Kim Song-cheol woke up. The morning sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the bedroom.
It had been nearly one month since he moved into this house. The once-unfamiliar bedroom now felt comfortable.
He tidied the bedding and stepped out into the living room.
After drinking a glass of water, he began his routine stretching. Next, he bathed in lukewarm water to purify himself, calming his mind.
He had finished his study of the Il-won. Now, it was time to manifest the theory that only existed in his head.
Magic did not require many materials. It could be realized with a body capable of handling Mana and the right knowledge.
Understanding the theory was equivalent to having all the necessary ingredients.
Kim Song-cheol stepped out into the yard with a clear morning mind. The chilly air brushed against his skin, piercing through his thick hoodie.
The reason he came outside was simply because the outdoors was better than being inside.
The flow of Mana differed slightly between indoors and outdoors. It was not enough to affect his training, but Kim Song-cheol preferred being outside.
He kicked off his slippers and walked barefoot onto the grass.
A plush, ticklish sensation traveled up from the soles of his feet.
He took a seat in the middle of the yard.
“Whew…”
With a deep breath, he signaled the start to his body and mind. His eyes remained half-closed.
As the morning sun rose, the shadow of the wall stretched across the yard.
Kim Song-cheol watched the boundary between light and shadow before eventually closing his eyes.
*Ssshh…*
A steady current of air formed around him. It was less of a wind and more of a phenomenon.
A single fallen leaf on the lawn floated up and slowly rose above his head.
At that moment—
*Kiiiiing!*
The Circles expanded and manifested outside his body. They were much larger than before.
Four rings rotated in different directions, boasting their brilliant blue hue.
The Circles increased their rotation speed. The air stirred in confusion, whipping in all directions.
His hair fluttered, and the strings of his hoodie whipped through the air.
*Kiiiiing!*
As the Circles spun faster, the blue light scattered like peeling paint. Gradually, pure white Circles were revealed.
*Whish!*
Suddenly, the blue light vanished completely, and the Circles became entirely white.
The white light radiated intensely, as if competing with the sunlight.
Soon, the snow-white Circles began to move. They floated in the air, aligning vertically with the ground before moving behind Kim Song-cheol’s back.
The glowing white Circles expanded into four large concentric circles before contracting back into a single ring.
This was the Il-won.
The snow-white Circle, which had been blindingly bright, began to shed a brilliant golden light.
At that moment, Kim Song-cheol’s concentration reached its peak.
The Il-won demanded his memories.
It was not a conscious being, yet it certainly felt like it.
Memories define a person. Kim Song-cheol opened his mind and showed his “definition” to the Il-won.
The Il-won began to peer into those memories. Kim Song-cheol shared its vision, watching the film of his life play in reverse.
Events at the Training Academy, incidents in the Dungeons, and the moment he first measured his Mana Affinity flashed by.
He remembered his days as an Accountant and the moment he passed the CPA exam.
The deeper a memory was etched, the clearer and more substantial it appeared.
He passed through his military service and down to his college days.
Memories of confessing to his first girlfriend—which seemed silly now but were so serious back then—flickered past.
High school, middle school, elementary school, and even kindergarten.
Then, finally, his first memory.
His ‘known memories’ ended with the image of him watching a butterfly in a small yard.
But the Il-won did not stop. It dug even deeper.
He felt as though he were being sucked into a deep, dark abyss.
He had been pulled into his subconscious.
The scenery Kim Song-cheol now saw and felt defied description.
Beyond visual elements like color and shape, he experienced sensations of touch and smell, accompanied by unidentifiable sounds.
Those sensations surrounded him randomly, unconnected.
Emotional weights like happiness, sadness, and depression—things impossible to grasp with the five senses—asserted their presence.
The Il-won sank boldly into that chaotic mixture.
He wondered if there was a bottom, and surprisingly, there was.
He didn’t know it because he saw or felt it; he simply realized it.
This was the bottom.
But the Il-won did not stop. It pushed through the floor as if piercing a tough rubber membrane.
‘Wait, the theory didn’t mention anything being further down…?’
Suddenly, the Il-won broke through the floor.
Kim Song-cheol’s consciousness was dragged along with it.
It was the deepest part of a human being.
It was the roots hidden beneath the soil, past the leaves, branches, and trunk.
The place was pitch-black. He could see nothing.
‘What is this place…?’
the moment he questioned it, the Il-won surged upward.
He returned to his subconscious and retraced his fragmented memories in order, finally arriving back at the present.
He had no time to focus on his questions. The process of forming the Il-won was not a leisurely one.
Kim Song-cheol immediately projected his inner self into the Il-won.
The Il-won absorbed it, and its shape began to shift wildly.
They weren’t triangles or squares, but indefinable geometric shapes.
Changing shape every 0.1 seconds, the Il-won became a mere lump of light and began to radiate.
Kim Song-cheol grew anxious.
The Il-won had to be a circle. It was the most perfect shape.
An Il-won that was not a circle could not be maintained.
It was time to move quickly to the next step.
However, Kim Song-cheol could not easily transition to the next stage: Concentration.
According to the plan, he was supposed to focus on a “Great Cause” to foster a connection with the Il-won.
