# 3
“Jin-ha, preparations are complete!”
Chief Nam, who had been outside checking on the progress of work with government officials, called for him.
“Be careful, Jin-ha.”
“I’m just verifying information. There’s no danger.”
“I mean be careful not to be enchanted by the fairies. You know how dangerous fairies can be.”
Dr. Jo Sung-hyun emphasized with concern. Having known Jin-ha since he was a minor, the doctor tended to be somewhat overprotective.
Jin-ha nodded with a smile to reassure him and left the tent.
“Jin-ha, here.”
Chief Nam, who had somehow obtained an umbrella, held it over him while offering a hands-free communication device. Jin-ha put it on as he headed toward Resort Building C.
“I’ve checked all the communication equipment, antennas, and cameras.”
“Thank you, Chief.”
“It’s my job, no need for thanks.”
As he spoke, Chief Nam opened the entrance door to Resort Building C. Inside the half-collapsed building sat a gate.
Jin-ha turned on the communication device by pressing a button and began speaking as he walked into the building.
“September 23, 2042, 3:25 AM. I’m beginning the investigation of the gate at Mount Yonghwa, Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.”
-Recording has begun according to the Gate Information Sharing Protocol. Communication and video transmission status good. Thank you for your cooperation in sharing information, Recorder.
The association operator’s familiar voice informed Jin-ha through the connected device that recording had begun. The information he collected would be stored at the World Gate Information Association, analyzed by various people, and then published online.
This was precisely why Jin-ha had decided to join the World Gate Information Association rather than Korea’s Anomaly Management Agency.
Information should be shared.
That way, more people could survive in this abnormal world.
-Please prioritize your safety during the investigation.
The operator conveyed their concern. This was clearly a reference to when he had nearly fallen into a swamp while investigating a gate last time. Jin-ha nodded with a smile.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Slowly closing and opening his eyes, countless information values invisible to ordinary people began to appear before him.
This was his ability—the Information Eye.
From the gate imbued with magical power, dozens of shining branches stretched out, and from those branches, dozens more shining branches extended, and from those branches, more branches… The gate had an enormous network of branches spreading from it.
It was an overwhelming sight, almost violent in its intensity. The thick, long branches rose beyond the half-collapsed ceiling of the resort building.
Though Jin-ha had seen many gates with his Information Eye, this was the first time he had encountered one with such a massive form.
And in his experience, the amount of information was proportional to the gate’s danger level.
Jin-ha quickly moved his gaze to select immediately useful information.
“…”
Lee Jin-ha was a Hunter.
Instead of combat power, his Information Eye ability allowed him to read books in unfamiliar languages, grasp the meaning of intentionally drawn pictures, and instantly decode secret ciphers. Moreover, he could read the flow and structure of magical power constituting the gate as if it were language.
“Gate magical power concentration: S-class. Magical saturation: 100%. This is definitely an open gate.”
-Confirmation complete. Protocol B activated.
The siren sound in the distance seemed to grow louder. It probably wasn’t just a feeling. Protocol B was a kind of emergency declaration confirming that the current situation was dangerous. The government, upon receiving the news, would accelerate the evacuation of citizens, and the Hunter Guild, which was being urgently summoned for the assault on Mount Yonghwa’s gate, would also be notified. If A-class or lower guilds were being summoned, they would be sent back, and S-class guilds would be summoned instead.
Jin-ha closed his tired eyes tightly and opened them again.
Now wasn’t the time to worry about such things. He needed to prioritize finding information that would help the hunters who would soon arrive to confront the gate.
He deleted useless information from the unfiltered data, leaving only what would be useful for the assault. As his gaze swept across, useless phrases like “The Fairy Queen is great!” or “The Fairy Queen loves caramel!” were erased.
Until now, he had never read information mentioning a queen in fairy-related gates, but this time most of the useless information was related to a queen. Perhaps the probability of mentioning the queen increased as the fairy rank increased.
“Judging by the amount of information, there’s a high probability that a Fairy Queen exists inside. The gate boss might be the Queen.”
-Confirmation complete.
“The gate’s magical power accumulation is about 150,000.”
-Confirmation… complete.
The operator’s voice trembled.
