“Oh my, young man. You're here. It's been a while since I've seen your face, ohoho.”
After parking his bike and entering the officetel entrance, the building owner he hadn't seen in a while greeted him.
A middle-aged woman who had been tormented by ghosts and lived almost like a wreck. Just a few months ago, even a proper conversation had been impossible, but she seemed to have improved greatly recently. It wasn't strange, since almost all the ghosts in the officetel had been exorcised.
“Ah, ma'am. Your complexion has really improved. I'm glad. I was very worried.”
“Hoho, ma'am? Don't use such a stiff title, just call me ajumma.”
The building owner tapped Ian on the shoulder and held out the bundle she was holding.
“This is a present. I was originally going to give it to my son, but I'll just give it to our lucky charm.”
“Lucky charm?”
“Thanks to you, young man, all the ghosts in our building have completely disappeared. So you're a lucky charm! I asked a shaman, and they said it's because the young man's energy is incredibly strong. I really don't know how fortunate it is that you came!”
A way of speaking that subtly mixed formal and informal speech. If the other person was someone related to mysticism, Ian might have felt offended, but the building owner was an ordinary person through and through, knowing nothing of such things. There was no need to be sharp with someone like that.
He smiled bitterly and accepted the bundle she handed him.
“Haha... I'll gratefully accept this.”
“Yes, yes. I packed some homemade food and various things, so eat well. If it's not enough, just say so.”
“Understood. I'll return the dishes when I'm done eating.”
“No, no. Don't do that, just keep them. They don't cost much.”
The building owner laughed and patted Ian on the back. The force of the blow made his body bend slightly.
“And the shaman said that if you let other people into the building, the young man's energy will weaken, so try not to let anyone in. So for the time being, you'll be using this place alone. You're not bored or lonely without neighbors, right?”
“Ah, it's fine. I prefer being alone too.”
Seeing a shaman spout nonsense about strong energy, she seemed like a fraud, but it was fortunate she said not to let others in. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. The fraudster seems useful after all.
After chatting a bit more with the landlady, Ian got on the elevator and tapped the wall. Then the elevator ghost appeared and quickly pressed the button.
Whirr...
The elevator smoothly went up and stopped at the floor where his workshop was. Ian got off without much thought, opened the workshop door, and went inside.
The workshop he entered after a long time was still dark. Only the blue light from the fish tank dimly illuminated the surroundings; there was no other light.
The fish in the tank were still alive. As they swam, algae drifted, and the blue light flickered, scattering water shadows in all directions. Ian stared briefly at the light that lit his face, then sat in the chair in front of the table and turned on the lamp.
With a click, a small light bloomed above the desk. He set his bag aside, put on his glasses, and summoned the grimoire. The pure white [Touch of Re-creation] settled into his hand and purred.
‘First, I'll mass-produce the dying eyeballs. I have a lot of materials I secured in advance, so I'll use those.’
Ian took out a bag from his bag.
A bag containing a large amount of clean human eyeballs. All were materials obtained by raiding cultists from the mirror world.
Whether the humans of the mirror world should be considered real humans required a very long discussion, but whether their ‘eyeballs’ functioned as ‘eyeballs’ was a simple and clear question that didn't need much thought.
Eyes are organs that just need to see. In that respect, the cultists' eyeballs could be said to adequately fulfill their role as eyes. Even if they were separated from the body, that fact didn't change.
It's alchemy that could originally use even fish eyes sold at the market. No matter how low the quality of mirror world residents' eyeballs, they were bound to be better than fish eyes.
Ian placed the grimoire on his lap and thought.
‘Items made with fish eyes destroyed one vampire’s eye, and items made with a magician’s eye destroyed a cleric’s eye with regeneration ability. So what would the effect be if I used the same human eyes?’
It's a well-known fact that even with the same alchemical item, the effect varies depending on the materials used. But since he had never made a proper control group before, it was a bit hard to compare. After all, the difference between fish eyes and a magician’s eyes was too huge.
So with this opportunity, he planned to test the performance difference based on materials. Fish eyes and human eyes would serve as a good comparison.
Thinking that, Ian took out the eyeballs one by one and set them up, and also took out the remaining materials needed for alchemy.
Since he had done this alchemy several times already, there was no difficulty. Ian first made about five for testing, then extracted fish eyes from the fish he bought on the way and made about three for the control group.
Now he just needed a test subject...
