Chapter 867

EP.867 [Light Novel Side Story] The Death Dinass of Creation and Heaven 1-014

An hour later.

“Sub Core, you say?”

“Yeah.”

Xian was trying to tidy up his wildly disheveled hair while glaring at Raon. Meanwhile, Raon, with a much more relaxed expression, pointed to his lower abdomen at Yuna.

“You’ve heard of the ‘Dantian,’ right?”

“Huh? Dungeon?”

Yuna tilted her head in confusion and responded immediately. Xian, sipping on coffee, chimed in with a counter-question.

“You don’t know about the Dantian? It sometimes comes up in Chinese historical dramas. If I explain it further, it might get even more complicated… Have you ever heard of ‘rebirth’?”

“…Hold on. Are you talking about that thing?”

Yuna chuckled nervously, clearly not believing what she was hearing.

“You mean the ‘Dantian Theory’ from martial arts novels where they store magical power in upper, middle, and lower Dantians to awaken hardened magic in meridians? That theory was debunked as fabricated evidence!”

“The idea itself still exists though.”

Xian leaned forward, lowering his voice. Naturally, Yuna and Raon also leaned closer, their ears perked up.

“Even though it’s considered an obsolete theory, the concept was quite intriguing. So research began in the U.S. They gathered ancient Chinese martial arts texts, translating them themselves and collecting data for nearly three years.”

“And?”

“It failed… officially.”

It finally clicked for Yuna what Xian was implying. She knew exactly what he meant when he spoke this way.

“So the research succeeded?”

“Not me, but my acquaintance. We exchanged similar findings, but since that person passed away before registering anything in academic journals, I ended up being the only one who knows this theory now. The copyright owner is gone. Heh heh.”

“Guild Master…”

Yuna squinted suspiciously at Xian. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Xian scratched his cheek before pointing again at Raon’s lower abdomen.

“Anyway, it seemed wasteful to just leave it aside, and it’d be a shame to let a rare A-Rank Special Ability user go without trying something else.”

“Leaving?”

“I’ll explain.”

Raon recounted the emotions he had felt last night. At the moment he was ready to give up everything, thinking he was utterly useless, Xian appeared and offered him a new path.

“Of course, after hearing it, I had many thoughts. Can I really trust this person? But then I remembered what my old teammates used to say.”

Raon continued with a resolute smile.

“If someone believes in you, become a person worthy of that trust. Since Xian decided to believe in me, I chose to believe in and follow Xian.”

“Xian?”

Yuna looked back and forth between the two. Raon hesitated briefly, startled, while Xian himself was breaking out in cold sweat.

“…We got a little tipsy last night.”

Xian pointed to the beer cans buried in the trash can in the corner of the office. There were also dried squid and peanut wrappers, indicating they had indulged heavily.

“No matter how that happened-”

“Thanks to you, Senior Yuna. Coming from a place where hierarchy was valued, I tried hard to keep my distance, but I’ve decided to follow your advice. To get closer.”

Raon asked humbly.

“Yuna… may I call you that?”

“Of course you can, but will you keep using honorifics?”

“…It’s like a habit for me. I’ll try my best to change it.”

That’s enough. Yuna greeted Raon warmly with a bright smile, seeing that he had opened up slightly, while Xian watched the improved relationship between the two with a gentle smile before steering the conversation back.

“So now Raon has a core created in the lower Dantian. Yuna, do you know anything about tea? Think of it like a hybrid car.”

“…”

“To put it simply, if the magical power stored in the heart’s core is gasoline, then the magical power stored in the Dantian’s core is electricity. Different fuel, you see.”

“So how do you accumulate magical power?”

Naturally, Yuna’s question made sense. While there are various ways to store magical power in the core, the simplest method involves inhaling natural magical energy into the body.

“Inhaling magical power like oxygen and circulating it through the bloodstream is how special ability users utilize their powers, right?”

“That’s right. This method works similarly, except instead of creating a core in the heart, we create it elsewhere and transmit the magical power through different pathways rather than blood vessels.”

As Xian explained, Raon raised his hand and released magical power. His lower abdomen shimmered as the magical power flowed along his spine and gathered at his fingertips, emitting a faint green glow.

“The key here is making the magical power flow through bones instead of blood vessels. Of course, it’s different from the traditional method, but Raon managed to succeed.”

“I created a sub-core in the upper pelvic region. I’m still in the early stages of building it, and the output is incredibly low, but if I can grow it to match my previous magical power, I’m willing to work as hard as needed.”

“…Then I want one too, a sub-core.”

