Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Residents' Meeting
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Sure, it was a fun fantasy, but it wasn't exactly the right time for it.
So, I decided to put off that triumphant delusion of Ma Doseyang proudly puffing out her gumdrop-like chest for later.
I locked eyes with the uncle staring at me, mouth agape like a rice cake.
He blinked blankly for a moment before speaking first.
"...Mage?"
It was the same uncle whose sword had snapped earlier.
He looked a few years older than me, so I nodded politely.
"Something like that."
Of course, Kiki had mentioned there was a pretty big difference between a mage and a magus, but I didn't bother explaining here.
We'd just been in a fierce battle, after all.
I didn't feel like launching into a long lecture to someone whose voice was still trembling.
Clank.
For some reason, the people behind him hadn't relaxed either.
I furrowed my brow at the sight of them with hands on their weapons.
'What's their deal?'
From the situation alone, I'd just helped these people out.
I hadn't done anything to provoke hostility.
But the way they looked at me wasn't like they saw a comrade.
Maybe they were thrown off by seeing an unfamiliar face in a pollution zone?
It seemed plausible. No guarantee that someone popping up from behind was always friendly.
As I pondered whether to explain myself, the uncle in front of me thankfully turned his head urgently.
"Stand down. What do you think you're doing? Lower your swords."
At his words, the people behind relaxed their stances.
Looked like this uncle held a pretty high rank.
After reining in his party members, he introduced himself to me.
"I'm Yoo Sung-wook. I lead the independent clan, White Cloud Clan."
White Cloud Clan, huh.
Sounded straight out of a wuxia novel.
Probably served some Eastern constellation, but I couldn't tell what kind just from the name.
Not like I knew much about this stuff anyway.
I'd picked up some basic knowledge lately, but clans and factions? Total outsider.
Never really interested me.
"Got it. I'm Kang Han-sik."
As I gave my name while thinking that, Yoo Sung-wook hesitated.
"...Yes, Mr. Kang Han-sik. Were you planning to head that way, by any chance?"
"Yeah. Is there a problem?"
"...No, not at all. Hey, what are you waiting for? Make way."
But Yoo Sung-wook's tone as he said it seemed oddly rushed.
I figured he'd want to chat since I'd shown what I could do, but...
'...Or maybe not?'
Thinking about it, this was smack in the middle of a massive terrorist attack.
Up until now, I'd only dealt with thugs like Hunters or somewhat green folks like that sibling duo.
My impression of proper purifiers was pretty positive this first time around, but from their side...
They couldn't exactly relax and make friends right now.
"And you all?"
"We were ordered to guard the entrance. Something about cleaning up any chimeras trying to break out."
"I see. Thanks for your hard work."
His actual response matched that vibe.
I shrugged inwardly—no helping it—and passed by Yoo Sung-wook and the White Cloud Clan.
I had urgent business myself, after all.
Socializing with fellow purifiers could wait.
The blood-red interior of the subway station.
The moment the sudden mage appeared and vanished, ragged breaths erupted from everywhere.
"Huff."
"Hah, hah..."
No one needed to go first.
The pressure from that mage had been that intense.
"...Captain."
"...Jin-tae, not a word right now."
Yoo Sung-wook was no different. He raised a hand to silence his vice-captain calling out to him and steadied his breathing.
He was trying to play it cool, but he wasn't normal either.
That mage they'd just faced was a monster whose limits you couldn't even sense.
The scene replayed slowly in his mind.
At first glance, he'd seemed like just a civilian who hadn't evacuated in time.
Obviously. No trace of any blessing or boon, no honed human aura.
But that was only the first impression.
The moment the mage casually opened that ominous book...
Yoo Sung-wook felt like the world itself was twisting.
Impossible. This was already deep inside a pollution zone.
Chimeras stitched from mythic and legendary beasts overrun the place.
Air thick with mind-warping toxins everywhere.
An altar built to summon a fallen immortal, shaking minds to the core.
Yet when that magus's grimoire unfurled, all that pollution felt like nothing.
"Know thyself as dust within the world."
That single short phrase brought an overwhelmingly vast presence.
Before it, the self scattered, time itself ignoring him.
