Chapter 123: End Times

[Translator – Aren]

While I waited in the hospital room to recover, I didn’t just sit around doing nothing.

One good thing about the authorized phone was that I could access overseas YouTube. Maybe they'd installed some sort of VPN on it or something, but thanks to that, I could sit cross-legged on the hospital bed, steady my breathing, and clear my mind.

Of course, interruptions have a way of crashing in at anytime, from any place.

-Click.

I heard the door open, then Lee Sejun’s reluctant voice pierced my ears.

"Jemin-ssi, what are you doing?”

"Meditating.”

"You, Jemin-ssi?”

I didn’t bother answering.

I was in the process of organizing my thoughts and sorting through everything I’d learned so far.

Back when I was in school, I once asked a friend who ranked first in the entire school for study advice. He said that it was just as important to internalize what you learned as to study ahead and went on about the importance of reviewing and reflecting. I remember him saying a lot of impressive things, but all that remained in my head were fragments.

"Sejun. If you don’t want to deceive yourself into thinking you know something, you need to let people question you. True understanding comes from asking and answering questions. Do you know how many people mistake being able to say something out loud for actually knowing it?”

"...Jemin-ssi, please stop watching YouTube.”

"More importantly, why do you insist on calling me ‘Jemin-ssi’ every single time? If it were anyone else, fine, but coming from a bastard whose dream is to become a cute TS girl, it keeps making me wonder if you’re into guys or something.”

"Haah…Jemin-ssi. If you want me to call you hyung, then act like one. I’m leaving Jemin-ssi.”

I could sense Lee Sejun walking away, completely fed up with me.

I became completely certain that he left, hearing the fading footsteps.

Phew...

I was alone in the hospital room again.

Now my true reflection could begin.

It had been worth driving him off with some impressive-sounding bullshit. I had no idea when the backlash from my Ears-branch magic might hit, so I needed to keep that ticking time bomb as far away from me as possible.

Especially when I was meditating like this.

I try to live without prejudice.

Shin Nain, who completely takes over a bathroom stall to sing hymns. Lee Sejun, who shamelessly revealed that his dream is to become a pretty TS girl. Go Ryeoha, who spends half her time walking around with a few screws loose in her head. Pastor Park Yoham, who starts ranting about heresy whenever he gets the chance. Hamza, the migrant worker, who’s always looking for a chance to run away.

The fact that I could maintain a neutral and balanced perspective while surrounded by these kinds of people was a miracle in itself.

I thought it showed just how objective and decent a human being I, Baek Jemin, was.

There was exactly one thing I was sure of.

There had to be a desire that every human being instinctively longed for.

To live a long life, being healthy and youthful, without suffering even minor illnesses.

The dream of eternal youth and longevity was the ultimate goal all humans tried to rush towards.

There was a reason wealthy Westerners were obsessed with magic, especially of the Heart-branch.

There was a reason people had spent ages cultivating themselves in hopes of becoming immortals and crying out for eternal youth and longevity.

From a mystical standpoint, the body was both the prison of the soul and its vessel.

I gathered together what I could remember from the things I’d learned from Monk Cheonghwi and the pastor. This was the work of taking my instinctive intuition about magic and organizing it into systematic understanding and logic. This was the true path of a wizard.

I took a deep breath and began connecting the fragments of knowledge scattered through my mind.

Simply accumulating knowledge was nothing more than memorization.

True wisdom lay in being able to infer one piece of knowledge from another.

The Right-Hand Path: Those who seek unity with God by following divine providence.

Those of the Right-Hand Path tend to view the body as the vessel of the soul and its incarnated form. To them, the body is the shape taken by the soul, an incarnation bearing the breath of God, and therefore cannot be defiled.

Of course, that claim is heavily shaped by the monotheistic faiths represented by theAbrahamic religions. The core of it, as far as I understood it, was that they waited for God’s choice through strict observance of doctrine and unquestioning obedience.

Dogma-type magic was a typical example of the Right-Hand Path.

It was passive and required accepting the view of this world demanded by doctrine and traditional teachings.

The Left-Hand Path: Those who believe humans can achieve unity with God, or transcendence, through their own cultivation and the refinement of knowledge.

Those of the Left-Hand Path regard the body as a prison confining the true soul, which they describe as a sacred flame. Their interpretation tends to be that this world itself is the product of an evil will and that every kind of desire, including carnal desire, corrupts the soul’s great potential.

Ideas along those lines are often roughly lumped together under the nameGnosticism. The core of it, as far as I understood it, was that humans could cast off the prison of their flesh and reach the path of transcendence even without divine providence.

Alteration-type magic belonged to the Left-Hand Path.

It was active, and every Alteration-type system focused on rejecting the body as it was and changing it. Even upright Alteration-type magic seemed to pursue an ideal body capable of doing things the original human body could never dream of accomplishing.

Back then, my limited experience had only let me understand this much.

But now things were different. Through fighting and meeting the Seoul wizards and encountering all kinds of monsters, I had accumulated something spiritual. You could even count that as experience points.

