Episode 1. Stranger (1)

20×× years.

Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

A fairly large field located far from the outskirts was once a residential area where quite a few people lived.

But now there was nothing but miserable ruins.

Ten years ago.

This is because the S-class gate that occurred there flowed backwards, demonic beasts came out, and a fierce battle took place.

It was a battle called 'Great Clash'.

The result was a victory for humans, but it was a victory written in blood and only wounds.

This is because numerous ordinary people and awakened people died, and for unknown reasons, the land where the fight took place was completely polluted.

A land where not even a single blade of grass can survive.

A land where not only the homeless but also criminals never go.

Although it was called by a different name in the past, it is currently called the 'Land of the Dead'.

No matter what method I used, I couldn't get it back to how it was before.

All that can be done is to monitor and clean gates that occur on the land.

In addition, most of the gates that occurred in the Land of Death were B- or A-level gates with high difficulty.

"Team Alpha! Enter gate A-0128109."

– I wish you good luck.

A communication from a hunter belonging to the Awakened Association was heard from behind.

As always, the moment I entered the gate, my body was shaking with tension and excitement.

However, the team leader of Alpha Team, a veteran of veterans, calmly raised his hand and spoke.

"enter!"

The team members shouted.

"enter!"

'Alpha' is the elite team of the Red Dragon Guild, one of the three major guilds in Korea.

Most of the 12 team members, excluding the porters who followed and the hunters from the Awakened Association, were A- and B-class Awakened members.

The gate that Alpha Team currently enters is a cave-shaped Class A gate that occurred in the Land of the Dead.

It was a cave large enough to fit a large passenger plane.

The Alpha Team was tense at the thick and creepy air flowing from inside the dark red cave.

"I… … manager."

The team leader turned his head to the voice of his teammate.

"What?"

"It's been ten minutes since we entered this gate."

"however?"

"You can't even see the devil's nose."

"Did you just sleep at the hunter training center?"

"yes?"

"This gate is Grade A! Class A features quite intelligent magical beasts. "Don't you think there's a possibility that they'll gather at the end of the gate and attack us all out?"

There was actually a case like that five years ago, and hunters at that time suffered great damage.

The teammate realized his mistake and his face turned red.

"Tsk, prepare yourself when you get back. "I'll make you study hard in theory classes."

"omg! Well, I'd rather get more physical training!"

"Ha, it's because of guys like you that tankers are ridiculed for saying that their brains are also their muscles! "Just shut up and take a theory class."

"...."

We walked like that for ten more minutes, but the demon beasts were nowhere to be seen, and the expressions of the team leader and team members became increasingly darker.

"You bastards! "You use your brain to show that you are intelligent?"

"shit! "How much volume do you plan to pour in this time?"

"I know yeah! This is a new armor I bought yesterday, so if it gets scratched, it will be very heartbreaking... … ."

How much more did it take?

Before crossing the rocky hill rising in the middle of the gate, a demonic beast began to appear at the top of the hill.

"omg! That… … Cyclops!"

Alpha Team's team leader swallowed his sleep and made a hand signal.

That means ready for battle!

The close combat hunters took out their weapons, and the magic hunters prepared their spells.

And the auxiliary hunters warmed up so that they could be deployed at any time.

Cyclops soon discovered Team Alpha and climbed over the hill, screaming and running towards them... … .

"… … "He's not moving?"

Now that I think about it, I noticed something strange.

Cyclops is a magical beast with very sensitive senses as it has only one eye.

Normally, it would have been right to attack first before the Alpha Team was even seen.

But he showed no sign of doing so and just sat there blankly, leaning against the wall.

At that time, a young assistant hunter spoke.

"manager! "I can't detect any life reactions from that cyclops."

"what?"

"There are only a few very weak magical beasts whose life reactions can be detected nearby."

"That can't be possible! Still, it is an A-class gate in name and appearance? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!"

