The Wizard in the Game Is Rewarded in Reality

Chapter 3

“You’re busy, so please leave. Can’t you see the people waiting behind you?”

In the end, I was kicked out of the job transfer office.

“What is this situation?”

Is it reasonable for the job transfer office to kick me out without transferring me?

“Go to the Magic Tower?”

It’s the first time I’ve heard that I have to go to the Magic Tower to transfer jobs.

I turn my head.

In the distance, outside the city, a tall tower rises.

“The Tower of Infinity.”

The final destination for the awakened ones in reality, the users who enjoy Doomsday.

After gazing at the Tower of Infinity for a moment, I shift my gaze to the inside of the city.

There is another tower where I am looking.

The Magic Tower, the symbol of the Magic Kingdom of Craksha.

As befits the symbol of the Magic Kingdom, the Magic Tower is itself a huge and beautiful work of art.

The most impressive part is the top of the Magic Tower.

The mana of the four elements—fire, earth, water, and wind—swirls like a vortex.

“Do I have to go there?”

*

The lobby of the first floor of the Magic Tower.

“Hello······?”

A woman wearing a robe, the symbol of a magician, greets me with a bright smile.

“Welcome. Welcome to the Magic Tower. How can I help you?”

“Well, that is······.”

The female magician tilts her head and looks at me.

“I came to become a magician.”

I state my purpose of visit with a feeling of ‘whatever happens, happens.’

“You came to become a magician?”

Judging by the magician’s reaction, it seems my guess was right.

“Haha, of course, it’s impossible, right?”

It was when I turned to leave.

“Welcome.”

“Pardon?”

“I said, welcome. You came here to become a wizard, didn’t you?”

“Y-yes? Can I become a wizard here?”

“Of course. Where else would you learn magic if not at the Tower of Magic?”

The response implies that the question is obvious.

“Is that so? Ha, haha. Right. A wizard should learn magic at the Magic Tower. Hahaha.”

“That’s right. But to learn magic, you need to pay a small donation.”

“A donation? How much do I need to pay?”

The female wizard smiles and raises one finger.

100 gold?

That’s extremely expensive.

In Doomsday, currency, that is, gold, can also be traded. There are quite a few exchanges where you can trade Doomsday gold. If you deposit money in reality, you can receive gold in the game.

When I checked at dawn, 1 gold in Doomsday was worth about 10,000 won.

100 gold means 1 million won in cash.

“Haha. I can afford to pay 100 gold.”

“Pardon? 100 gold?”

“Isn’t it?”

“It’s not 100 gold, it’s 10,000 gold.”

“T-ten thousand gold?”

The female wizard nods.

10,000 gold, 100 million won in cash.

I think about how much money I have in my account.

‘About 13 million won.’

It’s an insufficient amount.

“Why does a small donation cost 10,000 gold?”

“Why? Do you think 10,000 gold is expensive to learn magic?”

“……”

I am at a loss for words.

If this were not a game, that is, a virtual reality space, the wizard would be right. If you could become a wizard by paying 100 million won in reality, anyone would pay the money.

*

But this is a game.

‘Everyone else gets to change jobs for free.’

I want to argue with a sense of injustice, but the wizard’s eyes looking at me are too serious.

“That’s just how it is with what I do. Somehow, things were going smoothly.”

He turns around with a bitter smile.

“Take care.”

It was when I left the greeting and walked towards the exit.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

I turn around at the call of the female wizard.

“There is a way to learn magic without paying the donation.”

“Really? Is there such a way?”

“There is. But… it’s quite tricky.”

“What way is that?”

The female wizard looks up.

“If you have enough talent to be recognized by the Tower Master, you can learn magic without paying the donation.”

“The Tower Master, you mean the owner of this place?”

“That’s right.”

“Has anyone learned magic that way?”

“I don’t think there’s been anyone in the last hundred years.”

I barely hold back a curse.

“I see. Thank you for the information. Take care.”

