“Yeah. I did.”
“……What!?”
Kim Ha-eun appeared momentarily startled by Kim Do-hyeon’s composed answer, but she soon nodded as though everything now made sense.
“Right. That must be…… how you were discharged so quickly.”
After nodding to herself, Kim Ha-eun averted her gaze and cautiously asked,“You aren’t planning to work as an Awakened, are you?”
Concern filled her eyes.
Kim Do-hyeon could fully understand why.
The Awakened generally earned a great deal of money, but it was an equally dangerous profession. Awakened frequently lost their lives to monsters, and hundreds of them died or disappeared every year.
Kim Do-hyeon would have been unable to avoid worrying if someone precious to him—someone from his own family—chose such a dangerous profession.
However, her concern was truly unnecessary.
“You don’t have to look at me like that. I’m not planning to recklessly throw myself into danger.”
“So you are planning to work as an Awakened……?”
“There’s no reason not to.”
Kim Ha-eun repeatedly opened and closed her mouth.
The Awakened were among the most highly sought-after professionals in modern society. Some even said that awakening was no different from winning the lottery.
Unless they possessed a physical disability or faced some unavoidable circumstance, almost no one awakened and then chose not to begin working.
There was no reason for her to blindly oppose him.
She understood that intellectually, but as his family, she couldn’t easily dispel her concern.
Kim Do-hyeon had always possessed intense curiosity and an inquisitive nature, so he often caused unexpected accidents.
As though he had read her thoughts, Kim Do-hyeon spoke gently.
“I’m not a child. You won’t have anything to worry about.”
“You’ve caused far too many accidents to say something like that.”
“…….”
Embarrassing memories from his past abruptly flashed through his mind, just as they had during his conversation with his mother, leaving him unable to argue.
However, there was no reason to shrink back.
He was clearly different from his past self.
‘A mage is one who prepares for every possibility.’
Mages didn’t enter battle without countermeasures.
‘First, I’ll need magic tools to protect my body and emergency scrolls. And then…….’
There were many other things he needed to prepare.
But something else had to be confirmed first.
“How much debt does our family have?”
Kim Ha-eun avoided his gaze before answering his blunt question.
“I don’t know.”
“A hundred million won? A hundred and fifty million?”
Those were the figures he had estimated after calculating three years’ worth of the hospital fees paid during his discharge.
However, Kim Ha-eun’s reaction was troubling.
“I said I don’t know.”
“It must be even more than that.”
“I genuinely don’t know. I only know that it’s a lot.”
“Really?”
“…….”
“Hmm…… All right, then.”
It didn’t seem like she would answer him immediately, so there was no need to press her unnecessarily.
Kim Do-hyeon nodded and walked along while admiring the cityscape he hadn’t seen in so long.
After that—
They boarded a bus, traveled for a while, got off, and continued walking. Kim Ha-eun, who had been moving busily ahead of him, suddenly stopped.
“Is something wrong? Why did you stop?”
“What do you mean, why? I stopped because we’re home.”
Kim Do-hyeon followed her gaze toward a small, low-rise apartment building.
They were in Eunpyeong District, unquestionably near the neighborhood where they had once lived, but their residence had changed considerably.
“You sold the house too?”
This wasn’t the home they had won through the housing lottery and had been paying off in installments.
“Just how much debt do we have?”
Unable to restrain himself, Kim Do-hyeon questioned her again. However, Kim Ha-eun still refused to answer.
She silently climbed to the third floor and opened the closed front door.
“This is it. Our home.”
CREAK—
The old front door opened, revealing a cramped entryway.
Four pairs of shoes were packed tightly into the shoe cabinet. Kim Do-hyeon’s expression hardened as he examined the space beyond it.
It was cramped.
The interior was even worse than the exterior suggested.
The entire home appeared to be barely thirty-three square meters. It was far too small for a family of four.
Their circumstances had never been comfortable, but they hadn’t been this dire.
“……What exactly happened?”
His parents had both possessed steady incomes. The hospital fees alone shouldn’t have forced them to sell their home.
Kim Ha-eun remained silent even when he asked in a cold voice.
Ordinarily, he wouldn’t have wanted to interrogate her.
But the situation was far too serious.
He couldn’t simply leave it buried.
Kim Do-hyeon stared directly at Kim Ha-eun, catching the eyes she was desperately trying to turn away.
“Kim Ha-eun.”
There wasn’t the slightest trace of playfulness in his voice.
“Are you really not going to tell me?”
Kim Ha-eun sighed deeply.
“Haa…… The truth is…….”
She began revealing everything she had concealed.
Kim Ha-eun had continued skating even after Kim Do-hyeon collapsed.
