The Bandits' Hideout

Inside the cabin. Dragged in by a monstrous arm, Ju Joyeon confirmed with his own eyes that there were over a dozen burly men inside. Realizing none of them looked the least bit friendly, he thrashed wildly to escape the grip holding him.

"What the hell is this brat?"

"A suicide seeker, perhaps? How dare he barge into our hideout."

A language Ju Joyeon had never heard before reached his ears. Yet somehow, he understood every word. That only made the situation worse. Knowing they held no goodwill toward him and were full of murderous intent, he struggled even more desperately.

"Tch. Annoying little shit. Let's just kill him."

"Understood."

"Mmph!! Mmmph!"

A massive axe rose before Ju Joyeon's eyes. Its silver blade gleamed, proving it was no fake. "Mmph!!" Cold sweat poured down his body at the sight of the weapon that could cleave his neck in an instant. The giant wielding the axe brought his hand down. Whoosh! The axe followed, hurtling toward Ju Joyeon's crown.

Faced with the descending axe, Ju Joyeon squeezed his eyes shut in terror of death and, for the first time, regretted coming here. That was all a powerless being like him could do.

"Wait."

Thud! The axe stopped just above Ju Joyeon's head, a hair's breadth from splitting it open.

"Boss? Why'd you stop me?"

The giant holding the axe looked toward a certain spot, a question mark practically floating above his head. Ju Joyeon, trembling, unconsciously rolled his eyes in the same direction.

"I told you to use that stupid head of yours while you live. What are you doing making more trouble when we don't even know what's going on out there?"

"S-sorry..."

A man stood there. With an unkempt beard and messy hair, dressed in what could only be called rags, the middle-aged man looked even more ragged than the giants holding Ju Joyeon. Yet the aura radiating from him overwhelmed everyone present.

"Just free his mouth so the brat can talk."

"Yes."

At the middle-aged man's words, the hand covering Ju Joyeon's mouth was removed.

"Hah, haah... P-please, spare me."

In a voice trembling with fear, Ju Joyeon immediately begged for his life.

"So this is the language translation the gods mentioned? Interesting. You all heard it too, right?"

"Yes, Boss. He's begging to be spared."

"Loud and clear."

"Modern world, huh..."

The man circled Ju Joyeon once, deep in thought, then spoke.

"You. Say 'inventory.'"

"H-huh?"

"Say 'inventory.'"

"I-inventory?"

At Ju Joyeon's words, a tiny square hole appeared in the air.

"A hole... You all try it too."

"Inventory."

"Inventory."

When the giants holding Ju Joyeon shouted "inventory" as instructed, small holes appeared before each of them as well.

"Try putting that axe into your inventory."

"Yes."

Following the middle-aged man's order, the giant brought his axe to the small hole, and it vanished without a trace.

"So others can't see what's inside... I'll have to check the volume limits later. Brat, say 'status window.'"

"Status window..."

"So you can see the contents of the status window. That aside, a useless brat with nothing but the language translation the gods gave him? I've got a title or two myself."

"S-sorry."

Ju Joyeon had no idea what he'd done wrong, but he apologized unconditionally, not wanting to offend the man called "Boss."

"Hmm... Killing him is on hold for now. Drag him along, boys."

"Yes."

"Understood."

Thanks to the middle-aged man, Ju Joyeon narrowly avoided death and was dragged down to the cabin's basement.

****

"From now on, call me Boss when you address me."

"Y-yes..."

Deep in the cabin basement. Ju Joyeon, dragged into the bandits' hideout run by the middle-aged man who called himself Boss, stood in nothing but his underwear after the giants stripped him. "First off, don't think I'm going to let you live. Quite the opposite. I can kill a brat like you anytime. So behave yourself."

"Y-yes..."

"Now, what the hell is this?"

The Boss held up Ju Joyeon's only possession—his smartphone—and asked.

"It's a mobile phone..."

Thud!!

"Guhk!"

The Boss's foot slammed into Ju Joyeon's stomach.

"How am I supposed to know if you answer like that? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Looks like you still haven't grasped the situation. The only reason you're alive right now is because you're the only modern-world human here. You're the only one I can use to understand and compare this situation. If you're no help, I'll just kill you and kidnap another modern-world human."

