Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Dismissal After Magic Master (EX)
Roughly twenty years ago from now.
When I was eight years old, the world changed drastically.
The Day of Cataclysm.
Gate and dungeons suddenly appeared all over the world.
At the same time, all sorts of monsters that emerged turned the world into utter chaos.
All existing firearms became useless, blocked by mana barriers.
Everyone thought the world would come to an end.
“Hunter… it’s a Hunter!”
But as the saying goes, when the sky falls, there is still a hole to escape through.
With the emergence of Hunters who awakened unique traits and skills, the world slowly began to stabilize.
After that, the world started revolving around Hunters.
Unfortunately, I was not one of them.
I failed to awaken.
“Kim Do-yoon, where’s the summary of the finance ledger from the information team?”
“I sent it through messenger, sir!”
“Hey, where is it? This is so damn frustrating.”
A faint voice reached my ear, something like, “That useless bastard.”
I pretended not to hear it and resent the file again.
“I’ve sent it again.”
No response.
I’m used to it.
“.......”
I stared silently at the monitor with a blank expression.
Reflected faintly on the screen was my pale, bloodless face.
On one hand, this familiar face looked pitiful, and on the other, I couldn’t stand the sight of it.
How long am I supposed to stay here being treated like this?
“Hey, Do-hyeon. Yeah, good. You worked hard. You’re not hurt, right?”
During the time when everyone in the office had gone out for lunch, I sat on the emergency staircase and made a call.
The person on the other end was my younger brother, Kim Do-hyeon.
Fortunately, unlike me, Do-hyeon is an Awakened.
“Yeah? I’m fine too, don’t worry. I’m pretty sociable, you know? And it’s not like I’m risking my life in gates like you… yeah, yeah, that’s right. Even if it’s tough, I have to endure it. Where else at my age could I get this kind of treatment?”
I was twenty-eight years old.
I joined at twenty-two, so this place where I’ve worked for six years is none other than the number one guild in Korea, the Hyeseong Guild.
I work as a deputy in the materials management division.
“Yeah, alright. You worked hard today, get some rest. Take care of your health.”
In truth, there hadn’t been any major issues.
Until six months ago.
But these days, office life had become quite grueling.
The reason was the new head of the materials management division.
“Hm? Ah, right. Kim Tae-wook came in as our division head, but there’s no big problem. He’s quite different from what the media says, so don’t worry.”
Kim Tae-wook.
A guy who, at the young age of twenty-seven, suddenly dropped from the sky as a division head.
As the third son of the Hyeseong Guild master, he had been on a fast-track promotion path.
But due to issues with women, drugs, and money, he ended up being reassigned to the materials management division as a form of demotion.
That crazy bastard.
The problem was that he had recently been desperate to assign a young woman he had been dating to the materials management division.
Even though he had been demoted, he couldn’t forcibly increase the number of staff.
So instead, he was trying to push out the easiest target—me.
“I’ll cover this month’s hospital expenses, so just focus on your work. Got it?”
Honestly, I wanted to quit right away.
But since the Cataclysm Day, my mother’s health had deteriorated and she was hospitalized, and I couldn’t do that because of her medical bills.
Even the money my younger brother, an Awakened, was pouring in wasn’t enough to cover the treatment costs.
If I left the Hyeseong Guild, everything would be over.
“No, it’s fine. I’m not an Awakened, but this is still the Hyeseong Guild. You’ve already paid four months, so I’ll handle one month. Don’t worry.”
Ignoring my brother’s attempts to dissuade me, I ended the call.
A sigh naturally escaped me.
It was a battle with no end in sight, but I couldn’t give up.
My family depended on it.
“Let’s just go back and finish my work…”
As I thought that and reached for the door, I suddenly froze.
One floor below.
The door suddenly opened, and a familiar voice came through.
“Ah, damn it, I have to see that bastard’s face again.”
“Haa… this is insane. If he had any sense, he’d quit on his own. Why is he ruining the department atmosphere?”
“Honestly, a nobody who lucked into joining the Hyeseong Guild and has been feeding off it for six years should be satisfied. I don’t know how much longer he plans to hang on.”
“You’re right. From what I see, that’s just a beggar’s mindset.”
“A beggar’s mindset?”
“I heard his mother is hospitalized with mana addiction. Maybe that’s why he can’t quit?”
“Tsk tsk, like mother, like son… both are pathetic.”
The people walking up the stairs suddenly stopped talking.
“.......”
I looked at them without saying a word.
Caught off guard, the office staff’s faces were filled with embarrassment.
“Th-that’s not what we meant, Deputy Kim…”
“What do you mean it’s not, Manager?”
Cutting off the manager’s words, Deputy Han Sang-gi stepped forward.
Looking straight at me, he spoke.
“Isn’t lacking awareness in social life also a fault? Don’t you all agree?”
At that, the others exchanged glances hesitantly.
Though they didn’t say it aloud, they seemed to agree.
In that unpleasant and uncomfortable atmosphere, I had nothing particular to say.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
I’m not someone timid, nor someone who can’t speak my mind.
Rather, I have a quite direct personality.
But at the same time, I’m extremely goal-oriented.
If my goal had been to establish relationships with them, I would have drawn a clear line regardless of the outcome.
“My goal is to keep working at the company.”
For that, I couldn’t afford to make enemies with them.
