When I Returned to Farming, National-level Big Juniors Flock - Chapter 38



Only Krnovel

38. Open the door

“Ugh…!”

Joo Ji-hye collapsed into her seat.

The thick darkness that had been cast has now receded, and the unidentifiable afterimage has disappeared.

Others who had stopped moving also began to move.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“…”

Lee Ha-ye approached and asked, but he couldn’t answer.

Joo Ji-hye is sweating profusely.

The whisper of those red eyes that I had encountered still seemed to linger in my ears.

‘What the hell was that…?’

An unidentified entity that has never been seen anywhere.

One thing I can say for sure is that it’s different from the usual monsters she’s encountered.

She jumped up from her seat.

“We have to get out of here quickly.”

“It’s more dangerous if we move rashly. There are two injured people who can’t move on their own.”

“He saw us! We’re all going to die if we stay here!”

“What are you talking about? I said calm down!”

Two hunters were tussling.

The two wounded who have not yet regained consciousness are not a source of strength but merely chains that bind their actions.

Taking those people with you and going through the S-rank gate is no different from committing suicide.

However, Joo Ji-hye’s thoughts were different when she faced the guy directly.

It felt like the monsters or monsters in the darkness that had seen through the cracks in my heart and left would rush into this place at any moment.

However, for some reason, as time passed, the monster did not appear and it was quiet.

‘Is the location not revealed? Or is it that they are leaving it alone even though they can kill it? But… if that’s the case, why?’

One of the characteristics of monsters that she knew of, as defined previously, was that they instinctively tried to annihilate humans in front of them.

But is it that the monster can do it but doesn’t, or that it can’t do it? She felt confused in this situation that clashed with conventional wisdom.

From the moment he began to speak human language, he was already completely outside of common sense.

After waiting there for a few hours to recover, the injured people woke up one by one.

“What, what happened?”

“Don’t move around and just lie down, there’s a hole in your stomach.”

Lee Ha-ye laid Kim Jun-seok down again.

Meanwhile, Song Tae-han looked down at his empty ankle in vain.

“…Fuck.”

I remembered not only the injury, but also the death of Ko Jin-young.

Although the missing ankle was permanent, it was a miracle that he was saved in that situation.

But such miracles offer no comfort.

Even though the two hunters regained consciousness, there was still nothing they could do.

Knock knock.

Only silence filled the dark cave.

Isolated inside the gate, they remained there waiting for rescue.

It was just as instructed in the manual, and it was actually the most reasonable choice.

When a major accident occurs due to an unexpected variable, the best chance of survival is to wait for external support rather than acting rashly.

But time passed like that.

When they came to a unit of work rather than time, they had to fight against hunger and loneliness.

“Fuck…fuck…”

Song Tae-han chewed his lips nervously.

A situation he had never experienced before.

Although hunters these days face extremely dangerous enemies such as gates and monsters, all other conditions are very good.

The basic treatment is good, and the system that supports and assists everything on site is well-established.

Before being deployed to the scene, we collect as much information as possible to be able to deal with variables, and if a problem arises, support or rescue teams are dispatched immediately.

A systematic system to ensure the safety of high-level human resources, the Hunters.

These are rules that were created through countless trials and errors and the blood shed by our seniors.

But rather, because of that, they had never been placed in such an extreme environment.

I’m talking about the current situation where I’m slowly dying, having reached my limit both mentally and physically.

“Damn it! Why haven’t I heard anything yet!”

“…I envy you for still having the energy to talk.”

“Stop talking nonsense! It’s already been three days since we came in! Where is the rescue team and what are they doing?”

Song Tae-han shouted at Kim Jun-seok.

Kim Jun-seok had always lightly ignored or rejected whatever he said, but this time, he couldn’t even sneer.

Even though I didn’t say it out loud, the thought of whether I was really going to die here kept lingering in my head.

A deep pessimism had already sprouted and grown in the hunters’ hearts.

