The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 221: Chapter 221:The Gate That Disappeared

The news spread faster than anyone could have expected.

Only a few minutes had passed since the Seoul S-Rank Gate vanished, yet the footage was already appearing on television screens, phones, computers, and digital billboards across the city.

At first, people simply stared.

Then the questions began.

And soon after that—

Panic.

---

A group of university students sat around a table in a small café, their conversation coming to an abrupt halt when one of them suddenly raised his phone.

"Hey."

Nobody answered.

He stared at the screen with a confused expression.

"Guys... look at this."

The others turned toward him.

"What?"

"The Seoul S-Rank Gate."

He rotated his phone so they could see.

A breaking-news notification occupied the entire screen.

[BREAKING NEWS: SEOUL S-RANK GATE HAS DISAPPEARED]

One student blinked.

"What?"

"Read it."

"I am reading it."

"No, I mean... how?"

Nobody had an answer.

The student holding the phone opened the news broadcast.

The screen showed the containment zone.

The enormous Gate that had stood there for almost a year was gone.

Completely.

There was nothing left except the heavily guarded area surrounding the location.

A reporter’s voice came through the speakers.

"We are currently receiving unprecedented reports concerning the Seoul S-Rank Gate. According to officials, the Gate has completely disappeared from the containment zone. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether the Gate has been destroyed, cleared, or somehow collapsed."

Another student frowned.

"Can an S-Rank Gate just disappear?"

"I don’t think so."

"Maybe someone cleared it."

"Cleared it?"

The student laughed nervously.

"An S-Rank Gate?"

Nobody laughed with him.

One of them lowered his phone.

"Wait."

He looked at the others.

"Didn’t they say that Gate had never been cleared?"

"Yeah."

"Then what happened?"

Silence filled the table.

The broadcast continued.

"We strongly advise citizens to avoid approaching the containment zone. Authorities have confirmed that the situation remains under investigation."

The students exchanged uneasy glances.

One of them quietly muttered,

"That’s not normal."

---

Across the city, the same broadcast was playing inside a small family home.

A mother stood in front of the television while her husband remained seated on the sofa.

Their two children were sitting on the floor, watching the screen.

The footage showed the empty containment zone again.

"The Gate is really gone," the mother said.

Her husband frowned.

"That’s what they’re saying."

"Did it collapse?"

"They don’t know."

"Then why did they say it disappeared?"

He didn’t answer.

Their youngest child looked up.

"Mom."

"Hm?"

"Does that mean the monsters are gone too?"

The mother hesitated.

"I... don’t know."

The child looked back at the television.

The reporter continued explaining that authorities had not yet determined whether the disappearance represented the successful clearing of the dungeon or an unknown dimensional phenomenon.

The mother immediately reached for the remote and lowered the volume.

"Stay away from the windows tonight."

Her husband looked at her.

"Why?"

"I don’t know."

She stared at the television.

"But something about this doesn’t feel right."

---

In an office building several kilometers away, dozens of employees had abandoned their desks.

The television mounted near the reception area had become the center of attention.

Nobody was working.

Everyone was watching.

"There’s no way."

An office worker shook his head.

"An S-Rank Gate doesn’t just disappear."

His coworker folded his arms.

"Maybe an S-Rank Awakener cleared it."

"Who?"

"I don’t know."

"Then don’t say things like that."

Someone behind them spoke.

"What if something came out?"

The conversation immediately stopped.

Several people turned around.

The employee who had spoken swallowed.

"I’m just saying."

Nobody responded.

The possibility was enough to make the room uncomfortable.

An S-Rank Gate disappearing without explanation could mean several things.

None of them were reassuring.

A manager finally spoke.

"Everyone, please return to your desks."

Nobody moved.

The manager looked toward the television.

After a moment, he sighed.

"...Actually, never mind."

---

The news spread into factories, restaurants, convenience stores, subway stations, construction sites, and shopping districts.

Workers gathered around phones during their breaks.

Taxi drivers listened to radio reports.

Store owners turned up their televisions.

Delivery workers stopped on the side of the road to watch livestreams.

Even people who normally had no interest in Awakeners found themselves following the story.

The Seoul S-Rank Gate was not an ordinary dungeon.

It had been one of the most dangerous Gates in the country.

For nearly a year, its existence had remained a constant reminder that even modern society had limits.

Expeditions had entered.

Expeditions had failed.

People had died.

And now—

the Gate was simply gone.

---

At a convenience store, a young employee stood behind the counter while several customers crowded around the television.

"Any updates?"

"Nothing."

"They still don’t know what happened?"

"No."

A customer pulled out his phone.

"Look. Someone uploaded footage from near the containment zone."

Everyone immediately gathered around him.

The video showed the moment the Gate began shrinking.

The image shook violently as the person recording struggled to keep the camera steady.

Then the Gate vanished.

The video ended.

Nobody spoke.

A man finally muttered,

"That’s terrifying."

Another customer shook his head.

"Or amazing."

"What’s amazing about it?"

"If someone actually cleared that Gate..."

