Purity

The gate opened. Beneath the black wall, soldiers poured out like a burst dam. The ring of hammers striking the stone floor climbed the walls of the gorge and echoed, folding over itself again and again.

The garrison was every soldier it needed to be. That was simply what the Border Guard was. Mount a horse and you were cavalry; take up a spear and you were infantry; level a crossbow and you were a crossbowman. And when the enemy was barbarians, that flexibility proved devastatingly effective.

The Tokwal were barbarians through and through. Where Yashin had carried an unbarbarian caution, and Siseum a barbarian cruelty, the Tokwal simply obeyed their instincts.

They were a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nomadic people who knew how to tame monsters, which meant they turned up wherever monsters could be found. Pamagok, teeming with monsters beyond all measure, was the finest hunting ground they coveted.

After the Great Chieftain's death, Siseum's forces had scattered to the winds. No doubt these ones had slipped into Pamagok among the packs scrambling to claim that territory. We'd first ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠picked up their trail back when I went out on patrol with Bunhee, so their appearance was hardly sudden.

"Commander."

"Hm?"

"Those barbarians of ours behind us — the 6th Tower barbarians, I mean."

"The Hunter Association?"

I really do need to standardize the terminology sooner or later, I thought. The nickname I'd coined in jest kept surfacing from my subordinates' mouths at the most critical moments, and it was frankly embarrassing.

Chunsik, who had drawn his warhorse up beside mine, spoke of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Park Ingyu party we'd left behind in the command tent.

"They exited the gate a moment ago, following after us. It seems they left people at their destination and came chasing after. What are your orders?"

"Leave them be. By the time they get here, it'll all be over anyway."

What remarkably loyal barbarians, I mused. One man murmured the observation, and every member of the unit nodded along.

Thankfully, they didn't seem to despise the hunters the way they had at first. My men would dive into boiling oil if I ordered it — well, after a moment's hesitation, and a full-speed sprint in the opposite direction first. No, on reflection, that much was only natural.

In any case, unless the order was unreasonably suicidal, they'd obey without blinking — but each man carried his own grudges. One had lost family to barbarians; another had failed to save a comrade.

Even Park Gyu, the most senior of them all, loathed barbarians with a passion — because his wife had once run off with one.

With complications this tangled on our side as well, I had — uncharacteristically — swallowed a measure of embarrassment and given them a speech. Thankfully, it seemed to have landed. Everyone looked brighter for it.

So we descended the slope toward the spot where the petrification mages had been discovered, and before long we saw them: hunters hemmed in by the Tokwal and the monsters they'd brought along.

Three men and women, weaving in and out of a blue barrier that was cracking by the moment, fighting desperately to hold the violet rift they'd emerged from.

"Don't let those things through!"

"Damn it, what kind of monster hits this hard—?!"

"Kyaaah! Lady Shin Yuyu, where are you?! It's breaking — the barrier is seriously breaking—!"

Had the woman's words actually been heard? A storm of talismans came pouring down from the sky. Talismans of every color, hurled from behind us, fell like a bombing run and tore the ground apart. I looked up, and there was Shin Yuyu, airborne already.

In the same instant, my men led by Cheukmu loosed their arrows as well. The targets this time were not Shin Yuyu but the heads of the Tokwal.

"Aagh!"

"That banner—"

"The Grand Marshal! The Grand Marshal has come!"

Thwip! Thwip-thwip! Before the enemy could even collect themselves under the hail of arrows, the vanguard had already drawn steel and crashed into the Tokwal warriors.

Under overwhelming battle qi, one side was swept away in moments. It was only natural — these were nothing but rabble skimmed from forces that hadn't even been the Great Chieftain's elite.

"Run! Run!"

"I'll finish up here. Chase them to the last man."

"By your command."

Once the enemy began to scatter, I left the cleanup to Chunsik and went to greet Park Ingyu's party, who came huffing up behind us, belatedly out of breath. Gazing at the soldiers who had swept the enemy aside without a single wound among them, they couldn't hold back their admiration.

"Th-thank you truly, Lord Grand Marshal. How could we ever repay this debt…"

"Think nothing of it. Anyone who set foot in Pamagok was an enemy we'd have had to deal with regardless."

"Still, thanks to you our hunters came through unharmed. Ahem — here is my card."

Park Ingyu swiftly produced a single business card from his suit's breast pocket and handed it up to me with both hands, still seated on horseback. At that moment, something violet glinted from inside his jacket.

A magic stone smeared with blood and gore, sealed in a ziplock bag. Feeling my gaze, Park Ingyu immediately pulled it out and apologized.

"Ah, this— I have committed a mortal offense! Everything taken from this land belongs to you, Lord Grand Marshal, to whom the Heavenly Emperor has delegated full authority — how could I forget my place…"

My, what a rapid change of posture. At this rate, there'd be no finding fault with him no matter what happened. In truth, the Association could hardly have been the ones to push for what was, in some lights, a humiliating diplomatic arrangement. Which meant that Park Ingyu, who had trusted his own instincts and carried it out, was a rather capable operator indeed.

His declaration that he wished to serve the Tianyu Empire had likely been his own unilateral decision. Then it would be wise to loosen the reins a little and secure him as one of ours.

"It's of no consequence. You may keep the one."

"Truly, my lord!?"

"However — do not gather any more of what is lying on the ground here. And from now on, you will obtain permission in advance. Without fail."

"From now—! Thank you, thank you!"

At the implication that there would be a next time, his face lit up. Then he seemed to remember something, and his expression darkened in an instant as he ventured a careful piece of counsel.

"There is… one matter I must report, if I may."

"What is it?"

"We are not the only ones who can come here."

