Chapter 76: A Room You Cannot Leave Unless You Do It (3)

Shin Sodam, the Red Mage Tower Lord.

She awakened on her 17th birthday.

From that day onward, she lived a life completely different from ordinary teens.

Days filled with monsters, dungeons, battles, and missions.

Yet she didn’t hate it. In fact, she felt a strange thrill.

Because she had both talent and luck.

The being she synchronized with was Charlemagne, the Red Mage Tower Lord of legend—a genius mage who appeared once in a millennium.

On the day she awakened, Shin Sodam could already use 272 fire spells—an absurd number.

But the next morning, her skill list had grown to 292.

Then 295, then 298, then 303, then 307…

Charlemagne wasn’t just a genius.

She was a genius who worked like a madwoman.

She devoured knowledge with insatiable greed, and every time she did, new skills appeared in Shin Sodam’s window.

But their relationship wasn’t one-sided.

The Red Secret Arts—Shin Sodam’s original fire magic created by adapting existing spells.

If Charlemagne was a sponge that absorbed all magic, Shin Sodam was born with unparalleled mana sensitivity and control.

Their meeting was nothing short of fate.

An ever-flowing well of magical knowledge.

And the genius sense to elevate it to even higher levels.

As Charlemagne grew stronger, so did Shin Sodam.  

As Shin Sodam grew, so did Charlemagne.

Three years later.

At 20 years old, countless titles followed her name:

Guild Master of the Red Mage Tower. 

Korea’s A+ Rank 7 Hunter.  

A supernova expected to reach S-rank alongside Cheok Junseong.

She had become a veteran who had been through hell and high water.

Yet even she…

“…This is impossible.”

…could only stare in stunned silence at the scene before her.

Her secret art, Neutron Bomb—a 6th-class ultra-high-tier spell—was being broken down into mana particles and absorbed.

GRRRRRRR—

By a mere E-rank hunter!

Shin Sodam stared at Cha Hasang.

“Guh—!?”

The raging storm made it hard to even keep her eyes open.

Still, she couldn’t look away from him.

Feathers covering his body, massive wings spread behind him.

A dark crimson crow-man.

‘That’s… really an E-rank?’

Impossible.

An E-rank would have died a hundred times over from her magical barrage.

And this wasn’t a dispel-type spell that nullified magic.

He was absorbing the mana itself and converting it into his own energy.

‘No doubt about it…!’

A magic long lost on the Lokpia continent.

A forbidden, ill-omened school considered heretical.

Black magic!

Shin Sodam frantically searched through all the knowledge she had inherited from Charlemagne.

And she found one spell that matched.

Mana Drain.

A mid-tier black magic of the 4th class that steals an opponent’s mana and makes it one’s own.

She swallowed dryly.

Cha Hasang.

He had claimed to be E-rank.

But that made no sense.

The chance of an E-rank surviving an S-rank dungeon was effectively zero.

Which meant…

‘He was hiding his power!’

If the reason was black magic, it made perfect sense.

There were no proper black mages on Earth or Lokpia.

The rare awakened who used black magic were usually only 1st or 2nd class—small fry who had half-learned it on their own, barely grasping the basics.

But the man in front of her…

KUguGuGuGuGuGu—

Pure, high-density black mana swirled around Cha Hasang like a storm.

‘At least 5th class… no, 6th class or higher.’

Soon, the red mana decomposed from the Neutron Bomb was sucked into his body.

The black mana pouring from him began dyeing the surroundings in darkness.

At that moment, Shin Sodam felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

A familiar silhouette. A familiar mana signature.

‘Could it be… that man from back then…!?’

The man who saved her at Lethe Tower.

The man who suppressed the Vigilante incident at the National History Museum.

The man running toward the city from Haeundae Beach today.

Cha Hasang might be the very person she had been searching for all this time.

Without realizing it, she stepped toward him.

Then Cha Hasang raised his hand.

KWAAAAAAA—!

A storm-like pressure erupted as the black mana compressed into the shape of a blade and shot forward.

