Chapter 107

Our Time

Me, Shin Nain, and the Pastor.

The three of us decided to weave our way mainly through narrow alleyways instead of moving along the main roads. There wasn't any special reason for it—it's just that we could hear voices coming from the boulevard through loudspeakers.

It seemed they'd heard the sounds of the firefight from earlier.

A voice distorted by a loudspeaker and steeped in paranoid vigilance thundered through the air.

Its contents made the weight of being at the very forefront of the containment line hit home.

[All civilians and straggling soldiers are to remain calm, refrain from approaching military personnel, and wait for inspection by search teams. This is a warning. Any civilian or straggling soldier who approaches military personnel without first being inspected by a search team will be shot. That is all!]

I glanced at Shin Nain. He nodded.

"That's definitely the surviving military."

The fog in Seongnam was so thin it felt more like a shallow layer of pale dust spread across the roads.

While breathing in the raw rubber smell from inside our gas masks, the three of us decided to start by examining traces left behind by the enemies who had been lying in ambush. There was no reason to waste Shin Nain's information-gathering abilities when he possessed Ear Stage 3 [Conversation with the Dead] and Eye Stage 1 [Past Sight].

Even a low-IQ idiot like me knows that people who fight without information are morons.

The reason us Supreme Mages had survived and kept fighting until now was because we never stopped gathering clues and observing, even when dragged into battles we never wanted.

The three of us pushed through the fog mixed with shattered glass and concrete dust, kicking it aside as we headed toward where the corpses lay.

The ambush site was an alley about two lanes wide with no center line. Shops occupied the first floors on either side, while villa-style residences began from the second floor upward.

We had entered after passing abandoned armored vehicles left on the boulevard. Here and there, armored personnel carriers and Humvees sat abandoned in the middle of the alley.

While searching the villas, Shin Nain used [Past Sight] through Eye Stage 1 [Perception Expansion] to check for possible booby traps.

I had stepped back for strategic pain-sharing purposes because I was still staggering from the aftereffects of using Eye Stage 2 [Perception Distortion] at one hundred percent.

Shin Nain quietly knelt down.

Through the gap in his gas mask filter, he let out a tense breath.

"Hoo..."

Using his rifle as a cane, his right hand wrapped tightly around the sling while the buttstock rested against the ground. With his left hand, he brushed away the pale dust and fog covering the floor as he surveyed the surroundings.

A moment later, he stood and adjusted his grip on the rifle.

"No problems. Let's move."

"Strange guys. Setting up an ambush without preparing booby traps."

I was glad there weren't any, but it still felt odd.

I'd heard stories about people tying grenades to patches of grass so they'd explode the moment someone let their guard down.

The Pastor took a short breath and spoke.

"They might be conserving explosives. Or maybe they never considered the possibility that the ambush would fail. Either way, let's keep moving. We might find something."

It was a reasonable point.

In a world with magic, not using booby traps wasn't exactly some fatal mistake.

The first enemy corpse we found was near the concrete railing of an exterior villa staircase.

Blood had already seeped out and trickled down the steps before drying into a sticky mess.

The body hung over the railing like laundry, making identification impossible.

Not that I particularly wanted to touch it.

Maybe if it dropped magical remains, but generally speaking, people don't like touching other people's corpses.

Naturally, the Pastor and I lowered ourselves and kept watch.

This battlefield, where thick fog blanketed everything, was completely different from the fighting inside Seoul.

If the enemy had anything resembling a sniper, we might start dropping dead without even knowing why.

You couldn't cling to old methods when the environment had changed.

Meanwhile, Shin Nain crouched on the stairs and gently closed his eyes.

The Pastor and I sat leaning against the concrete railing of the villa staircase, maintaining vigilance.

Shin Nain sat nearby with his eyes closed beside the blood flowing from the corpse.

A strange silence settled over us.

Then Shin Nain opened his eyes and broke it.

"He's a civilian."

"What?"

I grabbed the corpse's legs and pulled it down onto the stairs.

Maybe it was a bit rough, but I consider it a mental illness to act warmly toward someone who had been spraying bullets at me.

