Chapter : 02
Magic Satellites
Cha Baek-jin, the broker, was a professional who had been doing business in the back alleys of Sillim for many years.
What he did wasn’t much different from an errand agency—aside from the fact that he dabbled in tasks that were just a little more dangerous and illegal.
Honestly, it couldn’t be helped.
Unlike the high-flying retired hunters who earned a living treading the fine line between legal and illegal, low-ranking retired hunters in an ambiguous position like himself had no choice but to dip their toes into dangerous work.
For instance, sneaking the still-breathing corpses of monsters out of the Tower, or tracking down an escaped affair partner using blood-based dark magic.
Every single one of these requests carried a sentence of life imprisonment if caught—and in places like China or Russia, they would warrant an immediate execution.
Yet, Cha Baek-jin was satisfied.
Because it paid well.
It allowed him to make an exorbitant amount of money.
As dangerous as the work was, the payout upon completing a contract was astronomical—enough to make him envy no famous retired hunter’s errand agency.
It was an extraordinarily satisfying life.
Up until this very morning, that is.
“……”
With violently trembling eyes, Cha Baek-jin stared at the black-haired man sitting in front of the office table, eating cup ramen.
The man was eating Yukgaejang—specifically, a small cup of Yukgaejang. It was a box of ramen Cha Baek-jin had bought for himself to snack on whenever he got bored.
And behind that man, on the office wall:
Thud— Drip— Drip, drip— The Tower’s monsters that Cha Baek-jin had brought to supply to a certain special dark mage—monsters he had suppressed using powerful sealing tools—were now unsealed, their limbs pinned to the wall as they bled out, dead.
The black-haired man was nonchalantly eating his ramen amidst that horrific scene.
And soon enough:
“Hmm. So… you’re saying this person is the dark mage who approached Na-hyun?”
“Pardon? Ah. Y-Yes! Th-That is correct, Hunter-nim!”
Cha Baek-jin snapped to attention, jumping up from his seat and bowing frantically.
His eyes watched the man gazes intently at the business card placed on the table.
The card read alongside the name Jeong Mu-won.
“……Hmm. He doesn’t seem to harbor any particular ill intent.”
Muttering to himself, the black-haired man stood up from his seat.
He then pointed toward the monsters on the wall.
“Since you provided useful information, I won’t charge a fee for disposing of the monsters. However, raising these things carelessly is dangerous, so you had better be careful. The restraints are far too loose.”
“Th-The restraints weren’t loose; it’s just that you, Hunter-nim…… A-Ah, no! How dare I slip up like that! I will keep that in mind and be careful! Hunter-nim!”
In truth, Cha Baek-jin had a lot to say.
The moment the black-haired man appeared in the office, those monsters—despite being bound by sealing tools—went wild, causing this mess in the first place.
Simply put, this wouldn’t have happened if the man hadn’t come to the office.
Of course, Cha Baek-jin was not brave enough to say this out loud.
He merely said:
“Th-Thank you once again for your help, Hunter-nim.”
“Hmm. It seems there is a misunderstanding.”
“Pardon? What do you mean by that……”
Terrified, Cha Baek-jin looked at the black-haired man, his eyes twitching.
To which the man replied:
“I am an ordinary person, not a hunter. I hope you don’t misunderstand.”
The black-haired man—Do Min-hyeok—said so, cast a brief glance at the monsters pinned to the wall, and left the office.
Even after that, Cha Baek-jin stood dazed for a long while before finally coming to his senses.
“……I-Is he joking?”
The corpses of the monsters reduced to rags against the wall were not run-of-the-mill, dime-a-dozen monsters; they were Rank-3 named monsters.
They were expensive goods that had cost over hundreds of millions of won to sneak out of the Tower alive, prepared for a dark mage’s skin-graft chimera experiment. As such, their outer hide was tough enough to rival even Rank-4 monsters.
Yet, the black-haired man had killed them simply by throwing ballpoint pens that were lying on the table.
In his entire life, he had never seen such a scene.
Killing monsters not with weapons crafted from special minerals mined in the Tower, but with plastic ballpoint pens.
“……C-Crazy. If he’s an ordinary person, then what the hell am I?”
Cha Baek-jin, a self-proclaimed retired hunter, felt a deep sense of futility and collapsed into his seat.
He could already picture the dark mage whose deal fell through today throwing a fit over the phone, but right now, he didn’t want to care about anything.
He just felt that way.
