Beware of Water

"W-water...? Did you say water?"

The scene that unfolded in Bonghyuk's eyes: a world of nothing but blue, translucent liquid swirling in lazy coils, Seong Jiyeon thrashing somewhere inside it. Suffocation. Asphyxiation. Terror. Despair. Glub—and down she went, sinking beneath the surface.

"Yeah. Water," Bonghyuk said. "You'll die gasping for air."

"Th-then what am I supposed to do?" Seong Jiyeon pressed urgently.

At that, Bonghyuk fixed her with a sharp glare. "Why are you asking me? You're the one who has to handle it. What, want me to spoon-feed you everything?"

"N-no, of course not. Um..."

"If you really can't figure it out, this young lady here will get you whatever you need."

Kim Jian, who'd been listening with interest from the next stall over, echoed back, "...Me?" Apparently the young lady in question was her.

Bonghyuk gave a nod without so much as a glance at her, and Jian mulled something over for a moment before waving a hand through the empty air.

If it's "beware of water"...

The items she pictured surfaced in a soft glow, stacking themselves into neat rows. Hundreds of them, sorted by grade from junk trinkets to premium gear, arrayed at her fingertips. After a brief hesitation, Jian picked out two and held them forward.

"Would any of these happen to help?"

Seong Jiyeon hesitated. ...They're not running a scam on me as a duo, are they?

But she'd already paid for the reading, and she was the type who couldn't stand an uneasy gut. In the end, she bought both.

"Thank... you... very much..."

As she rose and turned to go—

"You have to leave your offering fee before you leave."

"Oh, right. ...How much is it?"

"Fifty thousand won."

Jiyeon carefully laid down the money, then gave the man before her one more long, careful look.

Matted, unwashed hair. A training suit stretched out of shape. A BONGSHINDANG sign scrawled in marker across a slab of cut-up cardboard.

He's legit... right?

The man looked like a strange one, granted—but hadn't he eerily nailed every single thing about her? And studied closely, his features were perfectly fine. No, he was even on the handsome side. If only it weren't for the dark circles sagging beneath his eyes.

Half in doubt, half in hope, Seong Jiyeon headed for the gate.

Shooting sidelong glances at Bonghyuk where he sat in a daze, Kim Jian was silently cheering inside.

Real reading or fake, business might just boom with her stall parked beside it. She'd already talked one customer into a dagger and a water hyacinth, thanks to him.

On an average day, a stall like hers saw maybe a handful of customers, and after all the haggling she was lucky to move one or two items. But a single reading had just sold 5 TC worth of goods in one go. The calculator in Jian's head spun at full speed.

If that shaman's divination was the real deal? And if the people he read for came back alive? Word of mouth would spread on its own.

The spot next to him: prime real estate.

And then—

Out of nowhere, Bonghyuk started gathering his things to move.

"Huh? Where are you going?" Jian blurted.

Bonghyuk looked at her with hollow eyes. "Ah, this spot's no good. Thought I'd move."

Jian scrambled. "No, no! Um—couldn't you just stay here, next to me?"

"Why would I?"

When Bonghyuk only stared back with the lifeless eyes of a frozen fish, Jian caught on instantly. Merchant-class intuition.

Freebies. He wants freebies.

"I-if I sell anything related to your readings... I'll kick you back 10 percent," she said, grudging.

"Thirty."

"I'm sorry, what?"

Jian reeled. This guy was a shameless piece of work.

"Thirty percent is way too steep. My margin's only 25. Let's do twenty."

Nod.

"Twenty. Deal."

Jian heaved a deep, deep sigh.

"Just go run your stall, then. Seems like you'll do fine at it."

She pouted, lips jutting in petulant silence—

—while Bonghyuk quietly rejoiced.

He'd only thrown ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the number out because watching Jian's brisk business next door inexplicably got under his skin. And she'd actually pay up?

Jackpot.

Dagger in hand, water hyacinth tucked away, Seong Jiyeon stood before the gate once more. For some reason, she felt a touch more confident than before.

Was it the reading?

"Whew. Okay. Let's do this!"

A radiant glow wrapped around her—and then, Middle Floor 30.

Jiyeon's jaw hung open. "Holy..."

Water stretched in every direction. A colossal stone temple sat submerged in the middle of a lake, and somewhere above, pale blue light leaked through a breach in the ceiling, sending ripples shivering across the surface.

Beware of water.

Good lord. The reading had been real!

Kra-krash! Kra-krash! Water roared up in an instant and swallowed her whole. Any other day, this was the moment she'd have screamed, Escape!

Instead, Jiyeon reflexively clamped the water hyacinth between her lips.

Sssiiip—

Air flooded her lungs as if by magic. Euphoria washed through her whole body. Jiyeon re-gripped her electric dagger. Super-effective against water attribute.

The instant a water elemental came gliding in at her—

Bzzt—

KRAKAKAKAKA!

Her dagger carved a blinding line of light through the gloom, and—

Crackle-crackle—

POP! POP!

Lightning raced along the water, and the elementals burst one after another like bubbles.

Whoa... this dagger's performance is unreal.

Swish. Swish.

One. Two. Three.

The moment the last elemental dissolved into foam—

Hah... hah...

"I did it."

Exhilaration surged through every inch of her.

"I DID IT!!"

Eyes blazing, Seong Jiyeon came running back into the Tower lobby.

