Horeum Museum (1)
Horeum Museum (1)
The lavish dinner with the directors holding key positions in the Management Bureau concluded in a rather amicable atmosphere.
I had agreed to create and teach a mugong for the Management Bureau agents to train in, and the Management Bureau had agreed to provide me with their Secret Martial Arts and various mugong materials.
And so, a few days passed, and now.
"It's been a while."
"Yes. Has everything been alright these past few days?"
I had smoothly transitioned from an ordinary college student and mugong-trainee youth into a 1st Grade Solver collaborating with the Management Bureau.
"First, please take this."
"Is this... a key?"
"To be precise, it's a magic tool in the shape of a key."
Over the last few days, the Management Bureau and I had both been so busy with our respective tasks that keeping in touch was quite difficult.
The Management Bureau had been busy setting up the Solver office I needed to operate, and I had been busy creating the mugong to teach the Management Bureau agents.
Now that our work was roughly finished, I had finally managed to contact Kang Yuna and meet her.
"Try inserting it into any door and turning it. It's designed to operate that way."
Smiling gently, Kang Yuna approached and handed me a silver key. As soon as I received the key, which looked ordinary at first glance, I habitually extended my energy sense to examine it.
'Is this magic?'
Energy was flowing along a structure that was as unique and complex as the circuitry of an electronic device. The amount of energy wasn't particularly impressive, but the structure was so elaborate that it felt fascinating.
'But, insert it into a door and turn it?'
I turned my head and scanned the area, looking for a door that seemed suitable for using the key.
"You don't need an actual keyhole. If you bring the key close to any object that can be recognized as a door, it will slide in, just like inserting a key into a calm lake."
At that, I stepped toward the iron door of a nearby building. It looked like the back door of some building, tucked inside a shabby alleyway.
'Insert and turn the key.'
The silver key truly operated just as Kang Yuna had said. It smoothly pierced the solid iron door, and the supposedly hard door rippled like a water surface.
Immediately after, I twisted my wrist to turn the key, and with a click sensation of something engaging, the ripples spread across the entire door. I felt needlessly anxious at the sight of the solid iron door rippling ceaselessly, like flowing water.
"It's working well. The door has opened safely, so you may enter now."
"...Is this normal?"
I must have had some prejudice against magic due to Marcel Lacrima and the Shisikgyojeonui. To think it could cause such a wondrous phenomenon. In terms of usefulness, perhaps mugong would have to concede.
—Vwoom!
Anyway, keeping the door open for too long wasn't good. Even though it was a secluded alley, it was still an area where people passed by. If I dawdled and someone happened to see this scene, it would cause quite a headache.
"Then, let's go in."
After a short deep breath, I stepped directly toward the wavering door. The door, rippling as if I were entering a lake, swallowed my body, and a sensation entirely different from being submerged in water swept over my entire body.
It might be easier to understand if I said it felt like space itself stretched and spread out like a wrapping cloth, tightly binding my body. As I swallowed such thoughts and sorted out my impressions, my senses suddenly returned to normal.
"...Where is this?"
And with the feeling of déjà vu, I immediately turned my head and looked around. I couldn't put my finger on it with words, but I had a definite hunch that I had been here once before.
A wide open lot, and stairs leading up from it. A few buildings erected on a spacious spot atop the stairs. At a glance, it looked like a villa built in a remote area by someone with considerable wealth.
But before long, I realized the source of my déjà vu.
"Is this... could it be Yeongshin Elementary School?"
"You recognize it. Correct. The Management Bureau has slightly remodeled Yeongshin Elementary School, the one you, Kim Sihyeon-nim, once turned completely upside down and left."
"Slightly" was an understatement; the Yeongshin Elementary School I had seen before was practically unrecognizable. The school building had already been demolished and removed, and the only part that retained its original form was this open lot, which used to be the playground.
'Actually, a playground and an open lot are pretty much the same anyway.'
No matter how thoroughly I had wrecked most of the school's anomalies, I never imagined they could entirely dismantle the paranormal phenomenon itself and recycle it into a personal space.
Chuckling as I felt the Management Bureau's capabilities anew, I began to tour the office I would manage as a Solver, guided by Kang Yuna.
"From a residential house with an attached garage, to a large warehouse and archive, a detached building to welcome clients coming to the office, and an open lot for various training."
It was essentially a space prepared just for me. What was even more surprising was that, despite incorporating all those elements, quite a lot of space remained.
