Chapter 27: Love Your Country, Love Magic

[Translator – Aren]

The pastor, the monk, and I continued our discussion for a while.

We debated what significance the magic symbols might hold from a numerological perspective and what meaning there might be behind my right hand’s blood harming the monsters. But before long, I couldn't help becoming indifferent to all this.

After all, I’d been so fixated on the possibility of there being 25 different spells that I’d started overlooking some rather important details.

"Well, the theory that there are 25 spells because the 5x5 grid has 25 squares is interesting enough. But aren’t we reading way too much into this Hand-branch magic symbol?”

"That may be true.”

"At the very least, since imagining and talking about these symbols seems safe, we should investigate the magic symbols Shin Nain and Lee Sejun saw as well.”

"Ugh..."

Pastor Park Yohan couldn’t bring himself to continue.

Yeah. We all knew there had been far too many logical leaps in this discussion. At the time, the theory had seemed convincing because we’d been forcing pieces to fit together, but once we’d cooled our heads, its limitations became obvious.

The pastor, in particular, had gotten the most excited over the part about my right hand’s blood harming monsters. Going on and on about the Lord's authority and whatnot. Looking back, he might’ve been the most mystically inclined person among us.

Monk Cheonghwi quietly pressed his palms together and reflected on himself.

"Hmm. We may indeed have been too impatient. While wandering through the fog with no clear path, we should be wary of missteps. Instead, we nearly became moths diving toward the first light we saw. We forgot that these magical symbols were discovered alongside monstrous beings and became obsessed with numerical meanings while neglecting the danger inherent in their very nature.”

"Let’s forget about the right-hand and left-hand thing for now. Maybe those imported brainiacs who showed up in Pyeongtaek will figure something out. This kind of insane nonsense feels more like their specialty than ours.”

"Well, if that shaman fellow, Bosal Geulmun, had still been alive, he might’ve figured something out through numbers. People who make a living talking about fortunes and destinies probably would’ve taken one look at numerology and had an epiphany.”

More than anything, we first needed to determine whether the Hand-branch magic symbol actually held any numerological significance at all.

Part of me still couldn’t shake the feeling that numerology was complete nonsense. I also wondered whether it even fit with humanity’s occult traditions in the first place. In the end, we agreed to avoid excessive speculation and focus on something else entirely.

Namely, the intuition I’d experienced.

The interesting thing was that neither the pastor nor monk doubted my account.

"Personally, I think you've become obsessed with this magic stuff. At the very least, you’re not the type to lie about something like this. We’ll need to take it with a grain of salt, though.”

"No matter how hard a person tries to deceive themselves, it is difficult to conceal their deepest desires.”

We decided that perhaps we’d become too focused on the numbers. Rather than searching for meaning in the symbols themselves, we’d focus on the most concrete evidence available. The magic itself.

The idea was simple: Instead of a bunch of amateur occultists putting their heads together and reaching the wrong conclusions, we’d think like people who had actually fought in the field and stick to things we knew for certain.

"Baek Jemin. You said the moment you learned the Hand-branch magic, intuition hit you all at once. Like bam! You just immediately felt that this symbol represents human intelligence. Does everyone experience that when learning Alteration-type magic?”

"I felt similar when I learned the Eyes-branch magic, I think. The situation was just so shocking when I awakened it that I didn’t really notice.”

Who would’ve guessed that Han Myungwoon, the guy I was on sentry duty with, would end up fused together with a kissing couple, slurping and smooching as one grotesque mass?

The first time I’d seen it, my legs had nearly given out. Even now, those monsters were just as horrifying, both in appearance and ecology. If not for learning magic, they were the kind of creatures I’d never want to encounter again.

As we reminisced about the past, our conversation naturally shifted toward the principles of magic itself.

In the process, the differences between Dogma-type magic, which depended on religious belief, and Alteration-type magic, which used the human body as its medium, became much clearer.

"Wait, what? You’re saying all that burning, stabbing, mangling, and general abuse of your left hand wasn’t for concentration? It was actually a requirement to activate the spell?”

"You think I shot myself in the damn hand because I just went crazy or something?”

"Either way, that’s still something a lunatic would do!”

As the pastor barked that out and glared at me, Monk Cheonghwi rose from his seat and calmly smiled while raising his palms toward both of us.

"More importantly, was it the 2nd Stage of Eyes-branch magic? The spell that immobilizes anyone caught within your sight. I find it interesting that it operates on the logic that ‘time is relative, and because my suffering is the longest, I force others to share that time.’ It’s an extremelysolipsistic…”

"And arrogant viewpoint. Very fitting for a wizard.”