As I turn around again, the female wizard speaks.

“Why don’t you give it a try? You have nothing to lose. And if the Tower Master recognizes your talent, you can become his disciple.”

“Yes?”

“Well, it’s your choice to make.”

“I’ll do it. Of course, I have to.”

A disciple of the Tower Master.

Isn’t that a phrase that sticks in your ears?

*

“Interesting. Very interesting.”

White hair, completely gray.

Thick glasses perched on the tip of his nose.

Clear, sparkling eyes visible through the glasses.

A man, ambiguous whether to call him old or middle-aged, is staring at me from across the table.

“Definitely a stranger…”

He trails off, as if hesitating to speak or hiding something.

“Hmm. Did you say your name was No-un?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“A good name.”

It’s the first time I’ve heard someone other than my parents say my name is good.

“Thank you.”

“You’re through.”

“Sorry?”

What does he mean by ‘through’ all of a sudden?

“I said, you’re through.”

“What do you mean by ‘through’?”

“It means you’ve passed the first test.”

“Oh-!”

“What’s with the ‘oh’?”

The female wizard Susia, who works as a guide in the lobby on the first floor, said there are three tests in total. This is the room she directed me to, where this peculiar old man is.

But after observing me for a long time, muttering incomprehensible words, and asking my name, he suddenly declares ‘you’re through.’

“Did I do something?”

“I think he means the test. Don’t worry, I’ve examined you thoroughly, perhaps excessively so.”

“I don’t know if it’s an impertinent question, but what did you test? No, you don’t have to answer. I’m just curious.”

“It’s no big secret. I was assessing your mana affinity.”

“Mana affinity?”

“Yes. For a wizard, mana affinity is the most important thing. No matter how great your understanding of magic is, if your mana affinity is poor, you can’t reach a high level.”

“So, does passing mean my mana affinity isn’t bad?”

The old man gives me a faint smile. I wait for his words, unable to decipher the meaning behind that smile.

“Not just good, but the best among the apprentice wizards I’ve seen so far.”

“Oh wow.”

An exclamation slips out of my mouth without me realizing it.

“But how do you know I have a high mana affinity when I haven’t done anything?”

They won’t cancel my pass for asking too many questions, right?

“It’s simple.”

The old man raises his hand and twirls it in the air.

“Because this room itself is designed for testing. It is filled with pure mana.”

“Pure mana?”

“Do you still not understand?”

“Sorry, but yes.”

“In a space filled with pure mana, an ordinary human cannot endure. Because the human body itself is not pure. But humans with high mana affinity are different. Their bodies can easily accept mana from birth. In conclusion, how long you can endure here determines whether you have high mana affinity or not.”

The old man raises his hand and points at me.

“Did you feel any discomfort while talking to me in this room?”

“Not at all.”

“See? That’s why you pass.”

“I see.”

To be honest, I still don’t quite understand.

I vaguely recall hearing somewhere that pure water without impurities is like poison to humans, and it seems to be a similar principle.

“Um, sir.”

“It’s Elder Yi.”

“Sorry?”

“I’m Elder Yi, one of the twelve elders of the Tower of Magic.”

“Oh, I see. Elder Yi. So, do I move on to the next test?”

Elder Yi nods.

“Yes, go straight to the next test.”

Snap!

As Elder Yi snaps his fingers, the surrounding space begins to ripple. My vision blurs, and just as I start to feel uneasy, I find myself in a different place.

A room slightly larger than the one I was just in.

“Elder Yi?”

“The Grand Elder.”

“What?”

The old man, who looked exactly like Elder Lee, frowned. Even the robe he was wearing was identical.

‘Ah, the glasses.’

Now that I looked closely, the old man in front of me wasn’t wearing glasses.

It seemed he was Elder Lee’s twin.

“So you are the Grand Elder. My apologies.”

“It’s fine.”

“Are you here to conduct the second trial?”

“Yes. Let’s begin the second trial.”

