Fall (3)

There were quite a few people in Yu Yul's Circuit Refining class. It looked like about twenty out of the twenty-four spellcasters had chosen it, but surprisingly, the warrior Lee Jun-ho was also there.

I glanced in his direction before taking a random seat.

"Hey there."

The voice that drifted over was distinctly casual, almost cheeky. It was Seo Ji-woo.

"I heard you did some crazy stuff in the last labyrinth... Is that seriously all you got for loot?"

She pointed at my cane. The Chief's Feather was dangling from the top of it like a little keychain.

"It's kind of cute, though."

Seo Ji-woo let out a snicker. My pride felt slightly stung for no good reason.

"This is actually a good item."

"Sure, if you say so. Oh, by the way, look at this."

She turned her head to show off her ear. Hanging there was a tiny, skull-shaped earring. I quickly appraised it.

An active accessory. It was top-tier even among Rare-grade items. On top of that, it was a summoning-type accessory.

How on earth was this fair? She must have gone to some undead labyrinth, but there was no way it was harder than an Orc settlement crawling with shamans...

Come to think of it, Seo Ji-woo had an insanely high Luck stat.

At least, according to her character card in MoMo. Two years from now, she would debut as a Unique-grade character. Even though she didn't seem like the lucky type at all.

"...Want to trade?"

I asked, fingering the Chief's Feather. Seo Ji-woo tilted her head.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"...Whatever."

Seo Ji-woo shrugged and sat down right next to me.

"..."

"..."

I remained silent, but Seo Ji-woo kept stealing glances at me. Her gaze was incredibly intense and hard to ignore.

"Hey. So..."

She finally broke the silence.

"I heard you were in the UDT."

Here it comes, I thought.

"I don't know if you've heard of him... but his name was Seo Ji-hyuk."

I shut my mouth.

Seo Ji-hyuk. No matter what I said about that guy, nothing good would come of it. Silence was my best option.

"Hello? Earth to you? Can you hear me?"

Just as Seo Ji-woo began to grumble under her breath—

The classroom door swung open, and Yu Yul walked in. I naturally used her entrance to tune Seo Ji-woo out.

"Nice to meet you. I am Yu Yul, a High-ranker spellcaster. It's Yu Yul, not Yu Yu-ri. I've noticed a few of you getting my name wrong."

She delivered her introduction with a cool, aloof demeanor.

"Let's get straight to the point. Circuit Refining."

Without wasting a single second, the lecture began.

A few of the spellcasters scrambled to pull out notebooks and pens, looking flustered.

"First of all, there is no need to have a large number of mana circuits. Because..."

The information Yu Yul was sharing was basic common sense regarding mana circuits—specifically, the concept of highways versus local roads.

It was the exact same explanation she had given me before.

"...That's a bit of an outdated theory."

Beside me, Seo Ji-woo crossed her arms, looking dissatisfied. It was an interesting remark.

"An outdated theory?"

"Yeah."

She nodded.

"There's research showing that if you can control all of them, having a high number of circuits is just as efficient as expanding a main circuit."

I had read that study too.

It claimed that if you could open a hundred minor branch circuits and control them perfectly, the results would be just as outstanding as refining.

To me, that was absolute bullshit. Controlling even a single main circuit was hard enough to make me want to die. How the hell was anyone supposed to control a hundred tiny, needle-like branch circuits simultaneously?

"This class is kind of a letdown."

Seo Ji-woo casually judged the instructor. I let out a dry chuckle.

"Sure you're not just looking for an excuse because you're scared of the pain?"

"...Huh? Are you picking a fight?"

Seo Ji-woo asked, looking genuinely baffled. I simply leaned back in my chair without answering.

"Just as you used mana magnets to open your circuits, there is an auxiliary tool for refining as well."

Mentor Yu Yul produced a cord made of glittering gems from her hand.

"The Jewel File."

"How does it work?"

Seo Ji-woo shot her hand into the air. For someone who claimed the class was a letdown, she certainly couldn't contain her curiosity.

Yu Yul addressed her.

"It acts as a guideline to direct the mana within your circuits. By using this file, you can at least ensure you won't die or end up permanently disabled during the refining process."

It was a terrifyingly grim warning.

"Is anyone willing to go first?"

Silence filled the room. No one raised their hand. Yu Yul's warning had clearly terrified them.

But not me.

"I'll do it."

I readily raised my hand. Yu Yul walked over to me.

"Extend your right arm."

I stretched out my right arm. She pressed the Jewel File flat against my skin, running it in a straight line from my wrist to my shoulder.

"What do I need to do?"

"First, close your eyes."

I closed my eyes.

"Refining your circuits means placing an extreme load on them."

The touch of the Jewel File was freezing cold, yet it felt magnetic. The mana inside my body instinctively began to cling to the path of the file.

"So, refine it through your own visualization. Any method is fine. Find your own way."

My own way.

My own Flame of Cognition.

...To be honest, the moment Yu Yul mentioned "tearing," a specific concept had immediately sprung to mind.

The crystallization of mana.

It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I once suffered from kidney stones in my past life.

