Chapter 110 – Contractor Kim Songcheol (2)

“You know the principle of Contract Magic, right?”

Gye Eunhwa asked.

“Borrowing power through a Contract…?”

“Yes, you know it well. You borrow it. But have you ever seen a Paladin or a Priest?”

“Hmm…”

He searched through his memories, but the answer was already clear.

“No.”

He had met a Dark Mage before, but he had never once seen a Priest.

Gye Eunhwa nodded, as if she had expected that.

“Exactly. The Dungeon doesn’t really like borrowing things. Paladins or Priests who borrow the power of gods, even Saintesses, can’t gain any advantage. Spirits are better, actually. Since their Main Body crosses over entirely, it seems they’re tolerated.”

“So Contract Magic is a temporary measure. Its limitations are clear. But it’s easy and convenient. And like most easy and convenient paths, it’s also a bit dangerous.”

“Doesn’t that mean I shouldn’t do it?”

“If that were the extent of it, I wouldn’t have brought it up, would I?”

Gye Eunhwa grinned teasingly.

At that, Kim Songcheol could only slump his shoulders and lean against the sofa.

“Oh, really? Aren’t you going to cheer up?”

“Is this enough?”

Kim Songcheol forced a smile, only turning up the corners of his mouth.

Gye Eunhwa laughed, showing all her teeth, as if amused by the sight.

“I thought you were a boring guy, but you can do that too.”

“Among my friends, I’m considered funny…”

“I can’t believe that, but anyway. Contract Magic, which isn’t common magic, is at least useful. Because many new coordinates have been discovered.”

Contract Magic consists of ‘sending, responding, contracting, and connecting.’

It seems simple when you look at it this way, but the problem is magic development.

The method for developing Contract Magic begins with finding new beings.

That part is incredibly labor-intensive.

First, you have to search for ‘worlds’ one by one.

To make an analogy, it was like scanning celestial bodies with a telescope.

Then, if a suitable world is found, a signal is sent, and if there’s no response, they move on. It was a repetition of that process.

Even if a ‘being’ responds, if they don’t want to contract, it’s a wasted effort. That’s why the magic research of a Contract Mage was quite arduous.

However, in a place called a Dungeon, the story is a little different.

Since countless worlds are already connected, it acts as a kind of antenna.

Finding worlds within a Dungeon was much easier.

Thanks to this, many new coordinates were obtained, and among them, powerful beings, different from any before, could be discovered.

As the power of the contracted being becomes the power of the Mage, the value of Contract Magic was increasing with the discovery of powerful beings.

“Even so, it’s only at a level where it can barely counter Sword Aura. And that’s if you’re lucky.”

Gye Eunhwa stated clearly.

If you’re lucky enough to contract with a powerful being, you can counter Sword Aura. But that’s about it. As far as she knew, anyway.

“Luck seems to be important, doesn’t it?”

“Even so. They’re picky about who they choose.”

“I see. Still, there’s no reason not to try, right?”

“That’s true. The biggest advantage of Contract Magic is its simplicity.”

Finding worlds and getting a response from a being is difficult, but Contract Magic itself is fast and easy.

That’s because you just have to go through the process using coordinates someone else has already found.

“First…”

Gye Eunhwa put down the beer can she was holding and scratched her head.

“Contract Mages are almost non-existent in the Magic Alliance. There’s no reason for them to join. Because the common Contract Magic that can be bought with points isn’t very useful. So… I’ll introduce you to someone.”

She tapped the air and then quickly waved her hand towards Kim Songcheol. She had sent him the character information via her Medal.

Kim Songcheol took out his Medal and opened the character information.

A plain-looking male staff member in his 40s.

He was a Mage of the Magic Alliance, a Grade 5 Mage.

“That friend also borrowed power through Contract Magic for a similar reason. You should meet him.”

***

“Hello?”

Kim Songcheol greeted the male staff member who was waiting near the Teleportation Site.

