# Chapter 17
Lee Hwan was wearing a white mask and a functional suit with the hood pulled down over his head. The stone club he had snatched from Kang Dongha was securely fastened to his back, dangling as he moved.
Standing next to Kang Dongha, Lee Hwan watched the senior members arrive one by one and prepare to enter the gate, experiencing an odd feeling. Even though he knew there was no way he would be discovered, Lee Hwan felt his spine stiffen whenever the gazes of the group landed on him.
Only after checking the entry personnel, supplies, and gate status did the support team stand at the entrance. Today’s field exploration purpose was to record the ecosystem inside the gate.
C-17 was a level 3 plant-type gate where monsters generated extremely slowly, and it had already been swept through by several attack teams and previous support teams. It was an environment where the only risk factor might be a sprained ankle, though the investigation would still be tedious.
“Preparations complete. We’re entering now.”
As the support team took the lead, Lee Hwan gently pushed Kang Dongha, who had been standing still watching them, sending him forward ahead of himself. It was for his protection, in a way.
No matter how little danger there was in this gate, if he considered the accident from before the regression… it would be troublesome if Kang Dongha followed from behind and something happened to him. Plus, Dongha might be the one causing that “something” in the first place.
Lee Hwan had never waited for a gate entry job like this before. He spent the day struggling through a mixture of thread-thin hope that he might find some clues and a tension that felt like waiting for an execution date.
If it weren’t for his new friend, the premium massage chair that kept him company every night, his daily life would have been much harder.
‘Friends are good things indeed…’
Having already warmed up his body in private beforehand, Lee Hwan didn’t even do stretching exercises. Standing still and setting the mood before entering, he looked quite like a mysterious villain.
Perhaps it was his appearance that made the atmosphere here a bit heavier.
Kang Dongha seemed to understand why Lee Hwan was wearing a mask, but his expression showed he couldn’t comprehend why Lee Hwan wouldn’t speak and kept gesturing with his hands or chin instead.
‘The truth is I’m a new recruit for Naru Support Team 3.’
Since he couldn’t say that, Lee Hwan firmly waved his hand at Kang Dongha, as if telling him to go ahead. That bastard had too much curiosity for his age. They say curiosity killed the cat—Kang Dongha, being less cute and less useful than a cat, might end up in pieces with plenty to spare.
Meanwhile, the support team, perhaps thinking they had brought quite a strange person as a personal guard for the gate inspection, kept turning their heads to glance at Lee Hwan while pretending to check on their VIP.
To be fair, today’s fashion was quite strange. The oversized hoodie made it even more so. He had chosen clothing with a large hood so he could cover his head completely if necessary, but the obvious fact that larger hoods came with larger clothing sizes was something he hadn’t realized in advance, which was the root of the problem.
His face grew hot under the mask, and Lee Hwan wasn’t sure whether having to wear this was fortunate or unfortunate.
‘This is really embarrassing…’
The path to the center was a moderately rough mountain trail. Since there weren’t any collapsing rocks or slippery sections, Kang Dongha was walking along quite well. A gate with nothing unusual. That was Lee Hwan’s assessment. Nevertheless, an inexplicable uneasiness surrounded him throughout the walk.
While following Kang Dongha, he thoroughly examined the walls, floor, and even the empty space, but the gate remained quiet. Still, Lee Hwan kept feeling a tingling sensation at the back of his neck.
Was it just his imagination? Or was his subconscious sending signals after noticing something strange in passing without him consciously registering it? This was both instinct and the discernment of a veteran.
That’s when Kang Dongha suddenly turned around and spoke.
“Let’s split off.”
What? Lee Hwan almost answered aloud. It wasn’t just empty words—Kang Dongha had stopped in his tracks and was waiting for a reply.
What was he up to? Lee Hwan narrowed his eyes. Then, seeing Dongha’s brazen face, he clicked his tongue and relaxed his brow. No wonder Dongha had been so well-behaved all the way here. It was obvious the bastard had followed with some ulterior motive.
As the support team ahead gradually moved farther away, Lee Hwan briefly contemplated Kang Dongha’s intentions.
“Why are you surprised? Did you think I would crawl all the way into a gate just to watch supporters work?”
He had a point. Actually, if Kang Dongha had behaved quietly and just observed before leaving during such a moment when Lee Hwan’s senses were heightened, it would have felt even more strange.
Besides, even if he knocked this guy unconscious and left, there was no guarantee that no accidents would occur in here.
‘Ah, whatever.’