To sum it up:

1. There was a clear limit to the compatibility between Dogma-type and Alteration-type magic, and combining them would lower the ceiling of both.

The core of Dogma-type magic lay in a worldview established through traditional teachings and doctrine that had been refined over thousands of controversies and criticisms. An important part of Dogma-type magic was its passivity. Rather than thinking for oneself, one relied on the worldview and interpretations laid down by one’s predecessors.

Even if someone didn’t follow every line of their doctrine, if they interpreted everything with religion in mind, stuff like God created the world, there was an afterlife, and there was some kind of divine order, then they were Dogma-type wizards.

Hadn’t Hamza, that migrant worker, said he still faithfully prayed to Allah for forgiveness even while eating pork belly and drinking soju? At that point he might as well not believe at all, but people who could sin against God yet could never deny God were the pens who awakened Dogma-type magic.

The difference became obvious in how Alteration-type users began imposing their own will upon the world each time they advanced to a higher Stage.

The incompatibility between Dogma-type and Alteration-type magic lay in their fundamental philosophies.

Passivity and activity.

The present world created by God. The present world that could be changed by my own will. Magic wasn’t simply about throwing fireballs. It was a way of understanding this world, a path leading to transcendence.

2. Then what did the numerological meanings behind the various numbers used by the 66 Society symbolize?

Pastor Park Yohan, despite being a Protestant pastor, studied mysticism and had gone on and on about that damned thing called numerology.

Listening to it had been nothing short of torture, but after actually studying it, I could at least be certain of one thing. The 66 Society used coded phrases that no one without knowledge of numerology could ever decipher. 7 was 6, 6 was 5… Any sane, rational pragmatist would hear that trash and start cursing immediately.

However, now that I knew the meanings behind the numbers, and after a pentagram had been engraved into my heart. I was different.

Apparently, pentagrams had been used in all sorts of ways throughout the history of mysticism.

Some called them symbols of the devil, some saw them as the Seal of Solomon, and others considered them symbols of mysticism itself…

But no matter which interpretation you followed, one central symbolism remained.

Spiritual protection.

I already knew from experience that the pentagram engraved over my heart kept me from turning into a monster.

On top of that, Monk Cheonghwi, who seemed to have ties to the 66 Society, had practically spoon-fed us the answer while pretending it was just a guess.

5 was the number of humanity.

Even Buddhism connected humanity with the number 5 through the 5 Aggregates. It could also represent the 5 fingers and toes of the human body, the 5 senses through which humans perceive the world, and the 5 internal organs within the human body.

In that case, the phrase those bastards had been reciting when I glimpsed the memories of 55 Unit soldiers became much easier to interpret.

-5 above 4. We who believe in 5 are human.

4 was a number associated with the world and the things that made up the world in both Eastern and Western beliefs.

It represented the 4 cardinal directions. In the East, each of the 4 directional beasts was believed to govern its own domain, while in the West, the world was believed to be composed of 4 elements.

In the East, 4 was also sometimes avoided because it sounded like the world for death.

And then 5 appeared.

One more was placed above the number 4, which represented the world, in other words, matter.

Both East and West agreed on what they placed fifth in this instance.

Spirit.

Interpreted that way, it became this.

-Spirit above the world and matter. We who believe in spirit are human.

That was where the problem began.

The unprecedented events surrounding Seoul, the clues scattered like fragments, Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes’ vengeful nature, the fact that he had consistently sought a nuclear strike from the beginning, and even the existence of the Prophet who had been involved in establishing the Reality Survival Command.

There were contradictions everywhere that were almost impossible to connect.

3. What is the 66 Society, which claims to believe in the human spirit, actually trying to accomplish?

Not long ago, I learned through the rumor the pastor passed along that the president had never actually escaped Seoul.

Because of that, I considered not only the possibility that the footage showing his face during the previous national address had been prerecorded rather than live, but even the conspiracy theory possibility that he had disappeared after delivering the address.

Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes was hunting the president because he could never forgive him for making the insane decision to impose the blockade, but it made no sense that someone capable of killing from a distance with using a curse couldn’t confirm whether the president was dead.

If the president were dead, that would mean Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes had no way to confirm the result after casting his killing curse.

If the president was alive, then either he was a wizard powerful enough to block his killing curse or was being held and protected by such a wizard.

Or…

Someone was concealing his death.

Why had the president’s whereabouts become so important to this whole situation?

Just staring at the truths and clues drifting separately from one another wouldn’t be enough to understand it. I needed to draw lines between the dots and infer the causal links if I wanted to see the larger picture.

The first line I drew was the existence of the Prophet.

A wizard who had warned the Republic of Korea about the monster outbreak, directed the response, played a major role in establishing the Reality Survival Command, passed on some knowledge about magic, and then vanished without a trace.

I had no intention of thinking of him as humanity’s hope or some kind of savior.

When Amalgams and Predator Spines were first discovered, the Prophet passed on knowledge originating from the 66 Society. The terminology and expressions used for magical systems matched between those outside the blockade line and the Seoul wizards because they had only recently split from the same source.

