# Chapter 114
Grrrr…
Simultaneously, a sound like rocks being dragged came from somewhere, making the axis of the gate tremble slightly. Fear gradually filled the eyes of the people looking at each other.
“What’s suddenly going on…”
Clang!
When someone dropped their collection tool making a loud noise, team members scattered around quickly gathered together.
The person who had been trying to radio several times finally turned around.
“Gate deformation has been detected. I don’t know the exact situation, but let’s get out first.”
The priority was to safely exit the gate and report this incident. The team members, trying hard to maintain their composure, walked back in the direction they had come from, only to realize that the once-wide single path was gradually narrowing.
Crack- crackle-!
The gate was quietly moving.
Even Lee Hwan had never seen such a clear deformation before. He gulped and momentarily denied what was happening before his eyes.
That couldn’t be. Even though he had experienced many tumultuous events like hidden rooms and disasters, that was only because he had specifically chosen gates likely to change based on his future memories.
Such a dramatic change in a perfectly fine C-class gate, especially one that had been cleared just a month ago, was unprecedented.
Crackle-!
—Hey, hey, can you hear me? Jeongmin-ssi, I’m heading your way now. I’ll join you soon!
A voice burst through the radio, ignoring all proper radio terminology, resonating loudly.
“Manager, this path suddenly…! What’s going on right now?”
—I don’t kno- crackle- I just noticed real-time deformation and alerted…
Kraaak!
At the same time, a strange, unearthly howl echoed from somewhere. All the flustered team members froze for a moment and looked at each other again.
Monster. A monster had appeared in the gate.
As soon as he realized this fact, Lee Hwan felt all the blood in his body go cold and drain away.
A major accident that even he, who had seen the future and returned, knew nothing about was now unfolding inside.
“Can you hear me? Manager, where are you right n—ugh!”
With a hiss, the gate began to shake in earnest along with the radio sound. People who lost their footing fell in a heap, and the already narrowed path split down the middle, instantly becoming a cliff.
KRAAAAK-!
Keeek, KRAAAAK!
To make matters worse, he sensed the monstrous sounds gradually approaching. It was like wolves pursuing them on a snowy mountain. People were still trying to get up by feeling along the walls, while the gate’s path continued to blur.
‘This is… impossible…!’
It was an accident he couldn’t have even imagined. Thinking they might not escape mass death at this rate, Lee Hwan unconsciously tensed his stomach and shouted.
“Everyone, get away from the walls! When the gate shakes, don’t stand up abruptly—crawl to move!”
Disaster certainly robbed people of their reason. The team members, despite knowing it was Lee Hwan shouting commands, crawled earnestly as instructed, their minds blank. When stones suddenly fell from the wall behind them, they realized those rocks could have hit their heads, making them look even more shocked.
Still, they were handling the sudden accident quite well. If Kang Dongha had been here, he would have panicked at the sound of the monster and run off recklessly, creating an even bigger disaster.
He probably would have pushed two people into the gap, crushed the bones of two others by stepping on them, and then dived toward the entrance only to hit his head on a rock and fall unconscious.
The gate, which had been shaking for quite some time, only stopped moving after the split path looked almost like a cliff. As if their safety training hadn’t been in vain, the team members quickly regained their composure and began checking on each other.
—Ah, ah, ah, can you hear me? Can you hear me?
“Yes, yes, copy!”
The voice calling again was heard from the radio. Just as people were showing relieved expressions at the sound of a normal voice, the conversation that followed reminded them they were still in the midst of danger.
—We heard monster… sounds. Are you alright there?
“We heard them too. We haven’t seen them yet… but what sounded like faint echoes until recently has now become louder and clearer.”
—Damn it! I’ve fired the rescue signal, but I’m not sure if it worked properly. Cell phones obviously have no signal. You all left yours behind before entering, right?
“Yes, we did as usual and left everything before entering. Still, I think we can make it to the entrance if we leave carefully. Don’t worry and first…”
—Jeongmin-ssi, didn’t you hear me say monster sounds? When monsters detect humans, the gate won’t open. What nonsense are you talking!
“…Oh.”
Team 3 had never experienced a gate with monsters. The faces of the team members who had just found some stability turned pale again.
To think that people who only knew basic defense as combat ability were trapped inside a gate with wandering monsters.
—At least the tremors have stopped, so we’ll crackle- join you.
“Yes, yes.”
—Crackle- until then, keep the radio crackle- and watch your surroundings carefully.
“Yes, we’ll assess the situation until you arrive… Oh!”
