The Conference (2)
The venue for the academic conference was a massive auditorium. Even at a glance, it seemed big enough to hold at least two thousand people.
With an event on this scale, all sorts of people had shown up—nearly a thousand official attendees, by all accounts.
One might think that was a paltry number for a supposed world-class gathering, but factor in the steep entry barrier for spatial mana research, and it didn't seem so bad.
And when this many people researching the same field end up in one place? Conflict is inevitable.
"……"
Of course, this being what it was, there were no outright brawls or flying fists—though that would've been way more entertaining. Sadly, nothing like that went down.
But you could tell from the vibe. These folks sure as hell didn't like or welcome each other.
The tension between the elf mages and the human mages was especially thick.
"Look at those elves, all clumped off by themselves."
I muttered it so softly only Baek Seol-yeon could hear. She pretended not to notice. Over in one corner, the elf mages were huddled together, whispering among themselves.
They seemed particularly displeased with the female mages. They shot suspicious glances our way too. Naturally, we ignored them.
The media loved to show elves and humans cooperating in harmony, but reality wasn't so rosy.
In my opinion, the elves' tribalistic, discriminatory attitudes were the biggest problem.
Even back in Yggdrasil, the entrenched elders in the magic association had insisted that only male elves—those capable of wielding magic—had the rightful authority to rule the world. Nothing had changed.
Humans had tried to bridge the gap, but the elves' hardline stance left them settling for business-like exchanges of mutual benefits, never progressing further.
They might look similar, but having lived their whole lives in different worlds made it impossible for the two races to blend easily.
If even folks of the same race hated and discriminated against each other, how could different species fare any better?
"I hear they've even started building elf towns lately. One in Cheonan."
Baek Seol-yeon shared another tidbit. Elves had a strong tendency to stick together. It was common knowledge that elf enclaves were popping up worldwide.
Korea treated them relatively well, so their solidarity had taken longer to solidify—but it was bound to happen eventually.
"……"
Watching the human mages and elf mages clash gave me a powerful sense of déjà vu.
Similar stuff had happened plenty of times back in Yggdrasil.
Traditionalist elves clinging to roots and fundamentals versus humans always open to new ideas and variety.
In the end, human mages had come out on top, as I recalled.
Thwack!
A loud sound echoed through the auditorium. At the same time, an elderly human man who looked like the moderator stepped up to the podium.
"Looks like it's starting."
After a short wait, the moderator ran through the schedule, guidelines, and various announcements.
I tuned out the boring bits. What I cared about was the guy Baek Seol-yeon had mentioned in the car.
"What's that guy look like?"
I whispered to her, and this time she smirked before answering.
"You'll know him the second you see him. He's famous for that grotesque face. Used to be a hunter."
I skimmed the program booklet I'd gotten at the entrance while listening. The presenter for that paper I'd seen before coming—"New Theories on Spatial Magic and Mana, and the Eyes of the World"—was listed there too.
Chen Zuiyuan. Chinese guy.
I sat quietly, waiting for both him and the other person Baek Seol-yeon had brought up, listening to the presentations.
"……"
I closed my eyes gently. Shutting them out helped me focus better, somehow blocking out the visuals.
I concentrated on the talks with my eyes shut—until I felt a stir around me and opened them again.
"…That's the guy."
Baek Seol-yeon hadn't been lying. Her words were spot-on: you knew at first sight.
The man who stepped up to the podium for his presentation—Chen Zuiyuan—was so hideously disfigured it was hard to look straight at him.
Hunter. The wounds he'd taken venturing in and out of Gates had completely wrecked his face. You could've believed someone had ripped it apart and stitched it back wrong.
Whatever face his parents had given him was long gone. Spatial mana had twisted it into something that inspired disgust—or outright horror, depending on the viewer.
Most folks mangled like that by spatial mana covered up or got reconstructive surgery to reclaim their old looks, or so I'd heard.
But not Chen Zuiyuan. No mask, no surgery. It looked like he'd been walking around like that since the accident. Weird, though—Gate mishaps didn't usually pulverize a face that badly. Made me wonder.
