Jeong Sa-ook had three items laid out on his bed in front of him. An empty notebook, a sharpened kitchen knife and bandages.
After he washed up and gathered the objects. (which unsurprisingly, wasn't difficult) He had begun his preparations. First thing he did was secure the location of Red Goose's HQ, then quickly researched recent news. Sa-ook found out Earth had cleared to about the 246th floor.
'To think the runeswielder class isn't even considered at this point'
The runeswielder class was very unpopular until a powerful NPC on the 260th floor was discovered to be one. Afterwards there was further research into the class and although it wasn't popular, it was still acknowledged as a difficult but powerful class. With earth's current knowledge, it was just a useless class with about the same effects and abilities of a mage class (but just weaker and inefficient).
Of course comparing runeswielders and mages was entirely ignorant of both classes. Mages fundamentally draw power from their Manaworld and channel it, a typical mage being constrained by elements and mediums. Runeswielders however command the Manaworld itself, rather than draw on it. Of course there are limits, but it fundamentally tells the world what to do through Runes, a language the Manaworld can understand. You just need an effective means to communicate.
There are two main things needed for a mage to be successful; talent and mana. For a runeswielder however, there are considerably more factors.
The most important thing; knowledge. Runes are simply a language, and knowing what means what is crucial to understand your abilities to use it more effectively. A wide vocabulary and a deep understanding of what each Rune means is what determines your adaptability in battle.
The second most important thing; mana. Being able to communicate and command the Manaworld properly means enunciating every syllable and the best way to do that is through amplification through mana. Theoretically you could use runes without any mana, it just won't do anything. The more mana you amplify or use through runes, the more the Manaworld will follow through with said command.
And the third factor, the one set Sa-ook higher than the rest, creativity. Being able to use Runes to command the Manaworld may seem all big and grand, but realistically if you aren't specific or powerful enough, it's very easy to mess up. Some people just don't even have an affinity to command the Manaworld to begin with, which usually wouldn't matter, but when using vaguer Runes the Manaworld simply won't respond. Creativity however works around this issue, by finding new ways to use runes and new combinations or expression, it fundamentally changes how it's expressed; in turn making it immeasurably powerful, incomparable to mages who are simply channeling mana and directing it. Runeswielders don't channel mana, they fundamentally change it.
Because of the current timeline's understanding of Runeswielders they're viewed as a lazy class, where you write down symbols and imbue bits of a mana for a less than inspiring outcome. Of course it's because of limited knowledge on the Runes languages and constraints of institutionalized Players that prevent the creativity that allows the class to thrive.
Jeong Sa-ook smiled to himself. No one knew runes better than he did, and he sure as hell wasn't going to teach what he knew (though he doubted anyone would fully understand it to begin with.) See, because of the culminating factors like Sa-ook's natural inclination for mana and his extensive research on runes, it allowed his intelligence and creativity to shine through. Because of this, he had developed runes that would be entirely unheard of in this day and age. Hence why these four simple materials would likely give Sa-ook the stats of at least a C-rank awakener.
The first thing he did was use the knife to draw blood from himself, carefully running it down his forearm deep enough to bleed but not nearly deep enough to leave any permanent damage. After doing this, he used the now blood soaked knife to write a few symbols out onto the empty notebook. The runes were simple: 'Rune of Strength', 'Rune of Speed', 'Rune of Durability' and 'Rune of Stealth'. As soon as Sa-ook had finished completing the Runes, they faintly glowed. Now, this is where most Runeswielders stop, but Sa-ook would not accept such weak runeswork. He knew a trick he hadn't revealed to anyone else. When communicating with the mana world, to amplify your 'command' the most effective means is mana, but it isn't the only way.
Sa-ook ripped out the pages with the runes and folded them, then promptly ate them. Because the rune was now apart of him, said runes would be amplified by 30%. Normally he'd just directly carve a rune into himself after this discovery, but that just drains your mana directly from your blood (although it does show an 85% amplification). His body in his current state wouldn't be able to handle a rune of that magnitude, so eating blood runes seemed to be the way to go.
Curious, Jeong quickly checked his stats to see the changes.
PLAYER: Jeong Sa-ook
RANK: C+
CLASS: Runeswielder
Age: 17
STR: 34
DEX: 28
STAMINA: 19
SPEED: 29
MANA: 55
Jeong Sa-ook smiled to himself, pleased with the changes. Now all he had to do was beat up Red Goose, steal a few items, garner his strength and plot his revenge. Sounds easy enough.
[It was not, easy enough.]