Chapter 48

Seated beside Woo Jinchul in the moving car, Hwang Dongsoo gazes at the passing city with contempt, grumbling that its aging infrastructure feels shabby next to America's. He has not come for the scenery. Locating Jinwoo, he says, should be simple, because shadowing the predictable Jinho will lead him right to the target. Pressed by Jinchul on why he wants Jinwoo, Hwang bristles and shuts the question down, declaring it none of the manager's business, his veiled threat hanging in the air while Jinchul keeps his eyes on the road.

Inside the sealed gate, the tight cave gives way to a sprawling, snow-blanketed expanse where frost-heavy evergreens tower overhead. Only crunching boots break the eerie hush as the group reels from the change. Kim Chul confirms the worst, that the portal has turned red and only slaying the boss will free them. Without warning, two projectiles tear from the trees at blistering speed. The first ice arrow drives into the face of one C-Rank member, who dies on the spot, while the second hurtles toward Song-Yi until Jinwoo snatches it from the air. Park Heejin marks his uncanny reflexes and strength. The two Ice Elves, perched in the branches, briefly taunt the hunters before melting back into the forest, having singled out the weakest on purpose. Jaw tight, Jinwoo snaps the arrow in half.

Hwang Dongsoo lays out his scheme to tail Jinho as a route to Jinwoo and flatly declines to name his motive. The Red Gate transports the party from the cave into a frozen forest, where killing the boss is the lone way out. The Ice Elves make their entrance, downing a C-Rank hunter with an ice arrow and aiming a second at Song-Yi. Jinwoo seizes that arrow in midair, tipping off Park Heejin to the power he conceals.

Falling within the Red Gate Arc, this chapter aligns with anime Episode 13. The Ice Elves arrive as cunning, methodical killers rather than dumb beasts, deliberately felling the most defenseless to sow terror. Park Heejin's deepening suspicion about Jinwoo's real strength becomes a recurring thread across the arc. It is collected in Volume 4.