Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 3: A Transcendent at the Minimum? (3)

I looked up at his head.

Lee Family

Level 5

Experienced Necromancer, Lee Hyun-jin

‘A necromancer, huh.’

It was an unfamiliar power for me. In the Leonhardt Empire, necromancy was non-mainstream, and it was respected, but many steered clear of it. Moreover, I had walked into a gathering of nobles and the imperial family as soon as I arrived in the empire, so I didn’t really get a chance to do anything, never mind familiarizing myself with necromancer.

Tsk, tsk. A bunch of dirty necrophiles have shown up.

‘Don’t be so mean. I heard that they’re quite useful.’

Necromancy was a school of magic that was unconventional in the Leonhardt Empire. It was revered, but at the same time, everyone was wary of it as well. In the Leonhardt Empire, necromancers were basically equivalent to a gang of pedophiles.

However, having a bad reputation did not mean they were weak. Rather, if you had to classify their power, they were on the stronger side. Necromancy was a powerful school of magic with a long history and tradition. Its bad reputation had to do with the environment.

Necromancy was a school of magic that involved dead bodies and souls, which meant they were prominent in a world full of death. The Leonhardt Empire was governed by effective systems and laws, and so it lacked death and dead bodies. Humiliating the soul was an unforgivable, illegal act worse than murder, so necromancy wasn’t able to find a proper spot in the empire.

‘But a necromancer is able to walk around in the daylight in Another Plane like this. It means…’

There was a simple explanation. This place, Another Plane, was a world that walked closely with death.

“What? Who might you be? Puhahaha! I heard that you were from the surface world, but it seems you’re a politely-spoken, wiry man, hmm?”

“Kyah, no wonder you’re being looked down upon…”

“Retard… Don’t think about making a mess in the cafeteria…”

The necromancer started to laugh out loudly, and the stick and the ball behind him spoke in dreary voices. The three of them seemed to be friends.

“Well, to make it easier for you to understand, we are basically your sunbaes who set on the parallel world first. I was surprised that someone not belonging to a particular school was able to come to the palace without going through the castle. That’s why I called out.”

The palace. They were referring to our current location. I guess the only unique aspect about this place was that it was a location that was familiar to people in the real world, the people in the surface world.

Gyeongbokgung Palace.

That’s where we were — Historical Site No.117. It was established by the Joseon Dynasty[1] and utilized as the main palace for centuries. It was the first of the five palaces of the Joseon Dynasty.

‘But the problem is that there’s more than what meets the eye.’

This place was the base of operations for the Lee Family, an indigenous force of Korea. It was not a place where anyone who operated in Another Plane could access, and they seemed to be a little sour that I was able to enter as a person from the surface world.

“Well, things just happened to turn out this way. So what?”

“We’ll do it with a thumb.”

“Hmm?”

I questioned the unknown words. Since his entire face was covered with bandages, I could not read his facial expression. He maintained his gaze and continued.

“Cut off your thumb and we will guarantee your safety here.”

“……”

I was so speechless that my mouth gaped open. What the hell was this bastard going on about?

“Is this a threat?”

“It’s not a threat. It’s a natural process.”

“What if I say no?”

“No…?”

“What a…”

The eyes of the stick and ball glimmered coldly.

“Huhuhu, you have some backbone, huh? I don’t hate people like you…”

His words were commending, but a murderous spirit exuded from the bandaged man.

However.

“Oh, my God…”

I could only laugh in vain.

“What great bullshit.”

“…What?”

It seemed that they had not expected such a response from me. A dumbfounded expression appeared on their faces for a moment, but then changed immediately. Their killing intent was growing in intensity.

“Stop.”

A figure walked in between us, silencing the killing intent. It was Kyung-eun, who had left the cafeteria earlier.

“What do you think you are doing to my guest?”

“Ah, my apologies, my lady. But according to principle, to enter the palace…”

“Even if you are a royal, they must adhere to the customary…”

“And…”

All three of them started to blabber to justify their actions, but Kyung-eun coldly cut off their words.

“Dae-ha did not come here to become a part of our clan. He is a guest.”

“But.”

“But what? I will consider it a challenge to my authority if you continue to argue about this.”

“……”

Kyung-eun made a stern expression when the three men remained silent.

“Your answer?”

“…Yes, miss.”

Their expressions betrayed that they weren’t convinced at all, but they could not resist her words openly, so they begrudgingly nodded their heads. After glaring at the three for a moment, Kyung-eun turned her head towards me and spoke.

“I’m sorry, Dae-ha. I know that you received a request from ahjussi as well… Take this.”

“No, miss, but that’s…”

“Ah, just shut up! It’s because of people like you!”

Listening to their noisy conversation, I received a tiger-shaped jade plaque.

Magic Tower Lord Shin In-hwa

Level 8 (3rd time)

Summoning Stone

‘A Magic Tower Lord.’

It refers to the head of a Magic Tower, a force that dominates Earth 34 in the dark.

‘I know that much.’

The parallel world, Another Plane, was dominated by fifteen forces — three Magic Towers, five Martial Arts Houses and seven Families.

Two of the fifteen forces were located in Korea, and one of them was the Lee Family. They represented the royal family of Korea, and they were a force native to Korea. Gyeongbokgung Palace, where I was staying, could be called their base.

The other was the Supreme Magic Tower, the force that Bo-ram belonged to. However, unlike the Lee Family, which consisted entirely of Koreans, the Supreme Magic Tower was a multinational organization that operated across all of Northeast Asia.

