Seiren Enters the Magic Tower 9-1
“Seiren. Aren't you a bit too close?”
“Not at all.”
“You're getting bolder by the day.”
“Heehee.”
Lee Hyun, punished with daily arm pillow duty for making Seiren cry, scratched his head in embarrassment. If that moment had been broadcast live, there would've been a ton of viewers licking their lips with meaningful glares, sashimi knife at the ready.
Anyway.
While the pair spent their cozy week off flirting shamelessly, the Magic Tower and Academy were swept up in an unexpected wave of academic fervor...
“...What the hell is this? Ley lines?”
“Ah, Professor Yang! Come here for a sec.”
“G-go grab Professor Park from the next building over. Tell him there's something we need to discuss together.”
The academy professors had huddled together over a problem derived from Kim Sebin's elemental theory, twisted into Seiren's version.
It was already a bizarrely difficult problem, but elevating it to archmage standards made it impossible even for the Magic Tower researchers to crack easily. The real kicker was that solving it required knowledge from multiple fields for the proofs.
Unlike the original, which could be bulldozed through with experience and know-how, Seiren's demanded PhD-level expertise. They started it as a one-hour challenge since Seiren had set a time limit, but no one solved it within the hour.
A few elites, their pride scratched, pointed out the problem's absurdity and dismissed it as impractical. But the battle mages—real combat spellcasters—fired back from the front lines.
In summary: 'This is a brilliant problem that sharply dissects the dynamical relationships divided by elements and trajectory convergence principles. How the hell would you lab-bound theory mages, nursing your desk-job ailments, know shit about real combat?'
Of course, the theory mages, including the Magic Tower researchers, didn't take that lying down. They shot back indignantly: 'We've been cooped up studying so long since entering the Tower that we're out of touch with fieldwork. If you get the chance, why don't you come in and show us?'
It sounded like a classy response, humbly accepting the mockery. But anyone who knew the reality—top academy grads went to the Magic Tower, lower ranks to guilds—saw the truth: 'You suck at studying compared to me lol.'
Even battle mages rolling in the dirt had their pride as mages. Getting it rubbed raw like that? No way they'd stay quiet.
Thus, the already tense rift between theory mages and battle mages plunged to its worst in nearly a decade.
With the magic world on the verge of actual schism, the head of the Korean Mages' Association had no choice but to step in. Chairman Park Hyeong-seop let out a heavy sigh.
“Ah, you fucking idiots.”
Already swamped with the Bukaksan Gate mess, he couldn't fathom why these family members were tearing into each other like this...
“Must be nice having it easy. Yeah, real easy.”
Sheesh. He just wanted to wrap this fight up quick. And since ancient times, the surefire way to settle mage disputes wasn't much different from knights': a duel. If they fought with swords, mages fought with pens.
He sent official notices to the Magic Tower and battle mage sides, ordering each to prepare one problem. For ties, they'd need a third—but no one sane wanted to meddle in this mage shitshow, so he'd have to make it himself.
Cursing up a storm at the extra work, Park Hyeong-seop suddenly wondered about the culprit behind this mess.
“A streamer?”
Once he learned her identity, he was pretty shocked, but his mind spun fast.
“Maybe ask her to be the judge.”
And while at it, have her make the tiebreaker problem too. Oh, the more he thought, the better it sounded. Park Hyeong-seop flicked his forehead in self-praise for his brilliant idea, then drafted a cooperation email right away.
“Won't let the losers off easy.”
With manpower short at Bukaksan anyway, ship them there, he vowed.
Lee Hyun and Seiren, receiving the email:
“Oh. Collab request from the Magic Tower?”
“Let's do it!”
“Post the notice now.”
They'd wrapped up discussions on filming, security, censorship, etc., over the weekend. Come Monday, Seiren went live in the Magic Tower lobby.
“Magical Girl Seiren here. Today, at the Earth Defense Force's request, I'm dispatched to a secret base in the demon realm that's sneaky-embedded there!”
Quick-witted viewers tossed out the bait, but Seiren stuck to her demon realm secret base script.
