Chapter 19 : Adventure Level 10 (2)

Even though the System resurrects you if you die while Logged in, the pain during combat is still an unpleasant experience, separate from that.
I’ve never experienced it myself since I kill enemies before they get close, but common sense dictates it would be.
Searching online, it’s surprising there aren’t any explorers suffering from PTSD, so maybe it’s unexpectedly okay.
However, knowing many mental health professionals find this situation puzzling only instills fear, and I don’t want to experience it firsthand.
Because I don’t know what kind of mental interference the System might perform.

Come to think of it, isn’t it too much that a System capable of surreal feats like mental interference makes us activate skills verbally?
I wish it would show some consideration for the user’s mental health.

Anyway, up until now, my combat style involved killing opponents before they could approach, allowing me to finish hunts without a single scratch.
However, encountering the rock-throwing Orc this time showed the limitations of my existing method.
Honestly, boulders can be dodged or shot down, so it wasn’t dangerous enough to call it a true limit, but the fact that I now had to hunt attentively instead of mindlessly meant my previous method needed reconsideration.
Through defensive magic that provides wide coverage when used.

The simplest method, naturally, is to copy a job skill.
But this method was blocked before I could even try it.
Internet reconnaissance revealed no suitable defensive magic among the job skills.
The System created a party system and allowed up to 10-member parties, but didn’t provide adequate defensive magic.
Maybe the active skill slot was insufficient for the 1st job change, but wouldn’t this make stable party hunting impossible?

It’s a mystery how other explorers manage to hunt.
Perhaps the truly remarkable ones aren’t talented individuals like myself, but those who level up just fine despite these circumstances.

Since copying job skills was out, after much deliberation, I decided to create a mana barrier as a substitute for defensive magic.
Initially, I wanted to create a spherical shield, which is good both game-wise and practically, but shaping mana into a sphere was too difficult, so I gave up.
However, actually creating a mana barrier presented a troublesome dilemma.
Mana in its natural state lacks physical force, so to use it as a barrier, it needs sufficient compression.
Compression. Compression.
As tested while hunting Slimes, mana tends to explode if over-compressed.
Meaning, a mana barrier could also explode.

Naturally, I should only compress the mana barrier to a controllable extent, but it’s not a simple problem.
A mana barrier, by its purpose, is bound to collide with projectiles, so considering the control difficulty at that moment, I should compress it less.
But compressing it less means it won’t properly block incoming projectiles.
If I don’t want to die from an explosion, I reduce compression; if I don’t want to die from projectiles, I increase compression.
What am I supposed to do?

“Can’t you just increase your proficiency?” Yu Mina asked.

“It’s not that simple. Blocking an attack with a mana barrier means my mana proficiency is higher than the chaos of the impact. Since chaos is proportional to the opponent’s strength, if the opponent is stronger than me, it explodes.”
Yu Mina stared blankly for a moment.
“Well, that’s obvious.”
“It’s obvious, but if the mana barrier explodes during combat, it becomes not-so-obvious. The opponent is already strong, and if the mana barrier explodes too, the situation would be truly bleak.”
“Then what are you doing today? Weren’t you practicing defensive magic?”
“Everything I’ve said so far was trial and error. What I’m about to do now is defensive magic.”

Isn’t there defensive magic that’s safe even upon failure?
After thinking hard, I found an alternative.
Cryomagic.
If compressing mana is dangerous, then fine, don’t compress it.
Ideally, I’d want to erect an ice wall, but since no such skill exists, that’s impossible. Instead, I’ll copy Cryomagic—Freeze Enchantment to grant physical force without compressing mana.

I rummaged through the storage room and found something suitable to throw.
There was a baseball.
No one in the house played baseball, so I didn’t know why it was here, but I took it out and handed it to Yu Mina.
“What’s this for?”
“If you’re going to watch anyway, help me practice.”
“I’ve never thrown a baseball before.”
“You don’t need to hit anything, just throw it. It’s fine.”

