novelburst
Chapter 119
Chapter 119
It was far.
The Gate Su-ho had been introduced to this time was located in Sejong.
After arriving at Bihaksan Mountain, Su-ho pinpointed the exact location of the Gate through a phone call with Choi Yoon. Not long after, he met with Choi Yoon, who had arrived ahead of him.
“Over here, here!”
Choi Yoon wasn’t alone.
He was with the owner of the Bihaksan Gate, a group that felt distinctly different from the Bang Dueok gang Su-ho had dealt with before.
The Gate owner, Kim Won-hu, let out a dry chuckle as he saw Su-ho approaching.
“Well, damn… You’re actually An Su-ho?”
Choi Yoon had informed him in advance that the buyer was An Su-ho.
Previously, when Choi failed to mention Su-ho’s name, a certain someone (Bang Dueok) had developed unwanted thoughts, leading to problems.
Kim Won-hu extended his hand for a handshake.
“I’m Kim Won-hu. You might have already heard, but when I heard you were the buyer, I wanted to propose selling the entire Gate outright instead of just entrance tickets. What do you think?”
An outright sale.
This meant handing over ownership of the entire Gate.
Usually, private Gate owners would sell tickets to extract as much profit as possible, but because Su-ho was the buyer, Kim Won-hu wanted to sell it all at once.
In his mind, Su-ho would clear the Gate anyway.
Su-ho nodded and replied, “If the price is reasonable, I’ll buy it.”
“How much are you offering?”
“That depends. Shouldn’t the seller set the price first?”
“Fine. Ten tickets' worth. I need to make something out of this too.”
“Ten tickets, huh…”
Ten tickets meant 1 billion won.
Hearing the amount, Su-ho laughed.
“1 billion? Is that someone’s pet name or what?”
“How about 100 million instead?”
“…100 million? Did I hear that right?”
“You heard correctly. You might think 1 billion is fair to recoup your costs, but this Gate isn’t worth that much. I’ll propose another condition.”
“Another condition?”
“I’ll leave all the monster byproducts inside to you.”
“Hmm?”
It was simple.
Why would Su-ho pay 1 billion won just to clear a Gate when he could challenge a Virus Dungeon instead?
The difference was in the experience points.
The monsters in Virus Dungeons matched the player’s level, which made leveling up inefficient despite the time investment.
‘Since both sides are at the same level, it takes too much time for the same amount of experience.’
Su-ho was currently a No-star Awakened, but his skills and power were already above 1-star. Even if it cost a bit of money, clearing Gates was a far more efficient method.
That said, Su-ho wasn’t about to throw money away recklessly.
In his past life, Su-ho had more wealth than he could ever spend. But in this life, he wasn’t there yet.
‘But that doesn’t mean I’ll act like a bandit.’
Sure, he could just kill everyone here and take over the Gate once or twice.
But if he kept solving things that way, no one would trust Choi Yoon to handle their Gates anymore.
‘They’d hide their Gates and trade them secretly instead.’
Even if Choi Yoon was affiliated with Union, a broker with the highest trust rating in the country, trust could easily be lost.
In the long run, such actions had to be avoided.
Money could always be earned, but unofficial Gates that left no traces were too difficult to locate alone—even for a regressor like Su-ho.
So, he proposed an alternative.
Kim Won-hu rubbed his chin for a moment, then nodded.
“You know what kind of Gate this is, right?”
“No idea.”
“You’ll regret it once you find out.”
“I’m not concerned. Just grant me exclusive rights to the boss monster.”
“For 100 million?”
“Yes.”
“If that’s the case… Alright. But we won’t help you at all inside, you know that, right?”
“Yes. Don’t help me under any circumstances.”
The deal was struck.
Choi Yoon, stunned that Su-ho had completed the negotiations without consulting him, pulled Su-ho aside.
“What are you doing right now?”
“Negotiating.”