In the Concentration stage, one needed the largest piece of their inner self. Specifically, a piece related to magic.
Kim Song-cheol had always believed that the reason he learned magic was for a Great Cause.
But after peering inside himself, doubt crept in.
‘Maybe it’s just curiosity.’
From the altruistic reason of a Great Cause to the purely selfish reason of curiosity.
Having just reviewed his memories, he was now more certain.
He might be extraordinary at magic, but at his core, he was just an ordinary human.
To choose a Great Cause might be arrogance or hypocrisy.
His deliberation was deep but not long.
The choice narrowed down to curiosity.
If this choice was wrong, the Il-won would scatter, and his Circles would be destroyed along with it.
In this state, the destruction of the Il-won was no different from the destruction of his Circles.
Curiosity existed within Kim Song-cheol’s inner self and within the Il-won that reflected it.
Using elaborate formulas, he began to connect those two massive islands of curiosity.
Like building a bridge with needle and thread, he wove the formulas stitch by stitch.
He still didn’t know if his choice was correct.
The result would be revealed in the Affirmation stage.
Sweat rolled down Kim Song-cheol’s temples.
He couldn’t afford a single mistake.
All the formulas had to be connected organically.
Since these formulas dealt with the inner self, they were incredibly complex and fragile.
After a long struggle, he embedded the formulas without a single error.
Kim Song-cheol took a brief breath.
‘…Here goes.’
Then, Affirmation.
Kim Song-cheol took control of the Il-won.
*Flash!*
The Il-won, which had been nothing but a lump of light, instantly took form and became a single circle.
The formulas connecting Kim Song-cheol and the Il-won pulled taut, constantly testing the strength of the foundation.
There was no room for rest.
The connection points changed in real-time. He had to constantly weave in auxiliary formulas to match.
Meanwhile, the Il-won’s rotation speed gradually slowed.
The high-pitched noise also diminished.
The Il-won, which had been about the size of an armful, shrank in diameter as its rotation slowed.
By the time he finished weaving all the auxiliary formulas, it was as small as a palm.
The rotation speed reached zero.
The Il-won no longer spun.
It simply existed, which meant the Affirmation had been successful.
‘…It’s done.’
The tension on Kim Song-cheol’s face eased.
The tasks requiring luck were over.
All that remained was Fixing.
With a relaxed heart, Kim Song-cheol began weaving the formulas to fix the Il-won’s existence into reality.
It was the most tedious part of the process, but also the most peaceful.
After finally fixing the Il-won, Kim Song-cheol opened his eyes.
The sun had already set, but thanks to that, the golden light of the Il-won floating behind his back looked even more brilliant.
“That was a truly productive day…”
Kim Song-cheol flopped down onto the lawn.
He looked up at the dark night sky.
In the black expanse, a single morning star was twinkling.
***
Kim Song-cheol took the car that arrived on schedule and headed to the Center.
The Center was close to his house—barely a 10-minute drive.
“Thank you.”
Kim Song-cheol thanked the driver and got out with his gear.
It was the usual luggage he carried when entering a Dungeon.
After adjusting his bag straps to fit snugly against his back, he entered the Central Hall.
The Haetae Team was already waiting in the lobby.
“Hello! Haha.”
Kim Jong-won immediately stood up and bowed.
The expressions of the Haetae team members as they greeted Kim Song-cheol were all bright.
There had been some unpleasantness in the first Dungeon, but everything had been smooth sailing since then.
They didn’t go into any Dungeons in Dungeons, and Hunters like Cheon Hui-ryeong were nowhere to be seen.
Safety was practically guaranteed.
That wasn’t the only reason the Haetae Team welcomed Kim Song-cheol.
Since he joined, their point income had increased significantly.
Since substitute Hunters received point incentives, an increase in points meant an increase in their annual salary.
In short, Kim Song-cheol was a teammate who guaranteed both safety and higher income.
“You’re here? How are you feeling today?”
Song Young-jin asked warmly.
“Good, always good. Is everyone else okay?” Kim Song-cheol replied with a smile.
No one on the Haetae Team was older than Kim Song-cheol.
In fact, he was the oldest Hunter in the Republic of Korea.
“We’re perfectly fine.” “Feeling great! Haha.”
They all nodded with smiles.
The Haetae Team soon stepped onto the Portal Tablet.
As Kim Jong-won was adjusting the tablet—
“It’s been over 30 days… She won’t come looking for us, right?”
Kim Su-jin muttered, though it wasn’t clear if it was a question or not.
It was something everyone knew but no one had wanted to mention.
Today was the thirty-first day since their promise with Cheon Hui-ryeong.
In fact, she hadn’t appeared the first time Kim Song-cheol entered a Dungeon after forming his Il-won.
That was the twenty-third day, a week before the deadline.
But today was the thirty-first day.
If she was going to show up, they would meet her during this Dungeon run.
“Don’t worry. Even if she shows up, it won’t be a problem. She’s someone you can talk to,” Kim Song-cheol said nonchalantly.
His tone was laced with confidence.
Since the person involved spoke so lightly of it, the others seemed to relax.
“…Then, I’ll begin the transmission. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Transmit.”
The moment Kim Jong-won’s countdown ended, the Haetae Team was sent into the Dungeon.
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