Tearing the Gate Apart - Chapter 4

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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 4.
He couldn’t help but be tempted.
Over the past four and a half years, Ha Gyeong had wandered through countless Gates.
And yet he’d obtained only two Ultimate Abyss Fragments.
But then he entered the Abyss Dungeon.
And he’d acquired one fragment right away.
Ha Gyeong gathered his thoughts.
‘It must have been in a place difficult to reach, which is why I couldn’t find it until now.’
If that was the case, there was only one decision he needed to make.
Ha Gyeong looked at Yoon Chang-ho and spoke.
“I’ll do it.”
“Of course, I assume you’d like the conditions to match those of the Abyss of Collapse?”
“Would that be possible?”
“Of course it is. It’s good when our needs align so clearly.”
“Thank you.”
“I’d like to treat you to a meal now that we’ve signed the guest member contract, but things have been hectic lately.”
“Ah, that’s fine.”
He preferred it this way.
Ha Gyeong didn’t want to develop such a deep relationship.
Of course, he might need Blackwater’s help later.
If he was to find the Ultimate Abyss, he’d need skilled personnel.
But Yoon Chang-ho’s eagerness to recruit him felt somewhat burdensome.
The two men left the reception room.
Yoon Chang-ho went to assemble the raid team.
Ha Gyeong was about to head home.
But then a commotion erupted in the hallway.
“Why are you giving away the Artifact on such generous terms? It was our guild’s raid to begin with.”
“Chief Administrator! This is unreasonable.”
Several Awakeners protesting loudly.
A man in a suit was sweating profusely, trying to calm them down.
He seemed to be Blackwater’s Chief Administrator.
“The Master is still in negotiations, so please exercise restraint for now.”
“But you said the decision is already made? Does that mean our share of the compensation has been decided to be reduced?”
“I cannot be certain of the exact details yet.”
Glancing over, he recognized several familiar faces.
Blackwater guild members he’d met in the Abyss of Collapse.
Not the four he’d rescued.
But rather those who’d been knocked out of the boss’s lair midway through.
Yoon Chang-ho’s expression hardened.
Just as he was about to say something.
Someone abruptly interjected.
“You were all so scared of the Ultimate skill that you jumped out, and now you want more money? Is that it?”
The promising healer of Blackwater who’d been showing Ha Gyeong favor.
It was Seo Jun-hyeok’s sharp remark.
The protesting Awakeners instead grew angry at him.
“Who does this punk think he is, spouting off?”
“Hey, what’s gotten into you? We’re guildmates. You should be protesting with us. Are you abandoning your team?”
The guild members shared deep bonds.
They’d endured the infernal Abyss together through thick and thin.
So occasionally they fell into such irrational thinking.
It came from easily empathizing with someone else’s sense of grievance.
Ha Gyeong understood this well, having experienced guild life himself.
But Seo Jun-hyeok showed no signs of backing down.
“If it weren’t for Ha Gyeong, this raid wouldn’t have succeeded in the first place. The ownership shouldn’t have been ours to begin with.”
“You think you can talk like that?”
It looked as though a brawl might break out.
Then Yoon Chang-ho stepped in with perfect timing.
“What is everyone doing here!”
An unusual harshness colored his voice.
The protesting Awakeners fell silent at once.
Unlike the Chief Administrator,
a guild Master was not someone you could protest against freely.
Soon Yoon Chang-ho turned to Ha Gyeong with an apologetic expression.
“I apologize for showing you such an embarrassing side. They’re promising prospects, but still lack maturity.”
“It’s fine. These things happen.”
In truth, Ha Gyeong himself fell into the category of promising prospects by age.
But his experience was different.
He was an underdog warrior who had ventured alone to the very depths of the Abyss.
For four and a half years, rarely missing a single day.
The protesting group dispersed at Yoon Chang-ho’s sharp reprimand.
They simply didn’t have the capacity for more than that.
Ha Gyeong bade Yoon Chang-ho farewell.
“I’ll be taking my leave now.”
