Divination

The smoking room was full. Park Ingyu watched the Association employees puffing away behind the glass wall, then gave up and slipped his lighter back into his pocket.

Frustrated, he went up to the roof, where someone was already waiting. It was Moon Seoyeong, a B-rank hunter who had joined the Strategic Countermeasures Headquarters not long ago.

She was looking down at the road, where darkness had settled thickly. The two people, both certain they would not be going home from work, spoke at the same time.

"Director."

"Why?"

"Was what you said in the conference room really true?"

"You mean the reaction that occurs when a mana core disappears? It's not impossible. The problem is how to obtain a monster capable of carrying so many people inside its stomach. The first thing that comes to mind is a giant sandworm..."

"No, I mean the Hidden Stage."

"That must be real."

At first, he had naturally refused to believe it. But Lee Jihye's testimony was far too specific to be a carefully concocted lie.

Besides, even if she had a vivid imagination, South Korea was a land of CCTV cameras.

The cameras near the tower had captured the Biran Party practicing how to bind a monster and detonate its mana core.

"I just confirmed it with the hunters who were in the tower. Apparently, the moment she returned, an announcement went out that we'd discovered a Hidden Stage."

"So it really was true? Then we finally..."

"The problem is that they came back after getting into serious trouble with the residents over there."

"Engaging the residents is absolutely forbidden in principle, right?"

"That's right. Though, since no one had imagined that anyone would discover a Hidden Stage in fifty years, who would have known about that regulation?"

The tension in the Association was at its peak, as could be seen from the atmosphere in the smoking room. A Hidden Stage meant an entire civilization—or even an entire world. It meant they could climb the tower with immense support behind them.

For South Korea and the Hunter Association, which were steadily heading toward extinction, this was their only chance at a lifeline.

And of all things, the party had launched the first attack. Park Ingyu wanted to impose the harshest possible punishment on the Biran Party immediately, but most of them already had uncertain fates.

"The United States succeeded in establishing friendly relations with the Elven Alliance and planted a World Tree seed in Alaska."

"Isn't there anything like that for us?"

"Seoyeong, have you ever watched a historical drama?"

"I watched them sometimes when my mother was watching TV. They were fun, so lately I've been going back through the older ones."

"That's a relief. They say it looks similar to those dramas. They call us barbarians, after all."

Since Lee Jihye's stay had been extremely brief, the information they had gathered from her testimony was limited. An East Asian atmosphere, the name of an empire, and an enormous number of monsters spread throughout the surrounding area.

And above all, there was a man named Yoo Hyun.

"The Grand Marshal of the Cheonyu Empire... From what he said, he sounded terrifying."

"It's too early to jump to conclusions. So far, all he's done is easily overpower a B-rank hunter."

That was only what they had seen at the time. Even Director Park Ingyu, who believed all the other reports, had to doubt the man's seemingly immortal nature.

Could Lee Jihye simply have failed to see it properly because they were in the middle of a battle? If not, there was only one possibility.

"He must be using an ability that isn't based on mana, right?"

"But Ms. Jihye said it was mana, didn't she? She said it was spread through the surroundings so thickly that she could feel it even while breathing."

"But Hunter Ahn Junhyeon said that, through his own eyes, the Grand Marshal appeared weaker than his subordinate. According to the data on his unique ability registered in our database, that shouldn't be possible."

"The worlds are different, you idiots."

"Ah!"

Just then, someone called out to the two of them.

"Ms. Shin Yuyu!"

It was Shin Yuyu, an S-rank hunter. Though she wore a flamboyant, multicolored outfit, she had somehow slipped onto the railing at a speed Moon Seoyeong, a B-rank hunter, could not even perceive.

"What do you mean, the worlds are different?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The mana we use and the unprecedented power they use operate according to separate but compatible rules."

She wore martial robes and a jeonrip, the traditional attire of a Korean shaman.

In stark contrast, Shin Yuyu looked down at the two of them without ever letting go of the smartphone in one hand and said,

"Even in a tower, most civilizations flourish on mana. So if that empire's land really contains a different kind of energy, as you say..."

"Then we might be able to use it too!!"

"That only means it's a possibility. They attacked us first, so why would they tell us anything out of kindness?"

The prospect seemed remote for now, and the mood sagged a little. Moon Seoyeong changed the subject by asking Shin Yuyu,

"Ms. Shin Yuyu, you'll be coming with us for this investigation, right?"

"You called me, didn't you? I heard five B-rank hunters were defeated without even being able to fight back."

"W-we didn't expect you to actually come. As you know, almost none of the S-rank hunters stay in Korea at the moment."

"Your patriotism really is something, judging by what you usually wear..."

"Bullshit. I hate this outfit, but my unique ability forces me to wear it. There is one reason I came in person, though... Want to hear it?"

When catlike eyes glared at them, Park Ingyu and Moon Seoyeong both shook their heads at the same time.

She was famous for her fiery temper. Once, after getting into an argument with another S-rank hunter, she had destroyed both the other hunter and that hunter's guild.

"N-no, we're fine...!"

