Chapter 7 : Adventure Level 1 (7)

The hunt was scheduled for Thursday.
I had no intention of fighting goblins in my current state.
When I went looking for Do Yugeon, I was rushed and flustered, so I went without proper preparation, but things are different now.
Goblins supposedly carry swords, so having at least stab-proof vests would be necessary for safety.
I don’t like doing this, but I’ll have to ask a certain acquaintance for help.
I called the acquaintance.
I arranged for two stab-proof vests and discreetly borrowed a taser gun just for that day.
As a bonus, I also requested an investigation into the fantasy phenomena.
The investigation required finding someone trustworthy who could also log in, so they said it would take time.
Wouldn’t it be possible by Thursday, though?
However, the investigation wasn’t finished by Thursday, so I couldn’t confirm the possibility of resurrection.
Therefore, prioritizing safety, we postponed the hunt and just played normally.
Though maybe playing Jenga while secretly using magic wasn’t exactly normal.

On Saturday, I received the investigation results.
Logging out during combat was, of course, possible.
It would be stranger if it weren’t.
Resurrection, though seemingly nonsensical, was also possible.
They experimented with up to five consecutive deaths, so they couldn’t guarantee beyond that, but that was the finding.
However, they advised caution, as even if resurrection worked, getting stabbed still hurt just the same.
“Was that your father’s advice?”
The answer was yes.
So Dad got reported to? I expected reports about what I was doing, especially since I skipped dinner to hunt slimes. Does that mean this investigation wasn’t started because I asked, but was already ongoing?
Goblins apparently wear clothes on top of carrying swords.
Swords were absurd enough, but clothes too? Doesn’t that imply civilization? Ridiculous.
Ah, right.
It’s fantasy, so anything is possible, I guess.
World, please be a little more sensible.
Furthermore, goblins supposedly use swordsmanship—to the level where an ordinary person couldn’t beat them on their first try.
Huh?
“Do Yugeon caught three just fine, though.”
The acquaintance asked a few questions, thought about it, and concluded it was either coincidence or genius.
Him? This answer feels more fantastical than anything I’ve heard so far.
He probably caught them by fluke.

Sunday arrived, and I logged in.
Arriving in the Preparation Room, Do Yugeon was holding a spear and thrusting it into the air.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh? You’re here? Just wondering if I should use a spear instead of a sword. Don’t I look pretty good with it?”
He made a few thrusting motions.
Whether he was thrusting well or not, I couldn’t tell, but I could see it looked extremely awkward.
“I don’t know if you’re using it well, but it just looks weird.”
“You think so?”
“Even if you were good with it, wouldn’t it be better to ditch it since we’re in a forest?”
“They say spears are for thrusting, so the forest doesn’t matter.”
“Easier said than done. Just carrying it around is a chore. It’s life-threatening—ah, maybe not anymore.”
He put the spear back among the weapons and picked up a sword, looking puzzled.
“Not life-threatening? Changed your mind?”
“It’s not that. My acquaintance investigated, and apparently, resurrection is possible. Logout is a given too. So I guess you could say our lives aren’t on the line anymore.”

He thought for a moment, then smiled.
“Can you trust that investigation?”
“Then don’t believe it.”
“Hahaha. I believe, I believe. Coming from you.”
He continued, “Then let’s go adventuring now. Since resurrection is possible, we can be bolder. Right?”
“Sure. Do whatever you want. But put on this stab-proof vest first.”
“What’s with the bag, anyway?”
I patted the bag slung diagonally across my shoulder and answered, “Minimum safety.”
Taser gun and first-aid supplies.
I’d just received advice from my acquaintance that there was no need to fight the goblins; just using the taser gun would suffice.
So, instead of the heavy sword, I would carry the taser gun.
I made him put on the stab-proof vest, passed through the slime room, and went out into the forest.

As discussed, I used my senses to find the nearest goblin.
Pointing in the direction, he took the lead and cleared the path.
“For now, my senses tell me the goblins are wandering alone, but sometimes they’re close together. If we approach carelessly, we might have to fight two, so let’s be careful.”
There were no other goblins near the one we were heading toward, but I gave the warning anyway.
“Magic really is useful. I ran into two goblins at once while wandering around looking for them and had to run away.”
“What? Run away? You said it wasn’t dangerous.”
“Ah, well. That… I panicked because it was the first time. It wasn’t dangerous when I actually fought.”
“Your lying skills seem to be improving?”
He just smiled without saying much.

