TGIC Ch 34

Chapter 34

 

As soon as the announcement came that the gate had been reclassified as A-rank, the atmosphere quickly became chaotic. I leaned back in my chair, quietly waiting for the next update. Well, Vasily had entered the gate, so it should be fine. He’d take care of it quickly and come out soon enough.

 

What I was curious about now was only “how quickly the gate would be cleared.” I just wanted to go home and rest soon… Surely it’s not a large-scale gate that would require an all-nighter, right?

 

Fortunately, Vasily disliked dragging things out during gate raids. Given his personality, he’d finish it up and come out in no time. With that belief, I let out a long yawn.

 

“Contact the Association and request reinforcement!”

 

As word spread that the gate had turned into an A-rank, the scene instantly grew hectic.

 

Association staff ran around in the sweltering heat, drenched in sweat. I should’ve asked for ice pillars to be set up outside as well… Watching from within the cool tent, I felt a pang of guilt.

 

Time passed, and soon, night had fallen.

 

Looking out into the darkened surroundings, I let out a heavy sigh. An all-nighter was now confirmed. The fact that Vasily still hadn’t come out made me shake my head in disbelief.

 

Thinking he’d be out soon, I had stayed up without sleeping—if I’d known it would take this long, I should’ve taken a nap instead. And I still had to guide Vasily after the raid… I couldn’t even guess what time I’d get off work today.

 

“Haa…”

 

It was already 9 PM. I’d made do with a bland lunchbox for dinner and had been on standby all day.

 

There were more people in the tent than before. As soon as the Association learned the gate had become A-rank, they dispatched higher-ranked Espers and additional temporary guides.

 

“Gidam-ssi, is the gate going to be okay?”

 

“Yes. Vasily Esper is inside, so it should be fine.”

 

Among them was Jo Wooyeon. He had volunteered after hearing that the gate I’d been dispatched to had changed to A-rank. As a B-rank guide, he was fully qualified to be deployed to the field.

 

I reassured Jo Wooyeon, who had joined late, and turned to look in the direction of the gate.

 

After the gate transformed into an A-rank, several lower-ranked Espers had been sent out. The gap in rank was simply too great, and for safety reasons, they had been excluded from the raid and now seemed to be tasked with guarding the gate’s perimeter.

 

If Vasily hadn’t entered the gate, half of those people out there probably wouldn’t still be alive.

 

Since the second round of Espers had been quickly recruited and sent in, thankfully, no one had been carried out so far. That meant Vasily was handling the raid well. In that case, I had nothing to worry about.

 

“They said it was an emergency… but it’s been pretty uneventful, huh?”

 

Jo Wooyeon whispered quietly.

 

That was true. The guides who had come for support initially entered the tent looking grim. But upon seeing us sitting comfortably around a ring of ice, their expressions turned confused. Then, as time passed and the gate remained quiet, they ended up resting with us.

 

A lack of accidents was a good thing. It meant no dead to deal with and no injured Espers needing guiding.

 

And since the pay didn’t change whether there were many or few Espers to guide, it was only natural to prefer peaceful situations.

 

‘Now the only thing left is for Vasily to finish the raid and come out…’

 

Even though it was already late at night, there was still no sign of him. I really didn’t want to pull an all-nighter here… Sure, I volunteered knowing the gate had become A-rank, but I never signed up for an overnight shift.

 

Just then, a large crack spread through the ice. Craaack—craack. Strange noises accompanied the growing fractures, and an unsettling air filled the tent.

 

Crash!

 

The ice soon shattered into pieces. Despite the loud sound, it collapsed rather quietly, and no one was hurt. The chunks of ice scattered across the floor quickly melted and vanished.

 

I furrowed my brows, staring at the damp ground. Don’t tell me…?

 

Thud!

 

Suddenly, the ground shook violently. I instinctively crouched and scanned the area in tension, but the tremors soon stopped.

 

Haa… Sighs of relief were heard from every direction. Since the shaking had stopped quickly, it didn’t seem like the gate had gone berserk.

 

I looked down at the wet spot left behind by the melted ice with a conflicted expression. Ice created by Vasily didn’t usually break so easily… Something serious must have happened inside the gate, bad enough to prevent him from maintaining his power.

 

Suddenly, I recalled what Vasily had said earlier. Come to think of it, he did mention he wasn’t feeling well today.

 

‘…Damn it.’

 

“Guide Jo Wooyeon, I need to step out for a moment.”

 

“Right now? With that tremor just now, it might be dangerous to go out…”

 

“I’ll be quick.”

 

When I spoke firmly, Jo Wooyeon nodded with concern and told me to return soon.

 

I quietly stepped outside. Probably due to the recent tremor, the atmosphere outside the tent was just as unsettled.

 

After glancing around, I spotted the field supervisor checking equipment nearby and approached him. Despite being busy, he greeted me warmly, perhaps because we had spent time together earlier in the ice tent. I made a somewhat troublesome request.

 

“Could you contact the Association and prepare a guide with a high compatibility rate for Vasily Esper?”

 

“What? Is Vasily Esper in need of a guide?”

 

As expected, the supervisor reacted with surprise. It wasn’t a simple request, after all—he’d have to contact multiple departments and follow a complicated process.

 

“He said he wasn’t feeling well even before entering the gate. And now that the gate has mutated to A-rank… he’ll likely need guiding once he comes out.”

 

“Understood. I’ll submit the request right away.”

 

After listening to the explanation, the supervisor nodded and agreed. I gave a deep bow in thanks and looked toward the still-open gate.

 

It was as if a meteor had struck, the ground beneath it sunken in deeply, with an ominous blue light leaking out. Cold smoke also drifted out, likely the effect of Vasily’s powers still active inside the gate.

 

I’d assumed the cool temperature was just from nightfall, but apparently the cold was emanating from the gate. I didn’t even want to imagine what the situation inside looked like.

 

“Haa…”

 

Once Vasily came out of the gate, I’d have to hand him over to the Association and let the guide they’d prepared take over. If his condition really was bad, I wouldn’t be able to guide him alone.

 

After a short while, the area grew noisy, and one by one, Espers began emerging from the gate.

 

It seemed the tremor earlier had been the shockwave from Vasily defeating the boss. Maybe the ice had shattered because he lost control while exerting too much power all at once. Uncharacteristic of him, it looked like he had a tough time in there.

 

Upon hearing that the raid had ended, I moved closer to the gate with the other guides to stand by.

 

But the state of the Espers coming out was uniformly serious. They were heavily injured, and most looked as if they were