Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Mages Use Magic, Duh - 1
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-The decisive factor in conquering rifts? Magic, of course. We would've been in big trouble without mage support.
-Magic really is amazing!
-Yes. Honestly, that level of firepower is something only mages can produce.
-I see. Hunter Lee Jeong-hoon, does that mean mages are invincible?
-Not at all. Mages can't use magic multiple times because of their mana reserves. The more powerful the spell, the worse it gets.
-So using a powerful spell means they can't cast for a long time?
-Pretty much. That's why mages really struggle in the Tower.
-Ah, I've heard that. The Tower is a place you have to go through solo.
-Ah, right.
-Even so, it's true that mages are precious. Especially high-circle ones.
-High-circle... Does that mean attributes don't matter?
-Yes. Any attribute works. Mages out there, Hegemonia Guild is always recruiting, so feel free to drop by anytime.
-Yes! Thank you!
-Next up: Regarding the strange phenomena occurring worldwide recently, the Hunter Association...
I hit the remote and turned off the blaring TV.
Next, I grabbed my phone and checked the usual Hunter Gallery.
I'm jealous!!
They praise you even for crap posts!
They praise you even for dad jokes!
That power!
That influence!!
I'm so jealous!!
That's when it happened.
Did my envy and jealousy reach the heavens?
Fate had shifted.
Awakening is supposed to be sudden, but I never expected it to hit like this.
"W-Wait. This isn't the time."
Skills! Let's check the skills!
Fire? Water? Ice? Earth?!
No. No.
Any magic is fine.
Anything!! Anything!!
"...Huh."
Didn't see that coming.
I carefully read through the posts in the Mage Gallery.
There weren't many posts since mages weren't that common, but the info was detailed for newbies.
Still, nowhere did it mention a skill called 'Cool Grimoire Summon'.
I checked the mages-only gallery.
I thought it'd be full of classy posts, but nope—it looked just like any regular gallery.
Should I post something?
Title: Newbie mage awakening
??
This was a gallery where skilled mages hung out, and even they didn't know?
Oh. I hadn't tried it yet.
Everyone else said to give it a shot, so I did.
"Oh."
A massive book appeared in my empty hand.
The title was... Secrets of Light and Shadow?
What the hell?
I snapped a pic of the title and first page and posted it.
Title: WTF is this?
??
These bastards...
My joy at awakening evaporated in an instant.
Book Mage.
Book Mage!!
Instead of replying, I flipped to the next page.
It was packed tight.
I snapped a pic and posted it, and chaos erupted again.
"...What?"
Hold up.
I looked at the photo.
The photo clearly showed dense text.
I checked the cool grimoire.
Yup, packed with text and illustrations.
But they said nothing was written?
What the hell was going on?
Just reading it made me drowsy.
I skimmed through explanations about light and shadow until something interesting popped up.
[How to Attach Eyes to the Brain]
"...Attach what to the brain?"
The materials alone were no joke.
How do you even get a dead person's brain?
[How to Permanently Convert the Body to Light]
No need to look at that one.
Everything seemed insanely dangerous.
I was getting anxious.
Did I really have to fight by smacking things with a book?
Grousing, I read through the grimoire and found the ones that seemed doable right away and safe-ish.
Why is this so complicated?!
Other mages just fire off Fireballs or Magic Missiles easily!
But what can I do?
This was all I had for now.
Anyway, when's the time with the longest shadow?
Hmm. Sunrise or sunset, then.
Nothing I could do right now anyway.
I had salt and pepper, but the rest...?
Guess I need to order online.
Hmm. And the halo stuff...
Same-day delivery meant the materials arrived next morning.
Sun was already up, so I'd have to tough it out till evening.
Well, then...
Time to check my power.
The Hunter Gallery already knew I'd awakened as a mage.
So, time to play here.
Title: What day do loan sharks take off?
Book Mage
This is power!
This is influence!
So fun!
The deep attention and endless high-fives snapped me back to reality.
I'd only announced my awakening, and it was already like this—what if I showed real magic?
I dreamed of a bright future reading posts from big names getting hyped, concept posts hitting site-best.
It was glorious.
-Ring ring ring!!
Lost in gallery fun, time flew by.
Sunset approached, so I headed outside.
No one around the rundown villa.
I found a decent empty lot.
The setting sun shone on me.
"Eloim, etsa'im. Eloim, etsa'im. Light. Light that harbors darkness..."
As written in Secrets of Light and Shadow, I chanted while placing materials east, west, south, north.
"Whoa! Scared me! Why's a big guy like that acting weird?"
"Ugh, neighborhood's creepy... Better hurry home."
"Mom, what's that uncle doing?"
"Shh. Don't look."
I wanted attention, but not this kind.
"Light. Darkness. Dwell within me and protect me."
Final chant done.
Hmm...
No change.
Is this right?
That's it?
Glanced at the grimoire—no reaction there eith...
"...What."
My shadow rippled.
Something rose from my elongated shadow under the sinking sun and began to change.
A massive figure that didn't pale next to my 190cm, 100kg muscled body.
Into a headless knight.
"Eek...!!"
What? This?!
Knight, right? Why no head?!
-Grrrr...!!
Why's a knight growling like that!!
The shadow knight knelt before me and cautiously offered a sword made of shadow.
What now?
Grab it?
I gently took the sword, and the shadow knight got sucked into my shadow.
"...Success. One down?"
Shadow Knight.
Summon successful, I guess.
I'd summoned the shadow knight, but no clue how to use it.
"Hey. Over there."
-Grrrrr...!!
Scary!
Why's there beast growls from the shadow!
"Uh. Um. C-Could you grab that remote over there?"
-Gr...!!
The shadow stretched out.
Like a long arm, it grabbed the remote and brought it back.
It works?
Whoa!
Awesome!!
I gave the shadow knight various commands.
It followed without complaint.
Finally doing something mage-like spiked my dopamine!
Time for proof!
Title: Newbie mage from yesterday casts spell
Book Mage
How would they react?
Concept post material?
Heart pounding with anticipation, comments started rolling in.
Come on, praise me!!
Floaters.
High-nics.
Even the big names.
All just spamming ?.
Then, Bulroaka—the gallery's top theory mage, said to be 5-circle—commented.
For the first time in over a decade of gallery lurking, my post hit concept status.