Tearing the Gate Apart - Chapter 78

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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 78.
Ha Gyeong breathed hard and ragged.
“Hah! Ugh!”
To be honest, he’d never faced a more difficult opponent.
Monsters were usually sluggish—easy to break down.
Awakened Ones had weak offensive power, so pushing through them was simple.
But Hein Teth was different.
Ha Gyeong couldn’t hide the exhaustion in his eyes.
‘It’s like he took the best traits from both monsters and Awakened Ones. I won this round, but if we fought again…’
He couldn’t guarantee the outcome.
And there were still nearly nine hundred enemies left.
Even knocking down someone who looked like a high-ranking officer left the path ahead bleak.
But the reaction from the DRC Villains was far from normal.
“What? What the—how did he even beat a God-Killer?”
“The commander getting taken down by some mere Korean Awakened One.”
“What do we do now? Deputy Commander Chai Bannok was captured too.”
“Then the third-ranked person is…”
All eyes suddenly converged on someone.
A figure in a black robe standing at the rear.
Instead of giving orders, the figure spread both hands wide open.
Black Orbs wedged between each finger.
Soon afterward, thick black smoke billowed up from all corners of the Gate.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
“Is it poison?”
Ha Gyeong quickly threw himself backward.
But the smoke spread far too rapidly.
So first, he held his breath.
He waited a moment, but his body showed no unusual symptoms.
It was just a smoke screen to obscure vision.
Ha Gyeong heightened his senses.
‘Already gone. They retreat incredibly fast.’
A retreat speed befitting a Villain organization that appeared and vanished without warning.
After some time had passed, the wind blew and dispersed all the smoke.
Only then did Ha Gyeong return to his team.
“Is everyone alright?”
“We drove them off somehow, but the damage is severe.”
Park Jeong Jin’s face was blank with shock.
He’d assembled a Raid Party at great effort.
But they hadn’t even set eyes on the dungeon.
On top of that, five teammates were dead.
Ha Gyeong turned to face the fallen and observed a moment of silent respect.
‘May you rest in peace.’
Either way, they couldn’t push forward like this.
They were closer to the Gate than to their objective.
They couldn’t carry the bodies with them.
The right call now was to retreat and regroup.
As expected, Park Jeong Jin issued the withdrawal order.
“Get everything in order. Let’s head home.”
* * *
After completing the Gate exit procedure, Ha Gyeong stopped by the office.
Lately, this had become routine.
It was quite a distance from home to Association Headquarters.
This way, at least he could show his face.
As Ha Gyeong entered, Jung Tae Won greeted him warmly.
“Your timing is perfect, sir.”
“I don’t think you’ve ever been this delighted to see me. Is something the matter?”
“You’re like a mind reader, sir. Some work has come up.”
“I’m genuinely curious what duties a special advisory member actually has. Let me see.”
“Of course, just a moment.”
The truth was, Ha Gyeong had never had any formal duties.
All he did was report information gathered from exploring the Abyss.
Of course, what Ha Gyeong had discovered was monumentally important.
Information about the Jardor Empire’s existence and its ambitions.
If anyone else had encountered a Core Guardian or a Talent Devourer?
Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, they wouldn’t have survived.
After waiting a moment, Jung Tae Won returned with several documents.
“First, the United States side requested accurate information. It’s such a vast country, after all.”
“The eastern half alone probably has hundreds of Gates.”
Ha Gyeong immediately turned to look at John.
The upcoming Gate Break location came from this guy’s intel.
“I have to get close to know exactly where it breaks.”
“That’s what he says?”
Ha Gyeong didn’t push further based on John’s answer.
To be honest, even this much was quite generous.
With a population more than six times South Korea’s.
The supply of Awakened Ones would be proportionally abundant too.
The United States should handle Gate Breaks on their own.
Then Jung Tae Won immediately presented a new option.
“If they don’t skimp on support, I’ll tell them we’d be willing to visit. And mention that accuracy increases when we do.”
“Since we’re in no hurry, let’s do it that way.”
“Understood, sir. Next is a personal matter concerning you.”
“Something personal?”
“Yes, we’ve caught some trolls.”
At Jung Tae Won’s words, Ha Gyeong’s eyes lit up.
He’d been meaning to deal with those hateful comments anyway.
The heavily distorted AI-reconstructed videos too.
Jung Tae Won handed the documents he was holding to Ha Gyeong.
“This is a list of all the trolls and fake AI video creators we’ve identified so far. I’ve marked each according to the nature and severity of their offenses.”
“Is there any need to categorize? We could just deal with them all at once.”
“Simple criticism or defendants of weak standing are sometimes overlooked for image management purposes.”
“That makes sense for celebrities or politicians. But I don’t see why I’d need such considerations.”
To begin with, Ha Gyeong wasn’t the type to mind trolls either way.
But he wasn’t forgiving enough to tolerate everything.
If someone committed a crime, they had to pay the price.
And if he let something like this slide, they’d only grow more brazen down the line.
It was time for zero tolerance and leading by example.
Ha Gyeong moved to return the documents immediately.
“Hm?”
But suddenly, a fairly familiar name caught his eye.
When he paused, Jung Tae Won tilted his head.
“What’s wrong, sir?”
“Jeon Geon Woo? I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere.”
“Ah, yes! Apparently he’s been on a few Raid Parties with you before.”
“But his charges are… Interpersonal Fraud?”
“He boasts about friendships with famous Awakened Ones and lures people by implying he can get them into Raid Parties.”
“Does that actually work?”
“Someone who’s failed the interview process for high-tier Raid Parties repeatedly might take the bait.”
Ha Gyeong nodded in understanding.
He’d himself often entered as a guest member through connections, hadn’t he?
