Chapter 38: Rare Gate… Or Worse

Lee Juju, somewhat unexpectedly, showed interest in the Center espers.

They were already corpses and clearly beyond saving, yet he couldn’t shake the thought: If the guide were powerful enough, could a dead esper be revived?

Colonel Shan wasn’t the only one watching him.

Whether consciously or not, the other squad members kept their eyes on Juju as well.

Ignoring their stares entirely, Juju carefully examined the bodies.

He didn’t seem to be attempting any guiding.

‘Why did they die?’

Juju tilted his head. He couldn’t figure it out.

Even if this Gate had a double structure, it should have been no more than Rare rank. Six dead espers was far too many. He’d assumed perhaps one or two might have collapsed or gone berserk at worst.

Every corpse was damp and smeared with dirt.

Juju brushed off some soil stuck to one body and crushed it between his thumb and forefinger. The grains crumbled without resistance.

Soil like you’d see near a lakeshore.

He stared at the patches of reddish mud, trying to find clues, but before long the soldiers approached and began covering the bodies with waterproof preservation bags. Within moments the corpses were rolled up neatly and stacked.

“We’re heading back.”

At Colonel Shan’s command, the squad turned toward the entrance they had come through.

At that moment…

“Colonel, the exit is-!”

The interior of the Gate shifted again.

****

If espers wielded direct powers, guides served as their support, guiding them and directing exploration within the Gate.

While espers fought and dismantled the Gate, the guide effectively commanded the operation and acted as the strategic brain behind closing it. Usually the highest-ranked guide present became the overall commander.

Even if the guide was only B-class while the espers were S-class, the rule still applied. In truth, espers were notoriously independent and stubborn, most would only listen to a guide anyway, so rank rarely mattered.

To increase their class, guides had to study Gates like students preparing for a brutal civil service exam. The more capable the guide, the more dangerous the Gates they entered, and the more fiercely espers tried to protect them.

A single wrong judgment could cost not only the guide’s life but the lives of everyone inside the Gate.

That was why becoming an S-class guide required memorizing the structures and histories of thousands of Gate types. Field experience mattered too, as did proving exceptional decision-making in virtual simulations.

You could mock an A-class guide as mass-produced, but never an S-class guide.

The certification required something like ten years of obsessive study in near isolation.

Unless, of course, the person was a genius.

Lee Juju happened to be both intelligent and highly experienced in real Gates, entering and exiting them as if they were his own backyard. That was how he had earned the S-class title relatively easily.

All so he could live comfortably in a safe zone with a high salary.

Juju swallowed a sigh as he continued organizing the clues in his head.

Even without a sun, heat shimmered upward from the ground.

They were in a dense jungle. Underfoot, unmistakably, was grass.

“…”

“Huh. Well that’s something. Is this one of those double Gates people have been talking about?”

“So it seems.”

Michael answered Lieutenant Colonel Miles. Nearby lay a large lake. The ground had been flattened and a tent set up, suggesting the Center espers had established a temporary camp here.

Rustle.

“R-reinforcements…?”

An esper carrying armfuls of dry firewood dropped them and hurried forward.

Juju looked coldly at the man, presumably a surviving Center esper, then silently moved to stand behind Colonel Shan.

Shan immediately sensed the movement and briefly considered why Juju had placed himself behind him.

The moment the Center esper appeared, Juju had moved there.

Which meant…

“Who are you? State your rank and name.”

The man froze in place.

A silver gun barrel was pointed directly at him, radiating unmistakable hostility.

Same everywhere, if someone seems suspicious, point a gun first, Juju thought.

At the demand for identification, the Center esper snapped to attention.

He clicked his heels together and saluted sharply, curly brown hair bouncing slightly. His build was sturdy, clearly that of an adult, but his face looked as youthful as Jason’s, an almost harmless-looking face.

“My name is Second Lieutenant Maximilian Gregos. You may call me Mac.”

While Colonel Shan held Mac in place for questioning, Juju’s eyes moved constantly, studying the Gate’s true form.

Since Shan had destroyed the Mirror Labyrinth and shattered the core, the Gate’s structure must now have changed.

With luck it might downgrade from Rare to Normal rank.

With bad luck, it could upgrade to Unique.

Usually, though, it simply remained Rare.

The scene contained a lake as large as the Han River and surrounding forest.

At this scale it was almost closer to a Rift than a Gate, yet it was still isolated from the outside world, so technically, still a Gate.

No way this is Normal.

He could only hope it stayed Rare.

Between the forest and lake stretched a wide grassy field. When wind blew, the grass bent in waves before rising again. Reeds grew thick along the lakeshore.

If there had been even a single house nearby, it might have looked like a picturesque lakeside villa in the Alps.

And yet, six dead, four missing.

It felt absurd.

No, three missing now.

“Where are the others, Mac?”

Though maybe all four are actually here.

Mac’s expression darkened at Shan’s blunt question. He hesitated.

“To be honest… I don’t know where the others are. By the time we realized it was a double Gate, it was too late. The Gate’s pulse scattered everyone. I found a note telling us to gather near the lake and came here, but no one else was present. So I set up a tent and waited.”

“So you were separated from the start?”

“Yes. I assumed it was because of the double Gate’s characteristics…”

“No one knows what will happen upon entry. Understood, Lieutenant Mac.”

“Yes, sir.”

Shan ordered the squad to investigate the lake area. Ten soldiers dispersed.

“How many monsters in the Gate?”

“There are several nests of F-class turret monsters in the northeastern outskirts. I was still scouting the rest.”

“Turrets” referred to giant rat-like monsters roughly the size of a human. Aside from their strong teeth, they had no special abilities, hence their F-class designation.

F-class monsters meant the Gate was Normal rank.

“You scouted alone?”

Shan raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. I thought I might encounter my teammates during reconnaissance.”

“I see.”

“Then we should set up near the lake and wait for the remaining advance team to find us.”

Lieutenant Colonel Miles spoke lazily.

Juju glanced at them briefly, then turned back to the lake, and the forest.

No sun or moon hung in the sky, yet the air was clear and bright.

Everything about this place suggested a Normal Gate.

At least they hadn’t landed in an orc colony.

“Where are you going?”

“Oh.”

Apparently Shan hadn’t been fully focused on Mac after all.

Juju looked up, slightly startled, at the colonel gripping his shoulder.

“I was going to help with the search.”

Shan swallowed the immediate No that rose to his lips.

He wanted to say it was dangerous. Or that it wasn’t Juju’s responsibility.

But standing before them was a suspicious advance-team survivor named Maximilian.

In the end, Shan gave a small nod.

“…Report before moving.”

“Yes, sir.”

Juju gave an awkward salute and stepped away from behind him.

When Juju moved toward the lakeshore, Shan had to admit it was actually a good position.

Yet the moment Juju left his back and walked away, Shan found himself unexpectedly uneasy.

Uneasy, and worried.

While Shan questioned Mac about when the advance team had arrived and whether any other traces had been found, Juju circled the lake following the other soldiers.

But no matter how much he searched, the lakeside remained untouched, aside from Mac’s tent.

The scenery looked completely natural.

As if everything had been restored to its original state.