Chapter 19
Five days climbing, two days resting.
My own rule for sustainable Hunter work.
‘Though I’ve already broken that rule.’
I did take a few days off during the week.
That was the fallout from the Capybara gang’s attack.
I couldn’t climb the Tower because I was groaning in bed….
So how should I schedule things?
Should I consider my weekday days off already used and climb over the weekend?
‘No?!’
I’m taking a break, okay?
I did set a historic record by clearing Floor 10, after all.
I deserve a rest.
Kim Ji-min, you’ve earned it.
Wung-wung-
Even Moo-sang agrees.
Ding-
I immediately turned on the air conditioner and wrapped myself up in my blanket.
‘Hehehe, this is paradise.’
Of course, I can’t just laze around forever.
You never know when bad people might show up, so I should learn some defensive magic.
I’ve got the perfect setup for a lesson.
‘From now on, it’s nothing but studying.’
I logged back into Archmage Gallery.
This week’s teacher was the illusion mage, ‘ThatsActuallyReal.’
└ThatsActuallyReal: Welcome to the world of illusion magic!
└ThatsActuallyReal: You won’t regret it. Illusion magic is seriously fun.
└ThatsActuallyReal: It’s on a whole different level from what you’ve learned so far.
I feel like everyone’s said that before.
Our magic is the best.
It’s on a different level.
└ThatsActuallyReal: This time, I really mean it.
└ThatsActuallyReal: If elemental magic is the basics, illusion magic is applied, advanced magic.
I remember hearing something similar.
They said you learn auxiliary magic as a minor, with elemental magic as your foundation.
Maybe that’s why even the gallery mod-mom said I should focus on elemental magic for now.
So is it okay for me to learn it now…?
‘Gotta read the room….’
Well, it should be fine.
If it wasn’t worth learning, wouldn’t the other Archmages have said something?
Besides, I need to learn magic quickly in this situation.
└Hikki: Then let’s get this lesson started!
└ThatsActuallyReal: Good, good. Before the lesson, though. You do have a brain, right?
└Hikki: ?????
└AngryArtist: That does need to be verified.
What’s this, are they trying to provoke me?
I’m not that stupid.
└ThatsActuallyReal: That’s not what I meant, human.
└ThatsActuallyReal: Illusion magic uses your brain.
└ThatsActuallyReal: Actually, human brains and fairy brains are structurally very similar, so you should be fine.
└Hikki: So there was no need to ask if I had a brain.
└ThatsActuallyReal: You’re smarter than I expected. I think you can learn this much, at least.
So they were planning to tease me from the start?!
Jeez.
└ThatsActuallyReal: Now, do you know how to distinguish the different parts of the brain?
Name some brain regions you know.
└Hikki: The cerebrum, cerebellum, left brain, right brain…??
└ThatsActuallyReal: Never heard of the hypothalamus, somatosensory cortex, basal ganglia, corpus callosum, hippocampus, amygdala, frontal lobe, and so on?
W-what are those….
└ThatsActuallyReal: Language distortion, meaning manipulation, split perception, loss of direction, thought suppression, optical illusions, auditory hallucinations, visual apparitions, hunger, drowsiness, repetitive behavior, memory manipulation, fear, thought suppression, impaired judgment.
└ThatsActuallyReal: And countless others.
└Hikki: Eek.
└ThatsActuallyReal: The many possibilities of illusion magic are scattered across the different parts of the brain.
The explanation continued.
The amygdala, apparently, was responsible for fear and anxiety.
If the amygdala became overactive, even the slightest stimulus could cause intense fear.
And paralyzing the prefrontal cortex could delay the calming response and extend the duration of an illusion….
‘Isn’t this medicine, not magic?’
I suddenly felt like I’d become a medical student.
I was dumbfounded by this unexpected rise in status.
└ThatsActuallyReal: Physical functions are what magic is based on.
└ThatsActuallyReal: And their applications are truly magical.
ThatsActuallyReal continued the lesson for a long time.
They explained the different parts of the brain and the illusion magic corresponding to each of them, one by one.
My head was already throbbing.
After spending nearly the whole day on it.
└ThatsActuallyReal: You remember everything, right?
└Hikki: Hehe;;
└ThatsActuallyReal: How about a little quiz?
└Hikki: What?!
└Illegal: Qui!
└AngryArtist: Z!
└Ice Bat: Time!
└TitanWithTeeth: Quiz.
