Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: A Small Misunderstanding
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This time, Moon Byul finally succeeded in creating a remote dummy outside using remote magic.
The moment he connected his mind to the dummy, he realized that time flowed differently inside the grimoire's space compared to the outside world.
"Gotta sync the time."
Moon Byul immediately shifted to a higher dimension and pulled on the grimoire's time flow, accelerating it.
The reason his remote magic kept failing.
The reason the gate felt unstable when opened.
It was all because the timelines here and outside were misaligned, disrupting the magic calculations.
"More, more, more."
He accelerated the timeline. Until it perfectly mirrored the outside one visible beyond the gate.
"More, more, just a bit more."
After pulling it for a good while, it stretched like a rubber band and began flowing exactly like the outside.
Soon, the time stabilized, taut and steady.
"Even if it's relative, I didn't expect the timelines to be this far off."
Afterward, the mental connection with the dummy succeeded. It was stable.
The sensation of moving his body outside this damned grimoire was utterly sweet.
Fingers one by one. Toes one by one. He tilted his head, flexed his joints a little.
"118 years, huh."
There was a movie back before he got trapped in the grimoire where a guy ate nothing but army dumplings for 15 years.
His take back then? Better to kill yourself than endure 15 years.
15 years they say, but no one tells you. Just an endless, interminable wait.
But that's people for you.
You live somehow if you keep living.
This was still just a brief outing while shackled to the grimoire.
He was still bound to it.
But so what?
He was alive, and he'd finally set foot on Korean soil again. He'd won.
A mad surge of accomplishment sent shivers through him.
The best part was that he was still 'human'.
Mental age might be a bit older, but still 'human'.
Though the dummy still felt a bit human-like in a stiff way. Expressions and movements weren't quite right, like wearing thick makeup.
Tsutsuk.
It was unstable too.
"Guess I owe the Saintess an apology."
Outside, more than a day must have passed. Probably quite a bit longer.
"Haha."
As he trembled with joy, someone who looked like a guard walked into this warehouse-like space.
"There's someone here."
He acted as naturally human as possible. He was human, after all.
The man looked unwell somehow.
Maybe give him some tea leaves.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "So those tea leaves are medicine?"
"Yes! A 100% recovery potion that never existed before. A power elixir in one word!"
On the table sat just a few tea leaves.
"You tested them?"
"Guild Master, are you insane? These leaves are priceless!"
Among the mysterious items found in the tower were recovery-related ones.
In an era where climbers' lives were precious, recovery items far surpassing modern medicine skyrocketed in price proportional to their performance.
Healers' fees were dirt cheap by comparison.
"Even the elixirs made in America with astronomical money and magic stones top out at 97% recovery. Get it? Do you understand what that means?"
Seo In Ah, unusually excited, slammed the desk.
"What.... does it mean?"
"You don't get it?"
Switching to casual speech, Seo In Ah thumped her chest in frustration and rubbed her forehead.
"It's leaves! Leaves! From the Saintess!"
"....And?"
Seo In Ah promptly removed her glasses and rolled up her sleeves.
"Leaves mean they come from some tree or whatever. This can't be all of them, right? Leaves can be copied, you know?"
"......"
"The Saintess is shoveling money our way. Literally handing it to us."
Today's Seo In Ah had a slightly unhinged glint in her eye.
"Find it! Research it! If we monopolize cultivation, the Association? Meteor Guild? America? We'll crush them all..."
"Okay, calm down, In Ah."
Why do all scientists seem a bit off their rocker?
Iru Ri found this unfamiliar side of Seo In Ah scary today.
"Take a look at this first."
What the guild master pulled from his pocket was, astonishingly, three of the leaves Seo In Ah had been raving about.
"Huh? They really duplicated."
"How did you... sis?"
These were the leaves she'd gifted to the grimoire.
Naturally, no one else could have them right now.
But seeing them in the guild master's pocket meant...
Something happened yesterday!
So Seori didn't miss Iru Ri's expression change.
"Care to explain what happened? Ruri?"
"Haa."
"Whish whish."
What had to happen would happen anyway.
Iru Ri explained everything that had occurred to everyone.
So Seori covered her face with her hand and muttered.
"A higher being, huh... No wonder the cursing sounded so unfamiliar."
Seo In Ah, back to her senses, adjusted her glasses and chuckled amusedly.
"Most intriguing."
Iru Ri sat quietly like a sinner.
