I Hate Getting Hurt (1)
──One week later.
A sloping road bordering the mountain. Long, violent skid marks were etched into the asphalt, and what had once been a car lay scattered in mangled, unrecognizable pieces.
Oil leaking from the engine and the blood of some beast trickled down, pooling around a pair of black combat boots.
“...”
The Mage, Tae-woo. He stared down at the liquid touching his boots and lit a cigarette.
It was a car accident.
Only, it wasn't a collision between two vehicles, but a clash between a car and a beast.
An Asiatic black bear had charged out of the forest like a madman, slamming directly into the vehicle. Its speed, bolstered by the beast's innate mana, was almost too fast for the naked eye to track. The SUV had been crushed like a crumpled tin can, but Tae-woo was completely unscathed.
There was only one reason.
He hadn't let his guard down.
“Hmm...”
Exhaling a long stream of smoke, a certain word suddenly crossed Tae-woo's mind.
“Divine perception.”
He couldn't remember the man's name, but it was what that UDT soldier had said.
As a mage, Tae-woo didn't believe in fortune-tellers. Naturally, the same went for shamans. To him, they were nothing but charlatans chasing illusions that flickered in the shadow of mana.
And yet, one week ago.
Those few words he had heard in the bookstore.
“Watch out for car accidents.”
Because of those words, Tae-woo had paid just a fraction more attention to his surroundings.
An almost entirely subconscious vigilance.
And that tiny, fingernail-sized sliver of caution had saved him from disaster.
“...Amusing.”
If such a phantom concept as divine perception truly existed, it was likely just intuition aided by mana.
That nameless soldier certainly had talent.
Tae-woo looked down at the stream of oil pooling at his feet. He tossed his cigarette butt onto it.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the flames caught. The spark quickly erupted into a blaze. In the silence of the night, the vehicle burned bright.
The mage's silhouette soon vanished into the coniferous forest.
“Right arm... complete!”
I lifted my right arm.
To be precise, it wasn't just my right arm. The blood vessels across the right side of my upper body, including my chest, were glowing vividly.
“Ah, that feels refreshing.”
I had spent an entire week grinding to finally complete this. I had wanted to squeeze in some physical workouts too, but just training my circuits drained all my stamina.
My Stamina stat was a measly 2. According to the stat descriptions in MoMo, that was only slightly better than a house cat.
I opened my Tech window.
Low-Grade Mana Concentration
Proficiency: 22%
“What? Only this much?”
Tech skills only increase in proficiency through repeated use. Once it hits 100%, it naturally upgrades to Low-Intermediate, Intermediate, and so on.
It was what players called 'skill grinding.'
Of course, since MoMo offered an incredibly high degree of freedom, you could also force an upgrade by investing another Tech Point. From Intermediate rank onward, skill grinding became unimaginably brutal, so you inevitably had to dump a few points into them anyway.
“...One week left, huh?”
I picked up my smartphone.
The third-round interview was now exactly three days away—
“Huh?”
A completely unexpected notification. I blinked in surprise, then snapped my fingers as the realization hit me.
“Ah... the car accident?”
Tae-woo must have gotten into that bizarre car accident.
In the articles I had read in my past life, it was reported as a collision with a truck. Since a figure of Tae-woo's caliber had been involved in a car crash, it had sparked a flurry of conspiracy theories.
After all, to the general public, mages were the kind of monsters who wouldn't die even if their plane crashed, let alone in a mere car accident.
You have acquired a Tech Point.
In any case, I had secured a Tech Point.
This time, the choice was obvious: Low-Grade Mana Manipulation.
Low-Grade Mana Manipulation
Allows for easier manipulation of mana both inside and outside the body.
“Thank you.”
I clasped my hands together in silent gratitude to the unseen benefactor.
As a token of my appreciation, I figured I should at least follow him on Instagram.
Let's see.
An SNS account already boasting ninety million followers. I threw my own handle, @SEOL__, into that vast ocean of followers.
The venue for the third round, the final preliminaries.
Yoon Sa-hyeok, the main PD of Labyrinth Exploration NaN, scanned the faces of the contestants gathered on the balcony.
A total of 437 people.
Among them, there were naturally those who had already been pre-selected.
Contestants who were guaranteed to pass—or rather, those who possessed such overwhelming skill that they would never fail even in a perfectly fair competition. There were about twenty of them.
“PD Yoon, shall we begin?”
Assistant PD Kim A-rang asked.
“Yeah. Let's get started.”
PD Yoon Sa-hyeok. He rarely showed emotion, and his appearance was as cold and bleak as his personality. His screening criteria, strictly business-oriented, were simple.
Just three things.
Star quality, skill, and past history.
Since the show would be broadcast globally via OTT platforms, star quality and skill were absolute prerequisites. However, because the production was based in South Korea, a contestant's past behavior and reputation were also incredibly important.
“Let's go.”
“Yes, sir.”
Step, step.
