Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 10: Talent Identification (3)

The ceiling was quite tall, looking to be around five meters high.

There is a space expansion spell in place.

‘Well, since the driver is 3.2 meters tall, I guess it’s definitely a requirement.’

A perception barrier worked by creating an illusion and disrupting the vision of the targets, but it did not actually change the physical size of the object. If the car had been an ordinary object, someone who was over three meters tall would not be able to fit in the driver’s seat in the first place.

“So the space is expanded.”

“…Hey.”

“Hmm?”

Kyung-eun suddenly called out to me in a grumpy voice. When I turned my head towards her, I could see her staring at me with narrowed eyes.

“What’s going on? Why aren’t you surprised in the slightest?”

I wasn’t taken aback by the question, which contained a little bit of vigilance. One might have thought I was stuck in a predicament and about to have my secrets revealed, but honestly, I didn’t care if she did find out.

My secret was not really a secret.

I know it sounds like crap, and I never thought I would have such thoughts when I was first returning to Earth. However… I had already lost my desperation to keep my secret. I didn’t want to go around shouting it out, but I didn’t have any motivation to put in the effort to keep it a secret either.

So I just spoke whatever came to my mind to ease her suspicion.

“There were similar functions in the palace, right?”

In the parallel world, Gyeongbokgung Palace was not much different on the outside from the palace in the surface world. Once one entered Gwanghwamun Gate, you could see the Geunjeongjeon Hall, Hyangwonjeong Pavilion, and Gyeonghoeru and Amisan Chimneys, which all testified to the 500-year history of the Joseon Dynasty. In addition, the palace museum and the folk museum stood erect on both sides of the palace. If one were to observe the compound from the sky, they would not be able to spot any noticeable differences.

But there were differences.

The place where I resided, the Gangyeongjeon Hall, had five stories above the ground and 13 stories underground. This meant that a large-scale barrier covered the entirety of the buildings of Gyeongbokgung Palace, and with the power of the barrier, over 10,000 people could comfortably live in the palace.

“Well. No, well… I guess you’re not wrong, but… Ha, well, this is… Hmm, Hmm…”

Kyung-eun tilted her head and stared at me with a befuddled expression, but I remained silent and expressionless sitting on the fluffy sofa until we arrived at our destination.

“We are here, Princess.”

“…I really want to beat him up. What a jerk, he’s been brainwashed by the old men and just won’t listen.”

Kyung-eun kicked open the door and exited the car. They had arrived at a luxury apartment complex in Johngno-gu.

Beep beep!

As soon as I left the car, we entered the apartment that lay right in front of us. Then, we got on the elevator and started to ascend through the building.

Captain-nim, rooms 1701 to 1704 on the topmost floor are empty.

‘I thought it might be.’

I silently followed after Kyung-eun while listening to Genie’s briefing. She headed towards room 1703 and rang the doorbell.

Ding dong!

“It’s me.”

Welcome, miss. I will connect you to the palace.

Click.

The door opened and we entered. Even though it looked like an ordinary, luxury apartment complex, and most of the people walking inside the complex were ordinary people, we arrived at the palace as we walked through the door.

“Ta-da! We’re here!”

“You probably go through the same routine every single day. Do you really need to go ‘ta-da’?”

“…Wow, do you know that you’re a real killjoy? Why are you like this even though you’re from the surface world?”

Kyung-eun mumbled grumpily as I followed her on the stone steps. I suddenly became curious and asked her a question.

“Anyways, why Gyeongbokgung Palace?”

“Huh? What about it?”

“Why is it the base of the Lee Family? There are many other suitable skyscrapers, but you choose to use the palace. Well, I can understand it if it’s due to symbolism, but there are other palaces in Korea too, right?”

Currently, there were five remaining palaces from the Joseon Dynasty in Seoul. They were Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changgyeonggung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, Deoksugung Palace, and Gyeonghui Palace.

