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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Gate Opens
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After the attack on Stardust, I rested well at home, then got busy handling various matters.
Especially recently, something had changed from before.
"Huh!"
"Whoa, you dodged that?"
It was that I, too, was now sparring with my Ego Stream members.
"But why are *you* suddenly testing your abilities? Until now, you've only coached us."
In the forest in front of the house, Choi Se-hee, after launching several lightning attacks at me from the air, descended and asked, to which I shrugged.
"Just because. You never know."
...To be precise, it was because I'd felt uneasy after seeing that news about "restraints" yesterday. Anyway, I'd been thinking for a while that I should start strengthening my own abilities. Society was only going to get more chaotic, so I needed to prepare in advance.
With that in mind, I tested my evasion skills. Choi Se-hee would throw lightning, and I would teleport to dodge it.
And the result was...
"...You're incredibly good at dodging, aren't you?"
"Am I?"
"Yeah. No, seriously, I was really going all out at the end, but you didn't get hit once."
She said this, shaking her head, seemingly quite exhausted just from using her abilities. As soon as she and I landed, Ha-yul, who had been waiting, handed us towels and water.
"You both worked hard, Se-hee unnie, Da-in oppa."
"Thanks, Ha-yul."
I thanked her and took a sip of water. After drinking just enough to quench my thirst, I looked up and saw Choi Se-hee wiping sweat. Even though the weather was still chilly, she was sweating as if it were summer. She probably knew this would happen and had dressed in thin clothes beforehand.
"Ugh... I'm dying..."
"I'll heal you both. Please wait."
"Oh. Thank youuu..."
Soon, a flash of light emanated from Ha-yul's hands.
A warm, comforting energy permeated both our bodies.
"Phew. Now I can live again. Thanks."
Choi Se-hee grinned as she said that. I, too, let the tension drain from my body, feeling lighter than before. As expected, Ha-yul was the best. It was a bit unbalanced, to be honest, to be getting fatigue recovery from a healer of Ha-yul's caliber, but if she was satisfied, then it was fine.
After finishing our tests, we walked back to the house, chatting along the way.
"No, seriously, you're incredibly good at teleporting! It's like you have a sixth sense or something. I don't think you need any more training."
"That's right, Da-in oppa. I was really amazed watching you."
"Really?"
I briefly recalled the earlier moments. The time I was floating in the sky, dodging all of Choi Se-hee's 100,000-volt attacks. Roughly speaking, while teleportation consumed an extreme amount of energy, the control itself seemed pretty good. I had been using it for a while, after all. Of course, there was the minor issue of feeling a bit dizzy after the sparring with Choi Se-hee just now, but thanks to Ha-yul's healing, I was mostly fine.
"...Still, I should practice teleportation occasionally to maintain the ability. If I don't use it for a long time, the sensation dulls."
I just need to accumulate enough "stacks" for a certain distance of movement and then train.
"Well, that's true. That's why I always use my abilities periodically."
Choi Se-hee nodded seriously as she replied. ...No, it seemed more like she just enjoyed smashing everything with lightning.
Anyway, teleportation was settled... so it came down to brute force, did it? I thought of my other ability, psychokinesis. Psychokinesis was best used for levitating firearms or weapons. It was a bit weak to begin with.
So, physically, the only thing left was Behemoth. I placed my hand on my chest and woke Behemoth.
*Kyuu-ing—?*
The creature seemed to awaken with a phantom sound. I pulled out the black, tentacle-like thing that had been clinging to my inner clothing like a bulletproof suit.
As soon as I made a fist towards the air, the creature floated up and wrapped around my fist. Now looking as if I wore a thick, black gauntlet of a giant warrior, I threw a punch towards a nearby area.
*CRACK—!*
With a loud crack, the nearby tree toppled. ...Oops, sorry about that. But its friends were already down from the previous training, so it should be fine.
While I was thinking that, Choi Se-hee looked at the large, black Behemoth-gauntlet attached to my arm with interest.
"What is that? Are you finally going to use that black... whatever it is?"
"I've been using it all along, but now I'm starting to look into more diverse ways to utilize it in combat."
*Kyuu-ing~*
I deactivated the black tentacles and let them lightly wrap around my chest like a bulletproof vest. Behemoth, the crystallization of Han-eun Group's knowledge, which I had retrieved from their underground laboratory. It was a tragic bio-weapon, usually relegated to the role of a bulletproof vest due to lack of use, but now it was time to learn how to control it as if it were part of my own body.
Because...
"..."
