By Zephyria 
The table rattled and shook violently. It wasn’t just the table. Chairs, picture frames, the counter, flowerpots, the coffee machine, interior accessories—every object that made up the cafe shook in unison. It felt as if a giant were gripping the entire building.
People screamed, collapsing to the ground or scrambling under tables. They likely thought it was an earthquake. If this situation had been an earthquake, their actions would have been correct.
But it wasn’t. It was not. This was no earthquake.
Kim Si-baek sensed the thickening presence of magical energy.
[Death and Beauty raises its tail feathers stiffly.]
“…Hyung.”
Tae-un seemed to have realized it wasn’t a simple earthquake as well. After a brief exchange of glances, the two ran out of the cafe without needing a word.
Before their eyes, a massive plant had pierced through and entwined the Management Center building, its tentacle-like roots heaving as if ready to burst through the ground in every direction.
Magical beasts grow like living organisms.
If so, how is the first magical beast born?
This was a deep-rooted question that had embroiled the magical beast scholars who emerged after the Great Cataclysm in countless papers and debates. When the stagnant arguments continued for over two years, the mystery was solved by a hunter who happened to witness the creation process of a magical beast.
When the magical energy in the atmosphere condensed, it took on an indescribable form—something like flesh, cells, or cerebrospinal fluid—and then a magical beast germinated. After various experiments and observations, magical beast scholars named this the magical beast seed.
Just because it was called a seed didn’t mean it actually took the form of a seed. The shapes of the seeds were as diverse as the types of magical beasts themselves. The only commonality was that they originated from the magical energy in the atmosphere.
〈Evidence supporting the theory of spontaneous generation of living organisms has appeared after 2,000 years.〉
One scholar had even made such a joke.
However, it wasn’t a matter that could be dismissed as a mere joke. It meant that even if the habitats of magical beasts were isolated, a new magical beast could appear in human settlements at any time. In fact, the movements of magical beasts that occurred outside the barriers, the causes of which had remained unknown until now, were likely due to magical beasts germinating from seeds.
It was several years after that when magic and magical tools to purify the atmospheric magical energy were invented.
〈What is the point of surviving alone by purifying magical energy?〉
The mage who first invented it did not even register a patent for the sake of human coexistence, sharing it freely with the entire world, much like Jonas Salk. Humanity survived by herding magical beasts into habitats, as if in aquaculture pens, and purifying the magical energy outside the barriers.
Unfortunately, however, human society is not perfectly equal. Purifying magical energy consumes magic stones. There was an inevitable difference in the purification cycles between the slums where the marginalized lived and the uptowns where the wealthy resided.
Because of this, the germination of magical beasts continued to occur outside the barriers in every country.
“Just asking to be sure, Un-ah. The government didn’t neglect the purification around the Management Center, did they?”
Kim Si-baek asked as he removed the roots of the magical beast that were spreading in all directions underground. His weapon was the leg of a chair that had broken when it fell during the building’s vibration. When the divine power wrapped around the chair leg struck the underground roots, the magical beast writhed as if screaming, spraying a venomous fluid.
“No way. They probably manage the areas with government agencies most strictly.”
Beneath the feet of Tae-un, whose coat fluttered, darkness was spreading out, tearing the roots to shreds.
It was a given. The agency responsible for the purification of magical energy in Korea was state-run, and government departments were the highest priority for purification. If so, how did this happen in the middle of Daejeon, and specifically at the magic stone exchange?
‘Since this is Earth and not mak slecht, the probability is low, but could it be…’
A hypothesis roughly came to mind, but deliberation could wait; for now, stopping the growth of the magical beast was urgent. This plant-type magical beast spreads its roots greedily in the early stages of germination, but once attacks accumulate, it pauses. If left alone without attack, it was the kind of creature that would ignorantly keep extending its roots until other magical beasts tore it apart.
“What is this magical beast called here?”
“Giant vine.”
“Intuitive this time too.”
Kim Si-baek nodded. The names of magical beasts needed to be intuitive so that ordinary people could easily imagine their form and respond accordingly.
Unlike the two of them, who conversed calmly while removing roots, the surroundings were a scene of chaos. Following the emergency disaster alerts, the sound of phone bells rang loudly as people searched for family members nearby, then suddenly cut off all at once. It seemed the lines had temporarily crashed due to the surge in transmissions.
