Tearing the Gate Apart - Chapter 66

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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 66.
The internal auction proceeded, but Ha Gyeong did not participate.
Of course, the Deep Sea Barbed Armor was quite an attractive Artifact.
But he already had first refusal rights.
It wouldn’t be ethical to covet both.
In the end, Ha Gyeong purchased the Web Caster for 200 billion won.
‘Not as expensive as I thought.’
An Artifact from the Incomprehensible Rank Field Boss in the Bottomless Pit last time.
Hadn’t the Cederwick Staff been traded for 250 billion won?
The Web Caster, meanwhile, had a limited function, so its price had been marked down.
It could only fire a net to slow down opponents, after all.
Of course, Ha Gyeong was very satisfied.
‘It’ll work well against fast ones like the Abyss Guardian.’
He’d be frequenting the Bottomless Pit going forward.
He’d surely encounter the Emperor’s close servants often.
The Web Caster would prove its worth when that time came.
Having finished all his business, Ha Gyeong returned home.
But a familiar scent tickled his nostrils.
Walking toward the kitchen, the chef greeted him.
“Welcome home.”
“Is it spiced pork again today?”
“The employer does prefer it so much.”
“Even so, spiced pork the moment I walk in… Right! I need to educate that parrot about manners. I almost forgot.”
“Pardon?”
“I mean John. The way he looks and acts, he’s just like a parrot.”
Squawk!
The chef barely suppressed a laugh.
Ha Gyeong went to the dining table and sat across from John.
The chef, face flushed, brought out the food.
It wasn’t spiced pork, naturally.
It was simple home cooking.
John shook his head disapprovingly.
“Rejecting a man’s cooking! Squawk! You’re useless.”
“Don’t you get tired eating only spiced pork every day?”
“It’s fine. I’ve eaten other things before.”
“Like what?”
“Pork cutlet.”
“And before that?”
“Bulgogi.”
“And before the bulgogi?”
“Obviously spiced pork.”
“Why do you eat so simply when you’ve hired a chef?”
“It’s delicious. And fine dining doesn’t suit me.”
Ha Gyeong let out a short sigh.
He’d decided to give up trying to understand John altogether.
In fact, the chef’s wages and food costs were paid by his sister-in-law anyway.
Ha Gyeong had no grounds to complain.
‘If I can eat for free, that’s good for me.’
It was certainly far better than meal kits, after all.
As they ate together,
the TV screen suddenly changed.
—The International Awakener Council has concluded a new agreement. Foreign Gate access is now permitted on a limited basis. As a result, Raid Parties from various nations will be mutually dispatched, and Awakener exchanges are expected to become significantly more active.
Ha Gyeong and John stopped eating.
The news was so sudden that they couldn’t quite grasp it.
Soon John, chewing his lower jaw like a llama, spoke.
“What the hell is that about?”
“I have no idea.”
“How can a special advisor to the Association not know?”
“They didn’t brief me on it.”
Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!
As they bickered,
Ha Gyeong’s phone suddenly rang.
The screen showed the name Jung Tae Won.
Ha Gyeong answered immediately.
“Yes, Jung Tae Won. You’re calling because of the news, right?”
—You already knew, then. That’s correct, Director.
“What happened?”
—The Association had no idea either. It seems the IAC pushed it through in a hurry.
“What’s the reason?”
—It’s probably to facilitate Gate Break support. We’ve had quite a few lately. Also, it’s meant to consider lower-tier Awakeners.
“So they’re simplifying the evacuation procedures. How is the Association evaluating this?”
—Foreign access to Gates will increase, but we don’t predict any major changes to the industry.
“I see. Thank you for letting me know.”
—No problem. I’ll see you when you come to work.
“Yes, rest well.”
Click.
Ha Gyeong had simply nabbed a position with a respectable title.
He had little involvement with Association events or the International Awakener Council.
Political matters were for the higher-ups to handle.
He intended to move according to his original purpose as usual.
‘I’ll form an Exploration Team and explore the Bottomless Pit. That’s all.’
* * *
Once the announcement was posted, recruitment finished in a flash.
Seeing the results, Ha Gyeong stroked his chin with interest.
“I thought people wouldn’t apply because of the controversy, but it’s surprisingly quick.”
“We sued all the people who created false footage and posted malicious comments, and proper AI strategy videos were uploaded. Public perception has been completely normalized.”
Jung Tae Won replied confidently.
So that’s why there has to be a legal team.
Ha Gyeong had only mentioned it in passing,
yet everything was set right in a single day.
The way he formed the Exploration Team was exactly the same as before.
Through interviews at the Training Grounds, he separated the wheat from the chaff.
He just needed to assemble people suited to the team’s strength and composition.
Looking over the roster, Ha Gyeong tilted his head.
“The applicants seem surprisingly normal.”
John, listening in, asked a question.
“What do you mean by abnormal applicants, bro?”
“The IAC concluded some agreement.”
“Ah! You were worried there would be a lot of foreign Awakeners?”
“That’s unavoidable. Communication is crucial during raids.”
“We gotta filter out anyone who can’t speak Korean. There’s a senior like the heavens above us, and they’re trying to freeload.”
“Huh? What are you suddenly talking about?”
“I’m the only one doing Foreign Awakener. This is a ridiculously rare character, you know.”
Ha Gyeong wondered why John opposed foreign recruitment,
and the reason was quite something.
No, that was pure John.
Ha Gyeong was about to head down to the Training Grounds to conduct interviews.
But an unexpected person appeared before him.
A Healer from the Raider’s Guild who’d gotten Ha Gyeong’s autograph.
Jung Sang Hoon.
Ha Gyeong asked with a puzzled expression.
“What brings you here?”
“I heard you were forming an Exploration Team.”
