# Chapter 113
Unfortunately, Lee Hwan had never waged war against humans or fought criminal organizations.
He had spent his first three years after Awakening as a gate selection Hunter, and after the Monster Wave broke out, humanity’s only enemies were monsters. There were no more wars between countries or civil wars.
“No, I usually handle the monster side…”
As he mumbled hesitantly, Jade sighed softly and shared some precautions.
“Haah… First, keep your face naturally hidden when you’re out. Especially you. Don’t use cards, and phone contact is forbidden. In this country, even prepaid phones are no good. Also try to avoid email as much as possible since it can be tracked.”
“Then how do I…”
“You can contact someone who hasn’t been exposed using different public phones. But for me, that probably won’t work.”
“Should we set a predetermined meeting place for emergencies?”
“So your brain does work after all. We have a safe house around here. If things go south, escape there. I’ll join you there if necessary.”
“A safe… house?”
“Yes. If something really happens, that bastard Kang Taesung will probably head there too, so we can at least meet up to assess the situation. Of course, since you’re the one who broke in, whether you erased the CCTV footage or not, you’ll be the first one hunted down. But at least your other reckless actions inside will be hidden.”
In the end, no matter how things turned out, he would be the target. Since he had already anticipated this, it wasn’t particularly frightening.
Still, he was surprised by Jade’s last words. He had mentioned taking out the drugs, but he had never revealed that he had searched for various information inside, taken photos, or discovered facts about Praxis.
But Jade seemed to have intuited that Lee Hwan already had an objective, and that taking the drugs was just a secondary accident and impulse.
“Whether Kang Dongha knows about your foolish actions or not, if he’s interrogated, he’ll sell you out in a heartbeat.”
He already knows, actually. He even warned me he’d sell me out. Lee Hwan thought this while receiving the safe house address. The house, which he had expected to be tucked away in some mountain valley, was surprisingly located near the bustling Busan port.
Apparently, in mountain villages, strangers wandering around attract attention. Being told to consider escaping overseas via the sea if necessary made Lee Hwan acutely feel what it meant to oppose those in power in a country called the “Naru Republic.”
After hearing a few more precautions from Jade, they parted ways wishing each other luck. To think he’d end up sharing a future with someone who had first tried to smash his head—the world was indeed unpredictable.
Then he returned home, slept in his empty house that resembled a model home, went to work again, and came back. By now, he had gathered most of the information needed for his escape.
Lee Hwan rolled from side to side on his bed a few times, organizing his plan.
“Originally, I was planning to go to work for a few more days after returning from the gate…”
After hearing about the safe house, his schedule had been pushed forward. If there was a place to stay, leaving as soon as possible was advantageous.
The only concern was that he would be giving notice of resignation on the same day. He did feel sorry for his team members who had at least refrained from speaking ill of him directly, but he didn’t want to increase the risk by dragging things out unnecessarily.
So as soon as he came out of the gate, he would have to pack his things and leave Seoul without attending the company dinner. After reaching Busan, he planned to stay at the safe house for the time being.
Then, on the promised date, he would go around to any public phone, contact Praxis, set a place and time, hand over the drugs, and part ways.
After that, unlimited rest until Praxis triggered the incident. If he naturally discovered a fragment of causality, this filthy regression life would reach a happy ending.
Even if he couldn’t complete the causality by then, once Naru started taking hits, it would become much easier to move around. He just had to seize that opportunity to find the causality fragment.
“This is going to be an epically exhausting day.”
Not many days remained of being unable to sleep deeply. The long-cherished wish kept lifting up Lee Hwan even as he collapsed from exhaustion.
* * *
7 AM. Lee Hwan got up early, packed his exploration equipment, and poured dry ice into the cooler. The dry ice he had purchased in advance had shrunk slightly in size but still looked intact inside the styrofoam packaging.
He placed the cooler containing the drugs in a subway locker on his way to work. He reached the front of his company, took a bus, and after being carried for about an hour, arrived at the gate in Guri.
“C-21, monster cycle eight months. Cleanup operation completed one month ago, and the exploration objective is collecting purple-leaf flowers and confirming the expanded habitat of Bell Trees on the revised map. We’ll depart after checking the exploration personnel, so please be prepared.”
At the entry leader’s briefing, the support team moved in unison, forming a two-line formation. Their indifferent expressions were impressive, as if this routine held nothing new for them.
Well, even Lee Hwan had only been excited when he first entered a gate; after three or four months working as a supporter, everything felt like an everyday routine. And as usual, the everyday was hardly thrilling.
“To expedite the work, we’ll divide the personnel. One person will come with me to the left to record the map, and the rest will go to the collection zone. Let’s see… Ms. Jiyoung? You’ll come with me.”
As the entry leader headed down the trail, the remaining team members followed the senior member toward the collection zone.
Using professional equipment to swiftly pull out plants attached to the wall from their roots and place them in specialized cases, Lee Hwan recalled the thoughts he had during his supporter days before regression.
‘It still feels like picking spring herbs no matter how you look at it.’
Was this how production characters felt in games popular during his childhood? With equipment like this, he could probably easily search around rugged mountains even with less experience.
