Yoon Tae-hyun's mornings began early.
He woke at seven, drank a cup of Americano, took a quick shower, and got ready for work. Though calling it a commute was a stretch, since his workplace was right outside his bedroom.
He lived in the bedroom adjoining the director's office.
"Well, then."
He checked the time again.
Eight in the morning.
He was just about to leave his office to take Kim Ji-han to breakfast, as he did every day, when—
KNOCK. KNOCK.
"Hmm?"
The knocking came just as he placed his hand on the doorknob.
Director Yoon Tae-hyun opened the door, puzzled.
The person who had knocked was none other than Ji-han, the very person he had been about to visit.
"Oh, my. I was just about to come find you. I didn't expect you to come here first."
"There's something I want to show you."
"Something to show me?"
What could have brought him here so early in the morning?
As Yoon Tae-hyun blinked in confusion, Ji-han took something out of his pocket.
It was a ballpoint pen.
And the next moment—
FWOOSH—!
"......"
"This."
Something blue enveloped the ballpoint pen.
It was Mana.
There was no mistaking it.
The presence of Mana was so distinct that he could sense it clearly.
Yoon Tae-hyun's mouth fell open before he knew it.
"M-Mana......"
He could see it with his own eyes.
How could Mana be visible?
And it was extraordinarily dense.
It felt as though Mana had gathered together into a single mass to take on a definite shape.
As though water vapor had condensed into liquid......
"W-What is this?"
"Aura."
"Aura?"
"Yes."
Yoon Tae-hyun looked at the Aura again.
He'd gone on and on about lightsabers, but he'd never expected the boy to actually bring him one.
"Did you manage to decipher the book?"
That diary about a primitive tribesman's private life hadn't been any help, but I couldn't think of a better explanation for what had happened, so I nodded.
At that, Yoon Tae-hyun gave me the brightest, most innocent smile imaginable.
He looked genuinely delighted.
"I never imagined you would produce results in just one day. This is the happiest moment of my life. I spent an entire ten years trying to decipher that book."
"Ah."
I must never tell him what was actually written in that book.
"Let's go have breakfast. I suspect we'll have quite a lot to discuss."
I nodded and followed the director down to the first floor.
As we headed toward our usual gukbap restaurant, I noticed something strange.
"Huh?"
Park Sang-hyeok, the senior from the advanced class, and Yoon Hyeon-jung, the delinquent-looking guy from the beginner class, were walking somewhere together.
Director Yoon Tae-hyun approached them first.
"Off to have breakfast?"
"Oh? Good morning, Director. Are you going to eat, too?"
"Yes. I'm taking Ji-han to breakfast."
Park Sang-hyeok glanced at me, scratched his head awkwardly, and spoke.
"Enjoy your breakfast. See you later."
"......? Okay."
His reaction was different from yesterday's, which puzzled me, but I could sense that he meant well, so I nodded.
After that brief exchange, we went our separate ways.
As I kept glancing back at the two of them, Director Yoon Tae-hyun spoke.
"An unexpected pair, aren't they?"
"They are."
"Whenever Mr. Park Sang-hyeok disciplines someone that harshly, he always treats them to a meal afterward. Generally, he does it with people who have committed crimes. It's not that he simply hates criminals."
I see......
Judging by yesterday, I'd thought he was a terrifying guy, but apparently he had a kind side, too.
"Swordsmen have a higher chance of dying than Mages. And unlike Mages, they have to cooperate with one another to survive. You could say that what Mr. Park Sang-hyeok did yesterday was his own way of reforming people who refuse to cooperate."
So he hadn't been giving us a hard time yesterday for no reason.
Come to think of it, I'd found it strange that he'd suddenly decided to discipline me as well.
"He's a good man. If you ask him to buy you a meal sometime, I'm sure he will."
I shook my head.
If anything, I'd beaten him, so eating together would be so awkward I'd probably get indigestion.
"Well, let's get going ourselves."
