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I was up on the rooftop of the jjimjilbang building.
Here, there was an outdoor swimming pool left unused due to the cold weather, as well as a pavilion where one could grill and eat barbecue. I was sitting on the wooden floor, scrolling through my phone.
Articles of praise were pouring in from all over the world. The world’s spotlight was shining once again on , a man who had been fading from people’s mories.
I had saved Korea from crisis and reunited with my comrades. One might think it was the ultimate happy ending, but truth be told, I was still feeling lost.
I tossed a honey-roasted peanut, which I had brought up as a snack, into my mouth and crunched down on it.
And a shot of soju.
I tore off a piece of the dried squid’s body, dipped it generously in gochujang, and chewed it thoroughly.
Another shot.
Is this a bit pathetic? Ah, whatever. I’m drinking because I want to.
I emptied another shot.
Now, the sun was rising, and dawn was breaking. Watching the sunrise from a tropolis rooftop was special in its own way. Just as I was about to pour myself another glass...
"Yusin."
A voice called out from behind . It was Jin Bora.
"Oh, Bora. When did you get here?"
"I just arrived."
I cleanly drained the last shot. Then, I raised the glass over my head and made a show of shaking out the last few drops. Without a word, she gathered up the paper cups and snack crumbs and threw them into the nearby trash can.
"Shall we go, then?"
"Yes." She paused, then carefully continued. "Are you really going to be all right? You could delay your return a little longer..."
"I’m fine, I’m fine." I tapped my forehead with my finger. "I told you, I spent a long ti in the world of consciousness. My ntal fortitude isn’t so weak that I’d be shaken by this."
I acted tough because I thought Jin Bora might be worried.
Well, if it had been the old , I would have been agonizing over the side effects of my Over-Imrsion and Unification traits. But it was also true that I was doing quite a bit better than back then.
As I walked down the stairs with Jin Bora, I spoke up. "You haven’t told the others about the demonkin thing, right?"
"No."
"Please keep it a secret."
She let out a deep sigh. "If God really exists, I think He’s being too cruel."
"About what?"
"Just everything. You finally reunited with everyone after five hard years, but you can’t even properly open your heart to them, and you have to keep doubting them from now on."
"It won’t last that long." Stepping inside the jjimjilbang building, I gestured to her. "I’ll go change my clothes and co out. Wait for outside."
"Okay. I’ll wait."
I walked through the familiar space. Thinking that today was my last day at this bathhouse, which had served as my base camp for a while, left feeling sowhat restless.
I headed to the locker room to change, packed up my necessities, and placed them in my subspace pocket. Finally, I made my way to the front desk to settle the bill.
"Oh my, young man! Leaving early today?" The proprietor, who had been folding towels, greeted warmly. She was soone I owed a lot to during my stay.
"Yes, things turned out that way." Resting my hands on my knees, I smiled brightly at the child standing beside her. "Hello to you too, Minjeong."
The proprietor’s daughter waved at with sleepy eyes.
"Actually, today is my last day here, so I ca to say goodbye."
"Oh my!" She covered her mouth, a surprised look on her face. "Did you finally get a job? Oh my goodness! That’s wonderful news, simply wonderful!"
"Pardon? Ah... Well, you could say that."
"You have no idea how much my heart ached seeing a young man hanging around the bathhouse eating nothing but instant ran. Oh my, oh my."
She gently patted my shoulder. "You’ll do great wherever you go! They say you can tell everything about a person just by observing one thing. You were always so polite to the elderly folks here, always cleaned up ticulously after yourself, and even stepped up to help the older gentleman with the bad leg!"
"There aren’t many young people as diligent as you. I don’t know where you got hired, but you’ll excel no matter where it is! I guarantee it."
I fell silent.
It felt warm.
All I did was co to the jjimjilbang and rest comfortably, yet I wondered if I deserved to receive such massive encouragent.
"Oh dear, listen to rambling again." The woman wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She was a deeply affectionate person. "Cheer up, young man! Even with all the noise about disasters and whatnot, this world is still worth living in. We have to keep living, right?!"
"Thank you." The end of my sentence trembled. It might have been a trivial conversation to so, but to , it was an imnse source of strength. "I’ll be going now."
"Yes, yes. Keep your head up. Shoulders back!"
"Co play with later!"
I bowed respectfully to the jjimjilbang owner, waved at the child, and stepped outside.
After removing the water veil covering my face, I walked down the stairs to find Jin Bora waiting. Beyond her, Jeong Seojin had a car parked and ready.
"Let’s head back, Tower Master."
"Yeah."
Taking a deep breath, I got into the car.
Morning was dawning over Seoul.
*
Riding in the car driven by Jeong Seojin, we entered Sanggye-dong.
I thought about dropping by Arcane for a bit, but showing up unannounced felt like it would be an imposition, so I decided to head straight to the Magic Tower.
We entered the restricted zone. It was once a dense forest, but in the span of five years, it had been transford into an indoor area. Even the safety of the monsters beyond the walls had been verified.
Now, one could drive straight through the restricted zone. Speeding through a tunnel built specifically for vehicles, we arrived at the fog barrier marking the end of the road.
