Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Learning Magic
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I turned on YouTube, and a video popped up of an enthusiastic Indian guy chattering away in English.
No subtitles, no flashy intro. Just a simple video with nothing but a chalkboard.
“I don’t speak English.”
Truth be told, even if I did, I probably wouldn’t have understood him.
That heavy curry-thick accent would stump even an American native speaker.
But overwhelming teaching prowess made the language barrier irrelevant.
“Basic magick... is used like this, honey. First, you imagine to pull up the power of the earth…”
The guy gestured wildly, even drawing pictures on the board as he explained with passion.
For human communication, nothing else was needed.
“Looks like he’s telling me to imagine drawing in the power of the earth.”
I nodded, interpreting the uncle’s words as best I could.
The core was similar to meditation.
The god residing inside me. Connecting it with the natural world outside.
“This important! Three months!”
The uncle suddenly held up three fingers for emphasis.
“He says it might take three months or more to sense mana? That’s a problem.”
I wanted to cast magic right now and pass the verification.
The new gallery—just four mages in all of Korea, now five with me.
I wanted to join their ranks ASAP and enjoy some good gallery posting.
But three months? That was way too long.
“Whatever, let’s give it a shot.”
No point rushing it anyway.
To feel the power of the earth firsthand, I headed outside.
I needed the closest spot to soil, the place with the most dirt.
After some thought, I ended up at the playground in my apartment complex.
I sat cross-legged in the middle of the sandbox.
Crushing kids’ dug-out frog houses and sandcastles under my butt.
Soon, I started feeling eyes on me.
“Hey? Check that out.”
“What? That girl?”
“Yeah. Looks like a student. What’s she doing in the middle of the playground at this hour?”
“Dunno. Some challenge? Kids these days are all nuts about filming YouTube vids.”
“What do they get out of it?”
“Back in our day, kids went crazy wanting to be idols. Now they debut by posting stuff like that?”
“Then maybe she’s an idol trainee too? She’s super pretty, that’s for sure. Clothes are kinda shabby, though.”
Whispers reached my ears.
Getting treated like a weirdo was nothing new.
But ‘pretty’? That was a first.
My body twisted awkwardly from the unfamiliar compliment.
I ignored their stares as best I could.
A quick peek showed just a few grannies on the bench and some passing aunties.
Didn’t matter what they thought of me.
I closed my eyes and focused solely on sensing mana.
Thanks to thirty days of meditation practice, concentration came easy.
Ambient noise faded away, and my awareness sank downward, burrowing into the sand.
Then I felt it.
The faint energy in each grain of sand.
The massive flow they formed together.
Everything emanating from deep underground.
This was mana.
“Success.”
I opened my eyes.
A glance at my watch showed it had taken just minutes. The process the video said could take three months was over in a flash.
I looked around.
Luckily, the gawkers from before had all left.
Now was my chance.
I cautiously extended my hand and tried manipulating the mana.
“Start with simple sand movement…”
At my gesture, the sand rose smoothly and writhed like a snake.
“Ooh!”
I lost track of time, playing with the sand.
I even made the ugly frog doodles I’d seen posted in the gallery, and carved a big gallery logo.
“I should post this later with the title ‘Hunbung tried making a sandcastle, how many thumbs up?’”
I snapped photos of it all for verification.
After messing around for a while, something occurred to me.
The most basic attack spell the Indian uncle taught in the video.
“Sand Bullet, right? Lame name.”
Names didn’t matter.
I scooped up a handful of sand in my palm.
Closed my eyes and imagined.
A single bullet.
The sand grains in my hand moved according to my mental image.
Clumping tightly together. Compressing, spinning.
I could see the god inside me change shape. Now it looked like a small bullet.
Suddenly, my head spun dizzily.
Sparks flew in my brain.
A flood of information poured into my mind at once.
Optimal arrangement of sand grains, most efficient mana compression method, spin speed.
Complex calculations skipped, results derived by pure intuition.
It all came naturally, like I’d known it forever.
‘Has my brain ever spun this fast before?’
No, never.
I’d spent my life rotting my brain with nothing but shitposts.
Suddenly, I felt like a genius.
‘Did awakening as a mage remodel not just my body, but my brain too…?’
Maybe. My gender had changed, after all—odd if my brain stayed the same.
I stopped the stray thoughts.
I precisely manipulated the mana according to the intuitive optimal solution.
The sand in my palm spun violently, clumping together.
With a sizzle, a black, hard bullet the size of a fingernail finally formed.
I pointed my finger at a beat-up bench in the corner of the playground.
And fired the completed sand bullet.
Shoo-!
It tore through the air with terrifying speed.
Bang!
The bench’s backrest exploded with a hole.
Like it’d been hit by a large-caliber rifle.
I was shocked by the power. This was just basic magic? Usable without skills?
