Against the Clock: The Team Leader's Pursuit of Glory-Chapter 211 - Prologue(3) / You Can Exhibit Your Specialty Now

"Thomas!"

"Yes?"

"Freeze the field!"

"Right now?"

"No, do it tomorrow! Of course, I meant right now!"

Thomas hesitated. Before him were about a hundred lava lizards gathered---it was a swarm monster but this group was so large it could be called a tribe.

This meant that the raid leader wanted him to use 'Ice Field' magic.

It's not simply to freeze a couple of them. It meant freezing the entire field.

Ice Field was a large-scale, high-level area-of-effect magic that only A-rank hunters and above could use effectively.

But Thomas was only a C-rank hunter. Just acquiring such advanced magic is way out of his league. However, his unique trait allowed him to cast high-rank magic---a one-time deal.

The price of using this one-time deal comes at a ruinous cost.

"This is my third time this week. Twice in a week is already too much."

"If you can't handle that high-rank area-of-effect magic, why would I even bring you to the gate?! Don't want to? Fine. Pay me back the cost of the magic you learned."

"That... would be hard."

"Then spit out the damn magic I gave you."

Thomas had no choice. Once a skill is acquired, it cannot be undone.

Asking someone to spit out magic meant they had to pay it back even if it meant death.

But he couldn't just pay him back for the skill book. The skill book he consumed was worth a staggering 500 million dollars on the New York Skill Market alone, and on good days, the price could shoot to a billion.

It was an astronomical amount---out of the question even for a guild, let alone a mere individual, to repay.

'Even though they were the ones who forced me to eat it...'

If he were an S-rank or even an A-rank hunter, things would have turned out differently. He could have easily taken up lucrative mercenary jobs outside the guild, taking advantage of his rare position as a mage.

Skirting the legal implications of not being able to hunt outside the guild without permission would've been easy. Guilds rarely risked losing skilled mages, even if they bent the rules.

But Thomas's situation wasn't that of a typical wizard.

'That's just a dream anyway. I can't even think about ranking up with such a body.'

Thomas's trait, 'Mana's Companion', was gravely misunderstood as "limitless single-hit magic" inside his guild---the ability to cast any spell, regardless of type or rank of the spell, once every set interval.

In reality, this trait was a whole other skill, and not what the guild thought it was.

'The problem isn't the trait--- it's my condition.'

Each time Thomas used magic, he experienced excruciating pain, as though a wedge was driven into his heart. If the aftermath was severe, he could even vomit blood, and a feeling of helplessness would engulf his entire body.

Sometimes, he even had blackouts and couldn't see a thing, and other times, he had complete memory lapses.

The hospital he visited suspected Alzheimer's disease, saying the symptoms were similar to alcoholic dementia, but Thomas guessed that it wasn't due to his circumstances.

That's because every time his memories vanished, so did his emotions. Joy, sorrow, pleasure--- it began to slip away.

How on earth does one express those feelings?

He became so numb to human experiences that he started fearing being labelled a sociopath.

Eventually, he had to act out his emotions so as not to get caught by the guild. He even took acting lessons at a Hollywood-level academy to fake emotions convincingly. So far, he'd succeeded.

The guild believed his symptoms were a penalty for his trait.

Of course, even if the Guild had suspected Thomas' symptoms, they probably wouldn't have looked into it further.

To the guild, he was nothing more than a tool---a disposable weapon capable of casting spells even high-ranking hunters struggled with. That was all the value he held for them.

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"Alright, as you command."

As Thomas led the attack, his fellow hunters stepped aside, creating a path for him.

They weren't comrades---they were strangers. No shared meals, no invitations to a party hunt.

The only acknowledgement Thomas ever received from them was for his powerful single-shot revival magic.

'Let's hope my memory doesn't fade this time.'

If it did, he didn't know what emotion he'd lose next.

'Mana...'

As Thomas stretched out his hand, a mist rose from the ground. The wind danced pleasantly. The heat of the sunlight pouring down from the sky filled the world.

All these phenomena were visible only to Thomas' eyes.

He saw the world in mana, unlike others. If mana took the shape of a tree, it was a tree, and if it took the shape of a human, it was a hunter.

When he cast the spell, it wasn't like a usual hunter activating a skill. His magic was raw and unique.

【Ice Field】

Mana surged from the earth, the wind, and the sunlight above. They converged, cold and violent, tearing through the battlefield.

The once warm spring weather instantly transformed into a tundra, reminiscent of Siberian permafrost.