"Okay."
And with that, we headed to the gukbap restaurant.
***
We talked about many things over breakfast.
Most of the conversation concerned my training.
To be honest, there had never been a case like mine before, so nobody knew how to teach me.
According to Director Yoon Tae-hyun, there wasn't much they could teach me about swordsmanship.
There was a reason for that.
"You defeated Mr. Park Sang-hyeok, after all."
"Is he that impressive?"
"Impressive? Well, you defeated someone who's on the verge of becoming an officially licensed Hunter. Personally, I'd like him to stay on as an instructor."
In the director's opinion, Park Sang-hyeok was better suited to being an instructor than a Hunter.
Of course, he'd refused the offer.
Apparently, he felt it would be shameful to become an instructor without any field experience.
"I should ask him again sometime. From the way Mr. Park Sang-hyeok talks, I don't think he's entirely opposed to the idea."
"Um, Director?"
"Yes?"
"Didn't you want to ask me about Aura?"
Honestly, I'd expected him to ask all kinds of questions about this mysterious power, but the conversation kept wandering onto other subjects.
No, at this point, he hardly seemed curious about it at all.
The director replied.
"There are plenty of things I'm curious about. But before I ask, there's something I'd like to check first."
"Something you want to check?"
"I'll explain once we get there. Today is the day of our joint training session with the Magic Institute."
The Magic Institute.
Just as Swordsmen had their own training facility, so did Mages.
That was what the Magic Institute was.
I'd heard its facilities were better than those at our Hunter Training Swordsmanship Institute.
"Then we don't have lectures this morning?"
"No. Every trainee is going to the Magic Institute. I've already rented a bus."
"What time are we leaving?"
The director glanced at his wristwatch before answering.
"Nine in the morning. Training is scheduled to continue until six in the evening."
"Will I be training, too?"
At that, Director Yoon Tae-hyun shook his head.
"You and I can just do a little sightseeing, Mr. Kim Ji-han."
"......?"
***
Most Hunters entering the Tower formed teams of four: three Swordsmen and one Mage.
Their positions were arranged around protecting the Mage, which was why Hunters often said, 'Swordsmen are Meat Shields who protect Mages.'
"Realistically speaking, there isn't much a Swordsman can do in the Tower."
Swords worked well enough on the lower floors, up to Floor 10.
But starting on Floor 11, monsters appeared that swords were ineffective against.
"Take the monsters on Floor 11, for example. There are Orcs. Do you remember the opponent you faced during your test on Floor 0, Mr. Ji-han?"
"That primitive man?"
"Yes. There are monsters even bigger than that fellow. It takes four Swordsmen working together just to barely manage one. Ah, a Mage can handle one alone, of course. A single powerful spell is enough to kill it."
That was why the government deliberately treated Swordsmen and Mages differently.
After all, if they could spend the same amount of time carefully training one Mage instead of one Swordsman, the former would be a better investment.
And there was no place where that disparity was clearer than at the Magic Institute.
"We've arrived."
"Wow......"
I'd wondered how big the difference could possibly be, but I hadn't expected anything like this.
We had a building. The Magic Institute had an entire campus.
The grounds stretched out like those of a university.
All that vast land was dedicated to training Mages.
"All right, everyone, off the bus."
At the director's words, the older trainees from the beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes all got off the bus and gathered their belongings.
Not that they had much luggage—just their personal steel swords, wooden swords, and drinks for after training.
I went to help the others gather their things, too.
I wasn't going to be training today anyway, so I might as well help carry something.
"I'll help, too."
I approached the older trainees from the beginner class.
Everyone was responsible for their own steel and wooden swords, but carrying the drinks was a job for the newest juniors.
Hyang-bi came over and asked,
"Ji-han, are you training today, too?"
"No. They told me to just watch."
"Well, that makes sense. We can't just show everyone our Swordsmen's secret weapon."
"Secret weapon?"
