TRPM 110

chapter 110

After finishing my thoughts, I held out my smartphone to Ryu Amin, who was sitting next to me.

“Hmm? Why?”

“Can you convert all the energies coming into my smartphone into magic power?”

Ryu Amin was a conversion esper.
She could transform any type of energy into another.

“I get it… but why would you do that? Doesn’t that make it easier to get hacked?”

Ryu Amin asked me that.
Yeah, if I converted all the energies in my smartphone into magic power, the risk of hacking would increase.

These days, smartphones communicate using not just radio waves, but also various energies like magic or spirit energy.
So, intercepting a call or hacking a smartphone would require decoding all of these energies, not just radio waves.

In other words, they use multiple types of energy for security.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Even so, this wouldn’t completely prevent eavesdropping or hacking.
It would just make it harder—it wouldn’t make it impossible.
However…

“Hacking my smartphone is impossible.”

I had just explained it. To hack a smartphone, you’d need to decode all the energies applied to it.
But what if… a type of energy that others couldn’t perceive was applied to my smartphone?
Energy like my internal power.

“Unless someone like me or Yeon Mirae appears who can use martial arts, hacking attempts will be completely futile.”

That’s why I didn’t worry about my smartphone being hacked.

Ryu Amin didn’t know my thoughts, so she hesitated a little before speaking.

“…Even if it gets hacked, I wouldn’t know.”

She said this as she used her conversion ability on my smartphone.

“…Good. That’s enough.”

I sensed the magic power Ryu Amin had converted, wrapped it in my own internal power to secure it, and then scanned my smartphone with my internal power.
During that brief moment, a surge of magic indicated someone had tried to hack it, but I ignored it.

“Is that it?”
“Yeah. It’s enough.”

The magic I secured—magic that had been sending real-time information to my smartphone—couldn’t reveal proper information in this state.
After all, it had been forcibly converted from a mixture of multiple energies, not just magic.

Besides, the original owner of this magic was probably just an ordinary mage working at the company running the forum, so with this alone, I couldn’t pinpoint the location of whoever had spammed posts about the “Returner.”

“But I can do something fun with this magic.”

The important point was that this magic came from the company running the forum.
Thinking this, I asked Ryu Amin for permission and headed out to a place where no one was around.
After confirming there was no one nearby…

“Synchronization.”

I quietly used word-magic.
To become as similar as possible to the owner of this magic.
This wasn’t simple word-magic.

“It’s also a type of spell.”

A homology spell.
A type of magic that uses the law from The Golden Bough, a book influential in anthropology, religious studies, and mythology, stating that things that resemble each other affect one another.
Using this, I temporarily became a mage working for the company that ran the forum.

Of course, this didn’t mean I truly became that mage.
You can’t expect full effects from a hastily executed spell without proper preparation.
But my purpose was achieved.

“…The administrator’s ID and password…”

I could read a bit of that mage’s memory.
I immediately entered the ID and password into the smartphone I was holding.
A screen appeared that was similar to the forum I was used to, but it allowed me to delete posts or post announcements.

“Of course, I don’t plan to delete posts or make announcements.”

I checked the post that had spammed information about the Returner.
I also confirmed the IP address of the person who posted it.
After copying the IP address into a tracking site, I could determine their approximate location.

“Luckily, it seems they didn’t use a VPN to change the IP. Still, I can’t get the exact location…”

Even so, the range was narrowed considerably.
This was enough to go check in person.

Almost no one believed the self-proclaimed Returner’s claims.
The Ironblood Guild even captured him and publicly announced that he wasn’t a Returner.
Yet stories about the Returner didn’t stop because there were people who continued fanning the flames.

“Ugh… I’m dying.”
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s someone picking a fight in the comments on my post. My neck hurts from arguing back, asking if they’re an Ironblood Guild temp worker.”
“Whoever it is, they’re quick-witted, huh?”

Actually, we are comment temp workers, aren’t we?
When one young man spoke with that intent, the other denied it.

“We’re not temps. We’re just regular employees doing what the company tells us to do.”

Even if what they did wasn’t much different from comment temp work.
He chuckled while saying that.

The other young man shook his head and muttered,

“I don’t get it. I didn’t join Korea’s top guild to do this…”
“But it’s convenient, right?”
“Yeah… but…”

They got canned coffee from a vending machine and headed to the office.
Though the “office” was just a place where they wrote posts for the guild all day.

“But is this really okay? No matter how top our guild is, the opponent is Yeon Mirae, connected to the Artist.”
“So what? We didn’t personally attack Yeon Mirae. We just suggested that the Returner’s words might be true.”

