Chapter 1: Remote Support Mage (1)

A status window suddenly appeared before his eyes.

It seemed to summarize information about Han-seong himself. The problem was that, except for the name, he couldn’t understand any of it.

“Mage? Level?”

Looking at this alone, it was similar to a game character’s profile. As he was trying to grasp the situation, Han-seong suddenly widened his eyes.

The hallway, which had been filled with screams and shouts, had suddenly gone quiet. Feeling uneasy, he glanced at the screen showing the hallway scene.

[Graaaargh!]

With a terrible roar from the speaker, the corpse that had been torn apart by monsters suddenly stood up.

Like the monsters that had attacked him, it moved in search of prey. As Han-seong stared at the monsters wandering the hallway through the screen, something caught his eye.

‘Wait, come to think of it…!’

A sudden memory flashed.

It was what Han-seong had been about to do just before the monsters appeared. He had been about to open the front door, trying to go outside for the first time in 10 years.

Remembering this, Han-seong looked at the front door and soon confirmed that the lock was undone.

‘I need to lock the door first!’

Ensuring his personal safety was more important than understanding the current situation. Han-seong swallowed hard and moved his wheelchair as quietly as possible.

Fortunately, the monsters showed no reaction.

Finally reaching his destination, Han-seong activated the lock with trembling hands.

Ding! Click!

And at that moment.

Dozens of footsteps were heard from beyond the front door. Then the monsters all started to roar at once.

“Graaah! Aaaah!”

“Grrrroooar!”

The sound of fists pounding on the door.

Even the sound of nails scratching the door until they might fall off.

Han-seong involuntarily covered his ears at the chilling sounds. Then, footsteps were heard from the emergency staircase next to the hallway.

“Hee, heek!”

The voice of someone presumed to be a survivor trying to escape the officetel. He screamed upon seeing the monsters gathered in front of Han-seong’s door, which was enough to draw their attention.

“Graaaaaah!”

“Ah, no! Aaaagh!”

The desperate screams continued for a while.

After some time, the screaming man became a corpse, and a little later, he changed like the monsters that had attacked him.

The fortunate thing in this misfortune was that the monsters’ memory wasn’t very good. Evidence of this was that they had completely forgotten about knocking on Han-seong’s door.

“Huff! Huff!”

The monsters that had been wandering the hallway had gone down the emergency stairs. Han-seong, feeling cold sweat all over his body, gasped for breath he had been holding.

And he realized a new fact.

‘The monsters have keen hearing.’

Whether they only react to sound, or if other senses work, he wasn’t sure.

Anyway, as long as he didn’t make a sound, he wouldn’t attract their attention. Han-seong moved his wheelchair as quietly as possible back to where he had been.

At that moment.

[The Blessing of Remote Support is bestowed.]

[Remote Support: All acquired skills are modified to fit your class. However, you cannot receive the blessing’s effects if you leave your base.]

A new message was displayed on the floating messenger. As he stared blankly at this, additional messages appeared in succession.

[You have acquired the Mage’s Qualification.]

[Unique Skill: ‘Meditation’ has been learned.]

[Meditation (Lv.1)]

-Recover mana through meditation.

▷Recovery: 5 mana per minute

▶Grade: 1st Tier

An explanation similar to a skill in a game.

Han-seong, who couldn’t make heads or tails of anything, stared at this with trembling eyes. Meanwhile, messages continued to be displayed on the messenger.

[Remote Support Mage: Basic Skills Unlocked]

[Active Skill: Open Map]

[Passive Skill: Magic Castle]

[Open Map (Lv.1)]

-Observe the surrounding terrain and features.

▷Effective Range: 500m radius

▷Command: Open Map

“Open Map?”

The moment he unconsciously muttered this.

Suddenly, a map unfolded before his eyes. As Han-seong stared at the three-dimensional map, he realized what place was being shown.

“This is our house?”

More precisely, it was a map showing the surroundings of the officetel where Han-seong was staying. The range shown was, as described in the skill explanation, up to a 500-meter radius.

As he was blankly staring at this.

The second skill was revealed.

[Magic Castle (Lv.1)]

-Fortify the mage’s living space.

▷Effective Range: 10m radius from the base

▷Additional Function: Concealment Field

“Wha, what?”

The moment he confirmed the skill, a huge magic circle was drawn in the center of the room.

Then, like a balloon inflating, a bluish membrane spread out and enveloped the surroundings of the room. This must be the activation of the Magic Castle skill.

[You have viewed all skills.]

[Tutorial Quest Completed]

[A special benefit will be provided.]

Tutorial quest, he thought.

It really feels like a game.

As he was thinking this, the special benefit was revealed.

[An additional skill will be provided.]

[Please select the desired skill.]

《Magic Sniping》

《Call Lightning》

《Strength》

Out of the three skills, only one could be chosen.

Han-seong pinched his cheek hard with his fingers.

As his cheek stung, the momentary daze cleared, and with some rationality restored, he clenched his fist.

‘…Let’s think of it as a game.’

Situation assessment can be done later.

For now, let’s just think of it as the starting point of a game and select a skill. Han-seong repeatedly gave himself this suggestion as he looked at the skill list.

[Remote: Magic Sniping (Lv.1)]

-Snipe a single target on the map.

