The Cinder Fox is the ultimate predator. It doesn’t have any natural enemies, nor were there ever any beings that could compete with it. 

In other words, it was the first time it had felt fear in its 1000 years of life. 

– “Krraaaaah!”

The Cinder Fox’s scream shook the earth as it whipped its head around. All it needed to do was crush the tiny human that had dared to wound it. He was smaller than its front paw. But it wouldn’t make the mistake of rushing in blindly.

As expected. Seo Jun-ho’s eyes squinted into half-moons. The Cinder Fox still had its guard up as it rushed toward him, but he sensed fear in its movements. 

Their sole purpose in life is to gain nine tails over a thousand years and become the Millenium Fox. 

It was no wonder it was scared after losing its tails. One tail took 111 long years to grow. 

I’m the hunter. The one who kills the prey. He would use whatever he could. 

Once he figured out its weak point, it only got even more defensive. Even if it acknowledged the strength of its hunter, there was nothing it could do. 

I can probably face it in direct combat now. A few moments ago, it would have been impossible to make up for the difference in size and magic. But now that the Cinder Fox had five tails, it was different. 

“Hup!”

Seo Jun-ho dashed forward like a bullet. Surprised by the sudden ambush, the Cinder Fox instinctively swiped its paw. 

Wooooshhh!

The air screamed as it split into four directions. 

That’s how big it was. Simply because of its size, it could play with the laws of physics.

Tap!

Seo Jun-ho twisted midair, stepping on its paw and launching himself higher. He reached the rear of its body in an instant and swung his sword. 

– “Kyraaaaack!”

Refusing to fall for the same trick again, the Cinder Fox whipped its body around and crouched down to protect its tails. 

“…You caught me.” Seo Jun-ho smirked. 

The intelligent Cinder Fox was not the type to fall for the same trick twice. 

Other than its tails, there was another place where he could land an effective blow. 

Slice!

Seo Jun-ho swung his sword vertically upright, cutting something soft. 

The Cinder Fox’s left eye.

– “……!!!”

All living things feel fear after being injured. And that sense of danger can narrow one’s range of sight. 

On top of that, the Cinder Fox had just lost an eye. If it was experienced in combat, it would have known to stay calm after receiving a heavy injury. Losing your focus is one of the most dangerous things to do during a battle. 

“But it doesn’t know such simple things.” That was how little the Cinder Fox experienced combat. It had never had a competent opponent that could teach it such things. 

“If you mess up, you should be punished.”

Seo Jun-ho snuck to the Cinder Fox’s left side. After losing its eye, it had become the perfect blind spot. 

Swoosh! Slice!

He started to make scratches on the Cinder Fox’s hide. Blood started to pour out. 

– “Kiiiaaaaaaack!”

The Cinder Fox finally started to realize. If it let itself get attacked any more, it would lose its chance of becoming the Millenium Fox and die. 

– “Kiack! Kryaaaack!”

It started to swing its paws frantically and dozens of foxflames started to appear. 

“Annoying.” 

Even as Seo Jun-ho stared up at the fire-filled sky, he didn’t say that it was too much. If it was his first time fighting it, he might have given up and run away. But now, it was simply a bit troublesome to deal with. That’s all it was. 

Woosh! 

Every time he swung his ice sword, the incoming foxflame exploded on contact. He didn’t dodge when the Cinder Fox raised its paw again. 

“Get it together. You’re not a Nine-tails anymore.”

Slice!

With his sharp sword, he could stab through its paw. It had lost a significant amount of magic from its tails, and its defense had fallen as well. 

– “Kack! Krrr!”

The Cinder Fox started to cough. After taking multiple blows, its body was falling apart.

“It’s over.” Seo Jun-ho muttered hoarsely. 

– “Kyaaaaack!”

The Cinder Fox gave a final struggle. It still had two charges of its Cinder Fireball. It had surpassed its limits and reached a new stage. But—

“It’s too late.”

Riiiip!

Bam!

Dozens of ice spikes shot from the ground, stabbing the Cinder Fox through. The light in its remaining eye started to fade. 

– “……”

The Cinder Fox that was powerful enough to topple dozens of players bowed its head without so much as a final cry. Without magic to power it, its spell disintegrated. 

“Hoo.”

This was a skill he’d practiced when freezing something from far away, but it was the first time he’d actually got to test it out. 

It’s a good thing that it went as easily as I had expected. 