It had only been five minutes since he left the Magic Alliance Branch Office.

Since they were Mages, it didn’t take much time for them to travel.

“Hello there? Haha.”

He smiled warmly and returned the greeting.

His name was Kim Dong-chan.

He wasn’t from Kim Songcheol’s Earth, but it was a Korean name, which made it quite endearing.

“I heard you’re a Mage with excellent Thread power? Haha.”

“Well, not that much… What did the Branch Manager say?”

“He didn’t say anything. He’s not someone who usually introduces people like this, so for him to go out of his way means he basically said your Thread power is outstanding.”

“So it was a guess.”

“Aren’t you a Mage? Haha.”

It was a smile that made you want to laugh along just by looking at it.

Kim Songcheol asked his question with a slightly more relaxed mind.

“I heard you made a contract with Contract Magic.”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. There’s ‘Behemoth,’ a creature many people contract with. It’s a safe bet, haha.”

Behemoth, represented by its ‘horn.’

He is quite benevolent in the Contract Magic world.

This is because he isn’t particular about choosing contractors despite his immense size.

“Is it useful?”

“By what standard…?”

True to a Mage, he didn’t answer carelessly.

“Compared to Sword Aura.”

“Ah, Sword Aura. Hmmm…”

Kim Dong-chan inhaled through his teeth and tilted his head.

When you mention Sword Aura to a Mage of a B-rank Dungeon, they usually react this way.

“There’s a reason why a safe bet is a safe bet. It’s a bit disappointing, I’d say.”

As Kim Dong-chan spread his hand in the air, the space suddenly shimmered, and a long horn emerged.

It was a meter long and even sharp like a blade.

It wasn’t manifested through a Magic formation. It was more like acquiring Magic in exchange for Mana.

“Such a Foe…”

And as he extended his finger forward, the horn shot forward at incredible speed.

“It flies like this. It may seem a bit plain, but it’s not cut by a Sword Aura. It has penetrating speed, so if a Martial Artist using Sword Aura gets hit from behind, they’re done for.”

“From behind… you say?”

The speed was quite fast. It wasn’t unworthy of the name Behemoth. However, he couldn’t imagine it being used to target a Martial Artist who had reached the Sword Aura level from behind.

“That’s why it’s a bit disappointing, haha…”

Kim Dong-chan’s expression clearly showed his regret.

The reason for that regret was likely less about the Behemoth itself, and more about having had to Contract with the Behemoth.

Powerful beings are very selective about their Contractors. It was common for people to come down from the top and succeed in Contracting with a Behemoth.

“Then shall we go?”

Kim Songcheol and Kim Dong-chan moved to another location via the Teleportation Site.

A tall Tower was already visible in the distance.

It was narrow at the bottom but widened towards the top, then expanded sharply as if a Disc had been placed on it.

“Is that it?”

“Yes, it is.”

The two flew across the Grassland using flight Magic.

They soon reached the Tower. The Tower looked even larger up close.

It seemed to be almost 500 meters tall.

Compared to its height, the entrance was quite shabby, consisting only of an arched opening.

Inside, quite a few Mages were visible. They were sitting here and there, wearing various outfits.

Among them, several people wearing brown Robes similar to those of Priests and tied with cords around their waists were walking around. These were the Contract Mages.

“Welcome.”

As they were looking around at the entrance, a person in a brown Robe greeted Kim Dong-chan and Kim Songcheol.

“Ah, I already spoke to Mage Besni. Perhaps…?”

Kim Dong-chan, who was next to him, mentioned a Mage.

“Is that so? Please wait a moment.”

The Mage in the brown Robe walked off somewhere, and soon another Mage approached.

“Oh dear, hello?”

Judging by Kim Dong-chan’s familiarity, it seemed to be the Besni Mage he had mentioned.

“Hello. Have you been well?”

“Of course, of course. Haha.”

