Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Chapter 5 K(4)
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Player Kang Hyun-woo (Beta Tester)
Mana: 1563.48 (Attribute Mana: 53)
Chaos Value: 0.00%
Affiliation: Earth
Race: Human (Player)
Rank: Alpha
Attribute: Lightning
Skills: Mana Operation (45.64%), Sensory Expansion (13.25%), Mana Detection (lv.1 - 6.61%)
Traits: ?????, Assimilation, Tenacity, Purification (lv.1 - 17.11%)
There were more letters and numbers now compared to the start.
Above all, the attribute field was filled in.
‘Lightning….’
I alternated between the word in the attribute slot and the sparks crackling on my hand, lost in thought.
‘If it were fire, could I make flames?’
If that was the case, fire would’ve been more convenient, honestly.
‘Easier to torch the forest.’
I clicked my tongue in regret for a moment.
But then an idea flashed through my head.
‘Wait, on a broader level, isn’t lightning just a kind of flame…?’
I grabbed a sheet of paper in a hurry and pressed it against my hand.
Sure enough, the spot where the spark touched started to smolder.
“Oh.”
Nice. No more need to carry matches around.
Now the real question was how to use this in combat.
Just as I started to sink into thought, the sparks gathered in my hand vanished all at once.
“Ah.”
Out of mana.
I still had plenty of regular mana left, so no exhaustion hit me, but my face scrunched up anyway.
‘This burns through fast too.’
Even the red regular mana faded quickly once pulled outside the body.
“Tsk.”
Regular mana I could gather while purifying contaminated stuff.
But attribute mana?
‘Mission rewards….’
Rifling through my memories, that was the only way I’d ever gotten any.
Rank rewards boiled down to mission payouts too.
The thought made the road ahead feel bleak.
Mostly in chunks of 10 to 20 at best.
‘Unlike regular mana, building this up quick won’t be easy.’
I’d pictured myself blasting lightning bolts left and right, mowing down monsters effortlessly.
Looked like that was a ways off.
I stared down at my empty hand, deep in thought.
So how the hell was I supposed to use this power?
What’s the best way to squeeze max efficiency out of it?
Thinking simple, I could jab a spear into a monster and pump attribute mana straight in.
‘Its guts would fry.’
No downside to testing it once.
But stopping there felt like shortchanging the endless possibilities.
This was a brand-new power I’d been oblivious to until now.
Had to be ways to use it I hadn’t even dreamed of.
‘Let’s break it down step by step.’
Rewards sorted—next up, spoils.
My heart pounded as I stacked the shiny lumps neatly into my bag.
Even my face felt hot.
“Argh.”
The hazy yellow glow dancing in front of my eyes had me opening the bag again.
Still way too pretty. I ran my fingers over the loot gingerly.
Was this real gold? If so, how to offload it.
Thoughts piled up, but even that felt good.
“This a diamond?”
I muttered, toying with the clear gem dangling from the necklace.
Size of my thumbnail. And a whopping eight of them.
Real diamonds? How much cash would that pull in?
Couldn’t stop my lips from twitching upward. Driving me nuts.
Expression control? Forget it.
Grinned like an idiot at the loot for a good while before grabbing my phone.
Time to figure out how to unload this stuff.
No way to explain the source, so legit channels were out.
Illegal routes it was.
Truth be told, felt a little lost.
Never dipped into risky stuff, so I’d steered clear of crime my whole life.
I was the twins’ guardian, after all.
No clue where to even start looking.
That said, lost or not, I wasn’t sweating it much.
Human society doesn’t have a true bottom.
Buried in phone searches for ages until I glanced at the clock and snapped out of it.
Ethan’s mission entry time.
‘Hope he pulls it off.’
Mana Operation mastery meant no more pathetic wipeouts like before.
Still couldn’t shake the worry.
‘Owe the guy.’
He’d fed me intel I couldn’t get solo.
Let me fake medical records to stay hidden, helped sell Jong-hoon on it.
Even shared the monster black blood analysis.
‘Not really blood.’
Never saw the actual report.
Doubt I’d get it even if I did.
At least confirmed the black stuff wasn’t human blood.
Sparked the idea that mission zones might be other worlds.
Big debts to Ethan, and right now, my only player contact.
More than that, I trusted him.
Never once pried into my personal life.
Name, age, nationality—zero questions to ID me.
Better off ignorant if tortured, he said.
Spilled all his own details anyway.
Built solid trust between us.
‘Not blind faith.’
But credit where due.
Natural not to want a guy like that dead.
With 10,000 fresh players drafted, losing an ally hurt.
- (Secret Comment) Prep solid?
While waiting on Ethan’s reply, I brainstormed.
No joint hunts possible, so help options limited.
⌎(Secret Comment) All set. Kinda shaky though.