“There's a little conflict between our Earth Defense Force teams during the demon realm purification op. As the guardian of peace, I'm here to mediate.”
“Hey now. Mediation. Mediation. No bad words!”
As Seiren bantered playfully with chat, someone from the Magic Tower approached.
“Hello. I'm Lee Kang-hyun, assigned as escort for Seiren-nim and Lee Hyun-nim.”
“Nice to meet you, Agent!”
“Haha...”
Seiren kept her persona for the greeting, while I gave a quick nod like a proper cameraman.
“First, let me brief you on the schedule.”
Theory mages tackle the battle mages' problem today; switch tomorrow. If 1-1 tie, whoever solves Seiren's fastest the day after wins. Seiren stays as judge at minimum till tomorrow, max day after. Judge duty's just overseeing commentary and checking for errors.
Problems presented at 10 AM, answers at 6 PM—super loose schedule for Seiren. Knowing this ahead, we planned to tour the Tower till 6.
“Anywhere you'd like to see first?”
“The agents' spot first. Kinda curious what they prepared.”
“This way.”
Current time: 12:34. Theory mages should be deep in debate by now. We headed to their floor.
“Strength 3.4, mana 64, rest standard—thin radial on the general mana circulation coordinate system.”
“Anyone know how to handle the gravity assist hatch?”
“Those battle mage bastards really racked their brains...”
The battle mages' problem loomed large on the silver screen above the podium, mages clustered in groups tackling it step-by-step.
Seiren stared blankly at the screen, then blurted:
“Any greetings from folks here? As a mage yourself, Seiren-nim knows, but everyone here is...”
“Hm, three answers. Maybe six depending on cases.”
“Pardon?”
“Shall we head elsewhere?”
The escort panicked briefly, but had to chase as Seiren turned away.
I angled away slightly, lest the escort glimpse chat. No need to scratch mage pride unnecessarily.
Seiren's tour continued, but nothing fully hooked her interest.
“Hm...”
In under an hour, having toured half the Tower, Seiren finally settled in the public library. Overlooking countless studies and impressive folks for a library. Not just me—the escort scratched his cheek in dismay too.
Seiren reading, me feeling the fatigue, we called a break and cam off. Escort returned with coffee; I sank into the lobby sofa.
“Uh, actually, I'm a Seiren fan.”
“Ah, thanks.”
A fan this close? I chatted naturally. Mostly praise for Seiren or how fun the streams were, but some awkward questions popped up.
“Seiren-nim's surname is Lee too, like you, right? My siblings and I use the generational name. Do you?”
“You stroll near Bukaksan often? Heard you got photographed by chance.”
“I'm an academy grad too. What class is Seiren-nim? ...Oh, not academy? I see...”
The toughest: “If the age gap's over fifteen... Mr. Lee must be quite youthful.”
“Haha...”
The nuance screamed you're not really siblings with that gap, right? I awkwardly scratched my head, dodged, and bailed.
“Rested enough. Seiren!”
Resuming filming. Ignoring the escort's wistful look, we headed upstairs.
“Floors 11+ have heavy security—follow my lead.”
“I. Wanna see this lab.”
In the elevator, Seiren pointed to a booklet from the library—researcher papers, apparently. Escort took it, nodded.
...Why so intense? Maybe overthinking, but better safe. I whispered to Seiren: relay everything through me.
“Jealous?”
“Not jealousy... Seiren. This is serious.”
“Hiiing.”
Cam off briefly for that, so Seiren teased, but I didn't bite. Then eyes met the glancing escort.
Soon, we reached the lab from the booklet.
[Mana Particle Fission Induction for Dark Mana Control Laboratory]
Knock knock knock—
“Researcher? You there?”
“Who is it?”
The door opened; a man emerged. After a short wait, we entered.
“These are our researchers.”
“Fuck, she's gorgeous.”
“Mind your manners.”
“Ah, sorry.”
“It's fine.”
Seiren greeted them one by one. And finally.
To the sweaty, ailing staffer, Seiren smiled and said hello.
“Hello?”
“Ah, y-yes, yes. I-I'm Kim Sebin...”