I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 49.
Fwoosh!
Light flooded their vision.
And when their sight returned, what awaited them was not monsters, but—
“Wh-what is this…?”
The sight of a city.
A medieval-era city. A small number of people were walking the streets, chatting with one another.
An utterly peaceful scene. There was no trace of monsters to be found.
“I-Is this a city?”
“Looks like something out of a fantasy world.”
“Hmm…”
Ryu Il-woo frowned.
No matter how much he focused, nothing felt off. They were just ordinary people.
He recalled his experience clearing Gates.
“A base zone, maybe?”
Entry-type Gates have quests.
The structure is such that the Gate can only be closed by completing those quests, and among them, some can serve as bases.
Like villages or cities, things like that.
“Hmm…”
“I don’t sense any hostility.”
The passersby were, as described, ordinary people. No hostility was detected.
Yoo Baek-jun looked at the quest that had appeared before him.
[A City in Distress]
At first glance, the city appears peaceful, but it is in grave trouble.
Find and eliminate the cause of the distress.
―Difficulty: A-rank
―Entry Limit: 100 people
―Objective: Eliminate the cause of the distress
―Reward: Comprehensive Treasure Chest
A Gate quest.
Entry-type Gates have quests that must be completed, and clearing them allows the Gate to be closed.
In most cases, these can be checked before entering, but those created by the Demon God’s Jar are exceptions.
‘Judging by the difficulty, it’s not an easy Gate, but the content doesn’t seem particularly hard either.’
And yet, the Crimson Crusaders had failed here—despite being the natural enemy of demons.
Why? The reason was—
‘Because the demon inside this Gate is a dream demon.’
The people walking the streets.
The peaceful scenery of this city.
All of it is a trap.
“This seems like the world of Halpeon, right?”
“If it’s fantasy, it’s probably Halpeon. Just to be sure, should we ask one of the passersby?”
One of the raid team members stepped forward and spoke to a pedestrian. He asked which continent this was and the name of the city.
“This is the Ludberia Continent of Halpeon. This city is called Corden. It’s under the rule of the kingdom…”
The pedestrian explained.
But his expression was utterly lifeless.
“Is that all?”
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
As soon as the explanation ended, the pedestrian walked away blankly.
Something felt off.
“What’s up with him? That was kind of cold.”
“It’s strange. More than cold… it felt like he just wasn’t interested in us at all.”
“…Hmm.”
Ryu Il-woo looked around at the people again.
A city in the dark of night. The faces of the passersby lacked vitality, and the streets were quiet.
He tried talking to more people to gather information.
“Judging by your appearance, you seem to be travelers from another world, am I right?”
“Yes, we just arrived.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“Um, the people here seem… uninterested in us. Why is that?”
“Huh? Ah…”
The pedestrian scratched his head.
“Don’t take it the wrong way. It’s just that everyone’s been strangely tired lately.”
“Tired?”
“Well… yeah. Welcome to our city, travelers from another world. I hope you have a good stay.”
With that, the pedestrian left.
Gates are connected to other worlds.
Those worlds are broadly divided into two categories: fantasy and martial arts.
Naturally, whether it’s a fantasy world or a martial arts world, each has its own name.
‘The fantasy world is called Halpeon, and the martial arts world is called Murim.’
Murim is almost identical to Earth.
The shape of the world is the same. The only difference is that its history is completely different from Earth’s.
Halpeon, however, is not.
Halpeon has multiple continents, and Hunters have been actively exploring them.
‘It’s been many years since Hunters started traveling between worlds through Gates.’
Now, even Halpeon and Murim have roughly accepted the presence of Hunters who suddenly appear.
Beings who come from another world, solve problems in their world, and then disappear.
One of the titles used to refer to them is ‘Travelers from Another World.’
“Why did we come to a city like this?”
“Ryu Il-woo, didn’t you say there are demons here? This place… seems ordinary.”
“Hmm.”
Ryu Il-woo also looked deep in thought. But he had no knowledge about demons.
His gaze turned to Yoo Baek-jun.