“Yeah, I got that part, but don’t you think this is a terrible deal for you?”
“Paying 1 billion would have been worse.”
“That’s a Werewolf Gate. The place will be swarming with wolves. Do you have any idea how expensive Werewolf hides are?”
Werewolves.
And their valuable hides.
It wasn’t just their hides, either.
Their heads, teeth, and claws were all worth a fortune.
But so what?
“I’m here for experience points, not for byproducts,” Su-ho said coldly.
“Seriously…”
“From now on, I want all my deals handled like this. With minimal costs.”
“I swear, this is insane…”
“Is it unreasonable? They agreed, didn’t they?”
“Well, no, but… Ugh, whatever. I’ve never seen a deal like this before. Just remember: this kind of arrangement only works because you’re An Su-ho.”
Normally, Gate sellers wouldn’t accompany buyers into the Gate.
If the buyer failed to clear it, not only would the seller lose their investment, but they might end up dead as well.
But Su-ho was different.
Officially and unofficially, he had already solo-cleared multiple sealed Gates.
There was no reason not to trust him.
At that moment, Kim Won-hu spoke up.
“Give us an hour. This was unexpected, so we need time to gather our team and equipment for harvesting.”
“Understood.”
Considering the short notice, an hour was reasonable.
Su-ho decided to use that time to take a quick nap.
Walking toward his car, Su-ho said, “I’m going to rest for a bit. Wake me up when you’re ready. It’s fine if you go a little over an hour.”
“Seriously…”
Su-ho reclined the passenger seat, laid back, and quickly fell asleep.
***
When Su-ho opened his eyes, two hours had passed.
“Unbelievable.”
Did none of them have experience functioning in society?
He had said it was fine to go a little over an hour, not nearly two hours.
Still, he had already spoken those words, so Su-ho simply stood up without complaining further.
“Haha, I’m sorry… Preparing everything on such short notice took longer than we expected.”
It was Kim Won-hu, apologizing with a sheepish expression.
Fine.
He had apologized, so that was enough.
If he had acted shamelessly instead, Su-ho would have genuinely been irritated.
Su-ho nodded as he replied, “It’s fine. My proposal was sudden, after all. So, are we ready now?”
“Yes. We’re all set.”
A quick glance confirmed they had indeed prepared thoroughly.
Kim Won-hu had filled the Gate’s maximum entry capacity entirely with harvesters.
Not a single combatant was in sight.
Su-ho asked casually, “There aren’t any combatants. Aren’t you trusting me a bit too much?”
“Who else would citizens trust if not a public servant?”
“That’s true.”
‘If only people trusted public servants this much all the time…’
With that, Su-ho reached out and touched the Gate.
[ You are entering the Gate. ]
[ Loading Gate information. ]
[ Full Moon Forest ]
- Entry Requirement: Level 99 or below.
- Maximum Entry Capacity: 16 people.
The Gate was called Full Moon Forest.
Su-ho had never entered it before, but he had heard of it.
Without much thought, he stepped into the Gate.
Kim Won-hu’s group followed closely behind, filing into the Gate one after another.
***
The moment Su-ho passed through the Gate portal, a thick darkness enveloped the surroundings.
The Gate’s name was clearly Full Moon Forest, yet there wasn’t even a hint of moonlight. It was quite strange.
‘It’s because of the clouds.’
Looking up, Su-ho noticed the sky was completely overcast.
The clouds obscured the moonlight, preventing it from shining down on the world.
No matter.
Even if the place was draped in darkness, it posed no obstacle to Su-ho.
[ Due to the Original Vampire effect, you are unaffected by darkness restrictions. ]
Seeing the skill notification, Su-ho smirked.
It once again reminded him that vampire blood flowed through his veins.
‘Royal blood or not, can I truly call myself a vampire when crosses, silver, and even garlic don’t harm me?’
Well, who cares?
As long as the system classified him as a vampire, that was enough.
