#37
‘Star…dust? A star?’
Wonwoo thought with a puzzled expression. It was a very unfitting word for the stone statue to say, with its firm and strong impression, armor reminiscent of a historical drama, and a glaive. Moreover, rather than just a word, it felt like it was referring to someone.
‘What did it promise? No, a monster… does this mean that stone statue, which has never stepped outside this stone chamber, has been in contact with someone?’
The more he thought about it, the more his mind felt tangled. On top of that, he noticed that Jinho and Hyeonil's expressions had strangely hardened after the statue spoke, which bothered him.
However, before Wonwoo had time to untangle his thoughts, the statue moved. The statue, which had not only a hoarse voice but also let out a hissing sound like air escaping, raised its glaive high.
-Since it has come to this, I will kill you and open the path…!
“I don’t know what kind of nonsense you heard from what strange fellow, but what can I do if your subordinates were weak?”
Hyeonil snorted, as if to provoke the statue.
-…You who killed my subordinates… how dare you!
“So, what were you trying to do with those subordinates?”
-Why should I tell… you that? If I tell you, will my subordinates… come back to… life?
“Hmm… It knows what a Gate is, it knows what Stardust is. I’ve never seen a monster like this before, so I’d like to have a little chat, but we can't communicate.”
“The very premise of getting a desired conversation out of a monster is next to impossible.”
The statue swung its massive glaive down at the three of them, but Jinho blocked it with his fist, and Hyeonil, picking Wonwoo up like he was carrying a princess, dodged it faster.
The statue was pushed back by the recoil, yet it held onto the glaive until the end, putting its strength into it.
‘For a B-rank… Gate boss, this is a bit strange.’
Jinho put strength into his fist again with a doubtful expression. The statue’s strength was greater than expected, and if he had been careless, he would have been crushed.
He was bothered by the strange words the monster was saying, mentioning the Gate and calling for Stardust, but with it being so reckless, it would be difficult to get any more information.
Jinho took a deep breath in and out. Then, every sensation from the tips of his toes to his fingertips, which were in contact with the glaive, began to rise as if getting goosebumps.
‘Put in as much weight as possible.’
A cracking sound was heard from the tips of Jinho’s toes as the stone floor broke. The floor could not fully withstand the increased weight.
But Jinho paid it no mind and focused on increasing his weight. He intended to withstand the attack like this and wait for the moment to counter with a heavy blow.
-You wretch… using such a wicked ability…!
“Look who’s… talking…!”
The statue’s glaive was pushed back once more, and simultaneously, the stone horse also began to be pushed back. In time with that movement, the sound of the stone horse snorting grew fiercer. Anyone could see it was agitated.
“Sh-shouldn’t we… help?”
Just listening to the stone horse's cry was enough to give him goosebumps all over. Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Wonwoo looked up at Hyeonil, who was holding him in his arms, and spoke.
“Hmm, should we? It's good timing since Wonwoo is all charged up. Maybe I should bring a baby carrier next time and carry Wonwoo on my back.”
“A ba-baby carrier?”
“Yep, yep. I’ll have to custom order one to fit Wonwoo’s size.”
Hyeonil gently pressed his cheek against Wonwoo’s, his eyes dripping with a feeling of regret. Even so, he carefully set Wonwoo down from his arms and crushed an emerald he had taken out at some point.
The rice-grain-sized emerald summoned a strong wind. Hyeonil wrapped that summoned wind around his fist.
“Earlier, that one punch Jinho threw was quite impressive.”
And just like that, he ran towards the statue.
-Neighhhhh!
Hyeonil’s wind ground the stone horse’s hind legs like a blender. The collapsing stone horse couldn't withstand its own crumbling body and crashed to the floor. The statue, too, collapsed along with the stone horse that had been supporting it.
And Jinho did not miss the opportunity Hyeonil had created. He drew up his power, putting strength into it from his fingertips. He loaded his fist with the weight drawn out by his ability and extended his arm straight out.
Crack, Bang!
The statue’s head was instantly shattered to pieces by Jinho’s fist.
-To go… so meaninglessly… it was not supposed to be…!
A sense of injustice was even embedded in the statue's shouting voice.
Rumble, Thud.
As if in a final act of desperation, the statue tried to grab Jinho’s head with its hand while it was shattering into pieces.
“Be, be careful!”
But Jinho’s fist colliding with the statue’s crumbling hand was faster than the statue grabbing Jinho’s head.
Following the crack that started from the hand that collided with a loud shockwave, the statue finally crumbled completely.
