House Hunting and National Security
In this world, there are those destined to earn money, and those destined to spend it.
Since Hyung-jun had run around like a dog raking in US dollars hand over fist with the Magician, it was only proper that I step up and spend it like royalty.
"Why is it that you're the only one doing any spending, though?"
"Did I ever tell you not to? If you're that jealous, why don't you go blow some cash too?"
If you want to spend, you should spend. We'd hauled in enough dough that I could fill an entire swimming pool with hundred-dollar bills and practice the backstroke. It wasn't like I could pack it into my coffin as passage money for the underworld. What could be more tragic than kicking the bucket before blowing every last dime?
Hyung-jun eyed me with a rather peculiar expression. "All right, so what exactly are you planning to flex on first?"
"First things first... maybe a house?"
"Ah, true. You do need to move."
My current place was a leased, forty-five-square-meter two-room apartment tucked away in Bucheon. To be fair, living alone there wasn't particularly uncomfortable. In fact, a modestly sized space felt reasonably cozy, which I actually preferred.
The real issue was that we had become entirely too famous, and reporters were now camped right outside my front door in broad daylight. Ever since we unveiled our Zero-Interface Technology at COEX, I hadn't managed to set foot in my own home even once. I couldn't just crash in hotels and eat takeout at the lab forever, could I?
And that wasn't all.
To a mage, a home wasn't just a place to sleep—it was an atelier. To install the necessary facilities, I needed vastly more space than what I had now.
"So, just how big of a place are we talking?"
"An estate... maybe classic American mansion style?"
"Those are some steep demands."
"We're practically swimming in cash, aren't we?"
"Could you please drop the prejudice that money solves every single problem in existence?" Hyung-jun grimaced openly, not bothering to hide his disgust. "That reeks of pure nouveau-riche trash."
"Well, I am nouveau riche, aren't I?"
Before quitting my job, my entire monthly salary had been worth roughly two grams of reduced graphene oxide. Saying it out loud made me genuinely want to weep. Hold on, let me wipe away a tear real quick.
"Listen here, Old Man Kim. If there's ever a problem in this world that money can't solve, it simply means you haven't thrown enough money at it yet."
"And have you ever actually thrown that much money at anything?"
"What kind of person do you take me for?" I puffed out my chest with absolute pride, staring right back into Hyung-jun's eyes. "Are you daring to look down on Park Ji-hyuk? The despair of Simgok-dong's elementary schoolers? The butcher of local Pikachu pork cutlets?"
"..."
Hyung-jun stared at me in profound silence.
Then, after glancing down at the pocket notebook where he'd been jotting down my requirements, he casually looked back up as if the thought had just crossed his mind. "So, how many square meters did you say you need?"
"Did you seriously just ignore everything I said?!"
"A person has to speak words that resemble human speech before they earn a reply. Just answer the question."
"Dammit... bigger is better." I pouted, grumbling under my breath.
"'Bigger is better' is way too vague. What about location? Do you have a specific neighborhood in mind or any non-negotiable requirements?"
"Everything else is open to compromise, but it has to be a place where mana flows smoothly and circulates without obstruction. That part is absolutely non-negotiable."
"Hmm..." Hyung-jun scratched the back of his head with the butt of his pen. "That's not something I can look into for you."
He wasn't wrong. On this entire planet, I was the only one capable of determining whether a plot of land was fit for an archmage's residence.
"Guess we have no choice," Hyung-jun concluded after a brief pause. "Time to hit the pavement and scout."
Trekking up the steep incline toward the summit of Mount Namsan, Hyung-jun tossed a question over his shoulder.
"Didn't your past-life neighborhood have guidelines for choosing home sites, like traditional feng shui or sitting against a mountain facing water?"
"Nope. Why would you need guidelines like that when you can just look and see it all with your own eyes?"
"Fair point. If anyone could just glance and see it, no one would waste time stressing over auspicious dragon veins."
"Except right now, I'm the only one who can see it, which is why we're suffering like this."
"Are you seriously calling a five-minute uphill stroll 'suffering'?"
"You talk when you're my age. Every single day hits different."
"You crazy bastard, we were born in the exact same year."
Our destination was N Seoul Tower. When it came to taking in all of Seoul at a single glance, there was no better vantage point.
