Spatial distortion occurs around gates. Scientists believed this phenomenon happened because the gates connected Earth to other planets or dimensions. Numerous research papers were published on the topic, but the exact mechanism remained unknown.

Due to this spatial distortion, artillery and airstrikes could not be used near gates. Shells fired toward them would be affected by the distortion, veering off course and striking unintended locations—often civilian areas.

In the early days of the war, the effects of spatial distortion caused by gates were not well understood.

At that time, there were many attempts to annihilate monsters using long-range artillery bombardments or air force bombings. These attacks worked well when used far from the gate.

However, problems arose when shells were fired near a gate. Projectiles that had been flying straight would suddenly be flung toward nearby cities, resulting in explosions. Despite various attempts, the artillery units found that no shells reached the gate, only causing collateral damage to civilian areas.

Air force bombings were no different. Bombs and missiles dropped toward the gate would also be affected by the distortion and veer off in unintended directions. Worse yet, some bombers got caught in the spatial distortion and crashed.

As a result, fighting near a gate meant that support from artillery or the air force was not an option.

The only method left was for ground troops to enter and eliminate the monsters directly.

Fortunately, close-range gunfire from ground troops remained effective.

Spatial distortion formed a thin boundary around the affected region, much like an eggshell. Bullets fired from within this boundary would travel normally.

After discovering this, the artillery units attempted to bring self-propelled guns inside the boundary to fire at the gate.

But even that was ineffective. Large-scale gates had additional layers of spatial distortion inside.

Park Cheol-woo explained,

“A special monster with an area-expansion skill emerged from the gate. Because of that thing, the spatial distortion zone has extended this way.”

Just as there were awakened individuals like Seo Jung-woo among humans, some monsters possessed special abilities as well. Among them were creatures that could extend the spatial distortion of a gate outward.

If these special monsters were left unchecked, the distorted area, which favored the enemy, would only expand.

Seo Jung-woo grumbled,

“We should have taken care of this gate before it got to this point.”

“Nobody likes bugs.”

Beast-type monsters provided meat, while mineral-type monsters yielded not only stone but also metal resources. To manufacture the heat dissipation plates and chambers for caseless rifles and handguns, rare alloys extracted from mineral-type monsters were essential.

Plant-type monsters produced high-quality timber, and some bore fruits with special properties.

However, insect-type monsters held little value. Their exoskeletons could be used as a plastic substitute, but carrying them out was more trouble than it was worth, as they only fetched the price of regular plastic.

On rare occasions, insect-type monsters dropped special materials used for crafting items like Red Potions. But similar materials could be obtained from beast-type or plant-type monsters as well.

As a result, gates that spawned insect-type monsters, like this one, were unpopular among hunters. Most of the hunters present here had personal grudges against insect monsters.

Seo Jung-woo said,

“If everyone only goes after what makes money, then who’s supposed to deal with the bugs?”

“Are you joining us? Having you around would make infiltration and reconnaissance a lot easier.”

“Honestly, I’m too morally bankrupt for that. Just give up.”

Park Cheol-woo chuckled and continued his explanation.

“I volunteered for reconnaissance to locate the special monster that’s expanding the spatial distortion zone. Once I confirmed its location, I was planning to call in the military’s special forces for awakened individuals. Those guys don’t venture too deep without a reliable guide.”

“Kids these days are soft. Back in my day, we went in without guides just fine.”

Seo Jung-woo had been assigned directly to the special forces for awakened individuals without even attending basic training when he enlisted.

“That’s because you’re awakened in both detection and marksmanship. But people like you are rare.”

Looking down at the three Blade Mantises sprawled across the ground, Seo Jung-woo muttered,

“Looks like it’s not just spatial distortion monsters appearing. Blade Mantises weren’t on this gate’s known spawn list.”

“That caught me off guard, too. And it’s not just one special monster—we’ve also got one that disrupts magical sensors. All our scanners are fried.”

“You have to consider sensors as disposable anyway.”

Some monsters expanded spatial distortion, while others interfered with magical detection.

At first glance, magical interference resembled electromagnetic disruption. However, there was a key difference.

Electromagnetic interference can be somewhat resisted with EMP shielding, but magical interference is much harder to block. Once affected by magical interference, any surveillance equipment that relies on electricity becomes completely useless. If the sorcerer’s level is high enough, even telescopes that use layered lenses get disrupted.

