GWTM 05
The people remaining in the library as closing time approached were only two or three, including Renok.
He gazed out the window at the setting sun, lost in thought. How long had it been since he’d had time alone like this? Compared to when he was on the verge of death from labor in the factory, this was a massive change, but Renok’s expression remained crumpled and unrelaxed.
‘This is a bit different from what I expected.’
After a full day buried in the library, poring over magic-related books, he reached one conclusion. Surprisingly, apart from the concept of Mana Pattern learned from the introductory texts, there was hardly any useful knowledge for Renok.
‘The concept of Common Magic has completely vanished.’
The classification of magic was only about the ‘Sinister’ system, the unique magic structure that each mage could learn. There was no mention anywhere of the ‘Dexter’ system, the common magic used by all mages.
Did Common Magic get deleted when the world transitioned to the 3.0 setting? It was hard to accept, as all the Common Magic he had used so far was not explained. No matter how outstanding Renok’s talent was, he couldn’t possibly conjure up concepts that didn’t exist.
‘Considering the convenience of Common Magic, it’s logically impossible for it to be forgotten, become obsolete, or disappear.’
Compared to Unique Magic, Common Magic lacked specialization, depth, and power, but its advantage lay in its overwhelming versatility, applicable regardless of element or target. A mage skilled in Electric-type Unique Magic could summon a thunder storm thousands of times stronger than a Volt spell, but they wouldn’t be able to summon a cooling breeze between their fingers. Common Magic served as a lubricant, preventing this excessive fixation on magic and smoothly bridging the gaps between different types of magic. At least, that was the case up until WORLD 2.0.
‘There must be a reason why it’s not mentioned at all… I’ll have to find out later.’
Renok was deep in thought, carelessly flipping through the books scattered on the desk. The books classifying Unique Magic systems contained various information, including different elemental systems, as well as black magic, necromancy, sorcery, and barrier magic, but Renok didn’t look at the books anymore. To acquire those Unique Magic systems, he wouldn’t find what he needed in a catalogue-like book in the library; he needed to find a real ‘Grimoire’ or a master to pass on the Sinister. This information was meaningless to Renok, who had no acquaintances, let alone a Grimoire or a master.
Finally, Renok gave up, gathered the books, and was about to get up when someone suddenly spoke to him from behind.
“If you want to be a mage, you should give up.”
“……?”
At the clear yet cold tone, Renok unconsciously turned his head.
A woman in a white blouse and a blue skirt was organizing the books people had left behind. She had a sophisticated look, with voluminous blonde hair swept to one side. Her cold expression and calm gaze complemented her elegant appearance well.
She continued speaking without properly facing Renok.
“You’ve been sitting and only looking at books all day. Being a mage isn’t something you can achieve like that. At your age, it’s far too late, so you might be better off studying Theoretical Magical Engineering.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I don’t want to see you clinging to useless hope.”
Thud.
Only then did she put down the book she was holding and look at Renok’s face. Her ocean-blue eyes gazed at him calmly.
“If you can’t join a school or find a master, your only option is to learn magic at a university. But you can’t enter a university without a foundation, and even if you luckily get admitted, you won’t gain anything from the lectures.”
“……”
“You can’t do anything alone. Magic is a field where talent and luck determine most things. Feelings like curiosity, passion, and inquisitiveness are only secondary concerns.”
Renok didn’t reply and just stared at her face.
.
The Professor
In the fading sunset light, the woman’s face, partially in shadow, was quite beautiful even to Renok.
She looked as if she regretted what she had said under Renok’s gaze.
“Haa…. I apologize. What am I saying to a complete stranger?”
Sweeping back a strand of her blonde hair, she gestured.
“Closing time has passed. I need to organize the books, so I’d appreciate it if you left.”
Just as she was about to turn her back again, Renok finally spoke.
“Is that from personal experience?”
“…….”
“If you’re a student, isn’t it too early to give up? Wouldn’t it be better to try what you can do first instead of driving yourself already?”
“Ha…..”
