I arrived at a restaurant in Cheongdam-dong after receiving a sudden call from my blind date to reschedule.
It was a high-end restaurant with an interior and tables all set up in private rooms.
Omakase? Fine dining? I'd seen it on NewTube many times, but this was my first time actually coming to one.
The menu alone explained why.
The cheapest course was a whopping 500,000 won, and the most expensive one exceeded 1 million won.
Since the neighborhood was like this, it seemed they catered to people with overflowing wallets as their main customers.
"The D course has shrimp as the main dish. Should I go with that?"
In the old days, I would have trembled and ordered the cheapest thing, but there was no need to do that anymore.
Before coming here, I had a truckload of inquiries on my job search post on the hunter app.
A magician who isn't affiliated with a guild is up for grabs?
And not just a 1st Circle magician, but a 2nd Circle magician?
"Oh, the party leader is C+ grade, and the other party members are all C grade."
I could go to a C-grade gate and just fire off fireballs from the back, and then hit the boss with a big one, earning hundreds of thousands of won for a day's work. There was no reason to tremble over a course meal costing just tens or hundreds of thousands of won.
Even if gates were dangerous, if I was in the rear of a party that matched the appropriate grade, there wouldn't be much chance of getting seriously hurt.
For the time being, it seemed like I should focus on making money by going to gates and building my body while learning swordsmanship at the training hall.
Knock, knock – while I was making plans for the future, someone knocked on the door.
I didn't ring the bell, so it couldn't be a waiter. That meant there was only one person who could be here.
"Am I too late?"
The person who opened the door was my blind date, Choi Hyena.
With her striking red hair, purple eyes, and traditional witch's attire, she was even prettier than she looked in the picture.
I realized that the photo didn't capture even half of her real beauty, let alone any photoshopping.
"No, I just got here myself."
Choi Hyena smiled lightly and sat down.
In the meantime, the figure revealed as she took off her coat shocked me once again.
'…Is someone secretly filming a hidden camera prank on me? Every woman I meet has an amazing body.'
Even that wolf beastkin I met during the day was short, but her overall figure was so good that a decent model couldn't even compare. Her perfectly trained body was attractive.
And Choi Hyena's chest was smaller than Iris and Cheon Yeohwa's, but her overall balance was unbelievable.
Is she… a magician? Not a Pilates instructor?
I was impressed again that Grandma Choi Youngok introduced me to a woman like that.
"Hmm…"
Just like Kang Hyunwoo, who was secretly admiring Choi Hyena's figure according to his male instincts, Choi Hyena was observing Kang Hyunwoo with her instincts as a magician.
To be exact, she was looking at the vast amount of mana swirling around him.
Of course, if a person doesn't breathe, they can't take in oxygen. It's the same with mana.
If a magician doesn't raise their concentration through meditation in order to accept mana, the mana won't try to approach the magician.
But he was different.
The mana seemed impatient to become one with him right away, constantly swirling around him without a moment's rest.
It was just staying there, probably because he didn't allow it, but if permission was given, it would become his magic power at any time. That meant he could even drastically shorten the self-integration process.
Of course, you can't forcibly increase your mana circles just because you have a lot of magic power.
Still, there was no disagreement that he could show far superior performance than other magicians in the same realm.
"It's our first time meeting in person. Nice to meet you. My name is Choi Hyena."
"I'm Kang Hyunwoo."
They exchanged light handshakes and first greetings.
"Should we order first? This is a place I come to often, so I guarantee the taste."
I ordered the D course, which featured *Hobo-flower* shrimp from the gate as the main dish, while Choi Hyena ordered the B course, which recreated classic French cuisine.
As the waiter who took our order closed the door and left, a heavy silence fell between us.
'What should I talk about?'
Aside from Iris and Cheon Yeohwa, I've never really talked to a woman properly. Besides, this was my first time in a blind date-type meeting at all.
What's worse, the other person was from the upper class, someone I would never have met in my life.
In the end, the silence continued until the food we ordered came out.
Of course, that silence was only awkward and uncomfortable for Kang Hyunwoo.
Until the food came out, Choi Hyena was constantly observing Kang Hyunwoo.
Not only did he reach the 2nd Circle at the same age as her, but the process didn't even take a week.
It was absurd.
Even she, who had been praised endlessly by those around her for her dazzling talent, took six years to build a mana circle.
That was possible because she had received lessons from a much younger age with the help of her family, lessons that others only received when they turned 11.
It took another six years to reach the 2nd Circle, and the 3rd Circle was a realm she reached almost by chance.
Because of that, it was hard to see her as a complete 3rd Circle magician. It would get better over time, but not now.
Of course, she was able to obtain the qualification of a nationally certified magician thanks to it, but she had a sense of inferiority about the fact that she was not a complete 3rd Circle magician.
What appeared in front of such Choi Hyena was a magician of the same age who was breaking through realms at perhaps the fastest speed in human history.
'He doesn't look like such a genius no matter how I look at him.'
At first, she was very suspicious. There's such a monster in the world?
