A day before.
The executives of the Another League, including the ‘actual’ Guild Leader Yekaterina, and the representatives of different races, such as Lacanthal, Taylor Nine, and the Spirit King, gathered together without hiding their anxious expressions in the conference room of the headquarters.
The cause was because Yoo Seodam, who announced that he would attack Hell Gate, had called for a meeting. However, after summoning them, Yoo Seodam only sat in the chairperson’s seat, leaned back, closed his eyes and didn’t say anything, as if he was waiting for something.
When Yoo Seodam fell silent, the others were also silent.
Tick-!! Tick-!! Tick-!!
Time passed, and after about fifteen minutes of complete silence, Taylor, feeling impatient, smashed her hand onto the desk.
“Hey! If you called someone, you should say something!!”
“That’s it!”
“…what, what?”
At the same time as Taylor shouted, Yoo Seodam’s eyes opened, and Taylor flinched.
“Actually, I almost died from suffocation. I was waiting for you to break the atmosphere.”
“What are you saying you b*st*rd?”
Yes. Yoo Seodam was the last to arrive at the conference hall, but for some reason everyone was holding their breath and waiting with tense expressions. Therefore, It was difficult to open his mouth hastily, because Yoo Seodam had never experienced such an atmosphere before.
“You b*st*rd with no sense of humor, seriously?”
“Seodam-nim… it is okay for you to say anything you have in your mind.”
The atmosphere has calmed down a lot now. Yoo Seodam leaned back on the chair and gazed towards each of them sharply.
“Hey. I heard you even texted the reporters that you will be attacking Hell Gate?”
“Hehe, there are such rumors floating around? I am really looking forward to it.”
“Yes…. It’s a total mess outside. Thanks to Seodam-nim, the employees are having a hard time answering the phone calls.”
When Yoo Seodam announced to the media that he would attack Hell Gate, the world, which was already chaotic, became even more so. In some media sources, it was pointed out that it was nothing but a noise marketing tactic, but at the same time, there were also people who wrote articles such as, ‘Let’s pray for Another League’s success!’.
The world reported Yoo Seodam’s words in various ways, and it was something the Another League didn’t want very much.
“Isn’t it okay if I did it quietly?”
“No. That’s not allowed.”
Yoo Seodam shook his head and said.
“I really intend to attack Hell Gate, but our strength alone is not enough.”
“…were you really planning on doing it?”
“Of course. When was the last time you ever saw me lying?”
“Huh? You borrowed money from me to buy coke 12 years ago and haven’t paid it back until today.”
“…” Yoo Seodam took two five hundred won bills from his pocket and rolled them over to Taylor. “Anyway, I am really going to go into Hell Gate and carry out the raid. To do that, we need the strength of the people of the guild.”
When people wanted to join another League, instead of giving them better conditions than the other guild in order to make sure they joined the guild, Yoo Seodam put one clause in the contract, which would surely make them think twice to join.
‘I will fight for the guild master just once in the future.’
After all, he never gave away his own things for free. On top of it, Another League was his first step towards Hell Gate.
However… The situation of those who were not bound with contract to Yoo Seodam was different from the people who did.
“If there is someone who does not want to participate in this fight, please tell me separately later. I do not intend to force you into joining the battle.”
After saying this, Yoo Seodam gave them some time to think. No one spat out thoughtless words like, ‘No, I’ll follow you anyway!’ because they know, if they said that, even someone who doesn’t really want to go may be forced to go.
“Then, let’s stop here for today. I got a call as soon as I told the plan to the press.” He chuckled and showed them a text message from Allen, the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Back to the present.
“Haa….”
Yoo Seodam entered the UN headquarters and spat out some bombshell-like words. There is no way the UNSC’s board of directors can stand still after hearing that. They all burst into rage.
– Hey, hunter! What did you say just now?
-This is why hunters who didn’t have proper education are so…
– What are you doing? You are rude…
In front of their belittling words, Yoo Seodam simply pulled a drink from his pocket. It was strawberry juice in a bottle with the face of a penguin character Pengroro on the front which was greatly emphasized.
Pop-!!
As Yoo Seodam was drinking it all the way out loud, Allen thought that this was a good thing. After all, if Yoo Seodam, who is one of the best hunters around the world, had come all the way to this place and ended up caving in at their words, the pride of all those old folks who think hunters were nothing but their chess piece would soar even higher.
At this point, the thought of wanting to squash their arrogant mug came to Allen’s mind, however, with great patience, he swallowed it in.
The board of directors was outraged and continue to point out Yoo Seodam’s actions, and when the situation showed no signs of improving and signs that something was about to explode start to show,
-Let’s stop.
A man, who had been quiet so far, opened his mouth. Moments later, everyone becomes silent. At that time, Yoo Seodam, who wanted to have a conversation, put down his drink and straightened his posture.
-Hunter Yoo Seodam. I was familiar with your antics through the stories I’ve heard, but I didn’t expect you to be this rude.
“I think it’s better to call me someone with thick guts.”
-Whatever you want to be called is of no concern for us. But do you truly have enough power to back up your guts?
“If I don’t have it, why do you think I am still acting like this? At least I am thoughtful enough to think about such a thing.”
-Then… Can you try to convince us right now?
As soon as those words fell, Yoo Seodam took his smart tablet out with his arms. It was quite surprising that a machine almost the size of a grown man’s torso jutted out from the inside of the thin ether suit, but no one questioned about that.
Ppa-!!
