Chapter 11
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Mana-Rich Field
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This was a spot New World had set up as the entrance to a hidden theme.
As a result, no one in the village ever questioned the abandoned house.
Naturally, the front gate stood wide open.
There was an item hidden inside that house, and it was the key to accessing the hidden theme.
Honestly, before my regression, when Alessandro told me about it, I thought hed made the whole thing up.
Even if it was meant to play on the proverb the darkest place is under the candlestick, the idea of an item leading to a hidden theme being tucked away in some rundown shack like this felt way too forced.
If it sounds like a lie, go ahead and test it yourself.
I could still picture Alessandros smug, confident grin. It wasnt until he cast a lie-detection spell that I finally believed him.
Wed laughed and talked without a single secret between us.
But that damn power...
Jeong Hoons expression darkened menacingly.
Whew, enough of that. Focus on whats ahead.
He stepped inside the abandoned house.
Old Abandoned House
The shack was an ancient, rundown thatched-roof hut.
It looked just like the old traditional houses from the Korean peninsula.
That was because Jeong Hoon was playing in Koreas server after logging in there.
New World divided its servers by country.
And the environment adapted to match each server.
Alessandro had told him his version looked like a small manor house instead of a thatched hut.
Of course, this hidden theme could only be claimed by the first player to discover it in each serverafter that, it vanished.
If I snag it, Alessandro strikes out.
There wasnt a single thing resembling a portal inside the shack.
Not that any player would make it this far in the first place, but even if one did, they wouldnt spot a portal and would just turn right backthere was absolutely nothing here.
Yet the portal to the hidden theme was right here.
Jeong Hoon, now inside the thatched hut, stopped in a small room.
The room held a dusty blanket and pillow that looked like theyd once been used, and in front of them sat a single shattered crystal orb, all by its lonesome.
I never dreamed theyd hidden a mechanism inside the crystal orb. If I hadnt found it, no one ever would have, and it wouldve vanished forever.
Jeong Hoon cautiously reached out and touched the crystal.
An exclamation mark popped up above it.
You have discovered a hidden theme!
You have earned 5,000 achievement points!
Hed just scored another 5,000 achievement points on top of that.
At this rate, hed level up the achievement shop in no time.
Would you like to move to the Mana-Rich Field?
Touching the exclamation mark brought up a prompt asking if he wanted to enter the hidden theme.
Take me there.
As Jeong Hoon accepted, his body glowed with blue light and got sucked into the shattered crystal orb.
Capsule room.
Psssh
The capsule door hissed open, and Ha-jin stepped out.
It was already past 1:10 p.m.
Man, Im not even hungry.
Ha-jin glanced at the still-sealed capsule one last time and shook his head.
As usual, he ordered his favorite egg-cheese ramen, sat at a table, and fiddled with his phone.
Time for food already?
Capsule room owner Lee Hyun-woo plopped down across from him.
Hyung, youre not busy?
Whats there for me to do?
Lee Hyun-woo shrugged.
He might be the owner, but his days consisted of killing time at the counter or hopping into a capsule to play New World.
The part-timers handled the real work.
Your life sounds so chill, hyung.
Lee Hyun-woo had basically been born with a diamond spoon in his mouth.
He was supposed to manage a ten-story building, but when New World blew up, he switched to running a capsule lounge instead.
Heh, you shouldve been born with a good spoon too.
Wow, youre such a jerk.
Anyway, wheres your friend at?
In a capsule.
What...? No food break?
Yeah. I tried whispering him to eat together, but he straight-up ignored it.
I see. Makes sense... Your buddy seemed totally hooked.
Jeong Hoon, right?
He was genuinely impressed by the guys focus.
Ha-jin usually showed up around 9 a.m., but Jeong Hoon would ghost into the lounge like clockwork at 6 a.m.
And he wouldnt log off until 1:30 a.m.
Factoring in commute time, that meant just four hours at homethe rest was all-in on capsules.
The dude gets obsessed with something and goes all out...
Lately, Jeong Hoon barely communicated outside of in-game whispershe practically lived in the capsule.
Yeah, I noticed. Hed scarf down some bread and milk, then dive right back in.
Haha...
Ha-jin felt a headache coming on.
He couldnt shake the guilt of dragging his friend down some weird path.
Jeong Hoon used to be an engineering major with zero interest in capsules.
After discharge, hed planned to balance school and cert studies to land a big corp joba total model student.
Now? Full-blown game addict, making that image a joke.
But your friends got insane focus, huh?
Even if New World was addictive, sticking to it like that wasnt easy.
Hes always been a beast at concentration. Back in elementary school, he even went on that prodigy genius show.
Prodigy Genius.
A game survival contest for kids aged 8 to 13.
Every kid on that show had some freakish talent, or so the rumors went.
No way, for real? Your friends a genius?
Less genius, more insane memorythey scouted him for that.
Memory?
Yeah. Basically eidetic. Once its in his head, it sticks forever.
Huh, interesting.
Yeah. No one could touch him in memory or focus games. Arithmetic was his weak spot, so he placed third.
Third is still badass.
Yeah, it is.
Jeong Hoon never lost top spot in middle school either.
Sure, after his dad died in an accident, he picked up part-time work to help his mom and grades slipped a bitbut even then, he stayed in the schools top ten.
Huh? Hey, check this out. Some level 11 beat an instructor NPC.
Lee Hyun-woo, messing with his phone, tilted his head.
