Episode 09
2F of the Association Building.
Beyond the safe zone lay a row of Chaos Gates—gates where absolutely nothing could go wrong.
Even the quest objectives were laughably simple.
“Survive for 7 hours.”
“Defeat three monsters!”
The kind of instructions you wouldn’t even use for a mass-produced mobile game tutorial.
Things got a little twisted.
Naturally, I had expected to undergo my Awakener evaluation on the third or fourth floor.
Even if I was the lowest rank, shouldn’t there at least be a chance to display some hidden potential in a crisis?
How were they supposed to judge an Awakener’s aptitude in a place boring enough to make you yawn?
There was no doubt about it—Director Yoo had let his personal feelings interfere.
He’d been far too transparent about it.
…Incompetent.
Fine. Let’s say—out of sheer generosity—that he assigned me to the second floor according to procedure.
Sure. Whatever.
But is this really the quest objective?
Survive as long as possible.
In other words—just turtle it out.
“Unbelievable.”
They expected me to endure as long as I could in a barren wasteland with no food or water.
And for someone who had just developed chronic anemia? It was practically poison.
If there had at least been a proper monster, I could’ve leveled up and endured that way.
But—
Fwoosh.
The moment I spotted it.
Even now, I doubted my eyes.
That’s… a monster?
The pitch-black darkness peeled away to reveal a lush green meadow.
Peaceful. Pastoral. The sort of place where you could take a nap under the sun.
And right in the center—
A soft, gelatinous mass sat alone.
Whenever the wind blew, it quivered faintly.
…A slime.
Chaos Gates were contradictory by nature. They embodied “chaos,” yet adhered strictly to “order.”
If the quest difficulty was high relative to rank—
Then the monster quality dropped accordingly.
Exactly like this situation.
“Slime.”
I muttered it several times, as if repetition would make it more believable.
I approached cautiously. It didn’t move an inch.
When I tentatively touched it, it finally trembled slightly.
What is this? Why is it cute? It’s the size of a mountain and I’m the one who should be shaking—why are you quivering?!
Haah…
Maybe it was because I’d been wrestling goblins just yesterday, but this reveal felt painfully anticlimactic.
If I let my guard down, I’ll die, won’t I?
Years of working as a porter had forced me to compile my own mental bestiary. Low-rank Awakeners like me had to learn monster knowledge the hard way—with our bodies.
Guilds and the Association kept monster weaknesses and traits tightly guarded. Information was capital, after all. Still selfish bastards.
Anyway.
This oversized droplet was still a magical beast.
Especially that liquid trapped beneath its surface.
Highly toxic.
Drink it by mistake and you wouldn’t necessarily die—but you’d suffer internal bleeding. Someone once mistook it for jelly. The hospital trip had been… memorable.
Now that I think about it, that was in a cavern-type Abyss Gate. Starving, I’d eaten slime and paid dearly for it.
Still…
Let’s try.
I prodded the slime with the knife my brother gave me—Blood Shadow.
No reaction.
So I stabbed it.
Sssshlk.
There was only slight resistance at the surface before it yielded obediently to the blade.
Slippery.
When my arm sank nearly to the elbow, I yanked the knife out with force. As I shook it, blue droplets splattered across the weeds.
Okay.
I already knew—but confirming it solidified the truth.
There was one thing certain.
This quest was screwed.
Slimes were immune to cutting damage.
〈Quest Objective #4〉
· To obtain additional rewards, defeat the monsters inside the gate consecutively in the shortest time possible! This greatly affects your clear rank! (This is optional.)
I would have to give up on rank.
If I were a magic-type, I’d at least have a chance.
Unfortunately, the only thing I’d learned was how to swing a blade.
“Why did it have to be you…”
I muttered while patting the slime.
Even S-rank magical beasts could be cut. The blade just bounced off more often than not.
And here I was, thinking I’d finally gotten Blood Shadow.
A weapon far beyond my station—and the monster inside happened to be its worst matchup.
How could my luck be this consistently bad?
Even despair was exhausting.
Grrrlll.
My stomach growled.
Seriously? I’d eaten less than an hour ago.
“Ah…”
A tingling shock passed through me.
I looked back at the quest window.
〈Quest Objective #1〉
· Time inside the gate flows significantly faster than reality. One day here equals 30 minutes outside. However, your biological clock follows the outside world.
The last line.
Your biological clock follows the outside world.
My body still ran on real-world time.
This was absurdly confusing.
So this is how Chaos Gates work.
No wonder their recorded ranks tended to be low.
Let’s check the standings.
I pulled out the Hunter Pad Director Yoo had given me.
=======================
STAND / NAME / TIME
1ST / Jegal** / 39’46”.07 B+
2ND / Jung** / 30’23”.18 B
3RD / Lee** / 29’54”.39 C+
……
=======================
“Ranks cut off every ten minutes.”
In theory, surviving one hour would earn an A+.