Of course, there are limits.

I carefully supported the head so it wouldn't smash against the steps.

Then I quickly searched the body.

No insignia. White bandage wrapped around the left arm instead of an armband. The number 55 written on it in blood. Gas mask.

Those were all traits I'd heard about from American generals a few days ago, which made it hard to believe he was a civilian.

The 55th Unit used white bandages marked with the number 55 in blood as identification.

At least, they were supposed to.

The Pastor voiced the question I was thinking.

"Shin Nain, what's going on?"

Pastor Park Yohan fiddled with his gas mask strap.

Shin Nain stared at the corpse I was holding and slowly shook his head.

"They're defected soldiers. To protect their actual combat assets—the Crusader Mages—they're mixing civilians into their forces."

"!"

The realization hit me immediately.

The 55th Unit consisted entirely of Stage 1 Alteration Mages, with Ear Mages making up most squads.

Back during our clash with the special forces, Shin Nain had even explained their tactics.

The Ear Mages served as both communications personnel and riflemen, allowing them to move as a coordinated unit.

If that was the case, there had been no reason to use an external loudspeaker to send firing signals.

As long as a single Ear Mage could contact the yellow-band deserter commander, telepathy would have relayed the signal to everyone.

That would have enabled a much more effective ambush...

I should've realized they had non-mage personnel the moment the yellow-band guy gave the firing order.

Which meant—

"So this bastard didn't drop any remains, huh?"

"Baek Jemin, this is exactly the kind of garbage thing you'd say. Put the body down before talking."

Splosh!

The back of the corpse's head sank into a puddle of blood.

He'd defected, shot at me, and hadn't even dropped magical remains.

Still, considering he'd once suffered along the containment line, I gently laid him down instead of tossing him aside.

My humanity ended there.

"Let's check the next corpse."

"Yes. It looks like there's a lot we need to learn."

"Children, you must also learn to love your enemies. They may have been brothers and sisters who believed in the Lord."

And so we spent roughly an hour examining the alley and recovering bodies.

Though "recovering" mostly meant laying them down and folding their hands together.

Those torn apart by suicide drones couldn't even be found.

In total, we recovered five bodies.

Three of them were non-mages.

Only one was a mage.

The machine-gunner turned out to be a Heart Mage.

The same guy I'd shot first while he was trying to set up a machine gun on a window frame using a bipod.

The room where the machine-gun Heart Mage had been stationed was a villa unit filled with powerless refrigerators and abandoned furniture.

Judging by the energy bar wrappers scattered near the balcony, he'd been holding out there for quite some time.

It felt ridiculous that I was recovering the body of someone I'd personally killed, but the Pastor made such a fuss that I had no choice.

"Baek Jemin, once someone dies, it's over. The moment they die, judgment belongs to the Lord. No matter what sins they committed in life, the living must show them at least the minimum respect. Understood?"

"I did show the minimum respect."

Honestly, not crushing the corpses of people who'd tried to fill me with bullets probably put me in the top ten percent of humanity.

The Pastor's standards were just absurdly high.

Naturally, Shin Nain the yes-man had a different reaction.

"As expected of you, Pastor. Anyone with true faith should possess such a mindset. Your words have enlightened me."

"That's our Nain. Spiritually awakened."

"Kill them all. Then God shall judge them. Amen."

"That's what those heretics worshipping the Pope and Maria say!!!"

The schism between the Christian Duo met the intervention of a wise mediator.

"Hold a trial. No need to tell me the results."

"Do you have some special insight, Mr. Jemin?"

Sometimes the heavy sound of steel speaks louder than a hundred words.

Click.

The moment I slid my finger into the trigger guard and showed signs of resting it on the trigger, our Supreme Mages immediately regained their unity.

Shin Nain promptly began gathering information through Ear Stage 3 [Conversation with the Dead], while the Pastor and I searched the surroundings and kept watch.

I tightened my grip on my AR-15 as I moved past closed doors.

Keep the rifle close so I could fire instantly.

Stay ready to bite my tongue and activate Eye Stage 2 [Perception Distortion] at any moment.

