Chapter 10: The Beginning of a reversal of fortunes

I stared at the computer in my room, utterly shocked.

– Subscribers: 351,000

It hadn’t even been 24 hours since I uploaded the video, yet the subscriber count was skyrocketing at an alarming rate. There were countless comments, many calling it a revolutionary breakthrough in magical mechanics.

‘Looks like no one recognizes me.’

I checked through the thousands of comments, but of course, no one had identified me.

Well, that was only natural. I was wearing a mask enchanted with a perception-reducing spell, and the lecture content was entirely different from what was taught at Helmunt Academy. Even if someone saw me in person, it would be difficult for them to figure out who I was.

– [S]: Casting Magic Form Transformation Skill: Please select the magic and the form to modify.

Using my Magic Form Transformation Skill, I altered the appearance of the magic and made the mask change my entire body shape as well.

I began reading the comments slowly again.

– Why does the power increase when you draw mana from the outside? I tried it, and it actually works.

ᄂ Mana inside the body is limited, but if you draw from the air, it’s like having unlimited energy.

ᄂᄅᄋᄏᄏ

ᄂYou idiots, no one’s asking if it’s possible. The question is, why does it remain efficient even when you’re pulling from external mana?

Most of the positive reactions were from people intrigued by the ‘Mana Utilization’ method I uploaded.

Typically, mages here draw mana from within their own bodies to cast spells. But in the video I posted today, I taught them how to draw mana from the ‘outside’ to use magic.

Normally, using external mana is much less efficient than using internal mana because the external mana isn’t synchronized with the body. It’s common sense.

I overcame this issue through a process I called ‘circulation.’

1. Forcefully draw external mana into the body.
2. Rotate the drawn mana rapidly inside the body.
3. Once the mana has circulated through the body more than five times, release it and use magic.

‘Well… even if they know the method, it’s useless if they don’t know how to rotate the mana or how many times to do it.’

The technique of circulating external mana within the body, and knowing how much to circulate for maximum synchronization, was knowledge that only I possessed. This was the first time I had made it public in a video. Helmunt Academy, of course, never taught anything like this.

‘As expected… there are negative reactions too.’

– Forcing external mana to circulate within the body can place immense strain on the mana core. While it may temporarily grant you more destructive magic than your own mana can handle, using it repeatedly can lead to unpredictable consequences.

– The method of using external mana has a fatal flaw: you need to rotate the mana. When you’re in a dungeon or a magic duel, do you think your opponent is going to wait for you? Reality isn’t a comic book. You won’t be given time to prepare.

ᄂ Haha, attacking during a transformation is cheating! ᄏᄏ

ᄂ So what if it takes a bit of time? The power boost is worth it! ᄏᄏ

‘Ugh, idiots.’

The method I revealed was a core secret known only to the highest-tier mages in Helmunt Academy’s online community. Beginners, even if they knew the method, would spend several seconds rotating mana inside their bodies to use external mana. But once they got used to it, they could circulate mana five times within less than a second, allowing them to cast spells using external mana while running around.

‘There’s a reason why I can spam S-rank skills so easily.’

Just as I was thinking that, a vibration noise came from beside me.

– Bzzz

– Bzzz

For several days now, I’d been getting calls from an unknown number. At first, I ignored them, thinking it was one of the students I’d abandoned. But after sending a message asking who it was and getting no reply, just more calls, I couldn’t take it anymore. So this time, I answered.

“Who is this? Why do you keep calling?”

“Ah, Mr. Choi Juwon, right? Oh wait, you’re not an instructor anymore, so should I call you Juwon instead?”

“Ah…”

I recognized her voice immediately. It was Shin Yura, the Master of the Magic Tower. She’d been persistently trying to recruit me to the Tower for quite some time.

“I’ve told you already, I’m not joining the Magic Tower. I made that clear. Why do you keep changing phone numbers just to contact me? I’ll block this one too.”

Shin Yura’s voice suddenly became urgent.

“Wait, wait, please. This time, that’s not why I’m calling.”

“Then what is it? Just get to the point.”

“Juwon, do you know why you were framed?”

“Framed? How do you know about that?”

Shin Yura chuckled as she spoke.

“A little while ago, Helmunt Academy’s president, Baek Juseok, called me.”

She then proceeded to tell me everything that had happened between her and Baek Juseok.

