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Join the Server“Oh, it’s that old man from before, isn’t it?”
Slightly pushing himself up and glancing behind him, Han Dokyeom saw a teenager with a scarf around their neck, standing as if they had just run into a friend. The scratch on their eyebrow looked unusually familiar.
Ah.
It was that kid. The broker who had first guided Dokyeom to a gate, playing the role of a ‘messenger pigeon.’
“Oh, old man, your face is super pale today. Like a sticky rice cake?”
“Do you know me?”
Dokyeom grumbled with an unenthusiastic expression, his tone tinged with sarcasm. Yet, the boy merely chuckled, approaching him and pressing a canned coffee, pulled from his pocket, against Dokyeom’s cheek before handing it over. It was a form of bribe.
“Ah, why be so cold between us? I helped you earn money back then.”
“Alright, just state your business and leave quickly. I’m busy.”
“Busy, my foot. Seeing you sprawled out here, it’s obvious. You were probably just holding your stomach, hungry again.”
“Go, you brat.”
“Alright, alright. I just have to say it. You’re always so impatient.”
The boy pouted, grumbling as he anxiously circled Dokyeom, trying to coax him. In such cases, there was only one reason: the gate was short on personnel.
“Old man, listen. That—what do you call it—that gate nearby is about to burst, right? Well, a small guild was managing it, but due to their negligence, there’s only one day left for clearance. And now that guild is on the verge of disbanding, so they’re just abandoning it, not caring at all?”
“And?”
“So, they’re looking for people to clear the gate, and wouldn’t you know it, they’re exactly one person short.”
“So you’re asking me to go there?”
“Exactly, that’s it! You get it right away! You’ll go, won’t you? Huh? Old man, you’ll go for me, right?”
Now he was even rubbing Dokyeom’s shoulder from behind, asking in a wheedling tone. They must have been truly desperate for help, as his attitude was utterly obsequious.
“And the gate’s rank is, guess what! A C-rank Gate! This is a gate made for you, old man! I’ll offer you 150 for the daily wage. All the preparations are done, so you just need to show up!”
“It seems you’ve forgotten something. I may look like this, but I’m E-rank.”
“What do you mean, ‘look like this’? Anyone can see… No, I know, I know. But let’s just go and talk. Let’s go see my uncle, you can recite your skills, and then decide whether or not to do it, alright? Can’t you do that for me? My allowance depends on this.”
It seemed he was ready to beg. Watching him, Dokyeom reluctantly got up, brushing off his pants. The boy’s face lit up, and he eagerly led the way.
“Oh, as expected of our old man. Look at that loyalty.”
A C-rank Gate could be cleared in a day, making it perfect for passing the time. Han Dokyeom, taking Agon, who rose to follow him, casually trailed after the boy.
After walking for about ten minutes, they spotted a crowd of people gathered in a designated management area next to a playground. Association vehicles and work trucks already surrounded the area, controlling access, while people who appeared to be officials were deep in conversation.
“How can you just abandon it like this?! If you knew you couldn’t handle it, you should have reported it to the Association or sold it at auction! Letting it get to this point, it feels like you’re intentionally trying to screw us over! We’re already busy enough to die, this is driving me crazy!”
“My, my apologies. The guild is on the verge of disbanding, and no one is reachable… I was also sick in the hospital, so I was distracted and couldn’t oversee it properly. I apologize.”
“Ah, just sign the transfer agreement here and wash your hands of it. Fortunately, the Woohwa Guild was nearby; otherwise, this wouldn’t have ended so smoothly. Let’s resolve this quickly! Hey, why are you bringing in equipment when the clearance hasn’t even started? And have the clearance personnel been filled? Why is everyone so slow!”
The irritable man commanded the scene like a dictator. He seemed to be an Association official, and the dark circles under his eyes suggested he hadn’t just started suffering from this kind of work.
Beside him, another Association official, his face deeply scowling, gnashed out curses, clearly radiating displeasure. It was utter chaos.
“Those Association bastards, trusting the government’s backing, it’s really… ugh, it’s not even worth cursing them. Why do they have to lecture people who are minding their own business? Just try to say something to my uncle, I swear!”
The broker boy grumbled, shaking his fist. Dokyeom surveyed the chaotic surroundings.
Six individuals were huddled together in front of the swirling blue gate. They were likely the clearers. The minimum requirement for a C-rank Gate was seven people, with B-rank requiring ten, A-rank fifteen, and S-rank twenty or more. These were legally mandated ‘Gate Clearance Standards,’ rules to be followed unless a Gate Break occurred.
