28 chapter - Gangwon-do Gate (3)

Zzzzzng.

As I stepped out of the Gate, Kang Byungseok gave me a puzzled look.

“Do you need something, or...?”

But then the Gate vanished behind me—and his face twisted in shock.

“You already cleared it? Seriously?!”

“Yeah. It’s done. Yuna, hand over the mana stones.”

“Yep.”

Kang Byungseok opened the backpack, saw it full of stones, and looked like he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Wait, all this is…?”

Even in his daze, he diligently transferred the mana stones.

“Confirmed one D-Rank mana stone and one hundred twenty-seven standard mana stones.”

He returned the pack with a blank stare and asked again.

“You really cleared it? In an hour?”

“Yeah. That’s why the Gate disappeared.”

“Well, I mean, sure, but…”

He double-checked his terminal and muttered under his breath.

“Definitely a D-Rank Gate…”

“Thanks for your work.”

We gave him a polite nod and started heading down the mountain.

“How’s everyone feeling?”

“Me? I just shot a few arrows, so I’m not tired at all. Feeling great.”

“We’re fine. But are you okay, Party Leader?”

“As you can see, I’m perfectly fine. Let’s move on to the next Gate.”

I used the Hunters app to submit a quick raid report and requested clearance for the second Gate.

We got back in the car and started heading to the next location.

“I knew you were strong, Boss, but I didn’t know you were this overwhelming. Man, I love a free ride!”

The number of gnolls the others handled: six.

I took care of everything else.

Basically, I solo-cleared the Gate.

“But what exactly does it take to activate Yuna’s Trait on someone else?”

“No idea.”

Seong Yohan had done exactly what I asked—blocked a monster’s attack with his bare body.

But Yuna’s Trait still didn’t register him as a Knight.

We even had them hold hands just to be sure. Nothing.

‘There’s another condition.’

But what else could it be, aside from taking a hit meant for her?

‘Does it have to be a skeleton?’

Maybe she had to be genuinely afraid for the Trait to trigger.

‘Like, afraid for her life. And that’s not something I can simulate.’

No way I’d risk someone’s life just for an experiment.

‘Back to square one.’

Which meant—for now, Yuna’s Trait only worked on me.

She lowered her head like a guilty kid.

“…Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Seriously, don’t sweat it. We were just testing the waters. You’re already doing plenty.”

Most parties didn’t even have a healer.

We had Yuna—and Seong Yohan, who could handle similar duties.

Two people who could function as healers.

“We’ve arrived.”

The second Gate was just ten minutes away, on the neighboring mountain.

This time, there was a restricted area set up at the start of the hiking trail.

“Hello!”

The Gate supervisor here was a young woman in a formal suit.

After her energetic greeting, she launched into a briefing.

“You were informed about the interior conditions, right?!”

“Yes.”

“Great. Just to reiterate—this Gate’s environment is a snow-covered mountain, and there’s a full-on blizzard raging inside! It’s an extremely harsh climate, so please proceed with caution!”

A snowy mountain.

When unusual conditions like this popped up, we’d always be warned ahead of time during Gate assignments.

That way we could prep the right gear in advance.

“Everyone, suit up.”

“““Yes, sir.”””

We pulled out our cold-weather gear.

Hunter equipment bled money.

These jackets alone cost millions of won per set.

‘How much did I blow buying these again?’

And of course, it had to be a snowfield—a rare and annoying one.

Just my luck.

‘Thank god that first raid was such a jackpot.’

If not for the generous subsidy, I’d be staring down another loan.

‘Being a party leader is such a headache.’

Every damn thing needed my attention.

And of course, money was the worst of it.

‘Of all days to pull a snowfield.’

Once everyone was suited up, I gave a quick rundown.

“D-Rank Gate. Snowfield. High chance of Snow Golems.”

Snow Golems.

Just like it sounds—golems made of snow.

Which meant, naturally, they had no blood.

And for someone like me, who needed blood for my Trait to work, they were completely worthless.

Pretty much the same as the F-Rank Skeletons.

‘Damn it. I’d take skeletons over these any day.’

Everyone’s face soured—just like mine.

“Kinda figured when we saw the cold-weather gear.”

“Ugh. Why’d it have to be Snow Golems?”

Among D-Rank monsters, Snow Golems were considered bottom-tier trash.

Strong enough to be a hassle, but ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) dropped absolutely nothing of value.

I kept it brief.

“As you all know, to kill a Snow Golem, you have to destroy the mana stone inside.”

If the core broke without proper processing, it lost all its mana and became just a rock.

So we had to destroy them to clear the Gate, but destroying them also meant no loot.

In short, with Snow Golem Gates, the only thing you got was the government payout.

Im Jin-sol muttered under her breath like she was cursing fate.

“Right… If you hit the jackpot, you’re bound to get burned eventually.”

“We’re going in.”

That’s when someone tugged on my sleeve.

“…Wait, Captain.”

It was Hong Soo-ah.

Everyone turned to her in surprise.

Partly because she rarely spoke at all—but mostly because something seemed off about her.

Her face was pale, and her voice shook with a hint of tears.

“What’s wrong? You feeling sick?”

She shook her head, barely, and said,

“…We should delay the raid until tomorrow.”

“Because of the blizzard?”

She nodded.

The weather inside a Gate could change day to day.

