18 chapter - D-Class Gate (4)

“Is there really a sky inside the Gate?”

“Yes. You can’t see it here because of the thick fog, but in other normal Gates, you can see the sky. It’s much cleaner and clearer than Earth’s sky.”

“That’s amazing.”

Seong Yohan and Lee Yuna were sitting next to each other in the monster bird’s nest, chatting casually.

“At night, it’s even more beautiful. Scholars say there are constellations in there that you’d never see on Earth.”

“I heard that too. We learned about it in school.”

“School?”

“Yes. My major was Gate Studies.”

“Wow, you must have been a really good student.”

Despite the rather crude-sounding name, the Department of Gate Studies was actually a popular and competitive major.

Since so many ordinary people fantasized about becoming Hunters, the related Gate Studies department also became a highly sought-after field.

“Then you must know about Neil’s Boundary, right?”

“Of course. Who doesn’t? It’s that barrier surrounding the inside of a Gate that starts to shrink when Gate erosion begins.”

Knowledge about Neil’s Boundary was so well-known that it was considered basic common sense, even among civilians.

“But I’ve never actually seen it myself.”

“Oh—right. You mentioned this was your first D-Class Gate raid, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Until now, I’ve only cleared F-Class Gates.”

It was exceedingly rare for Neil’s Boundary to appear in an F-Class Gate.

“That means it would’ve been hard for you to see it.”

“Yes.”

Neil’s Boundary did technically exist in F-Class Gates.

However, most F-Class Gates had their boundary surrounded by solid rock formations.

That’s why the majority of F-Class Gates had a cave-like environment.

In essence, it was almost like being underground.

“In F-Class Gates, if you dig deep enough into the tunnels, you can supposedly encounter Neil’s Boundary—at least, that’s what I read in a book…”

Lee Yuna chuckled as she continued.

“But I’ve never actually dug that far.”

“So you must have been pretty excited. You could’ve seen it for the first time here.”

“I wasn’t that excited. I’ve seen plenty of pictures in books.”

“But seeing it in person is totally different.”

“That’s true. But rather than just seeing it, I’d like to touch it once.”

Seong Yohan looked alarmed.

“That’s dangerous! Don’t you know? If you touch Neil’s Boundary, you disappear!”

Lee Yuna smiled lightly.

“That only happens if erosion has started, and the boundary is shrinking. Before that, it’s safe. Otherwise, how would Neil himself have survived and written papers about it?”

“Oh? That’s… true.”

Seong Yohan had fallen for one of the common misconceptions about Neil’s Boundary.

And there were a few more misunderstandings that people generally had.

“What do you think Neil’s Boundary feels like when you touch it?”

“Huh? It must feel solid, right?”

“Wrong! The correct answer is ‘You can’t touch it.’”

“What?”

Lee Yuna, looking pleased with herself, continued her explanation.

“People usually misunderstand because they think of it as a ‘barrier,’ but it’s more accurate to describe it as a spatial zone. The entire space within exerts a repulsive force against objects. It’s like how the same poles of a magnet repel each other.”

Lee Yuna, evidently in a good mood, started enthusiastically explaining.

“That’s why some scholars hypothesize that the area beyond the Gate is another planet in deep space. The constellations you mentioned earlier actually support that theory. The star patterns inside Gates have some significant similarities—”

“Hey! Enough with the lecture already! It’s time to switch shifts!”

It was Im Jin-sol, who had been standing guard at the cave entrance.

“Oh, it’s already Yuna’s turn. Please take over.”

Seong Yohan smiled with relief, as if he’d been saved from a long lecture.

“Alright, I’ll finish telling you about it later.”

“Heh.”

Just as Lee Yuna was about to switch shifts with Im Jin-sol, something happened.

As Im Jin-sol turned his back to the cave entrance to take a break—

Swoosh!

A noise sliced through the air from beyond the fog at the cave entrance.

