The Curtain Rises (9)
Fierce anger hit the brainstem and came up.
‘This bitch!’
Kim Kyung-hwan himself wasn’t sure. Of course, he didn’t think that he conjured the magic on his own. He knew well that it was like putting a spoon in his mouth, which Eraser served. Therefore, it wasn’t due to resentment that he was so angry.
It wasn’t because her words disgusted him with what he wanted to hide from her. Kim Kyung-hwan didn’t feel a bit of shame or disgrace for the lies he spat out. He knew Eraser’s existence in the first place because he was chosen, and he thought others didn’t deserve to know the truth.
Therefore, the point of Kim Kyung-hwan’s anger laid somewhere else.
‘How dare this idiot!’
The low-level, first-class magic trainee dared to doubt ‘him,’ the hope of humankind. It was an arrogant and irritable attitude.
It was no longer important to him that her speculations were true, and the grounds and clues of the suspects were unknown, but that the direction was quite accurate. Cognitive disorders were almost incurable in men like him.
“What bullshit are you talking about?”
He barely endured more blatant swearing but couldn’t hide his distorted expression.
The atmosphere became harsh, but Hwang Soo-rim didn’t avoid his eyes. She was looking confidently at her opponent with one eye. Kim Kyung-hwan glanced at the traces of her left eye hidden behind her hair without realizing it.
Behind her draped black hair, a disfigured and scarred skin reflected. The left eyelid had a yellow scar instead of the pupil. It was even more disgusting to see it in such proximity.
‘I don’t know how the accident happened, but her eye looks like shit. Did she hit her eye on the stick while driving manually?’
The scar was impossible to recover even with Kaifu’s magic. Usually, he would avoid looking at it from consideration for her, but Kim Kyung-hwan had nothing to be rough. He spoke bluntly with his gaze fixed on the burn marks.
“Suddenly, what nonsense is that?”
However, Hwang Soo-rim continued, regardless of his hostility toward her.
“It’s strange. You said you practiced alone with the knowledge taught by the Kaifu instructors? While combining magic in a new way, have you never sought advice from those who are actually guiding you? Why are you doing such inefficient things?”
Kim Kyung-hwan gritted his teeth and said, “… Because I didn’t have to ask.”
“Why?”
“Even if they made this magic first, they couldn’t think of combining it the way I use it. They’re stuck in stereotypes. I think it’s just frustrating to discuss the intermediate process with those guys…”
“That’s ridiculous. The stereotype is more than half broken just by you telling them a new concept. Besides, you take all the classes one-on-one, right? Why don’t you ever show off that new combination you’ve devised even when you’re doing one-on-one training? Does it make sense that it was to avoid a frustrating debate?”
Kim Kyung-hwan’s face turned red. She was going too far. Kim Kyung-hwan responded by grinding his teeth.
“Hey, Hwang Soo-rim. I don’t know why I have to tell you this, but I’ve already finished talking with Kaifu as well as human instructors. I was planning to show it after making a more completed and polished form of the combination.”
He was huffing and talking.
“Isn’t this personal? Not all people in the world live thinking like you. Isn’t it so childish to think that everything is wrong if it’s different from your thoughts?”
“No, that’s also weird.”
Hwang Soo-rim squinted her right eye.
“When was that complete version made?”
“Are you interrogating me now?!”
“When was that combination-style completely made? No Kaifu instructors knew of it until the day the monster attacked this base. When you were thinking about whether or not to tell the Kaifus after completing the new spell, and the monsters were attacking us, was it the perfect timing for the perfect coincidence?”
That question was already addressed in the interview. Kim Kyung-hwan responded sharply.
“No! Right, I used it to fight Waterbirds, but I’ve been working on it! I’m going to stabilize it, and then I’m going to reveal it to the Kaifu instructors…”
Because of his excitement, he wasn’t aware that he used the word ‘Waterbird’ instead of the word ‘monster,’ and Kim Kyung-hwan continued full of emotion. Hwang Soo-rim cut off Kim Kyung-hwan with a low voice.
“But it’s not like that? Isn’t it already complete?”
Was that bitch really crazy?
Kim Kyung-hwan frowned and became irritated.
“Ah, what are you talking about?!”
Hwang Soo-rim added words with sharp eyes.
“During the interview, the combination you revealed was posted on the training center intranet. All instructors and trainees checked on that. I saw it, too. That’s an unfinished combination?”
“Sigh! What the…”
Kim Kyung-hwan laughed in vain; he was dumbfounded.
“Hwang Soo-rim, aren’t you really a genius? Well… it’s not just a formula that makes sense once you see it.”
Eraser also trained him by injection method. Even though he was in a hurry to memorize it, it wasn’t a combination whose logic and principle he could digest 100 percent. There was no way to understand even if she saw through it.
“Whether it’s done or not, it’s not something people like you would know, Hwang Soo-rim. That’s bluffing. That’s enough. Just think whatever you want. I’m going.”
Beggars get tangled up and make people feel bad. Kim Kyung-hwan turned around, grumbling inside. Suddenly Hwang Soo-rim reached out her hand and grabbed his wrist with a strong force. Kim Kyung-hwan, who was angry to the end of his head, turned his head and shouted.
“Ah, fuck, are you really crazy?!”
“Talk to me more.”
