To put it plainly, the magician registration and the Magic Tower admission went smoothly.
-Congratulations, Magician Kang Hyunwoo. First, please receive your registration certificate here, and we have sent you information regarding related benefits and precautions to the contact information you provided, so please check it later.
The magician registration certificate handed over by the female employee was both light and heavy.
This was because the benefits I would receive with this palm-sized certificate were not insignificant.
The tremendous benefits that magicians received were due to the competition between countries to keep irreplaceable personnel like magicians in their own country, and the most tempting benefit for me was none other than…
Military service exemption.
Wow! Is that really true?
-Yes, of course. Our Ministry of National Defense will never forcibly conscript you, the first-class citizens of the country, without your individual consent!
"But in other countries, military service exemption is naturally given to other citizens, right?"
…
Anyway, with just this, men were exempt from military service. Of course, they could enlist if they wanted to. It was similar to regular soldiers, except that they could enlist as officers, have an easy time, advance rapidly, or be discharged…
…Is it really similar? Anyway.
Of course, due to the severely skewed gender ratio of magicians, it was hard to see this as a very attractive benefit for other magicians.
According to international research institutions, the gender ratio between male and female magicians is roughly 1:24? This is also why the Magic Tower is predominantly female.
The military service exemption benefit is probably included because there are still some men among magicians, so they thought there would be someone who would like it if they included it.
"Tax reduction, various subsidies… automatic first-class upgrade when using domestic airlines? What's this?"
As I was skimming through the text message sent by the Magic Tower, I suddenly wondered if the government had ever taken care of me like this before.
I lost my parents in the war when I was five years old and had been living in an orphanage ever since.
Due to the country's financial problems, I didn't receive proper support even when I was living in the orphanage or after I left.
"After all, you have to increase your value to be treated well."
Of course, I don't resent the government.
In those days, there were even more people who were struggling and dying without receiving proper support besides me.
Anyway, let's put aside the depressing old stories here, and the most important Magic Tower admission was concluded by submitting the admission application.
I wanted to attend lectures at the Magic Tower right away from tomorrow, but…
-What? Vacation?
-Yes, the second semester will start in about a month, so please come then.
Good heavens, the Magic Tower, a gathering of magicians who seemed to have no blood or tears, has a vacation!
It would be more believable to say that the military has a vacation.
Of course, there was no reason for the female employee at the window to lie to me, so I just said okay and left.
With that month of free time, I pondered slightly.
What should I do?
The pondering was short. When I thought about it, there were a lot of things to do in the future.
First of all, it was urgent to resign from university and spend the month fully immersed in magic training.
According to Iris's explanation, I would reach the 2nd Circle soon, so the important thing now was to focus on training.
Moreover, she added that if I reached the 2nd Circle quickly, I could easily reach the 3rd Circle, so it was normal for a smile to never leave my face.
3rd Circle magician! In small countries, they were treated like quasi-nobles, the upper class among the upper class.
'Until recently, I was a war orphan, and now I'm a quasi-noble?!'
Boom.
If the title of the novel was like this, it would be criticized.
Anyway, it hadn't been long, but I received the magician registration certificate, a symbol of the upper class, and my admission to the Magic Tower was confirmed, so I could say that it was the most fulfilling morning in my entire life.
-Hehe, then see you when the semester starts.
-…
It was a problem-free morning, except for the matchmaking appointment that I had to attend because I was tempted by the photo of the red-haired woman.
'It's just looking at faces… it'll be okay, right?'
I felt a little guilty thinking about Iris, but in the first place, there were hardly any S-class hunters or high-ranking magicians who had only one wife.
Regular people live under a monogamous system because they can't afford the wealth or physical strength.
As a prospective 8th Circle Archmage, is there any need for me to be bound by the common sense of ordinary people?
'No.'
Bang, bang, bang, it was rejected, so further consideration was excessive.
"But what should I do now?"
I thought that magician registration and Magic Tower admission would take up the whole day, but it's not even 1 p.m. yet.
Time is hanging in the air.
"Shall I go resign?"
I'll be going to the Magic Tower for lectures next semester, so there's no need to continue attending university.
I was originally going to go tomorrow, but I guess I can go now.
I hailed a taxi and headed to Korea University, which I am attending, and will no longer be attending.
Come to think of it, in the old days, I would have saved on transportation costs and taken the bus instead of the subway, let alone a taxi.
I've changed a lot.
***
If you ask where the best university in Korea is, ten out of ten people will say Korea University.
Historically, its reputation is high, but it is also because the departments related to gates, monsters, and magic stones are considered the best in the country.
The curriculum and the level of professors, which are differentiated from other universities, become the goal of many test-takers every year.