Moreover…

“It’s not like our guild is the only one posting about the Returner. Our comment team alone couldn’t produce this much impact.”

Indeed, other guilds were also posting about the Returner.
Yeon Mirae was known to be a flawless Aura Master.
Those who tried to find flaws in her outside of combat only backfired because she was so perfect.
So, guilds seeking to counter the Ironblood Guild began assisting the self-proclaimed Returner when they saw a chance to indirectly undermine her.

“If Yeon Mirae and the Ironblood Guild wanted to sue everyone posting about the Returner, they’d have to sue all major guilds in Korea.”

Thanks to this, they could post in defense of the self-proclaimed Returner without worry.

“Rumor has it the upper management of our guild is considering another possibility.”
“What possibility?”
“That the Returner captured by the Ironblood Guild might actually be the real Returner.”

The young man frowned.

“Sure, we post that there’s a possibility the stories about the Returner are true, but it’s nonsense, right?”

And the upper management believes this?

“…We’re not going to say this to the people who pay us, but what are those guys even thinking?”

Do high abilities and social status make one lose their mind?

“I don’t know.”

They muttered this as they sat down again, preparing to write posts defending the Returner.

Meanwhile…

“Long time no see, sir. I almost forgot your face.”
“Yeah, it’s been a while. You could have called just to check in.”
“Why did you call me? I’m already busy.”
Sigh “So tired…”

Four of the most influential awakened in Korea, excluding exceptions like the Artist, gathered in one place.

“Lately, the world’s been noisy because of that Returner.”

The old man sitting at the head.
Gang Geonhyung, guild master of the Taeguk Guild, ranked #1 among Korea’s top 10 guilds, formed during the first appearance of the Black Mist and continuously maintained since.

“Oh, that? Honestly, I don’t believe it at all…”

The middle-aged man sitting next to him.
Shin Chaegun, guild master of Night Eagle Guild, which primarily handles criminals, similar to Ironblood.

“Get to the point, or I’m leaving.”

The man sitting across from Shin Chaegun.
Yu Wonhoon, guild master of Legioness Guild, with the largest number of awakened among Korea’s guilds.

“…Hmph…”

A woman sitting across from Gang Geonhyung, half-asleep.
Song Eunji, guild master of Cleaner Guild, unrivaled in the number of dungeon raids per year.

“Eunji, I know you’re tired, but if you’re going to sleep, listen to the whole story first.”
“Okay…”
Ahem!

Gang Geonhyung cleared his throat.
The others’ gazes turned toward him.

“Lately, the world’s been noisy because of that Returner.”
“You don’t have to repeat yourself, sir.”
“Noisy.”

Gang Geonhyung interrupted Shin Chaegun and addressed the three.

“I called you here to prepare for a possible situation.”
“…A possible situation?”
“Yes.”

What if…
The probability is extremely low, but…

“In case the one caught by Ironblood Guild really is the Returner.”

“……”
“……”
“……”

The three had similar thoughts.
Had this old man lost his mind with age?

“…Only Ji Hyungman, guild master of Ironblood Guild, has met that person directly. He’s quick-witted and intelligent. I’m sure he verified whether this person is the real Returner.”
“I agree. That man may be weak, but he’s qualified to be a guild master.”

Yu Wonhoon and Song Eunji spoke in turn.
Though Song Eunji labeled Ji Hyungman as weak, no one present corrected her.
By these four guild leaders’ standards, anyone not an Aura Master, Archmage, or equivalent was weak.

Gang Geonhyung then said:

“So?”
“…So what?”
“Have you actually met the Returner caught by Ironblood?”
“Well…”

Of course not.
Yu Wonhoon and Song Eunji shook their heads.
There was no reason for people of their rank to meet a self-proclaimed Returner.

“I met him myself.”

But Gang Geonhyung had personally met the self-proclaimed Returner.

“And I’m certain. This guy really is the Returner.”
“…Really?”

But the three were unimpressed.
It was well-known that Gang Geonhyung had poor judgment of people.
He was a guild master only because he was strong and related by blood to the previous Taeguk Guild master.
The guild’s #1 position persisted due to symbolism, not the abilities of its upper management, including Gang Geonhyung.

Even so, Taeguk Guild remained #1, so the three guild masters had respected him…

“Our Taeguk Guild will side with the Returner. What about you?”

“……”
“……”
“……”

The three had to choose:
Side with Taeguk Guild, or turn away.