Granted, surveying things from such a distance meant I couldn't examine fine details. However, reading the macroscopic density and macro-currents of Mana across the metropolitan basin would drastically narrow down our list of candidate locations.
"Of all the things in my life, I never thought I'd actually be visiting Namsan Tower."
"Aren't you a Seoul native? You've never been here even once?"
"Being a Seoul native is precisely why I never went. What's so special about Namsan Tower that would make me hike up here?"
"Is that how it works?"
"That's exactly how it works."
We rode the elevator up to the observation deck. The sprawling, panoramic vista from the highest floor greeted our eyes, unfurling like an endless modern tapestry. Hyung-jun let out a low, appreciative whistle as he took in the cityscape.
"Oh, wow. It's actually worth coming up here."
"Told you. If it looks this good in broad daylight, the night view must be unreal."
"To think that I had to come to such a romantic spot with another dude, of all people..."
"Could you please keep painful, unprompted facts like that to yourself?"
The guy always had to get the last word in. Shaking my head at Hyung-jun, I quietly centered my mind and focused my consciousness.
My perception shifted.
Points, lines, planes, and space dissolved as my sight reached into the hyper-dimensional realm. That higher vision began reading the currents of mana as plainly as if watching streams of water meandering across the terrain.
Walking slowly along the perimeter of the observation deck, I completed a full circle, scanning the entirety of Seoul. Hyung-jun, following closely behind me, whispered, "Well? Spot anywhere good?"
"I see a few spots, but... it's a no-go."
"Why?"
I gave a helpless shrug, my expression twisting into an awkward grimace. "Every single one of them is an apartment complex."
It was a moment that drove home South Korea's title as the undisputed paradise of high-rise apartment complexes with painful, visceral clarity.
Down at the cafe inside the observatory deck, Hyung-jun stirred his iced Americano with a straw, sighing heavily.
"Guess that crosses Seoul proper off the list."
"Pretty much."
"It would've been so convenient if we found a place in one shot."
"Tell me about it."
"Can't be helped, then. We'll just have to comb through Gyeonggi Province and the greater capital area one by one."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Mr. Grade-Schooler Park, this is your house we're shopping for, you know. Don't make me ditch you and go back to my actual job."
"My bad."
"Ugh, I swear, I ought to smack you upside the head..." Hyung-jun took a long, deep pull from his straw.
Jokes aside, I cut straight to the point. "I'll handle scouting the metropolitan area by myself."
"You sure you'll be fine alone?"
"Do I look like a toddler? I'll just treat it like a leisurely drive out in the suburbs."
"You need deep concentration to check the land's mana, don't you? How are you going to manage that while keeping your eyes on the road?"
"Hmm..."
He had a point. But dragging Hyung-jun along wasn't an option either—the man was swamped. With the contract volume for the Magician expanding beyond our wildest imaginations, the list of matters requiring his personal oversight had multiplied exponentially.
"What should we do, then?"
As the two of us sat there wrestling with the dilemma, a voice chimed in from the side.
"Excuse me. Would you mind if I joined you?"
At the sudden interruption, both Hyung-jun and I stiffened simultaneously. Turning our heads, we saw a solidly built man with a mild, approachable appearance standing beside our table, wearing an exceptionally friendly smile.
"Who are you?" Hyung-jun asked, his voice sharp with undisguised vigilance.
Without letting the pleasant smile waver from his face for a second, the man replied smoothly, "There's no need to be on guard. I'm merely here on official business because our department has a matter to discuss with you two gentlemen. Ah, please accept my apologies for dropping by unannounced. It was rather sudden, wasn't it?"
While the man spoke, I discreetly swept my gaze across our surroundings.
A weekday afternoon on Mount Namsan. By all rights, an observatory cafe like this should have been bustling with the cheerful chatter of tourists and visitors.
Yet right now, the cafe interior was...
Unsettlingly.
Dead silent.
As if sensing my realization, the man continued, "Ah, it would be quite problematic for us if the conversation we're about to have were to leak out. Regrettably, we had no choice but to fill the surrounding seats with our own operatives."
"I believe I asked who you are," Hyung-jun pressed.
"Mmm... was that too abrupt of an approach? Would it be all right if we sat down to talk?"