Ha-jin looked up from his ramen.
What?
He held out his phone, where a video was playing.
It showed a beginner Martial Artist sparring an NPC instructor.
Level 11?
Ha-jins face turned serious.
The players face was mosaiced, but a level 11 beginner Martial Artist.
For some reason, he looked eerily like Jeong Hoon.
No way... Nah.
Origin Villages training hall instructors were weak sauce, sure, but they were still levels 25 to 30.
No way. Jeong Hoon wouldnt pull something that insane, even as a Martial Artist.
Looksome level 11 was straight-up pummeling a level 30 instructor.
Dodging every attack flawlessly, too.
Not him. Jeong Hoon cant fight like that.
He was convinced it wasnt his friend.
You have entered the Mana-Rich Field.
You have discovered a hidden theme!
10,000 additional achievement points have been awarded.
The achievement shop has leveled up from Lv.1 to Lv.2!
His vision went black, then cleared to reveal not the hut, but the middle of a field.
The mana field was cube-shaped.
Trapped inside one, the floor, walls, and ceiling were densely packed with glowing blue bricks.
So this is the hidden theme.
It was his first time entering one.
The mana saturation was unreal.
A cool, refreshing sensation washed over him.
Mana Amplification Field activated.
Mana is abundant.
Mana flows into your body and takes root.
Every breath drew in mana naturally.
This is insane...
It was straight-up shocking.
To think New World hid a mana-rich spot like this.
Hed only heard rumors, but feeling it firsthand was on another level.
Mana stat 1.
His mana stat went up by 1, without even a level-up.
Perfect. I can pump mana here big time.
Jeong Hoon had never cast a single spell until now.
Holy power focused on recovery, detox, and buffs unlike magic, so just using it triggered Unyielding Willbut magic didnt work that way.
Magic was a profound discipline by design: only Mages could pick it up easily.
Even for an All Master like Jeong Hoon, magic came super late.
So hed learned exactly one spell and adapted it for combat.
Same deal post-regression.
Having mana and remembering spell flows didnt trigger Unyielding Willit stayed dormant.
Time would solve it eventually, but this hidden theme would speed things up.
Would you like to begin training?
Jeong Hoon hit accept.
Scanning user.
No mana circuits detected in body.
Would you like to form mana circuits?
A grin tugged at Jeong Hoons lips.
Mana circuits were like the engine for casting spells.
Mana alone didnt let you spam magic.
New World optimized each classs strengths, and Mages completed their first job change by forming circuits.
Thats why Unyielding Will hadnt triggered.
Time to form them.
Jeong Hoon accepted, and his body heated up as one circuit formed near his chest.
Mana circuits formed.
No additional circuits possible.
Done just like that.
The hidden themes brokenness gave him chills again.
This one theme bumped me up an extra circle.
Circuitsalso called circles.
Alessandro had found this hidden theme and gained an extra circle here.
The reason he had circles beyond his level.
This had been a huge stepping stone from Archmage to Sage.
Now that opportunity was Jeong Hoons.
First buttons fastened right.
Forming circuits early was a pain.
But once done, growth would smooth out.
Since it met Unyielding Wills conditions.
Lets test it right away.
Jeong Hoon circulated his mana, and the circle near his chest spun rapidly.
Normally a slog, but this place brimmed with mana.
The circle sucked in external mana relentlessly.
He retraced his memories, synthesizing the spell step by step.
Even as All Master, learning magic was a hassle, so hed mastered just one and milked it.
Now it was time to learn that spell again.
Martial Artist exclusive skill, Unyielding Will, has activated.
You have learned the skill Magic Missile (Normal).
Success.
Psssh
The capsule door hissed open, and Jeong Hoon stepped out.
Whew.
He stretched his stiff, aching body.
From the dojo to the hidden theme.
Barely sleeping and dumping everything into New World had piled up the fatiguehis body was screaming.
Made sense. One meal a day, all-in on the game? This was inevitable.
Gotta rest today.
Until the game became reality, he was stuck with a normal human body.
Obsessive as he was, Jeong Hoon had been frail since childhoodhis body often couldnt keep up.
Fresh off discharge, his improved health was holding, but lose it once and recovery would eat tons of time.
Thatd cut into New World hours inevitably.
Body management was key.
Huh? You were here?
Grabbing a drink from the fridge, he spotted Ha-jin at the table.
Oh? Youre done gaming? For real?
Ha-jin jumped up and rushed over.
Yeah, Im done. Whats up?
Dude, I saw a guy who looks just like you.
Like me?
Yeah. No clue who, but a level 11 wrecked an instructor.
Oh, that was me.
Ha-jins jaw dropped at the casual admission.
What the fuck?
Couldnt tell from the looks? Its me. Sparred the NPC instructor in the Hall of Martial Arts.
No way... Youre that good at fighting?
Its a game.
Game? Bro, VR only buffs levels and stats. A level 11 like you beating a level 30 instructor? How do I even process this?
Not 11 anymore. Hit 16.
Same difference!
Level 11 or 16, thrashing an instructor was huge either way.
Whatever, Im beat. Heading homecome if you want.
Homes not the issue! Guilds are blowing up your comments with love calls!
Love calls?
Guild recruitment, obviously.
Sending offers off one spar vid? Had to be mid-tier guilds at best.
Dont freak? Its Hoyoung! Hoyoung!
Hoyoung...?
Jeong Hoon froze mid-step.