She should have received a scholarship after placing first at the national championships. However, she had lost first place in the finals two years ago, and her financial support had been discontinued.
Kim Ha-eun had tried to give up speed skating at the time.
But their parents would never have allowed their child to abandon something that made her happy merely because of the family’s financial difficulties.
They must have wanted to support her by any means necessary.
In the end, they had even sold the house.
With Kim Do-hyeon’s hospital expenses weighing upon them as well, they had been left with no other choice.
‘……I’ll have to move even faster than I expected.’
His life on the Rodinia Continent had taught Kim Do-hyeon responsibility.
No, he had returned to Earth in the first place so that he could live a happy life with his family.
He had no intention of smiling foolishly while his family continued suffering.
He would give them a life so happy that smiles naturally bloomed upon their faces.
‘Every last one of them…….’
To enjoy that kind of happiness in this society, they needed money.
Money couldn’t guarantee every aspect of happiness, but it was unquestionably essential to attaining it.
‘Fortunately, our family still gets along well.’
If he resolved their financial problems, they would surely be able to live happily.
Fortunately, he had spent plenty of time in the hospital considering how he could earn money.
‘The Awakened.’
It was currently one of the most coveted and lucrative professions on Earth.
Moreover, Kim Do-hyeon possessed the knowledge and experience of an Archmage.
His starting point was fundamentally different from that of an ordinary Awakened.
Which meant—
Becoming an active Awakened was more appealing to Kim Do-hyeon than any other profession.
‘More precisely, I have absolutely no reason not to do it.’
A gleam entered Kim Do-hyeon’s eyes as he made becoming an active Awakened his immediate goal.
***
Once their heavy conversation came to an end—
Kim Ha-eun explained the layout of their home and the purpose of each room. Afterward, she took him outside and showed him the nearby convenience stores, supermarket, bus stops, and other useful facilities.
“Is there anything else you want to know?”
“Not particularly. You can go now.”
Like their parents, Kim Ha-eun had her own schedule and training.
She had accompanied him because he was being discharged, but she couldn’t spare much time.
Even so, she appeared reluctant to leave.
She was worried about leaving her brother alone after he had awakened from a three-year coma.
“If anything happens…….”
As though she had prepared them in advance, Kim Ha-eun retrieved a smartphone and a card from a drawer before handing them to him.
“I’ve registered everyone’s phone number, so call us immediately. Use the card if you want something to eat or need to buy anything.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s not like I did anything. Thank Mom and Dad.”
Kim Ha-eun crouched in the entryway and put on her shoes.
The skate bag hanging from her shoulder caught his eye.
It was old.
The fabric beside the zipper was frayed, and the faded shoulder strap was barely holding together.
The bag was unlikely to be the only problem.
There was a good chance the skate blades inside were also in poor condition.
She must have maintained them with the utmost care, but they had probably developed numerous problems.
Given Kim Ha-eun’s personality, she would never have voiced such concerns.
She must have swallowed them alone, afraid of burdening their parents.
‘……Just wait a little longer. I’ll make sure you can focus comfortably on training without worrying about money or equipment.’
Kim Do-hyeon was silently making that promise when—
“I’m heading out.”
“All right. Be careful.”
It was an ordinary farewell, but a strange expression crossed Kim Ha-eun’s face.
“……You really have changed.”
“What has?”
“If you don’t know, forget it.”
After muttering briefly, Kim Ha-eun opened the front door and left.
Kim Do-hyeon was now alone in the house.
There was no need to consider what he should do next.
‘Status.’
A green holographic window appeared before him.
[Status]
Name: Kim Do-hyeon.
Age: 28?*!&(System Error. Commencing stabilization.)
Title: Pioneer.
Level: 1
Strength: 0.2 / Agility: 0.2 / Stamina: 0.2 / Mana: 2.1(+2.1)
Kim Do-hyeon’s gaze stopped upon the (+) displayed beside Mana.
‘It’s fascinating no matter how many times I see it.’
He had checked it several times during his week in the hospital, but it remained intriguing.
He hadn’t realized it when he knew the System only through publicly available information, but after examining it himself, he found the System remarkably accurate.
The mana he had accumulated directly through Arcanum Cosmos was displayed separately with a (+).
He had vaguely sensed the distinction while examining his body, but the System had classified it separately altogether.
That didn’t mean the two sources were completely independent.
When casting magic, he could draw upon and combine the mana from both.
In other words, his current total Mana was 4.2.
‘……That’s less than I expected.’
From what he had observed when the System granted him a Circle, each point of the Mana stat corresponded to approximately the amount of mana contained within a 1st Circle.
