As soon as he entered the Gate, the surroundings changed.

Suho glanced around the Gate’s interior and muttered.

“It’s exactly the same.”

It was just as he’d seen in the past.

Thanks to that, Suho could fully realize that he had truly returned to the past.

He looked around at the scattered corpses of goblins lying on the ground.

The goblin corpses had green skin.

They were typical goblins, with slender limbs and bulging bellies.

However, while goblins had been scattered around the Gate’s entrance, the ones inside had been found dead.

Suho knew the reason for this.

Inside, there were special goblins who reigned as predators over the normal ones.

Suho began to move forward, taking slow, steady steps.

After a short distance…

*Squelch.*

The sound was what you’d expect when someone steps carelessly into mud.

The terrain had changed.

The ground was no longer solid but had turned into moist, sticky soil.

The humidity increased as well.

This environment was ideal for those creatures.

And then—

“Keeee…”

“Kiiiii…”

He turned his head at the eerie cries and saw two red-skinned beasts approaching him.

*They’ve finally shown up.*

Suho recognized them.

They were hobgoblins.

They looked similar to goblins, but with red skin, larger builds, and far more aggressive temperaments.

Yes.

This was the reason this Gate was named *Green Red*.

It was due to the creatures’ skin color.

Seeing them, Suho immediately drew his sword.

He began to sprint directly toward them.

“Kirik?”

“Kerik?”

The hobgoblins, noticing Suho, tilted their heads in confusion.

Despite making eye contact with them, he continued to approach, causing their minds to freeze for a moment.

But soon, they raised their weapons, ready for battle.

*Good. That’s exactly how I wanted you to react.*

I knew you wouldn’t run and would come straight at me.

Suho looked at the levels displayed above their heads.

– *Hobgoblin Lv.10*

– *Hobgoblin Lv.12*

Unlike the single-digit-level goblins, these creatures had levels in the double digits.

But so what?

Whether their level was in double digits or single digits, they were still just goblins.

Whether they were ordinary goblins or hobgoblins didn’t matter much.

To my eyes, they were all just insects.

Suho launched himself toward them.

The startled hobgoblins immediately thrust their weapons forward defensively.

*Just as I thought.*

Suho, who had been diving forward, abruptly planted his left foot and halted his charge.

At the same time, he bounced backward, creating a small gap between himself and the hobgoblins who had raised their weapons in defense.

A feint.

Suho used the gap he created to thrust his blade forward like a spear.

The sword pierced perfectly into the eye of one of the hobgoblins.

“Kreeegh!”

Without stopping there, Suho twisted the sword in a full circle.

*With the level difference, my sword might not be able to slice through their skin.*

That’s why he targeted an area with no defense—the eyes.

Of course, if there was a massive level difference or the monster’s attributes were extraordinary, this attack might not work.

*But against mere hobgoblins? Please.*

Suho twisted his sword once more and then pulled it out.

“Keeeeee!”

The hobgoblin, with its eye shredded, fell into a dazed state.

It wasn’t dead.

It wouldn’t die just from having its eye gouged out.

But thanks to that, I now had a one-on-one situation.

The other hobgoblin, startled, quickly withdrew its weapon and swung it at Suho.

But—

*Too slow.*

Suho watched the hobgoblin’s sword and dodged every swing with ease.

He didn’t counterattack.

Suho wanted something from the creature.

After several evasive maneuvers, it happened.

**[You have a high understanding of evasion.]**

**[The system is now assessing your talent.]**

**[Congratulations! You have mastered Dodge (B).]**

Got it.

I finally acquired one of the skills I’d been aiming for.

The Dodge skill was exactly what it sounded like—a skill that lets you evade nearby attacks as soon as you activate it.

Having acquired Dodge, Suho finally drew his sword.

He stopped his evasive movements and began parrying the hobgoblin’s attacks directly.

“Kirik?!”

The hobgoblin had put all its strength into its attack, yet somehow its swings kept missing the target.

It was bewildering.

Enraged, the hobgoblin swung its weapon even harder.

But the result was the same.

No matter how many times it swung, Suho, standing in place, deflected each attack with a few simple parries.

After some time…

**[You have a high understanding of parrying.]**

**[The system is now assessing your talent.]**

**[Congratulations! You have mastered Parry (B).]**

*Parry.*

A skill to deflect the opponent’s attack.

Parrying was a skill with a long history, enough to have dedicated weapons for it.

It was one of the essential skills to master.

Parrying was the foundation for several other critical skills.

Suho nodded to himself, satisfied.

*That’s enough with this one.*

I’d managed to acquire two skills from my first encounter with a hobgoblin.

But anything more seemed unlikely.

The hobgoblin was exhausted.

So I decided to finish it off.

“It was fun.”

*Stab!*

Suho dodged the creature’s attack once again and this time thrust his sword into the side of its neck.

