Today is another day doing some presentations for work, i have been at this for about an entire week without sleep and was just surviving on energy drinks.
I did ofcourse have sole breaks but i used them to catch up on a Webnovel called, Mana Apocalypse with over 3000+ chapters. It was about a protagonist named maxwell whose world was suddenly awakened by mana and foreign races like elves,demons, monsters,Dragons and multiple others descended on the expanding planet.
Some of the races were hostile to humans but the protagonist became stronger through dungeon hunting and had a very powerful mana Affinity:Destruction.
It has a long plot but i enjoy every single one of the chapters, considering i am in chapter 2567. Anyways its time to forget about that and continue doing my work.
"I suddenly feel tired" You know i may just take a nap maybe for ten minutes….
….
.....
.....How sad.
...…Why do you want reincarnation....Ah the feeble.....mind of a human, i shall grant your wish....But realize this is what you wanted...….
"Ah that was a great nap" I said as i stretched my body.
"huh, strange wasn't my computer on my lap" I didn't take mind to it and decided to open the shutters of my window.
Wait, my room never had shutters.
[Descent.Descent.Descent.Descent. Mana has Descended.]
[Welcome Human, your world is being invaded by mana, we hope you thrive and survive this evolutionary event for your race]
[Goodbye]
A voice appeared and disappeared
before I could even process what had just happened. My head throbbed as if someone had struck me with a hammer, and an overwhelming flood of information poured into my mind. Mana? Evolutionary event? Wasn't this… exactly like Mana Apocalypse?
I stumbled backward, barely catching myself on what felt like a wooden desk behind me. My breathing grew ragged as I glanced around. The room was nothing like my own. Instead of my cramped apartment, I was in a small, rustic cabin with wooden floors, stone walls, and an old fireplace crackling faintly. The air smelled fresh but carried a faint metallic tang.
I stumbled toward a dusty mirror hanging on the wall and froze. The reflection staring back at me wasn't… me. Well, it was me, but younger. My messy hair was now jet-black.
Wait, this cabin is where the protagonist found the dead body of a person in one of his many adventures….did i just get reborn as an extra in another world?!!, I staggered back from the mirror, my mind racing. This can't be happening. Did I… did I actually reincarnate into Mana Apocalypse? Of all the places, why here? Why not as Maxwell, the overpowered protagonist with his Destruction Affinity? Why am I some random extra in a forgotten cabin?
I took a deep breath, trying to suppress the rising panic. Okay, think. Think. If I remembered correctly, Maxwell stumbled upon this cabin in chapter… 134? Yeah, somewhere around there. This place was a random loot spot he visited early on in his dungeon exploration days. There was nothing significant here except…
My eyes widened. The body!
I spun around, scanning the dimly lit room until I noticed a faint crimson stain leading toward a corner covered by a thin, moth-eaten blanket. My feet moved on their own, and with trembling hands, I yanked the cloth away. and there it was, a crystal orb.
This thing here gave Maxwell a small boost when he held it, nothing too op…but these crystals are usually ised to awaken an affinity?!!.
I immediately grabbed it and suddenly…the crystal then glowed.
...My affinity is Cutting?.
I stared at the glowing crystal in disbelief. Out of all the possible affinities—Destruction, Flame, Frost, even something rare like Gravity—I got Cutting? What does that even mean? Does it make me good at slicing things? Is it a combat affinity or just… utility?
The crystal's glow faded, and I felt a sudden warmth spread through my body. It was subtle, like a soft hum in my veins, but unmistakably there. My head buzzed with faint whispers—instincts, almost—suggesting how I could use this new power.
I clenched my fists. No time to panic now.
If this really was the world of Mana Apocalypse, then just being alive meant I was already on borrowed time. Dungeons, monsters, otherworldly invaders—every corner of this world was a deathtrap, especially for extras like me.
I needed to test my affinity, now.
Looking around, I spotted an old wooden chair near the fireplace. Taking a deep breath, I focused on the warmth in my chest and reached out my hand.
"Cut."
For a moment, nothing happened. But then, a faint shimmer, almost invisible, danced around my fingertips. A thin, razor-like line of light shot forward, cleanly slicing through the wooden chair leg. The top half of the chair wobbled before crashing to the ground.