Naturally, increasing the value by 1 didn’t mean that he could immediately create a 2nd Circle.
If every point had corresponded to one additional Circle, any mage could have advanced effortlessly.
‘There’s an enormous difference in mana quantity between a 1st Circle and a 2nd Circle.’
Expressed numerically, reaching the 2nd Circle would require at least 5 Mana.
Ordinary mages required several months—or even years—to accumulate that much mana.
‘……I don’t have that much time to spare.’
What Kim Ha-eun had told him earlier passed through his mind.
They had sold their house.
Her scholarship had been discontinued.
She didn’t even know how much debt they carried.
That was why he had no choice but to evaluate his circumstances realistically.
The Circle created by the System—the base Mana displayed in the Status Window—hadn’t increased at all during the past week.
In contrast, the mana accumulated by Arcanum Cosmos had increased by 0.1.
The difference between them was incomparable. However, considering the efficiency of Arcanum Cosmos, which transcended the very concept of Circles, he couldn’t call that a significant increase.
‘It must be because the mana density in Earth’s atmosphere is too low.’
It was disappointing, but fortunately, he possessed a method of rapidly increasing his Mana.
‘The System.’
Immediately after regaining consciousness, the System had rewarded him with a 0.1 increase in Mana for executing Recover perfectly.
He wanted to obtain more of those rewards as soon as possible.
Kim Do-hyeon had wanted to use other spells while hospitalized, but he hadn’t possessed enough spare mana.
To fully restore a body that had spent so long bedridden, he had needed to pour his mana into Recover whenever possible.
But now things were different.
His body had already recovered, leaving him enough mana to use elsewhere.
‘I need to grow quickly and start earning money as soon as possible.’
When he considered the burden his family had endured for three years, he couldn’t afford to sit around idly.
“Shall I begin right away?”
Dozens of spells immediately came to mind, but he decided to start with the most efficient ones.
‘Might.’
Pale light bloomed from his fingertips, and faint strength flowed into every muscle throughout his body.
‘Swift.’
Magical power traveled upward from his toes and enveloped both legs, making his entire body feel considerably lighter.
Light bloomed in succession, and messages appeared.
DING—!
–Perfect execution confirmed.
–Skills ‘Might’ and ‘Swift’ have increased to F+ Rank.
–Exceptional mana control!
–The stat ‘Mana’ has increased by 0.2 as a special reward.
“Excellent. Very good.”
Kim Do-hyeon smiled with satisfaction and continued casting spells.
‘Sense.’
A detection spell that perceived the flow of mana in the atmosphere unfolded around him.
‘Barrier.’
A defensive spell that thinly enveloped the surface of his body covered his palm like a transparent membrane.
DING—!
–Perfect execution confirmed.
–Skills ‘Sense’ and ‘Barrier’ have increased to F+ Rank.
–Exceptional mana control!
–The stat ‘Mana’ has increased by 0.2 as a special reward.
–The perfect-execution reward limit for F-Rank Skills has been reached (5 uses).
–Special rewards will no longer be granted for using Skills of the same Grade.
“What? There was a limit?”
Disappointment washed over him.
Hundreds of spells came to mind, yet the rewards had ended after only five.
Still, there was no reason to be disappointed.
He had been gaining rewards far too easily in the first place.
Moreover, the restriction applied only to 1st Circle, F-Rank magic.
‘Once I reach the 2nd Circle and use higher-grade magic, the restriction will be lifted.’
There was no reason to dwell upon it.
‘I can earn more rewards whenever I advance.’
The problem was how to accomplish that.
If he continued accumulating mana within his orbit, he would eventually reach the necessary amount.
But that would take far too long.
He didn’t want to take his time.
No, he couldn’t afford to.
He needed a way to increase his Mana rapidly.
As he continued contemplating the problem, he recalled the information he had gathered whenever possible during his week in the hospital using a public computer in the lobby.
‘The Awakened can grow by entering Babel.’
Babel.
A tower said to have appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean alongside the emergence of the Awakened and monsters.
No one had definitively determined whether it had been created by some unknown entity or had come into existence naturally.
Only one fact was certain.
The Awakened grew stronger as they ascended Babel’s floors.
Indeed, most Awakened currently alive had grown through Babel.
‘As for the danger…….’
There was no need to worry.
Safety was guaranteed during an Awakened’s first entry—the Tutorial.
Every piece of information he had gathered agreed upon that point, and numerous countries had officially verified it. There was virtually no possibility that it was false.
Which meant—
‘There’s no danger, and the rewards are guaranteed.’
It was the best method of growing stronger quickly.
Having made his decision, Kim Do-hyeon immediately spoke.
“Enter Babel.”