Then, a hologram floated in the air, and a ‘map’ of a certain terrain was roughly displayed on it. On the map, which looked like a slice of pizza, a reddish mass of energy was flashing.
“This is a map of the terrain inside Hell Gate. It was something based on some of the terrain I had explored in the past.”
-Ridiculous! I know that almost all of the data at that time has been lost…!
“Yes. So I went straight into my own mind to make this.. That’s not surprising, isn’t it?”
Actually, the map Yoo Seodam drew was really the terrain he had explored in the past. He even put another piece together to create the perfect Hell Gate shape, but the rest was blank and unfinished. On top of it, there was a disconnected part in the unfinished part, and Yoo Seodam pointed at it and said.
“If an egg has a white and a yolk parts, and the Earth has an inner core and layers, there are also ‘layers’ in the Hell Gate. And the last expedition I participated in managed to break through the second layer and retreated when the third layer was right in front of us.”
When Yoo Seodam talked about Hell Gate in detail, no one cut his words off. Although all of them had a dissatisfied expression on their faces, they had no choice but to put that aside and listen.
“In the past, in order to pass that ‘layer’, we had to move forward with the sacrifices of countless hunters. It was due to the fact that in Hell Gate, what was on the north side yesterday might be the west side today, and it was difficult to just break through that space where the top and bottom are indistinguishable.”
Until this part, all Yoo Seodam had said was all true.
But from now on, lies are going to be mixed. A lie which was covered in ‘truth’, which was only possible because of the image Yoo Seodam had built for himself so far.
“However, this time, we will not go through that complicated and dangerous road. Using my ability to penetrate dimensions, we will break through the crack easily and move forward.”
-To break through a crack… Is that really possible?
Of course, it is impossible.
“Of course, it’s possible.”
Since his connection with Reina Ju had been cut off, he no longer had the ability to move between dimensions. Thanks to the dimensional shift he had experienced, he could feel the dimensional wavelength, but it was still impossible for him to do anything beyond that.
The reason Yoo Seodam chose to tell such lies was because it was close to impossible to explain the madness he’s trying to do in the Hell Gate to them.
‘Which one of them is going to understand the existence of protagonists and probability?’
Even within Another League, less than five people know about the existence of the protagonists, so it was not easy to reveal the fact to the world. However, Yoo Seodam did not explain his plans to those who knew about the protagonists. The same plan that he explained to the board of directors of UNSC, who were in front of him now, was also laid out in the conference room of Another League.
‘…After all, the goal is to become the protagonist of Hell Gate. Only I can handle it.’
In the past, the Hell Gate Expeditionary Force could not penetrate the third wall, and Yoo Seodam still couldn’t forget the memories of that time.
The first layer of Hell Gate was infested with monsters which attacked indiscriminately, and the moment the expedition reached the second floor, they encountered a ‘trap’.
The monsters there had minimal intelligence. As if they had formed a society, other monsters bow down under a powerful leader and do not invade each other’s territory. In addition, the very clever monsters dug traps and even hunted for prey, but the Hell Gate Expeditionary Force was caught there.
The oddly shaped monster that looks like a monkey when seen from the side, a gorilla from the back, a dinosaur from the bottom, and a toad when seen from above formed a neatly polished ‘road’ for humans to walk on. And, when they entered so deep that they could not escape. The monster rolled up its tongue and swallowed them.
‘The first floor is just a taste of Hell Gate, not the real thing.’
The real Hell Gate unfolds from the second floor. And Yoo Seodam had no intention of taking his companions to the second floor.
-Penetrating the three layers and breaking the Hell Gate’s core. Is that your plan?
“That’s right. You are very understanding.”
The board of directors was silent. Then, soon after, the old man from earlier broke the silence and asked a question.
-Then, are you planning to lead UN forces into the Hell Gate?
“No.”
At first, they couldn’t believe his words. However, they soon understand that Yoo Seodam was someone who knew how useless troops were inside Hell Gate. He wouldn’t take them if he thinks that they were not good enough, no matter how strong they were.
“You must be the focal point for all hunters around the world. As you know, the moment the expedition enters the Hell Gate, the monsters that exist inside will be pouring towards Earth.”
Since quite a few Hell Gate expeditions have been attempted so far, it was a fact they knew well.
“This time around, the scale will be different. Even at this moment, alien races called ‘Grey Humans’ are continuing to invade from inside the Hell Gate, and Hell Gate is absorbing the energy of the Earth. Isn’t that right?”
In other words, the role of the United Nations will be ‘cleaning up’. Which means, when Another League goes in to perform the main mission, they will stay outside and catch all the mobs. However, it was not a bad proposal from the UN’s point of view.
After all, if Yoo Sseodam actually clears the Hell Gate, the UN can once again argue that they have contributed to world peace, and it will be very safe because they don’t even have to go inside.
The board of directors gave a positive opinion because they thought they could overcome this situation without suffering significant damage to their troops, compared to the prize they would get in case the expedition was successful.
-I will also accept your idea, like the others. Let me trust you and leave it to you.
In that way, the sketch for entering the Hell Gate was drawn to some extent.
Now, there was only one thing left for Yoo Seodam to do.
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[Are you sure you want to absorb the skills and talents of protagonists ‘Partellian’?]
[Warning! It has a very strong probability!]
A message that Reina Ju might have left behind secretly–the notification window of skill absorption.
After she disappeared, she recorded a number of warning messages and left them behind in case Yoo Seodam misunderstood her. But he had no intention of listening to such a recorded message. He will only hear her once they meet in person.