Blink repeatedly to check the condition of my eyes.

All three conditions were satisfactory.

My eyes felt slightly dry, but thanks to advancing my realm, the penalties were far lighter than before, when tears streamed uncontrollably.

With so little fog around, this was more than enough.

Leaving Shin Nain to his conversations with the dead, I gestured toward the Pastor.

"My eyes are mostly back to normal. Let's check the other rooms and cabinets. I'll handle the danger checks. Pastor, stay behind and provide totem support."

"What's with 'totem'? Sounds idolatrous. Just call it a cross."

"...Haa."

Fine.

I surrendered.

"Follow me, Mr. Cross."

"Okay."

The [Future Sight: 10 Seconds Ahead] granted by Eye Stage 1 [Perception Expansion] showed no red footprints.

Shin Nain hadn't mentioned any monsters either, but after encountering that insane parasite creature in Anyang, I wasn't about to relax.

The enemy wasn't monsters or ordinary soldiers.

They were mages just like me.

I had no intention of making the idiotic mistake of underestimating mages.

I approached the firmly shut door with extreme caution.

Thud!

Instead of standing in front of it, I pressed myself against the wall beside it.

Instructor Song Smith had drilled into us that standing directly in front of a door was suicidal.

Then my careful procedure began.

Before touching the doorknob, I inspected it thoroughly.

I tapped it with my rifle stock in case something activated on contact.

I even knocked on the door.

And politely asked after its well-being.

"Anybody home?"

"What the hell are you doing, Baek Jemin?"

The Pastor's face grew redder by the second, but lives were on the line.

Saving lives wasn't something to approach carelessly.

Especially when the life in question was my own.

In today's world, if you died showing off reckless courage, you'd end up as a thirty-second comedy clip on YouTube Shorts.

The Pastor clicked his tongue at my caution and grabbed the doorknob.

"That's enough. Move aside. Watching this is exhausting, you coward."

"You really don't have to—"

Ignoring my protests, he turned the knob and swung the door open.

It looked like a shabby one-room bedroom.

A smell of mold and stale dust drifted out.

Poor ventilation had left dampness embedded in the wallpaper as patches of fungus.

A crumpled blanket lay on the floor.

A desk occupied one corner of the tiny room, covered in scattered stationery and notebooks.

I briefly examined the wallpaper for bloodstains, but I wasn't skilled enough to tell beneath all the mold.

Maybe Eye Stage 1 enhanced through Tongue Stage 1 could do it, but I wasn't about to waste my precious suffering on something like that.

Information mattered.

But some information mattered more than others.

Since it wasn't urgent, I instead searched through the papers scattered across the desk for useful records.

Thanks to the Pastor opening the door for me, the interior search was much easier.

"Why is Baek Jemin competent most of the time and then suddenly turns into an idiot?"

"I can hear you, Pastor."

"You're supposed to. I don't talk behind people's backs."

"Then only say nice things."

Not talking behind people's backs was the bare minimum.

It didn't justify his shamelessness.

Ignoring the Pastor's protests about whether I was some kind of bastard, I sifted through dried-out pens and broken pencils.

Seeing such outdated writing tools in the smartphone era gave me a rough idea of the survivor who'd lived here.

They probably hadn't been in a situation where using a phone was possible.

The Gangnam Clairvoyant's attempt to break through the containment line had only started a few days ago, but Seongnam had been the front line long before that.

When they were willing to gun down millions of Seoul citizens, evacuating Seongnam residents had probably been postponed endlessly.

I suspected the owner of this room had been an ordinary Gyeonggi Province resident stranded in northern Seongnam.

The notebook looked like a relic from their student days.

Its yellowed pages were filled with complicated formulas and English vocabulary.

Knowledge that had become completely useless in a situation like this.

Good thing I learned magic early.

The era was moving toward a magical superpower called South Korea.

Then I found a notebook whose ink looked comparatively fresh.

As I picked it up, the Pastor stopped complaining and peeked over my shoulder.

"Find something?"

"Let's see."