Summoning his Blood Weapon, Su-ho turned to Kim Won-hu.
“Everyone, stay put for now. Start working only when I give the signal. While I did hand over the rights to the monster parts, I never promised to guarantee all of your safety.”
“We understand. It’s not like we brought a bunch of clueless fools either. You should take care of yourself, though.”
“Sure. Let’s get started then. You’ll need to pick up the pace.”
After finishing his words, Su-ho pulled several arrows out of his inventory and planted them in the ground.
Then, he summoned a Blood Bow in his left hand.
It wasn’t the usual Blood Sword—this time, Su-ho had summoned a Blood Bow.
Su-ho fitted one of the arrows into the bowstring, which instantly ignited as if by magic.
The arrowhead burst into flames, burning brightly.
Kim Won-hu’s eyes widened in shock.
“H-Hey? What are you—?”
“Here we go.”
Whoosh!
Su-ho fired the flaming arrow.
The blazing arrow arced gracefully through the air, embedding itself into the forest beyond.
As soon as it landed, the flames spread rapidly, consuming the surrounding leaves and foliage, growing larger by the second.
“Nice, it’s working well.”
The arrows Su-ho used were specially crafted fire arrows purchased externally.
The arrows ignited in response to magic, requiring no oil, and their enhanced combustion properties allowed them to spread fire easily with just the right catalyst.
Without hesitation, Su-ho fired another arrow, then another.
Within moments, the surrounding area was engulfed in flames.
Kim Won-hu stared in disbelief, his eyes bulging.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“Wolf hunting.”
“What?”
“Isn’t this a werewolf Gate? We’re here to hunt wolves. I didn’t come here to play around. You took two hours to prepare when you said it’d take one. Time’s short now.”
“N-No! Even so, setting the whole place on fire—!”
“That’s why I told you to stick close. Now, the werewolves will flee from the fire. We’ll cut them down as they appear. Oh, and don’t worry—I’ll extinguish any flames that come our way, so just follow me closely. At least you won’t burn to death.”
“W-What kind of nonsense is this?!”
Smiling, Su-ho’s eyes gleamed sharply.
At that moment, a skill activated.
[ Mana Detection has been activated. ]
The upgraded Mana Detection skill allowed him to sense a broader range of mana.
Monsters, no matter how well they suppressed their power, couldn’t hide their uniquely murky mana.
And with the forest now ablaze, they would be even easier to spot.
– Kyaaaaaang!
There you are.
Hearing the faint howls, Su-ho summoned a Blood Spear and threw it in the direction of the sound.
Crash!
[ You have slain a Werewolf. ]
One shot, one kill!
The hunt was off to a great start.
Summoning his Blood Sword, Su-ho dashed forward, heading straight into the firelit forest.
The Hunt Continues
[ You have slain a Werewolf. ]
[ You have slain a Werewolf. ]
[ You have slain a Werewolf. ]
[ You have slain a Werewolf. ]
The slaughter continued without pause.
The flames Su-ho had set spread relentlessly, consuming the forest like an unstoppable wildfire.
The werewolves, panicking at the sudden calamity, scattered in all directions—straight to their deaths.
Kim Won-hu, frantically keeping up behind Su-ho, looped ropes around the werewolf corpses to claim them, tying them to his waist as he ran.
‘This lunatic…!’
What else could describe Su-ho?
He fought like a madman, ran like a madman, and controlled the fire like a madman.
For a long while, Su-ho rampaged through Full Moon Forest, slashing through werewolves left and right.
The Full Moon Appears
[ The moonlight watches over the forest. ]
Suddenly, a system message appeared.
At the same time, the dense clouds parted, revealing the bright, radiant full moon hanging in the night sky.
The moonlight bathed the entire Full Moon Forest, and wherever it touched, the flames extinguished as if smothered.
– Awooooooooo!!
[ The Boss Monster has appeared. ]
The master of the forest had finally shown itself.