Like the natural law of the world ignoring something too insignificant to bother with.
Of course, it didn't last long.
Just enough time to chant one sentence—factoring in the illusion of stretched time from the eerie sensation, maybe a felt minute at most.
But in that span, Yoo Sung-wook felt unprecedented terror.
And realized one fact.
The mage before him was a monster not to be touched.
'Even my connection to Lord White Cloud was severed.'
Brief as it was, while the mage's lips moved, even the link to his constellation had cut out.
How many beings in the world could pull that off?
Suddenly, Yoo Sung-wook glanced at the chimeras crumpled on the floor.
Monsters shriveled as if denied permission to exist here, lifeless.
Without that mage's consideration, he and his team would be the same.
His less seasoned members seemed oblivious, ready to draw swords, but Yoo Sung-wook knew.
Fighting that mage meant they'd die. And he'd talked his way out of it.
'So my daily training wasn't entirely pointless.'
Hoo. Regaining his composure with a sigh, he turned to his still half-panicked subordinate.
"We didn't see anything just now."
"...Huh?"
"You felt it too, right? That's a monster way beyond our understanding. Associating with something like that won't end well. Hell, if possible, don't even think about it."
Rare knowledge even among ability users.
Some kinds of knowledge and mysteries affect you just by recalling them.
And to Yoo Sung-wook, that mage was exactly that kind of monster.
"Of course, we'll report to the bureau separately. But I'll handle it personally. You all focus on today's mission."
As he said that and reached for his spare sword...
"Uh, but..."
The least experienced member of White Cloud Clan here raised a trembling hand.
Yoo Sung-wook let out a short sigh.
He'd just said not to think about it.
No helping it.
Telling someone not to think of an elephant, and expecting them to actually do it? Rare.
So, mixing pity and frustration, he asked.
"What is it?"
"That guy's name from earlier... does anyone remember it?"
"Must've been tense. He said Kang..."
Kang...
...
...
What was it?
Chaos flooded Yoo Sung-wook's mind.
A name he'd heard just five minutes ago during the introduction, yet he couldn't recall it.
As if some transcendent something had sliced out that memory alone.
"What about his face? Human? Human, right? That was really a human like us?"
No one spoke. Goosebumps rose. He'd called the guy a monster, but even that was wrong. It transcended normal perception.
He glanced toward the stairs the mage had taken.
A question arose in his mind.
Mysteries attract mysteries, powerful constellations draw even greater ones. Fact.
The stronger the constellation, the smaller the world feels.
Easier to bump into someone in a small room; natural law for small things drawn to the great.
And down there was the Poison King.
A-Rank wanted by the bureau, one of Korea's most infamous villains, the "Conqueror."
'But.'
No matter how strong the Poison King...
Could he draw something like that?
Or maybe the mage drew the Poison King to him?
Absurd thought, but Yoo Sung-wook couldn't shake the suspicion.
I reached the subway station.
By then, not only the faint signs of life I'd sensed, but even the occasional flickering lights had gone out completely.
From midway, I had to rely on the flashlight I'd brought, and my body tensed up without me realizing.
Seriously.
It felt just like walking through that mart's basement alone last time.
Strolling through a dark, empty space isn't something normal guts can handle.
Anything could jump out, and weird noises leaked from everywhere.
Rustle.
Thud!
Probably those chimeras or whatever bumping into stuff as they moved.
I knew that rationally, but the atmosphere made it hard to calm down.
I'm not that brave to begin with.
Truth be told, as a kid, I'd hear Red Mask stories and couldn't go out at night, or see the sea lion in Penguin and lose sleep for days.
Even now, I couldn't shake the fear of a ghost popping out somewhere.
'Oh, wait.'
Are ghosts part of mysteries too?
Common concept even before constellations, so maybe not.
Ask Kiki later.
Thinking that, I clutched my grimoire close.
In this situation, only Book Yang was trustworthy.
Shiver.
For some reason, the trembling grimoire grew a bit as I hugged it and descended below the tracks.
These crazy terrorists had derailed the subway somehow.
I skirted past it, following the tracks.
Occasional shifting gravel or eerie wind sounds, but that was it. Nothing else happened.
Something did occur about thirty minutes later.