"…That's the guy." "Told you you'd know him right away?"
Baek Seol-yeon chimed in from beside me. Still, he was pretty renowned in the Gate field, apparently.
While most professors stuck to armchair theories without real-world grasp, Chen Zuiyuan's long hunter career and insane passion had rocketed him to world-class Gate expert status in record time.
Looking closer, his face was the only grotesque part; he wore a sharp suit, and his decades as a hunter had left him with a sturdy build that belied his listed age of 56.
Tap—
Ignoring the stares, he walked slowly to the podium and gripped the mic.
His opening line?
"Humanity has, until now, thought far too lightly of spatial mana."
A genuinely fresh perspective. At least from the humans' side.
After that, I couldn't follow. The presentation switched to English.
***
Thanks to Baek Seol-yeon's live translation, Chen Zuiyuan's talk stood out as actually pretty engaging compared to the others.
Nothing fancy about why.
For starters, unlike the other profs, he delivered it in a super animated, fired-up state.
Like someone who'd made a real discovery.
And the content he brought was downright intriguing. Mostly warnings about spatial mana's instability and dangers.
Humanity was underestimating it, blindly trying to exploit it.
Spot-on with my own views. The reason I'd quit researching spatial mana wasn't because I couldn't dig deeper.
I could, if I wanted.
But before, it'd culminated in Gates linking dimensions. What if you kept going?
The fabric of space holding the world together might collapse, plunging dimensions into eternal void. Or maybe nothing happens. Even I couldn't say for sure.
"I kinda like this Chen Zuiyuan guy."
Plus, some of his data looked familiar. Stuff from our forum. English original, not the translation I'd seen, but Baek Seol-yeon's rundown confirmed it was the same post.
And the original text she described was way higher quality than the version I'd read. Fair enough—even a human like him could goof on Elvish nuances.
Accounting for that, he was the only one I'd seen who truly grasped spatial mana's risks.
"See? Told you you'd like him."
Baek Seol-yeon crowed triumphantly. It was break time now. I brushed past her and headed out to approach Chen Zuiyuan, who was smoking alone.
"Heh, hello?"
Wonder if my crappy English was up for a chat, but I wanted to talk anyway.
"……"
Chen Zuiyuan eyed me for a moment. His small eyes flicked to my ears, then he turned away, exhaled smoke, and spoke.
"I speak Korean. Studied a year in Korea."
Sound barely escaped his melted-skin face, but it was clear, fluent Korean.
My face lit up. Korean speaker—score.
"Your presentation was impressive. Really stuck with me."
Almost slipped into casual speech out of habit. He replied,
"Casual's fine. You're an elf, so way older than me anyway. Thanks for listening so attentively."
Despite the looks, he had real depth. His voice was soft and steady, unlike during the talk.
Then a group of elves passed by, blabbing loud enough to make sure he heard.
"What a monster."
Obvious intent. I bristled instantly, but he held up a hand—gesture saying it was fine.
"Whew."
He exhaled another plume of smoke, then continued calmly.
"Don't mind them. Happens all the time."
No trace of anger in his steady voice.
The elves kept circling, shooting him dirty looks. He ignored them completely and went on.
"Glad a teacher like you thought well of it. Most don't. The glares they give me are vicious."
He tapped ash into the tray, eyes downcast. Hard to read emotions on that wrecked face, but he seemed more pained now than by the insults.
"I get it. Must piss you off. Magitech powered by mana and spatial mana is booming, and here I am saying it's dangerous, stop. Some probably see me as a whiny activist."
Just a few words, and it was clear: Chen Zuiyuan was nothing like his appearance.
Deep, laid-back personality. He understood others.
"But we have to recognize the risks. Only then can we prepare."
Couldn't agree more. Not sure if it was whim or what, but I suddenly wanted to help this Chinese guy.
"Relieved at least one person gets my thinking. Time's up. Shall we head in?"
He finished his smoke and opened the door. Even gestured for me to go first—a thoughtful touch.
Seeing that, I asked,
"What's your schedule like after the conference?"
I wanted to help him.