MTLNOVEL Chapter 13
Gates are classified into a total of 6 levels from E to S according to their danger level.
E-Rank Hunters tackle E Gates, and D-Rank Hunters take on D-Rank Gates.
If you look closely, each level is further divided into danger ratings from 1 to 10.
But if you underestimate a D-1 Gate, you’re in for a world of hurt.
Because within the world of a Gate, nothing strange happening would be the real anomaly.
C-Rank Hunter Yu Chulmin was getting a rude awakening for his complacency.
“Shit! Why are there Warrior Goblins here…!”
“Keeek, keeiiik!”
D-1 Gate might seem easy, but Yu Chulmin was caught off guard by a pack of mutant goblins that shouldn’t exist in this section.
“Keeeiiik!”
Clang!
Yu Chulmin grimaced as he blocked a goblin’s iron hammer strike with his sword.
‘This guy’s using a hardware store hammer…!’
While goblins are often thought of as cowards who shoot poison needles from afar, that’s all ancient history now.
The bizarre creatures dominating the Northern Region of the Han River have taken modern items and turned them into weapons.
The goblin pack Yu Chulmin encountered seemed to have raided a hardware store, wielding various tools.
And these weren’t regular goblins—they were warrior goblins.
Creatures that should only appear at D-8 Gate had made an appearance at D-1 Gate.
While uncommon occurrences happen within Gates, Yu Chulmin was having particularly bad luck.
After all, it’s extremely rare for tool-wielding warrior goblins to appear at D-1 Gate.
“Keeiiiik!”
At the chief goblin’s cry, four warrior goblins charged at Yu Chulmin.
“Tch!”
Though he’s a C-Rank Hunter, taking on four warrior goblins at once was proving difficult.
‘D-1 Gate… I underestimated it.’
Deciding to abandon the attempt, Yu Chulmin moved toward the safe zone.
After all, to exit a Gate, one must move through the designated safe area.
Just as he was about to turn around, he heard something being dragged across the floor.
‘Being dragged?’
As he wondered what the sound was, a young man passed by him dragging a massive greatsword along the ground.
The dragging sound came from the greatsword scraping against the floor.
‘A greatsword like that…?’
With its length of about 3 meters, it looked difficult for even an average hunter to wield.
As evidence, the man wasn’t even trying to lift the heavy-looking greatsword, instead dragging it like a broom.
While watching this absurd scene, Yu Chulmin noticed the approaching group of warrior goblins.
“Danger!”
“Keeiiik!”
Whiiirrr─!
A warrior goblin swung its activated chainsaw down at the man.
Reacting late, the man swung his greatsword—but it was more of a weak flail than a proper swing.
‘Shit!’
Watching the worm-like sword trajectory, Yu Chulmin squeezed his eyes shut.
It seemed like it was only a matter of time before the man got cut down by the goblin’s chainsaw.
Pwaaak!
The meaty sound echoed through the area.
Yu Chulmin was astonished.
“Wha… What?”
The warrior goblin’s upper body disappeared with the man’s weak-looking greatsword swing.
Not only that, the greatsword’s energy shattered the tree behind it.
Boom─!
“Ugh, so tiring.”
“…?”
Wiping his forehead like he’d just finished a tough workout, Yu Chulmin was dumbfounded.
“Yeet!”
Despite the spirited battle cry, another weak, jellyfish-like swing followed.
Whoosh─!
The gust of wind from the swing made Yu Chulmin’s hair flutter as the goblins were sliced apart.
“…H, High-Rank Hunter?”
Yu Chulmin’s voice lacked certainty.
Clearly, it was impressive, but something felt off.
‘Why is he using his sword like that?’
As a sword-wielding hunter himself, Yu Chulmin knew a thing or two about swordsmanship.
But he had never seen a hunter wield a sword so awkwardly.
‘A new style of swordsmanship?’
Perhaps a technique that conserves strength while maximizing power…
While Yu Chulmin was analyzing the man’s sword style, the man who had dispatched the goblin pack continued dragging his greatsword straight to the boss room.
Curiosity got the better of Yu Chulmin, so he followed the man into the boss room. The sight that greeted him made him gulp.
“Yeeeeet!”
─Kiaaa… Puuuuuh!
The D-1 Gate boss monster.
Hobgoblin.
With a single weak swing, the hobgoblin split in two.
That day, Yu Chulmin posted his experience on the large hunter community Huntweb forum.
[I saw a weird high-rank hunter dragging a sword around at Olympic Park today]
└Why is he dragging his sword?
└Looks like it’s too heavy for him, but damn, he’s strong. His wobbly swings keep cutting goblins in half.
└How do goblins disappear from wobbly swings?
└This isn’t fake. I saw him yesterday at Hangang Park too.
└Really? Is this some kind of concept??
Rumors of the “sword-dragging weirdo” began spreading on Huntweb.
*
“Man, my arm feels like it’s gonna fall off.”
Setting the Twin Dragon Sword down on the shop counter, I massaged my overworked arm.
I spent a week touring Seoul’s Gates to get used to the Twin Dragon Sword.