Walking further, I saw the distant goblin between the trees.
As I’d heard, it held a sword and was properly dressed.
From a modern perspective, the clothes were shabby, and its height was less than an adult’s, but it gave the impression of being a capable fighter.
“Are you sure we can catch that?”
“Easily.”
Do Yugeon raised his sword and headed toward the goblin.
Hmm, he won’t die, but…
“Don’t blame me if I get hurt.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
The goblin spotted us.
It raised its sword warily, then quickly fled sideways.
The goblin disappeared from view behind trees and bushes.
Huh?
Wondering what was happening, I looked at Do Yugeon, who was running sideways after the goblin.
Now Do Yugeon was out of sight too.
Focusing my senses, I felt the goblin circling around, seemingly avoiding Do Yugeon, and heading toward me.
Is it seriously targeting me, the one who looks unarmed? Really?
Do Yugeon, who had run to intercept the goblin, confronted it.
Taking a few steps, I could see them both between the trees.
Swords clashed, a few exchanges occurred, and then the goblin’s head flew off.
Maybe because my dynamic visual acuity is poor, I couldn’t properly follow the sword clashes.
I should definitely avoid fighting with a sword.

Do Yugeon exhaled and walked toward me.
“See? Just do it like this.”
“I saw, but that’s not helpful to me at all. I can’t possibly imitate that.”
It seemed true that this kid, while perhaps not a genius, definitely had talent.
He handled the goblin easily, even though it wasn’t just swinging its sword randomly.
Okay, I want to avoid using the taser gun as much as possible, but how should I fight? It would be convenient if the goblin just died after I shot magic from afar, but considering the goblin’s intelligence, that seemed unlikely. It would probably dodge appropriately using the trees after getting hit by magic a few times.
Hmm…
I tried shooting mana at a tree.
A direct hit gouged the wood, while shaping it into a curve and shooting cut into it.
Okay, it seems best to shoot normally first, then switch to curved shots when it gets closer.

Do Yugeon cleared the path, glanced at me a few times, and said, “You probably don’t need to worry so much. You’re a magic genius, aren’t you?”
“Huh? Why me?”
“Well, the Exploration Alliance is currently verifying the existence of mana, but you’re already using magic.”
The Exploration Alliance had picked a few things to verify, one of which was the existence of mana.
But it still hadn’t been verified.
They just needed to use magic once while logged out and record a video, but they couldn’t manage it.
There was an easier way too: close your eyes, sense the mana, and guess where the spellbook is.
“Isn’t that just the organization being incompetent?”
He laughed.
“Then what about the lack of magic verification online?”
“Maybe all mages just happen to be the type who like to stand by and watch.”
“Like someone who only reads books at home?”
“I don’t only read books, you know.”

It was indeed strange that there was no proper magic verification online.
Just recording and uploading a video would suffice, so why wasn’t there one?
Even if mages were rare, it seemed likely at least one would have uploaded a video by now.
Especially since it had been almost a month since the fantasy phenomenon began.
A talent so rare that not a single video appears online.
“Okay. Maybe I do have some talent. But not genius level.”
There are many geniuses in the world, and even more talented people, but I’m definitely not one of them.
The world isn’t easy enough to declare myself a genius without seeing other mages.
Besides, I still can’t even read books using magic—what kind of genius is that?
Although I said it jokingly just now, maybe the talent for using magic is inversely proportional to the personality type that uploads videos. So mages exist, but videos aren’t uploaded. Thinking about it, that seems quite plausible.
He shook his head.
“From my perspective, you’re beyond genius level.”
“To what extent?”
“A once-in-a-lifetime genius.”
What’s he saying? I laughed.
His serious expression made it funnier.
“That would be nice.”
I laughed it off.

Walking further, we saw a goblin in the distance.
Now it’s really time to fight. I took the taser gun out of the bag and held it.
I would try to win without using it if possible, but I would use it if the situation required.
Do Yugeon said, “Don’t worry. If it gets really dangerous, I’ll step in.”
“No thanks. Just watch.”
The goblin spotted me and approached cautiously.
Its reaction was different from the previous goblin.
What could be the difference?
I gathered mana and shot.
The startled goblin dodged, but not perfectly, and the mana hit its arm.
The torn arm turned into gold powder in mid-air.
Uh, this is more brutal than I thought. I felt reluctant to shoot again. Not that I wouldn’t.
I shot mana again.
The goblin dodged behind a tree, avoiding the hit.
I sensed the goblin rapidly weaving through the trees toward me.
I timed my mana shots for when it moved between trees, but the goblin dodged them all.
How does it dodge so well?
Considering the distance, its movements were excellent for a mere goblin.
“This much was expected. Though I didn’t think it would dodge that well.”

