The darkness subsided, and the holy light of dawn shone across the garden. 

“Phew… That was hard as fuck.”

Jun-ho was flopped down on the flower field when he saw the magnificent sight unfold in front of his baggy eyes.

“Upsy-daisy.”

Using the spear as a cane, Jun-ho got back up, firmly planting his shaky legs onto the ground. He then patted the dirt off his pants. 

With a dead-tired face, he looked around. 

“…I almost saw my life flash before my eyes.”

He was looking at the remnants of the fierce battle all over the garden when a message rang in his ear.

“…Hmm.” 

Instead of happiness, Jun-ho’s face was filled with suspicion. The clear condition for this Gate was eliminating all the monsters. 

Hunting 62 monsters was no easy feat. 

Unless there are four players.

It wasn’t a hard task for each player to defeat 15 Leufs. This put Jun-ho into deep thought. 

I verified all 186 players that entered this Gate in the last 9 years.

A majority of them were novices, but among them was the rising star of India. 

If the data isn’t wrong, he should have been able to handle even 40 Leufs just by himself.

Unless the three that went in with him were some mega trolls, he should have been able to clear it.

“So how did he fail?”

There was something he was missing. As his brows were about to frown:

[You have received 「Blood Flower」 as a clear reward.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All your stats have increased by 2.]

[You have regained 5 Strength stats.]

[The Gate will automatically disappear in 1 hour.]

New messages filled up his field of vision, and Jun-ho’s eyes widened. 

“…Huh?”

He was honestly not expecting much for the clear reward. He was thinking, ‘How great of a reward could a low-level Gate give?’ But the reward was a Blood Flower? 

Jun-ho couldn’t hold back his smile. 

What amazing luck.

Blood Flower seeds had a rare chance of materializing inside a Gate, and it required a ton of human blood for it to bloom into a flower. That’s how it got its name. 

Jun-ho had also only ever heard of rumors about it. This was the first time he ever obtained one in person. 

“Item info,” he mumbled while taking out the Blood Flower from his inventory. 

A holographic window popped up.

「Blood Flower」

Grade: Rare

Description: A strange flower that became a magical plant after consuming human blood. Its effect varies on the number of petals. 

Effect: Gain +1 Magic stat for each petal you consume. 

A wide, peaceful smile bloomed on Jun-ho’s face. He radiated the energy of a nice, neighborhood grandma. 

At this moment, he could even talk to the tabloid reporters outside with a smile. 

From what I know, Blood Flowers grow only a single petal a year…

It’s been 9 years since this Gate formed. Unfortunately, the seed must have sprouted a bit late, because instead of 9 petals, there were only 7 on the flower.

“Beggars can’t be choosers. Thank you for the meal.”

Without even an ounce of hesitation, Jun-ho started shoving the petals into his mouth. 

Munch, munch.

The bitter taste of iron filled his mouth. 

[Your Magic stat has increased by 1.]

[Your Magic stat has increased by 1.]

[Your Magic stat…]

…

After eating all the petals, he licked his lips. 

“…It tastes absolutely awful, but I wish I had more.”

He had the resolve to eat even worse tasting food for stats. 

“Wait, what are my stats right now… Status window.”

[Seo Jun-ho]

Level: 9

Title: The One Who Opens Spring

Strength: 34               Stamina: 35

Speed: 39                       Magic: 37

He slaughtered Leufs all night, and he even cleared the Gate, but he only went up 4 levels. That’s because the higher the level, the more experience it requires. 

All my stats went up by 4 from leveling up… and the Blood Flower gave me an additional 7 Magic stat.

In just a single night, he managed to increase his Magic by 11. 

“I won’t have to be worried about my magic for a while.”

It was clear to Jun-ho that he’ll be able to fight better in the next fight. 

With a grin, Jun-ho turned his head.

“Now that the Gate’s been cleared… time to pick up some nuclei.” 

Diligently, he pulled the nucleus out of each and every Leuf corpse, storing them in his inventory. But when he finished collecting them, instead of exiting the Gate, he turned his steps towards the maze. 

Up close, the maze was far taller than he originally thought. 

It looked 3m tall from over there, but this has gotta be at least 5m tall.

The looming height gave some serious psychological pressure. It was this intimidating in the daylight. How awful would it be in the dark, while being chased by Leufs?

Jun-ho was glad he hadn’t retreated here last night. 

K-kk-crack.

