Fantasy Gate Main Thread IC

[The Black Knight]

Duck’s jaw dropped when Ha-eun stood before him unphased. He hadn’t even left a scratch on her armor. His eyes widened in alarm. This was the power of C-rank armor? He took two steps back away from her and felt fear pass coldly through his veins when she summoned a demonic beast. This was supposed to be a battle between E-ranks! He crossed his great axe before his body and the blow he absorbed from her mounted strike sent him flying off his feet with a wail.

Duck landed on his back, baring his teeth in a wince. Sam watched as Ha-eun whirled to finish him off. “Move!” she warned.

Duck looked behind him to see Ha-eun charging. He rolled out of her beast’s path and scrambled on all-fours to flee away from her. “I yield! I yield!” he exclaimed.

Hyun threw back his head and laughed jubilantly into the sky. He couldn’t believe it. Dynasty tied with Spear. He held a thumb up at Ha-eun. “Great job! You never disappoint,” he praised. He then turned his thumb down at Sam. He grinned condescendingly at her. “Why would you send such a trash soldier against Ha-eun? Did you really think he’d stand a chance with such crummy gear?”

Sam walked over to Duck who was on his hands and knees, bowing in his shame.

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant. I couldn’t lay a single scratch on her,” he apologized.

“Raise your head and look at your opponent,” she commanded calmly.

Duck slowly lifted his head and gazed at Ha-eun. Sam told him: “That is who you will need to overcome. Your battle was not a failure for you’re still alive. Take what you’ve learned about the enemy and become stronger. One day, you will defeat her.”

Duck bowed once more. “Yes, Lieutenant. I will train harder.”

“On your feet. Return to formation.”

Sam marched over to Hyun while Duck picked himself up and returned to formation. Hyun crossed his arms and said, “Well, well, looks like we have a draw.”

“I have five soldiers who are able to join you so that you can enter the gate.”

“We’re good. We already have a full team.”

Sam’s brows raised. She looked passed him at the five injured Hunters. “You’ve lost five men.”

“Yeah, we have, but I have more.” Hyun pointed behind him at Rui-Ling and Jeoung. “Five guys, plus me, plus those two, and…” He pointed at two miners. “And those guys over there. That’s ten people!”

Sam frowned as she looked at Rui-Ling and Jeoung. “You’re taking guildless Hunters inside? And miners!?”

“Yep!” Hyun said proudly.

She noticed that one of the miners was the pervert who had been ogling her earlier. Her face flushed red in anger. “Your party won’t last!”

“You already underestimated my guild once. I wouldn’t try doing it a second time. Welp, we got a portal dungeon to run. Nice try Spear,” Hyun bade with a dismissive wave as he approached Rui-Ling and Jeoung. “All right; you two. You’re with us.”

Mqueserasera ERode Misuteeku

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: Sector 22, Seocho
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera

---

Jeoung-eun had expected the last fight to be more intense with the stakes being risen for both Spear and Dynasty. The truth of the situation couldn't be any farther as she watched Ha-eun stand there like a deer in headlights as the Spear Private couldn't even leave a single dent on to her armor. What happened afterwards was surreal. As soon as Ha-eun found an opening to retaliate she had summoned one of the most terrifying horses that Jeoung-eun had seen up to date. She could only assume that Ju Ha-eun had a skill that allowed her to summon the horse considering it popped out of thin air.

The Spear Private seemed to share her sentiment as he immediately wimped out after Ju Ha-eun landed one strike onto him. "Huh, just like that..." Jeoung-eun said to no one is particular. She couldn't exactly blame the Private as the difference between Ju Ha-eun and him was shown by the first blood, if she could even call it a first blood considering no blood was drawn in the first blow, but his team leader annoyed Jeoung-eun, so she criticized him for being weak. If the lower ranks of Spear were filled like people with him, then Jeoung-eun would need to reassess her view of Spear.

Rolling her eyes at the Spear Team Leader's statements, she sighed. It wasn't like anybody was going to die considering the few injured people that littered around the area. Though, perhaps it was her bias was talking. She would work on being a tad bit more patient next time.

Looking over towards the Dynasty Team Leader, she wasn't surprised to see him deciding to pick up 'Woo-Ling,' and herself to replace the missing members of his team. If she didn't know any better, she would have smiled at the opportunity but she wasn't 'Woo-Ling.' She only shrugged at the sight of the Spear Team Leader's anger, whether it was pointed towards her or not, and said to the Dynasty Team Leader, "Sure, is there anything we need to do before joining?" Jeoung-eun asked out of courtesy.

 

[Mqueserasera]

Ju Ha-eun

RANK​	E​
CLASS​	KNIGHT​

HP: 75/75

MP: 100/100

Fatigue: 0/100

Status effect

N/A

Location: Sector 22 - Green Wood Park
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Misuteeku

Looking down at her foe, Ha-eun was expecting something more. Some tenacity or at least desperation. But the man already was crawling away. Her tongue clicked to indicate her annoyance. Sure, the outcome far exceeded her wildest dream before the combat began. And yet, the burning heat of excitement compelled her, almost pushing her to call the man a coward. Something dropped in her chest. Disappointment. Dissatisfaction.

“Whatever,” she grunted quietly and trotted away.

When she had dismounted and positioned herself beside Hyun, who was hungrily capitalizing on the perfect chance to further humiliate the Spear’s captain.

Then she watched with bland eyes the scene between the woman and her underling. She was barely scolding him, a coward as he was. Instead, she played Ha-eun up, as if the E-rank hunter was something of a worthy rival to yearn towards.

“Drama queen,” she muttered. But of course, shame is a difficult thing to admit. Rather than say her man was weak as hell, the leader woman had cited Ha-eun as something to overcome indeed.

Hyun’s sudden suggestion pulled her out of the simmering rage.

