Former Ranker's Newbie Life-Chapter 29

Lotranet was the biggest LOST community on the planet, a site where trending topics changed every second. Discussions popped up, vanished, and resurfaced in an endless cycle of internet chaos. Every hour, every minute, and every second, new debates were ignited, only to be buried under an avalanche of fresh content.

In the middle of that constant shitstorm, a seemingly insignificant post appeared in one of the forums, titled “(LIVE) Iron Golems Getting Turned to Dust by a Fucking Hammer.”

Since the Closed Iron Mine Dungeon was already one of the hottest discussion topics, the post’s view count shot through the roof within minutes. The actual content of the post was just a five-second video clip.

The footage showed a petite female warrior yelling while swinging a warhammer the size of her entire body, completely obliterating three Iron Golems in a single strike. As expected, the comments section exploded into absolute chaos.

└ What the actual fuck did I just watch?!

└ Aren’t those Iron Golems supposed to be tanky as hell? I tried that dungeon early on, and my sword straight-up broke beyond repair.

└ Lmao, those mobs are so fucking tanky that magic is literally the only way to kill them.

└ Even classes with armor-shredding skills can barely scratch those things, and warriors have the balls to whine about being weak? Y’all were just hiding your broken-ass class, huh?

└ The fuck you on about? I took a goddamn axe with defense-break stats and still got my ass handed to me. I spent my entire fucking allowance on repairs.

People lost their minds trying to make sense of what they had just witnessed. Some were convinced that the warrior had to be using a busted skill or some kind of overpowered hidden gear. Others speculated that maybe she wasn’t even a warrior at all, though it was quickly debunked because of the skills she used.

Just as the debate reached peak internet madness, another comment appeared.

└ Yo, yo! More footage just dropped!

More and more clips flooded the forum, posted by player-reporters desperate to capture the action. However, one video stood out above the rest, racking up the most views, comments, and upvotes. It captured the entire battle from the best possible angle.

—HEY, SANG-SOO! I SAID TO PULL A REASONABLE AMOUNT, YOU DUMBASS!

—LIKE I CAN CONTROL THAT?! I START RUNNING AND THESE MOTHERFUCKERS SWARM ME LIKE BEES!

The footage showed two people screaming at each other while swinging their weapons like maniacs. They were drenched in sweat, bitching and moaning as if they were on the verge of death. In reality, the only ones actually getting their shit wrecked were the Iron Golems.

Every time the sword and warhammer swung, golems shattered and crumbled, their broken pieces littering the ground. Whenever the warrior used Crushing Strike, entire groups of golems got caught in the blast and went flying.

└ Holy fuck... what level do you even need to be to hit that hard?

└ That’s gotta be ranker-tier, right?

└ Even if they’re a ranker, I don’t think anyone can slice through Iron Golems like they’re fucking tofu. The highest-leveled players right now are only in the 50s.

└ Take this post down. Magic DPS classes finally have a viable farming spot, and if this video spreads, we’re all gonna get shafted again. I’m serious. Take it down.

└ LMAO, doesn’t matter how they’re pulling this off. When the trick gets exposed, mages and spirit summoners will be back in the fucking dumpster.

└ RIP magic users. You guys finally found a honey spot and started flexing on other class forums, huh? Well, karma’s a bitch.

└ Lmao, y’all were always bottom-tier anyway. After this dungeon, you were gonna be back to untouchable trash status. Now? Looks like you’re getting demoted even further.

It hadn’t even been a minute since the post went up, but the comment section was already a cesspool. People who only watched the first few minutes of the ten-minute video were arguing nonstop. But then, a new comment popped up from someone who actually bothered to watch the whole video.

└ All of you dummies need to watch to the end. Mages are about to get buffed to high heaven. You think they’re getting nerfed? Get outta here.

At the end of the clip, the tone of the battle shifted.

—Uh... I think we might’ve pulled too many.

—NO SHIT. BLOCK THEM! DON’T LET THEM THROUGH TO THE BACK LINE!

The sword-and-warhammer duo who had been slaughtering golems left and right suddenly started panicking. During their second mob pull, the swordsman accidentally triggered a mass respawn. It was one of those unfair spawn surges in which multiple mobs reappeared all at once, way too many for them to handle.

