Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Silver Mana Breakthrough
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“Maybe it’s possible. But I saw your dungeon exploration video from last time. You cleared it at an insane speed.”
“Sorry, but that wasn’t me.”
Jeong Yun-seol nodded at my firm denial.
“Is that so? Alright then.”
Jeong Yun-seol stood up from her seat. She accepted it and moved on much faster than I expected. She soon pulled a business card from her pocket and handed it to me.
“If you ever need to get in touch, call this number. See you next time.”
[The character ‘Jeong Yun-seol’ feels interest toward you.]
[You acquire 500 points as a reward.]
With that, Jeong Yun-seol left the coffee shop.
I stared blankly at her retreating figure.
After finishing a simple personal training session, I returned to the dormitory. As soon as I got back, I washed off my sweat-soaked body, sat on the edge of my bed, and turned on the TV.
“A magic terror attack occurred in Incheon’s Seo-gu new city. This attack resulted in 46 deaths and 142 injuries. The Wizards’ Association is currently investigating. We go live to the scene.”
The news showed the horrific terror site.
Collapsed buildings and patients being loaded into ambulances.
The news explained it was a terror attack caused by mana explosives planted by someone.
“Some are linking it to the recent terror attack in the US, suggesting the same perpetrator. However, the Wizards’ Association considers the possibility low due to significant differences in scale and method.”
The US terror attack referred to the one carried out by the terror group Jaun. But this one had no connection to Jaun.
This terror attack was caused by that lunatic Jo Sung-hoon and his worthless underlings.
“Phew.”
Man, it’s tough keeping up with the constantly changing story flow.
It’s still early in the story, so I can predict things to some extent, but in a year, two years… five years. As time passes like that, all my predictable developments might disappear.
I need to build up my strength quickly before that day comes.
“Oh yeah. How much did the stock rise?”
It suddenly came to mind, so I logged into the stock trading app. I’ve been too busy lately to check.
[Hanseong Pharmaceuticals— 1,025,262(+13.52%)]
“Whoa.”
It’s up nearly 2.5 times.
Thanks to that, my stock value is close to 4.5 billion won.
The recent demon incidents and terror attacks overlapping had drawn more attention to the potion business too.
“Feels like it’s peaking soon.”
Maybe I should sell some off.
Holding stocks that won’t rise anymore is pointless.
Tomorrow morning when the stock market opens, I’ll sell about 1 billion won’s worth and invest in other high-growth potential stocks.
High-growth potential stocks, huh.
“Oh!”
Speaking of high-growth stocks, one comes to mind.
[Dawn’s Blade— 11,242(+2.24%)]
Dawn’s Blade is a guild that plays a major role later on.
It has several members who shine in the mid-to-late game.
Plus, the one leading Dawn’s Blade is S-Rank Wizard Yoo Ah-yeon, known as the ‘Witch of Flames’. Her popularity among wizards right now is second to none.
“Maybe I should invest a bit here too.”
Just the fact that it’s Yoo Ah-yeon’s guild means huge growth potential.
As I sat there planning my investments alone, my smart student handbook chimed with a notification.
［Kim Sun-woo, do me a favor］
The sender was Yoo Ara. I was a bit taken aback by the unexpected message.
What’s with her asking for a favor?
Even in the original story, the times she asked Lee Seo-jun for favors could be counted on one hand.
［What is it?］
［Ha-young told me you’re teaching her magic］
Yeah, that’s true.
［Yeah］
［Teach me too］
“......Huh?”
What’s this now? Who’s teaching who?
Did she hit her head while hospitalized or something?
［How am I supposed to teach you］
［You’re good at magic. I know everything.］
What are you talking about.
Yoo Ara’s magic level is already nearly complete.
She just lacks real combat experience. Even if I had the ability to teach her, there’s nothing left to teach.
［Don’t talk nonsense.］
［...Why are you discriminating?］
She’s sulking. Discriminating against who?
[The character ‘Yoo Ara’ feels disappointment toward you.]
[You acquire 500 points as a reward.]
“......Ridiculous.”
Friday morning.
The first class was pushed to 1 PM, giving us free time in the morning. Not wanting to waste it, I headed to the physical training room.
[The door opens.]
As the training room door opened, familiar faces came into view.
Lee Seo-jun, Shin Young-jun…… and Choi Seo-yun.
I don’t know why Choi Seo-yun was there, but with her specialty in enhancement magic, she probably used that as an excuse to meet Lee Seo-jun.
“It’s Kim Sun-woo.”
“Hey.”
“Uh, hi.”
As I entered the training room, Lee Seo-jun and Shin Young-jun greeted me. I returned the greeting, but then Choi Seo-yun approached me.
“Hello.”
“Uh, hi.”
Choi Seo-yun looked at me and said.
“Sunbae, I have a question.”
“Yeah.”
“Why do you always ignore my messages?”
I stared at her with blank eyes at the unexpected question from Choi Seo-yun.
Messages?
What messages did she send? I’ve ignored so many from her that I can’t remember.
“I don’t remember. What did you send?”
At my question, Choi Seo-yun’s eyebrow twitched.
“I asked if the rumors were true. Last week.”
“Oh, right. I remember now.”
The day Jang Ye called me out, I did get that message from Choi Seo-yun.
Now that I recalled, Choi Seo-yun let out a deep sigh.
“Tch. You have zero interest in me. Sunbae, do you have some grudge against me?”
Grudge?
“No, I don’t.”
“Then why? You always ignore my messages.”
“Because you only send useless ones.”
At my response, Choi Seo-yun’s smooth forehead wrinkled.