“Those two?” she nodded in approval of his suggestion. The girl was getting a bit uppity after her first victory as a hunter. “Good call, leader. I’d rather have them than the lame-ass Spear.”

And she turned to the strangers. To the girl, she beamed, recalling the simple gesture of encouragement she was given. “Welcome to the team, I’m sure you will be tempted to join after one hunt with us.”

 

[DuckPrince]

Name: Chin-Mae Jun
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: Sector 10, Inside Hanyoung Highschool
Tag: Twist Megilagor

Chin-Mae offered a smile at the blondie that introduced himself, walking along as he was tugged. He didn't expect to be questioned already but it made him chuckle, smiling. "Is that so, puppy boy?" He hummed, making his way up to the 3rd floor as they spoke. "I was born a man and I use male pronouns, but that doesn't impact what I wear." He smiled. "You're not half bad either." He winked before looking at the others. "We should let the rescue team search around, we need to head to the Gate and work on closing it before more monsters decide to pop out and cause another massacre.."

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: 22 [Seocho] - Green Wood Park
Mentions: The Black Knight Mqueserasera Misuteeku

---

For all the drama that was set up between have a score of 4-5 and being the anchors of each respective team, determining whether Spear would be the victor or Dynasty would tie with them, Rui-Ling was disappointed that the actual fight turned out to be heavily anti-climatic.

It was, ultimately, just the difference between the philosophies of the respective Guilds. Dynasty granted C-rank gear to all members, raising up the ‘floor’ of their guild up. Spear only granted higher-rank gear to those with a higher internal rank, establishing and reinforcing the strict hierarchy within the guild. Unfortunately, while with skill alone, Spear’s members had demonstrated that they could overcome a difference in the quality of gear, in the end, it led to situations like this, where the poor widdle Duck wasn’t physically capable of getting past Ha-eun’s armor. Truly, a tragedy. Rui-Ling would pray for his soul, and hope that the lad doesn’t break himself trying to surpass the cruel, arbitrary metrics of this changed world.

Such pity would be left for later though. Twisted fate and fortuitous circumstance had him and Jeoung-eun accepted into the portal dungeoning group after all, and Rui-Ling did a little mental cheer at that. “Gratz on the win, sis!” he said, offering Ha-eun a fist. “The diff couldn’t’ve been any clearer.” The bubbly boy turned to Jeoung-eun after. “And does that mean I won the bet? Or do we do halfsies, with the draw n all?”

He was, after all, a man with bountiful mercy. He’ll give the tall brunette a way out.

 

[Haze-]

Name: Jwan Min-Jee
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Location: Sector 10 - Hanyoung Highschool
Tag: Heyitsjiwon DuckPrince The Black Knight Twist Megilagor Pseudo-nim (?)


“I think we should get going then,” – Min-Jee wouldn’t look at Jiwon, she seemed to not realize how much she was holding onto her breath. Listening in for cues, rescue personnel gathering, checking pulses, restless scramble of feet ahead of her. Her eyes just couldn’t stop to sweep the entrance, she kept everything zoned out. All that background noise was soon drowned out by the only solace she knew best. Oddly, there was no particular trace of release in Min-Jee’s movements this time around. She fixed her earbuds.

Now Playing. . .

Just the same old put-on equanimity. That always did some numbers – “If we hurry it up we might get to the gate before anything else happens.” – Silence and feigned impassiveness, nothing else.

The mere act of walking through the front doors left a nauseating sense for a while, finding herself in a struggle not to flinch at that same feeling of eyes burning on her back – Then with a deep breath, came the tunnel vision. She kept glaring at the floor as if trying to count every imperfection on their way to the upper floors. If she didn’t value it on a personal level, if she didn’t acknowledge that there were people attached to the legs protruding occasionally from the corner of her eye, it wouldn’t make her feel as sick. Min-Jee could recall times where her dad came back home all beaten up, talking like a war veteran. Ramblings about faces starting to appear as nothing but statistics, some names on an obituary. She didn’t get it back then, – And she surely didn’t want to find out if she did now – her eyes remained down.

A moment, maybe a couple of minutes later, something broke her out of that eternal loop of just walking – “Agh…” – She groaned. A hunter’s shout had bounced around the empty halls, breaking the sepulchral quiet and getting a trademark pierce-into-your-soul stare out Min-Jee. Of course, she wanted to flavor the whole scene with the snarky reply this awkwardness more or less demanded, but she was busy figuring out how her tiny group grew into a herd all of a sudden. She went from shadowing behind Jiwon to reuniting with Chin-Mae, who’d been practicing mitosis, it seemed. The group of hunters here easily outnumbered the ones back at the classroom, struck as more capable, gear-wise, too.

Another row of introductions didn’t sit well with her, even if she willed herself to do it, there was this certain feeling of ease in being a third party in an ongoing back and forth, senseless banter, that always drove her to just – Hang in there, apart from the group yet still there in a way; detached from the complications of socializing. Didn’t mean she would be spending her time in awkward silence. Kills the mood, was her thought on it – “If they do come out of the gate, we have our own monster up there ready to deal with them. Things won’t get as drastic here; we should be worrying about what’s waiting on us on the other side of the portal. We’re punching way above our weight.” – Min-Jee chimed in, breaking it down as if she were explaining the most morbid game of chess known to humankind.

She stopped to look around. Every monster had left a trace in these halls. From dented compartments, abandoned flecks of a blonde mane. Breadcrumbs leading up those stairs, setting in with the stagnant silence, ominous as the usual sightseeing’s she’d had the displeasure to partake in at this school.

Worry about that later, she thought.

“Oh, and- Hi again, Mae.” – Her serious expression softened into a smile, raising a hand out of her pocket and gesturing a light-hearted wave at the fancy-dressed boy. Still incapable of not musing over his fashion sense, even after he’d changed to his hunter fit. Was he from a wealthy background? A model? She had no clue. All she knew was that out of all the people here, she was the only one not sporting some medieval flair. To this thought, she motioned as if to shrug on a coat, a flock of crows coming to her and becoming that of a black-feathered cape.

