Chapter 4
Chapter 4
As the adrenaline faded after the battle, the pain I'd forgotten came crashing in like a tidal wave.
"...Ugh."
My shoulder and thigh had been pierced. I hurriedly rummaged through my pockets and dumped a pill into my mouth.
Only when the bitter taste hit my tongue and the painkillers started to kick in could I finally breathe.
After catching his breath, he approached Chadric, who was face-down in a pool of blood.
Various emotions flickered through his mind, but there was no time to stand around and dwell on them.
A corpse that hadn't even gone into rigor mortis yet, and a man bleeding beside it. Anyone could see the clear traces of a crime.
The moment he realized that, Emul's head whipped around, scanning the surroundings. If any video evidence remained, it would work against him later.
Even if it was self-defense, a judge might not see it that way.
'Are there... no surveillance cameras? No, it might just look different from what I'm used to.'
He didn't have the luxury of dwelling on a problem with no immediate answer.
He looked back at the cold corpse and bent at the waist.
He tried to pry the terminal off the wrist, but lacking the strength, he rummaged through the leather jacket pockets instead.
"...You were carrying quite a lot."
A stack of chips worth an amount incomparable to the pedestrians in the [Undeveloped Area] fell into his hands.
Emul pulled his blood-stained hood low and staggered out of the alley.
He reached the main road, got into a taxi, and set the destination to the [Undeveloped Area].
Emul leaned his head against the smoothly moving window and closed his eyes.
He had killed a person.
It might not be the first time for 'Emul', but it was a far cry from the life of an ordinary office worker.
Even so, his heart was only beating a little fast; the emotional amplitude wasn't large. His heart, which had been pounding, slowly found its own rhythm.
The feeling of losing his humanity wasn't welcome, but considering the reality he was in, the pros probably outweighed the cons.
It was unavoidable if he wanted to survive in a city that used lives as currency for profit.
Having finished rationalizing, Emul focused on his inner senses.
A cool chill, which he hadn't been able to feel even half a day ago, was flowing through his entire body.
It didn't take long for him to realize that it was mana.
It was safe to assume this was a characteristic of the class he had possessed, or even a talent of the body itself.
'To think I can steal skills from other classes.'
What he didn't understand was that he had used the imitated ability immediately.
In the game, skills could be used with the press of a button, but reality was different.
If magic could be used so easily, mages wouldn't be so rare.
'No, maybe it's just that sensing mana itself is difficult.'
Emul curled his fingers like a pistol.
The magic that Chadric and he had used was a basic skill that any gamer would know.
One that he had used repeatedly until he got sick of it while pinning mages to the rankings.
"Aero Bolt."
The intent, forged in an instant, formed a compressed air bullet from mana.
The moment he felt a sharp wind at his fingertip.
Ta-ang-!
Emul stared at the taxi window with surprised eyes.
"...Was that not normal glass?"
He was flustered by his mistake, but the window just trembled slightly; he couldn't even find a scratch.
Should he be glad he avoided property damage?
He tried to chew over the newly realized fact, but his brain, having reached its limit, switched off his vision like a light switch.
He sank into the backseat and fell into a deep sleep, as if he had passed out.
*
Wae-aeng-.
Emul, eyes snapping open at the sound of a siren, gave a bitter smile.
"Money-crazy bastards."
He paid 150,000 chips, which included a bizarre surcharge for 'overnight stay', and got out of the taxi to walk.
If he hadn't had the money, he might have tried to hitch a ride, but it was doubtful he could even force the doors open.
Cursing the unnecessarily thorough taxi company, Emul felt gazes on him.
Citizens avoided him like he was a bug.
It was no wonder, considering a thug covered in blood was roaming the main street in the morning.
He stopped by a clothing store, changed into a similar-colored hoodie, and set out to find a hotel.
He entered a building where the neon sign was at least working properly and spoke to the person at the counter.
"I'd like to rent a room for a while."
"50,000 chips per hour. No less than that."
He thought it was expensive, but having no energy to negotiate, he took the key card and headed to the room.
The interior was shabby, barely deserving the name of a hotel.
Emul turned his head away from the old bed and stepped into the shower booth in the corner.
As he threw off his pile of clothes, the holes where the bleeding had stopped were revealed one by one. Black scabs were already forming over them.
He didn't know much, having never had holes blown into his body before, but the regeneration speed was strangely fast.
If a penetrating wound could heal in a day, doctors would have to step away from the operating table.
It was reasonable to think he possessed a special body.
'Neurotoxin... mixed toxin, was it? Maybe this is why I survived even after being hit by that.'
After showering, Emul roughly shook his shoulder-length hair dry. Even though he was used to feeling gross, it was true that he felt refreshed after a bath.
He looked at the mirror on the desk. Aside from being gaunt, the scars all over his body caught his eye.
He might have been caught pickpocketing, or they could be traces of harsh abuse.
What was clear was that the wounds on his shoulder and thigh were made just yesterday.
'To think they'd try to kill me right off the bat. Could Marvin, that senile old man, have ordered it...'
No, it was because he hadn't prepared properly. He was ignorant about this world. He had been so fixated on the mystery of magic that he hadn't seen the forest for the trees.
He had stumbled into some extra money, so he wouldn't have to live in poverty for a while.
