Chapter 104 - Exploring Magic in Its Original Form

After the briefing in the conference room, we each had some free time.

Of course, some objected to taking time off, arguing that with the Seongnam cordon being breached, we ought to show a little more urgency. Among the Supreme Mages, that was Hamza: our turban-wearing canary for gauging danger, and a coward.

I was leaning against the stair railing at Suwon City Hall, staring mindlessly at the floor below, when he came over and started pestering me with questions.

"Je-min, is it really okay to let everyone laze around?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I mean... people are dying."

For all his cowardice, Hamza apparently felt a sense of responsibility when people were dying.

Our migrant worker, a former Pakistani medical student, wasn't someone who would throw his life away to save others. But this reminded me that he was an ordinary, decent sort who cared about human lives.

I tapped the stair railing with my index finger and gave a hollow laugh.

"What's the point of having soldiers? They're dragged here to be cannon fodder. That's why they round up kids in the prime of their youth and tell them to grab a gun, whether it ruins their lives or not."

"That's an absolutely trash thing to say."

"We're civilians, Hamza. We have no reason to worry about soldiers."

Heroism was admirable, but I didn't want any for myself.

I felt sorry for the soldiers dragged to the cordon, their lives turned upside down. But that was no reason to take on unnecessary extra risks to save even one of them.

If feeling sorry for dying people were enough to make me save them, I'd have set up UNICEF donations for children in third-world Africa first.

Nor did I make cowardly excuses about how donations would never actually reach the children or how it was all a business, while refusing to take a single penny out of my wallet.

I was selfish and petty.

I might pity others, but I wouldn't act solely for their sake. I would offer a helping hand only when it aligned with my own interests and goals.

I had agreed to fight monsters and scout inside Seoul only because it made acquiring magic easier. Saving lives was a secondary objective shoved down into third place.

While I was reassuring Hamza in that fashion, Pastor Park Yo-han strode over.

"Je-min, what kind of bullshit are you spouting now?"

"I was telling Hamza we don't have to worry about the military because we're civilians."

"If you've got time to talk nonsense, you remember where we used to meet when we were in Suwon? The place we used as a makeshift chapel. Come over there. You too, Islam Boy, if you're interested."

I delivered the question you absolutely had to ask someone higher up the pecking order.

"Why?"

"'Why?' My fucking ass."

"Je-min..."

Hamza clicked his tongue in disbelief, while the pastor immediately scowled.

Then the pastor seemed to surrender first. Shaking his head, he kindly explained why he wanted me there.

"Mr. Anderson wants to see our faces."

"They're letting him into the country? With all this going on?"

With Seongnam on the verge of falling, there were limits, however rich he was.

It would be a catastrophe if the Gangnam Clairvoyant marked him as a target and killed him with a curse.

If the ROK–U.S. Joint Command had any sense, it wouldn't let Mr. Anderson enter the country in this chaos.

The pastor grasped all those implications at once and shrugged.

"Baek Je-min. What century are we living in? Do we have to meet face-to-face?"

"If it's nothing special, I'm not going either."

"It's about magic, you brat."

* * *

The soundproof room the pastor and Shin Na-in had once used as a makeshift chapel.

The Supreme Mages, who had been relieving their stress in their own ways after the briefing, gathered there. We weren't alone, of course. American soldiers in uniform and several civilian technicians carried various things in, finally planting a thick, expensive-looking laptop on the table.

The moment we saw the person on its screen, the Supreme Mages' reactions diverged.

["A pleasure to see you, Best of Best. Your exploits have been making quite a stir across the ocean here in the United States."]

Anderson Mackenford.

The American tycoon, who had the air of a courteous gentleman and an enormous interest in mysticism and real magic—the alteration-type magic system—greeted us in fluent Korean. A webcam sat atop the laptop screen.

His Korean pronunciation was much more fluent than when we'd first met, drawing exclamations from all the Supreme Mages.

