“No, I told you to think about it a little more.”
“How long are you going to keep following me? Do not Guild Masters have a lot to do?”
“How can I focus on work when someone is trying to commit suicide right in front of me?! Especially a rough gem I had my eye on!”
“I would really appreciate it if you acknowledged that I am a person first.”
Should I not have told her?
Her reaction was more intense than I had expected, and it was becoming annoying now.
“You have my Skills, and All Magic Tower has many other excellent Skills that will keep you from dying anywhere! You will really die like this!”
Come to think of it, her reaction was not excessive.
The Skill I intended to mimic was the A-Rank Skill 「Clear Mirror, Still Heart」. And the person I needed to copy it from was the S-Rank Hunter ranked first.
Normally, there was nothing good about getting close to Rankers like this. One was already difficult enough to handle, and three were even worse.
But I had no choice. We were already entangled, and it was too late to back out. I had no choice but to extract every last bit from them with a mindset close to gambling.
If I was unlucky, rather than extracting their marrow, my own skull would be shattered.
“No, perhaps I was being narrow-minded. You could go meet someone else with the same Skill, right? You! Who were you thinking of that possesses Clear Mirror, Still Heart?”
“Jang Seohyeok.”
“I was not being narrow-minded! I made a perfectly reasonable deduction!”
Jang Seohyeok.
A Ranker who would later earn the epithet Ten Thousand Sword Emperor.
He possessed a fairly unremarkable B-Rank Ability, but his physical prowess and technique were so exceptional that he had no need for a better Ability. That was how he rose to first place in the rankings.
Jang Seohyeok had originally been kind and easygoing, maintaining amicable relationships with almost everyone.
I had hardly ever seen him truly become enemies with anyone other than Sa Ujin. That said enough.
The reason Hwa Yejin was reacting so sensitively to meeting him was simple.
Jang Seohyeok was probably not in a good state right now.
***
“I thought about it.”
“What did you think about?”
“Perhaps the position of Guild Master at All Magic Tower is actually an incredibly idle job?”
Hwa Yejin glared at me with eyes that seemed to say, ‘Should I kill this b×stard?’
I ignored her.
What choice did I have? I had not expected her to follow me all the way to another Guild so far from All Magic Tower.
“Do you know what state Jang Seohyeok is in?”
“He has probably gone half-mad. His violent tendencies will have become severe, and his memories will be muddled. However, Jang Seohyeok is only becoming stronger, so he is too difficult to deal with. It will be impossible to subdue or isolate him.”
I knew the exact name of that state as well.
Demonic Deviation.
I knew both its cause and its solution, but I could not tell Hwa Yejin. If she asked even one question about how I knew, I would be left speechless.
“You know it intellectually, but it seems you have only a vague impression because you have not seen him yourself. Jang Seohyeok has already lost the gentleness he once had.”
“That is likely true. He probably will not enter the ninth Gate, either. He should not.”
Unless I deliberately led him there, Jang Seohyeok would not enter the ninth Gate anyway.
No matter how precarious his situation was, he was someone with excellent judgment and self-awareness.
In a situation where he might harm others—no, where he could not help but harm others—he would not enter a Gate.
The reason I had gone out of my way to find Jang Seohyeok was because I needed his Skill.
“No, if you know all that, why do you keep insisting? And more importantly, is Clear Mirror, Still Heart even appropriate for you to use?”
“I need his Skill to enter the ninth Gate.”
Hwa Yejin’s eyes grew about 1.3 times wider than before.
Unlike Sa Ujin, who was missing around fifteen screws from his brain, Hwa Yejin possessed ordinary common sense.
“Are you in your right mind?! Why would a D-Rank Hunter go there! You know, right? Required Gates are places where Sa Ujin and other high-ranking Hunters rush in eagerly. If you enter, you will get swept up before you even obtain an appropriate item!”
There was something I could say if she asked like that.
To survive the tenth Gate, I needed to bring back a specific material from the ninth Gate. To successfully obtain it from the ninth Gate, I absolutely needed 「Clear Mirror, Still Heart」.
However, if I explained every detail, there would be no end to it.
I would become an annoyingly long-winded person who began with, ‘I regressed 7,200 times, and this is the last one.’
Therefore, the method I chose was to ignore Hwa Yejin rather than answer her.
“……Haa.”
Perhaps she had decided to simply watch, because Hwa Yejin followed me with a face full of dissatisfaction and kept her mouth shut.
Before long, we stood before a large building resembling a traditional Korean manor. The words engraved on its enormous sign reflected the light and gleamed.
“Jang Seohyeok is probably the only person inside right now. He temporarily sent all the Guild members away immediately after his condition became strange.”
“Come to think of it, I have heard something about that. Then how are you going to get in? There is nobody inside. You are not going to call out, ‘Mr. Jang Seohyeok! Please open the door!’ are you?”
“Of course not. If I provoke him in the wrong way, my neck will become intimately acquainted with the floor.”
“Then how—”
[Ability 「Rapid Reading」(D) has been used.]
[Rapidly reading the ‘structure’ of the ‘lock.’]
Instead of answering, I used Rapid Reading and took a paper clip from my pocket.
“They are so devoted to their concept that I really like them. Nobody other than them uses an analog padlock in this age, right?”
That made it even better for me.
“Are you picking the lock right now? With that paper clip as thin as a pencil lead? Would that not take too long?”
Click, click……
The metal scraped inside the lock. Then, with a sharp click, the lock opened.
