Another Realization

It was the expedition team, including An Sang-ik, who had been dispatched from Korea, and Japan’s elites standing before the Yellow Gate.

“…I never dreamed we would face each other in such a cooperative relationship.”

At the question from Chief of Staff Matsuda, who had spoken to An Sang-ik, An Sang-ik also calmly agreed and said,

“I feel the same. However, this matter is by no means light, which is why we made the proposal, and I pay respect to your decision to accept it.”

“They say there are no eternal enemies. And currently, we have fallen into a state where we lack strength.”

Japan’s civil war had intensified.

A desperate war continued to the point that the warlords, who had numbered over twenty, had been reduced to eleven in a short time.

With the political situation already chaotic because their circumstances were not good, and now even the seed of misfortune called a Yellow Gate added to it, the confusion had reached its peak.

In the midst of that, extreme opposition continued, saying that Korea’s intention in extending a helping hand could be impure, but in the end, Prime Minister Ichida and Chief of Staff Matsuda had made a decision.

“The operation may fail, and we may not be able to produce proper results, but even so, we will do our best. I hope you understand at least that.”

Prime Minister Ichida and Chief of Staff Matsuda answered An Sang-ik’s words by saying they understood.

Afterward, they were guided to the Yellow Gate, and the expedition team looking at the magnificently sized Gate had to feel overwhelmed by an indescribable atmosphere.

“It is majestic. They said it was three times the size of a normal Gate, so I thought it would simply be large….”

“Perhaps it is because it is closer to golden light than yellow.”

As the people began murmuring, An Sang-ik cleared his throat and said,

“It took about a week to move here, so we do not have much time. Since we cannot predict how much time will be consumed inside, I will inform you in advance that we cannot move with time to spare. Let us proceed with the operation.”

At his words, silence fell, and each of them began taking out the equipment they had prepared and putting it all over their bodies.

Most of them were relics, generally relics that enhanced ‘senses,’ tools established as countermeasures in case they had to grasp abnormal signs inside the Yellow Gate.

“If you enter and sense even the slightest presence, you must speak without hesitation. Let us go.”

An Sang-ik and the expedition team moved their feet, along with personnel from Chief of Staff Matsuda’s side who were entering inside together to provide support.

Roughly fifty people headed toward the Yellow Gate, and Han Sang-gil took his first step into the changed interior while focusing his consciousness on the egg held in his hand.

“Do you feel anything?”

An Sang-ik asked while looking at Han Sang-gil. Han Sang-gil shook his head at that and said,

“If you look at the previous data, it said the resonance distance was roughly within one hundred to two hundred meters. Right now, this Gate corresponds to Grade 6, which means it is the size of sixty-four soccer fields. Would it not be laughable if we felt it immediately from the entrance?”

“It would be troublesome if it were deep underground or something.”

As An Sang-ik said, if it were deep underground, it would truly become troublesome.

China had said that even after digging several hundred meters into the ground, they ultimately failed to find the core.

In such a situation, An Sang-ik seriously doubted whether it was even possible to find it with a relic that resonated within a range of one hundred to two hundred meters, but even so, it was a better decision than doing nothing, so he could not pour cold water on a search that had only just begun.

However, unlike An Sang-ik’s thoughts, a Japanese Awakener urgently entered the Gate, and Prime Minister Ichida, who had turned pale at his report, hurriedly approached and said,

“R-right now, China’s Yellow Gate has gone berserk…. They say a monster has appeared.”

“…Right now?”

It felt like what had to come had come, but it also felt a little early.

‘Three months. In effect, did China’s Yellow Gate run wild eighty-three days after it appeared?’

His head grew complicated, and An Sang-ik tried to estimate how many days old the Yellow Gate they had entered now was.

“The Chinese authorities say they will issue a full mobilization order and respond to the monster that appeared, but the outlook is that success or failure cannot be guaranteed. Please…. Please help us close this place!”

It seemed that because a problem had occurred in China, he thought the expedition team might withdraw urgently.

“Do not worry. We also volunteered for this place because we wanted sufficient preparation. And more than our previous relationship, it has become an era where we must prepare for the schemes and tricks of those Cultists of Ruin bastards. It would be right to think that the second Daegyeokbyeon has occurred.”

At his cautious statement, Prime Minister Ichida also agreed.

‘If we cannot investigate it properly, we have no future either. We must absolutely…. close the Yellow Gate.’

It was utterly bewildering that the only thing they could believe in was the ‘egg’ held in Han Sang-gil’s hand, but right now, trying it was the only answer.

‘A topic has been thrown before me.’

The countless pieces of knowledge obtained through the Necronomicon. One of them struck my heart.

Most of the time, this kind of resonance was a symptom that appeared when I had found a foothold to advance my realm, and I began organizing my complicated thoughts while recalling the current one.

‘The countless information delivered to me may be called knowledge, and it may also be called wisdom. However, the resonance I felt was “resonance.”’

