Gate—it was a dimensional rift connected to another world.
[You possess sufficient Karma Points.]
[You have detected a Black Gate.]
Gates were named differently based on their color.
Blue Gate: the standard gates where most players conducted raids.
Their rank changed according to the mana they emitted, and the monsters inside varied in form, but there was nothing particularly special about them.
'Red Gate.'
The other kind was the Red Gate.
The reason gates were deemed true disasters—and the reason the first raid attempts were made purely for survival.
—Gate Break.
It meant a gate on the verge of exploding, soon to unleash hundreds or thousands of monsters.
But nowhere had he ever heard the term Black Gate.
Not even of one that hadn't been discovered yet.
[You have detected a Black Gate.]
The goddess was informing him.
Go Yohan was certain of the current situation.
'A revelation.'
This was a revelation from the goddess to him.
At the same time, he closed his eyes, focusing on the message the goddess wished to send.
And he could feel it.
"...."
What the goddess desired, what she wanted to say.
When Go Yohan opened his eyes again.
"W-What are you doing?"
Lee Jae-kyung's urgent voice rang out.
Rumble.
The air in the room where Go Yohan and Lee Jae-kyung stood pressed down on everything like steel rebar, heavy and oppressive.
Flash!
If he had been even a moment later, the overwhelming aura might have pierced the barriers he had set in the room and alerted the Sanctum players or even his parents.
"What…."
Even so, Go Yohan was shaken.
"Are you okay?"
Lee Jae-kyung asked Go Yohan cautiously.
"If you'd been a little late… the lady or the guildmaster—anyone would have noticed."
But they hadn't been caught.
No presences were approaching the room right away.
"Why are you like this?"
This was the second time Go Yohan had shown such a reaction.
—I shall grant you a chance at atonement.
It had been at the villa in Incheon, when Lee Jae-kyung's world had crumbled once before.
The rage and emotions from that time.
Rumble.
And the killing intent so chilling it made even Lee Jae-kyung—who prided himself on surviving that indescribable hell—shudder.
And now, what could this mere eight-year-old boy possibly want to kill so badly?
"…When's the entrance ceremony?"
"In a week."
Lee Jae-kyung answered Go Yohan's sudden question.
"That should be enough time."
By then, Go Yohan had returned to his usual composure.
"...."
He knew what needed to be done.
The problem was how.
'Right now, I can't slip out of the estate without dodging Mother's eyes.'
Hiding his aura was no issue, but there was no way to block Shin Su-kyung, who came looking to spend time with her son whenever she felt like it.
'If I move at night….'
It might not be enough.
And when morning came, Shin Su-kyung would mobilize Sanctum to search for her missing son.
"Whew."
Mother—he had wanted to keep her happy, but had that been too greedy?
Go Yohan shook his head.
He had known all along that he couldn't remain an ordinary son forever.
He had just wanted to delay that moment a little longer.
"I need to… go on a trip."
Go Yohan said.
*
*
*
The next day, Go Yohan went to Shin Su-kyung and said.
"I'd like to… go on a trip."
"…A trip?"
Since the incident at the Incheon villa, he hadn't properly left the estate.
It was due to Shin Su-kyung's anxiety, and Go Yohan hadn't particularly wanted to go out anyway, so he hadn't minded.
Yet now, Go Yohan was the one bringing up a trip.
"…My son."
Shin Su-kyung hugged Go Yohan tightly and said.
"Yes, let's go on a trip. Where to? Is there somewhere my son wants to go?"
Shin Su-kyung also believed that the events of that day had left a trauma in Go Yohan, even if he hadn't spoken of it.
After all, the once extraordinary child had become completely ordinary since the Incheon incident.
It was happy news, in a way, but a child's drastic change didn't feel entirely welcome.
"Let's go anywhere. How about overseas? Shall the whole family go together?"
Her voice was filled with pure worry and care.
"...."
That was exactly why Go Yohan squeezed his eyes shut.
Now, he had to thrust a dagger into Shin Su-kyung's heart.
"…I want to go alone."
"…Huh? Alone?"
Shin Su-kyung hurriedly pulled Go Yohan away, grabbing his shoulders as she spoke.
"I start elementary school soon. I just thought I'd get some fresh air before then…."
He knew it sounded absurd.
He wasn't some teenager on the verge of college.
It wasn't something a kid entering elementary school should say so gravely.
"That's…."
The words he had prepared—Go Yohan spoke them.
"I want to see the sea."
Thud.
Shin Su-kyung felt something sink in her chest.
The events of that day—at the Incheon villa overlooking the sea.
'He hasn't forgotten.'
As expected, that day's events were etched into Go Yohan's mind like a brand, impossible to erase.
That was why this young child was now mustering the strength to confront and shake off those memories.
"It's not really alone. I'll go with Uncle Jae-kyung."
