The Kid in the Back Alley

Seoul in the 2020s was home to people from every walk of life. Ever since a massive sphere called the Abyss appeared at Gangnam Station, a ring of lawless slums had formed around Gangnam. Beyond that sprawled mage-tech factories, magic towers, and cutting-edge industrial complexes.

"And outside that, cities for the rich elite, huh."

What a ridiculously huge, convoluted mess of a city. I boarded the subway and drew a line through an entry in my notebook. I'd applied to all the famous academies, but every single one rejected me.

"Royal, Bless, Comet—all duds."

I scratched my head. Back in the '80s, you could just charge in with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠raw grit and make it work. But these days? Everything was so damn complicated.

"Why the hell do I need ether sync certificates, school diplomas, family registry proofs...?"

It had been a month since I'd given this new body the name Yu Eunha. I'd forged some basic ID papers, sure, but stuff like that? No way.

Tsking, I glanced up at the subway ads. One caught my eye.

Academies were schools for becoming mages, but now there were schools for getting into those schools? What kind of nonsense was this?

"And they say seven years old is too late to start magic? Bullshit—back in my day, guys started at thirty."

Muttering, I got off at Sinsa Station. The poor neighborhood hit hardest by the Gangnam Abyss, turned into a slum—and my home.

The stench hit me the second I stepped off. Urine, mixed with something oddly foul.

"Someone's rotting nearby, probably."

Tsking again, I headed down the stairs. A secret door from Sinsa Station led to one of Orbis's branches. I'd scouted it weeks ago, disguised as an errand boy.

"Screw it, just forge everything."

Ether sync cert, school diploma, family registry—fake 'em all. Simple.

As I descended without a care, a metallic tang of blood tickled my nose.

"......"

I carefully drew a pistol from my girl's backpack. Run? Tempting. But if something happened to Orbis's branch, better know.

The heavy iron door at the bottom of the stairs hung open.

"It's over..."

This door could withstand a mage's bombardment. Open meant everyone inside was dead.

Blood pooled beneath it, still fresh and rippling.

A quick touch: cold.

Heart pounding, I eased the door open. A collapsed bar greeted me.

"Ah... no survivors here."

Caved-in ceiling, piles of dirt. They'd bombed straight down from the surface to wipe out this underground branch dozens of meters deep.

I searched. No signs of life.

"Tch, mages, huh."

The lingering ether suggested at least a 5-level bombardment spell.

Hiding amid the rubble, I listened. Distant rumbles and a massive boom echoed from above.

A few days back, evacuation advisories for Sinsa-dong. "Ether leaks," they'd said. But really, it was a Mage Hunter purge.

I sighed, holstering the pistol.

"No choice. Skip the academies, dive into the Abyss old-school, fight for survival."

Back then, no fancy schools—mages just happened. Survival rate was low, though.

"......"

One in ten survived, maybe.

Tsk, kids these days were clever. Kicking a stray bottle, I pondered—

Whumm—my body floated up.

"Huh?"

Before I could react, I rocketed toward the surface.

Snapping to, I saw people sprawled on the ground and a massive crater.

Then debris gathered into a sphere, rising higher. Too high for human survival.

Hanging from the orb, I tried disrupting the spell. No dice—my Mage Hunter tricks wouldn't work.

Focus failed; ether ignored me.

"Listen to me, damn it!"

The spell ended; another chained in.

Dirt, rocks, and I plummeted toward the vagrant mob. Ether shoved me down harder.

"Gaaaaah! Not like this!"

Sparking through the ether waves at my fingertips. A voice echoed in my ears after ages.

A familiar sensation surged from my fingers.

I reversed the ether flow, shattering the spell. Just before splatting, the backlash cushioned my fall.

"Hahk... Th-that was close."

I scrambled up from the debris to flee. A mage from their side vomited blood from ether backlash, collapsing.

As I bolted into Sinsa-dong's back alleys—

A wave crashed over me.

"Sweep 'em all!"

"A 5-level mage went down! Kill them!"

"Daring to touch a mage, you criminals!"

Chaos erupted with the mage's fall. Gun-toting goons appeared too.

"......"

Get swept, and I'm dead. Yell about civilians? They'd gun them down without blinking.

Death loomed; my body tensed. Flailing my hands, I felt the ether flow.

"Guhk."

Dizzy, nosebleed—but no choice, force it twice.

* Monica Newell panicked at the sight of the blood-vomiting mage.

"Ether backlash?"

"Yeah, cough. Something weird over there."

"Ether disruptor? Jammer? No way that breaks a 5-level spell."

Not even America, her homeland, had counters for high-level magic. Korea, a magic backwater? Impossible.

"What the..."

She raised a hand to stabilize.

Fierce waves surged from her fingertips, sweeping the area and vagrants alike.

"Rubber rounds deployed. Knock 'em out?"

The suppression commander asked. Monica shook her head.

"No need. They're neutralized— just cuff 'em. Hitmen and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠organ traffickers in there; keep weapons holstered."

"Of course, Water Queen."

She blushed at the title.

"I'm retired. Don't call me that."

"Still, coming all this way to help— we're grateful."

"Not foreign... allies, right?"

Monica smiled wryly, tying her hair. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Thought it was over—then her chest ached, ether reversing into her.

"Cough?!"

Startled, she cut her cast.

This must've downed the 5-level mage.

Scanning ether, she spotted turbulence by a street tree—subtle, missed by most mages.

"A kid?"

Rushing over, she checked the soaked child. Purple fingertips, hair decolorized sky-blue at the tips.

Huge ether handling in no time.

"That possible...?"

Not impossible. If the kid countered Starfall and Wave Nymph, it fit.

"...Nah, no way."

Too much like those fun assassin-kid anime.

"Seven years old—barely first grade, struggling with chopsticks. Spell reflection? Come on."

Absentmindedly, she scooped up the fainted kid. A small pistol tumbled from the bag.

"......"