‘He exited just like he entered.’ Da-Eun didn’t expect him to overrun the Gate that one-sidedly.

‘I now understand why Leader went that far for him.’ She glanced at him as Ji-hu reappeared from the tent.

“This is a military-issued card. If you show it to the soldiers stationed at the Gates they’ll allow you and your team to pass without questions.” Ji-Hu said.

“That’s neat.” Do-Yun took the card and placed it in his pocket without a second glance. His stomach grumbled as the hunger rose sharply.

“Also we would buy what you harvest inside the Gate.” However, this conversation brought his mind down to earth.

“Is the price negotiable?”

“Maybe in the future but not for now,” Do-Yun clicked his tongue but decided to go with it. The money in his bank account won’t last forever.

He didn’t want to hunt for a new job either. So, if he made money while hunting monsters it was golden.

“We thought that it was about time for us to use this method as well. But the budget assigned has been rather narrow.” Ji-Hu didn’t plan to hide anything about this program they were running.

America, England, and Japan already started this leaving them a step behind. So far it has brought about great responses. But for them and most of the countries this was a risky move. The resources from the Gate had unknown uses, and with a scarce number of processer types—many of which didn’t join the government—it would take more time before they could form a proper market.

“So, how much was it for today?” Do-Yun asked.

“Five hundred thousand Won each for killing the smaller monsters and the Last Monster, and for the essence stones the price is Thirty thousand Won per kilogram,” Ji-Hu listed the prices that were set.

They arrived at the prices after studying the compensation the other countries have put up. Even if theirs was a cut lower, there was nothing they could do until a substantial use came out of these materials, because so far they were viewed as a threat rather than useful.

“Those are good prices.” Ji-Hu’s eyebrow twitched at Do-Yun’s words. The most one can could make from one Blue Gate was 1.5 million Won.

“That is true for you, but it is lacking for others. So we concluded this wouldn’t be enough of an incentive to bring the Awakened into the business.” Da-Eun sighed.

To go through a Blue Gate four to five people had to form a team. It would take this team about 7 hours to clear the gate if they chose to gather everything, and that money was divided between them.

But Do-Yun went through that Gate in less than an hour, and he could probably do multiple of them in a day for a few days, unlike the other team who would need breaks. Even then the rewards didn’t meet the danger that came with it.

‘If we push those strong fighters to the higher Gates that will tire them and the risk would cause resentment.’ Ji-Hu knew there were more holes in this method but they had to make this work.

Thankfully they had someone who would fill in that gap along with them. If Do-Yun led the charge alongside the Awakened Squads, they could handle the Gates. Not only will this provide safety to the citizens but also encourage other independent Awakened to use their abilities as well.

“If you need a healer for your raids you can use the number given in the document to contact me.” Da-Eun folded her arms with a stern look.

Initially, she saw Do-Yun as a good guy, but his reckless behavior and non-cooperative attitude lowered his image.

‘I thought he was just an idiot, but at least he can back up his actions.’ Now she had a neutral stance on him. But personal prejudice aside, she wouldn’t back out from helping him. Healers were rare so she had to bear the responsibility that came with it.

“Don’t worry too much about this and leave it to the adults.” Do-Yun patted Da-Eun’s head.

“Huh?” She froze in place as Do-Yun turned around.

“Send the money to my account. Until next time you two.” Byung-Ho left the red wolf corpse to the nearby soldiers and followed after him in a hurry.

“That motherfucker!” By the time Da-Eun came out of her shock he already left. He completely saw her as a little child.

‘He hasn’t gone far, I’m gonna beat the arrogance out of ‘im!’ His image just dropped down to the mud. A few things pissed her off unconditionally, and this was at the top of the list. Before she could rush after the offender Ji-Hu’s voice came.

“Stand down Da-Eun. The more you react, the more others will tease you for it.”

“…Grrr, I know. But can I punch his lights out once?” She asked.

“If you think you can, then have at it.”

Da-Eun’s head dropped upon hearing that. After seeing it first-hand it became clear that Do-Yun was a physical fighter. His speed and attack power were on the high end of the spectrum. Even if he let her attack they wouldn’t do much to him.

For now, she had to drink that bitter tonic.

‘I’ll get ‘im for this one day!’ Unknown to him Do-Yun had made yet another enemy.

Ji-Hu left the fuming Da-Eun alone and walked back to his tent.

“Baek-Hyeon did you get everything?” He asked even though no one existed in the tent aside from him.

[M-Most of it sir, I need to compile the data on Violet, Indigo, and Blue gates.] The answer came through the communication device in his right ear.