The streets were cracked in places due to the heaving roots beneath the ground, and buildings shook or tilted as if hit by an earthquake. Somewhere, a water pipe must have burst, as water was rapidly rising. Those accustomed to disaster situations activated their protective magical tools or evacuated to areas where magic circles were installed.
“Aaaagh!”
However, there were always those who could choose neither. Where a desperate scream was heard, there was a student whose leg was entwined by a tentacle, being dragged into the ground.
Kim Si-baek rushed over in a single bound, severed the root, and lifted the student up with one arm to move them away from the spot.
“Th-thank you…”
Once placed in a safe area, the student burst into tears. He could see people huddled within a magic circle inside a building with collapsed walls, gesturing for the student to come quickly.
“Hurry and evacuate over there.”
The student bowed repeatedly and rushed toward the magic circle.
In many ways, it was a critical disaster situation, but it wasn’t hopeless. Since the incident occurred at the Management Center, there were many hunters nearby. However, they were flustered due to a lack of leadership, and Tae-un stepped in to organize them.
After hearing their respective specialties, Tae-un divided them into a root removal team and a rescue team, and the initial situation seemed to be winding down.
But Kim Si-baek felt a heaviness in his chest, as if a dark cloud had settled over him.
‘It seems we can conquer the magical beast in time… but what about the quest?’
With the Management Center in that state, he didn’t know if registration would be possible today. Even if he succeeded in conquering it within the time limit, it would take time to restore the system or the computer network…
Was the Earth really going to perish just because he couldn’t register as a hunter? It was absurd.
At that moment, the system window flickered, and new text appeared.
[What on earth is happening all of a sudden! Even the system is surprised by the appearance of a magical beast! If you had just obediently accepted when I said I’d do it for you instead of making useless plans, it wouldn’t have come to this -_+]
“….”
The tone was irritating no matter when he saw it.
[But since our Returner was doing his best, I’ll give you a special gift to overcome the situation.]
[Sudden Quest]
[Conquer the Giant Vine (0/1)]
[Completion Reward: Time extension for the second quest]
[Remaining Time: 12 hours 00 minutes]
If a path had opened in a dead-end situation, then it had, but… a fundamental question welled up again.
‘To what extent can I trust the system?’
Regardless of his will to perform the quest, trust in the system did not grow. Was it okay to incite fear by claiming the Earth would perish and then change the situation as if flipping a palm?
If the restriction for failing the quest had been some other penalty, he might have tried failing on purpose to test it, but since the destruction of Earth was on the line from the start, he had no choice.
‘I wonder if dealing with a Giant Vine in an area other than the Management Center would count…’
Immersed in complex thoughts, Kim Si-baek scratched the back of his head and shook them off. Whether there was a quest or not, the fact that the Giant Vine had to be eliminated remained unchanged. He would think later and hunt the magical beast in front of him first. Judging by the size of the magical beast, it didn’t seem difficult to handle within the time limit.
Biyendwe, who had been hiding inside Kim Si-baek’s t-shirt and peeking out only with his face through the collar, widened his eyes.
[Death and Beauty reports that the growth of the roots has stopped.]
Just as said, while he had been checking the quest for a moment, the tremors of the ground had completely subsided.
“Hyung.”
Tae-un approached, throwing the last severed root onto the ground like trash.
“I think we succeeded in stopping the roots.”
“Good job, Un-ah.”
“You too, Hyung.”
Kim Si-baek raised his hand to pat his shoulder, but Tae-un tilted his head, bringing his face to the hand and rubbing it against the palm. Despite having run all over the place chasing roots until just now, his smooth skin was soft, without a single drop of sweat.
“More than that, there’s something I’m worried about. Especially since it’s the Management Center.”
“Ah. There were a lot of people earlier, right? We should save them before the building collapses.”
“People are one thing, but the magic stone storage has also become the magical beast’s territory.”
Kim Si-baek tilted his head, not immediately understanding, then belatedly recalled the gap in magical engineering between mak slecht and Earth.
“…Is the place where magic stones are stored also incomplete? Surely they aren’t managing them in something like glass display cases?”
“Not to that extent, and they did place some protective magic on them, but they tend to be negligent with low-grade magic stones. Since the magical beast appeared during a trade, there wouldn’t have been time to move them to a safe storage area.”
It was just as Kim Si-baek looked up with concern after hearing the explanation. An anomaly occurred.