Two Weeks Ago

When he received an invitation from Lee Manshik to attend S30, he also mentioned that a large-scale gate zone had formed in China.

The moment he heard that, he sensed that it was a precursor to a Gate Break. Even though he thought it was a bit early, he still logged into the community and posted about it.

Title: You Must Be Careful of Gate Breaks

Recently, the frequency of gate occurrences has been increasing. This is not something to be taken lightly. One of the conditions for a Gate Break (Rampage) is when a gate exists for an extended period, allowing its dungeon core to mature.

Another condition is when multiple gates exist in high density within the same area. In such cases, the mana density in the region rises, triggering a Gate Rampage. This, in turn, causes adjacent gates to rampage as well… (omitted)

The post was an eye-opener for the Superhuman community. While this was common knowledge in the future, no one at the time had clearly identified the causes of Gate Rampages.

[Wow, this actually makes sense. No wonder gates have been appearing more frequently in rural or remote areas… Could it be that monsters released from unnoticed gates are causing this?]

└ Yeah, seems likely. Many people had already guessed that gates breaking after existing for too long was a thing, but I didn’t know it was because of the dungeon core. Crazy.

[If this is true, then isn’t the increasing frequency of gate occurrences really dangerous? If gates are being created faster than we can clear them… won’t this land just keep getting overrun by monsters?]

└ Exactly. Some countries might end up like ‘Malta.’

Malta—a small island nation in Southern Europe.

The country had an abnormally high gate occurrence rate. Many of its citizens awakened as Hunters, yet the number of gates only continued to increase. Combined with its already unstable political situation, this hindered effective gate management.

As a result, monsters gradually spilled out, and Malta became one of the nations that surrendered land to them. That’s why some Superhuman users were alarmed by his post.

However, not everyone agreed with him.

[So, where’s the proof? Isn’t this just baseless speculation?]

└ The proof is that the OP has an [EX Rank] Trait. He’s the same guy who shared a bunch of useful low-rank gate strategies. You really don’t know?

└ LOL, just because someone has a high-rank Trait, does that mean everything they say is correct?

Many people argued that without clear evidence, this was just speculation. And they weren’t wrong. He had no way of proving my claims at the moment. All he could do was relay knowledge from the future that had yet to be discovered.

‘That’s why I was planning to build a reputation first.’

His activity on the Tips & Strategies board was for that reason. If he could establish credibility by sharing useful strategies, people would start believing him—even without solid proof.

‘I was going to wait a little longer, but this is the right time to post.’

I didn’t write this on impulse. If the large-scale gate zone in China was the same one I remembered leading to a Gate Rampage, then this post might become a reference point in the future.

‘If that happens, my warnings about the global Gate Break crisis will carry more weight.’

Even if my words sounded ridiculous now, people wouldn’t be able to ignore them later.

‘That was my plan when I posted it.’

“Now, let’s take a look at the post uploaded by someone called ‘Returner’ on the Superhuman community. Please turn to the second page of the distributed handout.”

‘Why is this showing up here?’

I let out a dry chuckle as I looked at the printed version of my own post in my hands.

In the end, his post resonated with many of the Superhuman users at S30.

“This needs to be verified, but it seems like a highly credible analysis.”

The comment from Germany’s gate exploration specialist, ‘Schussrante,’ added weight to my argument. The discussion soon shifted toward strengthening gate surveillance systems and easing restrictions on gate-clearing efforts.

‘I didn’t expect this outcome.’

Ultimately, this discussion would help reduce the number of uncleared gates before the worldwide Gate Break crisis erupted.

Thanks to my analysis, the S30 discussions led to refining surveillance measures and loosening gate-clearing restrictions. In the next S30 meeting, they would likely analyze the trend of increasing gate occurrences in more detail and discuss ways to train more Superhuman users as a direct solution.

“By the way, I’m curious about this ‘Returner’ person. I checked some of their other posts, and their insight is incredible.”

“They also have an EX Rank Trait… That makes them the third person to reach EX Rank after the Sword Emperor and the Martial Emperor, right? Judging by their activity, it hasn’t been long since they awakened. Their growth potential must be astounding.”

“Indeed. If someone like this joined our German Superhuman Association… they could leave a great mark in history.”

“I don’t know about that. Considering the strict regulations in Germany, wouldn’t it be better for them to join Switzerland, which offers the best support for Superhuman users?”

After wrapping up the first agenda, a casual discussion began. The biggest topic of interest was the identity of ‘Returner.’

A newly emerged EX Rank Superhuman user. An individual with remarkable insight. They were all deeply interested in finding out who ‘Returner’ was and which Superhuman association they belonged to.

Watching their enthusiasm, I simply smirked to myself.

‘They’re already plotting to recruit me, but I’m not even considering it.’

Anyway, once the Gate Break passes and the Nights of Trial arrive, these petty power struggles will become meaningless. Besides, even without that, Heo Sungshik had no intention of abandoning Korea to join another country.

“Hmm, surely the 'Returner' themselves isn't among us right now, are they?”