Lee Hwan gestured quickly to the Team 3 section leader who happened to look back, signaling that he would split off. At the same time, he cast a slight spatial field around them to reduce the sound of their departure. Seeing the figure with light shining through the eye holes of the white mask beneath the black hood, the support team silently turned away.
“Explain in detail first.”
Lee Hwan asked with a completely blank expression. His face had suddenly turned cold, but since the mask hid his expression, it was probably better for Kang Dongha.
However, despite being the one who brought it up, Kang Dongha seemed hesitant for a moment. When Lee Hwan finally let out a sigh, Kang Dongha’s eyebrows twitched.
Soon, perhaps thinking there was no need to hide anything after coming this far, he finally opened up obediently.
“Attack Team 3 mentioned something. While checking with the support team, they thought they glimpsed an entrance not marked on the map.”
“…Why ‘glimpsed’? Why wasn’t it reported?”
“It was only reflected like a shadow near the vertical cave. They said it wasn’t there before, so maybe some transformation occurred… Their drone broke while flying, so they couldn’t film that day.”
And then the Team 3 leader passed that information to Kang Dongha before it was documented. Why? Because he had been thoroughly chewed out by Kang Dongha once. When? The day Lee Hwan accompanied him.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“If I told you earlier, you might have made some plan to take it and run, right?”
‘Fuck.’
Lee Hwan cursed inwardly. Everything was unpleasantly predictable. C-17 was definitely related to the catastrophe.
And the small, precious flapping of wings that Lee Hwan had made to survive was returning as a typhoon, becoming fertilizer for the catastrophe.
Did this rotten bastard think this was an opportunity to pick up something good without anyone knowing?
No wonder he specifically targeted Support Team 3 instead of the perfectly capable attack team. Now that Lee Hwan was attached to his side, he had gained combat power too, so he jumped at the chance. Lee Hwan shook his head with a stifled feeling.
“There shouldn’t be any danger,” Kang Dongha confidently stated amid all this.
He did have a point. If there was space to enter, and if monsters resided inside, they should have made noise or given off a scent during previous visits.
So this was Kang Dongha’s reasoning: There’s no danger in that space. If there’s anything worthwhile, it’s a jackpot to safely retrieve; if there’s no gain, there’s not much loss either.
‘I see now.’
No matter how lowly the Attack Team 3 leader’s position was, he wasn’t an idiot. The reason he simply handed this over to Kang Dongha must be the same: he didn’t think anything significant remained in this gate. At the same time, he must have judged there was no concern about putting a VIP in danger.
‘Except a catastrophe occurred here in the past.’
Being the only one who knew this fact, Lee Hwan felt like dying.
No wonder Taesung didn’t like the Kangs. They pushed incompetent parachute appointees into attack teams and poked around gates blinded by profit.
Honestly, whenever Taesung showed slight displeasure, Lee Hwan had comforted him several times thinking, ‘At least he’s not trying to be like my relatives.’ But now, he saw little difference between his own relatives who had abandoned and neglected him as a minor, and Taesung’s relatives who pushed selfishness into matters concerning people’s safety.
If that’s all that remained of blood relations…
Maybe that’s why Taesung had drawn closer to him. Relatives were beings that existed whether you liked them or not, but their relationship was one that Taesung had chosen and created himself.
‘…I should stop thinking about that guy.’
Lee Hwan suddenly felt gloomy, forgetting the situation.
Following Kang Dongha’s instructions while examining the map, they arrived at a long vertical cave that seemed to stretch upward for at least several dozen meters. Despite the majestic display of nature before them, Lee Hwan felt no excitement, only a sense of oppression.
The terrifying part was that the cave extended deeply downward as well—they threw a stone and only heard a clanking sound several seconds later. If Lee Hwan were to fall, there would probably be multiple splat-splat-splat sounds several seconds later.
He would be shattered into pieces.
Fortunately, luminescent substances in the moss attached to the walls gave off a faint glow, so the inside wasn’t pitch-black darkness… but Lee Hwan didn’t like the fact that he had to enter this dimly lit place with Kang Dongha.
“Did you bring a drone?”
A drone equipped with a flashlight went up and thoroughly scanned the moss-covered walls. Under the intense light, a hole beneath the moss clearly came into view.
“…It’s really there.”
Standing beside the muttering Kang Dongha, Lee Hwan’s face grew increasingly pale.
Right. It really is there. Though it shouldn’t be.
Lee Hwan was a mature person. He wanted to reduce his swearing. However, what kept lingering around his lips were profanities.
Due to the increasingly ominous feeling, Lee Hwan felt like grabbing this ball of greed by the waist and running away right now.
