The Hongdae Gate at twelve forty six PM.
Two minutes early.
Han-Ho cleaned the threshold residue.
The shard was in the bag.
Warm.
The ley line sprite was between the notebook and the left pen.
It had been increasingly active since Tuesday — making more sounds, longer communications with River, apparently very interested in what was about to happen.
River had translated some of it.
The sprite was, according to River, the ley line equivalent of excited.
Han-Ho had filed that.
Sprite: excited about Thursday session. Noted. Filed.
Min-Seo arrived at twelve forty eight.
Aria at twelve fifty.
The sword was glowing steadily.
"It has been glowing since this morning," said Aria.
"Anticipating," said Han-Ho.
"Yes," said Aria. "The sword anticipates when something significant is going to happen."
"How significant," said Han-Ho.
Aria looked at the sword.
"The quality of the glow," said Aria. "It has two modes. Confirming — steady, warm. And anticipating — the same quality but with a forward direction to it. Like pointing but without pointing." She looked at Han-Ho. "This is the anticipating glow."
"What was the last time the anticipating glow appeared," said Han-Ho.
"The moment I stepped through the Hongdae Gate for the first time," said Aria.
Han-Ho made a note.
Sword anticipating glow: significant event incoming. Previous instance: first Gate crossing. Filed.
"Okay," said Han-Ho.
He went through the Gate.
The forest clearing.
The preparation team at six meters.
Clean.
The sprite emerged from the bag immediately.
It floated to the ley line junction at the clearing center.
Touched it.
Made a very long musical sound.
River translated.
"It is checking the quality," said River. "It says the junction is significantly cleaner than last Thursday. The clean energy distribution from the five cleaned junctions has reached this point. The ambient quality has improved by—" River paused, translating. "Eleven percent in one week."
"Eleven percent from five junctions," said Han-Ho.
"Yes," said River.
"Expected rate was eight percent," said Han-Ho. "The actual improvement is ahead of schedule."
He made a note.
Ambient quality improvement rate: eleven percent in seven days. Estimated eight percent. Thirty seven percent faster than projected. Dragon Vein activation contributing from Earth side simultaneously. Compound effect stronger than modeled. Revising Thursday completion timeline.
He filed it.
Looked at the revised timeline.
"Seven junctions per Thursday at sixty two times baseline," said Han-Ho to himself. "At the revised compound rate—" He calculated. "The full kingdom ley line cleaning is approximately forty percent faster than the initial projection."
"Months not years," said Min-Seo.
"Fewer months than estimated yes," said Han-Ho.
Min-Seo looked at the forest.
At the structured ancient trees.
At the ley line energy visible in everything.
"Is it already different," said Min-Seo. "From last week."
"Yes," said Aria. "I can feel it." She pressed her hand against a tree. "The fantasy world is not mana-based the way Earth is. The magic here is ambient. Distributed. I have been feeling it my entire life." She looked at her hand. "Last week the ambient quality was — familiar. What I have always known. This week it feels cleaner. By a small amount. But noticeable."
"Eleven percent," said Han-Ho.
"If that is what eleven percent feels like," said Aria. "Then full cleaning is going to be—"
She stopped.
Looked at Han-Ho.
"I do not have a word for what full cleaning will feel like," said Aria.
"The Dragon Vein network on Earth," said Han-Ho. "After full clearing — the old man described it as music after twenty thousand years of silence."
"Yes," said Aria. "Something like that."
The sprite made a sound.
River translated.
"It says: yes. Exactly like that. Exactly."
They stood in the clearing.
Then Han-Ho opened the ley line map.
Marked the seven target junctions.
"New approach today," said Han-Ho. "The shard."
He took the shard out of the bag.
Held it in his left hand.
The shard was warm against his palm.
The specific warm of forty thousand years of source energy.
He raised his right hand.
The active ambient technique.
Diffuse glow.
But different immediately.
With the shard in his other hand the glow was not just his.
It was — augmented.
The source energy from the shard feeding into the ambient technique.
The same way a clean Dragon Vein section feeds adjacent sections.
The technique was drawing from the shard's source quality.
Han-Ho felt the difference immediately.
Made a rapid note.
Shard in hand during active ambient technique: immediate augmentation. The source energy feeds the cleaning field directly. The technique is drawing from the source quality rather than from the ambient Dragon Vein network. Cleaning field quality: significantly higher. Rate: assessing.
He pressed toward the first junction.
The contamination at the junction — the same type that had taken twenty three minutes last week — began to clear.
