4 chapter - Rapid Corrosion Gate (1)

As expected, the inside of the Gate was a dense forest.

The trees were thickly lined up, blocking the sunlight, and the surrounding area was filled with grass growing up to my knees.

‘So this is what it’s like. The inside of a D-Class Gate.’

I had occasionally seen monsters popping out of D-Class Gates.

But this was the first time I had entered a Gate.

‘…It feels like I’ve entered another world. To think I’m seeing the sky inside a Gate.’

Most F-Class Gates are cave-type environments, but occasionally, there are field-type ones where everything is open.

However, those places don’t have a sky.

Instead of the sky, there’s only pitch-black darkness.

‘To think that sky is fake.’

There was a paper written by Neil, a Hunter with flight abilities and a renowned researcher of Gates.

According to that paper, if one continues rising toward the sky inside a Gate, at some point, they will be blocked by a transparent barrier.

And the true nature of that barrier has yet to be discovered.

Only speculative hypotheses about the barrier’s identity exist.

‘The Corrosion has already progressed quite a bit.’

Anyway, the transparent barrier surrounding the inside of the Gate was named “Neil’s Boundary” after the discoverer.

And after a certain amount of Corrosion occurs, Neil’s Boundary starts to shrink rapidly.

‘Given the lack of any warning signs, it hasn’t started shrinking yet.’

Monsters begin to emerge from the Gate at this point.

Monsters that were within the shrinking area of Neil’s Boundary are summoned outside the Gate.

‘I need to gain as much experience as I can before the shrinkage starts.’

For Hunters, that is, humans, it’s a bit different.

Humans within the shrinking area of Neil’s Boundary do not appear outside the Gate.

They disappear.

And up until now, not a single one of them has ever returned.

‘It’s essentially a death sentence.’

So, before Neil’s Boundary starts to shrink, I had to finish the raid and return to this place where the Gate was ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) located.

I took off most of my equipment—my backpack, head lantern, and so on—and threw them in front of the Gate.

I only took a sword with me and started running at full speed.

Swoosh!

About 15 minutes later, I detected several violent movements cutting through the underbrush.

They were approaching my direction.

I hurriedly hid behind a tree.

Cautiously, I peeked out to assess what was moving.

A deer was running away, and a group of monsters was chasing it.

“Caw! Caw!”

Bipedal, canine monsters.

They were gnolls.

The gnolls seemed to be so focused on their prey that they didn’t notice my presence.

‘Eight of them.’

As expected for gnolls appearing in a D-Class Gate, their size wasn’t particularly large.

Their bodies were about the size of a medium-sized dog, a bit larger than a goblin.

What made them threatening was their number.

Gnolls, who live in packs, pour out in groups of at least a hundred from a single Gate.

‘This is annoying. Of all things, gnolls.’

With such numbers, finishing off the raid quickly was nearly impossible.

‘The only option is to reduce their numbers as much as possible.’

I counted the gnolls passing by, holding my breath.

‘One, two, three, four!’

When exactly four of them passed, I revealed myself.

“Ker-ung?”

I swung my sword at the gnoll charging straight toward me.

Swish!

The gnoll’s neck was severed in one strike and disappeared into the underbrush.

Another gnoll, still unaware of what was happening, ran up behind and had its neck sliced off as well.

Having swiftly dealt with two of them, I frowned and fell into thought.

‘Why do I feel nothing?’

I had certainly beheaded them, but my Trait didn’t react.

I hadn’t grown stronger.

‘Why?’

Suddenly, memories from the last three months spent living with Choi Changshik came to mind.

For some reason, Changshik would get hysterical unless it was the Goblin Cave.

He showed much more irritation and a sense of annoyance than usual.

He even swore heavily every time a monster that wasn’t a goblin appeared.

‘Could it be…?’

Maybe Changshik’s Trait was limited to goblins.

At that moment, when I thought of that,

“Caw?”

“Grrr?”

The gnolls sensed the change.

The gnolls screeched and skidded to a halt, barking loudly as they turned to face me.

“Caw! Caw!”

“Grrrr!”

There were six left.

The gnolls, excited by the scent of their fallen comrades’ blood, bared their teeth at me.

Meanwhile, the gnolls that had been chasing the deer stopped their pursuit and began returning.

The encirclement was forming in an instant.

“Caw!”

The gnolls came at me from all sides at once.

To be honest, the individual combat power of the gnolls appearing in a D-Class Gate wasn’t much different from goblins.

Except they were a bit stronger in strength.

A regular person, properly armed, could win one-on-one against them.

“!”

However, the more gnolls there are, the more dangerous it becomes.

You can already see that just from the way they’re attacking from all directions at once.

These gnolls knew how to fight organized.

Swish!

As I swung my sword and decapitated one of them, the rest of them had already completely surrounded me.

Thud!

“Yelp!”

The best I could do was kick one off of me.

Crunch!

One gnoll bit my right wrist, where I was holding the sword, and another gnoll bit my thigh at the same time.

With my free hand, I pulled out the dagger at my waist and slashed it across the wolf-like gnoll’s face.

“Grrr!”

Even with a deep wound exposing white bones, the gnoll still clung to me.

It was persistent.

Just as I was about to slice through its carotid with the dagger, I looked into its eyes.

‘…!’

The gnoll wasn’t looking at me.

It was looking behind me.

Following its gaze, I turned to look behind me.

A gnoll had climbed onto my back.

It was aiming for my neck.

With the gnoll still hanging onto my wrist, the right side of my neck was exposed.

