Complete Chaos (1)

[Breaking: Super Rookie Park Siwoo Finds His Perfect Nest! Debuts as the Money-Blowing Guild’s First Member!]

[Breaking: Guild Master Kim Minwoo Firmly Declares His Goal Is a Small, Elite Guild! Will Accept Only World-Ranker-Caliber Talent!]

[Breaking: Park Siwoo Reveals His Ambitions! Says His Goal Is to Become Korea’s Second Sword Immortal...]

[Breaking: An Intriguing Remark from Kim Minwoo? “I’ll Show You Something Big Soon.”]

Articles poured out one after another, and public discussion heated up.

—Damn lol. A world-record breaker AND the Sword Immortal’s disciple? This guild’s starting lineup is already insane lmao.

—Kim Minwoo on the left, Park Siwoo on the right. Now that’s reassuring lol.

—Since he outright said small and elite, I guess he only wants people with S-grade achievements?

—Isn’t an S-grade achievement hard as fuck to get? Those two have eased the recent awakener drought a little, but...

—Still tough lol. The last one before them was seven years ago. They’ll have to recruit veterans instead of fresh faces.

—Anyway, does Korea finally have a guild worth calling a guild? Maybe the rankings will finally change?

—Not likely lol. You need a track record of gate clears to climb the rankings. They’ll probably stay small-time for now.

—Yeah. From C-rank gates onward, the number of raiders shoots up. Even if they’re Super Rookies, clearing one with just two people is a bit...

—Too early to tell. Those two might level up a bit and try a two-man clear.

—True. Anyway, I’m kind of excited lol. Ilseong’s money plus Super Rookies... Maybe they could compete on the world stage?

—Nah, that’s going too far. Even our entrenched old guilds are treated as somewhere between second- and third-string internationally lol.

The public response was favorable. After seven years without a single new Super Rookie, two had made their debut. People could hardly help getting excited.

Park Siwoo had also made a positive impression by confidently stating his ambitions.

With the successful press conference over, Siwoo turned to me as we left the venue and asked curiously, “So, what are we planning to do?”

“Nothing in particular. Why?”

“You said you’d show everyone something big soon.”

“Oh, that? Just telling them what they wanted to hear.”

To be precise, I did have a plan. Park Siwoo just wasn’t part of it. The way it worked, I couldn’t include him.

‘It’s dangerous, too.’

I would be entering a newly formed gate. Bringing him into a gate with sharply increased difficulty would be too risky.

‘The exact way to clear it was never made public.’

The Dorim Guild had disclosed some details after its first clear, but there was no guarantee they had shared everything. Naturally, they would have kept the important parts secret.

That was why I intended to go alone.

“Focus on leveling up for now.”

“Yes. I’ll grind hard.”

“Good. And if you see any unusual news, don’t be too surprised.”

“... Unusual news?”

“You’ll see. You’ll understand when the time comes.”

I gave his shoulder a couple of pats as he tilted his head in confusion.

* * *

I got into a sleek sports car.

‘It’s nice moving around alone.’

When I had first arrived here, bodyguards had stuck to me like leeches, keeping watch to make sure I didn’t cause trouble.

But things were different now. I had proven time and again that I was responsible, so they no longer forced a security detail on me.

Of course, they would provide one if I asked.

‘I don’t need one today.’

In fact, I needed to be without guards.

‘I’ve secured all the high-grade elixirs, too...’

While passing the time crafting, I had contacted Choi Yuna in advance to commission more elixirs. This time, I had even paid more than half up front.

High-grade elixirs cost around three billion won apiece. Eight hundred would be 2.4 trillion won.

Making her shoulder that entire cost would have been too much. Besides, I happened to have around two trillion won left.

Thanks to that, the elixirs were produced quickly. I paid the remaining 1.2 trillion using the money I had left and an advance I received for equipment I crafted and delivered ahead of time.

I might pass level 151 inside this gate, so securing the elixirs had been my top priority. Enhancing C-grade skill books to +9 could wait until I was a little higher-level.

‘This will probably be my last elixir commission with Choi Yuna.’

High-grade elixirs could be consumed at level 151. After those came top-grade elixirs, which I couldn’t commission from Korea’s Alchemists’ Guild.

‘They don’t have the recipe.’

Only one artisan in the entire world had the recipe for top-grade elixirs: Christine, America’s “Witch.”

If I remembered correctly, she had obtained the recipe by clearing a hidden gate.

‘Getting access is going to be a pain in the ass.’

And not just because of the price. This was one of the items whose distribution the United States controlled. They had effectively put it under lock and key for the national interest.

The reason was simple.

Other elixirs could increase each individual stat by only fifty per level bracket, for a total of two hundred. Top-grade elixirs were different.

‘A hundred and fifty per stat. Six hundred in total.’

Between two people at the same level with similar skill sets, the one with higher stats would naturally win. Six hundred was a huge stat boost.

‘Well, they’d probably restrict it even if it only gave two hundred.’

Those bastards were greedy as hell.

Korea also had an elixir with restricted distribution. The Sword Shadow Pill was a prime example.

‘But that’s a one-time deal.’

It offered a large stat increase, but once you took it, that was it. You couldn’t stack the effects. Compared with top-grade elixirs, it fell far short.

In any case, I had heard that France had even struck a secret agreement with the United States to obtain top-grade elixirs for Isabella.

That was how seriously the nations of Gate Hunter took their awakener forces.

‘It’s a matter of competition and survival.’

If a gate wasn’t cleared within a certain time, it would burst and spew out monsters. In those circumstances, what happened if the gates grew stronger than the awakeners?

Disaster began.