“But you’re with the Raider’s Guild.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t participate as a guest member.”
“Isn’t that unusual?”
“The Raider’s Guild is different. As long as there’s money, we don’t care what we do.”
From what he heard,
Jung Sang Hoon hadn’t left the guild like Park Jun Ho had.
Ha Gyeong recalled the Raider’s Guild Master, Choi Hyeon Gi.
‘He’s going to be incredibly upset.’
Of course, Ha Gyeong hadn’t hired Jung Sang Hoon just to provoke him.
Irritating that man was just a bonus.
The issue was his background with the Raider’s Guild.
But he was also someone whose life Ha Gyeong had saved.
Wasn’t he an ardent supporter of his?
It didn’t seem like it would be a major problem.
Ha Gyeong assembled one Raid Team and one Guard Team.
A total of sixty people.
If necessary, he intended to clear a dungeon while he was at it.
But there was something slightly disappointing.
John, sitting beside Ha Gyeong, smacked his lips.
“It’s a shame Dae Hyeonja couldn’t come.”
“He had another raid schedule. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
“And no Ma Do Hyeok either.”
“Really? Didn’t you two get along well?”
“Well, yeah. But there are some of the same people from last time.”
Healer Yu Se Ha.
Ranged Dealers Nam Ki Heon and Oh Ha Rin.
These three had joined in the first expedition as well.
Ha Gyeong was relieved that they’d applied again.
They were proven teammates, after all.
“Entering the Gate. Please confirm you have everything.”
“Yes!”
Led by Ha Gyeong’s call, the Exploration Team entered the Abyss.
He’d led a team a few times now.
His heart no longer pounded heavily.
At least, not until Nam Ki Heon spoke to him.
“It’s an honor to work together again, Captain.”
“Captain? What do you mean?”
“We have two teams, don’t we?”
“Ah…”
The distinction between Raid Team and Raid Party was the number of teams.
Now that a Guard Team was following,
strictly speaking, they could be called an Expedition Force.
So it was natural for them to call Ha Gyeong the captain.
‘The responsibility is heavy.’
The fate of the Expedition Force rested in Ha Gyeong’s hands.
Depending on his judgment, they could face danger.
They might even face death.
Suddenly, the Abyss in the deep sea came to mind.
Hadn’t the rear line been completely destroyed by the Black Leviathan’s attack?
The Master of Sharp Force Guild,
Ryu Jung Hwan himself couldn’t shake his unease.
Ha Gyeong steeled himself.
‘Of course any human would feel such emotions. But I must overcome them.’
Soon the Expedition Force reached the bottom of the Abyss.
A pool standing at a ninety-degree angle.
After passing through the wormhole,
they reached the breath-stealing Bottomless Pit, as before.
But this time, it was a somewhat different challenge.
Ha Gyeong gazed quietly into the thick fog.
‘I’ve explored most of the entrance area. Let’s venture as far as we can now.’
Of course, doing so would greatly increase the chances of being threatened by the Bottomless Pit’s Emperor.
That’s why he’d expanded his forces to sixty people.
From the start, Ha Gyeong had been prepared for a fight with them.
‘Come at me if you dare.’
Yet there was surprisingly no reaction.
Even deep into the Bottomless Pit.
John, walking beside Ha Gyeong, suddenly voiced his confusion.
“Is this really the Bottomless Pit? Why is it so quiet?”
“Right? This makes me feel even worse. Like the calm before the storm.”
“Calm before the storm—as in, a tempestuous—wait, is that it?”
“Come on, would I say something like that?”
“Hey, bro. Never mind. Why are you making a fuss? The Foreign Awakener is bad with four-character idioms anyway.”
“Yet you seem to understand the meaning of four-character idioms quite accurately.”
“Uh, Korean is… hard, okay?”
While John deployed his Foreign Awakener shield,
Ha Gyeong sent a radio message to Yu Se Ha.
“Monster group detected ahead. We’ll take a detour, so follow carefully.”
—Yes, Captain.
Yu Se Ha was the most veteran among the Healers.
But regardless of Ha Gyeong’s trust, his reputation wasn’t great.
It was unavoidable, being from the Raider’s Guild.
So Ha Gyeong entrusted the orders to Yu Se Ha instead.
‘He’s doing surprisingly cleanly.’
For someone who hadn’t given many orders, there was no unnecessary chatter.
Thanks to that, Ha Gyeong could lead the Expedition Force with ease.
After a long stretch of moving, avoiding monsters and dangerous terrain,
it was time to establish a base camp.
Even Awakeners couldn’t wander indefinitely.
Finding a suitable location and scouting the surroundings,
a system message suddenly appeared before Ha Gyeong.
[The Dungeon Key you possess is reacting]
[You have discovered the Unknown Grade dungeon, Silent Abyss]
Near a pile of grayish-brown stones, the ground suddenly rippled.
Then, a stone door abruptly materialized.
Ha Gyeong felt a peculiar emotion.
‘In nearly six years as an Awakener, this is something I’m seeing for the first time…’
It couldn’t be helped.
Dungeon Keys were extremely rare Artifacts.
Even among 1st Generation Awakeners, there were few like Ha Gyeong.
He suppressed his bewildered expression
and sent a radio message to Yu Se Ha.
“Send anyone with Discernment skill over here.”
—Yes, Captain.
Soon Jung Sang Hoon appeared in the front line.
As befitted a 1.5th Generation Awakener, he possessed the Discernment skill.
Jung Sang Hoon examined the stone door from various angles.
Then he spoke with a grave expression.
“This place… is cursed.”
Curses were troublesome dungeon mechanics.
The team’s complexion darkened.
But Ha Gyeong’s thinking was different.
‘If we do this right, it could be easy picking.’
Gate Ripper
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Moreodop
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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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