***

Before the military says anything, everyone already stays indoors, follows curfew, and avoids meeting people.

I'm lonely.

But I don't want to become a monster.

This is worse than COVID.

I want to go out and have fun.

April 23

The containment line was finally breached.

They say they drove the monsters back again, but only an idiot would believe that.

They've already delayed evacuation for months.

April 26

A note was stuck beneath the front door, so I read it. The contents were such a shocking secret that I decided to copy it down separately.

I don't know whether it's true or not, but I have nobody to vent to, so I'm writing it here instead.

Apparently they knew.

They knew those monster bastards were going to appear, yet all the lawmakers ran away, and the President who supposedly went to Incheon was just a body double. Nobody even knows where the real one went.

Is this really a fucking country?

Powerless guys like me get eaten trying to stop monsters, while the people at the top all run away?

Then they call me a criminal if I don't join the military.

May 1

The military police knocked on my door.

They left for now, but holy shit, I'm terrified.

Goddamn it.

I've seen what those monster bastards are like. Who in their right mind would join the military?

Who's going to fight?

I saw the higher-ups all run away while the soldiers fought after getting pumped full of drugs. Who the hell would fight?

The people holding the containment line?

So what?

That doesn't mean I have to do it too, damn it...

Fuck, fuck, fuck...

I want to live too.

Mom.

May 2

Somebody reported me.

Tsk.

The Pastor, who had been reading over my shoulder, clicked his tongue first.

"You should fulfill your duty to defend the country. The nation is in crisis, and this young man runs away and hides? Looking at this, Lee Sejun isn't actually a bad person. He's got principles."

"You treat him the coldest out of anyone."

"I'm trying to teach Lee Sejun how to cast off the weakness in his heart, but he won't listen. He doesn't even want to come to church. That's just Satan's influence."

I carefully folded the record and tucked it into my cracker pouch.

The Pastor was angry at the cowardice of a young man who had evaded conscription, but I was focused on something entirely different.

Something much more serious.

After noticing the most important detail—the kind that would be easy to overlook at first glance—I spoke.

"Pastor. I think this was probably a rumor spread by the Gangnam Clairvoyant's people."

"A rumor?"

"The part about the President in Incheon being a body double."

Whether it was true or not, it made the goals of the Gangnam Clairvoyant and its subordinate groups even harder to understand.

The Gangnam Clairvoyant could kill people based on cognitive awareness.

If it wanted the real President dead, it could have killed him ages ago.

If the President in Incheon was fake, then the Gangnam Clairvoyant had killed the real President and was pretending otherwise.

If the President really was in Incheon, then the Gangnam Clairvoyant was choosing not to kill him.

Was it something other than revenge?

Come to think of it, the Gangnam Clairvoyant could kill decision-makers whenever it wanted, so why keep demanding things from them?

Was it genuinely insane?

As my thoughts spiraled, the Pastor slapped my shoulder a couple of times.

"Baek Jemin. Huh? Why are you thinking so hard? We all heard the Gangnam Clairvoyant's voice. Shin Nain too."

"We can ask Nain. It's a clue either way, right? Since we've got it, let's head back. Nain's probably waiting."

We had Shin Nain.

The ultimate information-gathering machine.

Shin Nain.

Unlike flashy offensive spells like Fireball or Chain Lightning, he specialized in utility and convenience.

Setting aside his countless unlikable traits and deeply flawed personality, he was so useful and versatile that nobody could afford to get rid of him.

A lunatic who threatened people through sheer performance.

The Pastor and I searched the draft dodger's hideout one more time for additional clues, but there was nothing left to find.

If any clue remained, it would be inside the Heart Mage's memories.

When we returned to the balcony area, Shin Nain had already finished [Conversation with the Dead].

He was sitting atop the Heart Mage's corpse, wearing a headset and humming a hymn through the filter of his gas mask.

Noticing our arrival, he lowered the headset around his neck and began explaining what he'd learned.

"I discovered how Yellow Band's tactics work."

According to Shin Nain, the 55th Unit wasn't simply using walkie-talkies and communication equipment because of their non-mage personnel.

