53

While Hwan was enjoying his life, Ho was working hard.

There was only one common way to clear a gate, and that is to kill the strongest monster inside, the boss monster.

It was a feature that all gates around the world share.

However, starting from S-rated gates, there was also another way of clearing them—by finding all the hidden artifacts. Ho never chose that method. He didn’t have time to waste. Like Hwan, Ho preferred to kill the boss monster quickly and clear the gate as fast as he could.

To escape the gate, the one and only way is to clear it. Hunters have tried to find other methods of escape, but nothing else worked.

Lee Ho looked back at his opponents. These Hunters were strong. Shao Wei, in fact, is one of the strongest men in the world.

The Demon King was indeed disastrous, but it had been defeated by ten SS-rated Hunters. Shao Wei was one of them who had joined the fight, so he probably knew its weakness.

Also, Ho’s ability didn’t manifest the being completely. Its power was weaker than the original monster.

Shao Wei and his companions were fighting with it splendidly, but that didn’t matter. This was just to stall for time.

While they were busy with the Demon King, Ho was moving around the forest, summoning hundreds of hobgoblins.

Hobgoblins had the nickname of grave robbers. They were the most suitable monster for finding an object.

“Sir, he summoned a hobgoblin!”

Lee Ho looked back. The person who spoke was part of Shao Wei’s Hunter team. He quickly changed directions and rushed toward them, stabbing the Hunters he could see.

It took him just a minute to kill two S-rated Hunters.

He then started to look for traces of the Blue Gold guild. Where would their dead bodies be? How could he find them?

Soon, a signal from one of the hobgoblins reached his ears. It was not a signal that meant they had found something; Ho frowned. It was a signal that meant the hobgoblins were dying. In just a few seconds, only a hundred of them were left alive.

After a moment, however, he smiled. He had found it. Ho called the hobgoblins back and moved forward.

Suddenly, he saw a giant monster with dark red skin, and Ho’s eyes started to shake. This was at least an SS-rated monster. It was undeniably strong, he could tell that just by looking at it, but what was most surprising is that it looked just like the Demon King.

Lee Ho quickly regained his calm. The monster rushed toward him, and Ho immediately dodged, summoning his dagger. He then stabbed the monster’s lower body.

With a violent shake, its body started to collapse.

“@#^#$%&%$^*&^%”

The monster was screeching. He wasn’t sure if it was screaming in pain or roaring in rage, but if he had to guess, he would say it was the latter. The monster tried to attack by using its hirn. Ho tried to dodge it, but he realized that he was too late.

It was a direct headbutt. Because of the heavy impact, Ho collided with the wall.

He could barely move. Then, to his surprise, he looked around and saw a dead body. It had the emblem of the Blue-Gold guild still pinned to its chest.

Lee Ho grabbed the smartwatch that the corpse was wearing on its wrist.

The monster tried to attack him again, but this time, Ho was able to dodge its attack. He looked around and was greeted with a lot of dead bodies.

Since he had been able to collect the smartwatch he wanted, he quickly left the place. The monster followed after him, roaring.

Ho had a plan. But first, he needed to check if this monster was a boss monster. He rushed toward Shao Wei and his team.

It was a dangerous task, but he was also bold enough to carry it out.

He called the Demon King back, and he felt a sort of relief. Then he ran. The monster ran after him, its speed similar to that of Ho’s.

It was not that Ho was slow; the monster was just that fast.

From a distance, he could see the Golden Lion guild. They could see him as well, but they were unsure about the monster behind him.

Did he summon that? If so, why would he take his summoning back?

Shao Wei responded quickly. He knew that this was not the Demon King Ho had summoned. This was the boss of this gate.

He duplicated himself at the same time as Ho changed directions. The monster behind him looked around in confusion before changing its target to Shao Wei.

So the monster and the Golden Lion guild collided.

Lee Ho quickly climbed up a tree. While the boss monster and the Golden Lion guild were busy fighting, he sat on a branch and checked the smartwatch he had grabbed from the corpse.

This must be related to Lee Hwan’s actions in the irregular gates.

How had Ho and Sophie been able to watch Hwan’s video? It was simple. Someone had recorded a video of his fight. Therefore, this smartwatch should also have a recording inside. He collected as much as he could. He was able to find nine videos, and he watched every single one of them.