“Just because a city seems ordinary doesn’t mean there are no demons. There are many types of demons.”
“So there’s a high chance they’re hiding in this city?”
“Yeah.”
Yoo Baek-jun answered vaguely.
“Then we should start by assessing the situation.”
“Isn’t it too late now? There aren’t many people around.”
“Then it’s better to start tomorrow!”
The current time was deep into the night.
With few people around, it wasn’t suitable for assessing the situation or gathering information.
Ryu Il-woo decided to start moving in earnest the next day and first secured an inn.
“Gold… Do we have any gold…?”
In Halpeon, gold is used as currency.
The standard methods of obtaining it are either by earning it locally through various requests or by buying it from other Hunters with money.
“There are too many of us, so it might be better for the Peng Family to go to a different inn.”
“Let’s do that!”
They quickly found an inn.
After settling in roughly, Yoo Baek-jun went down to the first floor, which served as a tavern.
There were quite a few people. However,
“Don’t the people seem strangely tired?”
Just as Ryu Il-woo said.
The people gathered in the tavern were drinking and talking, but they looked extremely tired.
It was to the point where one might think they’d been pulling all-nighters for days.
“Maybe it’s because it’s nighttime?”
“That could be it, but…”
Ryu Il-woo didn’t seem to agree with Serberia’s words.
Yoo Baek-jun took a sip of his drink.
“Let’s think about it tomorrow.”
“Hmm…”
The party dispersed after satisfying their hunger.
And the next day. Yoo Baek-jun was waiting on the first floor for the others to come down.
Beside him was Han Seong-ah, who….
“Ugh, ugh…”
She was unusually sporting a tired expression. There were slight dark circles under her eyes.
“Instructor Han Seong-ah, didn’t you sleep last night?”
“Ah, yes. Maybe because the sleeping arrangements changed, I had trouble sleeping. I’m sorry.”
“Well, no need to be sorry.”
Shortly after, the rest of the raid team came down.
All of their faces were a mess.
“Why do you all look like that?”
“Well, I had trouble sleeping last night… Ugh, I have no excuse. The leader of the raid team couldn’t even sleep properly.”
“I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep either, haaah. Ah, not sleeping ruins your skin.”
Ryu Il-woo and Serberia were the same.
Despite having arrived only a day ago, their faces were already heavily marked by fatigue.
Yoo Baek-jun touched his cheek and fell into thought.
‘It must be that demon.’
Red Gates have demons.
Naturally, this city also has a demon. That much is certain, but even Yoo Baek-jun couldn’t be sure which demon it was.
‘It could have changed, like with Jin Seo-yeon.’
But judging by the symptoms of the raid team members, it hadn’t changed.
It was the same.
“Leader, are we exploring the city today?”
“We have to.”
“Ugh, I’m so tired, can’t we rest more? Huh? Il-woo, let’s rest one more day.”
“Do we have that luxury? Let’s move.”
Ryu Il-woo led the exhausted guild members out to gather information.
Serberia let out a deep sigh.
“Having diligent people around can be a pain. Let’s go too.”
“Yes, Lady Serberia.”
Both guilds left.
Only Yoo Baek-jun and the Sword Saint family remained.
“Young master, we should get going too…”
“Yeah, I know. But first—take this.”
“What is this? A potion?”
Yoo Baek-jun handed potions to the swordsmen.
They were top-grade potions he had made overnight with Joo Jung-won.
“Drink it before bed. Instructor Han, make sure the other guilds get these too.”
“Before bed, understood.”
“Right.”
If his suspicion was correct, The fatigue the raid team was feeling wasn’t normal.
And this potion would take care of it.
‘Now, then…’
Yoo Baek-jun pulled out the Demon God’s Jar from his subspace.
A jar emitting a dark aura. Aside from its function of creating gates, it had one more special ability.
‘It can detect nearby demons.’
To be more precise, detecting demons wasn’t its intended function.
But when demons were nearby, the Demon God’s Jar would become more active and emit more demonic energy.