At Costech, a large supermarket in Sillim:
The black-haired man, Do Min-hyeok, was lost in thought in front of a product display shelf.
The shelf was packed with KakaoTalk emoticon merchandise, which was currently all the rage.
“……She’s a high school student, so is a stuffed animal too much?”
There were quite a few cute items, so he was inspecting the plushies out of nostalgia.
Because when Na-hyun was little, she definitely loved animal plushies.
However, it suddenly occurred to him that Na-hyun was now a high school student, making him wonder if a stuffed animal was really a suitable gift.
“Being an uncle is tough, too.”
After deliberating for a long time, Do Min-hyeok quietly picked up a rabbit plushie. He then headed to the food section and loaded his cart with three geun (~1.8 kg) of pork belly, wrapping vegetables, and some instant rice for quick meals.
Not being completely oblivious, he also picked up a brand-new tablet PC that any high schooler would love.
He didn’t have a ton of money, but it was enough.
He had visited the personal workshop he set up 13 years ago when he was active as a low-rank hunter, retrieved a few pieces of equipment stored there, and sold them to secure some spare cash.
Since they were used and old models, he couldn’t get full price—3 million won at most.
Still, it was more than enough to buy a few simple gifts and food for a niece he was meeting for the first time in a while.
“Well, this isn’t bad.”
After checking out, Do Min-hyeok caught a taxi near the supermarket for the first time in a long while. It felt strange—he had been riding horse carriages back in Ignohaim.
The address was high up on a steep hill in Sillim.
Because it was located quite high up and the roads were narrow, it was a place taxi drivers preferred to avoid.
However, today’s taxi driver turned out to be more polite than Do Min-hyeok had expected.
When Do Min-hyeok gave Na-hyun’s address:
“Th-The Sillim hill?”
“If it’s too difficult, you can drop me off at the bottom of the hill.”
“Pardon? Ah, no! N-Not at all! It’s completely fine! I will serve you with utmost courtesy!”
Even though he hadn’t offered extra pay, the taxi driver nodded while breaking into a cold sweat.
Do Min-hyeok checked again:
“If it’s too burdensome, you really don’t have to push yourself. I am truly fine with walking.”
“N-No, really! No! If you do that, I won’t be fine. Please, allow me to drive you to the top of the hill……”
The taxi driver, Kim Man-soo.
He held onto his composure while breaking into a cold sweat.
‘……Dammit!’
Of course, he was cursing profusely on the inside.
He had been operating a private taxi for 7 years, but Kim Man-soo’s real job was in the Intelligence Division of the Hunter Management Bureau.
Manager Kim Man-soo—that was his true identity.
Driving a private taxi was merely a small, personal hobby he enjoyed on weekends.
Of course…
At this very moment, Kim Man-soo had no choice but to curse his modest, happy hobby while stealing glances at Do Min-hyeok through the rearview mirror.
A monster reeking heavily of blood sat in the back seat of his taxi in human form.
A monster.
Simply put, a monster.
Because his power was perfectly restrained, the status of his existence couldn’t be sensed, but the stench of blood alone made it clear.
An unreasonable entity whose true strength he wouldn’t even dare to fathom.
Above all, what puzzled him the most was:
‘……Why did he buy pork belly and wrapping vegetables? Instant rice, too? Does a monster like that actually eat human food?’
Moreover, they were items legitimately paid for and purchased at the supermarket.
The sight of Do Min-hyeok putting the receipt and change into his pocket was proof of that.
Absurded by the bizarre sight, Kim Man-soo gripped the steering wheel tightly.
Whatever the case, it had already happened.
If he refused a passenger now, it wouldn’t be a fine from the city arriving in his mail—his head might literally be blown off.
‘……Phew. Just act as I normally do.’
He had only one assigned mission: to escort the unidentified monster in the back seat to his destination as quickly and comfortably as possible.
White Night Tower, Outer Layer.
A floor crafted to mimic the modern world.
Pale gray dust was rising above a street modeled after Gangnam Intersection.
The street looked as though a battle had taken place.
Commercial buildings leaned precariously, half-destroyed. The road had buckled like steps, unable to withstand the impact of the battle, forming raised layers of crust.
“……”
A middle-aged man holding a dagger in one hand walked calmly over the damaged road.
The man was heavily armed.
A coat-style jumper made of reinforced fiber, black slacks embroidered with magical patterns, and an inner vest coated with a mana-conducting surface.
The dark-gray leather gloves covering his hands glowed with cursed runes.