My eyes widened. It worked!
But then dizziness struck me like a punch to the gut, and I staggered backward, clutching my chest. My breathing became shallow, and my vision blurred at the edges.
Right… mana exhaustion.
In the novel, even Maxwell suffered from overusing mana during his early days. I probably just emptied whatever tiny mana pool I had.
"Okay… okay…" I muttered, sliding down onto the floor. "At least I know Cutting is usable in combat. But I can't rely on it too much yet."
….Suddenly my mind caught up with myself.
I realized, why should i be happy….Yes i am now in my favorite novel, but i know how dangerous this world is. So why am i happy? Why am I smiling like an idiot after almost passing out from mana exhaustion? This world… it's brutal. Extras like me don't get plot armor. They die—early, painfully, and usually off-screen.
I closed my eyes and let out a long breath. Calm down. Think rationally.
If I'm here, and if this really follows the novel's timeline, then Maxwell hasn't even begun his journey yet. Which means… the major catastrophes, the invasions, the dungeon outbreaks—they're all still in the future.
I have time. Not much, but enough to prepare.
I need to prioritize three things: strength, survival skills, and a stable source of resources. But first… I need to recover from this mana exhaustion.
I leaned back against the wooden wall, letting my breathing stabilize. My head was starting to clear, and that faint hum of mana inside me was slowly, painfully, recharging.
After a while, I stood up again, a little shaky but determined. This cabin might be an unassuming start, but it's better than waking up in a monster-infested dungeon or on the frontlines of an invasion.
I decided to look for a wepon and found a knife covered with blood stains, i wondered why it was like that.
And asfter questioning that i scratched my arm only to feel countless painfusl stings.
I winced, clutching my arm as a sharp, stinging pain flared through my skin. My eyes darted to where I had scratched myself, only to see faint, thin cuts spread across the surface of my arm—tiny, precise slices as if a thousand invisible blades had danced across my skin.
Wait… did I do that?
Realization hit me like a truck. My affinity—Cutting. It wasn't just external; it was internal, too. My mana was sharp, dangerous, even when uncontrolled. If I wasn't careful, I'd end up slicing myself to ribbons every time I tried to wield it.
"Great. So, not only do I have a weird affinity, but it's also trying to turn me into sashimi," I muttered bitterly, carefully inspecting the shallow wounds.
They weren't deep, but they were numerous. I needed to learn control, and fast. If a simple scratch could trigger this, I wouldn't survive long in a world where danger lurked in every shadow.
"A passive affinity…well it's rare, but now that i am in a new world, should i try to have some fun?…do i survive or should i try to see more of this world" Yeah, maybe that's a better idea than getting involved with the main plot.
I took a deep breath, feeling the faint hum of mana slowly stabilize in my chest. My arm still stung from the tiny cuts, but the pain was grounding—it reminded me that I was alive, that this was real.
"Alright… first things first, survival."
The cabin wasn't going to protect me forever. From what I remembered in Mana Apocalypse, Maxwell had found this place abandoned and safe, but it was only because he left quickly after looting it. If this followed the same timeline, it wouldn't stay peaceful for long.
"I wonder if something will change since i took away a boost" The crystal in my hand emitted faint cracks, spiderwebbing across its once-smooth surface. It was breaking down. In the novel, Maxwell had taken the crystal without any consequences—it had simply dimmed after granting him his affinity boost. But here, with me… it was shattering.
Why? I wondered. Was it because I wasn't supposed to have it? Or… is it because my affinity is inherently unstable?
Before I could dwell on it further, the crystal crumbled into fine dust, slipping between my fingers and scattering across the wooden floor. A faint shimmer of mana dispersed into the air, and the warmth in my chest surged briefly before settling into a faint hum again.
"…Well, there goes my safety net," I muttered, brushing the remaining dust off my hands.
Currently my mana is small but i can gradually increase it by consuming mana into my mana core or just absorbing mana crystals which are just going to powerboost if i gain a monopoly over it.
I can use the skill 'cut' which i just named as the basic spell/skill of the affinity because it is literally just cutting and the passive side of the affinity is very dangerous for me.
I could scratch myself and several thousand cuts could appear on my body so i would probably have to get something to cover my arms and legs, maybe bandages.
