READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 312. Evening
A few hours later.
The sun was still shining bright during the day.
Gi-ryeo had temporarily teleported to the vicinity of the Seoul OO Road Controlled Gate Area.
According to someone’s—Esther’s—testimony, the area was messy enough to be confused with a construction site.
‘So, there’s a dungeon that they’ve illegally occupied inside that giant partition?’
However, no one, including Gi-ryeo, could easily enter that place.
Spread of skill utilization methods.
Research results related to strategy techniques, and so on.
Modern hunters were enhancing their overall hunting abilities even at this moment, but A-Class Gates were still dangerous sites.
Moreover, there was another beast discovered inside that could bite people, so it seemed wise to avoid acting recklessly for the time being.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The man’s boots echoed against the concrete steps.
Gi-ryeo.
The hunter was climbing the stairs of a nearby building that allowed him to overlook the occupied gate.
He reached the seventh floor and opened the window in the corridor.
Ding!
A message arrived.
[Sender: Seo Esther]
[Content: How is it? Do you see anything from up there?]
Before coming here, Gi-ryeo had declared that he would check for any anomalies with his emotional ability.
‘There’s a building right within reach if I fall over. This is convenient.’
He replied to Esther that he hadn’t yet started any work and slipped his phone into his pocket.
However, the long-haired earthling who sent that text wasn’t exactly free from her own schedule.
As the representative of the Magic Tower Guild, Seo Esther had brought along her congressman grandfather and even revisited the Association President’s Office while someone was climbing the stairs next to the gate.
S-Class Hunters.
Their combat power was indeed higher than that of a terrorist group armed with guns, even barehanded.
Currently, the Hunter Association Headquarters was experiencing an atmosphere more terrifying than the fake construction site in front of them.
Esther had conveyed that she would thoroughly investigate whether the new association president was involved in this matter, using the Knight’s Pact, and would proceed with punishing the corrupt bureaucrats and stabilizing the aftermath.
“Hmm.”
Honestly, the alien could hardly understand the legal procedures she planned to carry out, but given the abilities she displayed, he roughly handed over the rest of the tasks to her.
In that case, he now had to engage in the tasks that only a great mage could perform.
Gi-ryeo leaned against the window frame, gazing down.
Woooooo…
It was difficult to observe the gate below since it was obscured by partitions created by illegal immigrants wearing bone masks.
But from this high vantage point, the surface was clearly visible.
To an earthling, it appeared as a constantly vibrating cluster of light—a passage to another world.
“A-Class Gate.”
The blond man rolled his mammalian organs, now accustomed to them, and gazed intently at the gate.
If he were an ordinary appraiser, detecting something from this distance would require a minimum of B-Class magic power.
But he was a soul that had lived through the era of magic studies.
“Hmm…?”
Moreover, he was a being favored by miracles more than those who created the passage.
‘Hmm?’
Gi-ryeo wasn’t necessarily known for having big eyes.
Yet his mammalian body suddenly widened its eyelids in disbelief as if it had witnessed something unbelievable.
‘No way!’
He had received new observational information.
While tracking Nachalsawon, he had delved deeply into analyzing various dungeon entrances.
‘What is this!’
So, even though he had never seen it in his previous life, he had absorbed the basic characteristics of that technology, and the results were shocking.
‘Why does the mana spread suspiciously like that? It’s as if it’s about to be opened like a box at any moment…!’
Like a perforation line found on snack or household product packaging.
The gate occupied by beasts was not just a hunting ground.
When a mage’s sixth sense detects the arrangement of material, that space felt as weak as if it would tear along a perforation line with just a tap.
A new world unfolding.
‘Oh no, I really didn’t expect this.’
Until now, the alien had frequently referred to the activity of ki-simche as a ‘food box.’
However, that term sounds awfully awkward to the rulers of Earth.
Box.
Why have the Alphauri referred to a space that isn’t even rectangular as such?
And here, it finally became clear.
In reality, the feeding activities of ki-simche that appeared from Alphauri occur normally in the outdoors.
They did not need to create a separate space with such noisy and bright doors.
‘This is really unexpected. Could it be that they felt discomfort eating with such a straw?’
Originally, ki-simche are beings that directly corrode the surfaces of their residing planets.
They have realized the painful scenery they creatively combined in perfectly normal residences.
In this process, the territories of the previous inhabitants of that planet were eroded and pushed out.
Moreover, when ki-simche occupy a space, the boundary is usually cut into a box shape, thus leading to the established term.
Thinking about it, many dungeons, including [White Tower], tend to be rectangular. Perhaps they instinctively prefer specific shapes like bees, but is that really what’s important right now?
