A Sudden Growth of Mana (2)
Assistant Producer Kim A-rang wore a necklace around her neck.
It was a necklace with a pendant. However, the bezel of the pendant was hollow. This meant the core was clearly visible.
Inside it, there was mana. Mana that had formed a mass.
The circular form of the mana was beautiful.
That was why I wanted to see it.
Closer, and larger.
"Number 1,356?"
Strangely, such a desire welled up, and the next moment, my retinas were dyed blue. Then, my vision zoomed in and focused on a single point.
The target: the mass of mana inside the pendant.
I peered into it 'closely'.
"Hey? Hello? Can you not hear me?"
Kim A-rang was blabbering something, but I couldn't hear it well.
My consciousness was solely there. Not just the aggregation pattern of the mana, but going deeper, digging into the outer shell,
The pattern drawn by the mana inside the pendant.
I captured the distortion of strange, biological-like solid lines—a Mana Formula.
"...A double helix forming a circle."
"What did you say?"
I observed the structure of the mana formula. At the same time, its operating principle was naturally understood.
I don't know why.
If there had to be a reason, perhaps it was the harmony between my 11.5 mana stat and the trait [Good Ears, Good Eyes].
As I am now, I simply accepted it like an intuition—what this formula was for and what results it would cause.
"When it detects a threat, it releases mana to protect the wearer."
I gestured toward the assistant producer's necklace.
"It's a barrier. I guess it's a self-defense artifact."
"A barrier... Huh?"
Only then did PD Kim A-rang look at her necklace with a start, as if she finally understood my words.
"How did you know... D-did you guess?"
"No. I analyzed it."
"Analyzed, my foot."
She twisted her lips.
"Usually, most artifacts like this are for self-defense anyway."
"Is that so? I didn't know."
"What?"
Kim A-rang looked at me with an expression of disbelief.
"Fine. Then, can you prove it? Prove that you analyzed it right here on the spot."
"...Just a moment."
Right now, I could see what mages call a mana formula—the flow of mana governing the [Barrier]. The overall framework was a structure where a double-helix mana circuit formed a circle, but there were other devices inside as well.
I scanned those detailed elements thoroughly. As I looked at them with my eyes, I understood with strange clarity which part served what purpose.
It meant I simply 'knew' it by instinct.
"...Found it."
"Found what?"
The trigger that detects danger, especially within the [Barrier]'s mana formula. If I touched it just a little, the [Barrier] would likely be ejected.
How to touch it? By releasing mana?
No.
There didn't seem to be any need for that.
I had never done it before, nor had I ever learned it, but for some reason, it felt like a simple logic. It was accepted like a self-evident providence.
Observation, loading mana into one's gaze.
In other words, a direct look was enough.
Humans are originally like that. They absorb light with their eyes to perceive images, and 'see' the world through the interaction of those lights.
However, a mage can go one step further and load mana into their gaze.
It was enough to interfere with the flow of the formula. If I accurately struck the mana formula inside the pendant with my gaze—specifically the framework where the [Barrier] detects threats—
────Whirrrr!
A barrier was ejected from Kim A-rang's necklace.
"Oh! What the!"
She jumped up from her seat in a hurry.
I explained.
"...I proved it. I touched the part of the barrier's mana formula that detects threats—"
"What, turn it off, turn it off!"
Kim A-rang flailed her body in a panic.
Since the [Barrier] was currently ejected forward from the necklace, every time she moved, objects on the desk hit the [Barrier] and went crashing down.
"H-how did you do this?"
"I forcibly operated the trigger of the formula contained in the pendant."
The assistant producers and writers looked at me and Kim A-rang in turn with shocked expressions.
Kim A-rang said.
"Then turn it off now!"
"...It will disappear in a minute anyway. Please wait."
In fact, I didn't know how to turn it off.
"No, do you know how much this cost? Is it broken now?!"
"I think you could get it repaired."
I felt a bit triumphant, but suddenly I feared the future.
My goal was to pass the first round, pass the second, pass the final, appear on Labyrinth Exploration NaN, and then unfortunately get eliminated from the debut group. But if I get on their bad side like this before I even start.
"Ha... I'm going crazy. Anyway, you're saying I just have to wait? Ugh!"