I was one of them too.
"I can't believe I'm coming to resign."
I studied like crazy for three years in high school to get into Korea University because I wanted to succeed no matter what. I bled from my nose a lot, and I stayed up for three days straight.
The place I was accepted into was the Gate Support Department of Korea University.
Although I had to give up the department I originally wanted because my grades were a little lacking, I laughed like crazy for a week at the time just because I had entered Korea University.
Without knowing that this was a white elephant.
On the entrance ceremony day, when the cold hadn't subsided yet.
-…Why are there only women?
I thought something was strange from the group chat room, but as expected.
I realized the reality at the entrance ceremony.
Women here, women there.
The Gate Support Department I entered was an extremely female-dominated department.
In a good way? No, in a very bad way.
The fact that there are an extremely large number of people of a specific gender in a department usually means that the jobs that graduates of that department get are jobs that are socially considered to be done only by men or only by women.
I started a late analysis of the department due to the unusual atmosphere of the department.
The main places of employment for graduates of the Gate Support Department were the Hunter Association, which was a stable workplace with a quasi-civil servant status and a pension that was famous in society.
Now, what do stable job and pension mean here? It's synonymous with a tiny salary~ That's what I mean.
Wow! That's amazing! A tiny salary for a man! Then when do I date, and who will marry me??
That's right. A relatively small salary is a relatively small risk for women, but it was an unavoidable, fatal risk for men, who have to bear more economic burden than women in dating and marriage.
That's why it's a department that men avoid.
So I thought about transferring, but it was only possible after the first semester of the first year. Due to other circumstances, I was unable to transfer and remained.
Recently, I was living with the mindset of getting a job at the association and living as a bachelor.
Besides, even if it was the Gate Support Department, as long as I had a diploma from Korea University, I could get a job elsewhere, and in fact, it wasn't that negative.
Knock-knock-
"Hello, I'm Kang Hyunwoo, who contacted you earlier."
"Ah, student Kang Hyunwoo? You said it was because of the resignation application? Would you like to come this way?"
The department office, which I arrived at with a somewhat nervous heart, still had the assistant's sister with dark circles under her eyes and a few student assistants.
"First, please fill out the resignation application, and then you can have an interview with the professor in a bit."
"…Don't they usually stop you at least once when you say you're resigning?"
"Then why don't you enjoy campus life diligently again instead of resigning?"
"That's a bit…"
"That's right? Resigning is not something you can do with an ordinary heart. You must have your own thoughts, so it's not my place to interfere."
That was right. In fact, I didn't really want them to stop me sincerely.
I just wanted to joke around with the assistant sister, whom I often saw passing by, for the last time.
The assistant sister has dark circles under her eyes, but she was famous in the department for being thoughtful and having a good eye for people.
But why is she working as an assistant?
Having a good eye for people is different from having a good eye for your own future.
"I'm done."
There wasn't much to write besides personal information.
It took me a while to write because I was worried about what to write in the reason section, but in the end, I just wrote "Magic Tower Admission."
'Ah, right. They told me to wear the magician registration certificate around my neck, right?'
I remembered something I had roughly read in the text message earlier.
It's not mandatory, but the government recommends that magicians wear their registration certificates around their necks at all times.
I don't know the reason, but I guess it's to prevent crazy situations where thugs harass magicians.
Of course, it's not because they're worried about the thugs who will have their arms and legs broken and be taken to the hospital. If that were the case, there would be plenty of guys who are stronger than magicians in one-on-one combat, even among the high-level hunters.
It's just that they're worried that someone might upset our precious magician, so they're begging us to wear the registration certificate.
'Should I wear it too?'
Honestly, isn't it too much? I'd rather wear a robe, but wearing the registration certificate…
What's the difference between wearing a large company employee ID outside of the company?
"Um… student Kang Hyunwoo?"
"Yes?"
"Um, the reason section may seem like it's just for show, but other staff members also see it…? Of course, the professors also have interviews based on this, so too much exaggerated lies are a bit…"
I realized that I had the assistant sister's "What kind of crazy guy is this?" look on her face, which I had never seen before.
Logically, writing only four letters, "Magic Tower Admission," in the reason column was too lacking in context.
Anyone who didn't know the situation would definitely think that I was just crazy.
"Ah, I'm sorry."
"It's okay. There are often people who don't want to reveal the reason for their resignation. I'll give you a new paper, so please rewrite…"
"Here you go."
I took out the magician registration certificate from my pocket and handed it to the assistant sister.
It's a brand new one with the Magic Tower and government logos stamped on it.
"…Huh?"
The eyes of the assistant sister, who received the registration certificate, widened.