It might have been a way to secure influence among non-wizards.

But there was another clue in something Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes had said, which I’d overheard through Velcro Corporal’s memories.

The second line I drew was the existence of factions within the 66 Society.

According to Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes, even within the Society there was a split between those who wanted to provoke a nuclear strike and those who wanted to preserve the status quo.

Moreover, Madam Yongsan Station had said before that Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes’ way of running his organization had caught the Society’s attention and earned him a promotion to an officer-level role. It was easy to overlook, but that gave me a clearer picture of the 66 Society. which had always been shrouded in mystery.

There were also the six Dogma-type defectors who had stolen the 66 Scriptures the military possessed.

The Prophet. The Reality Survival Command. Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes. Internal factions. Promotion of locals.

From the third point onward, my admittedly delusional but plausible deductions continued.

The 66 Society was originally divided between ‘insiders’ who had belonged to the Society from the beginning and ‘locals,’ former Seoul wizards who joined after the Seoul incident. The ‘insiders’ thoroughly concealed their actions and movements, putting the ‘locals’ out front to draw the military’s attention to make them follow their trail.

However, judging by Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes, locals could also rise to a status comparable to insiders, and it seemed that was when they began receiving support in the form of powerful Cursed Objects, relics, and knowledge.

On top of that, wizards who were friendly toward the 66 Society or showed strong potential could be taught magical knowledge in advance as a reward for their goodwill or even receive recruitment offers.

I was proof enough of that.

The moment I was escaping Seoul, Monk Cheonghwi had even sent me a hint over the spell phone, telling me that the Society called the fog ‘Mist of the Other Shore" and helped me escape.

As all of that showed, the 66 Society’s level of knowledge about this incident and about magic was overwhelming. The factional struggle within the Society was starting to become much clearer.

It seemed the Society was fighting over how this knowledge should be spread.

For now. I’ll call one side the Status Quo Faction.

Their goal was to preserve the infrastructure.

By maintaining the infrastructure centered around the Seoul blockade line, they could keep humanity outside, continuously feeding manpower into a controlled environment and forcing them to focus on cultivating wizards. Then they could simply pluck out the most promising ones and replenish the 66 Society’s own wizard forces.

They were trying to gradually reshape humanity’s social structure around the blockade line and wizards while keeping only the high-level wizards who served as the core combat power for themselves.

The other group I’ll call Nuclear Strike Faction for now.

Their goal was complete takeover.

For whatever reason, they seemed confident they could withstand a nuclear strike. Once humanity outside lost even its faith in nuclear weapons, they could appear like saviors, win over the elites and ruling classes first, or seize control of those terrified by the crisis and dominate the entire non-wizard population.

They wanted to seize humanity’s social structure as a whole and bend it to their will in the shortest possible time.

And that was where the president came in.

The man who made the insane decision to abandon 10 million people in Seoul to protect 40 million on the Korean Peninsula. The man who made the traitorous decision to hand administrative authority over to the US military.

Now that the president had faded into the background and disappeared without a trace, I realized what his disappearance actually meant for the Republic of Korea.

In the initial stages of the crisis, the president must have come into contact with the Prophet while establishing the Reality Survival Command.

He might even have learned the 66 Society’s true objective.

Perhaps he had been cooperating with the Society. Maybe he had broken away from them.

But the president had disappeared while carrying the most important truths with him.

Even though he had become the target of Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes’ blind rage, and even though he must have learned countless truths through closer contact with the 66 Society than almost anyone else…

He disappeared.

Whether by his own choice or by other circumstances, he had vanished while leaving behind this revenge-obsessed Stage 4 wizard, Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes.

I slowly opened my eyes.

Having organized the things I’d been too busy surviving the crisis and raising my magical stage to properly think through, I felt my mind settle heavily into place.

My cultivation had paid off.

At the end of that long contemplation, I was finally able to take off my eyepatch.

My blurry right eye had fully recovered by the time I finished thinking.

If this had been before I learned magic, I would’ve spent the rest of my life with one bad eye and been known as One-Eyed Baek Jemin. Thanks to magic, though, I could simply be known as the Great Archmage of 5 branches.

I put on some underwear to cover the lower half around which I'd only had a towel, then changed into my combat uniform, which had dried nice and crisp thanks to the laundry soldiers’ hard work. I also checked my personal poncho, which had been left hanging in the corner. It smelled awful, so I sprayed it with Febreze a few times before putting it on.

Then I opened the hospital room door and stepped outside.

Just then, countless US troops had arrived at Seongnam City Hall Command Point and were setting up all kinds of advanced equipment. While the American officers chattered away in English, Major Shin Hangi was nodding diligently and writing various things down.

That was when I pulled out my authorized phone and checked the time.

May 22nd, 2028, 11:38 AM.

-Tap.

I slipped it back into my inner pocket and headed toward Major Shin Hangi.

The American officers wrinkled their noses and turned their heads, then widened their eyes the moment they saw me and immediately offered to shake my hand.

"Supreme Archmage. Well done. Welcome!”

"Very good. Super wizard.”

