Climbing Higher

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Novatech's chief researcher Han Seongjin clicked his tongue. He was already swamped with new developments, and now this out-of-the-blue task had been dumped on him.

"Selling an artifact all of a sudden? To a Korean mage, no less? Why would Novatech even...?"

Novatech, which didn't even sell artifacts to its own American citizens, suddenly offering one up. Seongjin just couldn't wrap his head around the decision.

"Yeah, and they're doing a secret aptitude test for it."

"Haa..."

"It's an order from upstairs. You can refuse if you don't want to."

"Upstairs meaning...?"

"U.S. headquarters."

He let out a deep sigh at that. An order from HQ might as well have been a command.

'Just tell us to do it outright instead of acting like it's some act of charity.'

"They said we can refuse if we don't want to?"

The section chief chuckled at Seongjin's words. "You gonna refuse?"

"Would I? We're already catching flak for talks of shutting down the Korean branch. Piss off the wrong people, and we're done for."

"Fair point."

Korea was a country with so few people it was barely worth a test site. Screw up here, and his grand plans to transfer to HQ could crumble.

"What can a branch like ours do? Just follow orders."

Seongjin gave a wry smile at the chief's words.

"What, is it Isara coming? Or Seong Jiho?"

The chief shrugged at Seongjin's question. "Dunno. Something about a 7-year-old who's already 2-level. Pretty fast, right?"

He inwardly clicked his tongue. Selling an artifact to some mere 2-level kid? Looked like the Magic Tower Alliance was pressuring Novatech.

"This is why this country doesn't cut it. To meet global standards, you'd need honest effort around the clock—and even that's not enough. But no, it's all parachutes and politics."

Mages here skipped actual training to bicker in factions under the Alliance. Wasting their strength like that explained their sorry global rankings.

"But Isara and Jiho are the real deal, aren't they?"

Seongjin shook his head at the chief's comment. "America's prospects hit 3-level by age 10. Isara's still stuck at 2."

"She'll hit 3-level soon enough. No big difference."

"The problem is we've got nobody but Isara, while the U.S. and China have trucks full of her caliber."

The chief gave an awkward laugh at Seongjin's retort.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, a C-rank bigwig's coming to check on the artifact rental candidates, so do your best."

"Oh, one with exec connections?"

The chief glanced around and whispered, "Rumor is she's the disciple of America's 7-level mage, Monica Newell."

"......"

Suddenly, posts from internet communities flashed in his mind.

'Thought it was fake news, but it's real...'

A flicker of curiosity mixed with the usual dismissal—Korean mage, after all.

"Anyway, do your thing."

The chief glanced at the photo card display on Seongjin's desk—packed with Isara pics—and left.

"......"

Seongjin cleared his throat at his Isara shrine of a desk, then stood.

"Hmph. Once this project's done, I'll make it to America somehow."

He was sick of his fandom hopes getting crushed. A magic wasteland that had never won at Olympia. For a mage otaku like him, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Korea had no future.

*

"Is it really okay to go all out? You said it's expensive equipment—I don't wanna break it."

Seongjin gave the kid a perfunctory reply. "Sure, sure~ Go ahead and smash it if you can, kiddo. This new tester can handle a 5-level mage."

The latest international standard model was built to withstand 5-level ether output. As if a mere 2-level could wreck it. Laughable.

He pressed on, eyeing the observers outside the glass.

The legendary 7-level Monica herself, plus Novatech's COO. With info security requests too.

'Something's up...'

Seongjin eyed the sky-blue-haired girl. Her speech was beyond quirky—downright odd. And treating her elders like equals? Rude.

'Or am I overreacting?'

He hit the button, and a red light flared atop the machine.

"Inject when it turns green."

"Understood."

The girl smiled faintly at him. "You did say it could handle it, right?"

'Kid's all talk.'

But then a gust like a whirlwind hit.

"......?"

Seongjin, unable to see ether, just noted the indoor breeze with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mild surprise.

But outside, faces paled. The exec looked rattled through the glass.

'How much is she outputting?'

Seongjin glanced lazily at the screen.

"Huh? Wha—?"

His voice cracked aloud.

2-level mages occasionally spiked past 3-level sync. Korea had its share of high-sync talents.

But the speed was unnatural.

The numbers climbed too fast. Sure, it handled 5-level ether—but fresh 5-levels, not veterans.

"At this rate..."

The machine might actually break. As it exceeded limits, a fishy, concentrated ether scent leaked out.

Seongjin's heart pounded. Overwhelming talent he'd only seen in American mages—now from a Korean.

Goosebumps prickled under his white coat.

'Where's this prodigy been hiding?'

Amazed, he hurriedly stopped her. Any higher, and the machine was toast.

"Wait! Kiddo! Forget what I said—stop now!"

She didn't budge, so he bowed. "Sorry! My bad! It's gonna blow—really!"

Only then did the sky-blue-haired girl casually withdraw her hand.

"See? I told you it couldn't handle it."

"Yeah... you weren't bluffing."

Seongjin wiped cold sweat and peered outside. The COO and Monica were talking animatedly.

"Haa... Over 5-level sync already."

He eyed her with a complex expression. Isara's sync was classified, but he bet it wasn't this good.

"Sorry for doubting you earlier. What's your name, kid?"

The 7-year-old girl beamed. "Yu Eunha. The unaffiliated Yu Eunha."

And just like that, Seongjin had a new idol.

*

Heading out after buying the artifact from Novatech, I tilted my head at the slim bracelet.

"It just looks so ordinary."

The artifact I'd gotten was a thin metal band, like a 5,000-won street trinket.

"Still, it's a 4th-grade artifact worth about 5 billion."

"It does make handling ether a bit easier."

Felt like a 20% boost in manageable ether. Worth 5 billion? Debatable.

"You're only using 1-level spells now, but higher-level ones guzzle ether."

"Hmm. True, full-power Ether Shot already eats a lot."

"Exactly. That hair's breadth can mean life or death."

Compared to life, sure—but...

'Common folk peg death at 5,000 won.'

That thought made the price and investment feel excessive. Monica just smiled and squeezed my hand.

"Preparations are done now."

"Yes, straight to floor 2!"

Strike while the iron's hot. Monica and I headed right to the Gangnam Dungeon.

*

I dismissed the floating window and scanned the area.

Floor 2 was a shallow-sea coastline. Unlike the midnight darkness of floor 1, the sky here glowed faintly with dawn.

'Abyss themes shift every 5 floors, so coastal terrain till 5.'

"Meaning abyssal entities rise from the sea ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠here too."

I took a deep breath, ready for them. No repeats of floor 1's mess.

"Blasting through for a record sounds good."

With my 1-level Wave of Stars, even hordes were no issue.

Krrrng—

Low growls rose with purple shapes from the depths. Same grade-1 entities as floor 1.

"Come on then. Nothing to it."

Majestic waves sparkling with starlight swept the entities away.

'Time to learn some new spells soon.'

Current arsenal: Ether Shot, Double Shot, Wave of Stars. That's it.

"Well, climbing floors might net new artifacts or spellbooks... Magic will grow."

All would sort itself after conquering the Abyss.

Ether flowed swifter post-rewards.

"Like this..."

I reined in the waves, stretched, and grinned. "Might as well climb as far as I can today."

I challenged floor 3.

*

At the Korean Magic Tower Alliance HQ, red alerts flooded the massive data room on the 3rd floor.

Park Yudeok's invention—the Cybermind Archmage's abyssal observation system, aka Archive.

Notable data poured in like a flood.