Jinseong recalled the time before the distortion of time.
It seemed inevitable, the friction with China that had to arise.
Since their goals of searching for ruins, magic, and divine objects aligned, conflicts were bound to happen.
Memories from that time surfaced.
When was it?
He once heard about fascinating primitive magic from the natives in the Costa Rican jungle.
Magic that causes poisonous creatures to stay away.
Magic that allows one to gain strength from poisonous creatures, becoming more resilient to toxins.
Magic that allows one to manipulate poisonous creatures at will.
Magic that enables the easy identification of harmful trees that cause injury upon touch.
Magic that lets one touch trees crawling with dangerous insects without harm, or even take in trees carrying toxins so deadly they would cause suffering and eventual death as if they were one’s own home.
It embodied humanity’s efforts to overcome the ‘poison’ threatening their lives, a trial meant to conquer poison, viewing it as a natural disaster and deifying those who could handle it.
From a cultural anthropology perspective, it held significant value, and in terms of magic, its worth was even greater. Moreover, although he had not experienced it, the abilities seemed sufficiently applicable in various places, so it was only natural for Jinseong to have high expectations about that magic.
However, Jinseong could not obtain the magic.
Every clue the natives spoke about had been shattered, and the altar meant for the rituals had vanished without a trace. Only signs that this place had not been unearthed long ago remained, leaving Jinseong disheartened.
And this had happened multiple times.
Hearing tales that traces of human sacrifice remained at the Great Stone Balls in Costa Rica, he went there.
Upon his arrival, what he found was a rough-cut cross-section that likely contained records of magic.
He heard that there was a curse magic at the Ink Lake in Algeria and went to check it out.
However, to his utter surprise, that place was managed by a Chinese company, only allowing Chinese tourists access. Naturally, Jinseong was unable to enter at all. So deep was his passion for the research on magic and divine objects that the Chinese, who were suspected to hold records of magic, showed no intention of leaving.
Because of this, Jinseong had to use magic to bring them all down and get to their location, and even then, he couldn’t obtain even half of the original records.
He traveled to a newly discovered underground city in Egypt in hopes of obtaining records about magic.
But this time, the Egyptian government and the Chinese government had teamed up to conduct joint investigations in the underground city, making it impossible to approach. It was obvious that their so-called ‘joint’ effort was merely a contract to hand over magic and divine object data to China. In return, there would have been ample profits and enough wealth to weigh down the pockets of the power holders.
Luckily, timing coincided with a secret request he made to feed information to China from Australia, allowing Jinseong to accept that request and raid them with mercenaries to seize the data.
However, some Chinese capable persons self-destructed, leading to a horrific tragedy where the data was damaged.
He confronted a group of treasure hunters made up of Chinese capable persons in Mongolia.
He clashed with special forces sent under the pretense of managing a hydroelectric plant in Ecuador.
In Sri Lanka, the Chinese government sent assassins to deal with Jinseong, who was like a thorn in their side.
…
…
These events.
These horrific events happened over and over again.
Many times.
Countless times.
Again and again….
At that moment, Jinseong thought—
As long as he and China shared the same goal, there were two paths for him to easily gather magic.
One was to support China and, in return, acquire all the magic they amassed.
The other was to weaken China’s power and ensure they couldn’t bury or erase the research they took under the guise of studying it.
And his choice was….
*
Since Rise’s determination, things seemed to have been progressing well.
Odilia, though feeling embarrassed to the point of her face nearly bursting, blushing as if her ears had been boiled, took a more proactive stance in carrying out the operation.
“Odilia, let’s make it fresher, more lively!”
They finely adjusted the life force injected into the crops through the fairy created by witchcraft.
“Odilia, I need you to control the fairy better. You said it might get recorded, and someone could be watching, right? Think of yourself as the fairy. No, it’s not a thought; as you’re controlling the fairy right now, this moment, you are the fairy! Picture a cute little fairy with wings flitting about full of mischief and overflowing with a sense of justice, embodying the essence of childhood wonder. Of course, your speech should be filled with dreams and hopes, and it should exude that childish charm characteristic of fairies.”
