-Chinatown
After a short while, screams rang out. My hearing had returned, incomplete though it was.
Then, through my still white-bleached vision, the scene before me gradually began to come into view.
Something was raining down from the ship with a heavy patter. Looking closely, I saw they were parts of human bodies. The corpses of the Hanta mercenaries.
“Aaagh! What the hell is this?”
“People are dead! The Hanta mercenaries all died in the explosion!”
“How did an explosion happen in the first place?”
I quickly pushed myself up and looked around.
The mercenaries from Pil’s office were strewn all over the place, screaming.
The explosion had occurred in the container on top of the ship, and it seemed all the Hanta mercenaries there were dead.
Fortunately, the mercenaries from Pil’s office who had been on the pier had not suffered any direct damage.
The mage who had been right in front of the container was nowhere to be seen.
The mage had been in a position where there was no way he could have been safe from the explosion, but I was certain he had disappeared unharmed.
Because he was the very culprit who had caused the explosion.
I hurriedly cast detection magic. I spread waves in every direction and searched. I absolutely had to find the old mage.
‘It was an infinite pentagon. Why was the shape of that old mage’s magic circuit the same as the symbol of the Samir Cult?’
The old mage was not Samir. His appearance was completely different. Then why had the magic circuit he activated taken the form of an infinite pentagon?
Suddenly, I became certain that Samir existed in this world as well.
If this was a parallel world, it was not at all strange for Samir to exist here too.
Perhaps the Samir Cult existed intact in this world as well.
My heart grew hot. It pounded fiercely, thudding like a drum.
When I thought that I might be able to finish the revenge I had failed to accomplish in my previous life here, my blood boiled.
‘I will find them without fail and put an end to them.’
I was certain the old mage was someone connected to Samir.
I had to find him first.
But the old mage’s traces were not easy to locate. Even the infinite pentagon magic circuit I had seen just moments ago had already disappeared.
It seemed he had arranged for it to vanish once the explosion ended, to prevent pursuit.
Instead of the mage, my detection magic that had spread in every direction picked up something else.
From the direction of the exploded ship, several strands of mana were detected. It was mana flowing from the living beings that had been inside the container.
‘They’re still alive?’
Just as I was staring intently at the site of the explosion in puzzlement, the mercenaries, who seemed to be looking that way as well, began to murmur.
“L-look over there! What the hell is that?”
“What? Aren’t those orcs?”
“What was inside the container were orcs?”
“But how are those bastards fine even after that explosion?”
“Uh, the orcs are kind of strange! They’re not usually like that, are they?”
I could see demonic beasts pouring down from the ship, which was burning from the aftermath of the explosion.
As the mercenaries said, they were orcs. Orcs whose bodies had caught fire tumbled down onto the pier in a tangled mass.
Kraaak! Kraaak!
The orcs let out monstrous roars. They were not simple screams. Deep, low-frequency howls shook the eardrums and the air itself.
“Damn it! Was that mage from earlier a black mage? He’s released crazed orcs!”
Jang Pildu muttered as he stared at the orcs with a dazed expression. He seemed to be right. The orcs definitely did not seem normal.
But a black mage?
“Operation canceled! Everyone get out! Fall back!”
Jang Pildu shouted as he hurriedly rose to his feet.
Saying the operation was canceled was pointless. The moment the orcs began pouring down with their bodies aflame, roaring madly, the mercenaries had already started running away.
“Whew, this is my first time seeing an orc in the flesh. Orcs in our country, of all places. But can orcs leave the permitted zones?”
“They must have been smuggled in.”
“Who the hell did something like this? And what was with the explosion?”
“Damn it. All the Hanta mercenaries are dead. This has to be the work of a black mage. This is terrorism!”
The mercenaries chattered noisily as they passed by me. Because of the shock from the explosion, none of them could run properly.
“Elves or dwarves, fine, but orcs are absolutely out of the question. Look at those bastards. I’m totally against our country accepting orc immigrants!”
“What immigrants? Does that look like immigration to you? Those orcs aren’t normal. They survived an explosion!”
“Don’t you think a black mage modified those orcs somehow?”
“Damn it. Has black mage terrorism finally happened in our country too?”
Through their conversation, I was able to understand a little more about the situation in this world.
Conflict over immigration by other races, terrorism by black mages—the problems of this world now felt real.
But the mercenaries’ leisurely escape while they muttered among themselves only lasted that far.
Kraaak! Kraaak!
Dozens of orcs were running toward us, roaring monstrously.
“Huh? They’re coming this way. Run!”
The limping mercenaries began to pick up speed.
I ran too. I dashed forward while maintaining my detection magic. As I ran, I focused all my mind and gathered my consciousness inward.
As I had practiced on the way to Incheon Port, I controlled the waves and drew up my mana to the fullest.
Then I poured all of that mana into the detection magic.
I had to find the old mage’s trail.
‘He must have gone toward the outside.’
There was no way the mage was still here.
He might have already gotten far ahead, but if I strengthened my detection, I might be able to find even a trace.
