DEB 28

[You’ve entered a low-level gate, the ‘Contaminated Groundhog Colony.’]

[Low-Level Gate: Contaminated Groundhog Colony]

Description: Groundhogs exposed to magic have gathered to form a colony. Exterminate them before more contaminated groundhogs gather and cause significant harm!

Upon receiving the notification of entry into the gate, Huiyun breathed a sigh of relief. While he had roughly anticipated the scale of distortion, it truly was a low-level gate.

As he cautiously looked around, he noticed the child lying unconscious. Although shocked, Huiyun knew there must be a reason for the child to have wandered out of the hospital room at this hour. It wasn’t merely out of boredom. He carefully examined the child’s face, realizing it was someone he had never seen before, despite having been in the hospital for quite some time.

A sense of unease crept over him, sending shivers down his spine. Surely, he didn’t pick up someone weird again. After a mistake of wrongly picking up the three burdens, his life had become significantly precarious, leaving paranoid. 

Nonetheless, Huiyun consoled himself, thinking it unlikely for this young child to hold any shocking secrets. Holding the child tightly with one arm, he conjured a spear.

Clunk, clunk, clunk!

As the ground-like gate floor rumbled, giant groundhogs, the size of a car, emerged.

It’s good that the child fainted

Thinking it fortunate that the child had fainted, Huiyun swung his spear, unleashing light at the groundhog rushing towards him.

Crack!

With one blow, a long trench was carved into the ground as the groundhog split in half. Meanwhile, others leaped forward, brandishing their claws. They were contaminated groundhogs, and purplish venom dripped from their claw tips.

The child must not be struck by those claws.

Though he didn’t know, it could be fatal for a young child. Huiyun skillfully dodged the claws, tightly embracing the child to shield him from harm. Upon landing, he threw his spear, skewering two groundhogs instantly.

Thump, thump, thump.

His pounding heart signaled the beginning of the battle.

Krrruuuuugh!

The groundhogs bared their teeth and roared at the death of their kin and began to run all at once.

100 meters, 80 meters, 50 meters… Huiyun, confirming the rapidly decreasing distance, snapped his fingers, conjuring dozens of new spears into the air. Normally, he would have taken this opportunity to gain combat experience and engage more properly, but now was not the time to relax.

“I’m sorry, but I need to clear this quickly and return.”

Despite the charge of dozens of giant groundhogs, Huiyun remained unfazed, patiently waiting until they approached within 10 meters before thrusting all his spears downward simultaneously.

Swooosh!

The spears poured down like rain, turning the groundhogs into porcupines.

Their screams echoed throughout the space, and their movements halted. 

Huiyun manipulated the spear to confirm the kill.

Zing, zing.

The light-made spears vibrated as if resonating.

Krrrng!

Pierced by the vibrating spears, the groundhogs writhed in agony. Deciding to end it quickly, Huiyun clenched his fists, and with an explosion, dozens of spears burst out at once.

Booom, boom! 

Intense light, accompanied by consecutive explosions, shook the entire gate, and the blood and flesh of the groundhogs burst in all directions. Thankful once again that the child had fainted, Huiyun shielded the child’s body with both arms, turning his back.

Thud!

Debris poured down towards Huiyun’s back, making it uncomfortably damp.

Urgh!

Unable to endure the nauseating stench and discomfort, Huiyun retched as blood mixed with bile pouring out of his mouth. He grimaced at his sore throat.

“…Should’ve been a bit gentler.”

He had acted hastily, pushing himself to the limit without thinking. Thanks to that, the battle itself ended in less than 10 minutes, but he had pushed his body beyond its limits. 

Huiyun tapped his throbbing legs as if urging them to cooperate, then removed his outer garment, which had unpleasant piece of flesh sticking to it, and glanced into the empty space. 

The system soon displayed the gate clear notification.

[Low-Level Gate: Contaminated Groundhog Colony Cleared!]

Completion of the Aftercare System Quest for the Savior! Rewards: ‘Progress 5% for Mana Hypersensitivity Treatment’ and ‘Fragment of Yasha’s Memory.’

Would you like to check the memory fragment?

It was an easy decision. He wanted to immediately confirm what memory he was forgetting, but he was too concerned about the child in his arms. It seemed appropriate to first move the child to a safe place before checking. The golden system window indicated that the acquired rewards could be checked in the status window.

“Status Window”

The familiar status window appeared upon request. Huiyun glanced at the progress bar.

