Failed Possession Chapter-23

## Chapter 23

—

In the game, there are three ways to meet Heavenly Thunder Orca.

1. Hire an assassin from the Salho Gate as an escort and wait in front of the Dercia Magic Tower in the Lutran field.
2. Kill an Ascad.
3. Invade the Dercia Magic Tower.

In the game, there is no route where you formally become a mage affiliated with the Dercia Magic Tower.

Common spells can be purchased from NPCs or shops, but to obtain Tower magic, the only method was farming by hunting Dercia mages.

Because of that, there was no peaceful method of becoming Orca’s disciple and inheriting her unique magic. To learn Dercia magic and Orca’s unique spells, you absolutely had to kill Dercia mages and kill Orca.

The condition to meet the hidden boss, the God of Chaos, was to hunt every boss except the Heavenly Demon. So Lee Su-hyeok’s *Padlip-Immune* also had no choice but to kill Orca multiple times.

The method he used most often was number 3.

The Ascad family was a honey pot for farming wealth and elixirs, but if you harassed them, mages from the Dercia Magic Tower would be dispatched one after another. Hunting them every time was already annoying, and if you killed too many, Orca would appear at a low probability even without killing Alfreon Ascad.

Heavenly Thunder Orca. She was too strong and troublesome to encounter and defeat without preparation. Because of that, before seriously grinding the Ascads, it was easier to simply wipe out the Dercia Magic Tower first.

‘As expected, it’s different from the game.’

The Dercia Magic Tower in the game consisted of five floors.

The first floor had level-20-range mages.
The second floor had level-40-range mages.
The third floor had level-50-range mages.
The fourth floor had level-60-range mages.

And on the last floor, the fifth, the Tower Master of level 81, Heavenly Thunder Orca Dercia, appeared alone.

But the Dercia Magic Tower Yuri saw in reality was different starting from the number of floors. Looking up at the tower that clearly exceeded ten floors, Yuri swallowed hard.

Gulp.

A swallowing sound came from beside him as well. Glancing over, Elena had her lips tightly pressed together, looking more nervous than ever.

“What are you so nervous about?”

“M-me? About what?”

He nudged her with his elbow, and Elena flinched and turned to him.

“Anyone can see you’re nervous.”

Shouldn’t I be the nervous one? Yuri grumbled and stared at the entrance of the Dercia Magic Tower.

He didn’t know exactly why Heavenly Thunder Orca had summoned him.

‘Bring your childhood friend tomorrow morning.’

That eccentric mage had suddenly visited Elena’s lab yesterday and said that. Elena had asked the reason in shock, but she hadn’t been told why.

No matter how favored she was as a prospective disciple, Elena could never defy Orca’s words. And so today, Yuri came to the Dercia Magic Tower with Elena.

“They’re not going to kill you or anything.”

Unlike the tense pair, Haryeong looked calm. She stared at Yuri indifferently and continued.

“Just take it easy and think of it as an interview.”

“What interview? I have no intention of becoming a Dercia mage.”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself. Even I don’t think it’s an interview to recruit you to the Tower, so don’t get your hopes up.”

“Then what kind of interview?”

“Who knows.”

Haryeong shrugged and stepped back.

“Then I’ll inform Bakered-nim that today’s training won’t happen. Lady Elena, shall I pick you up at the usual time?”

“Y-yeah.”

Elena answered haltingly. Seeing that, Haryeong clicked her tongue inwardly.

‘It’s probably because of things like that.’

Haryeong hadn’t been Elena’s escort for very long. But she could tell Elena’s attitude had changed a lot since bringing Yuri.

The old Elena had been colder, blindly devoted to magic, and prioritized her own achievements.

But living with Yuri changed her. Her cold personality softened considerably. That was a good change. And she still worked hard and devoted herself fully to magic.

But that wasn’t enough. There were countless people in this world—and in the Dercia Magic Tower—who worked hard and did their best. And Tower mages possessed not only effort but talent as well.

Elena Heinderga was one of the favored prospective disciples of Heavenly Thunder Orca. Favor meant expectation. The great mage at the pinnacle of the Lightning Ivory Tower might wish her disciple to become a madman obsessed with magic.

Before meeting Yuri, Elena wasn’t a madwoman—but she had the potential to become one.

What about now?

“L-let’s… go in.”

Elena swallowed and stepped forward.

