9 P.M., the Time of the Incident
We continued our patrol in a small town not far from Jinwonpo.
By now, things should have started getting noisy, yet the night remained eerily quiet. The incident was supposed to occur at exactly 9 P.M.
“Senpai, slow down a bit.”
As my steps quickened out of unease, Choi Seo-yoon called out to me.
“Oh, sorry.”
“…No, you don’t have to apologize.”
At my cool response, Choi Seo-yoon awkwardly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Hm.”
I glanced at my wristwatch.
The current time was 9:02 P.M.—just slightly past the expected moment.
As the minutes ticked by without incident, my anxiety deepened. Had the butterfly effect caused an unforeseen variable?
Then, suddenly—
Wuuuuuung…
A massive surge of magical energy rippled through the air.
“What was that?”
“A mana explosion?”
Detective Kang, sensing something suspicious, spoke up.
“Everyone, follow me!”
We immediately took off in the direction of the disturbance. The closer we got, the more intense the magical energy became.
Multiple bursts of mana could now be felt emanating from the location.
A battle was taking place. The guild conflict had begun.
“Request reinforcements immediately!”
I shouted at Detective Kang, who stood frozen with a tense expression.
Startled by my words, he snapped back to his senses and nodded.
“Oh? Oh! Understood! Calling for backup now! Multiple mana explosions detected near Jinwonpo!”
He spoke into his radio, his voice urgent.
Of course, requesting backup wouldn’t help me acquire the Cup of Life, but it was an essential safety measure.
If things went south, I needed an emergency exit.
As we raced toward the source of the disturbance, a powerful magical barrier suddenly materialized before us, blocking our path.
“What the hell? It’s a barrier!”
Detective Kang frowned and took a step back. I stepped forward, placing my hand against the barrier’s magic circle.
“Huh? Kim Sunwoo?”
I began modifying the spell formula woven into the barrier.
Light radiated from the structure, and soon, the magical shield began to dissolve.
A trembling voice sounded from behind me.
“No way… What is this…?”
Ten seconds later, the barrier completely disappeared.
“Let’s go.”
I turned slightly, only to see Detective Kang, Yoo Ara, and Choi Seo-yoon staring at me in stunned silence.
Right.
This was the first time they’d seen me dispel a barrier.
“Whoa. Lee Seo-jun senpai wasn’t lying… He really undid that in seconds…”
“No time for admiration.”
I took off running again.
“Kim Sunwoo! You can’t go ahead on your own!”
Detective Kang called out, but I ignored him, pushing forward.
As I sprinted toward the battlefield, a chaotic scene unfolded before my eyes—countless mages locked in fierce combat.
More people than I had expected had gathered.
Detective Kang furrowed his brows at the sight.
“Goldwin?”
“Request additional reinforcements.”
“Huh? Oh, right! Understood!”
He hurriedly grabbed his radio again, issuing another call for support. Once finished, he turned to us.
“I’ll check if we have more backup arriving. Stay hidden—it’s dangerous.”
“We’ll help too.”
Choi Seo-yoon and Yoo Ara stepped forward, their expressions firm.
Detective Kang shook his head.
“No, just wait. At least until headquarters sends more support.”
With that, he disappeared into the shadows.
I watched him go before turning to Choi Seo-yoon and Yoo Ara.
“I’ll scout the situation. Stay here.”
“Huh? S-Senpai! Where are you going?!”
Ignoring their calls, I ran.
My destination—a small abandoned building near Jinwonpo.
Once close enough, I used Air Walk to ascend to a high vantage point.
From there, I could see the battlefield clearly.
At a glance, there were easily over a hundred combatants.
It was an incredible sight. Even in the original story, battles of this scale were rare.
“…Now, where is he?”
My top priority was locating Jung Taechan, the guild leader of Hyesung Guild.
According to Baek Eun-seong conversation earlier, he possessed the Cup of Life.
But without knowing his face, searching for him would be difficult.
As for Baek Eun-seong
“Hah!”
From my standpoint, I quickly spotted him.
Wielding his S-rank spear, Bangcheon Hwageuk, he slaughtered mages left and right.