‘Oh my god.’
Rustle. Rustle.
As the great mage realized the truth, he hurriedly took out his phone.
This dungeon was presumed to be the original food box that appeared for the first time on Earth.
Analyzing the patterns previously displayed by that straw, it seemed that a Dungeon Break would likely be the trigger for this opening.
‘It’s a good thing I learned how to issue tickets from Seonwoo-yeon last time. How much are flights to Jeju Island these days?’
However, the problem lay in the characteristics of the food box just explained.
If kin-simche’s spatial magic fully activated, the previous scenery would be completely covered by the new one.
To put it simply…
The apartment where the appraiser stood.
The large mart visible across the street.
The luxury cars worth millions parked by the roadside.
Plus, even the buried sewage and drainage facilities could possibly be entirely erased.
‘The erosion could carve things away.’
Since Alphauri is a much larger planet than Earth, their realm invasion wasn’t relatively serious.
But if a box expanded in a densely populated city like Seoul, things would get complicated in various ways.
‘No matter how limited the area is, the damage will be severe.’
Why do the mammals living here cling to each other so needlessly? Maybe it’s because their bodies are small.
Couldn’t they have built a house that they could move like the Alphauri’s nests if needed?
Gi-ryeo muttered incomprehensible things as he dug through his phone screen.
[Finding flight tickets: GMP Seoul → CJU Jeju]
Yet, even though he realized the danger of this site, his hand hesitated over the payment button.
‘The Curse Mage asked for my help personally, but if I suddenly back out, it’ll create resentment.’
In truth, it wasn’t just because of this reason anymore.
‘But if I just avoid it here, what will be left?’
He fell into thought.
‘Beasts that primarily wreak havoc in Europe suddenly emerged, even bribing to occupy a specific dungeon. Is this really just a coincidence?’
Soon, the man’s minimal magic power sharply rearranged.
‘It’s difficult to think otherwise. Those guys must have caught on to the special nature of that dungeon in advance for everything to make sense.’
Not just in Korea.
Taking a look across the globe reveals S-Class thieves who have seized a rare gate.
Judging by the circumstances, the three fake beasts likely have a high probability of being foreigners.
Because in this small piece of South Korean soil, the highest tier has already emerged.
‘Ugh, and one of them I even messed with myself…’
But leaving behind the danger that beasts pose…
Esther wouldn’t.
Jeong Ha-seong wouldn’t.
They wouldn’t simply back off without acknowledging the threat to Seoul when warned.
So, by the time this situation ends, they might very well be dead from some peril.
‘It feels uneasy. If I draw on my past life experiences, this is definitely linked to beasts with some kind of backing.’
Of course, bringing in a lowly F-Class being wouldn’t make much of a difference in the grand scheme.
Yet, he couldn’t quite bring himself to take action.
‘I don’t want Jeong Ha-seong, whom I’ve painstakingly nurtured over the past few months, to die.’
Anyway, that connection always poses a problem.
‘Esther, a mammal who always cares for my clothes, would also be a loss if she died, being just an earthling.’
Had she not been born with magic, or with slightly less talent than other mages, the stress would’ve been much less.
‘If many residents suddenly die in the capital, Ahn Yoon-seung and Seonwoo-yeon would be sad. Technically, the competition at the top of a capitalist society would be reduced. For some reason, they’ve always been like that…’
The alien mage reincarnated on Earth couldn’t think of evading such a situation recklessly anymore.
On top of that.
Perhaps this situation is an opportunity of some kind.
Considering the increasingly concerning mid-level assessments of magic he had been keeping an eye on.
Wait, maybe I’m meant to be in such a situation…
“Um.”
However, explaining that this is a food box would involve going far beyond the scope of Earth.
Eventually, the dangers of this gate could only be framed as ‘doesn’t feel good instinctively.’
Additionally, inside, there are still three S-Class beast kids camping comfortably.
So, what to do about this in the future?
Ding!
Just when the man was lost in thought.
[Sender: Seo Esther]
Another message from Esther arrived.
She had concluded her discussions with the association president safely and was now planning to attempt retaking the gate with a few elite members from each guild with the help of the government.
The approaching time for a break was already long past for the A-Class dungeon.
Letting something like that sit idle in the hands of thugs is too dangerous; henceforth, they would forcibly drive away the beasts by deploying personnel.
‘It’d be even better if we also clear the gate as a bonus.’
Once the strategy is completed, the characteristics of that other world that dissolves would prevent erosion.
Gi-ryeo fully supported Esther’s plan to drive away the beasts.
However, he didn’t have the courage to step into the lair himself, so he began to think of tricks.