Spirit Eyes

"Man... I am so jealous of this office..."

"Don't whine in the middle of the movie."

"I'm just... so jealous..."

Jo Youchan kept muttering, but even then he never took his eyes off the screen. Still locked on the display, he lifted his hips just enough to stretch a hand toward the beverage dispenser and draw a drink.

"I can't believe I can refill my drink and keep watching..."

"I put some thought into the layout."

"I'm so jealous..."

"Shh. They're about to fight."

After knocking out a movie as a warm-up, we grabbed the Playstration controllers.

A fighting game. A racing game. A sword-fighting game. The results went without saying.

"Master, what are you, some kind of gaming god!?"

"You dare try to match me at games?"

"Is that score even legal? Wow, anyone watching would think you've done nothing but game your whole life."

I winced for a second. How the hell did this kid know?

But once we switched to a shooter, the tables turned.

"Ack!"

"FPS is my main game, you see."

I'd heard that aiming drills were mandatory for lightning ability users. Landing a lightning bolt with any real precision was apparently that finicky.

"...I don't lose when it's my main game either."

"What's your main game?"

"Hunter Match."

"Oh, you play Hunter Match? I play a bit too. Are you even in the rankings?"

The ripe grain bows its head. I held my tongue.

After that, every time I ran into Jo Youchan's character, I got a hole put through my skull.

"Okay, now you're the FPS demon. How are you this good?"

"Never pick a gunfight with a lightning ability user again, Master."

But the situation reversed soon enough.

"Huh!?"

"What's wrong?"

I nearly dropped the controller in my hands.

It actually worked!

I'd pretty much given up on it. Thankfully, it looked like Lee Yeonhwa's situation had worked out.

With this, the twentieth floors won't be any trouble at all.

With Spirit Eyes alone, running the twentieth floors was no different from taking a test with the answer key in hand.

"Master? Should I pause the game for a second?"

"Pause? Why would I pause! I just had an epiphany."

"What epiphany?"

"This, right here!"

My field of vision blew wide open. Now that felt good.

I can see it.

Every last micro-frame of the game screen. Every bullet Jo Youchan sprayed, every twitch of movement, every predicted trajectory!

"W-what? Why can't I land a single shot all of a sudden? What did you just pull!"

"I told you. An epiphany."

"Hey! I had that round won! This is so unfair!"

"I can see them — I can see every last one of your bullets!"

"Rematch!"

There was no losing now ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even if I wanted to.

"What is this... your score is at pro-gamer level. Did you just master FPS on the spot?"

"Heh heh. Didn't I tell you I can see them?"

"Does martial arts skill work even here...?"

Per our bet, every cookie Minji would be bringing tomorrow now belonged to me.

"R-rematch!"

"Heh heh. I can even see the part where you lose."

"Ah, come on, hurry up!"

And that was how a full week's worth of cookies became mine as well.

From here on, Jo Youchan would not get so much as a single cookie past his lips.

In a darkened room, on her bed, Lee Yeonhwa could not fall asleep. She tossed and turned, then finally grabbed the phone from beside her pillow.

The bright glare made her face scrunch up.

Ugh, where's the brightness button! I can't see!

Still lying down, she searched for spirit contractors on her phone.

Michelle Selea. A British hunter with striking bronze skin. The most famous spirit contractor in the world.

A red, snake-shaped fire spirit — a salamander — coiled up Michelle's waist and fawned over her. The way she communed with that wondrous living creature made her look like a model.

The backdrop was the scorched panorama of the forty-second floor, the one Michelle had burned.

Whoa...

At first, the idea of being a spirit contractor had not sat well with her. But honestly, what girl wouldn't welcome the thought? That resistance had been nothing more than a reflex buried in Lee Yeonhwa's unconscious.

In a life treated as a failure, it had been her one point of pride — the achievement of climbing to the twentieth floor on martial arts alone.

Lee Yeonhwa had clung to her martial talent. It was the only thing holding her self-worth together. The only means she had of being recognized by anyone. But little by little, something had begun to change.

I really have talent as a spirit contractor?

She looked it up online. A spirit contractor, at first, could see only a single spirit. You contracted with that one, cultivated the natural qi inside yourself, and only then would other spirits gradually come into view.

But the sight she had taken in with her left eye yesterday had been different. An enormous number of spirits. And every last one of them had shown her goodwill.

Martial talent had not been false hope — it had been confirmation of real ability. The forming of a healthy self-worth. At that sweet sensation, Lee Yeonhwa's tightly shut heart had already swung wide open.