“The oldest one is the one who whines the most. Who doesn’t know and therefore doesn’t complain?”

“In the first place, who is to blame for all this? Why did Go Jin-young die? Such a monster was right in front of you, and you didn’t even detect it, what were you doing?”

“I had fully deployed my abilities. But I just didn’t feel anything.”

Lee Ha-ye replied with a frown.

Not only was it impossible to detect it in advance, it was impossible to even properly recognize the moment we encountered the unidentified enemy.

“You must know since you saw it yourself, right?”

“Shut up! That’s not what I brought you here to do!”

“Shut up! You know who’s the biggest burden, with their ankles blown off? I’d rather die with them than be like them!”

“This… this kid! Are you trying to do it now?!”

Hunters coming and going from the castle.

A tired and hungry body wears out the human spirit.

The anxiety that had taken root in everyone’s hearts gradually drove them to extreme behavior.

No matter how many times you read the phrase in the textbook that you should not lose your cool in the field, if you do not experience it yourself, it is nothing more than empty words.

Hunters were the most affluent of the upper class, and were superhumans who were always in top physical condition. So, it was even more difficult for them to endure this extreme situation that exposed the lowest point of humanity.

“That, that’s enough…”

Joo Ji-hye bit her fingernails nervously.

After meeting Oh Hyun-seong, the severe tremor symptoms that had never recurred before reappeared again.

The hunters shouted even louder, as if they were going to draw their weapons, and her anxiety grew even worse.

Black auras of light swirling around the hunters’ bodies.

Evil spirits can penetrate a weakened body and mind more easily.

They were constantly exposed to the large amount of turbid air emitted by the gate, and even the highest-ranking hunters could not help but be affected.

The wounds that had healed due to this were also being torn open again.

Rustle.

At that moment, Joo Ji-hye took out a strawberry from her bosom.

I divided a strawberry into four pieces with trembling arms.

“Eat them one by one.”

“strawberry?”

“What, was there anything to eat?”

It was a large strawberry, but when cut into quarters, it became a small size.

Song Tae-han was about to ask who was putting that on his nose, but he accepted it obediently because he was very hungry.

Of course, there were no great expectations.

But when he actually put the strawberry in his mouth and chewed it, his expression changed completely.

‘What…what is this…’

A truly incredible taste coursed through his body.

Perhaps because I was hungry and tired, the absurd taste of these small strawberries filled my mouth and awakened every cell in my body.

Of course, it is not only him who feels this way, but others as well.

The hunters who had been talking loudly until just now became quiet.

This isn’t enough to fill my stomach.

But in the worst condition, their half-submerged heads opened up, and they were swept up in the atmosphere and only then did they realize what they had been saying.

In a much calmer atmosphere.

One by one, questions began to appear in their minds.

“You said it’s been over three days since we entered. Something is definitely off.”

“Yeah, the rescue team coming in wasn’t the problem. Judging by the speed of the gate’s deployment, which was fast enough to warrant an emergency call, the eruption should have already occurred… but it’s so quiet.”

“Could it be that time flows differently?”

The flow of time inside and outside the gate is different.

Of course, this type of gate was so uncommon that even they were unfamiliar with it and had not appeared until recently.

But it was one of the gate cases in the past.

Another characteristic of such gates is that the flow of time is different, so the stages unfold very quickly.

It’s a bit of a stretch to say that when they first came in, communications with the outside world were working fine, but given that there are no rescue teams and no eruptions, this is the most likely hypothesis.

“If that’s true, there’s no point in continuing like this.”

A situation where there is nothing more to eat or drink.

If I just sit here like this, I’ll be trapped in slow time, pickled in hunger and a lot of turbid air, and I’ll just turn into a corpse.

“To hold onto even a little hope… we must move first.”

Joo Ji-hye stood up from her seat.

Unlike just a moment ago when everyone was sitting there, slowly being eaten away by fear, there was no feeling of anxiety or fear.

Peaceful and happy memories that come to mind while eating strawberries.

