Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Among the annihilated monsters.

"......"

"......"

"...Whoa."

In the silence, only Euno's low gasp echoed.

Sahyeon lightly scanned the faces of the people staring at him blankly.

"Good thing nobody's dead yet."

The Association President had talked about this watch like it was some kind of miracle device.

He stepped down off a monster corpse and examined his wrist with a displeased look.

"Doesn't even do location tracking — it's just junk."

"...Oh."

At his words, Haeseong, who had been frozen, was the first to snap out of it.

"It's not perfectly precise, but the locations of people wearing the same watch do show up on radar......!"

"...? If you've got something like that, you should say so."

"What? Didn't I tell you?!"

I clearly explained every one of the watch's functions on the way to the Gate!

Haeseong cried out, looking wronged.

Though he immediately tucked his tail at the force of Sahyeon's glare.

While Sahyeon got another watch tutorial from Haeseong—

"...Insane. What did I just watch?"

Gyeol murmured with a vacant face.

"H-He took down this many monsters at once......"

Jaeyun seemed at a loss for words, slowly rolling his eyes around.

Monster remains littering the field. And Sahyeon, not a single breath out of place.

He was merely tapping his watch with an index finger, brow furrowed.

He looked far too calm to be someone who had just hunted a swarm of well over a hundred monsters.

Euno couldn't even budge against a single one... and this guy handled them this easily.

Jaeyun swallowed hard.

"What on earth is he......?"

"For someone this skilled at hunting, he's clearly got tons of experience. But if he's a hunter the public's never heard of......"

Gyeol's eyes tracked Sahyeon relentlessly.

"Could he be with 'Anshi'?"

"Anshi??"

"Yeah. It's an international cooperative hunter organization, but it's a secret group, so barely any information is known. But for someone with that level of skill who's also a mental-type... isn't it possible?"

"Whoa, that could be it......!"

Jaeyun nodded in agreement.

Mental-types were often managed by national or international agencies right after Awakening, due to their inherent danger.

"Of course, judging by his face alone, he looks more like the head of a criminal organization. They wouldn't make a criminal like that an Academy teacher—"

Gyeol's cynical commentary cut off mid-sentence.

"...No, wait. He could be a spy or something."

At Gyeol's addition, Jaeyun's pupils trembled.

"N-No way...!"

And as if eager to erase the hypothesis he'd just heard, he turned to Euno and asked.

"Euno hyung, what do you think?"

"......"

No answer came.

Euno was staring into space with a dumbstruck expression.

"......?"

Jaeyun and Gyeol exchanged puzzled glances.

Oh! Could his injury be making him feel sick?

Caught up in Sahyeon's display of skill, they'd failed to pay attention to Euno.

"Euno hyung, are you okay?"

Jaeyun checked Euno's condition with an oh-no expression.

The wound Haeseong had stanched. Thankfully, it didn't seem deep.

He was a little pale from blood loss, but he looked fine......

"Did he faint with his eyes open?"

Gyeol waved a hand in front of Euno's face.

"...!"

Only then did focus return to Euno's eyes.

He abruptly shouted at Sahyeon.

"Teach!! Show me that thing from before one more time!!"

"......? What?"

Sahyeon asked back, dumbfounded.

"No, I mean, that technique you used earlier!!"

Euno was relentless.

"I didn't get a good look... GAAH! Owww! This crazy hyung—!!"

Gyeol urgently clamped both hands over Euno's mouth.

How's he supposed to show you without monsters? What if we become the targets!

"Quit babbling and get treated."

In response to Gyeol's advice, Euno shook his head pointedly.

"They said if I get treatment, the test is void! No way!"

"The test is... probably off the table now anyway."

Jaeyun glanced cautiously at Haeseong and Sahyeon.

Haeseong, having finished Sahyeon's watch tutorial.

He let out a small sigh, his face troubled.

"That's right, I'm afraid. Now that a Gate grade change has occurred, continuing the test like this would be too dangerous."

