Chapter 9
The computer monitor in my room was playing videos uploaded to the internet by people known as ‘the Awakened.’
The man on the screen conjured a flame no bigger than a lighter’s at his fingertips, then was panting and slumped to the floor just a few seconds later.
I watched and clicked my tongue.
“Good grief, what an idiot…. His mana control is so bad that it’s leaking out through his whole hand, not just his fingertips. If he controlled it properly and released it only from his fingertips, it’d be much easier—and he could make the flames a lot stronger.”
It was frustrating. If I taught him even the most basic principles of mana control, he could easily make that flame torch-sized and keep it going for ten minutes.
No, if he trained to maximize its raw power, he could turn it into a fireball and use it as an effective attack, or increase its duration and range to unleash a broad torrent of flames like a flamethrower.
It was so frustrating, but there was no way for me to step in.
In this world, mana was still an unproven, mysterious force. There’d been no proper research, and people knew next to nothing about it.
If I stepped forward and shared knowledge or principles related to mana, what would happen? It would cause a huge commotion, for sure.
Wouldn’t it be fine if I used a VPN or something and anonymously posted a ‘Mana Manipulation Guide.txt’ on an internet forum? Of course they’d catch me.
I couldn’t underestimate the tracking abilities of modern Earth’s cybercrime units and intelligence agencies. They could sniff out even anonymous terrorist threats posted using a VPN or anonymous network tools. If I let information that advanced out into the world, they’d trace my IP within days, and I’d have agents knocking on my door.
And if I wore a mask and wandered the streets at night, playing mentor to the Awakened? That’d be no different from advertising to the whole neighborhood, ‘Please figure out who I am.’ In a modern society with CCTV cameras everywhere, the authorities could find anyone if they set their minds to it.
Though that’s exactly why they get criticized for not using those abilities in everyday life.
Anyway, no matter what approach I imagined, it all led to the same exhausting conclusion: my peaceful daily life would be in danger.
“Sweetie! Come out and have dinner!”
At Mom’s voice from the living room, I broke out of my thoughts and opened my bedroom door.
My parents and older brother were seated around the table. That guy still hadn’t gone home.
Unlike my parents, my older brother was a little hard to deal with. When I was a man, we’d bicker now and then, but he mostly left me alone. Now, even while grumbling, I could tell he was paying a lot of attention to me.
At least, even the version of me who’d been a girl before I returned hadn’t called this guy Oppa, either.
If I’d had to call him Oppa…. Hmm…. Ugh…. I’d rather die with my tongue hanging out. Seriously.
With that slight awkwardness hanging between us, we were partway through dinner when Mom glanced at the date marked on the calendar and spoke up.
“Sweetie. You know the deadline to pay your college tuition is next week, right? I’ll go to the bank tomorrow and raise your transfer limit, so….”
Oh, right. College.
It was time to give them an answer about what I’d been agonizing over these past few days.
“Mom. I have something to tell you.”
I set down my spoon, looked around at my family, and dropped a bombshell.
“I’m not going to college this year. I’m going to take another year to prepare for the entrance exam.”
Silence. Dad’s chopsticks froze in midair, and Mom’s eyes widened.
“W-what are you talking about? I know you did badly on the CSAT, but you’re going to retake it? Are you serious?”
As Mom’s voice rose in alarm, I brought out the flawless argument I’d prepared in advance.
“You know what’s going on in the world from watching the news. Gates are opening everywhere, monsters are popping out, and people are dying.”
“What does that have to do with college….”
“Even if I enroll in college in a situation like this, do you think I’ll have a proper campus experience? If a Gate opens on campus, they might suspend classes indefinitely, and in the worst case, I’ll be stuck taking online classes all semester. Spending four or five million won a semester on tuition in a place that chaotic would just be throwing money away.”
The world was beginning to fall into chaos because of the previously unknown threat of Gates. When even our immediate safety wasn’t guaranteed, there was no room for the carefree romance of campus life.
My parents seemed at a loss for words at my realistic, painfully blunt analysis, and simply looked at each other.
“So I’ll spend a year watching how things develop and preparing for the entrance exam safely at home. I think that’s best.”
