Chapter 98

"Just take my life instead."

I stifled my laughter for a long time in front of the Skin-Wearing Tapeworm's corpse.

A privilege granted only to those who had mastered all five systems: [Mutation Immunity].

It seemed the theme of the Orthogonal Modification type—placing the five elements symbolizing humanity into different parts of the human body—had been roughly correct.

At the very least, I no longer had to worry about being trapped alive inside a monster's body.

I was lying there, doubled over and laughing until I could barely breathe, when a shrill shout suddenly burst from the walkie-talkie that had remained silent until now.

It was Frog Lieutenant Colonel's voice.

[... Aphorism, Aphorism! Respond!]

Everything felt unbearably heavy.

My entire body felt like it was boiling, but I propped myself up with trembling arms and turned around. Hamza had set down the fire extinguisher and was picking up the walkie-talkie that had been lying on the conference room floor.

"Uh, uh-huh. Aphorism here."

[What happened? Why didn't you answer the radio?]

"Huh? The connection was down."

[No, what the hell kind of— ... Hoo. Aphorism, let's resume communications first.]

If I opened my mouth right now, I felt like I'd only cough blood, so I kept it firmly shut.

While Goryeoha nervously scanned the surroundings with tear-filled eyes, I listened to the conversation between Hamza and Frog Lieutenant Colonel and began to feel something was off.

"There was combat starting from the first floor. There was a huge fight on the third floor, too."

[We definitely confirmed there wasn't anything there...]

"There WAS!"

When the macho man Hamza suddenly barked out the words, Frog Lieutenant Colonel visibly recoiled.

[Then why didn't you answer the radio on the fifth floor?]

"The communications were down the whole time! We never received any calls!"

[No... Aphorism, just withdraw for now. Check the communication logs and you'll see. We were preparing an entry team because your group wasn't coming out.]

"You said you'd checked everything with thermal imaging, but they were all there!"

[Let's discuss it once you're out. Can you withdraw?]

Hamza was practically on the verge of tears as he argued, while Frog Lieutenant Colonel desperately tried to calm him down.

At this point, ordinary people—the leftover non-mages who still believed humanity's technology could fully handle these dangers—would start talking about optical equipment and advanced sensors.

They'd believe better equipment and better tactics could solve everything.

But when my gaze met Goryeoha's, a fellow graduate of Seoul Mage Academy, and mine, a Grand Mage of all five systems—

The two of us instantly understood how the Skin-Wearing Tapeworm had hidden itself.

A bitter laugh escaped us.

Trying to hide the bloodshot redness in her eyes, Goryeoha blinked rapidly and waved her left hand.

"Impossible to resist. They didn't classify it that way for nothing, huh?"

"Fuck..."

There was a reason all the optics and communication equipment had been useless.

I stared at the Skin-Wearing Tapeworm's corpse and kept laughing hollowly.

My body felt feverish and dizzy, like I had the flu, but what struck me harder was realizing just how precarious humanity's situation truly was because creatures like this existed.

People make a mistake.

They think they see with their eyes.

And technically, that's true.

If you compress the entire process of seeing and recognizing information into its simplest form, then yes.

But then—

What happens if someone scrambles the brain that processes it?

"Hehehehe... heh..."

I just laughed.

The Skin-Wearing Tapeworm tampered with human cognition—or more precisely, the part of the brain responsible for processing information—and rendered human senses useless.

A monster that had stolen Eye Magic was truly the stuff of nightmares.

No matter how good the lens, no matter how many photographs you took, no matter how many senses you employed, no matter how many drones you deployed, no matter how much you coordinated through communications—

It was useless.

Something could be happening right in front of you, but if humans couldn't perceive it, then it was effectively the same as it not happening at all.

People could be screaming for help at the top of their lungs, and the person standing right beside them would neither see nor hear them.

Unless you handed everything over to an AI and let it kill targets fully automatically, this was an enemy that a non-mage human brain simply could not fight.

Even if every detection device was blaring warning alarms, how could you respond if humans literally couldn't hear them?

Even if thermal cameras and infrared sensors captured the target perfectly, what could you do if the human brain automatically filtered out the information because it couldn't process it?

That's why it was classified as Impossible to Resist.

You could kill it with a gun.

But you couldn't fire the gun.

And therefore, you couldn't resist.

There probably weren't many monsters like this.

But even a single one was enough to reduce non-mages to prey.

Compared to the Dubai Sticky Witch or Ski-Goggle, this was danger on an entirely different level.

I ripped off my gas mask and vomited up the hot fluid rising in my throat.

"Uwek..."

Splat.

Dark red blood.

Blood so hot it bubbled and frothed.

I instantly realized this was the penalty for [Mutation Immunity].

