**11. Demonic Energy**
There were three artifacts inside the box.
A ring set with obsidian.
A bracelet made of iron.
And finally, a gold necklace.
As I reached for the gold necklace, I gasped and blocked my own arm.
*Ugh.* My inner hip-hop warrior...
"What kind of artifacts are these?"
"The first is the . It allows you to conduct electricity to whatever it touches. You can use it about three times a day."
"Conduct? Not shoot electricity?"
"It might not look like much, but it’s surprisingly practical. It literally makes any 'conductive' object carry an electric current for a set amount of time."
Oh? If that’s the case?
【What is it? It’s not time to draw me yet. Suddenly—grrr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!】
I touched the ring to the blade of Black Heron, and it reacted immediately.
The surface of Black Heron’s blade was now crackling with visible, stinging electricity.
"Oh..."
"It’s quite useful in human-to-human combat."
It meant that anyone touched by this blade would be electrocuted on the spot.
"Black Heron, are you okay?"
【Grrrrrr! It kills! It kills!!】
"My bad."
To think a sword would be in such agony just from a little electricity.
I listened to the explanations for the remaining artifacts in turn.
It strengthens your bones while you wear it.
Seems decent enough. Stronger bones mean better resistance to impact.
"What about the Anti-Demonic Gold Necklace?"
"Bureau agents of high standing use similar items. It’s an artifact with the power to resist charms or mental interference."
Well, I suppose it’s a necessity for Bureau agents who live in close proximity to Cursed Objects.
"I think I’ll go with this one."
"Good choice. Your resistance to charms seems a bit excessively low."
Park Do-kyung said it didn't really matter since I didn't fall into corruption anyway, but it would be good to have some mental defense.
"Then, shall we test it with a suitable Cursed Object?"
"A test?"
"That Anti-Demonic Gold Necklace is a powerful artifact that increases your mental barrier by over tenfold. Most Cursed Objects won't even be able to interfere with you, but we still need to verify it."
Oh, they even provide field verification? Bureau officials really are thorough.
I guess government work isn't easy after all—
"—My! Precious!!"
Turns out 1 times 10 is only 10.
***
In the end, I received the Iron Bone Bracelet.
I couldn't really feel my bones getting any stronger, but I assumed it was working.
Afterward, I went to meet Kang Cheong-hwa.
She was waiting in the Bureau’s training room.
The training room, where agents and police officers under the Bureau received instruction, had an atmosphere similar to a large Taekwondo gym.
Agents and officers in uniforms were training on mats spread across the floor.
"You're here."
"Hello. Are you feeling alright?"
Agent Kang Cheong-hwa rubbed the area under her ribs beneath her uniform and flinched.
"It still hurts a bit."
"No, why are you pressing on it?"
"You asked, didn't you? Just checking while I'm at it."
Even with the doctors' guidance, there was no way it would heal quickly after I’d stabbed a sword into her.
She said she graduated from the Police Academy, but she seemed a bit reckless... Ah, are police officers usually like that? They were like that in all the cop movies.
【It wasn't bad. That woman's blood and karma.】
Black Heron seemed quite fond of the blood of Park Do-kyung and Kang Cheong-hwa.
Was it warrior's blood? I guess a Cursed Sword really does know how to distinguish the taste of blood.
"Right, Agent Kang. Do you mind if I call you 'Noona'?"
"...Suddenly?"
"We'll be seeing each other often, and Park... Team Leader Park Do-kyung told me to call him 'Hyung' and you 'Noona.' I think that would be more comfortable for me, too."
"Then... go ahead. Little... brother."
"Yep. Noona."
Kang Cheong-hwa wore an awkward expression. I immediately asked about how to train with Demonic Energy.
"Unlike other Cursed Objects, you have to operate Demonic Energy as if you're moving your own body."
"Even if you say 'like my own body'... I can't seem to do it consciously."
When I first used the 'Heart,' the situation was so desperate that it was more like I had abused the ability to the point of a runaway state.
She said that using it to the point where bullets looked slow was almost on par with the 'Yeouido 6-Second Disaster.'
In reality, I should be controlling it to be much slower than that.
"It'll feel awkward at first. Even if it has assimilated with your body, strictly speaking, it's a foreign object."
"Black Heron told me to activate it by concentrating and circulating my mana."
"Yeah. It's fine if you're just using it simply. But the important thing is power control."
If the output is too high, like when I first used it, the sustainability drops, and the mana drains quickly.
Above all, she said the feedback becomes too intense.
"Feedback?"
"You said you felt a shock to your heart, right? My arm went numb."
Kang Cheong-hwa swung her right arm to warm up.
"When blood stops flowing to your arm, it starts with a tingling sensation, then it begins to sting. The sensation from your fingertips to your elbow dulls, and you feel heat and cold at the same time."
She said it eventually leads to pain as if the arm were being severed.
"Ugh, that sounds painful."