After a long silence, Dad finally gave a solemn nod. Mom saw the resolve in my eyes, let out a short sigh, and agreed, too.
There was only one person who didn’t. My older brother was staring at me with a strangely sharp gaze.
“You…. Something’s a little weird.”
“What is?”
“The old you would’ve been thinking about going to college and having fun, tuition or no tuition. You seem like a completely different person these past few days.”
I was momentarily taken aback, but I scoffed and picked up my glass of water.
“I came to this conclusion after thinking it over for days, okay? I like having fun, but who knows what’ll happen if I goof off without preparing for anything in a situation this chaotic?”
“Well, uh…. Got it. It’s your life, so you can do what you want.”
My brother still looked suspicious, but he didn’t press any further. It seemed he’d let it go for now.
I hurriedly stuffed down the rest of my rice and stood up. I was in a rush, worried that if we talked any longer, he might find something to pick at.
And with that, my perfect alibi was complete. I’d successfully secured the status of a ‘reclusive student retaking the entrance exam,’ spending the next year going between home, the library, and study cafés.
I returned to my room, locked the door, and sat cross-legged on my bed.
One year. If all this chaos was temporary, I could just wait for things to settle down. But if it continued…. I needed to grow strong enough to protect myself and my family.
The threats looming over this world felt too serious for me to just keep my head down and live quietly.
And I’d have to study now and then, too. It felt a little like cheating, but magic that enhanced intelligence and wisdom would help a lot. If I got decent results, my parents probably wouldn’t complain.
I wasn’t expecting a perfect score on the CSAT or anything. Getting into a fairly good university would be enough.
Training to get stronger and studying to retake the exam. Having to do both would be a lot of work, but I was ready. More than ready.
So…
‘First, I have no choice but to make myself stronger.’
I slowly began using the ‘Vitality Conversion Method,’ which burned the calories in my body and converted them into mana.
Amid considerable pain, I could feel the excess fat in my body burning away bit by bit, turning into blue mana and gathering in my dantian. It wasn’t very efficient, but in a world without mana, it was the only way to obtain any.
Ah, except inside Gates. That wasn’t this world.
Anyway, as I quietly steadied my breathing and burned calories to gain mana, a spark like lightning suddenly flashed through my mind, and my eyes snapped open.
“Wait a second.”
The Vitality Conversion Method. This ancient technique let me generate mana by burning only my own calories, out of sight of others.
Wasn’t this technique something I could use on ‘other people,’ too?
From the distant past, from so long ago it was almost lost to memory, fragments surfaced: wounded soldiers on a battlefield whose vitality I’d converted into mana to cast healing magic, and captured monsters whose vitality I’d forcibly drained to power a magic circle.
And there was one more thing. Black mages who kidnapped villagers and offered them as sacrifices had used a technique derived from the Vitality Conversion Method to turn life itself into mana and perform their rituals.
Of course, I had no intention of imitating those bastards….
“I could use it on someone else, not just myself…!”
Other people’s calories. In other words, I could forcibly burn off the excess fat or calories stored in someone else’s body and convert them into mana.
What’s more, I could ‘absorb’ the mana I created to expand my own mana capacity, or leave it in the other person’s body to induce artificial ‘awakening’ or physical enhancement.
My heart began to race.
If I could put this to good use—no, even if I only managed it with my family…. Then I could ensure their safety.
And if I could teach the Vitality Conversion Method to other people…. I could make ordinary people Awakened without sending them into Gates, so they could protect themselves.
Couldn’t that reduce the harm caused by Gates and monsters?
Of course, the process of using the Vitality Conversion Method was quite painful, and the mana it produced was meager compared to the vitality it consumed….
Ah, that’s right! If I did it like a weight-loss massage…. No, but they’d need basic knowledge of mana to use it. Explaining all that would require way too much knowledge.
Would it be simplest if I did it for them? Hmm…. This isn’t easy.
Still, it might be a good idea, right? People in modern society will do just about anything to lose weight.
Even if it hurts a little, wouldn’t losing weight and getting Awakened as a bonus actually be a good thing?