Mana (2)
After killing Citizen No. 95, Seon Yul’s level stood at [24 (78.41%)], so he was able to reach level 25 in just three days.
Having quickly achieved level 25, Seon Yul returned to Seoul without hesitation.
Since he had stayed in the North Korea dungeon region for a long time, he needed to reorganize, and he was also thinking of looking into other gate regions besides the North Korea dungeon area.
Upon returning to his studio apartment in Seoul, Seon Yul immediately opened his status window.
[Stigmata Level: 25 (00.14%) (Stigmata Points: 1)]
[Unique Ability: Absolute Space <EX> (Level 5)]
[Level Perks]
1st Level ―> (Upon entering Absolute Space, you gain the ability ‘Hyper Regeneration.’ However, once you leave Absolute Space, Hyper Regeneration disappears immediately.)
10th Level ―> (Inside Absolute Space, you can use ‘Powerful Strike.’ Cooldown for Powerful Strike is 5 minutes.)
20th Level ―> (Upon entering Absolute Space, you gain ‘Wire Master.’ However, once you leave Absolute Space, the Master effect disappears immediately.)
[Acquired Abilities: None.]
Having reached level 25, he had obtained one Stigmata Point.
However, since it was not urgent, he did not immediately raise the level of Absolute Space.
“I can really feel the leveling speed slowing down now.”
As levels increased, the experience required to level up rose steeply. And if one lacked sufficient ability to promptly move up to hunting higher-grade monsters, then one would enter a truly hellish leveling zone.
“I should start looking into other hunting grounds soon….”
The biggest problem was that most gate zones were under the Management Bureau.
In other words, to conduct proper hunting, he either needed authorization from the Bureau or had to search for randomly appearing gates and clear them in real time.
Naturally, wandering around looking for random gates was also out of the picture.
Even the Bureau, which had the best gate prediction system, could only predict gate formation at most 10 minutes before it occurred. There was no way an individual could forecast it.
“Should I make a call?”
The Bureau had given Seon Yul contact information when assigning him a request, and even sent him a special smartphone provided to users entering the northern dungeon region.
If he made calls inside Absolute Space using that smartphone, the communication would be secure.
“No. A call doesn’t seem right… Maybe I should just send a mail request instead….”
Seon Yul rarely made phone calls…even with his closest cousin, Jang Jun Hyeok, he mostly chatted by text rather than calling.
“Hoo… this is difficult. Really difficult.”
When he first awakened and became a mana user, he had felt incredibly happy.
Especially because he had obtained Absolute Space, an ability that suited him perfectly.
But with each thing he gained, he could feel his greed growing.
Desire for a larger space, for more and stronger abilities… this too was a change.
The Seon Yul of the past and the Seon Yul of now were clearly different in several ways.
“What was the title of that book I read back then… Was it Mana Evolution Theory?”
Seon Yul believed that the beginning of all these changes ultimately stemmed from ‘mana.’
“I should look into that again.”
Of course, he did not hate all change.
Even in the past, he had often felt frustrated with himself. As a child, he had even tried to change.
But his innate nature had not changed, and eventually he had simply given up.
“I don’t hate change. I just hate changes that run wild beyond my will.”
What Seon Yul wanted was to control the speed and direction of change himself.
To do that, he first needed to understand mana more deeply.
***
Seoul, Republic of Korea. Gate Management Bureau Headquarters.
“Mana compression reaction detected!”
An urgent shout echoed through the situation room.
The Bureau’s emergency operations center had detected a mana compression reaction forming above Seoul.
“Where?”
“It’s…! It’s above the Bureau’s vicinity! And the scale is considerable.”
“What grade?”
“At least S-grade.”
“Find any user who can intervene as fast as possible and prepare the strike teams!”
The situation room chief shouted with a deeply furrowed brow.
An S-grade gate phenomenon forming in the sky… if not suppressed early, could lead to catastrophic damage.
Aerial gate phenomena had an affected area at least five times larger than gates formed on the ground, making them far more troublesome.
At least it was fortunate that the gate formation was not far from the Bureau.
“Is the mana pattern analysis ready?”
Mana had patterns.
By analyzing these patterns, it was possible to roughly identify the type of gate forming.
The amount of compressed mana determined the grade.
The pattern of the compressed mana determined the type.
Since this gate was forming right near the Bureau, identifying its grade and type was even faster.
“It’s done! H-uh… Ant nest! It’s an S-grade ant nest–type gate!”
“Damn it!! Issue an immediate emergency mobilization order and contact the Director! Declare emergency evacuation not only in the gate’s influence zone but in surrounding areas as well!!”
An S-grade ant nest–type gate opening in the air could turn into absolute hell.
The one hopeful fact in the current situation was that it had been detected very early.
If something like this had occurred in another region, they would have only gotten this information 5–10 minutes before the gate opened. But now they had roughly 20–30 minutes.
