I Am The Anti-Mage

Chapter 86: Raid Party

The next day, South Korea was operating as usual. All civilians returned to their daily lives. But even so, the status of martial law was still not lifted at all.

The Hunters Association still wanted to get careful post the Red Gates incident. They still had to scour the entire country and ensure that no more creatures from the Red Gates left.

The interim report of the Red Gates incident recorded a total of 130 fatalities with a ratio of 7 to 3 between civilians and hunters.

Yesterday, a total of about 43 military helicopters got deployed. And another two helicopters were from the Hunters Association. There 13 battalions with a total of 11000 soldiers were also dispatched to assist in the evacuation. And to check the surroundings of any area where the Red Gate was.

The heavy equipment had K1A1 and K2 Black Panthers that totaled 113 tanks and another 97 military jeeps.

Fortunately, all of that efforts yielded better results. And it could be said to be an improvement over the Mapo Red Gate incident. South Korea was one of the countries with a low number of victims compared to other countries that have experienced the same Red Gates incident. They were also somewhat coordinated compared to several other countries, which until now we’re still in a state of chaos.

Ji-woo woke up and went to buy a new smartphone to replace the broken one. The food stall was not open today. So, he didn’t need to bring the necessities with his mother.

Ji-woo spent a long night resting and only this morning learned that South Korea was in crisis because of the appearance of 20 Red Gates. Yesterday, he only got a rough idea of the overall situation. And he only knew there was a lot of Red Gates, but not the exact number.

Ji-woo was lucky his family was okay. But, there was no guarantee the next one would be fine. It made him a little hesitant about hunting inside the Portal Gate. Whereas a few moments ago, Seok-jin had asked about the tier-4 Portal Gate.

Ji-woo then decided to call Seok-jin back and talk about the Portal Gate. He asked for additional time regarding the unpaid money and informed the broker that the tier-4 Portal Gate had no valuables.

Seok-jin couldn’t believe what Ji-woo said.

It was tier-4 Seok-jin and Ji-woo both were talking about it! A place where a team of hunters could make hundreds of millions of won in one go.

Ji-woo didn’t mind his words get doubted because he couldn’t prove what really happened. After all, the purpose of his calling was only to talk about the unpaid arrears. In the meantime, he really had no plan of selling the Spatial Bag. Like it or not, his intention to immediately accumulate wealth must get postponed.

There might be an opportunity to come while resting and waiting for the situation of the Red Gates to subside.

Ji-woo also needed self-reflection about his fight yesterday. It was a shameful fight. Even though it wasn’t his original feeling that he felt, frustration came to his heart. He was too arrogant even though he was in a state where his True Strength had not yet returned.

Ji-woo took a long, deep breath. “Does the tier-4 Portal Gate have anything to do with the current Red Gates? That thing said that the dungeon shouldn’t be closed. Also, I guess they were the masterminds of the Portal Gate. However, seeing their reaction and inability to cross come here, showing that is beyond the power of those creatures.”

The fact the Red Gate appeared after Ji-woo closed the tier-4 Portal Gate confirmed the creature’s statement. A being capable of making him cough up blood with just one hit.

Anyway, Ji-woo actually got so much information about the Portal Gate and the creatures. However, the intelligence was incomplete or unclear to him. But, one thing was for sure. The creatures’ plan to invade the Earth got settled, and it was just a matter of waiting when it would happen.

Ji-woo only remembered the well-defined information and put aside the unconfirmed ones. The following schedule was to craft the Obelisk Spheres into the wrist weights. The previous ones that Ji-woo had got destroyed with the Axes of Savage Monger by the Warlord of Trolls. But, the idea got disturbed when he got a call from Dong-hyun.

Dong-hyun asked if the training could continue under the current circumstances. He also had something to talk to Ji-woo about it. So, he suggested a meeting.

Both Ji-woo and Dong-hyun meet as usual at the foot of the mountain. Anyway, they had to show their hunter ID to get past the danger zone perimeter beforehand.

Ji-woo continued to stare at Dong-hyun, who was still throwing his face left and right, not opening his mouth the slightest since they arrived.

