LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 35. Terrorism (2)
Since we promised cooperation, there’s no need to conceal the details any longer.
Seonwoo-yeon slowly began to explain the overview of the incident.
*
After leaving the restaurant.
“There are terrorists.”
That was the first statement thrown out.
“In Korea?”
“Yes. In Korea.”
The man reacted with surprise.
It was only natural since it hadn’t been reported in the media yet.
“But the method is a bit special. It’s not like they’re attempting terror with bombs or anything.”
“Then what…?”
“Monsters.”
Seonwoo-yeon stood with her arms crossed, speaking seriously.
“Recently, there have been indications that someone has artificially caused a Dungeon Break.”
“What?”
“In other words, the criminal we need to catch is this Dungeon Break terrorist.”
The phenomenon of unknown creatures from beyond the gate being released into the streets.
That’s why it’s called a Dungeon Break.
The name comes from the very nature of the gate.
The passage, referred to as a ‘normal gate’ or ‘blue gate,’ has rules akin to a ticking time bomb within it.
“When a Dungeon Break is artificially caused…?”
Usually, it takes 7 to 10 days.
For smaller scales, about 3 to 5 days.
If no expedition is conducted during this time, the entrance of a blue gate collapses.
Boom! Like a supernova, the dungeon explodes, and all the monsters within pour out into the city.
That’s why it was called a ‘Dungeon Break.’
Furthermore, this phenomenon spurred humanity to develop technologies to explore gates.
“How is such a thing possible?”
But to think someone would recklessly cause such a terrifying incident.
Seonwoo-yeon frowned at Kim Gi-ryeo’s question and shook her head.
“We don’t know either. We need to find out from now on.”
In any case, since it’s a gate-related terror, they’re going to investigate the gate.
Kim Gi-ryeo understood the situation without any issues. However, a small doubt lingered in the process.
“Wait, if a Dungeon Break happens, then the existing gate disappears. Wouldn’t that leave nothing to investigate?”
Seonwoo-yeon quickly resolved that doubt.
“That’s why I said that the criminals left traces.”
“What?”
“The gate hasn’t disappeared.”
Moist air surrounded them.
However, Seonwoo-yeon delivered a particularly arid statement.
“A little while ago, there was a Dungeon Break incident where fire-type monsters suddenly appeared, but the dungeon they came from still exists.”
“….”
“And it was left…. completely empty.”
This was the identity of the location Seonwoo-yeon wanted to investigate.
*
Terrorists, human traffickers, kindred hunters.
Isn’t it a fact that Korea is the most dangerous neighborhood, just lacking a gang?
‘Should I escape abroad?’
I killed time by biting my nails out of anxiety.
Today is the day.
The day to help Seonwoo-yeon with her work.
“Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter? You’re already here?”
“I took a taxi.”
As the appointed time arrived, an association employee appeared right on cue.
As soon as I saw Seonwoo-yeon’s face, I pointed towards the back. To the brightly shining blue passage beyond the police line.
“Shall we enter now?”
“Yes. Then you can go in with the person in charge over there.”
“What about Ms. Seonwoo-yeon?”
“I’ll be waiting outside the gate. Seocher, you know? I’m not a suitable Awakened for protection.”
“……Um.”
The gate under investigation was a B-Class gate near Seoul, featuring a volcanic area.
For a weak Awakened like Kim Gi-ryeo, being even brushed by a B-Class monster would normally mean death, but fortunately, it was safe now.
‘It really is completely empty.’
Right, there wasn’t a single monster as I had heard beforehand.
The boss was supposedly killed by the Dungeon Break suppression team, so how was the gate still intact?
‘Not to mention, nobody living was left inside.’
It was a good opportunity.
I had been quite interested in the gates on Earth, so I decided to engage in the investigation with utmost sincerity.
And a few hours later.
Sweating profusely after toiling in the volcanic area, I managed to achieve some outcome.
“Ugh….”
“Did you find something?”
Having finished the investigation, I exited the humid dungeon and was greeted by Seonwoo-yeon waiting outside. I conveyed my first message to her.
“I have some bad news.”
“What is it?”
“It seems difficult to figure out who the criminal is.”
Upon hearing this, Seonwoo-yeon started to glance at me as if I were some crawling bug.
I mean, I really don’t know, so what do you want me to say?
“There are no clues to confirm the identity, and there aren’t any manipulated traces inside the dungeon either.”
Was it a bother that I ordered dumplings with my kalguksu last time?
I guess it makes sense to be mad if I didn’t pay for the meal.
Cold air emanated from Seonwoo-yeon’s face.
Seeing that, I tried to speak slowly as if I wasn’t scared.
“Instead, I did find one strange thing.”
“What is it?”
“This gate here.”
Tuk tuk.
As I pointed at the blue passage in front of us, Seonwoo-yeon’s focus sharpened.
“It seems like a passage that an Awakened squeezed open by force. What I’m trying to say is that it’s a fake exit.”
“Fake?”
“It’s too unstable.”
At that moment, Seonwoo-yeon’s eyes widened, but I continued speaking without caring.
“To sum it up quickly since explaining it all would take too long, that terrorist knows how to create new entrances and exits to dungeons.”