In fact, among the members of the Supreme Magic Tower, 50% of them are Chinese, 30% are Japanese, and 15% consist of various ethnicities. Only 5% of the members are Koreans, in other words, there are only around 2,000 Koreans. It is quite peculiar that one of those 2,000 is a Magic Tower Lord.

‘How complicated.’

As I listened to Genie’s explanation ring out in my head, Kyung-eun finished reprimanding the three with her ferocious gaze and turned towards me.

“Always carry it with you.”

“This thing?”

“Yes. To be honest with you, your attitude will pose a huge danger to you. Nothing would be strange for people from the outside to die in this place. Well, still…”

With a grin on her face, Kyung-eun left with a last remark.

“I don’t hate guys with balls.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

Kyung-eun left and an awkward silence ensued for a while. I was too dumbfounded at her last words that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh god, what kinds of words is she sprouting?”

“You’re still easygoing.”

“It’s getting boring.”

The stick and the ball tried to agitate me with their words, but it was just random noise to me. I ignored it and turned around. As I started to walk away, the bandage spoke.

“You… have a nice watch.”

“Watch?”

I became flustered at the random comment and raised my left arm. The watch hanging around my wrist was exceptional. The sleek, black watch was obviously a custom-fitted accessory. But… in fact, the watch was not just some random luxury. It was the fruit of a Stage IV civilization – Shadow Stalker.

It was the ultimate personal armament, originally made for Emperor Leonhardt, an intermediate-rank God. The Kendler tribe, who reached a peak technological civilization, succeeded in utilizing the elements of time, space, and void in an effective manner.

As such, the bullets of Shadow Stalker were able to penetrate enemies across time. No matter how remarkable the enemy’s reflexes were, nor whether they had a near-perfect foresight, they could not block or avoid the Shadow Stalker’s bullets.

Moreover, Shadow Stalker never ran out of bullets. A humongous gun factory the size of a moon was printing out near-infinite numbers of weapons. Therefore, a single bullet from Shadow Stalker could be utilized as a bunker to block all attacks, or vice versa, cause maximum annihilation and destroy everything in front of it.

The only reason it could not be compared to the transcendental weapons was its lack of spirituality. But even so, Shadow Stalker was a treasure that would be considered rare even for the forces of the Great Universe.

‘Surely he can’t have recognized the identity of Shadow Stalker.’

I became suspicious at the greedy voice of the bandaged man. His level was not nearly high enough to recognize the true value of Shadow Stalker, the fruit of a Stage IV civilization.

But I soon shook my head. What did it matter if he knew of its true value or not?

“It is nice. It’s something you can’t buy even if you sell the entire planet.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean?”

I meant exactly what I said.

I smirked and passed by him. He took a step forward in anger, but the stick and the ball stopped him.

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Hoho, I’m glad you enjoyed your meal. But fighting in a cafeteria…”

“Do you want me to refrain?”

The lady laughed at my words.

“No, I recommend it.”

“…Why?”

“Why else?”

She acted as if she was stupefied by the question and grinned. To be exact, the Evil Spirit Demon grinned.

“It’s always the most entertaining to watch weaklings fight.”

“…Ah, yes.”

I answered awkwardly and peeked around. Come to think of it, I remembered that people treated her carefully even though she was only a normal lady on the surface. I guess her identity wasn’t a big secret. If they knew of her true identity, it was only natural for them to exercise caution with her. Wasn’t she a level 12 Evil Spirit Demon, a powerful figure on the level of a master?

After remaining quiet all this time, Ares laughed.

A little weakling from the Demon Realm is pretending to be a lion among the weak.

Genie contributed as well.

It’s a leashed animal as well. But it’s interesting how a creature from the Demon Realm is being put to use like that. I can’t believe it’s possible in such a low-class civilization.

I finished cleaning up my dishes and utensils and communicated my thoughts to Genie.

‘It seems that the Great Wizard caught it personally. It’s a mystery that he’s only making use of the demon as a cafeteria lady, but… Considering the risk, he must have deemed it necessary.’

But unfortunately, the Great Wizard died today. If he had put some measures in place, the demon would not be able to escape or take any action, but with the strongest figure of Earth disappearing, it was obvious that the entirety of Another Plane would sway with power struggle.

Chuaaaa-

As I left the cafeteria, I could see the surface of a calm pond. In fact, it was the very sight I saw before I came outside.

“I never expected to join a group that uses Gyeonghoeru Pavilion as a restaurant.”

Gyeonghoeru Pavilion. It was a structure located within Gyeongbokgung Palace which was used to hold banquets during the Joseon Dynasty. It was proudly listed as National Treasure No. 224.

The body of water next to the pavilion, the Gyeonghoeru Pond, was said to originate from an underground source. It flowed from the northern Hyangwonji falls through the mouth of a dragon installed in the eastern Jian[2] as a waterfall.

‘It was the case with the building that was modified to have 5 floors, but… this place is also different from the surface world.’

I shifted my steps and peered down at the pond. I could see carps with golden scales swimming leisurely in the crystal-clear water. But that wasn’t everything.

‘This is truly… Is this truly an inferior civilization?’

Is there something wrong, captain?

‘No, not particularly.’

I laughed as I observed the deepest depth of the pond.

Great Wizard Zenon

Level 15

White Imoogi[3]

1. ancient Korean

2. It seems to be referring to the geographic structure of a waterfall, the rocky part of it.

3. An imoogi is a creature of legends that resembles a gigantic serpent. In folklore, imoogis are creatures that aspire to become full-fledged dragons through various means. Basically they are – Pikachu -> Raichu. Imoogi -> dragon.