Chapter 46 – Amalta (１)

White Wood brought up Baek Gijun.

As if the media and internet weren’t already ablaze with endless debate about the Superhuman named Baek Gijun.

How far does Baek Gijun’s talent go?

Where’s Baek Gijun’s limit?

He’s probably just domestic-level, they said.

But White Wood himself brought it up?

The world’s best mage, no less?

“Please, give us the details!”

“What do you think of Superhuman Baek Gijun’s potential?”

A torrent of questions flooded in.

But White Wood kept his words sparse.

“He clearly possesses remarkable potential. I look forward to his future growth.”

Not a word more, not a word less.

Just that much.

With that, White Wood offered no further mention of Baek Gijun.

*

After the press conference, White Wood and Brad climbed into the car side by side.

“Haha. How does it feel? The feeling of seeing a mage who surpasses you.”

Brad, the Guild Master of The Genesis, asked with a teasing tone.

“It’s incredible.”

He spoke with genuine admiration.

“Triple Casting.”

He knew well.

He was the only mage to have perfected Double Casting.

So he knew exactly how difficult Triple Casting, which surpassed Double Casting, was.

And that it was a realm bordering on impossibility.

“Still, you crossed a line there.”

White Wood soon let out a snicker.

“Surpassing me? That’s preposterous.”

“Hmm, true enough.”

Brad nodded as well.

White Wood was already a 9th-Circle mage.

No matter how perfect his Triple Casting, claiming he’d surpassed White Wood, a 9th-Circle mage, was sheer nonsense.

Even White Wood could only manage Double Casting up to the 4th Circle.

Could casting ten 1st-Circle spells even compare to the tip of his toe?

“I hear he has Mana Circle Formation Disorder.”

“Now what’s that?”

Brad tilted his head at White Wood’s words.

Even Brad had never heard of such a rare condition.

“Just what it sounds like. A disease that prevents forming Circles.”

“…That kind of thing exists?”

“It does.”

“So that kid’s a 1st Circle?”

“That would be the case. There’s no cure either.”

“Then how did he hunt the Magin?”

“Who knows. Even I can’t figure that out.”

“Is that even possible?”

A deep curiosity rose on Brad’s face.

White Wood shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s impossible.”

“Then how the hell…?”

“But it might also be possible.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Brad frowned.

He looked like he was asking if White Wood was just playing word games with him.

“Well, what I mean is, I don’t know either. Superhumans are nothing if not beings of the unknown.”

“…Hmm, that is true.”

At that, Brad had no choice but to concede.

Much research had been done, but Superhumans remained enigmatic beings.

They themselves were Superhumans, but it was safe to say they knew almost nothing about what Superhumans truly were.

Wasn’t this a world where any monster could leap out at any time, from anywhere, and no one would bat an eye?

“Still, it’s an interesting talent.”

White Wood laughed again.

“Truly, the world is vast…”

Brad, watching White Wood, smiled as well.

It seemed like the first time in a while he’d seen White Wood this excited.

Then White Wood spoke.

“I’d like to meet him, you know.”

“…Huh?”

“Contact the Hwarang side. I’ve taken a personal interest in seeing what this Baek Gijun kid is really made of.”

“Puhahahaha!”

Brad finally couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

*

And that day, a new wave of reports flooded in.

[Baek Gijun: “I want to go to the battlefield.”]

It was an article expressing Gijun’s desire to head to the front lines.

Naturally, it was a piece reported by the Hwarang side, and the reaction was explosive.

-Right, this is what a Superhuman should be—the battlefield!

-Cool. I wouldn’t go even if you paid me.

-Stay strong, Baek Gijun! I’m your fan from today!

Superhumans who went to the battlefield were always the envy of everyone, and heroes at the same time.

Because everyone knew it was thanks to them that they could enjoy their comfortable lives.

Depending on their performance on the battlefield, they could even earn what was essentially a ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’.

That was how harsh and life-threatening the battlefield was.

Gijun, resting while lying at home, smiled as he watched the flood of articles.

Now that his dreamlike wish had become reality, he felt a brimming joy with every moment — like he was truly alive.

“Never could’ve imagined this, really.”

To receive praise from everyone, and at the same time, to have seized the chance to go to the battlefield.

“Let’s do this right.”

Gijun steeled his resolve.

He had done well so far, but from now on, he wanted to do even better.

‘That aside.’

Gijun sank back into thought.

‘From now on, the game is really going to kick into full gear.’

The new Dimension that had revealed itself after acquiring the Second Heart.

‘Tartaros.’

It was already a topic heating up the game.

Gijun logged onto the community.

Sure enough, the hottest post on the main page was about Tartaros.

[What the hell is Tartaros anyway?]

[Why isn’t there any official word yet?]

[You guys hear The Genesis came to Korea? Are they still just playing games?]

[Fuck that, who cares? This is my real world now.]

[True lol]

[What’s The Genesis? I know Goguryeo but never heard of Genesis lol]

The Korean players showed no interest even in The Genesis’s visit.

That was just how immersive Real Spirit was.

It was a world where even non-Superhumans could act as if they’d become Superhumans.

With that, the main scenario and the new content of Tartaros could not help but thrill the players.

[Man, these bastards are ruthless. Still no announcement, even after all this?]

[Fr lol]

What was striking was that the devs still hadn’t put out so much as a single notice.

In any other game, they’d be hyping the new content to the skies, sparking curiosity any way they could.

But these devs? Not even a mention, let alone an advertisement.

‘Something’s off about this.’

Tartaros.

Maybe secrets were hidden inside it.

