Chapter 6

Chapter. 6

[ROOOOOAR-!!!]

A roar that seemed as though it would tear apart the waters off Incheon shook the city.

The force imbued with the power all Demonic Beasts crawling out of a Gate possessed—'Demonic Energy'—split the roadside trees with sharp cracks and fractured the asphalt in jagged lines.

What emerged from the Gate along with that overwhelming pressure was a gigantic Ogre that looked to be easily over ten meters tall.

“A mutant? It looks very different from the Ogres I know.”

Most likely Giantization. And if it was an Ogre, then it was at least a boss-class monster from somewhere around the eightieth floor of the Tower.

Without Han Seol-ah, it was the kind of disaster that would wipe out every Hunter in Republic of Korea even if they all threw themselves at it.

And standing before that overwhelming violence was only me, perched on the rooftop railing.

I lightly opened my palm toward the Ogre.

“Permafrost.”

In an instant, a sphere of blue-cold energy condensed above my palm.

A marble the size of a ping-pong ball, dark blue as though the eye of a storm had been forcibly crushed into it. Inside, Frost Type Mana churned violently.

It was fundamentally different from the 'safe mode' I had used in my room.

This was the real Permafrost.

“Go.”

I flicked my finger.

Pop—

There was not even the sound of the air tearing apart. In the instant I felt the blue flash pierce through the Ogre’s forehead—

Fwaaaash—!!!

The world turned white.

Along the trajectory the flash had swept through, the sound of the atmosphere freezing solid erupted in a chain of cracking bursts.

The monster that had been roaring just moments ago was nowhere to be seen, and all that remained in its place was a single iceberg the size of a building.

An absolute-zero statue, with everything from the Ogre’s hide to its bones to every last drop of blood in its veins frozen solid.

CRASH!

And in the very next moment, the iceberg shattered together with its corpse, scattering into a cloud of fine ice powder.

“…I’m powerful.”

A clean instant kill, so fast it did not even leave room for a scream.

***

-Beep.

“…Huh?”

An unbelievable announcement came through Kim Jin-cheol’s headset.

[Gate Clear]

“…Clear?”

“What did you say?”

“J-just a moment. We’ve received word that the Gate has been cleared.”

“…A Level 1 Gate was cleared by a single person? That’s impossible! Verify it! Quickly!”

“Y-yes!!!”

Kim Jin-cheol hurriedly sat down and moved his fingers across the console.

“Uh, uh? It’s t-true. Th-the Gate signal has vanished. It’s been cleared!”

“Who in the world did it? Weren’t all Incheon Hunters summoned?”

“They were. All of them were summoned. That’s true. It definitely is, but….”

“Run a Mana scan. Right now!”

“Yes, activating scan!”

Beep— Beep—

[Monsters: 0]

[Survivors: 0]

“…None? No one at all? That can’t be right!”

“I-it’s not an error. The Mana scan’s reliability is still holding at 99.9%.”

“What in the world is going on….”

Then who had killed the Ogre Big Boss?

“…Measure the concentration. And the property as well.”

“Yes!”

Kim Jin-cheol immediately switched the Mana scan from 'search mode' to 'measurement mode' and swept the area near the Gate.

“…It’s F-Frost Type Mana.”

“What? Frost… Type?”

‘Han Seol-ah?’

At that moment, the name Guardian Han Seol-ah passed through everyone’s minds.

Frost Type, and someone powerful enough to eliminate an Ogre Big Boss?

There was only one person in Republic of Korea who fit that description: Han Seol-ah.

“I-it really was Ms. Han Seol-ah. She must have learned Incheon was in danger and deployed alone…!”

“We’re saved… Incheon is saved!”

The employees who had been drowning in despair embraced one another and shouted Han Seol-ah's name at the tops of their lungs.

“What about the Mana concentration?”

“Unmeasurable… which means EX-rank!”

“Waaaah!!! Does that mean Ms. Seol-ah has become EX-rank?!”

“Han Seol-ah! Han Seol-ah!”

“So that’s where she went—she must have encountered some great opportunity!”

Cheers swept through the conference room.

But

Min Ji-hee knew.

‘No. It wasn’t Seol-ah.’

She knew that Han Seol-ah becoming EX-rank was something that would ‘never’ happen.

‘…Then who was it?’

