[The Frozen Spire – Entrance Gate] [Time: 06:00 PM]
The sensation of teleportation is distinct. It feels like being squeezed through a straw made of light.
One second, I was standing on the summit of the world, surrounded by auroras and the echoes of a dead god. The next, I was stumbling onto the concrete pavement of the Sector 1 parking lot.
The air was warm. It smelled of exhaust fumes, street food, and rain. It smelled like Seoul.
I fell to my knees, gasping. My lungs, acclimated to the thin, frozen air of the summit, burned as they gulped down the thick, humid oxygen of the city.
[System: Environmental Adjustment Complete. You are no longer freezing to death. However, you look like you went twelve rounds with a blender.]
I looked down at myself. My "Night-Weave Suit" was a disaster. The chest plate was melted slag, exposing my bruised skin. My pants were shredded. My hair was matted with diamond dust and dried blood (mostly mine).
And I was alone.
"Someone came out!" a voice shouted from the barricades.
The silence that followed was deafening.
I looked up. The perimeter was packed. The Dungeon Break had attracted a crowd. There were reporters with floating drone cameras, Guild officials in crisp suits, and a heavily armed extraction team from the White Tiger Guild.
They were all looking at the gate. They were waiting for the silver hair. They were waiting for the Ice Queen.
Instead, they got the Porter.
I stood up slowly, using my hammer as a crutch. I let my shoulders slump. I let the exhaustion on my face settle into a mask of grief.
I didn't have to act much. I was exhausted.
"Where is she?" A man in a White Tiger uniform pushed past the guards. It was the recruiter Dr. Choi had mentioned. A tall man with a scar on his chin. "Where is Lady Frost?"
I looked at him. I looked at the cameras zooming in on my face.
"The Boss..." I croaked, my voice rough from the screaming. "Phase Two... it exploded."
I held up my empty hand.
"She didn't make it."
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Camera shutters clicked furiously, sounding like a swarm of cicadas.
"Liar!" The recruiter grabbed my collar, shaking me. "She is an S-class prospect! She doesn't die in an A-Rank dungeon! What happened?"
"Let him go."
The voice was calm, authoritative, and cut through the noise like a knife.
A black sedan had pulled up to the curb. The back window rolled down. A man in a simple grey suit sat there. He wasn't looking at me; he was looking at his watch.
It wasn't the Chairman. It was a Handler.
"Mr. Ash is a contractor," the man said smoothly. "He requires medical attention. The Association will take his statement later."
The recruiter hesitated, then shoved me back. "If you're lying, Porter... the White Tigers will find out."
I didn't answer. I limped toward the black car. The door opened for me.
I slid into the leather interior. It was air-conditioned. Soft jazz played on the radio.
As the car pulled away, I looked back through the tinted window. I saw the reporters swarming the gate, the "Breaking News" headlines already flashing on the drone screens.
The Ice Queen is Dead.
I sat back and closed my eyes.
"Drive," I said.
[In Transit – The Gangnam District] [Time: 06:30 PM]
The driver didn't speak. The partition was up.
I sat in the back, my hand resting on my bag. Inside, wrapped in a dirty cloth, was the fake Heart of Winter—a lump of blue slag I had shaped.
My phone buzzed.
[The Chairman: Drop the package in the glove compartment. Do not speak to the driver.]
I opened the glove box in the center console. It was empty, save for a velvet pouch.
I placed the fake Heart inside the box.
It was a gamble. If they inspected it now, I was dead. The car doors were locked. The driver was probably an Assassin class.
But the Chairman wasn't a Mage. He was a businessman. He wouldn't know the magical signature of a Boss drop. He would just see a glowing blue rock and assume victory.
I closed the box.
[The Chairman: Transaction complete. 500,000,000 Won has been wired to your offshore account. The hospital debt has been... adjusted.]
I checked my bank app.
[Account Balance: 500,002,450 Won]
I stared at the number. It was more money than I had made in three years of portering. It was enough to buy a house. Enough to retire.
"Money doesn't wash off blood," I muttered.
[System: Technically, money buys excellent soap. But I get your point. You are now a wealthy accomplice to a fake murder.]
The car slowed down. We weren't at a headquarters. We were at a subway station.
"Get out," the intercom crackled.
I opened the door. The car sped off before I even closed it, disappearing into the Seoul traffic.
I stood on the sidewalk, clutching my bag. I was rich. I was alive. And I was completely drained.
[Seoul General Hospital – Room 304] [Time: 07:30 PM]
I didn't go home to change. I went straight to the hospital.