Hmm.
Seeing it like this sparked a flicker of hope.
Even in the lowest-grade dungeon, the fact that no one had reached A-rank or higher was stimulating.
For someone whose goal upon registration was to attract attention, this was excellent news.
Still—it was idealism.
Even first place hadn’t lasted forty minutes.
Under twenty minutes meant an automatic D-rank or lower.
It wasn’t weakness of will.
Even Awakeners boasting powerful physiques were fragile before starvation.
Some of them probably ate slime and got eliminated instantly.
Like drinking seawater when stranded at sea.
I was lucky I knew better.
The key is Objective 1 and 4.
First, deal with hunger—
Grrrlll!
Damn it.
My stamina was draining in real time.
It hadn’t even been twenty minutes, and already the blood was leaving my head.
And I was already chronically short on blood.
…
Wait.
Why am I worried about blood deficiency?
The red thread between my brother and me had been severed the moment we entered the elevator.
The first-floor lobby was isolated from the upper floors where Chaos Gates existed.
Which meant—
If my brother wasn’t inside a Chaos Gate, the red thread shouldn’t exist.
But it did.
I rubbed my eyes.
It was thinner than before.
“…Slightly thinner.”
I’d seen that thickness before.
Recently.
Though “recently” now meant my previous life.
This is—
Him.
My sworn enemy.
And then—
〈Lifetime Contract: Offering Activated〉
Han Bi-yeol → Seo Won-seok
Transferred Experience: +1,055
“…??”
It didn’t stop.
Notification after notification appeared.
For some reason, Han Bi-yeol was working himself to death within my range.
Is he trying to make up for the experience he missed during yesterday’s Gate Break?
Probably.
Unlike Abyss Gates, Chaos Gates were always open.
Hunters often visited them for training.
Whatever the reason, Han Bi-yeol was desperately hungry for growth.
Not a heaven-sent genius—yet he had become Korea’s first S-rank.
Han Bi-yeol was a hardworking bastard.
Is there a reason?
I shook my head.
There was no reason I needed to know.
Then—
A level-up notification cut through my thoughts.
Huh?
I pressed a hand to my stomach.
The hunger was gone.
My stamina had automatically increased with the level-up.
Han Bi-yeol’s Offering had bought me at least fifteen minutes.
* * *
Fifteen Minutes Earlier — Association Lobby
Director Yoo continued hovering around Seo Bo-seok when a group of men passed through the revolving door.
“Senior, aren’t you being too diligent? Even if the work got messed up because of you, wouldn’t it be fine to take a day off?”
“Beloved junior, if you keep flapping that mouth, I’ll punch a hole through your jaw.”
Han Bi-yeol.
And his sly, narrow-eyed junior.
“Haha. I’ll watch my mouth—Huh?!”
The junior’s slit-like eyes went wide.
Han Bi-yeol froze half a beat later.
A hunter they absolutely should not get entangled with was already present.
“Why is Hunter Seo here?!”
Han Bi-yeol quickly clamped a hand over his junior’s mouth, ignoring the sweat on his palm.
Why?
Hunter Seo Bo-seok should have been avoiding the Association.
“…No way.”
His eyes darted to the display board.
Thanks to Director Yoo—unintentionally—drawing attention, Seo Bo-seok hadn’t noticed him.
2F 266. Seo XX : Sityletr-66
It was him.
No matter how you looked at it—it was him.
Even blurred, “Seo” was a rare surname.
“Hunter Seo” had become synonymous with Seo Bo-seok for a reason.
“…!!”
The pieces clicked.
Han Bi-yeol leaned close to his junior.
“Hey. Keep your eyes on Seo Bo-seok here.”
“S-Senior…?!”
“I’m heading to the second-floor Chaos Gates.”
He had to meet him.
That bastard connected to Seo Bo-seok.
He had to confirm the Awakening ability.
At this rate, sleep deprivation would kill him.
If that was the case, he might as well risk death and ask directly.
“When he’s separated from Seo Bo-seok.”
If his suspicion about the so-called instant-death ability was correct—
“Then I have to get out of this plan by any means necessary.”
He refused to die like a dog.
Just as Han Bi-yeol had said in his previous life—he held no deep personal grudge against Seo Bo-seok.
“You’re good at this stuff. Go try talking to the great Hunter Seo.”
After speaking with a staff member, Han Bi-yeol went up to the second floor.
The narrow-eyed junior, though reluctant, crept toward Seo Bo-seok, hoping for conversation.
From then on, Han Bi-yeol ran the lowest-tier Chaos Gates on the second floor in endless rotation.
And yet—
He never reached the gate where Seo Won-seok was.
The reason?
Luck -44.
It interfered with the experience synergy effect.
Han Bi-yeol burned with anxiety but continued clearing gates relentlessly. One after another.
And thus—
Seo Won-seok unexpectedly began enjoying a steady rainfall of experience points.