The key lay with the deserter known as Yellow Band, a Reversal-Type Ear Stage 3 Mage.

"That demon deliberately leaks information and ensures the enemy hears it, guiding their actions. I suspect that's why he doesn't bother with booby traps and actively incorporates non-mage personnel. If you can control your opponent's movements, the advantage is overwhelming."

"Guide them how?"

"Things like: I should take cover over there if an ambush happens. Or: If bullets come flying, I should dive right. Or: There won't be an ambush here. He plants suggestions like those. Friendly-fire identification still works, but even this Heart Crusader Mage had a deeply embedded suggestion telling him to dive right whenever bullets started flying."

"Ah."

Unfortunately for the Heart Mage, he got shot dead in slowed time before he could dive.

As always, plans are perfect right up until someone punches you in the face.

Tap. Tap.

Shin Nain tapped his hood-covered head with a finger.

Behind the gas mask lenses, his eyes curved into a smile.

"However, Orthodox Ear-Type Crusader Mages can detect true intentions even through communication devices. That's why Yellow Band used vehicles containing Human Slimes as a form of jamming. But that also means his ambush points are predictable. Furthermore, after seeing Mr. Jemin expose his numbers using one hundred percent [Perception Distortion], he'll avoid reckless ambushes."

The Pastor frowned immediately.

"Then you're saying Yellow Band manipulated me into hiding behind that armored vehicle?"

"Impossible to know. However, since doctrinal crusader arts aren't constrained by realm differences, even if he attempted manipulation, I suspect your doctrinal abilities simply turned it against him."

As expected, Shin Nain had learned a great deal.

If it had been Lee Sejun, he'd have been yawning.

If it had been Goryeoha, he'd have been whining.

If it had been Hamza, he'd have been trembling.

But this lunatic sat on a corpse, sang hymns, and casually memorized useful intelligence.

I couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey. Fine, I get it. Now get off the corpse."

"If Mr. Jemin has awakened spiritually and wishes to respect even these people..."

"You're damaging the remains."

How dare he dirty valuable magical remains by sitting on the flesh wrapping them with his ass.

If even a single hair touched the magical script carved into that heart, I'd kill Shin Nain and steal his Ear Magic.

Then I realized what would be required to retrieve the heart and immediately grimaced.

"Life really is strange. I've never even wrung a chicken's neck before."

The Pastor alternated glances between me and the Heart Mage's corpse before making a face.

"Jemin. The remains are lower stage than you anyway. Do you really need to take them out?"

"I should test it at least once."

"Then just stab it!"

"What if I only cut the casing?"

I reviewed the rules regarding a mage's remains.

Destroy the remains of a mage at a higher realm, and you can plunder their realm.

Ear Mages can steal memories when they destroy a mage's remains.

In general, destroying a mage's remains lets you steal their knowledge.

However, you must possess the foundation necessary to understand that knowledge.

So what happens if I destroy the remains of a mage below my realm?

To find out, I stripped the Heart Mage's upper body bare, drew my greatsword, and aimed the tip at his chest.

I couldn't bear to look at his face, so I left the gas mask on.

Then I offered a final blessing to the Heart Mage, who had already crossed the Sanzu River.

"You were trying to shred me apart with a machine gun. Hope heaven punishes you. Let's crack that chest open."

"You're insane."

At this point, life would feel empty without the Pastor's commentary.

A few moments later, accompanied by an assortment of unpleasant ASMR sounds—bones scraping, flesh tearing, muscles snapping—a blood-covered heart emerged.

Sure enough, bizarre Heart-Type magical script glowed across its surface.

The Pastor and Shin Nain had already turned away.

"If you're doing it, hurry up and finish."

"Mr. Jemin, I haven't unlocked the Heart path yet. Looking at it makes me dizzy."

"I know, I know. I'm the only Grand Mage with all five paths."

The Christian Duo generously yielding the heart to me made for a surprisingly heartwarming atmosphere.

It was exactly why I hadn't brought Lee Sejun and Goryeoha.

The Heart Mages among our Supreme Mages were already strong enough.

