The Boundary of Dreams (1)
As you all know, starting today, the corporate contact period and the external request period will activate simultaneously.
It was early Monday morning at the Cradle’s outdoor training grounds. A young woman radiating healthy vitality stood on the podium—Professor Shin Jae-yu—delivering her lecture in a bright, energetic voice.
The class had just finished basic physical training, yet unlike the first day, almost no one was collapsing in exhaustion or dry-heaving. Even Yena could now complete the full track without my help. In just a short time, the students had already begun adapting their bodies to the Cradle’s rigorous curriculum.
“Your evaluation data has already been sent to the corporations through internal channels. Making contact and signing contracts is entirely up to each of you. The Cradle’s policy is non-interference in that process.”
The professor on the platform lifted the voice amplifier to her lips and continued.
“However, before you sign anything, make sure you thoroughly memorize the guidelines we distributed. And if you later realize you’ve entered an unfair contract, don’t hesitate to visit the Cradle’s legal office for consultation—”
Professor Shin Jae-yu spent a long time explaining the intricacies of contracts. Most of her advice was genuinely helpful for students who had come up from the countryside or were from modest backgrounds. Students from powerful families would simply use their own house brands or already had pre-arranged sponsors, after all.
“Right, that should be enough about contracts. Today, in addition to basic training, we have one special lesson prepared.”
At her light gesture, two teaching assistants emerged from the storage building carrying objects draped in cloth. They were slightly larger than a person, clearly quite heavy, and a metallic clinking sound accompanied every step.
The students watched the shrouded items with puzzled expressions. When the assistants finally pulled away the fabric, the true nature of the objects was revealed.
“Huh…?”
“That’s…”
What the assistants held were personal firearms entirely coated in matte black, giving off an overwhelmingly intimidating presence.
“This is the PKL-3 assault rifle. Its performance is somewhat lacking, but its simple structure makes maintenance easy and operating costs low. Thanks to those traits, it’s widely favored by everyone from back-alley mutants to frontier rebels. In other words, it’s something you’ll be seeing so often it’ll make you sick.”
They certainly looked sickeningly familiar. And now I had a rough idea what kind of class Professor Shin Jae-yu had planned.
She swept her gaze across the students, then clicked her tongue in clear disapproval.
“Tsk tsk. I can already see some of you shaking in your boots. Pathetic. That’s exactly why I prepared this special lesson.”
Her words left the students looking utterly lost.
“Once the demonstration is over, you will understand more clearly what kind of beings you are. Keep both eyes wide open and watch carefully. Any student who looks away or shows fear will receive the heaviest demerit possible.”
Finished speaking, Professor Shin Jae-yu stepped down from the podium and stood at a distance in front of the assistant holding the firearm. At her signal, the assistant raised the weapon and aimed it directly at her.
Immediately, a noise like thousands of lightning bolts striking at once erupted across the training grounds.
“Kyaaak!”
“What the—!”
Forgetting the professor’s earlier warning, several startled students covered their ears and screamed from their seats.
The aimed rifle began spitting ferocious fire at hundreds of rounds per minute. Since the distance was quite close, every bullet struck the professor’s vital points without the slightest deviation.
Yet she simply stood there, completely unfazed. Her calm expression remained full of confidence. Each time a bullet made contact with her body, a blue light flashed along her silhouette and ricocheted the rounds in every direction.
Ting!
Titing!
The sound of deflected bullets bouncing across the training grounds filled the air. Some even reached the students in the front rows, but blue light flickered along their silhouettes as well, knocking the bullets away.
Before long the professor was completely hidden by the cloud of dust. Only when the rifle clicked empty did she clear her throat, brush the dirt off, and step forward again.
“Whew. Your faces are something else. Hmm?”
Seeing the students’ stunned expressions, the professor broke into a mischievous grin.
“Anyone know why I’m standing here perfectly fine after taking that hail of bullets? Yes, Seungheon?”
“It’s because of Field development, Professor.”
