Four days to go for the presentation.
Invited magicians started flying out to New York as the date was nearing and the media started reporting about it at the same too.
Usually, the conference presentation was held among the magicians so it was rare for articles to be published unless it was special news, but it was not the same this time.
It was because the participants this time Kang Yoo-sik and Ban Hye-young were rumored to cause a tectonic effect at the conference this time.
“What the hell is that presentation that it’s causing such havoc……..?”
“Aren’t they just showing off their student? Honestly, Kang Yoo-sik that guy is doing well because he’s a genius, and I don’t think we’re going to get any benefit from it anyway…..”
“Arc Maze wouldn’t have said such a thing if it’s something that only a genius could do, right?”
“Whatever it is, I just hope they open it up soon.”
The magicians who were going in and out of the conference venue discussed the presentation ahead with half anticipation and half interest. Kang Yoo-sik who gave ears to everything while covering his face with a hat chuckled.
“There’s a lot of interest huh.”
“That’s obvious considering the words I spread around earlier. And if we think about what we’ve prepared in reality, they should be talking about it more than this.”
Kang Yoo-sik chuckled at Ban Hye-young who spoke confidently under the hood she was disguising herself in and looked at the surrounding.
People were going to each floor by either using magic or by climbing up the transparent staircase that was leading up to all floors starting from the first floor to the tenth and highest floor.
People were going around with Golems beside them while explosive sounds and strange smokes permeate through the place and disappear as if nothing happened.
It was the sight of modern architecture with a mixture of magic eccentricity.
Kang Yoo-sik looked amazed looking at the Magical Society with magicians from all over the world gathered at one place.
“This place is promiscuous as always.”
“That’s because the people who visit this place are all cranky. Uh, but, you…. Have you been here before?”
“I’ve seen through pictures and videos.”
Kang Yoo-sik turned around roughly and looked around while recalling his memories before the regression.
He went around hiding at that time too, but it was for a different reason this time.
Though it was to avoid getting mobbed by people, at that time he hid his identity to avoid turning into dust by getting attacked by blind magic.
‘I need to find out the narrow ones among the magicians.’
Of course, there were a lot of important and materials in the storage that he had blown up, but wouldn’t it be better if he blows up these kinds of guys along with them instead of just losing them all to the mines?
When Kang Yoo-sik looked around while recalling the magicians who clench their teeth just by looking at him. Cha Si-hyun was amazed looking up the Central Hall that stood up high.
“The……. structure of this place quite fascinating. I can’t believe it makes it harder to use magic the higher you go. I never thought that magic could be woven together like this.”
“At first, such a conference hall was made for fun, but it turned out to look like that after some improvements. Uh. But how are you seeing it?”
“No. More than seeing it, I can feel it.”
“Hm. You have a good sense……”
Ban Hye-young watched in interest and turned her head again.
“So…. Let’s do the sightseeing later and head upstairs first.”
“Sure. Ms. Cha Si-hyung you-……..”
“Ah, hold on.”
Ban Hye-young stopped Kang Yoo-sik and watched with a sly smile.
“You come up on your own.”
“………. Sorry?”
“It’s a tradition. You come with me.”
Ban Hye-young pulled Cha Si-hyun by her side and snapped her finger. At that, a transparent stepping stone appeared below their feet and took them up in a flash like an elevator.
“Wh-, What? That person just went up to the tenth floor in just a heartbeat?”
“Is it an S-class hunter?”
Magicians on every floor including the ground floor turned their heads at Ban Hye-young who went up without any issue, and their eyes naturally fell upon Kang Yoo-sik as well.
Kang Yoo-sik looked around at the incident that took place within the blink of an eye.
‘Is this something like……. a rough initiation ceremony?’
He could certainly predict his ability by seeing how far he could reach with his skills, so it wasn’t a bad idea too.
Kang Yoo-sik looked excited and warmed up his body since he’s done this once before the regression too.
‘So…… Should I just do it lightly?’
Kang Yoo-sik drew up the mana in his body and took a step in the air. At that, a transparent staircase formed below his feet and started floating up in the air.
The moment Kang Yoo-sik got on the stairs and reached the second floor, he felt a strange pressure when the mana around him became sparse.
– It’s a mana inhibitor I see.
‘Hmm. It’s spreading on every floor.’
He was getting stronger the higher he went and eventually, could use more of the facility to become an even more outstanding magician.
The elevator and stairs don’t go further than the second floor and you have no choice but to use this method unless you’re an ordinary guest. Though it’s disadvantageous in many ways, it was the same system even before the regression.