And the results?
While it’s still heavy, I’ve reached the point where I can somewhat swing the Twin Dragon Sword.
Whether you call it “swinging” or “flailing” may depend on individual standards…
‘At my level, I’m handling it pretty well, right?’
This isn’t baseless confidence.
After all, I’ve successfully cleared all Gates from D-1 to D-7 with an SSS rating.
While it sounds easy, clearing Gates with an SSS rating—even lower-level ones—is extremely difficult.
Though it’s still too heavy to wield freely…
‘I can always use Napoleon’s Rifle if needed.’
Since not all relics are Twin Dragon Swords, I feel secure knowing that.
Still, safety first—I avoided anything above D-Rank Gates.
I don’t have multiple lives, after all. One clumsy swing could lead to disaster.
Caution is the greatest virtue of a hunter.
“The rewards aren’t half bad either.”
Lower-grade spirit stones obtained from D-Rank Gates don’t sell for much individually.
But every little bit counts—clearing all zones from 1 to 7 yielded decent profits.
I accumulated spirit stones worth two million won in just a week.
However, I couldn’t keep farming D-Rank Gates forever.
==
The Twin Dragon Sword’s Bond (1)
Special Gate: Mingliang
─Liberate the Joseon Navy soldiers.
[Difficulty : D]
[Status : Stable]
[Clear Condition : Twin Dragon Sword]
[Available Clear Time : 168 : 28]
[Reward : Yi Sun-sin-related Relic]
==
“I guess I should try to clear it.”
When I returned to the present, the status window presented me with a Twin Dragon Sword-related quest.
There are several Yi Sun-sin-related Gates on the Korean Peninsula.
‘Noryang’, ‘Mingliang’, ‘Hansan’.
These three famous Gates related to Yi Sun-sin.
Of these, Hansan has been cleared, and Noryang is an unstable Gate that requires periodic clearing.
However, ‘Mingliang’ remains an “unclearable Gate” that no one has ever succeeded in clearing.
Even Korea’s top three guilds—Sandouchon, Dawn Star Constellation, and Thousand Martial Arts—have given up on clearing it, and even the government has stopped attempting it.
The Gate is filled with skeletal soldiers presumed to have died during the Imjin War, and whirlpools churn in the surrounding sea.
The reason I hesitated to attempt it until now was precisely because of this.
How could I possibly clear a Gate that even the government has abandoned?
Still, what made my heart waver was the difficulty level.
[Difficulty : D]
D? Does that make any sense?
D-Rank Gates are basically free passes—just swinging your sword clears them.
Yet Mingliang’s difficulty was rated D.
What’s more, the reward was a Yi Sun-sin-related relic.
Though I wanted to grow stronger before attempting it, judging by the decreasing available time, this seemed to be a time-limited quest.
“There’s really no reason not to try.”
Take just one step in and see how it goes.
Bail if it gets dangerous.
After much deliberation, the decision came quickly.
‘Let’s just test the waters.’
*
Kim Ha-Yoon, who passed the Trial of Ordeals in second place, didn’t look well.
‘Snowstorm Stone…’
She missed out on the first-place prize, Snowstorm Stone.
If this were merely a personal issue for Kim Ha-Yoon, she wouldn’t be dwelling on it so much.
But Snowstorm Stone was something crucial—not just for her, but for South Korea.
For the Dawn Star Constellation to clear the Gate ‘Noryang,’ Kim Ha-Yoon needed to grow stronger somehow.
Or obtain an artifact that could aid in the clearance…
“Ha-Yun, calm down. I’ll try to acquire an Imjin War relic somehow.”
Team Leader Jin-Woo of the Dawn Star Constellation’s Team 1 consoled Kim Ha-Yoon, though his expression wasn’t good either.
That’s because ‘Noryang’ was an “unstable” Gate.
An unstable Gate refers to one that “goes berserk” at certain intervals.
In other words, a Gate Break.
When the Gate goes berserk, the monsters inside spill out into the outside world.
Looking at past records of Noryang’s berserking, it was a disaster surpassing even an A-Rank Gate Break.
The problem was that Noryang was a special Gate accessible only to Water Element hunters, with Kim Ha-Yoon as the core of the assault team.
But Kim Ha-Yoon had failed repeatedly in clearing the Noryang Gate.
Three attempts, three failures.
The media was already filled with criticism directed at the Dawn Star Constellation for failing to clear Noryang.
‘We need to obtain at least a Water Element relic somehow.’
Otherwise, the Dawn Star Constellation would bear the responsibility for the Noryang Gate Break disaster.
==
Special Gate: Noryang
Status : Very Unstable
[Difficulty : A]
[Clear Possible Time : 76 : 28]
==
There was only three days left until the Gate Break.
Just as Jin-Woo was anxiously searching for items on the relic market, it happened.
“Team Leader! The Mingliang Gate has been cleared!”
“What?! Mingliang?!”
Startled, Jin-Woo opened the status window.
His eyes widened.
[Mingliang Gate Cleared]
[Clear Grade : SSS]
‘Who in the world…!?’