└Hikki: ??!?!
Stop the test!
I don’t want to feel like a medical student anymore.
It really was different from the other kinds of magic.
No other magic has ever given me such a headache.
And I haven’t even managed to activate the mana yet!
└Hikki: Can’t you just explain it more simply?
I tried to protest, but the illusion teacher was unyielding.
└ThatsActuallyReal: This is the basics. The introduction.
└ThatsActuallyReal: You’ll have to use even more complicated techniques later. Don’t you want to learn those?
└Hikki: I do….
└ThatsActuallyReal: Exactly. You can’t get stuck already.
I’m gonna cry.
The teacher went quiet for a moment, then came back with a whole stack of test questions.
They even set every comment they’d written to explain the lesson to private.
Why are they so thorough?
└ThatsActuallyReal: Don’t even think about cheating.
└ThatsActuallyReal: This isn’t a test you take to pass. It’s to see whether you’re ready to learn magic.
└ThatsActuallyReal: If you cheat, you’re only hurting yourself.
└Hikki: Yes, ma’am.
I read the questions.
1. Explain the magical mechanism behind inducing an illusion of fear.
2. Explain how to suppress the target’s thoughts and make them repeat the same action endlessly.
3. Explain the difference between hallucinations, visual hallucinations, and apparitions─
…
…
…
10. How can an illusion of hunger be distinguished from false hunger─
It’s even an essay test?
You’re one vicious fairy, ThatsActuallyReal.
“Then the answer to number one is….”
Fear…. Fear…. I dredged up what I could remember and typed it out.
‘Imbue mana inside the body with an illusion, then release the mana…. Stimulate the other person’s amygdala….’
Something like that.
I barely managed to finish writing.
That took forever.
[Submitting my answers now]
[Hikki]
(Answer sheet)
This is too hard, teacher.
What on earth does it mean to switch the left and right sides of the brain?
└ThatsActuallyReal: lol
└GoodAtHousework: That question does seem a little difficult for Hikki-nim to understand right now. But would it be easier to understand if you thought of it as turning off one brain switch and transferring its function?
└ThatsActuallyReal: Yeah, that’s the idea.
└Hikki: ??? How did you understand that, teacher?
└Hikki: How do you even turn off a switch?
└WaterSpirit: Because they’re a genius.
Huh.
Is this what it means to be on a whole other level?
I still have a long way to go before I can be recognized as a genius mage in Archmage Gallery.
└ThatsActuallyReal: Grading complete.
The score came back quickly.
└ThatsActuallyReal: 70 out of 100.
└ThatsActuallyReal: Not bad.
Wow!
Maybe I really am a genius?!
└ThatsActuallyReal: Not quite. It means you’re just barely qualified to learn.
└Hikki: Tch.
└ThatsActuallyReal: You’d have gotten 100 if you were HouseholdAce.
└Illegal: I can believe that.
└Hikki: Don’t compare me to them! Just let me be me!
Would it kill them to say something nice for once?
Anyway, that was how the second day began.
The lessons got more serious.
At last, I was going to learn how to use the magic.
└ThatsActuallyReal: What kind of magic are you going to use, and how?
└ThatsActuallyReal: The most effective method is to cast it directly on your opponent.
Like hurling a Fireball or shooting an orb of ice.
The most common approach was to choose a target and aim at them.
└ThatsActuallyReal: But you said this is for fighting people.
└ThatsActuallyReal: They’ll be much more alert than the Tower’s monsters. Are you confident?
└Hikki: It won’t be easy….
Just keeping my mind together will be a challenge.
It really won’t be easy.
└ThatsActuallyReal: Then one alternative is trap magic.
└ThatsActuallyReal: You plant an illusion in a specific object or location, and it activates on contact.
Hmm, maybe I could manage that much.
If I set it on the doorknob or window frame, wouldn’t that make it hard for someone to break in?
└ThatsActuallyReal: Have you decided what kind of illusion you’ll use?
└Hikki: I’m thinking of using fear.
└ThatsActuallyReal: That’s definitely the most reliable choice. But it won’t be easy for you, either. You’ll have to imbue it with whatever you find most terrifying.
The illusion teacher patiently explained how to use the magic.
I followed along, step by step.
Honestly, it was a painful process.
I had to face the thing I feared most.
It made me shiver, tremble, and gasp for breath.
I kept forcing myself to use the magic, even though I wanted to collapse.