I just have a clear goal and strong will to go back, if only for him.

***

Outside the gate.

There were far more hunters gathered than when the incident first broke out, but time just passed by without a trace.

“Vice Director, we are seeing signs that we are moving to stage 4. An eruption is likely to occur soon.”

“…First, deploy hunters in preparation for an eruption. Expand the evacuation area to prevent civilian casualties, and withdraw all reporters. We must also minimize damage to the facilities as much as possible so that we can suppress it.”

“All right!”

The man nodded and stepped back.

As it was an S-rank gate with no way of knowing what was inside, it was impossible to predict what the eruption would bring.

That was also the reason why a huge number of people were deployed and why she continued to hold her position.

At that moment, the hunter standing nearby spoke as if he had no time.

“Vice Director, we must deploy personnel and attempt a rescue operation immediately.”

“Is that still the case?”

“There are five 10th-rank Hunters. Even if one of them is already certain to be dead, losing them all would be a national loss.”

A situation where entry is impossible due to a barrier that resists magic power.

That is why he says that we must attempt a rescue operation by sending in Hunters of rank 6 or lower with low magical power below the barrier’s standard.

However, if there is that level of manpower in an S-rank gate, at least several hundred people would have to be killed to have a slight chance.

However, this is a story that came out based on the calculation that one high-ranking hunter of rank 10 or higher is much more valuable than all of them.

“There’s no way that’s going to happen, so stop talking.”

Han Soo-yeon refused bluntly.

Killing so many to save four?

This is not a matter of national interest or value.

At least that’s what she thought now.

“What are you doing…!”

Boom!

At that moment, her gaze turned to the commotion heard from behind.

And then his eyes grew wide.

“Hey, why is your senior here?”

Oh Hyeon-seong shakes off the hunters blocking him and enters.

Han Soo-yeon’s expression frowned at his unexpected appearance.

“I heard about the situation. It seems like you’re having a hard time.”

“Senior! Why did you come here? You shouldn’t have come!”

Oh Hyeon-seong chuckled at Han Su-yeon’s sincere words.

I know why she reacts that way.

She probably didn’t care about the lives of her raiding party, but she hoped he wouldn’t show up even if a city were to be blown away.

But Oh Hyun-seong just tapped her shoulder and passed by.

“Don’t worry. It won’t take long.”

What’s so scary that you have to crouch down?

Oh Hyeon-seong approached the barrier surrounding the gate and stretched his right arm forward.

If it was the first time, it might not have been different, but now he had a considerable amount of magical power in his body, enough to hold Albert.

Therefore, with the amount of magical power he possessed, it should have been impossible to approach due to the backlash.

The more horsepower you have, the more severe the backlash becomes.

Tsk tsk tsk!

But he passed his arm through without any resistance.

Even a 2nd or 3rd grade beginner hunter will experience a backlash effect with a small amount of magical power.

But he didn’t even react like that.

The magical power he had accumulated within his body was not the ordinary magical power that each hunter possesses.

It cannot be detected by any hunter who uses magical power to read the opponent’s movements.

You can avoid being eaten by magic-eating monsters and pass through magic-repelling barriers without any resistance.

A magical power that only he possesses, outside of the general rules.

“I’m going and coming back.”

“You have to come back safely, senior.”

Phew!

Oh Hyun-seong, who smiled brightly, passed through the barrier.

And then he went straight into the gate.

Inside a damp and dark cave.

He looked around and noticed that something was wrong with this place.

“…There’s a guy with bad taste in here.”

It looks completely different from when the attack team came in earlier.

The passageway, which had been straight and open to passage, was blocked and twisted in all directions.

It is completely blocked so that entry is impossible.

‘I guess you didn’t want me to come in. But what should I do? I have to take the guy you swallowed.’

Ugh.

Oh Hyun-seong put his hand on the wall.

Behind him, Albert suddenly appeared, and a huge passage opened up in the tightly blocked terrain.

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