The City of the Dead
Joseph opened his eyes and asked in a trembling voice, “……Who are you?”
“I am Virr. I am the manager of this city.”
“Where am I?”
“This is the City of the Dead, the world itself. A place where wandering souls are released.”
“……Am I dead?”
Virr shook his towering stone head.
“If returning to the earth is what you think death is, then no.”
Joseph let out a small sigh and pinched his own cheek.
It was the classic method, but since it hurt, it was clearly not a dream.
“Then…… I’m not dead?”
“Indeed, since I’m seeing you like this.”
“Then why am I here?”
Virr pondered for a moment before speaking.
“I don’t know.”
“Eh?”
“This city can only be visited by those without innate mana. That’s why the souls of mages and knights who have lost their mana occasionally drift in.”
“Mana?”
“……You don’t know what mana is? You’re surprisingly dull.”
“I’ve heard of it.”
Even though the village was remote, stories about mages were occasionally heard.
After all, since Kim Jinwoo, who had been a modern man, had reincarnated into another world, magic wasn’t that shocking.
But living day to day in the mountains, barely surviving, fantasy like magic was still just another world’s story.
……I should have had the leisure to think about such things.
“Wait, you’re saying I have no mana?”
“Yes.”
“……Do others have it?”
“Everyone has a handful of mana.”
Joseph let out a hollow laugh.
He had lived without having anything, yet now he was told he had no mana?
……I have to make do with what I have……
Virr looked down at the crumpled Joseph and waved his hand in the air.
A stream of white light began to rise slowly in the empty space.
“All things in the world are imbued with invisible power. This is called mana.”
Virr brought his fingertip close to the light, and it dispersed again.
“Pouring rain, rising flames, sprouts pushing through the soil—everything flows through mana.”
It sounded like empty talk, but Joseph understood.
In simple terms, everything in the world was filled with invisible mana, and all things were influenced by it.
“And that means I have nothing.”
“Quite perceptive.”
Virr nodded once.
“But sometimes those who can handle mana visit this city even if they don’t have it.”
“Usually those are mages or knights who have lost their mana.”
“Yes.”
Virr continued his explanation.
“So this place is called the City of the Dead, but at the same time, it’s a place where all mana in the world gathers.”
“A place where mana arrives?”
“Yes. All mana in the world crosses the world and eventually flows here.”
That was why those without mana were naturally drawn here.
“……Then why don’t I have mana?”
Virr shook his head at Joseph’s question.
“I don’t know that either. Maybe you just had bad luck.”
“……”
Actually, one thing came to mind with his words.
It was that Joseph was not a person from this world.
Although Joseph’s name was now familiar, he was aware he was Kim Jinwoo, the modern person.
From the beginning, Joseph, who was not native to this world, might not have mana like others.
“Enough. Whether the reason or not, you are a visitor to this city. As the manager, I have the duty to guide you.”
“Guide?”
“Yes, why do you think those who have lost their mana come to this city?”
“I don’t know.”
“I momentarily forgot that you don’t even know what mana is.”
“……”
Virr waved his arm again, and the light circling around began to rise high.
Then, snapping his fingers, the light gathered into his hand.
Soon, Virr opened his hand, and in it was a faintly glowing white orb.
“Take this.”
“What is this?”
“You don’t know? It’s a sphere made of the city’s mana. Mages call it Magic Ore.”
“You mean give this to me? Why?”
“Whether the reason or not, you came here. As one who can handle mana but cannot possess it.”
“……”
Joseph stared at the Magic Ore and asked.
“……What if I don’t take it?”
“Of course, it’s your choice whether to take it or not. Whether you take it or not, you’ll just return to where you were.”
With that, Joseph’s mouth went dry.
In his previous life and this life, Joseph had crawled at the bottom.
If he returned empty-handed, what would he have?
As an orphan without parents and a slave to the village chief, he’d just repeat grueling labor like yesterday.
He couldn’t see a transparent future, only a future of drowning in the sewer.
Thinking about it, I fell down.
Moreover, his last memory was falling from the mountain slope and dying just before.
Maybe he was already dead.
From the beginning, there was no choice.
“Will it be okay if I take it?”
“If you take it, the mana of Eidesa will guide you.”
“……Can’t you explain it more simply?”
“A person with nothing has a short temper. Simply put, you will gain the qualification to become a mage of Eidesa.”
“A mage?”
Joseph’s eyes widened at his words.
Joseph’s gaze turned to the orb.
If I take this, I can become a mage……?
This was an opportunity.
Perhaps the last chance that might never come again.
How many opportunities had he let pass by in his life?
Opportunities were given to those who had and learned.
Joseph, who had neither, hadn’t even noticed the opportunity that fell in front of him.
The result was the same in previous and current lives.
To him, the chance to become a mage.
He couldn’t just let it pass.
“I’ll take it.”
The hesitation was short.
Joseph held the Magic Ore in his hand.
“Now what do I do?”
“Wait.”
With the Magic Ore in hand, light rose.
The Magic Ore that had been shining brightly gradually shrank in his palm.
At the same time, a warmth he hadn’t felt in his life spread through his whole body through his palm.
When the light faded, the Magic Ore had disappeared without a trace.
“It’s over.”
“What changed?”
“Figure it out for yourself. Short-tempered guy.”
