天堂电影

Chapter 94: Awesome Rune (2)

Kim Chae-min reconsidered her words as she looked at Woo Hwijae, who had suddenly stiffened.

It doesn’t seem like I said anything wrong?

Wasn’t it a reasonable question to ask?

As far as Kim Chae-min knew, Woo Hwijae’s younger brother was ten years old. Objectively speaking, that’s a young age, and she had heard that the kid had spent a long time in the Research Lab. Wouldn’t there be a lot of things he’d want to do once he left the lab?

It’s that kind of age, after all!

“Teacher… Woo?”

Kim Chae-min cautiously called out to Woo Hwijae. Even though she tried to keep her voice as gentle as possible, Woo Hwijae was visibly startled.

Woo Hwijae forced an awkward smile and lowered his half-raised arm.

“Well, I’m not sure. What he wants to do….”

But then, as if something had come to mind, he bit his lip hard and spoke.

“Probably school. He’d probably… want to go to school.”

“School?”

“…Yes.”

“Not something like wanting to go to an amusement park? Usually, kids prefer things like that.”

Woo Hwijae’s expression darkened.

Did I say something wrong again?!

Regardless of Kim Chae-min’s inner panic, Woo Hwijae’s expression didn’t brighten.

“No. He likes learning.”

“He’s quite an enthusiastic learner! Maybe he takes after you, Teacher Woo? You know a lot too, Teacher Woo.”

“Knowing a lot and wanting to learn are different things….”

To an outsider, it might seem as if he didn’t want his brother to attend school.

While Kim Chae-min harbored doubts about Woo Hwijae’s abilities, she never thought his care for his brother was insincere. If he had bad intentions, there had been plenty of opportunities for Woo Hwijae to act on them.

But he never did. Even when Hong Seok-young occasionally left openings on purpose.

When he stayed quiet, it inevitably made one ponder his motivations. From the beginning, Woo Hwijae had consistently stated his reason.

To save his brother.

He’d held out well all this time. Even in the bleak situation where there wasn’t a single clue about where his brother was, he didn’t grow anxious and diligently carried out his tasks. That alone was admirable.

‘But he still seems to be hiding something.’

This wasn’t just a useless Hunter’s intuition, but an Archmage’s instinct.

Woo Hwijae was definitely hiding his abilities. Just look at how he whipped up that rune blueprint in a day.

When explaining the rune, he claimed it was created by a Mage he knew and that he only memorized it without understanding it. But what about the rune blueprint? Although Kim Chae-min was still a novice when it came to runes, even she knew that creating something like that required a certain level of understanding.

And he just drew it effortlessly?

It’s possible he could have memorized the runes. But memorizing dozens of runes, including the blueprint? With not a single mistake?

While it wasn’t entirely impossible for Kim Chae-min herself…

‘His skills are too good for someone who supposedly was just a cleaner in Ark.’

Perhaps Woo Hwijae held a higher position than he let on.

“If it’s school, then he can just attend. And take him to amusement parks or places like that too. Teacher Hong would probably give you time off for something like that.”

“Time off is… I have classes, you know.”

“Teacher Hong took a whole week off! You should take a week off too, Teacher Woo!”

Woo Hwijae didn’t respond, just listened to Kim Chae-min’s words and smiled.

Watching him, Kim Chae-min shrugged. She had seen her share of Hunters becoming tense before an upcoming dungeon raid.

This wasn’t exactly a dungeon raid, but… well, leaving his brother in the hands of a criminal organization that could do who-knows-what until they retrieved him— it was no surprise if the anxiety he’d been hiding was finally starting to show.

“Your brother must be really cute, Teacher Woo!”

“…….”

“Does he have any favorites? Any favorite food?”

Kim Chae-min didn’t notice that the longer she talked, the darker Woo Hwijae’s expression became.

* * *

AWESOME!

Kim Chae-min was watching the video she had seen hundreds of times again.

The video was barely a minute long.

As short as it was, the message it conveyed was clear.

Visualized Mana. That was something you’d only see inside a dungeon. She never imagined it could be artificially created.

“Watching it again?”

Kim Chae-min, who had just restarted the video from the beginning, looked up at the familiar voice. Lee Mi-seon was dressed more casually than usual. Well, not that casual, it was still a white blouse and black dress pants, but at least she’d taken off that stifling suit jacket.

Lee Mi-seon approached Kim Chae-min.

“Aren’t you tired of watching that?”

The video.

Kim Chae-min shrugged.

“Not really.”

“It seems like you’re always watching that whenever I see you….”

“It’s interesting.”

“You mean watching other people’s shocked reactions?”

“No.”

Despite her light tone, Kim Chae-min replied with a serious expression.

“It’s the fact that magic isn’t all-powerful.”

“Hm.”

“I wish runes would become more widespread.”

“Really? The Mages I know say otherwise.”

“That you can’t replicate magic with runes?”

“Something like that.”

The Mages that Kim Chae-min knew all said similar things, to the point where she eventually blocked them all from contacting her.

Just thinking about her phone that had been incessantly buzzing for days made her shudder.

“You know, Hunter Lee?”

“About what?”

“That the academic circles are trying to find out who the Mage in that video is.”

“…Oh my. The Magic Academic Society?”

“Who would believe that a guild funded by Daeyeon would research runes without any ulterior motives? Of course, Mages tried it first.”

“They did?”

“It’s something circulating in the Mage community.”

Kim Chae-min scoffed.

