“Chung! Sung! Sergeant Bu Sin-hyeok has been ordered! to report for mobilization training!”
“Hey, aren't you way too late?”
Bu Sin-hyeok approached his friend, who was already waiting in front of the unit entrance, with a grin.
“Sorry, I woke up a bit late! What’re you gonna do about it.”
His friend let out a hollow laugh at Bu Sin-hyeok's shamelessly brazen attitude and thumped his forearm with a fist.
“Hey, hey!”
“That’s your punishment for being late~”
Sin-hyeok rubbed his forearm where his friend had hit him and headed inside with his friend.
The private first class standing at the welfare center executed a crisp salute.
“Loyalty! Sirs, please proceed inside!”
The two nodded roughly and headed inside.
“Sin-hyeok, I’m already bored, what should I do?”
“Lee Gi-chan, hang in there. If we endure just one more day, our reserve duty is over, isn’t it?”
They leisurely entered the barracks. Guided by soldiers posted here and there, they arrived at the squad room, old memories flooding back.
“Wow. How is it not changed at all?”
Lee Gi-chan, who entered first, let out a hollow laugh as he looked at the ankle-high wooden platform and the old cabinet.
“Wow, why is it no different from my time, this is crazy.”
“I used the new barracks. Did you serve alone in some abandoned house?”
“Hey, I used the old barracks. I should’ve awakened back then.”
He plopped down on the floor and looked around, taking in the sights.
The friend, who had been looking around, seemed to spot something familiar; he lay back and reached out his hand.
“Artifact discovery! Wow, this was here back in my day too.”
Bu Sin-hyeok clicked his tongue at the canteen his friend pulled out.
“Whoa, isn’t that a Korean War–era canteen?”
“This thing must be rotten inside.”
Gi-chan tossed it away. Bu Sin-hyeok snatched it and shook it.
“Why don’t they replace these relics?”
“Who knows. They probably plan to keep using it forever.”
Sin-hyeok shook it round and round. He smirked and muttered.
“They really squeeze every last drop out of it.”
Gi-chan lost interest in the canteen, looked around a bit more, and then flopped onto his back.
“Hey, hey, let’s pop one of these.”
“What now?”
Lee Gi-chan got up from the platform, rummaged through his pocket, and pulled out two blue herbs.
“Let’s take these and go hard.”
Sin-hyeok looked at the herb his friend pulled out and said.
“Blue Mana Herb?”
“I was running an E-rank Gate yesterday and saw it, so I plucked it right away. If you eat this, your mana flows like crazy. For two days, it’s gonna be killer.”
“Attaboy.”
Gi-chan shook the herb and looked for a water bottle.
“Isn’t there a cup or something?”
“Hey, just use this. You won’t die.”
Bu Sin-hyeok snatched the Blue Mana Herb, roughly crushed it, and shoved it into the 6.25 canteen.
“This is gross……”
“Just drink it. Heavy metals are good for you. Ever heard of iron?”
“You crazy bastard, kukuk.”
Gi-chan giggled at the insane remark that rust was good for the body.
Sin-hyeok went out to the corridor to check if there was a water purifier.
“Here it is.”
He filled it with running water. Down the corridor, a soldier who seemed to be a drill sergeant was coming.
“Sirs, please assemble at the training ground.”
Sin-hyeok quickly finished filling the water and dashed back to the barracks.
“Sir, please assemble immediately without eating anything yet.”
Sin-hyeok, who’d gone inside, shook the canteen with gusto.
“Hey, are you making a cocktail or something? Why’re you shaking it?”
“You don’t know. This is a pro tip. A tip I picked up back in the day at the front lines.”
Swish.
At the crazy swing, Gi-chan laughed and teased him.
“Pff. What is that!”
Just then, the drill sergeant entered the barracks.
“Sir, you need to move out.”
As the drill sergeant entered, Bu Sin-hyeok hurriedly brought the canteen to his mouth.
“Hey, hurry up and drink!”
Sin-hyeok smiled as he drank the Blue Mana Herb water, but he felt a strange sensation.
