“He’s just a friend.”
I gave a vague answer and reached out to wash my hands, but a female student grabbed my shoulder and spun me around roughly.
“Huh, ‘just a friend’? You expect me to believe that?”
“What’s there not to believe?”
I tilted my head in confusion, which apparently annoyed her greatly, because the girl who had been questioning me started trembling with anger.
She seemed really upset.
“Then why this morning…!”
Her high-pitched voice nagging incessantly annoyed me, so I summoned Sahin.
Even though awakened ones aren’t supposed to use their power on non-awakened people, scaring her off like this should be fine.
Sure enough, the moment Sahin appeared, he effectively scared the girls into silence in an instant.
Wow?
“Crazy.”
Huh?
“Insanely handsome.”
When I quickly turned my head, I saw Society standing with a noble posture, looking down at the girls.
‘This isn’t the reaction I expected.’
Blinking in disbelief at how different things were turning out, the girls stepped closer to Society, inspecting his face.
“How can someone look like this?”
“Isn’t this like something crafted by a god…?”
“It’s mesmerizing…”
“Way better than in pictures.”
What was with that reaction?
It was like meeting a celebrity in person after only seeing them on screen.
The girls, clasping their hands in awe as if enchanted, locked eyes with me with overwhelmingly bright gazes.
“Can we talk to the summoner too?”
“Well, yes.”
“Wow! Amazing!”
I felt like I was being pushed back while Sahin got surrounded by the girls.
I only summoned him to prepare for any attacks that might come my way, but what on earth was this situation?
“I’ve never seen such a handsome monster before.”
“Please call me an elf rather than a monster.”
Oh, look at that.
Sahin smiled as if enjoying the moment and answered in human language.
“Wow, no wonder you’re so handsome! Are all elves this good-looking?”
“I’m a rather exceptional case.”
Before I knew it, I had become a non-presence in the bathroom.
This place had become their exclusive world.
“Huh.”
Looks like there’s one more person who’s going to be dragging the sentimental girls around.
***
The incident where I was mistaken for a half-blood’s boyfriend was absurdly buried under the ruckus caused by the girls who met Sahin in person.
Of course, the half-blood’s popularity was enormous, so many weren’t fond of me, but since there was no solid proof and it was just a bit of teasing, it seemed to have been forgotten.
“Sahin’s popularity is insane these days.”
On the way to the Hunter Association, Yeon Ha-yeon smiled brightly as she brought up how crazy Sahin’s popularity had gotten recently.
“Don’t even mention it. They keep pestering me to summon Sahin.”
News about Sahin’s real appearance spread rapidly throughout the school.
Because of that, I ended up in an unexpected situation.
Just recalling all the countless requests from girls who would shout for Sahin at every chance made my ears feel like they were bleeding.
We eventually arrived at the Hunter Association and went inside.
The Four Heavenly Kings and other awakened ones who had come earlier warmly greeted us as we opened the door and entered.
“You’re here? It feels like it’s been ages! Glad to see none of you are seriously hurt.”
James, who seemed to have gone through a lot in the S-rank Gate, suddenly choked up and started sobbing.
“I was so scared something bad might happen to you all… sob.”
He forced back his tears, wiping the ones welling up at the corners of his eyes with his finger.
“Hey, why are you crying like that?”
Seeing that, Baek Ji-woo’s eyes also reddened.
No one had shown it before, but it seemed this S-rank Gate ordeal had been extremely tough.
Everyone looked terrible.
Even the half-blood had faint scars despite guzzling down expensive potions like crazy, but the other awakened ones were in worse shape.
Visible wounds covered their faces, necks, and hands—large and small.
Some had bandages wrapped over still-fresh deep cuts.
“Shall we start talking now?”
For the first time since the S-rank Gate incident, we gathered and took seats to share what had happened to each team.
The team I belonged to, the Jangnam High School Special Response Team, fought off monsters escaping from the school and protected the students.
Then what about Do I-hyun’s team, who were assigned the area around Jangnam High?
“We focused on checking the survivors among the people torn apart by monsters from your team.”
Those who had been attacked and collapsed on the ground.
Everyone’s expression darkened as if recalling the horrifying scene they witnessed upon entering the gate.
A heavy, gloomy atmosphere settled over the meeting room.
Cha Hyun-seo, who spoke on behalf of the team as the highest-ranking member after Yeon Ha-yeon, frowned deeply as she recalled the moment, as if reliving it all over again.