It's what Instructor said... so it has to be true. Yeah.

Her trust in Hyeonseok, too, had hardened to stone in a single night.

A heart that swayed like a reed in the wind. The teenage girl had long since lost any chance of sleep, her pulse hammering with anticipation.

What kind of spirit will I contract with? Fire? Water? Wind?

Her eldest brother had chosen the lightning attribute among the forms of natural qi. They were the closest blood, so maybe she would be similar? A dazzling, flashing lightning spirit for her too?

She wriggled her pajama-clad legs under the blanket. And something else wriggled with them.

"Ah!"

She threw back the covers. A cute tiger cub peered up at Lee Yeonhwa, the faintly burning fur lighting the space beneath the blanket.

"Come here."

She set the phone aside and gathered the warm little tiger into her arms instead.

"Tomorrow we'll go see Instructor together. Night night."

Lee Yeonhwa fell asleep with a smile on her face.

The next morning, Lee Taehyeok, Patriarch of Jeonjoodang, came looking for Lee Yeonhwa.

"Demonstrate the Original Origin Returning Art."

The demand came out of nowhere. Lee Yeonhwa was briefly flustered, but she lowered her eyes, assumed a proper stance, and composed herself with due courtesy.

She unfolded the Original Origin Returning Art. Naturally, she did not handle any natural qi. She had never known how.

"Enough. Continue to devote yourself."

Lee Yeonhwa bowed at the waist.

The Patriarch left. And inwardly, Lee Taehyeok smiled with deep satisfaction.

As expected. Even with guidance, nothing has changed at all.

Of course not. No matter how gifted Instructor Do was as a teacher, how could he compare to Jeonjoodang, a clan ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whose lineage stretched back through the ages of the Joseon dynasty?

If anything, she had gotten worse. Every movement drooped without a shred of will in it.

She received Instructor Do's help and still nothing changed. So her heart has broken toward martial arts.

Good. Stay just like that. Your failure will become my justification — the justification that will keep Instructor Do from refusing Jeonjoodang's friendship, and all of our various demands.

Meanwhile, Lee Yeonhwa was still bowed at the waist. The tiger cub climbed her calf. The corner of her mouth twitched.

I guess I really didn't have martial talent.

Once, that would have driven her to despair. Now it was the verdict she had been waiting for in her unconscious all along.

I really... was meant to be a spirit contractor!

The thought of going to see her Instructor set her heart pounding.

"I'm sorry? He's out?"

Lee Yeonhwa had come to the reception desk at Jingyeok Guild Headquarters, and the news was disappointing.

"Yes, he was in the office until just a moment ago, but he's set his status to away."

"Ah..."

"He must be gaming... I mean, working, or he's entered the Tower."

Her ears pricked at that. The Tower?

"There's a message he left, though. He said if Miss Lee Yeonhwa comes by, send her up to the office anytime."

"What!? R-really? He really left a message like that?"

After the rudeness she had committed yesterday. Was he... was he going to take her as a disciple?

"Please wait in the office."

"Yes!"

And so she arrived at the office.

This is... an office?

It looked a lot closer to an arcade.

Among instructors, there were those who placed a particular emphasis on the importance of rest. Was he that type?

Anyway... once he clears ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the floor, he'll come out here, right?

What floor was Instructor Do on? Wait — was he actually a hugely famous hunter?

It happened every now and then. Hunters who used aliases for their clear nicknames. The reasons were as varied as the people.

The most talked-about Master of late was the prime example.

I'll ask him when he comes out!

The girl's heart pounded over even the smallest things.

I entered the Tower with Jo Youchan.

"At last, the Tower together with Master! I can't believe this day has actually come!"

"Shouldn't I be the one getting emotional here?"

When Jo Youchan had been on the twentieth floor, I had been a civilian. And yet I had master-cleared every floor since, and now here I was, running with Jo Youchan — a hunter famous as a rising star.

What a long road it's been.

I operated the Hunter Match system.

Team — a function newly unlocked on the twentieth floor. Let's see what it can do.

Yes.

Huh.

That was it? Nothing felt different.

I have no idea how the team system is supposed to work in reality.

In Hunter Match, a team was less a specific function than the format of the game itself.

You put hunters on a team, cleared the Tower, gained experience and collected rewards, and used those to grow the hunters further.

Maybe something will be different once we clear the floor?

Let's just try it.

"Um, this is my first time doing team play."

"Same here."