‘At that time did I go up to the second floor?’
He probably wouldn’t have reached the third floor with the throbbing pain in his lungs at that time. Kang Yoo-sik recalled that memory and continued walking diligently.
Whoong—
He easily went past the third floor that was a crisis to him before and reached the seventh floor in a flash as well.
“That guy is amazing too, isn’t he?”
“I can’t believe he went up to the seventh floor that easily……….”
The attention from people in the surrounding started to flood in wondering how far he can reach and Kang Yoo-sik lightly warmed his body up at the sight of it.
‘It looks full-fledged from up here huh.’
It was a level where a well mastered B-class hunter could reach somehow, but the level of difficulty starting from the 8th floor rises exponentially and even A-class hunters are known to miss their proficiency in it.
Kang Yoo-sik who recalled that fact continued to walk towards the top without letting his nervousness out.
Wooong—
Though the mana inhibitors got even more persistent than before, it was still within an acceptable range.
Kang Yoo-sik wove his mana together skillfully and entered the ninth floor and made the reactions go wild in the surrounding.
“Woah. He’s going to the 8th floor like it’s nothing. At this point he’d even reach the 10th floor, wouldn’t he?”
“Then, it would mean that this person is also an S-class hunter….. Who on earth is that?”
Kang Yoo-sik who was distracted by the discussions around looked above him.
Now there’s just one floor left to reach the tenth floor. Though he looks like he’s about to fall off any moment, it looked like he could somehow reach the tenth floor if he uses Percival’s computational power.
Right when Kang Yoo-sik was about to make a move to reach the last floor.
‘………… Um?’
He felt an unknown sense of alienation.
Kang Yoo-sik stopped at the strange feeling he was getting from a place invisible to him and looked around him.
From the outside, he couldn’t see anything except for the mana inhibitor, he felt a strange flow of alienation from within.
At that unusual feeling he couldn’t grasp at once, Kang Yoo-sik drew up his cognitive maximization & Percival’s computation skills and examined his surroundings.
And the moment Kang Yoo-sik’s eyes stopped at a particular point.
Screeeee—
He could see an opaque western corridor between the ninth and tenth floors.
‘It’s from there.’
He didn’t know where in there, but the answer was to go in there.
Kang Yoo-sik concluded and walked towards the corridor instead of going up to the tenth floor. And the moment he reached his hand out at the entrance.
Wooong—
Kang Yoo-sik disappeared from the air without a trace.
“Ah………… Was it the ninth floor then?”
“He almost went up there, what a bummer.”
“Looks like he was an A-class hunter.”
The audience that witnessed the sight muttered in a regretful voice. If he disappeared on the way up there, it means that he ran out of magic and moved to the waiting room of the particular floor using a safety device.
According to others, it looked as if Kang Yoo-sik failed to reach the tenth floor as he lost his strength midway.
“But who is it anyway?”
“Hm. Since the person earlier was an S-class………. Wouldn’t it be Kang Yoo-sik who came with Arc Maze?”
“No way. No matter how much of a genius you are, being 17 years old and going up to the ninth floor is not…….”
“Probably so?”
People made their move again while making their own assumptions about the identity of the person, and went back to their routine wondering when did something ever happen like that in the conference.
And Kang Yoo-sik neatly disappeared into the opaque corridor between the ninth and tenth floor without being seen by anyone.
***
“What is………. This?”
Kang Yoo-sik entered the corridor and looked around with a flustered expression.
Until just a while ago, he went over it thinking that he’s been using his space magic well, but when he entered in, the things weren’t the same.
‘Can you even call this magic?’
This wasn’t some hidden space between the ninth and tenth floor but just some fundamentally different place.
Kang Yoo-sik gave a confused expression at the strangeness he felt through his cognitive recognization.
‘Percival. What do you think?’
– Uhm……. I’m sorry, Lord. I’m not getting any results even if I use my computation skills.
‘Indeed, is it that?’
Kang Yoo-sik continued to walk while looking around and a moment later, he faced a huge door at the end of the corridor.
A huge door that obviously shows that there’s an incredible person behind it. Kang Yoo-sik felt that and pushed open the door with all his might.
BangBangBang—
The door opened with a faint quiver and the sight inside came into his vicinity. An interior that’s decorated so antiquely to a point it made him recall Heinz’s workplace.
In the center of it, there was a desk with documents piled up like a tower and the sound of pen writing circulated quietly from within.
“Hm.”
He was certain that there was someone in there, but he gave no response.
