Peeking
"Still, the one that left the deepest impression was that 'Por' fellow."
"Por... That's right. But aren't you shortening his name a bit too much?"
"The name itself is so bizarre. 'The One Who Leads Shadow Battles'? Far too grandiose for a mere orc."
The orc with the tongue-twisting name 'Skug Por Maranabarukai' had accomplished a miracle, enduring the longest bloody battle in history against a fully grown Twin Head Ogre and emerging victorious.
"The Twin Head Ogre's combat power far exceeds its official rank, doesn't it? If anything in this place's perfect ranking system needs changing, it should be raising that ogre's grade. Yet Por still defeated it."
Just as Ilwol had received his blessings, this place operated under the premise of balancing battles, making the Twin Head Ogre a special existence. It had never once allowed defeat—an essentially flawed monster. But Tania had never tried to correct it. She believed without doubt that it was part of some arrangement left by her master.
And when someone finally appeared who could shatter that arrangement, even Tania had clenched her fists in excitement.
The luckiest challenger, Ilwol, and the challenger who overcame the most extreme conditions, Por.
"......"
Tania, who had briefly weighed the two in her mind, shook her head.
'Putting them on the same scale is meaningless.'
The gap between them was simply too vast. Ilwol was growing at a frightening pace, but the same was true of that orc. He was constantly fighting against endlessly surging enemies in an even harsher world.
Yet Ilwol possessed something special that orcs lacked. If he could make good use of those qualities, who knew what might happen.
"Hmm... The one we're watching today is this child."
"Yes? What do you mean by 'watching'..."
Tania waved her hand a few times, and a rectangular panel materialized in front of them.
"Here, this is called a remote control."
"Ooh, so this is the thing that controls the humans trapped inside the box!"
"Well, not exactly. But close enough."
Tania skillfully pressed the remote's buttons, flipping through channels. The scenes that flashed by stimulated the brown mimic: a Middle Eastern region locked in fierce war for decades, a presidential debate filled with trash talk, animals dying from climate change, a human consuming far more food than one person should, and many others.
"Ooh..."
The final screen that stopped showed something entirely different from the previous scenes. Unlike Tania's space, it was a very dark and cramped area. And into that space, two humans had just appeared.
"...Huh? Isn't that the skeleton soldier?"
"Correct. Today he's transformed into a male human. It seems he's trying to please his master by switching between male and female forms."
The brown mimic opened and closed the box several times, showing great interest in the explanation his master had kindly provided. Then he suddenly realized his earlier worries had been pointless. His master had simply been diving into new research, and he felt ashamed for only focusing on the surface level.
"I see! I failed to understand Master's profound intentions and simply worried like a fool. Please forgive this unworthy one!"
"Shh— He's showing a different behavioral pattern than usual today. Let's just watch quietly."
"Yes!"
Thus, the two mimics silently observed Ilwol helping Yeonhee experience something new. The brown mimic found the fresh human behavior fascinating, though there were many parts he didn't understand. However, since his master was watching with such intense focus—literally swallowing her saliva—he didn't dare ask questions and instead organized his curiosities in his mind.
"......"
Tania had been carefully observing Ilwol and his summoner for several days. The summoner was an incredibly special existence in this world, and for some reason, she felt a sense of familiarity.
- Ahh—!Mmm... Ugh...! S-Stop! P-Please...!
Watching the summoner struggle in Ilwol's arms, Tania couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"Strange. I thought this was supposed to please the master, yet she looks like she's in such pain?"
"It's true. At that level, it's practically a capital offense. Instead of protecting his master, tsk tsk. Truly pathetic."
The brown mimic Tiny placed his small, round arms that protruded from the side of the box on his hips, not bothering to hide his frustration. Serving a master was no easy task.
In truth, while Tania had observed the world for a long time, she had focused on major anomalies and historical events she needed to monitor. Her learning regarding these trivial human behaviors was still incomplete. Or, to be more precise, she was like a girl who had only theoretical knowledge and had just reached puberty.
- Ahh...! I-Ilwol! S-Stop...! Let go, please! I'm—I'm coming...!
Watching the summoner desperately pound on Ilwol's chest and beg to be released, Tania was experiencing an emotion she had never felt before. The fact that she herself didn't know what it was made it even fresher and more fascinating.
Simply watching this skeleton soldier named Ilwol brought her entirely new experiences.
"Oh... A substance I've never seen before is flowing from the summoner's body."
"She was in pain, so it must be blood! How dare he injure his master? That skeleton really is terribly lacking!"
But after remaining in Ilwol's embrace for a while, the summoner trembled all over and made a mysterious expression. Because the telescope-like space Tania created allowed them to see even the expression hidden in Ilwol's arms as if it were right before them, they could tell. Even to Tania, who couldn't deeply empathize with human emotions, that expression was far from one of pain.
"......"