It could be clear, rainy, or blizzard conditions like now.

And yeah—bad weather made raids tougher.

Snow Golems, especially, got stronger in blizzards.

“I get it, but we can’t postpone after coming all this way. There’s no guarantee the weather inside will be better tomorrow, either.”

The blizzard was annoying, sure, but it wasn’t dangerous enough to delay the raid.

More than anything, I wanted to finish this today and sleep easy at the pension.

“Just trust me. I’ll handle everything.”

Hong Soo-ah nodded, still looking uneasy.

“All right. Let’s head in.”

The moment we stepped through the Gate, the temperature dropped like a rock.

Just like the supervisor said—a blizzard was howling inside.

Snowfield. Blizzard.

A perfect storm—literally and figuratively.

We dug out a snow pit just below the Gate to store the raid kits and gear.

For weapons, we switched out our swords for warhammers—standard when dealing with Snow Golems.

‘No need for the gun, right?’

Even after buying it, I’d been reluctant to use it. It was worth over ten million won, after all.

Besides, the boss of Snow Golem Gates was usually an Ice Golem—one of the few monsters notoriously resistant to bullets.

‘Leave it behind.’

Just as we were about to set off—

“Oppa, something’s wrong with Soo-ah unni.”

Just like Yuna said, Hong Soo-ah didn’t look normal—anyone could tell.

If anything, she seemed worse now that we were inside the Gate. Whether it was the cold or sheer anxiety, her body was trembling.

‘What’s going on with her?’

She’d looked like a seasoned pro during the Great-Beak Crow raid.

But now, she looked worse than complete newbie Yuna.

‘Why is she so terrified?’

Suddenly I remembered the nightmare she’d had after falling off the cliff.

‘Wait… were the two party members who died with her in a snowfield Gate?’

If not, her reaction made no sense.

‘Still…’

Ice Golem.

Yeah, it was a tough monster to fight.

But with proper preparation, everything I’d heard said it was manageable.

‘And her old party had a ton of D-Rank experience. No way they’d go in unprepared.’

I didn’t have a choice.

In her current state, we couldn’t start the raid.

“Listen up. All of you stay here and wait. I’ll handle the monsters alone.”

“Huh?”

Ice Golems were physically tanky, sure—but with my skills active, they weren’t a real threat.

Even if their physical defense was high, a warhammer would do the trick. Ice still shatters if you smash it hard enough.

Aside from ghosts and other immunity-type monsters, there wasn’t a single D-Rank enemy I couldn’t take down alone.

“Well, with your strength, Party Leader, I guess you could do it solo.”

“Yeah, from Boss’s perspective, we’re pretty much dead weight anyway.”

“Unni… ‘dead weight’ is a bit much.”

“Oh come on, Jin-sol. What exactly do we do besides fill out the party roster, huh?”

After seeing me massacre those gnolls, even the others had no objections. They accepted it easily.

And honestly, since I planned to take most of the EXP anyway, locking in this raid format from the start wasn’t a bad idea.

But then—

“...No!”

Hong Soo-ah shouted with uncharacteristic force.

“…It’s too dangerous alone. I’m coming with you.”

“You sure you’re up for it?”

“I’m fine.”

She was stubborn enough that I had to push back a little—mimicking Im Jin-sol’s tone.

“I’m not doubting your skill, but in your current state, you’ll just be a liability. Stay here and rest.”

“…No. I’m coming.”

She refused to back down.

“I think we should all go too, Oppa. That’s what a real party does.”

With Yuna chiming in, the whole group’s mood shifted.

“She’s got a point. Feels kinda scummy taking money while Boss does all the work. Let’s go together.”

“I’ll do my best not to slow anyone down!”

Soo-ah wasn’t just being stubborn.

Her trembling had stopped, and she already looked much better than before.

She was pushing herself—trying to overcome her trauma.

“…Fine, you win. We’ll all go together.”

We started our slow ascent up the snowy mountain.

“Stay alert. Snow Golems pop out of the ground without warning.”

They’d stay buried until someone got close, then launch a surprise attack.

That unpredictability was what made them so tough to deal with.

The constant tension wore you down.

We moved cautiously through the blizzard—for over an hour.

“…”

Something felt off.

We’d been wandering for an hour… and hadn’t encountered a single Snow Golem.

“Boss, this is my first time with Snow Golems, but… are they usually this hard to find?”

Sorry, but it was my first time too.

I was still figuring out how to respond when someone else answered for me—someone with experience.

“…This isn’t a Snow Golem Gate.”

Hong Soo-ah said it, her face pale again.

She continued, her voice shaky.

“This is…!!”

She suddenly stopped, frozen in place, eyes wide with horror as she looked uphill.

“Don’t look into its eyes!!”

A scream—louder and more desperate than I’d ever heard from her.

Instinctively, we all looked where she was looking.

‘…What is that?’

Perched up above, gazing down at us from a snow-covered ridge, stood a white-furred beast—

A snow leopard.

Its long fur rippled in the wind as it watched us, silent and regal.

“No!”

Right before her voice reached me, I’d already met its gaze—those pale gray eyes.

‘Huh?’

In that moment, the world flickered.

The snowfield vanished—and something deeply familiar took its place.

“Jihoon, run! Hurry!”

And standing before me was the person I’d missed for a lifetime.

“…Mom?”