The Unlikely Gamer
I had written the question post, but it was one that few people would read.
Yet, there is always someone out there who reads every single post.
Within seconds of me hitting post, comments began pouring in.
ㅋㅋ진리학자: Is this the deep sea? Looking at it, this place looks like lost-era technology, doesn't it?
The user with the handle ㅋㅋ진리학자 had already thrown a question my way.
Deep sea, huh…
I casually glanced at the window.
Its form and those grotesque tentacles still lingered in my mind.
Yes, it really was the deep sea.
Unable to see even a finger's length ahead, dense with crushing pressure and monsters I could never imagine on the surface.
I turned my focus back to the gallery.
ㅋㅋ진리학자 followed up almost instantly.
ㅋㅋ진리학자: This is a space I have never studied before… Could you tell me the coordinates? If you enter your profile, you'll see a number right there.
ㅋㅋ오로라: It's 00.24.98. Do you know where that is?
I told them the coordinates I had found in my profile, but the silence was heavy.
Just as I was about to add another comment, doubting myself, another reply appeared.
ㅋㅋ진리학자: Are you human?
ㅋㅋ오로라: Yes?
ㅋㅋ진리학자: The place you're in is the deep sea—and not just any deep sea. The bottom. A normal person would be crushed by the pressure and leave nothing but a stain.
Goosebumps crawled up my skin at the comment.
If I had been out there without this diving bell…
"…I would have died instantly."
That realization squeezed the air from my lungs.
The gloom that had already settled over me sank even deeper.
Still, I fought to hold onto hope.
ㅋㅋ오로라: How deep exactly is the place I'm in?
ㅋㅋ진리학자: Converted, about nine kilometers.
ㅋㅋ오로라: What's the chance I can get out?
ㅋㅋ진리학자: If you could defeat two Dragon Roads bare-handed, then you could get out.
My desperate bid to cling to hope had become nothing more than a step straight into the abyss of despair.
Every time ㅋㅋ진리학자 answered, my mood soured in real time.
They said the deep sea was not only crushing pressure but also teeming with mana.
Thicker the deeper you went, and the creature I was facing, they claimed, was probably extraordinarily powerful.
ㅋㅋ진리학자: The creature you're facing can basically defeat a dragon.
Dragon was such a fantasy creature, after all—how strong could they be?
ㅋㅋ진리학자: Dragons have been used as casual wipes for entire countries. About nine in total.
ㅋㅋ오로라: What?
ㅋㅋ진리학자: If you don't believe me, read Azenthas the Archmage's paper, Dragon's Footprints.
ㅋㅋ오로라: Where can I find that?
ㅋㅋ진리학자: In any bookstore… Ah.
The chance of getting out had shrunk to the size of a dust mote.
Even gathering every last speck only left me empty-handed.
My body drained of strength as I stared blankly at the ceiling.
Feeling lazy about doing anything.
Gurgle…
…Well, my stomach still wanted to move.
I gripped the side of the diving bell that kept sending signals and headed toward the storage cabinet.
I pulled out a vacuum-sealed pouch of dried meat and started chewing loudly.
Red flesh slid down my throat, spreading hot vitality through my body.
Once I had something in my stomach, my head cleared up.
I sat on the floor of the diving bell and decided on my goal.
"Escape is… impossible, so survival comes first."
No escape—right now, without this diving bell and the green barrier, I was a weakling who would die instantly.
So the first order of business was staying alive.
What did I need to survive?
My mind immediately zeroed in on two things.
The airtight hatch and the manufacturing machine.
Food was limited, so stepping outside the hatch was not optional—it was essential.
Fortunately, the barrier covered this location too, so stepping out wouldn't turn my flesh to jerky.
And the machine bolted to the wall.
That would be my lifeline. Among the things I could make, a water purifier or cooking tools would do.
So now I had to open this hatch…
"How do I open it?"
There was no separate key.
It seemed electronic, but I couldn't find any control panel.
When I pushed against it, it barely budged.
The hatch remained as solid as a mountain.
Since I had no idea how to handle it, I decided to ask the collective intelligence of the gallery.
I immediately took a photo of the hatch and posted it.
ㅋㅋ오로라: How do I open this??
(Photo of the white hatch)
Even if I push hard, it barely moves and won't open…
No key, so what do I do?