Im Jin-sol instantly pressed himself against the entrance wall, bow drawn.

A tense silence hung in the air.

“Hah. False alarm. Just some creature passing by.”

After confirming there was no danger, Im Jin-sol lowered his guard.

“Yuna, if you hear that kind of sound again, just run inside and wake me up. I’ll be taking a quick nap over there.”

“Napping? Seriously?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. There was another sound like that earlier too. As long as we don’t make any noise, the monsters won’t notice us because of the fog. Just don’t shout, okay?”

“Yes, sir!”

Lee Yuna kept her eyes on the foggy cave entrance, thinking to herself.

‘It definitely sounded like something falling…’

But trusting Choi Changshik without question, she came to a conclusion.

‘If I keep hearing that sound, it must mean the monsters Oppa dealt with are falling from above.’

However, contrary to her assumption, the sound was actually from Park Jihoon and Hong Soo-ah falling together.

**

“Ugh…”

As I regained consciousness, the first thing I did was check my body.

Thankfully, I hadn’t turned into a mass of red slime. I was still alive.

My body was floating midair.

The thick fog around me made it feel like I was sitting on a cloud.

‘…Neil’s Boundary.’

When I reached down with my hand, I felt a subtle repelling force.

‘Good. Just as I thought, the boundary appeared before hitting the ground.’

It was a gamble.

If the ground had appeared before Neil’s Boundary, I would have been dead for sure.

‘Feels like déjà vu.’

The first time I experienced Neil’s Boundary was when I was wandering through F-Class Gates, desperately trying to find my Trait.

One day, the cave floor collapsed, and I fell.

I thought I was dead, but instead of hitting the ground, I felt something soft and found myself floating.

Only after studying later did I realize it was Neil’s Boundary.

I never forgot the strange sensation from that first encounter.

“Ugh…”

I heard a groan not far away.

I moved through the air, almost like swimming, toward the sound.

“Soo-ah, are you okay?”

Hong Soo-ah hadn’t fully regained consciousness.

“Captain… I’m sorry…”

She kept muttering the same phrase, as if in the grip of a nightmare.

Then, suddenly, her eyes flew open.

The moment she saw me, she grabbed my collar and yelled,

“You! Because of you…!”

Her voice was hoarse and filled with sadness, her tear-filled eyes glaring at me with a mix of hatred and pain.

Even without hearing her out, I knew whom that resentment was directed at.

‘Just what the hell did Choi Changshik do to her?’

I had worked under that bastard for three months, but I never harbored this kind of hatred.

Though I didn’t understand the depth of her pain, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Hong Soo-ah.

Realizing what she was doing, Hong Soo-ah gradually calmed down, returning to her usual quiet demeanor.

In a subdued voice, she asked,

“Are we… dead?”

I shook my head and answered,

“No. We’re still very much alive.”

After saying that, I glanced down at her leg.

Her leg was twisted in the wrong direction.

Even though Neil’s Boundary had absorbed most of the impact and I had shielded her from the rest with my body, Hong Soo-ah was still severely injured.

‘Considering the height we fell from, it’s a miracle she got off with just that.’

Hong Soo-ah tried to move, struggling to sit up, but as soon as the pain hit, her face contorted, and she stopped.

She was in too much pain to move.

“What… what the hell just happened?”

“We got lucky. Before hitting the ground, Neil’s Boundary was there to catch us.”

“Neil’s… Boundary? This is it?”

Looking confused, she tried to process my words.

“Feels… soft, right?”

“Not so much soft as….”

She seemed to be searching for the right words, then finally said,

“It feels like… floating. Like zero gravity…”

“Zero gravity. Yeah, that’s a good way to put it. Neil’s Boundary repels everything, effectively counteracting gravity. Maybe that’s the perfect description.”

I nodded and continued,

“Anyway, thanks to that, we’re still alive.”

“…How did you know? That Neil’s Boundary would be down there instead of the ground?”

