Kabanata 3: Magical Mishaps and Misunderstood Mantras
Jin-woo leaned against the tree, his mind racing. He was lost, alone, and facing giant, scaly monsters. This was definitely not how he envisioned his day going. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. The forest seemed to stretch on forever, an endless expanse of green and brown. He had no idea which way to go. He was completely and utterly lost.
"Great," he muttered. "Just great." He was a software engineer, not a survival expert. He knew how to debug code, not navigate through a magical wilderness. He was completely out of his element. He closed his eyes, trying to recall any survival tips he'd ever picked up from documentaries or those wilderness survival shows he sometimes watched when he needed a break from coding (which was rare). "Okay," he thought. "Rule number one: find water."
He opened his eyes and looked around again. Everything looked the same. Trees, ferns, glowing mushrooms… it was all a blur of green and brown. "Okay," he muttered. "Maybe I should try… following the… uh… the… less dense foliage?" He wasn't sure if that was a real survival strategy, but it sounded plausible.
He started walking again, this time trying to follow what he perceived to be the path of least resistance. He stumbled over roots, tripped over vines, and nearly walked face-first into a giant, glowing mushroom that looked suspiciously like it was pulsating. "Note to self," he thought. "Avoid pulsating mushrooms."
After what felt like hours of aimless wandering, he heard the sound of rushing water. "Yes!" he exclaimed. "Water!" He followed the sound, his hopes rising. He finally reached a small stream, crystal clear and inviting. He knelt down and cupped his hands, taking a long, refreshing drink.
"Okay," he said to himself. "Water: check. Now, what's next?" He thought for a moment. "Shelter?" He looked around at the dense forest. "Yeah, that's not a problem."
He decided to follow the stream, figuring it would eventually lead him somewhere. As he walked, he started to think about the creature he had encountered earlier. It was definitely some kind of magical beast. He wondered what it was, what its abilities were, and, most importantly, if it was still nearby.
"Maybe," he thought, "if I can understand how magic works in this world, I can figure out how to defend myself." His programmer brain started to whir. He thought about the magic rituals he had seen in webtoons and anime. They usually involved chanting some kind of magical mantra.
"Okay," he muttered. "Let's try something." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to remember any magical-sounding words he had ever heard. "Um… Abracadabra?" he said. Nothing. "Sim Sala Bim?" Still nothing. "Release the power of the ancient ones!" he shouted, mimicking a line from a manhwa he'd once skimmed.
Suddenly, he felt a tingling sensation in his hands. He opened his eyes and looked down. His hands were glowing faintly. "Huh?" he said. "That's… interesting."
He tried another mantra, this time something he had heard in a game. "For the glory of… uh… Elrond!" he shouted.
This time, nothing happened. "Okay," he said. "Maybe it's not the words. Maybe it's the… intention?" He closed his eyes again and focused on the feeling of the tingling in his hands. He tried to imagine the energy flowing through him, like electricity through a circuit.
He opened his eyes and held out his hands. He focused his will, trying to channel the energy. "Fireball_v1.0_alpha," he muttered, instinctively using his programmer's naming conventions.
Nothing happened. He tried again. "Fireball_v1.1_beta_fix," he mumbled.
Still nothing. He sighed. "This is going to take some debugging," he muttered. He sat down by the stream, determined to figure out this magic thing. It was just code, he told himself. Just a different kind of code. And he was a coder. He could crack this. He just needed the right syntax.
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