Eternal Gate
"Hello, everyone. Today we have with us the star of the White Flower, Keeper Lee Jungmin."
"Hello. I'm Lee Jungmin, a Keeper affiliated with GGC."
I greeted the camera.
My voice trembled a little from the nerves. I just hoped it wasn't too obvious.
"I hear this is your first live broadcast. There's nothing particularly different about it, so just relax and be yourself."
"Ah, yes. Understood."
Damn. I must have been shaking pretty hard.
"Shall we start with a light question? How did you feel the first time you heard the name White Flower?"
"I was happy they gave such a cool name to my technique. I don't know who started it, but thank you."
"Come on, that sounds a little too formal, doesn't it? What if you answered honestly?"
This guy?
Why was he making me say things that weren't in the script?
I scrambled for a second, then just answered with whatever came out.
"...I thought I was screwed. Hero this, White Flower that—it sounded like some middle-schooler with a chuunibyou complex who was way too into wuxia novels."
"It is a little cringey, isn't it? Hero Lee Jungmin's White Flower... when you put it like that, it really does feel like it crossed a line. So you didn't like that part of it?"
I shook my head.
"No. Honestly, I like cringe. I like chuunibyou too. The part that made me think I was screwed was that I prefer fantasy over wuxia. So from now on, please call me a hero. And I like White Flower better than Baekhwa."
"Hahaha."
The host, Lee Jaeseok, burst out laughing at my answer.
"You're a fun one, aren't you? You could make it as a comedian."
"You're too kind."
The man in front of me, Lee Jaeseok, was a famous former comedian. Hearing something like that from him, even if it was empty flattery, still felt good.
"Well then, Hero Lee Jungmin—what kind of technique is White Flower, exactly?"
"It's not even really a technique. I just converted energy into light. It's magic."
"That's a bit of an all-purpose word, isn't it? Could you explain in more detail?"
"I'll just show you the magic first."
I raised my right hand and called up a rune.
Fwaaah.
A fist-sized orb of light rose above my palm.
"This is Light. Just light. Want to try touching it?"
"...Is it okay to touch?"
"Of course."
Lee Jaeseok carefully lifted his hand and touched the Light. His fingers sank into it, and his hand passed straight through. Nothing happened to his hand. The shape of the Light didn't change at all either.
Of course it didn't. It was just light.
"Oh, there's nothing solid. Amazing. There's really nothing there, yet it's glowing on its own."
"Right? This is the magic called Light. White... no, White Flower is basically the same thing. The only difference is that the energy poured into it was thousands of times greater than this, so the light ended up that huge."
"So you're saying White Flower had no destructive power?"
"If it went off right next to you, you'd go blind, but it's just light."
"What about the scholars around the world who said it was on par with a nuclear bomb?"
That was one of the reasons White Flower had become so famous. Nuclear-bomb-level power. How could a single person possess that kind of force?
In reality, White Flower probably did have that much power. Even if most of the energy that made it up had been converted into light, the Necromancer's residual energy itself had been enormous.
But I couldn't say that here.
"That's just them calculating how much ordinary explosives you'd need to produce that much light. What I used was a kind of magic. It has no destructive power."
"So the scholars misinterpreted it because they don't understand magic. That's how we should see it."
"Yes. Science and magic are still an awkward pair. They need a little more time to get to know each other, don't you think?"
"An awkward pair! Nice analogy. We're still an awkward pair ourselves, so shall we get to know each other a little better?"
"Of course. That's why I came on."
"Then another question! Can you recreate White Flower right here?"
I wanted to say, I just did!, but I knew what he meant. It was the next question written in the script.
"No. I can't."
"Why not? Don't tell me... it wasn't light, but an explosion or something?"
"No. Absolutely not. First of all, the energy that created White Flower wasn't my own energy."
"Could you explain in more detail?"
"That energy was generated during a fierce battle between a villain and Keepers. Under normal circumstances it should have canceled itself out on impact, but somehow it struck a strange balance and fused into one. If I'd left it alone it would have exploded and blown the entire area away, so I decided to convert the energy into light."
After that I explained, one by one, who the villain was, who the Keepers were, and how the energy had come about. I had no choice but to mention that it had been a bait operation as well. It was necessary if I was going to explain the existence of Keepers and villains.
I couldn't reveal that the villain's true identity was a Necromancer, but I said he had died in the middle of the battle, just like what had actually happened. Along the way I also delivered the news of Team A's deaths.
Every bit of this story had been worked out in consultation with the Association, and several articles had already gone out.
"...So that's what happened. To volunteer yourself as bait for the sake of the citizens—as one of those citizens, I thank you."
"I only did what I had to do, what I was able to do. I don't deserve that kind of gratitude. If anyone does, it's the Keepers of the Association. And more than anyone else, the five Keepers who died because of this incident are the ones who deserve thanks. Please give your gratitude to them. Please remember that they risked their lives for you. And please send your support to the Keepers who are still working without rest to catch the Summoner. We may not have caught him this time, but next time we will."
Lee Jaeseok nodded with a serious face.
