To get straight to the point, my mage registration and admission to the Magic Tower went smoothly.
"Congratulations, Mage Kang Hyun-woo. You can pick up your registration card here. We've sent the details regarding your benefits and other important notices to the contact information you provided, so please check it later."
The mage registration card the female employee handed me felt both light and heavy at the same time.
The benefits I would receive from this palm-sized card were anything but light.
The incredible perks mages received were the result of fierce competition among nations to keep such irreplaceable talent within their borders. Of all of them, the one that tempted me most was none other than…
Military. Service. Exemption.
Wow! Is that for real?
Yes, of course. Our Ministry of National Defense would never forcibly conscript first-class citizens like you mages without your personal consent!
But in other countries, military exemption is something all citizens get, isn't it?
…
Anyway, with this, a man was exempt from military service. Of course, you could still enlist if you wanted to. Aside from entering as an officer, having a cushy time, and getting fast-tracked for promotion or discharge, it was pretty much the same as being a regular soldier.
…Is that really the same? Whatever.
Of course, given the severely skewed gender ratio among mages, this wasn't a particularly attractive benefit for most of them.
According to an international research institute, the male-to-female ratio for mages was something like 1:24. This was also why the Magic Tower was so female-dominated.
I guess they included the military exemption benefit because it's not like there are no male mages, and they figured someone would appreciate it.
"Tax reductions, all sorts of grants… Automatic first-class upgrade on domestic flights? What's this?"
As I skimmed through the text message from the Magic Tower, I wondered if the government had ever taken such good care of me before.
I lost my parents in the war when I was five and grew up in an orphanage.
Due to national budget issues, I never received proper support, not while I was in the orphanage, and not after I left.
"I guess you really have to raise your own value to be treated well."
Of course, I don't resent the government.
Back then, even people in worse situations than me were dying without getting the support they needed.
Anyway, enough of this depressing trip down memory lane. The most important matter, my admission to the Magic Tower, was settled once I submitted the application form.
I wanted to start attending lectures tomorrow, but…
"Excuse me? A vacation?"
"Yes, the second semester doesn't start for another month, so you can come back then."
My god. The Magic Tower, an assembly of what I imagined to be cold-blooded, heartless mages, had a vacation!
It would have been more believable if someone told me the military had vacations.
Of course, the clerk had no reason to lie to me, so I just said I understood and left.
With a sudden free month on my hands, I thought for a moment.
What should I do with this time?
The deliberation was short. When I thought about it, I had a shit-ton of things to do.
First and foremost, I needed to drop out of university and then spend the entire month focused on magic training.
According to Iris, it wouldn't take long for me to reach the 2nd Circle, so concentrating on my training was what mattered most right now.
She had also added that if I reached the 2nd Circle quickly, getting to the 3rd Circle would be easy as well. It was only natural that a smile wouldn't leave my face.
A 3rd Circle mage! In a small country, that was the upper crust of the upper crust, treated as a quasi-noble.
'Me, a war orphan until just a little while ago, a quasi-noble?!'
Ta-da.
If a novel had a title like that, it would probably get flamed.
In any case, it hadn't taken long, but I'd received my mage registration card—a symbol of the upper class—and my admission to the Magic Tower was confirmed. I could safely say it had been the most productive morning of my entire life.
-Hehe, well then, my dear son-in-law? See you when the semester starts.
-…
It had been a problem-free morning, except for the fact that I'd been tempted by a photo of a red-haired woman and ended up with an arranged marriage meeting I never wanted.
'She said we're just meeting… It'll be fine, right?'
I felt a pang of guilt thinking of Iris, but then again, hardly any S-rank Hunters or high-ranking mages had only one wife.
Ordinary people lived monogamously because they couldn't handle it financially or physically.
As a prospective 8th Circle Archmage, did I really need to be bound by the common sense of ordinary people?
'Nope.'
Bang, bang, bang. Case dismissed. Any more thought on the matter would be overkill.
"So, what now?"
I thought registering as a mage and enrolling in the Magic Tower would take up the whole day, but it wasn't even 1 p.m. yet.
My schedule was suddenly wide open.
"Guess I'll go drop out."
I'd be attending lectures at the Magic Tower next semester, so there was no need to continue with university.
I had originally planned to go tomorrow, but I might as well go now.
I hailed a cab and headed for Hankuk University, the school I was currently attending and would soon be leaving.
Come to think of it, in the old days, I would have taken the bus instead of the subway to save on transportation costs, let alone a taxi.
Things really have changed.
*
If you asked anyone in this country what the best university was, ten out of ten would say Hankuk University.
Its prestigious history was one reason, but it was mainly because its departments related to Gates, magical beasts, and magic stones were considered the best in the nation.
Its curriculum and the quality of its professors, which set it apart from other universities, made it the goal of countless students every year.