The lava lizards resisted the cold, warming up their bodies. They flicked their tongues, releasing small flames in an attempt to stave off the cold. But their efforts were futile.

Within seconds, the lizards froze solid. Their fiery bodies turned into ice sculptures, incapable of spitting any more flames.

"Keuk...!"

At the same time, Thomas also fell to the ground, clutching his heart. He trembled and gasped for breath, then, unable to bear the pain, rolled his eyes and passed out.

One of the hunters behind him approached him, put his hand on his neck, and felt his pulse.

"Is he dead?", the raid leader questioned.

"No, he's still breathing. He held up well this time. That's some incredible magic he used", one replied.

"Good. Do you how much mana we pumped into him? Of course, I gotta squeeze out everything I can from him. I have to take out all the lizards I can. Move to the back. Ah? And no potions! The last time I gave him one, I nearly died. What kind of penalty is this? Tsk. Anyway, just get the lizard hearts and salivary glands."

"But they're frozen solid. Can we do that?"

"The loots are fine, even if they are frozen."

"Thomas has better control than you'd think---he always manages to keep the valuable parts intact."

"Still, that guy needs to earn back the cost of the skills he learns. His cut is 10%, so calculate that carefully."

"Calculate carefully, huh? You mean..."

"Come on, you know what I'm saying! Do a good job. Fudging up the numbers."

"Yes, got it. I'll take out just enough, sir."

***

Thomas woke up three days later.

A familiar ceiling came into view. He glanced around, seeing the curtain dividers and rows of medical equipment, one of which had a sensor attached to his chest.

He realized he was in the infirmary of the Ithaca Guild.

"I'm back outside the gate. Is the raid over?"

"Yeah, it's done. They finished off the boss and called it done," answered a grey-haired female doctor with wrinkles who had just pulled back the curtains. Despite her age and experience, she wasn't a hospital director---just the guild's infirmary doctor.

"Good morning, Dr. Marie."

"Good morning? More like a good night."

"What time is it?"

"3 a.m."

"I woke up at an odd time. Makes it harder to get to work."

"Don't act like you woke up after a good night's sleep. You're lucky to be alive right now."

"Well, I'm alive and breathing. My memory seems intact. Nothing feels off, so that's a relief."

"How many times have I told you to stick to your magic cycle? You've used high-rank area magic three times in just a week! You can use low-rank magic every few hours, but high-rank spells? Once a week, max. If you keep this up, your heart won't last. The cycle will stretch to two weeks, then a month, and eventually, you won't be able to use magic at all."

Dr. Marie warned with a serious expression. She was the only person in the guild who knew about Thomas' condition. At the same time, she was also worried.

She had grown curious after seeing him collapse repeatedly and coming to the infirmary so often and learnt more about him and grew close.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders, saying his condition was nothing new, and spoke of something else.

"Are you on duty today too? You're going to die due to overwork."

"I should be grateful. The guild gave a job to an old fool buried in disgrace after causing a medical accident. I volunteered for today's shift."

"Blew your rent on gambling again?"

"You think I'd do this for a few shillings? I stayed because I figured you'd wake up today. Your vitals normalized, so I waited."

"Oh, you stayed for me. Thank you."

"Stop making that face! I told you, don't thank me with that creepy face. You look like you walked out of a B-grade horror movie. No wonder the other medics avoid you."

"I'm trying, really. What's the proper way to look grateful?"

"How should I know? I'm not exactly brimming with gratitude myself. Most people I know are mortal enemies. Especially my son."

"You have a son? I didn't know."

"Might as well not. Anyway, let's stay on topic. At my age, working night shifts is no joke. Let me say what I need to and then get some sleep."

"What's so important no?"

"Look at this."

Marie handed Thomas a tablet.

Displayed on the screen was a scientific conference paper. The title was dense with technical jargon, but one term stood out to Thomas immediately.

"Mana poisoning? This... this is..."

"That's correct. The same disease as yours. It's the only recorded cure case in 20 years."

-- End of Prologue --

-As the reconstruction of Northern Korea and the development of Sinuiju are in full swing, there's growing interest in expanding to Demonic Realm.

-In other words, BTA's concert, postponed due to the LA Monster Riot last August, will now take place from October 21st to 24th...

Go Eul-ji busily moved about, ignoring the TV playing in the background and then quickly raised both her hands.

"Done! All set."

With a final shove, she managed to close her overstuffed trunk bag.

Her only friend, Kim Nari, who was watching from the side, shook her head and clicked her tongue.

