The First Spark of Mana

"Ugh— Aaaagh!!"

Ju Joyeon screamed as he jolted awake.

"Oh? Finally coming around?"

"Wh-where am I...?"

Ju Joyeon frantically checked his body. His clothes were soaked with cold sweat, but thankfully there were no visible injuries.

"Don't worry. You were only out for about an hour. I figured I'd try channeling a tiny bit of mana into you just in case, and it worked. Your world had no mana at all, so when the pathways finally opened, the shock knocked you out."

"Pathways...? Is that bad?"

"You're fine. Open your status window."

"Status window?"

At his words, a translucent status window appeared before him.

A title he had never seen before now sat proudly on the window.

"You fainted right as the notification popped up. Seems like titles are granted for doing something first. What does yours do?"

"It says it raises my mana comprehension?"

"Hmm. Similar to mine, then. Not bad. Mana is hard to grasp unless you're born with talent or a genius. For a modern-world guy like you, that's a useful title."

"Ooooh!"

Ju Joyeon’s eyes sparkled again, the near-death experience from an hour ago already forgotten.

"Anyway, since you're up, let's pick up where we left off."

"Uh, what were we talking about?"

"The fact that I hold a massive advantage now that I've met you in this world. And that there's something we need to do to survive."

The boss tapped away on his smartphone with practiced ease.

"Something we need to do?"

"Exactly."

"Exactly?"

The boss turned the screen toward him. Ju Joyeon stared at the images and muttered without thinking.

"...Guns?"

"Yep. Guns."

Various firearms filled the display.

"Guns aren't the only option—bombs, cars, planes—they're all powerful tools. But guns come first. They're a product of science. With just basic training, even a child could kill an ogre. Of course, if you control the ammo separately, the guns themselves aren't that dangerous. Still, it's an excellent system."

"You're planning to get guns?"

"Don't be stupid. What would I do with guns?"

"...Weren't we just talking about guns?"

"What I'm talking about is intermediary trade."

...How did we jump from guns to intermediary trade?

Ju Joyeon couldn't follow the boss's sudden leap in logic.

"Simply put, I'm going to sell guns to people from the magic world. That means money. Power. An irresistible temptation."

"Wait... how are you even going to get guns to sell?"

"Buy them from people who sell guns."

Ju Joyeon was momentarily speechless at how matter-of-factly the boss spoke.

"That doesn't make sense. Modern-world people are the ones selling them, and our country doesn't even allow buying or selling guns."

"Countries don't matter anymore. I've already figured out the route. All we need is the merchandise."

"But... would they even sell to us?"

"Of course they would. They'll get what they want in return."

"What they want?"

The boss raised a finger. Crackle... A tiny spark of fire flickered at the tip.

"Magic."

"Ah."

"Exactly! We trade guns for magic. The modern world will always crave magic—just like you. And the magic world will always crave guns—powerful weapons anyone can use! So I'll sit in the middle of this insane supply and demand, controlling the flow and making a killing as the first-ever inter-world trader!"

The boss spread his arms wide, already imagining his future wealth. Ju Joyeon stood there awkwardly, unsure how to react to such an outrageous plan.

"Is... that even possible? Even for you, boss, you'd be short on manpower."

He couldn't imagine this tiny gang pulling off something so grand.

"You wouldn't know, but this is exactly what we've always done. Black-market trading. Once the other side is desperate to buy, they'll bring their own people. The real key right now is the bait to lure them in."

"You can't get guns right away. Are you planning to give them magic tools or something?"

"I already told you—we've done this before. And look what's right next to you. Merchandise."

Ju Joyeon glanced around at the boss's words. Half the room was filled with old, worn books—the same ones he'd seen when he first entered.

"...Don't tell me these are all spellbooks?"

The boss smirked.

"Most of them. Worthless junk that wouldn't sell back in my world. But your side is different. If I can just prove magic works, the rest is easy."

"Uh... how are you going to prove it works?"

"You're really slow. Why do you think I called you here?"

"Huh?"

The boss pointed at the dusty books.

"You're going to learn them all."

"What?"

"To sell magic to modern people, I need to show them that a modern person can use it. Thanks to that god-tier translation skill, you can read them. And with your new title boosting your mana comprehension, it shouldn't be too hard."

The boss turned to leave.

"No no no no—wait, boss! How am I supposed to learn all these thick books?!"

"Relax. Spellbooks are enchanted. Most of them teach you the magic just by reading. They disappear after one use, so they're expensive, but still."

He opened the door.

"This room is yours now. I'll be using the one you were sleeping in. If you don't understand something, call me. I've got a lot to do."

"W-wait...!"

Thud!

The boss ignored him and shut the door. Dust drifted down from the impact. Ju Joyeon coughed, staring blankly at the books he now had to read, then pulled himself together.

Look on the bright side. I might actually get to use magic.

For now, he decided, Let's start with cleaning.

He opened the door and got to work.

****

It took him half a day to tidy the room. Even though it was small, moving stacks of dusty books while dragging iron balls on both legs took forever. As he organized them and read a few titles, his excitement quickly cooled.

"Boss! These spellbooks will never sell!"

"I know. As long as they prove magic exists, that's enough."

"I don't want to learn any of this!"

"No need to beat around the bush if you want to die."

"I'll work hard!"

