75
The last morning at Eunga’s residence.
Having lazily gotten up and roughly washed his face, Eunga’s attendant was leaning back on the lobby sofa, facing away from the window.
‘He’s being weird again.’
Ever since returning to the main house, Eunga’s attendant had inexplicably become less talkative.
I soon understood the reason as I looked out the window.
The vast garden. Children of Eungah, playing with magic just like tossing a ball back and forth.
It was a game possible only when the nature of the magic each possessed was similar. If the natures were different, there would be a backlash.
Since the people of Haenamgah had all grown up within the aura of the pearl manifested by the Sea God, their magical attributes were all the same.
Hence, they used magic to distinguish between outsiders and kin.
Except for Eungah.
She couldn’t even properly wield Haenamgah’s sword, let alone having a different magical attribute. So, I understand why she gets annoyed every time she sees me, but…
Thud!
I playfully tapped Eungah’s forehead.
“Ouch! What are you doing?”
Startled, Eungah turned to me with a frown.
“Just a little tap, stop getting annoyed over nothing.”
“What do you know?”
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“I know.”
I know very well, indeed.
I might be a human completely devoid of magic, but I know that feeling.
At my words, Eungah’s eyes widened slightly. She shot me a look as if asking, “Are you a mutant too?”
“Stop fussing over a slight difference in magic. Get up, we need to go to the banquet hall.”
“The banquet hall? Why there?”
“To see the Sea God’s pearl being placed back.”
***
The banquet hall, devoid of any furniture, was empty.
As if narrating the events of the previous night, the ceiling and the floor of the hall were broken, with traces of gold.
At the back of the banquet hall. The center of the magic circle.
Percussion.
The Sea God’s pearl was placed back in its original position.
“Thank you, thanks to you, the restoration of the aura has accelerated by a week,” Eunhoseong turned to me, expressing his gratitude.
It was because I had removed the young magi as anti-magic from the Sea God’s pearl.
The Sea God’s pearl within Anastasia’s body, contaminated by magi, was in a state of pollution. It would have taken a week to purify itself, but I resolved it instantly by my intervention.
Of course, it wasn’t just to do a good deed for Eungah.
It was the final act of Eungah’s scenario.
An event that occurs when the Sea God’s pearl returns to its place.
Hmm.
It was the player level-up event right away.
“Oh, this is…”
Eunhoseong’s eyes widened as the Sea God’s pearl shone in a blue light.
“The Sea God’s pearl is drawing magic from nature!”
Anastasia was raging, a pearl of the sea god that had consumed an immense amount of magic. To replenish that spent magic, the sea god’s pearl was drawing magic from nature.
As a result, the vicinity of Bongmajin was saturated with a dense and pure magic to the point where it was visible to the naked eye.
It was a rare opportunity for generals and superhumans to break through the walls.
Eunhoseong and the guard Kim Junghyuk. Elaine, Han Seyeon, Amelia, Eungaye, Deoric. Everyone gathered in the banquet hall closed their eyes and drank in the magic.
Of course, I, who had no magic, naturally didn’t close my eyes or accumulate any magic in my body.
Instead, the inscriptions engraved on my chest and shoulders greedily absorbed the magic.
[Kkaak! Kkaak!]
[Ah···]
Their experience points were skyrocketing like crazy. Bulsajo had risen from Lv.3 to Lv.4, and Anastasia not only ascended to Lv.2 in an instant but also gained close to half of the experience points.
“Incredible.”
Perhaps due to the fact that Bulsajo and Anastasia were beings made up of an intangible ‘magic’, their absorption capacity was fundamentally different from that of humans.
They had absorbed easily three times the amount of magic compared to the companions with physical bodies.
The magic that had been overflowing to the point of being visible in the banquet hall had disappeared to a considerable extent.
And this directly affected me, who shared the ‘fusion water’ and constitution.
My body felt lighter, vitality increased, and my vision became clearer.
[······Synchronization rate with Gram has increased.]
[······Synchronization rate with Gram has increased.]
[······Synchronization rate with Gram has increased.]
[······Synchronization rate with Gram has increased.]
[······Synchronization rate with Gram has increased.]
[Partial unlocking of Gram’s gifts.]
Thud!
The sound of iron breaking. Gram’s number of blades increased from 6 to 7.
As time passed and the saturated magic gradually dissipated, everyone opened their eyes.
“Congratulations to everyone on gaining the Gyuyeon.”
Eunhoseong’s words excited the group, and each of them expressed words of gratitude.
“Especially Haesol was remarkable in absorbing magic.”
Eunhoseong looked at me with a surprised expression. The ‘astonishment’ contained within seemed to have solidified any possible misunderstandings.
With a cool scratch on the back of my neck, I exchanged greetings with the group and left the banquet hall.
“Wow, that was amazing. Truly incredible.”
Deoric murmured as if in a dream. Elaine nodded in agreement.
“Yeah. I never knew the Sea God’s pearl was so extraordinary.”
“I think it contains about three years’ worth of magic?”
Eungaye laughed as she waved her hand filled with magic.
“It’s an Eungmok stone after all. Still, I’ve never seen such a magic-saturated phenomenon before.”
Amelia’s expression as she spoke in amazement was also incredibly bright. It seemed she had gained a significant amount of magic through this Gyuyeon.
Then, Han Seyeon, who had been walking beside me, tilted her head and asked, “How about you, Haesol?”
“Me? I got a decent amount too.”
Han Seyeon smiled softly when I dodged the question. I averted my gaze for no reason.
In fact, due to my fusion spirits greedily absorbing mana without conscience, the amount of mana the rest of the team obtained was next to nothing.
Since the mana was saturated, I thought Eunhoseong was the only one who noticed, but he seemed to know as well.
