« This. Is it really okay for me to take this ? »
Je demandai, désignant l'Élixir d'Esprit.
« I brought it planning to give it to one or two people anyway. Think of it as a gift for a diligent mage who studies while everyone else is playing. »
Yoo Yul parla sur un ton décontracté, mais je restais perplexe.
Could it be that she doesn't know the value of this Spirit Elixir ?
Ah, that's possible. She acquired it as loot from the Labyrinth, but maybe she hasn't had it appraised yet and is trying to get rid of it carelessly.
The [MoMo] system is 'for now' my exclusive privilege. Item appraisal is the same.
If so, how much should I deceive my conscience ?
« Getting back to the main point. Attributes are ultimately a matter of circuits, whether acquired or innate. If you lack circuits, attributes won't form. »
« …Circuits, you say. »
Meanwhile, Yoo Yul resumed her instruction.
« Right. In that regard, your circuits are… »
Elle traça du doigt, du poignet à l'épaule, le long de mes bras.
« Not bad. You have enough talent to manifest your attribute. You'll have to gradually figure out what your attribute is though. »
« …I see. »
Je me redressai inconsciemment. C'était encore à cause de mes soucis concernant l'Élixir d'Esprit.
« However, don't worry about the number of circuits. »
« …Number, you say. »
La salive ne cessait de s'accumuler dans ma bouche.
Should I confess or not that this Spirit Elixir you casually handed me is a rare item worth tens of millions of won ?
« Sometimes there are guys who open circuits like spider webs all over their bodies. »
« …Spider webs, you say. »
« Don't become like those guys. »
« …Those guys, you say. »
« What? »
« Ah, nothing. »
Je revins à moi.
Let's think about the Spirit Elixir later, later. It would be even better if I forget about it during conversation and never bring it up.
« Those guys chose the easy path. »
« Huh? Isn't having more circuits more difficult? »
The more circuits you have in your body, the higher-grade mage you are. It's common sense, like having more muscle means you can lift more weight.
« That's a mistake many people make. »
Yoo Yul secoua la tête de gauche à droite.
« Refining one core circuit is much more difficult and much more efficient than opening multiple circuits. Think about it. If guys with mana circuits sprawling like spider webs throughout their bodies were more efficient, this world would only have national highways. »
« …Ah. »
Ce fut une analogie que je compris immédiatement.
« Humanity eventually invented expressways. »
J'acquiesçai, hagard. À l'instant, elle avait l'allure d'une instructrice vedette.
« Then. How should I do refinement? »
« First, try mana breathing. »
« Mana breathing… »
« Right. Try it. »
L'instructrice vedette me regardait avec des yeux qui disaient « essaye donc~ », mais je ne pus que cligner des yeux.
Because I don't know how.
Mana breathing is a technique for taking in mana, but I've lived a life far removed from such techniques.
« Why aren't you doing it? »
Elle pencha la tête. J'avouai, l'air embarrassé.
« I don't know how. »
« …You don't know? »
Le sourcil de Yoo Yul se froncèrent.
« Bullshit. Then how did you open your circuits? »
« Just… »
« Just? »
« It just worked when I tried. »
Alors Yoo Yul me regarda. Plus précisément, elle jeta un œil aux circuits de mes bras droit et gauche.
« And yet you opened circuits like this. »
« …Yes. »
« How many months has it been? »
How many months.
Ses yeux qui demandaient le temps étaient trop sérieux. Pour une raison quelconque, je sentis qu'il ne fallait pas dire un mois.
« Three… and a half? To about four months. »
That's when it happened.
[ Recognition Level Up! ]
[ Recognition Level: 5 ]
[ An additional 30 days of trial version is granted. ]
Je venais de monter de niveau.
* * *
Je fus traîné hors de la bibliothèque. L'endroit où Yoo Yul me guida était une forêt à la végétation luxuriante. Un lieu où l'air était pur et limpide, où le simple fait de respirer semblait nettoyer mes poumons.
Je m'assis sur le sol herbeux.
« First, concentrate magic power in your trachea. »
Yoo Yul s'assit face à moi, utilisant un gros rocher comme chaise.
« Trachea, you say. »
« Right. Magic power holds onto mana. If you concentrate magic power in your respiratory tract, the mana you inhale while breathing will stay in your body. »
« Ah. Then by any chance, don't the lungs matter? The lungs seem more important. »
« … »
Une veine gonfla légèrement à la tempe de Yoo Yul.
« If you don't know, don't ask. Just accept it thinking 'I guess that's how it is.' »
« Yes. »
That actually makes it easier. Chain of command, repeat orders. It's my specialty.
