The West Wind
Fundamentally, ether is energy in particle form. Etherium is the mineral formed when ether clumps together into crystals, the primary resource of this era used in countless applications. Etherium is classified by color according to its attribute, and its grade is determined by the number of veins within the crystal. One vein means 1-star. Two veins, 2-star. Three veins, 3-star. The green Etherium Cha Eun-seong had obtained after eliminating the zombie that attacked Ra Si-hyun—more precisely, the [Drowned Ghost]—contained a full five veins. In other words, it was a 5-star green Etherium.
“Cases like this aren’t unheard of, but……”
The words came from experience. Etherium didn’t always drop from monsters matching its grade. Occasionally, so-called “trash mobs” would cough up extremely valuable runes or items. This was one of those moments. Even so, a mere 3-star Drowned Ghost spitting out 5-star Etherium was exceedingly rare—comparable to winning the lottery.
Is this thanks to the Luck Card?
That was the only explanation. Without it, there was no way he would have stumbled upon such a windfall.
◈ Attribute: Healing / Poison Resistance
◈ Grade: 5-Star
“What is that……?”
“5-star green Etherium.”
“5-star?!”
Ra Si-hyun flinched in shock at his answer. Understandable. Even a novice like her would know how precious a 5-star Etherium was.
“How did something like that end up here……?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Cha Eun-seong was just as bewildered. Asking him wouldn’t help.
“What are you going to do with it?”
“Why do you care? What, you want it?”
“Absolutely not.”
Ra Si-hyun took a step back as if to prove her words. He saw no need to warn her further. Unless she had completely lost her mind, she wouldn’t try anything. And if she did…… well, that would simply give him another excuse to kill her without the slightest guilt.
“I was just curious. So please stop looking at me like that.”
“How am I looking at you?”
“Not exactly glaring…… but it’s terrifying. Like you might kill me without warning.”
“Me? Kill you?”
“Yes.”
“Heh.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“No reason.”
She was quick on the uptake. Now, what to do with a 5-star green Etherium…… He would have to think it over. His understanding of his own role and class was still too shallow to use high-grade Etherium recklessly.
“Why’d you drop the gun?”
“……It jammed.”
“Give it here.”
Ra Si-hyun picked up the fallen rifle and handed it over.
“The casing got stuck. You don’t know how to clear a malfunction? You were taught.”
“I-I panicked……”
Well, she was still a rookie. He decided not to scold her.
“In that case, first remove the magazine, rack the charging handle three or four times, reinsert the magazine, then hit the bolt catch.”
Click, clack-clack-clack, click, thunk!
“There. It’ll fire now. Since there’s no enemy, keep the selector on safe.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Ether?”
“All gone.”
“Drink this and follow me.”
He tossed her an Etherium ampoule and started walking. It was a liquid refined from Etherium, meant for restoring ether when depleted.
“Just in case—never point the muzzle at me. If you need to shoot, say so first and……”
Feeling no presence behind him, he turned. Ra Si-hyun had already fallen nearly ten meters back.
“What are you doing? Keep up.”
“C-could you slow down a little……?”
Thud!
“What now?”
“H-hurts……”
“Just stay down.”
She looked fine at a glance, but a closer inspection told a different story. Her side was swollen—several ribs broken. Her ankle was twisted at an unnatural angle, clearly fractured. For a mage who had been swept up in a tidal wave, surviving with only these injuries was already a miracle.
“Wait there.”
He drew a [Healing] Card to treat her when the 5-star green Etherium suddenly floated upward.
Ah.
Now he understood. Green Etherium enhanced healing abilities and increased poison resistance. If he used it to strengthen the [Healing] Card……
[Healing] → [West Wind] (★★★)
A soft breeze stirred. The [Healing] Card, now upgraded from 1-star to 3-star, transformed into [West Wind] and hovered before his eyes. Feeding it 5-star Etherium had only raised its grade by two steps; the enhancement ratio wasn’t one-to-one. Another thing he would have to learn gradually.
West Wind ★★★
Greatly restores the target’s vitality, stamina, and ether while granting a temporary blessing.
The woman depicted on the card stepped out on her own and stood before him.
“I greet the young master.”
She was translucent, her colors a pale, soft green—like the wind itself. The polite address still felt awkward, just as it had with Lumos.
“Call me young master, please. Just…… young master.”
“Yes, young master.”
She smiled gently.
