Chapter 74: Why My Heart Doesn’t Beat

[Translator – Aren]

The life I lived wasn’t particularly long.

28 years old.

An awkwardly short age to boast that I had discovered some profound truth, yet exactly old enough to be cursed out with, ‘Then what the hell have you been doing all this time?’ if I claimed to know nothing.

On top of that, whenever I voiced my opinion, people immediately viewed me through their own prejudiced lenses.

High-school equivalency diploma. Eighth-year reservist dragged in by the mobilization after spending 2 months unemployed because the company I worked for went under. Never scored over 400 on theTOEIC. Driver’s license left gathering dust in a drawer.

I couldn’t begin to describe how unfair it felt to be treated like nonrecyclable trash based on just those few factors.

But even someone like me could confidently proclaim one truth.

In modern 21st-century society, there was no reward system that compensated suffering 100%.

The belief that you would receive a reward equal to the pain you endured was nothing more than an illusion created by expectation.

Only magic granted omnipotent power equal to the suffering I experienced.

Only those willing to tear open their own living flesh while weaving between monsters floundering through the eerie drifting fog could enjoy the reward known as magic.

That was why I had taken Go Ryeoha as my master.

If the humiliation, despair, inferiority, and jealousy I was experiencing now were also suffering that would lead me toward magic, then I would gladly endure them.

Why did people shed tears when they were in pain?

Because there was no compensation. If you received enough financial therapy to match the pain, you would laugh while crying.

That was exactly how I felt right now.

While every other Supreme Archmage rested their chin on one hand with bored expressions and yawned openly, I alone listened to every last thing Go Ryeoha proudly boasted about.

"A disciple…That feels like too much pressure, hehe. How about a Hubae¹?”

"Yes. Call me whatever makes you comfortable.”

"Hubae-nim! Ahaha, you look older than me. Is it really okay for me to call you that?”

"Of course."

I remained modestly kneeling with my back perfectly straight.

There was a saying that learning knew no age. That didn’t just mean that you shouldn’t speak casually or rudely just because the teacher is younger. It meant begging like a dog if necessary in order to learn.

Naturally, while adding line after line to the grudge ledger in my heart until I had wrung every last drop of benefit from them.

I, Baek Jemin, had survived that way at my company, and I intended to survive the same way this time.

"Baek Jemin, you bastard. Wow. Do you seriously have no pride at all?”

"If my sunbae-nim² in magic is willing to teach me, why wouldn’t I become her hubae?”

"Jemin-ssi. You genuinely look insane.”

Regardless of whether the pastor and Hamza clicked their tongues at me, my posture had already become nothing short of reverent.

Even if I planned to stab her in the back someday, while I was learning, I would show nothing but respect and reverence.

That was this Baek Jemin’s attitude toward education.

How could any field ever advance if a disciple did not dream of surpassing the master?

Go Ryeoha was too busy giggling as she looked down at me.

"Alright, Hubae-nim! So, what are you curious about first?”

"First, I would like to ask about the magical system you learned from the 66-Society. Before that, since I’m the only one who knelt and volunteered to become your hubae, let’s throw the others out for a moment.”

"Jemin-ssi! Did you seriously set all this up just to get her alone for a date?!”

Ignoring Lee Sejun’s horrified voice, I pointed at Shin Nain and gestured.

As perceptive as ever, Shin Nain pretended to adjust his headset and immediately sent me a telepathic message.

'I’m listening.'

I’m going to send you all out, so go talk to the corps in the student cafeteria. Use either Eyes-branch, Stage 1 Past Vision, or Ears-branch, Stage 3 Hearing the Dying Words of the Dead.

Take the pastor with you too and help him understand the situation.

'Will that be all right? If the pastor learns what’s happening, he may not be able to keep acting naturally like before.’

I have to stay close to Go Ryeoha if I want to learn magic anyway.

Even if the pastor stays, he’ll just keep rambling about church and trying to evangelize her.

