Our expected countermeasure for this isolated-type gate was the establishment of a barrier at the gate's entrance by numerous hunters and mages, who would work together to deal with the swarming demonic beasts.
The reason for this expectation was simple.
It was the most common, efficient, and least dangerous method.
Here, "least dangerous" didn't refer to ordinary people. Frankly, in this era, the life of a C-rank hunter was more valuable than the lives of dozens of ordinary citizens.
I judged that no one would voluntarily enter a B-rank gate, especially one in a break situation, under the guise of a rescue team.
Or so I thought.
"You're quite the romantic, aren't you?"
A B-rank gate, known as the worst kind of disaster: a high-level gate.
Therefore, I couldn't imagine anyone daring to enter to rescue others.
'…But if it's the head of the magic tower, that's a different story.'
The ash-gray hair that resembled scattered volcanic ash and the eyes that looked like obsidian gems couldn't help but remind me of someone who every Korean would know.
Possibly one of the twelve strongest mages in the world and simultaneously the strongest mage in Korea: Hanlael, the head of the Gray Magic Tower.
The C-rank and C-minus rank mages gathered in front of the gate, as well as the B-minus rank demonic beasts on par with wendigos, vanished in an instant.
There wasn't a single corpse left where Hanlael's magic had passed through. The snowy field, once pure white, was now dyed gray as if it had been turned to ash.
That was the power of a 7th Circle mage. Just witnessing it briefly made me realize the immense gap.
I realized that the difference between the 2nd Circle and the 7th Circle wasn't just a matter of five levels.
It was impossible to even estimate how strong Iris, who had supposedly reached the 8th Circle, was.
'…If I ever get out of this prison, they're all going to be wiped out.'
I silently mourned for Peleedia, which might soon be engulfed in flames.
"Nice to meet you. I don't think I need to introduce myself, do I?"
Hanlael, who had nonchalantly slaughtered dozens of monsters in an instant, offered me a handshake.
"Of course not. As a mage, how could I not recognize the undisputed strongest mage in Korea?"
I never imagined I would actually meet the head of the magic tower.
It wasn't just a novel experience.
Was this how a graduate student felt when they met someone who had won the Nobel Prize in their field?
The bewildered joy was short-lived.
'I'm really going to die…'
Perhaps it was because I had used too much magic power trying to get Choi Hyena to escape, but my physical condition was terrible.
I wouldn't be surprised if I collapsed right then and there.
"You've been through a lot."
As soon as Hanlael's finger touched my forehead, an irresistible drowsiness overcame me.
My consciousness faded.
"Leave the rest to me and get some rest now."
With her faint smile, my memories ended there.
***
Hanlael looked down at the fallen Kang Hyunwoo with cold eyes.
Her attitude was so frigid it was hard to believe she was the same person from a moment ago, but it wasn't because she was displeased with Kang Hyunwoo.
Rather, this was Hanlael, her true nature.
Only a mask created to maintain the dignity of the head of the magic tower.
Now that the need to wear that bothersome mask was gone, Hanlael looked at Kang Hyunwoo without pretense.
"Indeed… The claim that he is loved by mana isn't just flowery rhetoric."
He was truly loved by mana.
Affection, interest, and obsession – phenomena that shouldn't be observable from mana, which clearly had no ego.
"It was worth coming all the way here."
Outside, countless citizens had to evacuate due to the B-rank gate that had appeared in the middle of the capital, and the Hunter Association had to cooperate with the magic tower to prepare for the disaster.
Despite the severity of the situation, none of the monsters that had nested in the country called Korea stepped forward.
They never moved easily in the first place.
Whether it was for the public good or their own benefit.
Hanlael was one of them, and with her duties as the head of the magic tower and her own personal magic research, she was already stretched thin. So going beyond the gate to rescue people?
She thought it would be more beneficial to spend that time on magic research.
She didn't have the time or the reason to be interested in mere 'volunteer work.'
What made her come here was the report that Choi Youngok had given her.
A few days ago, Choi Youngok had visited her studio and asked her to save her granddaughter and grandson-in-law. Of course, it wasn't just an appeal based on emotion.
