Chapter 80
Boys often have ridiculous dreams in childhood.
Like transforming into a Power Ranger and blowing up the school so you don't have to go.
Or dreaming that, in a life-or-death moment when robbers storm a bus, I suddenly gain superpowers and drive off the villain.
Not everyone imagines that, of course.
At least my friends and I did.
Becoming a mage was, naturally, one of those dreams.
Harry Potter, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, whatever-whatever—honestly, haven't you ever imagined chanting incantations and dropping a meteor at least once?
If not, well, that's your loss.
Anyway.
Magic Hero says they're going to teach me magic.
ㄴMagic Hero : Magic isn't a skill that necessarily requires a trait.
ㄴMagic Hero : Of course, if you invest in the related trait, your growth is faster and your power is greater...
ㄴMagic Hero : But that's more of an efficiency thing...
ㄴMagic Hero : Anyway, it's good to have, but you can train without it if you don't.
ㄴMagic Hero : You can think of it roughly like that.
It's a technique anyone can use as long as they have mana.
Sure enough, looking at the intruders who'd come to Dreamland so far,
they did use it even if they weren't mages.
For example, common spells like detection magic and telepathy.
From minor lords all the way up to knights, plenty of people used them.
You can think of magic-related traits as a kind of academic aptitude.
Even people with no talent for studying can retake the exam and, if they keep banging their heads against it, eventually manage to get a Grade 3, right?
In any case, I don't have any talent for melee combat.
I should at least try messing with magic once.
If I end up using something like jamming too.
It'd increase the options available to me in all sorts of ways.
Newbie : Let's give it a try!
ㄴMagic Hero : G-g-g-good!
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To cut to the chase, it was impossible.
Fuck.
It started off full of hope.
My head was filled with baseless confidence that I would definitely become an incredible mage.
But here's the thing.
Not even the magic bullets or fireballs used by the protagonists of fiction I'd watched since childhood—I couldn't even feel mana itself.
ㄴMagic Hero : Newbie, so when you close your eyes, put a hand on your chest, and focus, you can hear your heartbeat, right?
ㄴMagic Hero : Mana is the same. Mana is also part of your body, Newbie. It is generated in the heart and circulates throughout the entire body along the blood vessels with the blood.
ㄴMagic Hero : If you concentrate, most people can feel it.
ㄴMagic Hero : When you inhale, you feel a sting in your nose and a sense of your chest filling up, right?
ㄴMagic Hero : Mana circulating is part of your bodily functions...
ㄴMagic Hero : You can think of it like that.
ㄴMagic Hero : The hard part is applying it; the process itself should really be easy...
ㄴMagic Hero : You really don't get it...?
It wasn't that Magic Hero's explanation was weird.
It was explained so clearly even a child could understand it.
They even set the concept aside entirely and made me a full online lecture with text, pictures, and video.
I understood it in my head too.
I understood it, but my body just wouldn't learn it.
After that, I tried my ass off for eight more hours.
The result was still a failure.
Something other people could do in ten minutes.
What the hell, I couldn't do it even after putting in ten hours.
It seemed like just giving up would be better for my mental health.
ㄴNewbie : Ah, jeez......
ㄴNewbie : I don't think I have any talent...
ㄴMagic Hero : S-s-s-sorry...
ㄴMagic Hero : I should have explained it a little more properly...
ㄴNewbie : N-n-no, Mahiro-nim did their best...
I was depressed, so I petted Malangie.
My self-esteem plummeted.
ㄴOrange★ : No, but that doesn't make sense
ㄴNewbie : Sorry for being such a nonsensical bastard...
ㄴOrange★ : Hahaha
ㄴOrange★ : I'm not insulting you
ㄴOrange★ : I'm saying it doesn't make sense structurally.
ㄴOrange★ : I mean, if MP is 130
ㄴOrange★ : to put it simply in terms of a human body, that's like a body trained for about two years
ㄴOrange★ : and right now you can't even walk properly, you know?
ㄴOrange★ : That's weird by common sense.
That's true, though.
What on earth could the reason be?
ㄴNewbie : It makes me think of something like this.
ㄴNewbie : Having a super muscular body, but then getting into an accident
ㄴNewbie : and my arms and legs not moving properly...?
ㄴNewbie : Or maybe I was born with some kind of disability like that
ㄴOrange★ : I'm no doctor, but
ㄴOrange★ : I don't think that's it.
ㄴOrange★ : If that were the case,
ㄴOrange★ : then Newbie's MP stat itself would be crippled.
ㄴOrange★ : Even so, wouldn't it be strange for a dungeon master to have that kind of condition?
Hmm.
That's true.
ㄴMagic Hero : Ah.
ㄴMagic Hero : I do have one thing I can think of...
Huh?
ㄴMagic Hero : Newbie, do you remember the black mages?
ㄴNewbie : The manticore party that came after the hobgoblin one?
Of course I remember.
They were the ones who got thoroughly put in their place by the doppelganger, right?
ㄴMagic Hero : The thing is, black magic doesn't cost mana—it costs a person's soul...
ㄴMagic Hero : At first, the black mages said they used magic by sacrificing human lives, right...?
That's what King Jjang Evil Spirit said.
