The Archmage Is Coming to Korea

Hey, what are you doing over there?

Her pupils were trembling violently.

The chat was practically in full festival mode. It felt like a live romance drama was airing right in front of their eyes.

Even Kim Soyeon from the Heroine Gallery wasn't worried about me at all. Instead, she was clearly enjoying the situation. She kept egging me on, as if it were the most entertaining thing in the world.

That mischievous attitude of hers, treating herself like entertainment and loving every second of it... Honestly, I kind of liked it.

Just what kind of fantasy had her frozen solid like this? Delusional disorder? What exactly was she imagining?

I was genuinely curious now.

I lowered the hand that had been propping up my chin, leaned my upper body slightly over the table, and brought my face closer to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hers.

The distance closed in an instant.

“……!”

It was so close our breaths were practically mingling. Up close, I could see her eyelashes trembling like crazy. She must have been terrified.

She was so startled she'd even forgotten to breathe, just staring blankly into my eyes.

“What exactly are you thinking about?”

I asked in a teasing tone, my voice playful.

Kim Soyeon's eyes widened so much they looked like they might pop out. She tried to jerk her upper body backward, but the chair back stopped her. There was nowhere left to retreat.

That panicked look in her eyes. The way she had no idea what to do with herself. Even the warm, comforting scent that was uniquely hers, so close now.

All of it tickled something inside me.

“I-I-I wasn't imagining anything…!”

Imagining?

“I-I didn't…!”

I'd asked what she was thinking, but she answered with imagining. Her voice cracked as she flailed both hands in the air.

Her flushed face was screaming that she was lying. That she was having all sorts of wild fantasies right now.

Just how far had she gone? Had she really named their grandchildren?

It was so adorable I couldn't help but smile a little.

“You really didn't? Then why is your face so…”

I leaned in even closer as she tried to pull away.

Kim Soyeon could only move her lips wordlessly, her eyes darting everywhere, desperately trying to avoid mine. Like she was trying to escape.

I wondered if any rational thought was left in that head of hers.

In the end, she roughly shoved her chair back and started inching away.

“I-I!”

“You?”

“I forgot to feed Neukgu today!!”

“...Excuse me?”

“I'll be going now!!”

I had no idea where to even begin pointing out the flaws in that excuse. Did she even know what she was saying?

But before I could call her out on it, she bolted. She moved at the speed of light, making no attempt to hide the fact that she was an S-class hunter.

“...Why would you be the one feeding the dog at my house?”

I stared at the empty seat where she'd been sitting and finally burst out laughing. I couldn't hold it in.

Man... what an idiot.

The heroines were also laughing their hearts out, thoroughly enjoying Kim Soyeon's little performance.

Well, I guess I couldn't blame them.

Unable to hide my pleased smile, I finished off the now-lukewarm ramen broth.

I was savoring the sweet aftertaste when—

Rustle.

A very faint sound. So faint that an ordinary person—or even an average hunter—would never have noticed it. But my senses couldn't be fooled.

Pretending I hadn't heard a thing, I set my chopsticks down without turning my head.

In the dark alley across from the convenience store, I caught a glimpse of an unpleasant glint of reflected light for a split second.

“Ugh, damn flies. Filthy paparazzi flies.”

They were either the usual obsessive paparazzi or extensions of the gallery incident. In other words, those lunatic fanatics.

I'd noticed them earlier but chose to ignore them because I was enjoying my time with Kim Soyeon and didn't want the interruption. She seemed too mentally overloaded to notice them herself.

But now that she was gone, I had no intention of letting that unpleasantness linger.

I casually raised my right hand, pressing my thumb and middle finger together.

And then I had a thought.

I wonder if this would work too.

If I circulated mana from my mana core, drew up lightning, and added a tiny Quake vibration at the tip...

Snap!

“Quake.”

The moment my fingers flicked with a crisp sound, invisible mana sliced through the darkness and shot into the alley.

Crackle—BOOM—Clang!

“Ack, my camera!!”

A scream echoed from the shadows, followed by the sound of something shattering.

The Quake skill infused with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lightning had instantly fried the camera and all the other electronics the guy was carrying.

And then came the follow-up.

“Ugh... my head... Aaaargh!!”

A scream full of dizziness. Soon after, he collapsed to the ground, rolling around in agony.