“No…… Do I have to send only important messages? We can have pointless chats sometimes too.”
She grumbled like someone with no sense of fun—Choi Seo-yun pouted.
Getting this upset over a few ignored messages.
Well, she’s always been treated like a princess, so my attitude might be bruising her pride.
“Got it. I’ll ignore you less from now on.”
“Ugh, seriously! ‘Ignore less’? Whatever. I won’t message you anymore either.”
[The character ‘Choi Seo-yun’ feels annoyed toward you.]
[You acquire 500 points as a reward.]
Choi Seo-yun turned away in a huff.
What if you’re annoyed.
Whatever. I ignored her and started stretching.
That’s when Shin Young-jun, who had been watching me and Choi Seo-yun with interest, sidled up and whispered.
“Ooh. What’s this?”
“What.”
“You two seem close?”
Close my ass.
He has a habit of interpreting what he sees however he wants. Like with me and Jang Ye last time.
Actually, thinking about it, he wasn’t wrong about Jang Ye. I did get called out then.
“Hey, it’s because you spread useless rumors.”
“What rumors.”
“That time with Park Min…… Ugh, never mind.”
I didn’t want to dredge up painful memories, so I shut my mouth and resumed stretching.
Just then, the training room door opened, and someone entered. Speak of the devil.
The person who walked in was none other than Jang Ye.
“Hey, everyone.”
She spotted us and greeted cheerfully first.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Park Min-ye sunbae.”
Lee Seo-jun and Shin Young-jun bowed politely.
Behind them, Choi Seo-yun also gave a slight nod in greeting.
I glanced at them and went back to loosening up.
“Hello.”
Then she approached me and greeted. Unlike the uncomfortable face she showed when she dissed me before, it was a bright smile.
“..Yeah, hi.”
She got upset last time, but now she’s greeting first.
As I looked at Jang Ye with strange eyes, she said.
“But why haven’t you been coming to the training room lately? I was looking for you.”
“......Pardon?”
“I felt bad because I answered too hastily last time.”
“Oh, yeah……”
“Let’s get along. We message sometimes too.”
What’s her deal? Knowing her true identity as a demon made her sudden friendliness feel uncomfortable.
“Ooh……”
Then a voice of admiration came from the side.
I turned my head sharply, and Shin Young-jun was looking at me with a face full of excitement. Behind him, Choi Seo-yun was sneaking a glance at me.
[The character ‘Choi Seo-yun’ feels curiosity toward you.]
[You acquire 500 points as a reward.]
[The character ‘Shin Young-jun’ cheers you on.]
[You acquire 500 points as a reward.]
What’s with them.
After finishing training in the physical room, I headed to the magic training ground.
Doing magic training right after grueling physical training was exhausting both physically and mentally, but with the Jo Sung-hoon crew coming up this weekend and some personal techniques I wanted to test, I forced myself there.
[Target generated.]
[Number of targets set.]
[Number of targets: 1.]
Whoooong—!
A magic orb floated above my hand. I gathered mana and compressed it to the max.
Soon, nearly all the mana in my body was depleted. It happened in just 5 seconds.
‘Tch.’
My insufficient mana capacity was annoying, but I ignored it and fired the magic orb at the target.
Shooooong—!
The magic orb flew, leaving a white afterimage.
It soon shattered the target with a loud boom.
“Whew.”
All my mana was instantly drained. I felt a bit of fatigue.
Normally, I’d stop training here, but I had no intention of quitting.
I had a way to keep training.
I opened my subspace and pulled out a bottle of mana elixir from Han Se-yeon, downing it in one go.
A bitter, weird taste filled my mouth.
[Effect of ‘Amplified Mana Elixir’: Mana recovery speed increased by 500% for 5 minutes.]
[After duration ends, mana exhaustion for 30 minutes.]
The elixir’s effect kicked in immediately.
My depleted mana started filling up rapidly.
Alright, time to experiment.
The maximum mana I can compress.
[Target generated.]
[Number of targets set.]
[Number of targets: 1.]
“Hup!”
I focused my mind.
At the same time, a magic orb emitting pure white light formed above my hand.
Whoooong—
I maintained focus, continuously gathering and compressing the mana filling my body.
Compress the mana.
Compress again.
But soon I hit the limit of what I could compress. A result of lacking mana control.
“Q “
My head spun for a moment, but I kept concentrating.
The compression speed slowed dramatically, but I continued slowly.
The experiment I was doing now was testing my limits.
What’s the maximum magic I can manifest right now.
About 2 minutes passed like that.
When I came to, a silver-glowing magic orb floated above my hand.
Silver mana, the symbol of an A-Rank manifestation wizard.
It took 2 minutes of compression, but that silver mana was shining above my hand.
As I marveled at it, a message appeared before my eyes.
[Achieved ‘Silver Mana Manifestation’ accomplishment.]
[You acquire 5,000 points as a reward.]
[First successful Silver Mana Manifestation!]
[Mana Control Technique (B) proficiency increases by 30%.]
[Mana rises by 2.]
“......Whoa? Jackpot.”
Mana Control Technique proficiency shot up by a whopping 30%. Mana control is the key metric for distinguishing wizard ranks.
Considering the insane gap between B-Rank and A-Rank, this was absurd growth.
‘At this rate, am I gonna hit A-Rank level soon?’
［Sell completed］
1 PM, after morning personal training.
I logged into the stock app and sold off some Hanseong Pharmaceuticals stock.
I wanted to sell it all, but I don’t have any immediate need for a ton of cash right now anyway.