Their clumsy Korean was so enthusiastic as they reached out for handshakes that I couldn’t possibly refuse.

These people from across the ocean, who used to treat you like you weren’t even human if you couldn’t speak English, had gone out of their way to learn Korean and praise me, albeit with broken pronunciation. I was deeply moved by their sincerity and love for humanity.

It couldn’t be helped.

Instead of going straight to Major Shin Hangi, I ended up exchanging firm handshakes with the American officers.

I did my best to suppress the grin tugging at the corners of my mouth and maintained a stern, serious expression. The American officers patted me on the shoulder and offered more words of praise.

"That was a heroic performance. Everyone's been inspired by the resourcefulness you showed in such an unfamiliar environment."

"The military's going to back you far more aggressively now. Even in Congress, people are saying that supporting Korea was the right call. Congratulations."

"You were speaking Korean just fine. What the hell is this all of a sudden?”

If it hadn’t sounded like praise, I would’ve just ignored them for blabbing at me in a language I couldn’t understand.

Who gives someone compliments in a language they don’t understand?

If you come to Korea, respecting the culture means speaking the native language.

I grumbled, but they were smiling and shaking my hand, making the whole thing look nice and friendly, so I just went along with it.

Only then did Major Shin Hangi come over to me.

He gave a faint smile and shrugged.

"They’re complimenting you.”

"I know. Otherwise, I would’ve slapped them.”

Before breaking through Heart-branch, Stage 2, I, Beak Jemin, had been the kind of soft guy who became meek in front of hulking, battle-hardened muscle men. But after obtaining Heart-branch, Stage 2 [Physical Enhancement], I was now a real man who could lead with a slap if someone pissed me off.

But as expected of Marica, the land of exaggerated reactions, their follow-up was perfect too.

-Snap.

The American officers saluted me with smiles, so I immediately returned the salute and felt the sincerity behind it.

They might not have been very good at Korean, but their respect and admiration for a Great Archmage of 5 branches came through loud and clear. Sometimes a signal action truly was more sincere than a hundred words.

Major Shin Hangi looked at me with a strange expression but soon sighed and pointed down the corridor.

"I’ll show you around. I also looked into what you asked about as soon as you got here.”

"Yes."

"Corporal Jeong Sinil and Private Lee Gihwan. Corporal Jeong Sinil was listed as killed in action. Private Lee Gihwan was also processed as KIA. But when I checked whether Private Lee Gihwan’s family had evacuated to the rear…”

-Step, step.

Whenever the countless soldiers passing us noticed us, they stopped, stood at attention, and saluted first.

Not one of them looked annoyed.

Even as I walked past with my stinking poncho flapping around me, they only flinched at the heavy smell of blood before maintaining their disciplined posture. As we pushed through, the soldiers naturally made me straighten my shoulders and slow my pace.

Major Shin Hangi let out a short sigh before continuing.

"When Seongnam was breached that one time, we temporarily lost contact with the outside. We tried to keep it under wraps, but the situation was too bad to hide. It seems Private Lee Gihwan’s parents heard about it then.”

That was enough for me.

People crushed by despair, especially a family located in Gyeonggi whose son was serving on the blockade line. When they heard that the blockade had been breached, what other decision could they have made?

I walked in silence for a while before slowly speaking.

"Why didn’t you tell Private Lee Gihwan?”

"The blockade-line soldiers are keeping themselves going even with drugs. Most of them are fighting because they have no choice, but that isn't the only reason. Some keep fighting because their families are within the second blockade line, here in Gyeonggi.”

"What would’ve happened if Private Lee Gihwan had surrendered to us again?”

"He would’ve been pardoned and sent back to the blockade line. Somewhere even more dangerous.”

"And his family…?”

"We wouldn’t have told him. It would’ve been better both for Private Lee Gihwan himself and for Blockade Operations Command, which has to squeeze out every last bit of manpower it can to maintain the line.”

We continued walking in silence for a moment.

Major Shin Hangi led me outside Seongnam City Hall, where the parking lot was filled with armored vehicles that looked state-of-the-art and other vehicles loaded with equipment. There were enormous logistics trucks, expensive-looking antennas, and more.

It was enough to make it obvious that the entire Seongnam City Hall complex was being transformed into a military base.

As if trying to change the mood, Major Shin Hangi started showing me each piece of equipment one by one while singing the praises of American technology.

"Even so, now that the US military is getting seriously involved, we should be able to maintain the blockade line with fewer casualties. This is a heartbeat sensor. Apparently it can distinguish friend from foe by their heartbeats from dozens of kilometers away. They’re also developing a biometric IFF system that stops functioning once mutation is confirmed. And once shamans and more Ears-branch wizards are deployed, we should be able to restore the administrative capacity that collapsed.”

"Will restoring it actually change anything?”

"It may be late, but…not just for the citizens of Seoul. If something similar happens somewhere else, we’ll be able to save innocent civilians through quarantine and screening. We can also concentrate monster attacks around primary screening stations like these and avoid indiscriminate urban combat. The UN force being deployed is estimated at no fewer than 300 thousand. The moment they arrive and reinforce the blockade line, and logistics hubs are built in the east as well, a lot of the supply bottlenecks should ease.”

