“Please! I didn’t come here to say that! Listen to me. In Korean, you’re supposed to listen until the end!”

“……”

Rude fell silent for a moment at Kang Ihyeon’s words.

‘That’s right, is that…? Come to think of it… did he finish speaking…?’

[No, our Nari-nari interrupted him halfway~, the Lord of Chaos teases you.]

‘……It seems I might have done that…..’

Feeling a bit guilty, Rude glanced at the cleric and spoke.

“……Kang Ihyeon?”

“Yes……”

His expression was incredibly wronged. Rude finally looked at Kang Ihyeon with a slightly apologetic expression.

“…So, what did you want to say? You should state the main point first, the main point!”

“Well… I can help you, Rude! I want to help you!”

Kang Ihyeon hit his chest a few times with a frustrated expression. This was an unexpected statement. Blinking a few times, Rude spoke with an incredulous expression.

“……Why?”

“Listen! Your mental power negatively affects people’s minds, but my holy power can dispel that. If we act together, it’s like almost all of your restrictions disappear. So……”

“No, so why, why me specifically? Aren’t you affiliated with the temple? And we’ve just met, you know?”

“Well……”

Suddenly, the 3rd stage boss monster, the Lady of White Roses, approached them.

A verbal battle between the 1st and 2nd ranked hunters in front of the monster. The 3rd stage monster tried to interrupt briefly as it watched the hunters instantly enter their own world, but was lightly ignored.

“Oh! That’s right… We’ve just met……”

“Yeah! I’m really confused right now, you know?”

“I’m sorry… I like you so much, Rude… Every time I see your activities, I think about wanting to assist you, and I’ve built up this inner familiarity, so……”

“……What, are you really my fan?”

“Hey kids? There’s a monster here… Hello?”

The Lady of White Roses made an incredulous expression as she watched the shy Kang Ihyeon and Rude, who seemed disbelieving but somewhat pleased.

What are they doing, is this a blind date?

“Hunters? This is a gate. You didn’t come here for a blind date, you know?”

“So it wasn’t a sermon, but you wanted to help?”

“Yes! It would be beneficial in many ways if we act together. I’m such a huge fan that I’ve been researching every day how to best support you, Rude!”

“But that? Here? Inside the gate?”

“I-I’m sorry. If not here, I wouldn’t be able to meet you, and also… as I said, my inner familiarity……”

“Excuse me? The 3rd stage boss is right here? If you defeat me, the real boss appears right away, you know?”

“Okay, I get it. I get it, but don’t you think I’d feel bad if you talk like that? Huh? Next time, be more considerate when you speak. And while your effort is commendable, I don’t collaborate with other hunters.”

“I-I’m sorry. I guess I spoke like that because I was in such a hurry… But I’m really sincere… Ack!!”

Slap!

With the sound of a crisp slap, Kang Ihyeon’s head turned. Once again unable to finish his words, Kang Ihyeon looked to the side.

“When a monster speaks, shouldn’t you look at it!”

The Lady of White Roses was staring at him with her face flushed red and blue.

“Ah, sorry. You’re so insignificant except for the hostage that I forgot.”

“What! I was in the middle of a conversation more important than you right now!”

The Lady of White Roses, the 3rd stage boss, fumed as she looked at Kang Ihyeon, who was holding his cheek unfairly, and Rude, who seemed to have genuinely forgotten.

“Are you looking down on this 4th-grade gate?!”

“Yeah.”

“R-Rude! You shouldn’t say that, it’ll hurt her feelings……”

“Hey! Your words hurt more, blondie! You guys! I won’t forgive you!”

The white roses of the Lady of White Roses, who was angry to the tips of her hair, gradually turned red, and blood-colored rose stems poured out from between her dress.

“Looks like she’s preparing her ultimate skill.”

“Y-Yes……”

“Father! Lord! Look! Their arrogant behavior! Look at how they blindly trust such foolish beings!”

[Lady of White Roses’ Exclusive Skill :: I Only Believe and Follow You]

The rose stems that had been writhing under the skin of the Lady of White Roses began to burst through her flesh all at once. The white petals opened even wider, and droplets of blood formed on the stems that had forcibly pierced through the skin.

“But don’t worry, Father. I will take care of everything you left behind! I will continue your secret garden. Everything you left behind…!”

The droplets of blood on the stems fell, wetting the floor. Not to be outdone, red demonic energy leaked out like smoke from between the fully opened petals. It was a force completely opposite to holy power, like a symbol of evil.

As the red demonic energy seeped into the droplets of blood on the floor, they gradually grew in size and took shape.

The blood droplets filled with demonic energy transformed into monsters with horns on their foreheads, bat-like wings, and bright red eyes without pupils.

They looked similar to demons one might see in an art piece.

“Hah… how troublesome.”

Wanting to finish quickly and go home, Rude touched his neck once and then spoke to Kang Ihyeon.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“You handle this. I’m going to deal with the boss monster.”

“……What?!”

“Why, didn’t you say you wanted to assist me? Then you need to prove your skills.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…! Ah!! W-Where did he go?!”

Kang Ihyeon blocked the demon’s spear that had come close with his sword and threw it far away, then looked around. Rude had disappeared somewhere.

“……I guess I have no choice……”

His cheeks flushed slightly. Prove your skills if you want to assist?

‘Then… conversely, does that mean if I prove my skills here, he’ll let me work with him?’

[The Constellation, Staff of Purification, shakes its head as it says you’re going into another happy circuit.]

“Then I’ll just have to clear this as quickly as possible and prove myself!”

Swish, Kang Ihyeon’s sword cut his palm. As he ran his bloodied palm down the blade, his blood began to transform into golden holy fire.

[Trait :: ‘Unquenchable Flame’ is activated!]