In truth, the current magic system was a method of exercising miracles by holding mana inside the body in the form of ‘storage and release,’ then repeatedly taking it out and storing it.

The reason was simple.

Because pure mana did not exist in nature.

Humanity had not grasped the systematic parts of how mana was generated, what was stored in the body, and how miracles were performed.

Because from the beginning, it was not a power given to humans, but quite literally a power that suddenly arrived one day.

A system had not been established, and even the current way of Earth could be called a system created by those who somehow reached a realm enough to be called ‘masters.’

However, now, within the topic that filled my mind, the most fundamental word, ‘resonance,’ had been thrown, and I was reacting to it.

‘What does resonance mean?’

It was a word containing various meanings, and in reality, the word presented by the Necronomicon also contained countless meanings.

‘Thought, emotion, action, consciousness, ethics, depth, breadth, vibration, range, phenomena and effects, and thought…. It contains far too much. However, resonance in magic seems more accurate to call unity with Mother Nature itself.’

Countless thoughts came and went.

I thought of the things I had experienced until now, the strangeness I felt while using magic, and the phenomena called miracles.

The role of the circles inside my body, and the fact that when mana was emitted and left the circle, will dwelled in it, were close to strange phenomena.

The sensation of my limbs being extended. It was clearly not mine, yet it was also mine.

Countless thoughts collided and began connecting one by one.

‘In the end, is mana itself a power close to “will”?’

If so, why can mana perform miracles?

‘It can create what I want based on imagination.’

Then what are patterns and engravings, and what is magical language?

‘They are merely a systematized method for handling mana more freely. They are someone’s realization, and something embodied by someone’s will.’

Are the stages of engraving, phenomenon, and manifestation correct?

‘It is fine to manifest will itself. Because mana pressure can be created that way. Conversely, it is only concretized in various ways. Patterns and engravings explain phenomena, and mana moves and transforms according to that explanation. That is the manifestation stage.’

As a result, if there is a strong will, it is also possible to cause a strong phenomenon all at once.

‘That is something I can feel when I use magic of a lower circle than mine. Mighty power requires that much imagination and effort.’

Then why is resonance necessary here?

‘Why did I sympathize with the topic of resonance and apply everything to it?’

I added question to question and searched for answers to the continuing questions.

When I could not know the answer, I brought out another question, applied it, and tried and pondered in order to find the solution.

It was something old man Han Sang-gil had said to me.

‘A mage is an occupation that must ponder and ponder again.’

However, my answer was that any occupation must ponder and ponder again in order to develop. Effort to move forward. That is what pondering is.

In the end, is effort the answer?

Everything cannot be defined by effort alone. The domain of talent definitely exists, and gaining realization about a small topic all at once is also something effort or talent alone cannot accomplish.

Luck must follow, and the luck of whether, at that moment, I had pondered that much and made it my own must follow. It was a puzzle completed only when those things came together.

Is life itself a series of puzzles?

Do we gradually fit together lives divided into pieces and complete one picture?

It would certainly not be a completed picture. A form roughly fitted together with countless colors and shapes. That is what ultimately forms ‘me.’ In that sense, I became certain that ‘resonance’ was one ‘truth’ that pierced through all of those things.

‘My realization is certainly not the correct answer. However, right now, for me, no greater answer than this exists.’

One realizes as much as one knows, and sees as much as one knows.

Countless thoughts surged into my body, and one by one, they formed me.

The puzzle was fitted together, and the pieces changed into something plausible. In that process, there was also a definition of mana, and there was also the arrangement of the methods, patterns, engravings, and so on for implementing magic.

And when this became standardized in a way that suited me and settled into place, only then was I certain that I had crossed one stage.

‘I have entered the User stage.’

I opened my eyes and looked around.

There was not a single thing different between before and now, but everything had changed.

‘The entire world is filled with mana.’

It was a feeling of fulfillment I was experiencing for the first time.

Where had I ever felt such fulfillment?

No matter how much I thought about it, nothing came to mind. If I recalled a similar emotion, only one thing came to mind.

‘Go Yu-jin. I understand how great an existence she is to me.’

The emotion of love. In truth, it was an emotion that had begun as jealousy.

An existence whose talent itself was different from mine. When she saved my life, I fell for her, and when I gradually grew closer to her, I tasted the feeling of approaching the side of the ‘protagonist,’ who had seemed unreachable.

And now, I thought I had far surpassed her, but strangely, the feelings from then and now were the same.

‘I have fallen deeply in love.’

A self-deprecating smile naturally rose to my face, but it was by no means an unpleasant emotion.

“Phew, was that a realization faster than expected?”

I had thought it might take a long time, but it seemed not much time had passed. So I naturally checked the clock….

“…?”

It had definitely been March 11 of Year x6 when I entered this place. But now, it was April 1 of Year x6.