GWTM 02

By the fourth day, the combination of insomnia and physical fatigue started to make his face look sallow and dark.

Now, the other workers were even reluctant to approach Renok.

The foreman intentionally placed Renok in a seldom-seen corner of the parts room and completely ignored him. It seemed his intention was to prevent a body that could drop dead at any moment from collapsing and disrupting the work schedule.

This was actually a good opportunity for Renok, who had been trying to get away by intentionally causing a disturbance.

He idly fiddled with the parts, then subtly got up from his spot and moved toward the hallway.

He made eye contact with a worker who was toiling with a sunken face, but the man simply turned his head as if he’d seen something he shouldn’t, without saying a word.

While the foreman, his face blazing red, was swinging his horsewhip, Renok quickly slipped out of the parts room.

As the stuffy air gave way to a clearer, cooler breeze, he felt it was much easier to breathe.

If he stopped here, it would only be a matter of time before he was discovered.

Renok led his staggering body along the hallway wall, moving with stealthy steps.

Old picture frames and broken window frames hung intermittently along the corridor. The dirty wooden floor and a noisy ventilator running off to one side… There were no distinct features, but that’s what made it even stranger.

The game WORLD that Renok played was a typical medieval fantasy world up to ver 2.0.

If this world was different from the WORLD setting he knew, the situation would become much more complicated. If his game knowledge became useless, it would be akin to losing his one thread of hope.

The thought alone was troubling, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

Renok forced himself to shake his head to clear it, and continued down the dirty hallway, trying to memorize the route.

Fortunately, Renok’s memory was far beyond the ordinary level, so recalling the path he had taken was not difficult.

It was easy not just to remember, but to accurately gauge where the corridor bent, adjust the distance, and construct a 3D space in his mind.

By simply observing the layout of the diverging corridors, he could predict the direction and space and estimate the scale of the factory.

Renok hadn’t walked for long, but a map of the factory was already being completed in his head just by traversing the corridor away from the parts room.

As he continued walking, a pungent smell suddenly stung his nose.

Unlike a simple stench, it was a smell that strongly stimulated his sense of smell and brain just by inhaling it.

It was the aroma of an addictive tobacco or a similar indulgence.

As Renok muffled his footsteps and moved a little further, the space at the end of the corridor opened up, and a small side door leading outside the factory came into view.

Through the slightly ajar door, a pungent smoke drifted out, along with the sound of low voices.

Renok found a spot at an ambiguous angle where he wouldn’t be immediately visible if the door were yanked open and listened carefully to the voices.

“The new guys who came in this time are too slow with their hands. I wonder if we’ll be able to deliver on time.”

“We’re stuck using the trash that’s been thrown out of the city, so what can you do? We just have to beat them until they move faster. If you miss the deadline, the Chief Supervisor might brand your forehead with a cigarette.”

“Damn it… I absolutely cannot stand that. I actually shed a tear last time it happened, it hurt so bad.”

Loud laughter erupted at the man’s coarse swearing.

From the conversation, the people talking beyond the door seemed to be foremen, similar to the hairy giant.

“Why are the union members so fussy about the time? Every time those guys come and give us hell, the number of times the Chief Supervisor gives us hell increases.”

“Haven’t you heard? The stuff we make here, the Union takes it and sells it to the Black Mages.”

“What? Why would mages need a pulverizer?”

So they were making pulverizers here. Renok, who had been confined to the parts room all day, didn’t even know what he was making.

‘In any case, it seems magic does exist in this world. That’s a relief.’

Had magic not existed in this already unfamiliar world, Renok’s talent would have been completely meaningless.

Renok sighed in relief and listened to the foremen’s conversation again.

To the man’s bewildered voice, another voice spoke, greatly lowered.

“If a Black Mage buys a pulverizer, isn’t it obvious? They… use it on corpses, probably.”

“Damn it… I suddenly feel sick. I need to light another one.”

“Put it in your mouth. I’ll light it for you.”

A thick hand holding a lighter was visible through the door crack.

“That’s a nice lighter, how much did it cost?”

“I bought it recently from Calvin & Cups. It’s even powered by mana.”

As he spoke, he flicked his thumb, and a blue flame flared up from the end of the lighter.

And as Renok watched this sequence of events, a huge upheaval occurred within him.

A shock, like someone pulling a trigger in his mind. It was a phenomenon that happened as a new sensation, one he had never known before, instantly stimulated his body and mind.

It was a sixth sense beyond the five senses, a third eye, a second self.

The moment Renok realized this, he recognized that this was the fundamental force that constituted this world, and the driving force that defined existence.

