DRS 11

C11

Bludgeoning

The energy barrier generated by the Guardian God’s Necklace lasted for ten minutes, and its recharge time was twenty-four hours.

Gwanghyeon had to wait beside the critically wounded Ratman for ten minutes.

After some time passed, Gwanghyeon watched as the barrier slowly disappeared. He retrieved the Guardian God’s Necklace from the Ratman, who was still unconscious, put it into his bag, and then took out the other necklace and placed it around his own neck.

‘Well… I probably won’t be in any danger of dying here.’

Still, there was no harm in preparing for any unforeseen circumstances.

The reason the Guardian God’s Necklace had always been so highly valued was precisely because of this convenience.

There was no particular inconvenience to wearing it, so unlike other cumbersome pieces of protective equipment, there was no need to take it off.

‘Anyway, I think that’s enough testing for now…’

Gwanghyeon decided to continue clearing the Gate and slowly moved forward.

—Fwoosh, bang! Screech, bang!

Gwanghyeon proceeded to slaughter the beastmen that appeared one after another, taking the forms of dogs, wolves, wild boars, bears, leopards, and other animals.

He was able to clear the Gate so easily that he even wondered whether it was really all right to finish things this quickly.

‘Even when there were three of us, we couldn’t move this fast.’

Recalling how his team had cleared Gates of a similar level before his regression, Gwanghyeon could truly feel how much he had grown.

A short while later, after obtaining the key to the boss room, Gwanghyeon slowly approached the enormous door that had been firmly locked.

He inserted the key into the lock and turned it, causing the door to gradually open.

And through the widening gap, the leader of the beastmen slowly revealed himself.

“A lion?”

A beastman with the head of a lion growled and glared at Gwanghyeon.

If his past self, when he had been an E-rank Hunter, had faced such an intimidating presence, his legs would have trembled with fear.

But the Gwanghyeon of today remained perfectly calm, without the slightest emotional disturbance.

‘The Lion King. So I just have to take that guy down and it’ll be over?’

Gwanghyeon lightly loosened up his body as he took one step after another into the room.

The Lion King bared its claws and charged.

It was an attack possessing tremendous speed and power—something that an ordinary Hunter would have great difficulty dodging, and one that could easily result in instant death.

Against an attack like this, an ordinary raid party would have relied on a frontline Hunter wearing heavy armor to absorb the blow, while the other members attacked during the opening created by that defense.

But Gwanghyeon avoided it with nothing more than a simple step.

The Lion King couldn’t help but become somewhat confused.

—Grr…?

It wasn’t because of his increased magical power.

It was thanks to Gwanghyeon’s reflexes.

The current Gwanghyeon possessed decades of experience as a Hunter.

Because of that, he could roughly read the movements of most magical beasts, and dodging an attack of this level was no difficult task.

‘At this rate, it’ll be over even more easily than I thought.’

The Lion King swung its foreclaws several times in succession, but the result was the same each time.

Gwanghyeon easily avoided its attacks.

And in the process, he detected an opening in the Lion King’s defenses.

—Creaaak.

As he clenched his fist tightly, the gauntlet closing around it produced a sound of friction.

Gwanghyeon concentrated his magical power into the gauntlet and swung his arm in one powerful motion.

—Baaang!

In an instant, the Lion King’s head exploded.

Thud!

The headless body of the Lion King immediately collapsed onto the floor.

“…”

The battle had ended so anticlimactically that Gwanghyeon felt a little deflated.

He had been somewhat tense, but it had ended far too easily.

‘Well, it’s not a bad thing.’

Gwanghyeon approached the Lion King’s corpse and skillfully extracted the core located near its heart.

Once he put the core into his bag, it was now packed full.

He had also collected a considerable amount of magic stones while making his way to the boss room.

‘This should be worth around ten million won.’

Next, he searched for the chest beyond the boss room and opened it.

There was no particularly rare special equipment inside. There were only a few magic stones.

“Hmm… More magic stones.”

Still, he hadn’t come here seeking rewards in the first place. He had originally come to test his equipment, so the results weren’t bad when everything was taken into consideration.

He hadn’t even had to work particularly hard, and the amount he had obtained was perfectly satisfactory.

He wasn’t affiliated with any guild, so there was no share to deduct.

And since he had cleared the Gate alone, there was no one to split the rewards with.

‘Come to think of it, this is my first time clearing a D-rank Gate alone.’

Gwanghyeon felt a little pleased at the thought that he had accomplished his first achievement.

And so, humming a tune, he was able to make his way back toward the entrance.

‘…Something’s strange.’

A man who had been loitering around the Gate and hiding while watching Gwanghyeon finally saw him emerge.

He had found it strange that Gwanghyeon had entered the Gate alone, so he had remained there and waited.

‘Should I report this?’

He debated whether or not to tell his superiors.

In the end, however, he decided not to.

Judging by the fact that none of Gwanghyeon’s companions had arrived yet, it was clear that he had been clearing the Gate alone.

Without any help from his superiors, he could make quite a lot of money if things went well.

And naturally, he was confident that he could handle at least one person even without anyone else’s assistance.

‘The equipment he had didn’t look particularly amazing… But whatever. It doesn’t matter.’

The man pulled out a heavy bludgeon and decided it was time to head inside.

His name was Woo Minhyeok, a Level 4-risk villain who specialized in Gate mugging.

Gate mugging was the act of ambushing and killing Hunters after they had become exhausted from clearing a Gate, then stealing everything they possessed—from the equipment they were wearing to the magic stones, cores, and special equipment they had looted inside the Gate.

Since it allowed villains to easily steal expensive Hunter equipment and the spoils obtained from Gates, there were quite a few villains who engaged in this kind of crime.

