As Choi Seo-yoon had said, we were assigned to the Incheon Seo-gu region for our special task activity.
Once the teacher’s announcement was over, we boarded a bus and headed toward Incheon. Before long, we arrived at the building of the Mage Association’s Special Operations Team, Incheon Branch.
“This isn’t even the Seoul headquarters, but it’s bigger than I expected.”
“Incheon has a surprisingly high number of magic-related crimes.”
We stepped inside the Special Operations Team’s building. The interior resembled an office. In fact, it wasn’t all that different from the mercenary guild building I had seen before.
Just then, a man holding a cup of coffee noticed us and spoke up.
“Are you the Mage Academy students here for the Special Task experience?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Wow. We have some famous students visiting, I see. Nice to meet you. I’m Kang Gyeong-chal, the leader of Team 2 in the Incheon Special Operations Unit.”
Kang Gyeong-chal looked at us with fascination, as if he recognized us.
Wondering if the name was familiar, I repeated “Kang Gyeong-chal” in my head, but nothing stood out.
“Oh, and I’ll be your assigned supervisor for the next three days. I’ll be guiding you, so just keep that in mind.”
“Understood. We look forward to working with you.”
“Follow me.”
With that, we followed Kang Gyeong-chal as he guided us through the Special Operations Team’s headquarters, providing a brief explanation.
“Alright, step inside here.”
Kang Gyeong-chal led us to a room labeled “Multipurpose Room.”
“Make yourselves comfortable. We’ll start with a brief training session on essential conduct.”
We took our seats.
I glanced at Yoo Ara, who was sitting beside me. Her cheeks were slightly red—she seemed somewhat excited.
It was my first time seeing her like this. It was probably because her dream was to work in the Special Operations Team.
“This is amazing,” Yoo Ara murmured absentmindedly. Then she turned to me.
“Isn’t it cool?”
“…Yeah. It’s cool.”
“I want to work in a place like this after I graduate.”
Her short statement carried a firm conviction. She really was determined to join the Special Operations Team.
At that moment, Choi Seo-yoon spoke to Yoo Ara.
“With your grades, you’ll probably get into the Seoul headquarters without any issues.”
Hearing that, Yoo Ara gave a faint, bitter smile.
“Not everything goes exactly as I want it to.”
Choi Seo-yoon gave her a curious look but didn’t press for details.
“What about you? Have you thought about what you’ll do after graduation?” Yoo Ara turned her gaze to me.
Her eyes were serious enough that I felt I couldn’t answer lightly.
After graduation…
I hadn’t made a definite decision yet, just a rough idea.
“…I haven’t decided for sure, but I’m interested in the Special Operations Team.”
After graduation, many of the main characters in the original story, including Lee Seo-jun, would end up working in the Special Operations Team.
Many of the major incidents in this world also took place during Special Operations Team missions.
Considering my involvement in the original story’s events, working in the Special Operations Team wouldn’t be a bad choice.
Of course, I wasn’t referring to just any team guarding a single district. I was thinking of the counterterrorism Special Operations Team that operated on a global scale.
“I figured as much,” Yoo Ara said, looking into my eyes.
She figured as much?
What made her so sure?
As I was feeling puzzled, Kang Gyeong-chal clapped his hands lightly to get our attention.
“Alright, let’s begin the training session.”
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
The training session lasted about an hour.
In short, it covered topics like public safety, rescue laws, and how to respond to various crimes and terrorist threats.
Afterward, we took a short break and sat in the waiting room assigned to us.
Our job was to sit here until a report came in and then respond accordingly. Of course, patrols were also part of the job, but those weren’t scheduled until the afternoon.
“Hmm…”
I sat idly, lost in thought.
Based on how Incheon was depicted in the original story, I had expected incidents to break out frequently, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Senior.”
Choi Seo-yoon called out to me.
“Hm? What is it?”
“I have something I’m curious about. Can I ask?”
She had a question for me?
“What is it?”
“Why did you film that documentary?”
I blinked.
“I just did it without much thought.”
“There’s no other reason?”
“Why?”
“…No reason. It just seemed kind of random. I was wondering if you had some ulterior motive.”
“There’s nothing like that.”
At my answer, Choi Seo-yoon nodded, but her expression showed she wasn’t entirely convinced. She looked like she wanted to dig deeper but was holding back.
I didn’t really mind.
She was probably just overthinking things.
Just then, I felt an intense gaze from the side.
This time, it was Yoo Ara, looking at me with a questioning expression.
“…What now?”
“Now that I think about it, it is kind of strange.”
“What is?”
“You don’t like standing out, right? You also hide a lot of things.”
What was she even talking about?
“Hmm…”
Yoo Ara narrowed her eyes as she stared at me.
“…What advantage did you see in doing it?”
I gave her a baffled look, and she quickly added,
“Oh, sorry. I just thought you might have had a hidden reason.”
“….”
I had nothing to say, so I just kept my mouth shut.
It felt like I was living in a completely different world from them.
Just as we were having this trivial conversation, a sudden alert blared from the speakers on the ceiling.
—Incident detected. Incident detected.
Following Kang Gyeong-chal, we arrived at the scene of the incident.
A small abandoned factory tucked away in a corner of the city.
A powerful burst of magic had erupted nearby. Judging by the aftermath, it wasn’t caused by a monster or a demon. That meant the opponent was human.
“Just in case, don’t interfere and observe from behind for now. Also, make sure no civilians get close.”