“By the way, what’s going on? So many people.”
To divert the topic, I pointed at the people bustling around since morning.
Fortunately, Han Seyeon didn’t say much. Amelia smirked.
“Yes, what’s happening?”
While successfully shifting the topic, I glanced at the people bustling around and grabbed the passing Eungayae to ask.
“Mr. Eungayae, what’s happening here?”
“Oh, Miss Gayae.”
The man who recognized Eungayae smiled warmly, then looked at us with a troubled expression.
“It’s okay, you can tell us.”
“Well, a mine detainee from the underground cell escaped last night.”
“Escaped?”
Our eyes widened at the news of the mine escape.
“Yes. The CCTV was out, and there’s no trace of how they got out. That’s why we’re searching all around, but haven’t found them yet.”
“······.”
Eungayae’s expression turned serious.
Understandably, if the escaped mine detainee happened to know about the Bongmajin, it could be troublesome.
As we were shocked by the news of the mine escape, I glanced at Han Seyeon. For some reason, I didn’t sense any surprise in him. Usually, when something like this happens, the color of one’s soul tends to darken slightly, but Han Seyeon remained unchanged. No, it almost seemed like his soul color had lightened.
Feeling my gaze, Han Seyeon smirked.
“Why are you looking at me like that, Haesol?”
“I thought it wouldn’t matter if I skipped school. You have a lot to clean up after you finish, right?”
Han Seyeon widened his eyes, then smiled as if pleased.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I can do it tomorrow.”
Indeed, it was the same old Han Seyeon as usual.
It was a bit surprising that he wasn’t shocked, but he was originally a child with shallow emotions, so there was no need to be amazed.
***
······Mid-June. Tuesday. 4 p.m.
I was sitting across from Eungayae at a small cafe on the 3rd floor of the Black Market, ‘Normal.’
Not knowing why she had followed me here, Eungayae asked, “Why did you come here?”
“To meet someone.”
Perhaps because I had helped Eungay before, Eungayae promised to help me in return.
Even though I was grateful for the ‘Guardian’s Mark,’ there was no need to refuse help if she was willing to go this far.
After all, Eungayae was the lead in the game, even taking part in the Georg hunt.
‘But I still need to have a talk.’
I planned to talk to her and if she didn’t want to go, I had no choice but to exclude her.
Although Eungayae was the lead, hunting mines was a dangerous task that risked lives.
I couldn’t force her to come.
The same applied to the other leads as well.
“Block the sound.”
“Got it.”
Despite looking puzzled, Eun-ga-ye unfolded her magic to prevent the sound from leaking out.
After confirming that there was no one around to hear, I opened my mouth.
“I’m going to catch Georgh. I came here today to meet the person we need there.”
“······.”
Eun-ga-ye blinked her big eyes.
A brief silence followed.
‘I’m in for it now.’
Just as I was about to speak, Eun-ga-ye raised her hand and waved it in front of my face.
“?”
Then she placed her hand on my forehead and her own.
“Are you okay?”
I frowned.
“What are you doing right now?”
As she scrutinized my face up close, Eun-ga-ye finally spoke, looking bewildered.
“Georgh?”
“Yes.”
“The Seven Evils?”
I nodded.
“Nate’s Mine?”
Bam!
“Ouch!”
Eun-ga-ye clenched her forehead and banged her head on the table.
I, who had tapped her forehead with my strengthened one, looked unimpressed.
“I’m not joking.”
“Ow, your forehead is really hard.”
Groaning, Eun-ga-ye got up, rubbing her head, and asked with a smirk.
“If we’re going to catch Georgh, shouldn’t we ask our father for help?”
For Eun-ga-ye, that was the most incomprehensible part.
Eun-ho-sung, who had officially expelled Georgh’s doppelgangers twice and made the main body run away, came seeking help, leaving behind such an accomplished figure. From her perspective, she couldn’t fathom what I was thinking.
Of course, I had also considered taking Eun-ho-sung along.
“If it were possible, I would have done so earlier.”
It was not possible, so I didn’t take her.
“Why not?”
“Have you ever heard of Eun-ga-jun encountering Georgh after 15 years ago?”
“······Hmm, come to think of it, no? Why?”
Finally realizing something was amiss, Eun-ga-ye chuckled, massaging her swollen forehead.
Because Eun-ho-sung was someone who never gave up on a target once she had set her sights on them.
Outwardly gentle, but in reality, Eun Hoseong was famous for not hesitating to kill people by any means necessary.
However, since encountering Georg’s ‘core’ fifteen years ago, Eun Hoseong had never been able to find Georg even once.
The reason was obvious.
“Keep your eyes fixed, and if you move even a bit, he disappears.”
“Ah.”
“It’s not just Eungaju. He’s the kind who hides as soon as a top-rank Ranker moves. They say it’s hard to write about someone known.”
“Do you know well?”
“There’s a place to get all the information.”
“I wonder where that information source is. Can they even capture Georg? Will they really become a Transcendent Association?”
Eungaye clicked her tongue.
Not only this time, I had already shared unknown information with others multiple times.
It was during such conversations with Eungaye that it happened.
“He’s here.”
“Huh? He’s here?”
Eungaye, who had been tilting her head, suddenly looked up as if sensing a shadow falling over her head. Then, she widened her eyes.
“What, what is it. When······!”
Right behind Eungaye. A man with a sturdy build stood with his arms crossed.
“You’re the one who said you could catch Georg.”
“Yes, I am.”
I, who had seen the blind man without eyes, chuckled and nodded.
“Hey, Ihaesol, this, this person······”
Eungaye’s expression stiffened.
I nodded.
The energy emanating from the man’s body.
It was not magic but ‘magi.’