NOVEL NEXT chapter 2
1 – Monsters Began Pouring from the Gates
I stopped mid-stride, on my way to the bunker, and looked up at the sky.
The sky was filled with crimson Gates.
Some called them Enemy Gates, others, taking the name as it was, called them Red Gates. Regardless of the name, one thing everyone agreed on was the overwhelming danger of the Red Gates.
Red Gates spawned monsters of a level that couldn’t be compared to regular Gates. Furthermore, if the Gate’s mana wasn’t completely depleted within a certain time, the monsters inside would pour out onto Earth. This was something that made not only the Peren Empire, but other empires tremble.
The fact that dozens of such Red Gates were now appearing in the sky was nothing short of despair.
I instinctively reached for my Distance, the long-range communication device, to contact my disciples. Inside were countless contacts. But those were all my old disciples, the ones who’d worked alongside me as Gatekeepers.
‘…’
I stood there, blank, rooted to the spot. Now that I thought about it, not one of them had contacted me since that incident. I hadn’t heard so much as a word about them trusting me.
‘They must not have believed me.’
I’d insisted that I hadn’t done it, and there was even no evidence besides Belin’s word. But because of Belin’s striking beauty and her usually outstanding reputation, that alone was apparently enough for my old disciples to not believe me.
‘Did I not give them enough reason to believe me? Or did they just not trust me?’
I don’t know. Even after spending years locked up, constantly thinking about it, no matter how hard I tried, I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong. I had only ever focused on using my unique skill to seal Gates.
◈ Legendary Gatekeeper [EX] : Can seal the mana of a Gate once subjugated.
Legendary Gatekeeper. My skill is absolutely necessary to stop the monsters from pouring out of the Gates.
Ordinary Gatekeepers have similar skills, but that power is only applicable to low-grade Gates. I had no doubt that my skill was needed to stop the Red Gates.
“Why me?”
I’d dedicated my entire life, yet the nation abandoned me. I strived for my students, but they couldn’t trust me. All that’s left is a wretched life with nothing to show for it. Why should I risk my neck again for the Feren Empire?
The thought was brief, the conclusion swift.
“Let them handle it themselves.”
I immediately started running toward the bunker. When I reached it a short while later, I found the interior surprisingly well-preserved.
There were a decent amount of provisions like canned goods and food. Not a lot, but enough to last for a few months, at least.
“Right now, the Red Gate isn’t open, but it could open any second. So, hiding is the best option.”
Most Red Gates don’t open the moment they appear. They absorb mana from the atmosphere, and once a certain level of power is accumulated, the gate’s door opens.
The problem is that some of them, regardless of mana or any other conditions, just spill out monsters right away. The type of monster, and even the danger level, is completely random.
“Of course, I’ve killed most kinds.”
Either way, bad luck could mean a brutal fight with a monster. I made up my mind during my three years in prison. I wouldn’t work for the Feren Empire.
So, the best thing I can do now is hide in this bunker.
The bunker had been left neglected for over two years because monsters hadn’t appeared, but this situation actually turned out to be helpful. Most people either didn’t know the bunker existed or had forgotten about it.
I flopped down on the floor of the roughly 30-pyeong [~99 square meters] bunker and closed my eyes.
“They’ll figure it out. They’re the ones who kicked me out saying they don’t need me.”
*
About two weeks had passed since I entered the bunker.
On the Distance, the long-range communication device, chaos was erupting in the various online communities of the Feren Empire.
[WTF why isn’t the Red Gate in the sky disappearing? Are we seriously screwed?]
[Calm down noobs, there were gates before too.]
[Gatekeeper b*stards’ll handle it, lol. We’ll just chill at home and slack off.]
[Huh? Wasn’t that disbanded before? I thought that gatekeeper team leader guy got arrested and disappeared for s*xual harassment.]
[What the?]
[Just checked, it’s real. Apparently, they’ve been gone for 3 years?]
[? Then who’s stopping the gates?]
[IDGAF, someone will handle it, lol]
Leos shook his head, looking at the posts on the community forum. These people didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation. They had no idea how terrifying the Red Gates truly were. Then, he spotted a particularly noticeable comment.
[As I predicted, the gates have started opening. We need to find Leos quickly. He’s our only hope. Come to the Leos Gallery and let’s gather our strength.]
Leos tried to ignore it, chalking it up to some weirdo spamming the forums, but the name “Leos Gallery” made him pause. He searched the community tab.
Upon entering the Leos Gallery, he found countless announcements pinned at the top.
[This gallery was established to clear the name of the legendary gatekeeper, Leos, and honor his greatness.]
[Leos is unjustly imprisoned. Any troublemaker who even slightly claims Leos is guilty will be banned permanently.]