The American soldiers who noticed us stopped chewing their gum, grinned, and waved.

Some adjusted the slings of their rifles and gave us thumbs-ups. The American junior officers and NCOs checking and testing the equipment also tried to show off their professionalism, thumping their chests confidently.

They were different from the Korean soldiers who had come off the blockade line, worn down by exhaustion and fear until they’d become almost paranoid.

The Americans were all brimming with confidence and a sense of mission, and some even prayed devoutly while clutching crosses. Apparently the propaganda calling this the most righteous war in history was helping boost the morale of US troops who had come all the way across the world to the Korean Peninsula.

The supply situation for the US troops at the blockade line was on a completely different level compared to the Korean military’s.

I caught a glimpse of the equipment being handed out and was shocked to see things likequad-tube night vision goggles and tactical tablets being passed from hand to hand.

"The US military issues all that stuff?”

"Not to every US soldier. Apparently only the troops near the blockade line get it. They say some of it will be issued to the Korean military as well. Defense companies are rushing to develop products suited to blockade-line conditions, night vision, thermal imaging gear, personal heartbeat sensors, and so on. They’ve been expressing interest in supplying them to our forces, too. They’re also deploying radar systems that can be put into operations on site immediately.”

"Everyone knows this country’s screwed.”

"They may call us the Korean military, but they know the one paying the bills is America. They’re probably fighting like hell to win the equipment contracts.”

We walked in silence again before I spoke up.

"I’ve been thinking about what the 66 Society is after.”

"And what did you come up with?”

"An upheaval in the social structure, I think. No matter which path the Society chooses, life is going to get harder for non-wizards.”

"Hearing that kind of insight from you, Baek Jemin-ssi, sure is quite unexpected.”

Major Shin Hangi’s voice turned noticeably serious.

"That’s why we’re pursuing the Society.”

After the tour of the US equipment, we headed to a conference room.

Lee Sejun was there with his arms crossed, nodding off, while Go Ryeoha was mid-yawn. Both of them opened their eyes at the sound of footsteps, then looked startled when they saw me.

"Hm? Jemin-ssi. You’re already better? You were meditating until just a little while ago, though.”

"Hubae-nim~. Can’t you just stay lying in bed?”

Instead of being happy that a patient had recovered, both of them were busy sounding all disappointed about it.

Tsk. I clicked my tongue once and coldly ignored them.

Major Shin Hangi gave an awkward laugh, then organized his materials while waiting for the American officers to arrive.

A short while later, they came pouring into the conference room alongside Korean officers and took their seats. Their languages, races, and ranks were all different, but every one of them shared the same tension.

Everyone sat in the chairs prepared for them and took a short breath, bracing themselves for the historic moment that awaited us today.

The murmuring noise was replaced by the creak of chairs, then slowly sank into silence like a stone dropping into a lake.

Only then did Major Shin Hangi speak.

"This is Captain Reyes. He’s currently in charge of the blockade-line Detection Support Company and has been assigned here to handle the technical side and equipment operation.”

Aside from slightly prominent cheekbones, Captain Reyes had a long, narrow look, as though someone had compressed him vertically.

When Captain Reyes realized Major Shin Hangi was introducing him, he gave a brief nod, then glanced at him and stepped aside. It looked like he meant to leave the detailed explanation to him.

Well, even with the Americans here, most of the people present were Korean. It made sense for a Korean to explain it.

In that atmosphere, Major Shin Hangi placed a hand on the screen illuminated by the projector. He wasn’t calm. The hand tapping against the screen was trembling faintly.

Of course it was.

"Command has issued the operation name."

Operation Firebreak.

Suppress the rampaging Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes and the Seoul wizards under his command, wipe out the monster hordes moving south after noticing the blockade line collapsing in one sweep, and take advantage of today’s southeastern winds to spread fallout, attack the monsters’ biological functions, and buy some time.

Countless justifications had been attached to it.

The stages of the operation were almost more meticulous than I’d expected.

"Operation Firebreak. In Phase 1,earth-penetrating bombs will be dropped on every subway station nearSanseong except Moran Station. The purpose is to block access through the rail lines and, as an early-stage measure, completely suppress any monster groups that may be lying in ambush or have already entered the area.”

Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes still hadn’t shown himself, even as his officers were being killed one after another.

His direct intervention had been extremely limited, he had never personally shown himself in any suspicious way, and even the 55 Unit had been operated mainly using converted non-wizards. At most, we could only guess that he might have been the one neutralizing the drones.

That was where my accomplishments made another contribution.

"According to testimony from Baek Jemin-ssi of Aphorism, who is present here, Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes is believed to wear a coat covered in strange characters, along with prayer beads and either a mask or gas mask to conceal his burns. Unfortunately, despite repeated reconnaissance attempts, the military has been unable to locate anyone matching that description.”

My shoulders naturally rose a little and my back straightened. I even had to clear my throat.

