Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Sand Mire (2)
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The reason the Sand Mire receives such lukewarm reviews.
First. No friendly fire distinction.
It's worse than useless if it hits your own party's tank with a CC skill.
Second. Minimal effect on humanoid or larger monsters.
Small, lightweight monsters like goblins flail around because they sink up to their legs.
For average humanoid monsters, it's just a light slow effect that barely reaches their ankles.
No need to even mention large monsters or flying ones—completely ineffective.
Third, short duration.
You pour mana into creating it, only for it to vanish quickly, making it inefficient.
Putting their opinions together, it's a usable skill in the early game.
But once you start partying up and medium-sized monsters appear, it's hard to make practical use of it.
"But that's got nothing to do with me."
None of those three issues were problems for me.
First off, friendly fire distinction.
I had no intention of doing party play from the start.
I don't even do party quests or raids in games because they're stressful.
Since I'd be climbing the tower solo anyway, there was no risk of harming allies.
"Besides, a mage is obviously a pure DPS, right? Why would I need a tank?"
And the second and third reasons.
Its ambiguous identity as a CC skill wasn't an issue for me either.
"I'm not using it as a CC skill to begin with."
I felt the Sand Mire infused with my own hand.
The struggling of the goblins sunk in the mire. The subtle vibrations from their flailing. Even their ragged breaths filled with terror.
Everything came alive in my palm.
The Sand Mire had become another part of my body.
It felt like my palm had expanded massively.
I counted the number of goblins now in my grasp.
"Exactly twenty of them."
Unfortunately, I still couldn't control this Sand Mire completely freely.
It didn't feel like my control ability was lacking.
More like it was functionally limited.
Probably because I lacked related skills.
"Alright, then... just like I practiced...."
I snapped my fingers.
Dozens of sand projectiles erupted from beneath the goblins' feet like harpoons.
Pababapak-!
A sharp bursting sound.
The densely compressed sand projectiles exploded in the middle of the goblins.
The shrapnel scattered in all directions, piercing the defenseless backs and heads.
Their bodies, without any decent armor, tore apart like paper.
"Kek...!"
Unable to even scream properly, the goblins collapsed on the spot.
The rear goblins panicked at the sudden massacre.
Watching them, I muttered in satisfaction.
"Just as I expected."
I never intended to use this skill just to bind enemies' feet from the start.
It was a foundation for an AoE attack spell, essentially a damage carpet.
A foothold that let me freely manipulate sand even where there was none.
The true essence of this skill lay in deploying a sand-attribute field.
I'd come up with this method at the playground.
While playing with sand using mana in the playground sandbox, the idea had struck me.
At first, control was tough, but once I realized mixing in part of my body made it way easier, I decided to use it in real combat.
After one round of slaughter, the remaining goblins were no longer a threat.
I leisurely formed projectiles and picked them off one by one as they scattered.
Not a single shot missed this time either.
Once all the goblins were cleared, the surroundings warped, returning me to the familiar white room.
And as always, a blue system window appeared before my eyes.
[Tower Floor 2 (EXTREME) Cleared. Congratulations!]
[First Clear Bonus Applied!]
[Rewards Obtained]
[Mana Stone Acquisition x2]
[Mana Stone 400g]
"Oh, finally mana stones."
Mana stones I should have seen on Floor 1 originally.
Since I'd leveled up there and missed them, this was my first time seeing the real thing.
A subtle mana emanated from the faintly glowing purple stone.
"They say these are super expensive, huh?"
Mana stones, which appear reliably on every floor, are hunters' main source of income.
They're used in all sorts of ways, but as a former civilian until recently, I had no clue.
What mattered was the price.
"200 million won per 100 grams, was it?"
Climbing one floor in the tower had netted me 800 million won.
Climbing daily would mean at least over 10 billion a month.
"If I keep earning like this, I could shower the Hunter Gallery with whole pizzas and still have plenty left...."
I pocketed the mana stone contentedly.
But I still had some lingering regret.
Because one more notification was waiting.
[Tower Floor 2 Clear Record]
[Challenger: Unregistered]
[Selected Difficulty: EXTREME]
[Clear Time: 5 minutes 27 seconds]
[Score Obtained: 19,301 points]
[World Ranking Updated! (Previous 1st: 6,348 points)]
[World Ranking 1st Achieved!]
[Please enter a name to register on the ranking.]
[Name: ]
"As expected, it popped up again."
This time, I entered ㅇㅇ as my nickname too.
"That Demigod guy's probably throwing a fit again, huh?"
He seemed desperate to catch me, but I wasn't scared at all.
How the hell was he going to pinpoint me?
