Chapter 311. Prologue (3)
Just when I was curious about what was happening, I received a call.
On the other end of the speaker was a sharp distress signal that stirred the uneasy soul.
– Mr. Gi-ryeo, please help!
After a brief wait, Esther started to a half-crying explanation of the situation…
*
Finally, the prologue has arrived.
【 Why the hell is this mess happening? 】
To understand the certain incident, the quickest way was to hear the testimony of an Earthling.
The S-Class Hunter named Esther had actually sensed the beginning of some incident a whopping 48 hours ago.
“It’s a matter involving a gate. I mean, I suppose this is still considered fast.”
To explain, this Earthling woman ran a Hunter company akin to a large corporation, giving her access to more information than most.
A few days ago, she reportedly heard this:
– CEO Seo. Did you hear? A-Class Gate was sold to the private sector.
A gate transaction, huh?
As we entered the era of Dungeon Shock, governments around the planet have had to spend significantly more in various ways.
Naturally.
In the past, maintaining a city meant occasionally flipping some cobblestones, but these days, collapsing walls are the norm. During the initial shocks, ghosts filled the underground of the National Assembly Hall, leading to the state bunker getting wrecked.
The most dramatically increased tax expenditure was, indeed, for the maintenance and repair of public facilities.
Dungeon Shock not only kills people but also causes material damage worth ‘jaws’ to countries.
So, the government needed much more in taxes, but squeezing the already struggling citizens might risk the very existence of democracy.
Therefore, the state assumed responsibility for the risks of all gates and claimed temporary ownership of that otherworld, selling it to the rich for additional funds.
Even so, renewing it every three or five years required strict verification, providing at least some minimal risk management…
All of which could only be said until a week ago.
-A-Class?
-Yes.
-You mean to tell me they sold an A-Class, which is just as much trouble as monsters spilling out from the Nest of the Grass and The Deepest Place, to the private sector?
Just a few days ago, the Korean Hunter Association had made what appeared to be an incomprehensible delegation of management rights.
Even a dragon, which gives great benefits to humanity, is classified as a high-ranking monster and can cause casualties with just a minor mistake, so according to agency regulations, transferring an A-Class Gate was supposed to be strictly prohibited.
Yet amidst all this, the association sold an A-Class Gate, leading Esther to momentarily think:
“At first, I thought it might just be an administrative mistake. Maybe some staff member accidentally typed the wrong letter during registration.”
But reality was far from her assumptions.
“However, the more I investigated, the more strange things turned up. The deeper I delved, the more unsettling corners I found.”
The oddities Esther uncovered were as follows:
● First, what I had believed to be mere rumors about the sale of A-Class Gates turned out to be true.
The agency managing dungeon auctions had privately sold a portion of another world measuring 5.4m at the entrance of the passage.
Due to the large gaps in space, measuring the magic power flowing out was surprisingly easy, making the discovery itself simple.
Of course, immediately after that…
● Second, a state-sponsored gate transaction must unconditionally disclose the bid price and ownership, but why was there no data on that A-Class in the database?
The more serious issue was what was observed.
“So, to sum it up, Esther noticed the trade of a high-ranking gate and wanted to investigate how this happened.”
“Yes.”
“And before making an inquiry, she wanted to identify the name of the gate, but A-Class was completely absent from the agency’s transfer disclosure records.”
“Exactly.”
“What a strange situation indeed! So, based on what former executive Yu from Hanshin Guild told me, you went to the site where someone had occupied the gate.”
“They had fenced off the area around the gate with metal signs used on construction sites.”
Sniffle, sniffle.
For reference, this was in another hospital in Seoul, not Neo Hospital.
I came here at her urging to hear more details, and the culprit who summoned the extraterrestrial was currently dripping a liquid that was questionable as either blood or snot.
Since the visit of the healing psychic had just ended, that pitiful expression wasn’t simply due to physical pain.
“Hic, so as soon as I recognized the clues, I rushed to the association’s head office. And I grilled the responsible person about this ridiculous matter.”
“The responsible person, you say?”
Esther was still very angry about ‘what happened.’
Though her injuries had healed, her face remained flushed with rage as she said,
“The buyer of that A-Class Gate turned out to be a small hunter company I had never heard of.”
“Really?”
“An unfamiliar small guild, not even our Magic Tower, Neo, or even Hanshin Guild, ended up owning Korea’s A-Class Gate?”
Thinking back, it all seemed odd.
Due to my status, I was surrounded by comparatively higher-ranking individuals.
In fact, among Awakened ones, the top tier was notoriously small, meaning the chances of a small guild having a powerhouse were slim.
Not to mention that if they had a unit capable of stably managing the same A-Class gate, those odds were even lower.
But this place…
[QuantumPulse]
Could a hole-in-the-wall beat a high-ranking dungeon?
● Third, when I questioned the final supervisor of the gate trades about this situation, they responded that the sale of that gate was merely delayed processing due to the summer holidays of lower-level staff.
Along with their response was a narrative that the gate involved had been confirmed to contain materials that would have a significant impact on human advancement, thus granting it an exception for the transfer of ownership despite being A-Class.
● Fourth, upon hearing this answer, the Korean Magic Tower Guild Master erupted, asking how this could make sense when you skipped our guild and Neo Sisters and applied an exception for that small guild. Did you even conduct an auction properly?
● Fifth, then a higher-up from the association, Kim ○○ explained that this A-Class Gate was uniquely authorized to that buyer’s guild due to the researcher’s findings on new materials.