"You can use the remaining space according to your personal taste as you stay here. If you let me know, the Management Bureau can also provide for you."
Saying that, Kang Yuna listed several examples of high-ranking Solvers who possessed this kind of Otherworld-type office.
"There are those who maintain a barn or a field, and those who set up a laboratory or factory to run a side job."
"...It seems quite a lot of people have these Otherworld-type offices?"
"Not to the point of being extremely many, but from the upper ranks of 1st Grade to Special Grade Solvers, almost all have them."
It's not a method of building a separate Otherworld from scratch, but rather recycling paranormal phenomena that would otherwise only continue to produce innocent victims.
Thanks to that, some paranormal phenomena are treated almost like real estate within the mystical industry.
It seems that confident Solvers either resolve the paranormal phenomenon themselves to acquire ownership, or purchase already resolved phenomena.
"In that sense, it's only natural for Kim Sihyeon-nim to take ownership of this place."
After finishing the general introduction of the Otherworld-type office, Kang Yuna glanced at me.
"Even though we cleaned up the remaining entities, including the principal and vice-principal entities, as well as some left throughout the school, you, Kim Sihyeon-nim, subjugated 90% of the anomalies inside Yeongshin Elementary School."
Well, I really did kill a lot back then. The memory of relentlessly intercepting and breaking through the anomalies that kept swarming from all sides, no matter how many I killed, was still vividly fresh.
"As you saw earlier, daily necessities and furniture are fully stocked inside, and the materials you requested previously have also been stored in a separate archive."
"Is there a reason you separated the archive from the warehouse?"
"I thought you might prefer it that way. Don't they usually keep the internal resources of a sect separate in martial arts novels?"
Kang Yuna, smiling with her eyes as she looked at me beside her, asked with a gentle smile on her lips. Due to the height difference, she naturally looked up at me.
'That's true.'
She must have read quite a few martial arts novels, more than I expected. Kang Yuna knew my tastes surprisingly well.
Weapons are usually kept in an armory or training hall, elixirs and various medicinal ingredients in a medical hall or pharmacy, and secret mugong manuals and sect internal materials are mostly stored separately in a library.
However, I hadn't expected the Management Bureau to pay such meticulous attention to that point.
"Ah, and Branch Manager Geomeun-nim said he is personally crafting an impressive item, so if you could wait just a little longer..."
"Branch Manager Geomeun-nim is personally making a sword?"
I didn't need a sword urgently. The one I had received earlier for the sparring examination with Mok Hong was also quite well-made. Good enough that I didn't need to pay a civilian craftsman to order a new sword.
But a sword personally crafted by a Special Grade Solver who could skillfully use divine possession and even push back my energy waves—that's a different story. I was a martial artist myself, so I certainly had a fair bit of greed for a good sword.
"He's lived a long time, so he has many talents. Every director-level person carries an item custom-made by Branch Manager Geomeun-nim."
A weapon personally crafted by a shaman who could borrow the power of a god. At that level, honestly, it's a combination that couldn't fail to produce what you'd call a divine armament.
'Am I finally getting some gear advantage?'
The corners of my lips, which had been quiet, twitched in excitement at the thought of soon getting my hands on such a weapon. But as I suppressed that excitement for a moment, curiosity suddenly surged.
"Then, what item did you receive, Kang Yuna-ssi?"
I could roughly guess for the other directors.
The Response Division Chief would likely have a weapon or armor, and the Support Division Chief would have an item with abilities like recovery or detection. The Research Division Chief, considering his work, would have received something helpful for research, like an appraisal tool.
But Kang Yuna was the HR Manager. She was someone who oversaw the type of administrative tasks you can easily find in any company.
'Maybe an item that helps with fatigue recovery or concentration?'
I made such a guess internally and waited for Kang Yuna's answer. Kang Yuna, who had been looking at me and moving her lips slightly, softly bit her lips.
Something about her reaction was strange. Had I touched on a sensitive subject? Thinking "oops," I immediately parted my lips to apologize.
"Uh, if it's difficult to answer—"
Click. With that sound, my words were cut off. At the same time, my thoughts were cut off. Her hand, which had looked white and soft, was now covered by a pitch-black gauntlet.
"The item I received from Branch Manager Geomeun-nim is, as you can see, a gauntlet."
Obviously, a gauntlet is a weapon. It's something used for fighting, not for wrestling with paperwork in an office.