I waited for Do Yugeon to comment, but heard nothing.
Looking at him, he was watching the approaching goblin with a serious expression.
Somehow, he seemed more nervous than I was.
The goblin closed the distance to four trees away.
I shot mana.
The goblin’s running form faltered, but it was a glancing blow.
It dodges really well.
Three trees away.
I shot mana again.
Grazing its shoulder, the goblin staggered, then abandoned the trees and charged straight at me.
Do Yugeon started to step forward, but I blocked him with my arm.
Probably about two trees’ distance now.
I shaped the mana into a curve, laid it horizontally, and shot.
The goblin twisted its body to dodge, but such attempts were now futile.
As the wide arc of mana swept past, the goblin was cut in half and died.
Gold powder spread and flew toward me.
Cha Haneul waved her hand through the incoming experience points.
This feels unpleasant. Slimes didn’t evoke much feeling, but this is basically corpse dust.

Do Yugeon exhaled.
The tip of his sword touched the ground.
“Phew. I thought I was going to die from anxiety.”
“Oh please. It’s funny hearing that from the guy who recklessly fought goblins.”
“How is that the same as this?”
“What’s different?”
“The difference between someone who gets exhausted after walking around a bit and me, who can run without issue.”
Should I point out that the person who knows this still pesters me to log in every time? I decided against it.
After that, we caught several more goblins.
The more goblins we caught, the less tense I became, to the point where, by the last goblin, I was chatting while using magic.
It was risky behavior, true, but what could I do if I didn’t feel any tension at all?
After catching the last goblin and accepting the experience points, the status window popped up.
[Level Up]
1 → 2

Cha Haneul, who usually slept around 10 PM, woke up at 5 AM.
As Do Yugeon had mentioned, she didn’t always sleep at 10 PM, but she consistently woke up at 5 AM.
Consistency starts with keeping a regular wake-up time, after all.
But today, she felt quite languid.
Maybe I’ll sleep a bit more today. Life should be flexible.
She went back to sleep.
Waking up and checking the time, it was around 5:30 AM.
She spaced out until her briefly awakened brain started functioning properly again.
The blanket is warm.
Her mind felt clearer now.
She tidied the bedding, washed up, put on her school uniform, then grabbed coffee from the kitchen and returned to her room.
Mom usually served breakfast around 8 AM, leaving time until then.

She turned on the computer and did some book shopping.
While at it, she also did the daily check-ins on various bookstore sites.
After ordering a few books, she skimmed through the material for the final exams.
Studying wasn’t much of a concern.
Thanks to her past life, her starting line was different from her peers, and her current life itself was extraordinary.
Not extraordinary like being a genius—just having a good memory.
To what extent? If it was a book she had read, even years ago, she could look at the table of contents and recite the content and logical flow.
Wow, amazing. It seemed that thinking with an adult’s mind from a young age had affected her brain.
Memory and comprehension are different domains, so studying wasn’t entirely unnecessary, but she probably wouldn’t have to worry much about academics until high school.
Even in college, if she majored in business administration like in her past life, the undergraduate course would likely be no problem.
Enough skimming the exam material. Next, she would practice magic.

She took out the spellbook, observed it, and then copied the magic circle into her notebook.
Normally, she would practice holding the spellbook steady with magic, but lately, she had been focusing on the magic circles.
This was because an interesting thought had occurred to her.
Recently, while looking at the magic circles out of boredom, she suddenly, intuitively, understood their structure.
Strictly speaking, it was closer to conjecture than understanding.
The magic that concealed the spellbook’s contents seemed to consist of three main magic circles: one that generated the magic, one that fixed the magic circles to the spellbook, and one that stored mana.
It seemed the use of magic, the fixation of the circles, and the storage of mana were essential components in the structure.
Reaching this conjecture naturally led to this thought:
What if I disable the magic-using circle and leave it? Wouldn’t the balance between mana usage and storage be broken, causing mana to accumulate in the spellbook?
If her conjecture proved correct, couldn’t the spellbook be used in combat?
Just like mages in fantasy.