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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 7
“Get in here!”
The door burst open, and a group of men—so burly they radiated menace—poured into the office.
‘Still smiling? Even now?’
Hwang Chang-seop frowned as he looked at Dojun, who remained seated, wearing that same faint smile, completely unfazed even as the room filled with thugs.
“H-He’s a total monster. We couldn’t even lay a finger on him…”
The man stammered out his excuse. They’d been sent to collect overdue interest, only to come back bloodied, empty-handed, and embarrassed.
But Hwang Chang-seop wasn’t particularly bothered.
If the guy had awakened as a Hero, then that kind of thing could happen. It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last.
‘Still… at best, a D-rank.’
He didn’t see Dojun’s awakening as a big deal.
Most newly awakened Heroes barely scraped by in terms of power.
About 60% ended up as D-rank, and another 30% fell to F-rank, which was basically just a polite way of saying useless. Only the remaining 10% made it to C-rank or above.
B-ranks? Less than 1%.
A-ranks? Practically mythic—barely 0.1% ever reached that tier.
And S-ranks? Nobody starts there. Ever.
So even if Dojun had awakened, Hwang was sure it wasn’t anything impressive.
“Is this the bastard?”
A thug, with a face practically screaming ‘I’m a gangster,’ growled at Dojun.
Hwang Chang-seop had started his life on the streets.
His business, despite the clean “Capital” branding, was nothing more than a predatory loan sharking front.
Naturally, most of the men working under him were thugs.
A few had even awakened as Heroes.
“Take him outside and have a little ‘talk’ with him. He owes us a lot—he’s a valuable client. Just make sure he can still work afterward.”
“Why don’t we just sell his organs and be done with it?”
“I said he’s ‘valuable,’ didn’t I? We’re not doing that yet. Just rough him up a little.”
Hwang stood up like he had somewhere to be, grabbing his coat.
Just as he was about to step past Dojun, the younger man lightly tossed a cushion at his feet.
“Clear your schedule. You’re not going anywhere.”
“The hell did you just say to the boss, you little shit?”
One of the men snarled and threw a punch straight at Dojun.
But Dojun caught the punch effortlessly, as if it were nothing.
“Wha—?!”
The thug panicked, trying to yank his hand back—
CRACK.
“AAAAAAGHHHH!”
Dojun crushed the man’s fist in his grip.
“Sit. This won’t take long.”
His voice was ice-cold—sharp enough to freeze you in place.
Hwang Chang-seop swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry.
＊ ＊ ＊
“So are you doing it or not?”
At Dojun’s question, Hwang Chang-seop—kneeling on the floor—glanced nervously behind him.
It hadn’t even taken three minutes for all nine of his men to go down groaning in pain. And some of them were Awakened Heroes, too.
What made it worse was that it hadn’t even been a proper fight—Dojun had taken them out by snapping every single one of their ankles and elbows in cold precision.
‘...This bastard’s brutal.’
Hwang Chang-seop had clawed his way up from the bottom with nothing but his fists, but even he felt a chill watching Dojun’s merciless efficiency.
‘And this kid doesn’t even have a past in our world…’
Even in the dirtier corners of society, someone who could snap joints without hesitation, without even blinking, was rare. To be capable of that, a person would’ve had to live through unimaginable violence—years of blood and bone.
And yet, Dojun had done it like it was nothing.
‘What the hell happened to him inside that Gate? How does someone change this much?’
One thing was clear: Dojun had endured something beyond what normal people ever experience. Something extreme enough to forge a completely different person.
And that’s what made him terrifying.
People who’ve seen the end—who’ve lived through that kind of hell—carry a different weight in their voice, in every move they make.
“…I’ll do it.”
Hwang finally muttered.
“I want it clean. No loose ends.”
When it came to fake Hero IDs—Dark Knight credentials—that was the rule. No sloppiness. It had to be airtight.
But that wasn’t easy. The age, gender, and ideally the body type had to match just enough for the identity to pass inspection. One misstep and the whole thing could collapse.
“Have it delivered to my house by tomorrow morning.”
“By tomorrow? That’s...”
“What, can’t do it? Want me to ‘make’ you able to?”
Faced with the cold gleam in Dojun’s eyes, Hwang had no choice but to nod.
“Tomorrow morning. Not a minute past noon. If the clock strikes twelve and I don’t have it... I’ll come find you. And when I do—”
CRACK.
Dojun crushed a thick steel table with his bare hands.
Even for a Hero, crushing reinforced metal with nothing but raw grip strength wasn’t something just anyone could do. And even if it was possible, you'd need a physical attribute-type ability to pull it off.
‘No way he’s D-rank. C-rank? No... he might actually be B-rank.’
It wasn’t common, but some people awakened naturally inside Gates or Rifts. Those who did usually ended up far more powerful than people who used mana stones to force their awakening.
Because of that, many risked everything to dive into Gates unprepared. But most never awakened—they died, or worse, came out broken, crippled for life.
The government had strict bans in place, but who was stopping anyone?
Even now, there were still people diving headfirst into Gates, chasing a miracle.
They called them suicide gamblers—risking everything for a shot at awakening.
But Dojun? He looked like someone who hit the jackpot.
Not one of those weekly tiny payouts either—he looked like he’d just won the entire prize pool after a year of no winners.
“And while we’re at it, about what you said earlier.”
“Huh…?”
“You said you didn’t want my organs.”
Hwang’s face stiffened—but he tried to play dumb.
“Organs? That was a last resort. I meant you should work to pay it off first.”
Dojun smirked.
“So it wasn’t Hong Hee-joo’s idea?”
“…Hong Hee-joo? Who’s that supposed to be? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Dojun grabbed his ear.
“Aaaargh! W-What are you doing!?”
