Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Beta Test (2)
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While burning the bloodstained blankets, sheets, and clothes, my entire body shook uncontrollably.
What if a fire report came in? What if someone saw all this blood?
Every possible worry flooded my mind, leaving me on the verge of insanity with anxiety.
But I couldn’t let it show in front of my still-young siblings.
I didn’t want to burden the twins with needless concerns.
So I gritted my teeth and endured somehow.
But the moment I dropped them off at the library, my legs gave out.
“Haa.”
It felt like all my strength had drained away. I crouched outside the library, staring blankly at the ground for a long while.
In a feeble mumble, I muttered.
“System user manual…….”
A file spanning 35 pages opened up.
But the contents weren’t intact.
Like the initial notice, the manual was damaged in places here and there.
‘Is this because of that virus-like thing too…….’
Fortunately, there were relatively detailed explanations on how to use several functions.
“Status window.”
Player Kang Hyun-woo (Beta Tester)
Mana: 35 (Attribute Mana: 5)
Affiliation: Earth
Race: Human (Player)
Rank: Delta
Attribute: -
Traits: ?????, Assimilation, Tenacity
Before I could even finish reading the text in front of me, I opened my mouth again.
“Shop.”
「Shop services are unavailable during the tutorial.」
“Community.”
「Community services are unavailable during the tutorial.」
“Mission window.”
「No missions currently in progress.」
「No missions currently available.」
“Mission history.”
「MISSION - Tutorial (Beta Test 1/3)」
My gaze fixed on one spot amid the system windows filled with warnings.
‘1/3.’
Doesn’t that mean there’s a 2/3 and 3/3 too?
That alone was enough to drive me mad and make me jump out of my skin, but the remaining text in the message window only fueled my anxiety.
「Upon success, you will be awarded 10 Mana. All injuries will be healed.」
My glare at the sentence grew increasingly fierce.
The success reward and injury recovery were clearly bundled together in the same line.
Now that I’d seen it, resolving my immediate questions took a backseat to a far more urgent task.
I’d have to succeed at the mission when 2/3 arrived too.
Failure might land me in the emergency room.
‘If even injury recovery is tied to success…….’
Failing a mission could leave wounds intact.
I couldn’t stop thinking about what came after.
If my siblings saw it one day. Or if I died before even making it to the ER.
A chilling grind echoed from my clenched teeth.
“Fuck…….”
I forced my trembling legs to support me as I stood.
My steps away from the library quickened.
First, I raided a pharmacy. Then a kitchen knife and baseball bat. Finally, protective gear for dog training.
By the time I lugged it all back home, my mind grew even more tangled.
This much gear should weigh something.
But it didn’t feel heavy. Like carrying an empty paper bag.
‘What the?’
My strength had become incomparably greater than before.
Even with my body tempered from parcel loading and unloading, this was beyond normal.
Hard to believe it happened overnight.
My walk home turned into a sprint before I knew it.
It only confused me more. I’d run far, yet I could keep going.
The instant I got home, I dumped the gear.
Then rushed into the bathroom.
Stripping off my shirt in front of the mirror confirmed it.
Things I hadn’t noticed while washing away the blood now caught my eye one by one.
“Damn, it just won’t quit…….”
I’d always had decent muscle from high activity levels.
But I swear, not to this extent.
No way I’d worked out without knowing, yet my body looked even more toned.
My faint six-pack had sharpened into a washboard. No illusion.
This was the kind of physique only long-time gym rats achieved.
Worse, fresh scars marred my side and hip—ones I’d never seen before.
Jagged, like the skin had torn and been stitched back roughly.
I could almost see the blood that had soaked my body that morning.
‘Blood…….’
When I woke, there’d been no wounds on me.
But the blood had definitely been there.
The scars, along with it, proved I’d been injured and healed.
‘It only heals injuries.’
Doesn’t clean up the aftermath.
Holes in clothes, scars, blood—all remained.
As if insisting this was reality.
‘Should I sleep on a plastic sheet or something?’
Never thought I’d live to lay plastic instead of blankets on my bed.
“Tch.”
I clicked my tongue shortly and left the bathroom.
Then headed straight to the living room and reached out.
“Hup!”
Lifting the cheap sofa overhead succeeded, leaving me more than startled—utterly bewildered.
‘Lighter than…….’
It didn’t feel heavy.
Testing with one arm left me floored.
“Ha!”
Muscles tingled, but I could hold it.
Something a normal person couldn’t mimic.
“Whew…….”
I exhaled, carefully setting the sofa down.
‘What the hell is going on?’
I paced the living room, deep in thought for a while.
Soon enough, I found a clue.
“Message window.”
Muttering softly brought up the remaining lines.
