Chapter 2: Portal Gate

The Chief frowned and walked away indifferently, closing the distance between him and Ji-woo. The Chief assistant followed behind him.

“Why are you speaking informally to me!?”

Kim Ji-woo gasped and realized that he was no longer the old man in the Magical world.

“A-ah, I’m sorry. Who are you, sir?”

While getting closer, The Chief replied, “I am the Chief of the Monitoring division from…”

The Chief realized something stupid was happening.

“No, Wait! I’m the one asking you a question! Why would I be the one answering!?”

The Chief yelled and was ready to kick this punk that doesn’t know about manners.

The assistant immediately held his Chief on the side, “Wait, Chief! Don’t hit a citizen here!”

“Huh?” Ji-woo didn’t understand why this person was so eager to hit him.

The Chief regained his composure, “I’m the one with authority here. Except for hunters and related officers, no one can stay here.”

“Sorry young man, my leader is a bit tired of this situation. Please, leave this place. I will guide you to the Portal Gate perimeter.”

The assistant gestured to Ji-woo to follow him out.

Ji-woo just decided to obey the order while he was confused about why he got told to go away.

Another subordinate reported to Chief Lee. “Reporting, Sir! Mana density around the Portal increased. In a few minutes, the Gates will be established and estimated to be Tier-2 Portal Gate. So far, there is no sign that the Red Gates will occur yet.”

Chief Lee nodded and looked at the Portal Gate that got estimated to be tier-2. And apparently, it wouldn’t be a hassle as long as they had hunters ready to enter the Portal Gate.

“Still, we can’t be sure if the Red Gates will appear or not later on. I will stay here for a few hours.”

He then shifted his head to the man that had just reported, “Oh, right. Which Guilds will handle these Gates? Did the Management division tell you already?”

“It’s Shadow guild, sir! They have hunters from D-rank and C-rank on standby positions.”

“Huh? There are no B-rank hunters that are ready from the guild?!”

“E-em… No, sir. They say B-rank hunters are not available at the moment.”

Chief Lee sneered, hearing his subordinate report about the Shadow Guild hunters’ enlistment.

‘Sure enough! They don’t want to use so much manpower, just because the Portal Gate is not their private property.’

At the same time, when the conversation between the Chief and his subordinates was going on.

Ji-woo stopped his track and looked back to where Chief Lee’s sight was looking while talking.

‘Mm? I can feel Mana from there. What is happening? Why does this world have Mana?’

“Sir, we are in South Korea, right?” Ji-woo blurted out a dumb question.

The assistant escorting Ji-woo turned his head and looked back. He stared at Ji-woo like some idiot kid.

Ji-woo became embarrassed after he realized the question was stupid enough to be asked.

Just take a look for a moment.

There were Hangul (Hangeul) words and writings in several places. Even Ji-woo himself spoke in Korean from the moment he opened his eyes in the first place.

It should be clear where he was right now.

“Ah, right. I’m sorry.” Ji-woo bows his head to the man for his absurd question.

The assistant didn’t mind it and waved his hand toward Ji-woo to indicate that he needed to leave the area faster.

“Take him to the Police station.” The Chief assistant walked back to where the Portal Gate appeared while leaving Ji-woo with the soldiers guarding the entrance perimeter.

“Pardon? Ah, yes, sir!”

“Ehm?!”

Ji-woo flabbergasted hearing the order from the Chief assistant. He doesn’t know what mistake he committed to get taken into custody.

‘Oh well, Let’s follow it there. Regardless, I need to ask the police officer about my address later on.’

Ji-woo was sure that as long as he didn’t do anything wrong. They would not make him stay behind the bar. After all, he needed information about his family too.

Meanwhile, at the Tier-2 Portal Gate opening, Chief Lee was still waiting for the hunters from the Shadow guild to come.

Truthfully, Chief Lee didn’t worry about hunters but more worried about the Portal Gate. The longer it appears, the more damage it will affect the surrounding.

Chief Lee could relax a little had the Portal Gate appeared in a rural area or a less crowded place. And they can carry out the operation of closing the Portal Gate without rushing.

“What about the casualties?” Chief Lee suddenly asked his subordinate.

