Seo A-gyeol, the Enhancement-type

My outfit was similar to last time.

A Nephthra Suit and a robe.

This time, however, I was wearing underwear and a bra, so I didn’t look quite as naked as before.

The sports bra kept my enormous chest from bouncing with every move. As a bonus, it even made them look smaller.

But my hips were another story… That beautiful curve was still there.

Still, it looked more like a ‘suit’ than last time. To be honest, last time it looked like I’d just painted my naked body a thick coat of color…

And once I put on the shoes, the Nephthra Shoes…

Wow.

Don’t I look just like a beautiful spy straight out of a movie?

The robe added a touch of mystery, too.

A dark purple suit that revealed the beautiful curves of my body.

A robe, the symbol of an Awakener.

And a bewitching face.

Worried I might draw too much attention, I covered the suit with the robe and my face with a mask.

Wow.

Don’t I look just like a suspicious person straight out of a movie?

*

As I waited at the meeting spot, people kept glancing at me as they passed by.

I covered up because I was worried I’d stand out, but now I’m standing out even more, aren’t I? Or maybe not? A suspicious beauty would probably draw more stares than just a suspicious person—

“I told you not to dress like that.”

“Agh, you scared me! Where did you pop out from?”

He had appeared out of nowhere, just like last time. And I wasn’t even that lost in thought.

He must have some kind of stealth-related trait.

Stealth. It suits him, doesn’t it? A criminal.

“Follow me.”

I followed Yoo Yi-jun as he weaved through a series of alleys.

Damn it, did I make a mistake coming here? Ha, what kind of fame and fortune am I hoping to get by following a criminal into a place this shady? (Actually, fame and fortune is exactly what I’m after.)

Yoo Yi-jun, who was walking ahead, came to a stop.

What now? What’s he planning to do?

He turned to look at me and said, “From here on, you’ll have to close your eyes. Ah, just pull your mask up and use it as a blindfold.”

“Uh… how? The ground is pretty uneven.”

“Let me carry you.”

What.

“Excuse me?”

“You know what a princess carry is, right? Like that.”

This is basically a kidnapping, isn’t it? Ha, I really shouldn’t have come.

“Um… isn’t this… kidnapping?”

“Pardon?”

Yoo Yi-jun’s eyes went wide—not a chance. Instead, his eyebrows rose slightly.

“Ah, hahaha. No, nothing like that. I do lie—well, I lie to other people, but I haven’t lied to you. You see, I… I like you.”

I could feel a degree of sincerity in the ‘I like you’ part. But what if he’s the type to harm people he likes? Of course, he could be lying about that, too.

I glared at him, and he sighed.

“Hah, fine. I don’t really have a way to prove it. Okay. You can turn back here if you want. I’ll take you back. But if you want to live as an unregistered Awakener, you’ll follow me.”

He hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

“Honestly, it’s tough for a woman like you to survive as an unregistered Awakener without any backing. I might be a criminal, but there are far shittier guys out there, and you never know what might happen to you. So, it’s a bit weird for me to say this myself, but… this is a good opportunity.”

He had a point.

As far as options went, Yoo Yi-jun was the safest one.

He wasn’t absolutely safe, but I’d already prepared myself for this much, hadn’t I? Lee Han-gyeol… no, Seo A-gyeol.

…If things get really bad, I can just undo my transformation and disappear for a while…

“Well, I won’t force you. But—”

“Fine. Let’s go. To that place.”

Yoo Yi-jun smiled faintly.

“Good. Then let me hold you. Put the mask over your eyes.”

I pulled the mask over my eyes and let myself be lifted into Yoo Yi-jun’s arms. A flow of mana washed over both our bodies.

Ah, so this is a stealth skill.

I knew it instinctively. Or maybe not.

“Ah, it felt awkward calling you ‘you’ this whole time. What’s your name?”

“If nothing bad happens today, I’ll tell you.”

“Deal.”

*

Held in Yoo Yi-jun’s arms, I was whisked here and there.

With my eyes covered, I had no idea where we were going. If I tried to peek by lifting the mask, he’d notice immediately in this princess-carry position.

