Chapter 3
When I fired up YouTube, a video of some Indian uncle speaking excitedly in English popped up.
There were no subtitles or flashy intro—just a simple video with nothing but a blackboard.
“I can’t speak English.”
In fact, even if I could, it probably would have been hard to understand.
That curry-soaked accent would be a burden even for a native speaker.
But in the face of that overwhelming teaching skill, the language barrier wasn’t much of a problem.
“Basic magick.... Is used like this only. First, you imagine to pull up the power of the earth….”
The uncle explained with passionate gestures, even drawing pictures on the blackboard.
Nothing else was needed for humans to communicate with one another.
“So basically, he’s telling me to imagine drawing out the power of the earth.”
I nodded, interpreting the uncle’s words in my own way.
The core of it was similar to meditation.
The god rooted inside me, and I connected it with the nature outside.
“It’s important! Three months!”
The uncle suddenly raised three fingers to emphasize the point.
“What, it could take more than three months to feel mana? That’s a problem.”
I wanted to use magic right away and pass the verification.
A new gallery—a social gallery with only four mages in Korea, now five including me.
I wanted to join them as soon as possible and enjoy hanging out in the gallery.
But three months? That was far too long.
“Let’s just give it a try first.”
Besides, hurrying it along wouldn’t do any good.
I went outside first, to feel the power of the earth firsthand.
I had to find the place closest to the soil, the place with the most dirt.
After some thought, I headed to the playground inside my apartment complex.
I sat cross-legged in the middle of the playground’s sandpit.
Squashing the little mounds and sandcastles the kids had made with my butt.
Before long, I began to feel the stares around me.
“Huh? Look over there.”
“What? That girl?”
“Yeah. She looks like a student, but what is she doing in the middle of the playground at this hour?”
“Who knows. Some kind of challenge? Something like that? These days kids are all making a fuss about filming YouTube.”
“What’s so good about filming that?”
“Why, there were kids in our day who went crazy wanting to become idols, right? These days they say you film stuff like that and debut off it?”
“Then is she an idol trainee or something? Well, she does look really pretty. Her clothes are a bit shabby, though.”
I could hear murmurs.
Being treated like a lunatic was nothing new.
But being called pretty was a first.
The awkwardness made my whole body want to squirm.
I deliberately ignored their stares.
When I sneaked a glance, there were only a few grandmothers on the benches and a few middle-aged women passing by.
It didn’t matter to me what they thought.
I closed my eyes and focused solely on sensing mana.
Thanks to the thirty days of meditation training I’d done, focusing wasn’t difficult.
The surrounding noise receded, and my consciousness gradually sank downward, into the sandpit.
Then I felt it.
The subtle energy contained in each and every grain of sand.
The immense current they formed together.
Everything flowing up from deep beneath the earth.
This was mana.
“Success.”
I opened my eyes.
The clock showed only a few minutes had passed. The process the video said could take three months had ended in just a few minutes.
I looked around.
Fortunately, the people who had been watching me earlier had all left.
Now was my chance.
Carefully, I reached out and tried controlling the mana.
“First, something simple—moving the sand….”
At my gesture, the sand rose in a rustle and wriggled like a snake.
“Oooh!”
I spent a while moving the sand this way and that, not noticing time pass.
I even made the ugly frog drawing I’d often seen in the gallery out of sand, and carved the gallery logo in huge letters.
“I should post this later with the title, ‘I made a sandcastle—how many hits would this get?’”
I recorded all of it on my phone camera for verification.
After fooling around like that for a while, something suddenly came to mind.
The most basic attack spell the Indian uncle had taught in the video.
“It was Sand Bullet, right? What a lazy name.”
But the important thing wasn’t the name.
I scooped a handful of sand into my palm.
Then I closed my eyes and imagined.
A single bullet.
The grains of sand in my hand moved according to the image in my head.
They clumped together tightly, compressed, and rotated.
I could see the shape of the god within me changing. The god now took the form of a small bullet.
In an instant, I felt dizzy, as if my head were spinning.
Sparks flashed in my head.
It felt as if a flood of information were pouring into my brain all at once.
The optimal arrangement of sand grains, the most efficient way to compress mana, rotational speed.
Complex equations were skipped, and the results of everything were derived by instinct.
It all came to mind naturally, as if I had always known it.
Had my brain ever worked this fast before?
No, not once, I could say with certainty.
I’d spent my whole life rotting my brain with shitposts.
And suddenly, I felt like a genius.
Did awakening as a mage remodel not just my body, but my brain too...?
Maybe so. Come to think of it, it would’ve been strange for my brain to stay the same if my sex had changed.
I stopped those stray thoughts there.
Following the optimal answer that had come to me by intuition, I precisely controlled the mana.
The sand spun violently and gathered in my palm.
With a sizzling sound, a single black, hard bullet no bigger than a fingernail was finally complete.
I pointed a finger at a worn-out bench in the corner of the playground.
And fired the completed sand bullet.
Whoosh-!
The bullet flew at a terrifying speed, tearing through the air.
Bang!
With the sound, a huge hole was punched through the bench’s backrest.
As if it had been hit by a large-caliber sniper rifle.
I was stunned by the power. This was just basic magic? Something you could use without needing a skill?
So that’s why mages are overpowered.
“…….”
I stood there blankly for a moment, staring at the shattered bench, then came to my senses.
I had to get out of there before someone saw.
