Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Mage (2)
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“You're saying you're going to create magic?”
Han Sehee's words sparked a fundamental question in me.
In the game, magic spells were fixed in type.
They were simply divided by rank in terms of what could be used—there was no concept of creating new magic.
Was that even possible?
Han Sehee gave a small nod.
“Think back to Oliver Bierman's legend. Just as mimicking his friend's ability to produce fire became the first magic, the essence of all magic is the same.”
Mimicking abilities.
Every spell has an originating ability; magic is merely analyzing and imitating it.
The unique application possible only for those who awakened mana emission—mages.
Thus, if they could analyze and mimic Han Yujin's ability, that would mean creating a new spell on the spot.
Her explanation made sense.
But doubts lingered.
“Why propose this to me of all people?”
The answer came from Kim Beomsu.
“Simple. Because Han Yujin is a mental ability user.”
Kim Beomsu removed his glasses and wiped the fog from the lenses with his sleeve.
His explanation continued.
There were no proper mental spells among current magic.
Spells that affected the mind existed, but they were mere byproducts derived from other abilities.
No magic had mental abilities as their prototype.
Why was that?
Kim Beomsu cited two main reasons.
“First, mental ability users are rare.”
If you grouped similar abilities by category and tallied their populations, mental abilities sat at the very bottom.
But rarity alone didn't explain the absence of mental magic.
There were some, after all.
Attempts to turn them into magic had been made before.
But they soon hit the second hurdle.
“Mana observation is incredibly difficult.”
An ability targeting not empty space or one's own body, but another person's mind.
There was no way to easily grasp the mana flowing inside someone else.
Plus, mental abilities were fundamentally non-combat types.
Meaning their growth was inherently limited.
To make observation feasible, a substantial mana output was needed, but no mental ability user had reached that rank.
The more I heard, the less sense it made. Was it just my imagination?
“Then isn't it impossible? Why me specifically...”
“That's precisely why it's valuable!”
Kim Beomsu, glasses back on, leaned in toward me.
I recoiled in alarm.
Clink. Han Sehee set down her cup.
“As I said, the Magic Tower is different from other guilds. Like a graduate school or research institute, remember?”
Han Sehee shot Kim Beomsu a glance.
She continued, glaring at him as he straightened his hair.
“Treatment in the Magic Tower depends purely on research achievements. Turning an ability no one's succeeded with into magic? That's an enticing challenge worth the risk.”
Her tone was steady, but ambition flickered in her calm eyes.
In other words, they weren't here as Magic Tower representatives, but as mages pursuing personal research.
“If it's impossible, doesn't that make it meaningless? I'm not that special to fill those conditions.”
“The era has changed, and technology has advanced. We thought it was worth trying again.”
Their resolve and passion were dazzling.
If I'd seen it from afar, I might have cheered them on.
The problem was that I was the target.
“Sorry, but isn't it risky? Injections of weird drugs or... dissection?”
“If that were the case, we wouldn't be talking to you like this—we'd have kidnapped you and used you as a test subject.”
Ha ha. Kim Beomsu laughed as if it were a joke, but when I didn't react, his laughter faded.
Han Sehee gave him a cold look before speaking.
“No need to worry. Han Yujin, you just need to demonstrate your ability repeatedly. We'll handle the rest.”
If it wasn't dangerous, that eased my mind—but hesitation remained.
Han Sehee pressed on urgently.
“We absolutely won't ask for anything uncomfortable. You can stop anytime you want. And regardless of results, just for cooperating, we'll offer generous compensation.”
She sounded truly desperate.
At this point, there was probably no real cause for concern.
With my house and workshop expenses piling up, I wasn't in a position to be picky.
I nodded.
Kim Beomsu let out a clear sigh of relief, as if a weight had lifted.
Han Sehee didn't show it overtly, but she seemed quietly pleased.
Afterward, before the experiments, they asked about my ability.
To refine how they'd proceed.
I answered sincerely on anything not too hard to explain.
Once the talk ended, we set a detailed date and parted.
The appointed day was a weekend.
I had to go to the association for counseling work on weekdays.
A massive building.
I took the elevator to the promised location, where the two greeted me.
A particularly eye-catching machine sat in the room's center, so I asked about it.
“Mana emission imaging device. We call it MEI. It's the equipment that'll assist with observation in this experiment.”
Two long panels flanked the central spot for the measurement target, facing each other.
It resembled the setup for dental X-rays.
“Do I just stand in the middle there?”
“No. That's not your spot, Han Yujin.”
It looked exactly like the place to stand, but apparently not?
“Illusion, right? Since it targets others, to observe the mana conversion moment, the subject—not the caster—needs to be there.”
“The subject?”
“Who else but us?”
Kim Beomsu approached from the computer linked to the machine.
Preparations complete, he announced.
They stared at each other before Han Sehee nodded.
“I'll go first.”
Han Sehee took position in the machine's center.
Kim Beomsu, back at the computer, spoke.
“Use your ability when I give the signal.”
Light emanated from the machine. A low hum.
The facing panels began rotating.
The signal came soon after.
Han Sehee's face was tense.
This was an experiment, not combat.
