Chapter 10 – Show (1)

Sun-woo, who had escaped from the earth with Nan-seol’s help, sat down on the ground with a tired face.

“Please guard me.”

After confirming that Sun-woo was safe, Nan-seol asked him to protect her, then closed her eyes and began treating her internal injuries.

Sun-woo looked at Nan-seol’s pained expression and thought of the potion. He opened his inventory window, saw Hwangbo Ja-gyeom, and put his phone away again.

If Nan-seol had minor internal injuries, Hwangbo Ja-gyeom had quite serious wounds. His chest was stained red with blood he had coughed up, and his injuries were so severe that he couldn’t even circulate his internal energy.

If Nan-seol were alone here, he might consider it, but there was no reason to worry about Hwangbo Ja-gyeom too.

[Contamination source Level 3 acknowledged. You have eliminated a Level 3 contamination source. Grade experience has increased significantly. Skill slots are full, so points will be awarded instead. 50 points awarded.]

[Party member Min Sun-woo was the main force in eliminating the contamination source. Acknowledged as contamination source Level 3. 470 points awarded.]

Sun-woo was very surprised. It was an unexpected reward.

At the same time, rewards seemed to have been given to others as well.

“Cough, the losses are considerable.”

Hwangbo Ja-gyeom coughed up some remaining breath and then took out a pill from thin air. It was internal injury medicine bought with points.

He threw the internal injury medicine into his mouth and his expression became much more comfortable. Nan-seol, who had heard the voice, also bought and took the same pill and circulated her energy.

Sun-woo also checked the window before his eyes.

[Min Sun-woo: 2 Star. Achievement Rate 37%]

[Additional Inventory 500p]

[Additional Skill Slot 500p]

[Additional Basic Recovery Potion 100p]

[Additional Basic Water 1p]

[Item Enhancement Stone 100p]

[100,000 won per point]

[Types increase as character level rises.]

[Current Points: 560p]

Unfortunately, the pirates swept away by the river water did not award points.

However, with the pirates he killed directly, the points he originally had, and the points awarded this time, he had exceeded 500 points.

Sun-woo’s face brightened. He could buy an additional skill slot. The contamination source’s evolution had turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Sun-woo immediately pressed the window before his eyes.

[You have added a skill slot.]

Soon after, the return voice was heard and the group said their farewells.

“Ugh, I thought you were one of the Twin Flowers chosen just for looks, but you were a proper warrior. Anyway, thanks to you, I survived. I’ve become broke, but since you saved my life, I’ll owe you a debt. I’ll repay it when I get the chance.”

Hwangbo Ja-gyeom stopped mid-sentence and coughed lowly.

“Well, with injuries like these, it doesn’t seem like I’ll be summoned for quite a while.”

“Are there no summons when injured?”

“Of course. Why would they bring a patient to fight? But don’t deliberately harm yourself. The sanctions seem to be extremely severe.”

Sun-woo looked at Nan-seol with a troubled expression at Hwangbo Ja-gyeom’s words.

Nan-seol, who had checked her physical condition, spoke with a regretful voice.

“I might not be able to participate in the next mission. Take care of yourself.”

With Nan-seol’s words, the group disappeared from the Water Dragon Stronghold.

After the group disappeared, water continued pouring into where the Water Dragon Stronghold had been, and later a large lake would settle in the center of the island.

***

After the mission ended, Sun-woo returned home and focused on gaming for a while. His ranking had fallen considerably during his break from gaming.

Sun-woo’s appearance after a long time caused chaos on the bulletin board, and the screams of opponents who were instantly defeated filled the chat window.

Sun-woo, who had gamed all day, seemed like he could regain first place if he pulled just one more all-nighter, and a satisfied smile bloomed on his lips.

However, Sun-woo’s reclaim of first place had to be postponed.

[This is a personal mission. A contamination source before activation has been detected near the current summoner’s location. The expected location is displayed on Min Sun-woo’s phone. Please check.]

A new mission was heard in Sun-woo’s ears.

Sun-woo frowned and turned off the computer. Eventually, the mission had invaded his daily life.

However, his anger quickly subsided. His habitual qigong practice calmed his anger.

It seemed that the Three Talents Mind Method, being a Taoist qigong, had excellent effects on calming people’s minds.

As his mind calmed, the light from his phone caught his eyes. On the phone screen he picked up, an icon was blinking.

“A map app this time?”

Sun-woo sighed and pressed the icon, and a location in Seoul was displayed on his phone.

“Right in the middle of the city.”

The current time was 7:30 PM. Seeing that a message had suddenly arrived, it seemed like he needed to handle it now. Sun-woo immediately called a friend.

“Huh? Weren’t you lying low? Why the sudden call?”

“You’re home now, right? It’s urgent, give me a ride to downtown Seoul.”

“Idiot, am I a taxi? Should I just run over?”

Naturally, his friend Min-seok refused, but Sun-woo had a way to make him come running.

“I’ll give you the +11 signature sword you’ve been singing about.”

“…I’ll run over right away.”

Min-seok really came like lightning. He appeared driving a rattling old car just one minute after Sun-woo left his house.

“Customer! I’ll serve you with my utmost effort!”

He was spouting nonsensical flattery, thinking about the item.

“Never mind that, let’s go here.”

Looking at the phone screen Sun-woo showed him, Min-seok tilted his head.

“I’ve never seen markings like this before. Anyway, it’s Jung-gu in Seoul. I’ll get you there at top speed.”