“Correct. I’ll add ten store points, so come by my office later to collect them.”
The other students who had been a hair too slow to raise their hands looked bitterly disappointed. Store points and demerits directly affected ranking scores, after all.
“When a mage breathes in, Bessel particles from the surrounding atmosphere flow into the wells inside their body. When they breathe out, the particles are refined and internalized; the leftover residue is expelled. These expelled particles briefly form along the curves of the body before returning to the atmosphere.”
“The layered accumulation of these particles is what we call a Field. Its formal name is Kaiber Field, though it’s also known as the surplus particle membrane. You don’t notice it much in daily life, but this Field possesses powerful repulsive force against sudden kinetic energy. The main reason firearms have fallen to second-rate weapons is precisely because of the existence of Fields.”
“However, Fields are not exclusive to mages. Monsters of Grade 2 or higher, black mages, and demons all develop Fields through the same principle. Also, interference between Bessel particles—that is, magic—receives no hindrance from Fields whatsoever. This is exactly why our existence as mages is indispensable to the nation. We exist to deal with enemies that firearms cannot touch… whew.”
Her mouth must have gone dry from the long explanation. Professor Shin Jae-yu took a sip of water before continuing.
“Ahem. I got a bit off track. Anyway, when you go out on external requests, the most common opponents you’ll face are ordinary criminals using firearms, just like earlier. For some reason, young mages tend to fear armed criminals even more than monsters. But I want you to always remember that you hold an overwhelming advantage against them in every matchup. This applies even to criminals using cold weapons instead of guns. An ordinary person’s physical abilities can never defeat a mage who has reinforced their body with particles.”
Suddenly, one particular part of her explanation lodged itself firmly in my ear.
“…Therefore, a mage losing to an ordinary person is utterly shameful. It is something that must never happen. If any current student of the Cradle were to display such disgrace, I will personally take responsibility and expel—”
“…”
When I glanced sideways, Yena had her head hung low in embarrassment. The tips of her ears burned bright red like ripe strawberries. Come to think of it, our first meeting had been when I helped Yena while she was being chased by thugs. She had been so terrified she couldn’t even think of using magic.
It seemed Yena was remembering that day too. She kept her head down, repeatedly stealing glances at me before looking away again. Her eyes looked almost pleading.
“…”
It looked like the only way to protect Yena’s pride was to bury that incident forever.
“All right, that’s enough of the boring verbal explanation. Fears like this can only be overcome quickly by experiencing them with your own body. Let’s see… Student Kuk Jaeryong? Step forward.”
“Hik…”
The male student’s pathetic squeak echoed across the training grounds at Professor Shin Jae-yu’s call.
“The external request period is already here… Time really flies…”
On the way back after the lecture ended, Yena let out a small sigh and muttered in a voice lacking confidence.
“Will I be able to do it…? C-rank requests are basically all monster subjugations… ugh…”
Yena, who was still terrified of monsters, shivered violently.
“You’ll do fine. Have any companies approached you with offers?”
“I got a few business cards… but honestly I don’t even know who’s who… hehe…”
Yena shook her head lightly. Since she had achieved a fairly high ranking in the first exam, it seemed multiple places had offered her sponsorship contracts. But she really did show her country-girl side in matters like this.
I couldn’t claim to be an expert either, but I had picked up a few things from the team leader and my older sisters.
“Are you… signing with the sponsor as well?”
“Yeah. There’s no reason to go anywhere else. Then… ugh.”
While descending the stairs, a sudden wave of dizziness hit me. I grabbed the wall to steady myself. My vision spun once before settling back into place.
“Hyun! What’s wrong all of a sudden! Are you sick…?”
“I’m fine. I just didn’t sleep much last night…”
Yena looked up at me with a face on the verge of tears. She made such a fuss about dragging me to the infirmary that I barely managed to stop her. In truth, I was anything but fine. After several days of barely sleeping, I felt like death itself.
I was currently facing a massive ordeal.