Starting a Reversal in Life From the Time of Release

41 – “Survival for Now (2)

the innkeeper appeared to ponder seriously and then suddenly stepped into the gate.

Why is he acting like this all of a sudden? That thought crossed her mind.

“Sorry. I tend to take immediate action when it’s something I’ve decided on,” the innkeeper said as he emerged from the gate, smiling casually.

About three mages in black robes followed him.

She couldn’t find the right words to say.

“Oh… yes, it’s fine. You might have a point,” she managed to say, and the innkeeper smiled wryly and spoke, “Thank you for understanding. I came here in person to offer advice because I thought it was necessary.”

“So, you brought the mages with you?”

“Yeah, it seems like having extra hands would be better than working alone.”

“That makes sense.”

Mari nodded in agreement, and the innkeeper relaxed his stern expression, albeit somewhat rudely, with an apology.

“You can set up magic around this iron box. Concealment and shields. Decide the rest among yourselves. Once the installation is complete, let me know what kind of magic you’ve set.”

“Understood.”

The three mages responded briefly and exited the container.

The innkeeper watched the mages leave with a wistful look in his eyes and said, “We haven’t completely deciphered the concealment magic circle that covers this crack yet. But it hasn’t been entirely fruitless either.”

“Still? Even when you came in person, innkeeper?”

When Mari asked in surprise, the innkeeper nodded slightly.

“That’s right. It was only thanks to that young man’s help that we made any progress at all. Without him, I wouldn’t have had the courage to attempt it. The concealment is layered multiple times, making it very complex.”

“How complex is it?”

“Very. Extremely complex.”

“How do you think it would have been if Tapju had come?”

“Well, who knows. Even if Tapju had come, they would have come to a similar conclusion as me. They have much better magical abilities than me, but I’m not unaware of their capabilities.”

“I see.”

Mari sighed as if truly disappointed.

Being human herself, she seemed extremely curious about the enigmatic gate’s secret.

Before considering whether it would be practically beneficial or not.

Bustapju glanced subtly in Mari’s direction and said, “Research is progressing little by little, so don’t be too disappointed. Both empire’s mages are lending a hand too.”

“Thank you.”

…

“Annoying…!”

The once intact team was falling apart, and the people trying to fill the gaps were significantly lacking in skills.

As a result, Nam Bora’s irritation was increasing steadily.

On the day she had collapsed fighting in this summer. She had thought she would calm down once the fever subsided.

But as the two women dashed out as if they were waiting, her fever rose again.

It took a considerable amount of time for the fever to subside again.

She was now seething, looking at the low-skilled team members, and new complaints were arising.

Even her violent kicking towards the young, feeble tree was because of this.

“Phew…!”

The tree she kicked broke with a loud crack.

Nam Bora stood there with the broken stump deeply embedded in her boot.

“Why aren’t they coming?”

She was irritated that the team members who had left to organize the medium-sized monsters hadn’t returned yet.

The prickly voice that escaped Nam Bora’s lips was also because of this.

It was not as if she cared about the few remaining monsters that were not in her sight.

So, it was only natural that her annoyance would increase even more.

Nam Bora sat down on the fallen tree, trying to calm her anger.

She had been feeling too sharp lately.

“What are you doing now?”

As the fellow team hunters approached from afar, Nam Bora shouted, furrowing her brows.

She entrusted the cleaning to someone, but… the job was done too slowly.

It led to dissatisfaction.

However, the hunter who had left her seat was nowhere to be seen, and unfamiliar men she had never seen in her life were approaching her.

Nam Bora straightened her slightly furrowed brow and hastily got up.

Her annoyed expression was replaced by a serious one.

“Who are you?”

Nam Bora asked in a sharp tone.

This gate cleaning was something she had earned in Nokyang, and she hadn’t formed any alliance with other guilds.

So, it was impossible for an unknown hunter to come in or even to enter once they did.

It clearly constituted a territorial violation.

However, instead of an answer, they drew weapons from their pockets and raised their mana.

“Wow… it’s really giving me chills.”

No response, no signs of life. It was clear to anyone that they had come to kill someone.

Moreover, seeing them carry a heap of artifacts…

Nam Bora growled and put on a ring on her finger.