“Yes, please go safely. We’ll meet on the raid day.”
Then he moved to exit the Blackwater Guild Headquarters.
But in the hallway, his gaze locked directly with Seo Jun-hyeok’s.
……
An awkward exchange of glances.
Ha Gyeong felt a small measure of gratitude—for the way Seo Jun-hyeok had defended him.
But this distance between them was what was best for both.
Ha Gyeong hurried home.
* * *
A few days later.
Ha Gyeong joined Blackwater’s raid team.
The looks people gave him were still far from kind.
They thought he’d stolen their dungeon boss.
Regardless of what had actually transpired.
They simply needed someone to blame.
Ha Gyeong ignored the subtle stares and moved forward.
‘Think whatever you want. I only need to obtain the Ultimate Abyss Fragment.’
Soon Yoon Chang-ho inserted a Golden Key into the center of the stone gate.
Whirrrrrr! Boom!
[You have entered the dungeon “Abyss of Hatred”]
[This is a special space where curses layer progressively as time passes]
[Navigate the labyrinth and defeat the Pain Bringer]
[Grade: Unknown]
[Capacity: 60 people]
[Reward: Unknown Artifact]
System messages materialized before his eyes.
It was Unknown Grade like the Abyss of Collapse.
But the capacity limit was sixty—double.
That meant the difficulty was higher.
In any case, it was a dungeon with a rather unique name.
As Ha Gyeong read the description, he felt a quiet surge of elation.
‘Unknown Artifact? It could be an Ultimate Abyss Fragment.’
He couldn’t rule out the possibility.
A sense of anticipation warmed something deep in his chest.
But the raid was slow to progress.
They’d been circling the same area for two hours already.
The labyrinth was far larger than expected.
And incredibly complex.
“Wow, I can’t get any sense of direction at all?”
Even Blackwater’s veteran scout was at a loss.
Ha Gyeong too had some knack for finding paths.
But he deliberately refrained from stepping forward.
‘If I show off, I’ll just make them resent me more.’
At that very moment.
A sudden thrill seized his entire body.
His heart sank heavily, and a warm sensation trickled down his spine.
[Soul Brand detects traces of the fragment]
‘There it is!’
Coming with Blackwater had truly been the right choice.
In mere days, he’d found another fragment.
His heart hammered wildly.
Ha Gyeong suppressed his surging excitement.
But then a strange sensation suddenly pierced his mind.
An uncanny dissonance crept in.
He cocked his head.
‘What’s this? Why suddenly……’
An abrupt, chilling sixth sense.
Ha Gyeong reflexively assumed a defensive stance.
Clang!
He intercepted something coming from his right
and slipped back half a step.
A keen blade halted inches from his sternum.
Ha Gyeong turned to look with an expression of disbelief.
A melee dealer from Blackwater smiled coldly and spoke.
“Die, you thieving bastard.”
Murder gleamed sincerely in his eyes.
Ha Gyeong had no choice but to counterattack.
Defense alone was impossible—the opponent was simply too skilled.
He drove his elbow downward in a quick strike toward the jaw, then slipped aside.
Crack!
“Urgh!”
The impact landed true, and the man staggered.
Ha Gyeong’s eyes swept the surroundings rapidly.
He saw Blackwater’s ranged dealers preparing to attack.
The suspicion now hardened into near certainty.
‘A trap?’
But it made no sense.
Why would Blackwater take such a reckless gamble?
Soon enough, Ha Gyeong grasped the truth.
[Curse permeates your entire body]
[Distinguishing allies from enemies becomes difficult]
A tearing noise rang in his ears.
The edges of his vision blurred white.
Ha Gyeong merely furrowed his brow slightly.
Fortunately, the impact was minimal.
‘So that’s how the curse works……’
He’d expected at most stat reductions or lingering damage.
But making comrades fight one another—
The human mind was extraordinarily complex.
It was a mystery how such a thing had been engineered.
Still, there was no time for bewilderment.