She was mostly dominated by the thought that it was a con artist, not a magician, but after facing him like this, she couldn't just deny it.
Kang Hyunwoo didn't notice, but there was a faint hostility in Choi Hyena's eyes. It was a sticky emotion mixed with jealousy and self-reproach.
"It's delicious."
Without even knowing those facts, Kang Hyunwoo was enjoying the food that had come out at some point.
"…I'm glad."
Choi Hyena also continued her meal silently.
***
After the meal was somewhat over, I refreshed my mouth with the dessert that came out as a finish.
It was the first time in my life that I had spent so much money on one meal, but it was a satisfaction that made me understand why people spend money on this kind of thing.
"Now that we've filled our stomachs, can I get straight to the point?"
Choi Hyena wiped her mouth with a napkin and spoke first.
"I'm sorry, but I have no intention of getting married. No, it would be more accurate to say that I have no intention of dating a man in the first place."
"…?"
Choi Hyena's calm statement was a denial of the very reason for this meeting.
"Then why did you come here?"
If that was the case, she could have just refused over the phone, so I was curious as to why she had changed the appointment time to the same day and called me out.
"I was curious. Who exactly is the person who has achieved the feat of not only reaching the 2nd Circle at the same age as me, but also doing it in less than a week?"
In the end, she was saying that she made the appointment just to satisfy her own curiosity.
"So, what do you think after meeting me like this?"
In the narrow room, Choi Hyena's magic power began to squirm and pulsate.
"To be honest, I don't like it. Why did that brilliant talent choose a human like you?"
Has she given up on being polite? She doesn't hesitate to reveal her magic power to someone she's meeting for the first time, nor does she hesitate to give an answer full of animosity.
"I have a proposal."
The surly look that seemed like she was about to cast magic was gone, and the atmosphere had changed 180 degrees for some reason.
"What proposal?"
"It's simple. Let me study you. To be loved by mana? That's an area that's hard to dismiss as mere talent."
Choi Hyena is a magician.
She decided to prioritize rational gains and losses over emotional jealousy.
"I'll give you a generous reward. I've taken a quick look, and you seem to be quite the pauper. How about 30 million won for each time you cooperate with the research?"
It seemed that Choi Hyena already had a blueprint completed in her head to get what she wanted.
If she could find out the reason why that man was loved by mana, she would not only be able to reach the complete 3rd Circle, but also be able to glimpse the 4th Circle in the near future.
She didn't even assume that he would refuse.
She thought that he, who had lived a poor life as a war orphan, would have no choice but to accept her proposal.
Just because he had become a magician, suddenly receiving sponsorship from any company was a bad move. If he knew his talent, he should raise his value and then receive sponsorship under better conditions. So what he needed now was funds for smooth magic research.
If 30 million won was not enough, she was willing to call 50 million won. Of course, more than that was fine too.
Because she had plenty of money.
But the answer that came out of Kang Hyunwoo's mouth far exceeded Choi Hyena's expectations.
"What the hell are you talking about, you crazy bitch."
His always listless expression instantly changed to a hostile, murderous expression.
"…What?"
"Hey, open your ears and listen carefully. Do you know what's more important than the Seongbuk Choi family, or being a genius magician, or whatever? Manners, manners. You seem to be lacking as a person. What? Magician? Research? Bullshit."
He emptied the water glass full of cold water in one gulp.
"It's ridiculous that you changed the appointment to the same day, and it's annoying that you told someone who came on a blind date that you don't even want to be on a blind date, but you suddenly reveal your magic power to someone you're meeting for the first time? Is that what your precious family taught you as manners?"
In fact, changing the appointment to the same day and saying that she didn't want to be on a blind date were things that could have been easily overlooked.
But she couldn't just let it go that she called him a pauper and revealed her magic power.
"In my opinion, you're just a 3rd Circle at best. Why? Because if you're lacking as a person, how can you become a high-level magician?"
With those words, I jumped up from my seat.
Leaving behind Choi Hyena, who had a blank expression on her face, I left the restaurant.
"Hoo…"
I guess this is how it feels to want a cigarette.
My first blind date, which had a bitter aftertaste, was a disaster. Apart from the excellent meal, I felt bad.
I was about to catch a taxi because I thought it would be better to just go home, take a shower, and sleep.
"Hey!!"
Choi Hyena, who seemed to have hurriedly left the restaurant, was glaring at me.
"What."
"You, you…!! How dare you say such harsh things to me when you're just a pauper!!"
Choi Hyena was unable to hide her resentment and approached me with a red face and murderous eyes.
"You better be prepared. You can forget about setting foot in this land as a magician in the future…"
Choi Hyena, who was pouring out her anger in a voice full of venom, felt something ominous for a moment.
And Kang Hyunwoo felt the same way.
What the two talented magicians felt at the same time was an unknown abnormal sign of mana.
Like mana was terrified of something, the two hurriedly tried to leave this place.
But a huge, unidentified gate that appeared as if tearing through the air swallowed the two of them.