While I’m not in perfect condition because of my injuries and focus on acquiring useful information, it makes more sense for you to operate independently, borrow the pastor’s luck to prevent unexpected incidents, and uncover useful clues.

'Understood.'

Shin Nain accepted the plan and began whispering to the others.

Lee Sejun and Hamza understood immediately, but persuading the pastor, who was completely blinded by his fondness for Go Ryeoha, took some time.

"You want to leave Baek Jemin alone with Ryeoha-ssi? Nain, no matter how I think about it, that doesn’t seem right. What did Ryeoha-ssi do to deserve that? I feel like I’d be sinning against the Lord.”

"Pastor. Didn’t you think Jemin-ssi was a decent person?”

"No, no. The Lord will rebuke me.”

"Let’s at least give Jemin-ssi one chance.”

"Haah~. Fine. Jemin deserves a chance too. Lord, please forgive me just this once.”

Hearing every word of their supposedly secret conversation behind me made my blood boil, but I had already knelt before Go Ryeoha. There was no way something that trivial would shake me now.

That said, the fanatic duo had both earned themselves enormous entries in the grudge ledger inside my heart.

In any case, responsibility for leading Operation Blue Pill had now passed to Shin Nain.

Shin Nain rose with the other Supreme Archmages and smiled at Go Ryeoha.

"For religious and other personal reasons, we would rather not listen. We’ll go meet the other survivors instead.”

"Uh…Really? Will you be alright? You’re wearing military uniforms…Why don’t you just stay and listen in?”

"No thanks. The survivors should have a chance to pray with the pastor too.”

"Ah, then I’ll come with you!”

The bomb was trying to follow them on its own.

I narrowed my eyes and looked up at Go Ryeoha.

It seemed she didn’t want us to realize that the survivors were dead.

She was probably guarding against it unconsciously, afraid that noticing would force her to swallow the red pill.

I sprang to my feet and blocked Go Ryeoha as she tried to follow the group.

"Eep!?”

"Ryeoha-ssi. You seem to be putting a lot of pressure on the survivors. Is there something you don’t want us to find out?”

"N-No…It’s not that…”

"Then let’s talk about magic.”

Seizing the opportunity, Shin Nain led the others out of the laboratory.

Realizing that the die had already been cast, Go Ryeoha’s eyes trembled rapidly. Then she suddenly put on a bright smile and nodded.

"Phew. Don’t blame me later if they beat you up for wearing military uniforms, alright?”

Only after hearing Go Ryeoha’s answer could I finally relax.

Done.

Now I didn’t have to worry as much about bastards like Lee Sejun or Shin Nain overtaking me in stage!

* * *

While the Supreme Archmages questioned the corpses beneath the student union building, I was able to obtain important information from Go Ryeoha.

Because Go Ryeoha had been a survivor leader who made contact with the 66-Society, there were many things she knew in far greater detail than even Kang Areum-noonim.

The 66-Society. Magical systems. Unknown monsters.

Organizing Go Ryeoha’s testimony one point at a time, it went as follows.

First, the 66-Society.

"The 66-Society appeared while the military was collapsing and monsters were rampaging everywhere, and they distributed knowledge to survivors free of charge. I think I met them around January 9th. They were especially knowledgeable about magic, mysticism, and incantations, so they helped me a great deal too.”

Outside Seoul, the point when the government lost the ability to contain the monsters within the city was called the ‘Threshold Breach.’

Three days after the Threshold Breach, all kinds of figures reportedly began appearing among the civilians of Seoul who were fleeing from monsters, hiding from them, or screaming in terror.

They revealed the magical symbols concealed within the fog and passed on knowledge exclusively to those who had awakened to magic. Rather than giving themselves a separate name, they answered only with an incantation.

Go Ryeoha had been one of those people.

During the early days of the disaster, civilians seeking refuge at Konkuk University had joined them, and the survivor group was rapidly growing to as many as 250 people. There was no way they could have escaped the 66-Society’s notice.