He rummaged through his inventory for a moment, then pulled out a potion and handed it to Euno.

"It's an emergency potion. Drink it quickly before the wound worsens."

"No, I'm fine without— ACK!! Ha Jaeyun, let go of this!!"

A massive frame seizing both of Euno's arms from behind.

Gyeol took the potion instead, popped the cap, and brought it to Euno's mouth.

"You got wrecked that badly just now and you still want to do the test? This guy still hasn't come to his senses."

Euno resisted to the bitter end.

But after the two of them persisted, the potion finally trickled between Euno's lips.

Haeseong let out a sigh of relief as Euno's color gradually returned.

Then, recalling the next problem he had to solve, he stole a sidelong glance.

Sahyeon, tilting his head as he looked at the students. His expression said he couldn't comprehend why they were like this.

The boom that had spread shortly after Sahyeon left. And the Gate grade change window that popped up right after.

He had to know something.

Haeseong carefully parted his lips.

"...Mr. Sahyeon. Do you happen to know how the Gate grade change occurred?"

"Ah, that."

Sahyeon's brow creased for a moment.

"It's probably because of something I did."

"......"

Haeseong slowly chewed over what he'd just heard.

"...What?! You, Mr. Sahyeon?!"

And then, belatedly grasping the meaning, he was horrified.

Sahyeon began his explanation from the point where he'd set out to find the boss.

Haeseong, having heard the whole story.

With a contemplative face, Haeseong repeated Sahyeon's final words.

"...So you're saying the boss ate a red Mana Crystal."

Then that spike he used as a weapon was also the boss's...?

At Haeseong's question, Sahyeon raised an eyebrow in confirmation.

Even after being swung around that mercilessly, the spike that had broken off the boss was still intact.

Sahyeon planted the spike into the ground and asked.

"Have there been similar cases before?"

"No...... There's never been a grade change caused by a boss eating a Mana Crystal. It seems like a Gate anomaly."

At Haeseong's continued words, a vein bulged on Sahyeon's forehead.

"They said the Gate was inspected — and they couldn't even catch a contaminant like this?"

Got cushy as Chancellor and his skills atrophied.

Hearing Sahyeon's chilling mutter, Haeseong broke into a cold sweat.

"W-Well, I think we'll need to examine the Mana Crystal the boss swallowed."

Sahyeon nodded as if to say understood.

"Recover the Mana Crystal and get out of here fast."

A breezy tone, as if talking about going for a stroll after a meal.

Given the staggering number of monsters he'd just dispatched, the "kill 300 regular monsters" quest would be over quickly.

Just take down the boss and it'd wrap up soon......

Haeseong pulled up the system window.

[Monster Kill Count]

Yeom Sahyeon — 151

Tae Euno — 10

Go Gyeol — 8

Ha Jaeyun — 6

Yun Haeseong — 0

"......"

A hundred and fifty in that short span.

An overwhelming difference in power.

...And I couldn't do anything back there.

Just as Haeseong clenched his fist—

DING—

"...Huh?"

A chime sounded at an unexpected moment.

At the same time, the window Haeseong had pulled up changed.

The same window appeared before everyone else's eyes.

"Uh, huh?"

"What's this?"

"...Eh?"

Jaeyun and Gyeol, who had been proudly admiring the empty potion bottle.

And Euno, smacking his lips at the bitter aftertaste and scrunching up his whole face, blinked in confusion.

[Monster Kill Count]

??? — 1

Yeom Sahyeon — 151

Tae Euno — 10

.......

A person added to the system window.

Sahyeon's brow furrowed.

"What now."

Someone had entered the Gate.

Haeseong, too, looked bewildered, unsure of what was happening.

"Reinforcements, maybe?"

When an unexpected situation arose in a Gate, upper-tier Rankers often came as emergency support.

But......

Euno tilted his head.

"Question marks?"

Why isn't a name showing up?

There were two reasons a name wouldn't appear in the system window.

Either the person hadn't registered as an Awakened with the Association, or they hadn't received Gate entry authorization.