Woo Minhyeok was one of them.

‘Heh… Once this goes well, I’ll get out of the country immediately.’

With a sinister smile, Woo Minhyeok headed toward the Gate Gwanghyeon had entered earlier.

A little over an hour had probably passed, so Gwanghyeon should have been quite exhausted by now.

All Minhyeok had to do was quietly follow him to the boss room, then strike him from behind the moment he defeated the boss.

“Heh heh…”

“What are you doing?”

Flinch.

Woo Minhyeok was startled by the sudden voice from beside him.

There hadn’t been the slightest sign of anyone nearby.

When had he—

Minhyeok quickly turned his head with a puzzled expression.

Then he was even more shocked.

The man who had entered the Gate earlier—Gwanghyeon—was standing there, looking directly at him.

“W-W-Wha…?”

Looking at Minhyeok’s flustered expression strangely, Gwanghyeon shrugged.

“If you’re planning to go in there, don’t bother. I just finished clearing it.”

He had finished clearing it?

It was an absurd statement.

He had entered alone and cleared the entire Gate this quickly?

“Anyway, take care.”

Gwanghyeon casually walked past him.

Only belatedly did the still-dazed Woo Minhyeok realize that he had made a mistake.

“Ah.”

He should have attacked him just now.

But it was already too late.

In the end, he could do nothing but stand there for quite some time with a foolish expression on his face.

After finishing the Gate raid, Gwanghyeon immediately headed to the Exchange and sold his loot.

The proceeds came to approximately 15 million won.

He had only gone there intending to test his equipment, but somehow, he had already earned back more than the cost of the equipment.

‘Nice.’

After finishing everything and returning home, his two children greeted him.

“You’re home!”

“Dad, you’re back?”

Gwanghyeon smiled broadly as he welcomed them, patting both children’s heads before going inside and placing his bag on the desk.

Seojun and Seoyun immediately ran over, curious about what was inside, and opened the bag.

“Huh?”

“What is this?”

Since he had already sold all the loot, the only things inside the bag were his equipment—the C-rank gauntlets and the Guardian God’s Necklaces.

Seojun took out the gauntlets and examined them with interest, while Seoyun picked up one of the necklaces and gazed at it with sparkling eyes.

“Dad bought these today.”

“Wow, really?”

Gwanghyeon chuckled as he watched Seoyun put one of the necklaces around her neck.

Then she looked up, noticed that Gwanghyeon was already wearing an identical one, and pointed at it.

“Oh, Dad’s already wearing one.”

“Ah, yeah. This is actually…”

For a moment, Gwanghyeon wondered whether he should explain that it was an A+-rank Hunter’s piece of equipment.

Then he shook his head and closed his mouth.

Well, did the children really need to know about something like that?

“It’s a present for Seoyun. Don’t lose it, and make sure you keep it safe.”

At Gwanghyeon’s words, Seoyun smiled brightly and nodded.

‘I got it for free, anyway. I suppose giving one away isn’t a bad idea.’

It wasn’t as though he was going to sell the Guardian God’s Necklace right away, nor did he intend to wear both of them himself.

So he figured there was nothing wrong with giving one to his daughter as a present.

The equipment looked perfectly ordinary, like a piece of jewelry, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

There was always the possibility that she might lose it, but Gwanghyeon wasn’t particularly worried.

He knew just how precious Seoyun considered the gifts he gave her.

“Thank youuu!”

Seoyun grinned and ran into her room.

Meanwhile, Seojun, who had been carefully examining and fiddling with the gauntlet, cautiously called out to Gwanghyeon.

“Dad.”

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden…?”

Gwanghyeon tilted his head at his son’s question.

Then he realized that the gauntlet was covered in dirt and grime from the fight.

Seojun had asked because he was worried about his father.

Realizing this, Gwanghyeon grinned and vigorously ruffled Seojun’s hair.

“Tired? Not at all.”

“Uuuaaah! Stop!”

And so, spending time with his two children, Gwanghyeon felt truly happy.

The next day.

Gwanghyeon received a notification that the TV he had purchased would be delivered that day.

A short while later, just as he had been told, the TV installation technicians arrived and immediately began setting it up.

Watching them work, Gwanghyeon was somewhat impressed.

‘Big companies really are nice.’

Having previously only ever bought televisions manufactured by small and mid-sized companies and installed them himself, even this level of service made him strangely satisfied.

In any case, the installation was completed shortly afterward.

After confirming that the TV was working properly, the technicians left.

Seoyun then sat down in front of the TV with an expectant expression.

But she soon couldn’t help being disappointed.

“Dad… Doesn’t anything else come on?”

The telecommunications company’s internet hadn’t been installed yet, so the only thing available was terrestrial television.

All Seoyun could watch was the news.

Seeing her disappointed expression, Gwanghyeon burst out laughing and told her to wait just a little longer.

“Should we turn it off for now?”

“No! I want to watch!”

Seoyun seemed determined, so Gwanghyeon chuckled and sat down beside her.

Since it had been a while since he’d watched the news himself, Gwanghyeon looked toward the TV.

As luck would have it, a news report about wanted villains was playing on the screen, so it was something Gwanghyeon could actually take an interest in.

“…?”

But as Gwanghyeon watched the news, his expression gradually hardened.

Among the photographs of the wanted villains being shown on the news, he recognized the face of one particular man.

[Level 4-Risk Villain — Woo Minhyeok]

It was the face of the man he’d encountered in front of the Gate yesterday.

Realizing this, Gwanghyeon became slightly angry with himself for not recognizing him immediately.

He had encountered a villain right in front of his eyes and simply let him go.

“…Seoyun.”

“Yes?”

“Dad’s going to go out for a little while this evening.”