“Hmm.”
Ian took off his glasses for a moment and rummaged through Cartel requests to find a reasonably quick one to do. Then he found a suitable request and crooked his lips.
[Bounty Hunt]
[Anastasiya Denisov]
[A mercenary from Russia. Currently on the run after killing her employer. Last spotted in Seoul, and according to intelligence, she has not yet left Korea.]
[Cartel P.S. – Anastasiya is an esper. She has the ability to instantly perceive the weaknesses of her opponents, and her weapon of choice is firearms. She is currently moving with a companion.]
[This request automatically disappears if the target leaves Korea. If it disappears after acceptance, it means the request has been cancelled.]
[We are in possession of the target’s blood and clothing. If you wish, you may visit a Cartel branch to receive them. However, you must pay a fee when taking them.]
[You may bring the target dead or alive. If you bring them to the branch, we will settle on the spot.]
[Request reward – 3,000,000]
[Reward when dealing with the target's companion as well – 5,000,000]
Objectively speaking, it wasn't a very good request. There was no need for a mage to do it, and the reward wasn't that high.
But it was sufficient to test the items. Ian accepted the request, found the address of the nearest branch, and marked it on the map.
He didn't forget to pack the compass he carried in his bag.
*
Anastasiya was living in Incheon's Chinatown. Having just woken up, she habitually rummaged through the shelf next to her bed and took out a cigarette. Then she lit it while still lying down and inhaled the smoke.
“Sssip... Hooo...”
The acrid smoke heated her lungs, and the drowsiness seemed to fade. She brushed her greasy black hair with her hand and spoke to her subordinates outside the door.
“All of you, come in.”
No answer came. Instead, three massive men entered the room.
They were mercenaries hired by Anastasiya. There was no affection, just a relationship based on money, but that made them highly reliable. She tapped the ash casually onto the floor and asked them.
“Were there any strange ones during the night?”
“None. Some Yanbian guys settled nearby came by, but we dealt with them appropriately.”
“Those bastards don't matter. The problem is those who come after the request the Cartel put out.”
Anastasiya clicked her tongue and picked up the pistol placed nearby.
Damn employer. She didn't like how he kept changing the agreed reward, so she slaughtered his entire family, and then his company commissioned the Cartel to handle it. Thanks to that, she had to live like a recluse. Until she returned to her homeland, she had to keep hiding.
‘I'll have to stay here for at least a month. I don't like it, but there's no other way.’
She clicked her tongue and checked the remaining ammo in the pistol.
A total of 7 rounds. More than enough to kill someone. She crushed the finished cigarette against the wall, then checked the weaknesses of the hired mercenaries.
[Xiao Feng]
[Heart, brain, kidneys, spine.]
[Kim Cheol-min]
[Heart, brain, kidneys, spine.]
[Olga]
[Heart, brain, kidn—]
The succession of weaknesses. Anastasiya noticed something strange about Olga's weakness and frowned.
At the same moment.
[Olga.]
[Eyes.]
“Eyes?”
The moment she muttered at the sudden situation, Olga’s eyes burst with a ‘Pop!’ sound.
“……Huh?”
A stupid sound came from Olga’s mouth. Blood poured from her crushed eyes, and in an instant, her face covered in blood, she screamed in terrible pain. Kim Cheol-min and Xiao Feng were startled, and Anastasiya twisted her face, turning to look at the window.
Destruction of eyeballs without any warning. Only one group could pull off something like this.
“Mage...!”
Through the window opposite, Anastasiya's gaze landed on the building across the street.
A black-haired man, naturally inside that building, was holding something resembling a human eyeball and adjusting the angle of its pupil. Then his eyes met Anastasiya’s.
But he didn't panic. Instead, he smiled and crushed the eyeball he was holding.
Squelch!
With a gruesome sound, Xiao Feng and Kim Cheol-min’s eyeballs were simultaneously destroyed. Not only that, it even caused damage to the brain organs connected to the optic nerves.
“Keuaaaaak!”
“Uh, uwaaaak!! My eyes, my eyes...!”
The two who lost their sight in an instant screamed. Anastasiya aimed her pistol at the man and immediately used her ability.
[???]
[How dare a mere insect gaze upon him.]
“……What?”
The appearance of text she had never seen in her life. Before Anastasiya even realized what it was, blood gushed from her nose.
Immediately after, she lost consciousness and collapsed.