chapter 212 – First Sight(8)

The moment the bug was slain, the gate closed. Looking closely, Kang Shin-hyuk noticed the body of the insect was mixed with parts of different monsters. Perhaps this worm could synthesize with other monsters. In other words, this bug had absorbed the gate’s boss, so killing it had cleared thegate.

“…”

“…” This was why the girl in front of him was in danger of getting killed after being trapped in thegate.

‘Okay, let’s run away.’ Even now, he didn’t regret killing Oh Joo-young, the traitor of mankind, but he couldn’t casually say hello while facing his daughter. So he tried to activate his skill and quickly follow the trail to the next gate, but Oh Hye-na placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Wait.”

“It’s an emergency, so if you have something to say, do itlater.”

“Ah…” Kang Shin-hyuk successfully escaped, moving to another gate instantly. He had to expend a great deal of spiritual power and his Golden Dragon energy to do so, but he still had plenty left to stab the insect that appeared beforehim.

-Member.

Fortunately, there were no people or bodies around. Either it had yet to find any survivors, or there were none in the gate in the first place. However, when he ran towards the bug in front of him with that in mind, the administrator’s message appeared beforehim.

-That foxfollowed.

He didn’t know it was possible, but he put away the sword as soon as he saw the message. He couldn’t casually swing that sword around in public; otherwise, he would be revealed as Kang Shin-hyuk. Instead, he used his soul connectors to wrap up the insect and cut them down with a sickle filled with soul poison. Then, glancing back as he recovered the body, Oh Hye-na was standing there, her eyes cold.

“…”

“Wait, how didyou…”

“That’s also what I want toask.”

“I grabbed your shoulder, then the landscape in front of me shifted.” Kang Shin-hyuk slapped hisforehead.

‘I felt like that took a lot of energy out of me. It was because I moved with another person.’ He was still inexperienced in operating the skill, so he accidentally targeted someone in contact with him as well. However, if he didn’t do that, he was liable to show up at his destination naked, so he had to include it all. Once he improved in using his skill, he could reduce such errors.

“This gate isn’t very dangerous, so go out on your own. I’m moving to the nextone.”

“What?!” The distance between the two gates wasn’t long, so it wasn’t difficult to leave the gate. He shook off Oh Hye-na, who watched him with an indescribable expression, then moved through space again before contacting Eunah.

“Senior, I have the coordinates of the monsters.”

[Tell me them right away.]

“They’re at…” Following that, Shin Eunah was silent for a brief moment as she relayed the coordinates to severalothers.

[Did you awaken the spatial movement trait? How did you read the coordinates so accurately?]

“It’s similar. I’ll tell you in a little bit.”

[Yes!]

As before, he went through and constrained the enemy with his thread.

“Why did I take thatgirl…?”

-Are you bothered by it?

“She’s coming to Shinyoung. Like an idiot, I was swinging that sword around in front of her.” He was forced to use the Godslayer to kill the Ruin Drummer, but it was a weapon that was too recognizable as his. He should’ve stored it away before moving through space. He had moved fast without thinking, worried there might be more victims, but he had shown it to a person who hated him the most.

-From the Hero Universe’s standards, it isn’t much, but it is still a fairly high rank among general superhumans.

“Also…” He would have to be careful to keep those around him quiet if he wanted to use the sword at school. Rather, it was already too late since he ran wild with the Godslayer sword at the rookiematches.

“If I’m caught, I have to pretend I don’t know.”

-In the future, you should refrain from using that at school.

“Well, that’s fine. I was thinking of challenging myself to make a new sword.” Kang Shin-hyuk struggled to put a positive spin on it as he swung the sickle to end the life of the bug. They had already suffered some damage before they teleported, so they were easy to kill unless they could regenerate. With the sixth gate taken care of, Shin Eunah contacted him again.

[It’s over! It’s all thanks to my junior.]

“It was our fault in the first place.”

[No one blames Masked Bacchus. Rather, the reason we were able to end this situation with few victims was that Masked Bacchus was in charge of that gate.]

Shin Eunah responded strongly then ranted that she would burn anyone who disagreed with lightning.

[Let’s gather where the gate had occurred.]

