Chapter 45
“Headquarters, this is Team Seven. Standing by for entry. Requesting permission to proceed.”
∗Static∗—TeamSeven,permissiongranted.Commenceoperation.*Static* — Team Seven, permission granted. Commence operation.
Disaster Control Team 7.
An elite unit handpicked by the state, forged through years of real combat.
Yet its youngest member, Tae-oh, was filled with unease and frustration.
“They couldn’t even handle a mere B-rank operation properly and turned it into this mess?”
He’d always hated them —
The way they strutted around just because they’d been classified as double-talented,
or the way the media and public idolized them for clearing a gate that even rookies dared to challenge.
“The real heroes who deserve that praise are us…”
High-level gate breaches.
Criminal player uprisings.
Cult activity like the current Followers issue —
Every national security crisis had been quietly resolved by the Disaster Control Teams.
And among them, the ones sent to the most dangerous missions were Team Seven.
“Those flashy show-offs aren’t worth half of what we are…”
At that moment, the one-eyed team leader growled lowly.
“Focus, Tae-oh.”
“…Y-yes, sir!”
This operation involved foreign entities.
That was why even their commander, who usually stayed behind the lines, was out on the field himself —
proof enough that this was a high-risk mission.
It had been rated A+.
Before them yawned the dark mouth of an underground passage.
The one-eyed leader gazed into it and finally gave the order.
“Team Seven, move in.”
Nods all around.
They moved in perfect formation — the vanguard, the midline, and the rear guard Tae-oh, who handled visual coverage.
The leader entered last, forming a closed formation with the sub-leader.
Tap-tap-tap-tap…
Their descent was smooth, disciplined — the movement of seasoned professionals.
After a short descent, the sub-leader raised a clenched fist.
Everyone froze.
He gave several hand signals.
The team spread out, guarding every angle as they advanced carefully —
a glimpse of how perfectly attuned they were to one another.
Step.
Step.
Slow but steady.
Their hearts raced, but they didn’t rush.
And what greeted them first was—
“…What… the hell…”
“…A massacre.”
“Ugh!”
The place looked like a great calamity had clawed through it.
Tae-oh doubled over, vomiting to the side.
Even for a rookie, he’d seen his share of battlefields — but this…
“This isn’t human work…”
Bodies torn apart, limbs scattered, torsos missing their lower halves.
Pieces of flesh rolling across the floor.
“Judging by their robes, they’re Followers — Palspella Cult.”
The one-eyed leader examined a corpse and muttered grimly.
The sub-leader approached.
“If this kind of destruction was caused here…”
“Kang Si-woo.”
The leader wiped the dried blood off his hand.
“Among the previous operation members, the only one who used beast-type summons was Kang Si-woo.”
“That’s impossible! He only awakened recently—”
“Tae-oh.”
“There’s no way a rookie could control beasts like this—”
“Tae-oh.”
“…Yes, sir.”
The leader’s single eye glared coldly at the younger man until Tae-oh bowed his head in silence.
“If it happens again, you’re off the field. Understood?”
“…Yes, sir. I’m sorry.”
“And one more thing…”
The leader turned, walking toward a massive stone gate.
“Stop judging with a narrow mind.”
“…Sir?”
“Base your conclusions only on evidence you see on site. That’s how I’ve stayed alive this long.”
He disappeared into the darkness beyond the gate.
A short-haired woman patted Tae-oh’s shoulder.
“He only says that because he cares about you.”
“I know.”
The others gathered around, ruffling his hair, slapping his back.
“Cheer up! You’ll do fine next time!”
“Yeah, rookie!”
“You think that was harsh? You should’ve seen when I got chewed out!”
At that moment, none of them had any idea how fierce the battle beyond that stone gate had been.
“Holy hell…”
Even the team leader, usually calm no matter the circumstance, cursed under his breath.
But none of the others noticed —
they were too stunned by what they saw.
“Check the foreign-signal detector again.”
“It’s confirmed. Traces of Revelation energy are here!”
The leader crouched to study the ground.
“Someone took down a priest under divine Revelation… alone?”
No trace of beast-type mana.
The fight was purely between humans — one-on-one.
Meaning, it couldn’t have been Kang Si-woo.
“Then who? Was there an unreported participant?”
The previous team had only three members:
the tamer Kang Si-woo,
the wizard Seo Gyeo-ul,
and the warrior Kim Pyeong-on.
“No way it was him… he doesn’t have the talent or the level for this.”
Kim Pyeong-on had been a bureaucrat in the White Gate Entry Office — hardly the type to cause such carnage.
“Either way, we can’t ignore the possibility of a third-party intervention.”
That made it an emergency —
foreign interference couldn’t be ruled out.
The one-eyed leader rose, slinging his weapon over his shoulder.
“Operation status: Red.”
“Yes, sir!”
“All units, increase response level — emergency mode!”
With a burst of movement, the team dashed forward at full speed,
not a single one lagging behind.
Minutes passed.
“…Blood smell.”
“Prepare to engage.”
“Ready!”
Soon, a faint light appeared in the distance.
Boom!
They stormed forward — and arrived, panting, in a massive underground chamber.