Of course, Gyeongbokgung Palace was the most renowned palace among the five, but there was no reason to limit their base of operations to within the walls of Gyeongbokgung Palace if the number of ability holders in the Lee Family was in the thousands.

But she gave an unexpected answer.

“Because we are so weak that we can’t guarantee our safety without the barrier of the palace.”

“Hmm?”

My confusion must have surfaced on my expression, as Kyung-eun smiled as if finding it amusing.

“It’s because we are weak. What other reasons would there be?”

“You’re saying that the Lee Family is weak…”

I recalled the Imoogis that were asleep deep in the Gyeonghoeru Pond. The demon disguised as the cafeteria lady had the powers beyond a master. The two giant soldiers guarding the Gwanghwamun Square could only be the work of a transcendent. Even Kyung-eun, who was standing right in front of me, possessed the bare minimum to serve as a noncommissioned officer in the Great Universe, though she would not be able to make it as an officer. But now she was telling me that the Lee Family was considered weak on Earth-34, a mere small planet of lower civilization? Had my Earth always been such a tough world?

“Hahaha! You are surprised to hear that those condescending beings are weak, aren’t you? But it’s true. Think about it. Why do you think we call ourselves the Lee Family, and not the imperial family or royal family? In Korea…”

Her words were interrupted.

“Please watch your words, Princess Kyung-eun. I can no longer tolerate any further profanity against the imperial family.”

“Ha! Blasphemy against the imperial family? Wake up. Sun. Bae. Nim. What’s the point of such a superficial title when no one recognizes it?”

I turned my head while listening to the intense conversation. A woman of fine stature caught my eye. She was wearing a subtle, white jeogori[1] and a purple skirt engraved with a white tiger and a blue dragon. Unlike her elegant appearance, her expression was cold.

“…Student president?”

I was shocked at seeing the familiar face. My eyes naturally headed towards the title above her head.

Korean Empire

Level 9

Princess Lee Min-kyung

‘I already knew that her real name was Lee Min-kyung, and not Han Min-kyung, but… Wow, to think she was an ability holder on the brisk of becoming a Compléter.’

As all sorts of thoughts passed through my head, the two women were having a fierce stand-off, glaring at each other with vicious expression. The tense atmosphere made it seem like they would start clawing at each other right away. However, the confrontation was broken as a warrior standing behind Kyung-eun became involved. He was wearing a scale armor with an elegant design, something that one might see in any historical dramas.

“The ambassador is waiting, Princess.”

“Sigh, I got it, District Prosecutor.”

“Why is she acting like that after being quiet for a while? Is she trying to declare an empire or something? They don’t even have a single subservient country, they need to learn to tone it down with the bluffing…”

“Let’s talk later.”

After turning around, we headed into the palace. Come to think of it, the atmosphere inside the palace seemed quite chaotic. Dozens of court ladies were busy striding across the palace, and I could see all kinds of ability holders wearing all kinds of equipment.

“What a mess. The Hwarangdan, Jirisan Yacha, and the magicians from the tower as well… This is truly unbelievable.”

“What’s going on?”

I asked because the situation seemed quite complicated. People were calling Kyung-eun a princess, but Kyung-eun did not acknowledge her own title. Even the student council president appeared out of nowhere with the title of a princess. In particular, wasn’t it interesting that Kyung-eun and Min-kyung belonged to the same organization, but had different titles of Lee Family and Korean Empire?

Instead of satisfying my curiosity, Kyung-eun shook her head instead.

“It’s a family problem.”

I nodded gently at her dismissive answer. Well, her answer was a given, actually. She wasn’t a simple NPC from a video game, which meant she wouldn’t start babbling about all her problems as soon as I initiated a conversation with her.

“Well, if you say so.”

“Let’s go.”

