Relife Player:Imugi

After discovering that my Gift and a large portion of my mana had been sealed, I was left confused."What kind of Gift do I have for {the Star Witch} to have sealed it? And on top of that, my mana is blocked too... This is a problem."

To put it simply, mana and Gifts are the foundation of the current world. In the future, things will change little by little, but the essence will remain the same. It's no surprise.Humanity has only been using mana for at most a decade.

Mana is a power that touches the very foundations of life. With a small amount, one can make a heart beat or even alter the laws of the world.But humanity, in its arrogance, abused mana. They made mistakes and suffered the consequences.

Creatures were born in a world where the laws of nature had been twisted. Some of them transcended what was considered normal.Thus, humanity created its own enemies: monsters.

The mistake was foolish, impulsive, irreversible.

The Destruction of 1999.The worst event in human history.

On the eve of the 21st century, monsters emerged all over the world and destroyed what humanity had built in a single day.There were no safe havens. Not in the sky, not on land, not in the sea.No country was spared.

South Korea was no exception. They barely managed to defend themselves, but not before monsters devastated half the country and wiped out a third of its population.

The surviving humans began training players to fight the monsters and built walls to protect themselves.But walls were not a solution. They only bought time. They didn't prevent monsters from being born within them.

Monsters appeared from the mana in the atmosphere.If there wasn't a fairy capable of dispersing it, the danger would never disappear.

"I have no choice… I'll have to find a way to undo the seal."

In this world, without strength, money, or influence, you are destined to die.

Fortunately, my family is not lacking in money, and my parents and grandfather have some influence.But I can't rely on them forever.

If I want to survive, I have to fend for myself.

"Let's try to sense the seal with the little mana I have."

I sat on the floor, closed my eyes, and tried to concentrate.After an hour of meditating, I finally found it.

A knot of energy tangled within my body.It blocked what seemed like a tsunami of power.

I got excited.I tried to untie it.

And the moment I touched the seal...

"Ugh!"

My strength drained from my body in an instant.I don't have enough mana.

Mana exists everywhere in this world, even in small amounts.One can restore their mana by absorbing it from the air.

That's also the reason why monsters sometimes appear.If the mana accumulated in a house isn't properly managed, creatures can emerge.

But this seal…It was placed by the Star Witch.One of the candidates for the Twelve Seats.

To break it all at once, I would need someone as strong as her, a third-degree mana phenomenon, or a qualitative change in my body.

None of those options are viable right now.

I could trigger a mana phenomenon if I led my parents toward the kraken incident…But even I, as desperate as I am to gain strength, wouldn't endanger my family just for that.

I'm not that heartless.

After all…I'm still a child.

Starting training at six years old isn't so bad.

"If I can't use my mana, at least I can practice controlling it..."

Dizziness.

I couldn't absorb more mana. I had pushed myself too far.

My body trembled.And then...

I collapsed onto the floor.

"Damn..."

The world spun around me as if I were drunk.I couldn't move.

I'd better sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After waking up feeling mentally exhausted, Seha forced himself to get up. He didn't want his parents to suspect that something was wrong. His plan was to change little by little, subtly, so that his behavior wouldn't seem unnatural.

After all, I'm still me.My soul never changed.My memories may be different, but in essence…I have always been and will always be Yoo Seha.

After getting dressed, he left his room and headed to the kitchen, where he found his mother preparing breakfast.

"Good morning, Mom."

"Good morning, sweetheart," she replied with a smile, but upon looking at him more closely, her expression shifted to one of concern."Did you sleep well? You look tired… Did you have a nightmare? Come here, tell Mom what happened."

Seha was surprised at how quickly his mother noticed his condition. He had to think of a believable excuse.

"Uh… It's nothing, Mom. I just dreamed that you would start putting tomatoes in all the meals… and I was scared!"

It wasn't completely a lie. If his mother really did that, he probably would have nightmares.