It was a valuable artifact that could replace a weapon.

“Kill her!”

One of the crowd shouted, and the men formed a long horizontal line as if they were waiting.

It was an intention to overwhelm Nam Bora in one go and cut off her breath.

“Flashbang!”

The moment one of the crowd shouted, everyone took sunglasses out of their pockets and put them on.

At the same time, the man who shouted took a flashbang grenade from his waist and threw it with all his might.

The flashbang grenade that flew diagonally fell in front of Nam Bora’s feet and emitted a dazzling light.

A blinding white light to the point of making one blind.

“Damn it…!”

Nam Bora grimaced in pain as if she was suffering and covered one of her eyes with her arm.

If the light or darkness was too intense, it was difficult for shadows to appear, and the opponent had sharply attacked that weakness.

Moreover, making her eyes go blind could create confusion.

“Ahh!”

It was good that she had retreated in haste, but in the end, the sharp blade of a knife had slashed her thigh deeply.

Fortunately, the wound wasn’t deep, but there was a burning sensation of pain.

It was because of the effect that turned it into a burns.

“Ah, ah…!”

As the flash grenade’s effect gradually weakened, Nam Bora slowly lowered her arm and opened her eyes.

No, she tried to open them.

If only there weren’t successive explosions of flash grenades.

“These bastards…!”

Nam Bora cursed in a scratching voice and ran fiercely while still exerting force.

She didn’t know where she was heading, but all she thought about was getting away for now.

Because of the blinding light, her eyes and the knife-cut thigh were stinging terribly.

Boom! As she was about to extend her shadow, a flash grenade exploded like a ghost.

The sharp shadow whimpered and disappeared. A few times.

“f*ck!”

Nam Bora cursed rough and narrowed her eyes.

Due to constantly covering her eyes, she could somewhat distinguish where was where.

Once she firmly decided to escape through the gate, she ran like she was drawing a line.

She was running towards the gate entrance to escape.

“Don’t lose her! Destroy her before she exits the gate!”

The pursuers also knew her intention and shouted urgently.

Only because they cut her leg in the first surprise attack.

If not, they would have missed her in no time.

Flash grenades kept exploding.

The timing to use the artifact didn’t come.

Nam Bora’s heart was becoming more and more restless, but at the same time, she was calmly organizing the current situation.

She had come quite deep inside, so the exit was still far away.

And it didn’t seem like there was any end to the supply of flash grenades.

In that case…

“Ah…!”

A knife flew through the flash and got embedded in Nam Bora’s thigh.

It was the opposite thigh, not the one that was cut before.

Nam Bora groaned in pain but boldly drew her knife.

At the same time, she infused mana into the ring on her finger to activate healing magic.

Although the burn effect on the knife was too large for it to be completely healed, it had the effect of preventing the condition from worsening.

“You bastards!”

In the end, unable to bear it any longer, Nam Bora kicked the ground and flew away.

Since she couldn’t fly, she naturally fell to the ground,

“Oof?!”

“You crazy b*tch…!”

As Nam Bora fiercely fell and turned the ground upside down, the pursuers stopped and showered her with curses.

It was because the thick dust and faint earthquake were obscuring their view as much as flashbang grenades.

Meanwhile, beyond the dense rising dust.

Nam Bora, who managed to catch her breath, gave off a very eerie gaze.

It was a gaze like that of a severely hungry beast.

“Hey! Throw a flashbang! Quickly… ARGH!”

One of the men who sensed that motion shouted urgently, but before he could even fi

The lingering effects of infused mana served as evidence that they had not yet disappeared.

Most of the artifacts they had prepared were related to abilities or physical augmentation, and there were no special debuff effects.

Debuff-type artifacts that could cause burns or poison were mostly weapons.

“Ah, I’m itching for it…”

The men wanted to grab the artifacts on their bodies, but they couldn’t afford to do so.

You never knew when these guys might come back.

So, they only took a few items that seemed useful.

Physical enhancement.

Artifacts with effects like increased mana efficiency and a burning knife that lay nearby.

“Ah…”

Darn it. Nam Bora whimpered, tightly closing her eyes in fear of coming out of the gate.

There were still many who were after her life.