The adventurer guild was noisy.
The smell of alcohol. The smell of sweat. The smell of leather. People sat at every wooden table. Men in armor. Women draped in robes. Large beastfolk. Elves with pointed ears. Of everything Yoon-seul had seen in another world, the greatest variety of beings were gathered in one place.
Lina grabbed Yoon-seul's arm. Her grip was tight.
"...It's scarier than I thought."
"You were the one who said we should come, Lina."
"That's one thing, and this is another."
They went to the registration desk. A woman sat behind the counter. She wore glasses and was buried under a pile of documents. Her eyes were sharp.
"Registration?"
"Yes!"
Lina answered before Yoon-seul could.
The clerk pulled out two sheets of paper and held out a quill and ink.
"Name, age, place of origin, class. Fill them out."
Lina immediately began writing. Lina Belford. Nineteen. Karen Village. Class—Scout.
Yoon-seul picked up the pen and stopped.
Name. Yoon-seul. Done. Age. Twenty-one. Done. Place of origin. ...She couldn't write Korea. She wrote "the East" instead.
Class.
The pen stopped.
What was her class supposed to be?
She'd learned from the dragon's memories. Ersia's adventurer guilds were class-based. Warrior, mage, archer, rogue, priest, alchemist. You had to pass the basic test for your class to register.
There was no shaman.
Of course there wasn't. This world didn't even have the concept of a shaman.
"Excuse me."
The clerk looked at Yoon-seul.
"Your class is blank."
"...My profession isn't on the list."
"It isn't on the list?"
The clerk's eyes narrowed. She took the forms and unfolded the list. Warrior, mage, archer, rogue, priest, alchemist, bard, summoner, knight, monk. Ten classes were listed.
"Is there nothing here that applies to you?"
Yoon-seul looked at the list. Priest was the closest. But priests belonged to the Temple of Light. Only those authorized by the temple could use the priest class. Yoon-seul had no connection to the temple.
Summoner? Because she called ghosts? But summoners were a class that called spirits or magical beasts through magical contracts. It was completely different from a shaman's possession.
"...No."
The clerk sighed.
"You can't register without a class. It's guild policy."
Lina fidgeted beside her.
"Sis, can't you just write down anything?"
"You have to take a test."
The clerk explained. A swordsmanship test for warriors. A magic test for mages. They had to prove the basic abilities associated with their class.
Yoon-seul thought it over. She could possess Kallen for swordsmanship, but that wasn't her own skill. She couldn't use magic. She couldn't shoot a bow, either. And she had no rogue skills.
"Is there some kind of miscellaneous category?"
The clerk rifled through the documents.
"...There is an application for a special class. If you have abilities that don't correspond to an existing class, you can be registered as a special class after a direct evaluation by the guild master. However."
The clerk looked at Yoon-seul.
"The guild master's evaluations are strict. And the guild master isn't here right now. Come back tomorrow afternoon."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes. Tomorrow afternoon. The guild master will examine you personally and make a decision."
Yoon-seul nodded. She had no choice.
Lina took the scout test right away. Dagger throwing and trap detection. Lina's dagger struck the center of the target. She passed the trap-detection test too, then received her guild card with a radiant smile.
"Sis! I did it! I'm an adventurer!"
"Congratulations."
"You have to pass tomorrow too, Sis. Then we can take missions together."
Yoon-seul smiled. She liked how bright Lina was.
The next afternoon.
The guild master was a huge man. A scar ran across his face. One of his eyes was missing, covered by an eyepatch. He was a retired adventurer. She could tell at a glance.
"So you're applying for a special class."
The guild master looked Yoon-seul up and down. His one remaining eye was sharp.
"What can you do?"
Yoon-seul thought for a moment. What should she show him? Possession? If she possessed someone in front of a stranger, it would startle him. Her shaman's senses? Those were difficult to demonstrate.
"...I can read people's emotions. And I can speak with spirits."
The guild master's eye shifted slightly.
"Prove it."
Yoon-seul looked at the guild master and opened the ghost-seeing gaze. She read his emotions.
"...Someone was beside you when you lost your right eye. You lost it trying to protect that person. You're still thinking about them. You have no regrets, but you miss them."
The guild master's face hardened.
A long silence followed.
"...What did you say your name was?"
"Yoon-seul."
"And your class name?"
"...Medium."
Yoon-seul had made up the name on the spot. If she called herself a shaman, no one in this world would know what she meant.
The guild master wrote something on the form, stamped it, and held out a guild card.
"Registration complete. Your rank is Copper, the lowest rank. Prove your ability and you can move up."
Yoon-seul took the card. Yoon-seul. Special Class—Medium. Rank: Copper.
"Thank you."
The guild master nodded. Then, just as Yoon-seul turned to leave, he spoke.
"...Her name was Ella."
Yoon-seul stopped and looked back.
The guild master was gazing out the window.
"That's right. I have no regrets."
Yoon-seul quietly bowed her head and left.
Lina was waiting outside.
"Did you make it?"
Yoon-seul showed her the guild card.
"Medium? What's that supposed to be?"
"I don't really know, either."
"What? If you don't know, who does?"
Lina laughed. Yoon-seul laughed too.
"Let's go get our first mission! Together!"
Lina grabbed Yoon-seul's hand and pulled her back into the guild. Missions were posted on the bulletin board. Copper-rank missions. Gathering herbs, exterminating magical beasts, escort missions.
Lina picked one.
"This one! Gathering herbs in the southern forest of Bellat. The reward is three silver coins. It's perfect for the two of us."
"Sounds good."
They registered for the mission and left the guild. The southern forest was half a day's journey from the city. If they set out today, they could arrive by evening.
They left through the south gate. The landscape beyond Bellat opened up before them. Fields. A road. A forest in the distance.
