The Knight King Who Returned with God-Chapter 18 The Hunting Spider (1)

The condition for a dungeon break from a gate is simple.

After a gate appears, the mana inside begins to expand until it ultimately causes a rupture in the gate.

This is why there's a limit time spanning from Phase 1 to Phase 3 of a dungeon break.

The methods to prevent a dungeon break are surprisingly straightforward:

Either close the gate by fulfilling the conditions required upon entry, or periodically "clean out" the inside to eliminate the expanding mana.

The latter method is typically used when the gate is intentionally left open, like the one at Seoul Station.

However, since the mechanics of gates aren't fully understood, exceptions always exist.

The gate that appeared at the Cheongju Sports Complex was one such case.

"Let's win this time, you bastards!"

"We lost 24 to 3 last week, right? That's like losing three times in one game. This time's our chance! I feel it!"

In the middle of a match, as over ten thousand spectators watched, a gate suddenly formed at the center of the field.

"Ah~ we could've won this one."

While the disappointed crowd filed out, the Association staff arrived to assess the gate's grade.

After measuring the internal energy levels, it was classified as Crimson-grade. The gate was then registered in the Association's database as the Cheongju Sports Complex Gate, and the process of assigning a raid party began.

The selection process prioritizes local guilds.

The raid party that can mobilize the fastest gets priority, followed by parties above a certain grade level.

The gate was secured by KPP Guild, made up of local hunters, and they entered immediately.

"Hyung, this place is..."

"Yeah... I see it too..."

Guild Master Kim Hansoo and A-rank tank Jo Hoyul had complicated expressions as they surveyed the gate's interior.

It was a wasteland.

A dry city being scoured by sandstorms — a desolate, harsh world.

Worlds like this existed often within gates. Hunters were used to seeing apocalyptic landscapes that looked like the end of the world.

The problem was the level of civilization this gate presented.

"At minimum... this is a modern-level civilization. Maybe even more advanced than Earth."

Ruined yet towering skyscrapers. Autonomous robots roaming the streets...

"This is amazing. A future-world gate?"

"Well, we have fantasy and martial arts gates too, so it's not like a future setting is off-limits."

Gate interiors were incredibly diverse.

If it's a dungeon-type gate, it typically ends with clearing monsters and the boss. Even with field-type gates, many don't replicate an entire city or area.

But as the grade of the gate increases, the complexity and variety of its setting also increase.

For example:

Fantasy type: Humans, elves using swords and magic, enemies like goblins and orcs.

Martial arts type: Factions like the Murim Alliance, Sado Union, or Demonic Sect — usually with the latter as enemies.

Other types include apocalypse worlds, arcane punk, steam punk, and more.

"New implant released. Replace your useless body parts with machines."

Reading a poster on a building wall — translated instantly thanks to the gate's built-in language function, often called "Perfect Translation" — Jo Hoyul commented:

"Guild Master, this is cyberpunk."

"...Sigh."

A future-world gate — a civilization more advanced than Earth.

"This is going to be a headache. We'll have to completely overhaul our party strategy."

Highly developed civilizations inevitably favor firearms, laser weapons, and other high-powered ranged weaponry.

That's a real problem for Hunters, who must rely on individual firepower.

"For Hunters, whose abilities vary so widely, mass-produced enemies are like natural predators. There's only so much stamina we have."

"True. But since it's urban combat, as long as we move between buildings and manage our energy, we can avoid being surrounded."

Hunters were strong. Even a D-rank Hunter could exceed the capabilities of most ordinary humans.

But in the end, they were still living beings, mere infantry, and they had physical limits.

No one knew exactly what kind of monsters the Cheongju Gate would produce, but if it was an army armed with firearms, they'd be a serious threat.

"Let's make that building our base camp. It's tall enough to give us a good vantage point for scouting."

Among the crumbling ruins, the 58 members of KPP Guild entered a small seven-story commercial building.

They stayed alert and swept through each floor in combat formation, just in case — but all they found was a barren ruin, nothing of value.

"Hey, Guild Master, look at this. These clothes are wild. The holograms actually flow across the fabric!"

Park Hyeri called out as she collected some clothes from a nearby store, fascinated.

"Hyeri, hang onto that. If it's built with decent tech, it could fetch a good price."

As tricky as advanced civilizations were, it didn't mean there was nothing to gain.

Items from more developed worlds could sometimes be reverse-engineered and used in real life, assuming they could be properly analyzed.

Most things were incomprehensible, but successful reverse-engineering wasn't unheard of — and many governments actively mined technology from such gates.

"Hoyul, you see anything?"

"Hmm... nothing. No NPCs, no monsters either."

That was strange.

Normally, in a field-type gate, there would be something — monsters or NPCs, at least.

"Where's the 'Jacht Spinner'? That seemed like the boss monster."

That was the quest that popped up the moment they entered the dungeon:

"Obtain or destroy the Gem of Wisdom guarded by the Jacht Spinner."

KPP Guild's main objective was to defeat the boss monster called Jacht Spinner.

Whether they'd extract or destroy the Gem of Wisdom would be decided after analyzing it — but that would close the gate.

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"Still no sign of it."

"This is weird..."

Sure, the weather was crap, but even so — a city this large without a single person or monster? That was seriously off.

"Well, I guess it's a relief we're not up against some evil dictatorship's army or a resistance force or whatever."

