Tearing the Gate Apart - Chapter 73

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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 73.
Ha Gyeong stood motionless, staring at the television.
Then a succession of troubling reports began to scroll across the screen.
―Recently, among Awakened Ones exploring the Upper Abyss, there have been stories circulating about bandit gangs. They’re said to occupy key passages and collect tolls, or else conduct sudden raids to extort spoils from explorers.
It was absurd.
What era were they living in?
Bandits in the Abyss?
The Raiders Guild’s nickname alone makes them sound like bandits.
But they never actually did such things.
John, who had been watching TV with Ha Gyeong, posed a question.
“Bro. So you’re telling me foreign Awakened Ones did all this?”
“According to the testimonies, that seems to be the case. Though of course, there’s no evidence—not in the Abyss.”
“These rotten bastards are destroying the whole image of foreign Awakened Ones.”
John clenched his fists, trembling with fury.
If those bandit foreigners were right in front of him, he looked ready to beat them to a pulp.
The anger was justified.
There was a real chance he’d be lumped in with them and get his name dragged through the mud.
Ha Gyeong’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘If only they’d do that in front of me.’
Then he could deal with them quietly, without a trace.
But the odds of that opportunity falling to him were slim.
What kind of people were Koreans?
They certainly wouldn’t just sit around and take it.
Ha Gyeong tried to brush past the news without much thought.
But then another interesting segment caught his attention.
―These days, an MZ Generation Awaker flaunting wealth has been gaining popularity on social media. There have even been unorthodox moves by modern standards—like selling merchandise made from monster spoils—that older generations find rather unfamiliar.
Soon after, documentary footage appeared.
It was nothing but scenes that made anyone frown.
All it looked like was a poseur bragging about money.
Ha Gyeong sighed without realizing it.
“Ugh!”
“Bro, you’re MZ too—why are you sighing?”
“I don’t do that kind of thing.”
“You should follow trends a little.”
“If I had that kind of money, I’d buy Artifacts.”
“Artifacts are way too expensive though. Just an Unknown Grade one—a full party like ours could run it every day for years.”
“I’d rather spend it on training.”
“Yeah, that’s fair.”
John seemed to realize he’d taken the joke too far, and ended up agreeing.
Ha Gyeong turned to Jung Tae Won and spoke.
“I’ll head in first.”
“Yes, Executive. I’ll contact you separately if anything special comes up.”
“And about those bandits, or whatever?”
“The Association will likely take some measure soon.”
“Understood. I’ll be going.”
The entire way home,
Ha Gyeong couldn’t shake a nagging unease.
The first reason was Rokan clinging to him.
Wasn’t he a former aristocrat of the Zardor Empire?
There was a chance he might extract information and hand it over to someone.
Though of course, it was questionable what he could accomplish with all his power stripped away.
Either way, something would move forward in the future.
Ha Gyeong’s eyes suddenly sharpened.
‘Let’s just watch what he does.’
The second concern was the gang of foreign Awakened Ones who’d supposedly turned to banditry in the Abyss.
Because it was unprecedented,
he had no sense of what impact it might have.
As his worries deepened,
Ha Gyeong quickly brushed aside his idle thoughts.
‘It’ll work out one way or another.’
* * *
For several days, Ha Gyeong spent his time only in the training grounds.
Aside from John spouting nonsense, it was an extraordinarily peaceful routine.
Rokan merely watched from a corner as well.
Thanks to that, Ha Gyeong could focus entirely on his cultivation.
‘I’ve fully made the newly acquired Abyss energy my own.’
Whether dungeon raids or Bottomless Pit exploration,
it was time to resume operations.
He turned on his phone, and messages flooded in.
Most were inquiries about guest team members,
but one message stood out.
Ha Gyeong muttered to himself without thinking.
“Vigilante Corps recruitment?”
“Suddenly, what the hell are you talking about, Bro?”
“They’re forming an organization to suppress the bandit gangs in the Abyss, apparently?”
“Where from?”
“Since it’s a Vigilante Corps, the Association probably isn’t behind it. Hold on, let me check the bottom of the message…….”