Was this not healthy water, but rather something that felt like he was drinking a potion?
[You have crafted a Mana Potion without any assistance.]
[Main Skill: Potion Crafting has been unlocked.]
[Due to the trait ‘Mana Coagulant,’ the Mana Potion transcends.]
[You are the first Earthling to craft a Highest-Grade Mana Potion.]
‘Ugh, dizzy!’
Something surged into his mind like crazy.
He was dumbfounded by the message saying that something of the highest grade had been created because of his trait.
“No way……?”
Just as he tried to deny the message he was clearly seeing, the system—or rather, the World Tree—nailed it home.
[Congratulations.]
[Yggdrasil has chosen you. Congratulations on your Awakening.]
[Status]
Name: Bu Sin-hyeok (Lv. 1)
Class: Alchemist
Strength: 15
Agility: 20
Stamina: 19
Mana: 99
Trait: Mana Coagulant
A mysterious display rose clearly before his eyes like a hologram.
Sin-hyeok’s expression rotted as he saw it.
“Awakening?”
He stared blankly at the potion in his hand. The system kindly informed him.
[Highest-Grade Mana Potion] [Rare]
===================================
Promotes mana recovery and fills a portion of mana.
※ Small increase in mana.
※ Partial effect applied simply by possessing it.
===================================
“No, what the fuck?!”
He was shocked that something so absurd came from his own hands.
And he was further shocked by the fact that it had to be right now.
“Aw-awakening?”
At that moment, the drill sergeant who entered just in time looked at Bu Sin-hyeok, enveloped in blue light, with a surprised face.
His friend looked at him with pity, a mixture of absurdity and regret.
“Why did you have to awaken now of all times.”
“Uuaaack!”
The awakened Bu Sin-hyeok grabbed the canteen engraved with strange geometric patterns and runes and threw it as he shouted.
“This is bullshit! Why did I awaken, why!”
The drill sergeant, with a surprised expression, spoke quietly to the furious Bu Sin-hyeok.
“Sir, congratulations on your re-enlistment.”
“Aaaaaack!”
At the words confirming his re-enlistment, which drilled firmly into his ears, Bu Sin-hyeok plopped down on the floor.
“Da-damn it.”
Bu Sin-hyeok looked at his friend who had handed him the Blue Mana Herb with vacant eyes.
“Why, why did you give this to me.”
“Sorry.”
Lee Gi-chan couldn’t bring himself to say another word as he looked at Bu Sin-hyeok’s vacant gaze.
“Sir, please wait a moment!”
The drill sergeant ran off quickly as if afraid sparks would fly.
Shortly after, all the officers of the reserve forces training ground rushed in.
“Is that him?”
“Wow, but isn’t being an Awakened sweet?”
“He has to re-enlist; would you like that?”
Bu Sin-hyeok lay on his back without even glancing at them chattering. He stared blankly at the ceiling, wondering who to blame.
‘Who do I hit? The World Tree that made me awaken? Or the damn Ministry of Defense?’
Since he couldn’t do either, he just decided to give up.
He sprang up and sat on the platform, examining the strange canteen in his hand with a vacant gaze.
“What the hell is this now.”
Lee Gi-chan, who had been peeking at it from the side, looked at it and said.
“Probably a beginner’s set?”
At those words, he instantly guessed what it was. He had heard that some classes handed out items essential to them like this.
[Alchemy Tool — 6.25 Canteen] [Common]
===================================
An alchemy tool blessed by Yggdrasil, inscribed with a transmutation circle that induces the synthesis of matter.
Special Features: Very sturdy, surprisingly hygienic.
===================================
‘Yeah, thanks a fucking lot.’
The kind Mr. World Tree kindly informed him via system message why it had been given.
‘Since you’re at it, tell me what alchemy is too.’
Then Yggdrasil informed him about alchemy as well.
[Alchemy]
===================================
It is the study of synthesizing matter using mana. A path only for a select few who possess the talent to handle mana at their fingertips.
