WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ My Girlfriend Returned as a Dragon ◈

Chapter 97: S-Rank Gate

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“Are you ready to head to the Gate?”

“Yes. Let’s leave right away.”

The instant I said we should leave, a flash of light burst before us, and the scenery around us changed.

A forest densely packed with trees.

Yellow tape reading “No Entry” had been wrapped around the area, and when I turned my head, I saw the Gate’s entrance.

“This is the S-rank Gate we’ll be clearing today.”

“I see.”

Still, although I had visited all sorts of Gates so far, this was my first time seeing one in the middle of a forest.

“Lord Rokan, where are we?”

“It is a forest in a remote part of Ulleungdo.”

After looking around to make sure no one was nearby, Rokan gestured to me.

“Put all your equipment on before we enter.”

Once I had equipped everything, I took a deep breath and stepped straight into the Gate.

The moment I entered, an intense sulfurous smell sharp enough to make me wince stabbed into my nose.

As soon as I smelled it, I covered my nose and waved a hand in front of my face.

“This is practically hell.”

It was not only the terrible stench of sulfur. The landscape before me looked like hell too.

Lava crawled sluggishly through the pitch-black darkness, while red lightning flashed ceaselessly, stirring up a sense of dread.

It looked like we had arrived at the entrance to hell itself.

As I looked around, caught between discomfort and unease.

“What do you think?”

Rokan asked me.

“An S-rank Gate really is on another level.”

It had only been a simulation, but even at that rocky mountain swept by fierce winds last time, I had clicked my tongue and wondered what kind of place it was.

This place had an environment so terrible it could not even be compared to that one.

“You must get used to it. Most of the Gates you enter from now on will likely be worse than this, not better. And wait a moment.”

Rokan stopped me and cast a buff on me.

“There is a small amount of poison in the air. I have placed a detoxification buff on you.”

“Then the sulfur smell I noticed was...?”

“Poison. You would not notice right away, but after around two hours, your body would have begun to slowly become paralyzed.”

“...”

The word paralysis sent a chill down my spine.

If Rokan had not been here, I might have suddenly frozen in the middle of battle and gone straight to the afterlife.

“If you ever enter an S-rank Gate without me, you must check for things like that as soon as you enter.”

“I’ll remember that.”

I answered bravely, but the words poison and paralysis kept circling through my head. I could not easily shake off my dazed feeling.

“Let us see. There are Cerberuses here.”

“...”

Rokan sounded completely calm, but it felt as though I had been struck on the head with a hammer again.

I could not sense a Cerberus, or even the presence of any monster.

“Have you ever heard of Cerberus?”

“I have only heard of them...”

Of course I knew the name, and I had seen their actual appearance in videos before, but I did not know much about them.

Until just a few months ago, an S-rank monster like Cerberus was something I would never have encountered in my entire life.

But now I was supposed to fight monsters like that.

“It is true that they are difficult opponents for you right now. But do not think about that. Charge in. Whatever happens to you here, you will not die.”

It seemed he intended to watch what I did from behind, then intervene as needed after assessing the situation.

“You may be injured, but I can heal wounds inflicted by those things. Do not worry about it and fight to your heart’s content.”

He made it sound like he would support me from behind, so I should fight without holding back. But when I turned that around, it sounded like he was telling me to fight until I was on the verge of death.

Rokan truly intended to make me stronger.

“Then, right now...”

But before I could finish.

Boooom!

A deafening explosion erupted directly behind me.

“Lord Rokan, what...!”

The instant I heard it, I hurriedly covered my ears and turned toward where Rokan had been.

When I turned around.

A huge monster, two or three times the size of an adult man, had collapsed limply on the ground beside Rokan.

That monster was none other than a Cerberus.

Judging by the circumstances, one Cerberus had concealed its presence and tried to sneak up on me. When I failed to notice it until the end, Rokan must have stopped it.

“Stay alert.”

At Rokan’s serious voice, goosebumps rose all over my body again.

If Rokan had not stopped it, I would have been lying on the ground with at least a fatal wound by now.

“This is a place teeming with monsters you have never encountered before.”

The moment Rokan finished speaking, overwhelming killing intent began to seep toward me from all around.

The owners of that killing intent were surely Cerberuses.

“As I said before, I will watch from far away. So do not worry, and do as much as you can.”

With those words, Rokan vanished in an instant.

As soon as Rokan disappeared, the killing intent I felt against my skin grew ever stronger.