The subordinate immediately looked at his 10-inch smart gadget screen in his hand.

“There are three citizens that got minor wounds from the Mana impact when it started condensing. It required a B-rank healer to handle it.”

It was something that Chief Lee didn’t like the most about Portal Gate appearing in the middle of the city. But luckily, this time was just a minor accident. Their life was not in danger at all.

Chief Lee felt on his thought, ‘Tsk, if only the Hunters Association had many capable hunters. We can handle this matter quickly.’

“How much longer will the hunters show up!? The longer they come here, the bigger our country will suffer from this!”

All of the personnel around Chief Lee could only lower their heads, hearing the frustration from their boss. They couldn’t answer it casually since it was not their control when would the hunters were coming.

It’s been almost 2 hours since the Portal Gate started. Now, they could only wait while monitoring if an unexpected thing showed up around the Portal Gate.

Suddenly, the quiet and strained situation in that place was gone because of the footsteps sound that came from Chief Lee’s back.

The hunters walked composedly, wearing all the gears needed to increase their magic power to enter the Portal Gate.

An assistant came hurriedly to Chief Lee’s side and whispered to him about the hunters’ arrival.

“Che. Finally, show up, huh?!”

Most hunters from the big guild always act arrogantly in front of the people from the Hunters Association.

That’s why Chief Lee never liked hunters that came from there.

“Can’t be helped, there is a traffic jam on the way, and the distance is a bit too far.” A C-rank hunter answered and shrugged at Chief Lee’s mock.

“Nice joke, Commander Song. Hahaha.”

“We’re here now, so what’s the problem!? Just sit and wait. Kekeke.”

Other hunters try to butt in the conversation to tease Chief Lee after hearing their commander’s remark.

“Enough, Good Luck! Hope for successful conquest inside.” Chief Lee spoke with a stern voice and bowed to wish for their success.

All of the hunters didn’t continue their teasing and immediately departed toward the Portal Gate.

Then…, the hunters entered the Portal Gate one after another and disappeared in front of the people watching them.

Several personnel and officers relaxed their tension and sat down while waiting for the hunters to return from the Portal Gate.

Chief Lee was still looking at Portal Gate, muttering some words, “They’re really confident with just 13 hunters for Tier-2 Portal Gate.”

“Well, they are hunters from Shadow Guild. I am sure all of them are the elite hunters from there, sir.” The Chief assistant had replied in a whisper.

Chief Lee sighed at his assistant’s words and turned around from the Portal Gate. He slowly walked to the street chairs that were close to where he was standing before.

Before Chief Lee could sit on the chair, he abruptly stopped his track and made his assistant at the back halt his step too.

Chief Lee quickly turned his back again then looked at the people around the Portal Gate. Then he asked his assistant.

“A human who doesn’t have Mana should need a special suit to get closer to the Portal Gate, right?”

The assistant replied confusedly, “Uh? Yes?… They can’t get close to around 30 to 75 meters to the Portal Gate. Why are you asking, sir?”

Out of the blue, Chief Lee realized something serious that he missed earlier.

“The man from before, the man with long hair and plain clothes. How long did he stay beside us until you drove him out of the perimeter before?”

“Huh???” The assistant didn’t know why Chief Lee was asking this weird question.

“That man is the last one from here that needs to get evacuated, right?”

The assistant at the moment could only answer consciously. “Um, yes?”

“I think he stayed here roughly for 5 minutes. But I don’t see him suffering from Mana impact, right?”

The assistant started to think back about the man’s condition after hearing Chief Lee’s words.

It seems that was the case. The man really didn’t look like someone who was suffering from the Portal Gate Mana impact.

The assistant nodded at Chief Lee and affirmed his concern about the man.

Now, Chief Lee was aware of the man anomaly.

Humans that don’t have Mana blessing can never approach the Portal Gate.

It was because the Mana impact that condensed to form a Portal Gate was dangerous to ordinary people.

Of course, only Mana’s impact from the Portal Gate was violence. On the other hand, Mana from Magic stone and Magic Crystal are harmless.

That’s why only hunters that have power from Mana could reach the Portal Gate.

Even if someone wanted to approach it, they especially needed to wear an Artifact suit designed for an ordinary human.