The opening ceremony was quite grand.
National flags fluttered in the breeze, and a podium was set up on a beautifully decorated stage.
Judging by the podium alone, one might have expected a president to appear.
Behind the podium, phrases emphasizing harmony and peace were written in a dynamic font.
It was a rather hypocritical sight.
Many people had already gathered in front of the stage.
Perhaps pursuing a free-spirited atmosphere, no chairs had been provided.
In the very front, like at a rock festival, were Hunters standing with drinks in their hands, dressed in swimwear.
Behind them, a group with a somewhat gloomy atmosphere stood awkwardly.
The three of them, including Kim Song-cheol, found a suitable spot to stand.
Kim Song-cheol took off his flip-flops and held them in his hand.
Since it was a sandy beach, it was better to be barefoot.
It was uncomfortable how the sand kept getting under his feet and crunching.
“It looks like almost everyone is here,” Kim Myung-joo said, scanning the surroundings.
The exact number of participants was 153.
There were roughly that many people present.
“Ladies and gentlemen…”
A loud voice boomed from somewhere.
Judging by the vibrations, this definitely wasn’t the sound coming from a speaker, but a Magic used to amplify the voice.
It was an acoustic setup fitting for a Magic Forum.
Once the host finished the brief introduction and announced the start of the opening ceremony, fireworks shot up from all directions accompanied by exciting music.
Bang, bang!
Cha Se-hyeon looked up at the sky with an absurd expression.
“They’re really going all out, those crazy bastards.”
She lowered her head again.
She saw Kim Song-cheol holding a cocktail.
“Where did you get that?”
“They were handing them out as I walked by. They said it’s free.”
“Really?”
Kim Song-cheol and Cha Se-hyeon drank their cocktails side by side while watching the stage.
Soon, the Director of the US Federal Hunter Bureau, James Whitmore—who could be considered the host of this Forum—walked up to the platform.
Wearing a Hawaiian shirt, James opened his mouth while holding a wooden stick instead of a microphone.
“I sincerely welcome all the Mages gathered here. The mysterious field of Magic is a blessing given to humanity and…”
James continued his speech informally.
‘…What is he even saying?’
Of course, Cha Se-hyeon, who wasn’t good at English, couldn’t understand.
An awkward situation occurred where she couldn’t laugh even when the people around her laughed at the occasional jokes.
“What’s he saying?”
In the end, Cha Se-hyeon asked Kim Song-cheol.
It was because Kim Song-cheol seemed to understand.
“He’s welcoming us, saying Magic is the best, and that we should protect Earth together in the future. There’s no core to the story. He hasn’t even mentioned what we’ll be doing at the Forum. He just says to enjoy ourselves. I don’t know what we’re supposed to be enjoying…”
It was then.
“Please look this way.”
As James pointed to the right, space suddenly began to shimmer.
It was a sophisticated illusion Magic indistinguishable from reality.
Soon, the space opened to the left and right, revealing a large theme park.
Various booths prepared behind the flashy entrance were visible.
In front of them, employees dressed in matching outfits smiled brightly and waved their hands.
It was an exterior that naturally made one think it would be fun, even without knowing what was done there.
“Enjoy!”
With James’s shout, the opening ceremony ended.
The participants immediately swarmed toward the theme park.
“Shall we take a look?”
Led by Kim Song-cheol, the three members of the Korean team also entered the theme park.
After passing through the entrance, the first thing they saw was a photo zone.
There were several life-sized cutouts there, featuring the world’s most famous Hunters smiling brightly.
Of course, none of them were Hunters like Cha Se-hyeon who didn’t engage in public activities; most were Hunters who appeared frequently in the media.
“Take it quickly.”
“Taking it now, one, two…”
A pair of a man and a woman stood next to the cutout of Colt Vangard and made V-signs with their fingers.
“What an annoying brat, look at him grinning.”
Cha Se-hyeon turned her head away as soon as she saw Colt Vangard’s bright smile.
It seemed they weren’t on particularly good terms.
“Oh? Cha Se-hyeon? Right?”
Just then, a white man approached Cha Se-hyeon’s side.
He was wearing swimwear, and despite being a Mage, his body was quite toned.
“I’m a fan! Let’s take a photo…”
“Get lost.”
A stone wall suddenly rose from the ground, separating the man and Cha Se-hyeon.
