Chapter 247: Time Rabbit's Carrying Pouch (1)

Despite hundreds of Attempts, Kim Ki-Rok wasn't able to clear the Hell Gate. The Hell King was so strong that the Four Dukes seem like a minor inconvenience in comparison. Moreover, the biggest problem was that they only had one chance to clear the Gate.

On top of that, the smoother it was to subjugate the Four Dukes, the more complacent the Gate clear team became. However, if those fights were brutally hard, the Hell King became almost impossible to defeat. It was truly a dilemma.

They first needed to weaken the life-threatening, ominous mana in its domain. This was not too difficult to do using mana stones charged with the Hunters' mana, and long-range ability users with lower physical stats. The problem was that the moment they used the Hunter's mana to weaken Hell's mana, the Hell King would go on patrol upon sensing a disturbance in its domain, something it had never done before.

They could place these charged mana stones everywhere and have the Hunters hide to seize a second chance. But even if they seized the opportunity that way, most of their main Hunters would have already been dead from this first try.

Even though the Hunters had skills and stats, this wasn't a game. They only had one life. Failing the subjugation meant the death of the participating Hunters, so even if they somehow secured a new opportunity with funds, each subsequent subjugation attempt would inevitably become more disadvantaged.

Kim Ki-Rok slowly walked to the center of the platform and looked at the meeting attendees.

The Hunters were engaged in relaxed conversations with their comrades. Listening closely, one could hear talk of Gate rewards and boasts about their achievements to their peers.

As expected, they've let their guards down...

Kim Ki-Rok thought.

Despite the final and worst enemy remaining, the Gate clear team always let their guard down the moment they subdued the Four Dukes. It was understandable given that they had overcome powerful mid-bosses and grown exponentially through constant battles with Hell monsters.

Right... The problem was the lack of knowledge.

The Hunters had gained experience through subduing the Four Dukes and had hunted Hell monsters to level up. They had charged mana stones, a secret weapon that weakened the power of Hell monsters. With experience, growth, and their secret weapon at hand, the clear team was overconfident in their ability to face the Hell King.

Generally, a Gate boss was a monster with at least twice, and at most four times, the strength of a mid-boss. That was not the case in Hell.

Perhaps because of the prolonged silence, the Hunters—those chatting, those reading reports, those smiling about the future—looked up at Kim Ki-Rok.

After waiting longer than he expected, Kim Ki-Rok smiled brightly at the now focused Hunters. "I'll get straight to the point."

"Oh!"

"As expected of Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok."

Some of the Gate clear members raised their thumbs, some smiled broadly, and others simply resumed their conversations with their comrades.

"We've successfully subdued the Four Dukes," Kim Ki-Rok began. "After taking down the Dukes of the East and West, we didn't rush the Archduke of the South. We hunted nearby Hell monsters to level up and sharpen our skills. As a result, our S-Class and SS-Class Hunters advanced to the next ranks respectively before facing the Archduke of the South."

He paused for a moment before continuing. "Unlike when we proceeded with the simultaneous subjugation, we took our time to thoroughly prepare for the subjugation of the Archduke, which might be why it went relatively smoothly. Though... it wasn't entirely without danger."

The Hunters, as well as the civilians supporting them from the rear, nodded in agreement.

It had been eleven months since the Gate appeared. The clear team had subjugated not only the Four Dukes but also hundreds of thousands of Hell monsters.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

“There is only one target left to clear this Gate: the Hell King. We have one month remaining with a five-day margin of error."

Although they had faced adversity, they had overcome these hardships with the power of mana stones. Rather than jumping into the subjugation of the Hell King right after successfully overcoming these crises, the clear team instead hunted the remaining Hell monsters to level up.

Kim Ki-Rok, who had paused to quench his thirst, checked the confident faces of the Hunters and put down the water bottle. "Common sense does not apply to Hell, and this is something all Hunters participating in the clear know by now. This means the gap between the Gate boss and mid-boss may not match our assumptions."

Kim Ki-Rok smiled as the audience tried to gauge what he was getting at. "Then, let's change the topic for a moment. I received an interim reward."

"Hmm? An interim reward?" someone in the crowd said.

"That's right. Hell is a very dangerous Gate. While resting after the subjugation of the Hell monsters, I received an interim reward that could increase our chances of clearing it."

Perhaps because of the news that they could receive rewards even before completing the clear, some Hunters began talking about the term interim reward among themselves.

"Not just anyone can receive the interim reward." Kim Ki-Rok smiled as he drew the attention of the people back to himself. "Only saviors."

"Saviors?"

"Yes, those who've rescued another dimension. The title doesn't appear in my status window, but the Earth system must've logged it. When I asked about the reward, it showed me a message that said, 'Savior of five dimensions, Kim Ki-Rok, who saved not only the present but also the future, has met the conditions and may receive the interim reward by sacrificing his power to save both timelines.'"