Her jacket and denim pants were still shown and mixed in with her usual hunter outfit, but now she appeared to fit in with everyone else.

A couple more minutes of walk later and she was squinting at the sunrays hailing down on her from open doors leading to the roof, peering over with each step up the stairs in attempts to try and catch a glimpse of – Anything. They were wide open, flung brutally, possibly by something that didn’t know how to handle modern doors. On the other side, standing guard on the portal, there was a hunter donning a blue suit, somehow more formal than the news reporter downstairs.

She knocked twice on what remained of the doors to get his attention – “Pardon the intrusion,” – Min-Jee paused to stare at him, not knowing if that glimmer dredged into her eyes came from sunlight or if he was just that awe-striking. People carried this feel about them sometimes, she was good at reading those – All she could feel when she looked at this man was pure pressure, though – “We’ve dealt with the monsters on the lower levels. All that’s left is…” – She nodded at the iridescent rift staring back at them.

“We came here to see if you could use some help.”

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: Sector 22, Seocho
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera

---

"We'll see until then," Jeoung-eun replied with a smile. While she didn't like the idea of being in a guild that'd require time which she couldn't spare, she'd suppose gaining some hunting experience as well as literal experience would prove beneficial for her long-term.

Her eyes temporarily followed 'Woo-Ling,' as he practically skipped towards the knight and shook her head. "Congratulation as well, sorry for not saying that first," Jeoung-eun said after 'Woo-Ling.' She still found the pink ball of flamboyant energy to be annoying. People like him were rare in the world, which made them all the more tiresome to deal with since they were rather unpredictable. Though, if someone were like 'Woo-Ling,' she wouldn't mind tolerating their presence. Begrudgingly, Jeoung-eun had to admit that he was smart, clever, and knew how to work his way around.

Frowning, she took out her 5000 won bill from her wallet. "We'll have to do it in half since it was a draw. It was a 5-5 score after all." She handed it over to 'Woo-Ling.' "You'll need to give me change since I don't have anything smaller than 5000 won." It was true; she only had one 5000 won bill and a multitude of coins that she didn't bother to count. She quickly looked at Ha-eun. "And for the record, he bet on Dynasty first, I had little choice in the manner."

Then another revelation hit her. "Wait... what did you bet with?" Jeoung-eun said slowly. Looking over towards the thief, she had a glint in her eye that yelled, "I'm going to murder you if you say nothing." This was the third time that she was tricked again, and three was more than a charm. Wait, she needed to be calm. She couldn't let one pink-haired man get the best of her. She needed to temporarily focus on something else...

"Aside from our little bet, I'm afraid we haven't introduced ourselves," Jeoung-eun said as she grabbed 'Woo-Ling's' shoulder. "My name is Nam Jeoung-eun, and this is..." She paused for a moment as she looked over towards 'Woo-Ling.' She didn't want to be informal, but looks like she had little choice. "And this is 'Woo-Ling.'

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Name: Sophia Hughes
Rank: E
Class: Thief
Location: Sector #10 Hanyoung High School - entrance
Tag: none yet

"I... am, sorry, misss. Thizz, place.. is not, for tourist. Understand?" One of the police guarding the way to the school raised his eyebrows and tried to speak in broken english when a particular figure showed up in front of them. It's a caucasian girl wearing a sundress and large straw hat, she was also carrying a tote bag filled with canvas and paints while a digital camera was hanging from her neck. Sophia didn't meant to looks like a tourist but she was in a hurry, she even cancelled her painting session midway and forced her scooter to speed through the city just so she could get here in time. Looks like she's a bit late though.

"I can speak Korean, thank you. Also, I'm a hunter." She showed the police her license. Said police just grinned at his own mistake and let her in. Sophia gave him a nod and drove her scooter into the parking lot, she left all her luggages there and walked towards the main building.

She knew there would be a lot of death, but she didn't expect this much. Bodies scattered throughout the front yard and even before entering the main building Sophie could smell the strong scent of blood from inside. She felt her body shivering and wanted to puke, but she hold it inside. Her left hand moved quickly as if she's touching some sort of invisible screen and the next second she had changed into her ninja garb, which conveniently came with a mouth mask to help her with the smell of the blood.

"May your souls rest in the cosmos." She kneeled in front of the bodies and let out a series a quick gestures. First, she crossed both of her arms in front of her and made a '+' sign then she tilted the gesture while maintaining its position to made an 'x' sign with her arms. It was a simple but meaningful symbol that was supposed to invoke the Star of Chaos, a symbol of entropy and Evologist's universal logo. Unfortunately, since neither entropy or evologist were well known in South Korea most people would probably think it was some sort of ultraman pose or Jojo reference. Whatever. She just wanted to give the unfortunate souls some quick prayers.

 

[Mqueserasera]

Ju Ha-eun

RANK​	E​
CLASS​	KNIGHT​

HP: 75/75

MP: 100/100

Fatigue: 0/100

Status effect

N/A

Location: Sector 22 - Green Wood Park
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Misuteeku

Ha-eun’s frustration had cooled off somewhat when she bumped the guy’s fist. He seemed friendly, a bit overfamiliar. But also a company you can relax around. Her opinion on him had improved drastically after the fight. Perhaps it was his flattery. Something she couldn’t get enough of. Sure, her gears did all the work, but who would deny a well-timed compliment?

“Ah, it’s nothing much of a fight, really. You saw all that,” she answered the girl with a dismissive shrug, and yet the broadening smile on her face told another tale.

Then she watched the little exchange between the two about a bet. Something in their bickering gave off an impression of old friends.