Kim A-rang hit her chin on the barrier while trying to sit down. I held back my laughter.
She gritted her teeth and placed her fingers on her temples.
"...Haa."
It's a relief she's not the main PD.
It is a bit of a problem that Kim A-rang is the main PD's right-hand woman.
"For now, everyone get out. Good work."
Lim Hyeong-uk, the assistant producer next to Kim A-rang, stepped forward to settle the situation.
"Yes."
I left the interview room calmly.
Seol Ha-woon experiences a small achievement.
Mana rank increases.
■ D → D+
***
"...What kind of guy is that?"
After the noisy self-PR ended, Kim A-rang muttered while fiddling with her pendant.
"Right? He's impressive, isn't he?"
Assistant Producer Lim Hyeong-uk, sitting next to her, was impressed. Honestly, even Kim A-rang found it fascinating.
How could he activate a barrier just by looking at it?
"Impressive, my foot..."
"He has as much impact as his limp. Wow... loading mana into his gaze... Is the barrier okay?"
"...It turned off."
Just as number 1,356 said, the barrier turned off naturally, but the artifact's light had dimmed compared to before.
Self-defense artifacts like this are usually consumable, so its effectiveness drops significantly every time you use it.
"Really like a stray dog... growing his hair out like a mess, too."
The youngest writer said to Kim A-rang, who was grinding her teeth.
"PD Kim. That person just now, his story is incredibly unique."
"What about it? He's just a cripple."
The name of number 1,356 just now was Seol Ha-woon.
His specialty, I presume, is mana manipulation and analysis.
His class is obviously 'Mage'.
"Did he at least go to a mana school?"
A mana school. It is literally a school that cultivates mages who handle mana.
Since talent for mana is confirmed at a relatively late age, the average admission age is between 15 and 17, so people in their 20s are not rare.
"No, not a mana school, he's just... an orphan?"
"An orphan?"
"Yes. He said he was raised by his grandmother. Only until he was six. And as soon as he became an adult, he enlisted and served in the UDT until he was 26."
"UDT? That, the UDT I know?"
"Yes. But he was caught in an explosion during an operation and was in a coma for several months. He was diagnosed with full-body paralysis, but he overcame everything except for his left leg."
"...Hmm."
Kim A-rang crossed her arms quietly.
If his history is fact without any exaggeration, there is a clear reason for him to pass the document screening. It's a story that couldn't be better.
"His face wasn't bad."
Seol Ha-woon. If it weren't for his excessively messy hair, his face is better than average.
In the Labyrinth Exploration series, looks are quite important. After all, appearance is also a characteristic.
Just look at Lee Taek from the last season; he was definitely not handsome, right? If anything, he was incredibly menacing.
His skill was in the TOP 3, but that's the reason he debuted at only 8th place.
"I think we can move him straight to the 3rd round."
Her first impression of him was quite unpleasant, but Kim A-rang is someone who strictly separates public and private matters. Well, she could just bully him later.
"Yes. I think he looks good too. The potential of a UDT-turned-mage! Something like that."
"Mage, my foot. Don't mention that neighborhood for no reason. Those high-and-mighty people hate it."
"Ah, yes."
In this world, mana appeared 124 years ago, in exactly 1900.
There were vague imaginations about mages in the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, or even the ancient times before that, but when magic-like mysteries—mana—actually became reality, the cut-off line for 'real' mages skyrocketed.
Right now, there are less than 1,000 mages recognized by the Magic Association in the entire world.
Therefore, each and every one of them is out of spec. Their market value is also excessively high, so they don't bother trying to dissolve themselves into labyrinth exploration.
"Seol Ha-woon, mark him for the 3rd round."
"Yes."
Thump. The youngest writer stamped Seol Ha-woon's self-introduction letter.
"...Ah, but should I have bought a more expensive one? I got embarrassed for buying a cheap one for no reason."
Kim A-rang fiddled with the pendant and pouted her lips. Assistant Producer Lim Hyeong-uk next to her chuckled.
"No matter how cheap it is, it shouldn't be pierced just by looking at it. The mage just had talent... How much was that?"
"6 million won."