When I asked what No-eul meant, he explained that some strange rumors had spread through the Swordsmen's group chat after yesterday's incident.
"Are you really some kind of ultimate weapon the director brought in?"
The Swordsmen's ultimate weapon, brought in by Director Yoon Tae-hyun.
Or perhaps a disciple Director Yoon Tae-hyun had been hiding all this time.
"......I'm not."
"Okay, got it. The director told you to keep it secret, huh? I understand. I understand."
I had no idea what he thought he understood, but I nodded anyway and picked up a box of drinks.
Then I followed the others toward the training ground.
***
I was walking around the training ground with Director Yoon Tae-hyun.
It was incomparably larger than our underground training hall, and far better equipped.
As we walked, Director Yoon Tae-hyun spoke.
"It's enormous, isn't it?"
"It really is."
"And size isn't its only advantage. Unlike our Hunter Training Swordsmanship Institute, they have some fascinating ways to train here."
"With Magic?"
"Yes. As you would expect of the Magic Institute, they can summon virtual monsters using Magic and train against them."
Summon virtual monsters?
That certainly sounded fascinating.
As befitted the Magic Institute, most of its technology seemed to rely on Magic.
"We call them virtual monsters, but they have physical bodies. The disadvantage, if you can call it that, is that you can actually get hurt. Of course, the training will take place under the instructors' supervision, so no one should really get injured. Ah, there come the Mage trainees."
At that moment, a crowd of people came streaming in through the main entrance of the training ground.
They must be the Mages.
A woman stood at the front of the group.
"It's been a while, Director Yoon Tae-hyun."
It was Han Na-yeon, an instructor at the Magic Institute.
Director Yoon Tae-hyun smiled and extended his hand.
"Have you been well?"
"I've been well, of course. How are you finding your position as director of the Swordsmanship Institute?"
"It suits me perfectly."
"Hoho, that's strange. I would have thought there were other things you were much better at."
"Well, I am good at whatever I do."
How should I put it?
They were clearly smiling and chatting pleasantly, but I could sense a strange battle of nerves beneath their words.
I quietly slipped away, approached the older trainees from the beginner class, and asked,
"Do those two not get along?"
"Swordsmen and Mages have never gotten along."
Surprisingly, the one who answered was Park Sang-hyeok.
He continued.
"Not all of them are like that, but Mages have a tendency to look down on Swordsmen. Some bastards openly treat us like slaves."
"But Mages can't clear the Tower without Swordsmen either, can they?"
"That's only true for low-Circle Mages. Once a Mage reaches a certain level and gets stronger, they don't need Swordsmen anymore. They can wipe out enemies all on their own."
Swordsmen, on the other hand, couldn't climb the Tower without Mages.
It wasn't merely unlikely. It was completely impossible.
"You know those Orcs on Floor 11? Let's say four Swordsmen gang up on one and just barely manage to kill it. But the higher you climb, the stronger the monsters get. You think ganging up on them will keep working?"
And with dangerous races like the Tarntar Tribe and the elves of Lunilia wandering around, could Swordsmen possibly survive there on their own?
"Of course not. That's why a Swordsman's job is to hold out."
"Hold out?"
"Withstand the monsters' attacks while the Mage casts a spell. Think of the Mage as a strategic weapon. Though even our ability to hold out doesn't mean much to a Mage who's grown strong enough."
That was why a Swordsman's grade was based on experience rather than strength.
The Swordsman grades, ranging from Grade 1 to Grade 10, measured experience and veteran skill, not raw power.
Even when their grades were the same, there was a vast difference between a Swordsman and a Mage.
"That's why the highest Hunter grade a Swordsman can receive is B-Grade."
"Then is the director B-Grade, too?"
"Our director? He's a bit of a special case......"
Park Sang-hyeok scratched his cheek and continued.
"Our director's a Mage."
"......?"
***
More precisely, he had been a Mage.
It happened three years ago, when Park Sang-hyeok had first entered the Hunter Training Swordsmanship Institute.
