The Slum Mansion's Secret
Lim Dojun stepped out of the Blue Magic Tower.
It was the first time he had wandered the city properly since arriving. Once he began learning magic, he had spent all his time in the training room, and even on the rare occasions he left, he completed his tasks quickly before returning straight to his studies.
The city of Bellangs was the very image of what a place would look like when magic and fantasy blended seamlessly with progress. Magic had replaced the conveniences of science, yet it also displayed a beauty no Earth city could ever hope to match.
—Thud. Thud.
Even so, like every city, it had its slums. The rich grew richer while the poor sank deeper into the shadows of the city. Lim Dojun arrived at a rather large mansion tucked away in one of those slum corners.
“Judging by the location mentioned… this should be it.”
A post on the Returnee Minor Gallery had described how to reach the house the writer once lived in within Bellangs.
“A house with one of the wooden gates painted red. So that returnee really did live in this world.”
Lim Dojun nodded as he examined the gate. He had come just to check, but the details matched perfectly.
‘He said he left all his treasures behind when he died?’
Since he had been forced to return to Earth, Lim Dojun intended to make good use of the treasures left behind. The comments on the post had even encouraged others to find and use them.
‘Finders keepers.’
Besides, they were both from Earth. In this other world, that made them countrymen. It was only right to properly claim a fellow countryman’s legacy.
—Creak!
“Uru-ruru—peekaboo!”
“Kitty! Over here! Come this way!”
“Hyung-nim! Move aside! Come on! Here’s your favorite snack! Come here!”
When the gate opened, the scene that greeted him was a plump, well-fed cat surrounded by three burly young men. Startled by the sound of the gate, they scrambled to their feet.
The moment their eyes met Lim Dojun’s, their faces flushed crimson.
“W-what the hell! How dare you set foot in the Gellard Brotherhood’s hideout without permission?”
“You’ve got a death wish, don’t you?”
It was obvious they were shouting to cover their embarrassment from moments earlier. Lim Dojun asked calmly,
“Isn’t this house supposed to be empty?”
“Are you the owner?”
“Something like that.”
“…So you’re not the owner. We’ve occupied this place for a long time. Go somewhere else!”
Illegal squatters.
‘I didn’t expect this.’
Still, it made sense. Even with magic, this world wasn’t as well-managed as modern Earth. Someone was bound to claim an empty house.
The Gellard Brotherhood’s rough appearances told him exactly what kind of people they were—men like Park Daecheol.
“Step aside. I have something to retrieve.”
Lim Dojun expected them to block his path and prepared for a scuffle. Instead—
“……Hyung-nim. Isn’t that the Blue Magic Tower insignia?”
The youngest of the Gellard Brotherhood whispered to the eldest. Lim Dojun wore the black-and-blue robe given to him by the tower. At a glance it resembled a traveler’s robe, but the subtle blue glow and the single snowflake embroidered on the sleeve gave it away. The mark was small, yet the brothers noticed it immediately.
No one in Bellangs dared to cross a Blue Magic Tower mage. Their attitudes shifted instantly to deference.
“M-Mage-nim. We would never think of blocking your path!”
“Then move.”
“But… we’ve been staying here, though we’re not the owners.”
“Didn’t you just say you’d occupied it?”
“Well… the truth is, there’s a terrifying person inside. We were only ordered to stay outside and manage the place.”
The Gellard brothers glanced fearfully toward the mansion’s interior.
“Huu. This isn’t easy. Not easy at all. I need to succeed in a spell that will shock those damned bastards.”
In a gloomy room, an old man with a pockmarked face muttered in a hoarse voice beneath his robe. He was Eggnok, a black mage with a bounty on his head across the continent. Once a member of the Black Magic Tower, he had been expelled for conducting forbidden human experiments. He had taken refuge in this mansion while evading pursuers and bounty hunters.
The alley thugs who originally occupied the house had been easily subdued and turned into subordinates. Since then, Eggnok had continued his research, seething with hatred toward the Black Magic Tower that had cast him out. Progress, however, remained frustratingly slow.
“Tsk. They’re just street thugs who extort money. No help at all.”
If he had an assistant to aid his research, he might achieve better results. Having to handle everything himself left Eggnok irritated.
“Huu. I shouldn’t expect too much from idiots.”
The only role suitable for fools was guarding the house. Thanks to them, he had been able to focus entirely on his research without distraction.
—Beeeep!
The moment the intruder-detection spell he had set up activated, that thought vanished.
“Ha! I told you not to come near my laboratory! Fine. Today I’ll drill your ears so deep you’ll never forget!”
Already annoyed by repeated failures, Eggnok moved to vent his frustration on his subordinates.
“!”
When he encountered Lim Dojun in the corridor outside the laboratory, he froze.
“…Blue Magic Tower?”
Eggnok could not fail to recognize the robe with its faint blue glow. The irritation in his eyes gave way to tension. He had felt safe after years without pursuers, but he was still a wanted criminal. A Blue Magic Tower mage had likely come not for the bounty, but in coordination with the Black Magic Tower.
Yet the young age and the insignia on the sleeve told him this was no high-ranking mage—merely an ordinary tower affiliate. Seeing no one else around, Eggnok tilted his head.
“Hey, kid. Alone?”
“I am.”
With his hands in his robe pockets, Lim Dojun answered. He had no intention of showing respect to someone who had discarded courtesy from the very first meeting.
‘So this is the terrifying person they mentioned. A black mage.’