"Ah..."

"Hmm."

Shin Na-in and Lee Se-jun, who had not the slightest interest in mysticism, were the first to turn away.

The pastor grew visibly anxious, chided the two of them, then directed an affable smile at the screen.

"Now, now. Mr. Anderson has spared his valuable time for us. Mr. Anderson, forgive us. Our boys have been traveling through some rough places, and they're rather on edge."

["On the contrary, I should be grateful that you have made time for me. Has my sponsorship been helpful?"]

"Of course! Ha ha!"

Hamza blinked, looking for a way to quietly blend into the background, while I looked at Go Ryeo-ha, who still had her face buried.

The pastor had apparently managed to drag her here, but she showed no inclination to join the conversation. It was good that she'd swallowed the red pill without exploding, but she seemed to be giving off an ominous beep-beep-beep, so I discreetly looked away.

I wasn't the only emotional dumping ground available. It was time to focus on what mattered.

"Mr. Anderson, I hear you want to claim rights to the magic script from the Skin-tapeworm I hunted earlier."

The corpse of the Skin-tapeworm that had occupied the military hospital in Anyang had now been moved to the ROK–U.S. Joint Command in Pyeongtaek.

The detailed records had long since been destroyed, but the military had once attempted to separate people fused into Amalgams, reportedly resulting in a biological catastrophe. All such research experiments had been abandoned long ago as a result. Encountering the unusual monster called the Skin-tapeworm, however, had prompted another change in policy.

They intended to learn whatever they could about these monsters' ecological origins and characteristics while rigorously controlling bodily infection.

Naturally, the biggest factor was that this was officially the first monster containing magic script they had obtained.

It was only a matter of time before the wealthy learned that magic could be acquired through the script dropped by slain monsters. Mr. Anderson Mackenford already knew, for one.

We couldn't condemn our sponsor for seeking the fruits of that discovery.

But Mr. Anderson knew more than we expected, and he also proved different from an ordinary sponsor.

["Don't worry, Mr. Baek. I claimed rights to that monster's remains to prevent others from leaking them without authorization."]

"Mr. Anderson, didn't you want to learn magic?"

The pastor was surprised enough to ask that himself.

Mr. Anderson interlaced his fingers, offered a brief prayer, then spoke with a faint smile.

["I won't deny that my personal interest lies in heart magic. Nor am I without desire for eye magic. But there is a maxim every mystic, Eastern or Western, must engrave deep in their heart: Never use power you cannot control."]

He unclasped his hands and assumed a composed posture.

["With everything I enjoy, would I lose my composure before the mysteries that have only just come into view and risk losing it all? Besides, some of the knowledge held by our circle has recently proven valid. I've been happily spending my time sorting out the genuine knowledge. Spiritual protection through pentagrams has become fashionable lately. Especially now that word of its connection to you has spread through private channels, everyone is coveting it."]

"Then... what was the reason...?"

The pastor asked in a dubious tone, but he spoke for all the Supreme Mages.

Surely he hadn't called us just to shoot the breeze.

And indeed, he hadn't.

Only after exchanging some trivial conversation with us in the roundabout rhetoric peculiar to the upper classes did Anderson Mackenford get to the point.

["Having obtained Command's compiled knowledge of magic, I noticed one particularly unique form. Tongue. Its focus is on demoting magic in its original form to a level humans can use. It is also suspected to be connected to Qliphoth inversion. This strongly suggests some relationship with Kabbalah. However, there are also clearly incongruous aspects that existing mysticism alone cannot explain."]

Lee Se-jun and Shin Na-in looked bored to death, but the pastor and I, with our relatively greater interest in mysticism, decided to listen more closely.

We knew that despite his intellectual vanity, Mr. Anderson wasn't someone who talked without substance.

Of course, this was also evidence that Command's information was leaking freely to the very top of Western society. But if it was going to the money man who looked after us, we could generously let it slide. Corruption among friends was just heartwarming kindness.