Tania suddenly noticed that her palms had become damp. This kind of physical reaction had never happened since she was born...
She wiped her palms on her thighs and focused on the screen again. She didn't know why, but it was truly entertaining to watch. Could this be what her master had called entertainment?
The summoner, who had been breathing roughly, wore the most satisfied expression Tania had seen since she began observing them. But then she got up, staggered away, and suddenly began inflicting harsh punishment on Ilwol.
"W-What?!"
"As expected! I knew it would come to this! In the end, he's being punished!"
As the great Golden Mimic Tania, she could tell. In that fleeting instant, Ilwol had faced a crisis approaching existential annihilation.
"...... The punishment is excessive."
Of course, Tania knew the summoner hadn't intended it. Still, the summoner's thoughtless action made her feel strangely hot inside and frustrated.
But as a being of cold reason, Tania quickly shook off such emotions and faced the fragment of an existence residing in the space Ilwol had entered. And she couldn't hide her astonishment.
"Just what is that entity..."
In all her life as a mimic, Tania had never been so surprised. In that moment, she realized a gigantic eye, slit vertically, was staring at her from within her mind.
Bang——!
"Kugh—!"
"Master?!"
The observation passage had been forcibly closed by the massive entity's power. The recoil delivered a severe shock to Tania.
Sitting down and quietly closing her eyes, Tania stroked the head of the crying brown box, telling it she was fine and soothing it first.
Whoosh—
Deep red blood poured from Tania's eyes like a waterfall. The brown box, seeing this, was so startled that it fainted. It seemed the aftermath of meeting that eye had affected Tiny as well.
"......"
It was an entity beyond all standards. If she had to compare, it was on par with her master... or perhaps even...
"Hah... No way..."
Tania quickly dismissed the impossible hypothesis and decided to focus on recovering her depleted strength for the time being.
"Ilwol—"
Now that name no longer simply evoked a vague feeling. Even though he hadn't done it intentionally, for a skeleton soldier to directly connect to a space with such an entity.
"Just what are you?"
After arriving home, we followed our usual routine. We also began looking into places to move to. Although things had been quiet lately, this damn neighborhood clearly had bad energy.
Right then, Kang Yeonsu happened to call. After Yeonhee exchanged some casual conversation, she carefully brought up the topic of moving.
"That place does have bad energy, actually. I didn't mention it because I thought it might make you feel uneasy."
Kang Yeonsu seemed to have some ability to read ley lines, or perhaps she'd known from the beginning. She strongly recommended moving somewhere else quickly.
She could have given us a heads-up earlier.
"Don't worry about money. Once you join the guild, you'll pay off all your debt in three months and make a fresh start."
"Ah... Yes, yes."
We were already earning more than enough money. It seemed Kang Yeonsu still hadn't grasped the extent of our income.
"By the way, do you think you can reach C-rank before coming to the guild? There's only a little over a month left. Nargul doesn't open the path easily, you know?"
Though she pretended to be worried, Kang Yeonsu was mostly testing us. Depending on Yeonhee's answer, she might assign people to our party.
"It's more than enough. Don't worry."
"...Really? Haha! That's what I like to hear. After all, you're the one I picked."
She must be surprised.
Yeonhee had answered so calmly, as if it were nothing, that Kang Yeonsu's voice carried clear astonishment. Even from just this much, her psychology was obvious.
"Then I'll contact you again soon~ Oh! That's right. Do you know someone named Maeng Seong-yong? You'll remember him, right? He was your promotion examiner."
Why is he suddenly being brought up?
"Yes, I remember. He's incredibly strong..."
"Pfft... That uncle? Well, his durability is pretty decent, I'll give him that. Anyway, if that guy says anything sweet to you, don't fall for it. Got it? You should know by now that you shouldn't follow people who offer you candy."
"Ah... I understand. Yes. I'll keep it in mind."
Only after Yeonhee gave multiple firm assurances could she finally end the call.
Maeng Seong-yong, huh...
If he's someone even Kang Yeonsu feels the need to keep in check, he must be an important figure.
At the very least, it meant he possessed something significant enough for her to issue a warning over the phone. And it was probably to prevent Yeonhee from being scouted by the organization the Association was preparing—or perhaps already had.
Our value rising isn't a bad thing. It also means Kang Yeonsu will pay more attention to us.
Kang Yeonsu, who had to act as Jo Giman's suppressor. For the time being, there was no reason to leave her side.
But behind the scenes, we needed to make other preparations.
I need to fix my pronunciation quickly and arrange a meeting with that person.
Of course, I mustn't end up captured by him, so I needed to further strengthen our combat power.
To prepare for activities, I suppose I'll have to continue appearing in my own form.
Perhaps because it was my own body, my pronunciation was better than when I took Yeonhee's form. At this rate, I thought I'd reach a level where I could hold proper conversations within a month.