Gyeong predicted the Specters’ movement patterns.
As they wandered the 2nd Floor for a while longer, hidden stairs appeared.
When they ascended to the 3rd Floor, an unexpected scene greeted them.
Ma Do Hyeok gasped.
“Insane……. It’s grown even bigger than before?”
The Shroud Race had swelled to about 1.5 times its previous size.
It had likely grown stronger as the dungeon description implied it would.
Ha Gyeong pointed toward the Raiders Guild, tucked in the far corner.
“And the distance is still too great.”
If they tried to regroup by circling the perimeter, they’d get the same result.
He immediately grabbed his Whisperer.
“Better to both head straight for the center and start the boss raid.”
―Agreed. Let’s establish aggro first.
“Roger.”
Soon the tanks moved forward.
Sensing their approach, the Shroud Race turned its massive form.
―Kyaaaaack!
A haunting shriek, followed by a cascade of dark projectiles.
The tanks raised their shields to block.
But something unexpected happened.
Sizzle-sizzle-sizzle! Crunch!
The equipment corroded in an instant, then crumbled to dust.
[Curse of Decay corrodes the equipment]
Standard-grade gear turned to scrap metal.
Only Artifacts managed to hold on, barely.
But the Curse of Decay also affected the human body.
Though Awakened Ones didn’t age to death on the spot, they lost massive amounts of mana.
The lead tank cried out urgently.
“We can’t hold much longer!”
The front line was on the verge of being overwhelmed.
Right then.
Ha Gyeong stepped forward.
[Abyss Challenger’s ‘Distortion’ authority inverts the space]
Twisting sound―!
The rain of Curses of Decay vanished in an instant.
Suddenly a purple disk materialized.
From it, countless dark projectiles came pouring forth.
Straight back at the Shroud Race’s back.
Burst-burst-burst-burst-burst!
―Kiiiiit!
The boss recoiled from its own projectiles.
The tanks turned, confused.
They instinctively understood Ha Gyeong had provided support.
“Establish aggro now!”
At his shout, the tanks snapped to attention.
Various Taunt skills slammed into every part of the Shroud Race’s body.
The aggro was properly established.
Now it was time for the ranged dealers to shine.
Since it was a Spectral type, they didn’t need to break its outer form.
But no damage support came.
Ha Gyeong spun to look back.
“Why aren’t they—wait. They can’t.”
The Raiders Guild was still trapped by the Curse of Decay.
And he couldn’t use his Distortion on them.
The distance was too great, and he’d just used the ability.
He’d thought a Four Guilds group could overcome it on their own.
True to form, the Raiders escaped the trap by backing off quickly.
Just as the boss raid was normalizing.
Another upheaval struck.
[The Shroud Race, having absorbed vast Abyss energy, grows even stronger]
[The Abyss Dungeon’s grade rises]
[Grade: Extreme]
[Spirit’s Wail weakens mental fortitude]
[Skill activation time increased by 40%]
[Skill failure chance: 20%]
The dungeon grade had risen to Extreme.
The debuff severity had become insane.
The density of Abyss energy radiating from the Shroud Race thickened.
―Kiiiiiyaaack!
“Ugh!”
A single roar sent the tanks stumbling backward.
Ha Gyeong couldn’t hide his shock either.
‘The teamwork was already falling apart, and now this…….’
From the start, Choi Hyun Ki had assembled the raid for an Incomprehensible Grade difficulty.
If he’d known it was Extreme, he would have allied with other Four Guilds.
He would never have attempted it alone.
So what would the Raiders decide?
[Escape Mechanic activated on 3rd Floor of the Stratified Abyss]
Upon seeing the system message, Ma Do Hyeok let out a string of curses.
“You bastards! The moment it gets a little harder, you abandon your teammates? You could still win if you worked together!”
Ha Gyeong felt the same.
But at the same time, another thought crossed his mind.
“Didn’t we expect this? These are the guys who wanted to abandon ship at even smaller crises.”
“Huh, true. But what now? Aggro’s already established, and we’ve lost support and healing.”
As things stood, annihilation was all that awaited them.
But the Raiders couldn’t easily reach the escape route either.
The Shroud Race would catch them before they’d gone far.
There was only one path forward.
Finishing the boss raid.
Ha Gyeong stepped to the front and shouted.
“Stop using Taunt. I’m taking the Main Tank position from here.”
Ripping Apart the Gate
Author |
Morae-top
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Editorial Director |
Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books
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7th Floor, Kwangsung Building, 28 Bongeunsaro114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260306112
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blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter (X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books.

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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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