"I-I'm sorry! I'll explain properly!"

For the first time in his life feeling what it meant to truly fear for his survival, Ju Joyeon broke out in a cold sweat and racked his brain to convey everything he knew about his smartphone to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Boss.

"A communication crystal ball, a messenger pigeon, and it can even handle the vast amounts of information you'd only get from a mage tower—all in one tiny magical tool? And anyone can just carry around a legendary-grade artifact like this?"

"Impossible. Boss, there's no way something like that exists."

"Has to be a lie."

The subordinates refused to believe the explanation about the smartphone, calling it nonsense.

"But it's true..."

"Hmm~ ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Can't just take it at face value..."

Ring ring ring~!

Ju Joyeon's smartphone suddenly began ringing. Startled, the Boss nearly threw it, but realizing it was only glowing and making noise, he checked the screen.

"Han Yeoju... What does that mean?"

"Yeoju? Sh-she's my friend. She's calling my phone right now."

Han Yeoju, who had escaped earlier, was calling out of concern. Following Ju Joyeon's instructions, the Boss pressed the answer button and held the phone to his ear.

—J-Joyeon?! Are you okay?! You're alive, right? I heard we can't call the police right now! The TV says it's really dangerous right now... Hello? Ju Joyeon! Are you listening?!

"......"

Beep.

The Boss quietly ended the call. Ju Joyeon felt a twinge of despair as what might have been his only escape route—Han Yeoju's call—ended so futilely. Meanwhile, the Boss fell into thought for a moment before speaking.

"Alright. I can believe it. What this brat said about the smartphone's communication ability is true."

"Really, Boss?"

"Probably safe to believe the rest too. Right, brat?"

"O-of course."

"Hmm— Good. We've got ourselves something incredible."

The Boss tapped the smartphone screen, trying to check its main functions.

Ding!

A clear bell-like sound rang in the air. Everyone's gaze turned toward the sound, where a semi-transparent notification window had appeared.

"Huh?"

Ju Joyeon and the subordinates were bewildered by the sudden phenomenon.

"So this is what a notification window looks like... Status window."

The Boss opened his own status window while looking at the notification. An opaque status window appeared in the air.

"Huh? Why can't we see the Boss's status window?"

"Really? You can't see it?"

"We can see that it's there, but it's opaque so we can't read what's written."

"I see. So status windows can be made visible or invisible."

Pleased with this new discovery, the Boss checked his status window.

"So this is what a title is."

He muttered to himself as if he understood.

"What is it, Boss? Are titles a good thing?"

"Are they good?"

"They're good. This is real luck. Hey, brat."

"Y-yes."

The Boss looked at Ju Joyeon with an expression completely different from before, as if he'd struck gold, and smiled.

"If you cooperate with me, our relationship won't just be that of a bandit and a stupid brat. It can become a very friendly one."

"Y... yes?"

Ju Joyeon still didn't fully understand what the Boss was saying.

****

The next day.

"Mmm... Where...?"

Ju Joyeon stirred awake in an unfamiliar bed and remembered his current situation. The world that had suddenly changed. The explanation from those calling themselves gods. And how the cabin he'd opened without a second thought turned out to be a bandits' hideout, nearly costing him his life. At least he'd been lucky—the man called Boss had spared him to understand the situation and proposed a cooperative relationship, which was why he was still alive.

'How is this a cooperative relationship?'

It wasn't exactly an equal partnership, though. Sturdy shackles and heavy iron balls were fastened to both of Ju Joyeon's legs. He had some freedom of movement, but escape was impossible. Grunting, Ju Joyeon dragged the iron balls attached to his legs and opened the door.

"Oh? Up already, kid?"

"Overslept."

"Ah... Good morning..."

Feeling intimidated by the giants bustling about the hideout, Ju Joyeon greeted them awkwardly.

Creak!

A nearby door burst open, and the Boss emerged.

"Brat. Come here."

"Ah, Boss. Good morning."

"Forget the greetings and get over here."

"Yes."

Ju Joyeon hurriedly followed the Boss back into the room. It was quite dark and messy inside. Nearly half the room was filled with dust-covered books, and only the desk—there for formality's sake—looked somewhat clean.