As expected of an S-rank mage.
And he wasn’t even going all out.
Watching the massacre unfold, I was once again reminded of Jaun’s terrifying power.
I swallowed dryly and refocused on the battlefield.
I needed to find Jung Taechan.
If I didn’t act fast, Baek Eun-seong would locate him first.
Although I didn’t recognize his face, I had another method.
I activated Character Insight.
It was a brute-force approach, but I scanned through every individual’s information one by one.
After about thirty seconds—
“…Found him.”
A middle-aged man with a nervous expression, glancing around warily while fighting inside a crumbling building.
━━
Name: Jung Taechan
Age: 46
Race: Human
Status: Uneasy
Mana Rank: A
Interest Level: 0
━━
His mana rank was A—not bad for a guild leader.
I swiftly retrieved a set of clothing from my subspace storage and changed.
A black jacket—the outfit I wore when operating as Kim Jinwoo.
I added a cap, glasses, and a fake mustache.
With so many others dressed similarly, I wouldn’t stand out.
“…”
I was ready.
As a final step, I gulped down an elixir.
Now, I had about ten minutes.
Within that time, I needed to secure the Cup of Life and escape.
Hoo.
Strengthening my legs with mana, I jumped from the building.
Scanning my surroundings, I locked onto Jung Taechan’s position and sprinted toward him.
Various combatants—likely from Goldwin and Hyesung Guild—attempted to attack me.
But their movements were sluggish.
Most of them were only C-rank mages—no real threat.
“Move.”
I swiftly incapacitated any enemies in my path as I advanced.
And then—
In the distance, Jung Taechan came into view.
He was gravely injured, his body drenched in blood, his leg dragging as he staggered forward.
Two men, likely from Goldwin, stood before him.
I raised my hand and conjured a spell.
Kwaaaaang!
A powerful explosion engulfed them.
“Gaaahhh!”
Jung Taechan looked at me with a brightened face at the sudden support.
He must have thought I was an ally.
However, as I approached while manifesting a new spell, his expression darkened again.
“Ugh! Were you not an ally?”
Jung Taechan glared at me warily, then unleashed a spear of flame in my direction. I twisted my upper body to the side and narrowly dodged the attack.
Even though he was injured, the power of his magic was still brutal.
“Jung Taechan. Hand over the Cup of Life.”
“…So that was your goal all along?!”
Jung Taechan glared at me with eyes filled with resentment, clearly unwilling to give up the Cup.
It couldn’t be helped.
I had no choice but to take it by force.
I reached out and aimed my manifested spell at him.
He may have been an A-rank mage, but he was seriously wounded.
Right now, I could definitely take him down.
I fired my spell at him.
Kwaaang!
“Gaaaah!”
A horrifying scream erupted as the spell struck his shoulder.
His body curled up, trembling violently—he was writhing in pain.
I gathered my mana once more and manifested a new spell.
Wuuuuung…
Then, I approached him, aiming the manifested magic directly at him.
“Hand over the Cup of Life.”
Jung Taechan groaned in pain and looked at me with terror-stricken eyes.
“You son of a… damn it…”
Rolling on the ground, he cursed under his breath, then suddenly burst into a crazed laugh.
“Heh… heh… Fine, I’ll give it to you… So just spare me… Khh…!”
With trembling hands, he pulled out a small, golden cup from his robes.
I stepped forward and took it from him.
━━
[Cup of Life (Relic)]
Category: Cup
Description: A Cup imbued with divine power.
[Passive Effect]
▶ Purification
Pour water into the Cup of Life to purify it. Drinking the purified water rapidly accelerates the body’s recovery.
*Cooldown: 3 days
*The effect of the purified water disappears after 10 minutes.
Durability: SSS
━━
I finally obtained it.
The Cup of Life, one of the components said to be used in the creation of the Holy Grail.
It wasn’t a completed artifact, so it didn’t have the Holy Grail’s absurd effects, but even in its current state, its abilities were exceptional.
Jung Taechan stared at me with resentful eyes before collapsing unconscious.
My objective was complete.