The things one can do with Alchemy are as follows: potion crafting, matter synthesis, enchantment, life creation, and so on. With such diverse paths, it is also a study without end.
===================================
Sin-hyeok was rather moved by the information the system had kindly provided.
“Wow, a rookie Awakened at this age.”
When he looked away from the canteen, it automatically faded.
‘Hm?’
[A 10-slot Inventory for the Alchemist is provided.]
Thanks to the kind Yggdrasil’s explanation, he understood where the canteen had disappeared to.
Then his friend beside him snickered and patted his shoulder.
“Hey, still, uh, if you go and come back, it’s the jackpot of your life— ugh!”
Unable to hold back, Sin-hyeok punched him in the side with his fist. His friend held his side and laughed.
“Pfft, pfft! Still— aack!”
He hit him again. Sin-hyeok stood up irritably and spoke to the gathered people.
“If you’re done gawking, step aside. Unless you want your head cracked by someone who awakened today.”
At that, the onlookers ebbed away like a receding tide.
Sin-hyeok came out into the corridor and spoke to the approaching drill sergeant.
“I’m withdrawing.”
“Ah, yes! Good work. Loyalty!”
The drill sergeant saluted sharply, trying his best not to offend him.
“Damn… if only you’d come a little earlier and stopped me.”
The drill sergeant smiled awkwardly and slipped away.
“S-sorry!”
Sin-hyeok withdrew with a resigned face. As he passed the guard post, anger naturally flared up.
“Aaaack! Fucking Korea! Fucking Ministry of Defense!”
At the sight of a madman in front of the guard post, the soldier on duty quietly lowered his muzzle.
Quietly, the junior soldier asked his senior.
“Corporal Kim Lee-chan, isn’t that an Awakened appearing?”
“Hey, lower it, man.”
Sin-hyeok fumed and moved to report his Awakening according to procedure.
“Wow, I really hate this.”
He waited for the bus, blatantly showing his displeasure.
‘An Awakening, of all things.’
The timing was truly coincidental. The words of Brigadier General Lee Gang-yeol, whom he had visited the day before yesterday, came to mind.
‘Asking if I’d come back if I awakened.’
It seemed he had to go, no matter the situation.
“Aaack! Damn it! This is really bullshit!”
The bus was coming from afar. Sin-hyeok got on the bus and rested his head against the window.
“Aah, I hate everything. Defense Ministry, fuck off; Hongik, fuck off; Republic of Korea, fuck off; Gates, fuck off; monsters, fuck off too.”
Sin-hyeok kept his eyes closed for a long while, then stealthily checked within his body again.
Mana was definitely flowing.
‘It’s back! You useless bastard.’
Sin-hyeok, who had worked at Hongik in the past, had a rather unique constitution.
His mana had an unusual tendency to harden.
It was hardened inside as well, and even if mana flowed externally, it would harden.
Even mana that touched his hands would harden and form crystals.
Of course, this could be controlled consciously.
“Will it work?”
His characteristic of hardening mana enabled a rather unique mana application.
‘First, a potion.’
He took out the canteen stored in his Inventory and quickly glanced around.
He secretly took a sip. Then, cracking sounds echoed throughout his body.
The potion that flowed inside gently tapped the hardened mana throughout his body.
“Urp, kgh! Hup!”
Each time the hardened mana cracked, a strange pleasure and pain spread.
Thanks to that, the gazes of people around him slightly focused on him.
Sin-hyeok smiled awkwardly and muttered an excuse.
‘Now, let’s see you drop cleanly.’
As he focused, a single speck of mana formed at his fingertip and plopped off.
The fallen mana floated in the air and gently moved forward.
“It works.”
[You have mastered a skill utilizing mana on your own.]
[Please register the skill name.]
‘Just call it Mapping.’
[Registering new skill: Mana Mapping.]
At every spot the plopped-off mana passed, something was felt and transmitted through his senses.
Though separated, he could clearly feel what was there through his senses, and faintly see it.
‘It’s different from before. I could only feel it back then, but now it roughly forms a picture.’