A Meeting with the Anomaly

The headquarters of the Korea Immigration and Foreigner Policy Bureau, under the Ministry of Justice.

Director General Oh Youngchul drove his car into Hannam-dong, Seoul.

His destination — Delicarson, a restaurant with private dining rooms.

After parking his black Grandeur, he went looking for a member of the restaurant staff.

"I'm Oh Youngchul."

"Right this way, sir."

He followed the attendant down a labyrinthine corridor, stopping at last before a VIP room.

Clink—

From inside the room came the sound of liquor glasses clinking.

"Bwahahaha! I finally feel like I'm living in my right mind! Let's show those bastards the true power of political authority!"

"Hear, hear! Smiting that man is nothing short of the will of God!"

Director Oh swallowed hard, straightened his suit and tie, and knocked on the door.

"It's Oh Youngchul."

"Oh-h! Director Oh! Come in, come in~"

The door opened to reveal expensive liquor and food, and a room full of familiar faces.

Representative Seo Taejun of the Central Party.

Representative Lee Hajin of the Central Party.

Representative Jeong Soyeon of the People's Party.

Among them, Jeong Soyeon greeted him warmly.

"Glad you could make it, Director Oh."

"Yes, ma'am. You called for me?"

Oh Youngchul bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.

"Oh, none of that. Come, sit down."

"Of course, thank you."

The director took the seat the legislators gestured toward, and they grinned sycophantically.

"We have someone we'd like you to meet."

Oh Youngchul looked at the man seated like a president among the three National Assembly members.

"A pleasure. My name is Yuri Orlov."

The man named Yuri extended a business card, and Oh Youngchul accepted it.

In that instant, Oh Youngchul's vision blurred.

A sensation of something slick and sticky worming into his head.

"......?"

The letters on the business card slowly, silkily, changed.

"This is......"

No more words came out.

Director Oh Youngchul simply stopped, mid-motion.

Representative Lee Hajin asked Yuri, "S-so, how is it?"

"The card does its rounds, and Cho Sanghyuk's hold on him unravels."

"As expected! Our savior! The Ministry of Justice will be ours before long!"

Representatives Seo Taejun and Jeong Soyeon exchanged a slimy grin and chimed in.

"Thank you so much. If not for you, Mr. Yuri, we'd have lived out our days as puppets of that wretch Cho Sanghyuk."

"Exactly. Who knew a lucky awakener would dare pull this kind of trick on elected officials of all people?"

"That man is a stain on our nation's honor. If it weren't for his Tower runs, we'd have buried him ages ago. Tsk."

Yuri Orlov was a mental-type sorcerer dispatched from Proxima, the Russian criminal syndicate of awakeners.

Since entering Korea, he had met with numerous politicians and senior officials, dismantling the [Mind Control] Cho Sanghyuk had woven over them one by one.

As a result—

The newly freed powerful, steeped once again in their greed, despised the current state of affairs.

But they couldn't confront him directly, nor could they openly criticize awakeners.

Do that, and before rat or sparrow could notice, they'd be brainwashed all over again.

"Mr. Yuri. If you can just deal with Cho Sanghyuk, we'll capture a legendary-grade awakener for you."

"No, no! Better yet — sweet-talk that awakener into taking dual citizenship with Russia and Korea. Send him off to be a hero of two nations, and he'll clear the Tower for us without us lifting a finger!"

"Now that's a fine idea. Bwahahahaha!"

Even as the politicians fawned, Yuri Orlov allowed himself only the faintest smile.

The situation isn't nearly so simple. I'll need to prepare far more thoroughly.

Yuri poured himself a glass of premium whiskey.

Coating the glass was [Spektr (Спектр)] —

his mind-infiltration skill.

The three representatives hurriedly poured their own drinks.

Glasses clinked at the center of the round table.

"Cheers~!"

Clink—!

The legislators gulped their liquor down greedily.

Never knowing it was a poisoned grail.

Riding the momentum, I cracked open another box.

"Keep it rolling, baby!"

Creeeak—

Inside the box was a single book.

......Huh? This one came out a little vague.

"Obviously."

Somebody once said it, didn't they?

Even a passing brush of sleeves is fate.

I didn't know exactly what it did, but it had to be useful somehow.

