Tearing the Gate Apart - Chapter 39

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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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Episode 39.
Ha Gyeong returned home and attended the Training Grounds mechanically.
Practicing skills and Swordsmanship.
And occasionally sparring with John—that was his routine.
But today, something unusual happened.
John had discovered something new, apparently.
He approached with a cheerful grin.
“Hey, Bro.”
“If you’ve forgotten English, just speak Korean.”
“If I speak too fluently, the gap bothers me. I have to do this foreigner cosplay sometimes.”
“Of course. That’s how it should be. I gave up trying to convince you long ago. So why did you call me?”
“Look at this. The Ranking Tournament announcement just dropped.”
The laptop screen John showed him displayed an announcement from the Association.
They were hosting Ranking Tournaments in various divisions.
It was asking many people to participate.
Ha Gyeong hadn’t cared about rankings at all, truthfully.
But the Fragment of Ultimate Abyss listed in the special prize—
That was the problem.
Ha Gyeong clicked his tongue softly.
“I can’t exactly avoid entering.”
“Right? I’m only competing in the Tank Player vs Player Tournament.”
“What about the Special Tournament?”
“I want to focus on just one. What about you?”
“I’ll only participate in the Special Tournament.”
The Special Tournament was essentially a strength-testing competition.
A contest to measure how powerful each Awakener’s Mana was.
It was simple—just strike the target with all your might.
Ha Gyeong shrugged.
‘I do that anyway, so it shouldn’t be difficult.’
John tilted his head in confusion.
He didn’t seem to understand Ha Gyeong’s choice.
John pointed at the tournament prizes and spoke.
“First place gets an Artifact of Incomprehensible Grade. Second gets Unknown Grade. You’re skipping this?”
“Nothing there really suited me.”
“Then why are you entering the Special Tournament?”
“I just like this black gemstone.”
Ha Gyeong pointed at the Fragment of Ultimate Abyss.
Probably no one knew what it actually was.
It couldn’t really be used.
Just a high-grade Artifact.
It seemed they had no intention of breaking it open, treating it as a precious item.
So it had ended up being offered as a novelty prize.
John pressed his palm to his forehead at Ha Gyeong’s answer.
“You complained that people don’t listen to you, but Bro, you’re worse. What are you going to do with that thing?”
“Just a keepsake.”
While John shook his head in disbelief,
Ha Gyeong quickly finished registering for the tournament.
‘I’m not a professional fighter. What good is being skilled at Player vs Player?’
In The Abyss, he’d be fighting massive monsters anyway.
A high ranking didn’t make you better at raids or dungeon clears.
Ha Gyeong focused only on recovery and training.
But a few days later,
He received an unexpected visit.
“Good day. You are Ha Gyeong, correct?”
A middle-aged man in formal attire had come calling.
A face he felt he’d seen before.
And with him, four young staff members.
An unusual atmosphere hung in the air.
Ha Gyeong decided to ask first.
“Who are you?”
“Ah, yes. I’m Jang Myeong-chul. Thanks to many people’s support, I’ve been fortunate enough to serve as Vice-Chairman of the Awakener Association.”
For such a humble introduction, he was quite prominent.
The Last Savior.
Jang Myeong-chul was a fairly famous 1.5-generation Awakener.
Ha Gyeong couldn’t help but feel somewhat taken aback.
‘I thought his face seemed familiar, but he’s quite an important person. Still, why is the Vice-Chairman at our house?’
As if reading his uncertain gaze,
Jang Myeong-chul smiled brightly.
“I came to speak with you about several matters.”
“Please come in, then.”
“Thank you.”
Ha Gyeong led the Association people to the main building of the Mansion
And brought out some simple beverages.
After an awkward moment passed,
He asked directly.
“What brings you here?”
“You know the Ranking Tournament is being held, correct?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I noticed you registered only for the Special Tournament.”
“Yes, is that a problem?”
“No, not at all. But might I ask why you’re not participating in the Player vs Player Tournament?”
“I don’t have much interest in rankings.”
“I see.”
A look of disappointment crossed Jang Myeong-chul’s face.
There seemed to be some deeper context.
Ha Gyeong didn’t press further, simply waiting.
Eventually, the thirsty man digs the well.
Soon, Jang Myeong-chul spoke heavily.
“The reason we’ve come is to ask if you would participate in the Ranking Tournament.”
“Me? Why?”
“That is to say… there have been requests from several quarters.”
Ha Gyeong remained puzzled.
Who would want him to compete in a Ranking Tournament?
Then he suddenly recalled the couple he’d met days ago.
Ha Gyeong asked with a suspicious expression.
“Is it for ratings?”
“That’s the biggest reason. Your AI clear videos have been popular recently.”
“It sounds like there’s another reason as well.”
“Several Guilds have submitted requests. They say they’ll only send their strong fighters if you participate.”
This was strange, he thought.
Whether Ha Gyeong competed or not—
What did it matter to the Guild Masters?
As he stared with suspicion,
Vice-Chairman Jang Myeong-chul didn’t seem inclined to explain.
Right then,
Ha Gyeong understood.
‘This must be Choi Hyun-gi’s doing.’
Why else would he be forcing Ha Gyeong into the stadium?
To repay the humiliation from last time.
Through normal means, it wouldn’t be easy for Choi Hyun-gi to duel Ha Gyeong.
He’d need some pretext, some justification.
The Ranking Tournament was an excellent stage for Choi Hyun-gi.
But when Ha Gyeong didn’t register, he must have been quite flustered.
‘If he’s pressuring the Vice-Chairman like this, he must really want to make it even.’
Now the whole situation made sense.
Since this was the Association’s first Ranking Tournament,
They’d naturally want to make it a success.
