Mana Stone Mine Request - Part 1
The news had been in an uproar day after day. The situation was that serious. Critics in the media hammered away with questions like, "What the hell was the government doing until something like that happened at Seoul Station?" Politicians piled on, demanding punishment for those responsible.
But the funny part was how public opinion, already sour toward black mages once it came out that the perpetrator was one of them, turned even uglier. They started demonizing black mages as society's villains, and politicians tried to muddy the waters. It wasn't exactly mudslinging in the strict sense, but it was frustrating for An So-mi and Go Yu-jin that all black mages were getting painted with the same broad brush.
"Why are they so obsessed with devouring black mages?!"
An So-mi's furious shout had Go Yu-jin chiming in right after.
"Exactly! They wrapped it up with minimal damage. It should've ended with just the one idiot who caused the accident getting killed off. Why all the fuss?!"
The reason was simple. They were using groups that were already lightning rods for criticism as shields to keep the arrows from pointing at themselves.
"Don't they call it 'scapegoating'? There are three thousand black mages in Seoul alone, and over twenty thousand nationwide. Imagine how many that balloons to worldwide."
Go Yu-jin jumped on me at my words. "Whose side are you on?!"
I replied calmly. "It's not about sides. It's survival of the fittest. There's some interesting stats, too."
I pointed out one article. Go Yu-jin and An So-mi leaned in to check the part I highlighted. It was a piece on rampages, emphasizing that this black mage incident wasn't anything special.
"The job class most involved in rampage incidents is 'Warrior' types. Followed, amusingly enough, by 'Mage's. It's obvious—they've been the go-to punching bags since the old days and now. Doesn't this government hate black mages with a passion?"
The current president was a war hero. He'd have ties to all sorts of people, mostly frontline heroes he'd fought alongside. But among the three most notoriously prickly heroes from the frontlines, two were black mages. And they didn't get along with the president. Part of it was clashing merits, but as top heroes, they'd butted heads plenty over command authority, too.
'Personal grudges are best settled between the parties, but those aren't the types.'
"It bums me out."
"Yeah. How long do we have to put up with this crap?"
"If these incidents stop completely and stay quiet for a few years, some other job class will take our spot as the scapegoats. That's when we can rebuild our image. Until then, no dice."
My blunt assessment left the two speechless.
Black mages not causing accidents? That was about as likely as gates never opening again.
To change the air, I said, "Shall we get to work? Didn't you say there's cleanup today?"
Today wasn't a bloody gate, so An So-mi was joining the field op. The office had been buzzing since morning.
"Mines give me the creeps..."
I brushed off An So-mi's grumbling, hopped in the car, and after about an hour's drive, we reached a village on the outskirts of Goyang City.
"I heard this place used to be pretty lively back in the day. It's pretty desolate now, huh?"
As Go Yu-jin said, we'd arrived in the neighborhood called Hwa-jeon. Before the cataclysm, it had been home to an aviation university, and during the boom in aviation, it was a decent spot with infrastructure drawing plenty of students.
But post-cataclysm, aviation died. Jet noise made planes prime targets for flying monsters, and crashes scattered debris causing massive extra losses. Industry pivoted entirely to something new: the "portal" business, powered by new materials and diverse awakeners.
In short, the world no longer needed airplanes. Early efforts to repurpose the school failed, and now the whole area had crumbled.
Ironically, a gate popped up here—and as a mine-type gate, it sparked hopes it might revive the region.
"Haven't investigated a gate in ages."
As Go Yu-jin noted, this job involved scouting the mine interior and securing it. The only known threat so far: "golems" inside, former mining machines turned monstrous somehow.
"Heard a ton of Golem Sorcerers are flocking here. Are the byproducts that valuable?"
"Not sure on the details. Even I, called a Golem Meister, specialize in undead rag golems."
She seemed curious. We summoner-types knew golem mechanics well enough anyway.
"A Mana Stone mine, huh."
After slaying monsters, extracting the Mana Stones embedded in their bodies was the core of Earth's new materials industry. Every byproduct—hide, blood, organs, bones—held "mag essence," a power distinct from but akin to mana. Refined in various forms, it was so potent some argued it was mana itself. Researchers insisted otherwise, so everyone went along.
Anyway, discovering this Mana Stone mine had everyone dancing for joy.
'They say regional revival starts with a single spark...'
The gate area already buzzed with energy. How long it lasted would change everything.
"Isn't the survey mostly done?"
I shrugged at An So-mi's question. She and I turned to Go Yu-jin, who sighed.
"Didn't you listen at the briefing?"
An So-mi played dumb. I said flatly, "I don't remember it all anyway."
"You two really need some mental training..."
"So, how long will it last?"
"About three years. That's the max estimate, but gates can shift for any reason, so don't quote me."
Three years was a long haul—plenty of time to mine it dry. No wonder faces lit up like a festival.
"Mana Stone prices are gonna drop, huh?"
"This makes the fifth one, right?"
Go Yu-jin nodded. Five Mana Stone mines in this small country was rare. Even massive China had fewer than ten, mostly near borders sparking ownership disputes.
For now, though, it was party time.
"Looks like they're heading in."
External scans seemed done; a government official led miners into the gate, followed by hordes of workers. Go Yu-jin watched them.
"We'll go in slow. It's just to map how deep the mine goes—no rush."
"Could be a week if it's long."
An So-mi freaked at my words: "Don't jinx it!" Go Yu-jin, face clouded with worry, scolded me sternly not to tempt fate.
Day one of the investigation.
The first day focused on two things: gauging the gate core's density. It required delving deep, so elite awakeners went in first to secure and assess it.
Mine gates usually yielded zero loot from monsters, so mid-tier awakeners avoided them like the plague. They were "trash runs" for 4th-gen and below.
Yet here we were. Partly for core density checks, but mainly to guard it and block early access—perfect for high-grade black mages like us. No one matched our curses and seals.
Natural job creation. That meant descending into the mine on day one for the core.
'Pretty deep.'
We handled golems en route easily. No blood meant An So-mi was in the zone, sparing Go Yu-jin and me effort.
"Man, sweating like this feels great after so long! Stress just melts away!"
Her "stress" was probably just dirty looks from the stigma. Good pay, steady work, reliable hours, no rough edges by others' accounts—a white-collar dream?
Go Yu-jin ran a fair shop, so I had no complaints. But An So-mi built up stress somehow.
'They say women aren't meant to be understood, and it looks true.'
Battlefield buddies used to say cats and women were one and the same.
An So-mi's destruction magic cleared paths smoothly, leading us to the gate core on day one. I handled the sealing.
An So-mi was a Destruction Sorceress, Go Yu-jin a Golem Meister—summoner-type, but physical. Only I could do proper sealing spells.
I poured mana, layering barriers around the core. At least ten for shock resistance, plus four or five mana accumulation arrays inside the final shield.
Black magic ran on "mag force," so we siphoned ambient "mana"—basic atmospheric power—and converted it via accumulation arrays. Standard procedure: solid internals made flawless barriers.
Focused on the setup, I noticed the two women dozing off from boredom. I gazed at them, entranced by their angelic sleeping faces—pure as saints—then back to work, repeating until the plain first day wrapped up.