Chapter 2: Lack of Magic Power

One day, suddenly I fell into the world of my favourite game.

A flash of light from the monitor, and then I found myself lying on a hotel bed.

As I looked around the room with a bewildered mind, there was nothing particularly unusual.

But when I soaked the curtains by the window and looked outside, that thought vanished.

High-rise buildings stood crowded together, cars passed by on asphalt roads, and the streets were bustling with people coming in and out of buildings.

It was a common sight when staying in a high-rise hotel in Seoul during vacation season.

However, this view felt strangely familiar to me in a different way.

“That’s to be expected.”

A few images flashed and scattered in my mind.

Scenes marking the beginning and end of the game. T

he landscape I saw was exactly the same as the background in the prologue and ending of “World Saviour Online.”

“Depending on the ending, it may look different, but right now it resembles the scene shown in the prologue.”

Honestly, I felt relieved.

If I were to follow the path of the King of Chaos, the landscape would appear as the image of the Indomitable World engulfed in purple flames.

Black flames from the towering trees of black flame soar into the sky, and the earth burns eternally with purple flames.

Without following any specific route, reaching the normal ending where the character resolves the world’s problems excellently portrays the scene after the end of the war.

“But… what if I make the best choices every moment and my character solves the world’s problems splendidly?”

Then, the ending cutscene that I could see would be the developed version of the scene in front of me.

A revolutionary era ending evaluated as the true ending among players.

It’s the only ending in this world that can be considered a happy end.

“…But no matter how the story ends, right now, it’s just an ordinary modern landscape.”

“So, right now, I’m in the prologue of the game.”

This landscape is telling me the time period of the world I’ve inhabited.

“Even my appearance was applied similarly to the presets and customizations.”

I saw my faint reflection on the glass window.

It wasn’t clear because it was glass, but it certainly resembled the tenth Barrier mage character I created.

So, inevitably, I couldn’t help but think.

“…Could it be?”

Do I, as the player character, have to solve the problems of this world?

The game is a game.

No matter how difficult the opponent, there are always strategies to defeat them.

Even bosses armed with unreasonable abilities and equipment which seem impossible, they are never unbeatable.

No matter what ending it is, the end of this world will come.

I have seen all endings, so I know it well.

How difficult it is to save this world.

Among the seven endings, there is only one considered a happy ending, the era of upheaval.

The problem is that even reaching that is extremely difficult.

It’s a ending reached only by the fifth and ninth characters after many attempts.

It was the same in the game.

Let alone reality.

There’s no respawn.

Once I die, that’s it.

Mistake in choices?

It’s impossible to undo words or choices by force closing and save loading.

Increasing stat points doesn’t conveniently increase strength.

In the end, I am just an ordinary person who entered the world of the game as a character.

“This isn’t a problem that can be conveniently solved with a status window…”

I muttered in frustration at the daunting reality that came crashing down on me.

No matter how much I think about it, leading the ending of this world seemed impossible.

Yeah.

[You have newly pioneered the horizon of barriers reachable through Barrier magic.]

[The topology of the world is being re-established.]

If there were no status window…

“World Savior Online’s” main story is set against what background and what’s the aim?

The answer is the Academy against the backdrop of the world’s destruction schemed by the final boss.

Eden.

It’s the main stage of Part 1 of the game’s main story.

The world’s top hunter training academy built around the world tree grown in the desert terrain of the abandoned Australia after the Great Cataclysm.

It’s just a representative example, and to explain its greatness in detail, it might take several sleepless nights.

Despite overflowing with applicants from all over the world, the average number of freshmen per year is only about 500.

“World Saviour Online” starts with the player entering the Academy as a novice.

“Cough!”

With a crash, I fell to my knees, panting heavily.

It wasn’t really the sound of breaking glass.

The remnants of mana dispersing in all directions instead of glass shards were evidence of that.

“Haa… Haa…”

The sensation of gasping for breath after a full sprint overwhelmed me.

The heavy breathing wasn’t due to intense exercise but simply because I had depleted my mana rapidly, putting a strain on my body.

[Seong Yujin]

Gender – Male

Age – 20

[Status]

Stat Points: 12

Strength: 13

Mana: 15 Mental

Mental Power: 11

[Skills] Boundary Magic (EX), Body Enhancement (D), Mana Circulation (D)

[Mystic Abilities] Sovereignty of Otherworld (EX)

I panted heavily as I expanded the status window, but as expected, the stats were dismal.

It was my first day in this world.

After hearing the voice from the status window, these abilities, skills, and mystic abilities appeared.

I don’t know the exact reason, and I don’t care to investigate.

“Phew… again!”

Humming, I infused mana and unfolded a barrier.

It was perfectly deployed, without any room for improvement.

Seeing this, I became confident that my character was specialized in Barrier magic.

Perhaps even more talented than the 9th-ranked character I had once.

“Maybe it’s thanks to the Sovereignty of Otherworld.”

My gaze shifted to the “Mystic” section of the status window.

Mystic, unlike magic classified as skills in the game’s setting, refers to the unknown that encompasses the principles not yet understood.

It’s a power fundamentally different from magic or science, operating under its own laws, much like the laws of physics but acting for its own sake.

