Absolute Zero
After that, the mock battle measurements passed quicker than I’d expected.
The C-class mock battle took place in a dark reed marsh at night. Four orc warriors carrying torches, one orc shaman, and an orc archer mounted on a wolf stood as the enemies. Even though Telepathy let me pinpoint the archer’s hiding spot in the darkness, I couldn’t chase it down and kill it myself. From my previous dungeon fights I already knew the partisan-style kiting tactic wouldn’t work if I tried a straight head-on clash, so I gave up on that idea right away.
Instead I sliced my wrist open with a blade, scattered the blood across a corner of the reeds, and set the whole marsh ablaze while the wolf carrying the archer followed the scent. The C-class mock battle ended in an instant. The reeds burned beautifully; the wind blowing in one direction made guiding the archer ridiculously easy. If it had just been ordinary reeds, simply walking around with a halberd would have bent the stalks and made me far too visible, but a burning reed marsh was chaotic enough on its own that I could smash the orcs’ skulls in half with the halberd without any trouble.
The B-class mock battle took place in a wide dueling arena. Only a single entity appeared: a “tengu martial artist.” When it gestured for me to make the first move, I used magic for the very first time.
8th-tier Ice/Transmutation Magic: Absolute Zero
Crack—!
Shatter!
The tengu’s body froze pure white and shattered into countless fragments.
Without cold resistance, a targeted hit meant instant death, but the spell required time to charge its mana; if any interference occurred during that window the casting would fail. It had simply stood there and waited for me like an idiot.
‘Moron.’
That single spell had consumed roughly one-sixth of my mana, yet I felt no regret. I had deliberately conserved mana through the D- and C-class mock battles precisely for this moment.
[…Uh, that. Just now. What did you use…?]
“Hmm…”
After thinking for a moment in response to Min Chae-won’s question, I answered.
“An instant-kill spell.”
It wasn’t a ground-split or scissor-cut. The Absolute Zero I had just used, a dragon’s disintegration breath, an instant-death ray, petrification, strangulation from a cursed necklace—there were plenty of ways to die instantly. If some unlucky bastard on a lower dungeon floor happened to swing a death wand that spawned there, you’d get hit by the ray and die on the spot unless you had magic reflection, forcing an immediate retry. The damn dungeon I had possessed was littered with instant-kill items. So I said it without thinking twice…
[…Pardon? Wait, wait…. What did you say?]
“?”
Huh. Her reaction seemed oddly subdued. I thought it over but couldn’t figure out why. If the mana gates released was similar to dungeon energy, then the inside of a gate should be similar to a dungeon too, right? So having instant-kill spells around wouldn’t be strange at all.
“An instant-kill spell. I said.”
I repeated it clearly and pointed at the shattered tengu.
“It froze… well, turned all sparkly.”
That was what happened when something got hit by transmutation magic; it literally became an ice statue and broke apart. If it melted like that, it wouldn’t turn into chunks of meat—just water.
[Ahaha… I, I see….]
“If you’re done asking questions, let’s move on to the next one. Quickly.”
There was no point sitting around here any longer; I’d just be wasting time. So I stepped into the A-class mock battle measurement.
An A-class hunter license was placed in my hand.
Mana measurement: A+. Combat measurement: A+++. The plus signs weren’t just indicators of rank difference; they measured how unusual the result was. Apparently my performance stood out because I was a mage who had accumulated enough close-combat experience to handle it, possessed an instant-kill spell, and could perform wide-area crowd control.
‘But I’m a magic swordsman.’
Magic was just a utility for me; my real specialty was stabbing things to death with a spear. Of course, in the A-class mock battle the risk of close combat had been too high, so I had fired off multiple wide-area spells. I had used 9th-tier magic to blind the enemies and block every lethal long-range spell and attack! I had raised the corpses of fallen enemies, summoned minions to form a wall that kept foes from reaching me, and let them auto-farm while I stayed safe!!
“……”
Damn it. I couldn’t argue against it. I really did look like a mage. But up until now I had been countering weapons with the map like crazy, and suddenly they dragged me into an open field with literally nothing on it and made me fight over fifty monsters. Wasn’t that the weird part? Because it was an open field, most of my mana had gone into building the front line and bottling the enemies up. That was also why I had given up on the S-class mock battle measurement.
“Phew, thank you for your hard work….”
Min Chae-won bowed her head politely. I nodded in return.
“…Yeah.”
“There are still a few procedures left, but the time…. It’s almost lunchtime. Shall we eat first and continue afterward?”
When I nodded, Min Chae-won began guiding me toward a nearby restaurant. As we stepped into the lobby, a thought struck me and I lightly caught her sleeve—not skin contact, just enough to stop her. Grabbing the sleeve seemed the least awkward way to do it.