“On my way.” In order to declare the situation over, it was necessary to check the gate’s location carefully. He shrugged and squeezed out the last remaining energy he had to move through space. Spatial Coordination was particularly good because it consumed less energy to move to a place he had already been to.

-Most space movement is learned with magic, but you’re incredibly lucky to learn it with a skill. 400,000HP bonus!

“Now, you’re giving it to me for no reason.” In the blink of an eye, he was able to find the traces he had left behind and arrive back at the original gate.

“Wow, that’s a surprise.” Claire was suddenly in front of him. She seemed momentarily shocked but soon opened her arms toward him with a bigsmile.

“It’s okay?”

“Quickly.”

“Okay.” However, the moment the two shared a playful hug, Shin Eunah appeared beside them. They fell away faster than they had ever movedbefore.

“What did you twodo?”

“What?”

“…” Claire lied blatantly. Shin Eunah looked between the two with a somewhat steamed face, but both were wearing masks, so she couldn’t read their expressions. Lee Na-hee, who was next to him, clenched her fists and looked very eager to say something, but she was certain that doing so would result in self-destruction, so she endured it.

“Ah, Shinyuk!” Baek In-ha joined them on the bike a second later. Kang Shin-hyuk confiscated the bike and kicked his shin.

“It’s ShinEun-hyuk.”

“I know, but everyone knows anyway.”

“Be careful; we don’t know who’s listening.”

“Ah!” Eleanor then joined the group,running.

“You had a hardtime.”

“I think we caught all the monsters that left. But first, I will investigate all the magical traces where the gate was.”

“I’ll help; I got a good skill.” Kang Shin-hyuk honestly told the party of the skill he had acquired. Everyone was amazed that he, who didn’t have magic, could now move through space.

“Then, are you going to catch up with them now?”

“It’s still a bit difficult to use in battle because the rank is low.” And even if it became possible, he had no intention to compete with it. However, as Kang Shin-hyuk helped Shin Eunah, the sound of heels clicking on the ground could be heard.

“I’m here!”

“What?” It was Bridget Poulsen. Looking up, she floated in the air despite being in a short dress. Shin Eunah urgently covered the top of her head with her hand.

“Why is shehere?”

“She came to help… if I knew my junior would solve everything, I would’ve refused.” Shin Eunah clicked her tongue and moved behind Kang Shin-hyuk. Still, she kept her hand on her face.

“Oh, the Death Puppeteer too. It can’t be helped; let’s drink tea together.”

“What is she talking about?”

“I’ll help you for a cup of tea.”

“Oh…” Claire quickly managed to grasp the situation and stepped forward.

“I like tea, let’s drink together. But to tell you in advance, so you’re not misunderstanding, Eunah is normal.”

“Yes?!” Bridget shouted in horror at Claire’s words.

“She hasn’t been dating the Alchemist until now?!”

“No?!” Even Claire was shouting now. She glanced over at Kang Shin-hyuk, afraid he might misunderstand something, but he had no reason for that in the first place.

“You two have been stuck together all the time! Then, as the Alchemist settled with the Puppeteer as her new lover, wasn’t Shin Eunah jealous and tried to seducehim?”

“We’re bothheterosexual!”

“…” Claire, the new protagonist of some drama, grew angry. Shin Eunah just stood behind Kang Shin-hyuk and gently trembled silently. Kang Shin-hyuk could tell she was becoming like a child again.

“I’m sorry, but would you please stop flirting with my senior?”

“Ooh… it’s a bitshocking…”

“You’re shocked?”

“I’m sorry, I really believed it.” Bridget descended with a sigh. When she landed, Shin Eunah flinched back. Bridget sighed again and shrugged, seemingly having given up.

“Then, it’s just an ordinary square relationship.”

“Square?”

“Her, over there.” Bridget motioned, pointing at the alley beyond the gate. There, they could see a blue-eyed girl clinging to the wall and staring straight at Kang Shin-hyuk. Of course, it was OhHye-na.

“Right? It seems the Death Puppeteer is very popular.”

“Don’t say that.”

“What?” Kang Shin-hyuk turned away from Bridget and looked up as he felt something cold on his head.

Snow was falling from the sky, but this scene felt too bitter for him to enjoy it.