The EX-ranked Sovereignty of Otherworld isn’t a skill.

As stated in the status window, it’s a power belonging strictly to the mystic category.

[Otherworld Sovereignty – EX]

• Allows the opening and closing of gateways to the phantasmal world.

• Enables control and manipulation of the phantasmal world.

• Allows free entry and manipulation of the phantasmal world overlapping with the real world, as well as the use of barrier magic less potent than this ability.

The barrier magic being EX-ranked in the skills section is directly influenced by this mystic ability.

It surpasses the S-rank, the highest rank in the game, manifesting into an EX-rank skill and mystic ability that originally did not exist.

However, I still can’t use the Sovereignty of Otherworld.

Crash!

“Cough!”

The perfection and level of my barrier magic were unparalleled.

I also possessed the unique mystic ability, the Sovereignty of Otherworld. Moreover, thanks to the status window, I knew perfectly well how to utilize my abilities.

However, there was one thing I lacked.

A critical problem I hadn’t overcome yet.

“Darn it, not enough mana again…!”

It’s mana.

Both skills and mystic abilities require mana as fuel, but my total mana is abysmally low.

It feels like manually generating electricity to power electronic devices.

Even if my abilities’ level and perfection are sufficient, my available mana for casting spells is woefully inadequate.

In a game, I would have raised my stats by investing stat points and using various potions.

But now that these virtual stats have become reality, raising them is far from easy.

“There’s nothing easy about making virtual stats become real.”

I could use the 12 stat points I have left to increase my mana.

However, the higher the stats, the harder it is to raise them.

Therefore, stat points that can increase stats instantly without any cost are precious resources.

And potions?

If they were easily obtainable, they wouldn’t be called potions in the first place.

Ultimately, just like building muscles through strenuous exercise, the answer is to raise my stats through hard work.

“It’ll be a tremendous effort, but there’s no other way.”

Consistently doing strength training or practicing martial arts increases the Strength stat.

The same goes for mana. I have to keep exhausting and replenishing it to raise my stats.

“But my Mental Power is kind of vague.”

The problem lies with Mental Power.

In the game, Mental Power enhanced resistance to mental attacks and status abnormalities.

It was occasionally used for various gimmicks or events, but generally, it wasn’t a crucial stat in combat.

Compared to mana or strength, it doesn’t play a significant role in battles.

“It’s inefficient considering the time invested.”

A stat with characteristics of high risk, low return, or conditional high return.

Unless facing specific enemies, investing in Mental Power is practically the worst decision.

“And on top of that, time is running out.”

Thankfully, I’ve got one day left until Eden’s entrance ceremony, which I’m preparing for.

But even if I’ve passed the entrance exam as a player character, can I keep up with Eden’s curriculum?

I believe I’m good at self-objectification, which is why I’m confident.

Absolutely not.

My current abilities are inadequate.

“Even if I get in, I’ll be quickly left behind.”

So, I had to somehow improve my skills.

Even if it’s difficult to utilize mystic abilities, I must make sure I can use barrier magic freely.

“Sigh…”

I let out a sigh, mixed with a clutter of thoughts.

Somehow, my thoughts had drifted into negativity.

While having an objective and critical perspective is important, letting it turn into pessimism isn’t ideal.

Clearing my mind, I calmly unfolded the barrier once again.

“Draw out the mana and arrange it according to the formula.”

Although I have the knowledge of barrier magic and the structure of formulas in my mind, I still lack the sense to manipulate them.

The sensation of moving mana, the proficiency in unfolding barriers, and the ability to calculate formulas—all of it feels clumsy.

Naturally, as someone who was born in the 21st century on Earth without any innate abilities, I’m not accustomed to suddenly having mana in my body.

“I shouldn’t be led by the skills given by the status window; I should use the skills on the status window myself.”

Erasing the discrepancy between my innate mana and the existence of abilities was the most important issue for me right now.

“Just a little more…!”

The formula was almost complete.

Pouring a bit more mana would finalize the boundary.

Zing-

Continuing the calculation of the formula, as the barrier was almost complete, an unbearable level of intense headache struck.

“…!”

My body staggered.

As my concentration on the calculation wavered, the barrier, just moments from completion, shattered into pieces.

I never thought I’d experience such a severe headache that I couldn’t maintain the barrier.

It seems like my eagerness to become stronger has strained my brain too much.

And just as if to deliver the final blow to my thoughts, I heard a sound of something snapping in my head.

“Ah…?”

Nosebleed.

Fresh red blood was dripping from my nose.

It was starting to show evidence that my body had truly reached its limit.

At this rate, I thought to myself, I might really die.

I quietly pressed my nose to stop the bleeding and lay down on the bed.

“Well… somehow, I’ll manage.”

I comforted my impatient self and closed my eyes.

Since I’ve been meticulously following the story and events of World Saviour Online, quickly growing after entering Eden is also one way.

Plus, I have several pieces of information about this world that others don’t.

“Yawn…”

I set the alarm early and drifted off to sleep.

[Player’s session data observation… Success]

[Player’s session data summoning… Success]

[Inheriting session data of Round 1: ‘RomanceTwo #BoundaryMage’ begins.]

[Inheriting session data from Round 2 to Round 9 is temporarily postponed.]