We went out to the apartment complex grounds and moved to an empty area.
I stood with my back to a wall.
First, I created a thin wall with mana and applied Freeze Enchantment to it.
I had practiced Freeze Enchantment whenever I had nothing better to do, so I could do it without difficulty.
I hadn’t tested it myself, but according to Exploration Alliance experiments, Freeze Enchantment grants the concept of freezing and the concept of reducing thermal and kinetic energy.
It sounded like a ridiculous result, but that’s what the experiments showed.
So, if the experiment results were correct, applying Freeze Enchantment to a thin mana barrier with no physical force should reduce the power of a ball hitting it.

“Okay. Now throw.”
“This way?”
Yu Mina pointed in a direction, checking, likely because she couldn’t see the mana.
Even though vapor was rising from the air due to the Freeze Enchantment, she seemed uncertain.
“Yeah.”

Yu Mina threw the ball. It shattered the mana barrier and hit the wall.
Well, that was expected.
I hadn’t held high hopes.
While Yu Mina scrambled to catch the bouncing ball, I recreated the thin mana wall, applied Freeze Enchantment, and then repeated the process once more.
Now it was two layers.

“Throw.”
This time too, the ball easily broke the mana barrier and hit the wall.
Of course, it would.
I made three layers.

“Throw.”
“Wait a minute. You’re not planning to keep doing this, are you?”
“I am.”
Yu Mina hesitated with an expression full of unspoken words, then threw the ball.
As expected, the mana barrier broke, and the ball bounced off the wall.
Three layers were naturally no match.

As I was making the fourth layer, Yu Mina, having retrieved the ball, came right up to me and stuck her face close.
“How many more times are you planning to do this?”
“Hmm…… Until I feel tired enough to want a break?”
I was doing this to improve my mana barrier proficiency, so it was constant repetition.
If I had to set a stopping point, maybe when I could create the mana barrier even while half-asleep?

“It’s tiring.”
“Me, not you.”
Yu Mina grabbed my shoulders and shook me back and forth.
“Uwaah.”
“Excuse me, young lady! Think of your friend! Your friend!”
“You’re exaggerating when you’re not even tired.”
“If your friend says she’s tired, she’s tired!”
“Alright, alright. Let go.”

She released my shoulders, and I completed the four-layered mana barrier.
“Throw.”
Yu Mina blinked.
“I’m really, really curious, but is there any difference from before?”
“Just throw it first.”
The ball flew and broke the mana barrier.
Mana scattered, and the ball hit the wall.
I caught the bouncing ball with mana and handed it to Yu Mina.

“Why didn’t you give it back like this before?”
“I forgot.”
She looked at me suspiciously, so I continued.
“It’s because I’m not used to magic.”
She kept staring, so I shrugged and added, “Really.”
It was the honest truth.
Believe it or not.

I made a five-layered mana barrier.
It was starting to take time to create.
“Throw.”
“It takes this long—can you even use it in a real fight?”
“With proficiency, maybe someday?”
“The power is weak too. I can’t even see it; it looks like the ball is just passing through smoke.”
“This time it’s five layers, so you should start feeling the effect.”

The ball broke the mana barrier and hit the wall.
I caught it with mana, handed it back, and started making layers one by one.
“I can see the speed decreasing this time. Still can’t use it in a real fight, though.”
“Dozens of layers should be usable even in a real fight.”
A single sheet of paper is easily pierced, but dozens aren’t.
Especially with the surreal Freeze Enchantment added.

“Will the opponent wait while you make dozens of layers?”
“It might be tight, but Do Yugeon can buy time then.”
“Hmm…… Do Yugeon. Speaking of which, how’s our dear lady’s love life going?”
“I don’t know how many times I’ve said this, but we’re not like that. Why do you keep asking?”
Yu Mina chuckled.
“Because it’s fun. Believing that nothing will happen between you two.”
“I find it amusing that you believe there are romantic feelings. Huh? Did you say ‘between you two’? Don’t tell me you asked Do Yugeon too?”
“Of course, I asked! You think I wouldn’t?”

