Chapter 39: High-Rank Gate

There was one thing I was curious about.

“Mr. Marcel.”

So I called Marcel over.

After all, he was our porter here, so I figured it’d be better to have him ask.

“Yes?”

“Could you ask that guy something for me?”

I murmured quietly near his ear, and Marcel nodded before getting up and heading over to Hames.

“Sir Hames, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Is this everyone?”

“This is everyone. Is there a problem?”

“No, there isn’t.”

Marcel answered Hames and then turned his gaze back toward me.

‘Are these guys really one of the Five Great Guilds?’

I mean, sure, they had Moonlight backing them, but still — only two people showed up, excluding the Mercenary?

They were supposed to be one of the Five Great Guilds, so I couldn’t help thinking their scale was way too small.

‘Then again, fewer people might actually be better.’

Thinking about it again, this was actually a pretty good condition for us.

If fewer people participated in clearing the Gate, the share per person increased.

In other words, our earnings would go up.

‘If something does happen, I can just step in then.’

With fewer eyes watching, I might even be able to cut loose to my heart’s content.

“Let’s go.”

Hames took the lead, and we followed behind.

It’d been a really long time since I last went into a High-Rank Gate.

Unlike the first Gate I entered after my body changed, this time I felt a faint flutter of excitement.

Well, it was a High-Rank Gate, right? Until now, it’d been nothing but boring hunting, but this time, I might actually get to enjoy myself.

Of course, I’d have to be careful not to catch the attention of Hames’ group and Lilian.

“Ms. Verdi, you look happy.”

“Me?”

“You’ve been smiling nonstop, which isn’t like you.”

Had I? Hmm, now that she mentioned it, I did feel like the corners of my mouth had been twitching.

“Honestly, I’m a little nervous. This is my first time actually entering a High-Rank Gate…”

“You’ve been through a Dungeon Break before. Compared to that, this is nothing.”

“…Huh?”

Deneb looked at me with a puzzled expression.

‘Uh-oh?’

What was that reaction?

Did I say something wrong?

“Ms. Verdi, how did you know I experienced a Dungeon Break…?”

Ah, crap. I only realized it when Deneb said that.

Deneb had never told me about the Dungeon Break.

She’d only ever said she admired Verdiol.

She hadn’t told me the reason she came to admire Verdiol yet.

“M-My master told me.”

In my panic, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“Ah, I see. So Verdiol hyung-nim told you about that…”

Whew. Thankfully, she looked convinced.

I breathed a sigh of relief internally. I’d almost accidentally revealed my identity.

Next time, I’d better think before I speak…

* * *

After that brief commotion passed, we were able to arrive in front of the Gate.

And sure enough.

‘This is the biggest one I’ve seen so far.’

At least, since my body changed.

A B-Rank Gate was the entry point of High-Rank Gates.

But even if it was just the entry point, the Gate before us boasted a size that was on a completely different level from the C-Rank and lower Gates I’d seen so far, as if insisting that the gap between Low-Rank and High-Rank definitely existed.

It seemed about the size of an apartment building, the kind I used to see often before I possessed this body.

The atmosphere was distinctly different too. Even though it was still daytime, the area around the Gate was as dark as if the sun had set.

“Mr. Hames, over here!”

As we neared the Gate, a man standing in front of the entrance waved and called out toward us. He seemed to be a Crescent guild member.

“Thanks for your hard work.”

While Hames shook hands and chatted with the guild member guarding the entrance, I glanced around the area.

As expected of a High-Rank Gate. The security was thorough.

That man wasn’t the only one near the entrance.

One person each at the four cardinal directions — at least four Crescent-affiliated Hunters were standing by.

They were probably preparing in case the raid failed and a Dungeon Break occurred.

‘Not that that’ll happen.’

The most recent Dungeon Break was the one Deneb had been caught up in.

However, that Dungeon Break hadn’t been recorded by the Association.

That was because the only outsiders involved — me and the guild that handled that Gate, Royal Knights — kept our mouths shut.

So officially, the last recorded Dungeon Break was a really long time ago.

‘Still, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.’

I thought to myself that being thoroughly prepared for unexpected situations was commendable.

I mean, they say safety complacency is the most dangerous thing, right?

“But, Mr. Marcel.”

Hames called out to Marcel, but his gaze was fixed on me and Deneb.

“You said these two are porters. Usually, porters are brought in after the Gate’s cleared… but you’re taking ‘em in with you?”

“Yes. They’re porters, but they’re also Hunters.”

“You sure that’s okay? Even so, this is a High-Rank Gate.”

“Don’t worry. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility, so you don’t need to be concerned.”