"Did you not say only people of your nation could enter?"

"That is true — but even within a nation, there are those who hold very different opinions."

Ah, I see. So as long as someone holds Korean citizenship, they can get in and out regardless of which faction they answer to.

I understood why he was trembling as though he'd already committed some crime. If some lunatic wandered in and started wrecking things just as a peaceful relationship had been established, everything would be finished.

"We belong to the Hunter Association, and we do not share the aims of the other guilds — the upper-ranked guilds especially. For now the conditions of entry are being kept strictly confidential, but who knows how long that can last…"

"Do not act rashly."

"Pardon?"

"You worry a great deal about things that haven't even happened yet. Go on."

"Y-yes, my lord. Then we shall take our leave."

Well, we'll worry about that when it happens. Honestly, I didn't buy Park Ingyu's claim that other guilds and hunters would come flocking like clouds.

And why would they? What value did Pamagok hold? This was the most barren, most dangerous land in the entire Empire.

No resources to speak of — what it had in abundance was monsters and barbarians, nothing more. My men and I could serve as a fighting force from their perspective, perhaps, but that wasn't an immediate matter. Because we couldn't cross over to their side.

'Still, the opportunity will come.'

The civilizations of other Hidden Stages, I'd been told, could move back and forth to Earth in both directions. Setting out now might make us look like invaders, so I resolved to dig for a method later.

The day after the Strategic Countermeasures Division's investigation team returned, the Hunter Association's smoking room was as bustling as ever.

They had rescued every member of the captured Birang party, and even concluded an audience with the Grand Marshal of the Tianyu Empire on top of it. And yet a faint undercurrent of unrest had stirred within the Association — thanks, as ever, to Park Ingyu's decision.

The disquiet of finding themselves servants to an empire whose name they'd never even heard. While several employees writhed in agony carved into their very genes, Park Ingyu too stood before the Association Chairman, explaining himself.

"Director Park Ingyu. This is a catastrophic blunder that will go down in the history of the Republic of Korea."

Kim Sangguk, Chairman of the Hunter Association, made no effort to hide his displeasure.

"Not just the Association — the government is in an uproar. Why on earth did you act unilaterally like that?"

"At the time, I judged it the best available course. Frankly, I haven't changed my mind even now."

"Even so, you didn't have to grovel quite that low. You do realize, don't you? The residents of a Hidden Stage are nothing like ordinary NPCs."

Certain floors of the Tower contained villages and NPCs. But since those beings never acted against their assigned identities, they existed purely as arrangements for the players' convenience.

"You placed us in a position where we couldn't refuse if they demanded something of us. It will cause serious complications for our diplomacy going forward."

"That won't—"

"Can you swear it won't? Really?"

Honestly, he couldn't. He had glimpsed Yuhyeon's character as a Grand Marshal, but that alone was far too little to judge the man by.

For now, Yuhyeon didn't appear to take much interest in them. But it was entirely possible he might suddenly change his bearing and put the Republic of Korea and the Hunter Association to active use.

"Then reverse it — put it the other way. What can we hope to gain by serving them?"

"We did bring back a magic stone. It looked rather unusual, so I've had the research team analyze it."

"Aside from that. I mean weapons or troops dispatched to keep the Tower from going berserk."

"The garrison itself was nothing out of the ordinary. They don't use mage tools the way we do. And as you know, dispatching troops is…"

For now, it was impossible. Special conditions had to be satisfied first.

"So in the end, we're left with nothing."

"…"

Shin Yuyu had glimpsed the possibility of battle qi, but that too lay far from any immediate result.

Just as Park Ingyu began to sweat, staring down outright dismissal — or worse, charges of treason — a research team leader in a white coat knocked and stepped into the Chairman's office.

"Excuse me — the purity analysis of the magic stone Director Park Ingyu entrusted to us is complete, and I've come to deliver the results."

"Can't you see we're in the middle of something important?! Come back later!"

"I sincerely apologize, but the figure is… rather strange. I believe the Chairman needs to see it for himself."

Kim Sangguk snatched the documents from the researcher with irritation, put on his glasses, and read. Park Ingyu, checking the photocopy beside him, soon noticed the same oddity.

"What does this number here say?"

"Two thousand seven hundred percent."

"What?"

"Compared to a standard magic stone of the same size, it delivers roughly twenty-seven times the energy efficiency. It appears to be due to an unidentified energy layered over the mana."

The researcher ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠added that suspecting a measurement error, they had run it through a mana gauge imported from France years ago — and gotten the same result.

"Considering this is only a Grade 4 stone, a higher grade would raise that efficiency exponentially. At this level, isn't it a purity without precedent anywhere in the entire Tower? We're quite… quite at a loss ourselves."

"…"

"…"

A silence fell over the Chairman's office.

Kim Sangguk rose slowly from his chair. He circled around the desk, planted himself in front of Park Ingyu, seized both his hands, and spoke.

"Tell me — is Grand Marshal Yuhyeon in good health?"

"…Pardon?"

"I hear there was a battle at the end. I trust he wasn't seriously hurt. So much as one scratch on his precious person would mean we failed to attend him properly, wouldn't it?"

"…Yes?"

"None of that — hurry and secure the next Great Worm. A bigger one this time, big enough to hold something inside. What would make a worthy tribute? Ah, that's it! My son-in-law happens to farm wild ginseng — I must tell him to set aside a crate of his finest grade."

"…"

A few days later, it was officially announced that the magic stone Yuhyeon had given them held performance capable of advancing the magical engineering not just of South Korea, but of the entire world.

As key figures from every guild scrambled back from overseas, the Association's smoking room sat empty — unlike any day before it.