Return to the Black Mage's Lair
Mu-hyuk emerged from the capsule, arms crossed, pacing back and forth across the room.
Anyone who saw him could easily read the word "anxious" plastered all over his face.
After circling the room for what felt like ages, he shook his head vigorously.
"Nah, it can't be."
It absolutely couldn't happen.
A lab rat...? No way...!
He just wished the 24 hours would hurry up and pass.
He had to check.
If the corpse hadn't vanished, he'd wake up in Zikera's lab.
But what if that really happened?
The mere thought sent chills down his spine, but right now, there was no way to confirm anything—and without confirmation, he couldn't even think of solutions.
Damn it.
Truth be told, if he really had been caught, escape would be nearly impossible.
That couldn't happen.
Suddenly, a glimmer of hope struck him.
Right—Duke Amur!
He must have made it out alive.
He had to have.
Mu-hyuk rushed to his desk.
He flipped open his laptop, logged into the homepage, and scrolled through the free bulletin board. A few posts caught his eye.
Unfortunately, it wasn't what Mu-hyuk was hoping for.
He dug through more posts.
After a while, his eyes lit up.
It was a short post, but more than enough.
Thank God.
This confirmed Duke Amur was alive and had entered the castle. It might be the poster's mistake, but Mu-hyuk decided to believe it. If the duke reported back and the emperor took action, Mu-hyuk could break free.
No—think rationally.
What if the poster was wrong? What if, against all odds, Duke Amur was dead?
Even then, it'd be fine.
Zikera was doomed eventually. He had to die for the next episode to trigger. The only question was when.
Until then, what experiments would he endure? What results would they bring? The uncertainty gnawed at him.
"Haa."
He shook his head hard again.
The anxiety lingered, but the black mage Zikera would die someday—definitely.
Even if captured, even if he lost much to experiments, Mu-hyuk vowed never to despair. He repeated the vow to himself.
*
Lying blankly on his bed, he wandered the Illusion homepage again, watched TV in the living room, then headed to the gym for a workout.
Still, only five hours had passed.
Time was crawling.
Flopping back onto the bed, he exchanged texts with Ji-yeon.
Time flew by in an instant.
Once the chat ended, boredom set in again.
Right on cue, his phone buzzed.
Vrrr-vrrr-vrrr.
It was Sung Min-woo calling.
(Whatcha doin'?)
"Just zoning out."
(Come out. Let's grab some meat.)
"Eh, too lazy."
(You got nothin' goin' on.)
"True, but still."
(Quit whinin'. Get out here.)
Thinking it over, his parents were out on a rare date, and Kang Ji-yeon would be late partying with friends. Eating alone sucked, and it beat killing time at home, so he nodded.
"Sure, why not."
(Beef after forever? Cool?)
"Cool."
(Hongdae Jungnyeok Ansim at 7:20. First one there grabs a table.)
"Got it."
He hung up, left the house, and drove to Hongdae.
After parking nearby, he entered the Jungnyeok Ansim restaurant.
Sung Min-woo had already snagged a table.
Mu-hyuk sat across from him, and Sung Min-woo looked up.
"Yo."
"Hey."
Sung Min-woo went right back to his phone.
"What're you up to?"
"Flirtin' with my crush, bro."
"Crush?"
"Yup."
The eternal guy topic: girls.
Intrigued by "crush," Mu-hyuk leaned forward.
"Who?"
"Heh, curious?"
"Kinda."
Sung Min-woo grinned like an idiot and shoved his phone over.
"Whaddya think? Cute, right?"
The girl in the photo was definitely pretty.
"Yeah, she is. When'd you meet?"
"Today."
"Today?"
"Yup."
"In Illusion?"
Sung Min-woo nodded with a laugh.
"I was the party leader, remember?"
"Right."
"Ended up savin' her ass somehow. She looked up at me all sparkly-eyed, thankin' me nonstop."
"Oho, and then?"
"What 'and then'? She said she wanted to repay me, asked for my number. Gave it to her. Came out after dyin', and bam—texts waitin'. Added her on chat, havin' some deep convos now."
"That's it?"
"For now... yeah?"
Mu-hyuk leaned back.
"Dude, that's just gratitude for the save."
"Nah, you idiot!"
"It is."
