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[Passive Skill : Awakened Eyes]

[Description : Opens your eyes.]

I blinked.

But the familiar message didn't change.

“No way. Surely not….”

Was this truly how a precious level-up opportunity was going to go to waste?

Like this, of all things?

“No. It can't be. It mustn't be….”

Just then, a new system window appeared before my eyes.

[You have acquired the same skill twice.]

[Passive Skill ‘Awakened Eyes’ is evolving.]

[Passive Skill : Insight Eye]

[Description : What you see is not everything.]

“There was such a thing as skill evolution?”

This could only be a gain.

I suddenly began to feel relieved.

The skill effect of Insight Eye was still so unhelpfully vague that I couldn't tell what kind of skill it was.

But there was no way it could be a dud.

It was the first platinum-grade skill I'd ever obtained.

I'd benefited plenty from Awakened Eyes up to now.

There was no way combining two such skills would make them worse.

“So it basically became a three-star skill through synthesis, which should make it at least near-rainbow grade, right? If so, this is huge….”

Grinning over my unexpected jackpot, I left the tower.

First, I had to check again what I could do with Awakened Eyes.

But after leaving the tower, I stopped dead in my tracks.

“Huh?”

I blinked blankly.

The tower looked strange.

It wasn't the pitch-black pillar that seemed to swallow every ray of light, the way it always had.

The tower's surface was glowing faintly with a purple light.

Unrecognizable geometric patterns slowly rippled across it like waves on the surface of water.

“They definitely weren't there when I entered the tower….”

What had happened in the meantime? No. That couldn't be.

It only looked that way to me.

Because I'd only just opened my eyes anew….

Instinctively, I realized that some kind of magic had been cast on the tower.

“So this is how magic looks.”

Come to think of it, this was the first time I'd seen someone else's magic since obtaining Awakened Eyes.

No, even before I got Awakened Eyes, I hadn't seen any real magic.

Makkakno? Whatever that crazy bastard used, it clearly wasn't the same kind of magic.

This was a sight I'd never seen before.

I was captivated by the strange beauty magic possessed.

As if entranced, I walked toward the tower.

But the closer I got, the more clearly I could see the magic on the tower's surface roiling.

It was trying to get away from me.

It was shunning me as if it were a living thing.

What was going on?

I was so curious. A sudden desire welled up in me to know everything about this magic.

That was strange, considering my personality.

On top of that, I'd had a strange certainty as a mage since earlier.

The mage's intuition that had guided me so many times was telling me—

that touching it wouldn't harm me at all.

No, it was warning me that smashing it to pieces right now would actually be safer.

As if possessed, I reached out and placed my hand against the tower wall.

It happened then.

Crash-!

A sound like a gigantic window shattering shook the surroundings.

The purple magic covering the tower's surface broke into pieces and scattered into fragments of light.

“What the hell!”

WEE-OOO! WEE-OOO!

The anti-theft alarms on all the cars parked nearby went off at once.

Panicking, I spun around and ran straight home.

“Huff, huff….”

The moment I got home, I turned on my computer before anything else.

Then, out of habit, I logged into the Mage Gallery.

I had to figure out what on earth had happened.

[Title: I Just Touched the Tower and Something Weird Happened]

Author: ㅇㅇ(D44.444)

I saw something like ripples on the tower, so I touched it, you know?

Then there was suddenly this huge sound of glass shattering.

It looked like some kind of magic had been cast on it.

All the cars nearby started blaring their alarms too, and everything turned into chaos. What is this?

I think I'm seriously screwed….

The Mage Gallery users who saw my post reacted with alarm.

ㄴ Magic Is Firepower : What? Explain in detail.

ㄴ Beetle : Magic was cast on the tower? I'll go check right now.

ㄴ Fridge : Was that glass-shattering sound from earlier maybe this…? I'll go out and investigate too. I'm the only one here who works in research, after all.

ㄴPkkatju : I wouldn't understand anything even if I went, anyway. Just recommend me a breakfast menu.

The three left, saying they were going to investigate separately.

Only Pkkatju remained perfectly unperturbed, spending the time posting inane nonsense.

I anxiously hit refresh and waited for them.

“Ah, I should check the Hunter Gallery too.”

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

Sure enough, people there were already in an uproar.

[Title: Anyone Hear That Glass Shattering Just Now?]

[Title: My House Window Has Cracked—What the Hell Is This?]

[Title: Is This Happening Outside Incheon Too? What the Fuck]

“…This didn't just happen here?”

There was no doubt I'd caused something enormous.

I trembled, feeling a cold sweat run down my spine.

This couldn't be. My mage's intuition had definitely told me everything was fine.

***

Meanwhile, in the United States—in an underground bunker beneath the Pentagon.

There, a massive operation to track down one person was underway.

The director in charge of the operation stood with his arms crossed, staring at the central screen.

The screen displayed the status of the tracking magic on each continent in a complicated graph.

“No issues in the European sector.”

“The Asian sector is stable as well.”

The reports were proceeding smoothly. Everything was going according to plan.

The moment Double-O appeared in the tower again, the tracking magic laid out like a spiderweb would immediately pinpoint Double-O's location.

That was when it happened.

“Huh?”

A low voice from one of the analysts broke the silence in the control room.

“Director? One of the tracking magic signals in the European sector has disappeared.”

The director's brow furrowed slightly.

“Report.”

“The cause is unknown. It could be a system error….”

Before the agent could finish speaking—

Beep- Beep- Beep-

A sharp warning alarm rang throughout the control room.

