Gangbuk’s downtown district was teeming with people despite it being a weekday. Ian, Kim Yul, and Han Yuna pushed against the tangled crowd as they made their way toward a certain comic book shop.
[Supreme Comic Room]
Contrary to its ridiculous name, its appearance was no different from an ordinary comic rental shop. There were no customers visible beyond the glass walls; instead, a short woman was bustling about, organizing books and sorting them by genre. And another woman who looked exactly like her stood outside the shop, holding a promotional sign and shouting at the top of her lungs.
“We have all the latest comics in stock! We also carry every volume to completion of the comics whose popularity has recently skyrocketed thanks to their anime adaptations! Come in and take a look! Rentals are free!”
Black hair and dark brown eyes. A typical Korean woman, yet even amid the noisy downtown streets, her voice rang out with perfect clarity. The group exchanged brief glances, then approached her.
“Excuse me……”
“Ah, yes! Are you looking for a particular comic? Just say the word! I’ll bring it right to you!”
“We appreciate the thought, but we’re here looking for someone. Kim Jinseong. Would he happen to be inside?”
“……Why?”
After a pause, she asked them back. Instead of answering, Ian took out a business card he had received from the Management Bureau and held it out. The woman checked the pure white card, furrowed her brow slightly, then sighed and turned around.
“Follow me inside.”
They did. The woman sorting books inside the comic shop saw the group and beamed brightly.
“Welcome!”
“That’s not it. They’re guests from the Bureau.”
“Ah.”
Her face immediately fell. With her shoulders drooping, she slid a comic book into an empty spot on the shelf.
It was a fairly famous and popular series. The problem was that it had completely botched its ending, but now that the anime was more famous, its reputation had recovered somewhat. If the unaltered ending were ever aired later, the public opinion would probably flip again.
“Jinseong-oppa is on the second floor. He’s probably in the middle of some ritual or whatever right now, but it’s bullshit anyway, so it won’t be a problem if you go in. Though it might make him think a little badly of you.”
“That’s fine. Please guide us.”
Ian said. The woman let out a hmm through her nose as she stared at him, then headed up to the second floor.
The second floor of the building was an ordinary villa-style residence. There were five doors along the hallway, and the woman knocked on the door at the very end of the corridor.
“Oppa, guests from the Management Bureau are here. I think they came because of those theme park tickets you proposed last time.”
“……! I’ll open right away, wait!”
The answer came back immediately. Heavy footsteps thudded from behind the tightly closed door, and not long after, it flew open. As if he had been performing some bizarre ritual until just moments ago, a man smeared all over with animal blood and with his palms coated in salt stared at Ian, Yuna, and Kim Yul, then gulped.
“……The Management Bureau?”
“Strictly speaking, we’re not people from the Bureau. We’re mages cooperating with them. We came to ask you to copy some tickets.”
Kim Yul answered. Kim Jinseong’s eyes sparkled.
“M-Mages!”
“Keep your voice down. You’re loud.”
Kim Yul frowned.
Her attitude toward anyone other than mages from the community was always cold and frigid. Espers were no exception.
“Ah, yes. F-For now, please come in! It’s a little messy, but there shouldn’t be any problem!”
“We don’t intend to talk for long.”
“Of course! I don’t intend to take up too much of your time either, mages!”
Kim Jinseong smiled purely and stepped aside. Ian stared at him silently for a moment, then slid a hand into his pocket and entered the room. Yuna and Kim Yul followed behind him.
After confirming that they had gone into the living room, Kim Jinseong spoke to the woman who had guided the group.
“Good work, Jihyeon. Go back and rest now.”
“……Are you sure it’s okay to be alone with mages? Should I stay with you?”
“No, it’s fine. They came under the name of the Management Bureau for now. Surely they wouldn’t try to kill me.”
It was an extremely naïve thought. If he truly understood what mages were, he could never have said such a thing.
The mental worlds and unconscious realms of mages were often quite extraordinary, so one could not rule out the possibility that they might be smiling and talking openly one moment, then suddenly attack the next.
‘They said he was a magic enthusiast, but he’s lacking in common sense.’
Of course, Ian had no intention of harming Kim Jinseong. Unless he suddenly attacked the group or tried to steal the grimoire, Ian planned to quietly take only the copied tickets and leave. As for conversation, well, he figured the bare minimum would be enough.
There were roughly five days left until Han Yuri’s “reservation” date. He needed to make the pentagram in the meantime, so he would have to stay busy for a while. In a situation where every minute and second was precious, he couldn’t spend an entire day on one esper.
“Ah, I’m sorry. You waited a long time, didn’t you?”
“No. More importantly, go wash up first. You reek of blood from head to toe.”
“Ah, right. Just a moment……”
Having finished his conversation, Kim Jinseong hurried into the bathroom, washed his face, and changed clothes. Returning in a neat outfit, he sat facing the three of them.
