SFRW-Chapter 102

Ch. 102 Sword God From The Ruined World

“Breaking news! At 4 a.m. this morning, the Incheon Yeongjongdo Gate was closed! Similar to the Seoul Solbat Gate, which was closed three days ago, an unidentified individual deliberately shut the Gate. The government is fully cooperating with the Hero Association and the Gate Control Center to apprehend the culprit…”

From early morning, news broadcasts across the country reported the forced closure of Gates.  

Like rift zones, Gates also have a ‘core’.  

The problem was that this ‘core’ was tightly sealed with magic stones emitting massive energy, preventing rift zones from triggering breaks or monster waves.  

The most crucial element in converting a rift zone into a Gate is controlling the rift zone with ‘greater power’.

Additionally, Heroes capable of deploying barriers and scientific equipment that remains functional inside the Gate are necessary.  

But the most important factor is an even larger energy source to control the rift zone’s energy.  

The issue is that such enormous energies are concentrated in one place, making it impossible for most Heroes to even touch them.  

Only an S-rank Hero or higher can attempt to close a Gate.  

Naturally, the culprit behind the Gate closures, Seo Do-jun, was leisurely watching the news in his room.  

Seo Do-jun was absolutely certain that no evidence pointing to him could ever be found, even if he died and came back to life.  

First, he had an airtight alibi that no one could doubt.  

At the time the Gate was being closed, Seo Do-jun had exposed himself to many people.  

The first alibi alone was enough, but Seo Do-jun had also prepared a second measure to avoid suspicion: a thoroughly fabricated identity.  

Using a disguised appearance and identity, he had legitimately entered and exited the Gate, leaving no trace of himself behind.  

As Seo Do-jun watched the news, his phone rang.  

“If this is about the breaking news, I’m already watching it on TV.”  

After Seo Do-jun spoke, the other end fell silent for a moment before asking:  

—Did you do this?  

It was Chairman Na Tae-hwang of the Hero Association.  

“At that time, I was having a company dinner with my guild members in Myeongdong. Even people in America know that, don’t they?”  

—That’s…  

Chairman Na Tae-hwang couldn’t continue.  

It was already a confirmed fact.  

Up until 30 minutes before the Gate closed, Seo Do-jun had been having dinner with the Casserian guild members in Myeongdong.  

With Seo Do-jun, Hyun Joo-yeon, and Gloria all present, the surrounding area had been bustling despite the late hour.  

So many people had witnessed it firsthand, even taking photos and posting them on SNS immediately, making it an absolutely irrefutable alibi.  

—Sorry for calling so early.  

“It’s fine. But wasn’t the Gate closure something you personally wanted, Chairman?”  

—Well, yes, but it was so sudden that I’m still confused. With so many places already sensing the severity of the situation and bombarding me, it’s just…  

Chairman Na Tae-hwang’s grumbling essentially boiled down to being overwhelmed by the sudden situation without any time to prepare.  

“Still, isn’t someone else doing the work that needed to be done? From my perspective, it feels like I’ve gained a comrade since someone else is handling what I should’ve done. Either way, it’s a relief.”  

At Seo Do-jun’s shameless words, Chairman Na Tae-hwang let out a deflated laugh and hung up.  

If anyone else might not know, Chairman Na Tae-hwang likely had an inkling.  

Seo Do-jun knew this call was also made deliberately to avoid arousing suspicion from others.  

Both at Solbat Gate and now Yeongjongdo Gate, Seo Do-jun had clearly proven he had no connection to the incidents.  

Using a simple polymorph spell, Seo Do-jun had Jung In-joo act as his stand-in.  

A low-level polymorph spell sustained for just six hours using magic stones.  

If his former comrades from the ruined world—especially the archmages—knew, they would’ve cringed in embarrassment at such a rudimentary spell. But here, it was more than enough.  

The Heroes of Earth would never see through it.  

Unless they engaged in direct combat, even if they talked face-to-face or shook hands, they wouldn’t notice.  

Similarly, the Dark Knight identity used to close the two Gates was also Seo Do-jun in disguise. No matter how meticulously surveillance footage was reviewed frame by frame, it was impossible to find anyone suspicious.  

“Strike while the iron is hot.”  

Seo Do-jun prepared to go out again.  

His goal was to close as many Gates as possible in a short time.  

There were 273 Gates in South Korea.  

He had only closed two so far. He planned to close at least 30%, or even up to 50%, of them.  

***

Two to three days later  

Gates continued to close one after another.  

South Korea was in an uproar, and the incident drew attention from global media.  

Both the government and the Hero Association mobilized everything to find the culprit.  

Yet, they couldn’t even find a single strand of the culprit’s hair, making their incompetence a subject of public ridicule.  

“The government has decided to impose indefinite restrictions on Gate entry and exit as an emergency measure. More precisely, only guilds and Heroes with verified identities who pass the Hero Association’s strict screening will be allowed entry at reserved times. This is a firm stance to completely block the Gate closure culprit from entering any Gate…”  

Beep!  

“Other Heroes are going to revolt. Tsk tsk!”  

Choi Cheol-gwan turned off the TV and clicked his tongue.  

A Gate reservation system?  

Gates were supposed to be freely accessible to anyone.  

Restricting entry only to those approved by the Association under a reservation system was tantamount to cutting off the livelihoods of small guilds and independent Heroes.  

Backlash was inevitable, and in extreme cases, riots could break out.  

Of course, it wasn’t that the government and Hero Association’s decision was incomprehensible.  

Already, 21 Gates had been closed.  

