“The situation is not looking good.”

In front of the guild leader’s office at the temple, Kang Sujin was sitting at the table with her hands clasped under her chin, staring at Rude and Ihyeon. She was always strict, but today she seemed even more on edge.

“It’s an erosion-type gate at an educational facility. Even worse, everyone at the school is a non-awakener! You know what that means, right?”

“Yes.”

Rude and Ihyeon nodded their heads. Erosion-type gates were the most troublesome to deal with.

Erosion-type gates start with the monsters coming out of the gate turning into a slushy liquid state.

Sometimes they naturally disappear, but other times they erode into the skeleton of the building and suck the life force out of the people inside, parasitically causing damage to the building, which is why they’re called erosion-type gates.

Since they occur in real, existing places, issues like compensation claims from the building owner can arise later, making them difficult to handle. On top of that, the monsters don’t even drop items, so it’s rare for someone to voluntarily take on such a bothersome task.

“But an erosion-type gate appearing at a public institution? Especially at an educational facility, they should be careful about managing mana stones.”

“It’s not impossible. Besides, that school has a low safety rating. I heard they were going to renovate it.”

Sujin answered Rude’s question and frowned, rubbing her aching forehead. After sighing briefly, she looked at the two again with a relaxed expression.

“Normally, if we apply the unspoken rule, the temple cannot clear this gate. This time, the country directly designated us for the job. So!”

Bang! Sujin removed her hand from her forehead, lightly hit the desk with her fist, and looked at the two with a serious gaze.

“There must be no casualties. Not even once! Not a single student can die! Got it?!”

“Yes.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The two nodded and left the guild leader’s office at Sujin’s signal.

Perhaps realizing the gravity of the situation, the two, especially Kang Ihyeon, had a grim expression.

[This is the timeline separator]

“This is unbelievable.”

Rude and Ihyeon stared ahead with stony expressions. The entire school building was enveloped in a barrier using mana stones, and the rescue team members wearing protective suits were busily moving around the school grounds.

“Father! Please step back! This is an erosion-type gate, it’s really dangerous to touch it!”

“My Siyoung is in there, what are you talking about! If that’s the case, then save her! Hurry and get her out! Quickly! Please… I’m begging you like this, please! I can’t live without my child. Please…”

The surroundings were crowded with parents and officials. Rude turned his head away from a parent who was angrily arguing and eventually kneeling in front of an official trying to stop them, pleading.

‘So this is how terrible daytime gates are…’

Such extreme things didn’t happen at night when there were no people around. Somehow, he remembered the words of people who disliked him for messing around with gates like a playground.

He thought that from the perspective of ordinary people, always casually entrusting the disaster situation of clearing gates could be seen as deception to some.

“Mr. Rude. Let’s go inside for now.”

“Ah, yeah…”

At Ihyeon’s words, Rude finally came to his senses and headed into the school. As soon as they passed through the blue barrier, a malicious energy grazed the tips of their noses.

An official wearing a gas mask and directing the scene spotted them and hurried over in surprise.

“Ah, hello! Um, you’re… Rude and Kang Ihyeon…!”

“Yes, we’re the hunters dispatched from the temple. What’s the current situation?”

“Ah, oh! Yes. One moment!”

The official hurriedly took out a tablet and showed them the screen. It was a map indicating the school building’s floor plan and the situation in various parts of the interior.

The map already had purple diagonal lines drawn over most of the school’s interior, signifying it had been eroded.

“As you can see, all floors except the library are currently eroded. The safety devices were outdated, so the erosion spread incredibly fast.”

The official zoomed in on the map and pointed to the east corridor of the school, marked as the location of the mana stone storage.

“The origin point is here. The principle is to store mana stones in various places inside the building and use the balance of power emanating from them for protection. If a problem occurs on one side, the power weakens. It seems there was some issue with the mana stone here.”

The official clenched and unclenched his fist, seeming anxious. Rude frowned and asked,

“What about rescuing the survivors?”

“Only the rescue on the 1st floor has been carried out. The rescue team cannot enter the upper floors in this situation. Even with gas masks, it’s difficult for non-awakeners and those below D-rank to endure it.”

Still, the official said the one fortunate thing was that with the college entrance exam having ended a week ago, there weren’t many 3rd year students as he zoomed the map back out to its original scale.

“The rescued students are currently being treated in the annex building that hasn’t been eroded, but the situation isn’t good.”

The situation was grave. Rude and Kang Ihyeon exchanged glances. Without needing to say who, Ihyeon spoke up first.

“I’ll go to the healers.”

“Okay, I’ll head to the school. Have all the rescue personnel evacuate. They’ll get in the way.”

Every second counted. As Ihyeon ran towards the annex, the official nodded and gave instructions through his earpiece. After confirming all the rescue team had evacuated, Rude entered through the main gate.

“Ugh! This is quite…”

[This is worse than I thought, sighs the Lord of Chaos.]

Right from the entrance, Rude immediately frowned and covered his nose at the thick purple miasma. Looking around, Rude let out a small exclamation.

The inside of the school was filled with purple miasma, and the walls were covered in things that looked like blood vessels.

“It’s a miracle they even reported this?”

Even Rude, the incarnation of a constellation who was top of the top in accumulated evil deeds, could smell the rather foul stench.

