Sinabro (1)
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Seung-ho watched from his window as the sun slowly rose.
“I can see the sunrise of the New Year from here,” he said.
“How romantic! New Year’s sunrise from a plane,” Yu-hwa said as he approached and sat down next to Seung-ho.
“Romance can freeze and die. Why are you next to me?” Seung-ho frowned.
“I’m your best student. You should feel good that you’re looking at my face to start the New Year. After all, this beautiful face…”
Seung-ho grabbed his lips, clamping it down, and continued to watch the scenic view outside his airplane window.
Yu-hwa instantly rebelled and began hitting Seung-ho’s arms, but the latter didn’t show any sign of letting his lips go.
“Your lips have to be sewn together or something.”
“Ughhh!”
“Don’t make a scene, be quiet.”
Yu-hwa’s eyes had tears as if it was really painful. Seung-ho finally released him.
Then, Yu-hwa turned and tried to catch some sleep. He didn’t want to bother Seung-ho again.
As the plane continued its journey towards a third-class gate in Taiwan, Seung-ho closed his eyes and tried to rest as well.
* * *
It was raining at Taichung International Airport.
Seung-ho woke up the sleeping Yu-hwa. Yu-hwa’s head was on his shoulder, and he drooled as he slept.
“Stop sleeping and get up. We’re here.”
Yu-hwa stretched and began to rub the dry saliva off his chin, while Seung-ho looked at him with a disgusted expression.
“How can you sleep like that? Did you not sleep last night?”
“You know, beauty comes from sleeping. Is it raining outside? I haven’t even brought an umbrella…”
“Don’t worry because we’re going by bus anyway.”
The guild members got off the plane and quickly passed through the immigration screen. Then, they boarded a minibus loaded with items from Taiwan Association staff.
Yu-hwa stretched as the minibus left Taichung International Airport.
“Yeah… I just need to stretch out a little. It’s more convenient to do gates outside Korea.”
“I can’t say it’s comfortable considering the time we spent flying,” Seung-ho remarked.
“But isn’t this like a vacation overseas?”
“Beyond the gates are foreign lands too.”
“I can’t say anything about that.”
The minibus passed through the city center and through its outskirts. It ran about an hour on a winding mountain road, before stopping near the site.
Everyone wore armor. With the Taiwan Association guides leading them, they climbed the mountain slowly, under the light rain.
At last, when they reached the gate, Choi Young-ho began to check the gauge.
“180,000 confirmed.”
At the end of the reading, Seung-ho stepped forward and prepared to enter the gate, with Yu-hwa close behind him.
Seung-ho pushed Yu-hwa away. “Follow me after 1 minute,” he told everyone, before stepping inside the gate.
However, as soon as he entered, he went back out again.
He made a face. Everyone was looking at him in confusion, as he was back out so soon.
“It’s icy,” Seung-ho said. Everyone’s expressions went dark upon hearing his words.
The glacier beyond the gate boasted much lower temperatures than the Antarctic. No matter how much he protected his body with his magic, he still felt the cold. It would be hard even for him to stay inside for an hour without winter clothes.
“Don’t worry,” Young-ho told the guild members after discussing with the Taiwan Association staff. “They prepared winter clothes for us.”
Everyone reacted positively to the good news and went back to the minibus to change their clothes.
As they walked to the bus, Young-ho spoke with Seung-ho.
“Have you ever caught a monster in a glacial area?”
Seung-ho shook his head. There had been no reason for him to go into a glacial area beyond the gate in the past. It’s also his first time.
“It’s a big deal,” Young-ho continued. “Our guild hasn’t faced a glacial monster yet.”
Glacial monsters had a small number of populations, and gates with glaciers were extremely rare.
High-grade glacial gates were even fewer, so there was a possibility that monsters that have not been documented yet may come out of this one.
Other guild members who were walking beside them expressed their thoughts.
“Why don’t we just destroy the core and come out quickly?”
However, the Association would not be able to give them mana stones coming from the monsters if they don’t catch any, Young-ho explained, and the guild members nodded.
In the minibus, everyone was anxious, but it’s not because of the monsters.
“If we get wet with rain in our winter clothes before coming in, wouldn’t we freeze inside?” Yu-hwa asked out loud.
Seung-ho answered briefly. “Block the rain with magic.”
He made it sound simple, but manipulating energy around your body to block the rain is not an easy task.
Nearly half of the guild members admitted that they could not do it. Seung-ho sighed and decided to leave the members who could not protect themselves from the rain.
There were only about thirty guild members, including Seung-ho and Yu-hwa, who crossed over the gate.
