The sub-master of Korea’s largest guild died, so, of course, every TV channel he turned to was talking about the death of Soaring Tempest’s sub-master, Soo Ah-rin.
[It was a hasty attempt. The idea of clearing the world’s first level 32 dungeon blurred our rational judgment. She was an excellent and gentle healer. We never meant to lose her like this…]
[There is no other genius healer like Soo Ah-rin in the world. Soaring Tempest will be shedding the title of the world’s top guild, for the time being, perhaps forever, to mourn over our sub-master.]
Members of the Soaring Tempest guild and other Korean guilds were saddened by Soo Ah-rin’s death. She was very popular among players, perhaps due to her fairy-like beauty.
“It’s just that the Healer class is rare. Oh, you can think of a class as a term similar to the one inside games. The ability to strengthen an individual’s specialty. If you clear the 10th level dungeon, you can get it as an achievement reward.”
“Not by your level, but by the dungeon’s level that you cleared?”
“Yeah. The standard of evaluating strength in the Sky Castle is the level of the dungeon cleared.”
Each dungeon had two entry conditions. The first was your level, and the second was that the lower level dungeons were cleared. No matter how high your level was, if you hadn’t cleared the 2nd level dungeon, you couldn’t enter the 3rd level dungeon, and if you hadn’t cleared the 4th level dungeon, then you couldn’t enter the 5th level dungeon.
“There are some people who are afraid of the upper dungeons and only attack the lower dungeons. Their level may increase a little bit, but their skill doesn’t grow, and they don’t officially receive their class, so basically, they don’t grow as a player at all.”
“If you die in the dungeon, you actually die in real life too. So, it’s understandable for them to be afraid.”
Even when Soo Ah-rin was answering his questions, Jung Si-woo remained deep in his thoughts and stayed motionless. So far, he had repeatedly shattered whatever was in the way and moved forward. But it was because the things that blocked him were weak compared to him. If a much stronger wall appears, what would happen to Jung Si-woo? Would he give up and turn back like the players Soo Ah-rin explained? Or would he rather be defeated like Soo Ah-rin after a formidable challenge?
‘Well, I’ll just think about it when I face it then.’
Perhaps if he met a challenge, he might enjoy it instead, as ‘suffering’ was a word unrelated to him. No matter how strong and hard, high or thick it was, he would push on until he collapsed. That was something to be expected. He stopped thinking about it because, at least for the time being, it wasn’t a situation he would face.
“Ah-rin, are you really okay being with me?”
“Yeah? Ah…about the funeral.”
Soo Ah-rin did say she had no relatives. In fact, the funeral halls were only filled with other players, her teammates, and her schoolmates. Still, when he saw some of them crying sadly, he thought Soo Ah-rin must’ve been loved…
“There were only bothersome people who wanted to borrow money or go out with me, so it worked out for the better. Let’s do a reset and start anew. ”
Soo Ah-rin’s words were as if she was simply in a summer PE class, and the students forgot to turn off the air conditioner in their class, so she went into another cool, empty classroom. She said it like it was nothing.
“More than that, the most important thing right now is your training.”
“I’m still doing it.”
Jung Si-woo replied while lifting the dumbbells with all his might. Of course, there are no dumbbells in the world that he couldn’t lift. So why was he struggling with the dumbbell like this? It was because he was practicing the basic technique of mana, Amplification.
“All weapons are strengthened with mana. Even ordinary slings can be made into promising weapons. This is because mana has the property to amplify the strength of everything.”
It strengthens everything, and you could feel it once it did. Didn’t Jung Si-woo already experience it? The moment he awakened mana in his body, he sensed that it was strengthening his body and amplifying the superhuman powers he originally possessed. He even felt that he could transcend the state of being an ordinary human.
“So that feeling was artificial? This is hard.”
“There’s nothing easy in this world.”
The reason why he was practicing Amplification when their goal was Strike was that it was an extension of Strike.
“So, I could gather the mana and make it shoot forward and explode, right?”
“To be exact, it’s like you’re pouring the mana out while matching the directions of the physical and magical attributes.”
Let’s say Jung Si-woo was swinging his hammer. At the very moment when he struck a monster with the hammer, the mana that was injected into the hammer was going along in the direction of the hit, thereby accelerating the attack speed and strengthening the attack power. Thus, it dealt more damage than usual. Strike was completed when the mana reached the target swiftly and exploded. No matter how many times he thought about it, it seemed like it would definitely hurt if you were hit by that. Jung Si-woo thought that it would be complicated and difficult, but Soo Ah-rin laughed while she explained.
“But in fact, most players acquire Strike before Amplification. That’s why I told you about Strike first.”
“Before?”
“Think of it like this. It’s easier to pour out mana at once than slowly pulling the mana out. But instead, it’s difficult to get the true power of Strike because the timing of the blow will become a mess.”
