Chapter 52

**Episode 52: Fog in the Red Winter**

After receiving legal salary-lurking permission from the Association President, two days later.

I had been living a debauched life, thinking I didn’t have to go to work during this time.

‘My cozy home.’

【But it’s not just me.】

‘A warm space.’

【It must be because I had that white woman beside me like a blank canvas.】

‘Comfortable days.’

【And you just tossed aside the tasks assigned by the Association President?】

Yeah, all of that became a dream thanks to Harin.

What I’m trying to say is… After Ye-rim and her group left, for 24 hours. In other words, a day spent at home.

While others were going to school or work on weekdays.

I spent my time at home with Harin like a lazy bum.

You might think that making a fuss over just one day is ridiculous.

Now, it’s two days in.

I was planning to sleep in again lightly.

A boring afternoon.

After a late sleep, taking a nap is truly the happiest time in life.

In school, I enjoyed playing games and interacting with people, but now, sleeping under a warm blanket on a warm electric mat in a warm house during winter feels the happiest.

However, Harin seemed displeased with that and woke me up, urging me to go outside.

So now, we’re at the mountain.

Wearing that coat with a little black decoration that Harin gifted me.

Since we’re wearing matching couples’ coats, on our way to the mountain, someone recognized Harin and took a picture, capturing me in the frame as well.

Anyway, returning to the main point, there is indeed a mountain in this city.

Though it was a bit far.

Regardless, I made footprints in the snow piled up there, which looked far from my home.

“Hey, the app for finding Gates made by the Association? Let’s just do some rough reporting with that and go back to the streets for a date. We can’t just skip work entirely.”

“… Didn’t you say you wouldn’t follow the words of the Association President?”

Harin climbed the mountain while holding onto a tree.

Seeing her like that, I took her hand and escorted her.

“Oh, thank you… Following the Association President’s words, I don’t do it because I want to.”

“Yeah, I can tell.”

“But I believe I should at least fulfill my duties.”

Harin had a somewhat gloomy expression.

“I want to escape from the Association too, but… it’s just that—”

– Beep! Beep! Beep!

A warning sound pierced the air from my smartphone, cutting off Harin’s words.

“… Found it quickly. Let’s talk later.”

She nodded in response.

【Is there really an app like this? It’s so convenient. I’ve never seen it before.】

I had used an app like this before.

That was before meeting Chaewon.

The moment I first received the System.

Honestly, it gave me a headache.

Like a protagonist in a novel, wondering if I could really do this.

I’m not like those heroic protagonists; I’m just a petty person.

A person with an ordinary personality found everywhere.

One’s kindness should be repaid in half, and revenge must come back double.

The very conditions for revenge could seem really pathetic to someone.

… It’s a pointless thought now.

Right now, I’ve pushed those thoughts aside and live my life.

I know that excessive hesitation is a bad habit.

But being cautious is a good habit.

“It seems there’s a Gate nearby.”

I stopped my useless thoughts and looked around.

【Hmm… Over there, something black?】

That black thing refers to what can be called a Black Gate.

Since this System came into being, I’ve been entangled with Black Gates dreadfully.

A place filled with information that cannot be obtained from Blue Gates.

You can level up using the System by farming through Blue Gates.

However, every time I went through a Blue Gate, it felt like a squirrel running in circles in my heart, getting nowhere.

Reluctantly, it seems I have no choice but to enter a Black Gate again this time.

Still, I have a reliable ally with me.

With Harin, who can heal from almost any injury, there’s no need to worry.

“There’s a Black Gate over there. What do you think?”

“Black Gate? I thought a Blue one would be simpler… But if it buys time for a date with you, then the Black Gate is perfect. Let’s go!”

We began to head towards the direction of the Black Gate.

But at that moment.

The world flashed.

“What’s going on with this nice weather—”

– Crack, Bang!

Lightning struck the Gate right in front of us.

We couldn’t withstand the shock and staggered back a bit, with Harin tightly holding onto me.

【W-What the hell. A bolt from the blue?】

Clear skies, no snow falling, and sunlight heating our hair.

Among all the places lightning could strike, it hit the ‘Black Gate’ directly in front of us.