“Your name is……”
“Undine. My name is Undine.”
“Right. I’ll call you that from now on.”
“Shall I heal the young master’s companion?”
“Yeah. Please.”
Whoosh!
Before he could finish, Undine became a translucent pale-green wind and enveloped Ra Si-hyun.
“If the young master or his companions ever require healing, please summon me anytime.”
“Got it.”
“Then……”
Whoosh!
Undine returned to the [West Wind] Card and vanished.
“Wh-what was that just now?”
Ra Si-hyun, now fully healed, asked in a daze.
“None of your business.”
“……”
She pressed her lips shut.
“You’re high-maintenance. Still acting like a mage?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Ra Si-hyun apologized in a tiny voice, head bowed low. Mages were undeniably powerful, but they certainly required a lot of attention.
“Whatever. Follow me. And again—watch where you point that gun. If you’re going to shoot, warn me first.”
“Yes.”
Ra Si-hyun trailed after him like a duckling.
“What do we do now?”
“Find the others first.”
“……”
He had half-expected her to say something stupid so he could abandon her, but her silence suggested she had at least learned to read the room. Good. People needed to change after being disciplined. Whether she could still be redeemed…… only time would tell.
* * *
Moving through the fog-shrouded area wasn’t easy. Thanks to the [Search] Card, however, they navigated without difficulty and encountered almost no monsters. This time he didn’t summon Lumos. Though Lumos was an excellent guide with formidable combat power, the ether cost was steep. Just ten minutes of companionship had drained a fifth of his ether reserves. At least it taught him more about card usage. Simply activating a card consumed little ether. But summoning the beings within—Lumos or Undine—rapidly depleted it. In exchange, their effects were far stronger. A fair trade-off.
But what should I call them?
He suddenly wondered how to define Helkian, Lumos, and Undine.
They aren’t human. Spirits? They don’t feel quite like spirits either.
What exactly were they? Entities residing in the cards? Or perhaps incarnations—the personification of the cards’ power?
Huh?
A single word flashed through his mind.
Card Spirit…… maybe.
He didn’t even know why the term had come to him—he barely understood hanja. Yet it felt perfectly right.
Yeah. Let’s just call them Card Spirits.
That was when it happened.
“Aaaagh!”
“R-run!”
“Damn it!”
Oh Tae-kwon, Kim Seung-hye, and Park Seok-ho burst out of the fog.
“Oh! Hyung-nim!”
Oh Tae-kwon’s face lit up upon recognizing him—only for a second.
“Just run! Hurry!”
Kim Seung-hye shouted. It was obvious they were being chased.
What could possibly be chasing them?
Scritch-scritch-scritch-scritch-scritch-scritch-scritch-scritch-scritch-scritch-scritch……
An unpleasant sound. Countless tiny things skittering rapidly. Then, from the fog, tens of thousands of palm-sized cockroaches poured out.
Yeah, I’d run too.
They were monsters called [Man-Eating Roaches]. Not actual cockroaches, but mutated sand fleas from the shore exposed to malevolent ether. The problem was that they moved in swarms of tens of thousands, devouring everything in their path. Anyone surrounded by them would be eaten alive, reduced to bones in the blink of an eye. No wonder they were considered the most notorious monsters to appear during coastal gate incidents.
“Ugh!”
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Oh Tae-kwon sprayed his machine gun, but it was useless against tens of thousands of Man-Eating Roaches. Cha Eun-seong didn’t run. There was no need—not when their natural predator stood right beside him.
“What are you staring at?”
“Huh?”
“Deal with them.”
“Ah, yes.”
At his command, Ra Si-hyun drew her spirit-energy staff. It was nearly as long as a spear, its tip adorned with a golden ring mechanism resembling an armillary sphere.
She leveled the staff at the swarm. The golden rings began to spin.
Fwoooosh!
A torrent of crimson flame erupted from the tip, engulfing the Man-Eating Roaches. Their numbers were vast, but their defenses were nonexistent. Against such foes, a mage’s area-of-effect magic was the perfect insecticide.
[Ether absorbed!]
[Ether absorbed!]
……
[Ether absorbed!]
Because of their bond, ether flooded into him at an insane rate. The result was sweet.
Ether swirled around him.
Cha Eun-seong
Guide • Collector of Madness
★★★ (0%)
Thus, he ascended from a 2-star hunter to a 3-star hunter. And then……
A new card has been created!
A new card had become available.