I didn't stay there anymore and went outside and damn, the world was infact chaotic. In the skies i could see multiple portals. "Sheesh, i forgot dungeons formed when the apocalypse started"
Yep those were dungeons, some of them can actually disappear when a dungeon breqk occurs, which would definitely happen and monsters would start flooding the world.
I sighed and walked and then.
I felt myself falling.
I was sucked into a dungeon. Darkness swallowed me whole as I plummeted through the swirling vortex of the dungeon gate. My stomach lurched, my ears popped, and my mind raced with panic. The sensation was like being dragged underwater while still conscious of every nerve in my body.
And then—impact.
I hit the cold, hard ground with a thud, knocking the wind out of my lungs. Gasping, I pushed myself up on shaky arms and took in my surroundings.
The air was damp, heavy with the scent of moss and something rotten. Faint blue crystals embedded in the cavern walls gave off a dim, flickering light, casting long, ominous shadows across jagged rocks and uneven terrain. Water dripped from stalactites overhead, echoing eerily in the cavern.
A dungeon. I was inside an actual dungeon.
"Great… just great," I muttered, rubbing the back of my head. "Barely an hour into this world, and I'm already in a death trap."
I forced myself to stand, my legs trembling slightly from lingering mana exhaustion. From what I remembered, dungeons in Mana Apocalypse ranged from beginner-friendly to nightmarishly lethal. Judging by the oppressive atmosphere, this one wasn't exactly welcoming.
[Welcome Human, this is the dungeon tutorial]
I was almost had an heat attack?!, the voice was small and soft and i know what it belonged to. It was a mana Fairy, messengers of mana that teach the way the world works to others.
These things are also high level beings who could decimate an entire city alone. Yeah mana Fairies.
"Uhh hello, can i ask for your name miss" i am not going to piss it off unlike a certain protagonist.
The mana fairy revealed herself, she was small and looked weak but i will never fall for such thing, it was wearing a dark dress and it's wings buzzed behind her.
[Oh~ i didn't expect i would meet a respectable human here. My name is Kamiko nice to meet you Roland]
"Ah well you never know when you're gonna die so I atleast should be a bit nice to people and erm not-people?" I said scratching the back of my head.
[Is that so? well no matter, let's begin the tutorial]
[First i would like you to tell me what your affinity is, if you don't know, you can leave the dungeon]
"My affinity is cutting"
[Oh…that's one of the affinities that hurts their weilders…either way let's continue]
[A dungeon is a natural phenomenon where mana is condensed in a single space to create a core in which a seperate dimension lays, in this dimension the core generates mana that gives birth to monsters and the monsters can sometimes develop mana crystals, also if you kill a monster in a dungeon, there is a chance for an item to be dropped, the dungeons could also sometimes spawn chests with some goods, you can also chance up on items that can permanently increase your mana,health or others, the end goal of every dungeon is…to reach the end and kill the boss monster]
I nodded along as Kamiko explained the basics of dungeons, even though I already knew most of this from Mana Apocalypse. Still, hearing it firsthand from a mana fairy was surreal. Her tiny voice carried an authority that made me stay quiet and listen.
[Now then, Roland, before we proceed further, let me clarify something important.] Kamiko fluttered closer, her tiny dark wings leaving faint trails of shimmering mana in the air. [This dungeon… it's special. It's a tutorial dungeon, but it adjusts itself to the capabilities of the one who enters it.]
My stomach dropped. Adjusts? That sounded both promising and terrifying.
[You will face challenges tailored to your affinity, your mana pool, and your overall strength. Succeed, and you'll be rewarded handsomely. Fail… well, let's just say most who fail don't leave dungeons alive.]
"Great, no pressure," I muttered.
Kamiko smirked—or at least, I thought she did. Her tiny expression was hard to read. [Now, let me give you something as a beginner's aid.]
With a flick of her finger, a soft glow surrounded me. Particles of light gathered in front of me, condensing into a sword shaped object.
[This is a normal sword, it will probably break after killing a few monsters, but it should last you for this dungeon]
"Thank you" I said as i collected the sword.
Kamiko smiled and then she disappeared into a patch of shimmering mana.