If it was this bad for Rude, it was obvious ordinary people would keel over one by one without being able to endure the smell.

Honestly, he couldn’t fathom how they had managed to rescue the 1st floor students.

Rude immediately took out his golden half-scissors and used a skill. He had to push through with numbers for now.

[Constellation-exclusive Trait :: Fragment of the Primordial Dream] [Using the authority of Constellation ◼◼◼◼.] [Borrowing the Queen’s skill.] [Queen ◼◼◼◼ Exclusive Skill :: Thousand Black Kid Goats]

“…the petite version.”

[Queen ◼◼◼◼ Exclusive Skill :: Thousand Black Kid Goats (Ver. Petite)] [Why the petite version? asks the Lord of Chaos.]

“I can’t handle more than that…”

[True, even I find the complete version bothersome, nods the Lord of Chaos.]

“Th-these ones aren’t easy to command either!”

Rude took a deep breath, looking tense, and exuded his spirit. Strength was needed to command these beings.

Charisma and benevolence were necessary! The beings he was about to summon were ones who understood power dynamics the best in the world, and were the quickest to discern who they should follow.

Soon a warp gate opened. And…

“Maaaaeh- (Wow, outside! It’s outside, outside!)”

“Maaeh~!! (It’s Earth! It’s Earth!!)”

Cute, young black goats poured out. Literally a thousand of them. A thousand black baby goats filled the corridor.

[Long time no see, my babies, chuckles the Lord of Chaos.]

Whether on Earth or outer space, in heaven or hell, on Olympus, handling children is difficult. Rude immediately cleared his throat, covering his ears from the noisy sounds. Then he raised the scissors.

“Attention, everyone!”

“Wow! Grandma! Long time no see, Grandma!”

“Grandma, what’s going on? Why did you call us, Grandma?”

“We love you so much, Grandma!”

The young goats bounced up and down, looking at Rude. Fortunately, Rude was quite popular among the kid goats. Except for the way they addressed him.

‘I told them countless times not to call me Grandma…’

[Technically you are their grandmother going by generational titles, laughs the Lord of Chaos, wiping tears of laughter.]

“Ahem! The reason I summoned you all today is because this grandma has an errand for you.”

“Oooh…!”

The black kid goats nodded their heads. Errands. Truly the ultimate word for preschool children.

“You’re still young, so I know your mother doesn’t allow you to commit evil deeds. To protect you!”

“That’s right. Our older brothers say they destroy other planets and stuff, but we’re still too weak since we’re children.”

The black kid goats looked dejected. For children, there was nothing more disheartening than being told you’re too young.

Whether demons, humans, or monsters, it was the same. Rude waved the golden half-scissors and gave a speech.

“That’s right. Adults always say that. But… don’t you want to start doing bad things now?! Like your older brothers! Like your mother!”

The eyes of the black kid goats sparkled. Not missing that chance, Rude immediately raised the scissors.

“I will now give you a reeeeally naughty errand to do!”

“Wow! A bad deed. A bad deed!”

“So we can also do splendid bad things like the adults?”

Rude nodded, and the kid goats bleated in unison, maaeh! Shh, Rude quieted the goats and brought up the topic again.

“From now on, your task is to take the people out of this gate and throw them into the dimensional gap I open!”

“Wow, really? Then what happens? Do they die? Do the people go crazy? Do they fall into frenzy?”

“Um, but this is a gate. If people leave here, don’t they live instead of die? Isn’t that a good deed then!”

A good deed… They said it’s a good deed… But that can’t be, we’re bad goats… At one goat’s comment, the baby goats were starting to get suspicious.

‘As expected of children, unlike adults. They don’t fall for it easily.’

Rude, sweating profusely, crossed his arms and said,

“Tsk tsk, you know nothing. Haven’t you heard? This is a school. And school is a hellish space for students.”

“Really?”

“Yes, there’s even this poem by an unknown author.”

For the crime of being a student,

Imprisoned in the jail called school,

Awaiting the release called graduation…

“So the faster you save these people, the longer the students can suffer in the prison called school by surviving! This is true evil! What greater blessing is there than dying while sleeping without awareness. Right?”

At Rude’s words, the goats looked at each other. Is it true? Really? But our mom said school is a place that protects children…

Rude pulled out his last card. Something he always carried in case he needed to summon these children. Rude flipped open a sticker book with a flourish.

Someone once said children don’t ignore words, but prioritize listening to what they want to hear.

They may not hear you if you say something they dislike right next to them, but if you say from afar in a small voice, ‘Oh, there’s chocolate here?’ they’ll turn around.

“Th-that’s…!”

The goats all stared at Rude’s hand in unison. The sticker book in Rude’s hand was filled with stickers depicting an octopus giving a thumbs up.

“If you put all the people here into the dimensional gap… I will give each of you this ‘Worst Child in Outer Space’ sticker!”

Maaaeaeaeaeh-!! The joyful bleating of goats echoed throughout the corridor. The black goats efficiently ran through the hallways.

“Don’t forget to get along! No fighting amongst yourselves!”

Rude shouted at the backs of the black goats and created a huge dimensional gap. Now the goats would take care of rescuing the survivors on their own.

“This area is done now.”

Rude looked at the annex building beyond the window. The rescue issue was finished.

Now all that remained was Kang Ihyeon.