IRNH C80

Chapter 80

“Taewoon!”

Sihyeon quickly grabbed Taewoon’s hand.
A malignant energy—origin unclear, magnitude unprecedented—spread like fog from every direction.
He had never felt something this ominous, not even in Murim after countless battles.

“Do not leave my side.”

The moment he spoke, the ominous energy took shape and began forming visuals in front of their eyes.
It was like CG—
a hologram overlaying itself onto the room, deepening until the prison-like chamber dissolved and transformed entirely.

For fuck’s sake. Could this get any worse?

The phenomenon wasn’t identical, but he’d seen something like this before.
And even if everything looked calm for now, they couldn’t relax.

“This resembles a gate.”

As if reading his mind, Taewoon spoke the answer.

[Th… the… g… gate is…acti…vat…ing.]

A fragmented voice echoed intermittently in Sihyeon’s head.
Taewoon clicked his tongue.
A gate that could disrupt mental focus like this—
it wasn’t normal.

Not that it mattered.
Sihyeon was beside him.
And no gate was strong enough to stop them.

“Damn it… let’s move. We need to find Hajung first.”

Taewoon scanned the now doorless room with a hardened expression, but when he glanced at their joined hands, he smiled faintly.

“Sir, are you a knight of God?”

“…What?”

And the smile vanished instantly.
Another disturbance.
A child’s voice.

“Did you descend together with the angel?”

“Angel? What—”

“This person.”
The little girl pointed straight at Taewoon.

Sihyeon followed her gesture—
their eyes met—
and even Taewoon seemed taken aback by the unexpected interpretation.

“We’re not… like that.”

“I see… but thank you for coming to save me.”

Sihyeon forgot for a moment about finding Hajung, staring at the girl, bewildered.

What a strange kid.

The blank expression—he thought it was because of the sensory seals or the curse—
but no.
That was just her natural face.

“You think he’s an angel? And I’m a knight?”

“Yes. Earlier, you held your weapon and it looked like he bestowed a blessing onto you.”

For the first time, Taewoon—who rarely initiated conversation—spoke to the girl.
Sihyeon, in the middle of cutting her chains, froze and stared blankly.

But then—something in that exchange hit him.

“Blessing?”

“A ki—”

“Okay! Enough talking. We’re moving.”

He had to cut that conversation off immediately.

“Why?”

“WHY?! This is a gate! We need to get somewhere safe or clear it!”

But Taewoon only smirked, not cooperating.

Sihyeon’s patience snapped—

Then the girl spoke again:

“Oh! I saw them—the bastards who kept me here. They took their things and ran away.”

“The bas—what?!”

Her sudden profanity threw Sihyeon so off that he forgot to scold her.

“How old are you…?”

“I’m thirteen.”

Sihyeon’s jaw dropped.
Was he being an old man right now?

Maybe it was a translation glitch?

“The sons of bitches kidnapped me and made me create drugs.”

Ah.
Never mind.

He exhaled with a helpless laugh.
They were abroad, they would separate soon—
he might as well ignore it.

“Fine, we’ll report everything to the Association outside.
First, we get out. Stay close.”

“Yes…”

Mitchell answered quietly and approached.
Taewoon looked mildly pleased; Sihyeon shot him a suspicious glance before heading to the window blocked by a wooden shelf.

There was no door.

When they entered, a steel door had been on the left wall.
Now, only a crude wooden window remained, half-hidden behind a shelf.

Sihyeon shoved it aside and opened the window.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Outside was a decayed, slum-ridden city.
Buildings looked ready to collapse.
The alleys were sealed overhead with wooden planks, suffocatingly narrow.

Sihyeon froze at the ledge, trying to understand what happened.

At first he thought it was a “corrupted zone” caused by a gate spillover—
but no.
A corrupted zone didn’t instantly reshape the entire world like this.

This… this is a full gate interior…

“Help us!”

“Someone get us out of here! Please!”

Voices—multiple—filled with panic.

There was no time.

He swung Mitchell onto his back and rushed forward.
In times like this, Hajung’s knowledge was invaluable.

“Hey! Jeong Sihyeon!!”

He found Hajung not far—
same general location and direction, just a changed background.

“What the hell happened?!”

“…We’re unbelievably screwed.”

Hajung’s normally joking tone had hardened.
Sihyeon glanced briefly at the trembling Sima Yun and rubbed his forehead.

It was definitely not a corrupted zone.

If it were, they only needed to escape the area.
Handling the gate itself would be the country’s job, not theirs.

But they were inside.
And there was no visible entrance.

“It’s a gate?”

“…And not an A-rank. It feels worse.”

The Hunter training surfaced in his mind.

Originally, A-rank gates didn’t exist. They appeared later.
Meaning even higher ranks could eventually appear.

Why now?
Why here?

Distant screams and frantic voices filled the surroundings—
the situation was spiraling.

“Um… I think the gate’s area covers the entire city.
All my planted eyes and ears burst as the gate activated.
Only the ones outside Las Vegas survived.”

Exactly what he feared.

If the entire city was inside the gate—
Yujun and Gyu-min were trapped too.

Sihyeon clenched his fists and his mind raced.

He had two options:

1. Resolve the gate as fast as possible. 
2. Find Yujun and Gyu-min first, then clear the gate. 

At least it’s an instance-type gate. No forced quest, so we can move fast—

A chime.

A blue window appeared.

[Offer a Sacrifice! — This space demands life force.
Kill nearby humans to fill the requirement. (0 / 100000)]

“What kind of sick—”

He nearly cursed out loud.

Another update.

[Offer a Sacrifice! — Kill nearby humans. (103 / 100000)]

Sihyeon finally swore.

He knew better than anyone how manipulative these quests were.

“Even if we satisfy it, what then?
Does it say it’ll let everyone live?
Does it say it’ll close the gate?”

The system always tricked people.
Always.

But there were loopholes—
methods he’d learned the hard way.

“We’re not following the quest.”

“W-What? Then how do we clear—”

Sima Yun’s protest died the moment Sihyeon looked at him.

“There’s almost always another path.”

He had used those paths many times—
not killing the target, but preventing them from fulfilling the event the quest required.
A workaround.

Would it work here?
Maybe.
But he had to try.

“Ugh… if you say so…”

“And first—we find my people.”

“Right, Yujun and Gyumin.
Shit, right. They must be in chaos.”

Hajung bit his lip.
He was strong—second only to Sihyeon and Taewoon—but even then, the two boys being inside this gate was trouble.

Hopefully Gyumin was hiding well.
Please.

“I checked when I arrived—your position didn’t shift even after the gate formed.
Meaning the coordinates stayed consistent.
So if we head toward the direction of the hotel, we should find them.”

Sihyeon looked down the narrow alley.
Crumbling buildings, flickering signs, rotting planks.

It was a maze—
but they didn’t need to follow the maze.

They could make a straight line.

Avoid crowds.
Avoid panic.
Avoid unnecessary risk.

People near death sometimes drag down their rescuers.

Crack.

A huge hole punched through the concrete wall.

Before Sihyeon could move, Taewoon had already made the opening.

“Oh—uh, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.
If you’re that grateful, then a ki—”

“Later! Seriously, just—”

And the gratitude evaporated.

Sihyeon clenched his teeth and glared at Taewoon’s infuriatingly pretty face before whipping around, ignoring the heat rising at his neck.

Ahead of them, hole after hole stretched in a straight line—
Taewoon had already made the path.

They began to move.