Chapter 25 - The Man Who Wants to Be a Mage

Sometimes, faced with unbearably cruel trials and hardships, we turn to God.

Even I, Baek Je-min, who seemed to live however I pleased, as though I alone were supreme in heaven and on earth, had been hounded by my parents into visiting a shaman. It was only natural to wear out my shoes searching everywhere, chasing the vague hope that there might be some answer to my life.

If boot camp had had a mosque, I would have believed in Allah too.

From what Hamza told me, apparently He would forgive you for eating grilled pork belly as long as you prayed diligently. Father Jeong Yong-hwan and Madam Geulmun probably possessed a far greater sense of duty than I did.

I thought all of us deserved respect simply for standing our ground and fighting these horrific monsters rather than running away.

That was why I aimed my rifle at the priest monster, which had lost its capillaries and lay floundering in the fog mingled with yellow smoke. My hands, cut with a blade and bitten with my teeth, stung, throbbed, and burned...

But I could endure it if it was for someone who had saved my life, however briefly.

Without thinking, I recalled a line from a prayer I had heard at boot camp.

'Our Father, who art in heaven...'

'Please don't leave any leftovers. Scrape up every last bit of scorched rice too.'

BANG-BANG!

Shell casings rolled across the floor, and at last the priest monster stopped struggling. Lowering the muzzle as acrid gun smoke rose from it, I gazed at the priest's corpse with mixed feelings.

If that Father up in heaven was going to take him, shouldn't He take the whole body instead of scooping out just a spoonful of his head?

I didn't know what Father Jeong Yong-hwan had been like as a clergyman to be given such an end, but at least I, for one, could only mourn his death sincerely. He had done his best. He had been a human being who felt joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure.

Just then, Lee Se-jun adjusted his grip on his rifle and came to my side to witness the priest's end. He volunteered to gather Madam Geulmun's remains, but after two grenades had blown him apart, it seemed there wasn't even a body to find.

“Why are decent, good people always the first to die such miserable deaths?”

“It's a tragedy. Still, there's one fortunate thing for you, Se-jun.”

“Fortunate?”

“I, Baek Je-min, am still alive.”

Lee Se-jun fell silent.

Assuming he was deeply moved and awestruck, I allowed him some time to savor the feeling.

Instead, I simply prayed silently for the departed Madam Geulmun and the priest.

HOOF...

As a breath filtered through my gas mask, other footsteps finally sounded from above the platform stairs. First Lieutenant Baek Han-seong and his soldiers, who had held back rather than approach rashly, were coming down.

“Operator! Are you all right?”

Baek Han-seong and the soldiers emerged through the swirling fog, having made some preparations in the meantime.

The lieutenant and several soldiers had mounted action cameras or lights on the helmets they wore over their gas masks. They swiftly scanned their surroundings, watching every direction, while the soldiers deployed from the stairs to the entrance with rifles shouldered and aimed.

Beside them was Shin Na-in. Though his face was still a little pale, his eyes had regained their composure.

He mimed tapping his ears, pulled up the hood of his rain poncho, and approached us.

“Impressive. The chalkboard-scraping sounds are gone. How did you kill them?”

“Well, we each did our part. Se-jun's grenade throws were so good that we got one practically for free.”

I was glad to have discovered Lee Se-jun's worth.

He lacked the detection abilities of someone like me, who could foresee things starting ten seconds ahead, or Shin Na-in, who heard the sounds of instinct, but his physical stamina was solid. Besides, his grenades slammed down in a straight line rather than an arc. With that control, he had the makings of an excellent baseball player.

What did being an excellent baseball player mean? It meant he was extraordinarily talented at handling thrown weapons, such as grenades.

Of course, part of me was relieved I hadn't learned the heart branch. Thank goodness I had awakened the eye and hand branches. If the magic I'd learned had been something like throwing shit really fucking hard and far, I would have felt a little cheated.

