ALL NOVEL C3
The sky locked in darkness.
Countless stars twinkled, each shining brightly, painting the sky where the sun had vanished.
“Ugh.”
I straightened my bent back.
[PM 11:47]
“I barely made it in time.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.
Behind the university, in the mountains,
On the ground of an open space, geometric patterns were drawn.
Great Mana Convergence Circle.
I had climbed the mountain in the middle of the night to draw this magical circle, a spell passed down only to the rulers of the Demon Arena.
‘This is a formation that artificially gathers the flow of mana.’
I looked at the fruits of my labor with pride.
Within a 5-meter radius, runes were intricately etched.
Each one contained magical words, symbols filled with the power of magic.
I had spent hours laboring to carve these.
‘I thought my eyes were going to pop out.’
I massaged my eyelids and relaxed my dry eyes.
The night in the mountains was unbearably dark.
Relying on the light of my phone, drawing the 5-meter magical circle on the ground was an immense task.
Even the slightest error in the magic circle would drastically reduce its effectiveness.
I had to be extremely cautious with every line I drew.
[Great Mana Convergence Circle]
Type: Formation
Grade: S
Completion: 100%
A magic circle passed down only to the Demon King of the past.
It gathers mana by interfering with its surroundings.
It uses 24 runic symbols, each amplifying the effect of the magic circle.
Currently, the magic circle is inactive because it lacks the energy source.
To activate it, an energy source must be injected.
A magic circle is the same.
Without mana, it doesn’t work.
I reached into my pocket.
I could feel a heavy, rough texture.
An E-grade Mana Stone.
I had hurriedly purchased it by using some of my tuition money for the next semester.
[PM 11:59]
My eyes sparkled.
I placed the E-grade Mana Stone at the edge of the magic circle.
Woom—!
A pleasant vibrating sound reverberated through the ground.
A soft glow started to leak from the lines I had drawn.
[E-grade Mana Stone is being used as a material for the Great Mana Convergence Circle.]
[The Great Mana Convergence Circle recognizes the energy source.]
[The Great Mana Convergence Circle is now activated.]
[Mana Amplification Rate: 450%]
[Duration: 5 minutes]
[05:00]
[04:59]
[04:58]
It even tells me this?
The power of being a player.
It might be more useful than I thought.
– Good morning. Ba-ba-ba-ba-bam, ba-ba-bam!
AM 12:00
The alarm on my phone rang loudly, as set in advance.
‘Now’s the time!’
I sat at the center of the convergence circle and adjusted my posture.
米 米 米
Goosebumps ran up my skin.
The body, with only 1 mana point, responded to the overflowing mana.
The power of the Great Mana Convergence Circle.
‘Everything is just as I remembered.’
The effects of the Great Mana Convergence Circle were excellent.
A bluish mist began to swirl around me.
High-density mana.
Due to the effects of the magic circle, it was now gathered enough for the naked eye to see.
It was the perfect environment for training my Qi.
‘What I’m learning is not ordinary Qi manipulation, though.’
Ordinary Qi techniques accumulate natural mana in the body.
What I would be learning was different.
Seongcheonjoegong.
A breathing technique that accumulates the energy of stars, creating a small universe within the spiritual world.
It is an ancient martial art so difficult that only the highest of the Demon Cult could learn it.
I moved the mana concentrated in the Great Mana Convergence Circle with my minute mana sensitivity.
Shudder-!
The air trembled.
The high-density mana responded to my mental focus.
Beyond the five senses, an extra-sensory perception—what is often called a sixth sense—expanded greatly with the help of the magic circle.
I tilted my head back.
Countless stars in the sky reflected in my vision.
‘I’m capturing the flow of stars.’
I focused my mind and began drawing the energy from the stars.
The many stars that make up the celestial bodies.
The faint silvery light grew stronger.
It was the energy of the stars.
The sky, which had been black just moments ago, was now turning completely white.
I began to feel dizzy, and my head throbbed.
Once the headache started, it shook my head and disrupted my focus.
I bit my tongue to maintain my concentration.
If I stopped the breathing technique now, there was a high chance I’d either go mad or die.
‘This much is nothing!’
I may look like this now, but I was once the Demon King.
I could endure this much easily!
I opened my mouth wide.
And.
I took a deep breath with all my might.
With one inhale,
The energy of the stars mixed with the air and seeped into my body.
My mouth, throat, and lungs all stung.
The power of the nebula.
It was far too great an energy to be contained in a single body.
That immense force began to struggle to break free from my body.
A groan escaped me involuntarily.
Don’t worry.
I already anticipated this.
‘This is the second time. Surely, you didn’t think I wouldn’t know?’
In my past life, when I first tried the Seongcheonjoegong…
When I first tried to master Seongcheonjoegong in my past life, I almost died.
Even with the sturdy body of a demon, it was difficult to endure.
How much more so for a weak human body?
One moment of carelessness, and I could have been torn apart by the force of the stars.
I guided the power of the stars into my spiritual world.
A world dyed black.
The stars, which had been wildly spinning, calmed down as they reached the spiritual world, taking on a new form resembling the night sky.
The sky I had just seen.
The very same sight that was imprinted in my eyes began to settle into the spiritual world, the energy of the stars taking shape.
Once the stars’ energy settled, it remained still, not moving.
