Cast into the Dungeon
Silence settled over the inn room.
While Yeonwoo went to wash up, I was left to wait alone upon the bedside nightstand, resting quietly in the form of a solitary violet ring. Squeezing out my mana back in the alley to conjure that massive spectral silhouette had taken its toll; a bone-deep exhaustion now seeped up from the depths of my soul. My mana had run nearly dry. Even though I lacked a human body and existed as something akin to a spirit, having my mana fully depleted would still snuff out my consciousness, dragging me into death. Even without a mortal flesh-and-blood vessel, running out of mana meant the end just the same. Trapped within the band of the ring, I brooded over the fragile nature of this new body.
Creak—
After who knows how long, the weathered wooden door slowly swung open. Fresh from the washroom, Yeonwoo stepped out with damp hair clinging to her skin, her cheeks flushed a conspicuous shade of pink. She patted her head with a rough towel, her steps cautious as she approached the bed. Reaching down to the nightstand, she picked me up—the violet ring—and slipped me gently onto her finger.
"Um... Spirit Oppa," Yeonwoo called out, her voice soft and trembling.
"Yeah? What is it, Yeonwoo?"
"Please... manifest your form."
"Manifest? I'm already low on mana. Wouldn't manifesting just burn through what little I have left?"
"It's okay... Just for a little while, please. I have to do it to replenish your mana."
At her insistence, I squeezed out a sliver of my remaining mana and emerged from the ring. Billows of violet light and cerulean smoke spilled forth, coalescing beside the bed into my original human silhouette. Yeonwoo stared at my manifested form, hesitating for a fleeting second, before throwing herself forward and wrapping her arms tightly around me.
...?!
The sudden, intimate contact caught me entirely off guard, freezing me in place. Her warmth and the fresh scent of soap enveloped my senses all at once. Flustered, I instinctively tried to push against her shoulders, stammering out a question.
"H-Hey... Yeonwoo, what are you doing?"
Burying her face in my chest, Yeonwoo mumbled in a muffled whisper,
"I told you... I'm supplying you with mana."
"Mana replenishment... works like this?"
"Between a contractor and a spirit... mana can only transfer through direct physical contact. The broader the surface area of contact, the faster and more efficiently it flows... That's why I'm holding you like this."
Her explanation sounded like an excuse, and yet beneath the words, her petite frame was trembling uncontrollably.
Feeling awkward, I moved to push her away with a bit more force. Even if this was standard procedure between contractor and spirit, having a girl suddenly embrace me like this made me deeply self-conscious. Yet the moment I went to shove her off, my hands froze.
Drip. Drip—
Through the wisps of smoke that formed my chest, I felt cold drops falling in rapid succession. It wasn't moisture dripping from her wet hair. Tears were pouring freely from Yeonwoo's eyes, splattering against the floorboards.
Earlier, even while being brutally stomped and kicked by those thuggish adventurers, even as her contracted spirits collapsed in agony, she had swallowed every scream. Before such vile cruelty, she had clenched her teeth and held back every tear—only for the dam to break here, alone in the dim quiet of an inn room, clinging to me.
'Please don't leave me alone...'
'I can't lose you too, Spirit Oppa...'
The anguished sobs she had choked out while coughing up blood in the alleyway echoed back to me. When I had first met her not long ago, Yeonwoo was entirely alone. How terrifying must it have been, wandering through a ruined, ruthless world all by herself? Perhaps the sheer dread of that crushing solitude had overwhelmed her.
Slowly, I lowered the hands I had raised to push her away.
I didn't ask her anything more. I didn't question why she was crying, nor did I press her on whether the mana transfer was merely a pretense. I simply pretended not to notice her tears, standing motionless and letting her anchor herself to me so she could pour out every drop of grief buried in her chest. As night deepened over the shadowed room, Yeonwoo's mana trickled gently into my core, accompanied by the steady, damp patter of tears soaking into my smokelike frame.
The next morning, we set out for Raul, a metropolis home to both a Tower and the headquarters of the Magic Law Enforcers.
Raul... Never heard of it.
Then again, during the centuries I had spent shut away, the map of Korea seemed to have been completely rewritten. For that matter, even the country itself was now known as the 17th Great Magic Nation... Unlike the modest village we had just left behind, Raul was a sprawling, imposing citadel ringed by colossal stone ramparts and intricate magical machinery. The moment we stepped into the central plaza, a sea of people choked the thoroughfare.
What's going on...?
"Looks like the soldiers are returning," Yeonwoo murmured beside me. "Unlike your time, Oppa, city-states have taken over. Right now, Raul is at war over ownership of the Tower."
Through the heart of the square marched a column of soldiers, returning from the front lines where they had wagered their lives. Clad in armor caked with dried blood and road dust, their grim presence drew an endless murmur from the watching crowd.
"Hey! Step back, all of you!"