That it had always been flowing throughout the world, and he had simply not been aware of it until now.

The former Renok had never even considered having such a talent, and his mind, crushed by despair and suffering from his long time in the factory, had been suppressing the awakening.

But the Renok of now was a completely different person, and was fully aware of the mana and mental talents contained within the body.

All that was needed was a tiny trigger, like the lighter’s flame.

Shaken by the awakening of his Mana, Renok stopped all thought and mutely savored the moment of realization.

The power flowing through this frail body was his most important asset, weapon, and hope.

Renok gathered his thumb and index finger and whispered softly.

“Light.”

Paaaat! (A flash)

The Mana, now given an incantation, overlapped with the image that rose in Renok’s mind, piercing the realm of ideals and concepts and manifesting in reality.

It was Magic.

Hwar-euk! (A blazing sound)

Renok trembled faintly as he saw the blue flame blossoming in his hand.

A flame identical to the lighter’s flame seen through the door crack was dancing on his fingertip.

Everything around him had changed, but the magic of WORLD that he knew had not.

For some reason, that fact alone seemed to offer Renok a small measure of comfort.

.

Afterward, Renok continued to subtly eavesdrop on the foremen’s conversation before slipping away before he was caught and returning to the parts room.

The parts room foreman noticed his absence and flew into a rage, but thankfully, it stopped at a few blows.

Listening to the surrounding workers, it seemed a grim rumor was circulating that he was now looking for a burial spot for himself.

He swiftly emptied the thin gruel and lay down, lost in thought.

‘The time remaining until the Union members come to collect the products is three days.’

The foremen had chatted for a long time even after lighting each other’s cigarettes, and Renok was able to obtain useful information from it.

‘If the union members come to the factory, the foremen’s surveillance will naturally weaken… That’s the only chance.’

If he delayed any longer, Renok’s weak body wouldn’t be able to endure.

The fact that he was somehow maintaining a sane mind in these dire conditions was solely thanks to Renok’s mental stats that he had invested in.

However, no one knew if he could maintain the same judgment and reason even after his body was completely broken.

Time was not on his side, but there was a breakthrough.

Renok carefully pulled the blanket over his head, turned his body toward the wall, and curled up.

As he did earlier, he brought two fingers together, and the moment he thought of the blue flame, a small light appeared, softly illuminating the inside of the blanket.

“………”

Perhaps because he had used it once already. Now, he didn’t even need an incantation to use magic.

Renok quietly stared at the mana-light, trying to bridge the gap between his existing magical knowledge and reality.

In truth, Renok knew nothing about the sensation of moving mana or the trick to using magic.

The Magic Gunner character he had played merely used magic by reciting an incantation, forming a hand seal, and then using the gun to designate the point of impact before firing, all based on his commands from beyond the monitor.

The magic that Renok was now initiating solely by willpower, without an incantation or hand seal, was a type he had never experienced.

Only one possibility came to mind. Could it be because of the magic-related ability stats he had maxed out during character creation?

If his guess was right, Renok was essentially manifesting magic in reality based solely on vaguely remaining memories in his mind and pure talent.

The talent to use magic without knowing hand seals or incantations.

Renok realized how absurd and incredible this was.

If he could properly combine this talent with the various game knowledge he possessed, rapid short-term growthwouldn’t be impossible.

The only problem was that, even if this world’s magic system and WORLD’s magic system aligned, the magical knowledge Renok had was only half-complete.

The character he played in ver 2.0 was limited by the Magic Gunner class and could only use the common magic system called ‘Dexter’.

Regarding the unique magic system ‘Sinister’ used by true mages, he had only heard rumors, similar to other players.

But for now, that was enough. There were plenty of useful spells even within the common ‘Dexter’ magic system.

‘The true value of magic isn’t in its flashiness or destructive power.’

Had he not awakened mana, he would have had to think much harder, but the moment he could use even the tiniest bit of magic, the difference was obvious.

All that remained was to steadily make the preparations he had planned, starting tomorrow.

Renok clenched his fist, extinguishing the flame, then straightened his body and closed his eyes.

The severe insomnia was still plaguing him, and it was the fourth day he had been repeating cycles of dozing and waking.

He had already given up on achieving deep sleep without leaving this room, where low snoring and stench mingled.

Renok spent the night almost wide awake, continuously practicing moving mana and using magic until the time the other workers would wake up.

If he couldn’t get used to this sensation, Renok had no future.

He had only one runway available, and he couldn’t even contemplate other possibilities.

And the one who had driven Renok to this point was himself.