***

It was so damn insane that I have to say it again.

One shot.

The Permafrost I fired killed the Ogre in a single hit.

And it was not an ordinary Ogre. It was a gigantified Ogre.

A filthy tough monster that even Han Seol-ah supposedly could not take down in one blow.

But I killed it in one shot.

Now I was sure.

My Permafrost was stronger than Han Seol-ah's.

‘Is it because it guzzles down 50,000 MP?’

“How frightening. My power.”

The Ogre that had turned into a corpse transformed into yellow motes of light.

The wandering light particles circled aimlessly in the air.

The Gate that had vomited out the Ogre slowly but steadily shrank.

Once the Gate had become small enough, those motes of light would slip back inside, and then it would close completely. That would be the end of it.

Until that happened, I did not let my guard down.

There was a saying: ‘Even a dead Gate deserves a second look.’

It meant another monster could still come bursting out of that Gate.

There was a reason I had deliberately killed the Ogre in one shot.

This was live combat. Not practice.

In real combat, you always had to eliminate variables.

The correct answer was to erase the target with overwhelming firepower before any variable could even arise.

Otherwise?

You would end up regretting it.

I knew from experience.

‘I did not want to know that, either.’

I decided not to lower my guard until Synchronization shut itself off.

And so,

leaning against the rooftop railing, I sank into serious thought.

‘So what do I do now?’

The fake Ice Dragon—the Frost Dragon—that had settled in Pyongyang and was driving Republic of Korea toward ruin was something Han Seol-ah could handle.

I had powered her up to EX-rank, and more importantly, I had given her the Genesis-rank staff, Eternal Winter.

And after that, after that…

She had more than enough specs to block the repeated boss Breaks that would continue until the Tower was conquered and to protect Republic of Korea from destruction.

At this point, the worst possible outcome—annihilation—had been avoided.

“Hmm.”

But

If you asked whether that was enough…

it was not.

“It’s only a situation where we haven’t died yet.”

Republic of Korea’s situation was dire.

Food, clothing, and shelter. All three elements considered essential for human survival were in shambles.

Clothing.

They had not even managed to achieve full armor supply for the most important Tanks.

Like something out of the Middle Ages, low-rank Tanks who had been conscripted had to buy their own armor with their own money.

…And if that was the case, there was no need to even mention what the equipment situation for other Hunters must be like.

‘…It’s absurd.’

Food.

Most of the surviving population was trapped in extreme famine, barely clinging to life on calorie sticks that were worse than nutrition bars made from ground-up insects.

Shelter.

At present, there were only three places in Republic of Korea where people could live.

Incheon, Seoul, and the southern part of Gyeonggi Province. That was all.

And even those places were only barely habitable…

The land had been contaminated by erosion, to the point where not a single crop could grow.

‘…At least the water is still drinkable.’

At this point, the country was not truly alive so much as a patient who simply had not died yet.

‘At least Jin Cheon-jin, the President of the Hunter Association, and Vice President Min Ji-hee are exceptionally capable, so they’re barely holding things together.’

Han Seol-ah held back the external threats.

And internally, those two heroes were sustaining the country by a thread.

There was no hope that life would improve from here on.

Because the Tower could not be conquered.

In the end,

There was only one answer.

Solve the cause that had created this situation.

“We have to climb the Tower.”

Right. The problem was the Tower.

It was not enough to be satisfied with clearing the ninety-fourth floor.

The Tower had to be conquered ‘all the way to the end.’

I calculated it coldly in my head.

My experience sparring with Han Seol-ah inside Lost Honor.

The strengths and weaknesses of her unique magic, Ice Arrow, and Permafrost.

And on top of that, the overwhelming buff granted by Eternal Winter.

Taking all of that into account…

What were the chances that Han Seol-ah could clear the Tower all the way to the end?

“None.”

The answer was zero.

I admit it.

Han Seol-ah had become much stronger.

But

If the Tower could have been conquered through the strength of a single Hunter…

Republic of Korea would never have suffered this much in the first place.

Still.

“…”

I looked down at my hand.

The sight of the Hall came back to me.

A long, long corridor.

And at its end, seated upon the highest dais, that absolute being.

Void Knight, Nebula.

The masterpiece I had raised by staking everything I had.

‘…If it’s Nebula’s power.’

It might be possible.