"Shall we go inside for now? I hear they're going to hold a briefing shortly to put together the investigation team..."

They hurriedly waved their hands, but Shin Yuyu had already opened her mouth.

"I'm saying that because you lot look so pitiful I can't stand to look at you. Why? The Seven Major Guilds beat you up day after day, you crawl around trembling whenever another country shows the slightest sign of displeasure, and you can't even properly deal with the monsters in the towers using the hunters under the Association's command, so the cities are a mess every time. A few months ago, a basilisk popped up in the middle of Seoul, and you just stood there watching while it tore down a road sign, didn't you? What a disgrace. I heard you still haven't repaired it!"

"Ahem, traces of its venom are still lingering nearby..."

A rapid-fire barrage of scolding poured over them, leaving the two of them utterly cowed and unable to say a word. Shin Yuyu was completely right.

But there was nothing they could do. The Hunter Association was currently struggling even to maintain public safety, let alone exterminate the monsters in the towers.

They had only been the first to learn about the Hidden Stage because they had been lucky. If the Grand Marshal of the Cheonyu Empire had not discovered the Biran Party, Ahn Junhyeon, the party leader, would certainly have sold a guild the method of entering the Hidden Stage.

That was why they could not afford to miss this opportunity. No matter how hostile the people on the other side were, they had to try clinging to their trouser legs if necessary.

Their shoulders, burdened with hope, felt heavy. Park Ingyu asked Shin Yuyu,

"What does the divination say?"

"……."

Without a word, she pulled an old booklet from within her robes. The words 'Heavenly Records' were written on its cover.

The reason the Association had approached Shin Yuyu first, among the S-rank hunters it could still contact, was her unique ability.

When she used her ability, she could ask the ancestral spirit of the family she served for advice about the situation she had encountered, but only three times a day.

The advice appeared as a sentence when she opened the book. Sometimes it was metaphorical or vague, and she could not know in advance when or how the result of following it would appear.

Thus, whether to heed the divination was ultimately her own choice. But Shin Yuyu had survived countless deadly situations with it on her way to becoming S-rank, so she always trusted her ability.

"Are you sure? This is a divination concerning me personally, and if it seems to be telling me not to go, I won't participate in the investigation no matter how much you ask me."

"It's fine. It could serve as a reference for us as well, so we'd be grateful if you'd simply look."

"You people have no pride."

"Well, can we afford to be picky right now?"

Brushing off Park Ingyu's laugh, Shin Yuyu opened the Heavenly Records.

It was the sort of ability that had the heads of nations coming running to her, pleading with her to tell their fortunes just once.

The night sky split open, and a beam of light made of mana fell like a bolt of lightning before etching its shape onto the paper.

《18-year-old_foulmouthed_high-school-girl_shaman_VTuber_is_in_demand_!?》

"Ah, fuck. It's spouting bullshit again."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I once performed an ancestral rite digitally, and it's been acting like this sometimes ever since."

After tapping the book a few times as though she were dealing with a malfunctioning device, Shin Yuyu opened it again.

"It probably happened because there were no danger factors. It should work properly inside the tower."

This was the second divination with exactly the same content.

It contained only one sentence that was incomprehensible to her as she was now.

《I_will_find_a_new_lord_to_serve.》

"……Was there an elder in my family whom I still don't know about?"

*

A few days later, the Association formed an investigation team.

Shin Yuyu, Park Ingyu, and Moon Seoyeong gathered in the tower's first-floor lobby along with Lee Jihye, who had been assigned the role of guide in exchange for a reduction in her disciplinary sentence, and three others, making seven people in all.

Based on Lee Jihye's testimony, they captured a monster capable of swallowing several people while keeping them safe inside its body.

When they entered its stomach and stabbed its mana core with a spear coated in a catalyst that triggered a mana-core disappearance reaction, the surroundings shook violently.

When they came to their senses...

"Y-yes, this is the place."

"I heard the Biran Party came through the twenty-ninth floor. So we can move here even if we don't go through that floor?"

"It doesn't matter which floor the Hidden Stage is on, as long as the entry conditions are met."

They were in the very forest where the Biran Party had arrived.

"We'll split the loot from whatever we hunt eight to two. I get eight, so don't change your story later."

"Yes, understood."

"And one more thing."

Looking at the violet rift that remained where they had crossed over, Shin Yuyu waved the booklet.

"I'm going back once I've used up all three readings."

"Understood."

After briefly searching their surroundings, the investigation team soon began walking slowly in the direction Lee Jihye pointed out.

Above their heads...

.

.

.

.

"They've come into view. Just as Lord Yoo Hyun said, they've really come."

"Are those the... what were they... rare species? Are they the SSR-grade barbarians or whatever the general called them?"

"No, last time he told me they were ancient-legendary six-star barbarians."

"There seem to be other tribes nearby too. Should we send some of ours?"

"No. Don't touch them for now."

The enormous audience chamber had been completed by then. Yoo Hyun sat in the chair atop the stairs, receiving reports about everything.

"Let's see how they behave when they arrive."