Dozens of monitors were simultaneously covered in red error messages.

“All tracking magic in the Asian sector has disappeared!”

“The CCTV feeds at all major positions have turned entirely to static!”

“Europe, North America… the signals are down in every sector!”

It all happened in an instant.

The control room descended into chaos.

The sounds of frantic keyboard tapping and shouts reporting the situation blended together.

The director bellowed.

“What the hell is going on?! Assess the situation immediately!”

The chief analyst rose from his seat, his face pale.

His voice was a thin, disbelieving tremor.

“Director, it doesn't make sense…. Every tracking spell installed around the world was neutralized simultaneously, without even a one-second discrepancy.”

“That's not all. The communications network and every CCTV camera belonging to the surveillance forces stationed around the tower were also all disabled at exactly the same time.”

At the chief analyst's report, every sound in the control room stopped.

An eerie silence descended.

The agents stared blankly at one another.

The director moved his lips as he looked at the screens in disarray.

“I suppose I'd better take some swimming lessons before I go into the Atlantic.”

***

A little while later, the people returned to the Mage Gallery.

ㄴ Beetle : Situation assessed. Looks like the newbie caused another enormous incident.

ㄴ Fridge : There was extremely covert, powerful tracking magic on the tower. It all blew apart the moment you touched it. What exactly did you do?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(211.58) : Waaa…. I'm just a baby…. I dunno anything….

Magic Is Firepower, who managed the tower in Busan, seemed quite flustered by the situation.

ㄴ Magic Is Firepower : Is that what happened? I couldn't see anything at all, even when I looked….

ㄴ Fridge : It's normal not to be able to see it. I knew because I have research equipment…. Beetle's S-rank, so maybe Beetle saw something.

ㄴ Fridge : But this was the government, right?

ㄴ Beetle : Yeah. I went to the Blue House and demanded to know what was going on, and they admitted it readily.

ㄴ Beetle : They said they couldn't help it because of pressure from Demigod and the governments of other countries. Of course, I have no intention of letting it go just because I heard that.

ㄴ Beetle : What a headache, seriously.

ㄴ Fridge: Wow, I didn't know you could push back that hard. I don't think I've ever seen you like this before.

ㄴ Beetle: Honestly, I'm angry too. This is going too far.

A heavy silence briefly settled over the gallery's comment section.

It was Magic Is Firepower who broke the silence.

ㄴ Magic Is Firepower : Anyway, we almost had a real disaster on our hands. Newbie. You know that, right?

ㄴ Magic Is Firepower : You need to be more careful.

ㄴ Magic Is Firepower : No, even saying that doesn't reassure me. Where do you live? Just come to Busan, okay? I told you I'd protect you. Why won't you come?

ㄴPkkatju : That lady is the most dangerous person here!!!

I voiced the thought that suddenly occurred to me.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(211.58) : But I think I know why this happened.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(F44.444) : I'm talking about the magic Makkakno put on me. Looking back, he said something strange about 'escaping causality' or whatever.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(211.58) : Could that actually have been magic that frees me from this kind of tracking magic?

Everyone else agreed that my flawless deduction made sense.

ㄴ Fridge: Now that you mention it, that does make sense. I must have been targeted by tracking magic dozens of times by now.

ㄴ p깟쮸 : You even somehow avoided getting caught by that post where you posted your Extreme proof on the Hunter Gallery.

ㄴ Beetle : That's because I had the NIS delete the records.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(F44.444): God-Beetle, just what are you…. (Hug).

The atmosphere in the gallery grew considerably lighter.

It really seemed like everything had been resolved now.

ㄴ Magic Is Firepower : Anyway, Makkakno's magic must have some kind of risk. We don't know what it is. Shouldn't we find out?

It was at that very moment that Magic Is Firepower said this.

Pkkatju noticed something.

ㄴ Pkkatju : Huh? The newbie's IP is strange.

ㄴ Pkkatju : No, wait—the newbie has become normal.

Perplexed by Pkkatju's incomprehensible words, I checked the name next to my nickname.

ㅇㅇ(211.58)

“Oh, fuck?”

Horrified, I hurriedly wrote a new post.

[Title: Test]

Author : ㅇㅇ(211.58)

Content : Title says it all

Sure enough, my IP had returned to normal.

Could this have been a time-limited spell?

Or a limited number of uses?

Either way, this was bad.

“No!”

I let out a desperate wail.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(211.58): No, my invincible VPN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ㄴ Fridge: Calm down. The tracking magic is all gone now, too.

ㄴ Beetle : Right, there's nothing to be afraid of. If anything happens, I'll take responsibility and stop it, so don't worry.

I posted another test post, and this time my IP had changed back to its original, strange state.

ㄴ Pkkatju : Oh? It's back again. I guess the magic hasn't completely disappeared yet.

ㄴ Fridge : Then I guess we can let our guard down for now.

But my lament meant something else.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(22E.E4): ㄴㄴ. Now that it's come to this, I should go do all the trolling I wanted before the VPN effect ends. Later.

With that as my final post, I headed straight for the Hunter Gallery.

In the Mage Gallery I left behind, silence fell.

ㄴ Beetle : Sometimes this really isn't easy.

ㄴ Fridge : I wonder what he looks like in person. I'm sure he's a guy in his thirties.

ㄴ p깟쮸: No, the newbie is a woman. I saw their clone last time. They said they'd made a female character because they were a man, but I think that's a lie. I think they're around my age.

ㄴ 풍뎅이: I don't know. Don't try to find them right now for no reason. Eventually, the day will come when we'll find out anyway.