Ji-woo didn’t want to get patient then hit Dong-hyun on the head as usual.

“Ouch!”

“So, what do you want from me?”

Dong-hyun raised one hand to stop Ji-woo’s further violence. Meanwhile, his other hand was in charge of rubbing his head which was still aching. He exclaimed. “Wait! I just wanted to talk about something. Not asking for anything from you, hyung.”

Ji-woo didn’t take the bullshit. “It turns out that you enjoy getting beaten.”

Dong-hyun’s eyes widened at those sinister words. He also saw Ji-woo’s familiar hand gesture and immediately reacted.

“Hyung! Wait! Wait a minute. I’ll explain directly without further ado.

“There was a friend who invited me to join their Raid Party to hunt in the dungeon. Then I asked him if I could invite one more person. And it allowed.”

Ji-woo frowned. “And that person is me!? You must be kidding.”

Dong-hyun just lowered his head after got stared at by Ji-woo.

“When?”

Donghyun was surprised. But before long, he smiled brightly at the question, which he thought had indirectly agreed to his invitation to join the Raid Party.

“Tomorrow!”

Ji-woo narrowed his eyes as he looked at the ecstatic Dong-hyun. He guessed that Dong-hyun wanted to enter the Portal Gate as soon as possible was because his training was practical at the tier-3 Portal Gate and the Red Gate before.

Being confident and continuing the momentum was okay. But, being greedy was not very good.

Dong-hyun must be eager to fight those creatures with his newfound strength. Although, he was still not strong enough to get acknowledged as an Intermediate Mage.

However, Ji-woo didn’t have any plan to stopped and advised Dong-hyun. Regardless of he had to be willing to become a babysitter later. Since it also could become an experience for Dong-hyun if he met a setback in the dungeon.

‘I will see his suffering in return for using me as a babysitter!

‘Also, the tier of the Portal Gate must be high since he doesn’t have the confidence to join without me.’

“What tier is the Portal Gate?”

“Tier-4 Portal Gate!”

Ji-woo held his chin and fell into deep thought. He had concerns about a tier-4 Portal Gate given his current situation.

‘What if the dungeon is the same as before?’

Even if Ji-woo believed he could fight a creature as mighty as the Warlord of Trolls. There was no guarantee the creature that dealt him a crushing blow wouldn’t be able to show up again.

However, the chance of that happening was small. The fact that Seok-jin didn’t believe what Ji-woo said earlier proved that a tier-4 Portal Gate was usually a place that overflowed with treasures. Not the other way around.

It was also Ji-woo’s chance to enter the Portal Gate without paying a penny. And now he had a Spatial Bag, which meant he didn’t have to worry about what items to get picked up as long as they had value.

“All right, we’ll meet tomorrow. Just give me the address and time. I will come alone. So, no need to pick me up. And don’t forget, lend me a suit of armor. I’m broke, and I can’t afford it.”

“Yeah, hyung! I’d even gladly buy it for you.” Dong-hyun answered enthusiastically.

In the end, both Ji-woo and Dong-hyun part ways after sharing the address and time to hunt tomorrow.

And Ji-woo used the available time to create the new wrist weights. By the time that got done, he would be ready to go to the Portal Gate location. He also didn’t forget to tell his family about his schedule.

The next day, the wrist weights were ready. And Ji-woo gave one Magic Crystals to each of the wrists weights. So, the weight for the wrists was 4 kg. And the total weight of all with the ankle weights was 52 kg.

Ji-woo left for his destination by taking the bus as usual. When he arrived at his destination, Dong-hyun greeted him and gave him the armor he promised.

The Raid Party had 4 A-rank hunters, 10 B-rank hunters, and 15 C-rank hunters.

Ji-woo was puzzled by the composition of the Raid Party. Dong-hyun was clearly still an E-rank hunter but got invited to such a lineup.

Why?

All the hunter’s eyes also felt unfriendly to Ji-woo. Previously, Dong-hyun had told him that the one who had the party was a friend of his friend who invited him. The hunters in the party were hunters from various guilds. Some of them are also independent hunters.