“Well, if you’re gonna say it like that…”

He made a face like he found it absurd, but then Hames’s gaze turned back to me again.

What’s this uneasy feeling? This bastard, don’t tell me—

“The Super Genius Pretty Girl after all—”

“…”

“Heh heh, got it.”

I frowned, but Hames didn’t wipe the grin off his face, like he found something hilarious.

It wasn’t a sneer. But it was still an annoying kind of laugh.

The kind of smile you can’t help making when you see a cute animal at the zoo?

There’s no way I’d be happy being treated like that.

I’d thought a bit better of him when he mediated the fight between Lilian and Marcel earlier, but nope, I still don’t like this bastard.

“Let’s go in!”

That guy’s way too excited.

Humming with a light step, Hames entered the Gate first, and we followed one by one.

* * *

Whoosh—

The moment I entered the Gate, a strange sensation I’d never felt before wrapped around my entire body.

Like someone was tickling me stealthily.

“Ugh…”

That feeling was fucking annoying, and a groan slipped out before I could stop it.

I didn’t want anyone to hear me groaning, so I clenched my teeth and endured it.

After waiting a little while, the scenery in front of me changed.

Cold air, hard floor.

Drip— drip—

And the sound of water falling from the ceiling.

It was a cave.

‘Fuck…’

A chilly wind crept under my skirt, giving me goosebumps.

“I’ll light the way.”

Deneb chanted a spell. A faint light emanated from the staff in her hand, brightly illuminating the surroundings.

“I’ll take the lead.”

With Hames taking point and Deneb following behind her, we slowly made our way inside.

About five minutes of walking later.

A passage appeared. But… the problem was, it wasn’t just one passage.

Three in total. Looked like this dungeon was a maze-cave kind of deal.

“Hmm, what’ll we do? There’s three paths.”

Hames, having examined the four-way fork, asked us.

Well, ask or not, it’s just a B-Rank Gate — why not split up?

‘I really want to say that, but…’

If I took just Marcel and Deneb down one path, I could go all out.

But right now, I’m a porter. If I said something like that, everyone would look at me weird.

Even Hames, who kept blabbing about me being a super-genius or whatever, would probably give me a strange look.

So for now, I’ll just keep quiet.

“Well, is there even anything to ask? Three paths means we each go our separate way.”

‘Hell yeah.’

It felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest.

Lilian said exactly what I wanted to say. Hey, can you read my mind or something?

“It’s just a B-Rank Gate. You’re not scared, are you?”

“I got no problem with it…”

Hames and Lilian’s gazes both turned to Marcel at the same time.

“Say you’re fine.”

Hiding behind Marcel, I held back a laugh and muttered as quietly as I could.

“I’m fine.”

“Oh-ho?”

When Marcel answered as told, Lilian gave an obvious reaction.

Her expression practically screamed, ‘You think someone like you can handle it alone?’

This time, Marcel didn’t stay quiet either.

“Instead of standing around deliberating, let’s get moving.”

‘Marcel!’

I let out an inner whistle of admiration at Marcel’s calm, smiling demeanor.

So this is how much a person can change once they’ve been knocked down and gotten back up! I wasn’t wrong about you, Marcel!

“Oh yeah? Then how about we make a bet?”

As if she’d been waiting for Marcel’s words, Lilian spoke confidently to everyone.

“Whoever finds the Boss Room first gets to solo the boss. The Magic Stone too!”

“Uh, excuse me. Ms. Lilian, this Gate belongs to Crescent.”

Hames said with a look of disbelief at Lilian’s words.

“Well, it’d be fun, I reckon.”

But soon he put on a confident expression and spoke.

Nice! Let’s go with that! This is my chance to monopolize the boss!

“Glare, you good with that?”

Hames asked Glare, who was behind him.

“We’re the ones with the advantage here anyway, aren’t we?”

At that, Glare, who’d been quiet the whole time, stepped up beside him and said in a low voice.

‘…Hoh.’

She seemed pretty confident. And she had reason to be.

At the Guild House, she’d had no presence at all, so I’d overlooked her, but the moment we entered the dungeon, I could feel it.

The aura flowing from this woman named Glare was even stronger than Hames, who’d been strutting around up front — let alone Marcel, who’d been out of training for a while.

‘I thought she was a Low-Rank, but it’s the opposite, huh.’

It wasn’t for nothing that Hames had backed down to Glare back at the Guild House.

But still.

‘Well, at the end of the day, she’s just an A-Rank Hunter.’

That didn’t make me think I’d lose at all.

After all, this side used to be an S-Rank Hunter.

You think I’d lose just because a bunch of A-Rank Hunters are gathered together?