It was hell.
Hundreds of corpses or unidentifiable chunks of flesh.
The stench of blood so thick it clung to their boots.
A floor slick with gore.
Even the team leader, ever cold-blooded, could only stare in silence.
Then —
“You’ve finally arrived.”
A calm voice echoed from atop the pile of corpses.
A man stood there, impossibly clean for such a place,
flanked by three others and two massive summoned wolves.
“…Kang Si-woo?”
“Yes. You must be the Disaster Control Team.”
“You knew we were coming?”
“Of course. When the first team went silent and foreign mana traces appeared, it was obvious the mission rank would be raised.
Your arrival confirms it.”
Too composed — far too calm for someone standing in a slaughterhouse.
“…You did all this?”
“We almost got wiped out, but thanks to this lady here, we survived.”
He gestured toward a blonde woman.
The leader followed his gaze— and froze.
“…Julie Pearson? The CEO of Bluestone?!”
“Ugh, could you not introduce me like that? It’s embarrassing. And no, listen—he’s got it backwards.”
“Pardon?”
“Well, here’s what actually happened…”
Julie explained everything —
that she’d been stranded here,
that the Palspella cult was behind the Gate Break Rush,
that Seo Gyeo-ul’s group had been the one fighting back.
“Hard to believe, right? But I swear on my name as a Wizard — it’s true.”
Even the hardened agents were speechless.
When one of the Tri-Chairs of Bluestone swore on her name, you didn’t doubt her.
“So it’s true, you killed the priest who received the Revelation?”
“I was lucky. I managed to strike before full synchronization completed.”
The leader knew from experience how absurd that claim was.
“He might as well have said the priest died of old age mid-fight.”
Still, if this was reported as-is, it’d cause chaos — both governmentally and politically.
“They already call him a ‘super rookie’… this’ll send his reputation skyrocketing — and make him plenty of enemies, especially in the Palspella cult.”
While the leader mulled it over, Julie spoke again.
“By the way, since the Followers are gone, do we really need to destroy the gates in this factory district?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Haven’t you seen the news? We’re looking for a stable artifact-production site.
For that, we need a steady mana-stone supply.
Embarrassing as it is, I got captured here while investigating that.”
The sudden business proposal caught the team leader off guard.
It was far above his pay grade.
“T-that’s something you should discuss with upper command, ma’am.”
“Yeah, figured.”
“But… you do have the discretion to postpone gate removal, right?”
“…Technically, yes.”
Julie smiled, sensing his hesitation.
“Then just do that much for me. I’ll handle the rest directly with your government.”
“…Understood.”
He nodded, unaware of what kind of storm that decision would unleash later.
Relieved that the conversation was finally over, the leader exhaled —
but Julie wasn’t quite done.
“Oh, and tell your bosses this too —
I want Kang Si-woo to represent your side at the negotiation table.”
“…What??”
Even Kang Si-woo looked stunned.
“He’s the only one here I can actually communicate with. Negotiation’s all about communication, right?”
“…I’ll pass it along, ma’am.”
“Good. Well, that’s everything I had to say. Guess I’ll be going now.”
She turned to leave, but the leader called after her.
“Wait, Ms. Pearson? As a rescued civilian, you should accompany—”
“Oh? You want to take my statement, perhaps?”
Her golden eyes flashed —
and the air itself grew heavy.
“…My apologies, ma’am. You’re free to go.”
“Heh… relax, kid. I’m leaving.”
As she departed, her voice echoed telepathically:
『I’ll tell you what you wanted to know during the negotiations. Not a good time now.』
『That’s fine. I’ll see you then.』
『And by the way, I hate that title. Next time, just call me Pearson.』
With a flash of light, she was gone.
Silence fell.
Her presence had been that overwhelming.
“…Shall we head back?”
It was Kang Si-woo who finally broke the quiet.
The leader, still mentally exhausted from that exchange, blinked.
“Ah… right.”
“You’re here to retrieve us, aren’t you? Lead the way.”
“Of course. Cleanup’s the recovery team’s job anyway.
But… who’s that girl?”
All eyes turned to Rebecca —
standing still, eyes vacant, like a puppet.
“She’s a prize from the last battle.”
“A… prize?”
“A priest of the Palspella cult. Something’s off about her, but yes.”
“A priest!?”
Everyone froze.
The cult’s zealots were infamous for self-termination before capture.
The leader stared quietly at her, then murmured to Kang Si-woo,
“You kids really caused a stir… the higher-ups are going to have a hard time figuring out how to reward this.”
He walked past them with a tired wave.
Kang Si-woo watched his back and thought,
“Yeah… even I’m looking forward to this one.”
An A+-rank mission cleared with zero casualties.
Rescuing a VIP.
Securing a major business alliance.
Capturing a priest-level cultist alive.
No performance report could look better.
“Once this mission’s over… maybe I’ll finally take a break.”
He followed after his team.
Behind him, Tae-oh watched silently.
“…Someday, I’ll reach that level too.”
What burned in his eyes now wasn’t doubt —
but awe,
admiration,
and the spark of a new dream.