After his pointless whining, Ju Joyeon returned to the room, clutched his head with a sigh, and reread the titles lined up before him.

[Wood Flame] = A spell to ignite dry firewood.

[Water Breath] = A spell to breathe underwater for ten seconds.

[Ice Arrow] = A spell that cools an arrowhead to 0°C.

"These are all garbage!"

Most of them had grandiose names but were completely useless.

"Haaah... Well, it's not like I get to be picky in my position. Not dying is already a win. And hey, it's still magic..."

He opened [Wood Flame] and began reading the text. At first the letters were incomprehensible, but soon they resolved into readable Korean. Still—

"Ugh... What does any of this even mean?"

The dense explanations of mana flow and spell structure were exhausting to parse.

This is going to take forever...

With a grim expression, Ju Joyeon turned page after page.

****

A week passed.

Bang!

"Get out here. Food's ready, kid."

"Coming!"

"Yeees~ Just a sec."

Humans really were creatures of adaptation. Ju Joyeon, now quite used to his situation, tucked the spellbook he'd been reading into his inventory and followed the subordinates who had come to fetch him.

"Hey, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠can't you take these iron balls off yet? I'm really not going to run."

"Of course not."

"Obviously not, man."

"Yeah... figured as much..."

Even though he knew the answer, Ju Joyeon kept talking to the large man leading him, reluctant to walk to the dining hall in silence.

"How's progress? Any buyers for the guns yet? Or people wanting to buy magic?"

Two days ago, following the boss's orders, he'd recorded videos of himself using the spells he'd learned so far. Since modern Earth had no mana and his pathways had only just opened, casting each spell drained him completely and made him faint, but he'd managed to get usable footage.

"You think it's that easy?"

"Yeah, I guess not."

Ju Joyeon hadn't expected anyone to be interested in magic from such crude videos anyway.

"We've got one buyer interested in spellbooks so far. Six places want guns."

"Huh? That's actually a lot, isn't it?"

"Not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really. The gun buyers were already our regular clients. Thanks to the world fusion, we can only reach about half our old contacts, and we haven't gained any new ones."

"Still, at least some places are reachable... What about the magic buyer?"

"Ask the boss yourself."

They arrived at the dining hall and left him there, returning to their own tasks.

"You're here. Eat."

"Ah, yes."

Only the boss was eating. The other subordinates apparently had separate meal times—or perhaps the boss had deliberately set this time aside for just the two of them.

"I wish I could learn some flashier spells."

"Flashier spells... There aren't any. These are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠already the ones that might impress modern-world people."

"Haaah... Should I get you something decent? Any magic you actually want?"

"Huh? You'd really get one for me?"

Ju Joyeon was surprised—the thought that the boss would actually acquire a proper spellbook for him had never crossed his mind.

"We've started making deals. If we're going to make real money, we'll need better footage too."

"Speaking of which, you said someone wants to buy spellbooks? Can I ask who?"

"Yeah. North Korea."

"...What?"

"North Korea. That country above yours."

"......"

"They've got tight control. Everyone's had military training too, so they've recovered their grip on power pretty fast. Probably saw magic firsthand in the chaos. They were the first to contact me after I posted the videos."

"Are... you going to sell to them?"

"Of course."

"What if they scam you?"

"There's contract magic. Scamming a mage is impossible."

"Ahh. Right."

"Anyway, I'll handle that. Like I said, any magic you want?"

"Magic I want... Is there healing magic?"

Ju Joyeon asked about the staple of RPGs.

"Of course there is. But you can't use it."

"Why not?"

"It consumes way more mana than normal spells. With your pathetic amount, you'd fail the spell and pass out from mana exhaustion before you could even heal anything."

"Then defensive magic?"

"Not recommended either."

"Why?"

"Most defensive spells have terrible cost-efficiency. Many don't have a fixed mana cost and keep draining mana as long as they're active. Screw up and you'll end up in the afterlife instead of just fainting."

"Then teleportation magic?"

"Way too advanced."

"What the hell. So none of the magic I want is possible?"

"Know your place before you ask. You're just a modern human with a tiny bit of mana. Did you think you were some archmage?"

"Nngh... Fine. I'll just be grateful I'm alive."

"Smart answer."

"Tch..."

Ju Joyeon shut up and started eating. The boss ate his soup while staring at his phone.

"It's bad manners to use your phone at the table."

"Shut up. I'm working. Communications have been cutting out a lot lately and it's stressing me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out, so don't annoy me."

The boss was already showing severe smartphone addiction symptoms.

"Work... Using your phone is work? Must be nice. My job is reading books I don't want to read—oh, speaking of which, there was a weird book in there."

The boss, who had been focused on his screen, suddenly looked up at Ju Joyeon's random remark.

"A weird book? There shouldn't be anything like that in that room. Just worthless stock."

"There was one. It wasn't about magic at all—it was about the 'concept of souls' or something."

"...? What's the title?"

"The title~ It was definitely [%#$%]."

"...What?"

The boss couldn't understand him.

"I said it was [%#$%]."

"Are you messing with me? I can't even hear what you're—"

Drip, drip, drip...

Suddenly, dark red blood began pouring from the boss's nose.

"Boss?!"

Startled, Ju Joyeon grabbed some tissues and offered them, but the boss ignored him, staring at the blood with a pale face.

Then, in a serious voice, he ordered:

"Bring me that book."

"Y-yes, sir."