One point.

The target of the black blade was the room’s entrance.

CRUNCH—! CRRRRRRUNCH—!

The black mana spun like a sawblade, gnawing away at the Sexual Desire section’s door.

Visibly, undeniably, the door was being destroyed.

“The barrier… is breaking! How is this possible…!?”

The barrier covering the Sexual Desire section was 7th-class—S-rank magic.

And it was being shattered.

By pure destructive force alone!

Shin Sodam was horrified.

‘Then he’s… 7th class or higher?!’

At that moment.

CRUNCH—! CRRRRRRUNCH—!

Orange aura mixed with the black, surging violently.

Cracks formed in the door, a black-hole-like vortex swirling within.

“U-UWAAAAH—!?”

Shin Sodam’s body lifted off the ground.

She was instantly pulled toward the crack.

She couldn’t resist.

She had long run out of mana.

She flew like a straw in a typhoon.

Then.

GRAB—!

A large, firm hand seized hers.

“…!”

Cha Hasang had caught her.

Even in the wind strong enough to rip flesh from bone, he stood unmoving.

Soon, a strange sensation touched her palm.

Sticky, viscous mucus.

It came from Cha Hasang’s hand—more precisely, from the gloves he wore.

A super-strong adhesive that stuck like industrial glue.

Thanks to it, she didn’t die.

Not only ultra-high-tier black magic, but special artifacts too.

For a supposed E-rank hunter.

“You… who the hell are…! Guhh—!”

She couldn’t finish her sentence against the wind.

Then.

KWAAAAAAA…!

The raging black mana gradually calmed.

Shin Sodam immediately looked at the door.

It had been on the verge of destruction just seconds ago—cracks everywhere.

But now…

“No… this can’t be…”

Despair seeped into her voice.

The door had restored itself perfectly, not a single scratch.

It had withstood even 7th-class magic.

Despair began creeping into her heart.

Then she heard Cha Hasang mutter to himself.

“Hm. As expected, it wasn’t enough. If it was 100%, it might’ve worked.”

“…”

She blinked blankly.

What? What did he just say?

100%? Was that not his full power?

He still had the composure to hold back in this situation?

‘If that’s true…’

Then Cha Hasang was top-tier A+… no, S-rank.

Yet despite that power, he never flaunted it.

He never forced anything on anyone.

He could have killed her—or done far worse—if he wanted to.

But she…

Intense self-loathing and shame surged within her.

Shin Sodam lowered her head and whispered.

“…I’m sorry.”

Her shoulders began to tremble.

Tears fell one by one onto the red carpet.

She couldn’t control her emotions.

Was it the dungeon’s debuff?

Or the lingering poison from monsters she’d fought on the way up?

An emotion she had never felt before raged inside her.

Her heart pounded, her face burned, her mind overflowed with distractions—it felt like her head would explode.

She was terrified.

Terrified that she couldn’t control her own feelings, her own body.

Afraid she might lose control again, like that day long ago.

…Of course, that was only her side of the story.

She didn’t deserve forgiveness.

She would be met with contempt, insults, condemnation.

Bracing herself for that, she squeezed her eyes shut.

But.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Cha Hasang’s reaction was completely different from what she expected.

“The important thing right now is how we get out of here. That’s all.”

Was he being considerate?

Or was this just who he was?

She didn’t know.

But warmth spread through a corner of her chest.

She wanted to get out together.

She wanted to survive, apologize properly, and repay her debt.

That’s what she thought.

Until she heard his next words.

“So I’ll ask you to forgive me instead.”

“?”

STAB—!

A sharp pain pierced the back of her neck.

“What the…?”

Staggering back, she touched her neck.

A sharp metal needle was embedded there.

The same sleep needle used by the manager of the Sleep Desire section.

“U-Ugh…”

It hurt.

Not just physically—her heart ached too.

Consciousness rapidly faded.

Glaring at Cha Hasang, she forced out her final words.

“You… son of a… bitch…”

And that was the last thing Shin Sodam said.