However, the man did not give up and poked his head over the stone wall.
“Could you please just take one photo? Because of the non-disclosure agreement anyway… Ah, or at least an autograph!”
“I told you to get lost.”
This time, magic chains sprang up and bound the man’s body tightly.
The man fell to the floor just like that and flopped his body around like a fresh fish.
“Wow! Cha Se-hyeon used Binding Magic on me! What an honor!”
As he shouted, the Hunters who heard him began to swarm toward Cha Se-hyeon.
“What? Cha Se-hyeon?”
“Where, where!?”
The Hunters, who had been satisfied with just the cutouts, approached like a horde of zombies upon discovering the real Cha Se-hyeon.
“Crazy.”
Then, Cha Se-hyeon’s body suddenly vanished and disappeared somewhere.
It was Blink, the evasion Magic with the fastest response.
It was unknown where she went, but she was likely nearby.
This was because the movement distance of Blink was not very long.
“Where did she go?”
“Find her!”
As Cha Se-hyeon vanished, the swarming Hunters also eventually scattered.
“…Shall we go on our own?”
“Shall we?”
Kim Myung-joo and Kim Song-cheol headed further inside.
There were many different types of booths, but the hands-on booths were the most numerous.
The hands-on booths were also where people crowded the most.
For example, a booth like a shooting game.
It was a game where you earned points by quickly and accurately hitting targets that appeared randomly.
Naturally, the gun was the Mage, and the bullets were Magic.
“It’s crowded here.”
“Would you like to give it a try?”
Kim Myung-joo asked subtly.
Kim Song-cheol was essentially the face of Republic of Korea.
The more a sign stood out, the more it helped with ‘business.’
“Hmm.”
Many people were already standing in line.
The game times varied wildly.
This was because the game ended if you missed a target or couldn’t keep up with the speed at which targets appeared.
Most used Magic Missile. It was the most suitable because it was the simplest and fastest.
Instead of standing in line, Kim Song-cheol watched the game being played from behind.
The distance was about 15 meters.
Targets appeared on a white wall; at first, they were large and slow.
But as time went on, they became smaller and faster.
Kim Song-cheol glanced at the score rankings.
Even the 1st place was only around 2000 points.
The 1st place score was too low.
And the game was too easy.
“I’ll pass.”
Kim Song-cheol moved on again.
There were even more hands-on booths further inside.
They were almost everywhere you looked.
There were booths for measuring the temperature of Fire Magic or the current of Lightning Magic.
“Isn’t this a bit blatant?”
Kim Song-cheol said with a smirk.
It felt like a punch machine at an amusement park, but the intention to gauge a Mage’s level was palpable.
“I can understand things like games, but I don’t know why they’re measuring the temperature of Fire Magic…”
“Ah, this! It’s a machine they tried to introduce to the Training Academy but fell through, to think I’d see it here. One of these costs over a hundred million.”
“This? Isn’t it just a thermometer?”
“It measures temperature in 3D. It can measure temperature three-dimensionally, so it’s perfect for measuring things like a Fireball.”
“Is that so…?”
There was all sorts of stuff.
Moving even further inside, there was a game-type booth that caught Kim Song-cheol’s eye.
It must have looked interesting to others as well, as the line was much longer than at the Magic Missile booth.
This booth was a game-type booth where a wider variety of Magic could be used.
Monsters appeared sporadically inside a rectangular arena.
Depending on the type of Monster, you had to use Magic above a certain power level to defeat it, and points accumulated upon defeat.
Kim Song-cheol checked the score rankings again.
1st place was around 100,000 points.
Based on a quick calculation, it was still not a very high score.
“Let’s come back tomorrow.”
Kim Song-cheol shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
—
The next day.
After finishing a snorkeling schedule that didn’t quite fit the Magic Forum, Kim Song-cheol visited the theme park again.
Kim Myung-joo was still in a suit, and Cha Se-hyeon followed them while using Invisibility Magic.
Only a beer bottle floating in mid-air revealed Cha Se-hyeon’s position.
“Oh!”
Kim Song-cheol stopped in front of the shooting game.
The 1st place score was a whopping 112,000 points.
A figure that had increased by 56 times compared to yesterday.
The ranking board also listed names and nationalities, and it was the record of a Hunter named Grace from the United States.
“It looks worth trying.”