She also followed Rise’s requests to control the fairy.
“Odilia! That’s not how a fairy speaks! That’s too far from what a fairy would sound like! Well, I guess you could say that’s a type of fairy…but, Odilia, the fairy we created is a cute and pretty little child fairy, not some plump middle-aged fairy or a gracefully aged grandmother fairy! Please immerse yourself! Huh? You can see it that way, but… immerse yourself!”
She continued on Rise’s request with controlling the fairy….
“Odilia! I brought a book that could help! It’s a study on ‘Constantin Stanislavski’s Acting Theory and Training Methods,’ focusing on method acting. I would like you to read this and control the fairy like you’re method acting, okay? Huh? I’m telling you to control it…. Sorry, but supplying fuel tends to be more efficient, right? So, detailed control should be up to you, Odilia. Besides, you’re the one using witchcraft, so you must be familiar with controlling things; wouldn’t it be better if that was left to you for the operation?”
Following Rise’s requests….
“Odilia! Things are going according to the lord’s plan! The local newspaper took an interest and visited the farm! We should give them a couple of glimpses and then have the fairy appear naturally! You need to act out the scene where the fairy incites the crops! Huh? The fairy can just handle it…. Are you kidding me? If you don’t control it, she won’t be able to speak! You know this, right? You need to express playfulness and actions that captivate the data viewers, making it adorably charming! Huh? Where are you going?”
Rise’s….
…
…
“Stop! Stop it! I feel like my ears are going to bleed from your nagging!”
…Things seemed to be in proper motion, but it ultimately exploded.
Odilia screamed amid what she called ‘nagging that felt like her ears would bleed,’ while she shivered at seeing Rise staring at her with clear eyes, silently questioning ‘Why are you so angry?’
“Are you doing this on purpose? You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?!”
Odilia shouted back at Rise, who kept nagging about the mission.
That damned acting, acting, acting!
Natural acting, method acting….
She wasn’t someone who was trying to be a performer; why should she have to worry about such things?
Moreover, being told to read books to learn about acting and being made to blow things up over just conveying emotions seemed absurd.
If only Rise had talent in acting or had at least gotten her an instructor to improve her acting, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
All Rise did was nag about acting, acting, acting.
Plus, her attitude was as vague as ever.
It seemed to come from a boundless loyalty towards Jinseong, referred to as ‘the lord,’ reminiscent of perfectionism or obsessive cleanliness, and it also seemed to purposely tease Odilia, or perhaps it came across as mocking her cleverly.
Of course, it was natural for Odilia to be angry.
It was infuriating enough to endure mere nagging, but that was imbued with ulterior meaning.
Listening to it unnaturally made her shudder, and after a while, she inexplicably felt sour, yet no content had any real issue; even suspicions felt vague but somehow managed to annoy her…that feeling persisted.
Despite all that ambiguity, she tried hard…
But now she had reached her limit.
Receiving directives from a much younger woman didn’t sit right with her, nor did participating in such childish activities, and she didn’t want to do strange acting that seemed appropriate to be tossed in the trash rather than maintained with dignity. Moreover, the unending unspoken pressure from Rise to work without pause, mixed with her accusatory glares about why she was slacking off, was irritating.
No, it began to feel as if just the existence of Rise was becoming irritating.
However, that didn’t mean she could act out.
This was Jinseong’s operation, and Jinseong was watching very clearly.
Furthermore, Rise seemed to have a relationship with Jinseong that wasn’t easily dismissed…
Thus, the best Odilia could do was to distance herself from this source of stress for a while to regain her composure.
“Ugh, I can’t do this anymore in my current state. Got it? I’m going to take a break and grab a coffee, so just know that.”
Odilia concluded that and bluntly announced her departure.
With that, she gathered her handbag and headed outside, moving towards the door without hesitation, even feeling Rise’s gaze on her back.
And just as she grabbed the doorknob, trying to step outside…
“Eek?!”
She felt a slight tightening around her neck as something pulled her body back.
