Chapter 3: The Mirror’s First Victim

'Yeah, I thought it would work!'

The dignity of the boss's basic skill, [Field Plowing], was evident.

Once more, boom!

The moment it struck down, rumble, the ground overturned.

Snap! A tree, roots exposed, toppled over.

Thud-thud-thud! Even the rocks that were nestled among the tree roots went flying...

Thud, crash, thud, thud! As the ground cracked and crumbled, the view opened up.

'This is what it means to be a boss!'

How great would it have been if I could do this on Earth?

I might not have received the same treatment as the high-and-mighty Hunters, but I was confident I could at least become rich.

If I had... I could have bought my father more delicious things before he passed away.

'Fretting over things in the past only burns you up inside. Don't struggle over things that can't be helped.'

...In hindsight, my father's words were always right.

Next, again!

Like the creation of heaven and earth, he began to pound the overturned ground.

Thud! The ground turned over again.

Thud-thud! The soil broke apart.

"Wow...!"

By the time he came to his senses, about 200 pyeong of land had been cleanly plowed.

It wasn't large, but it was enough to plant things to eat.

It seemed like he could make half into a field and half into a paddy.

Go Nam-tae turned his head and then quickly looked away.

As a result of turning the forest into flat land, the trees and stones had formed their own little mountains.

'Let's clean that up later...'

There was still the finishing touch.

He broke the stream bank and smoothly carved out a waterway.

Rumble, gush-gush!

Chaos ensued as the stream water burst into the paddy.

Splash, splash!

Those crawfish bastards fled in terror, afraid of being swept away by the current.

"Just try raising one claw!"

When Go Nam-tae brandished his pickaxe, they fled as if their tails were about to fall off.

He was smirking while listening to the noisy splashing when suddenly the sky tilted.

Or maybe it was the ground that had turned upside down.

"Uh..."

[You are on the verge of mana depletion.]
[You must manage your mana bar.]

At the advice that came too late, he swallowed a curse.

But that thought lasted only a moment.

His body slowly slumped, and...

Glub, his consciousness went out.

Sparkle, sparkle!

Go Nam-tae's fallen body began to glow.

If Go Nam-tae could have seen himself, he probably would have said this:

"Am I charging?"

***

Blink, then blink again.

Go Nam-tae jumped up as soon as he opened his eyes.

"How long was I out?"

[It has been 20 minutes.]

Toto's answer actually left him feeling dazed.

He felt like he had slept for over two hours, yet only 20 minutes had passed.

He remembered the sky tilting, but he felt refreshed, like he'd just woken up from a nap.

His body felt light.

Toto spoke as if sensing his condition.

[You can check your mana bar.]
"There was something like that?"

A rainbow-colored bar at the bottom of the status window showed his mana status.

Red meant fainted, purple meant fully charged.

The bar moved diligently toward the green section, displayed as a number.

[Recovering mana - 51, 52, 54%...]

It was over half recovery in just 20 minutes.

'Is this not bad?'

No sooner had Go Nam-tae praised himself than Toto spoke.

[If it were the previous boss, it wouldn't even have taken 10 seconds to fully charge.]
[This recovery rate is only possible within the boss's domain.]
[Outside the domain, you won't even recover a tenth of that.]

He winced again inwardly.

Why on earth did the boss, the master of such absolute power, die?

He looked at the old house again, but it made even less sense.

[It's best to expand the domain as soon as possible.]

He'd thought the advice was too late, but now it was a barrage of nagging as soon as he woke up.

But it wasn't wrong.

Hadn't he seen that the crawfish couldn't mess with him just because he'd made a field?

He became curious about the changes after planting crops.

His basic skills were threefold.

Field Plowing, Seed Sowing, and Watering.

It was time for Seed Sowing.

But the moment he held the seeds in his hand, he saw an amazing sight.

"Wow, this is also...!"

A 3D map unfolded before his eyes, marking the spots where the seeds would be distributed.

If he held a few seeds, the area shrank; if he held more, it expanded.

When he grabbed the whole bag of seeds, it filled the entire field and drew a red mark outside of it.

It was a simulated 3D map showing the appropriate amount of seeds and the coverage area.

That wasn't the only amazing thing about Seed Sowing.

Normally, rice seeds have to be planted in a seedbed first, but that process was skipped entirely.

"My god...!"

Once again, he realized how broken the boss's abilities were.

With a few gestures, the planting of all seeds in the 100-pyeong field and 100-pyeong paddy was finished.

One minute? No, it didn't even take a few seconds.

He was briefly nervous, but even after sowing all the seeds, his mana bar was fine.

He understood that there was a difference in scale compared to the 'reclamation' level of Field Plowing.

While he was at it, he finished Watering too.

'Watering!'

The moment he used the skill, water surging from the stream moistly soaked the field.

The water, which poured down as if a watering can had been created in mid-air, vanished without a trace the moment he shouted 'Stop' in his mind.

The mana bar fluctuated slightly, but only enough to recover quickly.

The dark red field and the shimmering paddy filled his heart with satisfaction.

"Grow well, everyone!"

His skills didn't include something like a 'blessing,' but the seeds seemed to sparkle in response.

Shaaaa!

The blowing wind was refreshing.