Honestly, Yuri didn’t want to follow. If possible, he wanted to refuse the summons. He still didn’t want to get involved with that eccentric Heavenly Thunder Orca.

But since Orca had personally named him, there was no choice. Yuri swallowed a sigh and followed Elena.

In the game, the moment you entered the Dercia Magic Tower, you were attacked by mages. Naturally, reality wasn’t like that. But gazes as sharp as attacks pierced Yuri.

“Oh my?”

A woman sitting in the first-floor lounge scoffed. Even her attire was different from other mages. Her expensive-looking robe was purple with golden patterns, and her accessories were flashy.

“So you’re the rumored man?”

She openly sneered and waved at Elena. Elena’s face twisted in irritation. She bit her lip once, then gave the woman a slight nod.

“Senior Arist. Is it okay for you to be here?”

“Ahaha, is there any reason I can’t be? This is the Dercia Magic Tower too.”

“You look too relaxed. I heard you still haven’t met this quarter’s performance benchmark.”

At that, Arist’s face twisted. She glared at Elena for a moment and irritably brushed down her spotless robe.

“Thanks for worrying, Elena. But no matter where you heard that, I don’t have any problems.”

“Well, of course not. If things get dangerous, you can just ask the mages from your family for help.”

“What?!”

“But maybe you should refrain this time? Last quarter you patched together the Benharman family’s spells too.”

Arist’s face flushed red. Her birth family, the Benharmans, was always mentioned among prestigious magical families.

“Y-you…!”

Breathing heavily, Arist jumped to her feet. The mages resting in the lounge didn’t look like they planned to stop them. It seemed arguments between Arist and Elena were nothing new.

“You’ve got nothing, you begga—”

“Enough.”

A calm voice cut off Arist’s abuse.

From beyond the lounge, a woman in a white coat walked over.

“There are things you can say, and things you shouldn’t.”

That voice instantly subdued the atmosphere. Arist flinched and turned toward her. After hesitating, she bit her lip and bowed her head.

“Senior Lacy.”

Elena glared coldly at Arist, then let out a short sigh and bowed her head.

‘So it’s her.’

Lacy Yuzuha. Like Elena, she reached the 4th Rank at twenty and now, at twenty-seven, had reached the 5th Rank—a genius. Practically the closest person to becoming Heavenly Thunder Orca’s disciple.

‘They said she might be possessed.’

Lacy’s first impression in person was far better than Arist’s openly rude attitude.

“We have a rare outside guest, and you’re showing such disgrace?”

Lacy twisted her messy purple hair with her fingers while staring at Arist. Arist, still keeping her head down, simply plopped back into her seat and turned away without answering.

“Honestly.”

With a bitter smile, Lacy stopped in front of Elena.

“Sorry. The Tower Master personally ordered this visit, but… well… it’s rare for an outsider who isn’t a mage to visit here.”

As she spoke, Lacy looked around.

“Well then. You’ve all had your look, right? Are you going to keep staying here? It’s still far from lunchtime.”

So that’s why there were so many mages in the lounge. They’d all come out just to see Yuri’s face. After confirming they dispersed, Lacy turned back.

“Elena. You should go to your lab.”

“Huh? But, senior—”

“It’s the Tower Master’s orders. I’ll personally guide the guest. You go to your lab. Your quarterly report deadline isn’t far either, right?”

“…”
“Of course, I don’t think you’d fail to meet it.”

Lacy smiled faintly and met Elena’s eyes. With that gentle tone and manner, Elena couldn’t resist anymore. Lacy had helped ten-year-old Elena adapt and grow in the Tower; though not related by blood, she was like an older sister.

“…Yes.”

In the end, Elena nodded and stepped back.

“See you later.”

Her eyes were full of anxiety and worry. Yuri gave her a calm smile and waved.

“Then, guest, please follow me.”

Yuri followed Lacy toward the elevator beyond the lounge.

“How should I address you?”

“You can just call me by my name, Yuri-nim.”

“Yes, Lacy-nim.”

Her soft tone carried no sense of pressure at all.

‘Is she really possessed?’

Watching the back of Lacy’s messy, uncombed hair, Yuri wondered. Possessed ones didn’t have any special ability to recognize each other. But according to Elena, Lacy’s rank was higher at her age than Orca’s had been.