On the day Go Ryeoha was promised support for their survival and received an enormous amount of knowledge from the 66-Society, she had apparently marveled at the Society members casually carrying loads weighing several hundred kilograms.

With Seoul’s roads completely wrecked by the dense fog and the South Korean military’s sabotage efforts to prevent people from fleeing, only Heart-branch wizards affiliated with the 66-Society could transport that much material.

That was also when Go Ryeoha learned about their incantation.

"66 to create 7. 55 in pursuit of 66. Humanity seeking to create 55. That’s the incantation recited by the 66-Society. Like a kind of password.”

"It seems to vary slightly.”

"Yes! Apparently, the incantation also changes depending on rank within the Society, but something about them made me uncomfortable, so I was never particularly close with them.”

It differed slightly from the version I had heard, but the larger context and most of the details were the same.

Not long after Go Ryeoha first made contact with the Society, the 66-Society began interacting with survivor groups and gathered stranded civilians separately at their own strongholds.

There, they converted dead smartphones into spell phones for Seoul’s survivors and distributed one to each group.

From that point onward, the survival rate of those within Seoul increased exponentially. According to her, that had been around January 23rd.

"They were a little gloomy, but they weren’t terrible people. They stopped indiscriminate looting and murder, did everything they could to help people awaken as wizards, and freely shared their knowledge of mysticism. Of course, it came with the condition that we cooperate with the Society…But honestly, after the military abandoned us, who would refuse?”

"Did they hunt soldiers?"

"Actually…The Society was closer to protecting military survivors whenever they found them. That was why other wizards and civilians were desperate to find and kill the soldiers first, before the Society noticed them.”

Everything Go Ryeoha explained with gentle waves of her hand might have sounded insignificant, but it was extremely important.

Had our assumption that the 66-Society was opposed to the military gone too far?

Even so, I slowly shook my head.

It could have been a measure intended to absorb the surviving soldiers inside Seoul into the Society.

To begin with, it was clear that the 66-Society was attempting to break through the blockade surrounding Seoul.

Had they been cooperating with the military, their spell phone messages wouldn’t have warned us that the military could not help us.

On top of that, they would have willingly shared information that had spread throughout Seoul as common knowledge. Especially when they were an organization capable of using something like spell phones.

The 66-Society was clearly concealing information on purpose.

However, it had already been 2 months since Go Ryeoha last contacted them, and she herself insisted that she had never been closely involved with the Society.

Unfortunately, that was everything Go Ryeoha knew about the 66-Society.

Second, magic systems.

Go Ryeoha showed me her glove and gently waved her hand.

It was a dark-red glove with five-colored threads woven together in a strange pattern. Pointing to it, Go Ryeoha spoke proudly.

"This is called Fire-spewing Hands. I made it using knowledge the Society taught me.”

"Is that Incantation-type magic, Master?”

"Ahaha, I told you sunbae-nim is enough! And… yes. This is what the Society calls Incantation-type magic.”

"The Society calls it that?”

"Yes! Most of the information about magic inside Seoul came from what the 66-Society taught us…”

Go Ryeoha lowered the hand wearing the Fire-spewing Hands and continued chattering away.

Based on what I gathered from her explanation, the Society distributed knowledge according to a strict hierarchy.

Access to knowledge varied depending on one’s position within a survivor group and how cooperative they were with the Society. As the leader of the Konkuk University campus, Go Ryeoha appeared to have been assessed as holding a fairly high position. On top of that, her shamanic bloodline had clearly been valued highly enough for her to receive related knowledge of incantations.

Thanks to that, I was able to learn in detail about magic systems such as Inverted Alteration-type and Ritual-type magic, whose very existence had been unknown outside Seoul.

"Hubae-nim, listen carefully. Every mystical tradition, ritual, incantation, and form of magic requires a price. The fundamental rule is equivalent exchange!”

