*
The moment I stepped through the Gate, a sticky and unpleasant air greeted us.
Whether it was a cave in some unknown place, the long passage had torches on both sides. Perhaps because the intervals were long, it felt slightly dark.
"This... are these human footprints?"
Choi Tae-soo-ssi muttered, looking at the faintly remaining footprints on the floor.
It seemed like a considerable amount of time had passed, but they were clearly visible human footprints.
"We better be careful."
Park Hye-ji-ssi looked tense at the sight of a landscape different from the space we had expected.
I thought a vast natural landscape would unfold like a typical Gate, but to think a place with human traces would appear.
It's not that these kinds of Gates don't exist, but they are usually ancient ruins. But the place we entered felt like people had been there until recently.
The bizarre characters engraved on the walls made it clear that these beings possessed intelligence.
"Somehow, these letters look familiar."
Choi Tae-soo-ssi muttered, looking at the characters written on the wall.
"Could people be living here? I've never seen these letters before..."
Characters never seen on Earth, which meant they were beings from a different dimension than us.
And, those letters were very familiar to me.
Because I had forcibly learned them to use the Vision Swordsmanship Manual.
"Oh existence that originated from the darkness, the lowliest one calls to the deepest darkness... what's written after that?"
The part after that was written in a different script than the Imperial language, so I couldn't read it. At least I could recognize that much, and the rest was a jumble of specific characters.
"Can you read these characters?"
"A little, but I can't read the rest."
"Do you know anything about this?!"
Park Hye-ji-ssi approached with an expression that she found it interesting. Choi Tae-soo-ssi wasn't saying anything, but he was focused on this as well.
"I don't know the details. It's just that I learned these characters because of the swordsmanship manual I received last time."
"Swordsmanship manual...?"
"So, you finally succeeded in learning it."
"I haven't completely mastered it, though."
"Why are you guys talking without me?"
Just as Park Hye-ji-ssi was about to argue, I sensed movement in the distance. We stuck close to the wall in the dark space and hid ourselves.
"Hmm... I heard a strange noise."
"Didn't you eat something wrong? You've looked weak since last time."
"Didn't you hear it? I definitely heard someone talking around here."
"What crazy bastard would come all the way here? It's not like the devils are playing tricks."
"I definitely heard it..."
"We'll get scolded if we're late, so just follow me."
"That's strange..."
Why do the guys in these kinds of places always cover their faces?
Unlike the guys who at least wear hoods, the men wearing white masks glanced at us for a moment and then disappeared leisurely.
Anyway, it feels awkward seeing such a large body sticking so close to the wall.
"So, there are people here."
"It's my first time seeing such intelligent beings inside a Gate..."
Even though the other side of the Gate is a different dimension, it was always only inhabited by monsters.
Judging from their appearance, they definitely didn't look like Hunters like us, so the two of them had serious expressions.
'They're speaking the Imperial language, so it seems like they're definitely from the Freya side of the world. Do you know what's going on, Makina?'
I guess she can't tell me the details this time either.
["It is a lower dimension. However... the axis of time is slightly distorted."]
The axis of time is distorted?
So, it's not the world from the timeline I went to last time.
Whether it's the point in time when the humans I met then were defeated, or the point in time when those guys just started appearing. It was a completely unknown situation.
If it's the point of defeat, it would be troublesome if the guys here crossed over to our side.
Although I don't know if it's even related.
'Could this be related to the destruction?'
I tried to ask Makina more questions after that, but she remained silent, unable to answer this time as well.
It seemed like there was no other way but to find out by confronting them directly.
This time, I discovered a special Gate, or rather, a dimensional rift. It felt different from the Gates that had been created before.
Could this also be that guy's influence?
"He's completely gone. Hmm... what should we do, Hye-ji-yang?"
"I don't know either. It's my first time meeting humans inside a Gate..."
The ones inside the Gate were clearly enemies of humanity, so we could just defeat them. But in the current situation, it was difficult to judge whether the guys were enemies or not.
"It wouldn't be bad to search a little more and then decide."
For now, we decided to search this suspicious place further.
We decided to only subdue the people we met and not kill them.
The place where the rift we crossed over was located was near the corridor close to the warehouse.
Since there was no passage to enter from the outside, they seemed to have disappeared without much suspicion.
We decided to temporarily store items that could make noise in the warehouse in order to infiltrate.
Park Hye-ji-ssi placed an enchanted cloth on top of our items piled up in the corner of the warehouse.
The moment Mana was infused, the cloth reacted to the floor and wallpaper outside and slowly began to change color.
You could feel a sense of incongruity if you looked closely, but it looked quite plausible because the room was dark.