She looked utterly stunned, perhaps having never imagined that Renok would be the one to offer her advice.
But that was all Renok could say to her. Since his talent in magic was surely not lacking, shouldn’t she be the one to put in the effort? She may have wanted to give advice based on her own situation, but her target was entirely wrong.
He wished her the best, regardless of the disillusionment she might have felt at the university, and was about to descend the stairs when she called out to him.
“Hey!”
Renok turned around, and she pulled something from her blouse and tossed it to him.
It was an elegantly designed business card with a name written in gold.
She stared at Renok with an exasperated expression for a long time, then sighed deeply and spoke.
“You seem to have mistaken me for a student, and you are completely wrong.”
“…..Excuse me?”
“From your actions to your words, you are truly an absurd person. I can’t believe you took my advice that way….”
She held her head as if troubled, but eventually shook it.
“Forget it. If you come looking for me later, I’ll tutor you in magic a little, so do as you wish. You can leave now.”
“…..”
‘Is she out of her mind?’
Renok, who had been looking at the beautiful blonde woman—who was talking to herself and answering herself—with a strange gaze, finally left the library, pulled out the business card, and realized the meaning of her words.
Her title was clearly engraved on the bottom of the card.
[Labathenon University. Chair Professor of Elemental Magic.]
[Aris Richellen.]
“….She was a professor?”
From her demeanor and what she said, she seemed no different from a university freshman, but she was a professor. Why would such a person be organizing books in the library in the first place?
Renok was briefly confused but quickly collected his thoughts and moved on. According to his plan, he wouldn’t run into her again anyway. There was no need to keep worrying about someone he had met by chance.
He left the busy area and was approaching the street where his hotel was located when someone suddenly stopped him.
“Excuse me, sir.”
The one who stopped him was a young man in a police uniform. He offered a pleasant smile and showed Renok a device he held in his hand.
“Would you mind cooperating with a brief inspection?”
“…..An inspection?”
The moment he heard the officer’s words, Renok’s mind began to race. Did they somehow realize he was a factory worker with no identity? He thought he hadn’t shown any signs, but had he been discovered already?
No, it was different. If the police knew Renok had no identity, they wouldn’t have approached him alone. The officer approaching him with the device was too unprepared.
In a fraction of a second, Renok intensely considered his options, but ultimately turned to face the officer willingly.
‘Fleeing now would only arouse unnecessary suspicion.’
“What kind of inspection is needed?”
“Ah, it’s nothing major…. A robbery was reported nearby, you see.”
He smiled faintly as he said this.
“We are currently investigating mages using the Mana Patterns left at the crime scene as clues.”
“…..I see.”
Renok realized the case the police were chasing had nothing to do with him, but he perfectly maintained his expression. This was certainly a change from when he was on Earth. No matter what he was thinking internally, his complexion rarely changed.
He calmly extended his hand towards the device, and slowly channeled Mana towards the bottom of the device the officer held. In the process, he didn’t forget to subtly move the Mana he was channeling to change the pattern.
Tear-shaped patterns were scattered and sucked into the device, appearing on the display. The officer compared the Mana Pattern on the display with a photo he pulled from his pocket, then nodded with a smile.
“The pattern is definitely different. Thank you for your cooperation.”
It seemed he carried such a device because he couldn’t see the movement of Mana with the naked eye.
Renok pointed to the device in his hand and asked.
“Does this detector also determine the presence of Mana?”
Although the absolute amount of Mana he possessed wasn’t large, all the Mana in Renok’s body was perfectly controlled by his overwhelming talent. Naturally, not a wisp of Mana would have leaked out, so if the officer noticed it, it was likely with the aid of the equipment.
The officer, questioned by Renok, awkwardly nodded.
“Yes, yes. Well, they say it uses a material sensitive to Mana, but wouldn’t a mage like you know better than me?”
“To be honest, I haven’t been in this city for very long. So this is how crime investigation is done these days.”
“It’s been a long time since we favored evidence that hasn’t been magically prepared in the investigation process. You must be quite a bit older than you look.”
