The N42 area, where we arrived after more than an hour's drive, was crowded with reporters, spectators, and guild members waiting in advance to take a photoshoot.
"Cheon Sa-yeon! He's arrived!"
"Master Cheon Sa-yeon!"
As soon as the car entered the gate entrance, reporters flocked in like a flood. While the bodyguard, who was rushed in, stopped the reporters, I and Cheon Sa-yeon got out of the car and moved to the place where the guild members were.
"Master."
Among the guild members, the tallest and most muscular man greeted Cheon Sa-yeon politely. Like the bodyguard, the man in a black suit stood out with his neatly raised pomade hair and a hard expression.
"How many people?"
"All in the list attended without missing a beat."
The man who answered the question as if he was waiting for it, then looked at me.
"Ah. Come to think of it, this must be the first time you two enter the gate together."
Cheon Sa-yeon, who was looking back at me and the man alternately, pulled my shoulder lightly.
"This is Han Yi-gyeol. He's an independent, but he's a great mercenary who came to help clear the gate."
It would be nice to introduce me myself, but what's with this ambiguous posture?
"Nice to meet you. I'm Woo Seo-hyuk (우서혁), who is working as the master's secretary."
"Yes… nice to meet you."
Woo Seo-hyuk calmly shook hands with me without any change in expression, whether this situation was awkward or not.
"Woo Seo-hyuk stayed in Japan for two months on my order and arrived the day before yesterday. Since it is an S-grade, he will be of great help in this gate."
"I'll do my best."
This is Woo Seo-hyuk. I kept an awkward smile and thought of the content of the novel in my head.
'I think he was mentioned. I don't think he's a very important person, given that I don't remember much about him.'
He seemed to be a character who had no contact with the main character, Ha Tae-heon. Apparently, due to the nature of the novel, I remember the meeting with the women, while with the men made me confused because they didn't have enough footage.
"Come on, then."
Cheon Sa-yeon, who put his arm on my shoulder, said to me in a voice full of laughter.
"Once you're ready, you should have an interview before you go in."
"...?"
Why are you looking at me… hold on.
"Let me go."
Sensing the ominous feeling, I groaned to shake off Cheon Sa-yeon's arm, but to no avail.
"Now that your face has been revealed, you don't even do an interview."
"I don't like it."
Because of Woo Seo-hyeok standing in front of me, I was forced to use respectful words, so it was like death. I refused while putting down the abusive language that reached the end of my neck, but Cheon Sa-yeon did not even pretend to listen and grabbed me in front of the camera.
"Master Cheon Sa-yeon!"
"Please look this way, Requiem Master!"
When Cheon Sa-yeon appeared in the interview zone that had been prepared in advance, the waiting camera flashed randomly as if waiting.
I was overwhelmed when I saw the white light that filled my eyes and the reporters who were so excited and pointed their microphones in.
"Thank you for coming. The clearing gate of the N42 Area, which starts today, will be held for four days, and a total of 12 people including myself will depart."
Contrary to me, Cheon Sa-yeon skillfully started the interview with his unique smile. He didn't even blink an eye even with the flash that went off right in front of his face.
"Who are the people?"
"5 close team, 4 long-distance team, 2 healers, 1 measure man."
"Is there any reason to take the measuring ability to the gate that has already been measured?"
"In order to judge the gate more accurately."
"Is there a benefit to taking more measurements?"
"In terms of stability, I think at least three measurements are necessary."
I glanced at Cheon Sa-yeon's eyes.
He took the person with the measuring ability probably to check if there had been any change inside the gate. Not a bad way.
'The gate I went into with Ha Tae-heon was also a B-grade, but an S+-grade monster appeared.'
There is no guarantee that this will not happen again. It was fortunate that the people who entered the gate were me and Ha Tae-heon, but if an S+-grade monster appeared in front of a clear team made up of general guild members, a catastrophe would occur.
"Master Cheon Sa-yeon. Who's the man standing with you?"
Thinking seriously about the monster, I shivered at the next question. Cheon Sa-yeon, who was close to me, noticed that I was surprised, so he smiled gently and said softly.