“Uncle, here’s a hunter.”
The broker boy, who had led Dokyeom to the post-processing manager, puffed out his chest proudly. The manager was also a miner Dokyeom had met before. He gave Dokyeom a quick once-over before knuckling the broker boy on the head.
“Didn’t I tell you to bring only one person? Why are you bringing two and sticking your chest out so proudly?”
“Ah, it’s one person… Huh?”
It was as if the boy had just noticed Agon, who was trailing behind Dokyeom, for the first time; his eyes widened. He swallowed hard, staring with an expression that clearly said he’d never seen anyone like Agon before. And he hadn’t.
While it might have been different when Agon was C-rank, now at AA-rank, his presence was so faint as to be almost undetectable by anyone other than hunters of the same rank. Monsters themselves were naturally adept at concealing their presence.
“Uh, when did he get here? I didn’t see him…?”
“You’re driving me crazy, you really are. Anyway… I apologize for making you both come all this way, but only one of you can join the clearance team. So, decide amongst yourselves and let me know. I’ll make sure the compensation is fair.”
“Ah. This friend is my familiar, so it’s fine. Just count us as one person.”
This time, both the manager and the boy blinked. Soon after, the boy shrieked in surprise.
“You were a familiar hunter?!”
That’s how it was.
“No, then you should have said something! I didn’t know like an idiot the whole way here! How can a person be like that? Are you serious, between us? Huh?”
What did he mean, ‘how could a person be like that’? It just was.
As Dokyeom let the chattering words go in one ear and out the other, the manager took it upon himself to kick the boy’s backside, sending him out. Now that he had brought the person, the reason was that he was not an official.
“We just needed to fill the numbers, so rank doesn’t matter. You can just join the team in front of the gate. Send a brief profile to this email when you have a moment. This managed gate has been transferred to the Woohwa Guild, so you’ll probably need to get approval from an official to enter.”
“So, are all those people from the Woohwa Guild, here to clear it?”
“No, only the management has been transferred to Woohwa. The clearers here now were street-casted. The Woohwa Guild is currently busy clearing a gate that burst open further up, so they can’t spare attention for this one. Ah, I don’t know the details, but anyway, the gate has been transferred and is now owned by the Woohwa Guild, so they need clearers’ profiles. So let’s move quickly.”
The Woohwa Guild was where Geon Ita and Ju Uiryeong were. Dokyeom roughly sent a profile, extracted from the resume he had previously sent to Taeseongyeon, to the email address the manager had given him.
As he casually scanned his surroundings and headed towards the gate, a stall with bread and milk, seemingly by fate, caught his eye diagonally across from him.
Dokyeom immediately approached it, stuffing several pieces of bread into his pockets and hiding one in each of Agon’s outer coat pockets. It was as he turned, his hands full, that he heard the voice.
“I truly appreciate your help. I will definitely repay you for today’s work, so please don’t leave without it. Understood? Ah, here’s my business card.”
‘What?’
In the distance, a familiar figure came into view. They were greeting the clearers standing in front of the gate, their smiling face radiating an almost sickening warmth.
Light, natural brown hair and a white, petite frame.
It was that bastard, Ju Uiryeong.
The last time Han Dokyeom had seen Ju Uiryeong, he had been leading people away from a gate, relieved. Now, as if by some cruel twist of fate, he appeared here, lurking as if he had been expecting them.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. It was exactly that. Dokyeom wasn’t sure if Ju Uiryeong was the Woohwa Guild’s manager, but judging by the clearers’ obsequious demeanor, he seemed to have a close connection to the officials at the very least.
Among them, Ju Uiryeong was particularly holding one person’s hand like a lifeline, talking with an intense expression. He barely acknowledged the greetings of others, focusing solely on that one individual.
It was obvious that Ju Uiryeong was that kind of person. He was a key figure.
*Riiiip—*
Dokyeom tore open the bag on the spot and bit into a piece of bread. Agon, catching a whiff, wrinkled his brow and recoiled. Ignoring Agon, who was emitting a metallic hiss, Dokyeom chewed his bread, meticulously observing the person Ju Uiryeong held captive.
From broad shoulders tapering into a triangular physique, to hair as black as a crow’s feathers, and eyes as white as snow visible between the strands. His rugged aura and subtly imposing presence immediately brought someone to mind.
It was Kang Taesan, the very man Dokyeom was searching for.
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