In order not to confuse it with the mana of the orcs chasing behind me, I pushed forward at full speed.
For now, I headed toward the exit of Incheon Port.
After running for quite a while, I suddenly looked around and found no one beside me.
I could hear the orcs’ roars from far behind, but neither the mercenaries nor the orcs were in sight.
Before I knew it, I had left Incheon Port.
It seemed I had run quite fast.
‘Did mana activate even in my running because I was concentrating?’
I stopped briefly to catch my breath and spread my detection magic even wider.
A net like invisible fine mist stretched out in long strands. I deliberately excluded the area behind me, where the orcs were likely chasing from, from the range.
Then I caught a faint trace of mana. It was inside the street across the main road ahead.
‘That way!’
Of course, I could not conclude that this trace of mana belonged to the old mage.
But I had no choice but to chase after it anyway. For the moment, this trace was my only clue.
The street across the main road was Chinatown.
A familiar scene unfolded, no different from the previous world. Chinese restaurants with flashy red signs were lined up one after another.
I entered the middle of Chinatown, following the guidance of my detection magic.
I saw shopkeepers standing outside their restaurant doors. Instead of preparing for business, they had gathered in groups of twos and threes and were murmuring.
“What on earth is that awful noise?”
“See? You hear it, right? I told you I’ve been hearing strange sounds for a while now.”
“Huh? What’s that? Something’s coming in a whole pack.”
“What? Aren’t those orcs?”
“What are you talking about? Since when are there orcs in our country?”
“They are orcs, though?”
When I had climbed about halfway up the hill, I heard talk of orcs. It seemed the orcs had already arrived below.
I quickened my steps. If the orcs appeared, the mana detection would be thrown into confusion again.
The trace of mana caught by the detection magic was flowing from inside an alley. Perhaps because I had come closer, the strength of the mana I felt had grown even stronger.
It was when I stepped into the alley.
Crash! Shatter!
The sound of something breaking and smashing rang out. Unexpectedly, orcs were already rampaging inside the alley.
‘What? When did those orcs get all the way here?’
The fine-mist net of detection magic stretched toward the orcs.
At this point, mana detection became meaningless. I could not even tell whether the mana trace I had chased this far belonged to the old mage or to an orc.
After hesitating briefly, I withdrew the detection magic. Continuously using such powerful detection magic had consumed a great deal of mana.
For now, I had no choice but to set it aside. Since there were orcs rampaging right in front of me, I might have to fight them.
I was about to turn back out of the alley when a piercing scream rang out.
“Aah! Please help me!”
A woman burst out from beside an orc that was smashing a standing sign to pieces. Behind her, another orc’s massive arm reached out, trying to grab the hem of her clothes.
The situation was so urgent that my body moved before I could think of using magic.
I hurriedly looked around, picked up a chair that had been set by the roadside, and ran that way.
While keeping a suitable distance, I threw the chair at the orc reaching out behind the woman.
“Dodge!”
The timing lined up fairly well. Before the orc could grab the hem of the woman’s clothes, the chair flew at it, and in that opening, the woman slipped out like a squirrel.
But it was still too early to say she was out of danger.
Because of my attack, the gazes of all three orcs inside the alley turned this way.
I grabbed the woman by the arm, pulled her along, opened the door of the restaurant next to us, and went inside.
“We’re not open yet!”
A man holding a phone near the kitchen said.
“……They’re really orcs? No, how can orcs appear in Korea? Is the damn government accepting even orcs now?”
The male owner was busy on the phone and did not even look properly in our direction.
Saying they were not open yet meant he was telling us to leave, but we had no intention of leaving.
I stood in front of the glass door of the shop and looked outside. The orcs soon chased after us and had come right up in front of the restaurant.
Kraaak! Kraaak!
The orcs roared and charged at the glass door. I quickly dragged a nearby table over and blocked the door with it.
Only then did the male owner grasp the situation and start shouting.
“Aah! When did those bastards get all the way here? What the hell? Did you people bring the orcs with you? Why are you barging into someone else’s shop however you please!”
When the merciless owner nervously blamed us, the woman bowed her head and begged for forgiveness.
“I’m sorry. The orcs were violently attacking everything, so I ran away. They’re strange orcs. They don’t seem to be in their right minds.”
At that, the male owner glanced at the woman and spat out the words as if he were spitting.
“Damn it! On top of that, you’re an illegal alien? Not in their right minds? All other races are like that. Orcs, lizards, whatever…… Do you think this place is a shelter? Hurry up and get out!”
An illegal alien? A lizard?
I could not understand what the owner was saying.
Judging by the atmosphere, he seemed to be referring to the woman, but I could not make sense of it.
I knew what the words illegal alien meant, but I wondered how the owner could know that at first glance.
And a lizard? What was that supposed to mean?
I left the questions as questions. There was something else urgent right now.
The orcs were about to break the glass door and come inside at any moment.
I had to make good use of the brief opening I had created by blocking the door with the table.
I breathed deeply and began to move the waves of mana inside my body.