"Are you moving overseas?"

"Ayy! If I were, this wouldn't be enough!"

"That bad?"

Kim Na-ri turned her head to the luggage behind Go Eul-ji.

Five large trunks stuffed to the brim.

"How are you going to carry all this?"

"I can just carry it on your head. No, I have a hunter's license now, so I can just float it in the air and carry it."

"If you do that, everyone will know you're a hunter. You'll attract more attention than BTA."

"Not a chance. My dear oppas, they're like the sun; I'm just... a firefly. No. That's too presumptuous. Okay, let's just say something like a cigarette. A cigarette can't compare to the sun!"

"That's so typical of you. Anyway, it stands out so much."

"But using my powers as a hunter is a daily thing."

"Not that. You're completely over the top. Five trunks for a two-night, three-day trip? You look like a peddler"

"But I have no choice. I need my cheering sticks, the merch for display in the hotel, custom t-shirts for each song, and banners for the concert hall. Honestly, it's still not enough."

"You're on another level. Even I can't compete with this level of crazy."

"Of course it's different. My feelings for the oppas is like the universe, I guess?"

Kim Nari was also attending the concert in the US with Go Eulji.

It would have been difficult to skip a semester without taking the CSAT normally, but she had used the excuse of a study-abroad interview to get permission to skip her semester.

Unlike her peers, her academic excellence, wealthy family and most importantly, the change in the American study abroad system a few years ago gave her the freedom to make such a choice.

If people knew she was using this chance to attend an idol concert, they'd call her insane.

Of course, Go Eulji was also not far behind on the insanity scale either.

Kim Nari, who had some idea of ​​her circumstances, was worried.

"I didn't expect you to reveal your license for the concert. You lied to the school about being a hunter because it was dangerous. Are you really okay with this?"

"Not really. Guild Leader Kang arranged it for me. With Guild Master taking all the aggro anyway, the Japanese won't even care about a hotshot like me. Though even without the Guild Master attracting all the attention, once I found out about this method, I would've definitely revealed my license. Okay, now we only have a few days left, right?"

"Yeah, 3 days. Finally, you get to see them, huh?"

"It was so hard. Anyway, these monsters are no help. We need to catch them all quickly. If something happens, both the concert and fan signing events will all be postponed."

"But still, thank God the flying monster didn't show up. If it did, we wouldn't be able to fly and go to America."

"I'm telling you, I hunted that Garuda with everything I had so it wouldn't delay my trip to the U.S."

"Garuda?"

"Yes! That speed demon nearly made me motion sick trying to catch it."

Go Eulji told Kim Nari about the behind-the-scenes story of the Garuda Raid. She was the first person she told this.

This was a tale she hadn't even shared with Kang Mu-hyuk.

"Anyway, thanks to our guild's team leader, we've already booked tickets for all three days of the LA concert. So let's have some fun."

***

Meanwhile, Kang Mu-hyuk welcomed Aila of the World Hunters' Federation to North Pocheon, accompanied by Alex and Raven.

She entered the headquarters in a special-purpose vehicle that could operate even in special operation zones, avoiding as much attention as possible. She even used the elevator exclusively so as not encounter anyone else. Kang Mu-hyuk even temporarily vacated to accommodate her needs as an elf.

She came up to his office.

"Long time no see," Aila greeted Kang Mu-hyuk warmly.

"Thank you for coming all this way," Kang Mu-hyuk replied.

"Oh please. No need to say thanks. Your help last time with the Rider Wolf joint venture was much appreciated. It was good for us too."

"Well, if this was about the joint venture, there would be no need for you to move yourself. Do you have other business to attend to?"

"You owe me one from the last time."

"Debt..."

"I used the name of the Federation to pressure China. You didn't naively think that I did that as a favour, did you?"

"I didn't ask for a favour that time, but I can't refute the fact that I'm in debt."

"So this time I came to ask you a favour."

"I think I know what it is."

"What do you think?"

"The test that was suspended after the Oopoomangbawoo incident, right?"

"That's right."

"Can I refuse?"

"Nope. As you can see, there are many things at stake, from this joint venture to the technical partnership with Ironwill's C warehouse."

"So, if you refuse, there will be blood."

"You're not the only one who can threaten people."

"I don't know about anything else, but I'm hesitant because I took such a dangerous test back then."

"This time, it's absolutely not dangerous. We're not hunting monsters."

"It's not a raid?"

"Yes. The test is in the United States, for a month. We need you to exhibit your special talents there, Guild Leader Kang."