[Luca: Is today the day the bulletin board closes? But it still seems fine.]
[Jun: Everyone has already left.]
[Luca: Ah, the captain. That person already left? Then it will probably cut off soon.]
[Nadia: So you were on the bulletin board. It’s already been a week. Why haven’t you given your score yet?]
[Nadia: If you lost the duel, you should accept it. How can you just run away like that?]
[Luca: Ah, I think it’s cut off now. I can’t see anything.]
[Nadia: What an obvious lie.]
[Nadia: Quickly attach the score and apologize to our ‘Safe Climbing Club.’]
[Nadia: Hello? Are you listening…? (Signal lost)]
***
As I passed through the cave and reached the underground, a sprawling view opened before me.
An inverted city began to come into view.
It still appeared unchanged, though it somehow felt a bit new.
‘When was the last time I visited this city?’ I pondered, trying to recall.
I hadn’t visited when I attended Professor Heisen’s final lecture, so it had been nearly six months since my last trip here.
I remembered my first visit to this place.
I was awestruck by the peculiar cityscape.
Of course, I only wandered through the lower levels, so I didn’t get a proper tour.
The temptation to visit the upper levels tugged at me.
But I shook my head, dispersing the thought.
I had quite a few points now, but I couldn’t predict how much I would need for the necessary items.
The more I saved, the better.
Thinking about points brought the Mirror Worm to mind.
The creature, nestled in my possession, displayed my current points.
18,021 points.
It was an astonishing amount, more than I’d ever had.
Honestly, it didn’t feel real since points didn’t exist as tangible objects like gold or gems.
Still, it was undoubtedly a significant number.
Once I established a method to earn points, they started pouring in.
If I could earn this much from just 200 people, ‘how many points were the city’s operators amassing?’
I couldn’t even fathom it.
Eighteen thousand points
A lot, surely.
Yet it didn’t feel like enough.
Instead, I worried that it might still fall short.
I didn’t even fully understand what I needed.
“Something to store the information about the Shadow Tree,” they said.
No one in the tower had been able to answer that question.
Except Professor Irien.
She mentioned something useful and pulled out an object from a spatial rift.
When I saw it, I almost lost my mind and couldn’t remember anything else.
Only the image of her looking at me with a mix of pity and disdain flickered in my memory.
The thought of that form made my head throb.
‘Let’s not think about it anymore.’
I shook my head, pushing the thoughts aside.
That’s why I had come to this city, hoping to find something.
I fiddled with the medal in my hand, engraved with a small whirlpool design.
It was a medal left by Hwaryoung.
After trading for Professor Irien’s lecture seat, she had given it to me, saying I could use it to call her.
Her remarkable ability to discern my every intent from our first meeting came to mind.
If anyone could guide me to the materials I needed, it would be her.
Moreover, as a member of the great family connected to Hong Ryeong, this was a relationship worth maintaining.
With that thought, I brought the medal along.
I rose into the air, carried by the wind.
The magic flowing toward the city gently enveloped my body.
At the city’s entrance, people were still lined up.
I joined the queue and observed them.
Many were stronger than me, but there were also a fair number who weren’t.
They bore expressions of slight awkwardness.
‘Ah, it must be the season for new students,’ I thought, roughly calculating the dates.
Indeed, it was that time.
***
‘It had been just over a month since the twelfth lecture ended.’
‘This would be the third group of new students since I joined.’
‘Previously, I hadn’t even considered such thoughts.’
‘Taking care of myself was challenging enough.’
‘Soon, they too would register for classes, pouring all their points into lectures from the available professors, just as I had.’
‘Half of the lectures had already passed.’
‘Only eight remained.’
‘Once they ended, the students would all disperse.’
Lost in these thoughts, the line quickly dwindled.
I passed the checkpoint and entered the city.
The lower levels, dark and damp as ever, greeted me after such a long absence.
I headed straight to the city center.
The flow of people originating from the docks led there.
A large sign reading [Arcana General Store] loomed above.
It was my first visit since selling my lecture spot.
Even when I occasionally needed something, I would stop at street stalls or private shops instead of coming here.
Swallowing my nervousness, I walked in.
The interior split into paths for buying and selling.
Last time, I had taken the selling path.
‘What could the other side be like?’ I wondered, stepping toward the purchasing path.
Suddenly, the space shifted, and all the people disappeared.
Simultaneously, the medal emitted a light, sending magic somewhere.
I surveyed my surroundings.
It was a small room with a single desk.
It strongly resembled the place I had visited last time.
‘Are all rooms like this? Perhaps the upper levels are different,’ I mused, walking toward the chair by the desk and sitting down.
Since the medal had sent a signal, someone would arrive.
Soon, a woman opened the door and entered.
She smiled brightly at me, though her eyes retained their sharpness.
“It’s been a while. I am Hwaryoung, a second-grade employee of the 5th Customer Service Division at Arcana General Store. Thank you for summoning me.”
