As soon as I entered the A-rank dungeon, the crew for filming, the personnel for emergency situations, and Jang Hyena, who was supposed to host the live stream with Seol Eunah, followed right behind me.
Jang Hyena loudly began her commentary when we stepped into the dungeon.
“We’ve finally entered the dungeon, everyone!”
She was using an artifact with a levitation function, floating in the air while filming and shouting so everyone could hear.
“Do you see it?! This A-rank dungeon is mainly a forest at the entrance! This dungeon is covered in trees and shrubs, and there are traps on the ground, with monsters lurking all around, making it one of the most difficult A-rank dungeons to clear!”
People watching the broadcast quickly flooded the chat with messages.
– Ahahaha, he’s screwed, of all the places, why that one?
– But don’t they know what dungeon they’re entering before they go in? He must’ve known, right?
– Known? Are you kidding? What kind of lunatic would solo a forest dungeon as a mage?
– IQ check failed, lol.
Jang Hyena looked at the rapidly scrolling chat with a satisfied smile.
‘Wow… This broadcast is going to be a huge hit.’
Although she was a creator with five million subscribers, her views were often lacking compared to her following. She’d been chasing after provocative content to recover her views but had repeatedly failed. That was until Baek Juseok agreed to an interview, and now even the hottest figure, Masked Instructor, had permitted an interview and filming.
– Live viewers: 670,000
It’s much harder to boost live viewers compared to views. Normally, she had about 10,000 to 30,000 regular viewers during her broadcasts. But now, tens of times that number were watching. The implication was clear. The man in front of her—Masked Instructor—was bound to remain a hot topic, dragging more and more attention with him in the future.
‘Even when this is over, I have to stick close to him, no matter what.’
Determined to make this broadcast even more sensational, she shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Mages are particularly vulnerable in forests! If they use detection magic to clear obstacles, monsters will swarm in, but if they just defend, they can’t advance! I’m really curious to see what he’ll do!”
I looked up at Jang Hyena, who was screaming her commentary from above, and addressed her.
“I’ll give you a supplementary explanation of the external mana utilization technique I uploaded in the video.”
“For those who are proficient, it’s possible to compress the process of absorbing external mana, circulating it within the body, and releasing it to an extreme degree. For example…”
– Vooooooom
I raised my palm toward a nearby tree. In an instant, the tree’s vitality disappeared, and simultaneously, mana was released from it.
– Kwaaaang!
With a loud burst, the tree in the forest before me shattered instantly.
The reporters filming nearby began to murmur.
“What…what was that? Didn’t they say it takes at least five seconds?”
“That’s for beginners. If you train, you can use it like that. But I still can’t believe it even after seeing it with my own eyes…”
“Isn’t he using some kind of trick? How could he do it so quickly…?”
“Shut up, man. Do you know how many cameras are filming this right now? You even saw the mana being sucked out of the tree.”
“Well…that’s true, but…”
Most people reacted in disbelief, as if they couldn’t accept what they had just witnessed.
This time, I reached out into the air, absorbing mana, and explained.
“Mana can be absorbed from trees and animals, but it can also be drawn from the air. Though it’s weaker than absorbing from living beings or plants, once you get used to it, you can even do this.”
I stretched my hand toward the ground and, in an instant, released the compressed external mana.
Then, my body shot up into the sky.
In that state, I absorbed mana from the air and demonstrated levitation magic. The entire process was done solely using mana absorbed from the outside.
Jang Hyena, who was watching, was so stunned by the sight that she momentarily forgot she was supposed to be commentating.
‘He’s using levitation magic like that?’
Levitation magic usually requires a significant amount of mana to first lift off from the ground. It’s similar to the principles of a rocket—an immense force is needed to overcome gravity in the initial ascent.
However, Masked Instructor had shot into the air in an instant by detonating condensed external mana in his hands. He then activated levitation magic while already in mid-air, saving an absurd amount of mana in the process.