"I will remember. And I will support them. Truly, thank you."
"It was thanks to everyone's support that the Keepers could risk danger and fight the villain. We ask for your continued support."
Following the PD's cue, I bowed my head toward the camera.
According to the script, right after my greeting the faces of the five dead Keepers would be going out on screen.
A moment later the PD gave the signal, and Lee Jaeseok opened his mouth.
"But Jungmin, may I ask one last question?"
"Of course."
"There is a Keeper who lost an arm while trying to stop a villain. Did he do what he had to do? Did he do something honorable?"
"Of course it was honorable—"
"Exactly! It was an honorable thing."
He smiled and gave my body a light turn. Until then the camera had only been showing my side profile; when he turned me, the front came into view.
The temporary prosthetic made of plastic on my left arm looked blatantly awkward. Anyone could tell at a glance that it was a prosthetic.
"You all may not have seen it, but I've been looking at this the whole time. So I can't just let it pass. This arm—did it end up like this because of the villain this time?"
"...Yes. The energy was more than I could handle, so I had no choice but to sacrifice the arm while controlling it. But it was a cheap price. Losing one arm and saving countless people—I'd call that a bargain."
"I see. Then allow me to offer my thanks once more. Please accept this one without brushing it off. Understood?"
"...You got me. All right."
Lee Jaeseok bowed at the waist with a solemn expression.
"I thank you for the great work you did to protect the citizens."
I returned the bow.
"Thank you. For something so minor to receive this much—"
He had shown no particular reaction to the greeting itself, but the moment I added those last words he straightened up and grinned mischievously.
"Again, again, again. Jungmin, if you keep doing this, what happens to the people who do this kind of work later? A little humility is fine, but too much isn't good."
"...Understood. I shouldn't hog the glory that ought to go to others."
"I'm glad you realized it now. If you do it again later, I'll track you down and force you to accept the thanks, so keep that in mind."
"I'll be more careful so that kind of hassle never comes up."
I spoke while looking at the teleprompter behind him where my script was displayed. This was the last of it; all that remained was the closing greeting and we could end the live broadcast.
"Then Jungmin, may I make one last request?"
Huh? This wasn't in the script.
A little flustered, I looked at Lee Jaeseok and saw his eyes smiling.
"O-of course."
"When you become a Keeper who can use White Flower again, please show it one more time. White Flower was truly beautiful. There was a beauty in it that video just couldn't capture."
"..."
Pure expectation showed on his face. That only made me more flustered, and I stopped speaking.
I never imagined there would be people who saw White Flower that way.
"...Jungmin?"
"Ah, but to use White Flower again without straining my arm, I'd probably need to be an S-rank Keeper. Whether that's even possible... and how long it would take..."
"I'll wait. It should be possible before I die, right? I really want to see it one more time."
He was still only in his early forties. It would definitely be possible before he died.
"All right. I'll make sure to show you."
In an unexpected place, I had found one more reason to grow.
"Great. I'll be looking forward to it. That was the one-armed hero Lee Jungmin and his supporter Lee Jaeseok. I'll be back next time with someone else!"
"...What?"
One-armed hero?
"...I really got played."
On the screen I was sitting there with my mouth half open, looking completely blank. That was the face I'd made when I heard "one-armed hero" at the end.
"It's fine. The reaction is extremely positive. That slightly cheap-sounding 'one-armed hero' is actually making you look approachable. As expected of Lee Jaeseok."
The Director offered me something that wasn't quite comfort.
Had Lee Jaeseok really been aiming for that effect?
"At this level, no one seems to be treating you as scary because of White Flower. That's a relief. More than anything, people are feeling sorry about the arm you sacrificed."
The fact that I'd become one-armed had been revealed for the first time on this broadcast. Online, everything was about me. One-armed hero, hero, White Flower, and even the chuunibyou bit.
"You did well on the live broadcast. Live is hard even for me, but it looks like you've got a natural talent for it, Jungmin."
"No. I really thought I was going to die from the nerves."
"For someone who was that nervous, you only trembled at the beginning. Ah, and that last bit was a little cute."
"Don't tease me."
I glared at the Director, but she only answered with a smile. The affectionate look in her eyes was so obvious just from looking at her that my irritation rose for a second and then immediately settled.
Instead, I'd just have to tease her plenty tonight.
"The Association also contacted us to say they watched the broadcast and thought it went well. And they've sent a request for you, Jungmin."
"What kind of request?"
"They say they've discovered a strange magic circle. They're asking for Keira's advice."
"A magic circle?"
If it was a magic circle, it wasn't strange for me or Keira to go. But something felt off. I hadn't decided the Association was an enemy, but it was a fact that they were showing a lot of interest in Keira and Elena. There was no telling what they might be plotting.
"...Do we really have to go? What's your judgment, Director?"
"For now I think we should go. There's no particular reason to refuse, either. They still hold a lot of cards."
It had only been three days since White Flower was observed. We were doing various things on our end as well, but we still had no results. For now, doing what the Association wanted was the right call.
"Understood."
But a magic circle? What was that about now?