Han-Ho watched his own internal rate assessment.
At thirty seconds the contamination was forty percent cleared.
At sixty seconds it was eighty percent.
At ninety seconds it was zero.
He lowered his hand.
Made a note.
Junction one: ninety seconds. Previous session: twenty three minutes. Rate improvement with shard: approximately nine hundred percent.
He filed it.
Looked at the note.
At the number.
Nine hundred percent.
Min-Seo was looking at him.
"How long," said Min-Seo.
"Ninety seconds," said Han-Ho.
"For the whole junction," said Min-Seo.
"Yes," said Han-Ho.
"It took twenty three minutes last week."
"Yes," said Han-Ho.
"And ninety seconds today."
"Yes."
Min-Seo looked at the shard in Han-Ho's hand.
At the deep water color.
At the warmth.
"The shard," said Min-Seo.
"Yes," said Han-Ho.
"The forty thousand year old entity's thank you gift."
"Yes," said Han-Ho.
"Has made the cleaning nine hundred percent faster."
"Approximately yes," said Han-Ho.
"Han-Ho."
"Yes."
"How long will the full kingdom ley line cleaning take now."
Han-Ho made calculations.
Seven junctions per session.
But at ninety seconds per junction he could address significantly more than seven.
The limiting factor was no longer the cleaning rate.
It was travel time between junctions.
He looked at the ley line map.
At the kingdom spread across it.
At three thousand kilometers of ley line network.
At the junction density.
He calculated.
"At ninety seconds per junction," said Han-Ho. "If I address junctions continuously during the Thursday afternoon window—"
"How long," said Min-Seo.
Han-Ho looked at the map.
At the calculation.
Made a note.
"Fourteen weeks," said Han-Ho. "At maximum Thursday afternoon utilization. With travel time between junctions."
"Fourteen weeks," said Min-Seo.
"Yes."
"For the full kingdom."
"Yes."
"Without the shard it was months."
"Estimated four to six months yes," said Han-Ho.
"And with the shard it is fourteen weeks."
"Approximately," said Han-Ho. "The rate may improve further as the ambient quality improves. The compound effect—"
"Could be faster," said Min-Seo.
"Possibly ten weeks," said Han-Ho. "If the compound rate continues ahead of projection."
Min-Seo looked at the forest.
At the slightly cleaner ley line energy.
At the sword at Aria's hip glowing warmly.
At Han-Ho making notes about junction travel time optimization.
"Han-Ho," said Min-Seo.
"Yes."
"You are going to clean an entire world in ten weeks."
"Fourteen weeks," said Han-Ho. "Possibly ten. Unknown until I have more data."
"On Thursday afternoons."
"Yes," said Han-Ho.
"Because that is when you have availability."
"Yes," said Han-Ho.
Min-Seo looked at the sky.
Not Seoul's sky.
The kingdom's sky.
The slightly different blue of a world that was starting to get cleaner.
"I Re-Awakened twice," said Min-Seo.
"I know," said Han-Ho.
"Twice."
"I know Min-Seo."
"TWICE—"
"Second junction," said Han-Ho.
He walked to the second junction.
The shard warm in his hand.
The ambient glow diffuse around him.
The sprite floating beside him at three meters making continuous musical sounds that River was translating as the ley line equivalent of someone watching something extraordinary and not having adequate words.
Min-Seo followed.
The sword glowed.
The anticipating glow.
Forward direction.
Toward what was ahead.
Which was the second junction.
Ninety seconds.
Then the third.
Then the fourth.
Fourteen junctions that Thursday afternoon.
In two hours and eleven minutes.
Seven more than last week.
The ley line network of the Kingdom of Solenne was approximately eight percent of the total fantasy world ley line network.
Fourteen weeks if the kingdom maintained the current pace.
The full world was significantly larger.
Han-Ho made notes about the full world assessment timeline.
Filed them.
Addressed junction fifteen.
Ninety seconds.
Done.
The sprite made a sound at junction fifteen that River translated as: this is the junction point closest to my home forest clearing. I can feel the difference. I can feel my home getting cleaner.
Han-Ho made a note.
Sprite assessment: junction fifteen effect reaching home clearing. Personal confirmation of distribution radius. Filed.
He looked at the sprite.
"It is getting cleaner," said Han-Ho to the sprite.
The sprite made a sound.
River translated.
"It says thank you," said River.
"You are welcome," said Han-Ho.
He moved to junction sixteen.
Some Thursdays were like this.