Sinabro (2)
_
“You use only have of your energy? Why?”
Seung-ho shrugged at Yu-hwa’s question.
“I run away. I lived like that when I was beyond the gate, and it hardened to a habit.”
Yu-hwa looked at him with disappointment, then Seung-ho rose up from his chair and hit his student’s forehead.
“Ouch!”
“Why are you looking at me like that? I know you want to show off, but think about other people’s safety and their feelings.”
Yu-hwa looked at him while rubbing his forehead. Seung-ho stared back at him without blinking and pointed at the door.
Finally, Yu-hwa decided to leave the room.
Seung-ho went inside the shower to wash off.
* * *
The drizzle continued to fall gradually throughout the night but disappeared by dawn.
As the morning sun rose, the clouds had completely cleared.
“Chief. Are we going in with the personnel we had selected yesterday, or are we going to take the whole team?”
“It’s your call, Seung-ho, but I think it would be better to take them all. You have to lure them closer, even a little bit, so it would be easier for the team to catch, but…”
Young-ho hesitated before he continued, “I know it’s a difficult request… if it’s an unknown monster, can you warn us of the monster’s characteristics or unique skills?”
“Yes, of course. If I get close to them, I’ll find out automatically. I’ll shout the information to you from a distance. Wait for 20 minutes after I enter before you bring the team in.”
“Thank you.”
It was not difficult for Seung-ho to attack a monster once before running away and act as bait. He will run towards the guild members, who will then hold the monster down.
It was advantageous for them to go in quickly before the rain started to pour again, so they quickly prepared and went to the gate.
Beyond the gate, it was also sunrise, but it was darker than when they first came in yesterday.
Seung-ho had to find a monster within 20 minutes and make his estimates, so he quickly climbed over the mountain.
The monsters were clustered in one place at the top of the mountain, where the nucleus was located.
Seung-ho’s body was covered in magical energy, which helped him climb up the mountain quickly and protect his body from the cold.
Top-level monsters were generally sensitive to horsepower. However, since the monsters didn’t seem to detect his movements, Seung-ho found it puzzling.
He watched them from a distance. Their faces were black, in stark contrast to the white hairs covering their body. With their white fur, they were camouflaged against the snow. Their heights were at about 2 meters, their arms are unusually long, and their eyes look like something straight out of a nightmare.
Yeti, Seung-ho thought, comparing them to an old legend.
He observed for a few more minutes until it was time for the guild members to come over.
Seung-ho was a little uneasy about the number of the Yeti. There were only twelve of them. If you think about the gauge, it was clear that each of these monsters was stronger than a Garuda.
He had to test their abilities. Seung-ho aimed at the nucleus and threw an explosion towards it.
BANG!
The nucleus was destroyed in one hit. With the explosion’s trajectory, two of the Yeti’s heads were also blown off. The other monsters urgently looked around, trying to find him, while some began to run away and escape.
Seung-ho used his magical energy and began running away.
One of Yeti started to chase him, visibly enraged at the loss of their kin and at the audacity of a tiny human to enter their realm.
Thud!
The Yeti hit the ground with his long, thick arms and gained an explosive speed, catching up with Seung-ho immediately. Seung-ho jumped into the air and tried to avoid him. However, like other top-class monsters, the Yeti is able to cast magical energy as well and sent a magical force up towards the fleeing Seung-ho.
A warning bell began to ring inside Seung-ho’s head. Monsters like this weren’t at the level that the Iris Guild members can face.
Seung-ho protected his body and took the magical force that the Yeti sent up. He wasn’t hurt at all, and he used the momentum to go up higher in the air and try to see the gate from there.
He didn’t know if he could flee immediately to the gate in time to warn the guild members. Also, the Yeti is able to get close to his heels.
He made a decision.
Kururururung!
By sending a magical explosion, Seung-ho caused an avalanche to block the gate. It was the only way he could be sure that no one crosses over and face this dangerous enemy.
The avalanche took the Yeti’s attention. His head turned towards the gate, and as he did, his back was exposed to Seung-ho, who was still high up in the air.
Seung-ho threw a drill down at the Yeti’s back, but it failed to penetrate the magical energy covering the Yeti’s body.
Seung-ho clicked his tongue and exploded towards the gate before it could be fully covered by the avalanche.
As he got closer to it, he saw a figure. A person crossed over!
“Get back! Get out!” Seung-ho yelled.
He wanted to escape from the gate and let the avalanche block it to stop the Yeti from coming out.
However, this person… he started running towards the mountain instead of going back outside the gate!
“Yu-hwa! You’re crazy!” Seung-ho yelled as he recognized the man.