While chatting with Choi Se-hee and Ha-yul and walking through the forest, I suddenly looked up at the sky. ...Considering the mid-to-late stages where the world would truly descend into chaos, with named villains finally emerging and the Moonlight Cult Gate incident looming... I needed to be strong enough to protect myself.
After arriving in front of the mansion, I parted ways with Ha-yul, who went to see her younger brother, and Choi Se-hee and I walked together towards one side of the mansion.
"Phew, I need to shower right away. You too, right?"
"Of course."
"Then let's have some banana milk together over there when we're done. Deal?"
"Sounds good."
"Okay. Come down in about ten minutes."
After parting ways with Choi Se-hee, I felt the cool breeze for a moment and thought about the future. ...The reason I had suddenly decided to power up my abilities to some extent. If I thought about it, today was finally *the* day.
It was the event that would completely overturn the original story's atmosphere. Because the signal flare for the Moonlight Cult Gate incident was going to ignite today.
I thought that and started walking. Probably, if my predictions were correct, it would be in a few hours.
***
The dark night sky.
A colossal blue portal opening in the heavens.
And gates opening all across the sky, clustered tightly together.
Countless monsters pouring out endlessly from them.
Cities burning amidst the screams of people.
And at the center, an old man cackling madly.
*The age of humans is over. Now, a new god will save us—!*
And so, seizing the tear in dimensions from another world, an onslaught of monsters attacked the entire globe...
"...."
After returning from training with Choi Se-hee. After showering, we sat on a nearby bench, chatting and drinking beverages, then returned to the living room. I sat on the sofa, staring at the TV.
Today.
Probably, somewhere in the world, a portal would suddenly open without warning.
And a few monsters would pop out of it.
While it might be dismissed as merely one of a villain's superpowers, some of the stronger ability users would see it and sense something. They'd feel that the aura was too alien to be just an ordinary ability. They might even predict that it could be a prelude to a much larger event.
Of course, such thoughts might simply be dismissed as mere delusions, but...
'At least, Cathedral would be different.'
Yes.
I had already warned Cathedral last time.
That the dimensional boundaries would collapse, allowing monsters from other dimensions to cross over.
Anyway, today would be the day of reckoning. I thought that as I watched TV.
After waiting for a few minutes.
Finally, breaking news flashed across the screen.
"[Live global news! Something strange is currently floating in the skies above France, let's take a look!]"
"....."
And then the screen showed it.
The gate, which I was finally seeing directly.
[
......
]
It was, undeniably, a bizarre sight.
A circle about twice a person's height, floating in the sky.
Yet, strangely, it didn't look like it was simply floating; it looked as if the sky itself was 'shattered.'
And beyond the portal, space was visible.
No, more accurately, it was something *like* space. A pitch-black, bizarre sight with tiny starlight visible within.
And blue energies swirled around the portal.
As I watched the scene, the anchor's voice continued.
"[Yes. And according to local media reports, two monsters emerged from this location, but fortunately, heroes suppressed them before any casualties occurred.]"
And then, photos of the dead monsters appeared.
They were lizard-like creatures, a mix of blue, purple, and black. Displaying them, clearly not creatures of Earth, the anchor continued speaking.
"[The local association has classified this incident as the work of a villain and announced they are searching for the villain who used this ability. Meanwhile, netizens have expressed reactions such as 'amazing' and 'frightening'...]"
Watching the news conclude, I turned off the TV.
"Phew..."
So, it was unfolding just like the original story. I sighed and rubbed my eyes.
That was undoubtedly the work of the Moonlight Cult. They were probably researching how to tear holes in dimensions, and today was their first success.
Of course, these gates would open eventually even without them. The good news was that there were still several months left. That meant there was enough time to prepare.
"...As expected, I need to accelerate the growth of the PMC kids."
Even if I tried my best to stop them, some would inevitably break through. When that time came, Stardust wouldn't be able to protect the entirety of South Korea. It was like that in the original story, too.
In other words, I needed to raise the PMC kids so they could help with monster suppression. ...It was about time to figure out how to connect them with Stardust through Lee Seol-ah.
As I was seriously contemplating the future, I suddenly thought of Stardust and felt a renewed sense of anxiety.
...Right, the Moonlight Cult opening gates was all well and good. I had a plan for that, so it could proceed as expected.
However, there was something much more important than that.
"..."
There was still the major issue of Stardust's tearful expression from the last terrorist attack, which continued to bother me.
...Lee Seol-ah said she'd meet them soon, so I guess I just have to wait for that.
"Tsk..."
It's bothering me. No, this feels more instinctively unsettling than the Moonlight Cult...