Not just any wind, but a wind of mana.

Thump, thump!

The moment he planted crops in the field and paddy, his mana capacity increased 'a little.'

Enough to unlock 'that,' which he had momentarily forgotten while working.

[Boss, would you like to test your interference power?]
[A mirror would be a good medium.]
'Ah, right, there was that!'

His heart began to pound at the thought of testing his interference power.

He pushed the thought of it being a 'crack' out of his mind.

The so-called 'Mirror, Mirror' project.

Only when his interference power—no, his influence—grew, could he return home.

[Please try it first.]

In a house where only two men lived, the only thing available was a small mirror in the bathroom.

Go Nam-tae quickly looked away from the previous boss and ran to the bathroom.

"How do I do it?"
[Just inject mana into the mirror.]

As Go Nam-tae poured in mana until his face turned red, smoke billowed up inside the mirror.

Something began to take shape on the flickering other side.

The moment the smoke gradually dispersed and the image became clear.

A curse like a scream erupted.

"Holy sh*t!"

***

'I wish I could unsee that!'

He truly wanted to unsee it.

The place revealed across the mirror was the factory where he had ground his body down working for the past three years.

But it was also the place he was kicked out of overnight with a single word from the boss.

No matter how badly things had ended, he hadn't expected to see something like this.

The bookkeeper's shoes were layered over the boss's tie, which lay unsightly on the floor.

He looked away, but it was already too late.

The sounds of breathing reaching his ears were disgusting.

'My guess was right.'

No wonder the bookkeeper had been so diligent about omitting his overtime records.

Seeing that sight, he could tell why he had been kicked out overnight.

It seemed the boss and the bookkeeper already knew that Go Nam-tae had caught on to their relationship.

"Ugh!"

Even his stomach churned.

"Of all the places to open, why there!"

At his strong protest, Toto replied as if it were unfair.

[Currently, the only places you can interfere with are locations familiar to the boss.]
[While you can open others randomly, currently only places the boss has been to will open.]

'So opening that place was entirely my fault?'

Well, it was the place where he'd ground his bones and flesh working for three years.

If it was a 'familiar place,' then that was naturally the spot.

Go Nam-tae, who was about to close the mirror immediately, suddenly remembered something.

"About this interference. Does it mean I can send something over to that side?"
[Yes, that's correct.]

Eureka!

His eyes and mood were ruined, but he had a good idea.

Go Nam-tae hurried outside.

"A basket, a basket!"

The basket his grandfather had personally woven from bush clover branches easily swallowed up the stones.

Even though enough stones to fill a one-ton truck went in, he didn't even have time to feel the strangeness of it.

Go Nam-tae ran back to the bathroom.

In the meantime, fog was slowly creeping up inside the mirror.

"Ah, wait just a moment!"

Go Nam-tae shouted and pushed the basket right against the mirror.

Rumble-rumble.

Fortunately, the mirror closed after he poured out all the stones from the basket.

Looking at the mirror reflecting his face again, Go Nam-tae grinned, showing his teeth.

Aaaaagh!

Just before it closed, a scream echoed from beyond the mirror.

The cheating couple was fleeing for their lives in total panic.

He could even see them rushing out the door in that state.

It was broad daylight on a weekday while the factory was running; how many eyes must have seen them?

"Puhahahahahaha!"

He couldn't help but burst out laughing just imagining it.

That wicked boss deserved at least this much.

Compared to what he'd done, this was a light revenge.

While he was laughing joyfully for a long time, Toto spoke.

[Boss, you seem to be in a very good mood.]
"Yeah, I am."
[But what if the boss realizes the value of those stones?]
"Huh?"
[Those are stones from the boss's domain.]
[Stones that have soaked up the boss's mana for a long time possess energy equivalent to C-rank mana stones.]
"What!"

Go Nam-tae was horrified.

C-rank mana stones were worth between 100,000 and 500,000 won per kilogram.

The larger the chunk, the higher the value.

Since he'd only put in ones larger than a fist, if he estimated 500,000 won each...

'...I just gave the boss 500 million won?'

He'd given a 500 million won gift to someone he hated!

"Why... didn't you stop me?"
[You seemed to be in such a good mood...]

Just as Go Nam-tae's heart was about to wither, Toto answered.

[Because you can also just retrieve the mana.]
"Hey, you should have told me that first!"

Thump, his heart returned to its place.

He was too shocked to even argue and just asked.

"How do I retrieve the mana?"
[Open that place you just opened again, and...]
"Wait, wait a second!"

Go Nam-tae hurriedly shook his head.

"I'll leave the mana as it is."

Mana recovers just by breathing anyway; absorbing it wouldn't make much of a difference.

It's not like his total mana capacity would increase immediately.

[Do you have another plan?]

Of course I do!

"Those stones look different from mana stones. You'd have to test them to know, right?"
[That is correct.]
"The boss would never do such a thing. Testing costs money. Most of all, there's no way he'll clean it up himself. He'll definitely make the employees do it, but he'll try to find a cheap trick because he'll even begrudge the cost of disposal."
[...?]
"I have to make sure they go to someone who needs them."

Go Nam-tae grinned and asked.

"That mirror, how many more times can I open it?"