“Jeong-eun, and Woo-Ling, right? You two looked like you would work well together, so how about this, when we’re in there I’ll go first, and you two can cover me,” she scratched her head and look away to her guildmates, “to be honest, I’m not entirely used to working with the other guys. Kind of a loner you see…” (More like a tag-along,) “but point is, since you ain’t gonna coordinate that well with my guildmates either, we should just stick together, watch each other’s backs and stuff.”

It was almost a foolproof plan. Her guildmates would never give her the time of the day even if she asked. But the portal would be much less threatening if she could secure these two’s help.

 

[Flare]

Name: Florence Arthur
Rank: E
Class: Archer
Location: Sector 11, saeloun sidae Restaurant (second floor apartment)
Tag: The Black Knight

The door latches closed behind, a cheap apartment lap clicks on. A soft brown, leather knife roll in placed on the side table in the entry. Florence kicks off his shoes and steps into his house slides as he makes his way down the hall. Faint clanging of dishes can still be heard from below. The dish washer was still hard at work finishing the morning prep clean up. removing his dirty work shit and throwing his cellular down on his sofa he began changing to get ready for the gym. when the phone hit the cushion the screen lit up and the notification that had been silenced appeared on the screen. "25 minutes ago, HUNTERS!" Notification was still on his screen. "Hell!" He thought as he picked up the phone, checking the details. "Hanyoung Highschool Rift, Sector 10".

"Sector 10? that would be just west of here? How did I not see it in the sky!? I can still make it and help out, I can still go to my first rift!" He exclaimed. His stomach was heavy with nerves, but the adrenaline and ignorant excitement carried him around the room as he got into his Hunter issued gear. With no car and limited knowledge of the city he recently moved to, all of this was fairly new to him. The Rifts in particular, was daunting enough, but what was the best way to get there? after suiting up and rushing out the hallway door he crossed paths with his uncle. "Boy! Are you running off to that rift?" He snarled as Florence darted past. "Yeah! Wish me luck, I'll make sure we have plenty of money!" he exclaimed, catching the wing of his bow on the hallway wall. His uncle, Baron walked to the wall where the bow had scrapped. Shaking his head and catching the lost sight of Florence as he ran down the stairs. Worried about what trouble the Rift could bring upon his family he could only sarcastically yell "You better not mess up that knife hand of yours!!". However the only thing on his mind was "Please, let that boy come back alive...". His eyes became misty and he imagined Florence as a young boy. After taking him in from his younger brother, who tragically died when he was young. He brought Florence here after he graduated Culinary school.

On the streets, Florence darted down the busy street and looked at his phone for directions. it won't take me long, the portal looks pretty close. I hope they save some for me! He continued dashed around corners and jogging the side streets trying to find his way as fast as he could. Blissfully unaware of how wrong things could go in this city, after all. Even back in America, he never paid much attention to the Rifts. It didn't take long, he reached the sector 11 end and proceeded his way through to sector 10.

 

[DuckPrince]

Name: Chin-Mae Jun
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: Sector 10, Inside Hanyoung Highschool
Tag: Megilagor The Black Knight

Mae looked up at the familiar voice. "Oh, hello again, Min-Jee." He offered her a light smile before he rubbed the back of his neck once they were staring at the gate before them. "I have to be honest.. I do feel a touch nervous going in, but it must be done.. are you ready, Min-Jee?" He asked softly, looking at her after nodding to the finely dressed man that was already there. From the Hunter association, most likely.

 

[Megilagor]

Name: Narae "Hana" Haneul
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: Sector 10, Hanyoung HighSchool
Tag: Twist , Haze- , DuckPrince

Hana replied to Mae when they came to the roof.
"Hey I'm no puppy boy, although that would be nice. Having a tail and ears would be weird but exciting!"
Said young Hana with enough passion in his eyes that if he really had that tail it would be wagging all over the place.
After a little while he composed himself.
"Yeah boss we are here to help!"
Was what left his mouth, and at the sight of new people Hana got even more excited but he tried not showing it, as that might make him appear in a bad light.

 

[The Black Knight]

Seung Ryu had been standing before the C-Gate waiting beyond his patient limits for these E-rank hunters to reach the roof. The high school could have been its own dungeon with how long it had taken them. When he heard the voices of what sounded like the first batch of hunters to arrive top-side, Seung leaned to his left to peek around the wall of the staircase.

"What took you all so long?" he asked irritably. He could have gone inside and probably cleared the dungeon by the time they had cleared the school (if there hadn't been a party requirement), but he wasn't trying to deprive the Defenders of Earth experience. The more experienced Hunters there were in Seoul, then the easier it would become dealing with all of the portals.

"This better not be it," he grumbled. "Did the rest withdraw? You know in higher ranked gates, you could go in with a group and come out the only one alive. It takes tough skin to be a Hunter, and it's not for everyone."

He tucked his hands into the pockets of his dress pants. "I'll give the rest some time to get here. In the meantime, I want to hear your strategy. I am a high-ranked hunter, but I will only be dealing with the threats you aren't strong enough to deal with. Some of you could still get hurt or killed. The best way to prevent that is to organize your party and make sure everyone knows their job."
Heyitsjiwon Twist Heterological Pseudo-nim Haze- Spoiled Bread Megilagor DuckPrince Flare

 

[Dhruv_The _Quiet]

Name: Sameer Vadlamani
Rank: E
Class: Warrior
Location: Sector 21 in the dorms of Seoul University.
Tag: The Black Knight


Putting some finishing touches on his work, Sam leans back against his chair. Wondering how his family is doing back in India, he lets himself get lost in his thoughts.

"I hope Varun has gotten over me leaving him in India to study here, he didn't even speak to me the last time I called. Speaking of which I really should call them again. I eventually do have to tell them that I am also a hunter."