His demeanor was polite and deferential, yet he operated entirely at his own pace, effortlessly deflecting Hyung-jun's prickly hostility with practiced grease.
I locked eyes with Hyung-jun. The situation had already developed. For now, we needed to hear what he had to say. In less than a second, an unspoken consensus passed between us.
"Have a seat."
"Much obliged. Up we go."
The man dragged over a chair from behind and sat down. "Allow me to introduce myself first. I am from the National Intelligence Service."
Judging by the seamless perimeter they'd established, I had already guessed he wasn't from any ordinary organization. My only question had been which three-letter agency he belonged to.
The man retrieved a business card holder from his breast pocket and slid a crisp card toward us across the table.
"My name is Kwon Jeong-geun, Section Chief in the Counter-espionage Division. At our 'company,' I oversee industrial security."
I picked up the card to examine it.
Hwayeong Enterprise Co., Ltd.
Section Chief Kwon Jeong-geun
A business card bearing the name of some random trading outfit. That meant the name on the card probably wasn't his real one either.
Reaching a similar conclusion, Hyung-jun asked, his voice dripping with wariness, "What business does the NIS have with us?"
"Aren't you two the hottest topic in the country right now? Naturally, quite a few higher-ups in various places have taken a very keen interest in you."
He spoke in riddles, dancing around the point.
"And because of that, there's no shortage of factions eager to play dirty tricks. Let's see now..." Kwon Jeong-geun began counting on his fingers as if recalling an inventory. "Right now, counting both domestic and foreign entities, there are thirteen different outfits circling around the two of you. And that's just what we've managed to confirm so far, which means the real number is likely even higher."
"Excuse... me?"
Both Hyung-jun and I sat there with our jaws on the floor.
To be honest, it would have been a lie to say we hadn't anticipated this sort of thing. No matter the field, a technological singularity that transcends the era is bound to draw crosshairs.
Even so, they were already swarming around us? Wasn't that moving a little too fast?
Kwon Jeong-geun continued casually, "Well, none of them have shown signs of making a direct move just yet. For now, they're merely gathering intelligence from your periphery. But what can we do? Even that alone has made the higher-ups at our company extremely uncomfortable."
He gave a light shrug. "Arcane Technology, which you two built, is in and of itself a colossal pillar of the national interest. If short-sighted fools who care for nothing but quick cash were to clumsily lay their hands on it, causing vital national assets to leak abroad or be buried entirely, think of how heartbreaking that would be. That is why we arranged this opportunity to speak with you directly."
Breaking down what this man was saying was simple enough.
We had skyrocketed to fame overnight. Because of that, predators had begun circling us from every direction. And fearing that an unpleasant incident might prompt us to pack up our tech and flee overseas, the NIS had intervened personally.
"Well, put simply, that's the gist of it," Kwon Jeong-geun agreed readily.
"It's only natural to feel safe given how exceptional public security is in our country, but you two are being far too careless. Just look at you—the proprietors of an enterprise valued at over a quadrillion won, walking around out in the open, completely unaccompanied, without a single bodyguard in sight."
"What is it you want?" Hyung-jun cut in, slicing through the lingering preamble.
"Nothing grand. We simply wish to introduce you to some trustworthy friends who can protect you up close. Watching the two of you from a distance has been giving us high blood pressure. Of course, separate from the introduction, the cost of employing them will have to come out of your own pockets."
"And why should we trust you?"
At that, Kwon Jeong-geun's expression straightened into sober solemnity.
"I understand your skepticism completely. But all I can offer you is this: we work out of patriotism, for the sake of our nation and its people."
"And can you guarantee that patriotism is on our side?"
"For as long as you remain Korean citizens, yes. So long as it does not harm the national interest, our convictions will never clash with yours."
My gaze collided squarely with Kwon Jeong-geun's.
In the world of my past life, I had seen that exact look countless times. People for whom conviction itself was their sole operating principle.
Men like that could be trusted.
That didn't mean trusting them to be our steadfast allies. It meant trusting them to act strictly according to their principles.
In other words: they were predictable.
I gave Hyung-jun a faint, subtle nod.
"We'll accept."
"Thank you for making the wise choice."
Kwon Jeong-geun rose from his chair, smoothing his jacket. "I will dispatch the personnel immediately. You two stand in a position far more perilous than you realize. Please, keep that in mind at all times."