Ethan’s reply popped up right on cue. I grinned and fired up the shop.
⌎(Secret Comment) Auction tab. Open it.
⌎(Secret Comment) Huh?
⌎(Secret Comment) Now.
⌎(Secret Comment) Open. What’s up?
He confirmed shortly after.
I slapped four of my eight remaining potions onto the auction tab.
Labeled auction, but felt more like peer-to-peer trades.
Bidding optional, fixed-price buys and sells too.
Priced the potions at 1 mana each.
After all he’d hooked me up with, this was the least.
Knew the potions worked firsthand—having them would make survival smoother.
⌎(Secret Comment) Gift. Snag ’em now.
If some punk outbid? I’d grab their collar and unload.
⌎(Secret Comment) Say what?
⌎(Secret Comment) Auction. Check it.
Typed that and registered the listing.
「Sale item registered.」
Seconds ticked by, then potions vanished.
「Codename Ethan Lembron purchased Potion (×4).」
Comment section exploded.
Choppy half-sentences, mangled English words.
No translation kicking in—raw text.
Ethan flailing in excitement, I tossed one more line.
⌎(Secret Comment) Don’t die. Waste after dragging your ass back.
⌎(Secret Comment) Won’t. Promise. Thank you so much!
First clean comment post-potions.
Pictured him grinning—had me smirking too.
Ethan dove into his mission, so I scoured the community for player buzz.
Kept dipping in regardless.
“Huh?”
Spotted a post that really ground my gears.
「Title: K’s Asian.」
Tapped it quick—content bare-bones.
Said someone dropped a comment on a post yapping about me.
Search pulled up the thread praising my level 2 clear.
There was the offender’s comment.
- Asian all the same.
Not Ethan. No way he’d leak.
No skin off his back to piss me off anyway.
‘Me staying ahead means he’s got plenty to gain from me. No reason to torch the bridge.’
Ethan cleared, left one suspect.
My face went stone-cold, rage bubbling up.
Itched to clap back, but held off.
‘Stay silent.’
Might as well confirm the race myself.
Staring longer? Stroke incoming. Shut my eyes.
Wiped my face irritably after.
“Tsk.”
Should’ve clocked it sooner—this ain’t solo. Can’t control every variable. Sloppy.
Teeth ground hard.
“Hoo.”
Swallowed the anger, thought it through.
‘Okay, not critical yet.’
Just race-baiting.
Zero drops on nationality, age, name—key stuff.
Alert now before it blows up? Count as win.
Steady breaths, community refresh.
Calming took longer than expected—new posts everywhere.
「Title: LFG Party.」
One snagged my eye. Clicked—last comment said recruiting closed.
Icy chill hit; yanked open missions.
「01-12 (09/10)」
Bold text jumped out.
Eyes glued from then on.
10 minutes. 30. 1 hour. 2.
Entry count kept dropping.
Players biting it.
Cleared? Nah—another went bold.
「01-11 (08/10)」
Players kicking into gear for real.
Face set like stone, watching numbers—Ethan chimed in.
⌎(Secret Comment) Monsters off. Bear-ish, but 4 eyes. Roughly 3m tall… Less mana than promotion exam batch.
Ethan nailed the clear in the end.
Worry off my plate, but something still gnawed at me.
Pushed midnight; shut eyes, but sleep dodged me.
“Hoo.”
Cracked ’em open, blank-stared the ceiling.
Mana. Thresholds. Awareness. Control. Monsters. Death.
Facts I knew tangled up, dragging ugly truths to light.
Heavy sigh later, community up.
Top number hooked me.
‘10,085….’
Incident few days back axed 6 from community.
Watched their mission counters tick down.
One by one.
Wiped by one, maybe two monsters.
Multi-pack ambush? Numbers would’ve plunged faster.
Proved the obvious.
They dove in blind—no Mana Operation.
Knew it? Wouldn’t fold that quick.
‘Morons.’
Frustrated sigh.
Not pity for the 6, mind.
Pathetic’s the word.
Newbies’ tutorial unfinished—only betas hit missions.
Betas got 3+ months grace.
Plenty to crack Mana Operation.
Started level with me.
Outcomes? Night and day.
Me? Back from level 2. Them? Croaked on 1.
Gap yanked up promotion exam bodies.
‘Nagging.’
No duty to babysit randos.
Ethan aid? Selfish peace of mind, not obligation.
Corpses still jammed my head, echoing parents’ crash.
Promotion casualties. Recent 6. Today’s extras—all somebody’s kin.
Let time roll? Memory morgue grows, heart stains pile.
No drive to hand out my hard work though.
‘Dump intel? Zero upside for me.’
Stared at dwindling player counts till late.
Gut churned uneasy, but stayed put.
They ain’t carrying my survival—they ain’t on me either.
Crystal.
Goddamn System