The Magic Tower might not compare to the Sword Saint Clan, but it still has a long-standing history.
It is an institution that accepts talented mages from all over the world, then trains and fosters them professionally.
'That's the Magic Tower for you.'
Because it teaches such rare magic, its training process is incredibly strict and harsh.
As a result, many drop out midway.
The problem is that once someone drops out, it becomes incredibly difficult to learn magic again.
'The Magic Tower teaches magic in exchange for loyalty from its members.'
Once you leave, you have to find and learn magic on your own.
Just the skill book bought earlier cost 15 billion won. There's no way an individual dropout could afford something like that.
"There's an organization formed by those very dropouts. They call themselves the 'Stragglers.' They operate globally."
"Are they some kind of criminal group?"
"Similar, but not quite. Think of them more like mercenaries doing odd jobs here and there. But the moment they see magic items, they lose their minds."
"What do you mean by 'lose their minds'...?"
"They're lunatics who wouldn't hesitate to commit crimes if it's for magic items."
Han Seonga's mouth dropped open in shock.
They had the talent to get into the Magic Tower in the first place, and yet they dropped out. Most of them have some kind of serious mental flaw.
'Snow Tiger's corpse is something those bastards—specifically, their higher-ups—desperately want.'
The skill book is one thing.
But if they fail to win the bid for Snow Tiger, those bastards are likely to take extreme measures.
"They'll try to kill me and steal it."
Terrorizing an auction house would be too much of a gamble, even for the Stragglers.
So instead, they go after the winning bidder, kill them, and take Snow Tiger.
"...That works out for me."
"Excuse me, Young Master? Works out?"
"Contact the Sword Saint Clan's Seoul branch."
He had intended this from the beginning.
Otherwise, he would've accepted the auction house's offer to provide escorts.
"There are people targeting the successor of the clan."
The Stragglers have a hideout nearby. And inside, there are a few useful things.
He was planning to retrieve them.
"Wipe out every last one of those who revealed themselves."
Yoo Baekjun stood up from his seat.
***
The bald man.
The Straggler named Jayven was furious.
'That pretty-boy bastard dared to outbid me?'
He couldn't get the skill book he was aiming for, and he also lost the spiritual beast's corpse that he absolutely needed to secure.
If he returned like this, his boss wouldn't let it slide. That would be a problem.
'I'll kill him. I'll definitely kill him and take it back.'
It wasn't even his possession, but that's how Jayven saw it. He turned to the comrades following behind.
"He went that way. He's alone with a woman, no escort. Should be easy."
"He looked like he had money. Are you sure about this?"
"We just kill him and run. Easy."
The woman seemed somewhat skilled, but the man looked scrawny—nothing like a Hunter.
So they only had to deal with the woman.
There were over twenty of them. Taking care of one woman would be nothing.
"Cast your spells in advance. When you see them, hit them with everything you've got. Understood?"
"That's probably for the best. Silence?"
"Already cast. We don't want a commotion drawing people in."
Deal with it as quietly as possible and disappear before anyone finds out what happened.
That was Jayven's plan.
"Jayven, I sense something. If we head into that alley, one of them should be there."
"Good. Everyone, get ready."
Jayven grit his teeth.
"We hunt the prey. Go!"
They all charged into the alley.
A dimly-lit alley. No buildings nearby, no foot traffic—perfect for killing someone.
There, a woman stood.
"Found her."
The spell chants were already complete.
All that was left was to fire. Countless spells would overwhelm her, and they'd rummage through the remains to collect the item.
Then it'd all be over.
"That's the woman! Kill her!"
Jayven and his allies unleashed their magic.
Roaring flames, violent gusts, shooting ice spears, crackling lightning. Twenty mages unleashed their spells at once.
All aimed at the woman's location.
"...!"
The woman widened her eyes in surprise.
She had a sword in hand, but it was meaningless. The spells would hit before she could even draw it.
The magic exploded, and smoke billowed out.
The woman behind that smoke wouldn't even have had time to react—her body would've been torn apart.
"Huh?"
…That's what he thought.
Jayven felt something was off. Their spells had definitely hit the woman, yet there was no sound of impact.
The smoke rose thickly, yet after the initial explosion, it was oddly silent.
"What's going on? We hit her, right?"
"How could she dodge that? Of course we hit her."
The others murmured behind him.
Jayven, thinking it was just his imagination, tilted his head and started moving toward the smoke.
But then—
Fwoooosh!
"Gah!"
The smoke cleared on its own.
And what it revealed—was shocking. The woman they assumed was a corpse, Han Seonga, was standing there, perfectly unharmed.
"No way!"
And beside her—stood Yoo Baekjun.
Both of his hands moved in a spiral motion. A wall of ice had appeared in front of him, holding the incoming spells in place.
"M-Magic... stopped?"
"What is that?!"
They were stunned.
It had been a barrage of spells from twenty mages. Enough firepower to tear through any ordinary magical barrier in an instant.
Yet he had caught all of it with his bare hands?
"Hssss..."
But that wasn't even the end of the surprise.
Yoo Baekjun let out a long breath, and the magic caught in his hands began to melt away.
As if it had never existed in the first place.
"C-Crazy!"
"Magic! Keep attacking! Don't let him get close!"
"He can't keep blocking it forever!"
The mages fired off spells again.
This time, the magic clearly struck Yoo Baekjun's body. But—
"It landed—!"
"Wait, an afterimage?!"
It was an afterimage left behind by the Ghostly Shadow Steps.
The afterimage pierced by the spells disappeared, and Yoo Baekjun reappeared behind it.
With the magic absorbed, a powerful energy erupted from him. He took a deep breath and—
Boom!
He stepped forward.
Crackle! The mana spreading from his feet froze the surrounding area.