Sure enough.

Mr. Anderson pointed out things we Supreme Mages hadn't had the slightest opportunity to notice, busy as we were fighting for our lives.

["Certain things become apparent when we examine how tongue magic manifests through the sefirot and Qliphoth. The act of eating. Its direct manipulation of human emotions and desires. And I saw in the records that, in your testimony to Command, you described tongue magic as the signature of Qliphoth manifestation."]

"Uh, Mr. Anderson. We don't call them sefirot and Qliphoth. We call them upright and inverted."

["Ah! Hmm. My mistake. I'll give precedence to field terminology. Yes, so... I saw in the records that you testified inverted tongue magic was the signature—the defining symbol, one might say—of the inverted form."]

Apparently, the actual records of our conversations with American generals had been passed to Mr. Anderson in their entirety.

A righteous, fair-minded person would have been furious, but as a beneficiary of corruption, I couldn't simply complain about privileges extended to the highest ranks of society.

Wasn't Mr. Anderson processing the information he'd obtained through corruption and spoon-feeding it to us right now?

And this time, it was genuinely crucial information.

["It is a single magic, yet the branch that becomes most radically different when inverted. Given its pronounced duality and its role as the signature distinguishing upright from inverted, tongue magic can be interpreted as combining the aspect of one who brings enlightenment and spiritual wisdom with that of one captive to material desire and sensual pleasure. And among the celestial bodies regarded as most important in mysticism, only one possesses such pronounced duality."]

Eyes shining, Mr. Anderson launched into an impassioned explanation.

["Tongue magic is presumed to correspond to Venus. The pentagram originally derives from Venus's celestial motion, and there was even a goddess who took Venus as her symbol, so it is understandable that magic corresponding to Venus would hold such a prominent position. However, aspects of this magic system do not align with traditional astrology, so greater care is needed in interpreting it."]

"Venus..."

I couldn't simply dismiss that.

I had attained Hand Stage Two by conducting a ritual with monk Cheong-hwi's help on the date Mr. Anderson had estimated. That had convinced me that the celestial bodies did correspond to the individual branches of alteration-type magic.

But it also raised a question.

The ritual had been far too precise for a lucky guess. Did Anderson Mackenford have some connection to the Society of 66? Or had the circle he belonged to received knowledge originating from the Society?

Naturally, I wasn't stupid enough to openly voice those suspicions.

Even a complete dumbass was just a fucking animal if all he did was charge straight in.

As a human being, I asked about what really mattered.

If this knowledge came from the Society, that practically stamped it with a seal of approval. All the better.

"Then can tongue magic also be advanced through a ritual?"

["It can, but... Venus's time has already passed. If our estimate is correct, it would have been April twenty-first, when Taurus returned."]

No.

How could something this absurd happen?

I'd missed it?

I'd missed my chance to reach Tongue Stage Three just because I hadn't known???

The moment I heard that, I felt all the strength drain out of my body.

After that, the pastor did all the heavy lifting alone.

Lee Se-jun, who'd always advertised what a dumbass he was, slept soundly with his arms crossed and head bowed. Shin Na-in let it all go in one ear and out the other as heretical knowledge. Hamza was busy glancing around, trying to read the room. Go Ryeo-ha kept her face buried and wanted to do nothing. And then there was me, Baek Je-min, resenting the whole world for missing the ritual.

With a lineup like that, there was a limit to how long the pastor could keep up his one-man show.

In the end, the Supreme Mages' video meeting with Mr. Anderson concluded in a thoroughly wrecked atmosphere.

By the end, even the pastor looked miserable as he turned to us.

"Kids. Even if you are millennials and Gen Z, aren't you being far too rude? Is that any way to treat someone who's helping us?"

["Not at all, Reverend Park. Those monsters were horrifying—enough that I would never dream of facing them myself. It is because of people like you and Mr. Baek, because all of you are there, that I can remain safely here. Best of Best. To you, who live up to that name, I once again promise my wholehearted support and assistance. May our friendship endure."]