“……It’s not like giving up your life or something, right?”
“The only thing this city wants is to return the city’s mana to the world. You will go to the world according to the guidance.”
“To the world……”
“Questions end here.”
Virr waved his hand again, and the bright light covered his vision, and Joseph lost consciousness.
* * *
When he opened his eyes again, Joseph was standing on the mountain slope where he had fallen.
“……”
He looked up at the sky.
The sun was still at its zenith.
He looked at his body.
His limbs were fine, but there was no sign of change.
“Is this a dream? Yeah…… damn.”
Joseph exhaled a sigh of relief at the hollowness.
The dream was more vivid than expected.
Becoming a mage of Eidesa…… Quite a detailed dream.
As the expectation was high, the disappointment was also great.
Joseph sat there for a long time, staring blankly at the sky.
Let’s go back.
After sitting for a while, Joseph stood up and brushed off the dust on his clothes.
If he didn’t gather more herbs, there would be no dinner today, but he didn’t have the appetite anyway.
So, as he was about to pick up the pocket that had fallen to the ground.
“……”
Around the herbs, a very faint, tiny light was flickering.
It looked like dust in the sunlight, or a small insect.
But it was different.
It was definitely the one he had seen in Eidesa earlier.
“……”
As if touching a fragile ice shard, he slowly put his finger on it, and the mana gathered at his fingertip.
“Ha…… haha!”
Joseph waved his arm like Virr did, and the manas gathered into one place and formed a small glowing orb.
The gathered light orb didn’t last long and shattered in the air.
But it didn’t matter.
It was enough to know that the things he had seen just now were not a dream.
The cool, subtle sensation left on his fingertip.
Watching the mana shatter in the air, his heart pounded.
Joseph walked around all day looking for another light.
Every time he found mana, he made an orb and floated it around him, laughing.
Finally, when the sun set, Joseph returned to the village chief’s house.
“Why is the portion so small today?”
“I went somewhere I don’t usually go, and it turned out there wasn’t much because it’s a place where animals go.”
As expected, that day’s dinner was just a piece of bread, but he didn’t care.
Joseph lay on the bed and thought about what had happened that day.
It wasn’t a dream……
The City of the Dead, Eidesa.
The city’s manager Virr.
Those without mana……
All of them were things he couldn’t understand.
Joseph shook his head.
It was useless to worry about things he couldn’t know anyway.
One thing was certain: he had gained magical talent.
That alone was enough to satisfy him.
From that day on, Joseph decided to go out for two out of three days to gather herbs, using the excuse that there were no herbs nearby.
Thanks to that, he could focus on finding mana.
Thinking about it, I don’t know how to use magic.
Joseph recalled the Magic Ore he had received from Virr.
Perhaps the mana becoming visible was thanks to the Magic Ore.
The problem was that he could see mana but didn’t know how to use magic.
It’s not everything to just let me see mana, right?
Joseph shook his head.
Virr said the Magic Ore would make Joseph a mage.
It probably wasn’t just a thing to see mana.
Before Virr showed him, Joseph hadn’t even noticed the existence of mana.
Were Virr and others always seeing those light things?
It didn’t seem so.
If so, the more mana there was, the harder it would be to see.
Probably made it so that it looks like magic.
Joseph threw the herb pocket aside and sat on the floor with his eyes closed.
He put both hands on his knees and slowly breathed.
It wasn’t something he knew and did.
It was just awkwardly following what he remembered from his previous life, but he felt his breathing calm down.
If the Magic Ore wasn’t just a thing to see mana, and he had gained magical talent.
He would definitely be able to feel mana.
That’s what he thought.
After all, for Joseph, there was nothing else he could do right away.
Joseph went up to the mountain every day, found mana, made orbs, then sat and repeated meditation to feel the mana.
Think of it as training.
Then, he thought there would be some change.
“Eh?”
After about three months.
Suddenly, a hot heat surged from inside his chest.
He exhaled as if it would burn his lungs, but nothing changed.
“Wow!”
Joseph rolled on the floor.
Pain and high fever like beating his whole body enveloped him in an instant.
He didn’t know if the flowing liquid was sweat, saliva, or blood.
“What…… what is this.”
Joseph threw off his shirt.
Then, he saw a pure white intense light gushing from near his solar plexus.
If it was night, it would have been visible even in the village.
“Ha……”
The light stream informed his existence once and disappeared in an instant.
At the same time, the pain and heat disappeared like a lie.
Joseph lay there for a long time and opened his eyes.
He writhed in pain, but a smile spread on his lips.
“That’s right, it was right.”
The light and pain from just now were proof that none of the previous attempts were wrong.
“Hahaha hahaha hahaha!”
Joseph lay on the floor and laughed like a madman.
If someone saw him, it would immediately reach the village chief’s ears and he might be chased out of the village.
Joseph straightened his posture and closed his eyes.
It was different from before.
He wasn’t looking for something he couldn’t even know existed.
It was to accurately feel the mana existing inside himself and in the place around him.
He slowly breathed and looked for mana.
It was like invisible dust, or a small bug making no sound.
They flowed from his fingertips up his arms to his solar plexus and formed small orbs.
The alien feeling he was feeling for the first time combining previous and current lives.
The moment he felt mana.