“Ugh…… damn it. It’s so damn hard!”

November’s winter is cold. The north was even colder.

While they say global warming has started to make the cherry blossoms bloom in the south from early March, snow has already begun to fall here.

And on the pure white snowy field, our Rude……

[The Lord of Chaos cheers, “You can do it, Nari! You can do it! Just a little more!!”]

‘Mr. Rude…… How did you end up shoveling snow all by yourself like that…… They’re really bad guys. Those guild members are really bad.’

“Haa…… I know that too. These bastards are really bad!”

He was diligently shoveling snow.

No, it’s not a metaphorical expression, but literally shoveling snow. He was shoveling away the snow piled up on the road.

Moreover, without the power of constellations! Without the power of sorcery! All by himself!

The area around Rude, who was shoveling while shivering with fur earmuffs on in the cold, was filled with the sound of him scooping out snow.

And in the distance, inside a parked jeep, Jisung leisurely sipped corn soup from a thermos.

“Wow~ As expected of our number one! Indeed, someone who grew up without ever going through hardships. Look at those trembling arms. How little strength must he have used~”

“Shut up! In the first place, it’s you guys’ fault for not letting me use the power of the constellations!”

“No, you have an evil inclination, right? Can you take responsibility if the monsters raised tenderly at the gate escape to eat your spirit power? Labor power is the top priority here.”

At those words, Rude ground his teeth again and began shoveling snow once more. His bright red fingertips trembled from the cold.

It was clear that all the muscles in his body were screaming, and that he would wake up suffering from muscle pain tomorrow.

Thinking that he should ask Kang Ihyeon for a massage later, Rude shouted loudly.

“Why are you making me do this kind of work when it’s obvious Kang Ihyeon the tanker should do it!”

Rude, who never dreamed he would end up going outside to shovel snow, made a face as if he had been wronged.

Jisung chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

Rude became even more resentful after confirming through his hazy vision that Kang Ihyeon was working inside.

“Mr. Kang Ihyeon is examining guild members inside~ How rare is it for a healer hunter to come here when the only doctor here isn’t an awakener?”

“Still, it doesn’t make sense! Isn’t it obvious that someone shabby like me shouldn’t do this?! I’m number one, you know?”

“Tsk tsk, you have to speak like a subordinate here~ We may be guild members, but you guys are just reserve forces!”

“You said before that we don’t have to use subordinate speech! Should I do it?! Should I do it?! I’m going to play hooky!”

“Look at the way he talks. How can you be so rude to an adult!”

Even at Rude’s irritable complaining, Jisung just laughed it off, lowering his sunglasses once.

A few hours ago during the inventory inspection he was quite cold, but the two got along quite well.

Unlike his appearance, Jisung’s frank personality, interpreting Rude’s insolence as the vigor of a mischievous man in his 20s and just accepting it, was a big help.

“But~ In the first place, didn’t Mr. Kang Ihyeon deliberately come here for you? Then shouldn’t you be grateful instead?”

“…….”

Rude’s expression stiffened with a flinch. As if noticing that he had hit a sore spot, Jisung shrugged his shoulders and spoke as if it were nothing.

“If it were me, I would work even harder out of guilt for sucking up his spirit power over there.”

‘……Hearing that, he has a point, I can’t refute it.’

Hearing those words, Rude snorted and began silently shoveling again.

Seeing him sniffle once as if his bright red nose tip was cold, Jisung glanced at his wristwatch and got out of the jeep.

“Okay, that’s enough.”

“Huh? There’s still a lot left.”

“We need to eat dinner, right? If you just shovel snow without eating in this weather, even an S-rank can’t avoid catching a cold~”

But as if he had a personality that wanted to perfectly finish his work, he held the shovel and looked into the distance.

Although he had worked hard for several hours, there was still a lot of snow left to clear.

Jisung grinned and opened the passenger side door of the jeep. Rude stared blankly for a moment before hopping into the passenger seat.

“Here, drink this.”

Jisung wiped the spout of the thermos lid that had touched his mouth with a wet tissue, then poured corn soup again and held it out to Rude.

Rude received it with his bright red hands and drank the soup with a slurp. He let out a sigh as his frozen body melted.

“Ah, and wear these. Without Kang Ihyeon, I really can’t see you with my bare eyes.”

“…….”

Jisung took out a pair of sunglasses identical to the ones he was wearing from his bosom and handed them to Rude.

Rude stared intently at the sunglasses. They weren’t his style.

“Regular sunglasses don’t work for me.”

“I had these specially made. They’re items that block out energy that people like you and I can’t control, so it’s fine.”

“……They’re not my style though.”

“Just take them and wear them when given, do you know how much these cost?”

At the mention of price, Rude unfolded the sunglasses with one hand and put them on without another word.

Only then did Jisung, freed from the headache, turn the key with a purr and smoothly start the jeep.

Despite shoveling for a long time, in less than 5 minutes by car, snowy roads appeared again, causing Rude to frown with dissatisfaction, then returned to a puzzled expression.

“This isn’t the way back to base camp.”

“Well, we couldn’t have really brought the real number one here just to shovel snow. It’s about time for it to open.”

“……For what?”

“The gate you have to deal with this time.”

“Huh, I thought you said you don’t clear gates here.”

Jisung had explained in the car that the guild manages gates by only extracting resources and magic stones from them and raising them until the gate regains its strength, rather than conquering them.

“Well. The situation is a bit different this time. That’s why we called you.”

The winter was quickly getting dark, and Jisung’s eyes narrowed slightly as he turned on the headlights.

Sensing the chilly atmosphere emanating from Jisung, Rude closed his mouth.

Only after the jeep bumped several times and passed numerous signs stating that entry was prohibited as the gate was under the guild’s management did Jisung stop the car.