"But my floor is higher than this — is that okay? Will it even count as a clear?"

"Yeah. As long as your contribution doesn't get measured too high."

That was why so-called "carrying" was impossible — having someone from a higher floor run the stage for you while the lower-floor hunter just collected the clear.

In the first place, if the floor gap was too wide, you couldn't even enter at the same time.

"I've been waiting for this day. The day you'd guide me again!"

"I'll look at your martial arts after we clean up the monsters. Safely."

I wanted to try out Spirit Eyes as soon as possible, after all.

"Wait here."

"Oh! Master's fighting form...!"

From the twenty-first floor on, Dokkaebi appeared. Creatures that worked sorcery — which was to say, magic. Hunters who relied one hundred percent on martial arts tended to wash out here.

Either that, or they teamed up with someone from a magic line.

Twenty of them... that's a lot, all right.

The Tower scaled its difficulty with the number of people. Mostly that meant more enemy volume.

Even so, team play was far easier. When the teamwork clicked, the effect was more than one plus one equals three. In the higher floors, team play was mandatory.

"All right. Here I go!"

I leapt toward the front — and Jo Youchan just about had a heart attack.

"W-wait! M-Master! That's not how you clear the twenty-first floor!"

Most Dokkaebi poured out sorcery from range. Charge them head-on and you ate a focused barrage. It was the next best thing to suicide.

The orthodox method was to swing around to the flank. You pulled aggro from one Dokkaebi at a time, intercepting or dodging each working of sorcery as you closed the distance. But.

A veteran has a veteran's way of clearing.

Map hack: on. Information on every working of sorcery the Dokkaebi were spinning up poured into view at a glance.

There's a reason Spirit Eyes is a top-tier skill.

As if Spirit Eyes were merely eyes for seeing spirits. Spirit Eyes were eyes that held nature itself.

The building blocks of nature were mana. Anything related to mana, it pierced straight through — that was closer to the real ruling.

The first will-o'-the-wisp came flying.

Sorcery was no different from magic. The structure that, in magic, would have been a magic circle was laid bare.

I flicked the will-o'-the-wisp right on the nose.

The structural center of the magic, laid open by Spirit Eyes.

TAAANG!

The fireball crumbled pathetically. It didn't even explode. A thoroughly unnatural sight.

From behind me came Jo Youchan's poleaxed voice.

"Huh?"

More sorcery came flying. This time, two will-o'-the-wisps and a spray of sharp stone crystals.

"Master! That's actually dangerous!"

I gave each fireball a lightning flick, then swept a lightning-wreathed hand across the leading edge of the stone hail.

Sorcery with its structural center broken. It folded without a fight.

BOOM!

CRACKLE—

"Wh-what... what even is that..."

A newbie's reaction. I couldn't help feeling pleased. This is what a clear looks like, kid. Brute-forcing it with raw stats doesn't count as a strategy.

BOOM, BOOM!

THUD.

CRACKLE—

I cut through every working of sorcery and arrived among the Dokkaebi pack.

Some of them were shaped like blue will-o'-the-wisps. Some looked like boulders with eyes stuck on.

That one looks like a goblin.

I gave every last one of them a fair and even flick.

TAAANG!

TATANG!

TAAANG!

Every time I snapped my fingers, three or four Dokkaebi burst at once. Their durability was garbage.

Of course, Heavenly Exploding Strike was strong in its own right.

I captured the two goblin-like Dokkaebi alive and headed back. Jo Youchan was staring at me, blinking.

"What kind of... that's not even a real clear strategy... you're not John Wick..."

"All right. Let's take a look at your martial arts."

"Sorry?"

"Hit this one with Heavenly Exploding Strike."

Why, using the exact same Heavenly Exploding Strike, he got an SS-Rank clear and I got a Master Clear. Let's see what the difference between him and me actually was.

Grrrnnn...

"...Ehh?"

"Eh— ehh? Did you just look at my mighty Heavenly Exploding Strike and say ehh?"

What.

Why was that so weak?

"Did you actually hit that as hard as you could?"

"I wrung out every ounce of strength I've had since I was a baby, just to show you, Master!"

I may have reacted a little too honestly. Jo Youchan's mouth puckered into a pout.

"Fine then, show me! Let's see just how incredible Master's Heavenly Exploding Strike really is!"

"Gladly."

I walked up to the goblin. Its ugly face whipped from side to side in a frenzy.

I ignored it and swung my fist, lightly.

KRA-KOOOOOM!