In order to not get lost in the maze, Jun-ho periodically froze the ground to mark his path. 

Inside the maze, there were all kinds of weapons and armors littered on the floor. Jun-ho quickly discerned the equipment with his eyes. 

That one’s worn out. That one’s broken. Wait, what’s that? Is that a flower growing inside that armor?

He wasn’t finding any equipment that was up to his standards. 

“Hmm.”

After arriving at a dead end, Jun-ho made a small spooked noise. He had found a skeleton lying against the wall. And next to it, a notepad and a bow. 

“…Found it.”

Having found what he was looking for, Jun-ho approached the wall. He carefully picked up the bow. It was covered in dust, but it was a fine, undamaged bow. 

So this is Tempest.

If you shoot an arrow with it, it flies around unpredictably like a butterfly. And the wind caused by the arrow felt like a storm, hence its name*.

(TN: The full name for the bow in Korean is “Tempest Butterfly”.)

“It’s probably not as great as the ‘Final Horizon’ that was discovered in the ruins of the 2nd Floor, but… it’s still a great bow.”

Final Horizon. It was a name given to the bow because it could shoot an arrow to the ends of the horizon. However, he heard it fell into the hands of a fiend, so it was unlikely he would ever come across it.

After closely examining the bow, Jun-ho looked over at the skeleton. It was obvious who this fellow was.

“…Tushar Vishi.”

The late up-and-comer from India. 

Jun-ho paid his respects to him.

“Thank you.”

If he was bitter in his last moments, he would have put the bow in his inventory before dying. And had he done that, this Rare-grade bow would forever vanish from the world. However, he hadn’t done that.

“I’ll probably find the reason in his notepad.”

Jun-ho carefully flipped through the worn-out notepad. Inside, very neat handwriting filled up the pages. 

“This is… a diary.”

The notepad closely told the tale of Tushar Vishi. 

* * *

Inside of the notepad, the entries were divided by date and time. Since Jun-ho was proficient in English, Japanese, and Hindi, he had no trouble reading the diary. 

– 2044, April 7th, 12:40 PM

I got a request from the Korean government to raid Leuf’s Garden. I was promised an unbelievable reward despite only being level 10. My friends and family told me to reconsider, but I can’t give up on this kind of opportunity. 

– 2044, April 23rd, 4:12 PM

I’m shaking. Tomorrow’s the day we enter Leuf’s Garden. I did pretty good while shooting some arrows as practice. I have a good feeling about this.

– 2044, April 24th, 11:37 AM

We finally entered the Gate. With me are my trusted comrades. We’ve been working together since I was level 1. We first scouted our surroundings. It was such a beautiful place, we couldn’t believe that we were inside a Gate. 

– 2044, April 24th, 8:33 PM

When night fell, Flower Ghosts started crawling out of the ground. The pattern for the Gate was monster waves. Eight Leufs appeared in the first wave. Our group hunted them while laughing at how easy it was. But then 16 appeared in the 2nd wave, and 32 appeared in the 3rd. When 64 Leufs appeared in the 4th wave, we escaped into the maze. 

There’s no way 128 of them will appear once we finish this wave, right? Dammit. This Gate’s completely crazy. 

– 2044, April 25th, 5:29 AM

Dawn broke. I managed to scrape by the first day. The Leufs that were chasing us went back into the ground. However, one of our comrades died from blood loss… We buried him and made a simple grave for him. The time that I spent inside this Gate felt longer than any other moment of my life.

– 2044, April 25th, 7:12 PM

The sun’s about to set. I hope that I’ll be able to write in my diary once again. O Shiva, God of Destruction, please grant mercy unto us.

– 2044, April 26th, 2:48 PM

I passed out as soon as the battle was over. My hand feels so weak, I can barely hold the pen. We finished off the rest of the Leufs from the previous night. However, the 5th wave started after that, and a total of 128 Leufs appeared. This is not an exaggeration. There really were 128 of them. After fighting for our lives, there’s about 40 of them left. I’m confident I can take care of that many by myself once the sun goes down. Tomorrow, we’ll be able to leave this cursed Gate… Wait. There won’t be a 6th wave, right?  

– 2044, April 26th, 5:02 PM

Son of a bitch! Fucking bastard! One of our comrades was a fiend. How could he deceive us like that? He ambushed me from behind. I was able to take care of that dirty, cowardly fiend, but my left hand got torn in battle. I can’t feel my left arm. I can’t wield my bow like this. Having heard the sound of battle, my last comrade’s face turned white. We were the final survivors. I’m worried about tonight. 