By using that, he could determine whether or not demons were close.
‘While the others are gathering information, I’ll see if I can confirm the presence of demons in the city.’
Yoo Baek-jun immediately set his plan into motion.
***
The information gathering didn’t finish until nightfall.
The raid team hadn’t uncovered anything significant, and neither had Yoo Baek-jun.
“Did you find out anything? Our Magic Tower… came up empty. What about the Peng Family or the Crimson Crusaders?”
“Nothing! Although I did hear that lately, there have been more monsters gathering near the city.”
“Ugh, I’m already tired. Don’t yell like that—my head’s ringing.”
“Grrrgh!”
Serberia covered her brow with a sigh.
She seemed incredibly tired.
Ryu Il-woo also exhaled deeply.
“I saw that the townspeople look tired too. Maybe this fatigue we’re all feeling has some kind of cause.”
“You mean there’s something behind it?”
“Yeah, since it’s supposed to be a city in crisis.”
“This fatigue might be the cause of the crisis! More specifically, it could be what’s creating the fatigue!”
“Alright, alright, I get it, just be quiet now.”
Serberia rubbed her eyelids.
“It hasn’t been easy getting information. People are… I don’t know, strangely indifferent?”
“But it didn’t seem like it was just toward us. The residents were indifferent even toward each other.”
“Yes, it’s… unsettling. They feel like people without emotions.”
Serberia brushed her arm down.
It felt like she was talking to a doll rather than a person.
“Anyway, huff… I heard that people started getting tired when the monsters began gathering outside the city.”
“The most suspicious thing is the monsters. They might be up to something.”
“And there might be demons involved!”
It was a logical thought.
The raid team also agreed.
After all, there didn’t seem to be any other options.
Ryu Il-woo looked at Yoo Baek-jun, who had been silent.
“Yoo Baek-jun, you’re unusually quiet. Do you have any other good ideas?”
“Huh? Oh, no… Has anyone tried entering the castle?”
“The castle?”
The raid team members started speaking one by one.
“I tried to get in, but I couldn’t. Apparently, travelers from other worlds are not allowed to enter.”
“To get in, you’d probably have to build some trust. Maybe if we do some work here and there, it might help.”
“Hmm, so it’s off-limits.”
Yoo Baek-jun fell into thought after hearing this.
‘There are no demons inside the city.’
He had walked around the entire city, but the Demon God’s jar didn’t react.
So what about outside the city?
No, the probability was even lower.
‘If the demon I’m thinking of is the one, it’s definitely inside the city.’
As mentioned earlier, Yoo Baek-jun had explored the entire city.
But there was one place he couldn’t access because of his identity.
“The castle…”
The castle in the center of the city.
That was the one place he couldn’t approach. The guards blocked the entrance.
Others were the same.
“Travelers from other worlds can’t enter. Well, it’s a reasonable measure, but…”
It weighed on his mind.
“Alright, that’s enough for today. We’ve all worked hard. Tomorrow, we’ll take on a quest and tackle the monsters outside the city. Understood?”
“Yes!”
The raid team dispersed.
The only ones left were Yoo Baek-jun, Ryu Il-woo, and Yoon Song-ha, who had remained silent the whole time.
“Yoo Baek-jun, is there something on your mind? You don’t seem too eager.”
“Huh? Oh… something like that.”
“What’s bothering you?”
Yoo Baek-jun thought for a moment.
“I think wandering outside the village is pointless.”
“Then?”
“The castle is suspicious.”
“But there’s no way in, right? Are you planning on sneaking in?”
Sneaking in—everyone could think of that.
He had thought that too, and had tried sneaking into the castle many times.
The result was always failure.
Once inside, hiding would be easy, but sneaking in from the outside was far too difficult.
That meant they were very vigilant about the outer perimeter.
But was there really no way?
“Not that there isn’t.”
Yoon Song-ha looked puzzled.
“It’s not like there isn’t one?”
“Being captured as a criminal.”
“What?”
The expression on everyone’s face turned to one of disbelief.