The first one was not the one he was looking for. So were the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh. When he turned on the eighth video, his eyes glittered.

It was a bit off, but the Hunters did not have an opportunity to research the gate. They didn’t have time since the break had occurred immediately.

No one knew about the identity of the Demon King. Someone had made a guess, but obviously, it was not reliable.

That was because no one had any information about it.

He took a deep breath. The previous Demon King’s gate was an SS-rated dungeon. This one was also an SS-rated dungeon. The boss monsters of both SS-rated gates had a similar appearance. Was this just a coincidence? Lee Ho didn’t think so.

He ignored the sounds of fighting from below and focused on the smartwatch he had gotten.

* * *

Yoo-Jeong was living in an apartment near Seoul.

Considering that she was living alone, the place was quite large. The interior of her house was simple.

I was lying down on the bed with Yoo-Jeong. She spoke. “I was only looking for one thing.”

“You mean revenge?”

“Yes, that was it. But I was anxious as well.”

I looked at her without saying anything. She slowly continued.

“I was wondering what I could do. How can I kill that man if my only purpose was to be a method of transportation for ROKHA? Back then, my father was an A-rated Hunter and that man was S-rated.”

“S-Rated? Seven years ago?”

“Yes.”

That was interesting. I don’t know how the system worked, but it is clear that S-rated Hunters all have some talents.

Seven years ago, the change was just beginning, but that man was an S-rated Hunter already? It was honestly quite impressive.

“But he is not showing up anywhere. It is clear that he has taken another identity, but even your brother can’t find him.”

“How about the possibility of him being dead?”

“That rumor has been spreading a lot, but his dead body has not been discovered…”

“I heard that dead bodies also disappear when the gate they died in disappears.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Is that what you feel?”

“Yes, it’s just a feeling, but we don’t know anything about him.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think he can be a unique skill holder.”

“Hm…?”

“There were only seven S-rated Hunters at that time. All of them, including your brother, are SS-rated now. Since he was one of them, I think there’s a chance that he is also still alive. What do you think?”

I nodded. It was quite reasonable.

“That was why I wanted to give you my first.”

“For revenge? Wow, you are scarier than I thought.”

I was just joking, but she was serious. Even her answer was simple. She just shook her head.

“You told me that I had a talent.”

“That was the truth.”

“…No one has ever told me that before. You are the first. You also guided me.”

That guidance was simple. Yoo-Jeong’s gateway for aura was as wide as Ho’s. In fact, she also had another feature.

In Valhalla, the term ‘thick gateway’ was used to describe a gate that could amplify the aura well. She indeed had a talent for exploding her aura.

In other words, her attacks could be solid and strong.

As she were to grow stronger, she would have more aura and techniques. That was why I called her a nuker and sniper. Using her aura, she could make a destructive attack from a distance. She could also use a sniper rifle to launch a precise attack from far away.

Even now, she has an aura level between A-rated and S-rated. What if she could explode it all at once? And what if she can apply her ability to sniper rifles?

While the tanker distracted the enemies, she can snipe from a distance. Just one clean shot, and boom.

What a nice scenario, isn’t it?

“You showed me guidance. Also… I know it’s a bit off, but was I okay?”

I burst out laughing.

“The beginning is always the hardest. That applies to everything, ma’am.”

“Is that a nicer way of saying that I was not good?”

“I’m a gentleman, so I’ll give no comments on it.”

Yoo-Jeong smiled and kissed my lips. I didn’t stop her.

As I said before, sometimes it was good to have such moments.

She stroked my bare chest, tracing the scar I had gotten from that old man. It was all healed, but Yoo-Jeong’s eyes were filled with worry.

“…I hope you don’t get hurt like this anymore.”

“Are you worried about me?”

“Yes.”

I started to wonder. I heard that Shilla’s leader did not have a name. That simple reason was why they could not trace him. But there had got to be a way for them to address him.

“What did they call him?”

“…You mean the leader of Shilla?”

“Yes, that guy.”

She didn’t dodge my eyes. Staring directly at me, she spoke.

“Godfather.”

“Godfather?”

“Yes, the leader of Shilla was called Godfather.”