Bam!
"Of all times, it blows up when it's in our guild!"
Seo In Ah vented by slamming the round table in the guild master's office.
"Yesterday, our guard Sang Hyuk ended up in the hospital."
Timing like this meant it was definitely grimoire-related.
"No way?"
Iru Ri felt her heart sink.
If something major had gone wrong, it was partly her fault for poor handling.
"He's fine, luckily. Just fainted from shock."
Only then could Iru Ri breathe a sigh of relief.
"Emergency meeting. We got the leaves and data based on his memory."
The materials handed to Seo In Ah and Iru Ri contained the guard's conversation with the grimoire and its description.
"What do you think, Saintess?"
"It's... looking for me."
The informal meeting began without a secretary.
"Probably because of the promise."
Iru Ri had made a promise to meet the grimoire again. One-sided, sure, but a promise was a promise.
"If that's everything you said, does it mean some separate contract?"
"No. That's everything, Guild Master."
"......"
She noticed Seo In Ah holding back.
"Director Seo? As a scientist, just speak freely."
Only then did Seo In Ah slowly speak.
"Guild Master... this grimoire is mimicking a human."
Seo In Ah's claim was this.
When it first contacted Iru Ri, it introduced itself as 'Star'.
Then with guard Moon Sang Hyuk, it took human form, called itself human, and added 'Moon Byul'.
"To the grimoire, humans seem friendly yet intriguing subjects. It saw the Saintess and mimicked human form, then told the guard it was human."
She paused before continuing.
"What human introduces themselves as 'human'?"
All three nodded. No human would.
"It has basic Earth knowledge but doesn't understand humans well. So it mimicked Moon Sang Hyuk's name concept from his badge."
"Mimicking the 'Moon' from Moon Sang Hyuk?"
"Exactly. Probably from the name tag. 'Moon Byul' sounds more like a name than just 'Byul'. If the Saintess had named it first, it'd be 'Ee Byul' or something."
A plausible hypothesis. No contradictions assuming the grimoire isn't human.
"It doesn't grasp fear or danger well yet. So it just judged him unwell and gave a gift."
"Hmm, makes sense. Then why the gift?"
"That's why I said friendly."
"But that hypothesis holds only if the grimoire's inhabitant isn't human, right?"
Seo In Ah pushed up her slipping glasses with her index finger.
"Guild Master, do you think the Blind Philosopher on the 40th floor is human?"
"...No."
It looked human, but it couldn't be.
"Does the Blind Philosopher think it's human?"
No one asked, so unknowable until directly questioned. But if it said yes, would we take it at face value?
"If I'm right, the grimoire will keep appearing until it meets the Saintess."
"Huh? Why me?"
Honestly, Iru Ri didn't want to meet the grimoire again.
"Promises to higher beings take contract form. It's not 'I should meet' but 'I must meet'."
Iru Ri hadn't dodged unilaterally. The grimoire's sense of 'tomorrow' was just off, delaying things. She knew they had to meet.
"Good news is, it's threatening by nature but not intentionally. And it'll grow more human-like."
It was supposed to be simple: store it until the owner showed. But things were getting weird.
"Any way we can use the Cosmic Grimoire?"
"No. Too dangerous."
Seo In Ah dismissed it outright, no room for consideration.
"Deceiving a higher being is suicide. The Saintess succeeded because it 'allowed' contact. Try now, and it's a one-way trip to the psych ward."
Iru Ri was just a 'guest' to the grimoire, not the owner.
"Ahem. Still a shame."
"We'd get caught instantly anyway."
"Whish whish."
So Seori licked her lips but gave up. Risk too high, as Seo In Ah said.
"Its gentlemanly behavior toward humans is because we followed etiquette by grimoire standards. The gift fits that context."
"So what now?"
"Saintess needs to prepare a gift too."
"Huh?"
Tricky. Gifts must suit the recipient's tastes. She'd received priceless medicine. What to give?
"Alright. Everything today is top secret. Meeting over. Ruri, prep for next contact. We'll plan. Can't turn our guild into a haunted house."
"No, wait, hold on."
Iru Ri urgently stopped them.
"Problem: what gift would the grimoire like?"
"......"
"......"
"Whish..."
All three thought the same.
How should I know?
A brief silence.
"Fresh grapes?"
"In Ah, that's..."
"In Ah, your jokes suck."
"Hmph."