Still, rather than dwelling on how his magic was boring as hell and didn't look like magic at all, Lee Se-jun seemed relieved that he had genuinely helped. He let out a deep sigh and fiddled idly with his selector switch.

“Maybe I'd be better off staying behind and throwing grenades on command instead of taking point. Carrying grenades instead of magazines.”

When I asked how Lee Se-jun, whose ability had amounted to sprinting flat out for thirty seconds without tiring, had gotten this subtle power-up, his answer was simple and clear.

While hiding inside the tunnel, he too had opened the Magic Crash Course booklet in the fog.

Swallowing back vomit, he had somehow awakened Stage Two of the heart branch. I had thought it was merely about throwing things really fucking hard and far, but he even explained that the magic took a different direction.

“Stage Two of the heart branch enhances your senses overall, I suppose? My hands move immediately the way I want them to, and I feel like I can put my strength into things properly...”

“It seems the heart branch is entirely focused on physical enhancement.”

Intrigued, Shin Na-in rubbed his chest.

I was about to add a few words myself, but I caught Baek Han-seong's eye as he scanned our surroundings from behind us with his rifle shouldered.

He seemed eager to leave this platform, blanketed in eerie fog and brown bloodstains, broken ceiling panels, and crushed trains, as soon as possible.

The edges of his eyes were slightly bloodshot, and they trembled ever so faintly.

“Let's finish searching this area first. Our lieutenant looks like he's about to die.”

“Loy—Thank you!”

Shin Na-in was far better than Lee Se-jun at detection and search missions like this.

He was a batshit-insane fanatic, but he could reliably check places my eyes couldn't see, and he was mentally resilient, making him a reassuring companion. Still, I was far too honest to call him a decent companion, even as an empty compliment.

“Na-in, let's handle detection together again. Please overlook my calling you Shitpants. I was unintentionally honest in a desperate situation.”

“Je-min. Do you realize you were calling me Shitpants from the moment I got out of the car when we arrived at Suwon Station?”

Fortunately, the search of Suwon Station's second-basement platform began before he could press me further. Baek Han-seong brought down two teams totaling twenty soldiers, secured the area near the platform entrance, then had cables brought down and searchlights installed first.

Replacing the flickering lights, the searchlights swept the area and brightly illuminated the underground. Soldiers wearing action cameras turned their heads to follow the beams, trying to record footage.

The soldiers equipped with lights split into squads of five and guarded the area near the tracks. To avoid ambushes and surprise attacks, they did not advance toward the far end. Instead, they kept their distance, with two aiming farther out and three covering the nearer area, holding their positions.

Only after several soldiers recovered the drone that had fallen near the stairs did Baek Han-seong request a detailed report.

“I'd like you Operators to explain the monster you encountered in detail.”

Without a word, I pointed at the ceiling with my index finger. One searchlight beam and Baek Han-seong's gaze followed it.

The shriveled web of blood vessels plastered to the ceiling was still emitting a faint red glow as it died. Denied any further opportunity to feed or reproduce, that alien life was crumbling into blood dust.

CRACK.

Baek Han-seong recoiled in alarm as blood dust fell in front of him.

HUFF, HUFF, HUFF...

His ragged breathing revealed just how shaken he was. Only then did I explain in greater detail, guiding him to the priest's corpse in the slowly thinning fog.

“It used the Operators' bodies like scarecrows, um... You know claw machines? It used them like the crane in one of those. It made the Operators' bodies sing a strange song. Hearing it causes intense dizziness and vomiting, just like looking at magic script.”

“D-do you think that was the monster that attacked the drones with sound?”

“Probably.”

Lee Se-jun, Shin Na-in, and I took turns explaining the monster we had seen.

Its true body was the web of capillaries plastered to the ceiling. It operated headless human bodies like scarecrows. Severing their connection to the web incapacitated those bodies, but did not kill them completely. However, since only the bodies of the two Operators devoured by Amalgams had been used as its scarecrows, there might be some causal connection.

