I was sitting on the sofa, examining the ability I was thinking of purchasing.
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[Rain of Mana (S)]
Category: Skill
Description: Unleashes a rain of mana.
*The attribute, destructive power, and duration may vary depending on the user’s mana capabilities.
Price: 120,000
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Rain of Mana.
Just as the name implies, it’s an ability that allows the user to release magic from the sky in a torrential downpour across a wide area.
Rather than buying someone else’s unique power, the idea was that I could use my points to instantly master a form of magic that’s normally extremely difficult to learn.
To master a special magic form like this “rain” usually takes at least ten years of training.
But with points, I could buy that decade of training time.
And to my knowledge, no mage in the current era uses magic in this form.
Ah, of course, if you dig into history books, there are records of mages who used rain-like magic forms.
What matters is that in this era, no such mage exists.
That’s what makes this ability even more appealing to me.
Wielding a form of magic no one else uses… it could become my symbol.
“The problem is I don’t have enough points to buy it right now…”
[Current Points: 101,200]
The price of Rain of Mana is 120,000 points.
I’m about 18,800 points short.
Considering there’s less than two weeks left before finals, it’s a tricky situation.
“Hmm. How should I make up the remaining points…?”
“Unga.”
As I sat on the sofa thinking of ways to earn more points, Gretel came over from the fridge.
I gently smiled and picked up Gretel.
“Gretel. What’s the easiest way to earn points?”
Gretel tilted her head, seemingly not understanding a word I said.
“Unga?”
“It’s nothing. Go ahead and eat the snacks I bought.”
I set Gretel down and pointed to the sausage box on the floor.
Gretel nodded, toddled over to the box, pulled out a sausage, and put it in her mouth.
I watched her back with a fond smile.
Eat lots and grow up strong, little fruit.
I mean—Gretel.
After seeing Gretel off, I leaned back against the sofa and fell into thought again.
How to earn points.
“…Yeah, if I want to earn a lot of points in a short amount of time, there’s really only one way.”
No matter how I look at it, there’s just this.
Drawing a large crowd’s attention all at once.
In the short term, the Fame System is much more profitable than the Achievement System.
I turned on my smart student ID.
Then I tapped on the “Messages” section in the bottom left corner.
Immediately, countless messages I’d been too lazy to reply to came flooding back to mind.
From ordinary students to guilds, even reporters—quite a variety.
“Guess it’s time I responded.”
I opened the “Interview Requests” folder I’d created in preparation for this day.
Thursday.
After finishing lunch, Choi Seo-yoon and Song Seung-ah went to a small cafe inside the Mage Academy to chat.
“One small strawberry smoothie, please.”
“I’ll have an iced Americano.”
After ordering, they sat down at an available table.
As one of the most popular students at the Mage Academy, Choi Seo-yoon naturally drew glances from nearby male students.
Some even walked over and struck up awkward conversations.
“Hey, Seo-yoon! I’m in Team C—looking forward to working with you! Hahaha!”
“Oh, uh, sure…”
Choi Seo-yoon forced a smile and played along with their attention.
In the past, she would’ve responded more warmly, but lately she didn’t feel like it.
The arrival of one particular boy—someone she couldn’t help but want attention from—had affected her emotionally.
About five minutes passed before the attention died down.
Song Seung-ah sipped her coffee and spoke up.
“Aren’t you tired of entertaining everyone?”
“…It’s getting old.”
“Sigh. You’re really exhausting yourself, you know.”
When Song Seung-ah clicked her tongue, Choi Seo-yoon gave a awkward smile.
“Maybe it’s because of the captain match, but people are extra chatty today.”
“Well, I am the captain of Team C. It comes with the role.”
At Seo-yoon’s mumble, Seung-ah nodded.
“But are you confident about the match? Being a team leader comes with a lot of responsibility.”
In response, Choi Seo-yoon smiled confidently, the corners of her lips rising.
“Of course I’m confident. I’m aiming for first place.”
“If you get first, what about Senior Kim Sunwoo?”
At that, Choi Seo-yoon tilted her head in confusion.