The Grand Elder extended his hand.

Ssshhh-

A red aura swirled and gathered around his hand. The aura gradually took shape.

It transformed into a round ball, then into a long spear. It became a wall that surrounded me, then broke into pieces that seemed ready to fall like rain at any moment.

The red aura constantly changed its form.

“What do you see?”

“Fire.”

The Grand Elder stared at me. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he gently scratched the inside of his cheek with his tongue.

Then he uttered a single word.

“Vague.”

The red aura disappeared, and this time a blue aura gathered around his hand. The Grand Elder made various changes with the blue aura as well.

“What do you see?”

“Water.”

“Insufficient.”

He spoke words I couldn’t understand.

His expression grew more serious than before.

With a wave of his hand, the blue aura vanished.

The Grand Elder gestured towards me. I thought he was signaling me to leave, so I started to rise from my seat.

I felt something hit my face, and a cool sensation spread. The Grand Elder gestured again. The aura touching my face grew stronger, and the coolness intensified.

“What did you feel?”

“Ba······.”

I was about to answer “wind” when I felt something and stopped speaking.

“It’s mana.”

And with that one word.

The gaze of the Grand Elder looking at me changed slightly. His narrowed eyes returned to their original state, and the corners of his lips began to tremble.

And then-.

“Puahahahahaha-!”

He started laughing like a madman.

“Kuhahahaha-!”

It was at this moment that I seriously considered whether I should stay here.

“Pass!”

“What?”

“I said, you pass!”

“Oh, I passed. I must have done something.”

The Grand Elder clicked his tongue loudly as if to make sure I heard.

“The second test is to examine your eyes.”

The Grand Elder looked at me and chuckled.

“If it were someone with ordinary talent, they would have given a slightly different answer when asked about the mana of fire. They would have babbled on about what circle of magic it was, and what changes I had made. Without even knowing who was sitting in front of them. But you gave a slightly different answer.”

– It’s fire.

“Splendid, powerful, and complex magic. It’s the realm that any magician dreams of. But a magician is a seeker of truth. They must see the essence, not the splendor or power. Whether it’s a 1st circle ‘Fire’ or an 8th circle ‘Hell Fire’, the essence is fire.”

“Ah-!”

I think I understand a bit of what the Grand Elder is saying.

“You saw fire? That’s correct. But it’s also an ambiguous answer. You saw water when you saw the magic cast with the mana of water. That too is a correct answer but insufficient. Those who can see the essence should not answer that way.”

“In the end, it’s mana.”

“Exactly. Whether it’s a 1st circle Fire or a 9th circle Hell Fire, it’s true that it’s fire. But more precisely, it’s ‘mana’ with the energy of fire. In the end, the essence is ‘mana’.”

When I felt the third wind, I was about to answer wind again. But the moment the wind touched my face, I remembered the first test.

Although I didn’t tell the Second Elder, the moment I heard that the surroundings were filled with mana, I felt as if I sensed the energy of mana.

When the Grand Elder blew wind at my face, I felt an energy similar to but slightly different from the mana I felt in the first test.

So I answered “mana” instead of “wind.”

“These days, those who walk the path of magic are all intoxicated by splendor and power, forgetting the essence. The mana of fire, the mana of water, the mana of wind, the mana of earth. They foolishly interpret these separately. Not knowing that in the end, they are all one.”

The Grand Elder smiles brightly at me.

“You have good eyes.”

“Thank you.”

“If you pass the third gate and walk the path of magic, always remember this. The essence of magic is…”

“Mana!”

“Exactly! We only use mana, the great gift given by the gods, by transforming it in various ways. Always try to see the true form within, not just the outer appearance. When you gain eyes that see the truth rather than the flashy exterior, you will experience a new world.”

The Grand Elder waves his hand.

“Go on. There’s an eccentric old man waiting anxiously for you at the last gate.”

Does saying such things make me want to go?

Snap-!

But regardless of my will, I had to go to the last gate.