The old car carrying Sun-woo began running while spewing smoke.

Sun-woo felt strange looking at the city scenery flowing outside the car. While going through missions of killing and being killed in other worlds, his connection to this world might have been gradually disappearing.

“But you seem a bit different. It’s like you’re putting on airs for no reason.”

Sun-woo chuckled at Min-seok’s words.

“Idiot.”

“See? You’re acting all weighty, different from before. Are you having a middle school complex at this age?”

Sun-woo simply raised his middle finger quietly at his words.

Min-seok giggled when he saw Sun-woo’s finger, and the two began talking about games like before.

***

“Are you really having a middle school complex?”

Min-seok asked with an incredulous expression looking at the poster, and Sun-woo found it difficult to deny his words.

[The Magic, Magician Kim Kyung-min’s Magic Show That Creates Miracles!]

They had arrived at the building the map app pointed to and were looking at the poster placed at the entrance.

What the map app pointed to was a large art hall located in Jung-gu, and the only performance currently happening at the art hall was the magic show on the poster.

“Let’s go in.”

“Do you have tickets? And it’s almost time for it to end?”

Min-seok asked bewildered, but Sun-woo already strode forward with large steps.

“Entry is not allowed now. Entry time has passed.”

Naturally, they were blocked at the entrance.

“See? I told you it wouldn’t work.”

But Sun-woo secretly spread his hands toward the floor away from others. Sorcery unfolded and the marble at the entrance began rippling wildly.

“Ugh, it’s an earthquake.”

The staff blocking them were surprised and prostrated on the ground, and tickets organized on the desk scattered in all directions.

The marble at the entrance that had been shaking soon stopped moving, but the staff were busy picking up the scattered tickets.

Sun-woo slipped inside while people were picking up tickets.

“What kind of chaos is this? And you’ve really become strange.”

Min-seok, who had inadvertently followed Sun-woo into the art hall, spoke with a bewildered expression.

Sun-woo completely agreed with Min-seok’s words. His past self was quite selfish but was just a room-dwelling shut-in who liked games.

However, after several missions, Sun-woo realized he had changed.

Sun-woo shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t think his changed self was too bad.

Sun-woo opened the back door of the hall and went inside.

***

The magic performance was in full swing.

When a man on stage scattered paper cranes in the air, all the paper cranes turned into pigeons and flew up into the sky.

“Wow!”

The audience cheered with mesmerized faces, and the man greeted the audience with a confident smile.

“It’s really magic. Even though videos about Kim Kyung-min’s real magic kept being uploaded on the internet, I didn’t believe it, but seeing it in person, it really seems real.”

Magician Kim Kyung-min. The hottest magician in Korea, no, in the world these days. He was gaining popularity with magic whose tricks couldn’t be understood, and even Sun-woo, who wasn’t interested in TV, had heard of this magician several times.

Min-seok seemed to have fallen for it after actually seeing it.

But Sun-woo was busy looking around. The magic was amazing, but finding the contamination source was more important.

However, since he couldn’t see any murky color or murderous intent, there was no way to know who or what object was the contamination source.

The magician showed a few more amazing tricks and then bowed grandly toward the stage.

“Time is up now. This is the last magic trick.”

Regret burst from the audience seats, and a glass box containing a snake was brought onto the stage.

The magician took the snake out of the glass box and played a flute to make the snake move here and there. The audience was delighted and the magic rushed toward its end.

“Now all magic has ended. Please receive the final greeting from me and my guardian dragon.”

When he bowed his head, the audience applauded, and that applause soon turned into admiring screams.

Roaaaaar!

The body of the snake standing upright with its head bowed began to grow larger.

The snake grew larger and larger, filling the stage and approaching the form of a dragon. The snake, which had completely transformed into a dragon, left the stage and began flying over the audience seats.

“Wowwww!”

The audience cheered so loudly the hall seemed to lift off.

“Found it.”

Amidst the cheers, Sun-woo smiled. Sun-woo was looking at the dragon flying in the sky.

And at some moment, Sun-woo’s and the dragon’s eyes met, and the dragon disappeared like a bubble.

People murmured briefly because of the suddenly disappeared dragon, but the murmuring disappeared into the applause.

***

A while later, after the performance ended and even the audience and staff had all left, magician Kim Kyung-min was tilting his head on the now-empty stage.

He couldn’t understand the dragon that had disappeared at the end. Originally, the dragon should have flown over the audience, breathed fire grandly into the air, and then disappeared, but it had vanished anticlimactically in the middle.

“Is it because it’s new magic? There was nothing strange when I practiced alone.”

“It was probably because of me.”

There was a voice answering Kyung-min’s soliloquy. It was Sun-woo who had been hiding in the shadows near the entrance.

“What? What are you talking about? And the show has ended. This is personal time, so I can’t give autographs.”

Sun-woo shook his head at his words. He had no intention of getting an autograph.

“It’s for something else.”

A voice began to be heard in Sun-woo’s ears.

[Contamination source confirmed. Contamination source is activating. Level 1 contamination source. Please eliminate quickly.]

Sun-woo frowned at the voice he heard. The timing was too perfect. But now wasn’t the time to think about that.

“Th-then why, why did you come?”

The magician was clutching his chest and trembling. His eyes began blazing red and the cards spread on the floor began floating upward.

“To eliminate the contamination source.”

Bang!

An earth pillar shot up through the floor, and Sun-woo rode the earth pillar as he charged onto the stage.