"Wow, looks peng," Zeke said as they entered the dungeon. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The air itself shimmered with visible mana, tasting of ozone and raw power. The group materialized in a coordinated flash of light onto a field of crystalline grass that chimed softly underfoot, other hunters blinking into existence around them before scattering like startled birds toward distant glowing landmarks and the promise of hidden treasure.

"You really had to do that," Kai said, his voice tight with residual tension as he scanned their alien surroundings. Above them, the sky swirled with colors that had no business existing.

"What? Are you scared? You really don’t trust me." Zeke’s tone was light, but his metallic grey eyes missed nothing.

"You know, for a supposed introvert, you put yourself in a lot of social situations," Jude observed dryly.

"I’m an extroverted introvert. What the educated would call an ambivert." Zeke shrugged, hands tucked into his pockets as if they were strolling through a park. "I’m just lazy and prefer my own space."

"I didn’t know this was a therapy session."

"You’re a broken soul," Aaron said, grabbing his shoulder with a firm, brotherly squeeze.

"Fuck off."

...

"So where are we going?" Aaron asked, his deep voice cutting through the dungeon’s strange melodic ambience.

They all turned toward Zeke with expectant looks.

"What are you looking at me for?"

They stared. Their silence was more demanding than any words.

"Onwards!" He pointed in a random direction.

"What a man child."

...

’So Zero, all attention is on you.’

Zeke thought as he ran, the crystalline grass crunching beneath his boots.

{Now you remember me,} Zero’s voice echoed in his mind, dripping with digital sarcasm.

’Yeah, I don’t really care for guilt-tripping.’

{Fuck off.}

{It’s my turn to have a cameo. Been a while.}

’This is a serious—well, semi-serious—situation. Don’t start talking to ghosts now.’

{Ah, he can’t understand our connection.}

{Well, to fuel your chaos: according to normal tropes, it’d be best to go toward areas dense with people, seek out thick aura concentrations, and hope for the worst.}

’Makes sense.’

{But for your development—yours and the plot’s—it’d be better to use your newly attained gift.}

’How’s that going to help?’

{Let’s pull up the description. Then I’ll walk you through the nuance.}

A shimmering blue interface materialized in Zeke’s vision, the text crisp and clear against the surreal backdrop:

---

[SSS-Rank Trait: Grand Archmage

Your soul resonates with the fundamental song of magic. You do not merely learn spells; you comprehend the underlying principles of any magic you observe instantaneously. What would take a master mage a century to learn, you grasp in a single breath.

This profound understanding grants you three pillars of power:

Arcane Deconstruction & Genesis: Upon witnessing any spell—a formalized technique for manipulating mana to produce a specific, learnable effect—you instantly understand its core principles. This allows you to not only replicate it with perfect efficiency but, with focused effort, create new spells within that magical domain or significantly improve upon the original. Learn one water spell, and you can derive the principles for creating tidal waves or mist shields.

· Limitation: This does not apply to Innate Abilities, which are manifestations of one’s soul or unique biology. You cannot replicate Jude’s Flame Weaponry or Yeon’s Cryo-Volt Dominion with this trait alone.

Mana Sovereignty: Your connection to raw mana is absolute. You bypass the crude "spell-shaping" used by common mages, allowing you to directly sense, manipulate, and weaponize ambient mana with thought alone. You can fire raw mana bolts, form invisible mana shields, and perform feats of telekinesis—all without a formal spell. Your magic power regenerates 500% faster, and you are immune to magical corruption, backlash, or forced mana depletion.]

---

This was the trait he’d received for saving his friends and completing the mission SAGE had assigned him—originally awarded as:

[SS-Rank: Grand Mage

Your talent in magic cannot be surpassed. A one-in-three-thousand-years talent. Learning, understanding, and developing magic is as natural to you as breathing; what would take the average mage a hundred years to learn, you grasp in one.]

Then he’d used the trait upgrade card and pushed it to its current form.

He hadn’t received anything from SAGE in the past six months. Hadn’t even thought about the trait until now.

’It seems cool, but what does magic actually mean here? What about innate abilities?’

{Why?} Zero’s tone was deliberately obtuse.

’Whatever do you mean?’

{Why are you not using the brain you’re supposed to have?}

’Shut the fuck up and explain.’

{Magic is different from innate abilities. Innate abilities are like machines programmed to function a certain way—powered by mana as their energy source, manifesting in different forms, but ultimately limited.}

{Magic is the raw application of mana. Basically what you’d see in your magic-based novels. Non-tower climbers on Earth are almost incapable of using it unless they’re born with magic-wielding traits.}

{The Grand Archmage trait lets you skip all the basic training they’d need from the tower or veteran mages. If you try applying it, I’m sure you’ll coast through as usual.}

’Aw, I feel warm hearing your praise.’

{Shut the fuck up. It’s purely for plot. Not to waste word count.}

’Here we go again.’

"Hey guys, let me in on the secret!" he called out, waving at no one, voice carrying across the strange landscape.

"What’s wrong with him?" Kai whispered, eyeing Zeke’s behaviour with open suspicion.

"How would I know," Jude replied.

"He’s going through his own version of menopause," Aaron concluded, expression flat as stone.

The three of them murmured among themselves, voices low but carrying in the thin, mana-rich air.

’So why did you suggest the trait in the first place?’

{You make the readers feel like they don’t have a smart MC.}

’You know what, you’re so annoying. You always say the worst things instead of doing your job. You are my virtual assistant—assist me!’

{Use your mana perception to sense where density gathers. I mentioned it for the clout. Now use it.}

"So, guys!"

Zeke caught himself—suddenly aware of their stares burning into him.

"Wait. Why are you looking at me like that?"

They gave him a look that screamed really?

"Hehe." He smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

They must have seen his act of talking to the ’ghosts’.

Why can’t I break the fourth wall?.

Zeke groaned mentally.

"Right. So. The plan was to find where people cluster—easy chaos, easy action." He paused. "But you all came here to grow. I can’t exactly get in the way of that."

He let that sit for a moment, then squared his shoulders.

"So. We find treasures instead. We experience everything this dungeon has to offer."

A wide, entirely unrepentant grin spread across his face.

"And if I’m truly the MC, the young masters will come find me themselves."

With that, he turned and marched forward, his trench coat catching the otherworldly breeze.

{This Chapter was just for me to pad the word count.}

’Stfu.’