[Anyone with information about Leos’s whereabouts, please leave a comment or DM us. A reward will be offered.]
Leos scoffed at the Leos Gallery.
‘Where were you all before the shit hit the fan, coming out now like this? As if I’d give a damn.’
Or so he thought, until he saw the timestamps on the announcements.
‘What the…? 3 years ago…? That’s right around the time my scandal started.’
The same time the news broke about him allegedly being a s*x offender. The announcements warning against troublemakers were posted since then. Even the gallery’s founding date was much earlier.
‘It’s been over 5 years.’
He checked the old posts one by one. There were photos uploaded by the head admin.
[Title: Leos-nim’s photo.JPG]
[Body: Leos-nim, who cleared the gate for us again today! I really hope to meet him someday…]
[Title: Leos-nim First Red Gate Break!]
[Body: A momentous day when Leos-nim broke the first Red Gate created in the Peren Empire! I was happy to see it, even from afar.]
[Title: Leos-nim Breaks 100 Gates!]
[Body: The day Leos-nim broke the Gatekeeper record! Everyone, please celebrate!]
That gallery was, in crude terms, a dead gallery. Only the head moderator was posting, and even those posts were just filled with praise and photos of me from when I was active.
Scrolling up the timeline, a few instigators started appearing here and there. The time was roughly around when I went to prison.
[Leos is a damn criminal, there’s even a gallery for him. Why praise a guy like this? The head mod is mentally ill?]
ㄴ Head Mod: Do you think Leos-nim would be bothered by a girl like that? Looking at her photo, she wasn’t even that pretty.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ: Bullshit ㅋㅋㅋ Bellin is super pretty, you idiot. That’s why Leos was so crazy about her.
ㄴ Head Mod: Permanently IP banned.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ: Lol, I’ll just use a VPN.
ㄴ Head Mod: I’ll block you every time you do, you b*stard. Leos-nim sacrificed so much for us, how can you talk shit like this?
The head mod’s actions didn’t stop there.
[Title: Please Write a Petition for Leos-nim]
[Body: Let’s all gather our strength for Leos-nim, who is imprisoned without any evidence. We are all people who have received Leos-nim’s grace. He helped us when we were in trouble, so when he’s in trouble, we must band together.]
ㄴ ㅇㅇ: You’re pathetic. No one even comments on this but you’re always causing a ruckus. A petition, seriously?
ㄴ Head Mod: You’re that psycho from before, aren’t you?! Did you use a VPN again? I’m banning you.
Now the clues started to fall into place. During the trial, a petition had arrived from someone I didn’t even know the name of, and I wondered who on earth sent it. It seemed like it was probably this gallery’s head mod.
‘Wait a minute, weren’t there more than one petition?’
I hadn’t checked the names on the petitions, so I naturally assumed they were sent by my old disciples. But after confirming that I hadn’t been contacted by anyone at Distance since my release, I realized the petitions couldn’t have been from them.
Right? There’s no way they’d send petitions without sending a single message. It did, however, let me know who sent the other petitions.
[Zealot]
Title: Where is Leos-nim, and what is he doing now?
Body: Leos-nim, who suffered wrongful imprisonment. Leos-nim, who dedicated himself to the nation, only to be abandoned by everyone. If you’re reading this, please don’t come back. The people of the Peren Empire don’t deserve you. Don’t give them any more help. You should live for yourself from now on.
Besides the main admin, [Zealot], there were a few other regulars who mainly posted praises about me. It was unexpected. That there were still people in the Peren Empire who believed in me, and that these people were consistently managing and posting on this dead gallery.
‘Even my own disciples didn’t believe in me.’
A tear welled up and fell. No matter how much I said, not a single person had believed me, yet these people I didn’t even know were supporting me this much.
On a whim, I left a comment on the admin’s post.
[But why do you even like Leos? Everyone says he’s a criminal.]
ㄴAdmin: FUCK! VPN, you again! Let’s see who wins, you or me.
I tried to reply that it was a misunderstanding, but only a hollow notification window appeared before me.
{Account has been blocked by the administrator for 3650 days}
{Reason for blocking: Defamatory remarks against Leos-nim}
Leaving my bewildered feelings behind, I changed the IP assigned to Distance and tried to send a message to that guy. But at that moment.
-CRASH! BOOM!
A huge noise began to erupt outside. I slowly moved to the bunker wall, leaning forward slightly to look outside.
“Ah…”
The red gate, floating in the sky. From one of them, monsters began to pour out.
-Beeeep-beeep-beeep!
-Beeeep-beeep-beeep!
That instant, the distance communicator blared.
The caller was my former student, the one who got me locked up.
It was Belin.