I was one of them.
"I can't believe I'm here to drop out."
I had wanted to succeed so badly that I'd studied like a madman for all three years of high school to get into Hankuk University. I'd had countless nosebleeds and even stayed up for three days straight.
All that effort got me into Hankuk University's Gate Support Department.
Although my grades were a little short, forcing me to give up on my originally desired major, just getting into Hankuk University was enough to make me walk around grinning like an idiot for a week.
All without realizing it was more trouble than it was worth.
On the day of the entrance ceremony, the winter chill still lingered in the air.
"…Why are there only women here?"
I'd thought something was off in the group chat, and sure enough, I was right.
At the ceremony, reality hit me.
Women here, women there.
The Gate Support Department I had entered was extremely female-dominated.
In a good way? No, in a fucking terrible way.
When a department is overwhelmingly skewed toward one gender, it usually means the jobs you get after graduation are socially perceived as being either for men only or for women only.
The unsettling atmosphere of the department prompted me to do a belated analysis.
The primary employer for graduates of the Gate Support Department was the Hunter Association, a place known for its stable jobs and pensions, treating its employees as quasi-public officials.
Now, what do stable jobs and pensions mean? They go hand-in-hand with a meager salary, that's what.
Wow! How amazing! A meager salary for a man! When am I supposed to date, and who's going to marry me??
That was it. While a relatively low salary might be a minor risk for women, for men, who were expected to bear a greater financial burden in dating and marriage, it was a critical, unavoidable risk.
No wonder men avoided this department.
So, I considered transferring majors, but that was only possible after the first semester of the first year. Due to that and various other circumstances, I ended up staying.
Lately, my mindset had been to just get a job at the Association and live as a bachelor.
Besides, it was still Hankuk University. With a diploma from here, I could probably get a job elsewhere, so it wasn't all that bad.
Knock, knock.
"Excuse me, I'm Kang Hyun-woo. I called earlier."
"Ah, Kang Hyun-woo? You said it was about withdrawing, right? Please, come over here."
I entered the department office with a nervous heart. Inside were the TA, her prominent dark circles as present as ever, and a few work-study students.
"First, please fill out the withdrawal application. Then, you'll have a meeting with the professor in a little while."
"…Don't you usually try to talk people out of dropping out?"
"In that case, how about you reconsider and enjoy campus life with us again?"
"That's a bit…"
"Right? Dropping out isn't a decision one makes lightly. You must have your reasons, and it's not my place as an outsider to interfere."
She was right. It wasn't like I genuinely wanted her to stop me.
I just wanted to joke around one last time with the TA I'd seen so often.
Despite her severe dark circles, she was known in the department for being thoughtful and a good judge of character.
Then why is she a TA?
I guess being a good judge of others and having a good eye for your own future are two different things.
"I'm done."
There wasn't much to write besides my personal information.
It took me a moment to decide what to write in the "Reason for Withdrawal" section, but in the end, I just scribbled, "Admission to the Magic Tower."
'Oh, right. They said to wear the mage registration card around my neck.'
I remembered a line from the text message I'd skimmed over earlier.
It is not mandatory, but the government recommends that mages wear their registration cards around their necks at all times.
I wasn't sure why, but I guessed it was to prevent the insane situation of some random thugs trying to pick a fight with a mage.
Of course, it probably wasn't out of concern for the thugs who would end up in the hospital with broken limbs. If that were the case, high-rank Hunters were far more numerous and often stronger than mages in one-on-one combat.
It was more likely they were just begging us to wear the cards, worried sick that someone might upset their precious mages.
'Should I wear it too?'
Honestly, isn't that a bit much? I could just wear a robe. Wearing a registration card around…
How is that any different from wearing a corporate ID badge outside the office?
"Um… Student Kang Hyun-woo?"
"Yes?"
"Well, the 'reason' section might seem like a formality, but other staff members will see it… And of course, the professor will use it as a basis for your meeting. Such a far-fetched lie is a little…"
Seeing the TA's "What kind of lunatic is this?" expression—a look I'd never seen from her before—I realized my mistake.
Logically, just writing four words, "Admission to Magic Tower," in the reason section was too abrupt and lacked context.
Anyone who didn't know the full story would just think I was a lunatic.
"Ah, I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Some people don't want to disclose their reasons for withdrawing. I'll get you a new form so you can write…"
"Here."
I took the mage registration card out of my pocket and handed it to her.
It was brand new, fresh off the press, with the emblems of the Magic Tower and the government stamped right on it.
"…Huh?"
The TA's eyes widened as she took the card.
With her dark circles and her usual frown, I'd always thought her eyes were small, but they were actually quite large.