Looking at the Hand-System magic rune covering the back of my hand—the symbol splitting my skin apart and glowing red—I spat out bloodstained saliva.

Then I desperately rolled my eyes around, searching for the Eye-System magic rune possessed by the Skin-Wearing Tapeworm.

Each segment of the creature had a mouth in its center, a mesh of capillaries without teeth.

Except for one.

Only the segment presumed to be the main body had no mouth.

Instead, it consisted of gray-white wrinkled layers that looked like human brain folds stretched flat like a canvas.

Covered in sticky, durable meninges, the creature had used human brains as ganglia, stealing and utilizing their innate intelligence.

Just because a Skin-Wearing Jellyfish had eaten a mage didn't mean a monster like this could suddenly appear.

No matter how bizarre these creatures were, nothing this absurd had ever emerged so quickly.

At least not unless it was something fundamentally different from birth, like the Lighthouse or the Eel.

My guess was that it had crossed over from Seoul during the Fog Surge.

Maybe it had gorged itself on mages and civilians in Seoul before waddling down to Anyang, fat and well-fed.

It was only speculation, but understanding even a little of this bastard's ecology would make fighting it easier.

At the same time, if I reclaimed the Eye Rune it had stolen, maybe I'd finally break through to Eye Stage Four.

Somehow forcing my trembling body to move, I began prying apart the Skin-Wearing Tapeworm's flesh with my blade.

The moment I found it, I struck down without hesitation.

Stab.

The sensation of cutting through sticky, durable membranes traveled from my hand all the way to my shoulder.

That should do it.

This should make me, Baek Jemin, a legitimate Grand Mage of Eye Stage Four at last...!

...

...What?

"Junior, what's wrong?"

"No... I'm not leveling up."

"Huh?"

I explained everything to Goryeoha.

How I'd fought based on my intuition that the privilege of all five systems was [Mutation Immunity], and how I'd killed the Skin-Wearing Tapeworm before it could pull any tricks.

As a Modification-type mage herself, Goryeoha understood the basics.

Normally, Modification Magic provided instant educational downloads whenever you advanced a realm—whether by destroying a caster's remains, performing rituals, or meeting other conditions.

Like a celebrity tutor cramming knowledge directly into your brain.

So I'd assumed reclaiming a monster's magic rune would also trigger a level-up.

After all, it definitely unlocked new systems.

That's how I'd obtained the Hand System and Heart System before.

Naturally, I'd expected Eye Stage Four this time as well.

And Modification Magic wasn't even particularly strict.

"Do you know how this realm works? No? Then let me teach you."

And then—BAM!—it stuffed the knowledge directly into your head like some benevolent Buddha.

But after destroying the Eye Rune, no mist leaked out with a hiss.

Nothing disappeared.

Thinking I'd cut the wrong spot, I slashed several more times.

The Eye Rune still didn't vanish.

Instead, it simply appeared on another segment of the Skin-Wearing Tapeworm, avoiding the parts I'd mutilated.

What?

Was it still alive?

Just as I swallowed nervously and staggered backward, Goryeoha clenched her fist and rested her other hand on her waist.

"Junior. I think I know."

"What is it? Tell me, Ryeoha."

She might have been a scam artist who conned people with ceremonial swords, but if she could give me a clear answer right now, I was ready to accept her as my teacher again.

Goryeoha removed the hood of her poncho and shook her long ponytail.

"Every mystery comes with a clearly defined price. You know equivalent exchange, right?"

"Well... yeah."

"If the cost of [Mutation Immunity] was nothing more than running a fever, wouldn't that be too cheap?"

At that moment, the world stopped.

My world.

I hadn't even used magic, but my brain refused to think.

Because I knew the conclusion waiting at the end of that line of reasoning would be horrifying.

But Baek Jemin, Grand Mage, forced himself to identify the cause.

The true penalty of [Mutation Immunity].

I began trembling, not from fever or chills, but from the crushing weight of the realization.

No way.

No fucking way...

Because it protected me from mutation...

It deducted charges on a limited-use basis...

"IT ATE MY EXPERIENCE POINTS!!!"

Dark.

Soft.

I lay there drowsily.

My body sank into a plush mattress, completely relaxed.

My ears rested in silence for once.

My eyes remained comfortably shut.

That's when the uninvited guest arrived.

Slap slap slap slap slap...

Someone was smacking chunks of meat.

At first I figured they were flattening hamburger patties or something, so I ignored it.

But as time passed, the sound became clearer and clearer.

Smack! Smack!

The sound of flesh being struck through the air.

Comparable to my father's skill with a switch when he swung it hard enough to split calves open.

Had I somehow acquired a second father beneath the heavens?

My father had stopped using switches decades ago...

Huff huff huff...