But then... what the hell was Jacht Spinner?

"In any case, secure the perimeter. Send out scouts and start mapping the are—"

Whump.

Something passed by.

Everyone turned toward the Guild Master, whose sentence had cut off mid-word...

"Han... Hansoo hyung?"

"Guild Master?"

Everything from his navel to the top of his head — gone. Simply gone.

Only when his arm and head hit the floor did they finally understand.

They had just lost their Guild Master.

"S-Sniper! Take cover!"

Vice Guild Master Jo Hoyul shouted in panic. The experienced Hunters quickly dove behind what little cover they could find — crumbling walls, ruined vendor stalls, anything.

"Fuck, what the hell was that?! We didn't even have time to react!"

Hunters were superhuman — beings far beyond normal human limits.

Sure, modern firearms don't work well inside most gates, but on Earth? That's a different story.

Hunters were much stronger than ordinary people, yes — but even they could die when exposed to high-powered modern weapons.

And Kim Hansoo had been an A-rank Hunter. Not only that — he was a main tank, with top-tier defense and reflexes. Yet he died in one blow, without a chance to react?

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!

Before they could even process what happened, a torrent of gunfire slammed into their building.

The impact wasn't quite at the level of the weapon that had killed Kim Hansoo, but it was heavy. Very heavy.

"Gahk!"

"Dae-oh!"

One Hunter was reduced to just his lower half. The ultra-high-speed cannon had erased everything else — nothing was left where he had stood.

"Damn it! We'll be sitting ducks at this rate! Do we have enemy coordinates?!"

"Three o'clock! Can't gauge the distance because of the sandstorm! Vice Guild Master! This place is too exposed! We need to move now!"

"I know! Everyone fall back in sequence!"

"What about the Guild Master's body?!"

"Grrr... We'll retrieve it after we regroup!"

Jo Hoyul clenched his teeth as he gave the retreat order. Even under the rain of gunfire, the KPP Guild members managed to escape the building. The fastest among them, archer Hyeri, burst out the front entrance first—

"Huh?"

Still running at full speed, Hyeri instinctively reached up to touch her neck, feeling something off. It tickled. Why was her neck so itchy—

-Thud.

"Hy-Hyeri?!"

As her body crumpled to the ground, her teammates could only watch in horror as droplets of blood hung in the air.

"...A wire?"

A wire had been stretched across the building entrance. Without realizing it, Hyeri had run right into it—through it—sliced cleanly by the razor-sharp thread.

When did they even set that up?

The Hunters shuddered as they realized — someone had been watching them since the moment they entered the city. Lying in wait. Planning.

Who were they? How many were there? Since when had they been tracking them?

"Damn it! Clear everything out! We have to escape no matter what!"

Magical energy flared around the Hunters. Now that they were aware of the wire, it was no longer a deadly trap—just an annoying obstacle.

They crashed through with shields and sliced through the wires with magic-infused blades as they fought to escape the city.

But the unseen enemy did not merely observe.

Machine guns and unknown ultra-high-speed cannons bombarded them relentlessly, hunting down the KPP members one by one.

"Look ou—!?"

The moment someone sensed something—snap—a wire lashed through the air like a whip and sliced clean through a Hunter's body.

"Huh?"

"Wh-what?"

Three Hunters collapsed simultaneously, shredded like paper by sonic-speed silver threads.

-Thwack! Thwack-thwack!

It was a massacre. Too fast for them to even realize they were dying.

"Show yourself, you bastard!"

One screamed in terror, a desperate cry for survival. But it was swallowed up—his last words lost in the chaos.

In the end, only Jo Hoyul remained.

And then it revealed itself, retracting its wires as it stepped into view.

"A... robot?"

Eight thick, heavy legs. Multiple camera eyes surveying every angle. It looked like a spider, if a spider were a mechanical killing nightmare forged in hell.

"You... you're Jacht Spinner, aren't you...?"

Jo Hoyul stared at the one and only "monster" in this Gate.

Eight glowing red eyes locked with his. The grotesque 240mm hyper-acceleration cannon and the 60mm machine gun mounted on its carapace fell silent.

Is it... letting me live?

He didn't realize: the Jacht Spinner, having already completely neutralized a hostile threat, simply chose not to waste its limited ammunition on a single remaining enemy.

"How about it? With this setup, we can still fight even if we run out of ammo, right?"

Then it revealed its auxiliary limbs—probably designed originally for obstacle clearing or explosive disposal.

The wire it had retrieved was now wrapped around those secondary arms. As the mechanical limbs unspooled it, the wire extended—stretching out dozens of meters in an instant.

"...Ah."

So that's how it is. It wasn't going to let him live. Hoyul understood that in that final moment.

-Shing!

In a flash, the auxiliary limb cracked like a whip, launching the wire at supersonic speed.

The sandstorm cleared.

The sunlight glinted off a dazzling silver thread that whipped past the spot where Jo Hoyul had been standing.

Cheongju Gate.

First Strike Team: KPP Guild, 58 Hunters.

Survivors: None.

Second Strike Team —

Third Strike Team —

Hunter Association announces an indefinite suspension of all operations targeting the Cheongju Gate.

"Yafi. Protect the city."

Gate Boss: Jacht Spinner.

Raid difficulty elevated to Crimson.

All Cheongju Gate operations suspended indefinitely by order of the Hunter Association.