The meticulously prepared proposal listed everything she could gain in exchange for helping with this matter in an orderly fashion.
Other financial benefits aside, helping Choi Hyena, the only successor of the Seongbuk Choi family, was enough to put them in considerable debt, but that wasn't enough.
She wasn't interested.
Mages had to move with emotions completely set aside, always weighing the pros and cons.
In that respect, Choi Youngok's proposal wasn't very attractive to Hanlael.
Hanlael, a mage who had to exclude emotions and review all proposals, ironically rejected this proposal simply because it wasn't a matter that would move her emotions, her interest.
However, Choi Youngok was also a veteran mage who had experienced the ups and downs of life. Perhaps anticipating that Hanlael wouldn't move with just the compensation in her proposal, she gave her another report.
Hanlael's eyes changed every moment as she scanned the report.
-…Is this really true?
Even now, she couldn't easily forget the shock she had felt when she received the report.
Creating a circle in just a week and reaching the 2nd Circle in another week? If this was true, it was an overwhelming achievement that would never be broken in the past or the future.
Even the one called the first head of the magic tower couldn't have done this. It was the moment her lacking interest was filled.
"I was running short on B-rank boss magic stones anyway. Sometimes, local procurement might not be so bad."
Hanlael stroked her beloved staff and moved forward.
In front of the overwhelming magic power beyond description, the ice golem raised its massive body, but the result was obvious.
***
Ding-
"Huh?!"
I opened my eyes to the familiar notification sound that echoed in my ears.
A pure white ceiling greeted me.
"Where is this…"
A soft bed, a strange pad attached to my chest, and familiar patient clothes.
There was no doubt it was a hospital.
[Affection Change]
[Choi Hyena 70♡ → 85♡]
[Relationship Level Change]
[Choi Hyena Lv.2 → Lv.3]
"It's not like this is a dating sim game, why do they keep showing me this…"
I swiped the screen in front of me to the side and lay back down on the bed.
Strangely, I couldn't muster any strength in my body.
"My phone…is gone?"
I wondered why I was in the hospital, how much time had passed, and how the aftermath had been handled, but my phone was nowhere to be seen.
Beep-
I had no choice but to press the call button to summon a nurse.
"By the way, isn't this room too luxurious for a hospital room?"
I knew that private rooms were expensive, but the whole thing was too luxurious to be called a hospital room.
The bed alone was so soft that I wanted to take it home.
Just like I couldn't get much strength in my body, my mind was foggy, as if it was covered in mist.
While I was having all sorts of random thoughts according to the flow of consciousness, I heard someone running urgently down the hallway in the distance.
The footsteps grew closer and closer, and soon people who appeared to be doctors and nurses opened the door to the hospital room.
"U-uh, are you awake, patient?"
"Uh…"
I was flustered.
I thought only one nurse would come at most, but I didn't expect a group of doctors and nurses to come all at once.
I was wondering what was going on, but the doctor was shining a flashlight in my eyes, looking at the monitor connected to the pad on my body, and moving busily without giving me a chance to ask anything.
I didn't know what the nurses were doing, but they were running around doing something.
"…Excuse me, can someone explain what's going on?"
Why I woke up in the hospital, what happened outside, whether Choi Hyena was safe, and so on. There were more than a few things I wanted to ask right away.
"Ah, we've called your guardian, so please wait a moment."
"Guardian…?"
The only person I could call my guardian was Sister Superior. So was Sister Superior really coming?
I was definitely going to visit her as soon as I escaped from the gate, but I didn't want to reunite with her like this after so long.
At least I wanted to return home in a neat suit with gifts in both hands.
'She'll be very worried if I meet her in patient clothes…'
I was worried that my reunion with my disappointing son, who hadn't been able to contact her properly for several years after becoming independent, would be like hammering nails into Sister Superior's heart, when.
Bang!
The door to the hospital room was opened roughly and a familiar face appeared.
"K-Kang Hyunwoo!"
Flowing red hair, deep purple eyes, and the voluptuous breasts I had touched so many times.
It was Choi Hyena.
'Why are you here?'