"Ha. It is cheap. Hey. If you're going to buy one, you should buy one in the tens of millions. Like me."
Lim Hyeong-uk proudly showed off his wrist. A flashy watch was strapped to it.
"This has an artifact movement embedded—"
"I'm going to save the money I'd spend on that to buy a house."
"Hey, hey. What are you going to do if you die like that? The fandoms these days are really intense, too. They might kill you for evil editing."
The title of 'one of the producers of the Labyrinth Exploration 101 series' is very honorable, but it's not without side effects. It's not like they're devils, but people keep saying 'devil's editing' all the time.
It's not untrue; in fact, she bought this artifact on the day she received a death threat letter.
Kim A-rang poked the youngest writer for no reason.
"...Tell the next person to come in."
"Ah, yes. Next~"
*
"Yaaawn~"
Returning to my studio apartment, I lay on the mattress and yawned widely.
I'm sleepy.
I'm very sleepy.
Considering my remaining time, I feel like I should be exercising in my spare time, but I'm excessively sleepy.
Perhaps it's a side effect of using mana.
"...Yaaawn."
I turned on the TV while yawning.
—The first preliminary round of Labyrinth Exploration Season 3 NaN has begun...
There's quite a lot of content related to Labyrinth Exploration. It's definitely hot, that's for sure.
Well, in this day and age, even though it's a general programming channel, it gets over 20% viewership, and the program itself is quite a 'mysterious' invention.
While listening to the TV, I swiped through internet articles on my smartphone.
—Lee Jun-ho, a prospect from Celion, also appeared at the 1st preliminary round site.
Lee Jun-ho. That swordsman I saw at the 1st preliminary site today, carrying a longsword on his back.
The current candidate for 1st place, the future 2nd place.
—Ryu Yeon-hwa and Seo Ji-woo from Jayros.
I saw Ryu Yeon-hwa at the 1st preliminary round, and Seo Ji-woo is...
She's a girl I know. My friend's younger sister.
Pass.
—Besides that, Ji Woon-yul, Yun Hwa-rim, and Han Yu-ah from Thermion. Kang Hyun, an independent.
"1st place."
As soon as I saw the name Kang Hyun, I let out a dry laugh.
A cheat character who took 1st place even though he's independent.
That's how perfect he was in every way.
If I were to express his talent in stats, almost all of them hovered between 8 and 9, and especially his looks and agility were at the 12–13 level.
He even had a dorky charm, what did they call it, 'clumsy beauty'? He gathered a huge number of votes with his dorky side that slightly deviated from his perfect appearance.
In my opinion, he is the pinnacle of life's vanity.
Since a guy destined to eat well and live well for his whole life died at the young age of his early 20s.
"To look good on camera..."
Should I stick with these successful kids? Or should I build my own unique narrative?
For reference, narrative is also a quite important character element in MoMo.
Even with the exact same stats, the amount of recognition you gain varies greatly depending on the narrative.
Because of that [narrative], I will probably pass the first round for sure. Because PD Kim A-rang is evaluated as someone whose skills are solid, even if her personality is toxic.
"Huh? Oh! Yes!"
I leveled up suddenly. Compared to the interview, there was quite a delay, but it was probably because some rumors spread among the PDs.
[Recognition] doesn't just go up rapidly because you do some action. It only rises when your reputation is transferred through words or some media like this first.
Karma: Level-up Gift
🎁 Reward: A special gift is granted!
"Oh, that's right."
Thanks to my past karma, I receive a special gift every time my recognition level becomes an even number.
"What are you going to give me this time...?"
"Ugh!"
My eyes widened instantly. My eyeballs almost popped out. I almost bowed without realizing it.
"Thank you!"
It's a stat point with no restrictions. If I put this on an auction house, I could really get tens of millions of won, no, if I sold it to some rich person in China or the US, I could even get hundreds of millions.
Where should I use it?
I hesitated for a moment.
Should I raise my physical-related stats to at least take care of my minimum stamina...
"...No."
Since I've come this far, if I put points into other stats, I'll just end up with a mediocre character.
Let's cover my lacking mobility or durability with artifacts, like PD Kim A-rang.
"All in."
I finally pushed my mana to 11.