At the same time, dozens of yellow eyes flashed in the darkness and approached me.

They were surely packs of Cerberuses that had come after seeing one of their own fall.

There was still some distance between us, but it would not have been strange if they had attacked me right then.

Instinctively, I used Stealth.

Grrr?

The moment I used Stealth, Cerberuses all around me visibly panicked.

Even Rokan, an ancient dragon, had said he could not find me when I used this skill called Stealth. Naturally, the Cerberuses would not be able to sense my presence either.

Of course they would panic.

I could not harm the Cerberuses while Stealth was active, but I could buy time.

There were roughly thirty minutes before Stealth ended.

I had bought that much time. Now, I needed to come up with a strategy that would inflict as much damage on those Cerberuses as possible.

Could I turn the situation around by using this environment against them somehow?

‘Probably not.’

The environment here would be far more familiar to Cerberuses that had lived here.

The chances of me turning the tables by using the environment seemed extremely slim.

Aside from Rokan, who had declared that he would not intervene unless it was an emergency, I was inferior in strength, understanding of the surrounding environment, and everything else.

In the end, the key would be creating an unexpected variable again.

The problem was how to do that.

Since I still had time, I decided to calmly observe the Cerberuses and find a specific method.

When I suddenly vanished, the packs of Cerberuses began thoroughly searching the area for me.

Some sniffed around as if trying to catch my scent, while others stood still and constantly turned their heads, perhaps trying to detect mana.

Then.

Awooo!

One Cerberus that seemed to be the leader howled. Soon, they began dispersing in organized groups of two or three.

They were probably doing that to find me.

‘This is my chance.’

There was no way I could handle so many Cerberuses gathered together, but if they dispersed, I would have at least some chance.

Maintaining Stealth, I secretly followed one group of Cerberuses.

‘Once they have fully spread out, I’ll seize that moment and ambush them.’

But how?

At first, I had thought that since I was two or three times smaller than Cerberuses, I might be more agile. I wondered whether I should rely on speed.

But after watching them for a while.

Cerberuses were not only larger than me, but also more agile in short bursts. It would be difficult to compete with them in speed.

But.

‘They still can’t fly, can they?’

They had no wings, so they could not fly.

It was obvious, but perhaps because it was so obvious, I had not thought to use it.

If they could not fly, then if I rained attacks down from the air, would it not be difficult for the Cerberuses to properly respond?

Of course, I did not have wings either. But I had an artifact.

The flying artifact I had used when fighting wyverns in Pangaea.

The instant the word flying came to mind, everything fell into place.

As soon as I came up with a rough plan, I immediately reached out toward my subspace.

But for some reason, my subspace did not open even when I reached for it.

Could it be that my subspace could not open while I was in Stealth?

That meant I would have to cancel Stealth first to carry out this plan.

‘So that’s how it is.’

After putting a suitable distance between myself and the Cerberuses, I canceled Stealth to open my subspace.

Now, it begins.

* * *

Right after blocking the Cerberus that had ambushed Minjun.

Rokan immediately left his spot and flew into the air, saying that he would watch from above.

He intended to observe how Minjun would deal with monsters that were difficult for him to face with his current strength. If Minjun seemed to be reaching his limit, Rokan would intervene then.

“Now, Minjun. What will you do?”

Throwing an A-rank Hunter in alone against an S-rank monster was, by all common sense, difficult to understand.

But Minjun had shown remarkable performances every time. Rokan had a feeling that he would show something again this time, which was why he had brought Minjun here despite knowing that.

Rokan looked down at Minjun with interest.

Just as the Cerberuses looked ready to charge at Minjun.

Minjun vanished.

‘At this timing?’

Rokan knew from personally experiencing the skill called Stealth last time that when Minjun used it, even he, an ancient dragon, could not find Minjun.

He could roughly guess why Minjun had used Stealth.

He was probably trying to buy time.

With so many Cerberuses staring at him with glowing eyes, it was impossible for Minjun to maintain his composure and think of a solution in such a short time.

‘He could not have gone far by using Stealth.’

No matter how far Minjun went, Rokan could catch up with him in an instant. As long as they remained in the same space, Rokan would not lose Minjun.

Still, what mattered was how the situation would unfold the moment Stealth ended.

And then.

Around twenty minutes after Minjun used Stealth.

Minjun finally canceled it and revealed himself.

Along with his Sword Aura, which resembled the night sky.

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