Upon opening YouTube, a video appeared, featuring an Indian man enthusiastically speaking in English.
There were no subtitles, no flashy intro—just a simple video with only a whiteboard.
“I can’t understand English.”
In truth, even if I could speak English, it would have been difficult to comprehend.
That accent, thick with the flavor of curry, would challenge even a native American speaker.
Yet, before his overwhelming teaching prowess, the language barrier proved to be no significant obstacle.
“Basic magic… is used like this only. First, you imagine to pull up the power of the earth….”
The man passionately explained, using not only hand gestures and foot movements but also drawing pictures on the whiteboard.
Nothing else was needed for humanity to communicate with one another.
“So, the general idea is to imagine pulling the power from the earth.”
I nodded, interpreting his words in my own way.
The core concept was akin to meditation.
The deity residing within me, connecting it with the nature outside.
“It important! Three months!”
The man suddenly held up three fingers, emphasizing his point.
“It could take over three months to feel mana? That’s a bit problematic.”
I longed to use magic immediately and pass the verification.
A new gallery, a social forum for mages, of whom there were only four in Korea, now five including me.
I desperately wanted to become one of them and enjoy participating in the gallery as soon as possible.
But to think it could take three months—that was an excessively long time.
“Well, I might as well try.”
After all, rushing it wouldn’t make it happen any faster.
To directly feel the power of the earth, I ventured outside.
I needed to find a place closest to the soil, where the most earth was present.
After some contemplation, I headed to the playground within the apartment complex.
I sat cross-legged in the middle of the playground’s sandbox.
My backside crushing the toad houses (TL Note: Small structures made of sand, typically by children in a sandbox, resembling a toad’s shelter) and sandcastles the children had built.
Before long, I began to feel the stares of those around me.
“Oh, look over there.”
“At what? Oh, that woman over there?”
“Yes, she looks like a student, but what on earth is she doing in the middle of the playground at this hour?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s some kind of challenge kids do these days? Everyone’s filming for YouTube nowadays, making a fuss.”
“Is there something good about filming that?”
“Why, back in our day, weren’t there kids who were desperate to become idols?
These days, if you film things like that and gain popularity, agencies apparently contact you or something.”
“Then is she like an idol trainee? She is quite pretty, I suppose. Even if her clothes are a bit shabby.”
Whispers drifted to my ears.
I was accustomed to being treated like a lunatic.
However, ‘pretty’ was a word I had never heard in my life.
An awkward sensation made me feel as if my body would twist into knots.
I deliberately ignored their gazes.
A quick glance revealed only a few grandmothers sitting on a bench and some passing aunties.
It didn’t matter to me what they thought.
I closed my eyes and focused solely on feeling the mana.
Perhaps thanks to my 30 days of meditation training, concentration was not difficult.
The surrounding noise faded, and my consciousness gradually burrowed downwards, into the sand.
Then, I felt it.
The subtle energy held within each grain of sand. The vast current they formed when gathered.
The heat emanating from deep within the earth, its weight. Time. The pulse of life. All of it.
This was mana.
“Success.”
I opened my eyes.
Checking my watch, only a few minutes had passed. The process that the video suggested could take three months had concluded in mere minutes.
I looked around.
Fortunately, the people who had been watching me earlier had all left.
Now was my chance.
I cautiously extended my hand and attempted to manipulate the mana.
“First, just simple sand movement….”
At my gesture, the sand rose gently, writhing like a snake.
“Oh!”
For a moment, I lost track of time, moving the sand this way and that.
I sculpted an ugly frog, a common sight in the gallery, out of sand, and even carved the gallery’s large logo.
“I should post about this later with the title, ‘Hunter-bro’s sandcastle, how many hits?’ (TL Note: ‘Myeot-ta-chwi,’ Korean slang used in online communities to ask for feedback or ratings on a post, similar to ‘how many thumbs up?’ or ‘what’s the score?’).”
I captured all of it with my phone camera for verification.
After playing like that for a while, something suddenly came to mind.
The most basic offensive magic the Indian man in the video had taught.
“It was Sand Bullet, wasn’t it? What a half-hearted name.”
But the name wasn’t important.
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 mind.
They compacted tightly together. Compressed, they spun.
I could see the form of the deity (TL Note: A spiritual core or inner power in this context) within me changing. The deity was now in the shape of a small bullet.
Suddenly, I felt dizzy, as if my head was spinning.
Sparks flew in my mind.
The sensation of countless pieces of information flooding into my brain all at once.
The optimal arrangement of sand grains, the most efficient method of mana compression, the ideal rotation speed.
Skipping complex calculations, the results of everything were derived by intuition.
All of this came to me naturally, as if I had known it all along.
‘Had my brain ever worked this fast before?’
No, I could confidently say it hadn’t.
I had spent my entire life rotting my brain by just writing crap posts (TL Note: ‘Ddong-geul,’ Korean slang for poorly written or pointless online posts). Suddenly, I felt like a genius.
‘Did awakening as a mage modify not just my body but also my brain?’
Perhaps. After all, it would be strange if my brain remained unchanged when even my gender had shifted.
I stopped my stray thoughts there.
I precisely manipulated the mana according to the optimal solution that had intuitively surfaced.
The sand in my palm rotated violently and compacted.
With a *shiiik* sound, a small, hard, black bullet, the size of a fingernail, was finally complete.
I extended my finger towards a worn-out bench in the corner of the playground.
Then, I fired the completed sand bullet.
*Swoosh!*
The bullet flew at a terrifying speed, tearing through the air.