"This person is an A-rank independent talent and he's on this clearing gate schedule. He has a very special relationship with me."
"Ha. Ha… ha…"
I laughed, forcefully raised the corners of my lips. Cheon Sa-yeon, you son of bitch.
"I thought you looked familiar, but you were that A-rank person who worked with Master Cheon Sa-yeon in the C13 Area!"
"Can you tell me your name, please?"
"Look over here, please! I'll just take one picture!"
"Oh, uh… I mean, I am Han Yi-gyeol, and I—"
A cold sweat formed on my forehead. I've never dreamed of having an experience like this in my life. I thought it would have been much better to have a fight with a weapon.
"Oh, my."
As I stuttered foolishly in embarrassment, Cheon Sa-yeon stepped in between me and the camera.
"It seems that our Yi-gyeol is not used to this, so he was very surprised. Let the interview end here."
Are you crazy?
"What did you just say… Master Cheon Sa-yeon!"
"Master! Wait!"
Click! Click! Click!
The camera shutter became even noisier. Attendants, who were waiting to stop reporters calling for Cheon Sa-yeon, rushed to the scene.
What a terrible experience. After leaving the reporters behind, I left the interview zone and grabbed my trembling chest while muttering softly.
"You idiot bastard it became like that…"
"Now you know that?"
Cheon Sa-yeon answered with a funny voice and took out a jacket and a sword from his inventory.
"We're leaving soon."
Cheon Saa-yeon took the lead, followed by Woo Seo-hyuk. Looking at the gate shimmering in the light of chaos, Cheon Sa-yeon tapped the ground with his sword a couple of times and walked into it without hesitation.
I also pushed myself into the gate entrance after Cheon Sa-yeon. For a moment, the cold air wrapped around my body, I felt the moist, unpleasant air at the tip of my nose.
"Underground prison?"
"Exactly an underground dungeon."
There was the sound of chains being pulled from somewhere, a gloomy and heavy atmosphere weighed on my shoulders. A small torch on the wall was the only light and I could see insects and centipedes crawling here and there.
"If you fall behind, you're dead."
Cheon Sa-yeon said, grabbing my wrist as I looked around.
"Be careful not to fall."
"Ah, seriously. Stop…"
When I was about to say something because I was annoyed by the constant pulling, my eyes met with Woo Seo-hyuk, who was standing next to me. Damn it.
"…all right, Master. I'll stick with you~"
"Keuk."
When I spoke with a forceful eyebrow, Cheon Sa-yeon turned his head and burst into laughter. Are you having fun, you bastard?
When all the guild members arrived inside the gate, Cheon Sa-yeon began to move slowly. As stated in the material given by Cheon Sa-yeon, it usually took three days to clear. It was said that the schedule itself was set up for three days in order to look around slowly.
"This is the first room."
Chwareureureuk!
When Cheon Sa-yeon pressed on a particular wall, the rusty iron bars that blocked the front went up with the sound of a chain wind. The iron bar automatically descended after a certain period of time, so once you entered, you couldn't go back.
Dozens of coffins were placed in a large room with soft candles flickering. The scenery inside the room filled with dusty coffins was horrifying.
"Kim Ji-hoon (김지훈), Park Yoo-jun (박유준)."
A guild member standing behind came running to Cheon Sa-yeon's call. Among them, Kim Ji-hoon was somehow familiar and he was one of the close team that cleared the SS-grade gate.
"Count the number of mimics. Check if it's less or more than 47."
"Yes!"
Kim Ji-hoon and Park Yoo-jun, each with their weapons out, began to examine the coffin. The two of them carefully counted the number of coffins and then they came back.
"47 confirmed."
"No change in numbers."
"Take care of it."
As soon as the report was over, Cheon Sa-yeon put his sword in the centre of the coffin next to him. Puhak, bright red blood spurted out.
Kkieeek!
Mimic struggled and opened its mouth. Through the black aura, large teeth resembling human teeth were visible.
Kieeek! Kkieeek!