"Pffft… Come here, sweetheart."

His mother hugged him and gently stroked his hair.

"I would never do that. Remember, your father hates tomatoes too, so if I started putting them in everything, he wouldn't eat anything either. Don't worry and trust your mom."

Seha let out a sigh of relief. It worked.

"Speaking of Dad, where is he?" he asked curiously. In his memory, his father was always sitting at the table drinking coffee at this hour.

"Your father had to leave early. His boss organized a breakfast with his father's associates… something about recruiting allies. But don't worry about that, sweetheart, you're still too young. Just focus on playing," his mother said in a reassuring tone."Now go to the living room, I need to finish breakfast."

No, Mom, please, keep talking. This is definitely important information.

Seha felt a strange sense of defeat as he walked toward the living room.

He didn't have much else to do, so he started playing with his toys. But after about twenty minutes, he was already bored.

He did what any child would do in his situation.

"Mom, can I watch TV?" he asked in the most childish voice he could muster.

"Of course, sweetheart. Just make sure to watch cartoons for now. If you want to watch something else, only do it when you're with Mom or Dad," she answered from the kitchen.

"Thanks, Mom!"

Seha began flipping through channels, but Korean television turned out to be boring—news, dramas, and more news. Nothing interesting...

Then, an idea came to him.

"Mom, do we have TV from other countries?"

His mother peeked out from the kitchen, a little surprised by the question.

"You mean foreign television? Yes, we have it, sweetheart. But why do you ask?"

Seha had already prepared an answer in advance.

"The other day at the park, Jae Woon said he saw some kids on TV capturing monsters in spheres. When he asked his father what that was, he told him it was a cartoon from a country called Japan".

Jae Woon was probably referring to Pokémon.

With that memory, Seha confirmed what he had already noticed before: some anime, manga, and novels from his original world also existed in this one.

His mother made a face.

"Monsters in spheres…? Oh, you mean Pokémon. That's called anime, sweetheart. They're Japanese cartoons… although sometimes they can be as unique as their creators…"

[That expression… She definitely had a bad experience with some weird anime.]

"Come here, sweetheart, let me set up the international channels for you. Let's see if you find something you like," his mother said, trying to change the subject.

She handed him the remote control and went back to the kitchen.

Seha started browsing through the endless list of channels—Disney, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon… and, of course, Japanese channels.

One in particular caught his attention.

"Oh… Naruto!"

He left the channel on. He couldn't read the name properly, so he just memorized the number. The anime was in Japanese, so he turned on Korean subtitles.

If anyone asked if he could read them that fast, he'd just say, "I don't read all of them, but they help me understand the context."

After all, he was just a kid watching TV.Nothing strange about that.

After a while of watching anime, his mother called him for breakfast.

While eating, she asked him a question.

"Sweetheart, do you want to go to the park after breakfast? Kim Ho's mom said today would be a beautiful day and suggested having a picnic for lunch."

Seha pretended to be excited.

"Yes, Mom! I want to go!"

In reality, he had no interest in playing with kids his age. What he really wanted was to see if he could sense other people's mana and check if anyone had potential.

It might sound bad, but that's how this world worked. If you weren't exceptional at something, you got left behind.

He had no intention of conquering the world or doing some cliché villain nonsense. He just wanted to live well and protect his family.

To do that, he needed to get stronger and surround himself with valuable allies.

It may be selfish, but that makes me human. I can't save everyone with my knowledge, and I have no intention of being a hero or sacrificing myself for others… at least not for now. Who knows, maybe in the future I'll change my mind. The world works in mysterious ways.

"Alright, sweetheart. I'll let Kim Ho's mom know that we're going. After breakfast, I want you to go to your room and get changed. While I finish preparing everything, if you still have time, you can keep watching TV."

His mother got up from the table and went to the kitchen.

Seha finished his breakfast in silence.

"Delicious…"

Today would be an interesting day.