Whoosh, an eternal holy fire that would never be extinguished blazed on his sword. Its mere presence was enough to make the evil demonic energy cower. Not to be outdone, the Lady of White Roses spoke while spewing even more red demonic energy.

“Your flame can’t stop me either. We are always present beside you! I am hidden in your every action! Always!”

[Trait :: ‘Master of Good and Evil’ is activated!] [Holy power gathers around you.]

Golden holy power gathered around him, twinkling. It was a beautiful sight, like fireflies in the dark night.

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit……”

Kang Ihyeon, completely silencing the Lady of White Roses’ words, took out his cross necklace and made the sign of the cross over his chest once. The wound on his palm had already completely healed.

“Amen!”

[Priest-exclusive Basic Skill :: Sign of the Cross (Formula Trinitaria)]

“Kyaaaak!!”

Whoosh, the red demonic energy that had filled the stage began to disappear, starting from around Kang Ihyeon. The blood-colored stems, the reddened monsters, all returned to white, and the beasts that had been extending their claws between the stems vanished.

What remained were the Lady of White Roses and the weakened demon monsters. Somehow, the surroundings were now sparkling with golden holy power.

It would be difficult for any monster to cover this level of holy power with demonic energy again. The tide had already turned in Kang Ihyeon’s favor. And all with just a basic skill, the Sign of the Cross, not even a high-level skill!

“Well then……”

Kang Ihyeon took a stance with his sword blazing with holy fire. His blue eyes were sparkling. He looked like a child eager to be acknowledged by a teacher they adored.

“Shall we begin!”

* * *

“Ugh, really, some weird guy is clinging to me……”

[The Lord of Chaos shrugs, saying he doesn’t seem like a bad guy though.]

Rude, who had immediately opened a dimensional rift to move into the castle, sighed as he rubbed his arm.

‘What a troublesome golden retriever young master suddenly clinging to me……”

Some strange guy suddenly saying he wants to assist… I can’t understand his feelings or situation.

[The Lord of Chaos shrugs, saying that judging by your evaluation, his appearance must be to your liking.]

“No, that guy is too healthy. I prefer someone more pitiful. Someone who looks like they’d burst into tears if you just touched them lightly……”

Wow, what a taste, Rude thought as he cleared away the indirect messages and passed through the gloomy corridor.

“Hmm, anyway.”

Swish, Rude wiped the monster’s blood on his cheek with his sleeve. Then he swung the black half-scissors once to flick off the blood on them.

In a place where armored monsters were all lying collapsed and bleeding, with the corridor nearly half-destroyed, only Rude, emitting an ominous black mental energy, looked around the mountain of corpses with cold eyes.

“Is it all over here?”

[The Lord of Chaos nods, saying there don’t seem to be any surviving monsters in this area.]

“Anyway, it’s all so troublesome… I have to clean the scissors every time. They’ll rust.”

Tsk, Rude sighed as he cleaned the scissors. As soon as he entered, why did he have to draw aggro? As expected, the monsters around the boss room seemed to be high-ranked.

With a flick of his finger, the items spewed out by the monsters were automatically stored in Rude’s inventory.

“Monsters that collapse with just basic skills… getting cocky.”

[The Lord of Chaos shakes its head, saying that’s because you’re ranked first.]

Originally, it was impossible for an illusionist class to stand at the vanguard. Most illusionists supported the team in the form of supporters.

Rude was the only illusionist in the world who could operate solo, able to manipulate explosive mental power mediated by dreams and fear with extreme delicacy.

“Ah, but that cleric… Why didn’t Kang Ihyeon fall for the honey trap? That works on both men and women. He didn’t show any reaction at all, was I really not his type?”

There are differences in taste, but everyone is moved a little in front of absolute beauty. The effect varies depending on how much, which is why the honey trap is called a hit-or-miss skill.

Kang Ihyeon had no reaction to that skill at all. Rude asked the constellation with a slightly puzzled expression. A black indirect message popped up.

[The Lord of Chaos waves its finger, saying there are indeed some targets who are not affected at all.]

“Ah, really? What kind?”

[The Lord of Chaos says to wait a moment as it creates an X-point for presentation.]

Soon, an image that seemed to have been created by the Lord of Chaos itself appeared in front of Rude. There was a blue otter character floating on the background with basic Gungsuh font densely written.

“……You really can’t design at all.”

Rude clicked his tongue at the terrible image that could only be seen in the horrors of group projects, and the Lord of Chaos spammed crying emoticons in indirect messages. Rude cleared away the messages with an expressionless face, saying it was noisy, and then finally read the content carefully.

「Criteria for people who are not affected by honey trap!

1. People who don’t even enter the ‘C’ of your taste (This includes devout clergy!)

2. People who are already head over heels for you, so they don’t care whether you use honey trap or not

3. People who don’t care about external factors at all when it comes to liking someone」

“That goody-two-shoes is obviously the first type. So it was completely useless… I’ll keep that in mind for the future. Thanks.”

[The Lord of Chaos shrugs, saying he doesn’t seem to be that type specifically.]

“Anyway, we’re almost there now.”

Rude, who had crossed over the mountain of countless monster corpses, let out a deep sigh. The place where the boss monster was.

The innermost part of this mansion, the cult leader’s bedroom.

“I wonder why the boss monster is the cult leader but the map is a mansion instead of a temple……”

Wasn’t that what gates were all about, being unpredictable? Rude exerted force to open the massive door. Creeeaaak, the white door slowly opened with the sound of rusty hinges.

[You encounter the 4th grade gate boss monster :: White Fate Cult Leader!]

The boss monster’s room slowly opened. And Rude, who had taken a step forward, opened his eyes wide in surprise.

“……What is this.”