“Thank you for coming. To be honest, I didn’t think the Management Bureau would accept my proposal.”
“It just happened because various interests aligned. There’s no great meaning behind it. More importantly, you can copy byproducts of the strange?”
“Yes. You came to receive tickets, right? Did you bring the ticket with you, by any chance?”
“Here it is.”
Ian took the theme park ticket from his pocket. Kim Jinseong accepted it naturally and turned it this way and that with a serious expression.
“Hmm……”
“What do you think? Can you copy it?”
“Yes, no problem. I’ll copy it right away.”
Without hesitation, he immediately dragged the corner of the ticket down his own arm. The sharp ticket opened a wound, and the blood flowing from it dripped onto the floor, pooling in an instant.
Bzzzzzt.
The pooled blood changed into a rectangular shape. Then letters and pictures identical to those on the ticket were engraved upon it. Only the reservation holder’s name was blank.
“That’s one done. Should I keep going?”
Kim Jinseong continued slashing his arm with the ticket. Only after repeating it two more times did he let out a long breath.
“That’s it. Here, take them. Please be careful when handling them. The moment you take them and write the reservation holder’s name, they’ll produce the same effect as the original, so keep that in mind.”
“……Impressive. So if you wound yourself with a byproduct, you can copy the object using the blood that flows from the wound?”
Ian asked as he accepted the four tickets. Kim Jinseong smiled awkwardly.
“Yes, that’s right. That’s why byproducts that are large, or jelly-like, are hard to copy. It’s fortunate the tickets don’t fall into either category.”
“So it isn’t an ability with only advantages.”
“Well, doesn’t everything have its pros and cons in one way or another? More importantly, Mage-nim, may I receive my payment now? I’d like to have a conversation……”
Kim Jinseong said as he placed a bandage over his wound. Since Ian had intended to pay the price from the start, he nodded in place of the sullen Kim Yul and the shrinking Yuna.
“Fine. I think I can keep you company for about twenty minutes. What are you curious about?”
“……! F-First of all! I’m curious how you became a mage, Mage-nim! I want to become one too!”
“I obtained a grimoire and simply did what was written in it. But even if I tell you the method, espers can’t become mages. It’s a bit much to say this in front of you, but espers are essentially a kind of mutant. Realistically, it’s impossible.”
“Ah……”
“I won’t criticize you for dreaming. But don’t pour money into trying to become a mage for no reason. It’ll all be a waste.”
“Y-You’re very direct.”
“I don’t particularly like beating around the bush, and there’s no reason to deceive you with lies.”
Ian gave a faint laugh and looked through the slightly open door at the magic circle drawn on the floor.
“Still, you prepared the ritual itself properly. At a glance, it seems like an astrological ritual using constellations. Did it succeed?”
“No…… I definitely did it exactly like the book said, but there was no reaction at all.”
“You’re not a mage, so there’s nothing to be done about that. Astrology is on the difficult side to begin with. If you want to see even a rough effect, you’d be better off performing a Mars ritual using red silk, gold, and silver. Though it only has the effect of improving health, it’s one of the few occult-style rituals that can be performed without necessarily being a mage.”
“A Mars ritual……! Understood, I’ll try it! Thank you for telling me!”
Kim Jinseong wrote down the details about the Mars ritual in his notebook.
The conversation continued after that as well. Ian gave appropriate answers to the questions he asked, and Kim Jinseong wrote everything down like an eager student. When Ian used a single spell, he was so shocked that his eyes rolled back and he practically fell over.
“Wow, that’s fucking insane…… So this is real magic. What the hell was I even trying to do……”
The conversation continued for about ten more minutes before coming to an end. In that time, Ian and Kim Jinseong managed to become somewhat friendly. It was less because Ian had made an effort, and more because Kim Jinseong himself had remarkable sociability.
“If I have anything to ask of you again, I’ll come by. Though I doubt there will be.”
“You’re welcome to come anytime! I’ll tell the kids everything, so please feel free to visit!”
“Sure.”
Ian’s group left the comic shop under his send-off. Yuna, who had been sitting still for over twenty minutes, let out a deep sigh and staggered.
“Uaaah…… I-It’s exhausting…… As expected, I hate places where three or more people gather……”
“Good work. Here, the tickets. Let’s meet at the theme park entrance on the date written there.”
Ian handed her two tickets. One was the one that had just been copied, and the other was Han Yuri’s. Yuna slipped the two tickets into her pocket and fidgeted with her lips.
“……Th-Thank you. For helping me so readily. If I’d been alone, I-I absolutely couldn’t have done it.”
“What’s this all of a sudden? You thanked me last time too.”
Ian asked with a small laugh. Yuna’s face flushed faintly.
“Th-That was that. And my s-sister said the more you say thank you, the better……”
“She sounds like a good person.”
“S-So I’m absolutely not going to let her die.”
Yuna swallowed and muttered in a resolute voice. Ian lightly patted her head.