Go Ryeoha and Lee Sejun, sitting beside me, looked disgusted, like they’d just seen something they shouldn’t have.

"Jemin-ssi. Didn’t you say you got Hundred-Miles Eyes’ remains as well? Why don’t you just use them? Looks like you’d be able to get every piece of information out of him.”

"They’re emergency elixirs, so no.”

Hundered-Miles Eyes’ eyeballs and his heart, plus the heart of one of the 55 Units Heart-branch wizards.

The remains I still had tucked into my cargo pocket were truly mysterious. They had regulated their own moisture, drying themselves out like preserved fish so they were easy to store. Discovering that remains naturally dried over time and became easier to preserve was extremely encouraging.

But that didn’t mean I could use them.

I needed to conserve them if possible. I expected they would become essential when I needed to dope myself up or when I desperately needed to reduce my backlash. If hoarding them just made them go to shit, I could always sell them too.

I’d actually been starting to think that maybe I should make our sponsor, Anderson-ssi, some kind of restorative tonic brewed from a heart.

The briefing continued in the meantime.

Phase 2.

"Artillery will be deployed to create a barrage while searching for signs that appear to indicate intervention by Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes. If shells fail to detonate or appear to veer off in another direction, carrier-based aircrafts from the US carrier strike group will be sent out to bomb the area. In case he uses collapsed buildings in the urban area as cover, chemical shells containing blood agents are also planned to be fired after the bombardment passes to finish the area off.”

At that, a Korean Army second lieutenant who had been bouncing his leg suddenly raised his hand.

"D-do we really need to use carrier aircraft when we have an air wing available?”

"Command has decided that, since we have no clear idea of Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes’ perception range, it would be better to launch a carrier strike group that is difficult for him to observe.”

Phase 3.

"The bombardment described in Phase 2 will be divided into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd waves at 15-minute intervals. The reason for staggering the attacks is both to force Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes to exhaust his ability and to account for the possibility that his ability has a limited duration. Military reconnaissance satellites will monitor the process, while US observation equipment will verify and review the results.”

Phase 4.

"The moment Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes’ location is sufficiently determined, a 1-kiloton tactical nuclear weapon will be deployed after taking that location and the density of nearby monster groups into account. The military currently predicts the target area will be aroundNamwirye station. Since a powerful electromagnetic pulse is expected to reach as far south as Moran Station, please exercise extreme caution with nuclear protection measures and the management of electronic equipment.”

A heavy silence hung over the room for a while.

Everyone had talked about nukes before, but this was probably the first time any of them would actually see one used. And it was going to be dropped on a place where people had once lived and where people still might remain.

Captain Reyes relayed the briefing in English, helping the American troops understand the gravity of it as well.

And he added one final warning.

"It may be the lowest-yield tactical nuke we've got, but make no mistake…this is unprecedented, dropping a warhead to wipe out a single individual. Everyone stay sharp. If we want to protect the lives of everyone we've got, there's no room to let our guard down."

Major Shin Hangi waited for Captain Reyes to finish before he slowly opened his mouth.

"The operation begins at 1:21 PM. Everyone, to your positions. If there is a God, may He protect us.”

Charis scraped backward as everyone headed to their assigned positions.

I ate lunch, but I couldn’t taste anything. I just kept chewing and swallowing. Even Lee Sejun and Go Ryeoha, who normally would’ve been busy going on about their Siblings shit, seemed lost in thought.

I raised my phone and idly stared at the screen. Rumors and speculation circulated everywhere.

Even the heavily censored Korean internet was crawling with ominous rumors.

There wasn’t a single article about it, but the newest comments under articles arguing back and forth over martial law were a different story.

[Warning - People are saying a nuke’s about to hit Gyeonggi.]

[Everyone, my mother lives inGiheung, Yongin, Gyeonggi-Province. Her name is Kim Jesun, and she walks with a limp in one leg. If anyone has seen her, please contact me. I’ll make sure to reward you…]

[I’ve got an officer friend at Martial Law Command, and he says rumors about a nuclear strike are spreading like crazy. Everybody stock up on canned food.]

[Just because people say they’re firing a nuke, does that mean they actually will? It’s the 21st century, and the military’s holding things back just fine. Why the hell would they use a nuke? Think. Just fucking think.]

Everyone’s mind was completely consumed by the thought of nukes.

I naturally started heading back toward my room, but a sergeant came over and stopped me.

"Aphorism is to remain on standby in the Command and Control Room. Orders say you’re needed as experts on Localized Invasive Structural Alteration Phenomena.”

"U-uhm…Okay.”

I wasn’t the one who answered. It was Lee Sejun.

I was too busy chewing on Spam. Spam was supposed to taste salty, but it tasted like plain water.

No matter how much I chewed, it was the same.

It felt like I was chewing jelly instead of meat, so I just swallowed it whole.

Our job was to sit in the chairs set aside for the Supreme Archmages in one corner and fiddle with our phones. Lee Sejun slowly spoke while rubbing his thumb over his pitch-black screen.

"Jemin-ssi.”

"What?”