At that point, the only things one can rely on are human senses—eyes and ears.

That’s why detection skills are so important.

“If only we had someone like you, Jung-woo, with both detection skills and high mental resistance.”

Awakened individuals with detection skills and strong mental resistance are unaffected by magical interference.

Park Cheol-woo tried to persuade him, but Seo Jung-woo wasn’t having it.

“That’s only useful for solo infiltration missions. When you’re overwhelming the enemy with firepower, does it really matter? So stop overexerting yourself like this and just take part in a proper army operation. On my way here, I saw a tank unit deployed outside the defensive perimeter.”

“The monsters coming out of this gate keep frying circuits, so those tanks can’t enter. Now that one of them is causing magical interference too, they’ll stay out even more.”

When Park Cheol-woo transmitted the information he gathered here to the military, they would adjust their operational plans. In cases like this, they would likely move the tank units even further back.

“Magical interference is the exception, but monsters that cause it always show up.”

“There’s been an unusually high number this time. The government is on alert, wondering if a large-scale monster will appear. That’s why the tanks are stationed here. They won’t engage until one shows up.”

A single tank shell could easily destroy a Blade Mantis. Even the autocannons on armored fighting vehicles worked well against them.

However, there were also many monsters capable of countering tanks and armored fighting vehicles.

Monsters that caused electromagnetic interference or outright burned out circuits like an EMP were fairly common. Their attack methods varied—some emitted electromagnetic waves while flying, while others latched onto tanks or armored vehicles. Once attached, they generated powerful electric shockwaves, overwhelming a tank’s EMP shielding in an instant. At that point, the concern wasn’t just the circuits but the lives of the crew inside.

Some monsters would cling to vehicles and spray corrosive fluids onto the engine compartment, reducing the machinery to scrap metal. Those were even more common.

After a few such attacks, a tank’s electronic systems would inevitably burn out, or its engine would be completely ruined.

If expensive combat vehicles like tanks and armored fighting vehicles turned into scrap metal after every battle, even a wartime economy wouldn’t be able to sustain it.

Steel mills were attacked by monsters, as were iron mines, limiting steel production.

For this reason, large, costly war machines like tanks were not deployed for standard combat. They were only mobilized when a large-scale monster appeared—one that infantry’s personal weapons couldn’t handle.

Firing a rifle at a hundred-ton insect-type monster wouldn’t penetrate its thick exoskeleton. Even grenades were ineffective.

The army issued portable rocket launchers to infantry for such situations, but while they were useful against medium-sized monsters, they weren’t very effective against large ones.

To make matters worse, large monsters were often escorted by swarms of smaller and medium-sized creatures, making it difficult for humans to get close enough to plant explosives.

The only weapon that had a real effect on such creatures was the tank cannon. Although tanks would eventually fall to EMP attacks or be drenched in acidic fluids and rendered useless, deploying them near gates was still the best option for stopping large-scale monsters.

Seo Jung-woo said,

“It’s not like I don’t know how slow tank units are. If even those money-guzzling behemoths are being deployed, that means there’s plenty of other support coming too.”

“This gate isn’t a high priority for defense. They only sent a single tank battalion for armored support.”

They kept a watchful eye on their surroundings as they retreated toward the defensive line. While doing so, Park Cheol-woo asked,

“By the way, what are you doing here? Did you take on a new request in this area?”

“No, not exactly.”

“Then what?”

“I just dropped by to ask you for a favor.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

“What kind of favor?”

“If We Could Meet Again. That song—you wrote it, didn’t you?”

“Why?”

“I was thinking of selling it.”

Park Cheol-woo chuckled.

“That song’s already out there for free. Do whatever you want with it.”

“There’s a problem, though. I’ll tell you once we reach the defensive line.”

Behind the army’s defensive line was a small personal tent that Park Cheol-woo used. Once they arrived, Seo Jung-woo played a recording.

“Listen to this.”

The music playing was a recording from the other world, performed by Seo Sora’s team.

After listening for a bit, Park Cheol-woo gave his evaluation.

“Not bad for amateurs.”

Seo Sora’s team was a group of trainees preparing for their debut in the other world, but in this world, they were still considered amateurs.

“They're not amateurs. They're going to debut.”

“In this state? This song has been fully released, so a lot of people have done remakes. Their skills will be compared to those versions. They'll be crushed the moment they debut.”

