Tearing the Gate Apart - Chapter 65

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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 65.
Zorn’s eccentricity was nothing new by now.
Ha Gyeong quickly regained his composure.
He clamped the end of the Malleable Rope between the shell trap.
Then he tried to circle back behind Black Leviathan.
But Ha Gyeong realized something crucial.
‘I maxed out the thickness, so the length is seriously short.’
And Black Leviathan was a far larger creature than Dread Reaver.
It seemed impossible to wrap it up the way he had before.
But he couldn’t make it thin either.
It would snap after just a few thrashes.
As his worries mounted, something fluttered past his vision.
‘What’s that…?’
It was the seaweed he’d been trying to stuff into the shell trap to bind Zorn.
It felt like his mind exploded.
Ha Gyeong immediately gathered a massive amount of seaweed from around the Coral Zone.
Enough to weave into a net.
After crude weaving and stretching it long, a fairly convincing rope took shape.
It was incredibly tough—it wouldn’t snap under normal circumstances.
Ha Gyeong advanced carefully.
‘If I’m spotted, it’s all over.’
Black Leviathan’s body resembled a centipede closely.
Its last pair of legs, near the tail, bristled with countless spines.
If he hooked the rope there, it would be nearly impossible to shake loose.
Fortunately, the aggro was properly locked.
Ha Gyeong kept his body low and waited patiently.
For Black Leviathan’s body to draw closer to the bottom.
But suddenly, a high-pitched frequency swept through the dungeon.
“Kiiiiieeet!”
[Black Leviathan Ultimate Skill Deployment: Great Gel Hammer]
[Unstoppable wave of Abyssal energy detected]
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Something dark erupted from Black Leviathan’s maws.
The water instantly jellified like gelatin.
The team members continuing the Raid couldn’t help but panic.
“Wha—what is this?”
“I can’t move my body!”
“Please start purification immediately!”
“I’m already doing it, but it won’t come off!”
The Healers flooded the area with skills, but the gelification persisted.
It only expanded its range.
No amount of struggling helped.
Eventually, Black Leviathan began consolidating its heads in one place.
Whiiiiiing!
A violet radiance growing steadily larger.
Ha Gyeong understood exactly what that energy sphere meant.
‘Ravisher Impaler? If I take that hit while bound like this….’
It would be a catastrophe just like before.
Ha Gyeong pushed off the floor.
There was no more time for sneaking around.
Speed was survival now.
He hooked the rope onto Black Leviathan’s tail spine, then
quickly gestured to Zorn.
“Pull!”
He braced his feet against the protruding rocks and
threw his body horizontally into an extreme recline.
Like a game of tug-of-war.
Remarkably, Black Leviathan began being dragged toward him.
Hadn’t he said the creature’s body resembled a centipede?
Its swimming ability was actually quite poor.
Likely because it lacked a broad, flat section to push water.
The instant Ha Gyeong dragged Black Leviathan down,
[Black Leviathan deploys Ravisher Impaler]
Kyuuuuuuuung—!
The skill erupted as expected.
But the direction it fired was completely off.
Ha Gyeong and Zorn’s efforts had thrown off its aim.
‘That’s it!’
Ha Gyeong silently exulted and checked Black Leviathan’s position.
It had been dragged right above the Hydrothermal Vent.
With such high pressure and salinity, the temperature was probably hundreds of degrees.
But Black Leviathan showed little sign of injury.
Its exoskeleton was far too tough.
Ha Gyeong drew out the Crimson Edge.
‘Should I try punching a hole in its body?’
With Core Guardian’s Will,
Dead Zone could annihilate part of the exoskeleton.
But Ha Gyeong shook his head.
Even so, only the tail would cook somewhat.
It would be hard to deliver serious damage.
The longer he hesitated, the more the crisis multiplied.
“Kiiiiieeeek!”
Black Leviathan had sensed Ha Gyeong’s presence.
If that thing turned and unleashed an attack?
Binding strategy, be damned.
He’d be shredded to ribbons.
Just as expected.
One of Black Leviathan’s heads turned toward Ha Gyeong.
It had identified him as the most threatening presence.
“Let’s smash at least one of those heads. Come on, you bastard.”
But suddenly, the Hydrothermal Vent entered Ha Gyeong’s view.
Crimson fissures branching like veins.
It felt as if magma lurked just beneath the sediment.
In that very moment,
Ha Gyeong changed his mind.
‘Screw it, whatever!’
[Core Guardian’s Will creates an extreme annihilation zone]
Whoosh. Poof!
The black sediment vanished instantly, and
something brilliant yellow surged up from beneath.
Kugugugugu! Fwooosh!
“Kiiiiieeet?”
Black Leviathan’s body was engulfed in erupting magma.
Ha Gyeong dropped the seaweed rope and retreated in haste.
The intense heat had reached him.
His whole body felt like it would cook, but he wore a broad smile.
‘That was it. I solved the Gimmick.’
By any reasonable standard, Black Leviathan was too powerful.
Even accounting for it being an Incomprehensible-Grade Boss in the Abyss.
The dungeon had been designed so you could only clear it by solving the Gimmick.
Black Leviathan thrashed in the magma before hardening pitch-black.
Soon, a System Message more welcome than ever appeared.
[You have defeated Dungeon Boss Black Leviathan]
[You receive ‘Web Caster’ as a reward]
A plain-looking ring fell into Ha Gyeong’s palm.
He reflexively tried slipping it onto his finger before suddenly stopping.
‘No, I can’t do that.’
He’d wanted to know what it did, but
this would be a serious mistake.
The Artifact still had no designated owner.
Ha Gyeong trudged forward.
‘I feel unusually exhausted today.’