ㅋㅋ진리학자: Have you tried using mana?
ㅋㅋ오로라: How do I use mana?
Mana—the fundamental force of this world.
The power to bend reality and step beyond it.
Could I really wield something like that?
ㅋㅋ진리학자 dropped a comment that screamed intelligence.
ㅋㅋ진리학자: It's not hard. Just sense the flow of mana.
ㅋㅋ?? How do I even do that?
ㅋㅋ진리학자: You just… sense it, right?
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What kind of mana is this? What kind of sensation is it?
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ This guy must think he's some kind of genius.
Wow, ㅋㅋ진리학자 was getting absolutely roasted.
Sensing mana must fall under perception.
I glanced at the search results for mana in the gallery. Only about ten percent of users could feel it.
And even among those, the majority took over five years to sense it.
But I was starving. I had to get mana now.
If I couldn't get mana, I would just starve to death.
I focused my senses, drawing from everything ㅋㅋ진리학자 and the others had said.
Mana is supposedly warm, like the vitality I felt after eating dried meat…
"Huh?"
Something felt off.
The vitality circulating in my body pulsed in sync with my heartbeat.
Was this mana?
I decided to take the next step.
After perception came manifestation.
Infusing my will into the mana so it would appear on the outside.
I willed it to flare up in my hand.
'Burn.'
At that moment, my will projected into the mana.
Whoosh!!
"Aaaah!!!"
The fire was too big and gave me a faint burn on my palm.
'I guess I don't need to heal it…'
…This probably wasn't normal, so I asked the gallery right away.
ㅋㅋ오로라: Is mana supposed to come out like this?
(Photo of a green mana flame shooting from my hand all the way to the ceiling)
I tried infusing my will like they said, but this happened…
Is this normal? My hand got burned__SEMI__
ㅋㅋ진리학자: ?? This is bigger than when I first used mana…
ㅋㅋ발도술: NO!! A prodigy of this Draw-Sword Technique!!
ㅋㅋ?? Someone is struggling just to use mana once and this guy…
ㅋㅋ완장!! Twist Benha!!
My mana was, of course, abnormal—almost genius level.
ㅋㅋ진리학자, unlike other gallery users, took a rational view.
ㅋㅋ진리학자: Probably because of the deep sea's characteristics. Mana is so dense here that observation magic is impossible.
ㅋㅋ오로라: Mana is that dense?
ㅋㅋ진리학자: Yes. For some reason, mana is especially thick in the deep sea—five times the density of the world tree.
As ㅋㅋ진리학자 had said, my senses were picking up the massive mana surrounding me.
Like the pressure of the deep sea.
But the problem was…
ㅋㅋ오로라: Then how do I control it?
ㅋㅋ진리학자: I restricted the flow… Maybe that won't work.
Narrowing the path of mana.
That was the normal way to control it.
"Aaaah!!"
…The feeling of a hole burning through my palm was back.
ㅋㅋ진리학자: Mana is like water. The more there is, the harder it is to handle delicately.
Ah, at least tell me a little sooner.
The thought crossed my mind, but I didn't type it.
Fortunately, strengthening my body was simple—just wrapping mana around me.
Instead of concentrating it like before, I spread it across my entire body.
I wouldn't get hurt this way.
ㅋㅋ오로라: I'm opening the hatch.
I'll take a photo when I get outside.
After posting, I stood in front of the hatch.
I wrapped the mana circulating in my body—infused with will—around every inch of me.
I grabbed the door of the hatch.
The firmness transmitted through my hand felt completely different than before.
Squeak!!
Since it was old, the hatch let out a scream-like sound as it moved.
I flinched at the noise, but forced myself to keep going.
After one full turn, two, then the final three, the hatch slid forward without resistance.
A victorious shout rang in my head as I stepped outside the diving bell.
The first thing I saw when I left the diving bell was the green barrier.
Since I was at the edge of the barrier surrounding the city, I turned around and took in the view.
The old city outside the window… well, it existed.
It was just not what I had imagined.
Chiric. Chiric.
Crack.
A red mass that looked like it had been molded into human shapes.
Where a face should be, there was only a single eyeball.
With every roll of that eyeball came a chirping sound.
The creature gnawed at the old city buildings with its long, sharp claws.
…Even thinking about it now, my starting point was the worst possible one.