* * *
The Yeti chasing him began digging at the snow blocking the gate. Its kin also came in and helped, thinking that Seung-ho was buried beneath the snow.
However, Seung-ho was with Yu-hwa, hiding behind a large rock.
“You messed it up,” Seung-ho muttered under his breath, without taking his eyes off the monsters at the blocked gate. “I destroyed the nucleus and only needed to exit before the avalanche. What are you thinking?”
“I thought you would find it difficult to face them if you are alone…”
“If I just destroy the core, that will do the job. I don’t have to face them all. Look at what you’ve done.”
However, Seung-ho found it difficult to get angrier as he looked at Yu-hwa’s pitiful reaction.
There was no way to pass through the gate unnoticed as it was surrounded by the Yeti. If he tried to lure them away, he’s risking Yu-hwa’s death. He couldn’t afford to let even one of them notice and go after Yu-hwa.
He had no choice. He had to kill them all.
“Wait here. Do not follow this time.”
Yu-hwa bowed his head, then grabbed Seung-ho’s sleeve.
“Are you going after them alone?”
“I have to.”
“You’re not running away now?”
Seung-ho laughed at his words.
“It’s not because I don’t have the confidence that I spare half of my energy every time.”
Seung-ho then jumped high towards the Yeti.
The Yetis saw him and began shooting magical energy upwards, which Seung-ho dodged as he made his way beyond them, away from Yu-hwa’s location.
The Yetis began to rush towards where Seung-ho landed.
Seung-ho then drilled magical energy to the ground, causing a huge explosion in the area around him. However, it was not enough to stop the horde of Yetis, who also knew how to manipulate energy. They blocked the damage with their own energy. Not one of them fell to the ground despite Seung-ho’s surprise attack.
Seung-ho shook his head. He had no choice. He stood still and focused.
The last time he used this technique was four years ago. He didn’t want to use it again because it was so exhausting.
“But for monsters like you, this is the solution.”
Suddenly, a number of magical stems stretched out from Seung-ho’s body and began to restrain the Yetis. Tens of thousands of strands of energy wrapped around them like whips, and slowly began to tighten.
The Yetis also tried to resist by blocking the whips with their own magical energy. Seung-ho’s whips seemed unable to penetrate it.
Then, Seung-ho took a deep breath and began to create vibrations on his whip.
The vibrations grew stronger and stronger and gradually pierced through the Yetis magical shields. It began to dig inward until it broke through their energy until there was nothing else to break through but their flesh.
Their flesh was also pierced through by the tightening grip with increasing vibrations.
Whenever one of them gets killed, the force grows stronger on the other whips, until soon, every Yeti was on the ground.
Seung-ho felt dizzy after using too much magical power in such a short time, but he had to take out the mana stones quickly before the corpses froze.
Yu-hwa approached him, staring blankly.
“Are you weak?” Seung-ho asked him.
“Huh?”
“You asked me that yesterday. You asked me if I’m weak.”
“Ah…”
“Why are you so stupid? Start digging! We have to find the gate under this snow.”
“Ah, yes. Yes!”
Yu-hwa began digging the snow using his magical energy. As he did so, Seung-ho remembered the first two Yeti he killed, which would still be at the top of the mountain.
“Wait here and continue digging. I need to take the other stones from there,” he told Yu-hwa, before he sped up the mountain again.
He found the Yeti’s corpses frozen stiff. He crushed their bodies to take out the mana stones.
When he came back to the gate, Yu-hwa stood there, shaking with his arms around himself.
He had already finished digging a hole with space enough for one person.
“What are you doing here?” Seung-ho snapped at him again. “Why are you waiting here when the hole is already finished? Get out.”
“Yes!”
Seung-ho found it funny that Yu-hwa is now following his orders with just one word.
* * *
No one has thought that it is possible for someone to handle a third-class gate alone.
When the report about the Taiwan gate reached the Association, their attitude towards Seung-ho changed.
The Drax Guild, considered the best guild in the world, has recently been able to subdue a third-class gate in Europe with only half their personnel. However, this was infinitely more outstanding.
Not only he had over twice the measured value of Drax, but Seung-ho also solved a third-level gate alone.
This event made it possible for Seung-ho to fully use the Association’s stake in mana stones, as he originally requested.
Third-level gates began to increase in frequency in Asia.
Seung-ho and Iris Guild couldn’t handle their numbers, and the other guilds started to protest about the Iris Guild’s monopoly.
Eventually, the Association inevitably changed the way to free bidding rather than assigning all third-level gates to Seung-ho’s guild.