I grinned at Hwa Yejin, who wore a blank expression like someone still trying to understand the situation.
“It is useful because it is thin. Have you not watched many movies?”
“……Guild Masters are far busier than you think. Normally, we do not have time to watch movies.”
“That is not something a busy person following around one D-Rank should say.”
As I snickered and opened the door, a familiar, clear killing intent brushed past my body.
It was killing intent, but it did not feel especially oppressive or threatening.
It was gentle but cold, as though it was telling me not to worry because its killing intent was not directed at me.
As far as I knew, there was only one person in the world capable of emitting killing intent like that.
“It seems Jang Seohyeok is inside. Are you prepared?”
“Are you asking me that? Listen carefully. Preparation and readiness are the life of a Mage. If a Mage has not prepared even that much, they are a fool who deserves to die when attacked—hey! You asked me, so where are you going?!”
Ah, I am sorry. It was not intentional again.
After the 350th iteration, I had grown into an adult who was tired of hearing the same lectures repeatedly.
I had heard far too much about the relationship between Mages and preparation. My ears had practically grown calluses.
After I ignored Hwa Yejin far too obviously and left her to deliver every lecture imaginable, it took about three minutes to meet Jang Seohyeok.
Although we had arrived, Jang Seohyeok did not care. He sat cross-legged, repeatedly drawing in and letting out deep breaths.
“That is Jang Seohyeok’s Ability. It is my first time seeing it directly, too, but……”
“B-Rank Ability 「Three Heavens Constructing Heart Art」. It is a type of breathing meditation that increases mental strength, stamina, and Mana. It is not bad because one only needs to sit still and use it, but if someone attacks while it is active, at the very least they will suffer serious injuries……. It is an Ability that is ambiguous in many ways.”
In other words, he was endlessly defenseless while using it.
Under normal circumstances, a Guild Master would have Guild members guarding him or would have prepared stronger defensive measures while using such an Ability……
‘However, Jang Seohyeok must have forced everyone out. It is correct to say that he created this dangerous situation himself. When he is not in his right mind, that fool’s self-destructive tendencies become unhinged.’
Hwa Yejin narrowed her eyes slightly and clenched her fist. Several circular magic formations emerged from her wrist, and small flames began to flicker.
“If we attack him now and turn him into a living corpse, stealing the Skill will be easy. If we threaten to kill him unless he hands it over.”
“That is not your style, is it? It is quite cowardly.”
“I would hesitate if the opponent were weak, but that is a monster whose mind is not whole. I do not dislike creating a situation where I can threaten someone like that.”
Well, she was the perfect example of being gentle to the weak and harsh to the strong.
“Honestly, I completely agree with your logic, but I will decline for now.”
“Why?”
“Because he is someone for whom the direct approach works well. He is also someone who cannot forget a favor, even if he forgets a grudge.”
When I grinned, Hwa Yejin frowned as though it displeased her.
***
Jang Seohyeok finally finished 「Three Heavens Constructing Heart Art」 and opened his eyes two hours and forty minutes later.
He wore the hazy expression of someone who had just awakened from sleep, but his voice was clearer and more distinct than that of most people.
“……You could have attacked while I was using my Ability.”
“How many enemies do you have? I am an ordinary citizen, so I cannot even imagine it.”
At the word ‘ordinary citizen,’ Jang Seohyeok turned his eyes toward me.
His eyes were still clear, but his cheeks were slightly hollow, making him look gaunt. The dark circles beneath his eyes were no joke either. If I had come two months later, he would have completely lost his mind.
“Jang Seohyeok. I will introduce myself first. I am Kang Seon. My Physical Rank is D, my Mana Rank is D, and my Overall Rank is D. Keep in mind that the gap between us is great enough that if you bumped my shoulder incorrectly, my arm could be torn off.”
A complete, shameless declaration that I was f×cking weak.
Perhaps this was the first time he had encountered such a case, because confusion flashed across Jang Seohyeok’s face. I could also feel his gaze sweep over my body to determine whether I was sincere.
Jang Seohyeok appeared to have realized that I truly possessed the thin body of a D-Rank and spoke first.
“……Then why did you come here? The door was locked. I would like to ask why you deliberately opened it and entered. Depending on your answer, the way I treat you will change.”
“Do not act so frightening.”
I signaled to Hwa Yejin with my eyes.
The signal meant that she should leave for a moment.
Hwa Yejin looked as though she wanted to avoid leaving Jang Seohyeok and me alone as much as possible. However, after seeing Jang Seohyeok’s gaze periodically turn colder than ice toward her, she eventually left the room first.
Did she think that if she provoked him, Jang Seohyeok might separate my neck from the rest of my body?
In any case, once the troublesome person left, I finally stated my purpose.
“Jang Seohyeok. Use one of your Skills on me. In exchange, I will give you a clue to resolve your Demonic Deviation.”
“……What?”
***
The instant I opened the door and came out, Hwa Yejin grabbed my cheeks with both hands and snapped,
“How did it go? Are you all right? You are not dead? Are you a ghost or a person?”
“Hmm, your nonsense has achieved remarkable growth in just a few hours. How did you endure it before?”
“Stop making pointless jokes!”
I grinned and pointed at my shoulder.
「Nightingale Pharmacy」 was wrapped around my shoulder and rapidly healing the wound.
Since she already knew about my 「Mimicry」 Skill, Hwa Yejin understood the meaning of that action and opened her mouth in shock.
“Of course, I mimicked it. Clear Mirror, Still Heart.”