Yu Ji-seong Office

The hunt had been a success. The mental toll, though, had been just as enormous. Perhaps that was why—the moment I got back to the motel, I fell straight asleep.

How long I stayed that way, I couldn't say.

Knock, knock.

The rapping pulled my eyes open. I opened the door, and the motel owner stood there glaring at me, irritation written all over his face.

"You're in there, so why won't you answer your phone?"

"......"

"Good grief, I thought you'd up and died. You extending?"

I shook my head. Selling what I'd brought out of the Labyrinth would bring in a decent sum, and I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no desire to sleep here any longer.

The door had barely shut before I headed straight for the bathroom. Even the lighting in a cheap motel bathroom felt stale. At least the hot water ran fine.

Shaaaa—!

By now the mana threads had reached full maturity. The faint creak, like a puppet being jerked along on strings, was gone. There was still no sensation. Even so, I could manage a passable imitation of an ordinary person.

Daily life was, if anything, far more convenient than it was for the able-bodied.

Shampooing—mana threads. Washing—mana threads. Drying off—mana threads.

To think I could control a body whose nerves had been severed completely, down to this.

People had called it trash. In truth it was an all-purpose skill, though only on the condition that you raised it all the way to max level.

"......"

Lee Hee-ja's slippers sat in the entryway. She was a big woman with big feet, so the size fit well enough. I couldn't keep walking around in those.

I opened the door and stepped outside. Midday sun stabbed at my eyes. Feeling the unfamiliar air of the real world brush past the mana threads, I turned my head.

Korean signs and Chinese signs mingled in roughly equal measure along the street—the distinctive look of Daelim-dong I'd seen on TV. I went into a shoe store and bought the plainest pair of gray sneakers they had, then picked up a basic T-shirt and a tracksuit set at a sporting-goods shop. Cap pulled low, I checked the mirror. Presentable enough.

"Oh my, it suits you."

At the clerk's compliment I turned my eyes back to the glass.

A somewhat sharp impression. The features themselves were decent enough, but the feeling of the face as a whole was dark and sullen.

The longer I looked, the more the awkwardness crept in—all the worse because I hadn't properly seen my own face in eight years. From where I stood, the face of a third-year middle schooler had been swapped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for that of a twenty-four-year-old man.

I paid in silence and headed toward Daelim Station. Hunter shops crowded the streets around it. I stepped into one.

Ding—!

A faint scent of medicinal herbs hung in the air. I walked slowly to the counter and lifted my bag, and the old man behind it grinned. A gold tooth set into one of his front teeth glinted.

"Put 'em up here."

I dumped the spirit herbs into the basket he held out. There were enough of them that the basket mounded high. The old man counted them one by one with gnarled hands, then spoke.

"Twelve in all. One million two hundred thousand won."

Jaundiced eyes flicked over me.

"Talented, for someone so young. First deal, so I'll throw in an extra fifty thousand. Here."

One million two hundred fifty thousand won in cash went into a white envelope. I wanted to count it on the spot, but I didn't. I didn't even know how to count money properly, and I had no desire to advertise that I'd never lived out in society.

I ducked into the next alley over and counted it with mana threads. Far faster than doing it by hand—nearly on the level of a bill counter.

Ding—!

My next stop was a motel with a clean exterior.

"Welcome. Day-use, or overnight?"

I nodded at the overnight. Three fingers went up, and 240,000 won went across the counter.

Key in hand, I climbed up to the room.

I took a plastic case from my pocket, swallowed an elixir pill, and checked what remained.

Seven. Even if I rationed them at two a day, they'd be gone in three and a half days.

Not enough.

Money came first. I dug through my pocket and pulled out a business card.

The location wasn't far. Mapo.

Crimson potion spilled across skin white as snow.

Yu Ji-seong frowned.

"...You ran into a Vine Creeper?"

His sister's wound ran deep. It was only because he'd given emergency treatment to the worst of it that she was still here. Her life might well have been in danger.

"...Yeah."

Yu Seo-ha answered through a grimace, and Yu Ji-seong clicked his tongue at her.

"I told you to be careful. Plant-type monsters settling in around mana ore is basic common sense."

Yu Seo-ha shook her head.

"No."

"No?"

"Yeah. It wasn't a regular Vine Creeper. It had five heads."

Yu Ji-seong's eyes narrowed.

"You must've seen it wrong."

The Vine Creeper—a creeping vine that parasitizes mana ore steeped in mana, a monster famous for playing at being an ordinary plant before striking from ambush.

It was also a somewhat peculiar creature. The number of heads grew with the amount of mana it absorbed, and five heads put it on par with a mid-grade monster. If it truly had been a Five-Vine Creeper, it would not have ended at a wound like this.

"No. I saw it clearly."

"...You saw all five heads?"

"Yes. I really saw them."

The wound had already healed completely. Yu Seo-ha lifted a cloth and wiped around it, then raised her head and shot a sidelong glare at her brother, whose eyes had narrowed in lingering doubt.

"I saw it with my own eyes. A single vine split into five in an instant."

"And that burned away in one blast of flame?"

"Yeah."

Yu Seo-ha nodded without a shred of doubt. Yu Ji-seong sighed inwardly and nodded along.

"Fine. Let's say that's true. I still don't understand why a mage who can blow away a Five-Vine Creeper in one shot would be hanging around a goblin village, but..."

That was when it happened.

Ching!

A chime sounded from the entrance—not the front door, but the small side door built at the back of the building.

He was certain he'd locked it. The thought that this might not be a welcome guest hardened ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yu Ji-seong's face. He brushed a hand over the dagger at his waist and rose.

"......"

The other party was already inside, standing blankly, as if he had no intention of attacking.