This was the hardship that woman had endured over the past 48 hours.
‘Ah, Earth is complex.’
The woman with purple hair irritably examined the stains on her blouse and continued talking.
“Anyway, that person keeps insisting there was nothing legally wrong with their handling. But anyone can see this reeks of suspicion.”
“Legally no issues?”
“I actually confirmed that the restrictions on A-Class Gate trading had recently been lifted. But that part was really just a loosely defined agreement rather than any actual legislation. Besides, it was internal regulations, and if someone with influence threw in some money and maneuvered a bit, there wouldn’t be anything stopping changes from happening.”
“Hmm.”
“Regardless, what kind of shadow administration is this?!”
I wasn’t exactly sure what those expressions about administration meant, but it seemed the curse mage was quite furious, so I kept my mouth shut.
“And so, I was so incredulous that to uncover the truth, I threatened the association president.”
See?
“I told the new association president that if this is the way you’re going to handle things, just go ahead and get charged with dereliction of duty, and I’ll take my chances in jail with assault.”
Clearly, I did well to avoid ruffling her feathers.
“Thus, they hastily investigated and reported back that it seems that person had been lobbied. Oh, of course, I also deleted the footage that had been uploaded illegally on the internet by this time.”
“……?”
“Attempting to own an A-Class Gate through lobbying, knowing they’d be exposed quickly? Do you think it makes sense for them to pour in tens of billions?”
“Well…”
“And furthermore, upon digging deeper, I found out that the gate’s buyer, [QuantumPulse], wasn’t just a small guild, but a ‘ghost company’ with their members’ identities completely untraceable.”
“!”
“Where did such a hole-in-the-wall get the massive lobby funds to entice a high-ranking official? That remains a mystery.”
Thunk.
Esther seemed to feel a pang in her injured right eye again. She brought her hand back to her face, continuing with her explanation.
Honestly, I’d have no hesitation wiping out the root of the problem even if it turned out to be the world’s representative.
“Unfortunately, it seems this incident can’t be solved simply.”
Well, that’s about it.
“I managed to pressure the association president through curses into promising the revocation of that gate’s ownership, but they do not respond when contacting them on their registered number.”
Esther lifted her face from her hands.
“However, the dungeon transaction happened a whole six days ago.”
“That puts us in an impending break situation. Depending on its size, it might have already passed.”
“That’s why I had no choice but to push through all legal procedures and charge in on-site…”
It took quite a while to explain, but the reward for my patience was that the true center of all this chaos had finally surfaced.
“I really didn’t expect there would be a ‘Beast Group’ in there.”
“Yes. Who would have anticipated such a thing?”
Shockingly enough, the identity of the rogue who attacked Esther’s eyes was a Beast.
‘To be precise, it was a fake beast trying to stop this Earthling from clearing the gate.’
I fell deep in thought with my arms crossed behind my back.
“The Beast Group that’s been all over the news lately is… inside the dungeon?”
Well, what a colossal disaster this was.
Until now, they didn’t show their faces around neighborhoods mostly inhabited by Asians, but suddenly, the owners of bone masks landed in South Korea.
And thanks to the assault on Esther while she was occupying the dungeon, she had sustained serious injuries.
“Hic, you bastard! If my abilities weren’t those that minimized lethality like a curse, I could have taken out at least two! I can’t believe all I managed was to break one rib!”
“Were they of high rank?”
“Not just high, but after facing them, I realized they were all top-tier beasts from the news!”
Esther bemoaned her defeat, exaggerating the tragedy.
However, I was more concerned about the scars left on her adversary’s skin than her emotional expressions.
‘Oh my goodness. How dare someone hurt a precious S-Class in Korea…’
Damn fake beasts!
‘That cursed mage was supposed to be my second security for retirement!’
Feeling sorry for her, I pulled out some wet tissues nearby and started cleaning the bloodstained strands of Esther’s hair.
Let’s correct that.
Now that I think about it, the hair of Earthlings is just dead cells, not tentacles.
“Mr. Gi-ryeo…”
Swish, swish, swish.
As I wiped her purple hair with my hands, I was struck by a thought.
In any case, there was certainly something wrong happening in this second hometown of mine where extraterrestrials had settled.
According to Esther’s testimony, there were three S-Class Hunters at that gate.
‘Were there this many top-tier threats in this world? Couldn’t be.’
After all, three unidentified superhuman figures wearing bone masks had appeared in the chaos that the news had kicked up.
Esther repeatedly expressed her concern about where the undisclosed A-Class gate would be utilized.
However, it seemed a little awkward for a great mage to get directly involved in this situation.
‘Sorry, Ha-seong. I used to say that, but the real mess is this way…’
Brooklyn had barely managed to defeat every kind of mess laid before it.
And now, three foes with S-Class awakening levels settled in the dungeons of South Korea.
But I couldn’t just brush this off; the anomaly was unfolding right in front of my residence, making me anxious.
Thus, after discussions with Esther, I decided to head out to the site.
To discover the true identity of the dungeon they had claimed. Originally, I had planned just a quick check.
‘───Oh damn, what is this!’
However, the moment I laid eyes on the actual gate in question…
The tranquility of my inner self was abruptly filled with anguished cries.
After fully grasping the identity of the claimed dungeon, a sense of intrepid urgency rose up within me to gather Jeong Ha-seong and even the third party, Kang Chang-ho.
The longer time passed, the more the situation spiraled into complexity.