"I’m already pretty familiar with equivalent exchange.”

"Then this will be easy!”

Although much of Go Ryeoha’s knowledge aligned with my own theories, there were many crucial differences.

Overall, the details she knew were far more thorough and fit together much more cleanly.

Organized, it went like this.

"Incantation-type magic can be performed by anyone with the necessary knowledge, offerings, and inspiration. In the case of these Fire-spewing Hands, you align the 5-Element attributes of the body’s internal organs, weave a circuit over the gloves using five-colored thread, then borrow the name and power of Lord Huode, a fire deity unique to our people, to control fire energy. After that, you launch pieces of metal aligned with its opposing element, such as lead or metal beads. It also uses cinnabar made with sulfur. The principle is similar to a firearm, but it relies on the destructive cycle of the 5 Elements, and because Alteration-type magic can supply the necessary materials, its greatest advantage is ease of resupply.”

"Ah, cut, cut! I know you want to brag, but let me organize the information first!”

"Ah…Ehehe."

Go Ryeoha smiled shyly with her eyes. I clicked my tongue, then quickly summarized everything.

The magic systems identified and taught by the 66-Society were divided broadly into four categories. Since each had completely different activation principles and paths of development, they were distinguished by Type.

These four Types formed the most fundamental framework used to define magic.

1. Incantation-type. The traditional occult practices most people were familiar with.

By combining mystical knowledge, such as drawing magic circles or observing the proper time for a ritual, with the offerings required of the practitioner, the caster brought about the desired result.

Commonly known talismans, tarot cards, and pentagram necklaces were products of it. Drawing upon its broad knowledge of mysticism, the 66-Society practiced a far wider and more useful variety of Incantation-type magic.

Items created through Incantation-type magic were classified as Cursed Objects, and they guaranteed a consistent level of performance regardless of the practitioner’s stage or what Type of magic they had learned.

The Fire-spewing Hands used by Go Ryeoha, the gloves that launched projectiles using fire energy, were also a product of Incantation-type magic, which made them a Cursed Object.

2. Dogma-type. The magic we had assumed borrowed power from religious faith or a particular worldview.

Originally, I had believed that human faith functioned as a kind of lens, but the detailed claims of the 66-Society that I learned through Go Ryeoha were far more specific in scope than I had expected.

"If it isn’t some transcendent being answering prayers, and it isn’t an individual’s faith taking form, then what exactly is it?”

"The spiritual energy accumulated by people who believed in and followed a worldview that had been systematized and established under the name of religion. Hmm~ It’s complicated. To put it simply, maybe it borrows power from the faith dead people held in the afterlife? That’s why they call it Dogma-type, not Religion-type.”

The 66-Society’s claim wasn’t greatly different from what I had theorized.

According to Go Ryeoha, even within the 66-Society, the terms Dogma-type and Afterlife-type were sometimes used interchangeably. Dogma-type was the more common term, though.

To give an example...

A Hindu could only use the power accumulated through the deaths of people who believed in the Hindu worldview, and when that power influenced the world through a practitioner, it became the Hindu form of Dogma-type magic.

Naturally, because the spiritual energy of dead believers had to accumulate, a relatively young faith, or one followed by too few people, couldn’t produce its own independent Dogma-type magic and instead had to use another Dogma-type with a similar nature.

This was where Dogma-types of monotheistic and polytheistic faiths differed fundamentally. Exclusive monotheistic religions apparently produced extremely powerful Dogma-type magic but imposed severe restrictions on using other Types of magic.

The reason was that if someone believed miracles could occur only through a single god, then the moment they attempted to create a miracle through some other means, their entire perception of reality would be completely shattered.

To compensate for that, they would have to accept mystical traditions. But in doing so they would become undeniable heretics in the eyes of the orthodox religious establishment. That meant clergy who wanted to use other forms of magic had to resolve themselves never to return to orthodoxy.