Most players acquired Strike first and, through practice and hard work, they slowly mastered Amplification and Strike. It was then that a thunderbolt struck Jung Si-woo’s head as he was quietly thinking.
“Isn’t that already possible for me?! I can already control mana back and forth!”
“Do you want to fight with such a poor and incomplete strike?”
“…No.”
Soo Ah-rin’s words scratched his pride as a man, causing his voice to come out stiff. Soo Ah-rin sat on the desk and smiled.
“Listen. Strike is a skill that entails three stages of attack. I believe that you will surely be able to master all of it perfectly.”
“You’re too good with words.”
Jung Si-woo decided to admit his defeat. At least in the area of mana, Soo Ah-rin was the perfect tutor.
“Then what happens if you pour mana inside a weapon that doesn’t have innate mana?”
“Weapons will be slightly strengthened, but there will be no explosive power. In the first place, you don’t have much mana to work with anyway.”
“Then, what if I pour mana into my fist or my feet as a weapon to do a Strike?”
“That’s possible, but it will be painful because you have to suffer the damage from the explosion at the moment without a weapon to bear it…uh, well. If it’s you, I think you’ll be fine.”
High-level players also used Strike with their body once their body was able to withstand it. However, Soo Ah-rin thought that Jung Si-woo’s body was in no way weaker than those players. Soo Ah-rin convinced herself, nodding firmly, and Jung Si-woo looked at her with a smile.
“I like the idea of being able to generate strong attack power by pouring mana even when I have no weapon. Well, how about this?”
Jung Si-woo pretended to throw the dumbbell. Pouring mana into a weapon and then throwing them would ignite an exploding response the moment it reached the target. That was the so-called long-range Strike. Soo Ah-rin nodded while looking at his gesture.
“Most players who use long-range weapons like bows or spears use Strike like that. However, it is important to keep in mind that the mana poured into a weapon depletes slowly from the moment it leaves your hand. The question is whether there is enough mana left when it reaches the target and whether it can explode properly when it is handled from a distance.”
“Mana really is complicated…”
“You just started learning mana. So, don’t think too hard.”
“Um, yes. It’s difficult.”
It was funny how there was energy in his body that he still couldn’t fully control, and he felt jealous of the fact that many other humans had already mastered this power. But he was thrilled that by this means, his strength would only increase in the future. Jung Si-woo was originally strong, but that’s why he wanted to be stronger. He thought he was born to be strong. It wasn’t that he wanted anything with his power; he just wanted to be purely strong.
“Si-woo?”
“Ah, yes.”
Jung Si-woo, who was in love with that idea, nodded his head at Soo Ah-rin, who was calling at him with a concerned voice and began to focus on the dumbbell in his hand again. Mana that was spread all over his body gathered and was slowly sent to the dumbbells. As she already said, it wasn’t difficult to send mana to the dumbbells. However, it was unreasonably hard to keep it there or to make it move in another direction. Still, it wouldn’t take long for him to get used to it.
‘After all, there’s nothing in my body that I can’t handle. It’s just that my body was startled and wasn’t able to adapt to the sudden energy. ‘
It’s just like how he hid his lizard tail that just popped up on his body. Jung Si-woo nodded firmly while thinking about it. It was important to practice Amplification, but he felt the need to practice more in dealing with the tail on his body. Just as wings were essential for Sky Castle’s Players, tails were essential for Jung Si-woo, an Underground Player. It was true that he must dig the ground to enter the dungeon, but there would be a time when it would be useful in a fight as well.
“Okay, I have to practice using my tail after dinner. Any tips on that?”
“I know how to use wings, but I’m not sure about the tail. How about shaking your tailbone?”
“As expected, it was a useless question after all.”
“As expected?! This is the best answer I could give! I’ve never seen someone with a tail before; how would I know what to do?”
Soo Ah-rin, who fluttered her feathered wings in dissatisfaction, looked very cute. However, when Jung Si-woo returned to practicing his mana again, some very strange news was heard on the TV.
[On the other hand, Mr. Kim Ha-ryong, the fiancé of Soo Ah-rin and the master of the Soaring Tempest guild, insists that Soo Ah-rin is not dead. Mr. Kim Ha-ryong said that her name wasn’t listed on the guardian stone inside the Sky Castle.]
“Uh…”
“Ah…”
Jung Si-woo and Soo Ah-rin met each other’s eyes. Soo Ah-rin shook her wings as she explained.
“He’s not my fiancé; he just assumed he was. I’ve been busy clearing dungeons, and I’ve never had a relationship. You can’t get the wrong idea! Never!”
No, not that, but the Guardian Stone. Jung Si-woo sighed. Though not now, he had an intense feeling that it would bother him someday.