Even worse, the aggro spilled over to the back line, putting the healer and another unknown figure in the frame. For the first time, the video’s camera angle captured a robed figure standing beside the healer.

The healer made sense, but why the hell was a mage even there? The damage dealers were obviously the two warriors, so why was a robed caster in the back line? Just as everyone watching started wondering, the answer revealed itself.

An Iron Golem’s fist came crashing down toward the healer, but before it could land, its entire arm froze solid and shattered on impact. At the same time, the black-robed mage turned toward a golem charging directly at him. His right hand glowed for a brief moment, after which a massive fireball slammed into the golem’s chest, igniting the creature’s entire body. The Iron Golem collapsed, its body crumbling into raw ore like it had never been alive in the first place.

—Fall back.

As the mage issued the command, he extended his hand, shooting multiple blades of wind at the same time and slicing clean through the necks of five Iron Golems like they were made of paper. With their weak magic resistance, the golems instantly dropped to their knees, lifeless.

By the time the front line damage dealers realized what had happened, the monsters they had lost control of were already completely wiped out. Meanwhile, the mage didn’t even flinch, the glow in his right hand remaining steady as if he wasn’t even done yet. Only a few seconds passed before flames erupted violently from the Magic Circle.

[Crawling Flame]

Like a hungry wildfire, the spell spread across the ground, snaking toward the remaining Iron Golem horde. It didn’t simply burn them; it chewed through the edge of the group and into the center, consuming everything in its path.

—The path is clear! Theresa, let’s get the fuck out of here!

With the monsters momentarily distracted, the swordsman and warrior made a break for it, escaping from the encirclement. Healing spells rushed to meet them, patching up their injuries as they ran.

The camera shifted wildly, and it was clear the person recording tried their best to keep up with the chaos. Back into frame came the black-robed figure that was their mage. By now, it was clear that he was responsible for all of this.

Another Magic Circle had already formed at his fingertips. Then came another, and another. They flashed into existence repeatedly, appearing so fast it was as if they were being printed straight into the air. However, nothing happened. There were no flames, ice, explosions, or any visible effect at all.

—Now your attacks should work again.

Just as he said, when Theresa’s warhammer slammed into an Iron Golem’s chest, the golem easily shattered to pieces. The sound of pulverizing metal and stone echoed through the battlefield. The video ended with the stunned, breathless voice of the player who had recorded it.

—Holy fucking shit... What the fuck did I just witness?

As more people actually watched the full video, the tone in the comments completely changed.

└ Okay, actually though. WHAT THE FUCK DID WE JUST WATCH?

└ That was a mage, right? Since when could mages just rapid-fire spells like that? Every single one I’ve ever partied with takes so long to cast a single spell. It’s like they need to wait for the stars to align or some shit.

└ There is no fucking way this speed is legit. And moving WHILE casting? Get outta here.

└ Any mages in the chat? Someone explain this shit. There are so few players that no one’s around to drop some real info.

Finally, a random mage responded.

└ I’m a Level 45 Mage. I’ll break it down for you. Casting speed and stability improve with magic proficiency. You have to train casting over and over again to speed it up. Spell circles, mana flow, and incantations all need to be memorized. Tier 1 spells can be fired off at that speed if you grind proficiency to the limit, but not while fucking moving. Normally, mages need to focus completely when casting. The second you move, it all goes to shit. That golden book he pulled out is probably his weapon, maybe an overpowered activation-type item that enhances casting speed.

└ Let’s take a moment to process the real horror here.

└ This absolute lunatic actually leveled a mage to 45.

└ Mages don’t just level grind... They have to fucking STUDY.

└ Even if you do all that, the class is still garbage.

└ I am also a mage. Fuck my life.

The mage debate turned into a full-blown shitstorm.

└ Holy shit, mages were actually fucking OP all along. These assholes were just whining for no reason.

└ There they are, those “I have to memorize magic circles” elitists and “Mage is trash no matter what” doomposters. Bunch of manipulative pricks trying to hoard all the good spots for themselves.