‘If there are rumors that she might be possessed, Orca would obviously know too. And yet she still made her a prospective disciple…’

Did she verify it? Or does she simply not care even if someone is possessed? That seemed possible too. Not every possessed person harms the world.

‘The special nature of the possessed fits well with magic.’

Perhaps Orca is the type who acknowledges that talent and keeps it close.

‘If it were THOR123, he probably would’ve approached the Dercia Magic Tower somehow.’

The father of the lightning mages in the community. He was someone who stubbornly used only lightning-attribute magic and the person who killed Orca and Dercia mages more than anyone else among Seronis users.

‘Could Lacy be THOR123?’

In the game, you could raise your specs and rampage through the Dercia Magic Tower, but you couldn’t do that in reality. Maybe THOR123, having been possessed into this world, chose the peaceful route of becoming a mage of the Dercia Magic Tower.

‘It’s not like I can just ask outright.’

Inside the spacious elevator, Yuri stared at the back of Lacy’s head and thought.

“Let me apologize again about earlier.”

Lacy suddenly spoke. She turned to Yuri with a faint smile.

“You may not know, but you’re quite famous, Yuri-nim.”

“I didn’t know I was famous. What kind of rumors?”

“Hmm, how should I put it…”

“I can roughly guess. Not good ones, right?”

“I can’t deny that.”

“Setting aside my own grievances, I feel sorry for Elena. All because of someone like me.”

“Even though it’s known you’re childhood friends, Elena draws a lot of attention.”

“That’s all we are. Nothing like a man and a woman or anything like that.”

Yuri answered flatly. It wasn’t like he didn’t have ears. Whenever he went out alone from the mansion, he heard people whispering.

Marigold’s man.
Freeloader.

“Actually, I was interested in you too, Yuri-nim. Did you hear? I used to share a room with Elena.”

“I heard.”

“Back then I heard a lot about you from her. Hehe, I was actually the one who sent her first letter for her.”

“Ah… I see.”

“Childhood friends. It’s such a cool and special relationship. I don’t have a friend like that, so I envy Elena.”

Lacy giggled. Yuri glanced at the steadily increasing floor numbers and asked,

“Why did the Tower Master call for me?”

“Hmm, well. I didn’t hear the details either. What I was told was…”

Her curved blue eyes stared straight at Yuri’s face.

“To meet you once and see what kind of person you are. That’s why I’m guiding you. It sounds funny coming from me, but I have pretty good eyes.”

“Take a look at me? I’m not anyone special.”

“No, I don’t think so. I heard you’ve only properly entered martial arts for a month… hehe, you absolutely don’t look like it.”

“I heard you’re the greatest talent in the history of the Dercia Magic Tower. Do you know martial arts too?”

“Just because you’re a mage doesn’t mean you must only use magic. I’m not at an impressive level, but I can at least protect myself if I can’t use magic.”

Though mixed with modesty, those were the words of a 5th Rank mage. Yuri showed a slightly surprised expression and looked at Lacy again. Her coat was so large it was hard to tell her physique, but looking closely, she had quite a bit of muscle on her frame.

‘She’s possessed.’

It wasn’t impossible that there were absurd geniuses in the world, but becoming a 5th Rank mage at twenty-seven and learning martial arts too? It might be a hasty judgment, but Yuri couldn’t help thinking that.

‘Is she probing me?’

“That’s impressive.”

He hid his thoughts and reacted normally. Learning martial arts wasn’t something to hide, but combined with the phrase “I came to look you over” and that fragment of absurd talent, alarms rang in Yuri’s head.

‘Is Orca suspicious of me?’

Fuck. He buried the curse in his chest.

“So, what do you think of me, Lacy-nim?”

“You seem very talented as a martial artist. But as for magic talent…”

Lacy shrugged with both hands in her coat pockets and trailed off.

“You don’t have to be careful. Having even one is something.”

The elevator arrived at the top floor. Lacy, who had been quietly watching Yuri, gave a small nod and stepped back.

“It was a short conversation, but I enjoyed it. Yuri-nim, I’ll head back to my lab now.”

“Yes. I enjoyed it too.”

That was a lie. He hadn’t enjoyed it much. His head was complicated with suspicions. No matter how he looked at it, Lacy seemed possessed, but he couldn’t guess her identity.

‘THOR123?’

Thinking about it, there was no guarantee that THOR123—who never verified their gender—was necessarily male. He rarely talked about personal matters and only posted lightning mage guides.