Mimic's screams, which were attacked by guild members, were heard everywhere. Mimic was a B-grade, doppelganger-type monster that disguises itself as an object and devoured opponents who approached it.
Since there were so many mimics, it took time to process them one by one. Unable to pierce through a solid coffin without any special weapon, I stood quietly. So did Woo Seo-hyuk.
'What is your ability?'
Except in special cases, most abilities used weapons. That was why it was rather rare that there were no weapons.
Woo Seo-hyuk, who was empty-handed like me, looked only forward with no expression. As the curiosity about his abilities grew, the waiting of mimic processing was over.
Across the room to the end, another rusty iron bar was blocking the way to the next room. Unlike before, Cheon Sa-yeon stepped on a part of the floor pattern this time.
Kugugung, chwareureuk!
The door opened as if waiting. Is there a sign somewhere? The location of the hidden device wasn't even listed in the data.
"Did you memorize all the locations?"
"There are a total of 15 devices per room. One of them is random."
"Random?"
In other words, to open a room, you have to find the right device with a 15 to 1 chance.
"You just succeeded once. The same as before."
"I was lucky."
I frowned at the firm answer. Aside from the insincere answer, what is this kind of attitude?
'It seems like he's like that every time he walks into the gate?'
Perhaps this was one of the 'hidden things' that Cheon Sa-yeon talking about.
The second room, as shown in the data, was a human-type A-grade monster, a ghoul. As we entered the room, the monsters lying like corpses opened their eyes at once and stood up.
Geueueuk, geuoook.
Although they looked like zombies, ghouls had a much stronger body and better reflexes. Being hungry all the time, it was quite violent and it distinguished enemies by its excellent sense of smell.
Geuaaak!
The spear was stuck in the ghoul's heart which was running with its mouth wide open towards the healer who was nearby. In order to deal with the ghouls coming from all directions, the guild members, who stood by the healers and the measuring ability, immediately started fighting.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who dug through the gaps of the gathered ghouls, skillfully swung his sword without even using his ability. After confirming Cheon Sa-yeon's safety, I blew a blade-shaped wind at the ghoul who was aiming for the back of the guild member.
"Ugh!"
Belatedly, I noticed the sharp claws of the ghoul aiming at my side as I paid attention to others. As I hurriedly pulled myself back and went up into the air, the ghoul cried loudly. Fortunately, only the clothes were torn, but there were no injuries.
"Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi!"
Oops. As I flew up, the ghouls flocked to Woo Seo-hyuk, who was next to me. That was when I was in a hurry to use my powers on him.
"Crazy."
Woo Seo-hyuk suddenly started taking off his clothes! For a moment, I was so flustered that the flow of energy was almost cut off. I managed to lift my falling body again and looked at Woo Seo-hyuk with trembling eyes.
'N, no. Why the hell…'
He didn't even care about the upcoming ghouls and Woo Seo-hyuk calmly took it off, layer by layer. He took off his black suit jacket, untied his tie, and unbuttoned his shirt. Surprisingly, the other guild members in battle did not even care about Woo Seo-hyuk.
Woo Seo-hyuk, who finally took off his shirt and held it in his hand, looked at the ghoul in front of him. The ghouls, who were over 2 meters tall, smelled Woo Seo-hyuk and ran excitedly.
Woo Seo-hyuk raised his other hand which not held his clothes. The entire arm, which was full of strong muscles, gradually began to turn black. I was mesmerized by the shocking sight.
Udeudeuk, udeuk.
The sound of bones hitting Woo Seo-hyuk's arm was heard and his black arm began to grow bigger. His palms were filled with flesh and thickened, and his long stretched nails looked hard and sharp even at a glance.
Woo Seo-hyuk swung his arms around the ghoul without hesitation, with an arm in a shape that could hardly be considered human.
Kwajijik!
The two ghouls couldn't even scream and their upper body was torn apart. Not only did it burn, but the wall behind it was dented in the shape of a nail.
After watching all of that, I put on a tired expression on my face.
What the hell is that, shit.