Now, I should make a quick escape before Baek Eun-seong arrives.
That was when—
“Oh? Found you~”
A voice rang out from behind me.
A man holding a massive spear stained with blood was grinning at me.
‘Baek Eun-seong.’
He approached with slow, deliberate steps, still smiling.
Even from a considerable distance, his presence alone exuded overwhelming pressure.
I pulled my hat down further to obscure my face.
“Well done. You’re from Goldwin, right?”
It seemed he had mistaken me for a member of Goldwin after witnessing me attack Jung Tae-chan.
I was incredibly lucky.
Had he recognized me as an enemy, I wouldn’t have even realized how I died.
Even so, this situation wasn’t favourable.
Coming face-to-face with Baek Eun-seong meant I had few options left.
“……”
So, what now?
There were two choices.
One was to continue pretending to be a Goldwin mage and hand over the Cup of Life.
The other… was to run.
…But could I really escape from Baek Eun-seong?
As a reinforcement-type mage, his physical abilities were among the best in Jaun.
His speed and agility were so exceptional that he was considered one of the top mages in the entire magic world.
Trying to flee from him was practically suicide.
However, I wasn’t planning to run blindly.
Because I knew a certain critical weakness of Baek Eun-seong—one that only a handful of people in this world were aware of.
I discreetly rolled my eyes, scanning for an escape route, while calculating in my head.
The distance between me and Baek Eun-seong was roughly 25 meters.
If I ran, how many seconds would it take for him to catch me?
Four seconds? Or three?
Three seconds was cutting it close. But it was a gamble worth taking.
Alright, let’s do this.
“Hoo…”
Thump!
My heart pounded loudly.
The Heart of Nature had activated.
“Haha. You saved me some trouble, so I should reward you generously. I’m in a really good mood right now. Is there anything you want? Maybe some money?”
I gathered my mana.
With the effects of the Elixir and the Heart of Nature overlapping, an enormous amount of mana surged into my legs.
Noticing something off, Baek Eun-seong’s expression hardened slightly.
“You…”
The moment I started gathering mana, he suddenly dashed toward me at a speed almost impossible to see with the naked eye.
At the same time, I turned and kicked off the ground.
Fwoosh!
I sprinted at my maximum possible speed.
Concentrating an excessive amount of mana into my legs brought excruciating pain, but I gritted my teeth and kept running.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The sound of Baek Eun-seong’s footsteps behind me grew louder and closer.
The terror was beyond words.
“Hnnngh…!”
I kept running.
One second… Two seconds… Three seconds.
The longest three seconds of my life.
Then, I kicked off the ground and jumped.
I could feel Baek Eun-seong’s spear thrusting toward my back.
Squelch!
“Guh…!”
The spear itself didn’t pierce me, but the sharp aura extending from its tip stabbed me in my back.
Fortunately, I wasn’t impaled by the actual weapon, so I hadn’t been caught.
It was a difference of just 0.1 seconds.
Then, I plunged downward.
Splash!
The icy seawater engulfed me.
As the air vanished, a vast blue world spread before my eyes.
Blood from my stabbed back seeped out, faintly dyeing the surrounding water red.
Ignoring the pain, I kept swimming deeper.
After about a minute, I surfaced.
“Puhah!”
In the distance, Baek Eun-seong stood frozen, staring at me in disbelief.
“Hey, hey… you crazy bastard! Are you not coming out of there?!”
As if I’d be stupid enough to come out.
I clutched my wounded back.
The saltwater stung like hell.
If I left it untreated, I might die from excessive blood loss—or worse, infection.
I needed to get to shore and treat it fast.
“Hey! Get out! You cowardly bastard! Hey!”
Baek Eun-seong kept yelling at me. His voice was so loud it made my ears ache.
“Screw you.”
I raised my middle finger at him.
His eyes bulged in rage.
“You… you crazy son of a—!”
I ignored him and turned away, swimming further out.
His angry shouts echoed behind me, but I paid them no mind.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?! Get back here! Don’t gooo!”
Baek Eun-seong, the Divine Spear.
One of the top ten reinforcement-type mages in the world.
He was afraid of water.
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