After Jiyeon, no more customers came to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Bongshindang. Bonghyuk packed up his things and gave a small bow.

"Take care now."

"You'll be here tomorrow, right? Right here?"

"Yeah."

Twenty percent of the revenue. There was no reason not to come.

"About what time?"

"Hmm. Whenever I wake up?"

With that, Bonghyuk headed home. He'd earned fifty thousand won in offering fees today.

Truthfully, the offering fee hardly mattered. He'd already skimmed his 20% commission off the dagger and water hyacinth Jian had sold.

Fifty thousand won in offerings, plus one million won—his cut of 5 TC in sales. A cool 1,050,000 won in the blink of an eye? That was money you'd normally only touch after a week of deliveries on a motorbike, riding like a maniac.

"This is nuts."

Maybe being a shaman wasn't such a bad gig after all?

Of course, that assumed his readings ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stayed dead-on every single time. The moment word spread that they didn't, Jian would pack up and move her stall too.

Anyway, Bonghyuk treated himself—for once—to a deluxe "Golden Royal Banquet" lunchbox, went home, and dug in.

Then—

Ding—

...Huh?

2.0 TC.

In cash—two million won.

"Insane."

The lunchbox lid slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor.

Same moment. Tower lobby. Seong Jiyeon came sprinting up, gasping for breath after her clear.

"Where is he? Where's that gentleman?"

The merchant minding her stall—Kim ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Jian—blinked wide-eyed. "I'm sorry?"

"That shaman! Where is he?"

"...He went home?"

Jian studied Jiyeon's face. It was anything but calm.

"Whoa? Don't tell me... actual water?"

Nod.

"NO. WAAAAY!"

Jian's jaw hit the floor.

AwakenersNet.

The AwakenersNet boards went up in flames.

The next day—

Bonghyuk clocked in at the Tower lobby and took in the sight.

"Huh?"

In front of Bongshindang, a dozen-odd Awakeners stood waiting in a tidy, orderly line. Where his cardboard sign used to be, a proper storefront sign had risen at some point, the words LED BONGSHINDANG glowing blue. And in front of it, barricades and belt ropes snaked back and forth in a switchback, the whole queue route laid out so people could line up in turn.

And along one side of the line stood Kim Jian, selling coffee.

"All right, everyone, please form the line! The shaman isn't in yet, so just bear with us a moment. While you're waiting, why not grab a coffee~? We've got hot, we've got iced, we've got it all~"

For about ten different reasons, Bonghyuk couldn't find a single word to say.

Then he appeared—and the crowd surged toward him at once.

"You're Shaman Bong, right?"

"Please, just one reading!"

"What's waiting for me on Upper Floor 2?"

"I'm down to my very last attempt on Middle Floor 20—I'm begging you, please!"

Bonghyuk floundered. But Jian was already commanding the scene.

"Okay, everyone! Please keep order! I handed out number tickets this morning, remember? Come up in order. Order! Order!"

Then she shot Bonghyuk a wink.

"They all say they came here off AwakenersNet. I've queued them up in arrival order, so go ahead and start the readings. Oh, and this is a gift from me! We're partners, after all. You've got this!"

The gifts: the LED Bongshindang sign, and a comfy camping chair for Bonghyuk to sit in.

Without a word needing to be said, she'd handled everything. Bonghyuk sat down, half in a daze.

The man holding number 1 stepped forward.

"Um, they said all I have to do is worship you, so—here's my bow!"

"Oh, that really isn't—"

But the man thumped his forehead straight to the ground in a deep, formal bow.

"Looking forward to it, Shaman Bong!"

"Ah. Sure."

The moment he did, the man lit up with bright radiance—

Bonghyuk selected Yes.

Tss-tss-tss—

Once again came that sensation of being himself and yet not himself. And a voice spilling out of his mouth of its own accord.

"Kim Cheolgu. Final attempt at Middle Floor 20?"

"Y-yes, that's right!"

"You don't trust yourself to clear the Tower alone, do you?"

The man blinked rapidly.

"Ah, yes. It's just... I'm a bit timid by nature..."

"No guild, no friends either. You've scraped by all this way cobbling together parties on AwakenersNet."

Nod, nod.

The vision kept unspooling in his mind.

He could see how Kim Cheolgu had survived the climb to Middle Floor 20. A guileless, timid soul. Always first through the door, fighting for his life—only to be written off by his party members as the designated aggro bait. Always on the losing end of the loot split. And yet, stubborn enough to grind his way all the way up to Floor 19.

Then the weave of the vision abruptly slipped out of true. A thick gray shadow came seeping out from behind Kim Cheolgu's back, smearing across the scene before congealing into the shapes of two figures.

In that instant, Bonghyuk's brow snapped together.

"You. The guys you're climbing with—who are they?"

The man echoed back, bewildered. "Sorry?"

"Who's in your party."

The Tower allowed entry in parties of up to three. The man looked off to his left—where, some distance away, two Awakeners stood holding drinks, snickering to themselves.

"Those two?"

"Yes."

What came out of Bonghyuk's mouth next left everyone present struck dumb.

"Don't go in with them. Go with those two, and you'll take a knife in the back. Filthy bastards, both of them."

Bonghyuk's eyes sank, cold and flat, as he glared at the pair for a long, long moment.

"I don't know what they've been doing out there—but those two have the vengeful dead clinging to their backs, caked on layer after layer."

© KAY™#13lul