"Why did it have to be our country?”

Now that I had a theory about the 66 Society’s objective, I had an idea why they had chosen our country as their stage, but I kept my mouth shut.

Lee Sejun wasn't looking for an answer. He needed a place to pour out the feelings bubbling inside of him.

-Beeeeep—

The communication signals began growing erratic.

I glanced down at the screen without thinking and saw the time.

May 22nd, 2028, 1:19 PM.

The time had come.

Before long, heavy artillery booms began pounding across the entirety of Seongnam.

The ceiling lights creaked for some reason, and the tables and everything on them trembled as the three of us Supreme Archmages remained in our assigned positions. Fierce shouts and voices that sounded almost like screams echoed through the soldiers’ headsets.

Amid the turning of dials, the handling of control panels, and the flood of military jargon, a faint voice occasionally broke through.

[...They’re holding civilians! …Abort the operation! Abort it!]

The voice vanished beneath the static almost immediately.

Only one soldier tore off his headset.

"Major Shin. Didn’t you evacuate the civilians?”

Major Shin Hangi merely sat perched on a folding chair, fiddling with a pack of cigarettes in trembling hands. 

It was something we’d expected.

Both the Seoul wizards and those outside the blockade line already knew how the pathetic attempt to avoid bombardment by using civilians as hostages would end. People who had killed 10 million weren’t going to hesitate over killing a few tens of thousands more.

In the end, the soldier who had taken off his headset squeezed his eyes shut and disobeyed orders.

A US lieutenant watching coldly gestured, and military police came over, grabbed the soldier by both arms, and dragged him away.

I saw Go Ryeoha flinch, so I reached over and firmly grabbed the back of her neck.

"...Hubae-nim?”

"If you handle someone consumed by revenge half-heartedly, everyone dies. You got out, Master. Be satisfied with that.”

The report I’d submitted had probably contributed to Command’s ruthless decisions as well.

Disciples.

Living sacrifices who took on a wizard’s backlash.

There was a high chance the captured civilians had been forced through master-disciple rituals.

They were effectively batteries for Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes’ magic, and any attempt to rescue them would mean exposing yourself to his perception range.

The bombardment continued for some time after that.

It was around the point when the booming impacts and the shaking ground had started to feel normal again.

-Wuuuoooooooooooong—-.

A siren blared.

Disaster alerts sounded from the phones we were holding a moment later.

-Beep—. Beep—. Beep—.

An ominous warning appeared on the screens that had lit up again.

+NUCLEAR STRIKE IN NORTHERN SEONGNAM, GYEONGGI PROVINCE.+

+TURN AWAY. DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT IT.+

Only then did my gaze turn toward the monitor Major Shin Hangi was watching.

Countless words and symbols filled the display as Captain Reyes stood beside him, watching in position. Reyes placed a hand on Major Shin Hangi’s shoulder and murmured quietly.

"God save us."

The inside of the Command and Control Room, shielded against a possible EMP, was so dim it almost felt cozy.

But if nuclear fire rose into the sky, even this place would become bright.

Along with the alarm came the sound of everyone except essential on-site personnel evacuating. It was only a 1-kiloton tactical nuke, but they were taking every precaution in case the wind shifted unpredictably and dumped fallout on them.

It was proof of just how valuable the soldiers who had survived the blockade line had become as human resources.

Someone wearing a headset spoke quietly.

"5 seconds to impact."

Most people ignored the truth that the world was ending.

"4"

But the moment the nuke they had kept putting off was finally dropped, the moment humanity’s strongest possible death sentence was handed down, all optimism collapsed.

Even Lee Sejun, who had always stood firm no matter what, lowered his head now and let out a deep sigh.

-Haaaaah…

"3."

As his breath lingered in the air, even the sound of people swallowing disappeared.

Some simply bowed their heads in grief and curled in on themselves. A Korean Army staff sergeant who had been frantically handling communications covered his face with both hands and rubbed it dry. Only one thought surfaced in everyone’s mind.

Failure.

Even after making the decision to kill 10 million people to save 40 million, they had still failed to prevent a nuclear strike.

"2.”

No one sobbed.

There was only the silence of people standing before a funeral.

At the same time, a faint hope was beginning to rise. Maybe a nuke would actually take care of it. Maybe instead of all this blockade-line nonsense, they should have just erased Seoul with nuclear bombardment from the start.

Maybe if they unleashed everything even now, this crisis would finally end.

Just as resignation began disguising itself as hope and surged upward…

"1. Amen."

At that moment, I furrowed my brows.

The silence before a funeral.

A place where even the sound of breathing was fading away.

And yet, inside my head, I began to hear a single, incredibly faint, weak twinge of ringing.

-Piiiiiieeee...

For a moment, I wondered if the room had been sealed so thoroughly that the pressure difference was affecting me, but no matter how I thought about it, that wasn’t it.

I tapped my ears with my palms, then closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

But the ringing only grew louder.

It stabbed at me until my head spun, like someone was driving an awl into my eardrums.

That was when instinct hit me.