Clop, clop— The sound of footsteps echoed on the road.
Before long:
Rustle— The walking man raised his head.
At the end of his line of sight:
“……Kuh-huck.”
There was a young man lying collapsed, bleeding out.
Trapped under building debris, he couldn’t even utilize basic Hunter Mana Body Fortification in his current state.
The middle-aged man pulled a cigarette from his coat and lit the tip. Taking a deep drag of smoke, he spoke in a cold voice.
“Your skill at running away has improved quite a bit.”
“Kh-kuh. Fuck. Goddamn it. Why the hell are you only busting my ass? I’m not the only villain in the Outer Layer!”
“Does trash cleanup require a reason? A request came in, and that is all.”
“Haha. Bullshit. Trash cleanup? As expected of the rumors, you sure have a fucking special way of talking. Trash, huh? Do you think you’re any different from us, Jeong Mu-won?”
Sparks flew from the young man’s eyes.
From his perspective, the Jeong Mu-won in front of him was no different from himself.
What was the difference between a criminal who became a wanted man for committing illegal acts as a hunter, and a serial killer who caught and slaughtered the Outer Layer’s villains without a shred of hesitation?
It’s fine because they’re villains?
If you kill a villain, is it not still murder?
Jeong Mu-won let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity.
“……Jeong Mu-won. You’re no different from us.”
Even while dying, the young man exuded intense bloodlust, his gaze locking onto the middle-aged man’s neck as he stepped closer.
Above the collar, a skull tattoo stretched from his neck to his cheek—a skull shedding tears.
It was a infamous curse tattoo. The symbol of the crazy killer roaming the Outer Layer of the Tower, slaughtering stragglers.
Name: Jeong Mu-won.
Codename: Killer of the Outer Layer.
He was once a hero who defended the nation, but after retiring as a hunter, he was known publicly for running a small errand agency.
In reality, of course, he was a lunatic.
A monster walking the wire, handling villain hit contracts, illegal information gathering, concealment services, and supplying illegal magical materials.
“Fuck it. If you’ve looked your fill, just kill me already. I won’t grovel for my life like a coward.”
“……”
The middle-aged man nodded wordlessly.
Flicking away the cigarette butt that had burned down to the end, Jeong Mu-won readjusted his grip on the dagger.
Then:
Thwack— Without a moment’s hesitation, he pierced the neck of the young man trapped beneath the debris. The thin yet tough skin tore open instantly, spraying blood.
Instant death in one strike.
An absurd level of power that cut through a Rank-3 Hunter’s physical durability and magic resistance in a single blow.
Yet, as if accustomed to it, Jeong Mu-won watched the young man collapse lifelessly and pulled out a syringe from his pocket.
Then:
Stab— Without the slightest hesitation, he plunged the syringe needle into the corpse of the fallen man.
It was not a syringe for extracting blood.
Gurgle, gurgle— As he pulled back the piston, something other than blood filled the transparent cylinder.
Black runes.
Black runes swarmed in like waves, filling the inside of the cylinder.
Some were long strings resembling sentences, but most were scattered words.
The magic-infused runes turned into a black liquid as soon as they filled the cylinder.
Just before the runes dissolved into black mana, Jeong Mu-won recalled a few sentences he had caught sight of:
「I was abandoned from the moment I was born, and the world called that fate.」
「A child who is unloved ultimately grows up without knowing love. That was me.」
「If it was the world that abandoned me first, is it a bad thing to break that world?」
They were the memories of the young man.
The life and narrative of a human being, now mashed together into the form of mana.
He did not pity him.
If he held sympathy for things like this, he would have quit this line of work long ago.
Sealing the syringe containing the extracted narrative into a wooden box, Jeong Mu-won stood up.
At that moment:
Buzz— Buzz— Vibrating in his pocket, he pulled out his smartphone. The moment he pressed the answer button, a lively voice greeted him as if waiting.
— Hey! Jeong Mu-won! Where are you and what are you doing? Huh? “I am in the Replica Zone.”
— What about sleep? Did you sleep? “Not yet.”
— Oh! Damn it! You should have slept in advance! Korea is in absolute chaos right now, so what on earth are you doing? “Chaos? Is it an unidentified rift, perhaps?”
Jeong Mu-won’t eyebrows twitched.
To this, the voice replied:
— Huh? No, no! It is a rift, but… uh. Can you even call it a rift? They said the moment it generated, it closed immediately. Following that, the youthful, sweet voice over the receiver launched into an explanation.