The hallway was quiet. The nurses' station was empty.
My heart hammered in my chest. The assassin has been recalled, the text had said. But can you trust a villain?
I reached Room 304. I gripped the door handle.
Please.
I pushed it open.
The room was peaceful. The humidifier was humming.
My mother was there, sleeping. Her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm.
I walked over to the bed. I checked the corners of the room. Shadows. Nothing but shadows.
I checked the window. Locked.
I checked her chart.
[Patient: Hana] [Status: Stable] [Notes: Treatment paid in full. Account credited for next 12 months.]
I let out a shuddering breath. My legs finally gave out, and I sat heavily in the visitor's chair.
She was safe.
I watched her for an hour, just breathing. Grounding myself.
"Ash?"
I jumped. Mom was blinking awake, looking at me groggily.
Her eyes widened when she saw me.
"Oh my god," she sat up, wincing. "Ash! Your face! What happened?"
I touched my cheek. I had forgotten about the cuts and the soot.
"Accident at work," I lied automatically. "A crate fell. I'm okay."
"You look like you were in a war," she reached out, her hand trembling. She touched my bruised forehead. "You're burning up."
"I'm fine, Mom. Really." I took her hand. It was warm. "I just wanted to see you."
She looked at me, her mother's intuition scanning for the truth. She didn't buy the 'crate' story, but she saw the exhaustion in my eyes. She saw the fear I was trying to hide.
"Ash," she squeezed my hand. "You're working too hard. The money... it's not worth you getting hurt."
"I know," I whispered. "But the bills are paid, Mom. For a whole year. You don't have to worry anymore."
She didn't look relieved. She looked sad.
"I had that dream again," she said softly. "The one where you're walking in the snow. And you're all alone."
I froze.
"It's just a dream," I managed to say.
"Is it?" She looked at my bag—the one holding the Gravity Hammer. "You're carrying something heavy, Ash. And I don't mean the bag."
I couldn't look her in the eye. I stood up.
"I need to go wash up," I said, my voice tight. "I'll come back tomorrow. Rest, Mom."
I kissed her forehead and walked out before I broke down.
[Ash's Apartment – The Rooftop] [Time: 10:00 PM]
I sat on the edge of the roof, looking out over the neon skyline of Seoul. A cold beer—bought from the convenience store downstairs—sweated in my hand.
[System: Alcohol consumption detected. Reducing motor functions by 10%. Increasing emotional instability by 20%. Cheers.]
I took a long swig.
I pulled up the Hunter Association News Feed on my phone.
[TOP STORY: TRAGEDY AT THE SPIRE] [Seraphina Frost Confirmed MIA. Presumed Dead.] [Survivor 'Ash' Claims Boss Explosion.] [White Tiger Guild Launches Investigation.]
The comments were brutal.
User_Slayer69: Who is this Ash guy? A porter? How does a porter survive when an Ice Mage dies? Sus. MageFan_01: RIP Ice Queen. She was the chosen one. TruthSeeker: I bet he stole her escape scroll. Coward.
I turned the screen off.
"Let them talk," I said to the night air. "She's alive."
I hoped she was alive. I hoped she had caught herself. I hoped she was halfway to a safe house with the Heart.
I looked at my hand. I flexed my fingers.
I was Level 20 now.
[System Alert] [You have reached Level 20.] [Class Advancement Available.] [Current Class: Porter (F-Rank)] [Hidden Class Detected: Physics Mage (Unregistered)] [Do you wish to initiate the Class Advancement Trial?]
I stared at the blue box floating in front of me.
Usually, people went to the Association to advance their class. They took a standardized test.
But the System offered me something else. A "Trial."
"What happens if I accept?" I asked.
[System: You will be transported to the 'Trial of Constants'. It is a solo domain. Difficulty: Hard. Reward: Unique Class Specification.] [Warning: If you fail, you don't die. You just remain a Porter forever. Which is a fate worse than death, honestly.]
I finished the beer. I crushed the can in my hand.
I had 500 million won. I had a fake identity as a villain. I had a mother to protect.
I couldn't be just a Porter anymore. And I couldn't be a generic Mage.
I needed power. Real power. The kind that could crush a Chairman or kill a God without blowing myself up in the process.
"I accept," I said.
[System: Acknowledged. Class Advancement Trial initiating in 10 seconds.] [Good luck, Newton. You're going to need it.]
The world around me began to dissolve into numbers and equations. The neon lights of Seoul stretched into lines of code.
I stood up, ready for the next chapter.
[End of Chapter 22]