How efficiently he used the given leeway was up to him.
Emul stroked the side of his neck. The scab covering the needle mark was smooth, as if it had fallen off during the shower.
Revenge, too, could only be carried out if he survived.
Pulling his hood up, he left the hotel.
'There's a limit to what you can learn sitting down with a book.'
If you want to know the world, you have to collide with it.
Jal-geu-rak-.
He walked down a shady alley, intentionally holding a large sum of chips.
Before long, bugs attracted by the sweet smell were caught in his senses.
He had only spread his mana thinly, yet he could feel everything as if there were eyes all around him.
'To think this is possible with just mana, not even magic.'
The detectable range was small, but it was like a blind man opening his eyes.
He also understood why Chadric had called him an 'empty shell' when he saw him.
Emul, who had been moving forward without hesitation for a while, suddenly stopped at the corner of an alley.
Soon, a man walked out of a dark side street, swinging his mechanical arm as if to show it off.
"If you behave, I won't cut your bones. I can at least offer that much consideration."
Click!
A sharp dagger that had been stowed away popped up, revealing a chilling aura.
When Emul watched him as if he wasn't really listening, the man's expression crumpled.
"I don't like those eyes. Let's see how long you last."
As soon as his words ended.
Pii-ing——!
Smoke rose from the hole pierced in the blade.
The moment the man, who had stiffened up, glanced around and stared at his escape route.
Ka-ang——!
An air bullet that flew from behind him cut the dagger off at the root.
Emul picked up the blade fragment that had fallen at his feet and spat out.
"If you behave, I won't... no, I'll let you live."
*
From morning until evening, he practiced magic, and at night, he lured out those who parasitized the darkness.
That was the routine that had been going on for about three days.
Emul got out of the taxi and circulated mana through his entire body.
'It's grown much more than a few days ago.'
Not only had he realized how to utilize mana, but the casting speed had also become faster.
In fact, it was closer to the feeling of forcing open a tightly locked padlock than realizing it.
'As if knowledge I originally knew had returned.'
If you only looked at that, it was something to smile about, but there was a fatal limitation.
Emul, having confirmed that there weren't many people around, pulled up his mana.
Just when the intangible energy, gathered with intent, was clumping together to bloom into a single form.
"Tsk."
The intricately woven spell finally lost its way and scattered into the air.
The activation of the magic was forcibly canceled.
He could use mana to increase his speed or disrupt his presence, which were one-dimensional applications, but.
Skills introduced as 'magic' in the game could not be used with talent alone.
Emul also instinctively realized the reason for that.
'I have to steal the original magic.'
The case of [Aero Bolt] was exactly that.
He could imitate it because he had seen Chadric casting the magic from beginning to end.
If such an opportunity were given again, he would have to get a piece of the action somehow.
'What did that drug addict bastard say last time? That mages are all weirdos... or was it assholes?'
To get stronger, he had to learn magic, but to learn magic, he had to deal with weirdos.
It would be fortunate if it were an idiot like last time, but he heard there were mages who could control the government.
If he encountered such a being, let alone running away, he might spend his whole life as a test subject.
That was why Emul had come to [District 3], which was adjacent to the [Undeveloped Area].
'They said there are guys who almost became mages. It would be safer than actual mages.'
It was the desperate testimony of a victim with broken bones, so wouldn't it be somewhat credible?
It was suspicious, but he judged it wasn't that dangerous since it was an area accessible by taxi.
Emul glanced around and entered the alley.
If [District 27], which he had visited before, was an industrial city, this [District 3] was not much different from the [Undeveloped Area].
Harboring a plain impression, he took a pill out of the medicine bottle and ate it.
"Tastes like shit."
It was because he judged that taking it periodically would alleviate the seizures that might come unexpectedly.
In fact, the pain that came two days ago wasn't enough to make him lose his breath, so he had to assume the guess was reasonable.
'I should go see Marvin soon.'
Not only was the medicine running low, but he wanted to be introduced to a proper person this time.
Even if the person wasn't a mage, he would be able to get useful information.
'And keep quiet about killing Chadric.'
No one would be happy if he just showed up and blabbered about killing their acquaintance.
Feeling uneasy, Emul turned his head. He infused mana into his eyeballs at the faint, thread-like presence.
He raised his eyebrows for a moment at the bizarre sight of the space itself seeming to distort. As he pulled up his mana, the outline slowly revealed itself.
'A hood...? No, it's a bit different. It's like metal.'
It was made of angular surfaces, as if thin plates were joined together rather than cloth.
It didn't flow smoothly, but rather looked like a folded geometric shape, sharply bent and maintaining its form.
Every time light hit it, the surfaces reflected at different angles, blurring the silhouette.
'So that's how it could hide its appearance.'
The figure in the strange hood looked around innocently, as if they thought they had become an invisible person.
Wouldn't a naive young master riding public transport for the first time feel exactly like that?
Curiosity piqued, Emul followed the invisible person, keeping a reasonable distance.
Had it been about thirty minutes of a chase that only the person involved didn't know about?
'I'm just going to waste time like this.'
Just as Emul, who was getting bored, was about to stop stalking.
Ku-ung-!
A man who had fallen from the building's rooftop ignited mana all over his body.
"I'm lucky today. To catch such a big fish."