At Yuna’s declaration, both of them recoiled dramatically, waving their hands frantically.

“Me? I only accepted Xian’s proposal because my original heart core was damaged. Having two cores in the body isn’t possible, so eventually, the heart core dries up and withers.”

“That’s right. It’s a method with severe side effects, and complications could arise.”

“Complications?”

“Osteoporosis.”

Yuna sighed. Creating channels for magical power to flow through the bones instead of existing blood vessels naturally results in bone holes forming.

“Sis, are you sure?”

“Absolutely. If I can regain my abilities, enduring that level of pain is worth it.”

I can’t possibly agree with this. Thinking of her mother suffering from osteoporosis, Yuna inwardly sighed deeply. However, looking at Raon’s brightened face, she couldn’t bring herself to object outright.

“Congratulations! Then sis, you’ll be back to A-Rank soon.”

“That’s not true. The limit of a sub-core is B-level. No matter how hard I try, growth stops at around 70.”

“Which is why I readily accepted it. I wasn’t expecting to reach my peak performance again anyway, so being at 70 is already a blessing. That’s almost the end of B-Rank, right?”

With clenched fists, Raon struck a fighting pose. Watching him, Yuna felt sorry; it was clear he was assuring himself.

‘Ranks aren’t divided arbitrarily.’

The boundaries between each rank may seem small, but that difference creates a gap as vast as heaven and earth.

‘Even ten A-Rank 89 users can’t defeat one S-Rank 90.’

Swallowing her inner thoughts, Yuna realized that Raon had regained his magical power and confidence. If he reapplies for testing at the association, he’ll be able to register with the guild again.

“Are your questions answered now?”

“To some extent.”

Only “to some extent.”

Yuna still wanted to ask about the sour smell lingering in the room, the heat that didn’t seem to come from the ceiling heater, and the suddenly closer relationship between the two compared to yesterday.

But she didn’t want to cause any unnecessary misunderstandings. Rising from her seat, Yuna rolled up her sleeves.

“Then let’s start with cleaning. If the office stays like this, visitors won’t-”

“Yu, Yuna.”

Just as Yuna approached the trash can, Xian stood up hurriedly to stop her.

“We’ll clean. Could you fetch Nuri?”

“Nuri?”

Xian gestured awkwardly towards the mage-gear showing Nuri’s high school live feed.

“It looks like she can’t escape from school.”

Outside Nuri’s high school, crowds had gathered.

* * *

<At that time. New Seoul Women's High School Infirmary>

“Aah, Kim Nuri went home early today!”

“Don’t lie! There are hundreds of guild members surrounding the school right now.”

“Why would I lie?! In this situation, could anyone leave normally?”

Teacher Choi Eun-young pointed outside the window and shouted. The school had turned into chaos due to outsiders flooding in.

Shortened classes where students gathered to discuss the latest gossip, teachers wrapping up the semester waiting for spring break, administrators hoping for no incidents, and ‘special ability users’ who didn’t fit in with the school setting all mixed together to create a mess that started when Nuri mysteriously disappeared while heading to the restroom.

“The last place Kim Nuri was seen was the infirmary. Please cooperate for a moment.”

“Cooperate? What kind of cooperation? This is an all-girls high school. Where do you think you’re going, entering the girls’ rest area?”

Choi Eun-young blocked the entrance to the infirmary, throwing a tantrum. The man took a step closer, almost threatening her.

“If there’s a problem, please file a complaint. I received orders from the Guild Master to speak with Kim Nuri.”

Choi Eun-young gritted her teeth upon seeing the pine tree insignia badge pinned to the man’s collar. She was no match for this powerful figure.

“…What will you do if she’s not here?”

Finally, Choi Eun-young stepped back. The man bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle.

“I apologize in advance and will offer another formal apology later.”

There was nothing more she could do. The man entered the fortress-like infirmary with his boots clomping, checking every corner, including the bed hidden behind a screen.

“…Sorry, we received information that she was here.”

Kim Nuri was nowhere to be found. The man remained bowed until Choi Eun-young finished tidying her disheveled hair and pointed to the infirmary exit.

“Alright, leave now. Immediately.”

“My apologies.”

The man left. He stopped his subordinates from following inside and bowed again before closing the door.

Polite actions, but with detestable intentions—Choi Eun-young couldn’t view them positively.

“Kidnapping her and auctioning her off to the guild like merchandise while pretending to treat her like royalty…”

Fortunately, no other special ability users entered the infirmary after the man. The association preemptively sent representatives amid numerous guild visit announcements, and only a few people wandered the halls searching for Nuri.

