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The ultimate power abuser in the Phoenix Guild who reached Lv. Max in the Old Maid Hysteria skill. That was the definition of the Kim Mi-eun I knew before my return.

She was a typical bully; strong against the weak. Though, looking at her now, she seemed to be on the side of true wickedness.

Kim Mi-eun served as the general affairs team leader in the guild and was famed for bleeding the hunters in the lower ranks dry.

She often hung out with Kim Jung-hee and made the other hunters do everything for her without lifting a hand.

I was once one of those victims too, and I couldn't even protest.

I had seen many of my colleagues being beaten for just complaining.

[Ha! You really were a loser. Looking at your memories, you were bullied a lot by this bitch. Tsk, tsk... When you quit, did they give you your severance pay?]

‘It doesn’t get deposited right away… and I died that day in the Fifth Cataclysm, so I don't know.'

The day I quit the guild, I remembered Kim Mi-eun's haughty expression, not even glancing in my direction, coldly uttering, 'At least I have some conscience.'

But now she was rolling her eyes and foaming at the mouth from the agony of the Bone Breaking Technique.

“It would be nice to have a skill that can read memories.”

[Aren’t you asking for too much?]

“Anyway, I don’t want to see this face anymore.”

Poow-!

Kim Mi-eun's head exploded under the Perished Soul's Eight Fists.

As she was the last, all the members of the Meeting of Nine had died.

In the end, I couldn't get any helpful information from Park Hyun-chul, Kim Mi-eun, or Kim Jung-hee.

All I knew was that there were a ton of hidden masters, just like I had sensed with the Killing Group.

They referred to it as the Real Rank but didn't know the specifics. To put it simply, the Real Rank was a concept similar to a collection of reclusive masters in the Martial Arts Society.

“Now I have to let go and stop asking questions. They don't know anything, and even if they did, there's a gag order on speaking...”

[I had the same thought. Still, as long as you're involved, they'll keep provoking you. You will reach the end if you break them one by one.]

“I will. Anyway, it's going to be a mess."

The number of S-Rank rankers directly related to a country's national power.

However, within a few days, the industry's No. 1 Phoenix Guild was involved in a corruption case, and all but one of the Top Ten in Korea died at my hands.

Since they were gone, there would be a massive change in perception in the industry, and the ranking system of the Hunter Management Bureau would have to be rewritten.

The Guild Association was now in a state of ruin. I could just play innocent and sneak out, but it was clear that it would cause great social confusion.

'Well, the Management Bureau will take care of it.'

I rummaged through the corpses and took the weapons and artifacts they had been using.

They were all at least rare grade, but Park Hyun-chul's sword and Lee Soo-jung's staff were legendary-grade.

Legendary-grade weapons were rare even after the Third Cataclysm, so this was a great treasure. They could be helpful if I worked on them with the Dwarven skills.

After taking all the items, fatigue hit.

Even though I relieved my physical fatigue with the Heavenly Demon’s Origin Art, the mental fatigue from not sleeping properly for the past few days was considerable.

I would, however, have to put off resting for a while.

I felt the air rushing to one place and the energy concentrating.

A Gate was being created.

“I don’t remember a Gate being created here at this time….”

At the time of the First Cataclysm, Gates were often created near this place.

Because of that, it became a civilian control area.

But don’t they say it is always calm before the storm?

After the Second Cataclysm, the Gates stopped, and it became quiet, but a year later a new one was created.

The Gate created at that time seemed to have gathered mana during the year of silence, and it was close to catastrophic levels, causing tremendous damage.

Later, after the Gate detector was created, they discovered that the Gate made here exceeded the S-Rank.

The energy I felt right now was unusual.

It felt denser than it did when the Gate was created in Daeseong Mountain.

[How can this be?]

“What do you mean?”

[Another incident happens, as if it waited for you to be finished here. Doesn't it seem like a boring pattern is repeating itself?]

“What are you trying to say?”

[I mean, I’m just pointing that out.]

“Anyway, the Gate here is too early.”

Judging from the energy I felt, it was clear this Gate was of the same level as the one I knew before I time-traveled.

At that time, even though the Association Guild was nearby, so many strong monsters came out of it that the nearby citizens suffered significant damage.

Just then, I felt my phone vibrating.

- Emergency Disaster Alert -

A Gate has been detected near the Korea Hunter Guild Association in Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu. Citizens are requested to evacuate to a safe place as soon as possible.

Weeeeeeeeeng-

An evacuation siren rang as soon as I received that message.

“It seems the Gate detector and alarm system have finally been established.”

[It seems that past events are moving up due to the changes caused by your regression.]

In a word, causality. Where there was a cause, there was an effect.

It seemed the flow of time, distorted due to my regression, was speeding up events.

Maybe the cycle of future disasters was shortened, and the world's destruction was being hastened.

I had to stop that destruction somehow, but for now, I had to handle the current situation.

I quickly headed to where the Gate was being created. It was in the same place as before, at the entrance of the K Communications Umyeon Research Center.

It consumed the front gate and spread down the road.

Now that the Gate warning system had been activated, hunters from each guild, including the Hunter Management Bureau, would be mobilized through the emergency contact network.