At Kang Gyeong-chal’s words, we nodded.
“Yes!”
Leading his fellow Special Task Force mages, Kang Gyeong-chal entered the abandoned factory. Meanwhile, we stood at the entrance, preventing any civilians from approaching.
“I didn’t expect to actually be on-site for a real incident.”
“You never know what could happen, so stay alert.”
Boom!
A deafening explosion of magic erupted from within the factory.
It seemed a battle had broken out. Judging by the amount of magic energy, there was more than one opponent.
Boom!
The magical explosions continued. Soon, from the second floor of the abandoned factory, a dazzling ball of fire flared up, and a man jumped out.
Thud!
The man hurriedly scanned his surroundings before locking eyes with us at the entrance.
“Move aside!”
He reinforced his body with magic and charged toward us.
His speed was considerable.
Judging by his movement alone, he was at least a B-rank enhancement-type mage.
At that moment, Yoo Ara stepped forward, forming a fireball.
However, the man remained unfazed and instead accelerated toward her.
In that instant, I reinforced my body with magic and pushed him back.
“Urgh! Who the hell are you?!”
The man shouted as he looked at me. Instead of answering, I cast a spell and fired it at him.
Boom!
Though the attack hit, it didn’t inflict much damage.
He had minimized the impact using a protective martial energy technique.
His reaction speed was impressive.
“You little—!”
With a furious expression, the man lunged at us once more. From behind, Yoo Ara launched her fireball.
With ease, the man dodged the attack.
Next came Choi Seo-yoon’s assault.
Ice surged from the ground, restricting the man’s movement.
“I got him!”
“Annoying!”
Without hesitation, he smashed the ice binding his legs with his fists.
The ice shattered instantly, and he regained his freedom.
This opponent was stronger than I had expected. Given his fluid movements and experience, he must have been through numerous chases and battles.
Fortunately, he seemed to be slowing down, likely due to exhaustion from continuous fighting.
I reinforced my body and charged forward.
In a mage’s team battle, if there’s no dedicated enhancement-type fighter, someone must take on that role.
Thud!
A loud impact echoed as our bodies collided.
The man swung his fist swiftly, but thanks to the heightened reflexes granted by the Golden Immortal Peach, I could see and dodge his attacks.
He seemed surprised by my quick evasions.
“You little—!”
Ignoring his outburst, I drew a paralyzing dagger from my waist.
And then, I plunged it into his thigh.
“Arghhh!”
The man let out a scream of agony.
Seizing the opportunity, I moved behind him and slammed him to the ground.
From my waist, I retrieved the anti-magic handcuffs issued by the Special Task Force and clasped them around his wrists.
Click.
“Whew…”
That was one down.
Choi Seo-yoon and Yoo Ara approached me.
“Are you okay, senior?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Wow… But your movements were…”
I looked up to see both of them staring at me in astonishment.
Given how much my physical abilities had improved after taking the Golden Immortal Peach, it was no surprise they were shocked.
“I’ve been training consistently.”
“…That’s quite the understatement. You moved like an enhancement-type mage.”
Just then—
Another powerful explosion roared from within the factory.
Two more men jumped out.
“Damn it! These guys are relentless!”
“We need to run!”
New enemies.
And this time, there were two of them.
I gathered my magic and prepared to fight.
[Villains ‘Yang Cheol-min and 2 others’ have been successfully captured.]
[Causality has increased by 0.1.]
[You have achieved the ‘First Special Task Operation’ milestone.]
[Reward: 3,000 points acquired.]
Case closed.
The criminals, now handcuffed, were taken away to some unknown location.
Most likely, they were being sent to a top-secret mage prison hidden somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
That prison would later play a major role in a significant episode. But there was still a long time before that day arrived.
Kang Gyeong-chal scratched his head and thanked us.
“Wow… I didn’t expect to get this much help from students on a training exercise. Thanks to you, we managed to capture all of them without a single escape. I really appreciate it.”
“It was nothing. We were just doing our part. But what crimes had those guys committed?”
“Oh, they were wanted criminals. Robbery, assault, murder, theft… you name it.”
“I see.”
“Since you helped capture wanted criminals, you’ll be receiving a bounty reward as well.”
A bounty, huh?
They weren’t particularly high-tier mages, so I figured the reward would be around 6 million won. Split three ways, that would be 2 million each…
A little underwhelming, but free money is free money.
Come to think of it, I’ve accumulated quite a bit of wealth. If 2 million won feels like pocket change, that says a lot.
“Oh, right. Kim Sunwoo, are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“I noticed you seemed to be in pain earlier. Your shoulder—”
“This much is nothing.”
I rubbed my shoulder where I had been injured during the fight.
At my response, Kang Gyeong-chal nodded.
“That’s good to hear. If anything comes up, let me know right away. Now, shall we head back to headquarters?”
“Yes.”
And so, we rode in Kang Gyeong-chal’s vehicle and returned to headquarters.
Thanks to our successful operation, the Special Task Force agents showered us with praise and gave us some time to rest.
We enjoyed some snacks and casual conversation to pass the time.
Then—
A small commotion broke out somewhere in the room. My attention was drawn to it instinctively.
“Hey, did you hear about Goldwin?”
“Yeah, I heard they’ve been acting suspicious lately.”
“Sounds like they’re plotting something.”
That name sounded familiar.
…Goldwin?
If I recalled correctly, that was the name of the tomb raider guild I had encountered before.
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