Jang Hyena quickly regained her senses and shouted,
“He…he’s using levitation magic! He skipped the most mana-consuming part, the initial ascent, by releasing the mana in his hands!”
In an instant, the chat window exploded.
– Huh? What is that? Can levitation magic be used like that?
– No way, you can’t do that with internal mana. The mana would backflow.
– Damn, efficiency or not, that’s insanely cool.
– That’s just awesome.
The chat was heating up. Now, Choi Juwon, floating in the sky, raised both hands.
Then, mana swirled from his left arm, and a ring-shaped sonic wave rapidly spread out around him.
– What’s that? Did he just use detection magic in mid-air?
– Are you kidding? That has to be fake, right?
– Can’t you see the live broadcast marker?
– He’s going to run out of mana at this rate.
Typically, mages can only use one spell at a time. If you’re using levitation magic, you would have to cancel it to cast a detection spell. Of course, if you forced it, you could cast two spells simultaneously, but the mana efficiency would drop to the worst possible level. Yet, Choi Juwon effortlessly used two spells at once—both with external mana.
[Detection complete]
[163 traps detected. Transmitting their locations.]
The sonic wave quickly returned to me, providing the locations of the traps.
‘I could just fly over them, but that wouldn’t be flashy enough.’
I deliberately chose a less efficient method.
– Bang.
– Bang.
– Bang.
I continuously condensed external mana in my hand, then shot it out in thin strands, destroying the traps.
– Rumble.
As all the traps were destroyed, the hidden monsters went wild.
– Thud.
I purposely landed on the ground and faced them. As expected, they became agitated and charged straight at me.
“Kiiieeee!!!”
A monkey-like monster, [Velly], quickly climbed the nearby trees and dashed toward me.
– Whoosh.
– Bang.
I fired a few magic missiles to keep it in check, but as expected from a monster in an A-rank dungeon, it swiftly dodged and charged directly at me. Just as it closed in, the moment was tense.
The mages and swordsmen standing by were readying themselves for a potential emergency, their hands gripping their staves and swords in anticipation.
I turned to them, as if to reassure them not to worry, and calmly dodged Velly’s attack with a simple shift of my body.
“Kiek…!”
As a monster known for its agility, Velly immediately tried to charge at me again. But my hand was quicker than its claws.
– Whooom.
As soon as my hand touched its body, I began to rapidly absorb its mana.
“Kiiiek…! Kiiiieeeek!!!”
Velly screamed in agony, as if stuck to my hand like a magnet, thrashing wildly. Its mana flowed into me, reminiscent of a phone being charged by an external battery.
“Hoo…”
After taking a deep breath, I released the absorbed mana toward the group of other Vellys.
– Boom.
“Kieek…!”
“Kiiiiiieeee…!”
A massive shockwave rippled through the group of Vellys, sweeping them away like a swarm of ants. The amount of mana I absorbed and released wasn’t enormous, but because I released it with perfect precision and without any waste, it was enough to deal critical damage to them.
If anyone else tried to imitate this, they wouldn’t even achieve half the power I displayed—unless, of course, they learned directly from me.
“Kik… Kik…”
One of the Vellys, barely clinging to life, twitched on the ground. I approached it, picked up a nearby stone, and smashed it down.
– Crunch.
The Velly’s body convulsed briefly before falling still.
Turning to Jang Hyena, I spoke.
“Everyone, did you see that? By using just external mana and a bit of physicality, a mage can easily take care of Vellys with basic spells.”
It was so quiet around me that I looked around, only to see everyone staring at me in stunned silence.
‘What? Are they already this amazed? I haven’t even shown half of what I can do yet.’
I addressed the frozen onlookers.
“Let’s move to the next area.”
If you enjoyed this chapter, you might also like another tale of a falsely accused protagonist. Discover their journey and the challenges they face in a similar narrative.
Read it here: Another Story of a Falsely Accused Protagonist
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Thanks for the chapter
Nice