Senior Kim Sunwoo? What does he have to do with this all of a sudden?
“What about him?”
“His entry into the Sacred Martial Festival depends on this exam’s results.”
“Oh…”
She’d heard rumors. It was already a hot topic around the school.
Even in the Forest of Great Sages, there was an ongoing vote related to it.
The question was whether “Second-Year Kim Sunwoo,” who was rapidly climbing the ranks, could reach the overall top five through this exam.
Most people didn’t think so.
For Kim Sunwoo to make it into the top five, not only would his team have to win, but Park Inhwan would need to be eliminated early, and he’d have to personally defeat nearly 60 students to earn enough individual points.
But Kim Sunwoo’s combat style wasn’t well suited for large-scale fights.
Because of that, even though he had excellent skills, most people believed this time would be difficult for him.
“If your team gets first place, then Senior Kim Sunwoo probably won’t qualify for the Sacred Martial Festival. Won’t he blame you for that?”
“…Come on. He wouldn’t do that, would he?”
Choi Seo-yoon laughed it off as if that was ridiculous.
But the thought that she might be the reason Kim Sunwoo couldn’t attend the Sacred Martial Festival weighed uncomfortably on her chest.
That’s a shame. I wanted to go with him…
In her imagination, Team C had already taken first place thanks to her surprisingly strong leadership for a first-year student — though the real power was Yoo Ara — and Kim Sunwoo would be left devastated.
The very thought made her heart ache.
She didn’t even know how she could possibly comfort him if he failed to qualify.
No — what if her comfort made things worse? What should she even do…?
As she spiraled further into her own delusions—
Suddenly, a small commotion began outside the café.
“What’s with the noise?”
Startled by the sudden ruckus, Choi Seo-yoon and Song Seung-ah turned to look outside.
A crowd of people was following a young man.
And his face looked very familiar.
“…Isn’t that Senior Kim Sunwoo?”
It was indeed Kim Sunwoo.
“…Aren’t those all reporters behind him?”
The people trailing him all had microphones and cameras in hand.
Judging by how they were speaking into their mics and pointing them at him, it looked like they had gathered to interview Kim Sunwoo.
“Is he giving an interview?”
Song Seung-ah muttered absently.
“Looks like it.”
Then Kim Sunwoo raised both hands to stop the reporters.
Like disciples of some cult leader, the reporters all stopped exactly as he gestured.
Then Kim Sunwoo began speaking to them, rambling on.
[2nd-Year Mage Academy Student Kim Sunwoo, Confidence in Being Number One]
[Yoo Ara, once an ally, is now an enemy. Lee Seo-jun, once an enemy, is now an ally. Can Kim Sunwoo truly become the icon of victory?]
[Kim Sunwoo, Realistically Very Unlikely to Participate in the Sacred Martial Festival]
……
After school.
I was lying comfortably on my bed, checking internet news articles.
After doing interviews with dozens of reporters, as expected, the buzz was huge.
No matter which news category I clicked on, the name “Kim Sunwoo” appeared right at the top.
Of course, this wasn’t purely because of interest in me. A big factor was the rivalry narrative of Lee Seo-jun vs. Yoo Ara.
It was a long-standing dynamic that had continued since last year. But with my recent involvement, a major upset occurred—Yoo Ara came out victorious in the rivalry.
I closed the article and accessed the school’s community site.
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<Forest of the Great Sage – Anonymous Board>
[Do you think Kim Sunwoo can make top 5 overall? I have a feeling he will, lol]
[I think it’s possible. I’ve been watching him lately, and I seriously think he’s on par with Lee Seo-jun.]
[On par with Lee Seo-jun, lol. So many followers of the Church of Kim Sunwoo these days. Is this a religion or what?]
[With Park Inhwan getting eliminated early, I don’t think he’ll make top 5.]
[Agreed. And how do you even get 60 kills without wide-area magic? You’d need AOE magic on Yoo Ara’s level for that, lol.]
━━
The school community was also buzzing with talk about me.
There were plenty of negative comments, but also some embarrassingly worshipful ones.
Well, I try not to let it get to me.