“…!”
“Of course, they must also know how to close the original passage. Because it got switched.”
It’s amazing that someone could manipulate a gate, which is an unknown space.
However, despite having gathered such information, I couldn’t boast carelessly.
“Making a passage larger or smaller? Why would the criminal do such a thing?”
“Who knows? No matter how I look at it, it seems unrelated to the Dungeon Break.”
After carefully analyzing the gate, I could think of a few methods to intentionally induce a Dungeon Break.
Thus, I could confidently state that the number of passages is completely unrelated to a Dungeon Break.
“Hmm.”
Moreover, while tampering with a still passage is one thing…
“Ms. Seonwoo-yeon, this isn’t the first time a ‘strange’ Dungeon Break has occurred, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
Seonwoo-yeon immediately explained.
This year alone, even though there was ample time, three dungeons suddenly erupted unexpectedly.
Then, the minimum number of previous cases that aroused suspicion would be three.
“In the previous crimes, they left no evidence behind, but this time, they drew attention by creating an obviously empty gate?”
What’s the intention behind this?
“Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter, could it be that the previous incidents and this one are by the same criminal?”
It sounded like a plausible claim, but it was just a theory.
‘Could it be that the mages on Earth are conducting experiments out of curiosity? It’s a likely scenario. All mages tend to be that way after all.’
Hmm.
Certainly, this guy’s magic power is a problem.
If I had enough mana, I could use various investigative methods.
Like brainwashing all the humans in the area to speak nothing but the truth…
‘But now I can’t even use confess magic, and my portable lighter is stronger than my fireball.’
Geez, this is frustrating.
Being reincarnated as a low-tier hunter has its inconveniences.
“For now, there’s no way to know.”
In any case, my investigation was over.
I pointed at the gated area lined with police tape, giving Seonwoo-yeon a brief warning.
I don’t know what kind of bold terrorist did such a thing, but that guy isn’t particularly skilled either.
“Oh, Ms. Seonwoo-yeon, you shouldn’t go inside this gate anymore.”
“Yes?”
“I said earlier that the fake passage is unstable.”
“What do you mean by that…”
“Most likely, the exit won’t last even a day before disappearing.”
Nobody knows what would happen to a dungeon, strained by an artificially created passage, once it loses its exit.
If I hadn’t come in early, it’s possible that innocent police officers could have been trapped in another world.
Seonwoo-yeon seemed to realize this too, her face turning pale for a moment before she muttered quietly.
“Thank you very much for your cooperation.”
Thanks to this, I was able to enjoy some beef today.
However, that was my last achievement.
Not long after, that empty gate vanished from the world.
“Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter, I’m sorry for contacting you late. Your prediction was correct. The entrance has… disappeared.”
We lost the only clue to pursue the criminal.
Moreover, from that day forth, the terror incidents abruptly stopped…
Inevitably, the subsequent investigation became stagnant.
The period I promised to help Seonwoo-yeon was two weeks.
However, as time passed, days without even receiving a call became increasingly common.
*
[We have unfortunate news. The police searched for missing person A, last seen at the park since the 9th, but ultimately…….]
[Breaking news. Another victim has been reported in the recent series of missing person cases in Eunpyeong District…]
[Police state, “We will establish a special investigation unit and do our utmost in the search for the missing.”]
Meaningless days passed.
“The world sure is in chaos~”
I slumped down with nothing to do.
When was it I was bustling around the scene with the long-haired hunter, and how did it suddenly turn into this?
Well, it’s because there’s no place to use my emotional abilities.
Since the gate disappeared, the investigation was left hanging in the void.
Thanks to that, I had time to fiddle with my mobile phone.
“These days, everyone’s talking about this.”
I thought blankly as I watched the news video on the screen.
In fact, while Seonwoo-yeon was chasing the terrorists, Korea was experiencing another major incident.
Seven citizens from Eunpyeong District went missing, all unrelated?
‘Are they being kidnapped again?’
The possibility of kidnapping crossed my mind momentarily, but the odds were low.
The common points of the victims were two.
Their actual living area is Eunpyeong District, and they are all non-awakened individuals.
‘Who would abduct ordinary people without magic power…?’
Just as I was engulfed in doubts.
Ding♩ Di-di-di-ring♩♬
The new ringtone I had set rang through the studio.
At the same time, the news I was watching automatically paused.
It seems I’m getting a call.
[Seonwoo-yeon ☎]
I pressed the receive button without hesitation.
“Yes, this is Kim Gi-ryeo.”
What followed was a pretty normal conversation.
“Yes, yes.”
It wasn’t long. Seonwoo-yeon tends to keep it short and sweet.
“Yes~ understood.”
Click.
After hanging up, I stared at the blank phone screen and muttered.
“No, damn it. I was simply curious about the context while watching the news, but I didn’t want to directly solve the case.”
There’s some bad news.
As the investigation into the Eunpyeong District missing person case intensified, Seonwoo-yeon, with her Seocher skill, was urgently recruited as an investigator.
In other words, I, who had the contract condition of ‘helping Seonwoo-yeon for two weeks,’ was now unwittingly entangled in this matter.