└ If it’s so goddamn broken, why don’t you roll a mage yourself, dumbass? Oh wait, you probably failed high school and can’t memorize spell patterns. Too bad.

└ LMAO, mage players need to chill with their “big-brain” flexing. Y’all act like you’re studying for a college entrance exam while playing a game. Next thing you know, they’ll be petitioning to have magic formulas added to the national curriculum.

└ Okay, but what was that last spell? The second he cast it, the two melee DPS finally started doing actual damage.

└ I main a dark magic build, so I know this one. It’s called Curse of Softening, which reduces enemy defense. The Magic Circles matched perfectly.

The moment someone identified the curse spell, the comment section exploded again. People started bringing up old discussions about why curses were abandoned.

└ Didn’t curse magic get scrapped because the mana cost was ridiculous? I remember it took the same MP as casting three regular attack spells.

└ Yeah, and low-level players couldn’t even get it to land because of monster resistances. It was a garbage-tier skill from the start.

It hadn’t even been a month since LOST launched, but curses had already been labeled as utter dogshit and thrown into the dumpster. Yet, here they were, back in the spotlight. However, only a few niche players who ran debuff-based classes were freaking out over the implications, since most people were way more interested in something else.

That was made clear in a trending post that shot up to the top of the forums, titled “The Mage Class, Finally Getting Some Respect.” Rather than the curse magic that had been used, everyone was now obsessed with the black-robed spellcaster himself who had annihilated those Iron Golems.

Their party’s footage was getting clipped, edited, and shared everywhere across the gaming community.

***

Do-Jin set down his freshly brewed coffee and tapped his tablet screen. Without wasting any time, he navigated straight to Lotranet. There was no need to browse aimlessly since he already knew exactly where the action was happening.

The mage forum was on fire.

└ Anyone tried using curse magic?

└ Tried it just now. Mana drain is so fucked, I can’t even use it properly.

└ What’s the name of that book the mage in the video was using?

└ Trying to get into curses, but holy shit, why are skill book prices insane now? These scalpers move FAST.

The sheer number of posts was shocking. The mage forum had the lowest player population in the game, so on a typical day, barely any threads were posted. But now, it was a feeding frenzy.

By now, the video’s probably gone viral everywhere, Do-Jin presumed.

This wasn’t his first day playing LOST. He understood exactly how fast information spread, which routes it took, and what the fallout would look like. The real question was how much money he could milk from it. Do-Jin switched tabs and pulled up the real-time marketplace to check skill book prices.

[Tier 2 Magic Skill Book: Curse of Softening]

[Price: 799 Gold]

The entire supply was sold out, every last copy wiped from the market. The only listings left were from resellers, and the price had more than doubled.

Perfect. Double the profits across the board, Do-Jin thought with a grin.

He had already bought up a massive stockpile of skill books for Curse of Softening before the hype started. Nobody cared about curses until now, which meant he got them dirt cheap. Normally, he wouldn’t have had enough gold to invest heavily, but after clearing a Legendary-tier quest, he had banked 10,000 Gold just in time to go all-in. That investment was now coming back as pure profit.

Satisfied with his earnings, Do-Jin casually scrolled through more of the trending posts. The reaction was bigger than expected. From his casting speed and control to the precision of his spellcasting, people were losing their minds over how smooth and flawless his performance had been.

—Hi, I run a MeTube gaming channel. We’re organizing a Mage-Class Master showcase, and we’d love to feature you. If you see this, please check my profile for contact info!

MeTubers weren’t the only ones sniffing out the hype. Game journalists, community reporters, and even Lotranet’s own staff were flooding the comments with interview requests.

Do-Jin read through them, enjoying all the attention. He could feel something stirring inside him, that old need for recognition he had long buried. But in the end, he shut off his tablet without hesitation. He had zero interest in giving interviews or appearing on some half-assed broadcast.

This wasn’t nearly enough. Not yet.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Right on cue, his alarm went off, reminding him to meet up with his party. Do-Jin dumped the rest of his coffee in the sink and headed toward his gaming capsule.

“Alright. Let’s get to work.”

It was his fourth day of grinding in the Closed Iron Mine Dungeon. Despite having already shot up to Level 43, things were only just getting started.