The concentrated force at the tip of the sword pierced through the hobgoblin’s neck, emerging on the other side. Suho twisted the blade again to maximize the damage.

“Krrrrgh!”

The hobgoblin, unable to withstand the pain, collapsed.

**[You have defeated a hobgoblin.]**

The system confirmed the creature’s death.

Suho then approached the other hobgoblin, who was still writhing in pain.

*Stab!*

**[You have defeated a hobgoblin.]**

There was no need to think further about this one.

Suho plunged his sword into the back of its neck, putting it out of its misery.

**[Your level has increased.]**

**[All stats have increased by 1.]**

**[You have received 1 bonus stat point.]**

He had leveled up again.

After distributing the bonus stat to Mana, Suho turned to continue forward.

Or rather, he started to—but then he turned back and stabbed his sword into the chest area of the fallen hobgoblins.

His sword struck something hard, and when he dug around, he pulled out a small magic stone.

It was a D-grade magic stone.

*Well, I should at least collect these.*

Hunters made a living from the various loot obtained from monster corpses and other materials found on monsters.

The most important source of income among these was magic stones.

The value of a magic stone was usually determined by its size, and gems about the size of a thumbnail were typically classified as D-grade.

*Anything smaller would be E-grade.*

At this size, I could sell each one for about 50,000 won.

In the past, I wouldn’t have bothered with collecting magic stones, but now I had to.

I’d returned to the past, and my past self had no money at all.

Oh, and I’d deliberately skipped looting the goblins outside.

Those low-level creatures rarely dropped magic stones, and even if they did, the stones were usually worthless.

After collecting two magic stones, Suho continued moving forward.

He encountered more hobgoblins and began swinging his sword against them.

***

Outside the Gate.

There was chaos outside.

It was rare for an unpredicted Gate to appear in the middle of such a densely populated urban area.

As a result, both private guild hunters and government-affiliated hunters had gathered there, rushing to resolve the situation.

All the monsters around the Gate had been cleared, so the only task left was to enter the Gate and clear it from within.

But to their surprise, someone was already inside, clearing the Gate.

A hunter, frowning, muttered when he found out.

“Who the hell went in without permission? Which guild are they from?”

“Are they begging for a beating when they get out?”

“We’ll make sure they can never work in this field again.”

“If they die in there, it’ll be legendary.”

For unpredicted Gates, unless there were special circumstances, entry was typically determined through on-site bidding, allowing hunters from the bidding organization to enter first.

To hunters, Gates were a precious source of income.

Therefore, the order of entry was crucial.

The moment even one person entered the Gate, it would automatically close. If the Gate were cleared, those left outside would be out of luck, like dogs chasing after chickens.

Just then…

“What? A Healer went in alone?”

“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes.”

A civilian’s report.

But the report was odd.

A Healer entered the Gate alone?

The witness, a firefighter, insisted he saw it with his own eyes, even showing the arrow wound as evidence to support his claim.

“Are you sure there weren’t any other hunters?”

“Yes, he cut down a few goblins nearby, healed my wound, and then just went in alone.”

“That doesn’t make any sense…”

Judging from the level

 of monsters that had been dealt with, the Gate didn’t seem particularly difficult.

Maybe just some green goblins?

But still, a Healer going in alone?

And cutting down goblins on his way in?

Jung Chulmin, the Gate Management Team Leader dispatched by the Korean Hunter Association, furrowed his brows.

Then, he turned to his subordinates and instructed them.

“Stay on standby here and report immediately if there’s any change in the Gate. Report the moment anyone comes out of it.”

“Yes, understood.”

The subordinates responded loudly.

As he heard their voices, Jung Chulmin put a cigarette in his mouth and thought.

*They must have gone in recklessly without understanding the situation. Who would be crazy enough to enter a Gate alone as a Healer?*

*Click-click*

Jung Chulmin lit his cigarette.

He assumed nothing would come of this.

But if, by any chance, this was more than nothing and the Healer actually cleared the Gate alone…

*Then, I’ll make sure we recruit that person, no matter what.*

Jung Chulmin was serious.

On the surface, the nation’s safety seemed to be maintained by the government and private guilds together, but in reality, the government was at the mercy of private guilds.

The reason was simple.

To control the guilds, the government needed enough power… in other words, talented players. But unfortunately, the government couldn’t pay as well as the private guilds.

Although the government offered a substantial salary compared to other agencies, it was still nowhere near what private guilds could provide with all their additional benefits.

As a result, government-affiliated hunters had earned the nickname “Patriotic Pay Warriors.”

Of course, despite the nickname, government hunters—especially field hunters—were genuinely dedicated people filled with patriotism and selflessness.

Without that mindset, they wouldn’t be working here.

For this reason, it was rare to recruit hunters to the association, but Jung Chulmin hadn’t given up.

After all, there were still occasional cases of hunters who joined as government employees.

Jung Chulmin picked up his phone and made a call somewhere.