▷Effective Range: Up to 500m

▷Impact Range: Within 0.5m

▷Mana Cost: 10

▷Activation Time: Instant

▷Cooldown: 15 minutes

A skill that can hit enemies at a long distance.

It’s essentially a skill that can attack any enemy on the map. The effective range looks good, but the fact that it only hits a single target is concerning.

So let’s look at the next skill.

[Remote: Call Lightning (Lv.1)]

-Drop lightning on a designated coordinate.

▷Effective Range: Up to 300m

▷Impact Range: Within 3m

▷Mana Cost: 50

▷Activation Time: 5 seconds

▷Cooldown: 120 minutes

A magic that drops lightning.

Unlike the Magic Sniping seen earlier, it has a wider impact range and seems good for dealing with multiple enemies.

The downside is that it consumes a lot of mana and has a long cooldown. After pondering for a moment, Han-seong looked at the third and final skill.

[Remote: Strength (Lv.1)]

-Enhance a single target on the map.

▷Effect: +300% of maximum strength

▷Mana Cost: 15

▷Duration: 10 minutes

▷Cooldown: 30 minutes

In game terms, this is a kind of buff.

And the fact that it’s a single target on the map probably means it includes Han-seong himself.

‘But this isn’t it.’

Because it was of no use right now.

Moreover, Han-seong, who couldn’t move without a wheelchair, couldn’t go out and fight himself.

As a result, Han-seong decided to choose between Magic Sniping and Call Lightning. After a short while, Han-seong made his decision.

[You have selected an additional skill.]

A skill that can hit multiple enemies at once.

Also, since it’s lightning, he somehow felt it would have considerable destructive power. As soon as the selection was made, a new message appeared.

[Tutorial guidance is now complete.]

[Overcome and pass through the trial.]

[We wish the participants good luck.]

With this, the messenger disappeared.

In the darkened room. Left alone, Han-seong just silently stared into space.

Some time later.

After quite a while had passed, Han-seong clearly recognized the situation he was in.

‘An anomalous phenomenon has covered the world.’

People turn into monsters and attack others. People attacked by monsters turn into the same monsters after some time passes.

‘Right, just like zombies.’

It felt like becoming the protagonist of a disaster situation.

No, Han-seong, unable to move his legs, would be more suited to the role of a pitiful extra attacked by zombies rather than a protagonist.

Han-seong wore a self-deprecating expression.

However, he couldn’t just despair. He had to move now. The first thing Han-seong did was to fill the bathtub with water.

‘Water is coming out for now, but after a little more time passes, the water supply will be cut off.’

Next was checking the food supply.

Fortunately, there was plenty of food as he had recently purchased groceries from the supermarket.

‘I can easily last about two weeks.’

If he eats sparingly, he could last even longer.

After finishing the food check, Han-seong looked at the scenery beyond the window.

An evening on the way home from work, no different from any other day.

However, outside, instead of office workers returning home, it was full of zombies. As he silently watched this, he suddenly remembered something he had forgotten.

‘Right. Come to think of it, I got a job, didn’t I?’

People who survived avoiding zombies probably received something called a job. Whether it was an opportunity given equally to everyone, he wasn’t sure.

And Han-seong’s job was…

‘Mage.’

A being that uses mysterious powers.

It’s a concept that would only appear in novels or webtoons.

But the situation he was in was reality, and Han-seong finally decided to accept this fact. So he looked at the status window once again.

His job was Remote Support Mage.

Looking at the skills, this job seemed to be the type that strikes enemies from a long distance, rather than facing enemies right in front of you.

‘The basic skill is Open Map.’

When the skill is activated, it creates a 3D map of the surrounding terrain. The effective range is a 500-meter radius centered on Han-seong.

And he discovered an additional function that he hadn’t noticed earlier. Namely, points that appear to be monsters and survivors are marked on the map.

‘Judging by the scenery outside the window, the red dots are probably monsters and the blue dots are likely survivors.’

Indeed, the red dots moved irregularly outside, while the blue dots hardly moved, hiding inside buildings or underground.

Next, Han-seong looked at the passive skill given along with Open Map.

‘Magic Castle.’

A skill that fortifies the mage’s living space.

Among these, when he touched the part marked ‘Concealment Field’ in the additional functions, a detailed explanation appeared.

[Additional Function: Concealment Field]

▷Increases the rate of perception hindrance from the outside.

Although the explanation was somewhat difficult, the point was that it had the ability to camouflage and conceal the living space to prevent it from being easily detected.

Now, like before, there would be no chance of attracting zombies’ attention with sounds like locking the door.

‘Lastly…’

The skill chosen as a reward for completing the tutorial.

He looked at Call Lightning.

The effect of this skill was simple and clear.

It summons lightning from the sky to strike enemies on the map. Although he wasn’t sure how powerful it was, it was certainly estimated to be considerable.

‘It consumes half of the mana, and above all, when you say lightning, there’s an image of it being powerful.’

So let’s try using it once.

Han-seong made that decision.

He seemed to roughly know how to use the skill. When he touched the map, a list of available skills appeared before his eyes for that area.

‘Where would be good?’

Since the impact range is 5 meters, it would probably be best where the zombies are gathered as much as possible.

Han-seong carefully examined the red dots distributed on the map. But then.

“…Huh?”

There was a sight that caught his eye.

Near the construction site not far from the officetel. It was a scene of a blue dot fleeing from red dots.