When someone made this half-joking, half-serious remark, there was a brief moment of tension.

With that, the first agenda item was concluded, and they moved on to the second. This was the very reason why so many Superhuman beings had gathered here today.

“As you may have already been informed, a massive outbreak of Gates has been confirmed in the grasslands near Chifeng City. It is estimated to have occurred three weeks ago, with a staggering 821 Gates in total. Among them, two have been identified as S-rank, while approximately 450 of the remaining 819 Gates are A-rank. Due to this, the location of the S30 event, which was originally scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, was urgently moved to Beijing. Considering the unusual nature of this large-scale Gate outbreak, we have determined that… (omitted)… thus, we are requesting the cooperation of the various Superhumans’ associations worldwide.”

Indeed, the reason why the S30 event was being held in Beijing this time was because of the massive Gate outbreak in the grasslands near Chifeng City.

‘In the future, they hesitated here, and that led to a Gate Rampage.’

It had already been three weeks since the large-scale Gates appeared. According to the Chinese representatives, they planned to allow a week for rest before moving to Chifeng City. That would make it nearly four weeks since the outbreak.

‘It's a little different from before the regression, but the overall pattern is the same.’

Before the regression, the large-scale Gate outbreak had occurred a year later. Back then, they had also hesitated for almost four weeks before a Gate Rampage erupted. It was only then that emergency reinforcements from various Superhumans’ associations were called in to suppress it.

‘Even now, the timeline isn’t much different.’

If Sungshik’s predictions were correct, the likelihood of a Gate Rampage occurring while they were in the middle of their operation was high.

‘If the Rampage happens in the middle of our assault, it'll be even more dangerous.’

Indeed, if they entered a zone packed with Gates to clear them, only for a Rampage to occur, they could end up trapped in the heart of a monster-infested battlefield. That would be an extremely undesirable situation.

A total of 821 Gates. Typically, each Gate housed at least 100 to 200 monsters. Some Gates contained several times that number. Considering these factors, the Gates in this outbreak could potentially release well over 200,000 monsters.

In fact, before the regression, the estimated number of monsters unleashed during the Gate Rampage was around 400,000. While the majority of them were below six-star rank—meaning Sungshik himself would be fine even if thrown into the midst of them—his companions wouldn’t be so lucky.

‘Hmm.’

Even for Sungshik, it was still too much to protect his allies while carving a path through hundreds of thousands of monsters.

‘Even if I say there’s a high chance of a Rampage occurring soon, no one would believe me.’

This was the frustrating part. The knowledge that only he possessed. The lack of a proper foundation to fully utilize that knowledge.

‘I need more power.’

If he held a position like the Sword Emperor or the Martial Emperor, his words would carry weight and be taken seriously.

That was why Sungshik made a decision. He would use this Gate Rampage as an opportunity to reveal his strength.

But just as he was seething with frustration, an unexpected piece of good news arrived.

“The Korean association will be responsible for approximately 40 Gates at the outer C-3 location.”

The Korean Superhumans’ Association was assigned a specific area for their operation, but there was a problem—though not quite a problem.

“These Gates are mostly B-rank, with only two A-rank Gates among them, correct?”

“Yes, that is correct. However, this allocation was determined after an objective comparison of the various associations’ combat power to ensure the most efficient distribution…”

“But we submitted an update request regarding our team’s power levels. Has that not been reflected?”

At Lee Manshik’s pointed question, the Chinese representative merely shrugged.

It was clear. This large-scale Gate operation was an excellent opportunity for the associations.

A-rank Gates were a rare sight, but now they were everywhere. The loot obtained from clearing A-rank Gates could significantly boost both their combat prowess and wealth. It was an incredibly tempting prospect.

China, of course, would have preferred to monopolize the opportunity, but due to internal issues and international relations, that wasn’t possible. Instead, they had chosen to distribute the opportunity widely among the S30 members, indebting them in a way.

Under these circumstances, Korea had fully prepared itself for the operation. They had promptly reported Kang Hanil’s advancement to six-star+ rank and Sungshik’s emergence as a seven-star Superhuman to the World Superhumans’ Union.

However, for some reason, their power level updates seemed to have been ignored.

“Damn it.”

Lee Manshik, who had maintained a gentlemanly demeanor until now, let out a curse. It was highly likely that some under-the-table agreements had been made to secure more A-rank Gates for certain groups.

After all, Sungshik’s seven-star rank had only been recognized internally within Korea. It had yet to be officially acknowledged by international organizations. If it had, he would have already been listed in the global Superhumans’ ranking.

His seven-star advancement had caused a brief stir within Korea, but it hadn’t yet been formally accepted by the world’s governing bodies.

As Lee Manshik trembled with frustration, Sungshik approached him.

“President, there's no need to be too fixated on the Gate allocation. The ones who take down the most will be the ones who claim the most rewards.”

“Huh? What do you mean…?”

“You'll see soon enough. I bet we’ll take the biggest share.”

Sungshik’s eyes curved into a crescent shape as he smiled at the association president.