Kim Song-cheol went and stood at the back of the long line.
The line for the game-type booth was longer than yesterday.
Because the scores were displayed in real-time, it was stimulating people’s competitive spirit.
After waiting for a long time in the hot weather, it was finally Kim Song-cheol’s turn.
There were still more than 20 people waiting, and many people were watching from behind.
Kim Song-cheol first tapped his bracelet on the sensor.
Then, his name and nationality appeared on the electronic board.
“Korea? That’s Cha Se-hyeon’s country, right?”
“I heard someone saw Cha Se-hyeon yesterday.”
“What? Why didn’t I see her?”
As soon as they saw ‘KOREA,’ people started talking about Cha Se-hyeon.
The real Cha Se-hyeon, meanwhile, was gulping down beer while scoffing at those talking about her.
“READY.”
A mechanical voice was heard.
Kim Song-cheol wiped his nose once and prepared to use Magic.
“START.”
A target appeared along with the signal.
A small Magic Circle was created in front of Kim Song-cheol.
A deep blue sphere was rapidly fired from its center.
Bang!
A direct hit, as expected.
The deep blue sphere struck the center of the large target.
“Eh? What kind of Magic is that?”
“Did you see that just now?”
The crowd buzzed.
Until now, every participant had used Magic Missile.
It was only natural.
It was because it was the fastest and most convenient Magic among the ‘Magic they possessed.’
The Magic Kim Song-cheol just used was Energy Bolt.
It was a lower-tier Magic than Magic Missile, and because the Formula was not significantly different, it was a Magic he had mastered as soon as he read the Magic Book.
Energy Bolt follows the same mechanism of imbuing Mana with mass and firing it, but its power is slightly lower and the casting is a bit simpler.
It was a Magic perfectly suited for this kind of game.
And the appearance of this new Magic was enough to draw the attention of the participants.
Bang! Bang!
Kim Song-cheol continued to hit the targets while feeling the people’s gaze.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
At first, targets with a diameter of almost 50cm appeared, and the intervals were about 5 seconds.
But as time went on, the targets became smaller and the intervals gradually decreased.
Pabat-pabat-bang!!
Energy Bolt sliced through the air at an increasingly fast speed.
He never missed.
Accordingly, the score increased rapidly.
As the targets became smaller, they gave more points, and as the intervals decreased, more and more targets appeared.
It was a structure where the score increased exponentially the longer you held out.
Pabat-pabat-bang!!
After holding out for about 2 minutes, an Energy Bolt was fired almost once every second.
The score was around 70,000 points.
After holding out for another minute, the score surpassed 100,000 points.
Kim Song-cheol was still relaxed.
There was no sign of urgency.
However, contrary to his calm appearance, the Energy Bolts were being fired rapidly.
Pabat-pabat-pabat!!
A new Magic Circle appeared even before the afterimage of the previous one vanished.
It was a remarkably fast casting.
Before long, the score surpassed 100,000 points.
“Isn’t he going to take 1st place?”
“No way. How can he exceed 100,000 points? I only got 30,000!”
“But did they buy that in Korea? It’s not really a Magic worth buying…?”
The people filling the back began to buzz.
“He passed it!”
“It’s already 120,000 points!”
The score, which was 100,000, gained another 20,000 points in an instant.
Since the targets appeared and vanished so quickly, the score went up in no time.
Kim Song-cheol held out for another minute there.
Pabat-pabat-pabat-pabat!
Energy Bolts being fired like crazy.
It was at the level of firing a rifle on full auto.
The targets had even become as small as bottle caps.
Now, they were barely visible from a distance.
When things reached that point, the buzzing people also fell silent.
They just watched Kim Song-cheol’s performance with their mouths agape.
The score went from 200,000 to 300,000 in the blink of an eye.
And in the moment they spoke, it surged to 400,000.
Kim Song-cheol’s Magic stopped when it reached 580,000 points.
“Ah, my eyes are going to pop out.”
He kept up with the casting speed, but the targets became so small that a vision issue arose.
Kim Song-cheol turned around while rubbing the area around his eyes.
And he belatedly discovered that everyone was quietly watching him.
From the middle of the game, he had been in a state of full concentration and had no room to be conscious of his surroundings.
A brief standoff.
Whew!
At the same time someone blew a whistle with their fingers, cheers and applause erupted.