I couldn’t stop it.

Instinctively, I twisted my waist to the left. The gnoll’s left side of the neck came into view.

“Argh!”

I quickly stabbed my dagger into the gnoll’s neck as fast as I could.

Thud!

The gnoll fell to the ground with the dagger deeply embedded in its neck.

In the brief moment that followed, I punched the gnoll biting my wrist, and while it was distracted, I pulled my hand out.

Swish!

The moment my hand was free, I swung my sword and decapitated the gnoll.

“Phew. Phew.”

The gnoll that had been biting my leg was already far off.

In that short moment, the remaining gnolls, having made their decision, were retreating in haste.

Three gnolls had escaped.

I took a breath, watching them run away.

‘This was way harder than I expected.’

I had thought it wouldn’t be easy.

But I thought if I stayed calm, it would be manageable.

The result was very different from what I expected.

‘I thought I was going to die.’

I brought my hand to the left side of my neck.

It was damp with blood.

If I had been just a little slower, that gnoll would have torn into my neck.

I looked at the tattered wrist guard, which had turned into rags, and thought.

‘Was I too arrogant?’

In reality, this was almost like my first experience with a D-Class Gate.

I had studied the habits and traits of gnolls, but this was the first time I was fighting them directly.

‘I thought it would be a little harder than fighting goblins…’

It was a misunderstanding.

Goblins didn’t have this kind of well-organized teamwork.

If they got injured, they would scream and run away right away—that’s what goblins did.

‘They prioritize their own survival above all else.’

Gnolls were the complete opposite.

The gnoll that bit my wrist during the fight earlier sacrificed its body for the victory.

Even though it was critically wounded, it continued to cling to me and performed its role until the end.

And what about the gnoll that charged at me first?

It wasn’t afraid of death. Despite me instantly killing two of its comrades, it rushed at me without hesitation.

Thanks to its blatant sacrifice, the other gnolls were able to latch onto my arms and legs.

I was strong.

I could take their lives with a single strike.

Even though the difference in strength was overwhelming, they worked together and cornered me.

It was truly a perfect teamwork effort.

‘This isn’t something to take lightly.’

Eight gnolls in total.

Considering that I handled two with a surprise attack, I still struggled greatly with the remaining six.

So, what if ten or twenty gnolls came at me?

‘It’s obvious.’

I’d die.

I looked down at my hand, slightly stained with blood.

‘I’m curious what will happen if I die…’

Will I really die this time, or will I turn back into a red slime again?

It was uncertain.

‘Even if I die, I can’t die here.’

Even if I could turn into a red slime again and enter a corpse, it was still a problem.

Because I was the only one here right now.

‘The raid is a no-go.’

Even if I killed the gnolls, I couldn’t level up.

I needed to confirm what exactly Changshik’s Trait was.

‘If he can only level up with goblins…’

Then I’d have no choice but to go back to F-Class dungeons.

Because goblins appeared most frequently in F-Class dungeons.

‘But… why do I feel so weak?’

It was strange.

Changshik, when I saw him in the Goblin Cave, was faster and more overwhelming than I am now.

Even though they were just goblins, he was strong enough to massacre dozens of them right there.

‘But here I am, struggling with just six gnolls?’

Even though I had grown stronger after killing the goblin leader.

My physical specs had improved, but I had become weaker?

If that’s the case, there’s only one answer.

The difference was in the pilot’s skills.

‘…Am I really worse at fighting than Changshik?’

I couldn’t accept it.

I had put in countless efforts.

The money I made while risking my life raiding Gates for three years was all spent learning something.

Judo, kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, taekwondo, kendo, and even fitness.

I poured all my money into martial arts and exercise, hoping to discover a Trait.

‘But does that mean it doesn’t compare to real combat experience?’

I was frustrated.

Was the three years of effort I put in completely meaningless?

Crunch.

Is this all I am capable of?

‘…For now, I should head out.’

I had bought enough time.

By now, the Corrosion outside must be progressing again.

Just finding out the types of monsters appearing was already a significant gain.

The rest could be handled by the military, who must have arrived by now.

“Caw! Caw!”

Just then, I heard the sound of barking behind me.

‘Already?’

This was the reason gnolls were dangerous.

They were extremely sensitive to the scent of their comrades' blood.

So when fighting gnolls, I always had to leave the area as quickly as possible after the battle.

‘Damn. Was there another pack nearby?’

Of course, when a nearby pack is this close, they come rushing to assist before the battle even ends.

Originally, my plan was to keep fighting here and sweep up the approaching gnolls.

I had overestimated myself.

I began running toward the Gate in a hurry.

“Grrrr.”

That’s when the gnolls appeared in front of me.

The three that I had missed earlier were now blocking my escape.

“Hah.”

I let out a hollow laugh.

Such an organized response.

I felt like I had become their prey.

‘If I stop here, I’ll be dead.’

I threw myself forward without hesitation.

One of the three looked slightly worse for wear.

Its legs were trembling slightly.

It was definitely the one I had kicked earlier.

“Ker-ung!”

It tried to escape, but its reaction was slow.

Swish!

Its head was severed and disappeared into the underbrush.

“Grrrr.”

“Caw! Caw!”

The remaining two gnolls growled threateningly.

But I wasn’t planning to fight them.

If I did, I’d be surrounded by the gnolls that were rushing up from behind.

I immediately ignored them and ran.

Auuuu―

The howling from behind echoed.

‘…All the gnolls around here are coming for me now.’