He looked at the others.

"...that person would have to be a monster."

---

Meanwhile, social media had already become chaotic.

Thousands of posts appeared every minute.

[WHO CLEARED THE SEOUL S-RANK GATE?]

[DID THE GATE COLLAPSE?]

[IS SEOUL SAFE?]

[S-RANK GATE DISAPPEARS WITHOUT WARNING]

[COULD THIS BE A NEW TYPE OF DUNGEON PHENOMENON?]

Some people believed an unknown S-Rank Awakener had cleared it.

Others believed the Gate had collapsed.

Some claimed that a powerful monster had destroyed the dungeon from within.

Others insisted that the entire event was connected to an Awakener who had recently entered the Gate.

Nobody actually knew.

And because nobody knew—

the rumors became worse.

---

At the headquarters of the Korean Awakening Administration, the situation was considerably more serious.

Phones continued ringing throughout the building as staff members rushed between offices, while researchers reviewed the rapidly changing data from the monitoring systems in an attempt to determine exactly what had occurred inside the Seoul S-Rank Gate before its sudden disappearance.

"Have the monitoring teams reported anything further?"

"Nothing definitive, Director."

The staff member placed a report on the desk before continuing.

"The dimensional readings began fluctuating violently shortly before the Gate disappeared. Internal mana levels surged far beyond the previous recorded limits, and the dimensional structure destabilized almost immediately afterward."

Han examined the report carefully.

"Do we have any indication that the Gate merely closed temporarily?"

"No, Director. The dimensional signature has disappeared completely, and none of the monitoring equipment is detecting any remaining connection to the dungeon."

Han’s expression remained serious.

"Continue monitoring the containment zone and preserve every piece of data collected before the disappearance. I want the complete records transferred to the analysis division for further examination."

"Understood, Director."

The staff member bowed before leaving the room.

Inside a secured conference room, Chairman Kang Dong-wook sat across from Director Han Seung-ho.

Several reports were spread across the table, while the television mounted on the wall displayed the latest footage from the containment zone.

There was no Gate.

Only the enormous empty area that had previously been surrounded by layers of security.

For several moments, neither man spoke.

Chairman Kang finally broke the silence.

"So..."

His voice was unusually quiet as he continued staring at the screen.

"The Seoul S-Rank Gate is gone."

Director Han nodded.

"Yes, Chairman. It has completely disappeared."

Kang leaned back in his chair, his expression remaining unusually thoughtful.

"The last recorded dimensional readings?"

Han opened the report in front of him.

"They show a massive surge in internal mana immediately before the Gate vanished. The dimensional structure then destabilized and collapsed in a matter of seconds."

Kang’s gaze remained fixed on the television.

"And Tae-ho?"

Han looked up from the report.

"His entry was recorded exactly as scheduled."

There was no uncertainty in his voice.

"He entered the Gate alone, in accordance with the agreement we signed with him."

Kang nodded slowly.

"Then there is no mystery concerning who was inside."

"None."

Han closed the report.

"Mr. Yoon Tae-ho was the only person authorized to enter under the terms of the agreement, and he entered with the explicit purpose of clearing the entire dungeon himself."

Kang’s fingers rested against the table.

"The eastern, western, southern, and northern regions."

"And every hostile monster within the dungeon."

Han nodded.

"That was the condition of the agreement."

Kang fell silent.

The weight of those words seemed to settle over the room.

They had not made a vague arrangement with Tae-ho.

They had not merely given him permission to investigate the dungeon.

The contract was explicit.

Yoon Tae-ho would enter the Seoul S-Rank Gate alone, clear the entire dungeon, and assume exclusive rights to everything recovered from within it.

And now the Gate no longer existed.

Kang slowly looked down at the signed contract resting among the documents.

"We made that agreement because we couldn’t clear the dungeon ourselves."

"Correct."

"We considered requesting foreign assistance."

"Yes."

"We considered gathering every available S-Rank Awakener we could obtain."

"Yes."

"And despite all of that, we ultimately handed the responsibility to one person."

Han’s expression remained composed.

"Because he was the only individual who presented himself as capable of accomplishing it."

Kang gave a quiet exhale.

"And now he has."

Han nodded.

"It would appear so."

Kang looked at him.

"Not ’it would appear so.’"

Han paused.

The Chairman’s voice remained calm, but there was unmistakable weight behind it.

Kang slowly leaned back.

"Then the agreement has been fulfilled."

Han gave a measured nod.

"That is the most reasonable conclusion."

The Chairman remained silent for several seconds.

His gaze shifted toward the television once again.

The empty containment zone occupied the entire screen.

For months, that Gate had represented one of the greatest threats ever recorded in South Korea.

The Association had lost Awakeners attempting to explore it.

Their strongest expeditions had failed to make meaningful progress.

The deeper regions had remained largely inaccessible, while the four bosses inside had been judged powerful enough to overwhelm even coordinated groups of elite Awakeners.

The Association had eventually concluded that attempting a full-scale subjugation would require enormous sacrifices, and even then, success could not be guaranteed.

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