Let's Give It Our All (1)

"I'm the warrior, Kang Hyun. My favorite food is ramen. Actually, I like any kind of noodles. I don't really have a nickname. My weapon of choice? ...Yes. The weapon I use is a broadsword."

He suddenly draws his sword from his waist and thrusts it toward the camera. It is a polished, gleaming broadsword.

"It's a treasured sword my father gave me as a gift."

He says this with a goofy, innocent smile.

"Look, the blade is sharp, right? Both sides are sharp."

He shows off various parts of the broadsword to the camera. Is this a self-introduction or a sword introduction?

"The advantage of a double-edged blade is its flexibility in combat. It's effective for both slashing and thrusting..."

"Hello! I'm Im Hae-jun! I'm an archer! Although I'm currently C Rank, that's only because I made a lot of mistakes during the level test! I don't think a single mistake should define me! Well, actually, it wasn't just once, it was about three times, but my true rank will be decided by the citizens of our nation!"

A young man is wearing a ribbon on his chest. With his curly hair, he looks like a small puppy. I actually know who this guy is. Im Hae-jun, a popular pick who starts in the 50s but eventually climbs up to the top 10.

"My main weapon is this, a recurve bow! Its range is short, but it's incredibly powerful. And people often tell me I'm like a gift! That's why I'm wearing this ribbon! If you vote for me—if you vote for this gift, then the gift will... No, wait. Your votes are a gift to me!"

"I'm Seo Ji-woo. A spellcaster. I... I use a spell formula called 'Lines'."

Seo Ji-woo. A familiar face to me. She is incredibly awkward. Both her gestures and her tone of voice.

"Lines. Not 'lines' as in lineage or alignment. Ha. Ha. Just lines. Plain lines."

She seems to have worse camera anxiety than I do.

"I'll show you."

She even messes up while drawing her lines. The mana from her palm shoots out in multiple directions like a messy party popper.

"Whoa! Ah, shoot! Wait—"

The one minute is up.

"...Do we really only get one take?" I asked, watching the reference video.

The assistant director and the writer sitting across from me shrugged.

"Whew..."

I hadn't thought much of it when watching this on TV.

But now that I had to do it myself, my chest felt a bit tight.

"There's no need to be nervous. You saw them. Everyone just does whatever they want. That raw realism is what makes it good."

"Yes."

The assistant director's words gave me courage.

"Ahem."

Actually, I had prepared my self-introduction to some extent.

"Nice to meet you. I am the spellcaster, Seol Ha-woon. I was discharged from the military due to an accident during an operation, but I wish to challenge the second chapter of my life here. Of course, I know nothing is given for free. I came here to win my own future. I will not run away from any hardship."

Hahaha.

I tried to laugh heartily but stopped.

The expressions on the assistant director and the writers' faces in front of me were completely rotten.

Did I do something terribly wrong?

"Shoot your gun."

Suddenly, someone appeared from behind. It was PD Kim A-rang.

My gun? I tilted my head.

"Your gun. The one you used to shoot the goblins."

"...But there is no target."

"Shoot it at the camera lens. The lens has been treated with spell formulas to handle it. Just lower the output a bit. While asking them to vote for you."

"Uh... Yes."

Since it was Kim A-rang, I felt strangely uneasy, but I had to do as I was told for now.

"Dear National Scouters."

I pointed my finger.

"Please vote for me."

Bang.

The magic bullet discharged, pressing against the camera lens.

After the 1-minute self-introduction shoot was over.

I arrived at the dormitory. The contestants' dormitory was also located inside the portal of the Labyrinth Exploration program, and the quality of the rooms was assigned differentially based on rank.

81st to 96th [F-Tier] on the 1st floor,

61st to 80th [D-Tier] on the 2nd floor,

41st to 60th [C-Tier] on the 3rd floor,

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

21st to 40th [B-Tier] on the 4th floor,

11th to 20th [A-Tier] on the 5th floor,

1st to 10th [S-Tier] on the 6th floor.

It was practically a caste system, but what could you do? It was a tradition of Labyrinth Exploration.

The labyrinth had no room to spare for the feelings of those at the bottom. If you spent time being considerate, you'd end up eaten by goblins.

"...This is actually pretty good."

But from my perspective, this was actually better. Even the room for the last-place contestant was much larger than my current studio apartment.

It even had a bed. Not just a mattress on the floor, but a proper bed frame. At this rate, it was practically a hotel room.

"So this is the uniform."

Several sets of uniforms were hanging in the closet. There was a whole row of matching jackets, pants, and tie sets.

From now on, we would be living together here.

"Ah, I'm hungry."

When do they give us food?

I rubbed my stomach and opened the shelf. There was cup ramen.

"Oh~"

Nice touch.

"Is there a pot..."

While looking for a pot or an electric kettle, a sudden thought struck me.

Ah, right. I had that.

I pulled a cup out of my pocket.

It was a trophy from the level test labyrinth I had just cleared.

Surprisingly, the trophies from the Labyrinth Exploration series belonged to the individuals who obtained them. This meant that even if you didn't make it into the debut group, as long as you cleared the labyrinths one by one, you could leave with a handsome fortune.

Note that this is the system of MoMo. Specifically, the effect of my trait [Good Ears, Good Eyes].

The system of NaN doesn't have this appraisal function.

I wondered if there was some connection between the two.

I poured water into the [Goblin Cup]. I set the temperature to the hottest setting and poured it into the cup ramen twice.

Steam billowed out.