"…Really?"
"I want to go quietly. You'll allow it, right?"
Shin Su-kyung, who valued Go Yohan above all else, seemed lost in thought.
Go Yohan knew, having stood at the forefront of countless battlefields.
What was needed now was a decisive move to turn the situation around.
"…Ugh."
Deep contemplation—and something requiring great courage.
Something she had never done before.
Smack.
Go Yohan had to do it.
Instead of Shin Su-kyung, it was Go Yohan who moved first, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"Eh, Mom…."
An unexpected show of affection.
"Kyaaah!"
Shin Su-kyung shrieked like a girl who had seen something she shouldn't.
But Go Yohan, held tightly in her arms, knew better than anyone that it was a cry of joy.
"Come back safe. But next time, you have to go with Mom too, okay? Promise."
"…Promise."
Go Yohan quietly returned to his room.
"Do you catch colds too? Your face is so red…."
"Be quiet."
Lee Jae-kyung, who had been waiting, teased.
"Don't overdo it."
Go Yohan, who had taken the lead, returned with news of success.
"Now… it's my turn, right?"
With grim determination, Lee Jae-kyung stepped out of the room.
*
*
*
Lee Jae-kyung returned late at night.
His body was covered in minor scratches that seemed healed by potions.
More serious was his face.
It looked completely battered, like mush.
"…Permission granted."
If Go Yohan had needed Shin Su-kyung's approval, Lee Jae-kyung had to get it from Go Jaehan.
"…Combat ranking 4th."
He had to prove his strength—that he alone could sufficiently protect Go Yohan.
That was the purpose of the combat ranking.
Two years ago, Lee Jae-kyung had retired and stopped raiding gates.
Back then, he had been 9th in Korea's level ranking and 8th in combat ranking—a true powerhouse.
But two years had passed, and two years brought great changes for players.
Naturally, Lee Jae-kyung's stagnant level ranking had fallen outside the top 20.
Combat ranking was different, however.
It required battling other rankers to prove one's skill.
Lee Jae-kyung had whipped himself relentlessly for those two years, and now he had confirmed the results.
"Is that good enough?"
At Go Yohan's words, Lee Jae-kyung exhaled heavily and straightened his back.
"I re-signed with Sanctum too. As a bodyguard for now, though."
Unlike before, when he had retired and worked freelance as a bodyguard, now he was bound to the name Sanctum.
"Minimal escort detail—even that, as far away as possible. I told them your picky son trusts no one but me."
"You've worked hard."
Only then did Go Yohan praise Lee Jae-kyung.
The next day, early in the morning, Go Yohan and Lee Jae-kyung left the house.
They had planned to depart without telling anyone.
"Be careful out there. Son!"
Shin Su-kyung, who had apparently stayed up all night worrying, was already there to see Go Yohan off.
"We'll be back."
As soon as Go Yohan boarded the car Lee Jae-kyung was driving, they set off.
Their destination was the East Sea.
"Now, will you tell me?"
After driving for a while, Lee Jae-kyung spoke up.
"What's with the sudden trip? It's not trauma like your mother worries, is it?"
Lee Jae-kyung, who knew the truth of that day, couldn't buy such a story.
"You're not really going just to see the sea, so what is it?"
Lee Jae-kyung asked.
"...."
Go Yohan, who had been gazing out the window, seemed to ponder for a moment.
[You are approaching the Black Gate.]
Even now, the goddess was sending revelations.
And.
'Black Gate.'
Go Yohan had precisely grasped what the goddess meant by Black Gate.
Amid the aura he had spread wide, he sensed fragments of the Black Gate clinging to it.
"I'm still thinking it over."
Lee Jae-kyung didn't press further.
Thanks to their early start, they arrived at the East Sea not too late.
There weren't many people on the beach yet.
"...."
Standing on the sandy shore, Go Yohan closed his eyes again.
In his sky-blue eyes, things no ordinary person could see began to appear.
Countless blue threads stretching across the world.
Among them, red threads that stood out oddly.
'Black.'
And black threads as well.
A sight no ordinary person—no player—could behold.
Go Yohan reached out and brushed a blue thread.
Twang.
As the thread snapped back.
"...!"
Lee Jae-kyung was stunned.
"W-What did you just do?"
In that fleeting instant, even without seeing it, Lee Jae-kyung had felt it.
"Just now… I sensed gate energy…?"
The aura felt when a gate spawned momentarily.
But that wasn't the end.
Twang.
When he touched a red thread, Lee Jae-kyung involuntarily unleashed his own killing intent.
If Go Yohan hadn't blocked the surrounding aura beforehand, Sanctum's escorts might have come running.
And finally.
Twang.
When he plucked the black thread.
"Guh!"
Lee Jae-kyung's eyes widened as his body trembled.
An indescribable terror had crashed over him.
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