They were already aligned with the division head, the highest authority here.
Revealing any weakness would likely give them a reason to nitpick.
Perhaps Deputy Han Sang-gi had even said that on purpose, I thought, as I turned my back and headed toward the office.
Behind me, I heard a faint snicker, followed by laughter filled with mockery.
“What a loser, acting all cool.”
Ignoring Deputy Han Sang-gi’s voice and the mocking laughter that echoed in agreement, I closed the emergency door.
Bang!
And then, just three hours after that incident.
“Deputy Kim Do-yoon, could you come here for a moment?”
I was called over to the desk of Division Head Kim Tae-wook.
I’m used to it.
Moderate disregard and casual ridicule.
A pattern of openly belittling me over trivial matters.
“What’s this? Take a look.”
Thud.
The black document folder Kim Tae-wook tossed onto the floor.
When I picked it up and checked its contents,
I realized.
This bastard had finally decided to go all out today.
“These are documents I submitted and organized three weeks ago.”
“What’s the content?”
“After verifying inventory for C-rank Hunters, it’s a report listing the items that were lacking and needed to be replenished.”
“You son of a bitch, you just wrote the report and didn’t send it to the operations team? Are you out of your mind?”
My heart pounded.
I remember clearly.
Three weeks ago, the conversation I had with Kim Tae-wook after drafting the report.
“I’ve finished organizing the data. Please review it, and if everything’s fine, I’ll submit the draft.”
“I’ll check it and forward it right away.”
An unusually kind response at the time.
Should I have sensed something was off then?
But was it really possible to override a superior who insisted on submitting it himself and force my own draft submission?
Especially in such a strained relationship?
Damn it.
There was no way back now.
Because at this very moment, a piece of internal news had just come to mind—there had been casualties in a C-rank party.
“You bastard! People died because you didn’t properly secure the essential supplies! You worthless piece of trash!”
“…The division head clearly said he would submit it himself.”
“What did you say? Are you trying to pin this on me, you crazy bastard?”
Breathing heavily, Kim Tae-wook stood up from his seat.
He glared at me and shouted loudly at those around him.
“Everyone speak up. Who is responsible for submitting C-rank supply reports? Me, or this guy? Huh?”
Thwack!
The notebook he threw hit my face and fell to the ground.
Had it scratched me?
A stinging sensation, and then something warm trickling down my face.
When I touched it, red blood appeared on my hand.
“Everyone speak up! Who heard me say I would submit the supply list? Raise your hand! Raise it now!”
“I didn’t hear it.”
“I… didn’t hear it either.”
“Seems like no one heard it.”
They all heard it clearly.
They were pretending not to know.
I clenched my teeth.
“Could it be…”
When Kim Tae-wook had said those words, the office had been eerily silent.
The thought that they had all known from the beginning flashed through my mind.
But instead of voicing it, I calmed myself as much as possible and spoke in a composed tone.
My goal wasn’t to break them.
My goal was to protect my family.
If not the best outcome,
then at least the next best.
“…I won’t object. Please make sure to secure my severance pay.”
Only then did a faint smile appear on Kim Tae-wook’s lips.
He walked over, patted my shoulder, and said,
“You made the right choice, Deputy Kim. You’ve worked hard, and I wish you the best in your new life.”
In his mind, he was probably already filled with thoughts of working in the same office as the new female employee he was trying to meet.
But I erased even that thought.
My connection with Hyeseong ends here.
It was time to look for the next step.
Gulp.
The moment I filled my glass with soju, I downed it immediately.
The sharp burn sliding down my esophagus.
I used to hate this feeling.
But now that I intended to get drunk, it strangely felt appealing.
Sizzle.
Pork belly sizzling and browning on the grill.
I looked at it silently for a moment.
Fat dripping and burning on the hot iron plate.
It somehow felt not too different from myself.
“Should I just die already…”
It felt like walking through darkness with no end in sight.
Not knowing where the end was, I had been walking for so long that I found myself wishing I could just fall into a manhole and die on the next step.
“Whew…”
Letting out a deep sigh, I kept drinking soju.
I didn’t shed tears.
As promised long ago with my younger brother Do-hyeon, I intended to hold onto hope until the very end.
Someday, somehow, an opportunity would surely come.
“Check, please.”
“You drank quite a lot alone. Something bothering you?”
“No.”
After paying, I walked out of the place.
Perhaps because it was summer, a heat different from the charcoal grill rushed in, making the intoxication hit harder.
“What am I going to do now, Do-hyeon…”
I muttered that and let out a hollow laugh.
Maybe I really did drink too much soju.
A wave of dizziness hit me, and I grabbed a utility pole while looking up at the sky.
The dark Seoul sky, not a single star in sight.
“Everything looks pitch black. Unless I suddenly awaken, I have no idea how to solve this…”
I muttered and lowered my head.
Then I thought.
How many bottles of soju did I drink?
Four?
Five?
Six…?
Thud.
With the sound of something collapsing, everything went dark before my eyes.
And after some time passed, when I opened my eyes again, I was still in the same place.
A utility pole stretching up toward the clear blue sky.
A couple of small white clouds hanging at its tip.
The buzzing sound of flies circling in my ears.
And a single message.
[You have awakened]
[Trait: Magic Master (EX)]
-You can use all existing forms of magic.