What I had seen provided circumstantial evidence of how it fed and reproduced.

When the three of us led Baek Han-seong a little way from the center of the platform, we could see combat uniforms and torn civilian clothes that had previously been obscured by fog or debris.

Looking at those garments strewn haphazardly across the floor, I offered my theory.

“Judging from how it strikes silently from the ceiling, and how its vessels pierced my flesh and tried to fuse with my blood vessels, I suspect it fuses with its prey at the blood-vessel level so they can't break free, then weaves its vessels into a net, snatches them up, and drags them to the ceiling to dissolve and consume their bodies. When I hid under that crushed train, it spread a web so dense that the whole train looked like a lump of meat.”

“What?”

“What is it?”

Not only Baek Han-seong but Lee Se-jun and Shin Na-in were staring at me with wide eyes. Had I said something wrong?

“I'm saying its blood vessels pierced my flesh like tentacles and seemed to be trying to fuse with my blood vessels...”

“Aaaaaagh!!!”

Baek Han-seong jerked in horror and began adjusting his grip on his rifle.

Perhaps he was too startled, because he briefly lost hold of it, staggered backward awkwardly, and landed on his ass. His breathing sounded even rougher through his gas mask, and he stared at me as if I were some kind of monster.

Lee Se-jun, his face pale, also sidled behind Baek Han-seong. Only Shin Na-in nodded, his eyes creasing in a strangely knowing smile.

“Just as I'd expect from someone protected by God. Such steadfastness, unafraid of Satan's power. Though you are an unbeliever, I must learn from your example.”

Only after Shin Na-in vouched for me was Baek Han-seong barely able to resume the operation, still panting.

But I couldn't escape a stern warning.

“Mr. Baek Je-min, even if you're fine right now, you'll be placed under observation for a while. First, let's finish clearing Suwon Station's underground.”

“Come on, what's so wrong with—”

I was about to continue, but found myself shutting my mouth.

If someone who had rubbed cheeks with an Amalgam insisted they were perfectly fine, I figured I'd shoot first too.

And so our joint operation between the Supreme Mages and the soldiers began.

Most of the monsters had long since died, but a few Amalgams and predatory spines remained, lurking in ambush inside enclosed spaces or gaps in the crushed trains.

Still, with Shin Na-in keeping a grip on his sanity, the sweep proceeded quickly.

“Onward, little soldiers of Jesus~. With Jesus! LEADING THE WAY!!!”

Shin Na-in sang hymns in a loose, wavering voice, switching to a fierce tone to signal whenever he detected a monster. When an engagement was imminent, he stopped speaking altogether and had the soldiers take aim first. His support was meticulous, suggesting that his claim to hear the voices inside other people's minds wasn't a lie.

When Shin Na-in stopped singing and pointed, I raised my cut right hand to prepare Stage Two of the eye branch.

I had slathered it with disinfectant that put Albothyl to shame and wrapped it in bandages. The sharp pain throbbed pleasantly, and I instinctively knew that even a slight jolt would activate my magic immediately.

Once an Amalgam could no longer resist the signs of human presence and entered my field of vision, I clenched my right fist and pressed the wound once, before it could flee in fear. Just enough to avoid making it bleed again.

With the lingering pain in my injured left hand and the sting of the disinfectant in my right already primed, that was enough.

The Amalgam made from five fused people froze solid, instantly exposed to the soldiers' curtain of fire.

RAT-TAT-TAT...

Amalgams, which moved about as fast as an ordinary person sprinting, countered a curtain of fire by splitting apart and scattering. But once I could force a stun on them before they split, letting us shoot their vulnerable heads and drain their bodily fluids to kill them, even an ordinary infantry squad's firepower made hunting them easy.

And as Shin Na-in's identification abilities developed, locating areas where predatory spines lay in ambush became easier too.

“Amalgams sound like screams in different melodies overlapping without rhythm. I think the chalkboard-scraping sound is a predatory spine. There's one hiding between the twisted seats in that crushed train.”