“I didn’t. There was no way to know with all that fog.”

“Then… why?”

To be honest, it had been a split-second decision.

At that moment, the thought of saving her just overtook everything else. My body moved on its own.

“I figured it was fifty-fifty. Either Neil’s Boundary would be there, or we’d hit solid ground. But even if Neil’s Boundary was there, there was no guarantee Soo-ah would survive the fall alone.”

“……”

“So, it was simple logic. If I didn’t jump after her, she’d be dead for sure. But if I did, we both had a fifty percent chance of surviving. A rational choice, right?”

“What part of that is rational…?”

“But we both survived in the end. So, it worked out, didn’t it?”

“……”

In the worst-case scenario, even if we both had died, I would have survived.

As a mass of red slime, that is.

‘If that had happened, I might have learned more about my Trait.’

I still didn’t fully understand my Trait.

If I died in Choi Changshik’s body, would I revive in his corpse?

Could I revive in a woman’s body?

If I entered Hong Soo-ah’s body, would I lose Choi Changshik’s strength?

At least some of those questions would have been answered.

‘If the first scenario is true, then I’m practically immortal.’

As long as I didn’t fall into lava or something equally destructive, I could theoretically revive endlessly.

But I couldn’t just recklessly test that theory. It was just a hypothesis.

The condition was “death,” making it nearly impossible to test without actually dying.

‘Unless I actually die, there’s no way to find out how my Trait works. What a pain.’

What if the condition for triggering my Trait wasn’t just death?

What if it didn’t activate in cases of suicide?

If that were the case, I’d die for real. Testing the Trait through death was basically a suicidal move.

‘The only way to learn about my Trait is to die accidentally. Like before.’

And looking at my current state, it felt like that day might come sooner rather than later.

‘Was I always this reckless?’

I had risked my life without hesitation both when I entered the Rapid Corrosion Gate and just now.

I was acting like a moth drawn to a flame.

‘I didn’t used to be this impulsive.’

Impulsive, reckless, almost like… Choi Changshik.

For some reason, being inside Choi Changshik’s body and using his brain to think made me question whether the current “me” was really “me.”

Was I still the same Park Jihoon?

“……Thank… you.”

“What?”

“…I said… thank you.”

Hong Soo-ah’s voice was so quiet that I barely caught ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) it, but her intent was clear.

I grinned playfully and said,

“Sorry, couldn’t quite hear you. Could you say that louder?”

Hong Soo-ah let out a small, exasperated sigh before emphasizing each syllable,

“Thank. You.”

Her voice was still small, but it was clear and firm.

“We’re supposed to help each other out. That’s what comrades do, right?”

“……Comrades.”

I felt awkward saying it myself. The word “comrades” was a little too sentimental for my liking.

I quickly changed the subject.

“It’s going to take a while to climb back up to where the others are.”

Given how long we’d been falling, we had a considerable height to climb.

Looking at Hong Soo-ah’s leg twisted in the wrong direction, it was obvious she couldn’t climb up on her own.

The fact that she wasn’t even showing how much pain she was in was impressive in itself.

‘Guess I have no choice.’

I turned around and presented my back to her.

“Get on.”

Hong Soo-ah just stared blankly at me.

I glanced over my shoulder and asked,

“Think you can climb up in that condition?”

Hong Soo-ah slowly shook her head.

“Get on. I’ll handle the climbing. You just keep an eye out for any monsters.”

After a long moment of hesitation, Hong Soo-ah finally nodded.

I carefully lifted her onto my back, then secured her to me with the remaining rope.

“Ugh.”

Even though she was clearly in pain, she was trying her best not to show it.

It made me feel a bit sorry for her.

I started moving, almost swimming through the air toward the cliff.

Just then, Hong Soo-ah leaned close to my ear and said,

“…You can.”

“What?”

“…You can speak informally to me. It’s okay.”