"This world is definitely going to be buried in uncontrollable chaos and war."

Without any preamble, the Boss said this to Ju Joyeon, who had followed him into the room.

"Huh? What do you mean..."

"Just like you said, I searched how to use the smartphone on the internet and spent all night learning it while gathering information floating around online. Already, incidents from just the past few hours are being uploaded as videos and photos."

Watching the Boss casually use technical terms like a modern person, Ju Joyeon felt a slight sense of dissonance.

"...That's amazing. You've already gotten the hang of it?"

"Yeah. Honestly, without the 'title,' I wouldn't have adapted this quickly."

"Title?"

"It's the effect of the title I got yesterday: 'The First Mage to Accept the Smartphone.' It gives me a high level of understanding regarding smartphones."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Of course it is!"

The Boss shouted at Ju Joyeon, who asked without much enthusiasm.

"I just told you! This world is heading toward chaos. Two worlds have merged into one. It belongs to no one now. Especially the modern world—many countries are nations with presidents instead of kings. They don't have absolute command authority, so it's hard to force their subordinates to move. There are no monsters either. People don't receive basic combat training until they're in their twenties."

The Boss continued without pause, words pouring out like a machine gun.

"Of course, the situation in the magic world I came from is the same. Even if there's a king, there's no way to spread word of the current situation across the entire country. Unlike the modern world, where higher education is mandatory, there are plenty of ignorant commoners. In short, both sides are bound to face tremendous chaos."

"I see."

Ju Joyeon tried his best to absorb the Boss's words and responded accordingly.

"That's why meeting you in this situation is a huge stroke of luck for me."

"What? How does that work?"

"Think about it. If you'd met other humans or monsters from the magic world first, you'd already be dead. You met me, so we've ended up in a relationship where we can talk like this. And it's the same for me. Because I heard about this smartphone from you, I can get ahead of everyone else. The only downside is that since the landmasses merged, there are places without signal... Your friend calling yesterday was lucky too... Huh?"

The Boss, who had been speaking while holding up the smartphone, looked slightly flustered when the screen didn't turn on.

"Uh... Looks like the battery's dead."

"Need to charge it again. More annoying than I thought."

The Boss didn't seem particularly surprised by Ju Joyeon's words. Instead, he carefully brought his finger to the charging port.

"[Electro Shock]"

Crackle...!

With a faint spark, the smartphone screen lit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up.

"What?!"

Ju Joyeon was utterly shocked by the Boss's action.

"What was that just now? Magic? Was that magic? You charged it with that?!"

"Yeah. If I used normal lightning magic, it'd break, but I know exactly how much voltage to send into the smartphone, so it's possible. Nothing special for me."

"Whoa!!"

Though it was nothing to the Boss, to Ju Joyeon it was as shocking as turning a stone into a gold nugget.

"Boss, were you a mage?!"

"Well, yeah. Though I can only use beginner magic."

"Can everyone in the magic world use magic?!"

"Not everyone. Only those with talent and money. Probably around ten percent."

"Whoa~!"

Watching Ju Joyeon stare at his finger and the smartphone with sparkling eyes, the Boss suddenly remembered a question he wanted to ask.

"Come to think of it, your world had no magic at all. So you don't have any mana either?"

"Mana? Is that what you use for magic? I probably don't have any, right?"

Perhaps due to curiosity, Ju Joyeon's voice was now full of energy, unlike when he'd first been intimidated by the Boss.

"Well, we'll find out if we check. Come closer."

"Yes!"

Ju Joyeon stood in front of the Boss. The Boss placed his hand on Ju Joyeon's chest, right over his heart, and closed his eyes. With a pounding heart, Ju Joyeon watched as a soft light began to emanate from the Boss's hand. Then—

BOOM—!

"Guhk?!"

Ding!

Ju Joyeon felt an intense pain unlike anything he'd ever experienced. It was as if his heart was being pierced by an awl. Unable to even scream properly, he couldn't breathe. Clutching his chest, Ju Joyeon felt his consciousness fading from the unbearable agony.

"Whoops. Didn't expect it to be this bad. Guess I miscalculated."

The Boss's flustered voice.

Ding.

And with the sound of the notification window, Ju Joyeon completely lost consciousness.