“So there's a predatory spine in there.”

Lee Se-jun glared as he rolled an unprimed grenade around in his palm.

Whenever we found a predatory spine's hiding place, everyone kept their distance while Lee Se-jun took a grenade, pulled the pin, cooked it, then threw it from far away to neutralize the creature with the blast. That kept us clear of its dying struggle.

Both we and the military knew this wasn't a war against humans. We were fighting monsters that hunted humans, and that meant we had to give it everything we had to smash their meager tactics and life cycles.

February 5, 2028, 5:43 p.m.

That was when the first sweep of Suwon Station's second-basement platform ended. Putting away my phone with its cracked screen, I looked around.

At last, the fog was lifting.

Only upon seeing the fog gradually thin could the three of us, Baek Han-seong, and the soldiers finally remove our gas masks and breathe. Moisture condensed from sweat and breath rolled off the rubber inside my mask and touched the tip of my chin. Major Jang Sin-myeong's chemical-defense unit entered behind us and began incinerating the bodies.

They had even come fully equipped with fire extinguishers in case of a fire.

Watching the bodies burn and give off a foul stench, I took out my canteen again. Shin Na-in was pouring water over his face to wash it, Lee Se-jun sighed, and I began drinking all the water I had left.

If this was the second cordon...

I could imagine what things were like at the first cordon—the front line, the Seoul cordon.

* * *

February 12, 2028, 12:01 a.m.

After my return from Suwon Station, a fairly intensive investigation awaited me.

Blindfolded and restrained, I was sent to some medical facility. All sorts of examinations—MRIs, CT scans, and the like, which I'd previously avoided because they were a hassle—weren't enough. Only after an unnamed shaman verified me as well was I cleared.

I was human.

Even administratively, that was beyond doubt.

Only then could I return to the Suwon City Hall CP and immediately have a one-on-one meeting with the colonel who had removed his name tag. Having First Lieutenant Shin Han-gi guide me, someone I at least knew and had become somewhat friendly with, was probably a gesture of consideration.

At the conference-room door, Shin Han-gi gave me an awkward smile.

“It's good news, so don't be nervous.”

When I entered the conference room, the colonel was alone.

Noticing my arrival, he removed his cap, rubbed his sparsely growing white hair, and let out a heavy sigh. Shin Han-gi saluted silently, then closed the door.

That was when the colonel approached, took a box out from inside his uniform, and offered it to me.

“Civilian Operator Baek Je-min. First, I apologize for our excessive caution. Out of paranoid vigilance, the military prioritized verifying your condition over recognizing your achievements. I regret that this delayed your receiving the reward you deserved.”

“Is this really the military?”

The military I knew had never been like this. The thought occurred to me only after the words were out.

The colonel chuckled and brushed at his thigh.

“With the world ending and nuclear warheads pointed at us, you're surprised the military has changed?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I'll be.”

The colonel bumped the box against my chest, forcing it into my hands, then turned away with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Forty units of military scrip for successfully retaking Suwon Station's underground. A bonus of ten for the low casualties. Fifty in total. I've also omitted part of the report on your hand-branch magic. I reported only the shape of the magic script and its branch. At first glance, it just looks like a table, but once you recognize it as magic script, its bizarre shape makes you retch. Thanks to that, the administrative clerks are having a miserable time.”

“Omitted?”

The colonel turned back toward me with a bitter smile.

It was a smile steeped in exhaustion, regret, lament, and helpless resignation to the state of the world.

“According to you, Stage One of the hand branch allows blood shed from your right hand to harm monsters, correct? Desperate people will do anything. Just as the military has changed, there are plenty of people eager to explore the alteration-type magic system. Whether for survival or greater power.”

The colonel winked and let out a hearty laugh.