Immediately, they were battered by harsh winds chilling their bodies despite being blocked by magic. The landscape and the sky were all dark gray, even if it’s daytime.
Seung-ho stepped forward and let his eyes roam the grim landscape, but he can find nothing unusual.
Young-ho approached him. “What should we do?”
Seung-ho pondered about Young-ho’s question. It was too risky for the team to search separately.
They had to cross over to the other side of the mountain they were on. Seung-ho began walking, with the other guild members behind him.
The direction they had to travel is against the wind’s direction. Because of the strong and cold wind, their movement was slow.
However, when they finally made it to the top of the mountain, Seung-ho still couldn’t feel any monster’s presence.
He stopped walking and turned to the group. It took them about an hour to climb all the way up, but…
“They are not here on this mountain,” he announced.
He expected the guild members to be upset as he wasted their time, but no one looked at him with resentment.
Seung-ho felt sorry, but he turned to continue down the mountain’s other side. However, Young-ho held his shoulder.
“Let’s check the energy of our people first.”
Seung-ho stopped and nodded.
Young-ho turned to the guild members. “Energy check! Pay attention and control your energy. Do we have anyone who still has full mana?”
No one raised their hands. The group looked visibly anxious.
“Who has less than half mana?”
This time, close to twenty people raised their hands.
The majority have used up too much mana to protect their bodies from the cold.
Seung-ho considered if he would continue exploring alone. However, he decided that it may be dangerous, and it’ll be more prudent if they stepped back for now.
As he looked troubled, Yu-hwa approached him, seemingly excited to go on.
Seung-ho shook his head. “We’ll return tomorrow when everyone’s mana has recovered. Tomorrow, when we come in, I’ll explore alone and lure the monster closer to everyone.”
He began walking back towards the gate, but Yu-hwa had something to say.
“No, why are we delaying the search for one more day? I haven’t used half my mana yet…”
He continued to grumble even after they went out of the gate and walked back to the minibus.
“I will be able to help you.”
Seung-ho took off his winter clothes, then pushed the forehead of the still grumbling Yu-hwa.
Yu-hwa’s dark mood rose greatly with that gesture. His forehead was already covered in sweat.
“Isn’t it hot?” Seung-ho asked him.
Yu-hwa didn’t want to answer and instead kept wearing the winter clothes even if he was drenched in sweat.
“When we go to the hotel, I’ll explain it to you further. Take off your clothes. It’s too hot.”
Only then did Yu-hwa took off his winter clothes.
***
Seung-ho heard someone knocking outside his hotel room door.
When he opened it, it was Yu-hwa, who seemed to have come straight here after getting down the bus.
He tried to enter the room, but Seung-ho blocked him with his body.
“What is so urgent? And why are you coming into my room? Get out!”
“But, you told me…”
“Hey, it could be done after we’ve washed and changed our clothes. Oh my. Okay, come in.”
Seung-ho put out a chair for him, but Yu-hwa went and sat on the bed instead of the chair.
“Tell me why you didn’t want to continue.”
“How many people still had more than half of their energy?”
“Five? Including me, about six people.”
The way Yu-hwa slanted his head as he replied made Seung-ho see himself on the young man. He smiled.
“Exactly. In the last gate, with the gauge at 150,000, there were eleven Garudas. On a gate with 180,000 gauge measurement, how many Garudas do you think could be inside? 14?”
“Yes, approximately.”
“Can you beat a Garuda?”
Yu-hwa considered it for a while, then shook his head. “Can I beat one alone… that’s unreasonable.”
“Yes. That is your limit. How about the other members of the guild? Can they each take on a Garuda? I know I could. By the way, bear in mind that the monsters will not come one by one like a corny movie script.”
When Yu-hwa couldn’t answer and was forced to shut his mouth, Seung-ho laughed.
“Also,” Seung-ho added, “bear in mind that we do not know which monster may come out. It may be an undocumented monster. We’ll have no clue what its abilities are.”
“Can’t you take care of them all alone?”
Yu-hwa had an infinite trust in Seung-ho, but as he saw Seung-ho shake his head, his illusion was broken.
“What are you saying… Am I invincible? Catching a Garuda looked easy, but have you ever seen me deal with two or more at the same time?”
Yu-hwa thought back to the battle the other day. Seung-ho was right. He had never seen him take on two at the same time.
Seung-ho continued to explain. “Top-class monsters are annoying and cumbersome to deal with. Now, we’re talking about 14 unknown monsters. We have to plan and use whatever tools and technology are available.”
“Are you weak?” Yu-hwa asked him.
“It’s not a weakness. It’s fighting strategically. I’m a virtuoso, so I don’t fight ignorantly. I always spare half of my power in battle.”