Ji Won was silent. Watching as Ji-hye waited for his joke to land. But when it didnt? He sighed, looking at Ji Won. His expression a bit more serious.
"Well. The thing is, the system was given to us humans by the gods. Yes. Gods plural."
Ji Won sat down—getting more and more curious by the second. He knew that much at the least. But he knew Ji-hye was just getting started.
"It was first introduced to humans by the Grand Pantheon of gods. Everyone of them, Greek, Egyptian? You name 'em. Their all part of the group we mortals call The Grand Pantheon. They watch over basically everything, omniscience and all."
Ji-hye pulled out his phone—which strangely had a rather... Childish protective case around it. Random photos of him making silly faces adorned around it.
"Here, look at this."
He turned the screen around for Ji Won to see what was on it—and depicted on the screen was a plain tall and chalk white figure, no skin, no features standing atop a hill at night. Receiving a bright light from the sky.
"This guy is Adam. He wasn't a perfect masculine man, just a blank canvas. This is a pretty famous painting called 'The Divine Gift'. Unfortunately The artist is lost to history though. Just the location where it was painted remains—Jeju Island."
Ji Won stared at the painting with an unblinking gaze, one that didn't break away even for a moment.
He didn't know why but he saw Adam not as a blank canvas but as a... Bearer, one who would bear both misfortune and luck.
Just like him.
Ji-hye noticed the rather strange look Ji Won was giving the painting and he let out a small chortle. Knowing exactly what Ji Won was thinking.
"This painting. Ji Won—is known for touching people on the physical and mental level. That's just its brilliancy. A blank canvas like Adam represents both nothing—and everything at the same time."
Ji Won managed to break his eyes away from the screen. Looking out the window that overlooked the large metal gates of the academy, the guards standing vigilantly but suddenly—they burst open as a swirling black gate of mana opened up with a loud whoosh.
Ji-hye's eyebrows both raised just a bit from surprise—but he was surprisingly calm.
"Oh? A dungeon gate? I guess that with the finals coming up the negative mana must have charged up a lot."
Ji Won frowned in confusion—leaning forward on the table as he tried to process what the hell 'negative mana' even meant. But thankfully, Ji-hye picked up on his cluelessness.
"You don't know huh? Well in short. Mana gets secreted from everyone, no matter how well they can control it. They release at least about 10 moles of mana per hour."
Ji-hye stood up from his chair, his boots clinking against the marble as he approached the window, settling down once more on the windowsill.
"Remember this well class bunk. Mana, has two types, Chaos Or Entropy—created through pessimistic means. And the opposite is for Harmony or Ordered mana. The prior creates gates and strong monsters. The latter decreases their chances of getting created totally. Both can be used by humans though."
Ji Won followed suit, walking towards the window and standing besides Ji-hye, both watching the swirling dungeon gate. But instead of curiosity. Ji Won had something else in his mind... A thirst for a real challenge.
"I want to-"
Ji-hye cut him off, shoving him out the window as a tired exhale escaped his lips.
"Sure. Don't die I guess. Just from the mana coming off of this I think it might be a bit over a C-rank dungeon. Good luck or something?"
Ji Won sighed as he landed on the ground with a small thud—approaching the dungeon gate with a small bounce in his steps. Excited to test his new trait and higher stats out.
But before he could step through the gate—a firm and large hand on the shoulder stopped him. Dae Youngjae stepping in front of Ji Won. A rather intimidated smile on his face.
'How the hell is this guy intimidated?'
Ji Won thought to himself—feeling the massive presence behind him, slowly turning around to face the man who had stopped him from entering the dungeon gate.
He was a rather giant young man—Around 6 and a half foot, or even more.
Clothed in a bright and radiant white Hanbok, his long burgundy hair reached his waist, tied into a messy ponytail, a few bangs around his temples were let loose—likely out of laziness.
"Brat."
The man's voice was as intimidating as his gaze. His deep black eyes were like a pair of daggers the cleaved into Ji Won's mind, haunting him—reminding him of his weak status in the world.
"Greet principal Hang Woo. Hyuk Ji Won.."
Dae Youngjae whispered to Ji Won who immediately kowtowed—he just couldn't control himself.
'Its either bow or die in front of this guy!'
Hang Woo looked down at Ji Won—lifting up the boys chin with his foot—making Ji Won look at him.
His lips were downturned into a small frown on his face as he ran a hand through his long and messy hair.
"Well. Who gave you permission to enter the dungeon?"
Ji Won might have felt disrespected by the principal making Ji Won look at him by using his foot. But he didn't care for that—every fiber of his being was just telling him one word.
Survive.
"I-I um... Sir Ji-hye."
Hang Woo hummed softly, pulling his foot back as he turned towards the window where Ji-hye was previously sitting—now having disappeared.
"Ji-hye! Get your girly ass over here!"
Hang Woo didn't need to say another word. Ji-hye was already besides Ji Won. Instantly in the kowtowing position as he chuckled slightly in nervousness.
"Um.. Hello Principal Hang Woo.. Did you celebrate your twenty-third birthday already?"
Hang Woo scratched the back of his head—his presence growing even larger. More crushing, forcing down even Dae Youngjae to one knee.
"Yep. And your still the psychotic and sociopathic self as I have been told. You killed a B-rank dungeon boss by forcing its head to pop off like a bottle cap?"
There wasn't a reply—since the air was so thick from the mana that was emitted from Hang Woo's body that sound itself was having trouble travelling through the particles.
On the other hand Ji Won felt like his whole body was going to collapse—his back cracking and crunching but just then. He was picked up by the wrist by Hang Woo who now sported a curios expression.
"A curse? From a blood elf huh? That's rare. They usually kill anyone that isn't desperate enough for the strength they provide."