Episode 3: The Other Side's Mission (1)
“The Other Side?!”
“What on earth is going on?”
“God. Please save me from the abyss of hell.”
The staff and part-timers of the chicken restaurant were thrown into confusion.
Most people were speechless from shock, and some showed various reactions—praying or surveying their surroundings.
What ultimately put an end to the current situation, which defied all logic, was the existence of the fairy.
Words like the Other Side and missions were utterly incomprehensible, but the most incomprehensible thing was the fairy fluttering about right before their eyes.
The fairy’s existence was forcing a shocking truth upon them.
“Now, now-. I can see the shock is immense, but everyone please calm down. If you stay blank-minded like this, you never know what might happen. From now on, I hope you listen carefully to what I say. I don’t particularly like repeating myself. You who have gathered here are people chosen by God. Of course, there are countless others chosen like you, but what I’m saying is that there are also those who were not. As chosen ones, from today onward, you must carry out missions of the Other Side on the last day of every month.”
“……Missions of the Other Side?”
“What on earth is this ‘Other Side’?”
Gochanghyeok, who couldn’t properly understand the fairy’s words, stepped forward and asked first.
He had to get a firm grasp on the word “Other Side” first.
The term Other Side (裏面) seemed to contain an ominous meaning.
“That’s a good question. The Other Side is a name that refers to the back side of the world. On the back side of the 21st century you live in, this very world you are looking at has existed. The problem is that the Other Side is currently undergoing a period of decline (衰退期). The beings possessing powerful strength in the Other Side have no intention of dying along with the Other Side’s destruction. They desire a new world, and soon they will invade your world.”
“……Oh no.”
“*Gulp!*”
The people listening to the fairy swallowed dryly.
Only then did they realize the fairy’s words were no trivial matter.
At the people’s reactions, the fairy donned a mischievous smile.
“It seems you all understand now. The missions of the Other Side are opportunities for survival given to you. God does not wish for humanity’s destruction, so He has created the minimum conditions for you to respond. But remember this. God loves humans, but the beings of the Other Side are also God’s creations. God simply likes you more. If you fail to stop the invasion despite being given power, God will turn away from weak humanity.”
The people who heard it all were speechless.
They merely flinched under the fairy’s gaze as it quietly swept over them.
“Ha-. With such weak guts, how can you survive the missions? From now on, I’ll explain the rules of the Other Side. You can now check your [Status] and your [Inventory], which can store items from the Other Side, with just a thought. Try manifesting the status window as I said.”
The people checked their status windows according to the fairy’s words.
But Akan couldn’t follow suit.
No, to be precise, his mind had become a tangled mess in this excessively shocking situation.
While the others must have checked themselves through the Other Side’s system called the status window, Akan instinctively realized a change had occurred in his body.
‘What on earth is happening?’
A cold sensation swirled near his dantian.
A feeling he had forgotten, yet was so familiar.
The identity of this thing flapping about inside his core was none other than—
‘Mana.’
Ten years.
The mana core that had been dried up during that time had regained its vitality.
* * *
Akan had always longed for mana.
The fact that his life as a mage had ended had tormented Akan more than losing the wealth and glory he had achieved on the Macedonia Continent.
But mana had been revived.
In other words—
‘I can live again as a mage.’
Thump!
His heart reacted.
His heart beating violently was welcoming this unbelievable situation.
But Akan wasn’t easily swayed by emotion.
His eyes, grown cold, struggled to judge the current situation as calmly as possible.
‘It’s different from the mana used on the Macedonia Continent. It doesn’t feel like the energy of nature, but something artificially created. The amount of mana is so minuscule that it would run out after using 1st Circle magic three times. It’s neutral mana that doesn’t contain a specific element.’
Mages create a core to store mana in their dantian.
Having been an 8th Circle mage, Akan’s mana core boasted enormous size and durability.
Though the amount of mana was embarrassingly small compared to the core, Akan rotated the mana and grasped its properties.
‘If it’s artificially created mana, does that mean it can’t be replenished from nature?’
Akan spread the core’s mana into his surroundings, trying to draw in mana.
But the mana didn’t react at all.
As if declaring it was a completely different property, the core’s mana couldn’t mix with natural mana.
‘It’s half-baked mana. If I can’t use natural mana, cultivation methods to accumulate mana are useless. Then is this mana single-use?’
The Other Side’s mana was different from the mana of the world Akan had lived in.
Akan drew the mana rotating in his core up to his heart.
Making it climb the first of the eight circles wrapped around his heart, he cast a single spell.
‘Wind.’
1st Circle wind magic.
It was very basic magic that conjured wind.
Fwoosh.
‘The magic succeeded.’
Akan’s expression brightened.
He had thought there was a possibility of failure since it was artificial mana, but fortunately, the magic had been cast normally.
Because it was mana with a neutral property, there was actually less repulsion.
While using the Wind magic, Akan could confirm one more fact.
‘The mana consumed from using magic is recovering on its own. The recovery speed is very slow, but it’s definitely recovering. That means the mana isn’t single-use. On the Macedonia Continent, I replenished used mana from nature, but the mana here is like a living creature. When mana is consumed, after a certain amount of time, it returns to its original form. And if my prediction is right, the recovery limit would be about the amount of mana I initially possessed.’
He established a hypothesis from the confirmed facts.
It wasn’t accurate yet, but he felt it was roughly correct.
If he had a little more time, he could have properly organized the information, but unfortunately, Akan didn’t have much time.
While Akan was checking various things alone, the fairy’s explanation had moved on to the contents of the status window.
“The Strength, Agility, and Magic Power displayed on the status window are stats that represent your physical abilities numerically. If you have average physical abilities, they would all correspond to 10. While carrying out missions of the Other Side, you can obtain stat fragments. The method of using fragments is simple. For example, if you collect ten Strength fragments, you can consume the fragments to increase your Strength stat by 1. This is applied permanently, and to survive in the Other Side, you must collect as many fragments as possible. Though it must be empty now, you can store items in your [Inventory], and later when you acquire [Skills], you can check them separately.”
‘Status window.’
For now, there was a need to actively utilize the information the fairy was giving.
Akan checked his status window to confirm the information.
Then, unfamiliar information rose up on his retina like a hologram.
— To be continued in Episode 4 —