The store was so packed with decorations that there was no room to step. It was full of crafts carved from nothingness, and there were many objects whose purpose was unknown.

Cha Sehyeon looked around and sniffed. A strange fragrance subtly spread. It was a little different from the incense commonly smelled in temples.

It was refreshing, not heavy.

Like a mountain breeze.

It was a clear scent that didn’t suit the cramped store.

“Come on in.”

An elderly voice spread from the back of the store. There was a strange resonance in that voice. Several metal objects reacted and resonated.

All sorts of objects piled up, creating a winding passage. Kim Songcheol and Cha Sehyeon entered the back of the store, trying not to touch the items.

Soon, a corridor with a dense curtain blocked their way. Pushing aside the curtain, which was strung with nothingness beads, and entering the passage, there was a small room at the end of the short passage.

Kim Songcheol and Cha Sehyeon entered the room.

“Sit down.”

An old man, sitting on a nothingness straw mat and smoking a long pipe, greeted the two.

He wore a hemp monastic robe, and his white hair was tied up into a topknot with a string.

The refreshing scent in the room was even stronger.

The refreshing scent that filled the store was, surprisingly, the smell of tobacco.

It seemed he was smoking a type of incense stick not found on Earth, like tobacco.

“Hello?”

Kim Songcheol first greeted and then sat down on one of the only two chairs prepared.

“Did the young lady come to see The Source?”

The old man asked.

“How did you know?”

Cha Sehyeon narrowed her eyes.

“I guessed.”

The old man, Gyusimja, straightened his fluttering robe once and then put the long pipe back in his mouth.

A gentle smile appeared on Gyusimja’s face as he inhaled the smoke.

“I thought you were a shaman.”

“If I had such a talent, I wouldn’t be doing this here. But when one gets this old, even if one’s eyes dim, one sees more.”

Gyusimja took out a large bowl from a nothingness shelf and placed it on the empty small table in front.

“Come here, suspicious young lady. Sit in front of this.”

Gyusimja beckoned with his wrinkled, liver-spotted hand.

Cha Sehyeon looked at Kim Songcheol once, then went to sit in front of him, cross-legged.

In front of her was a small table with a large bowl on it, and further in front, Gyusimja sat diagonally, smoking his pipe.

“The Source, you see, is like a pearl in an oyster. It doesn’t mean it’s a treasure. It means it’s not a problem if it’s not there. If an oyster has no pearl, the person who caught the oyster might be disappointed, but it’s no problem at all for the oyster.”

Gyusimja said. Regardless of the content, it sounded natural and fluent.

Accent, tone of voice.

Perhaps it was the awkwardness that would only come after repeating something thousands, tens of thousands of times.

The Master seemed to say those words every time a guest arrived.

“What’s the point if a clam doesn’t have a pearl?”

Cha Sehyeon said sharply.

“That is for the clam to decide.”

The Master smiled faintly and exhaled a thick plume of smoke.

Perhaps it was just a feeling, but it seemed as if the smoke was gradually filling the small room.

The Master’s fingers tapped the armrest in a steady rhythm. Then, water trickled down from the empty air, filling the large bowl.

“The origin of the Source is unknown. In my experience, sometimes the experience itself materializes as the Source, sometimes something that could be called a symbol of that person becomes the Source, and sometimes they don’t understand why that is their Source. In fact, there are many cases where they don’t understand. The Source doesn’t exist as a tangible thing; it’s a projection of the inner world hidden deep within, and simultaneously, the root of all inner world projections.”

The Master’s voice sounded hazy. His vision gradually blurred, but Cha Sehyeon didn’t feel that anything was wrong.

“The Source is the beginning of the world a Sorcerer will create. That world grows based on the Sorcerer’s Inner World Projection and its power varies greatly depending on their Sorcerous capacity. So, what the Source is, isn’t actually that important. What’s more important is the world the Source will create.”

Once again, thick smoke billowed out. It was so dense all around that even the Master right in front of him was invisible.

Cha Sehyeon felt dizzy. His surroundings seemed to spin. The moment he instinctively put a hand to his forehead and lowered his head.

The smoke cleared suddenly, and Cha Sehyeon faced his own reflection.

More precisely, he saw his reflection in the water filling the large bowl.

“Look deeper.”

The Master’s voice rang out clearly.

Then, Cha Sehyeon’s reflection grinned, raised its middle finger, and at the same time, Cha Sehyeon’s consciousness was sucked somewhere.

Cha Sehyeon felt a cold wind. A much lower field of vision than usual. The sensation of holding a large hand.

The crunching sound of snow underfoot.

The sound of bells coming from somewhere.

Elaborately decorated Christmas ornaments.

“Oh, Sehyeon, you’re here!”

Cha Sehyeon looked up at the sound. He saw a female staff member wearing an apron on the stairs.

Cha Sehyeon remembered her face a beat later. She was his kindergarten teacher.

The scene changed again.

This time it was the classroom.

He recognized it a little faster than the kindergarten.

4th grade, class 6.

The homeroom teacher was Kim Seongyeon.

She sat in the middle of the classroom, quietly listening to the lesson.

There were some noisy students, but Cha Sehyeon only looked at the teacher.

He wasn’t usually a talkative student.

The scene changed again.

Cha Sehyeon was sitting on a playground swing in his middle school uniform.

He wasn’t enjoying it.

He was just sitting there, wiping away tears.

Because he had broken up with his closest friend. The reason wasn’t even that significant.

To be honest, he didn’t even remember it well.

The scene changed again.

Cha Sehyeon, with her black bob and ordinary attire, spoke with Kim Myeongju.

Even there, Kim Myeongju was asking for the future of the Republic of Korea.

Cha Sehyeon, an ordinary and introverted new recruit, nodded her head.