*Bang!*
With a resounding thud, a large hole was punched through the backrest of the bench.
As if it had been struck by a large-caliber sniper rifle.
I was aghast at its power. Was this truly just basic magic? Something usable without skills?
There was a reason mages were considered overpowered.
“…….”
I stared blankly at the shattered bench for a moment, then snapped out of it.
I needed to leave this place quickly before anyone saw me.
“Still, I can’t skip the proof shot.”
I hastily pulled out my phone and took a proof shot.
Even if my life were to end a second later, I would still be taking that proof shot.
I captured both the bench with the hole and the faint sand pattern remaining on my palm.
Only after taking a few more pictures did I reluctantly leave the playground and flee home.
****
As soon as I arrived home, I logged into the Mage Gallery.
Less than two hours had passed since my last post, but several more posts had already appeared.
To gauge the atmosphere before my arrival, I read the latest posts first.
[Title: When will that newbie come?]
Poster: Magic is Firepower
It took me five months. How many months will it take them to come back? Didn’t we give them too difficult a task?
– Refrigerator: At least three or four months. Even a genius like me took two months.
– Pikachu: I finished in a month, yo.
– Refrigerator: You’re a lightning attribute. Lightning is naturally a fast attribute. Earth takes a long time.
– Beetle: Anyway, let’s wait and see.
[Title: But what if they’re a scammer? Yo]
Poster: Pikachu
They might upload a clumsy fake picture and run away today, yo?
– Magic is Firepower: That could happen.
– Beetle: No, my gut tells me. They’re real.
Hmm, it’s quite lively with discussions about me. An atmosphere mixed with anticipation and doubt.
In any case, being the center of attention was always enjoyable.
I pressed the write button with a satisfied smile.
[Title: Verification. Is this correct?]
Poster: I
(Picture of a bench with a hole)
(Picture of sand remaining on my palm)
Is this what you told me to do? It was hard.
As soon as I uploaded the post, the gallery exploded.
– Pikachu: ???????????
– Refrigerator: ???????
– Magic is Firepower: ?? What is this?
– Beetle: Hey, how did you do this? Already?
– I (Poster): You told me to.
– Beetle: No, I did tell you to, but I didn’t expect you to do it this quickly… How long did it take you to feel mana?
– I (Poster): About 10 minutes?
– Magic is Firepower: 10 minutes? Did you say 10 minutes?
– Refrigerator: That’s a lie. It took me two months to first feel mana.
– Pikachu: I’m a lightning attribute, so I was fast, but it still took me a week just to get the hang of it, yo! 10 minutes is impossible, yo!
A pleased smile broke out on my face at their reactions.
At times like these, a follow-up hit was essential.
– I (Poster): Huh? Isn’t it just that you guys are incompetent, so it took you a long time?
– Magic is Firepower: This bastard!
– Beetle: Hey, everyone calm down. First, look at that picture. Does it look faked?
– Refrigerator: …No. Looking at the cross-section of the hole in the bench and the traces left on their hand, it really is a Sand Bullet.
It’s impossible to replicate something so precisely just by watching a YouTube video. They really used it.
– Magic is Firepower: So, they really did it in 10 minutes? Their talent is insane lol (TL Note: ‘dd,’ Korean internet slang, an onomatopoeia for trembling, expressing shock or awe.).
– Beetle: A truly amazing newbie has appeared….
It felt good to see the gallery buzzing about my talent.
However, I couldn’t openly show my enjoyment.
I made an effort to remember the gallery’s rules and replied curtly.
– I (Poster): But isn’t it crazy to give such a difficult task as verification? If it wasn’t me, they would have only shown up half a year later.
– Beetle: No, well… we originally planned to just accept it if you came back in about a month and simply pretended to float some sand… I didn’t expect you to fire a Sand Bullet in a single day. My apologies.
Beetle readily apologized. I replied with a feigned air of generosity.
– I (Poster): It’s fine. So, am I an official member now?
– Beetle: Of course. Welcome, newbie.
– Refrigerator: I believe you. You truly are a mage.
– Pikachu: Congratulations on becoming a mage, yo.
Receiving their welcoming messages made it feel real.
The fact that I had truly become a mage and was now one of them.
Just then, Beetle posted a new comment.
– Beetle: With that level of talent and power, you’d probably just chew through the Tower’s tutorial….
Go into the Tower when you have time. Oh, but postpone your Hunter registration.
– I (Poster): I was planning to go to the Tower anyway, but why postpone Hunter registration?
– Beetle: There’s a reason for it. If you reveal you’re a mage now, troublesome things are bound to happen. Register once you’re strong enough.
The Tower (TL Note: A common trope in Korean web novels referring to a dungeon-like structure with multiple floors that hunters ascend to gain power and rewards.) was the ultimate reason I had endured 30 days of eating dirt to become a mage.
Wealth and honor awaited a Hunter.
But not to register as a Hunter?
– I (Poster): Don’t you need Hunter registration to enter the Tower?
– Beetle: Anyway, these days, they don’t strictly check outside of Seoul.
– Beetle: To live as a mage, you absolutely must clear the Tower. You need to acquire mana stones and accumulate experience.
If you need anything or have any questions about entering the Tower, ask away. We’ll tell you everything.
I solidified my resolve as I read his comments.
– I (Poster): OK. Then I’ll go tomorrow right away.
There was no need to hesitate. What was all that suffering for 30 days for?
Wasn’t it all to become a mage and live well?
I had only just taken my first step.