Lina walked ahead, humming under her breath. Yoon-seul followed behind.
There was a small chapel beside the road.
It was closer to a prayer hall than a cathedral. A small stone building with the emblem of the Temple of Light carved into its roof. The door was open. No one was inside.
A statue stood in front of the chapel. The figure of a woman with her hands clasped and her face tilted toward the sky. A statue of the Goddess of Light. The faith of this world.
Yoon-seul stopped in front of the statue.
It was a shaman's habit. She'd done the same thing in Korea. Fold your hands when passing a Buddhist temple. Make the sign of the cross when passing a cathedral. Bow when passing a shrine. Shamans greeted every god. Any god at all. It was only polite.
Yoon-seul bowed her head in front of the statue and lightly clasped her hands. Just a casual greeting as she passed by.
At that moment.
The world stopped.
It was a white space.
There was no floor or ceiling. No walls, either. Just a vast, white space. She couldn't see the end of it. There was no sound. No wind.
Yoon-seul blankly looked around.
'...What is this?'
It wasn't a dream. Her shaman's senses were crystal clear. Her consciousness was sharp. But she had no body. No, she had a body, but it had no weight. She felt like she was floating and standing at the same time.
It was the unconscious. When a god called a shaman, it invited them into a space like this. She'd learned that from her teacher in Korea. If a god wanted to meet you, it took your consciousness away. You met the god inside it.
But this wasn't a god from Korea. It was a god from another world.
"How have you been?"
A voice came from behind her.
Yoon-seul turned around.
Someone was standing there. A man. No, the shape of a man. It was impossible to tell his age. He looked twenty one moment and thirty the next. His hair was silver. His eyes were violet. He wore a white robe and was barefoot.
He was smiling.
It was a mischievous smile, the expression of a child who had just found an interesting toy. But there was depth behind it. Thousands of years—no, more than that—were held in his eyes. He was smiling, but his eyes seemed to know everything.
Yoon-seul recognized the being.
The being she'd met three times in her dreams. The one who had spoken to her in a dream before bringing her to another world. "Come with me and let's have fun." The owner of that voice.
"...You."
"Oh, you remember me? It's good to see you."
The god took a step closer. His bare feet made no sound when they touched the floor.
"The day we can see each other is getting a little closer, isn't it?"
"...What are you talking about?"
"Exactly what I said. I told you that once you grow, you can call me. Not yet, but you're closer than before. Much closer."
The god slowly circled Yoon-seul, looking her up and down as if admiring a work of art.
"The dragon taught you well. Your vessel has grown, too. The Spirit King's blessing has stabilized. And you're taking good care of that dead knight."
"...You were watching all this time?"
"Of course. I'm the one who brought you here."
The god laughed playfully.
"It was fun, though. When you called the dragon your mother. That was hilarious."
"...You treat other people's lives like entertainment."
The god's voice changed slightly. It was still light, but a trace of sincerity passed through it.
"I'm cheering you on."
Yoon-seul looked at the god. His violet eyes were fixed on her. There was something behind the mischief. Her shaman's senses tried to read him, but nothing came through. The god's emotions were so deep that she couldn't see the bottom.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"That is..."
The god pressed a finger to his lips and smiled.
"Still a secret."
"But I'll give you one hint."
The god reached toward Yoon-seul. His finger lightly touched her forehead. It was cold. No, it wasn't cold. It had no temperature.
"This world is sick. It has been for a long time. And you possess what this world lost."
"...That's what the dragon told me."
"The dragon only knows half the truth."
The god withdrew his hand and returned to his playful expression.
"You'll have to figure out the other half yourself. That's more fun, isn't it?"
"Fun? I'm busy trying to survive."
"That's what makes it fun."
The god laughed heartily. He really seemed to be enjoying himself. A being who had lived for thousands of years was laughing like a child.
"Oh, and one more thing."
The god stepped back. The white space began to shake. It was time to return.
"Be careful on your first mission. Don't underestimate it just because it's called gathering herbs."
"...You were watching that too?"
"Of course."
The god waved, as if saying goodbye.
"See you again next time. When we're closer."
The white space shattered.
"Sis? Sis!"
Lina's voice reached her. Yoon-seul opened her eyes. She was standing in front of the statue, her hands still clasped. Lina was shaking her shoulder.
"You suddenly went blank and just stood there! You scared me! Are you okay?"
Yoon-seul looked around. The chapel. The statue. The fields. The sky. Everything was the same. Almost no time seemed to have passed. Judging by how startled Lina was, only a few seconds at most.
But Yoon-seul's mind was a storm.
The being she'd just met. The god of another world. The one who had met her three times in dreams and brought her to another world. The mischievous smile. "The day we can see each other is getting a little closer, isn't it?" "This world is sick." "The dragon only knows half the truth."
'...The dragon only told me half?'
The Great Severance. The Saintess's limit. The spread of darkness. If that was half, what was the other half?
"Sis? Are you really okay? Your face is pale."
"...I'm fine."
Yoon-seul lowered her hands and looked up at the statue. The Goddess of Light. Hands clasped, gazing at the sky. The god she'd just met wasn't this goddess. It was completely different. That god seemed to be neither light nor darkness.
'What the hell is that person?'
"Let's go, Lina."
"Huh? Oh, okay!"
Yoon-seul started walking. Lina followed beside her. She watched Yoon-seul with worried eyes, then soon started chatting again. About how easy the herb-gathering mission would be, and what they could buy with three silver coins.
Yoon-seul listened. But in her mind, the god's last words kept circling.
"Be careful on your first mission."
The southern forest was drawing closer.
Shaman Kang Yoon-seul. Twenty-one years old. Copper-rank adventurer.
The god was smiling.