Feeling stifled and bored in the dorm room, Sam decides to explore Seoul more. Even though the one-year anniversary of his stay in Korea was fast approaching, he barely scratched the surface of all it had to offer. Sam learned that trying to come up with a plan of what he wanted to do for the day was annoying and time-consuming. Acting on an impulsive idea, Sam decides to take the first bus he sees and get off at a random station. Cafes and other little shops flashed past as he looked out the window he rested his head against. Reading the news for a while and then looking out the window again, Sam spent the ride in blissful peace and song.

Street lights, woah-woah
These lights burn so bright, woah-woah
Out here on these city nights, woah-woah
These lights burn so bright, woah-woah

So I hit the pub like 8:33, with £45 and a packet of wriggelys extra - just like a metal detector
Scenning for coins in my wallet to pay for my pint of becks
Next I move from the bar with my jar to the far corner of the room
Boom - one pint down now its time for round two
Put your hands in your wallet 'cause this pints on you​

 

[Dhruv_The _Quiet]

Name: Sameer Vadlamani
Rank: E
Class: Warrior
Location: Sector 10, Han river bank
Tag: The Black Knight


Turns out that getting on a random bus can take you to places you didn't know about.

"Surprise, I don't know where I am."

Looking at the GPS on his phone, Sam manages to find out where he stopped.

"Seems like I ended up in Mapo-gu. Let's see what this place is famous for.

Exploring for a while, Sam finds a lot of interesting places hidden in nooks and crannies. After a while, Sam starts walking in the general direction of the Han river, finished with his exploring for the day. Headphones blasting a mix of his favorite songs, he strolled along the riverside, wondering how different life was before he came to Korea. He wouldn't have had the courage to go out like this, his parents would never have let him. Well he was his own person now so he wanted to enjoy it.

Ding!​

The sound broke Sameer out of his reminiscing, shocking him into action. After all, the scant few apps he allows notifications for are all the important ones. Pulling up the notification screen, he notices the new warning about the new gate that opened up at a high school. Looking up the location, Sam skims through the article while running towards the school. Coincidentally it was quite close to where he was.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Name: Sophia Hughes
Rank: E
Class: Thief
Location: Sector #10 Hanyoung High School - rooftop
Tag: The Black Knight Heyitsjiwon Twist Heterological Pseudo-nim Haze- Megilagor DuckPrince Flare Dhruv_The _Quiet

Walking through the carnage, Sophia could only try her best to held her breath and calm down her shaking hands. She tried to distract her mind by reminding herself of why she came here: to gather exp. She had been trying to catch a portal since several weeks ago but whenever one appear it would be either be too far away or too hard for her. This C-rank portal might also be too high for her now but she thought it would still be doable and she didn't want to wait for another tragedy like this to happen. Reaching the rooftop, the girl spotted several other people already gathered there. Seemed fo be assembling a team to go into the portal. A perfect opportunity for her to join.

"Excuse me, but may I join?" Sophia slipped into the conversation and placed her hand on her chest to introduce herself. "My name is Sophia. I should also tell that I have never venture into a portal before so my numbers might be a bit low. However, I believe I'm well read on what to do during a fight and will try to contribute to the best of my abilities."

 

[Dhruv_The _Quiet]

Name: Sameer Vadlamani
Rank: E
Class: Warrior
Location: Sector 10, Hanyoung High School - rooftop
Tag: The Black Knight Heyitsjiwon Twist Heterological Pseudo-nim Haze- Megilagor DuckPrince Flare Spoiled Bread


Reaching the school building, Sam looks on, horrified at the remnants of a massacre before him. That scene just reinforced his decision of becoming a hunter. If he could prevent such disasters from happening again, it would all be worth it. The money is just an added bonus. He materialises his armour and weapons, getting ready for a battle. Quite a few people look at him in a odd manner, eyeing the apparant lack of protection his 'costume' provided. On his way up to the gate, he overhears someone mention that the gate was a C ranked gate. That made him pause for a moment before he resumed his climb to the rooftop. He wouldn't let the danger stop him.

Upon reaching the rooftop, Sameer finds a group of hunters already gathered. He notices a hunter introducing themselves to the group. Seems like he wouldn't be the only new hunter on scene. He walks up to the group to introduce himself.

"Uh, hi. Could I join as well? I am Sameer, but you can call me Sam. I also have not participated in the subjugation of a portal before but I do believe I can contribute to the battle. I am a close combat fighter and I have studied the rules regarding combat in a portal extensively."

 

[DuckPrince]

Name: Chin-Mae Jun
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: Sector 10, Hanyoung Highschool - rooftop
Tag: The Black Knight Heyitsjiwon Twist Heterological Pseudo-nim Haze- Megilagor Flare Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet

Chin-Mae looked at the not particularly friendly hunter overseeing the gate before he glanced at the two new additions. Perfect, now they had 10 people necessary to enter. "Of course, Sophia, Sam, you're just in time. I'm Chin-Mae, or Mae since it's less of a mouthful, I'm an E rank Healer." He introduced himself.

Looking at the others, the young man with his hair in a braided bun and vibrant bardic clothing sighed a light bit. "I have a targeting healing spell and an enemy debuff I can cast with my lyre. Otherwise I use a shortsword to defend and attack if necessary." He told the temporary group. "I hope we can take care of each other well, I will do my best to heal as my abilities allow."

 

[Megilagor]

Name: Narae "Hana" Haneul
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: Sector 10, Hanyoung HighSchool
Tag:
The Black Knight , Heyitsjiwon , Twist , Heterological , Pseudo-nim , Haze- , Flare Spoiled Bread , Dhruv_The _Quiet , DuckPrince
"Hey, new guys. I'm Narae Haneul, but you can call me Hana." Said cheerfully to the new arrivals to the rooftop.
Then Hana turned to Mae and whispered to him.
"I'm also a healer but sadly I don't have any healing skills yet."
Hana then slowly backed away from Mae with a bit of sorrow in his eyes before he began to speak yet again but this time loud and clear.
"Ok everyone, let's just set base rules, those with ranged abilities or fighting styles to the back, those with shields, and melee weapons to the front. If anyone has spears go behind the people with spears and stab the enemy. Also always protect the healers if they die then welp we might die. Is everyone ok with that or has anything to add to it?"
While he might have looked confident to others most of his knowledge was from playing games and looking at old strategy books like Sun Tzu's '' Art of War''.