‘Remaining progress until treatment: 85%’

Thanks to clearing the quest three times, he had precisely 85% left until the treatment for mana sensitivity. If future rewards were given in increments of 5%, it meant there were 17 quests left. It felt like climbing one mountain after another, yet having completed the quest three times already, it seemed like it would be over soon. 

Huiyun positively interpreted the notification that appeared as he waited.

[The power of the honorable savior has manifested in you across the ages. Would you like to awaken?]

He suddenly became curious.

If all his disciples had been reincarnated in this era and retained memories from their past lives, would they have gone through the same process as him? Would they have recovered memories through dreams and accepted the system’s proposal?

With only three S-rank hunters in Korea, all suspected to be his disciples, the situation was peculiar. Perhaps they were exceptionally strong because they were somehow connected to the primordial era. If that were the case, it was quite ominous.

Perhaps the Great Heavenly Demon War could happen again in this generation.

No, in fact, he was almost certain. Otherwise, there was no way he, who had not reincarnated for thousands of years, would suddenly be reborn like this.

It was Huiyun’s hypothesis that the beings from the primordial era were summoned because the existing human power alone was not enough to confront the demons.

“…If that’s really the case, it’s truly despicable.”

As Yasha had said, his disciples had also sacrificed themselves to protect the world during the Great Heavenly Demon War. He smiled bitterly at the thought of demanding the resurrection of those who had sacrificed so much. After a brief silence filled with such thoughts, the golden system window appeared again.

[Are you curious about the truth of the world? If you awaken now, there is a 100% chance the administrator will risk their life to tell you the secrets of the world!]

“Never mind, forget it.”

Why did they risk themselves despite the threat of punishment? Moreover, he felt kind of bad for the administrator for being punished because of him. Besides, he had no intention to know the ‘truth of the world’. Huiyun sighed and dismissed the window. Now that the gate business was over, the world shook as if to signal the gate’s disappearance.

A black light covered his vision. It was a precursor to the gate’s disappearance.

Waiting until the sticky feeling and unpleasant air disappeared, Huiyun realized that his body had returned to the original world beyond space. When he opened his eyes, the sky’s color was almost the same as when he entered the gate.

“…Did I succeed?”

Huiyun raised his head with a slight sense of accomplishment. 

“…”

Three familiar faces stood in front of the hospital flower bed.

Huiyun instinctively held his breath and glanced at the three men standing as if waiting, then looked at the child in his arms once, and at the realization that struck him, he furrowed his brow in annoyance.

Why was the child out at this hour? Despite the suspicious behavior, the child seemed ordinary, so Huiyun wondered what the reason could be.

“These damn bastards.” 

“…Huh?”

Huiyun’s curses were not explicit until now, but hearing them, Juan widened his eyes in surprise. Huiyun stared at the three men with a mixture of disbelief and anger.

“You’re using a child because you have nothing better to do? Damn it, no wonder things felt off. Yeah, why would a little kid run out of the hospital at 3 in the morning?”

“Huh…?”

“You despicable bastards. And you dare to call yourself a hunter?”

Huiyun’s unrelenting criticism made Juan’s expression tense. He seemed taken aback by Huiyun’s anger and waved his hands defensively.

“No, you’re mistaken. We didn’t send him. What misunderstanding is this?”

“I can’t believe this. Obviously, you guys conspired something. And this is the result.”

“No, I mean, we did plan something, but this isn’t it. We were just trying to guide you to the gate and have you deal with it. How could we know about the gate and use that child?”

“…What?”

“Exactly as he said. Our plan and this gate have no connection.”

Jiwook continued the explanation hurriedly after Juan. Huiyun blinked as he pondered their words.

“So, it’s not your doing?”

“No. Even we can’t guess where the gate will appear.”

Huiyun was the one bewildered when all three of them joined forces. Huiyun’s gaze shifted to the child in his arms.

“…Then what about this child?” 

“We don’t know either.”

“Then….”

Slowly, a heat began to rise from Huiyun’s neck. Huiyun closed his mouth as he began to realize the situation, and Juan shrugged his shoulders.

“Understand now? It’s just a coincidence with this kid. We didn’t do anything nefarious. And Huiyun.”

As Juan pointed out the truth, he approached Huiyun and bowed his head. Matching eye level, he smiled broadly.

“Caught you?”

A refreshing question struck his ear. Huiyun, realizing his situation, hesitated in his steps.

The gate that has just been cleared and he coming out of the gate. And those three who saw it.

…Damn it.

I’m screwed