No wonder mages were considered cheats.
“…….”
I stared blankly at the wrecked bench for a moment before snapping out of it.
Had to leave before anyone saw.
“Can’t skip the proof shot, though.”
I whipped out my phone and snapped pics.
Even if my life ended in a second, I’d be taking proof shots.
I captured the holed bench and the faint sand pattern left on my palm.
After a few more shots, I bolted from the playground back home without regrets.
***
The moment I got home, I logged into the mages’ gallery.
Less than two hours since the last post, but a few new ones had gone up.
I read the latest to gauge the mood before I joined.
[Title: When’s that newbie gonna show?]
Author: Magic is Firepower
Took me five months. Wonder how many months before they come back. Did we give too tough an assignment?
ㄴ Fridge: At least three or four. Even genius me took two.
ㄴ pKatsu: I did it in one month tho? :D
ㄴ Fridge: You’re lightning attribute. Lightning’s naturally fast. Earth takes longer.
ㄴ Dungbeetle: Anyway, let’s wait and see.
[Title: But what if they’re a scammer? :D]
Author: pKatsu
What if they post fake edited pics and run? :D
ㄴ Magic is Firepower: Could be.
ㄴ Dungbeetle: Nah, my gut says they’re legit.
Hmm, buzzing about me. Mix of hype and doubt.
Getting attention is always fun.
Smiling in satisfaction, I hit the post button.
[Title: Proof. This it?]
Author: Anon
(Photo of the holed bench)
(Photo of sand traces on palm)
This what you wanted? Tough stuff.
The gallery exploded the instant I posted.
ㄴ pKatsu: ???????????
ㄴ Fridge: ??????
ㄴ Magic is Firepower: ?? What is this?
ㄴ Dungbeetle: How’d you do that? Already??
ㄴ Anon (OP): You told me to.
ㄴ Dungbeetle: I did, but not this fast…. How long to sense mana?
ㄴ Anon (OP): Like 10 minutes?
ㄴ Magic is Firepower: 10 minutes? lol
ㄴ Fridge: Bull. Took me two months to first sense mana.
ㄴ pKatsu: I’m lightning so I’m fast, still took a week just to get the feel! 10 mins is impossible! :D
Their reactions drew a satisfied grin.
Time for the follow-up blow.
ㄴ Anon (OP): Huh? Maybe you guys just suck and took forever?
ㄴ Magic is Firepower: This punk??
ㄴ Dungbeetle: Pics edited? Anyone know?
ㄴ Fridge: Nah. Hole’s cross-section on the bench and traces on hand scream Sand Bullet.
Impossible to replicate that precisely from just a YouTube vid. They actually cast it.
ㄴ Magic is Firepower: So they really did it in 10 mins? Insane talent ㄷㄷ.
ㄴ Dungbeetle: We got a real prodigy newbie….
Seeing the gallery rave about my talent felt great.
Couldn’t show I was enjoying it too much, though.
Sticking to gallery etiquette, I replied curtly.
ㄴ Anon (OP): Giving out hard proof tasks like this is nuts, right? If not for me, you’d see me in half a year.
ㄴ Dungbeetle: Well… We figured you’d come back in a month showing some fake sand float and we’d pass ya…. Didn’t expect Sand Bullet in a day. Sorry.
Dungbeetle apologized straightforwardly. I replied magnanimously.
ㄴ Anon (OP): Whatever. So I’m official now?
ㄴ Dungbeetle: Obviously. Welcome, newbie.
ㄴ Fridge: Believable. You’re a real mage.
ㄴ pKatsu: Congrats on becoming a mage! :D
Their welcome finally made it sink in.
I was truly a mage now, one of them.
Then Dungbeetle added another comment.
ㄴ Dungbeetle: With that talent and power, the Tower tutorial’s a joke for you….
Hit the Tower when you got time. Oh, hold off on Hunter registration.
ㄴ Anon (OP): Was gonna do Tower anyway, but why skip Hunter reg?
ㄴ Dungbeetle: Just trust me. Reveal you’re a mage now, and trouble brews. Register after you’re strong enough.
The Tower. The ultimate reason I’d spent thirty days eating dirt to become a mage.
Hunters got wealth and fame.
But skip registration?
ㄴ Anon (OP): Don’t you need Hunter reg to enter the Tower?
ㄴ Dungbeetle: Not really these days outside Seoul—they’re lax on checks.
ㄴ Dungbeetle: As a mage, you gotta grind the Tower. Mana stones, XP, all that.
ㄴ Dungbeetle: Ask anything about Tower entry or prep. We’ll tell ya.
Reading his comments solidified my resolve.
ㄴ Anon (OP): Okey. Hitting it tomorrow then.
No need to hesitate.
Why’d I suffer thirty days?
All to become a mage and live large.
I’d only taken my first step.