 

[Heyitsjiwon]

Name: Park Jiwon
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Location: Sector 10, Hanyoung HighSchool
Tag: Twist Heterological Pseudo-nim Haze- Flare Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet DuckPrince The Black Knight

---

Jiwon found himself walking back into the school and going up the stairs of the school. He did his best to keep his eyes straight ahead of him and not wandering around. The scenes in the hallways were pretty gruesome. There was no need to torture himself by forcing himself to look at them, so he did his best to just look straight ahead as he climbed up the stairs as the sanguine, iron like smell of blood permeated through the school. At the rooftop, Jiwon gave a nod to the Hunter Association representative and said "Just had to take some time to make sure that the school was clear and that the survivors were getting the care that they need."

He then looked at the other hunters around him and said "I'm Park Jiwon. Rank E Mage. Thankfully, I know a few spells that should hopefully help us out in the portal, but I really don't know what to expect in there... I haven't entered a portal yet. Anyways, I'm not a brick wall like the teacher we saw back in the first floor, so I'm going to have to stay back a bit. However, if any of you start to get overwhelmed, then I should be able to easily help you out with my magic, or send in one of my summons, like Shiro here, to help you out." as he then reached over to scratch the back of Shiro's ears. "Though, it might be a better idea if I save up my energy and mana to try and fight the bigger guys rather than the small fries. These spells that I know aren't exactly the easiest to cast."

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: 22 [Seocho] - Green Wood Park
Mentions: The Black Knight Mqueserasera Misuteeku

---

As the realization dawned upon Jeoung-eun’s eyes, Rui-Ling’s face stretched out into the smuggest Cheshire-grin that he could manage and he bounced a couple steps away from her. Shooting a wink and forming a heart with his hands, he said, “You bet money, so I bet love~ Poetic, isn’t it?” And, just to symbolize the halfsies that were going to have to be exchanged, he split that heart-gesture in half and pushed one hand towards the brown-haired girl, as if encouraging her to complete the other half. “Tragically though,” Rui-Ling said, “I don’t have any change on me right now, so I guess we’ll just have to hold off this til later, Jeoung-eun.”

That was probably a safe enough resolution for this, playing off the bet as a joke. As much as he needed to pay his rent, Rui-Ling wasn’t so desperate for cash that he’d risk a knife in the back inside a portal over a mere 5,000 won, after all. And if she ended up being more prideful than he expected? Well, he’d have change after this.

With the Jeoung-Lin Comedy Show concluded, the pink-haired youth turned his attention back to Ha-eun, eyebrows raised slightly at her offer. For someone who had rapport with the leader, and who looked to have been the anchor for Dynasty, Rui-Ling had expected the girl to have more status amongst her peers. Maybe it was just a coincidence that she went last though? Or maybe all the other Dynasty E-rankers were just too shy. That’d be a cute little gap for what looked otherwise to be a gang of ruffians.

“No probs with that, sis,” Rui-Ling said. “I’d recommend still getting friendly with your actual guildmates, but I’m fine with watching your back and everything this time around…but on one condition.”

His gaze became deadly serious, and his voice dropped a whole two octaves down, as if he was gargling gravel in the back of his throat.

“My name is Rui-Ling. Can you pronounce the ‘R’?”

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: Sector 22, Seocho
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera

---

This man...

If she didn't have the patience of a saint, she would have grabbed 'Woo-Ling,' by the collar and shook him relentlessly. This man was on a whole new level in terms of frustration that Jeoung-eun had faced. No, it would be proper to say that he created an entirely new layer on her frustration pyramid, that being at the very top of it. "You bet on love?" She said, a little bits of frustration escaping from her otherwise composed expression. She stared at his half-heart hand before sighing and putting the 5000 won back into her wallet. "I suppose so, though just for the record, I don't take 'love' in bets." That was the last thing she needed for her new job.

She had to find a way to deal with 'Woo-Ling,' before she had any more stress accumulated by his mere presence. It was mostly due to Jeoung-eun's lack of social skills. While she could read the customers that came in the 7/11 well enough, it was hard to read people like 'Woo-Ling.' People like him always had something in the back of their mind.

Turning around to face Ju Ha-eun, Jeoung-eun had a rather distasteful on her face. 'Woo-Ling,' and her? She shook her and decided to promptly ignore that comment. "That'd be great; seeing your battle against the Spear member tells me that we'd be good hands with you around," Jeoung-eun said as she complimented the knight. Seeing how Ju Ha-eun reacted to 'Woo-Ling's,' complimented told her that Ju Ha-eun liked to receive praise. This fact was reinforced when she personally came to greet them after the battle. That, or was she was incredibly friendly. "Though I would agree with 'Woo-Ling,' you should find more people to rely on your guild." Espescially after this event, Ju Ha-eun's reputation would be improved in the Dynasty Guild.

It would be good to make friends with Ju Ha-eun. She seemed amiable and easy to work with compared to her loud and ruffian commander. It would also be great having another person to work with aside from a certain someone that was standing next to her that was grinning.

Then the most disturbing thing entered her ears. 'Woo-Ling's-' No, rather, Rui-Ling's voice dropped faster than a boulder sliding down a cliffside. Jeoung-eun was momentarily surprised but regained her composure. "Then, I'd like to apologize. It's my fault for not hearing your name for the first time." Jeoung-eun said calmly as she looked at the pink-haired man. She did a small bow to Rui-Ling before returning back to standing up straight. "And also, you still haven't told me your full name. It's informal to regard each other without knowing each other's full name."