Kang Yoo-sik gave a thought on what he should do next and headed towards the sofa on the opposite side of the desk instead of trying to make a conversation.
‘This is comfy.’
Kang Yoo-sik landed on the sofa perfectly and rested his body on it with no nervous thoughts.
He did have a feeling that it was strange for him to be like this, but that was because he felt a sense of duty that he had to be doing just that here for some reason.
Right when Kang Yoo-sik was sitting still while listening to the sound of the pen moving.
“Who knew you’d come in here already…… Have you heard about me from Arc Maze?”
A deep voice that sounded to be coming from a quite old person. Kang Yoo-sik thought for a moment and replied to the person who he assumed to be an old man.
“Nope. I was just asked to come up on my own since it’s the tradition for first-timers.”
“Well…….. Then it looks like you’ve caused a mess by disappearing suddenly.”
The old man who let out a laugh then continued by clearing his throat.
“Do you have any idea regarding where this is?”
“Nope. I honestly have no idea.”
He does feel a familiarity for some reason, but he can’t grasp the feeling of it no matter how much he tries.
Kang Yoo-sik caressed the sofa arm wondering if this situation unfolding right now was even real. The old man chuckled as if he could see that over the pile of documents.
“Everything that’s in front of you is real. But it’s a kind of ‘real’ that’s different from what you already know.”
“That’s………. a quite complicated constitution.”
“Right. That’s why I call it a miracle. Though Arc Maze calls is magic till the very end.”
Arc Maze….. Kang Yoo-sik gave a curious look at the old man who spoke like he was close to Ban Hye-young.
“Do you know my Professor?”
“You can just take it that way for now.”
A person who is close to Ban Hye-young and also uses magic that he has no idea about. Kang Yoo-sik pondered over the profile he couldn’t grasp any thoughts on and questioned him straightforwardly.
“What happens to me now?”
The old man replied confidently to Kang Yoo-sik who sounded slightly nervous.
“There’s nothing that special. You will receive a present, gain your qualification, and go back to the tenth floor. That’s it.”
“A present and qualification………?”
“About the present……”
The old man was cut off for a while, and moments later, he felt a faint feeling of dexterity over the documents.
“Ho-oh. Well…… Did he require such an item?”
An item came flying from above the documents as he heard an excited voice and Kang Yoo-sik’s eyes widened by looking at the item he received.
A cigarette case with nothing written on it. Kang Yoo-sik hurriedly opened the lip of it at the familiarity.
‘It’s…….. not Hydron.’
He recalled the Hydron he received few times before his regression just by looking at the case, but even the scent of it was different from Hydron.
When Kang Yoo-sik was looking at that item with a strange expression. The old man continued his explanation.
“It’s an item called Saerimnir. It possesses the effect of being able to temporarily amplify your ability. Of course, it has more uses than just that, but you can figure them out slowly.”
An item that’s similar to Hydron, but different. Kang Yoo-sik examined the Saerimnir at the explanation and questioned the old man.
“Where did you find this from?”
Kang Yoo-sik who had been having a strange familiarity from before, certainly just realized the identity behind it.
The drugstore where he gained his Hydron from before the regression. This place was strangely radiating the feeling of that ordinary place he had seen before.
‘That old man definitely has something to do with that grandmother from the drugstore.’
When Kang Yoo-sik was trying to look over the pile of documents at the unusual identity. The old man replied confidently.
“I can’t say it.”
“What?”
“It’s not time yet. If you’ve gained what you need right now, then work hard to develop with it. That’s what’s important.”
Kang Yoo-sik thought of blowing up the pile of documents at once at the blunt answer of the old man and put his hand down after a while.
Kang Yoo-sik wasn’t sure as he was quite puzzling. If he’s in the level of Ban Hye-young who can spread such catastrophic magic, there’s no way his one will go through.
‘Above that, since he’s given me a good item too……. There’s no reason to ruin his mood, right?’
He said it was not time yet, which means there will be another chance to meet him. Kang Yoo-sik figured that there’s no reason to hurriedly do anything so he just nodded.
“Alright.”
“I like how neat you are.”
The old man replied in satisfaction then continued writing as if signaling him that his work was now done.
Right when Kang Yoo-sik was about to ask regarding the qualification he mentioned before.
“Keep working hard in the future. The next President of the Magic Society.”
“……….?”
Woong—
The scene in front of him changed even before he could say anything, and he stood still in front of a real office.
And the person with a cigarette who looked like the owner of that room, Julius, widened his eyes and chuckled at Kang Yoo-sik.
“You’re too good to be true huh.”
Comments