“D-Do you know what happened?!”

Harin, unable to see in front of her, leaned on me for balance.

“Lightning struck the Gate right in front of us.”

“Huh?… What did you say?”

She asked me again, as if she hadn’t heard correctly.

“Lightning… struck the Gate?! Is it Black?!”

“Uh, yeah. Isn’t it?”

“Hurry, let’s get out of here!”

【That Gate looks a bit weird, doesn’t it?】

Electric bolts were still sparking around the black Gate.

Then the Gate began to slowly change to a red-black color, swirling rapidly as if trying to suck in all forms of life.

We could feel as if we were dust being sucked into a vacuum cleaner.

“Come on, let’s go!”

Only after seeing that, I shouted, hugging Harin and trying to run away as far as possible.

But the power of the Gate pulling us in was stronger than our strength to escape.

– Wheeeeiing.

The suction force was so strong that it drew in not just the surrounding snow but even trees, sucking them into the Gate.

What would happen to a human smaller than that tree?

We couldn’t touch the ground and were lifted into the air.

We had no choice but to be pulled into the Gate.

A rapidly rotating red-black Gate.

With the speed, I felt dizziness as we were forcibly thrown into the Gate.

**********

– Ding!

[Powerful energy is detected.]

[The most noble being watches over you.]

[Distortion in time and space is detected.]

[Time has distorted and brought you to a moment in the past.]

[Space distorts, causing the sky to turn red.]

I thought living as a Hunter would improve things, yet the bizarre sensation felt every time I passed through a Gate came back chillingly.

It wasn’t a pleasant chill.

Um… yes.

If I were to compare it, it would feel like a gigantic fly buzzing on my leg or arm on a summer day?

That just gives me the shivers.

That’s exactly the feeling.

“Kyaa, are we inside the Gate? Snow is suddenly falling. It definitely wasn’t snowing when we were climbing the mountain.”

I don’t know.

I’m probably just closing my eyes right now.

It seems I bumped my head when coming out of the Gate.

Pain has hit my head severely.

That’s why it seems like it will take some time to open my eyes.

I conveyed my situation to Harin.

“Oh my, it seems your head hit and you’re dizzy, so it’s hard to open your eyes. Let me heal you… But not being able to see is quite scary, right?”

“Oh, I see… You’ve always seen dark places, right? That must have been hard.”

【Aww… Why are you rubbing it in now that I got here? When will my turn actually come…】

‘For your turn to come, I have to die.’

“Hehe, it’s not like it’s hard…”

Harin let out a strange laugh.

Every time her healing wrapped around me, I could see a little bit of light seeping into my eyes.

And before me was a system I was seeing for the first time.

‘W-What… A distortion in time and space? What does that even mean? Are you saying we’ve gone back to the past?’

【Oh, finally, you’ve opened your eyes!】

I slowly began to engrave the sentences on the system that had appeared, one by one.

[Powerful energy is detected.]

This line meant that Harin and I had successfully entered the Gate.

[The most noble being watches over you.]

Who is it, where, how, and why are they watching over me? There’s no context, so I can’t grasp its meaning.

… It’s some most noble being, but since I can’t discern what it is.

With the experience I’ve had in the Black Gates, I think… if this were a fantasy world, the most noble being would indeed be ‘elves’.

The elves in that fantasy world always consider themselves the noble beings, hence I arrived at this thought.

[Distortion in time and space is detected.]

This is probably… the black Gate turned red-black after being struck by lightning from the outside world, which sucked us in.

I assume it’s an error? A bug? Something along those lines.

But who would have thought this would happen, as if we were in a video game or something?

“You should start waking up slowly and listen to me.”

“Uh, what is it?”

“Uh… Remember, lightning fell into the Black Gate earlier?”

“Right?”

“As far as I know, there hasn’t been anyone who entered a Gate that turned red-black after being struck by lightning and come out intact.”

“W-What? Is that really true?”

“Yes, there have been those that never returned, but most importantly, it’s about the appearances of those who did come back.”

Harin stood up, brushing off her knees and butt, and continued her statement.

Even in that moment, I couldn’t help but let my gaze wander to her, as she dusted off her butt.

【What are you looking at?】

‘Nothing.’