Je fis circuler la puissance magique dans mon corps et la concentrai dans ma trachée. La Visualisation Mentale s'y impliqua naturellement aussi.
« Mana breathing is more advantageous the better you know the human body. »
Yoo Yul le souligna également.
Magic power is Mental Visualization, ultimately a force moved by my imagination. Therefore, the more specific the imagination, the more effective it is, and imagination is assembled more specifically through background knowledge.
« Yes. I understand well. »
La trachée se divise en voies respiratoires supérieures et inférieures, les supérieures incluant le nez, la gorge, la cavité nasale, le pharynx et le larynx. Les inférieures comprennent la trachée et les bronches.
I've even seen their actual appearance. Because of a villain who was afflicted with the 'madness' of personally creating and exhibiting human anatomical diagrams.
« …Done. »
J'étendis mon circuit de mana et concentrai la puissance magique sur l'ensemble de ma trachée.
« Then take a breath. »
Dans cet état, je pris une grande inspiration.
« As everyone in the world knows, mana exists in the atmosphere. »
« Therefore, when we inhalons, we naturally take mana into our bodies. »
« However, most of the mana escapes with our exhale. So, we concentrate magic power throughout the respiratory tract to catch the mana. To prevent it from escaping. »
Ferme. Je retins. Je retins mon souffle.
Before long, a stinging sensation arose around my throat.
« If you hold your breath and feel discomfort in any way, then it's a success. »
Cela signifiait que j'avais réussi.
Les paroles de Yoo Yul continuèrent.
« Organs like the lungs have nothing to do with it. The purpose is to increase the amount of mana entering the body and extend the time mana remains in the body. Then your circuit will automatically convert mana into magic power. »
Au moment de l'inspiration, j'attrape le mana qui afflue dans mon corps avec la puissance magique dans mes bronches. Si je maintiens cela en retenant mon souffle, mon circuit de mana dissout naturellement le mana et le convertit en puissance magique.
« Kheueor. »
Did I hold it for about a minute? I exhaled heavily.
« Kueo, hueor. »
« One minute. You held it quite long. Have you practiced holding your breath before? »
Je répondis en haletant.
« …Ten minutes. Underwater. »
I may not look it, but I received magic power training during my military days. Though I had no talent.
« Haa. Haa… »
« Mana breathing is fundamentally difficult. It requires not just talent for magic power, but all physical abilities like stamina, strength, and endurance. That's why mages are hexagonal. »
Je me courbai si bas que je finis par toucher le sol.
I nearly died from just holding my breath for one minute.
« Lift your head. »
Le mentor Yoo Yul est plutôt froid et strict, contrairement à son apparence chaleureuse.
« …Yes. »
Je ne relevai que le buste.
Yoo Yul me regarda et plissa les yeux. Puis elle essaya de croiser les jambes mais échoua. Elles étaient comme des pattes de poulet donc elles ne se croisaient pas correctement, non wait.
« You're doing well. The magic power is properly attached to your respiratory tract too. »
« You can see that? »
« Yes. But you've walked the wrong path for too long. You should have come here from the beginning. »
I understand what she means, but the premise is wrong. If I hadn't been a soldier, I wouldn't have obtained [MoMo] either.
« Keep practicing. Mana breathing is the top priority right now. Just master that by next week. »
« …Could you teach me next week too? »
Even as I ask, I feel like my conscience has grown hair. I'm trying to get the Spirit Elixir for free, and now I'm hoping for lessons too.
« It depends on your level of achievement. »
Yoo Yul partit comme ça.
Je restai seul dans la forêt. Je touchai ma gorge. Ça pique et ça fait plutôt mal, mais la joie d'apprendre est plus grande.
« …She's a kind person. »
Je souriais faiblement.
Of course, there were still strange points. It was because of the ghostly energy hovering around her.
Whether it's the scent of magic power or what. Some indescribable current faintly touches my skin and makes it tingle.
Is it because I'm too skinny?
« Hmm. »
Je pris mon smartphone. Je recherchai le nom « Yoo Yul » sur le web.
[ World Ranking 3,095th Yoo Yul ]
Her career itself wasn't long. There were just a few articles about clearing several labyrinths with 'overwhelming' skill, even clearing medium-scale labyrinths alone.
She definitely has enough skill to rise to high ranker status.
« …No user wiki either. »
But she doesn't have a user wiki page that most domestic lower rankers have. When you search for Yoo Yul, it shows [Total 0 results].
How strange.
« … »
From then on, I started surfing without realizing it.
From Yoo Yul to Titanic to unsolved murder cases. After wandering for about 20 minutes, I suddenly searched for 'Tae Hyeok'.