"Might be better than getting a shock to the heart."
The shock to my heart had been more painful than I could have imagined. I never wanted to experience it again.
"But the reason the feedback is that bad is because you put in too much mana."
"Put in too much?"
"Yeah. You said you circulated mana around your heart, right?"
I had just blindly poured mana in as Black Heron told me to. Was that wrong?
"Demonic Energy is like a high-output engine in itself, so it needs high-octane fuel."
"Octane?"
What was that?
"...Expensive fuel?"
"Ah."
Expensive things are good.
In short, the mana needs to be of high purity.
Instead of just dumping mana in, I should be using high-purity mana.
"I understand what you mean, but how do I put in high-purity mana?"
"Just get stronger. The higher the level of the Awakened, the higher the purity of their mana."
"Wouldn't just increasing the amount of mana work?"
"Quantity and quality are different matters."
I wanted to take the easy way out, but it wasn't going to be that simple.
"What level are you and the Team Leader?"
"Level 5. The Team Leader is Level 6."
"Is that high?"
At my innocent question, Kang Cheong-hwa’s answer was slightly delayed.
"It's ambiguous."
"Ambiguous?"
"We're in the upper tier among all Hunters, but the dimension of strength changes every time your level goes up."
"Is it like how a 100 million won annual salary is in the top 10%, but you still get looked down upon?"
"That's not wrong."
I heard that on the internet, 90% of people make over 100 million won a year.
I guess Level 5 or 6 is around that kind of position.
"But what is the standard for determining levels? I heard Level 1 is mana awakening."
"The condition for a high-level Hunter is how much of an artifact's ability you can draw out. Because the artifact is the Hunter's strength."
"The artifact's ability? Do skills not pop up?"
"Skills?"
"Like a status window or something like 'Arise'?"
"There's no such thing."
"Bummer."
Even though the world was connected to another dimension, mana was awakened, and there were fantasy-like items called artifacts, it seemed there was no magic, no skills, and no status windows.
I thought the world government was hiding it.
"Then, how do you draw out an artifact's ability?"
"Use it a lot. For example..."
Kang Cheong-hwa’s right arm suddenly began to transform.
Like a robot in a Hollywood movie, there was a *clack! clack!* of tactical movements, and her right arm transformed into a Gatling gun.
Then into a long sniper rifle mode, and after that, a charged particle cannon mode that focused energy.
"That's so cool..."
"Is it?"
"Of course. Do you want to trade for this?"
As I held out Black Heron, it reacted with a *clatter!*
【I heard that right, you brat?! You're comparing me to something like that!】
"You don't have eyes. How do you know?"
【I can feel the energy! The energy!】
What is a loser who can't even block a pea-shooter saying?
"You're the only one who would try to hand over a Cursed Object so casually, Gaon."
"Can't you do it, Noona?"
"I can't even take this arm off, let alone hand it over."
Kang Cheong-hwa grabbed her arm, which had turned into a Gatling gun, but she stood there for a long time, as if trying to do something but failing.
"Even with my Karma index lowered, it's still impossible."
"I guess everyone struggles with parasitic Cursed Objects."
I had a hard time too, since I couldn't get away from this guy.
"Anyway, artifacts require a process of unlocking their functions as you use them. It's like 'taming' them."
However, it seemed most artifacts had a capacity limit, so their peak was low.
Cursed Objects, on the other hand, seemed to be high-risk, high-reward.
"For now, your ... you said it was blood energy? You can use that freely, right?"
"Yes, but I can't use it if the stored blood runs out. I recharged it recently, though."
"Recharged?"
"With some of Hyung's and Noona's blood?"
"Ah~ No wonder I felt a bit anemic."
I stopped Black Heron from trying to drink too much after it tasted human blood.
I was 'treating' them, not 'bloodletting.'
"Let's start by learning how to use the . Since we can't increase the quality of your mana right away, we'll focus on learning the sensation of using only a tiny amount."
【Learn swordsmanship too! You aren't planning on neglecting me for the second one that came along, are you?!】
Swordsmanship? Would learning that even help me block a pea-shooter?
You... you couldn't even block a pea-shooter, could you?
【G-g-grrr...!】
The head of the containment department said Black Heron might be a higher-grade Cursed Object than I thought, but...
Isn't time acceleration much better?
***
I spent some time at the Bureau receiving training and care.
I commuted, but Park Do-kyung or Kang Cheong-hwa would drop me off every time, and they told me to just call the police whenever they weren't around.
I received the number for the local police station, and they actually showed up.
"Excuse me... are you perhaps the child of someone important?"
"Pardon? No. Why do you ask?"
"Well, the only time I’ve ever been ordered to personally escort civilians around was for students during the college entrance exams."
"It’s my first time, too."
The officer just assumed I must be some high-ranking Hunter since he saw me coming and going from the Bureau, so he let it slide.
Should I just take a taxi next time?