He’d fought an incredibly powerful enemy.
And the raid team had taken heavy casualties, it seemed.
Fifteen members had given their lives.
For a team composed of only the finest talent, the loss was substantial.
Ha Gyeong bowed silently toward the fallen teammates.
‘May you find peace.’
An ache in his chest squeezed at his heart.
It was because the Guild members of Axis Prime came to mind.
* * *
Back in reality, Ha Gyeong stopped first at the Association Headquarters office.
He needed to report the information obtained from the Abyss of the Deep Sea.
Now that he’d learned the Emperor was threatening Earth,
shouldn’t he inform everyone quickly?
Of course, Ha Gyeong had no need to do the writing himself.
“Director. I’ve completed the report.”
“Let me see it.”
“Yes.”
Ha Gyeong took the tablet Jung Tae Won offered him.
True to his competence, the report was impeccably clean.
There was nothing whatsoever to correct.
Soon Ha Gyeong nodded with satisfaction.
“Submit it as is. How far up does it go?”
“Through the Vice-Chairman to the Chairman.”
“Will it be helpful?”
“Of course. That’s why we have Special Advisory Directors in the first place.”
Ha Gyeong’s report likely wouldn’t be taken lightly.
Jang Myeong Chul, the Vice-Chairman, wasn’t an incompetent superior.
Having informed them of the Emperor’s existence and ambitions,
Ha Gyeong considered the necessary steps taken.
He wasn’t a leader commanding the entire Earth, after all.
And the Emperor’s threat hadn’t manifested yet.
Ha Gyeong turned to head to his assigned conference room.
There was an internal auction to conduct.
But Jung Tae Won held out the tablet again.
“Director. I think you should look at this.”
“What is it?”
“It’s an AI Strategy Video, but public opinion isn’t good.”
“It’s up already? I’ll take a look.”
Ha Gyeong watched the AI Strategy Video attentively.
Soon his brow furrowed deeply.
“This is quite distorted.”
“Right. Barely any scenes of me and Bro are included.”
Zorn seemed to sense something off too, adding
his disgruntled opinion.
Given the video’s content,
the comments were even worse.
[AI Strategy] Incomprehensible-Tier Dungeon in the Abyss, Abyss of the Deep Sea Clear. Immortal Ha Gyeong’s Bonehead Play?
―The Boss was using skills first, right? Why no briefing?
└The tank called Zorn and Ha Gyeong up front ruined the entire strategy.
└Exactly. They were supposed to scout out and leave the Coral Zone. They should’ve stopped there.
└So much hype about “Immortal Tyrant” and “Immortal,” the guy’s gotten full of himself.
└How much longer do teammates have to sacrifice themselves making that guy a hero?
└But doesn’t the System Message warn when the Boss uses a skill anyway?
└Not if you’re far away.
└You can’t call that distance far.
└Is water the same as air? Fanboys like you are exactly the problem.
Ha Gyeong snorted inwardly.
‘These bastards, seriously?’
There was no way the team members didn’t receive System Messages just because they were underwater.
Besides, team leader Ryu Jeong Hwan himself had admitted his own mistake.
From Ha Gyeong’s perspective, it was simply bad luck.
As his expression hardened, Jung Tae Won spoke up immediately.
“The Association can pursue legal action. These trolls need to be shut down hard.”
“That sounds good to me.”
“Also, it’s quite possible an interview subject’s words were distorted here.”
“That’s likely.”
Weren’t all AI Strategy Videos like that?
Because they relied heavily on witness testimony, they differed somewhat from reality.
This one did have a rather large gap, though.
In any case, the Association would pursue legal action, and
there seemed no need to worry too much about it.
Just as he was brushing it aside,
Zorn suddenly patted Ha Gyeong’s back and spoke.
“Hey, bro. Don’t be too discouraged.”
“I’m fine, actually.”
“Fans and haters always coexist.”
Ha Gyeong agreed with that too.
Everyone has different opinions, and
you can’t be loved by everyone in the world.
But Zorn wasn’t listening at all.
“A proper AI Strategy Video will be up soon. So really, don’t worry about it.”
“I know that.”
“Hey! No matter how mad you are, you can’t take it out on a senior like me.”
“You’re the one misinterpreting my feelings constantly.”
“If you’re really that stressed, you can even hit me.”
“Really?”
“No.”
“You said I could.”
“I just said it, but—if it’s you, bro, you’d actually do it.”
“Only you manage to get under people’s skin quite like that.”
“Hey, is that an insult?”
“Figure it out yourself.”
There was actually a touch of sincerity in that.
Ha Gyeong wished it would stop.
But as he talked with Zorn,
all thought of the malicious comments simply evaporated.
Ha Gyeong smiled quietly.
‘For someone with clumsy words, he’s remarkably thoughtful.’
He wondered if this endless teasing was worth it.
But even as Ha Gyeong’s heart warmed,
Zorn showed no sign of stopping.
“By the way, bro. Can I leave one comment?”
“Like what?”
“Something about how Immortal’s character got exposed, so watch out, everyone.”
“Zorn, Korea has a saying. You need a stick to handle a crazy fool.”
“That’s true. We have the same in America.”
“Funny thing is, the same principle applies to parrots that won’t listen either.”
“Who’s that?”
“You.”
Ha Gyeong quietly raised his fist.
It looked like he’d need to give Zorn a proper scolding today.
Just as his anger took tangible form,
Zorn was already bolting away.
“See ya later, dude!”
Tearing open a Gate
Author |
Morae Top
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(주) Samyang C&C
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Editorial Department
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UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260306112
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blog.naver.com/dreambookss
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@dreambookss
Submission |
[email protected]
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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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