It felt like people wouldn't come and go often because it was a warehouse storing strange stone statues and accessories.
"There's even something like that?"
"It's not bad equipment for hiding luggage. If you connect magic stones, the duration is long, so there won't be much of a problem."
If you start using equipment like that, billions of won will be gone in an instant.
It wasn't for nothing that Hunters cost so much money. I wouldn't know if you just used weapons and armor.
If you start using those kinds of magic tools, you have to spend as much money as you earn.
"Don't you have any equipment to hide?"
I didn't pack the luggage, so I didn't know what was inside.
Because I only moved what Kim Jeong-ho-ssi and Park Hye-ji-ssi packed.
Well, I can't just go to someone else's house and rummage through their things, so it can't be helped.
"I brought a camouflage hood, but... it doesn't seem like it will be useful here."
Park Hye-ji-ssi muttered, lifting up a hood with a green frog pattern on it.
I thought a jungle with lush grass and trees would appear, but I didn't know a cave like this would appear.
"Hehe. Or, how about you two wait here? I alone..."
"Grandpa!"
"I can hear you just fine without you saying it so loudly."
Even though it was inside the warehouse, there was a risk of being caught if she spoke so loudly, but Choi Tae-soo-ssi had already deployed his Qi barrier.
He looks like an old man who's just going to smash everything with his fists, but his Mana control ability is incredibly delicate.
'Well, that's why they call him a monster.'
"You. Be careful not to get caught."
"You're the one who needs to be careful."
"Who's worrying about who!"
"Then let's take a look. What kind of place this is."
*
Men wearing strange masks patrolled and passed by.
They yawned widely as they passed by, not even thinking that such a large old man and two others were hiding right near them.
"Haa... I'm so tired, why are they making us patrol..."
"We're just grunts, so we have to do whatever they tell us to do... so when is the next shift change?"
We were waiting for the guys to pass by while supporting ourselves on the wall with our arms and legs.
There was no place to hide in this narrow passage except for the ceiling. At least the height of the ceiling was about 1.5 times higher than a typical building.
There was no need to look up in the room, so it was a decent place to hide.
Except for the fact that it was difficult to maintain the posture. I heard a rustling sound from somewhere, so I turned my head and saw Park Hye-ji-ssi, who looked like she was in an unstable position.
'She looks like she's going to fall.'
The moment Park Hye-ji-ssi adjusted her posture, small pieces of stone fell behind the guys.
The moment the pebbles fell, the three of us stopped breathing for a moment to avoid making even a sound.
I gave her a look with my eyes, and Park Hye-ji-ssi looked at me with an expression that she felt wronged.
'Is this going to get us caught?'
The guys must have heard the sound, because they turned their heads and checked behind them.
"Hmm? Didn't something just fall?"
"I don't see anything? There's nothing but pebbles."
"I must have misheard. Let's go."
'Phew...'
We let out a sigh of relief as we watched the guys pass by.
After confirming that they had passed by enough that they couldn't be seen anymore, we came down from the ceiling.
"What are you doing? We almost got caught because of you."
"Wh..what are you talking about. I..I can make a mistake once in a while."
"Hehe. Being like this reminds me of the old days."
"The old days?"
"Yeah. When I was younger than I am now, when I was dealing with the Villain bastards..."
"We're inside the Gate."
I cut him off lightly because I felt like he was about to start telling his past stories. This isn't outside, what time do we have to talk inside the Gate?
'Why do you have such a disappointed expression? Park Hye-ji-ssi looks disappointed too...'
Just as we were about to pass by, a door suddenly opened in the hallway. Two guys popped out right away before we could even react.
"Huh?"
"There was a door there."
"Who are yo...!"
The moment the guy tried to scream, Choi Tae-soo-ssi, who ran faster than light, struck the back of the guys' necks and knocked them unconscious.
An accurate strike without even an inch of error, as expected from someone with a lot of experience. The guys fell without even screaming.
"Hmm..."
It was just a place that looked like a wall, so was some kind of magic applied?
We looked at the two fallen guys and closed our mouths.
We dragged the unconscious guys into the room, and an ordinary space appeared.
"It seems like only these two guys use this place."
If I just wear that hood and mask, wouldn't the guys not recognize me?
I started taking off the hoods and masks from the unconscious guys.
"What are you doing now?"
"Let's disguise ourselves. I don't think they'll be able to tell us apart anyway."
"Disguise. That's a good idea too."
It smells a bit, but I look exactly like the guys when I disguise myself like this. This should be fine.
"Um... how do we get out of here?"
"..."
There were no major problems except that I struggled a bit because I didn't know how to open the door.