The bewildered Kim Song-cheol soon grasped the situation, gave a slight nod to the people, and began walking somewhere.
Naturally, it meant ‘follow me.’
The people were puzzled at first, then they began to follow Kim Song-cheol one by one.
Like the Pied Piper, Kim Song-cheol led the crowd into another game booth.
This time, it was a booth for a Monster hunting game.
The target game and the Monster hunting game had completely different mechanisms.
The target game was closer to using a simple Magic skillfully, but the Monster hunting game required real Magic skill.
The current 1st place was also Grace from the United States.
The score was 1,400,000 points.
As Kim Song-cheol entered the booth, people watched his back with eyes shining.
They were more excited about what kind of performance he would show rather than whether he could take 1st place.
This was because it seemed like he would obviously take 1st place.
The mechanism of the Monster hunting game was similar.
More and more powerful Monsters appeared.
After tapping his bracelet on the sensor, Kim Song-cheol took his stance.
It was a posture where he stood tall and slightly extended his right hand forward.
Before long, Monsters began to appear.
Kim Song-cheol’s Magic was fired toward the Monsters.
At first with Magic Missile; as the difficulty rose, Lightning Spear; and as the difficulty rose again, Stone Missile was fired.
The score rose in an instant.
It soon surpassed 1,000,000 points.
And the appearance speed of the Monsters also became quite fast.
If they piled up, it was game over.
Normally, by now, the Monsters should be half-piled up, but that wasn’t the case.
Kim Song-cheol was clearing out all the Monsters.
He was confident in his casting speed to begin with.
Pabat-pabat!
Every 3rd Circle Magic rushed toward the Monsters.
A shocking casting speed.
Some people shook their heads as if they couldn’t believe it.
It was when the score reached 1,500,000 points.
Beep!!
A signal sounded, and the number 4 appeared on the electronic board.
It meant that Monsters that could only be killed by using 4th Circle Magic would appear.
An insect-type Monster that looked large at a glance appeared.
Kim Song-cheol simply slammed a 3rd Circle Thunder Strike into it.
Crack!
Then, surprisingly, the insect-type Monster vanished and the score went up.
“What was that just now?”
“That doesn’t make sense…?”
It meant he produced the power of the 4th Circle with a 3rd Circle Magic.
Moreover, the fact that he didn’t explicitly use 4th Circle Magic also meant that Kim Song-cheol was a 3rd Circle Mage.
Cognitive dissonance hit everyone there.
This was because everyone had thought Kim Song-cheol was a high-level Mage.
The score rose rapidly.
It surpassed 1,700,000 points.
In the first place, they couldn’t keep up with his clearing of minor mobs.
In a short while, the score became 2,000,000 points.
Beep!
The signal sounded again and the number changed to 5.
It meant 5th Circle Magic had to be used.
Then, Kim Song-cheol simply lowered his hand.
Due to the structural limitations of 3rd Circle Magic, he couldn’t produce the power of the 5th Circle.
If he used ‘the power that makes him faint upon use,’ it might somehow be possible, but there was no way he could use that here.
As Kim Song-cheol scratched his cheek and stepped out of the booth.
“Excuse me. How on earth did you…!?”
“Exactly what Circle are you?”
People swarmed around him.
Everyone here was a Mage, and they couldn’t help but feel it.
The fact that Kim Song-cheol was a completely ‘different’ kind of Mage.
Then, Kim Myung-joo, who had been just watching until now, stepped forward.
“Let’s talk about the details with me. Nice to meet you, I’m Kim Myung-joo from Republic of Korea.”
Since the sign had brought in the customers, it was time for the chef to cook.
When Kim Song-cheol stepped slightly behind Kim Myung-joo.
“Song-cheol, were you really that good?”
Cha Se-hyeon’s voice was heard quietly from right beside him.
“What do you mean by ‘that good’?”
“Shit, do you have a chip implanted in your brain to do Formula Calculation? Even I can’t do it that well.”
“Formula Calculation?”
“Yeah, how do you do all of it?”
“All of it? I don’t do all of it.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“I only do the necessary parts and wing the rest by feel, you know?”
“Fuck, where is there a part to ‘wing by feel’ in Formula Calculation? Are you insane?”
Cha Se-hyeon’s Invisibility Magic wavered, and her form briefly appeared and vanished.
That was how absurd it was to her.