Whooong-

My phone vibrated as Lee Seong-jin called.

-No contact! Not even answering the phone! Where the hell are you?

“I’m in front of the Yangjae-dong Gate.”

-Why are you there?

“I don't have time to explain. Dispatch our guild too.”

-There is already a request for cooperation from the Management Bureau. That’s why I called you.

"All right. I'll go in first. It's a large Gate, so tell our team to take care of themselves. I’m hanging up.”

-Hey! What are you doing going inside alone—

Click-

Seong-jin tried to nag, but I hung up because the Gate had finished forming.

I quickly sent Yoo So-eun the exact location of the Gate.

Even if there was a Gate Detector, more accurate location information was needed.

I saw that I had a lot of missed calls and texts from her too. There was also a text from my parents, who were worried about my safety.

After the assassins had attacked, I had gone to the mountain without saying anything to them, so it was understandable they were worried.

I sent a simple text to my parents and went right into the Gate.

***

Before my return, this Gate was named 'Forest of the Dead.'

This was because the monsters that appeared were Undead, and it was created right next to Yangjae Citizens' Forest. The inside of the Gate also took the form of a forest.

The Undead monsters that appeared here were Ghouls and Wolf Chimeras.

[It’s my first-time hearing about Wolf Chimeras.]

“It’s a monster that starts appearing from this Gate. You can think of it as a hybrid between a wolf and a bear, but it’s also an Undead type.”

[They might be artificially created by someone, like the Stone Golems.]

“Anyway, the Boss monsters here show up randomly without any specific conditions. So, I gotta smash the Summoning Stone fast to cut down on the number of monsters respawning.”

Fortunately, I remembered the approximate location of the Summoning Stone.

I didn't know the exact whereabouts, but I'd spotted it on a map that showed it was right in the middle of the Gate.

With the help of the Heavenly Demon’s Origin Art, I would be able to find it fairly quickly.

As soon as I entered the Gate, the monsters were already swarming.

Looking at them, the Forest of the Dead I recalled was correct. As the Heavenly Demon said, the incident was moved up.

However, there were still some differences from my memory.

"Damn!"

[Ha!]

Undead that seemed missing, hunters were mixed into the monsters’ ranks.

This made it clear that Gate Managers were related to the disappearance cases.

If they went outside, soft-hearted hunters wouldn't be able to kill them.

They were entangled with the Wolf Chimera flocking to get out of the Gate.

No matter how strong I became, I couldn't stop all the monsters from crawling out of the Gate by myself.

In that case, it would be better to destroy the Summoning Stone as soon as possible to reduce the damage.

According to the Insight skill, their levels were between the mid-50s and early 60s. Their skills didn't seem too intimidating, but each one was at the level of a typical Gate Boss.

Since the average level of hunters at this time was between 30 and 40, I could see the damage would be more than usual.

Without hesitation, I used the third form from the second stage of the Demonic Dragon's Eight-Blade Style.

“Demonic Dragon Skywrecker!”

Sgung!-

It was relatively quiet compared to the other two forms from the second stage, but the power was great.

My Strong Energy spread wide and wiped out the closest monsters.

“Queueek!”

“Ghuuuuuuul!!”

<SYSTEM: Critical Hit!>

<SYSTEM: The title ‘I Like Popping’ has been applied, increasing the target’s damage by 15%>

<SYSTEM: You’ve killed a Ghoul. You gained 2048 (+30%) experience points.>

<SYSTEM: Critical Hit!>

<SYSTEM: The title ‘I Like Popping’ has been applied, increasing the target’s damage by 15%>

<SYSTEM: You’ve killed the Wolf Chimera. You gained 1980 (+30%) experience points.>...

<SYSTEM: You leveled up.>

<SYSTEM: You leveled up.>

<SYSTEM: You leveled up.>

The Demonic Dragon Skywrecker exploded, and the Ghouls and Wolf Chimeras were swept away.

Because of their high level, I could level up easily with that single attack.

The effects of the titles Shining SOLO and I Like Popping played a massive role.

Now at level 27, my fatigue reset entirely, and I felt an overflow of energy.

If this happened, the cooldown of the title Two Hearts would also reset, so I’d be able to deal with them and still have energy to spare.

"Great!"

[It's a complete balance breakdown.]

“It’s all thanks to you.”

[Even if that's the case, you still can't reach the tip of my toes.]

How powerful was he? He was so strong that he was hand-picked by the Jade Emperor.

While hiding with the Heavenly Demon Stealth, I utilized the Heavenly Demon Air-Stride and headed for the center of the forest, slicing through the monsters I could see.

In the process, I could level up four more times to level 31.

System notifications continued to scroll rapidly, but I decided to check my updated status window later.

I needed to break the Summoning Stone as soon as possible.

If I saw the Boss monster, 'Feral Ghoul,' I would get rid of it, but unfortunately, I couldn't see it.

Maybe it had already gone out.

I hurried.

The forest was large, so it took several minutes to cross, even with the Heavenly Demon Air-Stride.

“I’m worried about how far the monsters have gone. I hope there isn’t major damage."

I just hoped the citizens had evacuated already with the Gate warning system.

After flying for some time, I finally detected the exact location of the Summoning Stone.

"Found it."