“None of the people who fell were alive.”
Everyone already knew this.
As soon as the S-rank Gate crisis was over, the news had relentlessly broadcast “16 dead” headlines day after day.
We were lucky the gate only engulfed Jangnam High and its nearby alleys and residential areas; if it had spread wider, the casualties would have been much worse.
“The survivors gathered inside a house half-devoured by the gate. We prioritized protecting them and tried to scout other areas, but that’s when monsters appeared.”
“They tore through the walls?”
She nodded calmly.
A deep crease formed between Cha Hyun-seo’s brows.
“They ripped through the residential fences and building walls like they were made of rubber. Their numbers far exceeded ours, so survival took precedence over killing them. Of course, some monsters did die from our attacks, but killing them was far from easy.”
The awakened ones on our team nodded in agreement.
Despite our combined efforts, the monsters bounced off our attacks with skin as hard as steel, and their grotesque forms relentlessly assaulted us.
Just thinking about them sent chills down to my toes.
“Some got badly injured while surviving, but I don’t know how they’re doing now. Potions only heal minor wounds, so they were immediately taken to the emergency room after coming out of the gate. I haven’t visited yet, so I’m not sure how they’re progressing.”
“You mean Haemalgeum, Kang Ye-dam, and Yeon Hyeong-gwang?”
“Yes. Yeon Hyeong-gwang wasn’t supposed to get hurt badly, but he got seriously injured while rushing to save Yeon Ha-yeon…”
I still hadn’t visited the hospital where Yeon Hyeong-gwang was admitted.
Yeon Ha-yeon, who had been silently listening, bit her lower lip when her younger brother was mentioned.
“I can take care of my own body… stupid idiot.”
Though she called him stupid, her voice trembled slightly, clearly worried about her brother who had been injured trying to save her.
“Monsters kept appearing, but the boss monster never showed up, and just when everyone was getting exhausted, a fire suddenly erupted on Jangnam High’s rooftop.”
Cha Hyun-seo raised her gaze and looked at the half-blood.
“Well, I was lucky enough to find it and kill it.”
It was the boss monster of the S-rank Gate.
It meant a whole different level compared to boss monsters from the usual C- and D-rank Gates.
But since the half-blood single-handedly killed a boss monster that even combined efforts barely managed to kill…
Yeon Ha-yeon’s team just stood there dumbfounded, watching the scene.
At some point, the monsters started disappearing, and the gate closed.
When they went to check the rooftop where the half-blood was…
There was nothing to be found.
As if the blazing flames had been a lie, Jangnam High’s rooftop was perfectly intact.
Not only the half-blood but even I had disappeared, so Cha Hyun-seo summarized the situation, saying she thought something had gone terribly wrong in the S-rank Gate.
“I really… thought you two were dead…”
Awakened ones of S and A rank had vanished inside the S-rank Gate.
The gate closed, and even searching other gates wouldn’t find us.
Eun Ba-da, who searched other gates because she couldn’t stay still, was mentally preparing our funerals.
“There was no way to find you. The gate had already disappeared, and there was no chance of coming out from another gate. I thought you were dead… But luckily, you came back after three days. If it had been any later, we’d have started preparing the funeral.”
We almost pulled off the top unwanted funeral act: ‘resurrection.’
‘Glad you came back early.’
I wanted to avoid such a burdensome return.
The mood sank even lower.
The funeral talk stirred up emotions, and more of us had reddened eyes than when we all first gathered after coming back.
“I’m glad you’re alive… But how on earth did you survive wandering inside the vanished gate?”
“Yeah. How did you manage not to eat for three days?”
“I saw the news, but is it true you didn’t encounter a single monster and just wandered around?”
Suddenly, a barrage of questions poured in.
Since we had already agreed on what to say about how we survived inside the gate, escaping the interrogation wasn’t difficult.
“I didn’t even realize the gate had disappeared. The monsters just suddenly stopped appearing, people all vanished, and it felt like we were the only ones left in an empty town. Since there was obviously no food, we survived by filling up on potions for hydration and to recover stamina.”
The half-blood quietly nodded at my answer.
“At least you were okay living like that with just monsters and people disappearing. Imagine if you’d been dragged into a cave or a snowy mountain. Just thinking about it is terrifying, ugh.”
I lied casually, then quickly tried to change the subject by bringing up our friends currently hospitalized.
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