‘I still can’t know anything for sure, though.’

Gijun moved his body.

*

[You’ve come.]

As always, Libre greeted Gijun the moment he logged into the game.

“Yeah. Am I not late?”

[Hmph. This magnanimous body must see fit to forgive you, mustn’t it?]

“Pff.”

With a faint laugh, Gijun examined his quest window.

The quest he’d obtained last time.

[Entrance to Tartaros -2]

– Grade : Class

– Meet Amalta and investigate the changes in Hamal

– Reward : Quest / Experience

The second entrance to Tartaros.

A quest to go to Hamal and meet a man named Amalta.

[I too am a Seeker.]

Libre spoke then.

“I see.”

And so Gijun and Libre began to move.

Toward Hamal, as the Subjugation Captain had described.

*

Hamal was the land of the nomads.

The NPCs of this land called Hamal were nomads who roamed the vast plains, living their wandering lives.

Hamal’s minimum hunting level was 100 or higher.

The recommended hunting level was at least 120.

‘My current level is 92.’

Thanks to hunting Magin in the last Raid, his level had risen, and Gijun’s current level was 92.

A full thirty levels below the recommended hunting level—but it wasn’t a big concern.

A gap like this was no longer any problem for Gijun.

‘Still, I should get some practice in first.’

Four Fireballs, with Auto Casting added on top.

Handling three wasn’t all that difficult, but four was a different story.

‘A mage’s caliber changes from the 4th Circle onward.’

And so Gijun faced the monster.

The monster Gijun encountered was a Yabu.

A colossal water buffalo.

Hide thick as armor, three horns sharp as blades.

And a Level 110 Monster with reckless mobility to match.

‘Tanks. That’s what they are.’

The word fit perfectly.

It really felt like facing down a tank up close.

And Yabu always ran in packs of at least ten.

[Hideous indeed.]

Libre chimed in.

Just looking at a Yabu herd of ten made you shrink back inside.

Hamal was the wild, through and through.

And even in that wilderness, the Yabu packs stood their ground, lords of their domain.

Gu-gu! Gu-gu-gu-gu!

Then the herd charged straight at Gijun.

‘This time, let’s take them on with just Fireball.’

He decided to leave Strong Wind out of it.

This was practice, pure and simple.

Though calling it practice against ten monsters thirty Levels above him sounded ridiculous.

‘Only with this much of a gap does it even count as practice.’

Gijun eyed the creatures and cast Fireball.

[Auto Casting has been activated!]

[Duplication has been activated!]

[Double Casting has been activated!]

The instant he cast a single Fireball, Auto Casting pulled another into existence beside it.

Duplication sparked a third Fireball into being.

Then, as he channeled Double Casting to summon yet another—

Crack! Whoom-whoom-whoom!

In that flash, four Fireballs blazed into sight, suspended in the air.

[What—what is this!]

Libre’s eyes went wide as she demanded an answer.

Of course she’d never seen this before.

This trick was born in reality, not in any game.

“Yeah, I practiced a little.”

He couldn’t say he’d learned it in the real world, so he brushed it off with a vague excuse.

[Truly extraordinary!]

Gijun narrowed his brow slightly.

“But… it’s not easy.”

Four Fireballs.

He’d only completed the casting, yet the weight of it pressed hard against him.

Just maintaining the casting was dizzyingly difficult, enough to make his head spin.

“Well, I’ve got to try anyway.”

Literally.

Though hard, the transformation that would come from fully mastering this was beyond words.

BOOM! CRACKLE!

The Fireball streaked across the air, slamming into the Yaboo and erupting into an explosion.

BOOM! BAM-BAM-BOOM!

‘Not bad, actually.’

He’d thought it would be nothing but a struggle.

But once he actually used it, it wasn’t as hard as he’d imagined.

‘Okay. Let’s practice a little more.’

*

[Level up!]

‘Finally….’

Gijun had been hunting countless Yaboo all this time.

Ever since arriving in Hamal, his Level had already jumped by three.

And only now did Gijun have a satisfying achievement in hand.

He could now handle four Fireballs with perfect control.

WHOOSH! SWISH!

This was the proof.

Right now, the four Fireballs were orbiting around Gijun’s body.

It was as if they were orbiting around Gijun.

‘If it’s like this, fighting this way might actually work.’

And the new addition to that was Strong Wind.

[Strong Wind]

-Grade : Legendary

-Proficiency : C

-Power Increase+30

-Cutting Power+30

-Booster

>Wind Blade

[Wind Blade]

-Cutting Power+50%

Strong Wind’s Proficiency had risen to C, adding the Wind Blade effect.

The effect was a whopping 50% increase in Cutting Power.

The base Cutting Power got a +10 boost, and then a 1.5x multiplier on top of that.

Strong Wind had truly grown into a monstrous weapon now.

Strong Wind and Orca’s Footsteps.

And the Fireball orbiting around Gijun.

He might be able to use this extremely well when fighting while dug into the middle of enemies.

Then.

[Right on time.]

Libre stared at a fixed point and spoke.

“Coming?”

[Yes. The human you’ve been seeking.]

“…Huh?”

The human Gijun was looking for.

A man named Amalta.

No sooner had the words ended than a loud noise erupted from the other side, along with smoke.

“What the hell is that…?”

Approaching from that direction was a group of nomads.

They were all riding monsters called Beluca.

A Beluca was a horse with six legs.

Astride those beasts, as massive as any tiger, sat men whose bodies matched the Beluca in size.

Among them, the man at the very front had a build so brutal it would make an orc look tame.

“No way….”

[Yes. That man is Amalta.]