Since strong criminals often conceal their identities and escape with various magical formulas, common CCTV, surveillance cameras, and witness testimonies have long been excluded from serious crime investigations.
Thanks to Renok’s cooperative attitude, the officer seemed to view him favorably and spoke openly. Shamans or Necromancers summon the souls of victims, Blood Mages track bloodstains, and Druids wander the streets searching for faint residual scents.
While it wasn’t impossible to incorporate magical countermeasures into surveillance equipment, the cost was too high. Consequently, most areas of the city, excluding key facilities, required investigators to manually patrol with specialized equipment.
Renok constantly nodded as he listened to the officer’s complaints. The officer eventually heard a sound from his pager and left.
Watching the officer wave goodbye and walk away, Renok let out a sigh of relief.
‘He wasn’t a guest sent from the factory.’
Had his efforts to avoid being tracked paid off? He expected some attempt to find him, but there were no signs yet. Then again, from their perspective, Renok was just a single, near-dead factory worker, so it wasn’t strange that there was no pursuit. Although he had stolen the foreman’s car, the foreman had already crossed the River Styx from Renok’s bullet, so no one would be concerned about him.
It was too early to relax, but perhaps there was no need to heighten his vigilance.
Renok thought that the Valcan police relying on magic and formulas for investigation was a good thing for him. Powerful mages naturally possess a certain degree of resistance to spells targeting them. Even if someone tried to find a mage through a scent-tracking spell, if that mage had resistance to targeted magic, it wouldn’t work well.
And when Renok set up this body’s talent, he had maxed out even such minor stats. If the stats he personally configured were implemented here, Renok’s body would have absolute resistance to any tracking or curse magic.
‘It’ll be hard to resist targeting from a mage far more skilled than me, but it’ll be a great help in concealing my identity and escaping.’
Renok returned to the hotel, immediately checked out, and moved to another hotel far away from that district.
‘No need to leave traces.’
He felt he didn’t need to worry much about pursuit from the factory, but there was no harm in being cautious.
‘The accommodation was also too expensive.’
It didn’t take long for Renok to grasp the cost of living in Valcan. The hotel he stayed at was quite unsatisfactory for 100,000 Cell per night. The new hotel he moved to had a slightly smaller room and bathroom than the previous one, but the cost of accommodation was nearly half. This would prevent all the money he had gathered from being spent on just a week’s stay.
Renok, having moved his minimal belongings, picked up the notepad and pen by the bed and began to write something down. It was to organize the things he needed to do and could do here.
‘The foremost goal must be survival.’
It had been almost a week since he woke up in this unknown world. He had to survive first and secure time and leeway before he could plan the next step. Pondering the reason he was here could wait.
And for that, he first had to get this weak body into a healthy state. At this rate, Renok didn’t have much time left.
‘The methods needed to recover my body…. The only things that immediately come to mind are Time-related Unique Magic, or equivalent Elixirs or Treasures.’
While he recalled Time-type Unique Magic in the library, Renok thought that finding an Elixir or Treasure was more likely. Unique Magic was the most precious treasure and secret of mages, and without a master, it was difficult to even get a chance to encounter it.
‘But Elixirs or medicinal ingredients that restore physical vitality are different. Depending on their effect, finding the medicine itself won’t be difficult.’
Of course, elixirs like the panacea would be hard to find even for a fortune, but those with inferior efficacy would be different. It would be enough if they could reduce the penalty on his weak body and extend his time. Provided, of course, that such elixirs existed in this world as they did in the game.
The conclusion was set.
“I need to find a way to make money.”
He needed money. A lot of it.
“……..”
Feeling a sudden pull in his head, Renok finally couldn’t resist and put the tobacco in his mouth. As he lit it and inhaled the smoke, the feeling of fatigue vanished, and vitality began to circulate throughout his body.
“Hoo….”
Renok let out a deep sigh as he exhaled the smoke that filled his lungs. He had realized the reality that he would have to rely on this item in the long term to make money. He had to earn money to cure his body, but to earn money, he had to keep damaging his body.