The Hero Association and government had tried everything—deploying police and military to reinforce entry/exit records, stationing Gate Control Center agents inside Gates, even forcing Heroes to guard the Gate cores.  

But no method could stop the Gate closures.  

Elusive as a ghost—the Gate closure culprit was practically supernatural.  

Even though everyone knew no crime was perfect, the culprit was toying with South Korea through flawless crimes.  

Ding-dong  

As the office door opened with a chime, Choi Cheol-gwan turned his head, brightened up, and stood.  

“You’re here?”  

The person entering was none other than Seo Do-jun.  

Though now a member of the Casserian guild, Choi Cheol-gwan’s relationship with Seo Do-jun remained unchanged.  

From the start, Seo Do-jun had only recruited him to fully utilize his skills for the guild.  

In other words, it was an exclusive contract preventing him from taking commissions outside the Casserian guild.  

Naturally, the hefty exclusivity fee gave Choi Cheol-gwan more financial and personal freedom than before.  

“The commissioned items we discussed over the phone yesterday.”  

Seo Do-jun set down two large bags.  

Inside were deep blue ores of varying sizes, rough and uneven in texture—nothing particularly impressive at first glance.  

“Is this the ore you mentioned? Febrinium?”  

“Yes.”  

Febrinium.  

In the ruined world, it was a fairly common ore, most often used to forge swords.  

Its greatest advantage was magic conductivity.  

Far surpassing ordinary metals, its exceptional magic conduction made it ideal for training swords in academies.  

“Just make standard longswords with them.”  

“Anything special I should be careful about?”  

Since it was his first time handling the ore, Choi Cheol-gwan had to ask.  

“Not really. You’ll understand once you start working with it.”  

“Is that so?”  

Choi Cheol-gwan’s fingers itched as he couldn’t take his eyes off the Febrinium.  

Seo Do-jun had discovered Febrinium at the Gongjaksan Gate in Hongcheon, Gangwon-do.  

He had gone to close the Gate but found a Febrinium vein, forcing him to return with only a haul of ore that day.  

Febrinium wasn’t superior to the Giant Black salmo’s fangs Seo Do-jun currently used.  

However, for Casserian guild members training in Magic Heart Methods, nothing was better than Febrinium swords for magic control training.  

Even in the ruined world, academy students wielded Febrinium swords for short-term (3 years) or long-term (10 years) magic control training.  

‘Nothing beats Febrinium for honing sensitivity.’  

Even if their main weapon wasn’t a sword, it didn’t matter.  

What was important was freely controlling one’s magic through the weapon in hand.  

“Doesn’t seem as hard as I expected.”  

Thanks to years of metalworking, Choi Cheol-gwan could gauge the ore’s strength just by touch.  

“It’s inadequate for actual combat swords.”  

“Then we’ll need to mix it with another metal.”  

“No need. Just forge pure Febrinium swords. They’re only for swinging in the air during training, so hardness isn’t necessary.”  

“Training?”  

Choi Cheol-gwan tilted his head, puzzled about what kind of training required such swords, but soon nodded as if understanding and assured Seo Do-jun not to worry.  

As Seo Do-jun was about to sit down for coffee at Choi Cheol-gwan’s offer, Chairman Na Tae-hwang called.  

—Can you come to the Association now?  

“What’s the matter?”  

—The French Gate… it’s exploded again.  

“…I’ll be right there.”  

After hanging up, Seo Do-jun explained the situation to Choi Cheol-gwan and headed straight to the Hero Association.  

Click.  

Entering the conference room, Seo Do-jun saw key figures from the Hero Association and representatives of South Korea’s major guilds already seated.  

Several empty seats suggested some hadn’t arrived yet.  

As Seo Do-jun sat, Deputy Director Min Hong-gi handed him a tablet.  

“You can review the related materials. It wouldn’t hurt to look before the meeting starts.”  

Seo Do-jun immediately began checking the files on the tablet.  

***

Gyeongsangbuk-do, Uiseong-gun, Oksan-myeon  

[Geum-bong Gate-3]  

Rank: A  

Scale: E  

Terrain: Mountainous  

Recommendation: A-rank, minimum 30 personnel  

Famous as one of the top ten most dangerous Gates in Gyeongsang-do, Geum-bong Gate’s primary monsters were One-Horned Kowabirus.  

As the name suggests, they closely resembled the Kowabiru from Japan’s Inoshishi Gate but were 20-30% stronger in combat.  

Inside the Gate, temporarily restricted due to the closure culprit:  

—Groooowl!  

An One-Horned Kowabiru—8 meters long, its face dominated by a massive horn—trashed about in excitement.  

And it wasn’t alone.  

Hundreds of One-Horned Kowabirus distributed throughout the Gate exhibited similar symptoms.  

The cause?  

At the peak of the Gate’s mountainous terrain, where the core was located:  

The 1-meter-plus Gate core.  

The large metal objects encasing it in a barrier were partially torn and crumpled.  

Moreover, the magic stones inside were all shattered, their power lost.  

Just a day ago, everything had been intact.  

The reason for the devastation?  

Crackle—!  

Black sparks erupting from the Gate core—originally a rift zone core—as if furious, determined to shatter the invisible barriers confining it.  

Bzzzt—! Boom!  

With another powerful surge, the last intact metal object was destroyed.  

Craaaaackle—!  

The black sparks, having obliterated all suppressors, burst outward across the entire Gate.  

Simultaneously:  

—Rooooar!  

Hundreds of One-Horned Kowabirus howled in unison as black heat haze billowed from their bodies.  

Then, they charged beyond their territory—all toward the destroyed Gate entrance.  

Gate Explosion.  

South Korea was about to become the third country to experience it.