Surprisingly, there were also Dogma-types that denied the existence of an afterlife.

"Were they called materialists? Like the atheism people believed in under the Soviet Union. I don’t really know how they classify it, but I heard there’s a Dogma-type for that too.”

"Does it have any effects?”

"Nothing too impressive. Hmm, apparently it keeps machinery from breaking down, makes guns almost never malfunction, and makes bullets hurt more. I remember a monk from the Society laughing while he told me about it.”

"It makes bullets hurt more?”

Wasn’t that completely broken???

You denied the afterlife and salvation in exchange for shooting bullets that hurt like hell?

...On second thought, maybe it was kind of underwhelming.

If the price of accepting the nihilistic truth that death was the end was merely getting to shoot slightly more painful bullets, then yes, it did seem pretty disappointing.

3. Ritual-type.

According to Go Ryeoha, even the 66-Society hadn’t explained this one properly.

They only said it was extremely dangerous and should generally be left alone. If someone had come to wield Ritual-type magic, then they had already paid an enormous price, so whenever they used it, they should be prepared to kill their opponent outright.

4. Alteration-type.

The 66-Society had also remained silent about most aspects of Alteration-type magic. Go Ryeoha actually seemed kind of apologetic about that.

"Instead, I'll tell you about the spells I use! And I can share some little bits of trivia too. Come to think of it, Hubae-nim, what stage are you?”

"Eyes-branch, Stage 3."

"Ooh! Eyes-branch magic! That’s ridiculously overpowered!”

"Hand-branch, Stage 2. Ears-branch, Stage 1."

"...What?"

"Tongue-branch, Stage 2 as well. All Upright.”

Go Ryeoha and I stared at each other for a while.

Both of us blinked slowly.

Then Go Ryeoha spoke up first.

"Eyes-branch, Stage 3, Hand-branch, Stage 2, Ears-branch, Stage 1, and Tongue-branch, Stage 2. That’s 4 branches, isn’t it?”

"Yes. 4 branches."

Tsk. There it was.

That humblebrag only someone born with a magic silver spoon could pull off!!

A magic silver spoon carrying around Dogma-type, Incantation-type, Heart-branch, Stage 2 and Hand-branch, Stage 4 magic was making a fuss over four branches. It was really starting to piss me off.

Instead of putting on such a show, she should just spit out whatever information she knew already…

"My goodness. So that’s why.”

Go Ryeoha clasped both hands over her mask and widened her eyes.

"What is?”

"You’re wearing military uniforms and even received close air support. Normally, neither the 66-Society nor the other civilians would have any reason to let you live!”

"Are you saying there’s another reason?”

I glared sharply at Go Ryeoha, but this time she began bouncing around and circling me.

"Of course!!! Even within the 66-Society, people with 4 branches are almost nonexistent! Even the executive-level members I saw only had 3!”

"Hmm."

Did she truly believe such unverifiable flattery could sway the iron resolve of the true man Baek Jemin?

I folded my arms with the imposing presence of Mount Tai and silently listened.

"Alteration-type magic follows an individual’s aptitude. And that aptitude is often directly connected to the practitioner’s life. When you consider the aspects of humanity each branch represents, Hubae-nim, you possess incredible potential!”

As she spoke, Go Ryeoha folded down her fingers one by one and made the biggest fuss imaginable.

"Eyes. Human perception and distortion. The fact that your Eyes-branch is the most advanced means your cognitive abilities and sense were naturally exceptional to begin with.”

"Hmph! Then what about Ears, Hand, and Tongue?”

"Hand manifests in people with superior intellectual ability, Tongue in those with outstanding adaptability, and Ears in those who possess strong conviction about their own future! That’s generally how the humanity represented by Alteration-type magic manifests.”

...Hmm.

Unable to hide the corners of my mouth rising, I finally uncrossed my arms.

Go Ryeoha truly was someone Lee Sejun had good reason to be guarded against.

