New Nest
A mage's home is no place to barge into carelessly—that much he'd learned. Mages were strange folk to begin with, paranoid types who might have all sorts of nasty surprises rigged up inside. After Cheon Ji-yoon headed off to school, Cheon Ji-hoo sat alone at home, did a bit of cleaning, and drew up a list of the spells he'd need to install in their new place. Just in case of a dragon attack or something, he'd set the highest level of wards. Better to overprepare. That was one of the rules he'd lived by in that other world. Prep thoroughly enough, and even if a nuclear blast hit in the dead of night, you wouldn't die.
Before long, there was a knock at the door. He opened the front door to find Lee Joo-hwan standing there.
"Hello, Mr. Cheon Ji-hoo. I've finished gathering listings for move-in-ready properties, so I came to let you know. Here's the list."
"Oh."
Cheon Ji-hoo took the list from Lee Joo-hwan. It briefly noted each home's age, location, floor, size in pyeong, and price. There was even the top-floor unit in the very apartment he lived in now, plus others nearby. Most were apartments built within the last five years, all in similar price ranges.
"Guess I'll check them out myself later. Call the agents to match Ji-yoon's school dismissal time."
"Understood."
Lee Joo-hwan wanted to snap, Am I your secretary now? But he lacked the guts. Commander Hong Ji-hwa had chewed him out, calling Cheon Ji-hoo a mad bastard you don't touch. One wrong word, and your head's gone in a flash—that's what she'd warned. Not that she knew he'd overheard her ranting.
"See you later then. Oh, and..."
"What now?"
"Any plans to get a phone...?"
He couldn't keep trekking over here every time something came up.
Cheon Ji-hoo thought it wasn't a bad idea. A way to get in touch right away if something happened to Ji-yoon would be handy. He nodded.
"Lead the way."
"Yes, sir..."
Lee Joo-hwan sighed inwardly and took the lead, guiding Cheon Ji-hoo to a phone shop.
* * *
-Oppa got a phone.
Cheon Ji-hoo sent a text to Cheon Ji-yoon's number the moment his new flip phone was activated. He quite liked the shiny little thing that folded top to bottom. He couldn't quite wrap his head around why a folding phone was cutting-edge tech, though. And thanks to Lee Joo-hwan's savvy haggling, he'd gotten a good deal, so he figured he'd throw the guy a bone.
"Any rifts nearby that need clearing? Let's go hit one."
"...Uh, hold on. I'll check with the commander."
"Lee Joo-hwan's fine."
"I don't have the authority. And it's Joo-hwan."
Lee Joo-hwan quickly contacted Hong Ji-hwa to relay Cheon Ji-hoo's intent. She wasn't swamped, so she approved, and they agreed to link up at Deokyang Mountain near Gimpo Airport. Cheon Ji-hoo settled leisurely into the back seat of Lee Joo-hwan's car, enjoying the drive. Far comfier than flying atop a dragon's head—he even dozed off with a nod.
"We're here."
Lee Joo-hwan woke him soon after. Cheon Ji-hoo slowly opened his eyes, stepped out, stretched, and surveyed the surroundings. It looked much like the D-rank Bukhansan rift he'd cleared before.
"We've been waiting."
Hong Ji-hwa, who'd arrived early, greeted him, and as before, association staff briefed them on the rift.
"C-11 is unique inside—a labyrinth of stacked stones, like a maze. The layout shifts hourly, and the main monsters are 'mummies'—mira, you know."
"Undead here too, huh."
"Undead usually don't drop much of value."
Which meant this was trash-tier too. But it wasn't that bad, apparently; the smirking staffer continued.
"That said, we've confirmed a 'guardian' exists."
"Guardian?"
"Appears if you meet special conditions in the maze. Should drop decent byproducts if you take it down, we think. Other guilds gave up since it wasn't worth it."
"I see."
Cheon Ji-hoo didn't look too interested, though. He'd signed a contract handing over all byproducts except A-rank cores, so that was natural. Of course, if something really good showed up, he'd snag it.
"You're clear to enter."
"Thanks for the work."
Cheon Ji-hoo gave a curt reply and stepped into the pale rift. Hong Ji-hwa followed as usual, and they took in the interior.
Sand swirled in the air. A long corridor stretched ahead, walled top to bottom on all sides with square bricks. At the end, a blatant fork.
"At least there's light."
Torches lined the walls. Without them, it'd be utter garbage.
Cheon Ji-hoo narrowed his eyes, frowning. He stared down the corridor a moment, then said,
"A mage's tomb."