Lee Hwan, who had been quietly listening to the exchange, suddenly snatched the radio. Then, ignoring the gazes of those looking at him, he calmly pressed the button and transmitted a message.
“Don’t come. Find safe terrain and hide.”
—Who is this?
“It seems you can’t tell because the monster sounds are echoing, but they’re between us and you. Don’t come rushing out and become meat—value your lives.”
—So the monsters, crackle-.
“They’re coming this way. They’ve been coming this way from the beginning. I’ll handle it, so just keep activating the signal and stay hidden. You know what kind of monsters appear in this gate, right?”
—…Big-clawed weasels.
Though they were called weasels, they didn’t match the appearance of Earth’s weasels at all. If there were any similarities, it was that they had elongated bodies, were ferocious, and were persistently annoying.
Even for a veteran supporter, defeating multiple C-class monsters wasn’t easy. Even with anti-monster firearms in hand, someone with the reaction speed and strength of an average person would quickly tire and show vulnerabilities.
Moreover, monsters don’t hunt humans to fill their stomachs. They’ll rampage endlessly until all intruders are dead. So even if he created a disturbance to lure the monsters away to save the team members, the result would still be a tragic end with everyone dead.
“I’ll say it again, I’ll handle this. Don’t come near until I call.”
With a final warning, Lee Hwan tossed the radio back to its owner. Then, after drawing a line on the ground, he walked a few steps forward.
“Please step back. Since the earthquake has stopped, you can stay against the walls. Just make sure not to cross this line.”
Really, how could this happen? Lee Hwan let out a hollow laugh. After trying so hard to hide the fact that he was Awakened, it was about to be revealed on the very day he decided to leave Naru.
Of course, the fact that he was Awakened seemed to be already known to Kang Taesung, Jade, and Kang Dongha, but the company people were different. Once they left this gate, they would report exactly what they had seen and heard.
After everything was over, if he returned, it seemed the Hunter Management Bureau would bind his arms as an ability control apparatus. To think he’d become the protagonist of a tragic story where he saved the world but couldn’t save himself.
‘Still… I can’t die.’
No Dolpeung, no familiar firearms. If several monsters came rushing out, even if he didn’t try to save these people, without using his abilities, Lee Hwan would be at risk of severe injury or death.
But waiting for all witnesses to be injured and pass out seemed too psychopathic. Those injuries could turn out to be something like the separation of head and body.
“Haaa…”
Lee Hwan slowly blinked and drew out his ability. Facing combat after a long time made him feel like his blood was boiling from within.
His eyes shone brightly. A fresh apple scent spread from his standing body, and the cries of monsters could be heard clearly from afar.
Monsters that smelled the pheromone would come straight for him instead of taking another path to destroy the gate or kill the leader.
Since this was a battle where he had to protect the baggage, the fact that aggro wouldn’t go elsewhere would make the fight much easier.
One, two, three, four… Lee Hwan counted inwardly. Judging from the speed at which the sounds were approaching, they would be upon them in less than a minute.
And just as the count passed forty-five, as expected, the monsters’ howls were heard right next to them, and three creatures the size of scooters rushed toward Lee Hwan.
GRAAWK! KRAAK-!
KAAAAAA!
Whoosh, as all the monsters rolled on the ground once, Lee Hwan took a deep breath and cursed inwardly. They were too large. According to his knowledge, these monsters should be at most the size of medium dogs, but for some reason, they boasted hulking bodies as if they’d eaten something strange.
But that wasn’t the only anomaly. He knew that the Big-clawed weasel’s main weapons were fangs and claws, but those that appeared with reddened eyes and dripping saliva were also covered in sharp, hard spikes all over their bodies.
The hook-like claws that should have been there originally had grown to such a terrifying size that it was hard to tell whether they were claws or daggers.
In many ways, they didn’t look like mere C-class monsters.
‘Something’s strange…’
No matter how he thought about it, they looked quite different from the photos and information in the guidebook. Especially the development of spikes that weren’t present in Big-clawed weasels was something he had never seen or heard of.
As he was thinking this, Lee Hwan suddenly recalled the scene he had witnessed in the lowest level of Building D.
Come to think of it, he had seen such a case exactly once before. In the Red Room.
‘The sudden movement of the gate. The appearance of monsters that shouldn’t be there. And… the evolved, transformed appearance of the monsters.’
His heart felt like it had dropped and was pounding at his feet. Lee Hwan rolled his eyes in a dazed state as he pushed down the charging monsters with gravity.
…Someone had released a specific substance here. The gate started moving, and the monsters began to twist. The monsters before his eyes were no longer the C-class ones he knew.