Usually, Seo Jun-ho would summon ice weapons by freezing the moisture in the air. But in this kind of environment, it was impossible. So he’d needed a medium. 

“…It was hard to make them.”

He needed a large amount of liquid. That’s why he’d left so many scratches on the Cinder Fox earlier: to use its blood. 

“Phew… Dammit. My body feels like it’s gonna implode.”

He’d pushed his body to its limits and used up all his magic. He just wanted to collapse and rest, but it wasn’t over yet. 

“I’ll finish what I have to do, and then sleep.”

Step, step.

He dragged his feet to the dead Cinder Fox and looked up at its corpse. 

It really was enormous. 

Without magic to support them, the ice spikes started to melt. It was a desert, after all. 

Is it because it’s an EX-rank skill? The attack power is outstanding.

It wasn’t just the attack power. The Frost skill had many uses, and was also good for defending. Looking back, he didn’t understand how he’d managed to defeat the Frost Queen. 

“Well, my abilities were different back then.”

Smug, Seo Jun-ho sliced through the Cinder Fox’s stomach and stuck his hand in. A moment later, he pulled out an item about the size of a baseball. 

“Geez, this is gross…” It was the Cinder Fox’s liver. It looked disgusting in shape and color, but that wasn’t an excuse to not eat it. 

If I eat this, all my stats will go up by 5. 

Seo Jun-ho squeezed his eyes shut, emptied his mind, and swallowed the raw liver. It felt like forever until it passed, but he was eventually rewarded. 

[You have ingested the Cinder Fox’s raw liver.]

[All stats +5.]

“…Ick.”

As he gargled his mouth with clean water, the messages popped up.

[You have cleared ⟪Burning Dunes⟫.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

…… 

[All stats have increased by 4.]

[You have regained 3 Strength stats.]

[You have regained 2 Speed stats.]

[You have received 「Cinder Fox’s Core」 as a reward.]

[The Gate will automatically disappear in 1 hour.]

“…So it’s really over, right?” 

He checked his inventory for the core, just in case. 

And then, he fainted. 

* * *

These days, it was hard to be a reporter in Korea, especially one that reported on Gates. That was because they had to stay from the moment the players entered with no promise of return. 

It was hard to get up even for a moment because you might miss it when the players come out. 

“Please, sunbae-nim*. Let this go, just this once.” 

(TN: Senpai/Superior.)

“Not on your life, newbie. This is how society works. Hand over your money.”

“…Goddammit.”

That’s why reporters tended to work in pairs. They also tended to play games while the players were in the Gate. Sometimes it was chess, sometimes it was go, and sometimes, like now, it was poker.

“You know, they say being a Gate reporter is hard, but it’s a piece of cake. We just get to play while working.”

“Bullshit. What’s so great about freezing our asses off? I’d rather work overtime at an office.”

“Well… The most annoying thing is not knowing when the players will come out.” It had already been two days since they’d entered the Burning Dunes. It was the average amount of time it took to see results, but that also included the duration for failure.

Even if they succeeded this time, it would probably take at least another day. 

“Well, we can go home earlier if they fail.”

As soon as those words left their mouth, the sunbae started scolding them.

“Look here, you little bastard. Those people went there for the sake of their country. Don’t be rude.”

“I-I’m sorry. It was my mistake.”

“…Just shuffle.”

Watching carefully, the hubae* slowly started to shuffle the deck.

(TN: Kouhai/Junior.)

As they started their 85th poker game, the hubae stared with wide eyes over the sunbae’s shoulders. 

“Huh?”

“…Are you trying out a new poker face or something?”

“N-no. Sunbae-nim, the Gates turn red when the players go in, right?”

“Are you asking ‘cause you don’t know? It’s blue before they go in and then red after.”

“Th-that’s what I thought, but…”

Hearing the hubae talk nonsense, the sunbae wrinkled his forehead. 

“Hey. You have a bad hand, don’t you? What are you saying?”

“No, that’s… The color of the Gate changed!”

“Is that all you can come up with?”

The sunbae shook his head, disappointed. Suddenly, he shot up. 

“…Hey, why’s it green?”

The reporter dropped his cards, dumbfounded. The Gate was neither blue nor red. That meant it had been cleared. 

“What? Green?”

“Wait, so they really did it?”

“The clear time was only 13 hours… They cleared it faster than the previous team failed!”

“This… This will be a scoop!”

The reporters on standby emerged from their tents and quickly reached for their cameras.