The scene changed again.

It was a dark room.

She covered herself with a blanket and cried.

She fought with the burden and longed for her ordinary past.

She was also afraid.

Because it felt like this would only end if she died.

Cha Sehyeon, who had been sobbing with her past self, felt a sense of floating.

The surrounding space blurred, and at some point, light swirled.

All the scenes flashed by in reverse. Time rewound 20 years in an instant, taking Cha Sehyeon back to kindergarten.

She was looking up at the stained glass.

It was inside a cathedral. Sunlight passed through the stained glass, sparkling beautifully. The colorful shadows reflected on the floor were also magnificent.

‘Ah.’

She had completely forgotten, but seeing it again brought back memories.

The place she attended was a kindergarten operated by the cathedral, and there was such stained glass in the cathedral next to the kindergarten building.

But strangely, she couldn’t recognize the image in the stained glass.

She was clearly looking at it, but she couldn’t perceive the image.

She couldn’t even remember what kind of image it was.

It was then.

Clang!

As a loud shattering sound occurred, Cha Sehyeon regained consciousness.

The smoke that had filled the surroundings was nowhere to be seen.

The surface of a large bowl filled her vision.

It was an angle where her face should have been reflected, but her face was not visible.

Instead, ‘shattered stained glass’ was visible.

There were even large pieces, so it seemed like she might be able to put them together if she tried.

“It seems the young lady’s source is closely related to memories and official position.”

Cha Sehyeon finally raised her head. Tears were flowing from one of her eyes, and her expression was more complex than sad.

“Ah, I haven’t seen it, so don’t worry about that part. I merely play the role of floating the source in the large bowl. What happened inside the young lady during the process of the source being reflected here is beyond my domain.”

She composed her emotions by wiping away a tear. The transparent emotions vanished in an instant. She looked at the surface of the large bowl with an indifferent face.

“This is the source…”

“Hoo.”

As Gyusimja let out a small puff of smoke, Cha Sehyeon’s mouth closed immediately.

“And one more thing. Take your time to think about what to call what you’re seeing now, then decide on a name. Do you understand what I mean?”

Cha Sehyeon nodded, her lips pressed together.

“Hoo.”

Gyusimja exhaled another small puff of smoke, and Cha Sehyeon’s lips parted again, but she didn’t speak.

She looked into the large bowl.

It was strange that something else, a nothingness, was reflected instead of the face that should have been there.

But apart from that, no matter how much she thought, no better name came to mind.

“It’s just ‘broken stained glass’.”

The answer came faster than expected. Gyusimja glanced at Kim Songcheol over Cha Sehyeon’s shoulder.

Kim Songcheol shrugged as if to say, “That’s just how it is.”

At that, Gyusimja didn’t say anything more. It wasn’t something that would cause problems.

If an official name were given, there were advantages to that as well.

“But is this a good one? You’ve seen a lot of Sources, haven’t you?”

Cha Sehyeon asked.

“There is no good or bad in the Source, but if we’re talking about it right now, it’s on the good side.”

“Ohh. It’s good, it’s good. Why is it good?”

“Initially, the difficulty of sorcery varies depending on the Source. There are also Sources that can easily exert power. In your case, young lady, since it’s a visible Source, the difficulty can be said to be on the easier side. Since it has a form, it’s also easy to grasp Inner World Projection. Also… in the case of ‘broken stained glass’, you’ll be able to easily exert power. Doesn’t it look sharp just by looking at it? And since it’s broken… hmm, I shouldn’t mention this. It’s not good for others to already interfere with Inner World Projection expansion.”

Gyusimja held back her words. Judging by her expression, she wouldn’t open her mouth even if asked again.

“It sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? No, having one at all is something. I got nervous for nothing, thinking I wouldn’t have one.”

Cha Sehyeon finally breathed a sigh of relief. If she didn’t have a Source, it was straight to a B-rank Dungeon.

It would be embarrassing to go down without a chance to get revenge on the ‘middle schooler’.

“Now that you know your Source, cherish it and cultivate it. Just in case, I’m telling you, Sorcerers rarely ask and answer about their Source, so be careful about that.”

“Why is that?”

Kim Songcheol, who had been silent, asked.

“It can be a weakness. Especially if it’s something universal and tangible. It means that just as it’s easy to handle, its weakness can also be easily discovered. You’ll understand what I mean when you learn first-tier magic.”

After finishing her words, Gyusimja tapped the armrest with her finger again in a steady rhythm.

Then, the water in the large bowl surged upward again and disappeared.

And the clean large bowl was put back on the shelf.

“This is the end. If you’ve brought a good item, present it.”

Gyusimja said.

At that, Kim Songcheol took out the Gilt-bronze Pensive Maitreya Bodhisattva from his bag. Of course, it wasn’t an antique. It was a replica, but for someone from another world, this newly made, fresh item might actually be better.

Kim Songcheol placed the Gilt-bronze Pensive Maitreya Bodhisattva in front of Gyusimja.

Gyusimja receives a handicraft from the world the Hunter belongs to, in exchange for identifying their Source.

If they didn’t bring a handicraft, they had to pay points, so bringing anything was a profitable deal.

“Hmm.”

Gyusimja tilted her head, quickly scanned the Pensive Bodhisattva once, and then nodded.

“Good.”

A smile also spread across his face.

With this, the payment was complete.

From now on, this Gilt-bronze Pensive Maitreya Bodhisattva will also be stored somewhere in this shop.

“Would you like to try it too? The item is good, so I can do one more for you.”

Gyusimja asked.

“No, nothing will come to mind anyway.”

Kim Songcheol shook his head.

After all, even if it’s reflected in that large bowl, the mechanism isn’t much different from Peter looking at it with his bare eyes.