"Group 28, please come in."

Among the five applicants who entered, one immediately stood out. He had a massive, broad-shouldered physique typical of a gym fanatic.

"Ooooooh! It's real! It's really him!"

The moment he saw me, he bolted forward, tears of raw emotion streaming down his face. This was… a lot.

"I finally get to behold your noble countenance! I, Na Daeyong, thanks to the immense grace of Hunter Kim Yusin, was able to grasp a single ray of hope in a future of darkness and continue moving forward! I have incurred a debt that I could not repay in a thousand years!"

…Right. You always get a few of these at interviews. The ones who do a little dance to stand out, perform a weird trick, or, like this guy, bring an otherworldly level of energy. I managed an awkward smile and flipped to his resume. Might as well start with him.

"Mr. Na Daeyong?"

"Yes!"

His booming voice made everyone in the room flinch. I pointed at the ceiling. "People are still working upstairs. Please try to be a little quieter."

"Ah! My apologies!"

As I scanned his resume, my eyes widened at a particular entry. The other panelists had the same reaction.

"You have an interesting trait here."

[Over-immersion Lv1]

A small laugh escaped me. "Has this trait ever caused you any trouble?"

"Hmm. I'm not sure! I haven't had any problems in my daily life!"

"What about when you're focusing on mana?"

"I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, but I have occasionally felt mana flowing through my body like water!"

Oho. That was a satisfactory answer.

"Then, would you please demonstrate the magic you've prepared?"

"Yes!"

He had prepared Gauntlet and Mana Arrow. His Mana Arrow was atrocious, but his Gauntlet was passable. He handled Seojin's pressure-cooker questions well, maintaining his own pace.

"Alright, thank you for your hard work."

"Thank you!"

Next, a woman with glasses and a neat, tidy appearance came forward. Her calm, articulate self-introduction was a stark contrast to Daeyong's explosive energy, which was a welcome change.

"Alright, Ms. Seo Shimhee. Please demonstrate your magic."

She nodded. "Yes."

She slowly drew up her mana and raised a shield.

'The level of perfection…'

There wasn't a single flaw in the formula. I immediately formed a Mana Arrow and launched it.

'Thwack!'

The evaluation arrows I used were always kept at a consistent power level. Most applicants' shields were shattered, cracked, or pierced outright. But hers…

'This is impressive.'

Her shield was solid. It didn't even have a scratch. It was proof of her precise control.

"Very good. Next, the Mana Arrow, please."

She agreed, "Yes."

She began to trace the spell in the air. Her accuracy-to-speed ratio was about eight to two. She was slow, but her precision was so exceptional it more than made up for it.

"Ah…!"

But her nerves must have gotten the better of her. One of her formulas slipped, brushing against another. The delicate ecosystem of the spell collapsed in an instant, and the magic circle dissipated into nothing.

The color drained from her face. Her composure crumbled, replaced by that all-too-familiar expression of despair I'd been seeing all day. I had to physically restrain myself from glancing toward the window.

"Take your time. Try again."

"...Ah, yes."

I was giving every applicant a fair chance. With a trembling arm, Shimhee activated her Circle again and laid down the base formula. But her confidence was already shattered, and one's mental state directly affects their mana. Her once-solid fundamentals began to waver. Her perfect Circle started to warp, contaminated by stray thoughts. Her fingers fumbled in the air, failing to complete the sequence.

As I had warned, if an applicant couldn't demonstrate the basic skills, they would be disqualified from future opportunities. The weight of that pressure was crushing her.

'What a shame.'

Based on the perfection of her magic circles alone, she was the best applicant we had seen all day.

Normally, she would have performed much better, but rules were rules. A mage who couldn't manage their mental state was flawed. It was a shame, but I had no choice but to fail her…

"You can do it! Go for it!" Eunsol shouted, her hand shooting up.

Everyone turned to look at her in surprise. Shimhee stared back, dazed. Eunsol showed an expression of innocent sincerity and smiled brightly.

"You've got this!"

Shimhee, whose lips had been trembling, finally managed a faint smile.

"Thank you."

She had regained her composure. Her fingers now traced the formula's flow from base to a rune, and all without a hint of hesitation. Everyone watched, their mouths agape.

'…Well, look at this.'

She had even added her own assist, an additional composite formula to the one I had demonstrated in the video.

'Vwoom!'

The completed Mana Arrow shot forward like a lightning bolt and struck the shield I had created.

Shimhee bowed her head to us, then straightened up, her expression tense.

I spoke as the corners of my mouth lifted. "That composite formula you just added to the Mana Arrow."

She flinched, her shoulders trembling.

'Did she really think I wouldn't notice?'

"The idea was good, but it adds too much complexity to the formula and significantly slows your casting speed. You're already on the slower side, Ms. Seo, so this would make it difficult to use in the field, wouldn't it?"

Her face flushed bright red. Bora and Seojin watched me silently.

"But you did well. I'm impressed that you tried to develop your own style. There will be trial and error, but that's how new magic is created."

"…Ah."

She cast Shield with a textbook execution and the Mana Arrow with a modified formula. She had succeeded at both. Honestly, I felt like giving her a round of applause. Among all the Circle mages, she was probably the player who had come closest to creating 'original magic.'

"Good work."

The group that included Daeyong and Shimhee exited. Bora and I met eyes and nodded.