Ha Gyeong, scrolling down, suddenly froze.
As if he’d turned to ice.
John tilted his head in confusion.
“Bro! What’s wrong all of a sudden? What did you see?”
“The Raiders Guild is pushing this.”
“What? Those guys? Are they seriously trying to be funny?”
John was equally dumbfounded.
The very people getting called bandits were now recruiting for a vigilante corps.
What kind of nonsense was this?
Ha Gyeong shook his head firmly.
“Obviously, we shouldn’t participate in this.”
“You don’t really need to react that sensitively anyway. Even up through the second generation, there were plenty of guys doing territorial grab-ass in the Abyss.”
“I heard my father mention it. He called it the age of barbarism.”
“Once the Association cracked down, they all disappeared. I wonder if it’ll be like that this time too?”
The Abyss had always been a place where betrayal ran rampant.
Still, because it was a place where people actively worked, truly insane behavior was difficult to pull off.
There might be no physical evidence, but testimonies remain.
Those bandits would pay a price eventually.
Ha Gyeong began organizing his next schedule.
‘Hunting small fry just for Dungeon Keys is inefficient. The best option would be to join as a guest member…….’
Several guilds had already left contact requests anyway.
From now on, he’d skip the Unknown Grade dungeons in the Upper Abyss.
He planned to tackle only Incomprehensible or Above difficulty.
Then a single phrase caught his attention.
“Extreme Grade, small scale? This looks good.”
“Oh! Upper Abyss?”
“No. Bottomless Pit.”
“The difficulty’s quite high.”
“That’s why they specifically requested me and John.”
“Who?”
“Park Jung Jin from Stalwart, apparently. He got our number from Yoon Chang Ho.”
“Not bad.”
The master of the Stalwart Guild.
Skybolt Park Jung Jin.
He had a solid reputation and genuine skill.
Not one of the Top Four Guilds, but he ran a fairly substantial operation, from what Ha Gyeong understood.
After thinking it over, Ha Gyeong picked up his phone.
“I’ll make contact. You’re coming, right?”
“Wherever you go, Bro, I’m always right there with you. Pretty reliable, wouldn’t you say?”
“Your credibility would be higher if you hadn’t said that last part.”
“Then it wouldn’t be me.”
“Fair point.”
John shrugged his shoulders and spoke with brazen assurance.
Ha Gyeong chuckled quietly and dialed the number.
Brrring! Click!
―Hello?
“Good to hear from you. This is Ha Gyeong. Master Park Jung Jin.”
―Oh! The Immortal! Wow! I never dreamed you’d call me so quickly!
“Ah, yes.”
Ha Gyeong couldn’t help but be taken aback by the unexpectedly enthusiastic response.
His tone was pretty casual too.
Of course, Ha Gyeong quickly regained his composure.
‘There’s no rule that a guild master has to be dignified.’
After all, there was someone like Choi Hyun Ki from the Raiders—a guy whose personality was completely broken.
Soon after, Ha Gyeong got to business.
“You’re doing a dungeon raid in the Bottomless Pit, I hear. Extreme Grade, small scale—is that correct?”
―Yes, so we’re looking to recruit only top-tier members. Surprisingly, only I’m participating from our guild. Though of course, we’ll have a separate escort team.
“You’ll be calling the shots then. The key question is the Priority Purchase Right.”
―We’re not setting that separately either. We’re going straight to an Internal Auction and letting the best offer win. What do you think?
Normally, the person who opened a dungeon retained the Priority Purchase Right
for certain categories.
But he was giving that up?
That was a significant concession.
From Ha Gyeong’s perspective, there was absolutely no reason to refuse.
“Understood. I’ll join.”
―Great, I’ll send you the details separately. Looking forward to meeting you then!
“Yes.”
Click.
He hung up the phone.
A slight afterglow lingered.
The man seemed to be unusually upbeat,
giving off a different vibe than John.
In any case, his next schedule was set.
Ha Gyeong decided to give himself a bit of breathing room.
‘Have I been so obsessed with revenge that I’ve had no one to spend time with on my days off?’