Unlike the signs he had seen countless times on the way, there were countless red signs placed every 10 meters that read ‘Danger Zone, Do Not Enter Under Any Circumstances’.

In the distance, there was an iron gate bound tightly with chains that read ‘No Entry’.

The most dangerous signs he had seen up until now were along the lines of ‘This is a managed gate, so if you accidentally enter, just endure for a week. The guild has rescued 70% of those who entered!’

Rude looked at the gate outside the car window.

“What’s that?”

“A 4th grade dungeon-type gate, ‘The Labyrinth of Crete Island’.”

“4th grade dungeon-type? Then why call me? Can’t you guys solve it on your own?”

“It turns into a 2nd grade once you enter.”

At those words, Rude whipped his head to look at him. Jisung was peering inside the gate with his sunglasses slightly lowered.

Jumping from 4th grade to 2nd grade upon entering.

It was the same as that gate in Miguem Station. As if sensing Rude’s gaze staring intently at him, Jisung narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah, it’s exactly the same as the one you entered. That’s why we called you. To ask you to resolve this.”

“Why me of all people?”

If the grade of a gate suddenly jumping by 2 ranks had happened before, then as stated in the press conference, wouldn’t that be more than a temporary phenomenon?

Rude recalled the white cult leader who had emerged from the gate. There were clearly still questionable aspects.

It was evident that something strange was happening and they were hiding something.

“We thought you might know more since you have experience. The fewer people who know the secret, the better, so we brought only you here to ask for your help.”

“Why only me? Wouldn’t Kang Ihyeon be more reliable?”

“No. Not Kang Ihyeon. There are too many people around him.”

Jisung narrowed his eyes. And let out a deep sigh.

“Do you think there are only one or two private companies coveting this area? Kang Ihyeon is the heir to the Holy Palace. Of course, it’s not like we’re bad either, but there’s a world of difference between the electricity bills when we, a public enterprise, supply energy versus when the Holy Palace occupies and supplies it.”

“Kang Ihyeon and the guild leader aren’t those kinds of people!”

“I know Miss Sujin’s character. But his grandfather, in other words Kang Ihyeon’s grandfather is a bit, different. So it absolutely can’t reach his ears.”

‘Grandfather……?’

As an unfamiliar keyword popped out, Rude stared intently at Jisung, then shook his head.

There were still many questions that needed to be asked about the current situation rather than that.

“Isn’t this a national secret?!”

“It is.”

“You have Jeong Sooho, don’t you? What if I refuse, how can you reveal the secret in advance like this?”

No matter how much of a rank 1 hunter Rude was, he was just an individual hunter in Korea. The guild also had S-ranks, and he was even a ‘sacrifice’.

Nevertheless, the fact that he was specifically called to clear this gate meant…

Getting an ominous thought, Rude looked at Jisung. He continued to stare at the gate in front of him with a chilly expression.

“That can’t be managed, conquering is the answer. Jeong Sooho tried to conquer it and was gravely injured. So he hasn’t been able to come down for 6 years.”

Rude’s eyes widened greatly. Jisung continued to speak calmly.

“……If you don’t agree, we were prepared to even get on our knees. Please help us, you’re the only one who can save Korea.”

[This is the timeline separator]

‘…….’

And in the infirmary of the base camp. Kang Ihyeon, who confirmed the second vision, just smiled at the corner of his mouth while wearing a white gown.

‘Bringing up even that damn old man? These bastards are slowly crossing the line.’

Sharp anger surged up in his heart, but he couldn’t show it.

Instead, he fiercely stared at the guild member lying in front of him and pressed down on his ankle again.

“Oh no, the ligament is…… very damaged.”

“Eek!!”

The guild member, seeing Kang Ihyeon’s dark blue eyes, shook his head violently in fright on the bed.

“I’ll use it less!! I’ll use my ankle less! Then it’ll heal. Right? I don’t have to do anything weird, right?!”

“Unfortunately, ligaments don’t heal naturally…… Let’s treat it here……”

The guild member shed a small tear upon seeing Kang Ihyeon grinning like a mad doctor.

It was as if he had a strong will to relieve the stress of being dragged here through legitimate(?) medical treatment.

He took out something that looked like an ultrasound machine from his inventory and tapped it with his hand.

With a terrible whirring sound, the divine power infused inside it began to rotate rapidly.

At the drill-like noise, the guild member’s mouth began to gape open. Kang Ihyeon’s incisive final remark followed.

“Starting today, every single day, we’re doing extracorporeal shock wave therapy.”

“Nooooo! Please spare me!”

[The constellation, the Staff of Sanctification, wipes your sweat, saying you worked hard.]

After grabbing the ankle of the screaming guild member and finishing the extracorporeal shock wave therapy, Kang Ihyeon let out a deep sigh.

His shoulders ached from treating others all day.

“But I’m more worried about talking to Mr. Rude after work since there’s only one more person to see today.”

Kang Ihyeon smiled with a furrowed brow.

That hundred-year-old fox must be appealing to Rude’s sympathy by bringing up things like the safety of Korea, national secrets, and Jeong Sooho’s injury, knowing that Rude was unexpectedly a softhearted person.

“Even if he’s rank 6, he’s an S-rank, so he says he can’t handle that? Does that make any sense…… Right now, they’re doing everything they can to make Mr. Rude enter that gate alone.”

Kang Ihyeon rotated his shoulders with a deep sigh and signaled for the next person to come in.

Soon, the door swung open. And someone entered. Kang Ihyeon turned around with a peaceful smile again.

“Hello! Where do you feel discomfort……”

And he froze. Because of the person standing in front of his eyes. Silver hair, blue eyes, about 5cm shorter than Kang Ihyeon.

The guild’s S-rank, Jeong Sooho.

He was politely greeting him with a bow.