Park Yohan crossed his arms and gave me a peculiar look before slowly shaking his head.

Thus, rather than dwelling on numerology, the three of us began using my practical experience and intuition to speculate about what each branch represented.

"The Hand-branch seems to represent the beginning of humanity’s evolution into primates and the symbol of humanity itself. If so, it represents human intelligence. I suspect the underlying logic is that the righteous right hand of humanity, the apex species, can drive back monsters that mock and desecrate mankind.”

"Then the Eyes-branch would represent…seeing. Perception? Hmm. Maybe cognition. Like you mentioned before, Baek Jemin-ssi, vision is the sense that most heavily influences how humans experience the world. We see and then we understand. Think about it. Out of all five senses, seeing is the only one we often refer to separately. The most reliable way humans perceive reality is through sight. And besides…”

"And besides?”

"What’s that thing called again? The theory that eyes are basically an extension of the brain. If cognition ultimately happens inside the mind, then Eyes-branch magic could be deeply connected to the brain itself.”

"Pastor, you’re a lot more scientific than I expected.”

He was the last person I would have expected to care about things like that.

This was the same man who’d been licking his thumb and turning notebook pages moments ago while rambling about how 25 becomes 7 when you add 2 and 5 together. Seeing him sound rational and scientific felt quite surreal.

"You brat. Rationality is simply another word for the Lord’s orderly design. The nonsense about humans evolving from monkeys is obviously false because of the missing link issue, but studying the human from and body, which were modeled after the Lord, is a perfectly valid way of seeking to understand Him.”

"Pastor, does that mean you don’t believe in dinosaurs?”

"Of course, I do. We found their bones, didn’t we? Want to know why they got wiped out by a meteor? Because they didn’t believe in the Lord.”

For a moment I wondered if he might secretly be an Amalgam in disguise, but thankfully that wasn’t the case.

The pastor’s lecture about how God apparently punished beings with rocks before moving on to fire and brimstone began playing in the background like soothing ambient music. At that point, the monk and I exchanged glances.

"Why don’t you ask Shin Nain and Lee Sejun whether they experienced something similar? It doesn’t seem like you’ve actually discussed it with them in much detail.”

* * *

And so, our first gathering on February 22nd, 2028, came to a close.

Armed with the entertaining yet entirely baseless hope that there might be 25 spells in total, I decided to spend the remainder of the day talking with Shin nain and Lee Sejun.

Shin Nain was seated at an electronic keyboard, earbuds in, playing church hymns. Apparently he’d gotten emotional, because tears were streaming down his face. A short while later, he clasped his hands together and began praying.

"Almighty Lord God…Though I declared my devotion to You, I failed to maintain a pure and righteous heart. Speak but a single word so that I may repent. Then I shall surely be healed.”

"Hey, Shitmaster.”

I placed a hand on his shoulder to snap him out of his trance.

I’d spent 20 minutes waiting outside the bathroom stall while this lunatic sat inside wearing earbuds, singing hymns, and apparently battling for control of his sphincter. As far as I was concerned, that entitled me to steal 20 minutes of his prayer time.

Thanks to that, we were finally able to discuss the magic symbols.

"I’m surprised you experienced something similar, Baek Jemin-ssi. If Eyes represent cognition and Hand represents intelligence, then I shall do my best to explain the guidance that the Lord delivers through Ears-branch magic.”

"No, that’s fine. Keep it short. Just tell me the important parts.”

Shin Nain was oddly diligent when it came to things like this. And for once, he actually did give me the short version.

"The Ears-branch represents a grand harmony. A melody that guides humanity…I suppose calling to the destiny ordained by the Lord would be fitting. Within that composition, even the voices within people’s hearts become part of the harmony, while only the cries of monsters sound subtly out of tune.”

It was an utterly idiotic explanation, but by Shin Nain’s standards he’d genuinely put effort into it, so I let it slide.

Since writing the magic symbols directly tended to cause problems, we focused on describing them verbally and visualizing them in our minds. Thanks to that, I got a rough idea of what the Ears-branch magic symbol looked like.

The Ear-branch magic symbol consisted of a long vertical oval with four horizontal parallel lines drawn across it.

I couldn’t help recalling that numerology nonsense and comparing the two. No matter how I looked at it, it had obviously nothing to do with the number 7. A small laugh escaped me. 

So it really had just been an entertaining pile of bullshit.

"I’m heading out, Shitmaster. Pray hard.”