He had the idle thought that maybe he should take up herb gathering as a hobby once everything was over. And if he happened to find wild ginseng, he would definitely eat it all himself. It was certainly a haphazard future plan.
“Every time I see you, I notice how well you gather these.”
“Excuse me?”
Just then, a familiar voice spoke up next to him. This was a colleague who occasionally spoke to Lee Hwan outside of work-related conversations.
After Kang Dongha had notified his sick leave through the secretary’s office, this friend had taken it upon himself to ask Lee Hwan about the situation. It had been absolutely maddening…
Come to think of it, that strange rumor about being a VIP’s lover might have started around that time. Lee Hwan had the reasonable suspicion that about 80% of his failed work life was probably because of Kang Dongha.
“When I rush, all the stems just break off.”
The baritone voice broke his train of thought again. Lee Hwan realized what he had been talking about and reached for the plant in front of him.
“This plant’s roots become stronger after it blooms. Shake the root first, then use tool number 2 to lift it up with the moss. At an angle, like this.”
“I know that, but… Ah, I broke it again. I’m not good at this.”
Lee Hwan shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. It was just a matter of technique and experience; if the other person had already been better than him, he should have considered switching to a different profession that used hands.
After finishing gathering the plant and tossing it into the case, Lee Hwan gave him a look that seemed to ask why he was talking to him. Noticing the look, his colleague continued pulling at plants and got to the point.
“They’re accepting applications for preferred teams starting the month after next. I was wondering if you had any team in mind.”
So that was it. Lee Hwan smiled slightly and dusted off the dirt on his clothes. Someone had probably asked him to subtly inquire in advance.
The way he often ran errands for the senior members gave him a subtle team leader vibe. This person would probably be the first to get promoted in this life.
He was such a good person—what if he had died in the C-17 gate accident? Lee Hwan suddenly felt that regression wasn’t entirely awful. He still felt proud of saving him, even though it had happened so long ago.
“I… think I’d be fine staying in Team 3.”
“Here?”
“Yes. Well. I don’t have any particular complaints. But judging by your question, I’m guessing that’s not the case for you, Junhyuk-ssi?”
“Me? Ah, haha. It’s not exactly a secret, but I actually want to join Team 1.”
Team 1 was where most field work was done alongside the assault team. After the assault team completed the primary cleanup, the lower assault team and support team would enter simultaneously and carry out their respective duties.
Though serious injuries were rare, the risk level was still considerably higher than Team 3.
“Team 1? Hmm, Team 1 certainly has a higher salary. But you’ll be entering gates with the assault team.”
Lee Hwan responded without giving it much thought.
“Yes, that’s actually why.”
“…That’s going to be tough. Picking plants and mining ore are peaceful activities. No matter how cleanly they die, monsters are still disgusting. And as you know, there are occasionally tactless assault team members who try to boss around the support team.”
“You seem to know a lot about it.”
“…That’s what I’ve heard. Haha.”
Lee Hwan laughed awkwardly and trotted out the pattern he’d used to the point of exhaustion. The other man seemed used to it by now and didn’t challenge him.
“It’s just, having become a magic resonance sensor and getting to go around gates, it feels a bit disappointing to only visit empty places like this. And it’s not like I’m going to Awaken.”
He was saying he wanted to do work that was closer to being a Hunter. It was true that in Team 1, you could at least see the corpses of higher-grade monsters.
What was a source of fear and concern for some could be an object of interest and curiosity for others. And this person had nearly crossed the threshold to the afterlife during the last gate accident. If he still liked this work despite that, he was definitely the right talent for the gate-related industry.
“Well, it’s not like they’ll send me there just because I want to go, haha.”
“No, I think you’ll make it. Team 1 has a lot of resignations and transfers.”
It was clearly meant to be encouraging, but it came out sounding like a curse, so Lee Hwan hurriedly added:
“Many people flee due to aptitude issues, but I think you’ll be fine, Junhyuk-ssi.”
And certainly, once he exposed Naru’s secret experiment, a crazy aftermath would ensue.
If operational suspensions at major gates brought about adverse effects and they entered restructuring, Team 1 would probably be better positioned to weather the storm than Team 3.
But he couldn’t bring himself to say that, so Lee Hwan just shook his gloves, covered in moss fragments and stone dust. Somehow it felt like he was only bringing misfortune to his team members.
That’s when it happened.
Chzzt- chik!
—Collection, this is Leader.
As if the signal wasn’t reaching well, the radio made a loud hissing sound before the entry leader’s voice suddenly came through.
As people who had been diligently picking plants looked at each other with wide eyes, one senior member quickly picked up the radio to respond.
“Collection, copy. This is Jeongmin. What’s the matter?”
Since they were being called suddenly, was there a shortage of manpower? Would they ask for one more person, and if so, who would go? Though no one said it aloud, they all seemed to be thinking the same thing.
However, after a few clicking sounds, the unexpected response was an urgent order.
—Real-time deformation of the gate has been observed. Leave your belongings and head to the entrance as quickly as possible right now.
The anxious voice announcing the unexpected accident scattered through the stone walls.