Ah, I understood what Magic Hero was trying to say.
ㄴMagic Hero : I mean, in places where jamming doesn't occur?
ㄴMagic Hero : If it doesn't even get caught by detection magic itself, there's a high chance there really is no mana.
ㄴMagic Hero : Not just Newbie.
ㄴMagic Hero : Aside from doppelgangers and the clones created by the nonexistent mirror.
ㄴMagic Hero : The other anomalies are generally like that too.
ㄴMagic Hero : So Newbie's MP...
ㄴMagic Hero : I think it's highly likely to be points consumed when using something else.
ㄴMagic Hero : Could it be a concept like a black mage's "stock"...?
ㄴMagic Hero : Or rather, that's my guess...
ㄴOrange★ : Now that you mention it.
ㄴOrange★ : DIP, King Jjang Evil Spirit, and so on.
ㄴOrange★ : The guys who picked winter or death themes, when they use black magic,
ㄴOrange★ : I did hear that they consume MP.
ㄴMagic Hero : Well, actually, they do have plenty of mana themselves,
ㄴMagic Hero : so Newbie's case is unusual...
ㄴMagic Hero : Aaaanywaay, I think that's probably the gist of it.
ㄴNewbie : So, to sum it up, my MP is...
ㄴNewbie : Can I think of it as Mystery Points, not Mana Points??
ㄴMagic Hero : Your comprehension is S-tier...
ㄴOrange★ : Good
When I was checking the traits of the anomalies, I mean.
I remember seeing wording like "consume MP" and the like.
It seemed like it was only usable in those cases.
It's a shame I can't use magic, of course.
But now that I've confirmed MP isn't a completely useless stat.
I decided to look on the bright side.
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In the end, the ways to power myself up were to spend points and pump my stats like crazy.
Or getting an excellent weapon like a Muggle's magic wand.
The former was downright disastrous in terms of efficiency at level 120.
It would probably be better to spend those points on anomalous traps or minions instead.
As for the latter, well, I'd have to loot one from an intruder.
Or get a usable weapon from other dungeon masters, or something like that.
For now, it'd be better to assume I don't have one.
Still.
I decided to start training from today.
Rather than throwing up my hands because I have no talent at all.
Wouldn't throwing a punch help more in the waves ahead?
I have plenty of time anyway.
Might as well give it a shot.
We've got seasoned veterans in our dungeon gallery who can teach me techniques.
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : Newbie!
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : Want me to coach you??
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : I'll teach you Vampire Punch too!
Oh.
Vampire Punch is kind of tempting.
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My main weapon is a dagger.
There's no grand reason.
It was the weapon I chose when I fought goblins for the first time, simply because it was the cheapest.
And it'd be awkward to change weapons now.
Daggers are also the easiest to carry around, and I'm used to them.
Since I can buy them directly from the point shop.
Apparently, daggers are also Sarang-i's favorite weapon.
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : If the space is cramped, it's hard to swing a sword.
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : No matter how much a person can leap or crawl, they still can't split a dungeon wall, right?
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : Daggers are light, and they have almost no spatial limitations!
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : If you force your opponent into point-blank range in a confined space.
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : you cancel out the advantages of longer reach.
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : and in many cases the dagger actually has the advantage,
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : so I really like it!
Aha.
I mean, it's kind of amazing whenever they go into pro mode.
Sarang-i has a plan for everything.
Anyway, for an introvert like me.
It's nice if the person teaching me is someone I'm close with.
ㄴNewbie : This is.
ㄴNewbie : what it means to kill something───.
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : Kyaa, our Newbie is so cool
I started getting dagger technique lessons from Sarangi.
While learning Vampire Punch on the side, too.
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The World Is Cold : Please let me go to the Rojinrat Great Mountain Range!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ㄴAnt Queen : Like hell that would happen, lol
ㄴNight Raven : You're building up to go to the World Tree Forest yet again, and again, and again.
ㄴGolem King : Secha!! You have to survive well in the World Tree Forest!!
ㄴDIP : This time Newbie can't really do anything about it either
ㄴDIP : So clench your butt tight
ㄴWhaleWhaleYeah : Hahaha
ㄴWhaleWhaleYeah : I just want to quietly collect my income again this time too
ㄴWhaleWhaleYeah : Waves are way too hard~~~
ㄴTV Head : I hope I can get in a bit this time.
ㄴTV Head : It's time for my new weapon to spit fire, yep
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : Please let me be teleported to a place close to Newbie please let me be teleported to a place close to Newbie please let me be teleported to a place close to Newbie please let me be teleported to a place close to Newbie please let me be teleported to a place close to Newbie please let me be teleported to a place close to Newbie
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After that, it was the same old routine.
Hanging out on the gallery, training, playing with Malangie, and making a TRPG rulebook on the side.
And before long, that time had come.
Location shift cycle.
I was planning to postpone dungeon expansion until later.
For now, intruders wouldn't be coming in just yet.
I figured it would be more rational to wait and see before deciding then.
Where am I going to land this time?
"Anywhere's fine."
"Eh."
Whether it's hell or heaven.
No matter where I landed, what I would do wouldn't change.
Protect the dungeon and survive for a long, long time.
"Bring it on, world."
This Newbie's coming!