It was an unavoidable contradiction, but for Renok, who had nothing, it was somehow natural. He had to force his way out of this cycle to create an opportunity. Fortunately, unlike others, Renok possessed a very special talent. It was not surprising. That was the only thing he had to rely on from the start, wasn’t it?
Renok remained in contemplation for a long time afterward, thinking about his future. A long-term goal had been set, but the process to achieve the result was entirely up to Renok. It wasn’t enough to just resolve to earn money; the preparation process also had to be carefully considered and planned. For this, seeking out various means, including magic, was a necessity, not an option.
The lights in the room went out long after the tobacco smoke had dissipated.
.
Bounty Hunting
Even if the existence of Common Magic was forgotten in this world, the magic he used hadn’t disappeared. Holding a weapon that others didn’t know about was akin to a privilege.
Realizing this, Renok dedicated all his time to researching magic, except for meal times and when he went down to the lobby to extend his room reservation.
The three spells he had used at the factory—Light, Volt, and Silence—were not the only types of Common Magic. Most were for the user’s convenience and lacked strong power or depth, but the characteristic of applying regardless of element or system was a huge advantage.
Therefore, he meticulously organized all the Common Magic he could remember and began to test if they were usable one by one.
Shwik!
Renok nodded as he watched the toilet paper scroll being sliced with an eerie sound.
“The cutting spell is also usable. Now let’s see….”
He jotted down the name of the new spell in the corner of a notepad densely filled with ink. Several other similar notepads were scattered on the bed.
Through his efforts, Renok had a firm grasp of the magic he could use and its limitations. As long as he used Common Magic, Renok didn’t need to worry about magic circles, hand signs, or incantations. Just his mental image caused Mana to naturally take form, and merely solidifying his will resulted in its manifestation in reality, accompanied by Mana consumption.
Of course, there were many spells that Renok couldn’t use at all with his current Mana capacity, or spells whose power was too great to attempt in a hotel room. Still, Renok realized how absurdly talented he was. When he played as a Magnum Shooter, he had to form hand signs and complete the incantation before he could use magic, regardless of the Common Magic’s rank. Even that was after skipping the act of drawing a magic circle for game convenience. Otherwise, it might have taken several minutes to cast a spell.
Furthermore, as he continuously practiced magic, his Mana capacity steadily increased to nearly three times what it was when he first awakened his Mana. The fact that his Mana capacity increased just by using magic was an unprecedented experience even for Renok, who had played WORLD for a long time.
Thanks to this, Renok could use magic almost 10 times a day, and his magic research speed accelerated daily. He stayed locked in his room, using magic all day, and when his Mana was depleted, he slept like the dead.
After a week of clinging to magic until his mind was exhausted, Renok had succeeded in raising his magical ability to a level where he could confidently call himself a mage.
And today was finally the last day he had decided to dedicate to magic research. This was the limit before taking action. It was time to go out, find a proper source of income, and stabilize his life.
“This is the best I can do.”
No matter how much he had played as a Magnum Shooter, Renok didn’t remember all the Common Magic spells. He hadn’t entered this world after experiencing in-depth play as a mage; he had created this body to experience that play. Therefore, the Common Magic he knew was mostly the popular ones famous among players.
But despite this gap in game knowledge, Renok wasn’t particularly worried. The number of usable Common Magic spells he had organized filled more than three notepads.
There might be a lack of Mana, but there would not be a lack of response capability. Renok was certain.
“Time to head out.”
He opened the window, and the cold dawn air permeated the room. Inhaling the chilly wind, Renok tore up the memo notes about magic that he had organized and flushed them down the toilet. All the information about magic he had compiled over the week was washed away, soaked with water, but Renok calmly packed his bags and stood up.
All his talent was specialized in learning and manipulating magic. The countless spells he had organized were perfectly stored in his mind.
All preparations were complete.
The funds he had extorted from the thugs, and the tobacco, were also starting to run low. Without securing a fixed source of income, even maintaining his current life would become difficult.
It was time to move.
Renok did not hesitate and immediately left the room.
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