"Baek Jemin-ssi, why don’t you sit down and pray with me? The Lord is one who strives to save wandering lambs, I strive to do the same.”

"Will it earn me MPC?”

"How many would you like?”

It sounded like the bastard was actually willing to pay. I immediately prepared to make a tactical retreat.

Then something suddenly occurred to me, and I turned back toward him.

"Hey, Shitmaster. Come to think of it, the pastor never makes the sign of the cross. Why’d you do it back then?”

"Back when…?”

"At Suwon Station. When you grabbed the drone operator’s equipment.”

"..."

Shin Nain’s expression instantly froze.

His face turned pale, like he’d just murdered someone. His eyes trembled as he avoided my gaze. Finally, he let out a long sigh.

"So you’ve discovered it.”

The moment I heard those words, an ominous feeling washed over me, and I instinctively took a step back.

This bastard…had a monster gotten to him?

Was Father Jeong Yonghwan possessing his body now?

Just as I was debating whether I should start screaming, Shin Nain revealed the truth.

"The truth is, I completed the Catholic Confirmation sacrament. My baptismal name wasAndrew Taegon. Looking back, it’s deeply shameful.”

"What? You?”

"Yes. I nearly lost salvation within the Chruch after falling victim to that damn Pope’s deceitful schemes."

Thus, Shin Nain’s dark secret was revealed.

Born into a Catholic family and raised as a devout believer, he’d eventually become enraged by Catholicism’s tolerance of ancestral rites, folk religion, and other faiths. As a result, he’d converted to what he considered the one true Christain belief, Protestantism.

"Salvation exists only within the Church! Yet Catholicism knowingly allows people to be led astray by other religions. They are heretics among heretics. The very servants of the Antichrist! And yet I still can’t break the habit of making the sign of the cross, something not even written in Scripture…! It proves my faith is still lacking!!!”

"Right. Pray hard.”

Leaving Shin Nain behind, I went to find Lee Sejun.

He was sitting on the mattress in his room, cleaning his rifle. At the moment, he was scrubbing the inside of the barrel with a cleaning rod.

"Sejun-ssi. Let me borrow that cleaning rod when you’re done.”

"Sure. I left the gun oil over there, so help yourself.”

Now that he’d finally gotten some proper food in him, Lee Sejun seemed less like a sergeant and more like the guy next door.

I plopped down in front of him and brought up the topic of magic symbols.

I explained that, after talking with the poster and the monk, we’d been trying to figure out what aspects of humanity each magic branch represented.

Specifically, I asked whether he’d experienced any kind of revelation when he learned the Heart-branch magic.

Lee Sejun stopped cleaning his rifle. Tapping the barrel with his oil-stained fingers, he titled his head and seemed to squeeze every last drop out of a half-forgotten memory.

"The Heart-branch represents…life. Maybe existence itself. The magic symbol was just a circle with a line drawn through it. There was a horizontal line inside the circle, and that was basically it.”

"You saw it in the fog too, right? It looked different before then. How’d you awaken the 2nd Stage?”

"When I felt completely useless, I opened the booklet on a whim, and I happened to open the page with the Heart-branch magic symbol. At that moment, like swoosh, how do I explain this…?"

Lee Sejun wasn’t particularly good at explaining things, but I got the general idea.

He’d awakened the 2nd Stage through some sort of negative or depressing emotional state. That made me suspect Shin Nain’s ability was probably also a 2nd Stage magic. After all, the ability to hear monsters’ inner voices and the ability to distinguish individual human thoughts seemed fundamentally different.

One thing had become clear, though. Unlike the Eyes-branch, whose stages varied wildly in function, the Ears- and Heart-branch didn’t seem to undergo such drastic changes between stages.

"Thanks, Sejun-ssi. That clears up a lot. Hang on while I go grab my rifle.”

"Baek Jemin-ssi, now that I think about it, you’re only coming here because you don’t want to clean your own room, aren’t you?”

"My survival rate goes up when I go on missions with you.”

"Ugh, damn it.”

Lee Sejun grumbled, but he still let it slide.

Not every Operator was out there helping soldiers fight monsters. Someone could’ve easily taken rear support duties and enjoyed the easy life, like Pastor Park Yohan after returning from Pyeongtaek. But Lee Sejun was stubborn. Despite trembling whenever we fought monsters, he still intended to volunteer for frontline assignments. A strangely admirable kind of idiot.

So I went to fetch my standard issue K2 rifle and joined him in cleaning our weapons while we chatted.

"Come to think of it, didn't we add upgrade options for the K2? Is that what you’re using?”