“That's why I need your advice. So they won’t be crushed. They have good voices, at least.”

“Yeah, their voices are good. But this isn’t a situation where they can rely on just that. I can give advice, but even then, they won’t be a hit. There's a four-member group that did a remake before. Their version was a mess, and even they sang it better.”

“That's fine. As long as they debut. That’s what matters.”

“Just the debut?”

Park Cheol-woo stared at Seo Jung-woo.

“There’s something more to this, isn't there?”

“Yeah, there is.”

“Are you getting a few boxes of armor-piercing rounds or something?”

Seo Jung-woo thought about whether he could get armor-piercing rounds.

‘That’s impossible in the other world.’

In the other world’s South Korea, the only bullets available for purchase are shotgun shells for hunting.

The firepower of weapons in this world is much stronger. Even handguns here use armor-piercing rounds. They have to, or there’s no chance of penetrating the tough hide of monsters. In special operations, they even use expensive rounds with tungsten cores.

Bullets are easy to obtain in this world. You can find armor-piercing rounds stacked on shelves even in convenience stores.

“No, this isn’t about getting armor-piercing rounds.”

Park Cheol-woo looked a little disappointed.

“Too bad.”

Seo Jung-woo took a choco pie out of his bag and held it out.

He had removed the original packaging and repackaged it. A food vacuum sealer was a basic tool that almost every household had.

Park Cheol-woo hesitated when he saw the choco pie.

“Huh? Wait, this… is it real?”

“Try it.”

Park Cheol-woo tore open the plastic and took a bite. It was sweet. He could taste the chocolate. The flavor was similar to the one he remembered from long ago.

“Ah. Yeah, this was the taste. Brings back memories. It’s the real thing.”

There were similar-looking pies in this world, but they were made with synthetic flour and sweetened with saccharin.

Real choco pies did exist. They were handmade with real chocolate and real flour. But flour was expensive here, and chocolate was even more expensive. Naturally, choco pies made with those ingredients were extremely pricey.

The choco pie melted in his mouth in an instant.

Park Cheol-woo felt a sense of loss.

“Choco pies used to be everywhere in the 20th century. They were cheap too.”

“They’ve gotten pretty expensive now.”

Even in the monster-free world, they were more expensive than the 20th-century prices Seo Jung-woo remembered.

Thinking about the prices in this world, Park Cheol-woo said,

“They’ve skyrocketed.”

In this world, choco pies were a luxury.

“Where’d you get this?”

It wasn’t strange to get a choco pie. The ingredients were just expensive, and the finished product was even more expensive, but there were places that made them by hand. In this world, if you had enough money, you could get almost any kind of food.

Except for cola.

“I bought it, of course.”

He had spent 500 won for a single one at a supermarket.

“You wasted money just for a trivial favor.”

Seo Jung-woo chuckled.

“In this line of work, you come across things like choco pies now and then.”

Looking at the phone that was still playing the song, Park Cheol-woo asked,

“So these amateurs’ debut has something to do with your work?”

“Yeah. Right now, it’s just small things like this, but if things go well, I’ll be able to get medicine later.”

“Medicine?”

“Not for treating wounds—medicine for diseases.”

Wound treatment medicines were made by extracting effective components from specific monsters, refining them, and combining them with modern pharmaceutical technology.

The best medicine available for purchase was the Red Potion, which was made by concentrating rare ingredients. A single bottle of Red Potion could completely heal someone with broken bones and torn abdominal wounds within a day, sending them back into battle the next day.

“Now that I think about it, I owe you my life.”

Park Cheol-woo had once been critically injured while fighting a monster. He had survived thanks to the Red Potion Seo Jung-woo had given him.

The Red Potion was undeniably effective, but it required a large quantity of rare ingredients to produce, so production was limited.

Meanwhile, demand was overwhelming. Too many people sustained serious injuries in monster battles.

That made Red Potions hard to come by.

This world had seen remarkable advancements in wound treatment medicine since the 21st century. Even without Red Potions, there were many good medicines.

However, progress in disease treatment had been slow. Research resources were limited, and a disproportionately high amount had been allocated to developing wound treatment drugs.

Park Cheol-woo’s expression brightened slightly.

“Any kind of medicine is helpful.”

He didn’t ask any further. Even if it wasn’t armor-piercing rounds, getting useful supplies was good enough for him.