“Still, I can’t resist taking a proof photo.”
I quickly pulled out my phone and took a proof photo.
Even if my life ended a second later, I’d probably still be taking proof photos.
I took photos of the hole-punched bench and the faint sand pattern left on my palm.
After taking a few more shots, I left the playground without hesitation and ran home.
***
The moment I got home, I logged into the Mage Gallery.
It had been less than two hours since I last posted, but a few more posts had already gone up.
To get a feel for the atmosphere before I joined in, I started reading from the newest posts.
[Title : When is that newbie coming already?]
Author : MagicIsFirepower
I took five months. How many months is that newbie going to take to come back? Didn’t they give him too hard a task?
ㄴ 냉장고 : At least three or four months. Even a genius like me took two months.
ㄴ p깟쮸 : I did it in a month, though? nya.
ㄴ 냉장고 : You’re a lightning attribute, though. Lightning is naturally fast, and earth takes longer.
ㄴ 풍뎅이 : Anyway, let’s wait and see.
[Title : But what if that kid is a fraud?]
Author : p깟쮸
They might upload some weird fake proof and then bolt?
ㄴ 마법은화력 : Could be.
ㄴ 풍뎅이 : No, my instincts are telling me. That kid is the real deal.
Hmm, things are lively with talk about me. A mix of anticipation and suspicion.
Either way, being the center of attention is always enjoyable.
I smiled in satisfaction and pressed the write button.
[Title : Verification. Is this right?]
Author : ㅇㅇ
(Roughly, a photo of a bench with a hole punched in it)
(Roughly, a photo of sand left on the palm)
Is this what you wanted me to do? This is hard.
As soon as I posted it, the gallery exploded.
ㄴ p깟쮸 : ???????????
ㄴ 냉장고 : ??????
ㄴ 마법은화력 : ?? What is this?
ㄴ 풍뎅이 : How did you do this? Already?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(작성자) : You told me to, didn’t you.
ㄴ 풍뎅이 : No, I did tell you to do it, but I didn’t think you’d finish this fast.... How long did it take you to feel mana?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(작성자) : About 10 minutes?
ㄴ 마법은화력 : 10 minutes? lol
ㄴ 냉장고 : That’s a lie. It took me two months just to feel mana for the first time.
ㄴ p깟쮸 : I’m a lightning attribute, so I was fast, but even so it took me a week just to get the hang of it, nya! 10 minutes is impossible, nya!
A satisfied laugh escaped me at that reaction.
At times like this, you’ve got to land another hit.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(작성자) : Huh? Isn’t it just because you guys are all scrubs and it took you forever?
ㄴ 마법은화력 : Hey, you little bastard?
ㄴ 풍뎅이: Is the photo edited? Anyone know?
ㄴ 냉장고: No. Looking at the cross-section of the hole in the bench and the traces left on the hand, it really is Sand Bullet.
It’s impossible to mimic it that precisely just from a YouTube video. He really used it.
ㄴ 마법은 화력 : Then you’re saying you really did it in 10 minutes? Your talent is insane, damn.
ㄴ 풍뎅이 : A truly incredible newbie has appeared....
Seeing the gallery chatter about my talent made me feel good.
But I couldn’t let it show that I was openly delighted.
I carefully remembered the gallery rules and typed a curt reply.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(작성자) : Still, isn’t it insane to make such a hard thing the verification task? If it weren’t for me, you all would’ve had to wait another half year.
ㄴ 풍뎅이 : Well, that’s... We originally planned to accept it if you came back after about a month and just pretended to make some sand float.... We didn’t expect you to fire off Sand Bullet in a single day. Sorry.
Stag Beetle apologized readily. I replied as though I were being generous.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(작성자) : Fine. So I’m officially a member now?
ㄴ 풍뎅이 : Of course. Welcome, newbie.
ㄴ 냉장고 : I believe you. You really are a mage.
ㄴ p깟쮸 : Congratulations on becoming a mage, nya.
Only then did it finally feel real.
That I had truly become a mage, and one of their own.
Then Stag Beetle left a new comment.
ㄴ 풍뎅이 : With that level of talent and power, you’d probably breeze through the Tower tutorial....
When you have time, go into the Tower once. Ah, and hold off on hunter registration for now.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(작성자) : I was already planning to go to the Tower, but why delay hunter registration?
ㄴ 풍뎅이 : There’s a reason. If you reveal right now that you’re a mage, it’ll definitely cause annoying trouble. Register once you’re strong enough.
The Tower. That was the ultimate reason I’d spent 30 days eating dirt to become a mage.
If you became a hunter, wealth and glory awaited.
But I wasn’t supposed to register as one?
ㄴㅇㅇ(작성자): If I don’t register as a hunter, doesn’t that mean I can’t enter the Tower?
ㄴ풍뎅이: Anyway, these days they don’t do strict checks outside Seoul.
ㄴ풍뎅이: If you want to live as a mage, running the Tower is mandatory. You need mana stones and you need to build up experience.
ㄴ풍뎅이: If there’s anything you need or anything you’re curious about when entering the Tower, ask away. We’ll tell you everything.
I made up my mind after reading his comment.
ㄴㅇㅇ(작성자): Okay. Then I’ll go tomorrow.
There was no need to hesitate.
What had I gone through 30 days of that hardship for?
Wasn’t it all so I could become a mage and live a good life?
I had only just taken my first step.