‘P-perfect score!’
Wonwoo was in awe watching the powerful punch that would have scored the maximum 999 points if it had hit an arcade punching machine, and the statue that faced it crumbled.
The stone horse, which had collapsed with its hind legs broken, cried out with a sorrowful metallic sound as it faced its master's end.
Despite the heavy atmosphere, the statue and the stone horse disappeared so futilely. All that remained was the glaive, emitting a dull light on top of the statue's remains.
***
“Hitting with a fist feels really good. I think I now understand why Jinho just throws a punch first whenever he faces a monster.”
Hyeonil exclaimed in admiration as he scattered the wind that had been wrapped around his fist far away. In truth, it wasn't Hyeonil who hit with his fist, but the wind wrapped around his hand that ground it down, but anyway, Hyeonil hummed, seemingly very satisfied with having moved himself to strike down the monster.
“A fist with a blender function is something I’m a bit tempted by too.”
Jinho picked up the glaive from among the broken remains and examined it from side to side.
“It would be a good weapon for close-combat type Espers. We’ll have to request an appraisal from the Bureau’s Gate Appraisal Team for details, though.”
Not only the monsters that come out of Gates, but all items that come from Gates have their own ‘Gate Energy.’
Through that energy, a grade could be determined, and in the case of items from a Gate, the item's unique ability could also be identified.
“A close-combat weapon, huh? The auction is going to be crazy.”
Close-combat weapons were the most popular weapons among Espers.
Jinho brushed off the dust and tried to hand it to Wonwoo, but Wonwoo couldn't hold the glaive. It was because the glaive rejected Wonwoo, like the same poles of a magnet repelling each other.
“It’s an Esper-exclusive item.”
“Hmm, well. It’s better this way. A glaive like this doesn’t suit Wonwoo.”
Instead of giving him the item, Hyeonil followed up by saying he would take good care of him with compensation and other things in the name of the Black Star Guild. Then, while sorting through the diamond ores obtained from smashing countless clay soldiers, he even hummed, looking pleased.
“Do items like this go to auction?”
“Yep. Ah, come to think of it, Wonwoo has never participated in an auction before, has he?”
“Go to an auction with me later. They’re held once every fortnight.”
“Uh…. But aren’t auctions only open to Espers?”
The spoils obtained through Gate raids are put up for auction through the mediation of the Bureau or large guilds.
As they were items related to Gate Energy, participation in the auction and purchase of items were strictly limited to Espers who could handle Gate Energy.
Originally, ordinary people introduced by Espers were given the opportunity to observe or participate in the auctions. However, restrictions were put in place due to various incidents, such as corruption involving collusion between private companies and guilds, and accidents that occurred when ordinary people came into contact with Gate Energy.
“What’s there to worry about? Section Chief Shin Yonghyun is dying to give Wonwoo a very official position.”
“That’s right. The more people know about Wonwoo-hyung’s guiding, the more things you’ll be able to do.”
“Yep, yep. That guiding report? I’ll write it so amazingly for you. No, it’s not me who will write it, but our manager… Our manager is really good at writing reports and official documents!”
If Jinhyuk had heard, he would have slapped the ground, saying ‘Oh my, Team Leader Gae-Hyeonil! You’re making a mess again!’, but Hyeonil said it nonchalantly, even with a smile.
Wonwoo gave an awkward laugh. It was because it felt like Yonghyun would say, ‘Would you like to join the Bureau?’ through the communicator at any moment.
“If not that, how about joining our Black Star Guild?”
“…M-me? In Black Star?”
“Yep. If you join our guild, you can enter any company you want, not just from the Black Star Guild, but from the Black Star Group. Since I’m at Black Star Electronics… Wonwoo can come to Black Star Electronics too!”
At the words that he could join Black Star Electronics, the nation's top conglomerate that many job seekers dream of entering, Wonwoo’s eyes shook violently, extremely so.
“If you’re worried about the reactions from those around you, there’s also a way to join as a recruitment-track intern. Our recruitment-track interns can start as early as college students, I think?”
-Stop talking nonsense and come out of the Gate. Esper Kim Hyeonil. How long has it been since the Gate exit was created?
It was such a tempting offer that if Yonghyun’s voice from over the communicator had been even a little late, he would have nodded his head. Wonwoo quickly came to his senses and shook his head.
No, I can’t. If I fall for this, there’s no point in having postponed the Bureau’s job offer earlier. On top of that, the system's nagging would surely follow.
Wonwoo steeled his heart.
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