"I don't even need an electric kettle."

After eating, I planned to look around the dormitory grounds.

The grounds didn't just have the dormitory building; they also featured a [Shooting Range], a [Hiking Trail], a [Gym], a [Martial Arts Arena], a [Library], and quite a few other facilities. They called it the optimal environment for contestants to develop themselves.

In any case, I had to move.

While there were no cameras in our private spaces—our rooms—the grounds were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠covered in cameras like CCTV. A lot of footage of how we spent our days off would be captured.

So, I dressed in my uniform and walked along the trail. I glanced at the cameras hidden in the bushes.

Please give me a lot of screen time. So my Appearance stat goes up.

"...Hmm."

Where should I go?

I debated between the [Library] and the [Gym], but since I was a spellcaster, I had to stay in character.

Let's go to the library.

[Library]

The library on the dormitory grounds was quite spacious. It was at least much larger than the military base library I had visited before.

"...Whoa."

An exclamation mark flashed in my eyes. There were tons of books on mana and spell formulas.

The kind of books that would cost millions of won outside under the guise of "mana copyright."

"This is a goldmine."

I limped excitedly between the bookshelves. I scanned the covers ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thoroughly and picked out a book.

[Standard Spellbook - Ian McKennion]

"This looks good."

It was a standard spellbook written by a famous spellcaster named Ian McKennion.

I quickly sat down in a chair and looked inside to see if there were any useful spell formulas.

"Studying, are we?"

A low, quiet voice drifted down. I looked up.

"Ah~ Yes. Hello."

It was the spellcaster mentor, Yu Yul. She narrowed her eyebrows as she looked at me.

"Everyone else is resting or chatting at the cafe. Why are you here alone?"

"...Ah."

So there was that option.

Chatting at the cafe. And socializing.

That was a pretty important factor in getting votes. If you hung around top-ten guys like Kang Hyun or Lee Jun-ho, you were guaranteed to get screen time.

Maybe I should do some socializing too.

"Ah~ Then I should also—"

"Isn't that a bit difficult? Ian McKennion. He's famous for having incredibly convoluted spell formulas."

The spellcaster Yu Yul pointed at the spellbook.

"I see. I don't know about convoluted, but there certainly are a lot of spell formulas."

"It's a spellbook, after all."

"...Pardon?"

"It's a standard spellbook, so of course it has a lot of spell ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠formulas."

"...Ah, yes. That's true."

Standard spells. Literally standardized spell formulas. They were formulas designed to be memorized and deployed, meant for spellcasters who couldn't form a solid Cognitive Image or unleash creative intuition.

But that didn't mean they were exclusively for underachievers. Rather, these standard spells helped spellcasters utilize a wider variety of magic.

For example, I could easily complete a Cognitive Image related to weaponry and battlefields. Those were the core elements that made up my life.

However, it was difficult for me to manifest spell formulas for other things, like cooking or playing an instrument. In those moments, these standard spells could fill in the gaps of my lacking Cognitive Image.

To put it simply, they skipped the process of visualization.

"I find it quite absurd every time I see this. Magic is not history; why memorize it to perform it?"

On the other hand, Yu Yul didn't seem to like standard spells. She rested her chin on her hand, her plump cheek puffing up like a steamed bun.

Suddenly, her eyes narrowed sharply.

"Instead of this, have you read any theory books?"

"I've only read one theory book."

"Only one?"

"Yes. I didn't have the money."

"Which one?"

"Um... this one."

I pulled the theory book from my bag. My only theory book, Tae Hyeok's Fundamentals of Mana.

At that moment, Yu Yul's expression turned cold.

"...Where did you get that?"

I didn't know why, but her voice was as sharp as frost.

"I borrowed it from a bookstore."

Right now, even my skin was shivering.

"They wouldn't easily lend out a mana book like this."

Was it because my Perception was high, or because my Mana stat had surpassed 11, or was it because of my trait?

"I became close with the bookstore owner. I promised to promote it when I got the chance."

"...Promote it? Which bookstore?"

Every time she spoke, every time our eyes met.

I could feel that familiar 'mana residue.'

"David's Bookstore."

In an instant, the tight tension dissipated completely.

"...I see."

Pfft. She smiled and sat down next to me.

"Then, for you, who is studying alone while everyone else is playing, I shall give you a mentor lesson."

Suddenly? I thought, but there was no harm in accepting.

"I would be very grateful."

"Good. Rank 96, Seol Ha-woon. How much do you know about a spellcaster's attribute?"

"I heard it is a person's origin."

"Correct. That's why attributes are divided into innate and acquired. In that sense, you shoot a gun, don't you?"

"Yes. I was a soldier."

"...A soldier?"

Her eyes widened. Then, as if realizing something, she let out a dry chuckle.

"Aha. So that's why that old man..."

That old man.

Probably David Han.

Do they know each other?

"Can you show me your circuits?"

"Yes."

I raised my right arm.

"Wow. You're really skinny. Are you sick?"

She held up her own plump arm. It was much thicker than mine.

"It's because I developed a digestive disorder."

"A digestive disorder?"

"Yes."

"A digestive disorder, huh..."

She looked around, checking her surroundings.

"Here. Take this elixir. It'll help a skinny anchovy like you."

Help a skinny anchovy. Somehow, coming from her, it sounded much more convincing.

Whatever the case, it would be rude to reject her goodwill.

"Thank you."

I casually accepted the elixir, but my eyes almost popped out of my head. It was an item so good that even the MoMo system reacted to it.