"Whew... All I can do is thank you for your generosity, Mr. Anderson. Salute! Goodbye!"

["Ha ha... Goodbye! Good luck."]

When the pastor even made a saluting gesture with a spirited smile, Mr. Anderson pretended to return it before ending the call.

But I couldn't immediately recover from my sense of loss.

Tongue Stage Three... April twenty-first...

As those words circled endlessly in my head, the pastor sighed amid the ruined atmosphere, came over, and patted my shoulder.

"Baek Je-min. There'll be other days."

"..."

"A measly level of magic, eh? It's nothing next to the word of the Lord."

"Shut up."

He was pulling that Jesus-freak crap now?

If I'd been an ill-bred bastard, I'd already have punched him in the fucking mouth.

Then someone I hadn't expected at all spoke up.

"Je-min, the very act of trying to acquire power by relying on such wicked, heretical knowledge is wrong."

Shin Na-in.

The guy who'd done nothing but glare with his headset on took it off and started talking nonsense.

"Pleeease. Stop fucking carrying on on either side of me. Just let me be sad on my own."

"Baek Je-min, you brat. How can churchgoers just leave someone who's struggling alone?"

"Amen."

I realized that being Satan was one hell of a terrible job.

With Shin Na-in and the pastor on either side, cheerfully spouting nonsense in surround sound, even a fucking demon would go insane.

If Shin Na-in hadn't added something else, the Supreme Mages might have disbanded that day.

"Instead, I think it's time to examine the holy-war arts you already possess."

"Hmm?"

"I heard that when you first acquired tongue-branch holy-war arts, you used them on your eye-branch arts. In fact, as a holy-war practitioner, you've demonstrated far more varied applications than the rest of us through your tongue."

Little by little.

Little by little, my spirits lifted.

Shin Na-in looked down at me with a smile that mixed pity, contempt, and acknowledgment.

"Couldn't you explore the inherent power of each branch's holy-war arts without relying on outside help?"

* * *

We Supreme Mages immediately headed to an unused supply storage area.

The people gathered in the narrow yard beside an outbuilding, where discarded boxes were neatly stacked, were me, Shin Na-in, Lee Se-jun, and Hamza. Our reason for being there was very simple: to test magic at one hundred percent of its power.

Lee Se-jun looked around, then glanced at me and Shin Na-in as he asked:

"Is it okay for Ms. Go Ryeo-ha not to be here? You usually cart her everywhere with you."

"The pastor's being her emotional dustpan. He'll soothe her just fine."

"Facing one's sins is something only the individual can do."

I felt sorry for what Go Ryeo-ha had been through, but my attitude was that if it didn't help my own life, it wasn't my problem. Shin Na-in, with his characteristic young-fogey mindset, had apparently turned away and left her to overcome it herself.

In the face of the ironclad convictions of our Baek–Shin duo, Lee Se-jun's ugly sense of inferiority finally subsided a little.

"I like how you treat everyone equally."

Hamza, acting as our medical staff, opened the first-aid kit he'd brought along with all his other supplies and gave us a firm warning.

"Se-jun should be fine since he's a heart mage, but Je-min, be careful. Don't try to discover everything your magic can do. Stop at a reasonable point."

"I'm a heart mage too, though?"

"That's why. I'm afraid being overconfident because you're a heart mage will make you push further and damage yourself."

As someone who'd dreamed of becoming a doctor, Hamza displayed remarkably clear insight.

And so the Supreme Mages began exploring magic in its original form.

However thoroughly Anderson Mackenford and the wealthy raked up information and relics, they couldn't acquire every piece of knowledge we gained firsthand in the field. Learning what magic's inherent capabilities were, and how far they extended, would be particularly difficult.

Because we'd make a huge fucking show of doing them favors and refuse to cooperate properly!

"The medical supplies are ready."