"Though, I suppose we should discuss what we should do and what are we able to do in the upcoming gate." She had little to no experience, and she highly doubted reading an article on the internet would prepare her for a real-life situation. She didn't bother to look at Ju Ha-eun since she had already shown what she could do during the skirmish with Spear. She was a tank of some sort, maybe a warrior or knight, that would prove essential to their survival. The one she was looking at was Rui-Ling. While he was clever and tricky, she didn't know how this would translate into a battle of survival.

"I'm a Healer; however, I lack the proper skills to perform my job properly," Jeoung-eun said bluntly, getting it around the way that she was technically useless. Aside from her basic magical ranged attacks, she couldn't contribute to her role due to the lack of skills. "I hope I wouldn't be much of a burden through all of this." In other words, she was shamelessly saying that she needed to be carried through the gate. She hoped that Ju Ha-eun's squad leader was at least resourceful enough to help them gain some experience.

 

[Haze-]

Name: Jwan Min-Jee
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Location: Sector 10 - Hanyoung Highschool
Tag: Twist Pseudo-nim Heyitsjiwon Heterological Flare Spoiled Bread DuckPrince The Black Knight Dhruv_The _Quiet Megilagor



“Am I ready?” – She paused for a moment at Chin-Mae’s question. Oddly rhetorical, yet she found some seriousness in the bard’s inquiry – “I mean, yeah. Look ‘how confident I am.” – Min-Jee raised a trembling hand out of her pocket, made a fist and stuffed it back inside – “Okay, maybe a bit too dramatic… We’ll be fine. Maybe. 50/50” – She shrugged.

Cry about it, the words almost rolled off her tongue, but she hung on that first ‘C’. Her eyes narrowing with pure tire as she let out only a faint grunt, as though she’d caught a hit in the gut, flinching a little at Seung Ryu’s words.

Guy had some nerve. It was as if he’d completely glossed over the fact that there were people, students and teachers, in danger down there. Surprisingly, she found some will within to give a sheepish response, her tone coming off awfully more neutral than ever before – “Sorry for the wait, boss.” – Min-Jee added after Jiwon, as curt and simple as she could.

She trailed off the group to check her phone, close enough to still hear more complaints – “I count ten.” – Words were slung behind her. One hand came out of her pocket to gesture over to the new faces that had just so conveniently walked up the stairs after Ryu’s spiel. Not bothering to look back, she was busy doing numbers. Instead looking up at the clouds, checking how far the sun had gone in its everflow. The sky wasn’t entirely orange yet, more of a monotone greyish veil. She spent some more time trying to decide if it was fully grey, wondering if it was just a bit of blue playing around its in-betweens, or if she’d hit that point of drowsiness were the perception of time began feeling strange. Her head swiveled to the side; she closed her eyes and allowed that overwhelming tire to spread into a sigh.

Grey. Blue. Orange. Pitch black – Who gives a shit, she technically still had some spare time left before her family started to wonder if she was just late or had slept through her alarm, some extra time before they started to worry that she wouldn’t make it. That's a bonus.

She shrugged it off, placed an alarm at the exact moment she was supposed to arrive at the dinner party and headed towards the group. It wouldn’t exactly go off inside the dungeon, given the time warping shenanigans and all, but whenever it was that she came out, she would know if she’d missed it. Min-Jee would be there either way.

Lo and behold, she didn’t have time to worry about anything else. There were more introductions to be made – “I’m Jwan Min-Jee.” – She started – “I’ve been to a couple of dungeons and I’m technically a mage but eh… I don’t really do any flashy stuff or spells. ‘Think I’d fall more into the ‘Witch’ category.” – Seeing how everyone was practically speaking RPG language, she picked up on it fast.

Rightfully so, she found it odd, yet not so out of place for some reason – “I can pick off the annoying small fry so that everyone else focuses on the big ones, I’ll try my best to protect our healers while I’m at it. I could also play bait so that our warriors can get some good hits in.” – Almost on cue; a crow broke out of her cape and landed perfectly on Min-Jee’s head, croaking, jumping – Whatever birds do – as though reminding her: ‘Hey! We can take a hit for free!’

It spoke a lively croak, rustled her hair. The thing was nesting.

Her eyes twitched at the feeling of pecking, ever so slight clawing and strands of hair mercilessly pulled by the crow. She remained a stone cold killer, though. Didn’t even flinch before she smashed the bird into a puff of feathers – “That’s about all. Plan sounds good, too, Hana.” – She grumbled, getting the top of her hair back in order. Needless to say that there were plenty other environmental hazards to go around, the type that could render the simplistic functionality of their plan useless, but that was something she could leave in the trusty hands of her future self. Present self was too busy betting on which exaggeration of a climate they would be thrown at. Given the fur, clubs, and cavemen demeanor of the monsters; she figured it’d most likely be some form of Tundra, maybe even one of those endless caves.

Those were always fun,

Shit…

About as cold as the unforgiving winter, only grittier and darker.

 

[Firelie]

Name: Evdokia Vladyslavivna Pashchenko
Rank: E
Class: Knight
Location: Sector 20, Seoul Hyoje Elementary School
Tag: The Black Knight

---

"Thank you, thank you!" Eva chimed cheerily to passing elementary grade children. Evdokia had just finished a performance in the Soul Hyoje Elementary Gymnasium, and was currently still in her performers attire out in the adjacent hallway. Excited children surrounded her, demanding to know the secrets behind her performance. "Am sorry children, cannot tell. Am bound by Magician code." She spoke with her thick Ukrainian accent through less than stellar Korean. She grinned to the small crowd and put a gloved finger to her lip in an exaggerated hush. "Buuuuut!" She spun around on a heel and snatched up the magic kit upon the table. "We have special beginners kit!" She wiggled the extravagantly labelled plastic sealed box with a hearty grin. "You buy online, make sure to ask parents!" The children looked up at the box, and as they began to close in on the young magician to try to just take it from her, an exasperated teacher came in from behind shooing all of the tiny savages away from the young magician. The small crowd dispersed with disappointed awwwwww's. Evdokia waved goodbye as the group left the gymnasium building leaving her alone in the air conditioned hallway. Evdokia took in a deep breath and released, just taking in that pleasant feeling that came after a successful performance. For just a moment she basked in that feeling before being interrupted by the sound of her muffled ringtone from within her performance bag. She kneeled down and undid the buttons of the colorful bag and pulled out the outdated flip-phone, snapping it open and holding it to her ear.