In short:
An unidentified rift appeared in the skies above Seoul.
The Korean Hunter Management Bureau detected it via Magic Satellites, but failed to ‘perceive’ it.
They knew something ominous and terrifying had appeared, but couldn’t verify what it was.
All that was captured on the Magic Satellite was flickering black noise.
“……Are you saying the government claims it’s impossible to perceive even with Magic Satellites? That is hard to believe.”
— That’s why it’s even more shocking! Korea’s Magic Satellite system was no match for America’s Zirpenheimer System, but it was still a powerful artifact-grade device with incredible performance.
Its operational radius was broad enough to monitor Korea, North Korea, Japan, and even parts of China.
13 years ago, it was also Korea’s Magic Satellite that detected the Grade-9 Rift, Arain Grade, which had pushed Korea to the brink of ruin.
Yet, for a Magic Satellite that could detect that to fail at even perceiving the shape of the rift:
“……Could it be an Immortal of the Primeval Forest?”
The edge of the universe.
Monsters beyond the severed void.
Ominous and terrifying entities whose mere perception by a mere mortal was enough to break their sanity upon their manifestation in reality.
Inscrutable beings residing in dimensions so distant that hierarchy was meaningless.
If it was a rift involving an Immortal of the Primeval Forest, the possibility wasn’t zero.
However, the response to that was:
— Ew! Mu-won, don’t say such scary things so casually! There’s no way. The Tower’s scenario progression hasn’t even reached anywhere near that end phase yet. “Well, I will return for now.”
— Yeah. Make sure to return right away. Oh, right. Didn’t you say you recently saw someone with pretty good magic material potential? What happened to that person? “There has been no contact yet.”
Jeong Mu-won recalled an unnamed female student he had crossed paths with on the street a while ago—a pretty student with dark brown hair falling to her shoulders.
— Can’t you just steal some quietly? It’s not like cutting a bit of hair will show. And you know, right? Lately, our supply of proper magic materials has been blocked, so we’re struggling too. “You know as well as I do that materials extracted without consent can hardly retain magical power.”
— ……What do we have curses for? You can just cast a spell to force the owner’s consent. No… wait. Why am I expecting that from you of all people. The brief pause before the lovely voice turned into a sigh didn’t last long.
— Ack!? Mu-won, I gotta hang up. Got a call that those scavenger bastards are operating the human fishing spot again. Don’t these guys ever get tired? Do they seriously think they can hook Giants with just that? Haa. With the woman’s grumbling voice, the call ended.
Jeong Mu-won wiped off the soot—the trace of battle on his hands—and brushed back his hair.
And at that exact moment:
“Guh-huck.”
It was the fleeting instant he ended the call.
Rumble— Along with a strange tremor of mana:
Crush— He felt an indescribable pressure slamming down upon his entire body.
If he had to forcibly describe the current sensation:
It felt as though an unmeasurable ‘something’ was observing him from an unseen place.
It was definitely that kind of sensation.
However, even when he looked around to find the source of the pressure, nothing registered in his senses.
Within a 10 km radius, not a single biological response nor a single mana reaction was detected.
What this implied was only one thing:
‘……Could the source of this gaze be located not in this layer, but somewhere else?’
At the very least, it wasn’t the Outer Layer of the Tower.
He even harbored the thought that it might not be the White Night Tower at all, but a completely different place.
For example, the modern world beyond the White Night Tower.
It was a ludicrous thought.
A delusion that not even those mad cultists praising the chaos of cosmic beings would entertain.
‘Have I finally grown weary of this life? To think such an absurd possibility crosses my mind……’
Bypassing the grace of the System embedded in the White Night Tower to gaze directly at an entity inside the Tower?
And into the Outer Layer—the most isolated place—no less?
Even if a true Immortal of the Primeval Forest had descended upon the modern world, this was an impossibility.
Therefore, Jeong Mu-won shook his head, doing his best to deny the sensation he had just felt.
Telling himself it was nothing more than an optical illusion.
In fact, the pressure he felt from that gaze had vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
It felt as though he had briefly experienced a terrifying nightmare.
‘Perhaps I really am exhausted. Yes. It might be time to take a little rest.’
Jeong Mu-won decided to look on the bright side. After killing Outer Layer villains for so many years, fatigue had accumulated without him realizing it.
That was the logical conclusion.
Rather than believing that a monstrous entity existed—one capable of ignoring the authority of the White Night Tower, known as the Ark, to gaze directly at a being within it.