The big data inside my head, accumulated from all my experiences so far, produced a single conclusion.

—Magic.

The instant I realized that, the piercing ringing burst away with a pop.

The expression ‘my ears opened’ finally felt like a fitting description.

When I didn’t know it was magic, it sounded like noise stabbing into my ears. The moment I recognized it as magic, it became a grand and majestic performance. The kind of music people in fancy suits would go to a theater to hear.

A grand performance beyond anything that could ever be captured by a human melody, sung by the universe since primordial times.

I was overwhelmed before it.

♪

Like ripples spreading across the surface of water, the echoes collided and rebounded until all five of my senses grew distant.

A vision shimmered before my eyes of the solar system’s countless moons and planets revolving along their orbits.

Before that overwhelming scale, Beak Jemin, the human, was infinitely weak and small.

♬

The greatest and oldest instrument in existence.

The first music that humans had never dared to hear.

Within that fateful melody, played as the stars shifted position and wore themselves away, there was the will of a single person.

-Causal Arrangement.

Only.

Only wizards are worthy of feeling that thrill.

-Misfire.

The right to recognize a miracle. Then the vision disappeared.

The performance ended.

But the vision I saw, the music I heard, must still have been rigging across the entire Earth.

When I came to my senses, the inside of the Command and Control Room was submerged in a chilling silence.

It was so quiet that everyone could hear Captain Reyes muttering to himself.

"What the..."

When I turned my head, Go Ryeoha and Lee Sejin were staring at me, their faces drenched in cold sweat.

"Master. Can Stage 4 really do something like this?”

"Not with Stage 4. Even if he has Tongue-branch, Stage 3, this should still be impossible…”

While Go Ryeoha rambled in confusion, Lee Sejun wiped the sweat running down his eyebrows with his wrist.

"Doping.”

"?"

"Aren’t there a lot of Ears-branch wizards in the 55 Unit? You said destroying lower-level remains from the same branch lets you dope yourself, right? And he kept sacrificing his officers instead of personally stepping in, while preserving the disciples…”

I thought I understood his vengeful desire.

I had believed that when dealing with someone consumed by revenge, you couldn’t afford to hold back on any means or methods.

Apparently. I hadn’t understood these desires well enough.

As Lee Sejun, Go Ryeoha, and I whispered rapidly among ourselves, a chill began to spread through the Command and Control Room as well.

"Impact confirmed. Checking detonation signal.”

At the end of this deathly silence, someone swallowed and finally spoke up.

"Detonation unconfirmed, reporting again. No signs of an explosion."

"What the hell does that mean? It was a dud? It was delivered by missile!”

"I don’t know… Communications are a complete mess right now! I can’t hear anything!”

It was my turn to step in.

I strode over, snatched the headset away, and put it on. Everyone looked startled.

But Captain Reyes seemed to know I was an Ears-branch wizard and nodded, while Major Shin Hangi took a deep breath and gave me the OK sign.

Thanks to that, I could hear the communications coming through the headset with perfect clarity.

It was utter chaos.

Did the nuke actually drop? Had the operation changed? Confirm with HQ… Countless transmissions tangled together until they all sounded like static.

But amid that static, one voice rang out like some harmony amid the chaos.

It freely stitched together and split apart voices converted into electrical signals, carving them into the shape of their own voice.

[Twice.]

I knew who it was the moment I heard it.

There was only one person who had such an unpleasant voice, like metal scraping against metal, making it hard to identify properly.

[That is how many times you may beg us to spare you.]

Gangnam Thousand-Miles Eyes.

The moment I realized that, I took off the headset.

Now that I knew that he had done, there was nothing more I needed to hear.

"Detonation failed."

"Warehead still present. Presumed undamaged…”

Naturally, I turned toward Major Shin Hangi, the highest-ranking officer in charge.

Major Shin Hangi tried to pull a cigarette from the pack, but his hands were shaking so badly that he kept dropping it. Finally, Captain Reyes couldn't stand watching anymore and slowly picked one up and handed it to him. The major even squeezed his eyes shut.

-Crumple.

Major Shin Hangi crushed the cigarette pack in his hand.

"Of all the things to happen in my lifetime…”

At the same time, signals began echoing around like screams.

Major Shin Hangi immediately stood up and slammed the fire alarm beside the desk.

-Bang!

At that desperate attempt to convey even a fraction of how serious the situation was, everyone sprang into frantic motion.

The three of us Supreme Archmages also realized that the situation had finally come crashing down on us.

Amid the blaring fire alarms and sirens, Captain Reyes grabbed his equipment and began pointing around, barking orders at the American troops.

Major Shin Hangi gestured for us to come over, then grabbed the microphone and shouted.

"Emergency, emergency! All personnel to your positions! Warhead recovery impossible. Control lost, target in motion! I repeat, recovery impossible, control lost!”

By the time Lee Sejun, Go Ryeoha, and I reached him…

Major Shin Hangi’s next shout told us exactly what had happened.

"Enemy forces are transporting the warhead! Attempting to breach the blockade line!!!”

The nuke had been stolen.