I thought her eyes were small because of her dark circles and the fact that she often frowned, but they're actually very big.
"Um… student Hyunwoo? Impersonating a magician is a serious crime punishable by 10 to 15 years in prison…"
The assistant sister, as well as the student assistants, widened their eyes at the small fireball that rose above my palm.
Who am I?
A 1st Circle magician 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 Hyunwoo's mini magic demonstration, one thought suddenly flashed through the minds of everyone in this place except for Kang Hyunwoo.
The Gate Support Department is an extremely female-dominated department, so of course, the assistant Kim Hyerin and all the student assistants were women.
Since ancient times, marriage has been an opportunity for social advancement, and high-level hunters are socially recognized as the upper class.
It's a dangerous profession with high risks and frequent casualties, but hunters who are often threatened with their lives are more likely to have high sexual desires.
In particular, the time when they come out of the gate and visit the association for settlement is perhaps the peak time, and the female employees working at the association counters at that time are keen on seducing those hunters.
Rather than the merit of being a quasi-civil servant, one of the main reasons why women apply to the Gate Department is to seduce one of those high-level hunters and aim for social advancement.
What appeared before their eyes was a young and relatively inexperienced junior or classmate who had just become a magician.
Of course, the other student assistants except for Kim Hyerin hardly knew Kang Hyunwoo's face. Even if the classmates knew his name, the seniors and juniors hardly knew Kang Hyunwoo's face or name.
Kang Hyunwoo tended to not participate in department events, and he always sat in the corner during lectures, so it couldn't be helped.
Still, the fact that he was in the same department was encouraging.
Name? Who cares if you don't know it, you can start worrying about your child's name from now on.
'I heard that magicians rake in money…'
'On NewTube, a magician's wife said that her husband's default is overtime and that he doesn't even try to come home?'
'1st Circle… Isn't it worth trying? He hasn't even properly entered the Magic Tower yet, so there are few competitors.'
'Damn it, I came with only light makeup today.'
'It's a set of top and bottom, but if I blatantly seduce him from the first day, I'll look cheap…?'
While each of them was having countless worries with sinister intentions, Kang Hyunwoo felt a strange chill.
It was as if he had become the only male lion left in a pride of female lions in heat.
He felt like he had to get out of here quickly.
"Um, assistant sister, is it all done now-"
"Hyunwoo."
The male instinct is to spread his seeds to more women, and the female instinct is to give birth to and raise children in a more stable and better environment.
There was no reason to criticize a woman for looking for an upwardly mobile marriage. Succeeding in an upwardly mobile marriage means that she is a woman who meets the male instinct.
Her usually dry and dark lips were now bright red, as if she had put on makeup at some point.
When she let down her hair, which she had always tied up roughly, the unexpectedly long and good hair and a good scent stimulated my nose.
The voluminous body, which was also noticeable through the clothes, was also a pleasant sight, although I already knew about it.
"Do you have time tonight?"
"Uh…"
Kim Hyerin, the assistant of the Gate Support Department, who was soon to be in her late 20s, was more serious about marriage than anyone else here.
A woman's value drops sharply the moment she turns thirty.
The weight of 29 and 30 is on a different level.
She was currently 27 years old, and she was at an age where she could no longer delay. She was a living witness who had personally experienced that three years would pass by in the blink of an eye.
'A 6-year difference… People around me might call me a thief, but it's not like there are no cases where the wife is older.'
Rather, what if I firmly grab him with the charm of an older woman?
It wasn't a bad idea.
Of course, if you asked if she was interested in him normally, the answer was no. Rather, she only knew his face and name and had never had a private conversation with him.
You can criticize me for being materialistic.
Everyone living in a capitalist world is materialistic anyway.
'It's a dangerous day.'
Kang Hyunwoo was sweating from Kim Hyerin's gaze full of passion.
'…I think I'm screwed.'
I'm usually clueless, but I wasn't stupid enough not to know what was going on now.
Of course, it would be a lie to say that it wasn't good, as the assistant sister was objectively a voluptuous beauty.
However, if it was a relationship with marriage as a premise, the story would be completely different.
'Marriage is a bit much, even if it's Iris…'
Irresponsible pleasure is always welcome, but heavy responsibility is rejected.
It would have to be at least the granddaughter of that old grandmother magician.
"Um, um…"
"There's a restaurant that I know well, um, um?"
The sight of her subtly pressing her chest against my arm was terrifying.
In that moment, I was trembling with fear that I might get married.
"Hyerin, can't you see that you're embarrassing him?"
"P, Professor?"
A light came down to save me.
"Student Kang Hyunwoo? Long time no see."
It was Professor Shin Yehwa, the supervising professor of the Gate Support Department.