"Je-min, Se-jun. I'll listen, so there's no need to try explaining aloud. Focus on remembering the sensations. Let's begin."

With Hamza and Shin Na-in observing, the experiment finally began.

We excluded Eye Stage One, [Cognitive Expansion], and Eye Stage Two, [Cognitive Distortion], whose original capabilities we already knew.

Here, it was time for me, a tongue mage, and Lee Se-jun to shine.

My role was especially significant, given my multiple branches and stages.

Soldiers were dying in northern Seongnam, but magic mattered more to us.

I breathed in, then slowly out...

First, I tested Tongue Branch, Stage Two: [Explosion of Desire].

The target was Lee Se-jun.

After pondering how to strengthen Stage Two's [Explosion of Desire] with Stage One's [Demotion], I decided to simply try it.

I stuck my tongue all the way out.

Pure, one-hundred-percent original Tongue Stage Two, without even considering narrowing its range like a camera aperture, as Tongue Stage One allowed.

Just as I wondered how terrifying its power would be, pain swept over me.

Thump.

Unbidden.

Unbidden, the image of a factory appeared in my mind.

Workers operating presses with lifeless expressions, and helpless objects riding conveyor belts. If I were one of those objects being carried along a belt, how would I see the press slamming down again and again?

What if the object being carried toward the press were none other than my tongue?

Thump, thump, thump.

A shudder ran up my spine.

And then...

A crushing pain beyond comparison with a meat tenderizer flattened my tongue.

Accompanied by a sound effect that wasn't actually audible, echoing only inside my head.

KRAAAASH!!!

...

"...min, Je-min!"

Faint.

Was that my own thought?

"Je-min!!!"

"Aghk, aghrrrr..."

I gasped for breath.

Dried foam coated my mouth. The metallic smell of blood was thick in the air.

As an aftereffect of Tongue Stage One, [Demotion], my tongue had split and blood was gushing out. Thankfully, it hadn't actually been severed or crushed. The crushing sensation seemed to have been only phantom pain.

The problem was that phantom pain still fucking hurt.

Apparently, extreme pain only made my mind clearer. But a clear mind didn't mean my body was fine.

"Ah-ho-ho-hok... ah-ho-hok..."

Baek Je-min, a man's man.

I just fucking cried.

I thrashed around, sobbing, without even knowing who was calling my name in front of me. I felt more miserable than when I'd pocketed six hundred thousand won meant for cram-school tuition, blown it all at internet cafés, and been thrashed by Mom and Dad with a rice paddle and a switch.

I just wailed my fucking heart out.

It hurt so, so much that it took me ages to realize I'd pissed my pants.

I should have been embarrassed, but it fucking hurt so badly I had no time to feel shame.

"Waaaah... waaah... fuhk..."

After pouring out my misery for a long time, my senses finally began returning properly.

Belatedly, I felt as though the bones in my chest had broken. That was also when I realized Hamza was the one comforting me.

"Je-min, your ribs broke while I was performing CPR."

So they really were broken. Fuck.

Once my misery subsided, though, an important question surfaced in my mind.

"Lee She-jun... how ih he?"

"Everyone's horrified after experiencing the original power of Tongue Stage Two, [Explosion of Desire], firsthand. He survived because he's a heart mage."

Without Shin Na-in's perfectly attuned ear magic, I wouldn't even have been able to communicate.

With my blood-soaked tongue hanging out and dripping, I panted and conveyed my question.

Shin Na-in's face held horror and a deep pity he normally never showed Lee Se-jun.

"Je-min."

"Uhh..."

"How do you think it would feel to get a hard-on while drooling with hunger and being overwhelmed by sleep?"

"Ohh..."

"He replaced his urge to relieve himself, so he managed not to soil himself."

If Lee Se-jun hadn't quickly replaced his urge to relieve himself with Heart Stage Three, [Need Replacement], the sight before us would have been even more appalling.