The former was extremely rare, so it was most likely the latter.

"There are exceptions in emergencies, though."

Given how suddenly this had all happened, getting authorization could take time.

Haeseong scratched his cheek with an uncertain face—

DING—

DING—

The score began climbing rapidly.

[Eliminate the monsters.]

[E-rank or above monsters: 177/300]

.......

[E-rank or above monsters: 191/300]

The Gate quest steadily accumulated alongside it.

"That's convenient — I was getting tired of it."

Sahyeon let out a brief comment.

Seems like someone fairly skilled had entered.

'This is high even among A-ranks.'

At this rate, even the boss quest would be more than—

'...Wait.'

Sahyeon's brow twitched.

"It'd be a problem if they took out the boss too."

He needed to recover the Mana Crystal inside the boss's body intact.

And he had to dig through the boss's head to see what had happened in the water.

"Ah! You're right!"

Just as Haeseong jerked his head up—

KABOOOM—!

"......!"

"......!"

A boom much larger than before rang out.

A sound like something exploding.

The boss? Sahyeon and Haeseong turned toward the sound.

Jaeyun shouted, his face gone white.

"I-It's close!"

Haeseong urgently spoke.

"Let's make contact with the reinforcements first. It'd be best to exchange situation reports."

Just as he turned on the watch's location radar, his eyes slowly narrowed.

"Th-That's strange......"

"What now."

At Sahyeon's question, Haeseong shifted his rigid gaze in fits and starts.

"...The location isn't showing up on the radar."

A watch every certified hunter was required to wear.

For that signal not to register meant......

'This is getting interesting.'

Sahyeon readjusted his grip on the spike and raised the corner of his mouth.

"Can't let it get snatched by the wrong person."

Before Sahyeon took a step, Haeseong nimbly pointed in the direction the sound had come from.

"Head left!"

Sahyeon nodded vaguely and looked back at Haeseong and the students.

"I'm going ahead."

This was a Gate teeming with upper-tier monsters.

If the chicks huddled together alone, who knew what calamity might befall them — better to stick close.

"Follow when you can."

Sahyeon left those words and moved swiftly.

And finally.

HISSSS— GRRRR!

He reunited with the boss not far off.

It looked completely different from before.

"At least it was compact earlier."

Sahyeon clicked his tongue with displeasure.

The lizard-like form had swollen into something resembling a giant dinosaur.

Its scale-covered muscles bulged in masses, and red venom dripped from the spikes covering its entire body.

It must have been mid-battle — the boss was bleeding from its nape and spewing fire into the air.

But strangely, the boss seemed unable to figure out where to attack.

'So only its physicals got boosted while its intelligence stayed the same.'

Sahyeon thought idly and drew in a breath.

'Prey but no hunter?'

He checked the surrounding terrain.

A cactus 50 meters to the left, a large boulder to the right.

One of the two.

'Well, either way it doesn't matter.'

Now that he'd found his target, there was only one thing to focus on.

Slicing open the lizard's belly to find the stone it had swallowed.

Just as Sahyeon was about to charge the boss—

"......!"

He instinctively raised the spike into a defensive stance.

The next moment, something rammed into him head-on.

CRASH—

A powerful impact rang up through the spike.

Only then did the source of the collision come into view.

Sahyeon studied the uninvited guest before him.

'...A cheetah?'

Glinting yellow eyes, a spotted pattern covering its body.

GRIND, GRIND, GRIND—!

And long, sharp fangs biting down on the spike.

The cheetah-shaped monster pushed against Sahyeon with even greater force.

'A-rank at least.'

It was markedly different from the monsters Sahyeon had been dealing with moments ago.

The instant Sahyeon shoved the cheetah back with a burst of force—

SNAP—

The spike broke in two.

The launched monster landed lightly on all fours.

GRRRRR—

It lowered its body, on guard.

Sahyeon gazed steadily at the uninvited guest before him.

An A-rank monster in a B-rank Gate......

"And where did you pop out from?"