‘Maybe it’s someone else entirely.’

Leaving the unresolved suspicion behind, Yuri stepped out of the elevator. Beyond the slowly closing doors, Lacy smiled brightly.

“…”

Inside the descending elevator, Lacy fell into thought for a moment.

“…Doesn’t seem like it…?”

She muttered something incomprehensible and tilted her head.

*

*

 

At the top floor of the Dercia Magic Tower, Heavenly Thunder Orca’s room looked completely different inside from what he had seen in the game.

“Has a month been long enough to call it ‘a while’?”

Since it used the entire floor, it was too big to even call it a room. In the middle of it, Orca was sitting on the edge of a huge desk.

“I suppose it counts as a while.”

Yuri bowed first.

“It’s been a while, Orca-nim.”

“Indeed. It has been a while.”

Orca chuckled and nodded.

“I summoned you suddenly. Weren’t you displeased?”

“Not at all. I’m rather honored.”

“Good, if you truly think so. Now then, a seat…”

With a slight flick of her finger, a sofa from one side of the room floated up and moved near Yuri.

“Sit there. I have drinks too. What would you like? Coffee? Water? There’s alcohol as well.”

“Water is fine.”

A table moved in front of the sofa. Yuri watched the floating kettle and teacup with admiration.

“Magic really is convenient.”

“In aspects like this, it’s better than martial arts.”

Orca crossed her legs while still sitting on the desk.

“Well, high-rank martial artists sometimes show similar tricks, moving objects through force Qi control. But a mage can do this as early as Rank 2.”

“I don’t think a Rank 2 mage could do it this easily.”

“That’s true too.”

Clink. At Orca’s gesture, the kettle poured water into the cup.

“Why do you think I called you?”

“Honestly, I have no idea.”

“I planned to call you after your training ended. But it seems Fist Wolf took more of a liking to you than expected, since he keeps teaching you even after a month.”

“I’m grateful for that.”

“I had no intention of interfering with your training, but I felt we needed to meet at least once.”

“For what reason?”

“Elena Heinderga.”

Her name suddenly came up.

“Do you know about the surname Heinderga?”

Yuri had expected Elena’s name might come up, but that question itself caught him off guard.

“No, I don’t.”

Yuri, who grew up in an orphanage, had no surname. Ten years ago, Elena had been the same. But at some point she gained the surname ‘Heinderga.’

“It was my previous surname.”

Orca said with a smile.

“The Tower Master inherits the Tower’s name as their surname. That’s why my name is Orca Dercia. But I wasn’t Orca Dercia from birth. My old name was Orca Heinderga.”

It was something he’d never heard before.

“Ten years ago, I found a gem at the Aldor orphanage. Hmm, no—that’s not right. I didn’t find her. I went because of the orphanage director’s letter. Either way, the Elena I saw was a gem, so I took her in.”

“…”

“She had no surname, so I gave her my old one. Of course, everything was done properly. On paper too, Elena is a Heinderga. Technically, you could say she’s my adopted daughter.”

Orca let out a low chuckle.

“Unfortunately, I don’t possess anything like maternal affection for her. And she doesn’t think of me as her mother either. Our relationship now is closer to teacher and disciple. Though she isn’t truly my disciple yet.”

Her golden eyes curved into a smile.

“I expect that girl will become my disciple someday. I even see her as material for the next Tower Master.”

“If we’re just talking ranks, isn’t Lacy-nim closer?”

“For now, yes, but Elena is younger than Lacy. And Lacy has no intention of taking the Dercia name. That brat only wants my magic. A troublesome one.”

Orca stared at Yuri’s face for a moment.

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“Do you think Elena Heinderga can become Elena Dercia?”

What answer was she expecting? Yuri didn’t respond immediately and met Orca’s gaze. Her golden eyes were sharp as if piercing through him, but he didn’t look away.

“Yes.”

Yuri slowly nodded.

“I believe Elena can become the Tower Master of Dercia someday. She herself desires it too.”

Then he added jokingly,

“If both mother and daughter become Tower Masters, Heinderga could call itself a prestigious magic family.”

“Hahaha.”

Orca burst out laughing.

“It’s just Elena and me, though.”

“Well, maybe it’ll grow later.”

“How do you think of Elena?”

The sudden question came abruptly.

—