* * *
Normally, when a Gate formed, energy signatures were instantly detected, and the Monitoring Division would send out support requests to nearby espers.
Most Gates appeared silently—undetectable without specialized equipment.
But there were exceptions…
“It’s been quiet for so long, why’s it acting up now?”
While Taewon was still fuming, Dohoon pulled out his communicator.
Sure enough, the Center was blowing it up with alerts.
A high-level Red Gate had been detected, and all available espers were being called in for backup.
“At this rate, our whole team’s gotta go.”
“Ugh, whatever. If we head out first, the others’ll follow. They’re probably still at the mansion.”
Still scowling, Taewon turned sharply toward the security sector inside the Center, where the transfer portal was located.
The portal wasn’t inside the building but in a restricted outer zone.
It ran on magic stones harvested exclusively from Gates—a resource so scarce that portal usage was rarely approved outside of emergencies.
But this was an emergency.
The alert on the communicator explicitly granted permission to use the portal.
Just as Taewon and Dohoon reached the transfer portal’s vicinity—
BOOM.
The vibrations from the ground felt even stronger than before, and Kang Taewon’s face hardened instantly.
Red Gates had erupted before, but never with tremors this intense.
“What the fuck is this?”
The quake was almost like a full-blown earthquake.
Taewon pulled a pager from his chest. It was going wild with emergency support requests—every single one flashing red.
[Red Gate has been confirmed as S-class. Requesting immediate backup.]
“Well, this is fucking great.”
They’d been told earlier that it was suspected to be a high-tier, but S-class? An S-class Red Gate?
Taewon’s expression twisted even further.
This was a level of shitshow he hadn’t experienced in a while.
Come to think of it, things had been suspiciously quiet lately.
“No wonder it’s been so calm these days. Right, Taewon?”
Lee Dohoon’s voice sounded casual, but the irritation behind it was clear.
Red Gates were a pain in the ass on their own, but now they were officially dealing with an S-class?
This was a first.
All of the S-class Espers currently in the country were part of the Special Management Team 1.
The rest were stationed overseas, and there was no telling if they could return in time.
They could clear the gate with what they had—but it wasn’t going to be smooth.
As Taewon and Dohoon stepped onto the teleportation portal, the operator activated the device upon recognizing them.
Light began to spill from the floor of the portal, humming as it surrounded both of their bodies.
The moment they were completely enveloped, their feet lifted off the ground as if they were floating.
The blinding flash made them instinctively shut their eyes for a moment.
But when they opened them, their expressions froze at the sight before them.
“Aaaaah! Please, someone help!”
“Fuck, get away from me! No, no, get lost!”
“Kyaaa!”
“M-my leg—! Aaaagh!”
The area around the Red Gate was already in complete chaos.
Buildings had collapsed, and civilians were screaming, running in every direction.
“Fucking hell. They’re crawling out like goddamn cockroaches.”
“This one’s gonna be a pain in the ass.”
Their eyes shifted to the Red Gate in the distance. It pulsed with a menacing, dark crimson light.
From its mouth, monsters were flooding out like a tidal wave—far too many to count.
It was clearly an extreme situation.
Dohoon quickly scanned the area and confirmed that several Espers were already converging.
A decent number had gathered—but honestly, it still didn’t seem like enough.
“Well, not that it really matters.”
Muttering to himself, Dohoon casually stretched.
It was annoying, but he didn’t feel particularly anxious.
That was thanks to one thing—their fully functional Guide.
The very same Guide who was supposed to be dead, secretly hidden away just for them.
“Taewon, let’s wrap this up quick and head back. Gotta keep my toy from getting bored. Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah, shut up and start freezing those cockroach bastards.”
“Our Taewon is always so grumpy. It’s adorable.”
“Keep talking and I’ll rip your damn mouth open.”
“Oh no, that’s scary. Guess I better follow orders right away.”
Shrugging dramatically at Taewon’s snarl, Dohoon smirked as he extended his hand toward the gate, where monsters were still pouring out in waves.
A cold wave of energy burst from his palm, instantly beginning to freeze the horde of monsters in their tracks.
And right as they were trapped in ice, dozens of fireballs rained down on them.
The Espers who had arrived as reinforcements moved in unison, as if waiting for that signal.
The real battle had just begun.
“Get a grip, Kang Taewon.”
Han Jihyuk called out to Kang Taewon, who was panting hard enough for his heaving chest to be obvious.
Taewon irritably swept his hair back and let out a curse.
Even at a glance, it was clear his condition wasn’t good.
“Damn Red Gate….”
Taewon gritted his teeth against the pain—like countless needles stabbing into his brain.
A ringing filled his ears, and his vision swayed as if the ground were shaking.
“…He’s lost it.”
Shin Heesung, who had just returned after cutting down monsters, glanced at Taewon and muttered.
Lee Dohoon wasn’t here, currently positioned far away.
“Kang Taewon, what’s your berserk level right now?”
At Han Jihyuk’s question, Taewon checked the device on his wrist, his face twisted—not the fake reading, but the real, unfiltered value.
“Fuck… It’s already at 85%.”
Under normal circumstances, Taewon wouldn’t have deteriorated this badly.
Sure, it was the first S-rank Red Gate they’d encountered, but it was more annoying than life-threatening.
The monsters were insane in number, but individually, their threat level wasn’t high.
They’d been cutting through them quickly, picking up speed as they went.
Yeah, up until the middle, there had been no real issues.
If only that sudden anomaly hadn’t happened.
No one could’ve predicted that the scattered monster corpses would merge into a new abomination.
Of course, Taewon was the most pissed about the sudden spike in workload.
He was also the first to charge at the newly formed monstrosity.
But then things went sideways.
For some goddamn reason, the new creature devoured Taewon’s ability—the hellfire—and swelled up like it was armoring itself.
Still, Taewon didn’t panic.
It wasn’t unheard of for monsters to mutate mid-fight.
He figured killing it wouldn’t be a problem.
What he hadn’t expected was its absurdly high defense.
In the end, it took way longer than anticipated to bring the thing down.
Even then, Taewon and the rest of Special Management Team 1 just saw it as another annoying hurdle.
But then the dead monsters kept merging, birthing new ones over and over—and that’s when things got serious.
The Red Gate was still spewing out monsters nonstop.
And now, instead of staying dead, they were just reforming into stronger abominations.
A massive pain in the ass.
For Taewon, it was even worse.
Most of the newly spawned creatures had resistance to fire—his primary ability.
So, caught off guard, Taewon struggled harder than the others, burning through his energy faster.
And that sent his berserk level skyrocketing.
* * *