Yoon Sa-hyeok walked down the balcony stairs to the ground floor. He took the microphone handed to him by his assistant PD.
“Testing, one, two. Hello, everyone. I am Yoon Sa-hyeok.”
Clap, clap, clap.
The contestants instinctively began to applaud, but he raised a hand to stop them.
“No need for applause. Welcome to the third round, the final preliminaries. As you can see, cameras have been deployed starting from this round.”
Yoon Sa-hyeok pointed toward the camera setups. The contestants' heads whipped around in unison.
Of course, this entire preliminary round wouldn't be broadcast. The footage was merely meant to be used as insert cuts to introduce the final ninety-six contestants during the main show.
“There are 437 of you here today. Only ninety-six will remain. However, applying the exact same standard to everyone would be unfair, as each of you pursues a different class.”
Class.
It referred to the position they would occupy inside the labyrinth.
“We have categorized them into divisions you should all be familiar with.”
Yoon Sa-hyeok lightly stepped onto the stage. Instantly, the panels on the floor lit up, displaying bold characters.
It was the standard East Asian classification system.
In global terms, a Warrior was a Tank, a Martial Artist was a Bruiser, an Archer was a ranged Damage Dealer, and a Spellcaster was a Mage.
Of course, there were much finer specializations within each class, but these were the general categories.
“Please stand in the section corresponding to your class.”
Everyone began to move.
92 Warriors, 137 Martial Artists, 133 Archers, and 75 Spellcasters.
Spellcasters were the fewest in number because the class relied heavily on pure aptitude and talent. Warriors were generally avoided because the role required them to take hits. On the other hand, Martial Artists and Archers were highly populated because they received the most spotlight and commanded the highest salary ceilings.
However, Labyrinth Exploration NaN would select exactly twenty-four contestants from each position.
“Now, choose the portal that matches your class.”
Portals materialized in all four cardinal directions.
Red for Warriors, white for Martial Artists, green for Archers, and blue for Spellcasters.
They weren't genuine portals, but replicas. Still, they functioned perfectly. Once inside, a completely different landscape would unfold before them.
“With that, I wish you all good fortune.”
“I wish you all good fortune.”
PD Yoon Sa-hyeok departed after delivering his dramatic sign-off, but I was too busy looking around to care about good fortune.
“...Whoa.”
There were so many famous faces here.
Contestants highly favored to reach the top ranks included Ryu Yeon-hwa, Kang Hyun, Lee Jun-ho, the Chinese explorer Jo Woon, Kenta from Japan, and Kate from the United States...
Every single one of them was incredibly good-looking. Physically superior specimens were practically overflowing.
But among them, there was one who was truly special.
Kang Hyun.
Right now, he was merely evaluated as one of the top candidates, but in the timeline I knew, he was already destined to be number one.
With features both soft and sharp, and a face so stunningly handsome it defied belief, he looked like a celebrity among celebrities—a perfect fit for the term 'face genius.'
He was exactly the type of guy that contrarians like me loved to hate.
The moment the first episode aired, his popularity would undoubtedly skyrocket.
“Alright, everyone, please move along.”
I approached the Spellcaster portal. I felt a sharp, piercing gaze prickling at me from the entrance.
It was PD Kim A-rang. Since I was the only one limping around with a cane, she must have recognized me instantly.
I felt a bit self-conscious under her stare.
“Please step inside.”
PD Kim A-rang gestured toward the portal with her chin.
“Yes, ma'am.”
I quietly stepped through.
With just a single step, the world inside and outside inverted.
The interior of the portal was massive, resembling a domed stadium. A lush lawn stretched across the center, surrounded by tiered stands that looked like spectator seating.
“Hello there~”
Someone waved at us from the middle of the lawn.
“Whoa.”
“Wait, isn't that Kim Se-jin?”
“It really is Kim Se-jin!”
The Spellcaster, Kim Se-jin. With his curly brown hair and soft, rounded features, he had the friendly look of a poodle. As the contestants' excited chatter suggested, he was a major celebrity.
“Yes, nice to meet you all. I am the High-ranker Spellcaster, Kim Se-jin.”
He grinned broadly and raised both arms.
“Pretty spacious, right? This is my Subspace, modeled after a baseball dome.”
A Subspace—a pocket dimension forged entirely from mana.
“What you need to do here is simple. As you can see, you all entered through the entrance, correct? However, there is no exit.”
Only then did we look around. Indeed, there was no exit in sight.
“It's simple. Escape from this place.”
Having delivered his instructions, Kim Se-jin sat down on a chair on the lawn.
Is that it?
“...”
I blinked quietly. The other contestants began stealing glances at one another.
When you have no idea what to do, the golden rule is usually to follow whoever makes the first move.
I followed the collective gaze of the crowd.
Standing there was Seo Ji-woo.
A woman with long, blue-tinted hair tied back in a high ponytail. She possessed striking, head-turning looks and wore a stylish red coat.
I knew her.
To be precise, I knew her family.
Her older brother had been my comrade-in-arms.