Well, Sister Superior wasn't wealthy enough to pay for this kind of luxury hospital room, so I had expected it to some extent.
But I still couldn't help but feel disappointed.
"Thank goodness…"
Choi Hyena approached me with tears in her eyes.
I could tell how urgently she had run just by looking at her disheveled hair.
The way she was panting heavily made it look like she was the heroine of a romance drama to anyone who saw her.
As Kang Hyunwoo expected, Choi Hyena hadn't been able to sleep or eat properly for the past few days.
How could she rest comfortably when she had witnessed Kang Hyunwoo, who had stayed behind in the gate alone to let her escape, being carried away in an ambulance?
Every day felt like swallowing sharp needles.
When she heard that he had woken up, she was already running before she could even think.
When she arrived at the hospital room, there was Kang Hyunwoo looking at her with his usual blank expression.
"Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"
Choi Hyena grabbed Kang Hyunwoo's wrist and checked his condition, completely forgetting that there were doctors and nurses there.
Of course, the doctors and nurses were just watching the two of them's affection with smiles.
But the atmosphere in the hospital room turned cold with Kang Hyunwoo's next words.
"Excuse me, who are you…?"
"…What?"
Choi Hyena's eyes trembled.
"Hey… don't joke around…!"
"I-I'm serious. I don't remember anything…"
It wasn't Kang Hyunwoo's usual sassy and perverted voice and tone.
At that moment, Choi Hyena remembered the cases of people who had become ruined after being exposed to high concentrations of magic power.
It was usually a symptom that only ordinary people got, but she had heard that sometimes low-level hunters suffered from such aftereffects after coming into contact with high-level demonic beasts.
Choi Hyena grabbed Kang Hyunwoo's hand with trembling hands.
"Y-you really don't remember anything…?"
"…No."
Thud, it sounded like something was falling in Choi Hyena's heart.
Her heart ached so much.
He had saved her life so many times, and in the end, he had even sacrificed himself for her.
When he came out of the gate alive, she thought it was really fortunate. Although he was carried away in an ambulance and hadn't opened his eyes for four days, she was still grateful that he was alive.
But what was this all about?
Amnesia…!
Amnesia was a tragic disease for ordinary people, but for a mage, amnesia was also a death sentence that meant they could no longer work as a mage.
"Could it be… are you my girlfriend… no, my wife?"
"Ah…"
Seeing the anxious look in Kang Hyunwoo's eyes, Choi Hyena made a firm decision.
Yes, he had saved her life so many times.
The grace of life must be repaid with life.
Of course, she had no intention of giving up her life as a mage. She had something she had to achieve even if she risked her life.
However, that didn't mean she wouldn't marry someone. As the only successor of the Seongbuk Choi family, it was also her destiny to continue the family line.
In that sense, she looked at Kang Hyunwoo again.
His appearance was average, but he was tall. His talent as a mage was so overwhelming that it would bring about the revival of the Seongbuk Choi family.
'…Now that I look at him again, he seems pretty decent…'
Of course, there was the problem that he was a bit of a pervert, but that was to be expected of a man in his energetic twenties.
Her grandmother, the head of the family, had also recognized him, so there would be no problem with marriage.
"That's right! I'm Hyunwoo's wife…!"
"Excuse me… are you the guardian?"
Choi Hyena, who was about to declare her determination with a heart that felt like it was about to explode, was stopped by an unexpected person.
He was the doctor in charge of Kang Hyunwoo and the director of the hospital.
"I'm sorry, but the patient does not have amnesia."
"…Yes?"
What the hell was he talking about?
Choi Hyena looked back and forth between the doctor and the nurses with a blank expression, and finally turned her gaze to Kang Hyunwoo.
Kang Hyunwoo was staring blankly at something beyond the window, avoiding eye contact with her.
"…Sorry."
With those words, which he threw without even looking at her, Choi Hyena's face turned as red as her hair.
Bang!
That day, the glass window of the hospital room for VIPs was blown out.
The eyewitness accounts that a person had fallen out of the hospital room along with the glass window disappeared without a trace due to a lack of evidence.