"You follow me. "Everyone else, wait a moment!"

The team leader carefully headed toward the hill with his teammate and looked to see where Cyclops was.

"...."

For a moment, the team leader was speechless.

The place where Cyclops was sitting now was a dead end.

In other words, this was the boss' room.

Below it, the corpses of hundreds, if not thousands, of demonic beasts were piled haphazardly like laundry. The Cyclops was so huge that the demonic beasts piled up beneath it could not be seen from afar.

Moreover, all the demon beasts, including Cyclops, looked as if they did not know that they were dead.

The team leader muttered.

"… … oh my god."

* * *

The higher-ups ordered a thorough investigation into this absurd situation.

"In my 20 years as a hunter, this is the first time something like this has happened."

"Could it be that a fight broke out between demonic beasts?"

"The body is too intact to say that."

"Then who on earth did that? "This gate was opened yesterday."

At that time, the team member who was examining the corpses of the demonic beasts shouted.

"Team leader, no matter how much I look, this is the only scar on this werewolf."

"Same here!"

The only thing the corpses had in common was a single, hollow scar.

"That scar was made by a person's fist?"

One of the team members answered the team leader's question with great enthusiasm.

"According to the research, yes."

"Is it hard to believe?"

"But since the analysis results say so… … ."

"Even if a werewolf is an awakened person who can kill Cyclops, a class A demon beast, with a single punch? "As far as I know, no one can do that."

At that time, the Hunter from the Awakened Association, who had finished talking with his superiors, lowered the communicator and spoke.

"I… … "I received an answer from Lee Shin, an S-class awakened person."

"What are you saying?"

"I told you not to make jokes that aren't funny."

"...."

"He said he couldn't do that… … . The only person who can do that is a zero-level awakened person... … ."

For a while they were speechless.

* * *

A little distance away from the land of death where the A-class gate appeared.

A young man was walking on dry land.

"Where on earth is this?"

The sun was hot.

There was only dust on the parched earth.

Where there must have been something, there was only so much broken debris that its shape was unrecognizable.

"How can there be no trace of a person but only white bones?"

I thought it was hell, but it didn't seem like it.

He wasn't old enough to die yet, and he wasn't so incompetent that he died in an unexpected attack.

The man's name is Kangso.

When he, who was called the God of War and the King of Flames, came to his senses and opened his eyes, the house he lived in was in a strange cave.

And that too while naked!

I thought there was something inside, so I went in and found it to be full of strangely shaped monsters.

Giants with only one eye, wolves that walk on two legs, etc.

They all attacked Jiang Su as soon as they saw him.

He stopped killing people carelessly a long time ago, but that didn't mean he was a strong cow who would take it easy on those who were targeting him.

Moreover, the opponent is not a person but a monster.

'Why are these guys who could be knocked out with a single punch attacking so aggressively? … .'

When I came out of the cave after dealing with all the monsters targeting me, I was once again embarrassed.

What you see in front of you is... … Because it was nothing but ruins.

After picking up something similar to clothes from a nearby collapsing building, I put it on and looked around.

There were traces of people, but no one alive.

There wasn't a single blade of grass in this unfamiliar place, as if a gigantic being had trampled everything on the ground.

Jiang So knew well the reason.

'It's contaminated with demon energy.'

Church of the Heavenly Demon.

So, it was the same energy that the crazy people of the Demonic Cult felt when they used forbidden magic.

With the martial arts that Kang So had learned, he could have purified even that demonic energy, but since the place was unknown, he could not act hastily.

He raised his head and looked at the silver tower towering in the distance.

It was a 70-story building that was the headquarters of the Awakened Association, commonly known as Silver Tower.

Kangso decided to go around there.

This is because the energy of many people was felt around the silver pagoda.

Paang-!

When Kang So kicked his feet, his appearance disappeared along with the sound of air bursting.

It was a day before the Red Dragon Guild's Alpha Team entered Gate A-0128109.