“Oh, it’s over!
Kim Kyung-hwan roughly shook his wrist.
Hwang Soo-rim couldn’t hold up and stumbled over her body due to the difference in weight and missed his hand.
“Ah really, you lunatic bitch.”
He swore openly and looked at his wrist, which had been grabbed. It seemed she was wearing a ring on her finger that held him. As he released his hand, he saw a scratch. Kim Kyung-hwan gritted his teeth when he saw traces of red, although it wasn’t enough to bleed or scar.
‘She wouldn’t be able to get married with that face, but why is she wearing something like that even though it’s not a wedding ring? It’s ridiculous.’
He stared at her and spoke.
“You must have some kinds of delusion, so don’t go around like this – and go to the infirmary quickly. There is a psychiatrist there.”
Although he was shooting back at her violently, Hwang Soo-rim did not change her expression. Kim Kyung-hwan didn’t like to see her gaze peering on his face. Other than a mix of jealousy and envy that he was used to and enjoyed, he had another feeling.
“Tsk…”
Kim Kyung-hwan clicked his tongue and turned his back. And without self-consciousness, he got out of the spot with a faster pace.
***
It was a little past midnight. Early on, I was up in the mountains surrounding the Hun-neung early on. I was about to wander around the foot of a mountain that was several kilometers in a radius. It was time for the last check around its perimeter.
I looked around once during the day, but since it was a very sensitive magic circle, it was easily affected by Mana’s distribution around it. I wanted to look at this game one more time ahead.
“Phew…”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead. Although the acceleration magic was applied, the burden on the body seems to build up to some extent.
Mrs. Pearl looked at me with eyes that reflected worry.
“Are you okay, Yoon?”
“Yes, this is good enough…”
I shrugged my shoulder as if there was nothing to worry about. Then I took out a bottle of elixir from the backpack and drank it. The lost body couldn’t raise the limit of the human body’s ability, but at least as much stamina as consumed could be restored.
“Ah, they’re all here. This is the last one.”
I nodded as I looked at the place where Mrs. Pearl was pointing. Her dark hair shone smoothly under the moonlight while transforming into a human.
“Ah, thank you very much.”
I greeted inside the hidden barrier. The answer came back soon.
“Master Yoon?”
It was Yusu’s voice.
It was the 12th one. I arrived at the last altar hidden in the mountain.
The door of the barriers opened as if guiding us inside. There was a small magic circle after passing through the concealed barrier. There was a branch of an Enchanted Wood tree shining silver in the center of the magic circle.
Compared to the Enchanted Wood’s size seen from its origin, it wasn’t huge, but what was important was the nature of this tree. That Enchanted Wood was an excellent artifact created by the Silver Forest’s Truth-Seeker with magic principles, which was much higher than Parvache or mine.
It plays a significant role in getting things going today.
I approached and checked the status of the magic circle. After all, there was nothing wrong. All eleven altars were fine.
“The magic circle has no problem… how is everyone’s Mana?”
Yusu nodded at my question as if it was obvious, “No problem.”
White Deer were also gathered at this altar.
Except for the residents of White Deer who couldn’t physically leave the village or go out the skills and magic that could be helpful in today’s work were selected. I knew most of them through practice. I quietly greeted them.
Among them, a villager who looked like a wolf spoke to me. I remember the face, but I didn’t know the name.
“But are you sure? That they’re showing up here today?”
Did that person… no, did that wolf lived only for being tricked? I tried not to show my expression and responded.
“Yes, I’ve been stealing what they’re communicating with magic. It is today. It’s also very soon.”
The wolf nodded quietly. I looked around the residents and continued talking.
“Well, there’s nothing else I can explain to you here, right? Mrs. Pearl will give you a signal. Then as we’ve practiced, you can put Mana into this Enchanted Wood. Then the Mana will move along the route I’ve laid out, and I’ll complete the barrier in the center. That’s it.”
Twelve altars looked the same. Each had an equal distance between them and surrounded the base of Hun-neung in a circle like a siege.
After that, Yusu and I chatted for a while. Then we waited for the night to come in silence.
It was a lie if I said that I wasn’t nervous because today was the first contact between them and us. There were also many difficult conditions, so yes, I was worried.
We didn’t just shoot magic at random and killed them, but we needed to capture the executives alive. Although it was possible to extract memories through Yodmo even when they died, the problem was that a tool to output those memories wasn’t good. The Fake God in my tank seemed to be almost saturated. Once captured alive, the interrogation was the top priority at that point.
The magical eyes detected a truck approaching from a distance we had planted after a while.
Parvache, who confirmed the appearance through the senses I shared, spoke.
[Min-joon…]
“Yeah.”
[… Be careful.]
“Okay.”
In Parvache’s mind, there was a rare mixture of deep worries.
What was it thinking now? The doubts I set aside these days about Parvache was about to sprout again, so I tried to suppress it. That wasn’t the right time to be distracted.
There were too many variables due to the beings whose abilities were unknown. But now, I couldn’t even take a step back. How much had I already gave up for that moment today? Also, how much more would I have to lose if I didn’t make it that day?
I got up from my seat with a firm mind. I could see puppets getting off the truck in the dark. They were moving quickly to a training camp deep in Hun-neung.
It was time for the curtain to rise on the main stage.
