I Ended Up Filming the News
I'd seen this place before.
That was the thought that rose unbidden the moment I stepped into the studio.
A vast, perfectly round oval of pure white LED tabletop—though it clearly wasn't designed for sitting face-to-face with anyone, since the two chairs were lined up along only one side. Behind it loomed a massive curved display that cycled between the Earth and the KBC logo in elegant rotation.
A studio of refined, understated opulence that still refused to hide its glamour.
It's nine o'clock. Here's the news.
…I could almost hear the familiar opening line. This was a news studio.
"…I'm here."
"Th-this way, please?"
Feeling every pair of startled, wide-eyed stares from the broadcast staff lock onto me, I walked toward the far side of the glittering set, where a forest of cameras waited.
I offered a brief nod to each person I passed. Before long another suit-clad man appeared.
A wild Suit-Guy has appeared! I half-expected the little jingle to play. Honestly, it was their own fault for all dressing like identical NPCs.
"A pleasure to meet you. I'm Jang Jae-hong, Director of News and Current Affairs."
"Unemployed mage Yuria."
"Hahaha! You've got a sharp tongue."
I didn't exactly have a job title or official role to claim, so "unemployed mage" had seemed good enough. The man looked ready to die of delight. Middle-aged guys and their taste in jokes… what was even funny about that?
Director Jang Jae-hong—whose thick, almost tattoo-like eyebrows twitched with every word—launched into an explanation of today's broadcast.
"As you already know, we'll be doing this in interview format. Nothing stiff—more like free-flowing conversation. Casual, but still keeping a bare minimum of formality."
"Sure."
"A very well-known anchor will be handling the interview, and from time to time we'll cut to video-call guests on the monitor behind us."
"Video interviews? Who's coming on?"
At my question the director pulled a neatly folded slip of paper from his pocket.
"You're going to be surprised."
How big a name could it possibly be?
I unfolded the note…
Flutter.
Global Values Delegation:
UN Secretary-General Peter Baerbock
and 192 spokespersons of UN member states
…
Snap.
I folded it shut again.
Starting with the first guest already felt like a boss fight…
"I misread that, right?"
"I thought the same thing. Turns out I didn't."
"…Haaah."
Suit-Guy Director Jang Jae-hong, me, and the tall female agent who had been standing silently behind us the whole time—
"Aigoo."
"Eugh."
"Hooo…"
—all three of us let out a long, simultaneous sigh.
Whether the staff member racing toward us sensed our collective despair or not, he slipped nimbly between cables and cameras, clearly looking for me.
"We're about to start. Whenever you're ready, please take the seat to the left of the desk."
"Got it. I'll head over."
"Please take good care of us, Miss Yuria."
With Director Jang's encouragement at my back, I sat down.
Hmm.
Murmur murmur.
Looking out from here at the cameras and the bustling crew felt strangely new.
I set my unnecessarily warm hat on the desk and glanced around. Especially those holographic-looking letters floating on the lens hoods of the cameras. For a second I wondered if they'd already reverse-engineered my magic tech—then realized they were just ordinary holographic projection displays.
Handy, though. No need for cue cards with those. Mm-hmm.
Click-clack. Click-clack.
"Hello."
While I was still admiring the gear, a woman who looked like she'd stepped straight out of a sculpture walked over with crisp, measured steps.
Navy dress, matching jacket—perfect "daughter every parent wishes for" energy. Where I was a bare-faced country chicken of a mage, she wore flawless makeup that highlighted sharp, cat-like features and an air of sophisticated beauty.
So this was the anchor for today's interview?
"Ah—yes. Good afternoon. Unemployed mage Yuria."
"Ahaha. Employed anchor Cha Yu-rim~."
My body locked up; I half-rose from the chair in an awkward crouch.
"No need to be so nervous. Oh my, but you're absolutely gorgeous."
"Ah, haha. Thank you. You're incredibly pretty yourself, Anchor."
We laughed lightly and settled into our seats.
About two meters apart—neither too close nor too far. Just the right distance. Any nearer and the lingering male instincts inside me might have cranked the tension up several notches.
Honestly, after thousands of years living shoulder-to-shoulder with sweaty soldiers and mages who reeked of pure mana, most of my resistance to women had simply evaporated.
Anchor Cha Yu-rim accepted the papers, pen, and water the staff laid out with practiced ease and began arranging her space.
"Here you go. Take these, and if the water runs out we'll bring a fresh bottle, so just let us know, and also…"
The same staff handed me a stack of papers detailing the rundown and guidelines, plus a pen and water of my own.
"Thank you."
Hmm.
Sitting here like this almost made me feel like an anchor myself.
I couldn't just sit still the whole wait, so I flipped through the papers.
[1. Introduction]
[2. Basic Questions]
…
Nothing but the usual boring stuff. Tch.
Beside me, Anchor Cha Yu-rim was scribbling busily or calling over passing staff for whispered conversations I couldn't catch. Watching her, I glared at my own papers… then started doodling a few dinosaurs.
What? Got a problem?
"Ahem."