“Let’s work hard together.”
“U-Ung……!”
Yuna did not swat his hand away, and nodded with a faint smile. At that moment, Kim Yul, who had been watching the two of them in silence, puffed out her cheeks and yanked Ian toward her.
“If you two keep creating that kind of mood by yourselves, I’m going to get jealous, you know? I may not look it, but I’m seriously possessive and territorial, so if you leave me alone, it won’t be good for you either, okay? You’ll end up with teeth marks all over your nape and chest and collarbone.”
“If someone saw us, they’d think we were dating.”
“We weren’t?!”
Kim Yul looked genuinely surprised. Ian lightly pushed her away.
“Stop talking nonsense, and take your ticket too. Don’t forget to write your name on it today.”
“Yees. I gladly accept your date invitation.”
Kim Yul giggled and slipped the ticket into the pocket of her skirt.
With this, the basic preparations were complete. Now all that remained was to make the pentagram.
‘Amelia needs to gain experience too, so it would be good to make it together while I watch over her.’
Thinking that, Ian walked through the downtown street packed with people.
Eden Theme Park.
It was time for the amusement park with that ridiculous name to close as well.
The Outer Sea hungered.
*
[Ba-ba-ba-bam!! The current number of players remaining in the theme park is 164 in total! Among them, the one who has dealt with the most players is “Tagetes (千壽菊屬),” Marigold! She’s the only mage among the contestants in the theme park! A remarkable player who has already hunted down and killed over sixty contestants!]
At the center of the theme park. On the electric display board of a clock tower modeled after London’s Big Ben, the face of a woman with vermilion hair appeared vividly. Beside it, an orchestra of clowns played instruments made from humans and danced.
“Haa……”
A woman with the same face as the one on the electronic board sat on the roller coaster rail opposite it, tilting her head with an indifferent expression.
“Good thing I became a mage after getting the ticket. Otherwise, I’d be crawling around just like those bastards down there, wouldn’t I?”
Her gaze swept over the other “players” running across the ground.
“D-die, you fucker……! Just die, please!”
“I’m sorry. To save my daughter, I have to kill you……!”
“I-I still have 2 hours left! You goddamn fucking bastards!”
Citizens who had been trapped in the theme park for as short as a few hours or as long as several days tore at one another, struggling to kill.
Because of the rule that if they did not commit murder at least once every 3 hours while awake, they would become targets of the theme park staff, they were forced to kill others.
“Hahaha, good! This is great!”
Of course, there were also some bastards who weren’t being forced into it, but that was because those bastards were strange. Ordinary people usually tended to feel resistance toward murder. Some people even simply held out for 3 hours and let themselves be torn apart by the anomalies.
Naturally, Marigold had no intention of dying like that.
Nor was she so lacking in ability that she would die like that.
Her magic was an attribute-imbuing method that granted petals a blade-like sharpness. Since she had only just become a mage, that was all she could use, but even so, she was far stronger than an ordinary person.
If there had been Bureau agents present, it might have been different, but citizens who did not even know magic existed could do nothing before her and died. Already, 60 people had died that way.
“At first, I thought I’d stepped in shit or something……”
She rose to her feet.
She stared at the electronic board.
[Time Remaining Until the End of the Death Game – 29 Days 17 Hours]
[Winner – Last Person Standing or 200 Total Kills]
[Current Score]
[1st Place – Marigold Verdier (60)]
[2nd Place – Jacob Clarefeed (41)]
[3rd Place – Xiao Wong (23)]
[4th Place – Baek Jinwoo (11)]
.
.
.
[Current Remaining Participants – 164]
[Current Remaining Participants – 157]
[Current Remaining Participants – 168]
.
.
.
[The reward for 1st place is a one-time wish coupon! We will grant any wish! If someone kills 200 people, everyone remaining will be hired as theme park staff! Coming to work at a place of joy wouldn’t be so bad either!]
[Then, good luck!]
[> ㅡ <]
After checking all the information revealed, she grinned.
“Now that I look at it, this is practically a lottery ticket.”
Swish.
Marigold took petals from her pocket and flung them. At the same time, she recited an incantation.
“As the rain of flowers falls, the earth turns red.”
Crunch!
The petals hardened like blades and plummeted vertically. The bodies of the citizens who had been fighting fiercely were torn apart and pierced through, and they died on the spot.
[1st Place – Marigold Verdier (64)]
The contents of the electronic board updated.
There was the drawback that, still inexperienced, she could only use it 3 times a day, but even so, at her current pace, she would be able to reach 200 within a month.
There was no need to rush. Leisurely, slowly. She just had to kill them one by one. Once she killed 200 people that way and fulfilled her wish, she would be able to become far stronger than she was now.
“Hmhmhm……♪”
Marigold hummed as she looked down at the blood-soaked floor of the theme park.
This was 5 days before Ian charged in.