Closed Door

“I miss Choron.”

“Looks like you’re upset that you can’t engage in perversions while entering the gates.”

“Watch your tongue.”

“Sorry. It must be hard for you without the ability to peep.”

“…”

The comrades comfortably settled next to the silent Sa Gongwoo.

“Will we be okay in this state?”

“…”

“We’ve barely held on until now, but if there’s still no reinforcement, it’s the same as telling us to die.”

Although they say the era of capturing gates by numbers has passed, at least ten people are needed for a team to function normally. Moreover, in Sa Gongwoo’s team, the problem is not only in quantity but also in the fact that people have gathered, each of whom has some kind of flaw.

It was Sa Gongwoo who somehow managed to lead these people, not letting them die. Everyone knew this and was grateful, but everyone also understood that in this state, they have no future.

“You probably know, but… there will likely be no reinforcements.”

“Damn it.”

“Changgun and I only have a few years left on our contract. The ‘Head’ would prefer us to naturally perish in the gates before this term expires, rather than wait for us to work out the contract and leave.”

“Cholsoo and I don’t have very outstanding abilities, so we don’t have much to lose whenever we die, and monk Jayeon…”

“If it becomes known that a killer instead of imprisonment is working as a hunter for the government, it will create problems for the government, so my existence is like a bone in the throat.”

“But it was self-defense, wasn’t it?”

“But killing is killing. Moreover, for one who serves Buddha, it was unacceptable.”

In response to Jayeon’s calm words, Cha Yeseung let out a disappointed groan.

“I don’t want to die like a dog. If we die in the gates, our records will disappear, like others.”

“That was the contract, nothing can be done.”

“But it’s an unfair contract!”

“No matter how much you shout about it now, nothing will change.”

“Well done, Sa Gongwoo. Lick that bastard’s ass all your life and die.”

Sa Gongwoo chuckled in response to Cha Yeseung’s curses, but then grabbed his stomach. The wound that was slowly healing had already slightly closed during the conversation, but still hurt when moving.

“I’m hungry…”

Ma Changgun, lying on the ground, said, clutching his rumbling stomach.

“Oh, this glutton.”

“Seolleongtang…”

“Oh, I want to eat it too. When we get out of the gates, shall we go to the seolleongtang restaurant?”

“What seolleongtang at such an early hour? Do you have the patience to wait until opening time?”

“Maybe thanks to Sa Gongwoo’s connections, they’ll open for us a few hours earlier?”

“At this time, the seolleongtang won’t even be ready yet.”

“Instead of seolleongtang, I’d even agree to simple rice with any side dish. Judging by the kkakdugi, he’s good at cooking. Surely everything will be delicious.”

“If you want to get scolding instead of seolleongtang, go ahead. Choron has been good at scolding with his eyes lately.”

“You said he was kind! Kind and gentle! Where is all that? There was only anger in his eyes.”

“He’s still kind. Just… he’s become a bit more determined.”

This is called inner growth.

Apparently, just thinking about it made Sa Gongwoo break into a soft smile, and Cha Yeseung showed him the middle finger.

“It’s time to go out. They’ll be wondering why we’re not coming out when the gates have already opened. Has your stomach healed more or less? Need to go to the hospital?”

“No, by the time we get to the dormitory, it should be recovered.”

“Okay, then let’s go out. Everyone, get up!”

The five-day forced march was over.

They couldn’t eat, sleep, wash, or rest normally. They didn’t even have the strength to worry about their dirty and smelly appearance, physical and moral strength were at the limit. They even got injuries from the last boss, a giant scorpion, but the thought that it was all over gave them the strength to somehow make it home.

After reporting to the gate management staff and completing the gate closing procedure, they got into the team car. Ma Changgun, receiving the keys, sat behind the wheel and drove the car.

Sa Gongwoo was grateful that he, as the wounded, was seated in the back seat, but Park Cholsoo and Cha Yeseung, sitting on the sides, were bickering and irritating him. Jayeon, sitting in the front seat, was tapping a wooden clapper and reciting prayers, saying he would remove fatigue while Ma Changgun was driving. Given his enhancement abilities, the fatigue should have passed, but somehow Ma Changgun looked even more tired.

“Come to work after lunch and start with writing the report.”

“May he die!”

“A report is an inanimate object. It won’t die. Go to sleep.”

After dropping off the capricious Cha Yeseung at her home, they then dropped off Jayeon.

“Now it’s quiet.”

The car became peaceful when only Park Cholsoo, who had fallen asleep at some point with his forehead against the window, and the initially silent Ma Changgun remained. Sa Gongwoo checked his already slightly recovered stomach and began to slowly stretch his stiffened body.

“Ahem, maybe I’ll take a little nap too.”