A couple of the camera crew glanced over, spotted my artwork, and clapped hands over their mouths. Whatever. Sue me.
Anyway—when was this broadcast actually starting? And what exactly was the anchor next to me doing?
I'd seen anchors chatting or jotting notes before and after the news before. Maybe I should ask while I had the chance.
"Anchor, mind if I ask something I've always wondered about?"
Cha Yu-rim flinched slightly, clearly not expecting me to speak, then smiled and nodded.
"Of course. Ask away."
"You know how anchors always whisper to each other before and after the news? What are they actually talking about?"
A second later I worried the question might have sounded a little… low-level.
"…Pardon?"
And her expression—previously wearing that intelligent smile—went completely blank, as if the question had short-circuited her brain.
"I mean… I've just always been curious."
Her face recovered quickly, but the answer that followed was unexpected.
"Ah. So that's what you wanted to know. I see. Mm-hmm~ Well, you see…"
Why was she dragging this out so much?
"Live countdown starting now!"
The moment the call rang out, a mischievous glint lit Cha Yu-rim's eyes.
"I'll tell you later… if we get the chance."
"Ah."
There are two surefire ways to make someone furious: one is to start talking and then stop mid-sentence.
…
KRAAAAAH!
Flash!
But I couldn't even get angry.
Every single camera had lit up with a simultaneous red tally light.
I snapped my expression into a perfect poker face and locked my gaze forward.
"Good afternoon, everyone. This is the noon news for October 19th, brought to you today as a special edition."
I dipped my head slightly in time with the bowing anchor.
"We have prepared a conversation with a visitor who has experienced magic and another dimension—things we have only ever seen in fiction—and who has now come to Earth. Joining us is Mage Yuria, who first appeared to us under the name 'Seoul Mage.'"
The introduction was so grandiose I scratched the back of my neck in mild embarrassment.
"Good afternoon."
"Yes, hello. I'm Yuria. In the previous world I was a Hero who specialized in magic; these days I'm just an unemployed mage."
Clap clap clap.
Why were they applauding an unemployed freeloader mage so enthusiastically…
"First, could you introduce us to what magic actually is? In our society we've only encountered it in movies and novels; this is the first time magic has truly existed, after all."
"That's true. Hmm… shall I give a simple explanation?"
Easy question.
Asking someone who'd spent at least a few centuries as a professor at the Magic Tower to give a basic magic lecture?
Snap!
I deliberately flicked my fingers with a sharp sound. A tiny flame the size of a candle flame bloomed in midair.
I could have made fire with no gesture at all, but that wouldn't have looked cool…
"Hah!"
The reactions weren't as dramatic as the old days, but people still gasped. Beside the flame I floated a droplet of water, a shard of ice, and a thin blue thread of air current.
The four basic attributes of magic.
"These are the four fundamental attributes of magic. On Earth it's easy to think of them as something like the alchemy that vanished long ago."
Plenty of people were probably thinking, What is this, the ancient four-element theory? But just because it was another world didn't mean the scholarship was shallow.
"These attributes are, in truth, nothing more than symbols."
Back when I first learned magic, we really did use the four-element theory. But the system I personally revised—and that countless scholars later refined—was what I was about to explain.
I poured mana into the water, giving it a tiny swirling directionality.
"Water represents fluid dynamics and the transport of energy."
Next I held a ballpoint pen over the flame and oxidized the tip, reshaping it into a dark-red rose.
"Wow, is that for me?"
"Of course."
I handed the blooming rust-rose to Anchor Cha Yu-rim and continued.
"Fire represents chemical reactions and thermodynamics."
I combined the thread of wind with the ice to form a crystal, then set it atop the flame. Ice that met fire should have melted—yet the snowflake remained perfectly intact.
"Ice stands for energy mechanics; wind for the circulation and continuity of systems. In essence, we simply assigned symbols to the laws of physics."
I closed my fist once, and every element vanished.
"And the thing that makes this impossible intervention in reality possible… is mana."
When I opened my palm again, the residual mana left behind by the vanished elements drifted upward like soft blue starlight.
"Using this mana to manipulate the four elements—and, beyond that, to induce changes in reality—is what we call magic."
A very, very long time ago, before I ever became a Hero, back when I made my living as a lecturer at the Magic Tower of that other world…
This was the opening of Week 1 Orientation for General Magical Theory, the lecture I gave every new semester.
"That's truly fascinating. Can anyone learn to use magic like this?"
"I can't say for certain, but most people can learn it. There are rare cases of people born simply unable to utilize mana."
At my answer, Anchor Cha Yu-rim's eyes sparkled with pure I definitely want to try this myself energy.
"Well then… want to try casting some magic?"
"…Excuse me??"
I'd been curious myself, after all.
Could the people of this world actually use magic?
I was fairly sure they could. I'd been thinking about it since the day I arrived on Earth, and I already knew the method—I just hadn't tried it yet.
"It'll only take a few seconds."
Become Humanity's First Mage.
This was absolutely not revenge for leaving me hanging mid-sentence earlier.
Definitely not.