“They probably wanted to say, ‘Look, even Daseon is wasting money on this. Isn’t this some kind of fraud? We should investigate….’ That was likely their intention. And it actually started gaining traction.”

“You let that happen?”

Lee Mi-seon’s voice sounded indignant, but her face didn’t reflect it. She was giggling mischievously, reminding Kim Chae-min of her niece. After all, blood doesn’t lie.

“If you had needed the support of that crowd, wouldn’t you have mentioned it to me?”

“That’s true.”

“So, I just sat back and watched.”

The mockery towards Daseon didn’t last long.

A single post appeared.

It showed the cover of a paper published by Daseon, along with a yellow sticky note.

[C’est génial!]

If you couldn’t recognize that handwriting, you couldn’t call yourself a Mage.

A once-in-a-century prodigy who became an Archmage at the age of only six. Her discoveries had redefined modern magic theory and were credited with advancing magic to a new level.

Someone like that had left a note saying it was awesome.

Directed at the very runes that everyone had mocked.

“Something like that happened? We didn’t hear anything about it on our end.”

“Well, Mages are quite closed-off.”

Mages aren’t part of the International Ability Association. If Lee Mi-seon had known, it would have been more surprising.

“Anyway, when someone of that caliber praises something, it hurts their pride not to know why. Hunter Lee, you should have seen the community atmosphere then!”

Kim Chae-min burst out laughing.

“Everyone went dead silent… Those guys probably hadn’t drawn runes so diligently since their first magic training.”

“So what happened after that?”

“What happened? They tried to confirm it.”

Still, none of them were as straightforwardly impressed as the prodigy from France. They all tried to keep up appearances, saying things like:

‘Ah, well, it seems runes have made some significant advancements recently.’

‘Runes? I heard… there are some types that actually produce usable effects.’

It was as annoying as it was amusing, and as unamusing as it was irritating.

“Then you showed me this video.”

Kim Chae-min resumed the video she had paused.

“See? It’s fun. They all act so high and mighty, then wonder which lunatic would release something like this to the public….”

This time, Lee Mi-seon also watched the video intently alongside Kim Chae-min.

In truth, there was nothing new to learn. Lee Mi-seon had already watched this video so many times that she was sick of it. That playful wave towards the camera…

“The post said the Mage suddenly drew dozens of them.”

“Do you think I’m naive enough to believe that?”

“It’s just an expression. I just wanted this to be discovered naturally from the start.”

“It’s highly likely that a Mage who found the antics at the Academy amusing decided to stir things up. I’m only telling Hunter Lee, but the North American Mages have announced they’re going independent this time.”

“…Are you sure it’s okay to tell me that?”

“It’s North America’s business. I’m a Korean Mage.”

Kim Chae-min chuckled softly.

“The North American Mages aren’t acting on impulse. France will be joining them too.”

“France?”

“They seem to want to split up the Academy’s influence. They think everything is too concentrated in one place. Something about how mana shouldn’t be bound like that.”

Lee Mi-seon looked like she wanted to hear more about the inaccessible politics of the Mage society, but Kim Chae-min pretended not to notice.

In any case, she didn’t know much more than that. She did get to hear a bit more than others due to her status as an Archmage.

‘But so what?’

Kim Chae-min was a Mage. An Archmage. The kind of Mage who treasured a single rose blossoming in her hand above all else.

She had no interest in getting involved in Mages fighting for their own benefits. Even if a storm were to come, she knew it wouldn’t affect her.

That was the position held by an Archmage.

“Anyway, enough of that! Hunter, look at this.”

“Yes?”

Kim Chae-min stopped the video and set her phone aside. On the empty table lay the rune blueprint that Woo Hwijae had given her.

Lee Mi-seon recognized it right away.

“Did Teacher Woo draw that for you?”

“Yes, that’s the one. I heard they’re building a new pilot school building this time.”

“Ah, yes… Is there something you need?”

“Could you make living quarters for me there?”

“…You’re planning to live at the school?”

“I’m not sure yet, but isn’t it better to build it all at once rather than finding I need it later? If I don’t end up needing it, they can use it for something else.”

“How would you like it done?”

“A separate building would be fine. I’d rather not be in the same building as others.”

“…Are you that particular about it?”

“I’m not that picky.”

Kim Chae-min waved her hand dismissively.

“A wooden building would be nice. Like a log cabin. I’ll be covering it with plants anyway, so the exterior doesn’t matter much. Just make sure the windows are large, and it’s far from the buildings where classes are held.”

“That’s… not difficult. In fact, I’d be grateful if an Archmage were to declare it as a domain.”

“It’s not certain yet.”

Even so, Lee Mi-seon smiled warmly, expressing her gratitude.

Kim Chae-min scratched her cheek awkwardly and then unfolded Woo Hwijae’s rune blueprint.

“When you’re making the classrooms for the kids, could you add a meditation room on the top floor? Or it could be an auditorium. I plan to inscribe this rune there.”

“This one?”

“It has a mana purification function, so it’ll be helpful for the Mage students. Since Teacher Woo gave it to us, we should make use of it.”

“…The rune work itself?”

“I’ll handle that, so you just need to prepare the base.”

“Oh, and…”

“I was thinking of reinforcing the school’s security myself. But maybe Teacher Woo knows something useful. Among the runes he mentioned, I’m sure… I’ll go ask Teacher Woo about it!”

With that, Kim Chae-min jumped to her feet and dashed outside.

Watching the Archmage’s retreating figure in a daze, Lee Mi-seon could only shake her head with a helpless smile.

*****

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