Sa Gongwoo furtively looked at the sleeping Park Cholsoo and Ma Changgun driving, then unnaturally loudly muttered and closed his eyes.

He directed mana into the ring on his finger. He felt a thread of consciousness connected to his mind.

When his eyelids lifted, a completely different space opened before his eyes.

I wonder if Roy is sleeping?

The cat, who was sleeping soundly and woke up, mewed “kyang” discontentedly.

Let’s sleep again a little later, but for now, let’s go look at Roy.

Sa Gongwoo gently persuaded the cat, as if currying favor. Under the sleepy gaze, the sleeping Roy is visible. It seems he moved the cat tower closer to the bed. Because of this, only the hair of the sleeping Roy is visible.

Come closer.

At Sa Gongwoo’s command, the cat stretched, extending its two front paws forward, then wiggled its behind and jumped high in place. The cat’s small body, flying through the air, softly landed on the bed.

“Oof!”

Cho Roy, who was sleeping covered with a blanket, woke up, clutching his stomach.

Ah… kitten.

In response to Sa Gongwoo’s short sigh, the cat loudly meowed “kyaaang”.

“Beauty…”

Roy, suddenly injured in his sleep, called the cat in a hoarse voice.

“Is this an assassination attempt? How did you hit my solar plexus so accurately?”

Even a small cat, jumping on the chest, must have dealt a significant blow, but Roy, not angry, hugged the cat.

“Maybe you’ll bring me a glass of water before I die?”

Of course, this was impossible. Roy seemed to understand this too, as he said it without much hope on his face.

“My head hurts. I want to drink.”

Roy, who was whining lying on the bed, got up with difficulty. He was rubbing his eyes with his hands and getting up with difficulty, apparently really wanting to drink.

By the way, his face after sleep looked more swollen than usual. I wonder what he ate before going to bed?

When Roy lowered his feet from the bed and stood up, his eyes widened. He blinked slowly a couple of times, as if checking something, then his lips trembled. Sa Gongwoo closely watched Roy’s moving lips through the cat’s gaze.

Huh? Eh?

“…Gates?”

Gates?

The cat sharply turned its head with a keen gaze. In the direction where Cho Roy was looking, nothing was visible. No, a lot was visible, but it was just a normal view of the room, nothing like gates.

“G-gates.”

But Roy’s reaction wasn’t false. His clear eyes seemed to have fully awakened from the shock, and they definitely didn’t belong to a person seeing hallucinations. The tense body, trembling lips, Adam’s apple nervously swallowing saliva, tense jaw – all physical reactions indicated that Cho Roy was in a state of extreme shock and tension.

Kyang.

Even at the cat’s meow, Roy didn’t turn his head. Instead, he moved his hands with difficulty and picked up the small cat, pressing it to his chest. Fixing his gaze on emptiness, Roy slowly stepped back and left the room. Without even thinking to put on shoes, he ran out barefoot through the front door and started descending the stairs, but suddenly stopped.

For a while, he paced on the stairs, as if thinking about something, then turned around. In the cat’s field of view, which Roy was holding in his arms, the wide-open front door is visible.

“Changgun. When will we arrive approximately?”

Sa Gongwoo momentarily interrupted the shared vision and asked Ma Changgun.

“Hmm… in eight minutes?”

“Sorry, but drop me off in front of the seolleongtang restaurant. Drop me off and go with Cholsoo to the dormitory.”

“…Okay.”

Being very silent, he didn’t even ask why.

The car entered a familiar area.

Fortunately, when they moved the office, they also moved the dormitory closer. If it had been the old dormitory, they would have had to drive a long detour.

“Drop me off here.”

“We haven’t arrived yet…”

“It’s okay. Running will be faster. Go and rest.”

“…Okay.”

Sa Gongwoo got out of the car and headed towards the seolleongtang restaurant. When he directed the slightly recovered mana to his legs, his running speed exceeded that of the car. He ran at a speed that would surprise an ordinary person and quickly reached Roy’s building.

It seems he hasn’t left the building yet, maybe still on the stairs?

At the moment he was about to press the doorbell, the weak thread of consciousness connecting him to the subordinate creature broke. This wasn’t like the death of a subordinate from a physical blow or forced cancellation of taming. It was like the temporary disconnection he felt when entering gates.

When he left a subordinate creature on Earth and entered gates, the consciousness connection with the subordinate didn’t work, as if he was in another world. Scientists used this phenomenon as evidence that gates are a kind of wormhole connecting Earth to a completely different universe, but this was just one of many unproven hypotheses.

In any case, the current situation was very similar to when he couldn’t observe Roy through shared vision while in gates. And this means…

“Could it be… really gates?”

Sa Gongwoo sharply raised his head and looked at the second-floor window, from which no sound was coming.