Theresa froze with wide eyes, unable to say a word.

Do-Jin glanced at her and said, “We’ve been gaming together for a long time. We check in with each other sometimes too. It’s just easier to do this kind of thing with someone I’m already comfortable with.”

It was his way of telling her not to take the chat to heart or care about what random people said.

He turned back toward the camera and continued, “I figured this would feel more natural if we talked casually, like two friends chatting, instead of me just reading questions and answering them by myself. So let’s keep it friendly today and try not to say anything dumb, alright?”

He looked at her again. “Let’s start, Theresa.”

“Ah, y-yes!” Her voice was still a little stiff, but it carried a hint of relief this time.

The fact that he’d gone out of his way to ease the tension was obvious, and she finally felt the tightness in her shoulders start to loosen.

“Hello, everyone! I’m Theresa, your host for today’s mage tips special! I’ll do my best!” she said, loud and proud, bowing deeply toward the camera before turning to face Do-Jin again. Her movements were so mechanical that she looked like a wind-up doll.

“H-hello, Mr. Do-Jin! Thank you so much for joining us today!”

Do-Jin could tell she was still wound up like a spring. So instead of answering her greeting, he said, “You sound pretty nervous. Maybe it’d help if we started with something familiar. How about an old story?”

“An old story?”

He grinned with mischief lighting up his face. “Yeah. Like how we met for the first time.”

“What?”

“The bar,” he said. “You walked up to my table and—”

“Aaagh!”

Before he could finish, Theresa’s eyes went wide in horror. She threw her script to the floor and lunged at him, slapping both hands over his mouth.

The chat exploded instantly.

└ What the hell??

└ What’s going on??

└ You can’t just stop there!

└ Bar? What bar?! What happened there?!

└ Did she try to hit on him?

└ Nah, you don’t watch her streams, do you? She’s way too awkward for that.

└ Then what the fuck happened? Tell us!!

Do-Jin raised his brows, gesturing that he’d zip his lips shut. It was his way of saying he’d keep quiet.

“Promise?” Theresa whispered, still glaring suspiciously.

He nodded in all seriousness. Only then did she let go, stepping back with a deep breath.

Do-Jin straightened up and spoke like nothing had happened. “Alright. I’ll keep that story a secret for now, but everyone’s so damn curious that maybe I should at least tell them the part about the coin—”

“NOOO! We’re starting the first question now!” Theresa practically shouted, cutting him off mid-sentence.

She knew exactly where this man was going, and there was no way in hell she was letting him get there. Glaring at him with watery eyes, she launched straight into her script. “Okay! Our first question comes from a lot of viewers. And that is, why did you choose the mage class, Mr. Do-Jin?”

“Let me just share the coin part,” he muttered under his breath.

“Shhh!”

Seeing her death glare, Do-Jin burst out laughing.

“Stop laughing! And stop teasing me!” she said, puffing her cheeks as chat started laughing with him.

When he finally stopped chuckling, he cleared his throat and leaned toward the mic. “Alright, alright. Since you’re clearly relaxed now, I’ll answer properly. I chose mage class because... it’s what I’m used to. It’s what I’ve always played.”

He wasn’t lying. Even in his previous life, he had been a mage.

“Oh? So you’ve played a mage in other games too? Have you played any other VR games before LOST?”

“Nope. LOST was my first VR game. I was still underage back then.”

“Wait, seriously? You were that young? I thought you were older than me!”

“I literally just called you Miss Theresa.”

“I thought you were just being sarcastic!”

Theresa laughed awkwardly, making it clear that her earlier panic was completely gone. She was finally relaxed, maybe even a little too relaxed, and could chat and joke back with him.

└ Ngl, I was kinda shocked when he called her by her name like that lol.

└ Damn, he’s actually younger than I thought.

└ Now that I look closer, yeah, he’s got that baby face. He just doesn’t look young ‘cause of the vibe.

└ Wait what, LOST is his first VR game?? How the hell is he that good??

The chat was eating it up. The tension from earlier had dissolved completely.

“Alright, next question,” Theresa said. “What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of the mage class?”

Do-Jin took a moment, folding his arms as if he was deciding how much detail to give. Finally, he said, “That’s a pretty layered question, so this might take a bit.”

“The more detailed, the better,” she replied quickly. “The viewers will love it.”

“Really?” he asked, glancing toward the camera.

Seeing the chat blow up in agreement, he smiled faintly. “Alright then. I’ll keep it simple but clear. The biggest strength of a mage is overwhelming firepower. If you’ve got the skill, the right setup, and properly tuned gear, you can unleash damage that ranks among the top of all classes.”

“Just hearing that already sounds like a lot of conditions.”

“Exactly. Mages are tricky. Meeting those conditions isn’t exactly easy, but if you do, you hit like a fucking nuke. If you can control the fight and stay on the offensive, there’s no class scarier than a mage.”

Theresa nodded. “And the downside?”

Do-Jin turned his hand over, palm up. “It’s the opposite of everything I just said. Sure, the damage is insane, but the defense is trash. Miss a beat in your build, your stats, your skill timings, whatever... and the whole thing falls apart. And if the player’s skill doesn’t make up for it? You just die. Instantly.”

He gave a small, dry laugh.

Theresa blinked. “That actually sounds... exactly like how most people describe the class.”

“Yeah,” Do-Jin said, smirking faintly. “It’s a glass cannon job. As long as you’re dishing it out, you feel like a god. The second the tables turn, you’re just a pile of ash on the floor.”