Some meeting attendees gasped in realization.

Kim Ki-Rok possessed Guardian, a weapon that allowed the use of powerful abilities with a time limit in exchange for levels, and had used the artifact to save numerous dimensions. He had preemptively dealt with not only the current dangers but also those that could arise in the future of those dimensions. And that wasn't all. Despite being a Hunter of Earth, he negotiated for the dimensions he saved.

"What reward did you receive as the interim reward?" a foreign attendee asked.

"Perhaps because we'd subdued the Four Dukes and countless Hell monsters, the Earth system offered me a reward first. After some negotiation, I was able to acquire two skills," Kim Ki-Rok answered.

Not just one, but two?

the attendees wondered in amazement.

A Chinese Hunter raised his hand. "May I ask what you acquired?"

Kim Ki-Rok nodded his head. "Of course. The first skill I acquired is a type of teleportation."

"Hmm?"

It was indeed a rare skill. However, considering the difficulty of the Hell Gate, it felt like a somewhat disappointing reward.

"It is an instant skill that leaves no trace and has no activation or casting time," Kim Ki-Rok explained.

"Oh!"

"The downside is that it can only be used once every thirty days and is limited to one person," Kim Ki-Rok continued.

"Ah..."

That was disappointing skill. Although it was an extremely outstanding and rare ability, it left much to be desired.

"Was it because he only participated in the subjugation of the Poison Duke of the North?" one Hunter said.

Another Hunter nodded. "That could be it."

Kim Ki-Rok did not participate in the subjugation of the Four Dukes of the East and West. The same went for the Archduke of the South. He stayed at headquarters to fight Hell monsters in preparation for the subjugation of the Hell King.

After a brief conversation with the Hunter sitting next to him, the Hunters turned their heads back to look at Kim Ki-Rok.

Kang Man-Ki, the commander of the clear team, raised his hand and asked, "And what of your second skill?"

"It's one-second foresight," Kim Ki-Rok answered.

"Foresight?"

"Yes. It's a skill that allows you to see the future one second ahead."

The surprise at acquiring a skill to see the future was brief, as Kang Man-Ki soon regarded Kim Ki-Rok with an uncertain expression. This skill, Kim Ki-Rok mentioned, would not allow one to see the distant future, but just one second ahead.

The Association president and everyone else began to tilt their heads in confusion.

"It's quite vague, isn't it?" Kim Ki-Rok said.

Some let out a small laugh.

"But a power to see the future one second ahead in battle is very powerful," Kim Ki-Rok continued.

Being able to see one second into the future meant that he could anticipate and prepare for the enemy's attack. Even if there was a long cooldown, it could just be more than enough to turn the tides in a difficult situation.

"Then let's circle back to the main topic of the meeting," Kim Ki-Rok said.

***

If the clear team had underestimated the power of the Hell King, having grown complacent because they were just one step away from clearing the Gate, then there was only one thing to do.

Correct it.

As Kim Ki-Rok resolved himself and stepped into the Hell King's domain, the system issued everyone a death warning.

He stopped and muttered, "Time Rabbit's Carrying Pouch."

[

Time Rabbit's Carrying Pouch (S)

]

Effect: Transmits memories to 10 minutes in the past

Condition: None (optional use)

Kim Ki-Rok had committed fraud by deceiving people by playing on the message that appeared every time he saved a dimension: "You have saved the XX dimension."

However, he had not lied about acquiring a new skill. Kim Ki-Rok had negotiated with the Earth system every time he succeeded in clearing one of the dozens of S-Class Gates that appeared on Earth, accumulating his rewards into a single prize. After clearing the Yuashiel Dimension and the Patera Dimension, he did not receive rewards even after successfully clearing the Gates. Instead of the power offered by the Earth system and the saved dimensions, Kim Ki-Rok chose to acquire a new skill by offering his rewards to the "Time Rabbit."

[The Time Rabbit shakes its head and says, "You really are crazy."]

It's been a while since a message from the Time Rabbit appeared.

Kim Ki-Rok burst into laughter and slightly lowered his head, concerned about the camera floating in the sky. "You know this is the only way."

[The Time Rabbit shakes its head again and says, "You're truly insane."]

[The Time Rabbit asks with a serious expression, "So, how many transmissions do you expect?"]

"I don't know. But I'll repeat it over and over again."

No new message window appeared. Kim Ki-Rok moved with a smile on his face, and when he spotted a Humanoid Hell Monster staring blankly at the sky on the barren land in the distance, he stopped and muttered to himself.

"Use skill, Time Rabbit's Carrying Pouch."