Oh dear.
She actually asked him.
“So, what did he say?”
“He said you weren’t like that.”
Well, of course.
I felt needlessly relieved.
I completed the sixth layer.
“Throw.”

Yu Mina threw the ball.
The mana barrier broke, but the effect was definitely starting to be felt.
Still, it took too long to prepare for practical use. Wasn’t there a better way?
Passing the seventh layer, as I completed and shattered the eighth, a method suddenly occurred to me.
What about folding it like paper?
Just as folding paper once makes it two layers, folding the mana barrier should double it each time.

Paper and mana barriers are distinctly different; if one side of a mana barrier breaks, the folded other side might try to break too, but couldn’t that be controlled with proficiency?
It’s fantasy—what couldn’t be possible?
I folded the completed five-layered mana barrier in half.
It almost dissipated entirely, but I managed to control it somehow.
I succeeded this time, but folding more layers would require practice.

“Throw.”
“Already?”
“I made it differently this time. It should probably have the effect of ten layers.”
“Hmm.”
The mana barrier hit by the ball shattered, providing only the effect of five layers.
I tried my best to control the mana so it wouldn’t dissipate, but failed.
It was the first time, so that was natural.
Still, confirming the possibility of mana control could be considered a small success.

“Cha Haneul, listen.”
“To what?”
“I just realized something amazing.”
“I just confirmed something important too.”
“It’s more important than magic.”
“Isn’t magic pretty important? They even call it a magic revolution these days.”
“Romance is more important than magic.”
“There are plenty of single people who aren’t dating.”
“Singles are the very proof that romance is the culmination of sociocultural phenomena. A world full of singles—how wrong is this world!”
Yu Mina threw her arms up dramatically, lamenting.
So you think about things like that.
Was she going through puberty? Ah, right, she’s a middle schooler.

“So, what amazing thing did you realize?”
“I got the point wrong regarding the relationship between our lady and Do Yugeon.”
Was that the amazing realization? How remarkable.
Yu Mina continued.
“Typically, childhood friends have a hurdle to overcome before romance.”
“Which is?”
“Awareness as the opposite s*x. Before starting to date, you naturally have to feel they’re the opposite s*x, right? But I’ve been going on about romance-romance until now, so of course, there was no reaction! Does our dear lady feel Do Yugeon is of the opposite s*x?”
“No.”
“Think before answering! Think.”
“You did go on about romance-romance, but didn’t you ask once before if I felt he was the opposite s*x?”
“It’s distinctly different. Listen carefully. What I’m asking now isn’t whether you love him, but whether your heart flutters when you’re near him.”
Yu Mina continued.
“Let me change the question. If you’re near Do Yugeon, will his heart flutter?”
“Him, not me?”
“Yeah.”

She asked so seriously that I gave it serious consideration.
Though it was a question that didn’t really need consideration.
“Probably.”
Yu Mina looked stunned.
Wasn’t that the answer she wanted?

“……No, why?”
“Because I’m a beautiful girl.”
And he’s going through puberty.
“Why?”
She looked extremely flustered.
What was I supposed to do?

“What do you mean, why? Am I wrong then?”
I completed a five-layered mana barrier and folded it.
“You’re right, but…… Giving that answer there is kind of……, isn’t it weird?”
“Not really. You just said it yourself. Love and fluttering hearts are different. And fluttering hearts and liking someone are also different.”
Hearing my answer, Yu Mina was silent for a moment, then said just one thing.
“You’re ruthless.”
What’s that out of the blue?

“Throw.”
The ball flew and broke the barrier.
This time too, it only gave the effect of five layers.
Well, so be it.
Practice should solve it.