But I got the feeling he was deliberately taking a roundabout route.

One thing I realized while being carried was that Yoo Yi-jun was a stronger Awakener than I’d thought.

Can I really just revert and disappear? The thought crossed my mind, but at the same time, I felt like the die had already been cast.

Was I in his arms for 15 minutes? 20?

“Alright, we’re here.”

Yoo Yi-jun set me down.

When I took off the mask, I saw what looked like an abandoned factory. We were inside a derelict warehouse.

It was a fairly large space, and all the windows were covered.

Beyond us, people were moving about busily, and behind them stood another large warehouse.

A man who had been watching the busy workers approached us.

He was slightly taller than Choi Shin-woo, with much larger muscles. His face was rugged and scarred.

Yeah, he looked like a thug, no matter how you sliced it.

The thug strode over and bowed his head deeply.

“Boss, you’re back?”

“Yeah. Did we get everything out? Any problems?”

“Yes, sir. Everything’s out, no problems. By the way, is this… the boss’s wife?”

What? So suddenly?

I shot Yoo Yi-jun a glare filled with a mix of emotions: confusion, disbelief, anger, bewilderment, contempt, and more.

“No. She’s just an acquaintance. An acquaintance. She just Awakened, so I’m helping her out a bit.”

I can see you winking at the thug, you know.

“Ah… I see. My apologies. Anyway, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Name’s Kim Yong-hyun. I’ll call you ma’am for now.”

‘For now’? This bastard.

“Ah… yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you, too…”

“Well then, shall we go? Yong-hyun, you stay here and supervise.”

Yoo Yi-jun led me past the bustling workers toward the other warehouse.

The people were busy carrying boxes, and most of them avoided making eye contact with me or Yoo Yi-jun.

Yoo Yi-jun himself just stared straight ahead.

However, a few of the more menacing-looking men who were supervising the others greeted him, and Yoo Yi-jun would give a slight nod as he passed.

As we neared the warehouse, I could feel a flow of mana. I was right, there was a gate here. The warehouse must be poorly constructed, because mana seemed to be leaking through the cracks.

When the warehouse door opened, the gate finally came into view.

It was smaller than Gate 14 at Elemental, but its appearance was unmistakably the same. The amount of mana was smaller, likely due to its size, but the feeling was identical to Gate 14.

It was probably an ‘unregistered gate,’ unknown to the government and government-certified guilds.

Usually, when someone discovers a gate, they either report it or use it for themselves. The latter is typically how criminal organizations like uncertified guilds operate.

Maybe even certified guilds have a few unregistered gates for tax evasion or something. They’d lose their certification if they got caught, though.

These unregistered gates often fail to meet safety standards, so the probability of an accident is high.

Just looking at this place, its safety was on a completely different level from the gates managed by Elemental. Look at this—they just covered it with a warehouse.

In the past, there were occasional incidents where monsters would wander outside, and most of the time, unregistered gates like this were the cause.

But any organization that couldn’t even manage that much would have collapsed by now, so you could assume that today’s gates, whether registered or not, are managed to some extent—at least enough to prevent people from getting hurt or killed.

“This is a gate.”

“Ooh.”

It wasn’t a new sight for me, but the mana was still astonishing. Thankfully, I didn’t have to pretend I was seeing one for the first time.

“Well then, let’s go.”

*

Passing through that thin film, I felt a chill. And darkness.

When I opened my eyes, I was inside a dark cave.

Click—

Lanterns hanging on the cave walls lit up all at once.

The newly illuminated cave came into view.

Inside the fairly spacious cavern were scattered boxes like the ones I’d seen earlier. There was also a desk, a chair, a folding cot, and on the cot, a person—

“Ah, good morning, sir!”

The person who had been sleeping on it shot up, greeting us groggily.

“Yeah, yeah. We’re just looking around for a bit, don’t mind us.”

“Yes, sir! Have a good look around!”

Then he lay back down and went to sleep.

“This way.”

Yoo Yi-jun picked up one of the lanterns and led me toward a narrowing passage. That must be the cave entrance.

The passage curved subtly, obscuring the end from view. The gate inside the cave probably wasn’t visible from the outside, either.