“Good. It’s stabilized!”
I didn’t stop, continuing to breathe in deeply.
During the remaining time of the Great Mana Convergence Circle, I needed to gather as much of the star energy as possible.
The small universe I had created in my spiritual world was still weak.
Only once the energy had fully settled could I say I had truly mastered Seongcheonjoegong.
[00:01]
[00:00]
[The duration of the Great Mana Convergence Circle has ended.]
[To reactivate the Great Mana Convergence Circle, more energy is required.]
The mana within the E-grade Mana Stone had been exhausted.
The magic circle, having lost its power source, no longer functioned. The mana density rapidly dropped.
But I wasn’t disappointed.
I had already achieved what I wanted.
The small universe in my spiritual world had been stabilized.
This meant that my Seongcheonjoegong had reached the first level.
[Seongcheonjoegong skill acquired.]
[Seongcheonjoegong has reached level 1.]
[The Seongcheonjoegong enhances your body.]
[Strength +5]
[Agility +5]
[Toughness +4]
[Health +4]
[Mana +20]
[Seongcheonjoegong]
Category: Qi Technique
Grade: EX
Limitations: None
A magical breathing technique that forms a small universe in the higher-dimensional spiritual world (known as the upper dantian).
It absorbs the powerful waves emitted by both the Light Nebula and the Dark Nebula, transferring them into the spiritual world for use by the practitioner’s will.
Level: 1 (0%)
Hmm.
So my techniques are also being registered as skills.
But then, the notifications on the status window didn’t stop.
[The powers of the Light Nebula and Dark Nebula are merging.]
[The opposing forces are combining into a new form of energy.]
[Mana -> Chaos Energy]
[Mana -> Chaos Qi]
Wait a minute.
System, what did you just say?
* * *
“Status window.”
Name: Jeon Mincheol
Level: 1
Race: Human
Class: None
Stats:
Strength: 12
Agility: 11
Toughness: 10
Health: 11
Chaos Energy: 21
Chaos Qi – [210/21]
* Traits
[Player]
Your actions can twist the rules of the world. By hunting monsters and gaining points, you can alter your own rules.
* Skills
[Seongcheonjoegong – EX]
[Eye of Truth – S]
“It really changed.”
I muttered in a somewhat confused voice.
Chaos Energy, and Chaos Qi.
These were terms I had never heard of, even within the vast knowledge of the Demon Arena’s Daemos.
Could it just be a difference in terminology?
‘But thinking about the notifications from the status window, there’s a distinct difference.’
Light Nebula and Dark Nebula.
Angels, the Winged Chickens, accumulate divine energy from the Light Nebula in their bodies.
On the other hand, demons rely on the dark mana of the Dark Nebula as the foundation of their power.
The two are like oil and water; they cannot mix.
That’s common knowledge.
But there’s one more question.
‘Wasn’t Seongcheonjoegong supposed to absorb only the Dark Nebula’s energy?’
When I first tried to learn Seongcheonjoegong, it absorbed the energy of the Dark Nebula.
I had reached the position of the highest in the Demon Arena, handling immense dark mana, based on the strength of the small universe I had created in the spiritual world.
In my past life, I had reached level 10 of Seongcheonjoegong.
I had believed that I had mastered Seongcheonjoegong to its fullest.
But I was wrong.
‘The powers of the Light Nebula and Dark Nebula are coexisting.’
In the small universe I had created in my spiritual world, I could feel both opposing forces.
The two forces, unable to mix normally, were somehow creating a strange harmony and maintaining balance.
The divine power of the Light Nebula.
And the dark mana of the Dark Nebula.
I could either use them individually, or, as the system mentioned, fuse them together into Chaos Qi.
What happens when using Chaos Qi?
It became several times stronger than regular mana.
Common sense shattered.
Even after searching through all my memories from my past life, I couldn’t find any precedent for such a thing.
Shudder.
I involuntarily trembled.
‘Could it be… that this is the true form of Seongcheonjoegong?’
In my time, I was the only one who mastered Seongcheonjoegong.
Though hidden deep within the Demon Cult, it had never been deciphered by anyone else, preventing others from learning the ancient martial art.
Could it be?
Was it because I was a demon in my past life that I could only accept the power of the Dark Nebula?
‘If that’s true… then the Seongcheonjoegong I learned in my past life was only a half-baked version!’
My eyes widened.
My heart pounded.
‘If I nurture Chaos Qi, surpassing my past self is not impossible.’
A thrill.
And ecstasy.
The flame ignited fiercely in my eyes.
When I became aware of my past life,
I had been disappointed by the human body.
A lower-dimensional creature.
Unable to feel mana, weak in form.
But the special trait, Player, granted by the Akashic Records, showed me the possibility of strength.
I had secretly thought it would be difficult to reach the power of my past self.
‘No. If I grow my Player trait and Chaos Qi, it might not take long.’
It’s not impossible.
I’ve already perfected Seongcheonjoegong to level 10.
That realization is engraved deep within my soul.
Walking the path I’ve already taken once is not difficult.
In fact, I can go faster now.
And more precisely.
‘I’ll complete the true Seongcheonjoegong.
And become the strongest in all dimensions.’
A simple goal.
It felt both vast and arrogant.
When a person dreams, they should dream big.
My heart swelled with excitement, filled with anticipation.