No, I was certain.

‘It is possible.’

I shoved my hand deep into my pocket.

My fingers caught hold of a single rustling sheet of paper.

A white piece of paper.

It had a simple design, with nothing but a few crude stars drawn on it as though by a child.

And there, stamped in gold, were four words that caught my eye.

[Possession Ticket]

It was one of the rewards I had received for completing the Epic Quest to make Han Seol-ah EX-rank.

Under the ticket, as though prompting me to enter a target,

{ }

there was a long blank space.

I stared at that empty line without blinking.

The answer was here.

‘But.’

I tucked the paper away again.

‘…I think I’ll only understand the structure once I actually use it.’

Trying to infer everything from the single case of Han Seol-ah alone…

I had far too little information.

‘Slowly. Take it slow.’

There was no need to rush.

I had already waited ten years from the moment I became unable to Awaken.

Republic of Korea would not be destroyed just because I was a little late.

If anything, if I rushed ahead and made a mistake?

…That would be the true trigger for Republic of Korea’s destruction.

‘Besides, I already bought us time to endure.’

I trust you, Han Seol-ah.

Srrk—

The moment I finished organizing my thoughts,

The Frost Type Mana vanished like snow melting away.

‘It’s over.’

This was another issue that needed improvement.

The time given to me was ten minutes.

And there was even the restriction that using Mana caused that time limit to shrink rapidly.

Let’s say I entered the Tower.

I would need to travel to Seoul, where the Tower was located, as fast as possible.

Then I would have to enter it and clear it.

Could I do all that in ten minutes?

‘…No. Absolutely not.’

I had only just taken my first step as a Hunter, and already there was a mountain of problems I had to solve.

‘Heh.’

Of course, they were the kind of problems that made me happy.

Still.

‘When is that thing going to close?’

The Gate was still there.

‘…I should head back to my room first.’

Once Synchronization ended, I would become a person worse than ordinary.

If another Demonic Beast burst out of the Gate in the meantime, that would be a disaster.

‘I need to turn Synchronization back on and come back up—’

The moment I turned to leave,

“…!”

A tremendous agony raced through my entire body.

“Guaa… agh.”

The pain was so intense that even screaming was difficult.

I collapsed onto the ground.

“Hrk. Hrk. Hrk. Cough.”

Drool spilled from my mouth.

Between my ragged breaths, bloody phlegm boiled up.

‘If this blocks my airway, I’ll suffocate.’

It felt as though my organs were being torn apart, so I barely managed to spit it out with a tiny cough.

“Fu…ck.”

Separate from my broken body, my mind remained cold and sharp.

—This was a backlash.

The price of handling Mana with the pitiful body of old humanity.

While Mana had still existed inside me, I had been fine.

But once the Mana disappeared, the aftereffects had hit.

‘It was fine during practice!’

Yes, it definitely had been.

So using it in actual combat was how it stabbed me in the back?

Even in the midst of the terrible pain twisting through my organs, my brain ran frantically, tracking down the margin of error.

The difference between merely maintaining a simple construct in my room and actual combat operation, where I exploded Mana with killing intent to kill an enemy.

‘The burden on the body is different, damn it.’

Understanding came quickly.

“Khk. Kgh.”

Trying it out casually for practice.

And operating Mana to the absolute limit in order to kill a monster.

The difference between those two was heaven and earth.

‘…Still, this won’t kill me.’

I judged the situation calmly.

I was not that worried.

I knew my body very well.

This was not an injury severe enough to kill me.

It was just that my internal injuries were serious enough to hurt like hell.

And it would keep hurting like hell until those injuries healed.

‘Hrk… hrk.’

My vision darkened, and my consciousness grew faint.

Pain, shock, and then unconsciousness were all closing in.

But then,

beyond my narrowing vision, I could clearly see the golden motes of light wavering.

‘…Why is that?’

Those motes that had once been the Ogre—those motes that should have disappeared beyond the Gate—

were now flying toward me.

‘D-don’t come here.’

Was it because I could not force out a strong enough “Stop!”?

The rapidly approaching motes of light finally reached me—and slipped right into me.

“HUAAH!”

Startled, I jerked upright like a flopping carp.

“Huh?”

And then I realized it.

…the body that had felt like it was going to die from pain was perfectly fine.

“???”

What the hell is this?