Sssssaaa—

The skill book dissolved into light, and the radiance streamed into my body.

"There we go!"

First target: Jeokmyo, sitting there not daring to twitch a muscle.

Eye of Karma.

No, seriously? What's with this information?

And wait — Floor 32?

Climbers of Floors 1 through 10 are usually called low-tier climbers, or mana-stone grunts.

Floors 11 through 20 are the intermediate tier.

Beyond that, you're firmly classified as a heavyweight, and from Floor 30 upward you're treated as a national top-rank strategic asset.

And yet.

Jeokmyo was Floor 32?

But she seemed completely pathetic back there?

Just in case, I used it on Chilmyo too.

"Whoa. Huh. So these guys were stronger than I thought."

I checked out the others as well.

Roughly as strong as Chilmyo.

Stronger than I'd given them credit for.

That aside—

Why do I need to know villain backstories, exactly?

Only two of them — Jeokmyo and Chilmyo — had tragic pasts.

The rest were just rotten to the core.

Hmm. What do I do here?

Hand them to the authorities? Kill them?

The ones with sob stories left a bad taste, so maybe I should subdue and train them into subordinates?

But would they actually listen to a word I say just because I beat them up?

Tsk.

Swallowing my disappointment, I opened the next box.

Creeeak—

"Holy crap. What is this?"

Not that I'd intended anything by it, but... somehow it felt like I'd just acquired subordinates.

With a brilliant full moon hanging in the sky—

the Han River of South Korea remained as bright as ever.

Hummmm—

A faint ripple of mana stirred across the Han River, and a man raised his head.

Stark white hair, mismatched eyes, a pure-white uniform.

A hunched back and razor-sharp eyes.

On his shoulders rested a snow-white serpent, which too lifted its head.

Sss— sss—

Its forked tongue quivered, and the man fixed his gaze on one particular place.

As he stared silently, one of his subordinates asked, "What is it, Lord White Snake?"

White Snake, executive of Orochi, clicked his tongue.

"Tsk. You're telling me you couldn't even sense a ripple this faint?"

White Snake let his sinister mana seep out, and the subordinate's whole body trembled.

The sensation of a white ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠serpent coiling around his neck.

The subordinate flattened himself against the ground.

"F-forgive me. There was nothing my lowly senses could detect."

White Snake didn't even spare the man a glance.

He simply launched his body into the air, tracing the mana ripple, and his subordinates hurried after him.

The place they arrived at was plastered with paper talismans — Chinese awakener work at a glance.

"It's a Blood Puppet Veil Formation. Jeokmyo of the Twelve Earthly Branches appears to have been here."

"I can see that with my own eyes."

"......My apologies."

White Snake clicked his tongue at his subordinate's incompetence and resumed tracking the original mana ripple he'd sensed.

Where he finally stopped was a nearby bench.

Utterly empty, save for a single crushed beer can.

White Snake picked up the can and furrowed his brow.

There's something deeply ominous about this spot.

"This seems to be the place."

He lowered the serpent from his shoulder to the ground, and it slithered across the pavement, tongue flickering.

Sssssaaa—

The snake crawled toward one particular spot and coiled itself there.

"This is it. Everyone, gather."

...

...

...

No answer came back.

Clouds slid over the full moon, and the surroundings sank into darkness.

And then—

From within that darkness, an unfamiliar voice.

"White Snake himself, huh. What a rare treat."

Jolt—!

A chill shot up White Snake's spine.

Someone got behind me?

White Snake's senses were those of a serpent.

Where sensing power signatures was concerned, he ranked among the very best in Japan.

And yet.

Even those senses had caught no trace of an approach.

What's more, the intruder hadn't killed a single one of his subordinates — he'd knocked them all unconscious. Knocking someone out is several times harder than killing them, and he'd done it to every man present without once brushing White Snake's perception.

"That's impossible."

"Funny. You folks keep saying that."

Just then.

Sssaa—

A November night wind blew, and the moonlight the clouds had been holding back poured down.

White Snake's eyes went wide as saucers.

"......Daniel Jensen?"

"Oh? So even snakes can see in the dark."

Brilliant golden hair, a towering frame over 190 centimeters tall.

Pristine white uniform, deep blue eyes.

The quintessential Western heartthrob flashed a grin.