Traces of magic traps everywhere. The maze's shifts ran on magic too. Spells in an unfamiliar script, but not hard for him, who'd reached the pinnacle of the mage's path, to decipher.
"Mage's tomb?"
"Yeah. Slapped magic all over the place—can't you see?"
Hong Ji-hwa squinted but saw nothing.
"Nothing..."
Cheon Ji-hoo tsked.
"A demon who can't even spot that..."
"I'm not a demon."
"Demon-adjacent. Anyway..."
He placed a hand on the wall. Clear flow of mana pulsed through.
The 'core' powers it—a massive mana circuit looping the whole maze, waking mummies and reshaping it.
Crude.
To him, just a shoddy trap. The mage owner had tried hard, but this security would crumble before a magic tower lord, let alone a dragon.
"Hmm, like this?"
He slipped his mana into the maze's flow. Tweaked it here and there, and the walls ground into motion at his will—up, down, left, right, anywhere they wouldn't overlap.
"D-Did you just...?"
Hong Ji-hwa had vowed not to be shocked anymore, but this was absurd. Manipulating the rift from inside. No special gear—just a hand on the wall.
"Not hard. Infiltrate the internal mana circuits, tweak the flow a bit..."
"That's what no one can do!"
"Can't do this easy thing..."
Tsk. Cheon Ji-hoo manipulated the maze again. Walls realigned, carving a straight path ahead. All barriers shoved aside to the core chamber—crushing monsters flat as a bonus. He wrecked the circuits entirely, disabling the traps too. Now, just stroll to the core.
Hong Ji-hwa's mouth went dry. Her timer read three minutes. To shatter a C-rank rift.
"Let's go."
Cheon Ji-hoo shoved hands in pockets and ambled down the path. Hong Ji-hwa sighed deeply and followed.
Soon they reached a vast chamber of stacked bricks. At the back, the core blazed, begging to be harvested.
As Cheon Ji-hoo stepped one foot inside—
BOOM!!
A massive mummy dropped from above. Four meters tall, shouldering a stone pillar, red eyes glowing murderously.
Hong Ji-hwa tensed for defense, but Cheon Ji-hoo sauntered in casually, like he'd expected it. She almost yelled a warning but held back. That attitude meant he had something up his sleeve.
"You're the guardian, huh."
He murmured, facing it down. He'd spotted the "special condition" while scouting: kill every mummy in the maze. Which the design forced anyway—no way to skip the guardian.
"Total trash-tier."
Gathering these for pocket change? Fifty billion seemed fair for his peaceful life.
Anyway, the mummy swung its massive pillar at him. The heavy stone cleaved air—enough to pulp a normal human on impact.
But it bounced off with a clang, tremendous rebound sending the mummy staggering back.
Confused why its attack failed, it swung again. Whoosh—whoosh, the pillar whistled through the chamber.
Again, it failed to connect. Even greater repulsion hurled the mummy ass-over-end.
"Tsk tsk, just flailing with no finesse—how do you expect to win?"
Cheon Ji-hoo watched, then raised a hand. It looked like a standard undead at a glance, but really a finely crafted golem. The tomb's owner had put effort in, but shoddy runes kept it underpowered—an unlucky construct.
"Friction Coefficient Adjustment."
He invoked the spell with his right index finger. A blue halo spun atop it, spreading outward. The rising mummy slipped and skidded on the floor. Same magic that deflected Baek Sung-jun's sword—zeroed friction in an area to restrict movement.
While it flailed, Cheon Ji-hoo exhaled long, gathering mana. No need for flash to drop a golem. Undead needed joints and heads smashed; golems just needed their power core destroyed.
Vast mana lifted his body slightly off the ground. He lowered his right hand, raised his left. A red magic circle spun fiercely, sparking crimson embers everywhere.
What he needed: piercing power in one shot.
Maintaining Friction Coefficient Adjustment, he raised his right hand for another spell. A bluish circle hovered, locking on the core in the mummy's chest. The blue ring blazed madly.
While the mummy struggled, he completed the left-hand spell.
"Gather-Flame Rending Shot."
Red light erupted from his fingertips like an explosion. Dozens of superheated arrows scattered, then converged on one point.
Spectacular. The arrows arced beautifully to the core, melting through the mummy's skin, burrowing in, and cleanly liquefying the nucleus. No blast—the light in its eyes faded as it collapsed.
Nine seconds total. Cheon Ji-hoo inhaled and said,
"Done. Let's go."