[15,210 people are placing high expectations on you.]
[You have received 20,000 points as a reward.]
Thanks to that, I gained a full 20,000 points.
That completes my goal. Time to finally buy Rain of Mana.
[You have purchased ‘Rain of Mana (S)’]
A bright light appeared before my eyes and settled into my body.
Instinctively, I learned how to use it in the form of a torrential downpour.
Satisfied, I smiled and returned to the internet to check another article.
[1 Billion Monster Locusts Swarm… East Africa Devastated] *Locusts are a type of grasshopper.
A monster locust swarm attack.
Just like the locust plagues that occurred back in my original world, this world also suffers from such infestations.
Of course, these aren’t ordinary locusts.
They’re monster locusts.
They’re five times larger than normal and use their sharp teeth to devour humans.
They’re a kind of “field boss,” a calamity that strikes various parts of the world.
“East Africa, huh…”
It’s a bit—actually, very—far from Korea, but with a portal gate, I could get there instantly.
And considering their numbers, it would be perfect to test out Rain of Mana.
“Should I go this weekend?”
It’d be tough to test this ability in Korea anyway. And with the sheer number of locusts, I’ll definitely get to gauge its power.
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
I immediately booked a departure gate.
Sunday.
A flag bearing a sword emblem crossing a massive shield fluttered across the blazing desert.
The emblem belonged to Tu Wang, one of the world’s top 10 guilds.
Tu Wang Guild had come to deal with the monster locust swarm that was devastating East Africa.
“Man, it’s freezing in Korea, but here it’s boiling.”
One of the guild members muttered while sweating heavily.
Hearing this, Jeon Chanwon, a guild executive, nodded.
“Hey, you. You’re an ice-type mage, right? It’s hot as hell—make some ice.”
“Ah, yes sir.”
The guild member conjured ice.
Though the heat made it hard to maintain its usual form, the chill was real.
Chanwon took the ice, slipped it under his shirt, and rubbed it across his body.
“Ahh. That’s better.”
Just then, a figure appeared in the distance.
Chanwon narrowed his eyes to get a better look.
It was an East Asian man—not someone commonly seen in Africa.
As the man got closer, Chanwon greeted him warmly.
“Hello? You’re Korean, right?”
“…Ah, yes.”
The man nodded.
Chanwon studied him. A youthful face… with an oddly out-of-place mustache.
He looked vaguely familiar.
Then it clicked.
“Oh? Weren’t you the guy I ran into at the Ganghwa-do monster field? I think you said your name was Kim Jinwoo?”
The man stared blankly at Chanwon, then glanced at the Tu Wang flag. He nodded in recognition.
“Ah, I remember now. You’re the guy who spoke informally to me the first time we met.”
“Huh? What did you just say?”
“Nothing.”
“…Well, whatever. So what brings you here?”
“Just some personal business.”
“Yeah?”
Chanwon was curious, but since the man clearly didn’t want to talk, he just nodded.
“You seem busy. We’ve got work too, so see you around.”
“…Then I’ll be on my way.”
With that, the man disappeared.
“Who was that?” a nearby guild member asked.
Chanwon stared at the retreating figure and replied:
“Someone I met at the Ganghwa-do monster field.”
“You mean when you took down the field boss?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. Remember how that weird beam of light restrained the boss?”
“Of course I remember. It was so crazy, we kept talking about it in the mage community, but no one believed us.”
“Heh. Not surprising. It was pretty unbelievable.”
A beam of light binding the entire body of a massive field monster.
Chanwon still couldn’t forget that spell.
He’d been on the front lines for 30 years and never seen anything like it.
Who on earth cast that spell?
If he could just find out who it was, he’d do whatever it took to recruit them into Tu Wang Guild.
“Anyway, enough about the past. Let’s get to work.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Tu Wang Guild resumed walking toward their destination.
After about five minutes…
“…We should be seeing something soon.”
“Oh! Over there!”
One guild member pointed with wide eyes. Chanwon followed the gesture.
“What… what the hell is that?!”
At the end of the pointing finger were tens of thousands of locust corpses.
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