Then I finished setting it up around the house.
Phew.
I’m taking the rest of the day off.
Tomorrow, I’ll go to the Tower.
***
“Have you finished assessing the situation?”
“It’s almost complete.”
“Only the final selection remains.”
“Good. That’s enough.”
China’s Hunter Department.
A conference room filled with important figures.
A map of South Korea appeared on the huge screen.
Numerous pins were clustered around Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.
“These are the places believed to be Hikki’s residence or a meeting spot.”
China’s strategy had been clear from the start.
‘If we investigate Im Wan-seop, we’ll find Hikki.’
They had never even considered searching for Hikki directly.
Instead, they had kept Im Wan-seop under surveillance and tracked his movements.
And recently, something significant had happened.
Hikki had come into the open alongside some suspicious movements by the director of Korea’s Awakened Management Bureau.
He’d tried to confuse them with a fairly complicated route, but…
“Im Wan-seop, you underestimated us.”
With enough money and manpower, there was nothing they couldn’t do.
They sorted out the convoluted routes.
They distinguished the real from the fake, and saw through the disguises.
“We’ve compiled every place Im Wan-seop—or someone believed to be him—visited in the past few days.”
“Good.”
“Of those, there are thirty locations where he may have contacted Hikki.”
White markers glimmered.
“Five locations are strong candidates.”
This time, red flags flashed on the screen.
“Shall we send in a separate team to deal with them quietly?”
The head of China’s Hunters rubbed their chin, deep in thought.
Then they gave an order.
“No. Send in all the special operations Hunters. The longer we wait, the harder this will get.”
Overwhelming numbers.
Swift action.
Those were the tactics they were most confident in.
And a little while later.
“We’ve been notified that they’re nearing the area.”
Special operations Hunters.
Hunters secretly trained for all kinds of covert operations.
They had landed in Korea.
Led by Black Swan, a powerful Hunter ranked No. 20 in China.
A team of specialists packed with top-ranked Hunters.
Among them was Team One, made up of their leader Black Swan and Jongjak and Jahyeon, both ranked in the top fifty.
“Here.”
“It looks like a shabby villa.”
“We’ll find out once we go inside.”
The location assigned to Team One was Hikki’s home.
Beneath the moonlight.
They concealed their mana, muffled their footsteps, and picked the lock.
Then they quietly climbed the stairs.
Finding the exact address hadn’t been difficult.
There was a place practically coated in mana.
“At this point…. Even if it isn’t our target, shouldn’t we take care of it?”
“Let’s do that.”
Creeeak-
They quietly opened the door.
The room was plain and austere.
They said they’d provide support. Had it still not arrived?
There was no sign of anyone.
Even after checking with various devices, they couldn’t detect any signs of life.
“Maybe the target’s out…. Or climbing the Tower.”
“We’ve often seen the target follow a routine of climbing after two days of rest.”
“That’s even better. We can face the target after they’ve worn themselves out.”
They believed the target was a girl.
The target probably wasn’t very strong physically.
If the target had already used up their mana, they’d be even easier to subdue.
“Gah…!”
That was when it happened.
“Jongjak?!”
One of the special operations Hunters rolled their eyes back and collapsed.
They only convulsed, completely unable to come to their senses.
“What happened?”
“I didn’t see….”
Damn it.
“Watch your step. It could be a trap.”
“Yes.”
But those words were immediately rendered meaningless.
“Guh….”
Another member of the team lost consciousness.
Now only Black Swan remained in the room.
Black Swan tried to track the mana and find the traps, but it wasn’t easy.
‘How much mana has the target used….’
The mana was so thick it seemed to cling to everything.
The whole house felt like one enormous lump of mana.
Black Swan couldn’t tell how many traps were left—or what was a trap at all.
Black Swan was stuck with nowhere to go.
‘We’re retreating for today.’
Let’s get out of here for now.
We’ll take the team members with us and pull back.
Once we regroup…
Now that they knew how many enemies there were, they had a chance as long as they prepared carefully.
Black Swan was thinking that as they tried to drag Jongjak and Jahyeon’s bodies out.
Tap-
They felt something brush against the back of their shoulder.
“……!”
Their vision spun in an instant.
The world whirled around them, and they briefly lost consciousness.
When they came to again—
“Quit blocking the way and move!”
“Hey, just get out of the way!”
Black Swan was standing in a subway station crowded with people.
“Where the hell am I…?”