I started following behind her once more. After passing Geunjeongjeon Hall, the place where I had first arrived, I passed through Geungjeongmun Gate and crossed the Yeongjegyo Bridge to enter the Heungnyemun Gate. Then, I crossed the square and headed towards the National Palace Museum located on the right side of the palace.

Just as Gyeonghoeru was being used as a cafeteria and Gangnyeongjeong was being used as a residence, it seemed that the old palace museum was also being used for a different purpose from the surface world.

“Nice to meet you. I am Yul,[2] a screener.”

As I walked into a fairly spacious room, an impressive man with a smile greeted me. Due to his deluxe suit, he looked more like an office worker at a large company than a wizard.

Now a suit. I had this thought over and over again, but this place is really…

‘There’s no consistency at all, right? That makes the two of us.’

I agreed with Genie’s words. From staying in the palace for the last few days, I noticed so many strange things that were simply incomprehensible. The Lee Family was truly a mess.

When I saw the court ladies walking around in traditional clothing, I automatically assumed that the organization valued tradition and history, acting and dressing to fit in with the environment of the palace. However, the others wore all sorts of attires. There were even some who were obviously Korean, but dressed in traditional Chinese clothes or medieval western armors.

Was that all? Even though there were plenty of suitable buildings and skyscrapers to be used as their base, they insisted on using the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Moreover, their treatment of the buildings was completely arbitrary. The Gayngnyeongjeon was a historical building where the king used to read, rest, and hold meetings with his servants. However, it was now being used as a guest lodging. Gyeonghooeru, which used to hold banquets during national events, was utilized as a cafeteria where people stopped by to grab food. And why in the world was the food not Korean but Western-based?

‘How did they come up with this concept, this Lee Family.’

Oh, there was a country on the planet of the Alta Nebula similar to this where I stayed for a while.

Ares chimed in, seemingly able to make sense of the confusing situation.

‘What kind of country was it?’

A small, weak country that was alternately occupied by about six major powers.

‘…...’

I fell into a daze for awhile. Kyung-eun greeted the man in the suit named Yul.

“Thanks for your time, ahjussi!”

“It has been pretty quiet lately due to the lack of new recruits, so I was free, Miss. But if I remember correctly, the child of the Great Witch was screened several times already.”

“Something could have changed.”

“Unless he’s had a fortunate encounter, natural talent does not change easily. I came prepared, however, since you told me that he has awakened soul energy powers, unlike the previous findings.”

Saying so, Yul opened the bag that he had brought.

‘What is he going to take out? A wand? An enchanted mirror?’

It could be a meter that analyzes drugs or aura. Scientific civilization is not too shabby in this world either.

In fact, the best measuring instrument to date is New World, created by the Kendlers! It can accurately grasp your talents and allow you to train in a virtual space…

Genie and Ares talked over each other, showing off(?) their knowledge, but Yul took out a completely unexpected item from his bag.

“…A candle?”

Yes, it was a large, thick candle.

“Yes, it is a required item to read your talent.”

“Is it some kind of magical candle?”

I became puzzled at the appearance of a completely unexpected item, and Yul smiled lightly in response.

“I bought it at Daiso.[3] It cost me 2,000 won each. I use this product often, and I like that it smells like apples.”

“……”

Yul did not seem to care that I was clearly flabbergasted at his explanation. He took out a chalk with a nonchalant expression, then drew a David’s Star on a wooden desk on one side of the room. He placed candles on each of the six points, then started to explain.

“Us selectors categorize talent into six different types. It’s a type of classification created by the Great Wizard. We call it the Shin-Ma-Qi-Yoong-Eung-Chae.[4]”

1. a jeogori is a traditional Korean garment, the basic upper garment of the hanbok. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeogori

2. Yul is the Chinese character for law

3. If you don’t know what Daiso is, you haven’t lived. Jk it’s basically like a convenience store(?) where you can literally buy anything you need. Like a dollar store, except 100x better.

4. Each word references a specific type of power in the Chinese character. It will be explained further in the next chapter.