「Upon success, you will be awarded 10 Mana. All injuries will be healed.」
‘Mana…….’
Such a foreign word.
Yet somehow, I had an inkling what it was.
That thing that crawled into my body when the mission ended.
‘Is that it?’
The change in my body because of that? A plausible guess.
‘It gives Mana as a reward for success.’
In normal games, rewards strengthen you.
Games ramp up difficulty, using prior rewards to clear new stages.
So this Mana would be key to succeeding the next mission.
‘If it’s really what changed my body, I need more.’
No guarantee the last two missions end it.
All three were marked as tutorial.
The practice phase before a game proper.
Plus, this was beta testing.
‘Full service might start after.’
Just assuming this shitty situation continued made my body tremble.
‘If second and third keep going…….’
More Mana meant better survival odds.
I sat on the sofa and opened the status window again.
My eyes locked on the Mana line.
‘Only given on mission success?’
No, I saw Mana absorption when I killed the dog.
‘Eliminate targets or succeed missions.’
Both increase Mana.
‘And more based on performance.’
Top rank gave 5.
Does it give to rankings? Up to what place?
If tiered by rank…….
‘Up to 5th?’
Tiered rewards likely went to top 5 numerically.
Maintaining top spot would be advantageous.
But possible?
‘When I don’t even know how to use Mana?’
I skimmed the manual again carefully, but no usage instructions.
‘Maybe it just boosts physical strength?’
Nothing to spend separately?
Pondering deeply, I glanced at the status window again.
‘But…… there are two types.’
Plain Mana and Attribute Mana. Unknown difference, but distinct.
Just passive body enhancement?
‘No way.’
No need to separate types then.
Mana must be usable somehow.
In ways aiding mission clears.
I just didn’t know how.
‘Games consume it on skills usually.’
Staring at the status window in contemplation, I finally squeezed my eyes shut.
Mana had definitely crawled inside me. It had to be somewhere.
I strained to sense the utterly alien Mana.
Tried every ridiculous thing.
“Whew.”
Sat in lotus position like in wuxia novels.
“Hrah!”
Tensed my whole body with a kiai.
“F-Fireball…….”
Recited skill names from comics and movies, shame be damned.
But effort doesn’t always equal results.
Hours passed with nothing.
“Screw this, fuck!”
What kind of game is this user-unfriendly?!
No basic info, just play? Makes sense?
Not dropping me barehanded, but what the hell?!
“Uwaaaah!”
I roared to vent the surging frustration.
From effort, failure, rage—to enlightenment.
‘And those Assimilation and Tenacity traits? No clue.’
Clicked them in status window just in case. Nothing.
Sprawled on the sofa, I stared blankly at the status window.
Then a sudden thought hit.
‘What if Mana’s too low to sense?’
Stuck waiting for the next mission doing nothing?
But if it requires using Mana to pass?
Then I was helpless now. Darkness loomed.
Long-buried helplessness began creeping in.
How much time passed like that?
‘8, 10, 5……?’
Alternating status and message windows, something odd caught my eye.
Rewards totaled 23 Mana max.
‘But total’s 35?’
Mulling the numbers, I pulled up the damaged manual.
[Mana]
■△※!!【 Foundation of living beings ▲〗ː¿#!*Wㅆ&^¿■◆•≫%(*$…….
Long text, but readable parts limited.
“Foundation of living beings……”
Vague and out-of-left-field.
But it clicked what the missing 12 meant.
‘Probably Mana I originally had as a living being.’
If true, maybe ways to raise Mana before next mission.
Thought reaching there, I urgently scrolled messages.
Soon found what I wanted.
「Player growth program (Absorption and Purification) activated.」
「Target eliminated. 8 Mana absorbed.」
‘Absorption…….’
If this game grows by killing things, stealing their Mana, basing strength on it?
My vacant stare shifted to the balcony.
Through the glass, I saw Yeon-woo’s cherished potted plants.
She’d whined for a pet as a kid, but I said no, so these weeds were her substitute.
Drawn like a moth, I rose and stepped out.
Plucked the smallest plant. System silent.
Too early to quit.
I swallowed hard, then crushed it under my slipper.
When the green life I’d trampled was thoroughly pulped.
「0.08 Mana absorbed.」
‘Got it!’
Excitement surged, mingled with instinctive revulsion.
I felt Mana slithering into me.
“Guh!”
Luckily, tiny amount—over quick.
I stood frozen, catching my ragged breath.
As excitement faded.
Tried sensing Mana calmly again. Failed.
Definite entry, yet no trace.
But fine. The helplessness devouring me had vanished without a trace.
‘If too little to sense…….’
Gather till I can feel it.
I cleared the plant mush and empty pots, dashed to the shed.
Eyes blazing, I grabbed tools and a shovel.