Someone exhaled sharply, making strange noises with each breath.

What kind of idiot deliberately made such horrifying sounds next to someone trying to sleep?

It annoyed me, but the comfort was so pleasant that I pretended not to notice.

Then everything gradually became sharper.

Clearer.

The pressure on my skin began to register pain.

Bruises cried out from every place I'd been beaten.

My eyelids weren't heavy because I was comfortable.

They were heavy because I was exhausted and in tremendous pain.

Only now did I realize it.

Flash.

The moment I opened my eyes, I was greeted by a clean ceiling and Hamza raising his hand above me.

"Hryaaaaat!"

Hamza was shouting.

"Ratatatatatat!!!"

Hamza was absolutely pounding my chest with the edge of his hand.

While making his own sound effects with his mouth.

And I was making sound effects right along with him.

"Huff-huff-huff... HURK!"

The guy letting out those short gasps every time Hamza struck my chest was me.

"Hey. You bastard. What the fuck are you doing?"

"Huh? Jemin! You're awake!?"

My vision spun for a moment. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and got my bearings.

This was the temporary ward of a military base in Anyang.

Judging by the surroundings, I'd been moved to an annex building near the main hospital.

Looking out the window, I saw the sun hanging low on the horizon.

Apparently I'd blacked out for a bit.

That was enough information.

The situation was clear.

Without hesitation—

Grab!

I shot out my right hand and seized Hamza's turban.

"Why did I pass out? And why are you tenderizing a patient like a hamburger patty?"

"Calm down first. And you're not a patient. The military doctor checked on you earlier and said you're ridiculously healthy."

"Haaah~ Hamza. Do you understand what loss feels like? Loss!"

Hamza kindly explained everything.

The horrifying truth about the mechanics of the Five-System perk [Mutation Immunity] had apparently knocked me unconscious.

The mere possibility that it resisted mutations by consuming the experience points I'd painstakingly accumulated had been enough to make me collapse.

Rather than moving my unconscious body, Hamza and Goryeoha had calmly continued communications and waited for military reinforcements.

Once drone surveillance was restored, 150 soldiers accompanied by eighteen drones had entered the hospital and begun search-and-destroy operations.

Fortunately, the dense fog had mostly cleared.

When fog disappears, monsters become stronger.

But at the same time, thinning fog usually means their numbers have drastically decreased.

The fog surrounding the hospital had receded enough that everything was visible with the naked eye.

They'd even established contact with survivors who had evacuated toward the rooftop levels.

"Our job's finished."

Hamza shrugged.

"But the commander ordered us not to disclose the details of the battle against that monster you named the Skin-Wearing Tapeworm."

"Ordered?"

"He also said it was a request from one human being to another."

Only then did I release Hamza's turban and collapse back onto the bed.

Thump.

As my head sank into the soft pillow, all kinds of thoughts flooded my mind.

Ordinary people would probably ask where Goryeoha had gone first.

But my priorities lay elsewhere.

"What are they doing with the magic rune from the monster we killed?"

"Normally it'd be incinerated, but because they found a magic rune, they're transporting it with unmanned robots. It's being transferred to our Supreme Mage division. Apparently this monster's way too unusual, so they're planning to research it."

"Anderson's coming back too. They started arranging it as soon as the report reached headquarters."

"Anderson?"

I racked my brain.

"Anderson Makenford. Our sponsor."

"Ahh. That kind-hearted guardian of Korea and the Korean people."

The modern-day Wanli Emperor who lobbied the U.S. Congress to prevent a nuclear bombardment because he wanted to steal magic.

Personally, I wanted to learn that Eye Rune myself.

But with [Mutation Immunity] apparently devouring my experience points, I couldn't learn it immediately.

And storing that abomination was a problem in itself.

Even for someone aspiring to become a Grand Mage, living while hugging that horrific corpse wasn't exactly appealing.

Better to hand it over to Anderson, let our generous sponsor laugh happily, and receive even more support in return.

Besides, Anderson Makenford possessed far more occult and mystical knowledge than we did.

He might even be able to provide interpretations of the pentagram carved into my heart.

I'd considered asking the pastor.

But while his theories sounded plausible, they were built on so much speculation that there was always a lack of evidence.

Not to mention they were a little too Christian.

If he saw the pentagram on my heart, he'd probably start shouting about Satanism.

He might even bring a branding iron and try to carve a cross over it.

While I was entertaining these pointless thoughts, reality slowly returned.

Looking out the window, I watched flashes from rifle muzzles and listened to the chaotic chatter of military communications beneath the setting sun.

Then I spoke.

"Hamza."

"Yeah?"

"A mirror."

Only then did I carefully examine the back of my hand.

The magic rune was still there.