Stern-faced Magic Law Enforcers in crisp uniforms patrolled the perimeter, barking orders to keep the civilian spectators from encroaching on the military procession.
Centuries have passed... Just what level has their weaponry reached?
Curiosity piqued, I wanted to see the advanced military technology and weapon systems of this new era with my own eyes. But stuck at hand height, the limited vantage point of the ring left me staring at a wall of legs and backs.
'Yeonwoo, I'm going to manifest for a second.'
Releasing a wisp of mana, I billowed outward from the ring, swirling upward as a plume of violet smoke. Drifting slightly above the crowd, I scrutinized the gear carried by the marching troops—swords, staves, and mana-infused armaments. Their equipment was far more sophisticated than anything I had anticipated.
Before long, the soldiers cleared the plaza, and the onlookers gradually dispersed. Yeonwoo and I turned toward the colossal Tower looming at the city's heart, hoping to gather information on its layout and trials.
Then—
Clack—!
Dozens of uniformed Magic Law Enforcers converged in the blink of an eye, cutting off our path.
"Halt."
An officer who appeared to be their squad leader stepped forward, his gaze cutting coldly between Yeonwoo and the purple smoke swirling around her.
"Unauthorized manifestation of an unlicensed spirit, and an unregistered spiritist. Arrest them both immediately!"
As one, the enforcers drew their weapons, stepping in to corner us. My instincts flared; I prepared to wring out my mana and strike first. But Yeonwoo's face went deathly pale, and she seized my smokelike arm, whispering frantically,
"Spirit Oppa, no...! Magic Law Enforcers have summary field execution rights! You must never resist them! We have to comply for now!"
Summary execution. With my powers still uncalibrated and my mana far from recovered, picking a fight against trained enforcers would only put Yeonwoo's life on the line.
"...Fine."
Reluctantly, I dissolved my manifested form, retreating back into the violet ring resting on her finger. The enforcers slapped heavy mana restraints around Yeonwoo's wrists, then dragged us away toward a subterranean prison complex deep beneath the city of Raul.
Arriving at the dank, dimly lit entrance of the dungeon, an enforcer guarding the checkpoint stepped out to bar Yeonwoo's path, shouting roughly as he unlocked her restraints.
"Empty your pockets! Every single belonging you possess goes on the table—leave nothing out!"
With no alternative, Yeonwoo unslung her pack, setting it down alongside the meager coins and personal items she pulled from her pockets. But when she moved to step forward, a guard's spear dropped horizontally, blocking her way.
"The violet ring on your finger. Hand that over too."
Yeonwoo flinched, pulling both hands to her chest in panic as she took a cautious step back.
"Th-This... not this. It isn't just a simple piece of jewelry..."
"I told you to shut your mouth and surrender it, didn't I?"
The soldier's expression turned vicious. Just as he reached out to pry it from her, the sharp click of heels echoed down from the upper stairway.
Clack... Clack... Clack...
"What is the meaning of this commotion?"
A high-ranking officer clad in an immaculate enforcer's uniform descended the steps at an unhurried pace. The guarding enforcer instantly snapped to attention, saluting stiffly.
"Reporting, Commander! During property confiscation, the unregistered spiritist refused to surrender her ring!"
Having heard the situation, the female commander studied the violet ring cradled against Yeonwoo's chest with keen, calculating eyes. Then, an exceptionally warm, compassionate smile spread across her features as she stepped closer.
"Ah, I understand completely. To a spiritist, the vessel housing their contracted spirit is dearer than life itself."
She gently took Yeonwoo's trembling hands into hers, her tone sweet and soothing.
"Do not worry, Miss Yeonwoo. I shall take custody of your precious ring personally to ensure its safekeeping. Once the investigation concludes, it will be returned to you. Will you entrust it to me with peace of mind?"
Deceived by the woman's gentle gaze and honeyed words, tears welled in Yeonwoo's eyes as she slowly slipped me—the violet ring—from her finger and placed it into the commander's open palm.
Wait, this doesn't feel right...
An unsettling foreboding flared within me, but the instant the ring left Yeonwoo's skin and touched the commander's palm, my connection severed; my voice could no longer reach her. The moment the violet ring was in her grasp, every trace of warmth vanished from the commander's face, replaced by ice.
"Drag her to Basement 3, Cell C-14."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Crack—!
The enforcer didn't even wait a second. As if he had been itching for the signal, he drove a heavy boot viciously into Yeonwoo's flank.
"Ugh...!"
Yeonwoo shrieked and doubled over in pain. The soldiers grabbed her by the hair, brutally hauling her toward the cold, pitch-black stairwell leading into the depths of the earth.
"Ah... Spirit Oppa...!"
Her desperate cry faded into the abyssal chill of the dungeon. Meanwhile, the female commander cradled the ring in her hand without the slightest hint of remorse, turning on her heel to ascend toward the executive offices above.