The literal, agonizing sensation of one's urethra being shredded to pieces. The shape of that stone—like a concentrated lump of pure, unadulterated evil—remained vividly etched in my mind.

"...Haah."

And so, I visualized that incredibly sharp, jagged substance.

I condensed my mana into the most vicious, irregularly spiked stone imaginable.

And on top of that...

In an instant, the volume of my mana swelled, and my concept began to manifest. The proof of its realization came in the form of sheer, unadulterated pain.

"!"

It felt as though my arm—my entire arm—was being hacked off. I held my breath, hanging my head as I gritted my teeth.

A solid mass, four to five times larger than my blood vessels and physically impossible to fit inside them, was violently swirling and tearing through my veins. The agony was indescribable.

My spine bent backward as I gasped for air.

"Breathe," Yu Yul commanded.

I forced myself to inhale. In, out. With every single breath, it felt as though my entire body was being ripped to shreds.

It hurt.

Far beyond anything I could have imagined.

Grab.

Yu Yul grabbed my wrist. In that split second, the movement of my mana froze, and the pain instantly vanished.

"..."

I stared up at her blankly.

"Your heart rate has far exceeded its maximum limit," Yu Yul said.

A heavy drop of sweat rolled down my face. The veins in my arm had already swollen into a dark, angry purple.

She shook her head.

"Going any further is too dangerous."

Grit. I clenched my jaw.

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"...No."

It couldn't end like this.

"Not yet."

I had finally grasped the feeling.

If I didn't push through right now, I would fail. I had to pour everything I had into this. You can't achieve anything by taking a step back.

"I can still do this."

Yu Yul looked into my eyes. I stared right back at her and said,

"I can do this on my own."

"..."

She quietly let go of my wrist.

"Fine. Show me."

I set the mana stones in motion once again. The pain had already spread from my arm to my entire body.

It felt like I was dying, but as long as I didn't actually die, it was fine.

As long as I didn't die, as long as I was still breathing, I could always start over.

There was no need to fear pain. It was the ultimate proof of life.

Those who fear pain are the ones who die young.

"Aaaagh!"

I still remembered the comrades who had fallen right before my eyes.

I remembered the countless people I had killed.

"Seol Ha-woon, don't you dare pass out from the pain. The moment you lose consciousness, your mana will extinguish. Mana is the power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of your will."

Dying in battle. A dog's death, masked under the noble euphemism of "dying in the line of duty."

The grieving families never knew just how badly mangled the bodies inside those coffins were.

Murder. The faces of the countless people I had slain.

Some might have been terrorists, some collaborators, and some merely innocent civilians.

"Nghhh..."

Because I had witnessed all those deaths, because I had dealt all those deaths, I had only one single desire on the battlefield.

I wanted to live.

Even if everyone else died, I wanted to survive.

"Endure ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the pain. Do not choose the easy path."

There had never been an easy path in my life.

Not once had the road I walked been easy.

"...Keep going. Push it through."

I was born without ever knowing my parents' faces. My grandmother died when I was six. At fourteen, I was kicked out of the orphanage. I survived by brawling in back alleys until a man I met by chance helped me become a soldier.

That was when the real hell began.

"—!"

A raw, primal scream tore from my throat. It felt as if a lifetime of bottled-up rage and agony was being violently purged. I thought I felt a tooth pop loose. Surely, it was just an illusion.

"...Stop."

Yu Yul placed a hand on my shoulder. Gasping for breath, I stared down at the desk.

Blood and saliva. A dark, messy pool of my own fluids stained the wood. Fortunately, there were no teeth among them.

"That's enough."

Yu Yul forcibly stopped me, her own mana freezing mine in place.

"Haa... haa..."

I leaned back, panting heavily as my mind slowly cleared. Only then did I realize that every single eye in the classroom was fixed on me.

Then, Yu Yul lifted my blood-soaked arm. Wiping away the blood with a handkerchief, she spoke to the class.

"This is refining."

My mana circuits were glowing with a brilliant blue light. They were visibly thicker and stretched far longer than before.

My body trembled uncontrollably. Saliva kept pooling in my mouth.

"...I'll try too."

Inspired by the display, someone raised their hand. It was the white-haired spellcaster, Ryu Yeon-hwa. Yu Yul walked over to her and placed the Jewel File on her right arm in the same manner.

Ryu Yeon-hwa closed her eyes.

For exactly three seconds.

"Gah! Wait, wait a second!"

She thrashed like a landed shrimp and slapped the Jewel File away.

"W-what was that? What just happened?!"

Ryu Yeon-hwa demanded, her face pale with shock.

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"Ah. There's one thing I forgot to mention," Yu Yul said.

She held up the Jewel File.

"This Jewel File amplifies the movement, volume, and frequency of your mana. Which means it hurts significantly more than standard refining."

"...?"

I was utterly speechless.

So you're telling me I multiplied an already amplified effect? You could have mentioned that a bit sooner. If I knew the pain was going to be squared, I wouldn't have done it either.

"I mean, seriously..."

Ryu Yeon-hwa stared at me. Her eyes practically screamed, What kind of freak are you?

I buried my face in the desk.

I couldn't think anymore.