"Argh, so dense. She was sparkly-eyed!"
"Helmet on—no face visible. Sparkly how?"
"Took it off after savin' her!"
"Ah, gotcha."
"And the chat vibe's electric right now!"
"Sure, sure."
"Ugh, shouldn't have said anything. Watch—I'll make it official and introduce her proper."
"Hope so."
Sung Min-woo was lost in his fantasy world, chuckling to himself no matter what Mu-hyuk said.
"Heh heh, couple dates incoming."
"Couple dates? Pfft."
"Beach or pool..."
"Tsk tsk."
The part-timer swung by, dropping off a plate piled with premium beef cuts.
"Ooh, nice marbling."
"Let's dig in."
Mu-hyuk tonged a piece onto the grill.
Sizzle—
As it cooked and juices rose, he flipped it. When the blood beaded again, a quick salt dip and into his mouth.
"Mmm, melts."
"Told ya—fire."
"Yeah, killer."
The nutty savoriness filled his mouth.
And a shot of soju to top it.
"Perfect!"
All the Illusion stress vanished in a puff.
At the same time.
In Illusion, Mu-hyuk's character lay bound in iron chains on a hard stone bed in the dim lab.
Black mage Zikera fiddled with potions and items nearby.
He shook a clear glass vial, smirked in satisfaction, then tinkered more.
After some time, having crafted three unidentified items, Zikera approached the stone bed.
"I hope you last a good while."
He'd used outsiders as subjects before.
First time failed.
Their bodies vanished on death—impossible to hold.
He puzzled over preserving them and found a way: pure power of darkness prevented vanishing.
After, he captured many outsiders for tests. But handling god-blessed outsiders was trickier than expected.
One: Unconscious, drugs lost potency—hard to gauge effects.
Two: Even conscious-only tests, they felt no pain—had to sub other lifeforms for that research.
Three: Their mental fortitude was weak.
They'd wail and scream at minor experiments.
Fun though. Kekeke.
Four: Eventually, they'd lose consciousness entirely.
Despite flaws, he captured this one because instinct said this outsider would yield different results.
First meeting: Entered alone, slew his chimera, attempted suicide without hesitation upon facing him—cold, objective assessment. High marks.
Second: Endured lethal blows tenaciously, rose again. Impressive.
This one might...
Could produce real results.
So, he chose this subject.
Thus, he waited.
"Kekeke."
For consciousness to return.
Zikera waited, crafting more unidentified items.
The next day.
Mu-hyuk woke, clutching his throbbing head as he left his room.
"Up?"
"Yeah."
"Head hurt? Why'd you drink so much yesterday?"
"Got carried away hangin' with Min-woo."
"Sigh, made hangover soup. Eat up."
Mu-hyuk smiled, sitting at the table.
"Finish the whole bowl."
"Ok."
The cool soybean sprout soup from Mom soothed his gut.
"Good?"
"Super refreshing."
He polished off the bowl in seconds.
"Little more."
"Rice?"
"Nah, not rice."
Mom sighed, shaking her head—but refilled the soup anyway. Guilt tugged at Mu-hyuk.
"I'll drink in moderation next time."
"Yeah, don't overdo it. Ruins your stomach, like your dad."
"Got it."
Two bowls clean, he hit the gym, working out moderately post-booze. Shower done, back home—but penalty lingered, so he poked around.
Illusion TV time.
Logging into Illusion TV, he checked his coupons.
"Whoa..."
An involuntary gasp escaped.
57,400 coupons this month.
That's 5.74 million won.
85% his cut...
About 5 million to his account.
Rank still high.
And despite the dark screen, 20,000 viewers lingered in his stream.
Chat buzzing.
What's the talk?
Curious, he watched.
Mu-hyuk chuckled.
What kinda chat is this...
Dramas, huh.
A bit interested, but he shook it off and kept watching. Pointless banter, but great for passing time.
Snapping to, Mu-hyuk realized.
Oh, already!
He dashed to the capsule and lay down.
"Whew."
Heart pounding.
Thump, thump.
Penalty ended—he logged in instantly.
Welcome to Illusion.
Darkness shrouded his vision.
Fwosh.
Before sudden light fully restored his sight.
"Kekeke."
Zikera's raspy, metallic laugh assaulted his eardrums.