“The people who came back were all gaunt, as if they had turned into mummies. I can’t say for certain since I haven’t seen it myself.”

“So… where did they drain all their strength from?”

“Yes, they said they came back with no blood in their bodies, looking like corpses.”

“Is that so? It’s probably the work of the monsters here. As long as we’re cautious, we should be fine.”

[Time has distorted and brought you to a moment in the past.]

Now we are in the past.

I’ll have to think of it as a brief time travel.

Once we defeat the boss and exit the Gate, we should return to normal.

I decided to check my information for maintenance.

‘System.’

– Ding!

‘My information.’

[Checking your information.]

[Information]

Name: Han Shiwoo (21)

Level: 30

Position: Dealer

Stats: 0

– Current Stats –

Strength: 11

Agility: 8

Intelligence: 5

Luck: 7

– Skills Owned –

Dampening-Nerf (EX) LV.1 (Max)

[After physical contact with the same race’s ability user and using a command, it reduces that target’s ability by two levels.]

P.System’s Blessing (EX) LV.1 (Max)

[Helps the holder Han Shiwoo grow. Various rewards can be obtained during growth.]

Inheritance of Powers (S) LV.1 (Max)

[Can inherit abilities from the corpses of creatures defeated (1 selection possible).]

King’s Insight (S) LV.3

[Can obtain much more information (The amount of information obtained increases as level rises).]

Soul Protection (S) LV.1

[Nullifies the effects of powers that cause mental damage. (Cooldown 24 hours. / Only blocks harmful effects.)]

Soul Summon (A) LV.1 (Max)

[Can summon the soul contained in a sword. (Releasing is possible if both sides agree.)]

Invisibility (A) LV.1

[Turns the body invisible during non-combat. However, duration is proportional to intelligence stat. (Intelligence stat x 5 minutes)]

Acceleration (B) LV.1

[The erosion speed of debuffs placed on ‘enemies’ increases.]

P.Sharp Swordsmanship (D) LV.5

[Can handle the sword more sharply.]

4-Strike Attack (D) LV.5

[Attacks quickly four times.]

P.Potency of Drugs (D) LV.3 (Max)

[Increases the duration of beneficial effects from drugs by 20 times. (Effects of drugs stack.)]

Painless Transplant (F) LV.0 (Max)

[…]

==========

Clearly, the Painless Transplant obtained by reading the ‘Prophecy of the Betrayer’ in a place full of skeletons.

It’s supposed to be the only skill that shows a level of 0 but has reached the highest level.

I wonder if this skill is truly useless.

Now that I think about it, that Prophecy of the Betrayer mentioned various races you might encounter in a fantasy novel.

If that prophecy holds true, then the monsters inside the Gate will come out in order.

First would be goblins.

Then snakes.

And the humans that were full of skeletons.

The fourth should now be elves.

Could it be that the noble beings are indeed elves?

I guess I won’t know until I see it with my own eyes.

Elves are a race that loves nature.

However, all that’s left here are bare branches, as the leaves have all fallen.

You can’t even find a glimpse of a lush world tree, no matter how wide you look.

[Space distorts, causing the sky to turn red.]

This is predictable.

Simply lifting my head to the sky reveals a red view.

And snow is falling from there.

It’s as if the sky is whispering to everyone that it’s time to sleep.

There are coffins decorated with cross-like ornaments scattered here and there.

It resembled the mass grave I saw in the place filled with skeletons.

– Step. – Step.

“Hmm, is that the ‘foreigner who would come to the mansion’ that the master spoke of? There’s that strange blind lady with you too.”

Harin and I turned to where the voice came from.

The place he stood was shrouded in fog.

I immediately noticed his ears first.

Pointed ears that could be characteristic of elves.

The guy who called us foreigners coming to the mansion definitely didn’t have human ears.

However, it wasn’t exactly elven either.

And his tone didn’t sound like an elf’s at all.

Elves generally look down on humans, so they wouldn’t use such terms of respect.

Then it must be a race mentioned as the fifth one in the Prophecy of the Betrayer.

A race with sharp fangs.

A race that fits the noble class more than the commoner.

The race that appeared before us was vampires.