A young man who looked to be in his early twenties. A light tracksuit, cap pulled low.

His face was hard to make out.

"What can I do for you?"

The man didn't answer. He sat in the chair before the table set aside for private consultations and slowly raised a hand.

Mana swayed gently above his palm. A mage.

"......?"

In that instant Yu Ji-seong's brow twitched. Something thin shot up from the man's palm. One, two, three... But the number was wrong.

"What in the..."

Mana threads, multiplied into the hundreds, writhed above the man's palm. Then mana was inscribed into the empty air, the carved mana turning to letters and embroidering the space before them.

Yu Ji-seong's pupils shook. Wh-what is that? It's not even a jellyfish.

Face twisted, he turned his head and shouted.

"Seo-ha! You've got a guest!"

His voice trembled.

Terrifying. Get out here. Now.

I'd seen plenty of offices like this on TV. Depending on the owner's personality, the places varied wildly—some set up in bars, fusion-punk style, others quiet as a library.

Yu Ji-seong's office, as I'd confirmed with my detection ability, was utterly ordinary. The sort of space where regular office workers might clock in. Several people holding drinks were laughing and chatting as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"...Oh, you're here!"

Yu Seo-ha came out. Not as pale as she'd been in the dungeon, but her color still wasn't good. The injury must have been fairly serious.

I inscribed the mana into the air in place of a voice, a method of openly scattering it into empty space. The consumption was enormous, but it hardly mattered. Thanks to max-level Meditation, mana refilled the instant I spent it.

"Thanks to you, I'm almost fully recovered. Thank you again."

Startled by the bizarre method of conversation, Yu Seo-ha soon bowed her head politely, hurriedly fetched a chair, and sat across from me. Before long the three of us faced one another with a single table between us.

"...Astonishing."

Yu Ji-seong was the first to speak. His gaze had been fixed on the mana threads the whole time—the look of a man who'd seen something he wasn't meant to see.

"Honestly, I couldn't believe Seo-ha. A Five-Vine Creeper, killed with a single blast of flame."

He shook his head.

"But now ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I have no choice but to believe it. Mana threads this monstrous, and you spraying mana into the air like water..."

"I told you. It was real."

"I know, I know. Sorry, sorry."

Yu Ji-seong scratched his head with an awkward smile. He didn't seem like a bad person.

His gaze turned to me.

"Thank you, truly, for saving my sister's life. If there's anything you need, I'll help however I can."

There was plenty I needed, and most of it had to do with money. But simply asking for money wasn't a good choice.

Better to ask first for something money alone couldn't buy.

A single day of exploring the Labyrinth had earned me 1.2 million won, and the earnings would only grow from here. I couldn't carry cash around forever.

I needed a new identity, and an account.

"...Hm."

Yu Ji-seong's expression stiffened slightly. I could guess the reason well enough.

Government control had already loosened as far as it could loosen. In that climate, forging a single ID wouldn't be difficult work for an office of this scale. His face hadn't hardened because the job was hard.

He was worried I might cause trouble. A moderate incident could be smoothed over and buried. A major one might land the responsibility on the office.

Yu Seo-ha stepped in.

"I'll take responsibility."

"...Seo-ha."

"If it weren't for him, I'd already be dead. Three seconds later and the Vine Creeper would've burst my heart."

Her expression was serious. I waited quietly for what came next.

"I can sign off on it myself. You just say you didn't know. Don't overthink it."

She didn't even look at her brother. She spoke to me.

"You saved my life. I shouldn't be afraid of going to prison over it. Is there anything else you'd like?"

Resolve flickered through those large, round eyes.

...As expected. I'd known it when she bowed her head first even while bleeding all over the place. Contrary to that soft appearance, she had a backbone. A considerable one.

"Please come at this time tomorrow. I'll have the work finished."

Yu Ji-seong kept his mouth shut. His face said he didn't like the situation, but he wasn't in a position to block it.

Logically, there was no hole in it. A forged ID had already stepped, to some degree, out of outright illegality and into a gray zone.

For a benefactor who had saved her life, that much was something she could more than justify providing.

"...It seems I can't stop this after all."

Yu Ji-seong was simply uneasy. He'd pegged me as far too high-level a mage, and he was afraid I'd cause far too large an incident.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow. If my manner was rude in any way, I apologize."

I left the short message and turned to go, then paused. Looking at Yu Seo-ha, I added another.

The next day, I opened my eyes in a motel without cockroaches.

An eighty-thousand-won motel was decent enough to stay in.

I entered the Tower at once.

Points remaining: 7,760. I bought a little equipment from the knight.

I couldn't keep hauling a wooden puppet around in my hands forever. Simply setting it aside, though, would have meant giving up more than four hundred mana threads.

I slipped the cursed wooden puppet into the pocket-like space on the back of the belt. Fortunately, the Detection skill held exactly as it was. Expensive as the belt had been, the effect was certain.

I stocked potions as well, in case of injury. Five of them. They weren't high-grade potions like the one Yu Seo-ha had used.

Still, they'd be plenty useful against a moderate wound.

I raised my arm.

"......"

A silver gleam, glowing faintly. An elegant bracelet wrapped my wrist—equipment worth well over 110,000 points.

A bracelet that generated a mana field protecting the entire body. Without a shield, it was the piece of equipment I needed most. Later, once I could secure my safety with magic, I could swap the jewel and draw out an entirely different effect.

"With this, safety's more or less secured."

Now it was time to start climbing the Tower again. My heart pounded.

Floor 4. Clear this floor, and a new skill book would open—Crimson Flame, the magic in charge of flame's Expansion.

"...Shall we."

The darkness before my eyes brightened little by little. Then a message rose.

The stretch with the worst reputation among novice hunters. Time to hunt orcs.