I inadvertently studied Kang Yuna's face. Perhaps it was because I had trained by constantly observing my own mindscape; when I extended my energy sense, I could roughly grasp the other person's emotional state.
In that sense, Kang Yuna was peculiar right now. Judging solely by her expression, she looked as tired as usual, but the emotional line I felt with my energy sense was fluctuating wildly like a heart rate.
She was clearly agitated. The mere act of taking out the gauntlet and showing it to me was making her agitated.
'Something must have happened.'
The moment my thoughts reached that point, I decided not to probe any further into this matter.
"...Thank you. As expected, that inventory looks convenient every time I see it. I wish I had one, too."
"While you can't use the Management Bureau's system, I can inquire about items like a sub-space pouch for you."
With a short thanks, I changed the subject of conversation. Whether Kang Yuna also didn't want to make the gauntlet a topic, she immediately latched onto the new topic and continued the conversation.
'If I had my way, I'd like to know why she has the gauntlet and what in the world happened to make her react like that to it...'
It's better to wait until she tells me herself about such issues later. If I go around prying and asking questions out of mere curiosity, it'll just make things awkward for both of us.
"A sub-space pouch is good, but the mugong to be taught to the Management Bureau agents is also complete."
"Is that so? Hmm, that's incredibly fast, isn't it?"
"It's just the fundamentals. Since it's a mugong at the stage of just starting to take baby steps, it wasn't very difficult."
At Kang Yuna's reaction of renewed surprise, I chuckled and pulled out my phone from my pocket.
"Ah, there's no signal here?"
"Well, it is the Otherworld. Usually, even agents communicate in places like this using the system's chat function."
"...Really, that system has all sorts of bizarre functions."
I chuckled and put my phone back in.
"I went to the trouble of organizing the completed mugong into a PDF file. If I'd known, I would've just made it into a secret manual and brought it."
"A mugong PDF is a bit perplexing..."
"Well, it's the times. Adding annotations to the incantations and attaching images of the energy circulation paths, then sending it as an organized PDF file is more convenient for both sides, isn't it?"
My business here was now finished. I had inspected all the facilities; I just needed to go out and hand over the mugong file.
"We should be heading back now."
The way out is also the same as when we first entered: just insert the key into any door and turn it. The structure is that the door used as the entrance when entering the Otherworld becomes the exit when leaving.
It was at that moment, as I took out the key again and brought it to the front door of the nearby house.
"Before we leave, there's one last thing. I have a request from the Management Bureau."
"...A request?"
The corners of Kang Yuna's mouth, having called me to a stop, twitched. I thought it would end here, but it seemed the Management Bureau had already brought in a job.
"Recently, during the process of pioneering a new escape route at the Horeum Museum, the Response Division's 3rd Platoon became isolated inside the museum."
"Seeing as you mention a 'new' escape route, there must be an existing one. Is it impossible for them to escape through that route?"
"It's impossible. The 3rd Platoon is currently in a situation where self-powered escape is impossible due to an anomalous phenomenon inside the museum."
For a first request, it was rather tricky. It wasn't simply a request to flip the museum upside down; I had to rescue the Management Bureau agents isolated inside.
But before I could mentally weigh whether to accept the request, Kang Yuna continued.
"I know it's a difficult request. Therefore, the compensation this time will be quite satisfactory."
"How much are you offering this time?"
My current bank balance is close to 6 billion won. A level where I could live a life of leisure without any issue. It might be insignificant among the world's wealthy, but among ordinary people, I'm a capitalist beyond comparison.
"No, the compensation for this request is not money."
Perhaps it was because she knew that fact well.
"The Horeum Museum is, as the name suggests, a museum. Although it's a paranormal phenomenon, its essence is a museum, so it houses many items containing various mysteries. Even mysteries now lost to humanity exist within the Horeum Museum."
The Management Bureau offered something other than money as compensation for this request.
"There has been no record of a secret mugong manual being found inside the museum, but elixirs do exist. Rather than a paltry sum of money, that would be more to your liking, wouldn't it, Kim Sihyeon-nim?"
Furthermore, they would recognize ownership of all items obtained from inside the museum during this rescue operation. There are no restrictions on the types of items recognized for ownership, and if you wish to trade, the Management Bureau will purchase the acquired items afterward.
"So, will you accept the request?"
Having learned the full details of the request and compensation up to that point, honestly speaking.
"Eh, why not give it a shot."
I couldn't refuse the request.
I can't resist elixirs, after all.