‘If we fail to respond properly, we can’t even predict the extent of the damage.’
The situation room chief bit his lip and stared fixedly at the red dot displayed on the screen.
As time passed, his anxiety grew.
The types of monsters emerging from the gates were extremely diverse.
Their grades, species, and sizes all varied. Among them, the most peculiar were colony-type monsters that came from ant nest–type gates.
Generally, monsters were individual-type creatures.
But very rarely, colony-type monsters existed. Though divided into countless numbers, in reality, they were a single monster.
Representative colony-type monsters included ‘Mana White Ants,’ ‘Mana Hornets,’ and ‘Split Worms.’
Such colony-type monsters always emerged from S-grade or higher gates and were notoriously difficult to suppress, often causing massive damage.
Now, imagine such a gate opening above Seoul.
It was truly the worst gate opening in the worst possible location.
“Is there seriously not even one wide-area DPS user available immediately?”
Director Jeong Yeon Woo’s voice carried urgency.
“No, unfortunately, a high-yield AA-grade dungeon formed in Jeju, so most upper-tier users are over there.”
By ‘high yield,’ it meant that compared to the gate’s grade, the monster quality and quantity were favorable.
It felt twisted to discuss gate ‘yield’ this way, but that was how the world worked.
“Can the strike teams handle it on their own?”
“It depends on which colony-type monster emerges… but if something like Mana Hornets comes out, then we really need to brace ourselves.”
Cha Seong Hyeon, who had been in a meeting with Director Jeong and received the report together, shook his head as he answered.
Mana Hornets were essentially giant hornet-like monsters.
If fist-sized giant hornets poured out of a gate in massive numbers… suppressing them quickly would be difficult.
Even if the gate had formed on the ground, concentrating firepower would be hard. But forming in midair? Even worse.
“If any strike team members nearby are on leave, recall them immediately. Mobilize all available forces. And send emergency requests through the emergency contact network to every user in the vicinity.”
Director Jeong was using every possible means.
He and Seong Hyeon ran toward the situation room while issuing orders.
“Even if they’re small-timers, if they can perform wide-area attacks, gather them all. Offer four times the usual reward for the request.”
“Yes, sir.”
The situation was urgent.
With less than 10 minutes remaining before the gate opened, everything possible had to be done.
“And civilians are evacuating properly, right?”
“Yes, we issued evacuation orders as soon as the situation arose. But since it’s a dense urban area… casualties are likely unavoidable.”
“Hoo… we can only try to minimize it as much as possible….”
With significant damage anticipated, worry was etched across Director Jeong’s face.
“This is why I insisted we hire high-rankers on permanent standby at the Bureau….”
Though the Bureau’s influence was significant, truly skilled users were not directly affiliated with it.
Most were merely in cooperative relationships.
Director Jeong disliked this reality. He had argued that the Bureau should formally employ high-rankers so that in times like these, they wouldn’t have to beg for help.
But due to various issues, that proposal had been continually postponed.
“Anyone will do—please, just come quickly.”
Reaching the situation room doors, Director Jeong prayed that any capable user would appear as help before entering.
***
Pazizizik.
Above Yongsan District, Seoul.
Though not far from the Bureau, the gate phenomenon showed no exceptions.
At approximately 100 meters above ground, mana distortion rapidly intensified.
Jiiiiiiiing.
Then dense mana waves spread outward from a single point in the sky.
Gate formation.
Tsu-tsu-tsu-tsut.
The gate slowly began to open.
Usually, ant nest–type gates themselves were not very large.
In fact, compared to their grade, their physical size tended to be small.
But size did not equate to danger. Size was irrelevant.
Once the gate fully opened and colony-type monsters began pouring out, no one would even notice its dimensions.
The gate steadily expanded.
On the ground, numerous strike team members dispatched by the Bureau stared upward with tense expressions.
When facing colony-type monsters, the best tactic was to unleash powerful, wide-area attacks the moment they began pouring out of the gate.
That way, their numbers could be drastically reduced.
But now, no such wide-area attacker was present.
Which meant… the forces below would have to deal entirely with the swarms flooding out of the gate.
Even with every available strike team member gathered, it would still be a grueling battle.
Tsu-tsu-tsu-tsut.
At last, the gate was almost fully open.
Now only the decisive confrontation remained.
But at that very moment…
On the rooftop of a high-rise building, less than 30 meters from the opening gate in midair, a peculiar hole appeared.
Jiiiiing.
And from that hole, the muzzles of two M134 Miniguns slowly emerged.
The instant the gate fully opened, and monstrous creatures resembling fist-sized hornets were about to pour out…
The two miniguns began to spin.
And then…
4,000 rounds per minute. With two guns combined, 8,000 rounds per minute of bullets were poured toward the gate.
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