She bowed.
I returned the bow with a polite greeting.
Glancing at her chest, I noticed a golden badge pinned there, something I hadn’t seen before.
Second-grade employee, Hwaryoung.
“Congratulations on your promotion. I see you’ve moved up in rank.”
Last time, she was still a trainee, but her position had clearly advanced.
At my congratulatory words, she covered her mouth and laughed.
“What? It’s thanks to you, Evron. I’m just grateful.”
I couldn’t understand what she meant.
Blinking in confusion, she prepared a cup of tea and handed it to me.
I was startled when I saw it.
A single flower had bloomed in the teacup.
Though slightly imperfect, it was unmistakably my ‘Perfect Tea’ magic.
“This tea is currently trendy in the city. It’s magic created by Evron. The structure was simple enough to understand easily. I was amazed when I tried it myself,” she said, pouring tea into her cup with a smile.
She savored the aroma and continued, “You’ve shared so much with us, so of course, I should be the one thanking you.”
I felt my face stiffen.
My magic had spread this far—to the entire city, no less.
It must have leaked from the tower.
The magic I’d sold cheaply on the bulletin board had naturally reached the city.
I had anticipated this.
But that wasn’t the issue.
There had to be a reason she was showing this to me now.
I couldn’t figure out what it was.
For now, I forced a polite smile, organizing my worries to deal with them later.
Right now, my focus was on Hwaryoung in front of me.
“I’m glad I could be of help.”
She rested her chin on her hand, gazing at me intently.
Her eyes sparkled with interest.
“Recently, there’s been a lot of amusing news from your side. This magic is one example, and then there are curious rumors, like the story about my brother being chased off by a first-floor magician.”
“Is that so?”
She must have meant Jun.
It was easy to see why the story spread.
A vagrant defeating a noble family’s magician—what better story could there be?
“That individual will likely be picked up by another organization. They succeeded at something difficult, after all,” she added.
“But of course, our Arcana General Store is more interested in you, Evron.”
“In me?”
I was surprised at the thought of such a powerful organization paying attention to someone like me.
“The Mirror Worm you created—it’s an incredibly useful artifact,” she said, placing a sheet of paper on the desk and pulling out a pen to jot down several numbers.
“We’ve done research on similar items ourselves. Some results were promising. But there’s always the problem of cost—magic, materials, and so on. In most cases, we can’t sustain those expenses and have to give up.”
She smiled, and the numbers on the paper seemed to represent points.
Most of them exceeded ten thousand.
Beside them was the cost of making a single Mirror Worm: 25 points, the total of its component materials.
“In that regard, Evron, you are quite exceptional. I’ve examined your Mirror Worm. It has a structure that’s difficult for other magicians to replicate. It’s probably related to your unique magic.”
I froze.
They had analyzed my creation so thoroughly.
It hadn’t even been four months since I made the Mirror Worm.
Yet my unique magic had already been exposed.
I hadn’t realized at all.
Sensing my tension, she smiled softly.
Her eyes sparkled even more brightly.
“There have been similar cases in the past,” she said.
She flipped the paper over and drew a large circle, marking small points inside it and connecting them.
“There was a time when all the towers and cities of the university were interconnected through space. It was achieved using one person’s unique magic.”
“But why isn’t that the case now?” I asked hesitantly, trailing off.
She beamed at me and replied, “Because that person graduated.”
“Graduated?” I repeated, dumbfounded.
“Yes, it’s a shame. It would have been so convenient if it still existed. You’ve seen the teleportation gates scattered across the continent, haven’t you?”
“Ah.”
I recalled the enormous teleportation gates of the university city.
They transported people and supplies across the continent.
‘So, they originated from the university?’
“That was their project after graduating. It allowed humanity to advance significantly. Making it easier for magicians to travel to the university was just a bonus. That individual is still creating more teleportation gates.”
I thought back on history.
The first teleportation gates appeared over ten thousand years ago and had outlasted even the current emperor.
And as Hwaryoung said, they were still being built.
I had always assumed they were created by the empire.
But to think they were managed by a magician who had lived for over ten millennia—it was beyond imagination.
“Every now and then, extraordinary magicians like that enter the university. Naturally, Evron, you draw attention.”
I blinked in surprise.
While I couldn’t fully grasp her intentions, one thing was clear: they understood me better than I understood myself.
It was slightly overwhelming.
I had only come here to find something to aid my magic, yet this conversation had taken an unexpected turn.
Hwaryoung glanced around briefly before leaning closer to whisper in my ear, “Be careful. A powerless pig never knows when it might be slaughtered.”
With that, she pulled back as if nothing had happened, her demeanor as composed as ever.
“Let’s end this discussion here. Shall we move on to business? Could you tell me what brought you here today?” she asked, taking out a fresh sheet of paper and smiling brightly.
I could only respond with an awkward smile of my own.