I glanced at him, then downed the rest of my ion drink.

“If you’re going to watch, you should at least pay for the show.”

I stood up leisurely, tossed the leftover cup ramen container and can into the recycling bin, shoved both hands into my pockets, and started walking back toward my officetel.

As I walked, I fell into thought.

I'd tried infusing lightning into Quake, and it had worked far more easily than expected. That meant combinations were possible.

…Then, could I combine it with Weight Control too?

Weight Control. Vibration. And lightning.

“Wait a second…”

Let's think this through.

I could already use lightning—electricity, basically. If I discharged it intensely, I could generate high voltage and create plasma.

But plasma is unstable energy. What if I could contain it with vibration?

Since I'd just proven I could infuse lightning into Quake, it should be possible. In other words, I could compress unstable plasma or maintain its shape using Quake.

“……Hmmmm.”

And then Weight Control. If I could reduce the weight of the plasma energy itself to reach a state of extreme acceleration?

It would basically act as a second-stage propulsion system. Since I could already launch it, adding extreme acceleration on top of that would mean...

“This... no way.”

Plasma Cannon…?

My heart started pounding the moment I reached that conclusion.

What was a Plasma Cannon? An insanely overpowered weapon. Or an insanely overpowered ability.

“Is it really possible?”

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

“I need to ask the Archmage something.”

“I just tried putting lightning into the Quake skill, right?”

“So if I combine it with Weight Control too, I think I could create something like a Plasma Cannon. What do you think?”

“Is it possible?”

“...Was I really that much of an idiot before?”

“...”

I had nothing to say. Even against such blatant criticism, I couldn't refute a single word.

Just how arrogant and satisfied had I been with my raw stats that I never even considered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something like this?

Well, I only just thought of it now, so I guess that says it all.

By the time I arrived at my officetel, I noticed a familiar silhouette pacing around beyond the automatic doors.

“...What are you doing there?”

There stood Kim Soyeon, the one who had fled so quickly earlier. She was leaning against the hallway wall with an incredibly awkward expression on her face.

Did she really come to feed Neukgu?

Maybe she didn't know the passcode. It looked like she'd waited for me to arrive.

When she noticed me, she immediately started pretending to be occupied with something else.

“W-well... I was just thinking about it, but then I actually came...”

Her voice trailed off as she glanced at me nervously.

She looked so cute that I unconsciously smiled and asked in a soft murmur,

“If that’s the case, then why do you keep running away?”

“That’s because you keep—!”

She started to snap back defensively, but the moment she met my mischievous smile and gaze again, she clamped her mouth shut and looked down at the floor.

Deciding I probably shouldn't tease her any more, I chuckled and entered the passcode on the door lock.

Beep-beep-beep. Click.

“Come in. You said you were going to feed Neukgu, right?”

At my words, Kim Soyeon hesitated for a moment but then obediently followed me inside.

The next afternoon.

When I opened my eyes, warm sunlight was filtering through the gap in the curtains.

“Mmm…”

I stretched lazily on the bed and sat up.

…Looks like I’m alone today.

It had been a long time since I woke up completely by myself. Or rather, since I’d had a morning like this.

The spot beside me on the bed had returned to its usual empty state.

It had only been one day with Kim Soyeon here, yet the emptiness felt strangely noticeable.

I lazed around for a while before finally dragging myself to the kitchen. I made a quick iced Americano, grabbed the mug, and flopped onto the living room sofa.

Out of habit, I pulled out my smartphone and logged into the Hunter Gallery. Not the Heroine Gallery, but the real-world community where actual hunters gathered.

I sipped my coffee leisurely and started scrolling through the board.

As expected, it was a wonderful space overflowing with all kinds of worthless shitposts, laments, and lame jokes.

I was chuckling at the posts when I noticed one that kept exploding with reactions every time I refreshed. It had an unusually high number of views.

“The Magic Tower successor?”

The Magic Tower. The sanctuary of mages worldwide and the supreme superpower standing at the pinnacle of those who wield supernatural abilities and magical power. A colossal armed organization.

What was this about?

I slowly set my coffee cup down as I continued reading.

The next Magic Tower Master, Ri-en.

And White.

“The next Magic Tower Master, huh…”

Staring at my phone, I let out a low chuckle.

“No way… is it the Archmage?”