Not as a glowing symbol, but as a healed scar.

Curious, I stripped off my combat jacket and pulled down my shirt.

Same thing.

A star-shaped scar remained directly over the center of my chest.

When I touched my earlobe, I felt rough ridges there too.

Then Hamza handed me a mirror.

The moment I looked into it, I let out a sigh.

"At least it isn't carved into my eyeballs. Whew."

"Why do you sound disappointed?"

"If it'd been engraved in my eyes, I'd win every staring contest."

If the Eye Rune had manifested there, even a martial arts champion would probably throw up the moment our eyes met.

Just then, the hospital room door burst open.

A cheerful Goryeoha strode inside.

Her right hand was wrapped in thick bandages.

"I heard voices while walking down the hallway. Looks like you're awake, Junior!"

"Yeah. Somehow."

I glared at her, wondering if widening my eyes might make the Eye Rune appear.

Nothing happened.

Goryeoha casually waved her bandaged hand and giggled.

"Are you worried about me? This is from cutting my hand to cast magic."

I lifted the back of my hand to block her gaze.

Still nothing.

Maybe the scars represented some kind of inactive state.

Could the magic itself be sealed?

Determined to find out, I activated Eye Magic despite the pain I knew was coming.

"AAARGH! FUCKING HELL—!"

It worked.

I saw the future.

And using it without fog still hurt just as much.

Apparently this was either some sort of cooldown for [Mutation Immunity], or a lingering aftereffect from its activation.

Watching me, Goryeoha burst into laughter.

"What are you doing over there?"

"Go home and make some equipment. I seriously want to kill you right now."

Maybe I should steal her Hand Magic.

Maybe a surprise attack would work.

I already had Hand and Heart Magic.

Wouldn't it be fine to take both?

What a pathetic, thoroughly inhuman train of thought.

Using my iron will, I guided my exhausted mind toward more productive ideas.

Positive thoughts.

Positive thoughts...

Eventually my emotions settled, and a smile appeared.

Honestly, killing Goryeoha now and obtaining her Hand and Heart Magic slightly sooner would be a loss.

Keeping her alive for a long time so she could cast Hand Magic and serve as both a walking HP battery and an item-production machine—

That was the choice of a true mage.

A mage isn't someone who strives to obtain power faster.

A mage is someone who strives to go farther.

Omnipotence isn't granted to the impatient.

It's granted to the worthy.

Having calmed my anger, I looked at Hamza and Goryeoha and finally announced my conclusion.

"Let's go get some gear."

May 8, 2028 — 8:13 PM

The sun had set.

The soldiers who greeted us after our helicopter landed snapped into formal salutes.

Clack!

Then Major General Jeon Minho came running over, returned a salute, and offered a handshake.

"Aphorism. I've received the report."

"I'll never forget your achievement in eliminating an unidentified species without suffering a single casualty."

If he'd asked me for a full report right then, I was prepared to glare at him.

Fortunately, he had enough sense to let it go.

Everyone was exhausted to the point of collapse.

Meanwhile, the three members of Team B—who had arrived earlier and were sitting atop ammunition crates nearby—were grinning.

"Baek Jemin, your face looks gaunt."

"Looks like Islam and Ms. Ryeoha had a rough time too."

Pastor Park Yohan stroked his firearm while smirking.

He was worried.

But he also seemed pleased that he'd successfully handled monsters without me around.

"Jemin! I unlocked Tongue Magic too!"

"Seriously! Looking at magic runes inside the fog after killing monsters really does increase your realm!"

Lee Sejun proudly stuck out his tongue.

Legally.

I raised my rifle.

Clack.

His tongue instantly disappeared.

Finally, Shin Nain—still wearing her headset—glanced our way.

The smile on her lips faded as she tapped the gas mask resting on her lap.

Tap tap.

"Sounds like it was another demon with a rather grotesque form."

Before I could answer, Goryeoha and Hamza started complaining first.

"Yeah."

"It was a monster called the Transparent Veil."

"I'd only heard rumors before, but now I understand why it's classified as Impossible to Resist."

"I-I'm never going back there."

I was too tired to speak.

I slung my rifle over my shoulder and watched the soldiers returning to their positions.

A long sigh escaped me.

"Hoooo..."

Hand the corpse over to Anderson Makenford.

Get occult knowledge, mystical offerings, ritual information, theories.

Secure financial support and supplies.

Inspect my weapons with the military vouchers I'd received.

Keep the optical equipment, even if it was practically useless.

Later I'd need to pester headquarters into collecting useful cursed artifacts and ritual tools from around the world.

There was so much to do.

But right now, there was only one thing that mattered.

I turned to Shin Nain.

"Nain. Want to just duo up with me?"

"I refuse. Amen."