Chapter 30…
Low-Level Magician (2)
There are people in this world who simply cannot live with debts.
Those who cannot even sleep peacefully because they feel compelled to repay what they owe.
Oh Hana knew very well that, even if she wasn’t that extreme, she was definitely the type to feel uncomfortable if she had a debt.
Even right now…
“When is Shinwoo going to tell me his wish?”
Several days had passed since Professor Cheolsu’s lecture, and the unfulfilled wish was still on her mind.
“He even went to the training center with the master…”
If he had been to the training center, he should have had plenty of ideas for a wish.
Why was he dragging it out like this, making her anxious?
“Hmm… but if I ask him whether he’s decided, it might sound like I’m pushing him to hurry…”
Because of that, Oh Hana could do nothing but stare at Shinwoo’s contact info, anxiously pacing back and forth.
Why did they even make this bet? It was the price for being too confident in winning.
Sigh… these past few days have been so stressful. I can’t stand it anymore.
“I’ll just ask him.”
She decided to do it in a way that wouldn’t feel like pressing him. She could start by casually asking how he was and then, as if asking a favor from an acquaintance, bring up the topic…
[Did you see the sky today? The snow falling like this just makes me feel so happy. My wish is just to enjoy a day like this peacefully. How about you, Shinwoo? @v@!]
It was a total disaster.
“This isn’t what I wanted…”
She had intended to speak casually, but it ended up sounding like she was hurrying him to decide on a wish.
The smiling emoji only made it feel like she was mocking him.
“But thinking about it, anything I say now would probably feel awkward…”
Yes, once she reached that conclusion, she made up her mind. Fine, she would just send it and stop overthinking.
It wasn’t very magician-like to make a decision based on emotion, but humans can’t always be rational.
“Send.”
About a minute after sending the message, a reply came—one that was quite hard to understand.
[Then, could you find out where in the country there’s a mountain with a tree struck by lightning?]
“….”
Oh Hana was left speechless at the unimaginable wish.
If he had asked for a tree struck by lightning itself, she could have at least understood that he was looking for a material.
But asking to find a mountain with one? What on earth did that mean?
Because of this, Oh Hana tried to guess Shinwoo’s intention while also pondering a more fundamental question.
Ever since she had met Seong Shinwoo, this had been a recurring, rare question:
“What kind of person is Shinwoo… really?”
He was the master of the magic tower.
Snow on top of snow (雪上加霜).
The saying means frost on top of snow, symbolizing consecutive hardships. Shinwoo thought this might be exactly his situation.
[25 low-level magic stones have been given as a reward.]
Magic stones fell from the sky along with the snow.
Even that was troublesome enough, but at the end, a familiar piece of paper fluttered down.
[Clue: Acquire “Orc Lord’s Raid #3”.]
“#3? Last time was #1. Where’s #2?”
It was awkward—clue #3 appeared after #1.
Based on his experience, once you touch a clue, your consciousness gets pulled, and the snow was thickening rapidly.
If he handled the clue in such weather, he could have ended up frozen like a snowman.
“So I grabbed the clue and the magic stones with telekinesis and hurried home…”
No sooner had he entered the house than a headache struck, and a mysterious forest appeared before his eyes.
Was there a time limit for viewing the clue?
“Judging by the steep slope, this seems like a mountain forest…”
The problem was that over a dozen orcs were busily moving through the forest.
Especially an old orc with a skeletal staff, clearly a malevolent shaman, shouting in a sharp voice from the center:
“Hurry! You all know what will happen if you disappoint him!”
Other orcs worked fervently, carving runes into nearby trees and rocks, even drawing with blood from small animal corpses.
“Clearly some kind of magic.”
The orcs were inscribing a spell.
The old orc seemed to act as a mid-level manager, directing the scene in place of the Orc Lord.
“And that must be the source of the spell’s power.”
A charred tree that never left the old orc’s side. Judging from its split form, the ominous aura, and the intense lightning-attributed mana, it must have been struck by lightning.
“A spell using a lightning-struck tree…”
He wasn’t sure if it was a jujube tree, but when thinking of lightning-struck trees, a “Byeokjomok” first came to mind.
“Byeokjomok is said to repel spirits.”
Normally a jujube tree has yang energy, and combined with the massive yang of lightning, it becomes a talisman to ward off evil spirits.
How had they twisted it to emit such an ominous aura?
“Instead of repelling spirits, it seems like it would attract them.”
Shinwoo made this assessment as a magician.
Whoooosh—
“An airplane…?”
Shinwoo saw a passenger plane gracefully flying far off in the sky and felt as if he’d been struck on the head.
Naturally, he assumed he was still inside the gate.
It made sense—seeing orcs moving around so normally led to that assumption.