“This must be the client. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Besni, Senior Mage of the Tower of Contracts.”

Besni bowed respectfully to Kim Songcheol.

“Ah, yes. Hello?”

“First, since this is your first time, I’ll briefly explain. Normally, according to our Tower of Contracts’ classification system, we divide the worlds into Upper Realm, Middle Realm, and Lower Realm. For the Royal Package, which only attempts Contracts with beings from the Upper Realm, it’s 13 million Points, but we can offer it for 10 million Points during this special discount period. However, Upper Realm beings rarely easily agree to Contracts, so what I recommend is the All-in-One Package. For just 15 million Points, it’s a package that allows unlimited tries until the Contract is successful.”

Suddenly, the scent of salesmanship filled the air.

Kim Dong-chan, who was next to him, also chimed in, saying the ‘All-in-One Package’ was good.

Kim Songcheol couldn’t help but be flustered. He hadn’t heard anything about needing points.

“Do I have to pay points?”

At that question, some of the vitality in Besni’s eyes faded.

“We also need to cover research expenses. Just finding coordinates and maintaining connections consumes a lot of resources… We’re not a volunteer group, you see.”

At that, Kim Dong-chan whispered subtly.

“You don’t have points?”

Kim Songcheol shook his head. He was pouring everything into B-rank gates. Even if he wanted to spend them to his death, he had no points.

“Why didn’t anyone say I needed to pay points…?”

“W-we naturally assumed you’d have this many points.”

Kim Dong-chan knew Kim Songcheol was a powerful mage. He judged that he would have at least 15 million points.

But in reality, he was penniless.

He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“So, you don’t have points?”

Besni asked.

Her tone was a little unfriendly, unlike before.

“Yes, I don’t. I think I’ll have to gather them and come back separately…”

“Do you have some talent in magic?”

“Huh? Oh, to some extent…”

“Then you can work for it, can’t you? That’s not a bad option either.”

“What kind…?”

“They’re still searching for coordinates upstairs. Since the world is vast, the more telescopes, the better, wouldn’t you agree? If you find one Upper Realm coordinate, you get the all-in-one package for free; if you find three Middle Realm coordinates, you also get the all-in-one package for free; and if you find five Lower Realm coordinates, we offer the same benefit. How about it?”

“I’ll do it.”

Kim Songcheol immediately nodded.

Because finding ‘one’ in the Upper Realm sounded quite easy.

But Besni laughed inwardly. She knew very well how difficult it was to find coordinates.

Finding coordinates meant sending out a signal and receiving a response to confirm it was found.

Even if he found coordinates and obtained the all-in-one package, it would be after they had already extracted all the value they could from him.

Kim Songcheol first learned simple search magic and ascended to the top of the tower.

There was a room along the corridor, and from what he heard, the search was conducted inside the room.

Since finding coordinates was arduous, it was the result of continuous improvements to allow even non-contract mages to search for coordinates.

“This is it.”

Besni pushed Kim Songcheol and a small manual into a room about three pyeong and closed the door.

There was only one chair in the room.

Of course, it had magical devices, so it was more like a telescope cockpit than a chair.

“But how long does it normally… take?”

Kim Dong-chan, who had been fidgeting for a while, asked Besni.

He had brought him after being introduced by Gye Eunhwa, and he felt a little uncomfortable with how things had turned out. But he also wasn’t wealthy enough to pay the points for him.

It’ll be about two weeks at the earliest. You know we’re not complete bandits, right? You’ll only need to work for about 15 million points. But these days…

The two of them chatted. Kim Dong-chan occasionally brought him customers, so Besni was somewhat friendly with him. Kim Dong-chan also had an amiable personality, so their conversations flowed well.

About five minutes into their conversation, Besni received a new customer call.

“Oh, I need to go down…”

It was then.

The door opened, and Kim Songcheol’s face peeked out.

“I did find the Upper Realm coordinates, but…”

The top-tier telescope was different.