Of course, he’d been able to participate by proving his skills, but he understood the context.
Ha Gyeong tapped Jeon Geon Woo’s name with his index finger and spoke.
“Make sure this one gets extra thorough handling.”
“Beyond prosecution, is there something else you’d like?”
“As a special advisory member of the Awakener Association, I could issue a statement—something like saying I have no connection with this person whatsoever.”
“Ah! That would be far faster and more powerful than legal proceedings.”
“There wouldn’t be any legal issue with that?”
“Just frame it as unavoidable—preventing further harm to victims.”
“Good. Then go ahead and tear into him thoroughly.”
Ha Gyeong had been irritated by someone pretending to be close to him anyway.
It had felt awkward to go after someone just for showing off.
But now that he’d committed an actual crime, responding was much cleaner.
After Jung Tae Won left the room, Ha Gyeong had nothing more to do.
It was about time to head out.
But suddenly, John let out a shriek.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
“Whoa, you startled me. What’s wrong?”
“Look at this. Isn’t this insane?”
John rushed over to Ha Gyeong’s side, clutching a Tablet.
His breathing was rapid and agitated.
Whatever he’d seen…
He looked absolutely furious.
Ha Gyeong slowly scrolled down through the Tablet screen.
[AI Reconstruction] Direct confrontation between DRC Villains and South Korea’s top-tier Raid Party. The Immortal Ha Gyeong defeats the Raid Commander.
—Is this even a real video? What kind of person stands 2.5 meters tall and carries a shield the size of a dump truck bed? You just put armor on a Monster?
└He’s called Hein Teth, famous Villain from Myanmar. His nickname is God-Killer.
└Doesn’t that seem like an overreach? Killing a god—that’s too grandiose to be believable.
└Basically, he killed Tan Shwe II, the supreme military commander—effectively the head of state. Then he became a Villain. The reason? He was caught using a honey trap.
└The commander sent his own child to approach Hein Teth. Looking at the photo, she’s pretty. Why’d he get so mad?
└He went to Thailand, apparently.
└Oh wait, now I get it. Why it says “child” instead of “daughter.” No wonder he was angry.
└Honestly, I’d be fine with that. Why’d he refuse? What a dipshit, Hein Teth.
└Excuse me? Please get your mind straight.
Ha Gyeong shrugged.
What exactly was the problem here?
He didn’t understand at all.
Then John irritably scrolled down further.
“Scroll down more. The Abyss is supposed to be even further below?”
“Do we really need to go that far?”
“That’s where the comment about me is.”
“Sigh. Fine.”
Ha Gyeong reluctantly read the next post.
[AI Reconstruction] Combo play between the Immortal Ha Gyeong and Springboard John Nayger.
—Nickname is hilarious lol
└So fitting lol.
└??? : Springboard’s pretty good, honestly.
└Seems like John loves getting stepped on. That’s all his role ever is.
└But he really does bounce you off perfectly. Timing like that isn’t easy to pull off.
└That’s why his nickname’s Springboard lol
Comments cheerfully mocking John.
It didn’t feel like outright criticism, though.
But the person involved was genuinely furious.
“This is bullshit! Why is my nickname Springboard? I was tanking so professionally! Isn’t this defamation? Please tell me it is.”
“If you go around suing for every little thing like this, you’ll get a bad reputation.”
“Then what about what Bro did?”
“Those had clear malicious intent. Doctored videos, Interpersonal Fraud, stuff like that.”
“Tell me mine has malicious intent too!”
“That’s not the case. But apparently everyone finds you funny. Already a few videos doing impressions of you have popped up.”
“Th-this is mockery! I’m gonna get so angry I want to sue!”
John grumbled for quite a while about how uncool his nickname was.
Though it seemed he didn’t entirely dislike the attention.
He kept searching his own name online.
Ha Gyeong let out a quiet chuckle and stood up.
“Let’s clock out.”
“How come you look so light on your feet despite doing nothing, Bro?”
“Either way, the work’s done. And I’ve made my appearance.”
“True, you’re basically just a figurehead. Let’s go.”
“Right.”
Ha Gyeong promptly left the office.
But in the lobby of Association Headquarters, he encountered an unexpected person.
Park Jeong Jin passing through the revolving door with a gloomy expression.
“Oh? Ha Gyeong… wait, sir?”
“Just speak as you normally would. Why suddenly so formal?”
“It’s just that this is Association Headquarters, so there are a lot of eyes around, and… I got formal without thinking. I’ll keep it casual like you said.”
“But what brings you here?”
“Ah, it’s about the fallen members’ benefits. The Association has a support department for that.”
If the risk grew too high, nobody would want to become a Raid Commander.
So the Association implemented various support policies.
Ha Gyeong nodded slowly.
“This incident certainly qualifies for legitimate support.”
“Right, support should come through without issue. The problem is the next expedition…”
“Recruitment will probably suffer. They’re blaming Villains, but it was a failed expedition either way.”
“I’m worried. The Raid Party itself stays intact, but the escort team is the problem.”
Going deep into the Abyss required that.
He couldn’t bring along just anybody.
Extreme Grade dungeons weren’t common either.
Still, he had to try to see it through.
But then suddenly, Park Jeong Jin grabbed Ha Gyeong’s hand.
“Sir!”
“Yes?”
“I have a request.”
“Let’s talk about this somewhere more appropriate.”
“I can’t.”
“Then I’m afraid I can’t either.”
“Ah! Wait!”
When Ha Gyeong turned resolute, Park Jeong Jin grabbed at his pantleg.
Then, with desperate eyes, he spoke.
“Please, just be Raid Commander one more time!”
Gate Breaker
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Moraetop
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Without written permission from (Co.) Samyang C&C – Dream Books, this book’s contents may not be used in any form or by any means.

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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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