Of course, gates weren’t all bad. They also offered a wealth of opportunities: innovations from other worlds, mana stones, treasures, new materials, and more.

What if a country couldn’t clear gates? It would be like using a flip phone while everyone else had smartphones. No wonder nations were obsessed with strengthening their awakener forces.

The car entered Gyeonggi Province. My destination drew closer: an open lot beside a mountain, without a building in sight.

‘Here we are.’

I got out of the car.

The image of the gate standing here was still vivid in my mind.

‘Did it stretch from about here to here?’

After roughly measuring out its size from memory, I positioned myself as close to the entrance as possible. Then I opened my phone’s gallery and held up a photo.

“You remember this face, right? When this guy comes, do what we practiced.”

“Coo.”

A cry came from thin air.

Soon, several vehicles arrived.

[Gate Observation Department]

Civil servants began piling out, carrying instruments for measuring the gate’s concentration.

“Isn’t this the spot?”

“It is! The mana’s converging here. At this level, it’ll be at least B-rank.”

“Wait! There’s someone over there!”

The officials approached.

“... Mr. Kim Minwoo?”

“Hello.”

We exchanged greetings.

“I’m sorry, but could you please leave this area? Our observations indicate that a gate will form here. You could get caught in the resulting disturbance if you stay,” an official said politely.

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. It’s dangerous. You should keep your distance...”

“Wow, perfect. I’ve always wanted to see a gate form.”

“Then come this way. You can watch from over there...”

“No, I want to see it up close.”

“It’s dangerous! The gate could form right over your head!”

Yeah, no.

The locations where gates formed were fixed. I had confirmed that thousands of times playing this game. The gate would form right in front of me, exactly one step away from letting me enter.

Since I couldn’t explain that...

“Sir.”

“Yes?”

“You see, I’ve been really lucky lately.”

“Listen, we don’t have time! The gate’s about to form!”

Just then, dozens of vehicles began pouring into the area. It was a complete jumble of news outlets and all sorts of guilds.

Word must have spread the moment the gate’s formation was detected. At times like this, whoever was closest won.

I spotted a few familiar faces: the Dorim Guild Master, the Wiseong Guild, the Hanlim Guild Master...

Sword Phoenix Seo Yerim was also there, accompanied by people who appeared to be instructors from the Sword Sea Pavilion.

“A gate!”

Everyone’s eyes gleamed. A newly formed gate was practically a pot of honey, and whoever snatched it first would get to keep it.

Most of them were ready to offer to raid it the moment its exact rank was determined.

“Sir! Get out of there, now!”

The official who had been trying to persuade me shouted as he continued backing away.

Then...

WHOOOOSH!

With a tremendous blast of wind...

THRUM!

The gate formed, its entrance directly in front of me, just as I had expected.

‘See? I was right.’

One step forward was all it would take to claim this new gate for myself. My prediction had been spot-on.

* * *

Lee Minjun, the Dorim Guild Master, stared with gleaming eyes. Being near the formation site had been a stroke of incredible luck. Naturally, he had rushed over with his guild members at top speed as soon as he heard the breaking news.

But some strange guy was loitering near the spot where the gate would form.

‘... Is he insane?’

With bad luck, he could easily be crushed to death by the suddenly appearing gate.

“Who the hell is that? He’s ignoring the officials’ instructions.”

“I think that’s... Kim Minwoo.”

“What?”

“You know the Money-Blowing Guild? He’s their Guild Master.”

Huh?

Squinting, he saw that it really was him.

‘What’s going on? Surely he hasn’t come to raid it alone?’

No, that couldn’t be it. A newly formed gate’s rank was undetermined. The observation department had to inspect it to establish its precise rank—a sort of identification process.

Even so, the converging flow of mana gave a rough indication of its level. Enough to tell that this would be a tough gate. Naturally, the breaking news had already reported that it would be at least B-rank.

So why had this guy come? And alone, at that?

‘Is he just unusually curious?’

It made sense if he had come to watch. Not that anyone else was crazy enough to watch from that close.

Then the gate formed—so close that Kim Minwoo could enter with a single step.

‘Surely he won’t go in.’

That would be suicide.

Besides, barging in would be a perfect way to get himself cursed out. Gate raids weren’t child’s play. A great many interests were at stake, and selecting a group to conduct the raid was a complicated process.

In short, there were rules about entry.

Even the Sword Phoenix, who had just arrived, couldn’t enter without authorization.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be completely insane. He showed no particular sign of entering. He was just looking around the entrance as if fascinated.

“Go escort Mr. Kim Minwoo over here. Politely.”

They could simply see him off without making a fuss.

But there was one thing Lee Minjun hadn’t anticipated when he gave that order: Jo Piluk, the guild’s Executive Director and the Chairman’s son, harbored an enormous grudge against Kim Minwoo.

Seething, Jo Piluk rushed ahead of everyone else. His NewTube debut had already flopped, earning him a torrent of abuse from Chairman Jo.

It was all that damned bastard’s fault. How much humiliation had he suffered from being compared to him? He had even been warned that he would never be allowed to participate in company business again. Seeing that irritating prick loitering at the entrance of the gate they were about to raid could only make his temper flare.

‘Fucking bastard!’

Perfect. He would take this opportunity to crush the guy’s shoulder with his level-300 grip.

Jo Piluk approached with a face like a murderous demon.

“Hey, you little shit! Get the fuck out of there!”

As he stormed up and reached for Kim Minwoo’s shoulder, something shoved his own shoulder hard. The unexpected impact sent him pitching forward.

As a result...

THUMP!

His body slammed into Kim Minwoo, pushing him forward and straight into the gate, which swallowed him up.

“... Huh?”

“... Wha?”

“... Whaaat?”

“... Did he push him?”