Ha Gyeong quickly distanced himself from the raid group.
‘They’ve split into distinct factions.’
The core of the raid team—Blackwater guild.
The Changun Guild, which had contributed considerable numbers.
And a handful of guest members.
Blackwater Awakeners—the vast majority—were the ones attacking.
The rest were simply fleeing in panic.
“Those lunatics betrayed us!”
“Damn it, run!”
Ha Gyeong wanted nothing more than to escape as well.
But attacks were concentrated on him.
Everyone held deep resentment toward him.
Shuu-shuu-shuu-shook!
Arrows and magic-type skills rained down in volleys.
With substantial mana infused, each was potentially lethal.
But Ha Gyeong had the perfect countermeasure for this situation.
[The Abyss Challenger’s Distortion warps the space around you]
Screeeech!
All the multicolored skills vanished in an instant.
A moment of silence.
The Blackwater Awakeners wore stunned expressions.
It was the natural reaction.
The skills that had filled the air had simply disappeared.
Then something astonishing occurred.
Whoooosh!
Along with an eerie vibration came a purple disc.
Immediately after, countless ranged attacks poured down from above.
“N-our attacks are coming back down!”
“Take cover!”
The Blackwater Awakeners, faces drained of color, scattered in all directions.
Everyone was enveloped in chaos.
Ha Gyeong slipped smoothly through the bedlam.
‘Actually, this works out better. Let me just find the fragment.’
From the start, defeating the boss wasn’t his priority.
His original plan had been to slip away at an opportune moment.
But the curse had created a natural opening for him.
Ha Gyeong began to explore the labyrinthine dungeon.
‘The signal grows stronger.’
He no longer felt the initial thrill.
He’d grown accustomed to the Soul Brand’s sensation.
Eventually, Ha Gyeong stopped walking.
“What? Why did the signal suddenly cut off?”
The hair that had been standing on end fell flat.
Only a wall bearing a small symbol stood before him.
A pale green C-shaped marking.
Ha Gyeong glanced around swiftly.
‘The signal stopped the moment I came here. There must be something nearby.’
Then the marking suddenly elongated.
The center bent at a right angle, like an arrow.
Ha Gyeong could only interpret it one way.
“It’s showing me a direction.”
The marking pointed downward.
Ha Gyeong stepped back and wedged his fingers into a groove in the floor.
Then he pulled with all his strength.
Grrrrgh!
A sizeable stone slab lifted straight up.
An underground passage was revealed.
It was quite an astonishing sight.
He’d never dreamed there was a space down here.
“Without the Soul Brand, finding this would have been impossible. How else could anyone know about it?”
He shone his Mana Lantern down into the opening.
There appeared to be no traps.
Ha Gyeong descended carefully.
Pat! Sss-sss-sss!
The moment his feet touched the bottom, a wondrous phenomenon began.
Countless spheres of light drifted and bobbed around him.
He couldn’t fathom why this was happening.
But Ha Gyeong understood instinctively.
‘This is a kind of trial, a riddle.’
Right on cue,
a system message appeared.
[You have reached a hidden Secret Room]
[The Secret Room’s trial is “Avoid the Poison”]
[Success and failure depend on your choice]
It meant selecting one correct answer from among the many orbs of light.
Ha Gyeong stood still, staring into empty space.
Hundreds of light spheres shimmered enticingly.
Only one held the truth.
The rest would be traps.
Thump! Thump!
His heartbeat grew more intense.
Though the phenomenon was strange, he observed himself calmly.
Soon the light spheres seemed to synchronize with his pulse.
A tingling sensation flowed through his entire being.
The Soul Brand was sending signals.
At last, one sphere of light emitted a subtle rhythm.
His instinct whispered.
“This one.”
Just as Ha Gyeong’s fingertips reached for the faint orb,
his vision went black all at once.
Snikt—
Ripping Open a Gate
Author |
Moraetop
Publisher |
(Company) Samyang C&C
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Editorial Department
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No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of (Company) Samyang C&C – 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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