As we walked, light began to reflect off the cave walls, signaling that we were almost outside.

Finally, the end of the cave came into sight.

The moment I stepped out of the darkness, I was hit by a wave of sweltering heat.

A lush green jungle and a red sky filled my vision…

Huh? I know this place.

He must have mistaken my sense of déjà vu for surprise, because Yoo Yi-jun said, “What do you think? Your first impression of a gate?”

It’s not my first time.

“Mm, it’s hot. And I can feel… the mana.”

“A bit hot, right? It’s a good thing the gate is inside the cave.”

Since it was hot and it was just the two of us, I took off my mask and robe and placed them behind a rock near the cave entrance.

As I did, I noticed paths crisscrossing the jungle. That must be how they get around.

“Wow, your body and beauty are as amazing as ever. Ah, by the way, should we drop the formalities? It’s hard to speak formally in an emergency.”

“Uh, um, sure. Let’s do that.”

“Alright. So, what’s your name? Still can’t tell me? Nothing bad happened.”

“Ah, my name? Right. Since I’ve come this far, I’ll tell you. It’s ‘Seo A-gyeol’.”

“Seo A-gyeol?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a pretty name. How old are you? I’m twenty-three.”

My age? Should I lie or not? Let’s not lie about something so trivial. I should stick to one big lie.

“I’m twenty this year. We already dropped the formalities, right?”

“Oh, twenty? Twenty? Right, we did. But that does make me your oppa, doesn’t it?”

‘Oppa’? Ugh, there’s no way I can say that.

“Whatever, Yoo Yi-jun-ssi. Where are we going now?”

“I was originally just going to take you for a short walk and send you back, but my work finished early. Want to do a little training?”

Do I have time? My Essense is at 700… no, it’ll be 600 if I revert, so I should be fine.

“Sure. But since it’s my first day, let’s keep it short.”

“Then follow me. And stay quiet on the way, just in case.”

He led me down one of the paths in the jungle.

As I stepped onto the path, I felt like I was passing through a thin film, like a soap bubble. When I looked back, the cave was gone, and only a rock cliff remained.

We rustled through the undergrowth.

The sounds of monsters echoed in the distance, a flying monster soared far away, and something rustled nearby.

Even though I had been to a nearly identical gate, this was a raw, other world I hadn’t been able to experience back then.

After walking for some time, I felt that same sensation of passing through a soap bubble, and suddenly we were in a clearing.

Unlike the clearing where the Elemental base was, the trees here formed a canopy overhead, letting in fractured sunlight—or at least, fractured light.

“Alright. This clearing is under a soundproofing and camouflage spell, so you can talk.”

“Oh, this is soundproofing and camouflage magic? That’s amazing. Does this mean monsters can’t get in?”

“It doesn’t stop them from entering, it just makes them feel no need to come here. If we make noise or they see us moving, monsters will come.”

“Huh? Then what do we do if a monster comes in?”

“We run. Don’t worry. I’m good at sensing things like that. If one comes, we’ll just bolt. Anyway, what’s your class?”

“Huh?”

“You know, what class is your trait?”

It was an unwritten rule among Awakeners not to ask directly about someone’s trait. It was too much information, which was why even registration cards only listed the class.

This body had the ‘Optimal Physique’ skill, along with Body Recovery and Body Enhancement. I guess I can say I’m an Enhancement-type.

“I think I’m an Enhancement-type. It said something about enhancement and recovery.”

“Enhancement-types are good. Have you ever used your skills?”

“No. This is my first time.”

“Really? Then think about using that skill and try to spread your mana throughout your body. Where does the mana concentrate?”

‘Enhance.’

The moment I thought it, something warm spread through my entire body. Hmm, it’s using Essense, not mana.

Where will the Essense go, where will it gather? Oh, it’s spreading throughout my whole body.

“It’s spreading evenly through my whole body.”

“Oh, really? A full-body enhancement type. Those are good. They have a high potential ceiling. But, um, their mana efficiency tends to be poor. You’ll have to work hard.”

Why?

Why is it that both my first form, the elementalist, and my second form, the enhancement-type, have such shitty mana efficiency?