Entering The Gate

The four of them took a walk around the lake area. Several flowers of various colors grow around randomly but the randomness adds to their beauty. Like asserting that the actions of nature can indeed produce something as beautiful as this.

Rainn was still confused about what he got through Systema's notification earlier. There was an event in this forest and one of the obvious ones was the discovery of the location of the D grade Gate. Rainn was starting to miss Tut now. But he knew that Tut had left and would never come back.

So he had to start doing everything himself now. Amia is hunting butterflies together with Vyra. They both look like ordinary teenage girls enjoying life. Meanwhile, Nicois captured the scene with the camera he brought. Rainn just watched from a distance.

He just realized that he didn't have time to have fun all this time because he was busy surviving. Looking at the three of them, Rainn knew that he had not lived a normal teenage life for a long time and Rainn felt that there was no point in experiencing the life of a teenager as now. All he had to do now was find that Gate.

So Rainn started to open the map and looked for clues to the Gate's whereabouts. It was very coincidental that the Gate's location was in this place.

A transparent map opened before his eyes. As before, there is a line that will guide him to his destination. Wich is the Gate location.

Rainn started to follow the direction of the line. He entered a slightly denser forest area than before. Then walk straight along the lines on the map. Not long after, Rainn arrived at the mouth of a cave. But the cave was covered in roots and vegetation which made it almost invisible from the outside. No one would know there was a cave here.

Rainn stared at the door of the small cave for a moment to consider. Did he have to come in now? Was the difficulty level the same as Dungeon level 1 back then? And are his current stats sufficient to take on the Gate?

"Hey!" Vyra's shout made Rainn wake up from his daydream. "What are you doing?"

Rainn turned and walked towards her. "Nothing."

"Really?" Vyra narrowed her eyes. Then glanced behind Rainn. But she couldn't see anything other than the overgrown foothills.

"What did you find there?" asked Vyra.

"I told you nothing," Rainn said and walked past Vyra. As if he didn't care. Vyra turned around and followed Rainn.

"What are you doing here?" Rain asked.

"Of course, I was looking for you. I thought you were lost," replied Vyra.

Rainn snorted, "You think I'm a kid who's going to get lost?"

"Anyone can get lost. You never been in this forest Have you?" Vyra gets a point. Rainn had never been to this forest before. But he is sure he will not get lost because this forest is not very dense and big.

"Thanks for your concern," Rainn said.

Vyra glanced at him because she heard the sarcastic tone in his voice. But Vyra didn't say anything.

They returned to where Nicois and Amia were still enjoying the view. They spent time there until it was half-past noon. It was lunchtime so they headed back to camp.

The four teenagers ate lunch from the provisions that Vyra and Amia brought.

"You know," Amia began with a mouth full of sandwiches. "House Saniar has removed their bounty poster."

Rainn subconsciously slowed down his chewing.

"So they've found the killer?" Nicois asked in a curious tone.

Amia shook her head. "Apparently they have. You saw the broadcast right? But it's weird. They find them but there is no more news of the culprit's arrest."

Rainn chose to remain silent and kept his smile in his heart.

"Not if the killer is found by a bounty hunter," said Vyra.

Amia and Nicois turned to her.

"That's right," Nicois said. "But you think there's a bounty hunter who can get ahead of the Investigator from the Bureau?"

Amia shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows."

Rainn didn't say anything and chose to finish his lunch quietly. Saying that he was a bounty hunter who earned a bounty of fifty million Ryo and caught a killer that the Investigator couldn't find would surely make him look great. But it would also provoke a lot of troublesome attention. Rainn wasn't stupid enough to do that.

While they were having lunch, from behind the big trees in the forest five people were watching them. There was a dialogue between the mysterious people.

"They don't seem to be bothering us if we don't attract attention."

"We can't take any chances. We'd better kill them while they're off guard."

"Don't be stupid! You want to be a murderer!?"

"We're going to be killers anyway! Why should we be half-hearted?!"

"You've gone completely insane."

"What we're about to do is pretty crazy too. You're a little late realizing it now, buddy."

"Alright, stop it"

They all stopped talking after hearing the voice of the last person to speak. He seems to be their leader.

"Let's just leave them alone and stay out of trouble. What we're about to do is too big to add to the burden."

After that, at the direction of someone who seemed to be their leader, the five people left that place.

Vyra turned because she felt someone was watching them from behind the forest. Rainn, who noticed Vyra's movement, asked.

"What's wrong?"

Vyra stared at the forest for a while before answering. "It's nothing."

Vyra turned her face and continued eating. While Rainn looked at the place where Vyra was looking before.

Vyra, who has been trained by a supernatural hunter family since birth, must have naturally sharper instincts. Unlike Rainn, who only had sharp instincts after activating [ Ultimate Instinct ].

Vyra's movements showed that she seemed to feel something. It could be a sign for Rainn to raise his guard too.

After lunch, they decided to rest. Vyra and Amia got into their tent and seemed to be getting ready for bed. While Nicois took his camera, he looked back at the photos he had taken earlier.

This opportunity was used by Rainn to return to the Gate.

"Where are you going?" Nico asked.

"I'll walk around for a bit. Don't worry. I won't get lost."

After that Rainn got out of the tent and headed back to where he found the Gate.

Rainn had already decided this time that he was going in because he didn't want to waste time thinking about all the possibilities.

Rainn reopened Systema and a window appeared in front of him. It was the Inventory Window where he kept the Gate Key. Rainn willed to take the key and it appeared in his hand.

The Gate Key was not shaped like a key in general. Rather, it is shaped like a round, flat black stone. On the surface of the stone, there is a kind of carving in the shape of a strange symbol.

The symbol is shaped like the letter X flanked by two vertical lines on the right and left.

Rainn shrugged. Don't want to bother thinking about the meaning of the symbol.

He drew near to the cave door and a transparent text appeared in front of his eyes.

[ Do want to enter the Gate? ]

"Yes."

After that, the symbol in the black disk in Rainn's hand glowed red and floated. The disc stuck to the surface of the air in front of Rainn like a key stuck in a lock. Then the black disk melted and disappeared. After that, a red portal appeared in front of Rainn. Rainn steadied himself and walked straight in.

~~~