I swore I'd never use the original power of Tongue Stage Two, [Explosion of Desire], even if it killed me.

Then it was time for something else.

"Eh..."

"Je-min, you're going to use magic? Again?"

Hamza looked appalled, but I raised my index finger and waggled it.

Wasn't there one spell perfect for a time like this?

Eye Stage Three, [Cognitive Dissonance].

I'd hardly used it because I hadn't been injured much lately. Now that my ribs were smashed and I'd been given drugs, it was the perfect time to test [Cognitive Dissonance].

Dreading—and anticipating—the agonizing pain about to assault my blood-soaked tongue, I cast the magic.

Eye Stage Three, [Cognitive Dissonance], one hundred percent.

Now, what had changed?

My heart pounding with anticipation, I looked around.

But everything was the same.

The people moving boxes in the distance. Shin Na-in staring blankly at me. Hamza rummaging through the first-aid kit just in case. Lee Se-jun, nowhere to be seen, apparently already carried off on a stretcher. Even the empty yard.

Nothing had changed from a moment ago, when I'd been bawling with my tongue sticking out.

More importantly, no pain had hit my tongue either.

What was this?

Could casting magic sometimes fail?

"Hey, Hamza. Give me a hand."

"Je-min?"

"My magic isn't activating. What's wrong? I used Cognitive Dissonance."

So little had changed that even I was astonished.

I mean...

Eye magic had always produced incredible effects. Stage One showed me the past, present, future, and everything else. At Stage Two, I'd even stopped time. How could Stage Three be so disappointing? Had it peaked early?

As I continued making perfectly reasonable deductions, Shin Na-in looked down at me with a peculiar expression.

"Je-min."

"Oh. Figure something out?"

"Your pronunciation is normal now, and you're breathing properly. You're not complaining about pain either."

"Well, of course..."

At that moment, I realized.

Cognitive Dissonance.

My blood-soaked tongue and the pain from what should have been shattered ribs were all gone.

Everything had healed.

Until a moment ago, the oppressive feeling that even breathing was a struggle had weighed on me. Now it was completely gone.

Just as I'd hoped.

My injuries and all the pain they caused seemed to have disappeared.

And yet I didn't seem to have paid any price.

What was going on? This was different from every form of magic I'd known. Why was magic, which always demanded a price, suddenly giving me a freebie?

If it really was a freebie...

Wasn't this an absolute fucking jackpot of a spell?

That was when Shin Na-in and Hamza started waving their hands in front of my eyes.

"Je-min. I think you should avoid using Cognitive Dissonance in its original form."

"What? Why? It's a fucking jackpot. There's no particular cost, and it doesn't hurt."

Hamza pointed at my side with a troubled expression.

Only then did I realize Shin Na-in was kicking me there.

"Je-min... We've been touching you and doing things like this for a while, but you're not perceiving it."

The price of one-hundred-percent Cognitive Dissonance.

The moment I guessed what it was, I couldn't help gasping.

Something directly connected to perception.

Sensory deprivation was Cognitive Dissonance's original penalty.

"No!"

I hurriedly tried to stand, but couldn't stop my vision from lurching.

Touch.

None of the sensations that pressure on my skin should have transmitted were reaching me.

Shin Na-in and Hamza caught me as I began to fall.

"Well, you didn't go permanently blind last time either, so let's give it some time and see."

"Je-min, at least you're better off than Se-jun."

"You fucking call that comfort right..."

No.

Maybe I was better off than Lee Se-jun, who'd been hungry, sleepy, and hard until he passed out.

It was really the same thing, but I found myself comforted anyway.

But it wasn't entirely the same.

As Shin Na-in and Hamza helped me toward the infirmary, I struggled with the aftereffects, yet inwardly rejoiced.

Magic at one hundred percent.

Exploring magic's original capabilities.

While soldiers died investigating the Gangnam group's Seoul mages, we endured pain to investigate the magic we had acquired.