Her skill with that silver tongue was nothing ordinary.

To show my respect for Go Ryeoha’s eloquence, I unfolded my arms, failed to suppress my twitching smile, and decided to ask about what I needed most right now.

"Then do you know why I can’t obtain the Heart-branch, Master?”

Right.

The final piece needed to complete Great Archmage Baek Jemin.

Once I obtained Heart-branch magic, I wouldn’t have to listen to Lee Sejun’s endless bullshit anymore. I, Baek Jemin, could monopolize everything myself. So why? Why was obtaining Heart-branch magic so slow and brutally difficult?

Faced with my question, filled with pent-up resentment, Go Ryeoha looked troubled for the first time.

"Ahaha…That’s probably because…”

"Aah!”

I raised my voice, pressing her for a definite answer.

At that, Go Ryeoha surrendered.

After letting out a weak, awkward laugh, Go Ryeoha quietly turned her head aside and said,

"You don’t seem like someone who exercised much before all this..."

"......"

At that moment, footsteps sounded once more from beyond the door.

The pastor, Shin Nain, Lee Sejun, and Hamza had returned.

"We’re back. They were all good people.”

The way Shin Nain approached Go Ryeoha with a perfectly composed smile was truly befitting of a church oppa.

I quietly passed him the baton and moved to stand beside the pastor.

The pastor was looking at Go Ryeoha with an expression difficult to describe. Normally, he would have been going on about heresy and devils, yet now his eyes were brimming with pity. I couldn’t get used to it.

While Shin Nain activated church-oppa mode and kept Go Ryeoha occupied, the rest of us Supreme Archmages gathered together and talked.

"Did you hear what happened?”

"Goodness...Our Ryeoha is so pitiful…Yes. I heard. That poor young thing…”

"Pastor, what would you have done if Lee Sejun had gone through the same thing instead of Go Ryeoha?”

"A hulking soldier protecting people is only natural, isn't it? Hm? What good would he be if something like that made him lose his mind?!”

I could feel Lee Sejun’s gaze blazing, but I was relieved.

What a trashy remake. This was definitely the pastor I knew.

"What did you find out?"

"2 months ago, news of the blockade line reached the survivors. Go Ryeoha-ssi tried to persuade everyone to keep holding out and eventually escape, but…”

When Hamza couldn’t continue, Lee Sejun spoke in an even voice.

"A rumor spread that there were soldiers among the survivors. Ryeoha-ssi tried to prevent conflict within the group by keeping their identities secret. Apparently, she wouldn’t even let anyone take off their hats because their shaved heads might give them away.”

"Then, while Ryeoha-ssi wasn’t watching, the civilians took medicine.”

"Medicine?"

"They said that if there was no way to tell who the soldiers were, then everyone should die together.”

After hearing the truth behind the Konkuk University survivor group, I could only remain silent for a while.

Was that enough to drive someone insane? Perhaps.

But the most important issue lay elsewhere.

Whispering to the Supreme Archmages, I discussed the value I had assigned to Go Ryeoha.

"She knows a lot. An incredible amount. Even from one brief conversation, I gained a considerable amount of knowledge.”

"Baek Jemin, what are you suggesting?”

"I’d like to stay here for a few days, drain her of every scrap of information, and cut her loose if we can. The problem is, if we do that, I don’t think the military will risk anything more to rescue us.”

They couldn’t simply ignore us if we returned as survivors carrying a wealth of information, but without Go Ryeoha there to corroborate it, they would continue looking at us with suspicion.

We needed to determine the military’s intentions.

For better or worse, the military was still the only force inside Seoul with both the will and the ability to get us out.

To do that… We needed to touch the radio covered by the cloth behind that workbench.

"Let’s talk her into letting us receive a transmission.”

The Supreme Archmages and the world outside Seoul.

It was time to reconnect the two after they had drifted so far apart.  

_________________________________________________________________________

¹ Junior

² Senior