He'd just vent into the void on SNS and be done with it.
[Ranking 1st Bonus Applied!]
[All Stats +10]
The moment I confirmed the [All Stats +10] at the bottom of the reward list, my bodily senses sharpened noticeably.
"But I can't really feel the mana increase...."
Without numerical stats, I couldn't gauge how much stronger I'd gotten.
I had no sense of how valuable +10 to all stats was either.
"Stat checks are only at the Hunter Association.... No choice, then. Gotta rush to Floor 20."
Once I broke through Floor 20—the benchmark for A-rank hunter recognition—I'd register as an official hunter.
Until then, I'd have to put up with the inconveniences.
Living as an unregistered hunter came with all sorts of hassles.
Selling mana stones was one of them.
I had no place to sell this one right now.
All mana stone trades went through the Hunter Association.
"Guess I need to find a broker?"
For now, I decided to ask in the Mage Gallery.
I left the tower and headed straight home.
I booted up my computer and logged into the familiar Mage Gallery, where new posts waiting for me had piled up.
Most were wondering why I was so quiet and saying they were waiting for me.
Grinning, I tapped out a post.
[Title: Bro's back. Sand Mire review.wedp]
Cleared Floor 2 easily.
About 20 goblins showed up.
Tried Sand Mire too—needs reevaluation.
Details in the video.
(Combat footage from body cam.wedp)
The moment I posted, the comments exploded.
ㄴ Dung Beetle: Wait, why's the clear time so fast again?
ㄴ Pkketchu: 20 goblins? Insane. How'd you even take them down?
[Title: Watched the video—great idea.]
Posted by: Fridge
Using it not as CC but as a resource deploy. Smart.
I mean, I could only spam ice magic without water after Floor 20.
Before that, lugged around heavy water bottles.
Puts it in a good light, thinking about that?
ㄴ Magic is Firepower: I carried a lighter at first too.
ㄴ Anon: That level of water slow without water nearby?
ㄴ Fridge: Knew you'd say that.
ㄴ Pkketchu: Can't you just grind nearby rocks into sand?
ㄴ Anon: Tried it, but too slow to work.
[Title: Freaked out seeing you mix in your hand.]
Posted by: Magic is Firepower
Never seen anyone use magic like that.
Does it do anything special?
ㄴ Anon: Control? Something like that goes up? Feels that way?
ㄴ Fridge: Gotta test it out.
ㄴ Pkketchu: But how'd you know something we don't?
ㄴ Anon: Just a hunch.
ㄴ Pkketchu: Newbie guts are wild;;
ㄴ Magic is Firepower: Why didn't anyone think to use Sand Mire like that? Endless potential for growth later. Should I bump up its rating?
ㄴ Dung Beetle: Nah, that's just this guy's special.
Normal people can't control Sand Mire like that.
Especially at level 2.
ㄴ Fridge: Control scales with mana stats, right? How much mana does this guy even have?
ㄴ Pkketchu: Just register as hunter already. Dying to see your stats.
ㄴ Dung Beetle: Sure, that's part of it, but mixing in body parts seems to ease control too.
ㄴ Dung Beetle: Better keep this secret.
ㄴ Fridge: Yeah. Keep it hush. Don't let foreigners know.
"Ah, so nobody knew about this...."
My chest swelled with pride for some reason.
Like a total newbie had discovered a hidden piece even the veterans missed.
ㄴ Dung Beetle: Can't let something like this go for free. Hit me up if you need help later.
ㄴ Pkketchu: Can't live owing a newbie. Hurts my pride.
ㄴ Magic is Firepower: Heading out to test now. If it works, I'll help you out sometime too.
ㄴ Fridge: What an incredible newbie....
Promises of help from S-ranks and A-ranks.
My heart swelled.
I steered the topic to rewards around there.
I had a lot of questions.
[Title: No skillbook reward this time.]
Content: ㅈㄱㄴ
ㄴ Magic is Firepower: Don't get ahead of yourself~ Skillbooks aren't every floor~
ㄴ Dung Beetle: Skillbooks are level-up exclusives. Usually it's mana stones or junk items. What'd you get? Got both Extreme bonus and 1st rank rewards again, right?
ㄴ Anon: Stat bonus. All stats +10. Is this good?
ㄴ Pkketchu: ???? Insane flex.
ㄴ Magic is Firepower: Jackpot!!!!!!! Block this guy!!! Oh wait, no badges here. Puhahaha~.
ㄴㄴ Fridge: Why this auntie acting up;;
ㄴ Anon: Oh, so it really is good. Didn't know.
I'm a newbie. Cut me some slack.