“A week ago, thanks to you, we finished without anyone dying. It was a miracle. This is the first mission against those fucking monster bastards where we didn't lose a single person. So I want you to live a long, healthy life. If someone absolutely has to be dragged away like a lab rat, at least it can't be the person who will keep my soldiers alive.”

As he spoke, the colonel waved like some neighborhood uncle.

“I've told the food service officer and supply officer to set aside whatever you want, whether it's Spam or Richam. I'll look after you, so let's do right by each other.”

Heh heh...

I smiled and raised my hand, showing him my still-healing right hand. The colonel misread the gesture.

“Oh? A high five?”

With a crisp movement, I folded down the other three fingers and raised only my index and middle fingers. At the V sign, the colonel's smile broadened.

“Hahaha! Want to take a picture, Mr. Baek?”

“Twenty more units of military scrip.”

“...”

“I'll do right by you, so hand over some scrip.”

I had learned a great, great deal at Suwon Station this time.

I couldn't wreck my left hand and right hand every single time. My staff's durability would run out first. Thus, a truly great mage did not rely on magic alone.

Wasn't the original—the Grey Wizard—proof enough? Looking back, that old man had done more sword-swinging than lightning-zapping.

In other words...

You needed good gear too!

* * *

I was in the cafeteria, eating both Spam and Richam straight from their opened cans.

Pastor Park Yo-han came over laden with books, set them down beside me, and took a seat.

“Hey, Aphorism's number-one lunatic, the man who earned seventy units of military scrip.”

“Aphorism...?”

I tilted my head at the unfamiliar yet dimly remembered name.

“Dementia already? Aphorism is our organization's name.”

“Pastor, the more I think about it, the more that name sounds like fucking garbage.”

“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”

After a little bickering, Pastor Park Yo-han adjusted his glasses and tapped the books.

“Je-min, I hear you've learned the hand branch? Na-in and Se-jun told me. They said the people in Aphorism ought to know.”

“Yeah, well.”

Originally, I'd considered kicking away the ladder so no one else could learn it. But the thought that I might have to face entire hordes of monsters alone had changed my mind. If other mages in Aphorism learned the hand branch, I wouldn't have to be the only one bleeding profusely. How wonderful would that be?

But the pastor was concerned with something else.

“I went to Pyeongtaek this time. I met with those mystic heretics and had to learn some truly disgusting, forbidden knowledge. But as the man responsible for Aphorism's intellect, I had no choice.”

“Oh, Father. Our dear Father!”

An alternate timeline suddenly sprang to mind: what if Father Jeong Yong-hwan had been here instead of the pastor? Oh, Father. Why did you leave us so soon?

“Why are you calling for that heretic who believed in the Antichrist pope? Anyway!”

“Yes, sir.”

“The magic branches discovered so far, including the hand branch you found, are eye, ear, hand, and heart. Four. According to those American Yankee heretics who've arrived in Pyeongtaek, they're arguing between the four-branches, four-elements theory—that these four branches are based on the four elements—and the multiple-branches theory, which says there must be more.”

“The four elements... You mean water, fire, wind, and earth?”

“Yes. There's also a four-humors theory. In the East, four is sometimes considered unlucky because it sounds like the word for death and symbolizes it, but there are also the four directions. It's not an entirely unlucky number.”

That was when the pastor suddenly lowered his voice, glanced around, and whispered.

“But the Stage One hand-branch magic you learned—defeating monsters with blood shed from your right hand. There's something rather significant about that in an occult sense.”

My disgust at feeling his breath on me fought with my curiosity in equal measure.

But I couldn't resist my urge to explore magic, so I endured it and furrowed my brows.

“The right hand usually symbolizes the Lord's power and order. And that left hand you shot, burned with a rifle barrel, bit with your teeth, and did every other damn thing to? Apparently it's usually considered ominous, or thought to have some kind of occult significance.”

“...”

“Isn't that a little too convenient to be coincidence?”

At that, I could only scowl deeply.

I'd have to humor the pastor and do some studying until my hands healed completely...