Choi Eun-young slumped into her chair and adjusted her askew glasses.

“…So what are you planning to do now? Will you continue like this forever?”

“Pushing me out saying I have part-time work won’t work, will it?”

A voice came from inside the iron cabinet. Choi Eun-young worried if anyone outside had heard, taking a deep breath.

“Just send a text message via mage-gear, won’t you?”

“What if they hack my mage-gear and track me?”

“They would’ve caught you by now if they wanted to. Worrying is part of your fate.”

Clunk. Nuri shifted her position inside the cabinet. Had she hit her head? A groan escaped through the metal crack.

“Shit, it hurts so bad….”

Already thirty minutes hiding inside the cabinet. Fortunately, it wasn’t yet dismissal time.

Since they couldn’t thoroughly search the school while students were present, they had only glanced around and left, but once the students were gone after class, the full-scale Nuri search operation would begin.

“Why did you come here of all places…?”

“Teacher, my homeroom teacher tried to lock me up in the counseling room. There were also some grumpy association people.”

“So you ran here?”

“At least you understand me, huh? Hahaha.”

Choi Eun-young held her throbbing head. She had planned to finish her work before quitting time, go home, and watch some drama, but everything was ruined because of one student.

Since things had reached this point, Choi Eun-young decided to satisfy her curiosity.

“What happened during winter break that made you awaken? Last year, there was no reaction at all.”

“I don’t know either.”

“Really? ‘Woke up from sleep and suddenly became S-Rank?’ Haha.”

“Do you watch YouTube, Teacher?”

Choi Eun-young giggled at Nuri’s relaxed tone.

“It’s all over the news. Korea’s first darkness attribute S-Rank.”

“I awakened to water attributes now. Maybe I’ll awaken to dark magic as I go along-”

Creak. The infirmary door opened again. Nuri’s voice cut off instantly, and Choi Eun-young stood up, pretending to be annoyed.

“Excuse me, coming in without knocking or any manners… Kim Gaon?”

“Long time no see, Teacher. I came to find my younger sister.”

Standing outside the door was a female special ability user taller by a finger joint than Nuri, resembling her closely. She looked slightly less chubby than Nuri.

Clang! Nuri burst out of the iron cabinet.

“Eh, sis? How’d you find me here?”

Gaon, Nuri’s older sister and a B-Rank special ability user, checked around before pointing outside.

“I’m here to take care of you in place of mom and dad. Teacher, is the rat hole still alive?”

“There’s no one else who knows about that besides you.”

Gaon’s eyes lit up as she extended her hand toward Nuri.

“Hey, troublemaker. Get up.”

“Future of South Korea, what nonsense are you spouting?”

Muttering under her breath, Nuri grabbed Gaon’s hand anyway. The two sisters quickly dashed down the hallway and disappeared, leaving Choi Eun-young to sigh in relief as she sat back down.

“Such chaos, such chaos.”

Already, the portal’s search rankings were flooded with content related to Kim Nuri.

* * *

<A Little Later, Kim Gaon's Compact Car>

“How did you get here, sis? What about the guild?”

“Who cares? They told me to bring you back.”

Nuri’s expression stiffened. Gaon smirked as she unbuckled her seatbelt, noticing Nuri’s attempt to flee.

“So I just ran off. I never liked it since they hurt dad, so it worked out well.”

“…Dad? Isn’t he in the hospital? Aren’t people going to look for him?”

“Mom’s with him. So you worry about yourself.”

Screech! Gaon slammed on the brakes at the red light. They had already arrived at their apartment complex, ‘Gaon Nori.’

“Go inside for now. I’ll bring mom and dad over. Things are worse than expected from yesterday, so for now-”

“Sis, I’m sorry. I have somewhere to go.”

Nuri immediately got out of the car and sprinted forward. Gaon was startled and tried to get out of the car, but then saw a brown-haired woman with short hair emerge beside Nuri, leaving her speechless.

“Hey!!”

Bang! Gaon hastily got out of the driver’s seat. Soon after, Nuri called.

[Since I’ll hide in a safe place, I’ll contact you later!]

“What?”

Nuri’s call ended abruptly after delivering a one-sided notification. As Gaon stood bewildered, honking sounds came from behind.

“Heyyyyyyy! Did you rent out the road?!”

Faced with the angry voice of a young man, Gaon clicked her tongue and got back into the driver’s seat.

“Annoying, seriously…”

Where could there possibly be a safer place than home? Gaon drove around the alley once and parked in the parking lot.

“Kim Nuri, if you come back, you’re dead.”

And with only the message that she was going to the dungeon, Nuri didn’t return.