If those two idiots leveled up by smashing low-level hearts...

Grand Mage Baek Jemin might end up sobbing over a fallen comrade's corpse while destroying the remains out of jealousy.

To prevent such tragedy, I had to consume the experience and knowledge.

Me!

"Please be Heart Stage 2!"

Crunch.

I crushed the heart under my foot.

With a hiss, it dissolved into fog.

The fog flowed into my body.

For a moment I thought I'd leveled up.

But the distinctive cram-school style of Alteration Magic—the forceful injection of knowledge directly into the brain—never came.

Instead, memories from the Heart Mage appeared before my eyes.

Scenes I could see only because I was an Ear Mage.

A damp underground passage.

A grotesque barricade formed by Human Slimes fused together with the corpses of Amalgams and Devouring Spines.

Within the subway corridor protected by that horrific wall, a strange and solemn ceremony was taking place.

Beneath dim fluorescent lights, soldiers knelt on one knee with rifles laid before them.

Each held a greatsword in their left hand and raised their right hand, prepared to cut themselves.

Standing before them was a familiar figure.

Someone I'd met once through magic at Konkuk University.

Father Kang Peter.

The priest with gentle features and warm eyes walked among dozens of kneeling soldiers, placing his hands upon them one by one.

[66 for the 7. 55 for the 66. Humanity for the 55.]

The password of the Society of Sixty-Six.

Those blessed by Father Kang Peter lowered their heads further and recited in firm voices.

[We who believe in 5.5 above 4 are human.]

After blessing everyone once, he reversed direction and began again.

It was around then that the priest's hand settled atop the Heart Mage's head.

[What is the one thing you absolutely do not wish to lose?]

The priest's voice sank lower.

The Heart Mage heard his own heartbeat.

Cognition.

Intelligence.

Adaptation.

Fate.

Life.

[What do you desire most?]

Eyes.

Hands.

Tongue.

Ears.

Heart.

The Heart Mage chose the heart.

Father Kang Peter replied with a faint smile in his voice.

[July 23.]

Nod.

The Heart Mage bowed his head reverently.

Through his memories, I could faintly understand the countless emotions swirling within him.

Anger.

Despair.

Resignation.

Sadness.

Hope.

Joy.

All perfectly ordinary emotions directed somewhere completely abnormal.

The Heart Mage of the 55th Unit despised, hated, and feared Father Kang Peter.

Monster bastard.

Only then did the other soldiers come into focus.

Most followed him as if entranced.

A few obeyed reluctantly.

Yet no matter how unwilling they were, no matter how much they resented him, none of them refused Father Kang Peter.

Still...

The Heart Mage slowly lowered his gaze and closed his eyes.

Better than being trapped forever inside a monster's body. Definitely. Fuck...

The memory ended.

Was it because that memory was the strongest?

Or because it contained the information I most wanted?

Either way, when I returned to reality, sweat had soaked the inside of my gas mask.

I nearly tore the chin strap off but stopped myself and exhaled.

"Hoo..."

"Baek Jemin?"

I raised a hand, stopping the Pastor's concern.

Good.

I hadn't said anything aloud.

Even Shin Nain, who had apparently sensed my thoughts, was staring at me with hardened eyes.

For a moment I wondered if I should tell the Pastor.

Then I changed my mind.

We're infiltrating.

No point distracting him with unnecessary worries.

"Nothing. Just the usual nonsense. Let's go. Doesn't look like I advanced a realm either."

The Pastor clicked his tongue and turned away.

Good.

I pulled up my gas mask slightly and took several deep breaths.

"Haa... haa..."

Then I put it back on.

We're in combat.

Yellow Band needs to die.

Focus.

Still, one thing had become clear.

The information from the Society of Sixty-Six had confirmed exactly what kind of people the 55th Unit were.

Silently, Shin Nain and I adjusted our rifles and left the Heart Mage's corpse behind.

"Nothing serious. Just motion sickness."

"Your helicopter sickness is showing up an hour later?"

"Pastor, have you ever had motion sickness? Mine works like this."

An eternity.

If a monster eats you...

it's eternity.