White Snake immediately unleashed his skill.

Vvvmmm—

Snow-white mana swirled, distorting the atmosphere of the entire park.

"No no no no. Not happening, not happening."

Daniel activated Flame-Eyed Golden Gaze.

Golden radiance flared in his blue eyes, and fissures split across the distorted space.

Shatter—!

White Snake's Double Illusion broke apart like a pane of glass.

"Yeesh~ Just upgraded my Golden Gaze the other day because it kept getting blocked, and look — it pays off already? Gotta thank Mr. Jo for that."

The golden radiance bore down on White Snake with crushing weight, and his face contorted in terror.

Daniel, clearly accustomed to this sort of reaction, smiled with leisurely ease.

"Mr. Snake. You're not getting away, you know?"

Daniel snapped his fingers into the empty air.

Vmmm—

A black-hole-like rift yawned open, and a cascade of resplendent swords erupted from within.

Seventy-two blades floating in midair.

Daniel's secondary skill —

"Damn it all..."

White Snake felt death instinctively.

Illusions are useless against him. In that case—

WHAM—!

White Snake merged with the serpent on his shoulder, becoming a single creature.

The signature skill of his class, [Skin-Shedder] —

[White Serpent Mutation Form].

White scales surged up over his skin, looking for all the world like a suit of samurai armor.

GYAAAAK—!

Savage mana erupted from White Snake's body.

But Daniel remained as relaxed as ever.

"Snake samurai, don't you dare go down too early on me."

Golden auras bloomed across all seventy-two blades.

SSSHAAAAAK—!

They poured down like a meteor shower.

White Snake threw his body desperately through the air.

Winding, fluid, fast — like a serpent!

KWAKWAKWAKWABOOM—!

He dodged, fled, dodged again, fled again — but blades grazed past his ear, his side, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his shoulder.

KWAKWAKWAKWABOOM—!

The falling meteors were endless, and White Snake sank deeper and deeper into a swamp of despair.

Damn it — how long can I keep dodging?

Just then.

Fwoosh—!

A single blade sheared past White Snake's ear.

Splatter!

Fresh blood sprayed.

"Gahk!"

Clutching his torn ear, White Snake fled for his life once more.

Each blade carries a monstrous amount of mana — a single direct hit means death. The only way out is to kill the caster, Daniel. But how?

He looked at Daniel — and the man was yawning.

As if the mana drain cost him absolutely nothing.

Forget killing him; White Snake couldn't even get close.

No.

Dodging alone was already pushing his limits.

Shhk—

An incoming blade split his ankle open.

"KYAAAAHK!"

A serpent-like shriek burst out of him.

And of course, Daniel didn't stop.

KWAJIK— thud! SHOOK! KWAJIK!

"Gah! GYAAK! GYAAAAK!"

Blades buried themselves in both arms, both legs, his shoulders — and the radiant mana pinning White Snake down was so dense he couldn't even crawl away.

Thud. Thud.

Daniel walked over and crouched down, gazing at the man moaning in agony.

Tap—

He pressed his index finger against White Snake's temple, smiling with the innocent guilelessness of a child.

"Oof! That's gotta hurt a lot!"

White Snake trembled with pain and terror.

Rattle rattle rattle—

Daniel wiped the smile from his face and brought his hand to White Snake's throat.

"See, you really oughta—"

CRUNCH—

"Kehk! Kuh-kehk! Spare m—"

White Snake's face went yellow.

"—check who you're messin' with before you lunge at them, kid."

At that moment.

A voice came from behind Daniel.

"Well, what is this? You've turned the Han River into a scorched field."

".....!"

The hairs on the back of Daniel's neck stood on end.

Someone got behind me?

He felt a rough, prickling, menacing energy.

An enemy? Orochi's boss? High probability of hostile. In that case—

Daniel whipped his blade around in an instant.

SSSHAAAAAK—!

A sword strike detonated outward in a whirling storm!

But—

TWG—!

It was blocked, pathetically, completely.

Where the blade had swept, a wall of violet energy now stood, and beyond it lay something that felt like an entirely different dimension.

And then—

A black-haired East Asian man, somehow already beside him, lightly caught Daniel's wrist.

"Hey, you crazy?"

So spoke the man who loved the Han River — Yu Jaewoo.