“If you can’t even hear a person right, then what use are these ears? Here, let me fix that.”
He meant it. Dojun was actually about to rip his ear off.
Panicked, Hwang screamed.
“O-Okay! It’s true! That bitch Hong Hee-joo said it! She said it’d be better if you just offed yourself trying to pay off the debt! She told me that herself! Aaargh! Let go! Please!”
Dojun released his ear and stared coldly.
“Suicide, huh? Then why did she lock me in a Gate?”
Blood was dripping freely from Hwang’s ear—half torn, still hanging on by a shred of skin. He stared at Dojun, eyes wide with a terror that came from a brutal truth:
That wasn’t a warning.
If he hadn’t talked, his ear wouldn’t just be bleeding—it’d be gone.
This wasn’t some act. It was real.
“I don’t know anything about locking you in a Gate. I swear! All I knew was that you were heading in there to make some cash! That woman—Hong Hee-joo—she’s the one who locked you in! That’s the first I’ve heard of it, I swear! Come on, think about it—I was supposed to get paid too, you think I’d kill you off before I got my money? I’m not insane!”
Terrified out of his mind, Hwang told the whole truth.
And from what Dojun could tell, he wasn’t lying about that part.
“Find out everything about Kang Cheol-woo—he’s the one who dragged me into the Gate. I want the full report tomorrow.”
“A-Alright…”
“If it’s past noon and I don’t hear from you… I’m going to assume you didn’t understand a word I said—and I’ll start with those useless ears of yours.”
With that, Dojun walked out.
And only then did Hwang’s legs buckle beneath him, collapsing to the floor in a heap of fear.
“Sir—! Kyaaaa!”
The secretary screamed the moment she opened the door. The office looked like a war zone.
“Shut up! Call Chief Kim! Now!”
Hwang clenched his teeth.
If he wanted to get everything Dojun asked for by tomorrow morning, time was already running out.
＊ ＊ ＊
A little past 9 a.m. the next morning, Dojun met with one of Hwang Chang-seop’s employees.
“The boss told me to deliver this to you!”
The employee had never met Dojun before, but judging by how overly polite he was, he’d clearly been given strict warnings.
“Tell him I’ll be paying him another visit soon.”
“Y-Yes, understood! Take care!”
With a full 90-degree bow, the employee quickly left.
Dojun sat down just outside the front gate and began checking over what Hwang had sent him.
First up was the Dark Knight credentials.
There are two types of Hero licenses.
One is tattooed directly onto the body. It’s convenient since it can prove your credentials anytime, anywhere—but if that area gets injured, the tattoo needs to be redone, which is a hassle.
Still, many Heroes choose to get the tattoo on their arm, leg, or upper body. Some of the more flamboyant types even display it proudly.
The second type is an ID card, like a traditional license.
It’s the most common, but you have to carry it at all times. If lost, the reissuance process is annoying and tedious. And if someone else misuses a lost license, the original holder is still held partially responsible.
Naturally, what Hwang sent Dojun was the second type—the ID card version.
It listed—Name, Rank, Date of Birth, Hero Registration Number & Unique Identification Code.
The name printed was Lee Dae-seop, age 23—same as Dojun.
The Hero registration number was a mix of 11 digits and 3 letters.
The unique identification code was a string of 5 alphanumeric characters.
“B-rank?”
Dojun briefly considered going back to Hwang and demanding a new one with an A-rank identity… but quickly gave up on that. Too much hassle.
Sure, Hwang probably thought he was doing him a favor with the B-rank, but to Dojun, it really didn’t matter.
Stuffing the Hero ID into his pocket, he pulled out the accompanying document file.
Kang Cheol-woo.
The man who had taken Seo Dojun into the Gate and left him there.
A new kind of crime, known as Gate murder.
“So he’s a B-rank Hero too, huh…”
Dojun slowly flipped through the documents. The file on Kang Cheol-woo was surprisingly thorough.
＊ ＊ ＊
Bamseom, Yeouido Province, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul Special City.
Once nothing more than a clump of dirt, time passed, soil accumulated, trees took root—and eventually, it became a small island. It was once well-known as a migratory bird habitat.
But ever since a Rift had formed there, the birds stopped coming.
And though it was eventually stabilized into a Gate, even Heroes had no interest in it. It had become a dead hunting ground.
—————
[Bamseom Gate-2]
Rank: B
Scale: D
Terrain: Tunnel
Recommended Entry Level: A (Entry restricted to solo hunters only)
—————
Just from the Gate bulletin, it was obvious why Heroes avoided this place like the plague.
Despite being a B-rank Gate, the recommended rank was A—a full step higher.
One of the most notorious characteristics of the Bamseom Gate: it only allowed solo entries.
The reason? Its terrain type was the one Heroes despised most—Tunnel.
When a Rift is stabilized into a Gate, over 90% of the time, the terrain and structure stay the same.
But Bamseom Gate was an exception.
Originally, the Rift had been an island—Bamseom. But upon stabilization, it morphed into a Tunnel-type Gate.
Not only was this rare, it was the worst possible outcome.
Beep!
[Hero license verified. Your rank is lower than recommended. Entering may be dangerous. Proceed with caution.]
Dojun ignored the automated warning and stepped through the Gate.
The moment he crossed over, pitch-black darkness swallowed him whole.
Gates were created from Rifts to make it possible to safely harvest monster byproducts and Mana Stones.
But Tunnel-type Gates?
They weren’t worth the risk—because you had to hunt in total darkness, completely alone.
On top of that, the scale of Bamseom Gate made solo combat anything but easy.
If your luck was really bad? You’d find yourself up against hundreds of monsters, crammed into the narrow tunnels, fighting them all by yourself.
“I love it.”
In the darkness, Dojun smiled.
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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