After passing two stations, murmuring voices echoed from afar.
"$@%#%"
"!$$#@"
Korean mixed with unintelligible dialects.
'That's them.'
I was sure these were the terrorists behind it all.
Red statue and burning incense ahead, tough-looking guys stationed around.
No way the bureau was holding a ritual for successful suppression; that altar made with the statue and incense was my target.
I killed the light and approached slowly.
Then, at some point.
My eyes widened.
'What the... guns?'
Those crazy bastards!
They had guns!
Hairs stood on end.
Didn't pollution terrorists mean ability users?
Shouldn't they be hurling talismans or something ability-user-like!?
I screamed internally, but their choice was way more practical than I thought.
True to soulless criminals, armed with guns and blades, approaching felt like instant death.
'So Boss!!!!!!!!'
You said I could handle them alone!
Where'd you get that idea!?
This was all wrong!
Show myself now, and I'd be Swiss cheese!
My plan was just to prank some guys flailing limbs with abilities!
Suddenly missed Ro Boss and Meow.
Wanted to sneak back, open a new party with them.
But I didn't.
Grind.
I bit my lip, calming my frayed nerves.
Seeing guns made my heart race wildly, but turning back wasn't an option.
Couldn't face So Boss who'd trusted me with this.
More importantly, if I bailed, who knows what would happen next.
And it wasn't hopeless; tracks were pitch black, they hadn't spotted me yet.
Red button still in hand.
Opportunity existed. Grimoire's power outclassed mere guns.
I pondered briefly.
But conclusion was one: had to do it. No choice.
I steeled myself and spoke.
"Book Yang. Make me feel lucky to have met you?"
Thinking after saying it, even I thought it sounded a bit crazy.
Ego item or not, saying that to someone I'd known two days? They'd freak.
Flip!
But it matched Book Yang's tastes, apparently.
Pages turned on their own amid the grimoire's hallucination blushing bright red.
What I wanted: one big ambush hit to wipe them out.
And Book Yang accepted fully.
Confirming the illustration on the page, I began chanting.
"Does the ground you stand on truly feel like yours?"
Rumble!
"Gah!"
"What? Earthquake?"
"Wait! Connection to Lord Ha-baek!"
First line, and the ground shook wildly.
"Realize what you truly stand upon."
Cracks spiderwebbed the pillars holding up the sealed station.
"The altar! Protect the altar!"
"Why all of a sudden? Enemy?"
"Wait, over there! Something's there!"
Maybe sensing the grimoire's presence, the terrorists turned toward me.
Too late.
"Those who close their eyes can always rise again."
"How!? No alarm went off!"
"Chimeras? What were the chimeras doing!?"
Crash!
Chant complete.
"But give thanks that he now rests."
⟨ Earthshaker's Repose ⟩
Boom!
The station floor caved in, ceiling collapsing.
Roooar!
"Aaaah!"
"Uwaaaah!"
"Save meeee!"
Kaboom!
"Ah."
To be honest.
This was way too big even for "one big hit."
I couldn't tear my eyes from the destruction Book Yang had wrought for a while.
Ground split, collapsed ceiling burying the altar and terrorists in one go.
Yet my spot was untouched. How the hell do you pull off destruction like that?
Surprisingly, though, I felt no real aversion watching it.
What to say.
People say mass destruction or killing hits hard mentally, but since I'd resolved to do it...
'Well, anyway.'
They were heinous terrorists.
I'd seen what they'd caused upstairs. No reason for sympathy.
Anyway, was that it?
So Boss's altar was definitely smashed; no more terrorism from that mess.
Only question: that 500-million-won bounty guy.
'...Whatever.'
No desire to dig through rubble for him.
No guarantee he was even there.
As I turned to backtrack along the tracks...
Crunch!
"Urk."
A woman in black robes burst from the debris.
Chills hit instantly.
Escaping that gap meant insane ability user level.
That wasn't the issue—guns! What're the odds buried guns still work?
Didn't know! Didn't want to!
I hurriedly raised my grimoire.
Before she could act, as I tried to chant...
Spotting me, the woman prostrated flat.
"A lowly servant of the Small Path greets the great seeker of truth!"