"When they first announced that a Mage was coming in as director of the Swordsmanship Institute, there was a fucking uproar."
Apparently, both the instructors and the trainees had been furious at the idea of some mere Mage becoming director of the Swordsmanship Institute.
But Director Yoon Tae-hyun had put on an astonishing display that silenced every complaint.
"Know what the director did in front of all the instructors and trainees?"
"What did he do?"
"He brought out his Circle."
The heart of a Mage.
At the time, the director had reached the Sixth Circle.
He'd been on the verge of becoming an Archmage.
And what he did next had apparently been nothing short of shocking.
SHATTER—!
"Then he destroyed it. Without a moment's hesitation."
"......Seriously?"
"Yeah."
Apparently, not a single person had been able to say a word at that moment.
"What was it he said back then? Something about not having any talent as a Mage, so he wanted to become a Swordsman?"
It was the kind of statement that left anyone who heard it utterly dumbfounded.
After all, a Sixth-Circle Mage had just claimed he had no talent for Magic.
"Anyway, no one's doubted the director ever since."
"Wow, that's fucking incredible. Our director's amazing."
"The man's a true romantic."
At some point, even the older trainees from the intermediate and beginner classes had gathered around to hear Sang-hyeok's story.
Just then, the director approached, apparently having finished his conversation.
"Were you talking behind my back, by any chance?"
"Yes."
"Oh, dear, Mr. Sang-hyeok. I thought I'd treated you well enough. Since you've hurt my feelings, I suppose I'll have to make today's training particularly grueling."
"When have you ever gone easy on us? Come on, everyone, get up. Time to train."
At Sang-hyeok's words, the trainees rose one after another.
Meanwhile, I looked at Director Yoon Tae-hyun.
As though he'd been waiting for me, he spoke.
"Follow me, Mr. Ji-han. Let's watch from the second-floor seats. They have the best view."
"Okay."
I quietly followed the director up the stairs to the second-floor seating area.
Along the way, I kept stealing glances at him.
It was probably because of the story Sang-hyeok had just told me.
'I'd heard that a Circle was a Mage's very life......'
Yet he'd actually destroyed his own Circle.
I hadn't realized the director was that serious about Swordsmen.
Then what exactly was he hoping for?
While I was lost in thought, the director spoke.
"You can see everything clearly from here, can't you?"
"Yes."
From the second floor, I really could take in the entire sprawling training ground at a glance.
The director continued.
"Remember what I told you over breakfast? That there was something I wanted to show you?"
"Yes."
"The joint training session between the Mages and Swordsmen is about to begin. During the session, I want you to watch only the Mages. It doesn't matter which Mage you choose. Just keep your eyes on all of them and don't miss a thing."
"I only need to watch the Mages?"
"Yes. And afterward, tell me what you felt while watching them. That's all."
I couldn't make sense of what he was saying.
All I had to do was watch the Mages?
I looked at the director, hoping he'd explain further. As though he understood, he continued.
"Mr. Kim Ji-han, have you ever looked at someone and felt that you couldn't possibly beat them?"
"......? I don't go around thinking about fighting people in the first place."
"That, too, may have been because you unconsciously felt that you should not fight that person."
"......?"
"In any case, what I'm trying to say is that the Awakened are much better at sensing such things."
Mana was still largely a mystery, and the full extent of the Awakened's powers had yet to be uncovered.
What Yoon Tae-hyun was describing was one of those mysteries.
"Killing intent. Presence. We cannot explain why it happens, because we have yet to understand it. But the Awakened can often tell just by looking at someone whether they should avoid fighting that person—or, conversely, whether they could defeat them."
"So you're telling me to look at the Mages and try to judge them using that instinct?"
"Yes. Now that you've gained a new power, aren't you curious to see for yourself?"
Would that actually work?
I'd never experienced such a sensation before, so I wasn't sure.
Still, I decided to do as he asked.
And then it happened.
'!?'