"Uh… Hyun-woo? Impersonating a mage is a serious crime, punishable by ten to fifteen years in prison…"
Fwoosh. A small ball of fire bloomed in my palm, causing not only the TA's eyes to widen, but the work-study students' as well.
Who am I?
A 1st Circle mage and a future 8th Circle Archmage.
Revere me. Praise me.
"I went to the Magic Tower this morning and registered."
The moment they witnessed Kang Hyun-woo's mini magic demonstration, a single thought flashed through the minds of everyone in the room, except for Kang Hyun-woo himself.
The Gate Support Department was extremely female-dominated. Naturally, everyone from the TA, Kim Hyerin, to the work-study students was a woman.
Marriage had long been an opportunity for social mobility, and high-rank Hunters were socially recognized as the upper class.
It was a dangerous profession with a high risk of casualties that matched its enormous income. But because they so often faced the threat of death, Hunters tended to have high libidos.
The peak time was arguably when they came out of a Gate and visited the Association to cash in. The female employees working at the Association counters at that time were hell-bent on seducing those Hunters.
For the women who majored in Gate Support, the main goal wasn't the merit of being a quasi-public official, but rather seducing a high-rank Hunter to climb the social ladder.
And now, what appeared before them was a young, newly minted mage from their very own department—a classmate, a senior, or a junior—with relatively little competition.
Of course, aside from Kim Hyerin, the other work-study students barely knew Kang Hyun-woo's face. His classmates might have known his name, but to the upper and lowerclassmen, he was practically a stranger.
Kang Hyun-woo tended to skip department events and always sat in the corner during lectures, so it couldn't be helped.
Still, the fact that he was from the same department was encouraging.
His name? Who cares if I don't know it? I can start thinking of names for our children now.
'I heard mages rake in money like crazy…'
'Didn't someone on NewTube complain that her mage husband works overtime constantly and tries to avoid coming home?'
'1st Circle… I might have a chance, right? He probably hasn't properly entered the Magic Tower yet, so there's less competition.'
'Damn it, I barely put on any makeup today.'
'My underwear is a matching set, but if I come on too strong on the first day, I'll look cheap, right…?'
While each of them was lost in their own myriad of devious thoughts, Kang Hyun-woo felt an inexplicable chill.
It was the feeling of being a lone male lion left in a pride of lionesses in heat.
He felt an urgent need to escape.
"Um, TA, is everything done n—"
"Hyun-woo."
A man's instinct is to spread his seed to as many women as possible, and a woman's instinct is to give birth and raise children in a more stable and better environment.
There was no reason to condemn a woman for seeking hypergamy. A successful hypergamous marriage meant she was a woman who aligned with a man's instincts.
Somehow, she had put on makeup. Her lips, usually dry and dark, were now a vibrant red.
She let down her hair, which she always had tied up messily, revealing surprisingly long, fine locks and releasing a pleasant fragrance that tickled his nose.
He'd known it before, but her voluptuous figure, noticeable even through her clothes, was also a feast for the eyes.
"Are you free tonight?"
"Uh…"
Kim Hyerin, a TA in the Gate Support Department and soon to be in her late twenties, was more serious about marriage than anyone else here.
A woman's value plummets the moment she turns thirty.
The weight of being 29 versus 30 was on a completely different level.
At 27, she was at an age where she could no longer delay. She was living proof that three years could fly by in the blink of an eye.
'A six-year age gap… People might call me a cradle robber, but it's not like there are no couples where the wife is older.'
What if she could capture him with her mature charms?
It wasn't a bad idea.
Of course, if you asked if she'd been interested in him before, the answer was no. In fact, she only knew his face and name and had never had a private conversation with him.
Call her materialistic.
Everyone living in a capitalist world is materialistic anyway.
'And it just so happens to be a dangerous day.' [referring to her ovulation cycle]
Kang Hyun-woo broke out in a cold sweat under Kim Hyerin's heated gaze.
'…I think I'm fucked.'
He was usually oblivious, but he wasn't stupid enough not to understand what was happening.
Of course, it would be a lie to say he didn't like it; objectively, the TA was a voluptuous beauty.
But if it was a relationship with marriage as a prerequisite, the story changed 180 degrees.
'With Iris, maybe, but marriage is a bit…'
He was always welcoming of pleasure without responsibility, but he had to refuse a shit-ton of heavy responsibility.
At the very least, maybe if it was that old mage's granddaughter.
"W-Well…"
"I know a really good place to eat, hmm?"
The way she subtly pressed her chest against his arm was terrifying.
Just as he was trembling, thinking, At this rate, am I going to get trapped in a marriage?
"Hyerin, can't you see you're making him uncomfortable?"
"P-Professor?"
A ray of light descended to save me.
"Student Kang Hyun-woo? It's been a while."
It was Professor Shin Yehwa, the supervising professor of the Gate Support Department.
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