“……” 

Reading the diary painted sadness onto Jun-ho’s eyes. The handwriting started getting much more scribbly. The messy letters were screaming his desperation. 

– 2044, April 26th, 6:58 PM

I escaped into the maze, running like hell, not even looking back. My final comrade, who continued to fight in my stead, died to a Leuf. Dammit! My tears won’t stop. I’m scared. What am I supposed to do? The terror had taken control of my body. I can’t stop shaking in fear. When I had come to, I had arrived at a dead end. I’m bleeding like crazy from stepping on a trap. I can’t move any longer. This will likely be my grave… I can hear the Leufs getting closer. If someone finds this notepad, please tell our families that we’re sorry…

The Leufs must have taken a bit to arrive because the diary had another entry written after a bit of time. Jun-ho deduced the gap in time from the handwriting that had gotten much cruder. It was a handwriting that was filled with grudge and anger. There wasn’t even a date or time preceding this entry.

– If I somehow make it out of here alive, I’m going to annihilate every single one of these fiend bastards. The cancer of society. O Great Shiva, let this Tushar Vishi become one with the eternal soul, and let all those sinners be condemned to hell. Someone, anyone, I beg of you to fulfill the vengeance of this poor warrior. 

The rest of the notepad was filled with incoherent swearing and resentment. It continued on for many pages. But then, on the last page, the tone shifted radically. It felt like it was written by someone who had a clear mind after having given up on everything. It was written in his normal, neat handwriting that reflected his personality.

– 2044, April 27th, 12:01AM

I’m still alive. I’ll now put down my pen, and pull the bowstring with my mouth if I have to. O Goddess of War. O God of Archery. Please grant me the miracle of the grand tempest once again.

And that was the end of the diary.

“…Alas, there was no miracle.”

Had a miracle happened, he wouldn’t have died. And with that, Jun-ho’s suspicions were cleared up.

The number of Leufs in this Gate scaled off the number of players.

Jun-ho shook from the chills that crept up his spine. What would have happened if he had entered the Gate with 3 noob players? He would have had to face a total of 248 Leufs in the course of 5 waves. 

“…I’m not sure if even I could have handled that.”

It would have been especially difficult while carrying 3 useless idiots. 

I can’t believe the most optimal clear method would be to enter alone.

In the last 9 years, Jun-ho was the only one to ever enter this Gate alone. After the failures of the first few groups, the latter groups always challenged the Gate with 4 people. 

Shaking off the sick feeling, Jun-ho got up from the spot. 

“Yosh.”

He rummaged around his inventory. He searched for the thing he always carried around, just in case. 

“Here it is.”

Pop! Glug, glug, glug. 

Jun-ho poured the cheap liquor from his inventory in front of the skeleton. 

“Hinduism believes in Saṃsāra*, right? I pray that you’ll reincarnate to a good place.”

(TN: Cycle of death and rebirth.)

Jun-ho gave a short prayer for Tushar. Only after he was done paying his respects to the dead, he checked the info of the Tempest. 

「Tempest Butterfly」

Grade: Rare

250% Piercing strength on attacks. 

Arrows create a strong gust while flying through the air. 

Equipment Requirements: Level 10, 45 Strength, 45 Speed

The world had become like a game, but weapons still didn’t have things like attack damage. At the end of the day, this was a reality where you died if your head got blown off or your heart pierced.

“…It’s amazing.”

The Tempest was a strong weapon, but he wasn’t overjoyed like he normally would be. Because that would have been disrespectful to Tushar Vishi. 

I don’t have enough Strength or Speed stats. I won’t be able to use it for a while.

He could still technically use the bow. However, if you didn’t meet the item’s Equipment Requirements, you couldn’t utilize its bonus effects. 

Jun-ho said to Tushar’s skull, which was looking up at the sky as if it was contemplating life, “I’ll be borrowing this for a bit. It won’t be enough as payment, but I’ll definitely get your revenge on those damned fiends because I also hate those motherfuckers.” 

As if it understood Jun-ho’s words, the skeleton rattled and Tushar’s skull shifted, now facing the floor. 

“…Then, take care, India’s young hero.”

Walking away from Tushar, Jun-ho promptly exited the Gate.