After hearing the brothers’ story, he had assumed it was a wandering mage. He never expected a black mage. Lim Dojun studied Eggnok. The aura emanating from him was unpleasant—filthy, repulsive darkness mixed with something foul.
“Kuh, kuhuhuh. What a funny little brat. Ha! Has Eggnok’s reputation already faded so much that a whelp like you would come looking for me without a clue?”
Eggnok sneered.
“I’ve seen plenty like you. Young, praised as a genius by the tower, nose in the air, full of arrogance. That’s why you came alone after hearing some rumor.”
Eggnok had been the same in his youth. He had looked down on every other mage. Of course, meeting a true genius had shattered that pride, but that was beside the point. He was confident he could deal with an arrogant young mage in an instant.
‘I’ve hidden well for years. Looks like it’s time to leave this place too.’
He would eliminate the intruder and depart the city. Eggnok drew his staff and began casting.
—Fwoosh!
A sphere of pitch-black flame shot forward, only to collide with two ice arrows Lim Dojun had conjured and vanish in midair.
“…Wordless casting!?”
Eggnok’s wariness surged. The skill was certainly impressive. He continued casting spell after spell—shadow thorns, rippling fog, fireballs launched in sequence.
—Boom!
—Bang!
Yet Lim Dojun intercepted every attack with his hands still in his pockets, his expression relaxed. It hadn’t been difficult. Ice arrows, shields, throwing spears, spreading frost particles—low-level spells, but they activated almost instantly as he imagined them. The dragon-style magic he had learned granted him boundless power over the ice element.
“This is impossible!”
Eggnok cried out in shock. As a fellow mage, he understood exactly how absurd this was.
‘He’s not a dragon—how can something like that be possible!?’
Because Lim Dojun had mastered dragon-style magic and could fully control the dragon’s will flowing from his body, Eggnok could not sense his true nature.
“Whoa… He’s pushing that monstrous old man back like that?”
“The Blue Magic Tower really is different, Hyung-nim. Nothing like street mages.”
“Exactly.”
From the start of the corridor, the Gellard brothers watched the battle from behind pillars. They were nervous, yet hopeful that they might finally escape the monstrous old man’s tyranny.
Then Eggnok’s gaze fell upon them.
“You trash! Get over here and help me!”
“……!”
“!!!”
The sudden roar made the brothers avert their eyes, but it was useless. When Eggnok’s magic reached them, they clutched their heads in agony.
“Ugh!”
“Krrgh!”
Eggnok had not merely taken them as subordinates—he had addicted them to a berserking drug. It had been insurance for when he needed them, and preparation always paid off. Moments like this proved its worth. With a light scattering of mana, Eggnok stripped the brothers of their reason. Eyes blood-red, they charged at Lim Dojun. Eggnok smirked.
‘Kuhuh. His magic is decent, but those types are always weak when it comes to improvisation.’
He acknowledged the mage’s skill. Yet the flaw of talented mages was that they became clumsy in chaotic melee. Especially against the combination of a black mage and berserkers, a lone mage would struggle. That arrogant face would soon crumble.
‘He might even suffer mana backlash trying to cast too many spells at once.’
Eggnok began chanting a larger spell while keeping his eyes on Lim Dojun. In that instant—
“!!?”
His mana surged backward in shock. Lim Dojun had moved with fluid grace, subduing the Gellard brothers with nothing more than light taps. Even trained professionals found it difficult to neutralize multiple charging men who had lost their reason. A mage should have been at a disadvantage in close combat, yet Lim Dojun showed no such weakness. In moments he had them all restrained. His gaze then turned to Eggnok.
—Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Kuhak!?”
Ice spikes erupted from beneath Eggnok’s feet and pierced through him.
Lim Dojun thought his luck had been exceptionally good this time.
‘Good thing he tripped over himself.’
Witnessing Lim Dojun’s prowess, Eggnok had panicked, causing his mana to backflow and his concentration to shatter. That was why he failed to block the ice spikes rising from below. If he had remained vigilant from the start, it would have taken far longer to defeat him. Fortune had favored Lim Dojun.
“That insane black mage…!”
“Th-thank you, Mage-nim. We owe you our lives…!”
After Eggnok fell, the Gellard brothers regained their senses. They burned with fury at the black mage who had secretly placed spells on them. Though dazed, they remembered everything. They could have died fighting as slaves. That was why they regarded Lim Dojun with both fear and gratitude.
Later, Lim Dojun moved to the mansion’s backyard. He recalled the words written on the Returnee Minor Gallery.
If some lucky soul finds my house, dig in the backyard.
Dig about seven meters down and you’ll find it. I buried all my treasures there.
“This must be the spot.”
—Tap. Tap.
Lim Dojun nudged the ground with his foot. Unless one knew to look, the difference was subtle, but the soil here was clearly not the same as the surrounding earth.
The poster seemed to have developed his body through mercenary or knightly work. Lim Dojun, however, had not. Unfortunately, dragon-style magic was limited to the ice element and could not dig earth. His battle with Eggnok had also left him nearly out of mana.
“Everyone. Could you lend me a hand?”
Fortunately, he had manpower instead of modern heavy machinery.
“I need to dig here.”
At his words, the Gellard brothers charged straight at the dirt.
“Leave it to us, Mage-nim!”
“Digging is my specialty!”
This was a Blue Magic Tower mage who had defeated the terrifying Eggnok. He held their lives in his hands. Even if he ordered them into a pit of fire, they would have no choice but to leap. They began digging as though still under the berserking drug’s influence.