But of course, no passenger plane could fly inside a gate…
“So this is reality?”
Meaning, the orcs in front of him were preparing such magic somewhere in the real world.
“Unbelievable.”
His perception of the orcs changed entirely.
Especially the old orc shouting to his subordinates:
“Absolutely! Not a single mistake is allowed! Today marks the rise of a great enterprise, the foundation of a new kingdom!”
“Ha…”
A new kingdom’s foundation. Reality. Massive magic.
Shinwoo felt suffocated by the orcs’ unthinkable plans.
If they succeeded, Korea could end up in a war like North Korea with imps.
“The question is, where exactly is this?”
Mountains like this exist all over the world.
The only clue was the lightning-struck tree and the nearby charred marks.
Oh, he also noticed a convenience store plastic bag caught on a branch, likely blown there by the wind.
“Then it’s almost certainly domestic.”
He had considered the possibility of it being abroad, but he wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or not.
The system, as before, seemed to have shown everything it was supposed to, then ejected him.
That was why Shinwoo asked Oh Hana about the “mountain with a lightning-struck tree.”
An hour later, a reply came from Oh Hana.
[Sorry, I’m not familiar with mountains, so we’ll say you didn’t use your wish! I’ll ask around with my acquaintances, so if I find out anything, I’ll let you know!]
“Hmm, I really put Oh Hana in a tough spot.”
He felt guilty receiving her reply. In the middle of such chaos, asking about a wish had been thoughtless of him.
It was remarkable that she took it in stride.
“Phew… but then no clue yet.”
Even searching online for a lightning-struck tree yielded only Byeokjomok products.
Searching for where lightning struck didn’t yield anything meaningful either.
Sigh, I’m stuck.
Shinwoo stretched and collapsed on the mattress.
There was no way to figure this out until the next clue appeared.
He couldn’t possibly search all the mountains in the country for a lightning-struck tree.
“Maybe the second clue I missed is related to the location.”
He didn’t know why, but since he had skipped a clue, he had no choice.
Still, after calming down, there was no need to rush.
“I have plenty of time.”
The spell formation he had seen was barely one-third complete.
Of course—it was impossible for a spell meant to establish the foundation of a new kingdom to be completed quickly.
If the old orc was clever, he would have ensured concealment, making the completion even further away.
“Or the hunters might catch them and defeat them anyway.”
Thinking that, Shinwoo felt a little foolish for panicking earlier.
Korean hunters were by no means incompetent.
There was no reason for him to rush just to solve this problem.
“Right now, I have bigger problems than orcs.”
The hunter exams were approaching. Passing them was more important than dealing with these orcs.
Besides, he was curious about the traits B would gain as a low-level magician.
“Hopefully something useful for combat.”
Ultimately, all of this would be easy to solve once Shinwoo became stronger.
Meanwhile, at that moment, B was standing at the edge of the snowfield.
The far edge of the vast snowfield, glittering under the sunlight.
B stood there, gazing beyond the snowfield at the gently lapping sea.
Swoosh—
Thin ice pressed by the waves clinked against each other.
But beneath that beautiful scene lurked a chilling death.
Countless war machines lay sunken deep beneath the sea B called the Northern Sea.
Silent, yet tumultuous.
Cozy, yet piercingly cold.
Ice and death—but a land where the sun never sets.
“This is my essence.”
When meditating in the astral plane, B always stood at the edge of this snowfield, silently gazing at the Northern Sea.
Unlike A, B had no desire to wander the world seeking her origin.
Perhaps she sensed instinctively:
“If I’m here… someday, it will find me.”
A large shadow loomed overhead.
B quietly turned her gaze to the massive snow leopard observing her.
Its sleek body combined beauty with wildness, and sapphire-like eyes shone with clarity and intensity.
As A had said, she could tell at a glance.
“You are my origin.”
But the snow leopard, B’s origin in form, gave no reaction.
It merely watched her silently.
Yet through A’s words, and the disappointment reflected in those wise eyes, B knew enough.
She muttered, quietly ruminating on her frustration:
“Next time I see you, will I be able to meet your standards?”
At least, I might be able to talk more.
“…I’ll work hard.”
Just seeing the snow leopard made her feet gradually freeze, and the cold spread up to her neck.
As the snow leopard turned, a fierce blizzard blew, and the clash of spear blades echoed.
It was, therefore, an unavoidable death.
Shards of vision splintered.
“…Phew.”
Awakening in reality, B instinctively felt her change and clenched her fists.
The cold wind gathered in her palms and immediately became a small blizzard, swirling violently.
Ding!
[Magician B has leveled up and acquired the traits “Combat Magician Lv.1” and “Frozen Wave Lv.1”.]
B realized she had truly become a low-level magician.