"Yeah. I switched to the K2C1 a while ago. You’re still using the regular K2?

"I was thinking about trying an American rifle, but they’re expensive.”

"Well, yeah. Considering the ammunition supply, that’s probably for the best. American gun companies might hand stuff out as promotional events, but those promotions could disappear whenever they feel like it. If you get used to that gear, keeping it supplied becomes a nightmare. You’re better off sticking with standard Korean military equipment and taking advantage of the logistics system.”

Aside from occasionally saying things without thinking, Lee Sejun was actually one of the more normal people among our Supreme Archmages.

Pastor Park Yohan, the religious fanatic. Monk Cheonghwi, the serene ascetic who somehow felt impossible to approach. Hamza, who would vanish like a ghost whenever things got dangerous. And Shin Nain, the one and only Shitmaster.

Compared to those colorful characters, Lee Sejun and I had a lot in common. Especially the fact that neither of us were particularly religious. We were just ordinary people living ordinary lives before the apocalypse.

Which naturally led me to ask him something.

"Most people would’ve spent years cursing the country after getting rejected for a long-term military career. Why are you trying so hard?”

"I grew up on welfare. The government paid for my food, my education, and my life. Then I enlisted.”

-Click.

After finishing the assembly of his rifle, Lee Sejun pointed it toward the ceiling and inspected it from several angles. Satisfied, he raised an eyebrow, looked at me, and pulled one corner of his mouth upward.

"Even if it was just thoughtless charity granted by the country. Even if they treated me like in idiot. All of that doesn’t matter. I, Lee Sejun, never forget my debts. A man should have loyalty, shouldn’t he?” 

"So you haven’t forgotten that I saved your life either?”

"I remembered that debt, which is why I put up with cleaning rifles with you instead of kicking you out.”

This guy’s accounting system was seriously weird.

* * *

February 27, 2028, 9:17 AM.

We, the Supreme Archmages, spent our time regrouping and preparing in our own ways.

The pastor headed back to Pyeongtaek to continue his occult research with the Yankees, as he put it. The monk went to the medical ward to calm wounded soldiers and those suffering from lingering aftereffects. Hamza reported to headquarters and continued his rise as a master of sucking up to superiors. As for our Alteration-type trio, we were assigned as a standing response team. In exchange for remaining on standby together, each of us received 3 MPC per day.

Meanwhile, new faces began appearing at Suwon City Hall’s Command Post. They were civilian Operators who had arrived under the guidance of Captain Kim Howoon and Lieutenant Shin Hangi.

For the three of us, who were currently sprawled out in the lobby killing time, the sight was nothing short of shocking.

"What the hell is that? Why is he wearing the Korean flag like a cape?”

"What are you talking about? Who wears the national flag like a..."

Lee Sejun stopped mid-sentence.

Four middle-aged men and two middle-aged women confidently strode into the lobby, their upper bodies wrapped in Korean flags like capes. They looked like generals that just returned from war. To make matters worse, crosses had been drawn all over the flags near the four black trigrams. That alone told me everything I needed to know about what sort of religion they followed.

Only Shin Nain welcomed their arrival with a satisfied smile.

"’Do not arrogantly stand alone against evil. Gather your strength with others.’ It seems things have unfolded according to that teaching. How reassuring.”

At that moment, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. It was comforting to know that civilian Operators weren’t required to become friends with one another.

My conviction only strengthened after Lieutenant Shin Hangi noticed us and quietly whispered the name of the organization.

[The Eastern Scholarly Brigade of theTaegeuk Jesus Advent].

The name alone sent a violent shiver down my spine. I immediately turned my head away. Shin Hangi seemed to understand exactly how I felt,, because he quickly added,

"Don’t worry. Headquarters has no intention of assigning different organizations to the same teams.

As I watched him walk away to guide the Eastern Scholarly Brigade of the Taegeuk Jesus Advent toward the military supply store, I was reminded just how dire South Korea’s situation had become.

Was the country really so desperate that we were recruiting people like that now?

Faced with that existential crisis, the part of my mind that had been obsessed with magic suddenly cooled. I stopped lounging around and got to my feet, patting Shin Nain and Lee Sejun on the back.

"Gentlemen, let’s go. I feel like showing some patriotism today.”

"Huh? Really? You, Baek Jemin-ssi?”

"Haah..."

"Yeah."

Instead of speaking with excitement about magic, I addressed them with what might have been the first genuine sense of national crisis I’d ever felt in my life.

"Right now, I feel an overwhelmingly great urge to be patriotic, so let’s get moving.”