"Gaon. Take this."
When I arrived, Park Do-kyung handed me some kind of certificate.
"What is this?"
"It’s the outsourcing contract between the Bureau and you."
It seems I am, at least in name, an outsourced worker hired by the Bureau.
"It’s an outsourcing contract for... Trash Can No. 7? No, wait, it’s for a warehouse."
"To be precise, it’s a contract for the storage and management of special hazardous materials. With this, you are officially under contract with a government agency, Yun Gaon."
"Ohhh..."
The storage fees are listed in detail.
A Grade 5 hazard level pays 8 million won per year. The amount increases exponentially with each grade, reaching the billions for Special Grade items.
"That’s a huge amount of money. Is it really okay for me to be siphoning off taxpayer money like this?"
"Actually, this is a massive bargain. Special Grade Cursed Objects usually cost over ten billion won a year to store."
"Are you allowed to just say that out loud?"
"That’s why it’s a one-year contract. Think of this year as a trial run. Once the data proves your effectiveness, they’ll probably find a way to allocate a special budget to pay you even more."
Park Do-kyung pulled out another document.
"And this is a different contract."
"What’s this one?"
The title of the contract read, 'Special Treatment and Recovery Manager.'
Government terminology is always so difficult.
"I’m not a doctor, though?"
"Heh heh heh, but you treat things that doctors can't, don't you?"
"Ah..."
I suppose they’ve labeled absorbing Karma as 'special treatment.'
"Did the higher-ups take it well? The answer came back quickly."
"It helped that Agent Kang and I volunteered for 'treatment.' Our Karma levels dropped from the twenty-thousands to under a hundred."
They said that recovering Karma levels is a matter of life and death for Awakened.
Even if your Karma level rises, you can recover by resting, and your mana capacity increases during that recovery process, but the risk of corruption is too high.
Above all, the more you operate in the Dark Zone and the more you use Cursed Objects, the faster your Karma level skyrockets and the slower your recovery becomes.
In that sense, my existence, which can artificially lower Karma levels, is considered extremely valuable.
"You get to absorb Karma, and the government gets to take care of agents who could explode at any moment. It’s a pretty good deal, isn't it?"
"Yes, and it pays extra, too."
"If you do the work, you should get paid. I know you aren't greedy, but make sure you receive fair compensation."
He’s not wrong. Honestly, even with a lot of money, the most I do is order two large Hanwoo Bulgogi sets from Hamdaria.
"My food expenses have gone up since I started eating Demonic Energy. I suppose having more money wouldn't hurt."
It would mean I could donate more to the orphanage, too.
Actually, the director called me again the other day.
She asked why I donated again when I’d already given them all my money. She said we have plenty, so I shouldn't worry.
I told her to hang up since she’s in Italy and the roaming charges must be expensive.
"Now then, our special therapist? Your first job is ready."
"A job?"
"116 members of the Capital Defense Command’s Special Task Force. I’d like you to 'stab' them, too."
Stab them?
It’s 'treatment,' you know.
***
Operating in the Dark Zone increases your Karma level by its very nature.
Because of that, missions were carried out in second and third waves to minimize the time spent inside the Dark Zone.
"Usually, the search team goes in first. It’s better than just sending in random people."
They are armed with high-firepower weapons, well-trained, and have solid equipment.
It’s certainly better than having regular Hunters go in.
"So, the search team gathers information and passes it on for the main mission?"
"Not always."
Kang Cheong-hwa explained that there is another stage between searching and the main mission.
"If they determine there’s something useful around the gate, they give them time to gather things. You’ve done Hunter missions, so you know, right?"
"Ah~"
Vegetation surveys and foraging.
The Dark World, being an entirely different dimension, was full of all sorts of things that couldn't be found on Earth.
Artifacts are the prime example, but some plants could be cultivated on Earth, and mineral resources, in particular, are a jackpot if you find them.
"If a Mithril mine is discovered, they won't even close the gate. The value of the mine is worth more than the cost of dealing with the monsters or the pollution."
"Does something like Mithril actually exist? Isn't that just from fantasy novels?"
Doesn't that violate copyright? I heard it was a metal from a famous fantasy novel.
"They said they actually took the name from it. I heard the first person to discover it was from the Tolkienist Foundation."
Ah, well, that makes sense then.
Anyway, the mission of the advance search team was incredibly important.
It was to identify hostile clusters to set entry restrictions for the gate and to locate valuable resources.
"The place we’re going now is the Capital Defense Command’s Special Task Force, which searches for gates appearing in Seoul. These people have had severe pollution problems for a long time."
"I suppose it’s inevitable if they’re always on search duty."
My role is to provide them with 'special treatment.'
The search team members benefit from having their Karma levels lowered, and I benefit from absorbing it for free.
No matter how I look at it, it’s a win-win.
"You want me to treat the troops? I refuse."
My path as a first-time special therapist was blocked from the very start.
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