“You get the gist of it now, right? Baek Juseok thought I didn’t know who you were, so I pretended not to know you. I acted like I was on his side, but I’m actually on yours. Of course, that’s if you decide to join the Magic Tower.”

“Fuck… Is everything you just said true? For some unknown reason, Baek Hyunseo messed with the Master Key, and the president tried to cover it up by framing me?”

‘These Fuckers are crazier than I thought.’

I had suspected that Baek Hyunseo might have tampered with the Master Key, but I didn’t realize that the president had known about it and intentionally pinned the blame on me.

“Yes. And that’s not all. He even tried to bribe me. So, what do you want to do? If you join the Magic Tower, I’ll help you report this to the Magic Investigation Bureau.”

“Why are you so obsessed with me? Am I really that valuable?”

“Well, I can’t speak for others, but I’ve seen how you operated as a Hunter. I always thought it’d be great to have you as an ally. Don’t ask for specifics though, that’s a trade secret.”

‘This snake.’

Shin Yura was someone who, despite her young age, had risen to become the head of the Magic Tower. She was talented, meticulous, and knew how to leverage her relationships. If she was this desperate to recruit me, there was definitely another agenda.

I asked her directly.

“If I join the Magic Tower, what exactly do you plan to make me do? You’re even considering burning bridges with the president for this.”

Then I immediately activated my skill.

[S] Detect – By listening to the opponent’s words, you can discern truth from lies.

“I just thought you’d be useful for simple magical research. You’ve got an innate abundance of mana, so I figured having you use various spells for research would be a good idea.”

– This is a lie.

‘As expected. What a load of Fuck.’

Based on her words and actions, I decided to test my theory.

“You keep talking about my mana capacity, but you’re not planning on using me as a test subject for high-level black magic, are you? That would be a better reason to look for someone with a lot of mana.”

“Oh my, what a hurtful thing to say. Of course not.”

– This is a lie.

‘This Fucker.’

I started pressing her.

“I know black magic drains life force. If you were planning to use me as some kind of machine to cast black magic, then you’d just take whatever research results you wanted while letting my life be whittled away. You’re treating me like some lab rat, aren’t you?”

“No, it’s not like that. Calm down, Juwon. That’s not what I’m trying to do.”

– This is a lie.

‘Fuck. So that’s it.’

Not only could I manipulate external mana, but I also had a naturally high amount of internal mana. Having a large mana capacity doesn’t necessarily mean someone is superior at magic, but every skill requires a ‘minimum mana threshold’ to cast.

In the case of black magic, that threshold is typically quite high. Shin Yura must’ve known I had an unusually large amount of mana, and she planned to use me as a machine to cast black magic. Of course, she didn’t care if it cost me my life. I answered her in a voice full of frustration.

“Fucking. Stop with the bullshit and get lost. I don’t need your help.”

She clicked her tongue and replied.

“Ah, you’re quicker to catch on than I thought. Such a shame, I almost had you.”

“I’ve been wrongfully framed, treated like Fuck by people I trusted, and you still want to pull this crap on me? Do you even have any feelings?”

“And so what? When you’re powerless, it’s only natural to get stepped on. If you’re going to blame anyone, blame yourself for being a dumbass instructor when you had all that mana.”

“Fucking. Do you really think you’ll get away with this?”

“What, are you planning to come after me? Go ahead, come any time. The wizards from the Magic Tower will crush you. One-on-one might be risky, but if the entire Tower goes after you, someone like you is nothing. You’re just a washed-up former instructor who lost all his students. What power do you even think you have?”

“Oh, or are you recording this call? Don’t bother. I’ve already used magic to scramble the signal, so this call can’t be recorded. And you don’t seriously think the Magic Investigation Bureau will help you, do you? They won’t take your side.”

“Recording? Reporting? I’m not doing any of that. I’ll come to you in person, Fucker. Try killing me if you can.”

“Kya-haha! Hilarious. You think you can just waltz in here on your own? You think the Magic Tower is full of idiots?”

“Wait for me. I’ll be there soon.”

“Ugh. You’ve got nothing left—not a single ally, but you’re still running your mouth…”

– Click.

‘I was planning to just get some mild revenge on these Fucker and move on, but I’ve had enough. I’ll destroy them from the ground up.’

That evening, a new video was uploaded to the Masked Instructor’s NA TUBE channel.

[Recruiting unaffiliated students interested in learning practical magic]

To be continued.