From here on, vehicle entry was prohibited. We parked the car in the employee parking lot and walked into the fog.
Before long, the majestic sight of the Magic Tower appeared before my eyes.
"Let’s go."
"Alright."
Flanked by Jeong Seojin on my right and Jin Bora on my left, I stood before the main gates of the Magic Tower.
Carefully, I placed my palm against the door.
With the sensation of my two feet lifting off the ground and being sucked in, my body entered the Magic Tower.
"Welco back to the Magic Tower!"
Paper confetti cannons fired, and flower petals drifted gracefully through the air.
I was startled by the massive crowd packing the Golden Lobby. The space was so overflowing that people had even crowded onto the stairs above. At the very front, I could see Eunsol, Samia, Seo Shimhee, Kim Sarang, and Cha Doyeon.
"Yusin! Why are you so late?" Eunsol scurried over and clung to my arm, speaking in an affectionate tone.
"Welco back, hunter Kim Yusin."
"Thank you, Samia."
"I wonder if we’re even allowed to be here. We aren’t even affiliated with the Magic Tower." When Kim Sarang laughed brightly and joked about it, Cha Doyeon nudged her elbow and stepped forward.
"I was so frantic earlier that I couldn’t greet you properly, CEO Kim."
"Ah, Doyeon... Wait, no, should I be calling you Minister Cha now?"
We shared a laugh and shook hands. Seo Shimhee and Kim Sarang also exchanged a few words.
After greeting them, I walked forward, guided by Eunsol.
Banners hung along the stairs and walls, printed with phrases like Welco back! and We missed you, CEO Kim Yusin!.
The left and right were filled with gorgeous floral arrangents sent to the Magic Tower from all over the world. Most were from Alchemia businesses, but among them were also arrangents sent by Sham and Marie from the World Guild.
Firecrackers were still going off. The mages were casting special effects tailored to their own unique styles, and several were enthusiastically clicking the shutters of their phone caras.
Just then, as if the sun had risen within the building’s ceiling, a blinding light poured out as Ea made her appearance.
The rookie mages who were seeing her for the first ti gasped in awe.
"Welco back, Tower Master." She took my hand and pulled along.
The crowd parted to the left and right, carving out a path. At the end of it sat a luxurious nine-tier cake seemingly modeled after the Magic Tower.
"Wh-what is all this?"
"It is a cake to commorate the Master’s return."
A coback cake instead of a birthday cake? What was this even?
I threw a glance at Jin Bora, who was walking closely behind. "You planned this, didn’t you?"
"Ohoho! The employees’ sentints sure are touching!" she replied, avoiding my gaze.
I walked up to the cake, practically being pushed. All nine tiers were completely covered in candles.
...I have to blow all of these out? I’ll die of shortness of breath.
"Co on, blow them out, Yusin!"
Jin Bora clapped her hands, hyping up the crowd’s cheers. Chants of "Blow them out! Blow them out!" erupted from all over the lobby.
Helplessly, I did as I was told and blew on the candles in front of . Right on cue, soone’s wind magic swept past, perfectly extinguishing the candles all the way down to the bottom tier.
"Woooooo!"
A barrage of joyous cheers and applause poured in.
"Please say a few words, Tower Master," Jeong Seojin said, politely handing a microphone.
I took the microphone and cleared my throat. Just that simple action drew gasps from various corners. Eunsol covered her mouth, her eyes welling up with tears.
"I’m Kim Yusin. Thank you for welcoming ."
"Woooooo!"
"I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the many people who have protected the Magic Tower during the five years I was absent."
I shifted my gaze, taking in the sight of the administrators and the fourth-floor team.
"My return won’t change everything overnight. Still, let’s work together to fill in the holes. I need everyone’s help. Let’s join forces and climb to the top together."
A wave of applause washed over the room. I tightened my grip on the microphone.
"And now, I will announce the Magic Tower’s top priority moving forward."
I shifted my gaze toward the external caras filming from the back of the hall.
At first, this was supposed to be a small, private banquet just for us, but I had specifically instructed Jeong Seojin to bring in outside press.
My statent was being broadcast live all over the world.
"Our utmost priority is to stop Nesis, the catastrophic Rank-11 disaster that will occur in exactly six months."
The mages exchanged anxious glances, murmuring among themselves.
"As soon as I woke up, I was contacted by the clairvoyant known as Oracle. As you all know, Oracle’s prophecies have never been wrong. They inford the Alliance and various governnts of this impending disaster, but it seems everyone was too busy trying to cover it up. Oracle expressed deep concern about this cover-up, as well."
My gaze bored into the caras.
"I believe hiding the truth won’t solve anything. Destruction is right around the corner. All of humanity must join forces to prevent the prophesied apocalypse. Our Magic Tower will willingly stand at the vanguard and fight Nesis. And..."
This was my real objective.
"This is a declaration of war. From this mont on, any faction deed a hindrance to our strategy against Nesis will be considered an enemy of the Magic Tower. No matter when, where, or what suddenly happens..."
I curled the corners of my lips into a sharp smile.
"Don’t resent too much."
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