But strong Awakeners had long since figured it out.
The futility of rankings.
Hadn’t Ha Gyeong himself not planned to participate?
As if reading his subtle expression,
Vice-Chairman Jang Myeong-chul hastened to continue.
“Of course, we’re not asking you to enter with nothing.”
“Are there favorable conditions for me?”
“Invited Participants will advance directly to the main tournament without preliminaries. Additionally, if you win the championship, you’ll have the right to choose one of the Artifacts the Association possesses.”
“That sounds rather weak.”
Ha Gyeong’s response was lukewarm.
The first was obvious—strong competitors advance naturally.
The second was essentially an empty promise.
Unless he won, it meant nothing.
Vice-Chairman Jang Myeong-chul smiled meaningfully.
“Additionally, all Invited Participants will receive a Dungeon Key that can open Unknown Grade dungeons.”
Clink!
A golden key appeared before Ha Gyeong’s eyes.
That changed everything.
Dungeon Keys were extremely rare.
Ha Gyeong’s lips curled upward.
‘Even I only find one or two of these a year. Now that’s tempting.’
It was certainly an attractive offer.
Soon after, he nodded readily.
“If you’re putting in that much effort, I can’t refuse.”
“Thank you. Then I’ll see you at the tournament.”
“Yes, of course.”
“I’ll leave this as a token of trust.”
Vice-Chairman Jang Myeong-chul set the Dungeon Key on the table.
Then he bowed respectfully and withdrew.
Ha Gyeong saw off Jang Myeong-chul and his party,
Returned to the living room, and sat back down on the sofa.
As he sat lost in thought,
John suddenly approached and spoke.
“Oh! Ffff*ck. Bad King Bro.”
“Pardon?”
“Just how much influence have you gained?”
“Me? What do you mean?”
“Those rude Association bastards came directly and bowed and scraped.”
“The Association people haven’t been that unreasonable before.”
“They gave me a dog’s bowl and left, back then? I thought they’d eaten my age for breakfast.”
John vented about his difficult time in Korea.
Of course, it must have been rough at first.
America had Gates everywhere too.
How many Awakeners would go all the way to Korea to work?
The Association probably wasn’t prepared.
There must have been many clashes.
Ha Gyeong shrugged and spoke.
“Eighteen years ago, maybe it was because your English was too fluent?”
“My wife says it’s even harder to understand now. Forgotten English, Korean too poor.”
“Wait. You’re married?”
“Yeah. To a Korean woman.”
“But then why are you here doing this?”
“Uh… that’s hard to explain. Just become a married man yourself someday, Bro.”
“Ah! Marriage must be difficult for you.”
“No. I’m happy. I’m happy, but… I just love training, that’s all.”
Suddenly John’s shoulders sagged,
And he wore the expression of a man carrying all the world’s cares.
Ha Gyeong wondered why he’d become like that
Just from talking about marriage.
Soon John pulled out his phone and spoke.
“You wondering why I’m suddenly like this?”
“I didn’t even ask…”
“It’s written all over your face, Bro.”
“So why are you like that?”
“Got a message from the wife. Says nothing matters but The Abyss, come home.”
John gathered his things with a gloomy expression.
Even when Ha Gyeong had told him to leave,
One message from his wife made him obedient.
Ha Gyeong nodded with a look of understanding.
‘I need to get the wife’s number. That’s some kind of miracle cure.’
* * *
The Ranking Tournament was held as scheduled.
Looking at the list of competitors, notable names stood out.
There was Kim Tae-gwang, the Iron Wall Executioner, for instance.
Professional fighters entered in force.
It was only natural.
For Player vs Player champions, this was basically an easy feast.
The preliminaries began, but public interest waned.
Ha Gyeong could see why the Association had taken such a humble approach.
‘Amateurs fighting mindlessly is entertaining, but only for a round or two. If all matches are low-level, who’s going to watch?’
That’s why they’d prepared the Special Tournament.
A competition where striking a metal pillar earned points.
It wasn’t just punching with bare fists, though.
Your weapons, Mana, skills—
Everything went into quantifying the power of a single blow.
Screech—Boom!
One competitor struck the metal pillar with a large greatsword.
The number soared madly upward.
Soon the announcer shouted,
―Competitor Choi Su-ho! You’ve set a new record with 17,800 points!
The spectators’ roar shook the Stadium.
Sure enough, the Special Tournament drew far more interest than the preliminaries.
As Ha Gyeong waited quietly for his turn,
John suddenly poked his arm.
“Hey, Bro.”
“What is it?”
“Look there.”
Where John pointed, there stood the Awakener who’d just struck the metal pillar.
Choi Su-ho.
He looked at Ha Gyeong with a bloody grin.
Ha Gyeong’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Why is he like that?”
“You don’t know him?”
“Never seen him before.”
“Bro, you’re on bad terms with the Guild master, right? Or rather, that Guild.”
“Ah?”
Now that he mentioned it, there was a resemblance.
The master of the Raiders Guild.
Violet Magnum. Choi Hyun-gi.
He looked like that man.
Though Ha Gyeong didn’t know exactly who the other was.
“I see. So he’s connected to Choi Hyun-gi, then?”
“His nickname is the Executioner—basically he’s pure unpleasantness.”
Ha Gyeong wondered what you’d have to do to earn such a nickname.
Just then, the announcer called his name.
―Next up, the Immortal Tyrant, Ha Gyeong!
Whoooosh!
Ha Gyeong thought fireworks had gone off,
But it was just a roar mixed with applause.
The spectators reacted intensely to Ha Gyeong’s appearance.
He rose with a meaningful smile.
‘Should I humble this secret weapon’s pride a bit?’
Gate-Ripper
Author |
Moraetop
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
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Editorial Department
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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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