"You like Ms. Shimhee, don't you?" I asked.

"Yeah. Even with her mental weakness, her talent is so exceptional I'd really like to bring her on board."

And I didn't forget to pat Eunsol on the head.

"You did great, Sol."

"Yup!"

I had been worried by the lack of talent in the morning session, but the afternoon was off to a promising start. The next group entered right away.

"Mr. Jo Yonghee?"

"Yes."

A man with neatly styled hair walked forward. He had a gloomy air about him, with dark circles under his eyes and bangs that hovered annoyingly just above them. He wore casual clothes with a headset around his neck and exuded an air of fierce independence. But what was most striking of all…

"…Are you nervous? You're sweating a lot."

He was sweating so profusely he looked like he was melting. That was strange; I had the air conditioner on, so the room wasn't particularly warm. At the same time, he was sniffling as if he had a cold.

"Uh, um. It's, well… 'Sniffle.' It's not because I'm nervous; it's my constitution. A side effect of my Unique Ability…"

I glanced at his resume. So, Unique Abilities like this existed. Body Fluid Secretion.

"Um, when you say body fluids, what specifically is being secreted?" Bora asked.

"Well… 'sniffle,' I sweat a lot, drool, have a runny nose… things like that."

"Ah. I… I see."

There were side effects to having a Unique Ability. Not everything about awakening as a player was good. Acquiring a Unique Ability with massive risks could make daily life unbearable or condemn a person to a lifetime of suffering.

"Alright, please show us the magic you've prepared."

"Yes."

Yonghee had prepared the Mana Arrow and Shield. His magical execution was average. But then…

"Hold on a moment, Mr. Jo."

"Yes."

"…Are you rotating your Circle counter-clockwise right now?"

The flow of his mana was different.

"Ah, yes. I tried doing it the way you taught, 'sniffle,' but it didn't work well. After some trial and error, I found a style that suits my body…"

Who was this guy? The fact that the magic activated even when he rotated the Circle in reverse wasn't a matter of being right- or left-handed. Everything about his process was simply backward. He exhaled when he should inhale and inhaled when he should exhale. He was a peculiar case whose mana nerves were configured in reverse. Personally, I wanted to grab him and study him… but that wouldn't be fair to the other applicants. We had decided to select based on skill.

"Um."

Just then, Yonghee raised his hand.

"It's a bit personal, but there's one more thing I'd like to, 'sniffle,' show you."

"…Something personal? Go ahead."

An individual's unique touch on magic was also part of the evaluation, so I gladly gave him permission.

"This is something I couldn't do before… but I've been able to since I created a Circle and learned magic…"

Yonghee muttered to himself and closed his eyes. A heavy silence fell. Just as everyone was holding their breath…

'Fwoosh!'

"Whoa!"

"Gah!"

Droplets of blue light flew into the air. They were his beads of sweat, now glowing as mana flowed into them. Everyone in the room stared at the sight, their mouths agape.

-It doesn't seem like he's simply become better at using his Unique Ability, Ea commented inside my head. -This is closer to a 'mana enchantment' phenomenon.

'My thoughts exactly.'

As Yonghee slowly opened his eyes, the blue droplets fell back to the floor. With a series of splats, the surrounding area instantly became a mess of puddles.

"Ahhh, sorry! I'm so sorry."

He pulled tissues from his pocket and started wiping the floor.

'He's an interesting one,' I thought. 'Truly a subject for research.'

"Good work. Once you're done, please return to your seat."

"…Ah, yes, sir."

Yonghee's group left, and the interviews continued at a brisk pace.

"I'm Choi Cheolwoo." The first applicant to use the 'Stamp Method.'

"I'm Kim Sarang! I'll be in your care, esteemed judges!" The first applicant to demonstrate all three spells: Gauntlet, Mana Arrow, and Shield.

"I truly want to learn under you, Hunter Kim Yusin!" An applicant who used a mana-related Unique Ability to double the size of their shield.

They could only still cast First Circle, and I had only revealed the three basic spells, yet I could already see the buds of countless individual styles. What would happen when they advanced to higher Circles, learned elemental magic, and chose a specialty to delve into? New styles—as numerous as the people learning magic—would burst forth. Just thinking about it made my heart pound.

"This concludes all interviews for today. Good work, everyone."

"Thank you for your hard work!"

At 9 PM, the interviews were finally over. We were completely drained.

"Ugh, I can't get magic formulas out of my head!" Bora groaned.

"Being a judge is real work," Seojin added.

We dragged our exhausted bodies back to the Magic Tower. As soon as we reached the golden lobby on the first floor, everyone collapsed onto the sofas and cushions.

"I've been waiting for you. You must be hungry, so please have dinner first," Ea said, greeting us with a bright smile.

A warm dinner made with fresh ingredients was prepared on the table.

"Thank you for the meal!" everyone chimed.

"Thanks, Ea."

"Yusin! I want sausages!" Eunsol chirped.

We ate dinner, changed into comfortable clothes, and reassembled. We were dying to go to sleep, but Seojin insisted we sort things out while our impressions of the applicants were still fresh, so he dragged everyone back down.

"Let's just look at them casually."

We dumped all the resumes onto the carpet, then sat or lay down in comfortable positions and began to review them one by one. Ea checked the resumes with us, as she had seen all the applicants through my eyes.

'Alright, who should we pick?'

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