“Ah, is something the matter…?”
When Min Chae-won turned to look at me, I scanned the lobby for the person wearing sunglasses and a mask.
“Over there, I have someone with me….”
At the end of my pointing finger stood Lee Haneul, mask and sunglasses firmly in place as always. It felt wrong to just go eat without saying anything while she waited.
Why I felt that way was hard to put into words, but the feeling was there.
“Ah, so….”
Min Chae-won stared in that direction for a moment, then let out an “Aha!” of realization.
“That’s the person, right? Go talk comfortably! I’ll wait.”
“…It won’t take long.”
It would be rude to keep Min Chae-won waiting too long. Anyway, with permission granted, I strode straight over to Lee Haneul.
She had been sitting and staring at her phone. When she sensed someone approaching, she looked up.
“Ah, are you finished?”
“No. That’s… not quite it.”
I pointed my thumb over my shoulder at Min Chae-won.
“There’s still… stuff left to do. But it’s getting late. It’s lunchtime, so….”
I opened my hand and pointed my index finger at Lee Haneul this time.
“You should eat too. Don’t wait for me. Go ahead. I’m going to eat as well….”
“…Aha?”
Lee Haneul glanced back and forth between me and Min Chae-won for a moment.
“Pfft, ahaha…. What, you came all the way over here just to say that? You were worried about me?”
“No, I mean, um….”
Her laughter made the atmosphere feel strange. What? Had I said something funny? Or made some kind of verbal slip? I couldn’t guess at all. Still, what I had said was the truth, so I slowly nodded.
“…Yeah. That’s right?”
“Come on, you don’t have to worry about something like that. You’re busy with your own business, right? Then it can’t be helped.”
Lee Haneul waved her hand dismissively with a bright smile, as if to show she really didn’t mind. I gave her a small bow of thanks and turned away.
Alright, then…. Time to follow Min Chae-won and get some food.
“Let’s go eat lunch.”
***
Lunch was kimchi jjigae.
Every time I ate in the real world I was reminded of it, but it was nice not having to chew raw, bloody flesh just to fill my stomach. The fragrant aroma of properly cooked human food was far better than the rancid stench of monster meat.
Grateful for that fact, I scraped my bowl clean.
“You must have been really hungry?”
“…No, it’s just. It reminded me of the old days….”
“Ahaha….”
Min Chae-won’s gaze as she looked at me was tinged with obvious pity. She seemed to have misunderstood because of the kimchi jjigae, but I didn’t even remember my parents’ faces. In the first place, had I ever had parents worth cherishing? That was the question I had to ask myself.
That made sense, because even though it was a distant past I could barely recall anymore…. I had been obsessed with returning home for a very long time, and that “home” had been my studio apartment, not my family house. Logically speaking, if I had had parents who mattered to me, wouldn’t my obsession have been directed at family instead? It was only my own speculation, and since I couldn’t actually recall the memories I couldn’t be certain, but still.
So, to shake off that strange look in her eyes, I finished my meal and asked Min Chae-won,
“…Now what? At the Association.”
“Hmm, well, first of all….”
Min Chae-won thought for a moment, then folded her fingers one by one.
“There are three things left. The first is what I mentioned this morning—attending the Association’s lectures.”
“I remember. Five days… right?”
“That’s correct. The second is optional for returnees. It’s a chance to explain which world you came from when you returned to this one.”
Explanation, huh. For me that would mean describing the dungeon I had lived in for decades.
“Optional?”
“Of course we won’t force you. You won’t face any disadvantages for not explaining. Any information we obtain from all of you will simply be recorded for analysis to help other returnees.”
At least on the surface the intention didn’t seem malicious…. I’d set it aside for now. It wasn’t a problem that needed deciding immediately.
“Can I explain it ten years from now?”
“Ah, that… yes, that should be fine… right…?”
Good. Ten years from now would work whenever. I didn’t need to worry about the second option anymore.
“What’s the third?”
“Opening a bank account, receiving support funds, and getting a device issued. Simple, right?”
When my expression clearly showed admiration at how straightforward it sounded, Min Chae-won added,
“Actually, they also provide housing support. It’s not just giving you a house outright. They help with the deposit, but you have to pay the monthly rent yourself. Still, it didn’t seem like something you would particularly need, so I left it out.”
Hmm…. At this point it really wasn’t necessary. If there hadn’t been any incident on the first day I arrived here, it would have been an incredibly grateful system.
“Instead of the deposit, money…. No good?”
“No, of course not.”
Tch. Couldn’t be helped. I nodded to show I understood.