The chat went silent for a moment before filling with a flood of despairing messages.

└ So what he’s basically saying is, if you stack perfect gear, max your skill mastery, and play like a fucking god, then yeah, it’s busted as hell.

└ Fellow mages, there’s still hope for us. Just throw in enough cash, time, and raw skill, and we can be broken too.

└ What if I’ve already dumped all my money and time, and my character’s still dogshit?

└ Then it means you haven’t unlocked “skill” yet, dumbass. Try again in your next life.

Theresa chuckled awkwardly, watching the chaos scroll by. “I think that explanation might’ve been a little too theoretical. ‘If you’re good, you’re strong’ applies to every class, doesn’t it? But don’t worry, everyone! I’ve got a few more questions prepared to squeeze some real tricks out of him.”

By now, she was relaxed enough to play along, even responding to the chat as she went. What followed was a flurry of gameplay tips and practical questions. Do-Jin, of course, didn’t struggle at all. Even though he was a completely different breed of mage thanks to the Grimoire of Truth, he could still explain the fundamentals better than anyone else.

└ Fuck, you really can’t beat raw talent. The way he sees the game is just on a completely different level.

└ It sounds obvious when you hear it, but being the first one to actually think of that shit and pull it off is goddamn insane.

└ I’ve watched every clip people posted and just thought, “Holy shit, that’s nuts!” but this guy’s out here doing frame-by-frame calculations in the middle of combat.

It was all too easy for Do-Jin, but to the audience, it was like getting a masterclass straight from a ranker who’d seen the future. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

“Mages always have to stay in control,” he explained. “You don’t play on someone else’s field. Build the field yourself. Once you do, you force everything in it to move in your favor. That’s how you hit peak performance.”

Theresa nodded as a smile crept onto her face. “So after all that talk, we’ve basically come full circle. The class is hard as hell, and pulling it off is the mage’s destiny.”

“My words, exactly.”

The two shared a faint laugh, and the chat flooded with reactions.

Then Do-Jin suddenly leaned back in his chair. “You know, this is all good talk and all, but it’s starting to feel a bit dull. I wasn’t planning to bother, but maybe I should just hop in-game and show it instead.”

She blinked. “Wait, seriously? You’d do that?”

“Why not?”

Do-Jin logged into the game and began demonstrating various spells while explaining each one in turn.

“Unless it’s a special case, magic skills don’t have cooldowns. Instead, for mages, the limit of what your Magic Circuits can handle is the cooldown. In other words, if you spam spells like an idiot just because there’s no cooldown and fry your Magic Circuits, every single one of your skills gets locked up. Managing that is really important.”

—How do you keep your Magic Circuits from overloading?

“You’ll get the hang of it as you use them. If you start to feel tension or heat, ease up a little. It’s all about getting the feel for it,” Do-Jin explained. “Another big advantage of playing a mage is being able to handle multiple elements. Depending on the order you cast your elemental spells, the load on your Magic Circuits can increase or decrease, so it’s important to memorize the right sequence.”

—Why do mages have to memorize so much stuff?

“Because we’re mages. Oh, and here’s a real tip. Every major city has a library. If you go there, you’ll find piles of books and research papers covering everything from the history of magic to magical theory and spell use on the battlefield. Studying that stuff helps a lot.”

—Now we have to study our class too?

“Of course you do. Even those barbaric classes like warriors or swordsmen, who just swing their bodies around, have their own skills to refine. So obviously a mage, who uses their head, has to study.”

As Do-Jin’s instructional stream went on, the mage players were both cheering and crying in despair. Every tip he gave was genuinely useful, but trying to keep track of all of them was overwhelming. That was something he couldn’t explain away.

After sharing everything he could, Do-Jin wrapped up the stream and logged out of the game.

“For the last question, do you have any final words for the other players who also play mages?” Theresa asked, closing out the broadcast.

He smiled brightly. “It’s the mage class you chose. Suck it up and deal with it.”

Theresa stared at him in silence, completely lost for words.

“Well then, take care, everyone. I’m off to rest.” With that same bright grin, Do-Jin even gave a little wave before shutting off the stream himself.

***

Even taking into account the chaotic mass taunt at the end, the stream was a complete success.

After shaking hands with Theresa and exchanging quick words of thanks with the staff, Do-Jin stepped out of the studio feeling oddly satisfied. For all the chaos, it had gone smoothly. There was clean production, high engagement, and a flood of new subscribers. Still, his mind was already elsewhere.

It’s about time I pick out some members for a permanent party, he thought.

Do-Jin had always preferred running solo. It was cleaner that way, with no miscoordination, no baggage, and no one slowing him down. But even he knew that wouldn’t last forever. The game was bound to throw situations at him where not having a team was just inconvenient.

And if the quests or events are that demanding, then the rewards are going to be worth the trouble, he mused.

Recruiting randoms every time would only mean splitting those rewards with strangers who’d vanish right after. That was just handing out profit to people who hadn’t earned it.

Although, if I build up a consistent crew, train them, feed them good loot, then that’d be a real investment. It’s like raising high-performance assets... or fine-tuned attack dogs, depending on how I look at it. He grinned faintly at the thought.

The idea of cultivating strong, reliable teammates, people who could be unleashed whenever he needed them, was starting to sound pretty appealing.

Do-Jin chuckled under his breath as he pushed open the studio doors. Yeah. It’s time to start raising some solid human resources.