Even if she wanted it, creating another case like Kang Jiwon was something I loathed.
So I dialed back the output as much as possible.
The image in my mind: a single faucet.
Crank the valve wide open.
Tight enough not to leak even a drop of mana.
Flow stops.
Then, the single droplet at the spout's end.
Drip. The moment mana fell, the ability activated.
No specific keyword.
My mana seeped into her, and Han Sehee's expression went blank.
Only briefly—she snapped out of it, frowning.
“You okay?”
“Just a bit dizzy. No major issues.”
I sighed inwardly in relief.
First time controlling output so extremely, but it worked.
Han Sehee walked to the computer.
“Anything?”
Kim Beomsu shook his head slowly.
She stared piercingly at the monitor, then grimaced.
“Imaging impossible. Insufficient mana measured?”
Han Sehee turned to me.
“Han Yujin, did you deliberately throttle your mana output?”
The machine could detect that?
I nodded awkwardly, and she sighed.
“That's a problem. Next time, use full power.”
“Absolutely not.”
Immediate refusal.
Caught off guard, Han Sehee faltered.
But no meant no. People could die.
“My ability is far stronger than it seems. No joke—you could end up a vegetable.”
“But... we're B-rank at least.”
It had worked on Jin Seohyeon too.
Unless they had exceptional mental resistance, B-rank couldn't handle it.
My firm stance left them no choice but to accept.
Han Sehee asked me to wait and left the room.
She must have another option.
Now it was just me and Kim Beomsu.
“...”
With the experiment paused, no conversation flowed.
The silence grew stifling; I broke it first.
“You two seem awfully invested. Must be worth it if this succeeds.”
“Even the Magic Tower Master would take interest. Idealistic, sure, but success would shake the academic world.”
Yet his tone didn't match—Kim Beomsu seemed oddly detached.
“You say that, but you don't seem that interested.”
He scratched his head with an embarrassed grin.
Guess I was right.
“Unlike Sehee, my goal was the research itself, not success from the start.”
“The research itself?”
“The Magic Tower has quarterly progress reports. Closer to sharing advancements than demanding results, but... even so, you can't have nothing a couple times without repercussions.”
If the next one was the same, he'd have to prepare.
He'd gotten a committee warning—“If you're not researching, go mercenary to another guild and earn some money!”—and his mouth drooped as he explained.
They overlooked a quarter or two.
So he'd been slacking for at least half a year?
Does this guy have a conscience?
Of course, I didn't say it.
“Heard you're getting kicked out or something?”
“Nah, not that bad. Just got yelled at to go make money as a merc if I won't research.”
Isn't that basically getting kicked out?
Again, I kept quiet.
“Plus, Sehee asked me as a favor.”
“You two close?”
“Fellow initiates since joining. Research is tough solo, so she said help when I'm free. Hard to refuse.”
His attitude suggested more than obligation—almost enthusiasm.
Some other reason?
As we chatted, the door opened again.
Han Sehee dragged something in. At first glance, a carrier—but no.
An animal cage.
For lab rats?
But its heft and size said otherwise.
At least medium dog-sized.
“A Ratman we captured for experiments. It's anesthetized, so it won't move, but we need to proceed before it wakes.”
Ratman—the weakest tier, but still a monster.
Capturing and storing one like this...
The Magic Tower wasn't your average group.
Han Sehee pulled the Ratman from the cage and placed it in the machine's center.
As claimed, the massive rat dragged limply without resistance.
She wiped sweat from her brow and stepped beside Kim Beomsu.
“Han Yujin, same as before. I'll signal when ready.”
I approached the machine at his words.
It hummed to life soon after.
The long panels rotated around the central Ratman.
Kim Beomsu signaled.
Not a person, so no hesitation.
I was tired of repeating anyway.
No limits—I unleashed mana fully.
No keyword again.
Mana surged out.
The illusion hit, but anesthetized, the Ratman showed no external change.
The machine reacted, though.
Its hum slowed, then stopped.
“Did it work?”
“No vital signs... Instant death. You weren't exaggerating.”
I walked over amid Han Sehee's impressed tone.
A single image on the monitor.
Against a black background, a white mass filled the center.
Not a mass, though?
Empty spaces dotted it intricately.
I realized: countless lines packed so densely they formed a blob.
“Even I can't make sense of it. Did you two learn anything?”
They whipped around to stare at me.
Their instant reaction startled me.
Expressions grave.
Even the ever-cheerful Kim Beomsu looked stunned.
“Can't distinguish the lines at all. Unbelievable complexity. What did you do?”
“...This isn't normal?”
“Absolutely not. Impossible.”
Han Sehee asserted.
Awakened abilities underwent unconscious mana conversion.
Not simple, but not insanely complex either.
The brain had to compute and process it, after all.
But the image...
White so densely packed, lines indistinguishable.
Impossible to parse, let alone interpret the mana arrangement.
“Beyond human capability. Unconsciously? Unless your brain's a supercomputer, no way.”
“...Never felt my brain was that smart.”
A sudden realization hit.
Why my simulated illusions were so insanely efficient.
Because they were insanely complex.
“How exactly do you use your ability?”
Even he couldn't explain why it was possible.