He’d received elite Awakened One training since childhood.
He’d undergone all sorts of drills in preparation for awakening.
After school, he was always summoned to the training grounds.
That’s why he didn’t have a single friend.
It was because of his father, but Ha Gyeong held no resentment.
‘Everyone has their role to play. In the end, my awakening completed my father’s plan.’
Ha Gyeong looked around his surroundings.
The training grounds where he’d spent so much time.
In one corner, John was running about.
Rokan was in the process of devouring an enormous hamburger.
“What?”
Ha Gyeong couldn’t hide his bewildered expression.
It was one thing for food of that size to fit in such a tiny body,
but where on earth had Rokan gotten a hamburger?
He grabbed Rokan by the scruff of the neck and lifted him up.
“Hey, where’d you get that from?”
―What?
“The hamburger.”
―I went to the kitchen and asked for one, and they made it for me. They even petted my head and said I was cute.
“But why are you eating it?”
―Why would I eat it? I’ve got to eat to survive.
“Aren’t monsters supposed to crave blood and flesh?”
―What’s the difference between that and a hamburger?
“Oh! That’s a fair point. But it still doesn’t add up.”
―What do you mean?
“At the very least, you should earn your keep, shouldn’t you?”
―…….
Rokan twisted his expression, his mouth snapping shut.
He seemed unable to find any counterargument.
Then he fluttered his small wings.
―I had something to tell you anyway!
“What is it?”
―That Gate Break location I told you about.
“It went in the report, so the Association will look into it. Why?”
―You’ll need to move fast. I’ve got a feeling it’s going to rupture soon.
“…….”
This time, Ha Gyeong was at a loss for words.
It was unexpectedly high-grade intelligence.
Rokan put his front paws on his waist and stood up triumphantly.
―Ahem! Does this count as earning my keep?
“Granted.”
―Excellent! Now I should ask them to make something else.
“But that’s not money I’m paying. John’s……. Well, your sister-in-law hired the chef.”
―So?
“You need to go ask them yourself.”
―Then what was all that just now?
“Um. A waste?”
―Hey, you sneaky bastard! What kind of swindler does stuff like this?
“I’m joking. I’m not going to complain about a mouse eating a little food.”
―Not a mouse—a wolf!
“In that form, barely.”
Unable to hold back at Ha Gyeong’s teasing, Rokan lunged at him.
Of course, all he managed was to grab at Ha Gyeong’s pant leg.
The creature barely had any fighting power left.
Ha Gyeong chuckled and brushed Rokan off.
‘Seems like a much more harmless creature than I thought.’
* * *
A few days later,
Ha Gyeong met his teammates at the gathering place.
The organizer Park Jung Jin, Ha Gyeong, and John were the basics.
The other two were new faces,
but surprisingly, he knew them both.
“It’s been a while, Ha Gyeong.”
Ha Gyeong could identify his companion by voice and attire.
“Good to see you, Dae Hyeonja.”
Next to the grinning Dae Hyeonja stood Yoo Se Ha.
Ha Gyeong gave a light nod in greeting.
Then Yoo Se Ha extended his hand.
“I heard skilled people were coming, but you’ve exceeded my expectations. It’s truly an honor to work together again.”
“You’re too kind. I’m flattered.”
“You can’t leave out the Immortal when listing the most promising Awakened Ones these days. It was all over social media.”
“The AI Strategy Community, right?”
“Yes, I saw it recently on there……. Wait?”
Yoo Se Ha, showing his phone screen, suddenly paused.
Because the posts that followed were unexpected.
Ha Gyeong read the posts tagged with his name.
‘What should I even call this? Name exploitation? Riding on coattails?’
In any case, something rather serious was happening online.
Tearing Gates Apart
Author |
Morzay
Published by |
Samyang C&C Corporation
Chief Editor |
Editorial Department
Published by |
Samyang C&C Corporation – Dream Books
Address |
7th Floor, Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeunsa-ro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260306112
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter(X) |
@dreambookss
Submission |
[email protected]
No part of this book may be used in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of Samyang C&C Corporation – 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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