Even if the electronic devices didn’t work after they entered the Gate, they’d reconnect once they came back to Earth. And everything that went on near them, Baek-Hyeon heard and saw it too.

“There is no need to add those. You can send that with the information we have gathered so far.” Ji-Hu said rubbing his tired eyes.

They had other uses for the Lower Gates with their new program. Those Gates wouldn't interest Do-Yun with the level of strength he has.

[Alright, I’ll send it through Chan-Yeol Hyung. And about the other thing, sir asked for…] Baek-Hyeon’s voice trailed off.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Have you found any leads?” Ji-Hu dropped the sleeping bag on the ground.

[Y-Yes, there is a trail of transactions from the military and the Assemblymen. They didn’t hide it properly.] This started as a light check, but he didn’t expect to find so many things about the things that went on in the shadow.

At the center of that sat one family, it had substantial control over all the major industries of the country. Now that family tried to force its way into the Gate Resources using their connections.

“Alright Baek-Hyeon, turn your focus on the Park Family. Compile the transaction data, I am on the way.” He walked out of the tent.

[B-But sir you haven’t slept for the past week.]

“Neither did you. And this is an important issue, if we lose control we’ll become the Peru of Asia.” Ji-Hu said as he grabbed Da-Eun and sat down in his car.

The government had to hold down its fort. If they don’t things will take a nasty turn as humans with superhuman powers walk the earth. As someone who stopped three Tank brigades alone, he knew how dangerous these powers were if someone misused them.

‘This is the critical point of the plan. It would be best if Lee Do-Yun doesn’t change his mind in the face of money.’ Ji-Hu’s eyes glinted under the glasses.

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Cheon-Ho, Seoul.

Do-Yun was back at the gym after a quick visit to his house. He took a quick shower and changed his clothes. Even if they weren’t dirtied by blood, the sweat from yesterday’s meditation made him want to change.

And as soon as he entered Byung-Ho handed him a black pen drive.

“Chan-Yeol Hyung dropped by again.” He didn’t stay around this time and left in a hurry.

“Nice, Byung-Ho put it in your laptop,” Do-Yun’s lips twisted into a smirk. He knew exactly what the Pen Drive contained. The information about the Gate location finally fell into his hands.

“…Ok,” He did as told and the folder for the drive appeared on the laptop.

Under Do-Yun’s eager eyes, Byung-Ho opened the drive. They saw two folders inside, one labeled as ‘Gates’ and the other as ‘Information on Awakened’. What they contained was apparent, but he didn’t know which one to open. Sensing his curious gaze Do-Yun answered.

“The Gates one of course,”

With a swift click of the mouse, the folder opened. Inside the folder was a single document named ‘Gate Data’ so he opened it. The doc started with an introduction that everyone could see on the government website.

A Gate’s color works in a similar way to the Awakened, VIBGYOR the further down the color they are the higher the Rank. All Gates have a set time in which it has to be cleared. If failed, the monsters will be allowed to exit the Gate.

Violet Gates—F Rank—7 days

Indigo Gates—E Rank—14 Days

Blue Gates—D Rank—21 Days

Green Gates—C Rank—29 Days

Yellow Gates—B Rank—Unknown

Orange Gates—A Rank—Unknown

Red Gates—S Rank—Unknown

However, the real information was below them. As he scrolled down the doc file, he saw the parts where Gate’s location and time left before the break. This list wasn’t made public, but the people on the internet did post all the Gates in their vicinity and there existed an unofficial website where they were listed.

But a problem cropped up with this list given to them.

“Hyung the lowest ones are the Green Gates?” Byung-Ho’s eyes widened when he checked the outline. Through Yellow to Green, the lower Gates were missing altogether.

“That’s good. The lower Gates aren’t important to us after all.” Do-Yun said as the last page of the doc came up.

A total of 217 Gates appeared across the country of South Korea so far and half of them were in the Capital city of Seoul. Among them, Green Gates numbered thirty.

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Gate: Green, Location: Seoul Subway Station Gate no 1, So-Gong, Jung-Gu, Days Till Break: 1 day.

Gate: Green, Location: Mangwon Hangang Park, Mapo, Days Till Break: 7 days.

Gate: Green, Location: Namsan Tower, Yong-san, Days Till Break: 14 days.

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‘There hasn’t been a Green Gate break in South Korea yet. But the one in South Africa killed over twenty thousand civilians because of the delayed actions. If all these Gates break at the same time then… no what about the higher rank ones? How many people will be killed by that?’ Byung-Ho gulped, no good end existed for these questions.

The simultaneous breaks of multiple Blue and Indigo Gates across Seoul caused ten thousand casualties. And this was after someone’s intervention that reduced all the damage.