Even the mages trying to flee had their legs frozen.
"F-Frozen...!"
Yoo Baekjun exhaled a white breath. He crouched low, then burst forth like a storm.
As he charged forward, ice formed in his wake like footprints.
"He's—!"
Screeeeech!
Yoo Baekjun twisted his waist mid-charge. His fist, drawn far back, was imbued with cold energy.
"Gah!"
Crack!
His punch arced through the air.
The foremost mage was the victim. His shoulder was crushed, his chest shattered—ribs, sternum, everything broken.
"Gyaaah!"
A blood-curdling scream rang out.
And then, the cold mana infused in Yoo Baekjun's punch exploded forward—right into the mages retreating in terror.
Crackle!
A mass of ice shaped like a dragon's head came crashing down.
As the dragon shattered, shards of ice sprayed in every direction, engulfing the mages.
"Aagh! My eyes!"
"Guh...!"
Just one strike.
In a single attack, half of the twenty mages were rendered unable to fight.
The rest weren't unscathed either.
"W-What the hell is he?!"
"Jayven! You said we didn't need to be cautious!"
"I-I didn't know either..."
Jayven had already retreated to the back of the group.
Something was very wrong. He had never seen skills like that before. And the destructive power...
'C-Can we even win this?'
Just from that single strike and two skills, Jayven had completely lost his will to fight.
He stumbled backward, his legs trembling.
"I-I'll go back to the hideout and call for reinforcements! You guys hold them off!"
"What?! Jayven, you cowardly bastard!"
"You could've just called them with the communicator!"
Before anyone could stop him, Jayven fled.
His comrades were too stunned to even stop him. He was always cunning and underhanded, but they hadn't expected this.
"Hmph."
Yoo Baekjun snorted, watching Jayven flee. Behind him, Han Seonga approached.
"Master Han Seonga, I'll leave the rest to you."
"Yes, of course. This'll be easy."
Shiiiing! Han Seonga drew her sword.
Yoo Baekjun immediately kicked off the ground. Thud! With a heavy sound, his form vanished.
Now it was Han Seonga versus the mages.
"T-The guy's gone?"
"J-Just the woman..."
"With just her left, we can manage, right?"
Half the mages had already been swept away by the ice shards. They were crawling on the ground, bleeding.
Only the other half remained.
'Such power...'
Han Seonga was impressed.
Even though he had only just learned the skill, he used it with incredible finesse.
And that kind of power...
'As expected, the Young Master is a natural genius. No one ever realized it, but why not?'
She felt oddly proud, being the one who recognized it first.
And that encyclopedic knowledge just moments ago...
'Stragglers. I've never even heard of them.'
But Yoo Baekjun knew them well.
She wasn't sure how, but he had always liked reading.
He probably learned about them from a book.
Fwoooosh!
A spell flew at the lost-in-thought Han Seonga. A blazing fireball.
She furrowed her brows.
Slash!
She cut the fireball in half.
The bisected fireball passed her and exploded against the wall behind her.
"Sh-She cut it?!"
"How the hell can anyone do that?!"
"Wait a sec, that technique..."
Among the shocked mages, one of them searched his memory.
What the man did earlier was completely unheard of—but that sword technique was familiar.
Yes, that was...
"The Sword Saint Clan! Jayven, you lunatic!"
It was the swordsmanship of the Sword Saint Clan.
Only those sword maniacs could pull off such acrobatic feats.
And of all people, they had picked a fight with the Sword Saint Clan!
"In this world..."
Han Seonga slowly opened her mouth.
"There are people you should never mess with."
"W-What?"
Swoosh! Her figure vanished in an instant. The mages looked around, startled.
Slash!
One of their necks was severed on the spot.
Only the glint of her blade could be seen. A stealth skill? No, it wasn't that.
'She's just too fast to see...'
It was monstrous speed, plain and simple.
Every time her blade flashed, an arm flew off, a leg was lost, a life disappeared.
Screams erupted, and blood soaked the ground as Han Seonga sighed.
"I want to hurry back and read a book."
A comment wildly out of place.
***
–A new quest is available.
Yoo Baekjun chased after Jayven.
Jayven was a mage. No matter how hard he ran, he had a speed limit.
Catching up wasn't difficult.
"Huff, huff...!"
After a while, Jayven, panting heavily, entered a building.
It looked like an ordinary commercial building.
'So it's here.'
Inside was a Straggler hideout.
Their main base wasn't in Korea but overseas—though he knew the location, so it didn't matter.
'These damn hideouts change location every game, so unless you do this, you can't find them.'
The Straggler hideouts changed every run. You'd have to choose from several possible locations, and it was a real pain.
But once you memorized the layouts, clearing them wasn't too hard.
"Let's deal with these first."
Yoo Baekjun turned around.
A group of people was standing there—all wearing the attire of the Sword Saint Clan.
"You called for us, Young Master."
"Mm."
Yoo Baekjun chuckled to himself.
They were clearly watching from the shadows the whole time for escort and surveillance.
'Why act like I called them here now?'
There's no way the clan successor would walk around with just one escort. The Seoul branch of the Sword Saint Clan must've assigned hidden guards in case of emergency.
Yoo Baekjun nodded toward the building.
"Any civilians inside?"
"No detectable presence."
"Then kill them all. Leave only the guy we saw earlier—Jayven—alive."
"Yes, sir."
With the sound of wind being sliced, the Sword Saint Clan's guards vanished.
[Pest Extermination.]
There are vermin targeting the item you obtained from the auction. Find their hideout and eliminate them completely.
–Reward: 200P.
Reading the quest, he couldn't help but whistle.
"Ah, power is the best."
It was like blowing your nose without lifting a finger.