As user wikis tend to be, there's no particular reason. You just keep jumping from here to there as you browse.
───────Real Name│Tae Hyeok Nationality│South Korea Birth│October 3, 1915 Death│March 29, 2017 Spouse│Jin Kyung-suk Children│Eldest son Tae-hoon Grandchildren│Tae-woo, Tae-yul───────１. Overview The first mage of early 20th century South Korea and a hero who laid the foundation for magic power and formulas…
While skimming through Tae Hyeok's page, suddenly.
« …Tae-yul. »
Tae-yul. Ce nom me rappela Yoo Yul.
Yoo Yul. Tae-yul. Yoo Yul. Tae-yul.
« No way. »
Je ricannai.
« … »
Still, just in case, I searched for Tae-yul's page this time.
１. Overview A mage of South Korean nationality. Became an official mage of the Magic Association at the young age of 21. A mage from a prestigious magic family, evaluated as having one of the finest talents of the current era. ２. Life ２.1. Birth, eldest daughter of a prestigious magic family. Tae-yul was born in 1995 as the eldest daughter of the mage couple Tae-hoon and Woo Yeon-hee.
I skimmed through the life of a talented mage and reached the 'Trivia' section.
11. Trivia · She says that disguising her identity is her hobby. Because the identity of Tae-yul is of no help at all in wandering the world and enjoying pleasures. In a way, it's a very mage-like hobby.
A hobby of disguising her identity.
At that moment, my head went cold. The names from before came to mind again.
Yoo Yul.
Tae-yul.
« No way… »
Je laissai échapper un rire creux et sortis l'Élixir d'Esprit de ma poche. L'Élixir d'Esprit enveloppé dans du papier doré comme une pilule. Je le déballai lentement.
Some Chinese character was faintly stamped on the surface of the Spirit Elixir like a seal.
Tae, meaning great.
My expression hardened. My head churned greatly once, but I soon shook my head.
« …No way, surely not. »
It can't be.
Even as I muttered, confirmation bias was already forming in one corner of my mind.
The sudden level up.
That might be the evidence.
If Yoo Yul really is Tae-yul, if I made some deep impression on her…
* * *
…In the dark night. At a 5-star hotel overlooking the Han River, 'someone' is lost in deep thought. The plump flesh gradually becomes thin, and the short limbs become remarkably long.
[Polymorph] has been released.
« … »
Elle versa silencieusement du vin rouge. Cependant, ses mains ne bougeaient pas, et le verre n'avait aucune substance non plus. Le vin était contenu en plein air.
After taking a sip, she sat on the sofa and picked up her smartphone.
[ TAEWOO_ ]
Le feed de Tae-woo était en première page. Elle mordit ses lèvres.
« …How disgusting. »
They hate each other to the point of grinding their teeth, and would genuinely try to kill each other given the chance, but the only reason they follow each other is purely because of the public.
If they unfollowed each other, the media would make a fuss as if some war had broken out.
She hates Tae-woo. Hates him to death. She quit smoking because he smoked, and she even dyed her hair blue on purpose because she didn't want to resemble even his hair color.
Throwing her smartphone aside, she wiggled her feet and turned on the TV. She played the level test video from this season's "Labyrinth Exploration."
She's a fan of the "Labyrinth Exploration" series. Though she might not be an ordinary fan. She has a history of receiving an official warning from the Republic of Korea Government for attempting identity theft and computer manipulation to obtain text voting accounts.
So, she decided to watch this season from a closer distance.
« Kang Hyeon. »
Her first pick is Kang Hyeon for now.
A warrior perfect in every aspect, his face and actions quite suit her taste.
Her second pick is Lee Jun-ho. Third pick is Ryu Yeon-hwa.
They're all men with exceptional external qualities, but even so, she denies being someone who only cares about looks.
Because only when face and skill harmonize does it become beautiful.
But.
« … »
Elle plissa les yeux. Le menton posé sur sa main, elle regarda le mage dans la vidéo.
Seol Ha-woon.
The mage who passed the level test without being hit even once and without falling into any traps.
Especially that last deception was something even active professionals would have trouble avoiding.
« His age is a flaw. »
Too old.
At 27, he might be fine as a mage, but as a magician, he's already past the right age. A magician's potential is determined at least in early to mid-teens, or at the very latest in early twenties.
Still, reaching this level in 4 months shows considerable talent.
His face falls short compared to my other picks, but he's a gem that's already been damaged and worn down in many places. A soldier who limps and harbors many secrets. Such uniqueness is hard to find anywhere else.
« Maybe I'll make him my 4th pick. »
Tae-yul pouffa et avala son vin rouge d'un trait.