"Hello, Evdokia Vladtslavivna Pash-"

....

"Oh Uncle! Hi hi! Whats up? Oh yeah, I just finished up at that elementary school, it was such a fun perfo-" She rambled cheerily, switching to Ukrainian upon finding out who was on the other end of the phone.

...

"Huh? A portal? Wait two?"

...

"Okay... Okay... Sector 21? Green wood park? Yeah, I know it." She responded, holding the phone with her shoulder now as she hurried to clean up.

...

"Yeah... Yes... Okay, love you, bye bye." Eva flipped the phone closed and slipped it into one of the hidden pockets under her colorful cloak. She swept all of the posters and magic kits that were on the table into the plain cardboard box then pulled it closed. She snatched up her colorful magic bag and slung it around her shoulder then picked up the plain box in both hands. She hurried out of the gymnasium hall, her long white boots clicking quietly as she hurried out of the school area and towards the nearest train station.

 

[Twist]

Name: Young- Soo Sun
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Location: Sector 10, Hanyoung High School, Roof
Tag: @SilverFeathers , @BBHawking , Megilagor , Flare , Heyitsjiwon , Haze- , Spoiled Bread , Dhruv_The _Quiet DuckPrince The Black Knight

Young-Soo looked up at the clouds, his hood tight around his head which rested comfortably in his palms as he lay on the roof. The tranquil blue sky with it's lazy rolling clouds soothed his tumultuous feelings, as he breathed deeply and tried to regain his composure. All around him there was chatter and comments from his fellow Hunters, but Young-Soo had deemed his own suggestions less than reliable.

After all, he had had the rather marvelous idea to bring an injured and traumatized student with them to a Portal, and even his earlier encounter with the Dragon seemed more foolish than brave. So now he severely doubted his own intuition, though there was a shred of happiness within him as no-one within his party had brought up his mistakes, with no-one else yet privy to them especially the man from the Hunter Association. How Young-Soo would have hated to hear his opinion, the man's tongue as sharp as his suit.

Though really his thoughts were the only one's that mattered, the venerable veteran's experience with Portals and Dungeons really giving him the knowledge and tactics that would greatly benefit this, oh so, woefully inexperienced party. But the man probably had suffered through his career, hardening him and making him cold and callous, with little time for rookies and idiots, like themselves sadly. After all Hunter's like that were probably the first to fall, especially when trying to punch above their weight with a C rank portal.

He pushed his hood tighter around his head, the reliable robes like his blinders if he were a horse or his blanket if he was an animal who needed rescuing. The clouds in the sky lessened with his action but at least the splatters of blood on the chain-link fence disappeared as well.

He distracted himself once more with thoughts of party planning, or may be more fittingly party pooping as they really were about to get in over their hands soon, the scenes of death and destruction within the school only a taster of what was to come. He wished he had Hana's enthusiasm now as he proposed a plan of action, mirroring that of his own original shrinking party's and was quickly made consensus by the various members, though he himself would have liked to hear more from the two Hunters who had actually engaged the enemy.

At least in part, they seem to agree with Hana's idea with his fellow mages agreeing to stick in the back with him though they differed in opinion in who to strike. Surely it would be easier to use trickier spells on the weaker foes first so they could all take on the stronger, rather than the opposite and at least they could all rest if need be afterwards. If they survived, further strengthening Young-Soo's own silent opinion but maybe he was wrong...

His thoughts went back to melancholy both for his past mistakes and for the fact he couldn't delay it any longer. Reaching for his phone that lay next to him, Young-Soo straightened up and quickly dialed in the number. With a massive exhalation, he waited.

He had already called work to inform them of the situation, with Sang giving him the all clear and a massive thumbs up to entering the dungeon, though his cocky attitude and unrelenting faith in Young-Soo didn't really help to ease his mind. Alex, as well, had been there, with Sang putting him on the line only for the man to let out a deep sigh and a disappointed "Do what you gotta do, Young Blood". It was obvious Alex had thought he was making a massive mistake and now Young-Soo fought the urge to agree with him. Still this next call would definitely decide his next course of action.

Young-Soo put the phone on loud speaker as a solemn quiet voice answered. "Hello?"

"Hey there little brother! Just calling to check on you guys. So how's it going? Is Dad there?"

Young-Soo could picture his brother shrugging at that first bit, never one to show emotion even as a little kid before responding. "Dad's out back, practicing his swing. Do you need me to get him?"

"No, no. It's cool. I wanted to talk you guys first." replied Young-Soo, trying to keep composed. As if on cue, the sound of a squeaky wheel perforated the call, the squeak getting louder and louder before a high pitched squeal answered the call. "Is that you, Big Brother!"

"Yep! Hiya Sook! What did I tell ya about stealing the phone from your brother!?" Young-Soo laughed.

"Sorry!"

"It's okay. Before your brother goes back upstairs, like usual, I need to speak with both of you"

"Okay!" Young-Soo's ear hurt as the little scamp began to shout too close to the phone though he easily laughed it off " Jee, come back down! Young-Soo want's to tell us something!"

Already Young-Soo found his eyes beginning to tear up, knowing that this might be the last time he talked to his siblings. "He's here. So what do you want to tell us? Is it a secret!?" exclaimed Sook

"Well actually......"