The gate’s magical power accumulation was related to how strong the monsters inside were, and the maximum magical accumulation of a typical S-class gate was only about 60,000. But now a gate with more than double that amount had appeared, so who knew how strong the monsters inside would be…
“I request that the Association research the change in radar detection performance according to gate magical power.”
-Confirmation complete. The Association President, who was listening to the broadcast, has promised budget support.
“That’s good. Next, due to the high magical power level and grade and the existence of a new type of fairy, the Fairy Queen, this gate should be classified as a new type of gate…”
Jin-ha, who had been continuously scanning information while speaking, suddenly closed his mouth.
The branches extending from the gate began to tremble and spread more branches. The amount of information increased exponentially. Like water flowing back through a narrow gap, numerous information branches emerged and overlapped in layers. So densely packed that the text was unreadable.
Jin-ha retreated step by step.
-Recorder?
“Abnormal phenomenon occurring at the gate.”
-If it’s dangerous, I recommend immediate evacuation.
“The magical power is…!”
The magical power, which until just now was around 150,000, was rapidly increasing. 151,000, 152,000, 153,000…
“The magical power is rising rapidly. Overflow, I suspect a gate overflow.”
Gate overflow referred to the phenomenon where a gate explodes and all the monsters inside rush out at once. It was a disaster known to occur intermittently when magical power accumulated above 100% saturation, but its cause remained unknown—and now its precursor phenomenon was happening.
-Protocol X activated. Recorder, please evacuate…
“I have an escape artifact, so I’ll be fine. But outside, Dr. Cho is…”
That’s when it happened. Jin-ha was suddenly yanked toward the gate as if caught by something.
Quickly lowering his body, Jin-ha drew a long sword from the bracelet artifact and thrust it into the floor. With a crackling sound, the floor split as Jin-ha’s body was gradually pulled closer to the gate. He tried to drive the sword deeper to resist, but the inside of the long-abandoned floor was rotten, so it didn’t work as intended. It only slowed his dragging speed slightly.
-Recorder!
“I feel a powerful suction force from the gate. This is a phenomenon I’ve never seen before. This might be some kind of trap using the gate…”
-Recorder, hurry…!
The gate’s magical power reading was soaring endlessly. The suction force grew stronger, and Jin-ha was eventually dragged to a position less than a meter away from the gate.
There was no time to spare. Jin-ha turned the ring on his left index finger so that the jewel part faced downward. Now he just needed to press his fingerprint on it, and his body would instantly teleport to the Association.
But just as the tip of his thumb was about to touch the jewel, a hand that shot out from the left side of the gate gripped the back of his hand. The fingers of the large hand, one joint longer than Jin-ha’s, intertwined between Jin-ha’s fingers. Because of this, even when Jin-ha stretched his fingers with all his might, his fingerprint couldn’t reach the ring’s jewel.
“What is this…?”
This time, a hand emerging from the right side reached up, feeling Jin-ha’s stomach and chest, before firmly grasping his neck. Under the pressure that steadily pressed on his neck as if feeling his rapid pulse, Jin-ha froze, taking in a sharp breath. The force gripping his windpipe grew stronger.
“Wait…”
Jin-ha stretched his thumb with all his might. Though it was difficult due to the large, thick hand twisting his own, it seemed like he could reach it if he stretched just a little more.
Just a little bit, just a little more stretch…
At that moment, the large hand pulled him forcefully.
-Recorder! Recorder!
* * *
The man finally embraced what had entered his arms, holding it tightly like a lifeline. At this moment, he didn’t care what kind of object, human, or monster it was in his arms.
The creeping, chilling sensation gnawing at his mind hadn’t disappeared for a month now. The pain like having his brain stirred with a rod had been coming intermittently for two weeks. Anxious that he might have to silently endure this terrible pain that could come suddenly at any moment, he hadn’t been able to sleep properly for a while.
“Haa…”
The sensation of his seething soul being washed away with cold water was perhaps similar to pleasure. A sense of liberation, as if finally escaping from what felt like an eternal lava prison, seized him.
The man, who had been enjoying the sensation with his eyes tightly closed, finally opened them. A feeling close to ecstasy spread across his face as he saw the human in his arms.
This novel is very interesting