“It was your first time in a Gate today, right?” Do-Yun turned to Byung-Ho.

“Yes… I am sorry I couldn’t help much.” Disappointed with himself his eyes lowered to the ground. By the time he thought of moving Do-Yun already finished things.

“I didn’t take you along to help me today.” Do-Yun folded his arms and leaned on the counter.

“…What?” Byung-Ho blinked.

‘Did Hyung take me along to carry the corpse?’ Thinking back on it, Do-Yun might just do that, and he didn’t see himself being helpful for anything else, ‘Maybe I should pack some pickaxes and sacks next time?’

“Well, I wanted you to understand what dangers Gates entails.” Do-Yun broke the thoughts he had, “What did you think about the monsters you saw?”

“They are dangerous.” Byung-ho felt cold inside that damp space, the fear of death clung to him even now. Raiding Gates wasn’t for those with weak hearts.

“Yes, and you will only see more dangerous ones. Once you enter a Gate you cannot exit until it gets cleared. And you won’t know what type of situation you are dropped in till you enter. So, do you still want to continue with me?” This was the real reason why Do-Yun took him to the Gate.

As unnerving as that experience turned out to be, Byung-Ho’s answer wouldn’t change. He has taken the first step and won’t back down now.

“If you take me with you Hyung,” As long as he went with Do-Yun, he wouldn’t have to fear the Monsters.

Because he trusted that he’d take care of them like before. Even then he didn’t want to just get carried. If he couldn’t do anything today he’d figure things out and contribute to the raids no matter what, and his intentions were understood.

“Hmm, don’t let today’s experience get you down. Soon you’ll get used to it and fight like that too.” Do-Yun patted his shoulder with a reassuring smile.

“Well… about that Hyung…” But a wry smile appeared on his lips.

“Have a little confidence in yourself.” Do-Yun patted his back, but that didn’t change anything.

“Hyung… I don’t have any attack skills.”

“...For real?”

“……Yes.” But the road ahead didn’t look that shiny.

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Mapo, Seoul.

A Green Gate hung in the air outside of the Mangwon Hangang Park. Right now barricades surrounded the place and soldiers with guns kept their eyes on anything that came within a kilometre of the Gate. Not that anyone would come aside from a few individuals.

‘When will the Awakened Squads get to this Gate?’ The Squad leader crushed the cigarette in the ashtray. The anxiety in his stomach made him unable to smoke even if he wanted to.

Most of the people manning the Gates had similar worries. After the Break Incident watching over the Gate became akin to hanging around a live bomb. They knew when it could blow but that didn’t help in the slightest. But all they could do was wait for the Bomb handing squad.

And today turned out to be the day they arrived.

“Sergeant Beom someone is here to take care of the Gate.” The voice came from beyond the tent.

“Really?” He rushed out. Not noticing the slight uneasiness and confusion in the voice. No information regarding the Awakened Team’s arrival reached him. But, that didn’t matter as he could finally be free from this place.

But when he came out, instead of Ji-Hu’s stern gaze he had seen on the T.V. a face that had a wide smile—it was another face that appeared on the T.V. If that wasn’t enough the card in front of him left him wide-eyed.

‘Lee Do-Yun, License number: 001. It’s him! The Hero that caused more damage to Seoul than the Break itself!’ The one who came turned out to be someone who commanded equal if not more intrigue among the people of Seoul.

“It is a pleasure to meet you Lee Do-Yun-ssi.” Sergeant Beom gave a bow.

As a platoon that watched over the Gate, their team got the information regarding the new licenses. That allowed Do-Yun to enter the Gate’s vicinity without a problem.

“Well, aren’t you enthusiastic?” Do-Yun looked over as Byung-Ho came back after putting on military armor.

“I am a big fan, sir.”

“I see, want a picture or something?”

“Can I?” Sergeant Beom beamed.

“Maybe after I am done with the Gate,” Do-Yun turned around with a wave as Byung-Ho followed.

“Thanks, Sir.” Beom saw Do-Yun enter the Green gate with no hesitation.

“Are they really going to do it by themselves?” The soldier near Beom was skeptical.

“Didn’t you see that the other one was carrying a sack and pickaxe? He is obviously going in as the gatherer.”

“Would that be alright? He’d have to clear the Gate while protecting him?” That sounded worse than he imagined.

“That does seem like a tall order, doesn’t it?” Another soldier sighed. But, Do-Yun had the license so they couldn’t stop him.

“Stop lounging around and get back to your work! Make sure no one else comes near.” Beom’s thundering voice sent them scurrying away.

‘Whatever happens, I can finally be free from this time bomb.’ He glanced at the now Black Gate and went back to the tent had a new spring to it.