This F-Rank Bubble Mage Is Too OP!

River sprinted through the dead forest, the skeletal remains of trees clawing at the moonless sky like desperate fingers. Their branches were bare and blackened, as if the very life had been scorched out of them. The ground beneath his feet was soft with decay, and each step sent a crunch echoing into the silence.

As he moved, his mind drifted—not with fear, but with calculation.

Was this the right choice? he thought, his breath steady despite the pace. He wasn't as fast as true Physical Class Hunters, not by a long shot. But after reaching Level 15, he'd begun investing most of his Status Points into the same attributes they prioritized: STR, AGI, VIT, and DEX.

For a Mage, it was a strange build. But River wasn't like other Mages.

On paper, he was still low-rank—an F-Rank Bubblecrafter, no less. But his current speed was more than respectable for someone on low rank. Among Mages in the same rank, he was fast. Too fast.

"If I had poured everything into INT and WIS..." River muttered under his breath, his eyes narrowing as he leapt over a fallen log, "...my firepower would've been godly. Far beyond what I had even at my peak."

It was true. His control over mana was already freakishly refined. With high Intelligence and Wisdom, he could match any High Ranking Mage Hunters that focus on offence. But he didn't choose that route. Not yet.

Because he wasn't preparing for just monsters.

There was someone—something—waiting for him down the line. Someone that couldn't be taken down with flashy spells or overwhelming damage. River knew what that future might look like.

That person won't be beaten by brute force. They need a foundation—something solid, unshakable.

So instead of stacking spell damage, River need to fortify his body, increase his mobility, and improvd his survivability. He built himself to last. To adapt. To strike when the time was right.

A shimmer of mana sparked around him as he conjured a translucent bubble mid-air. His foot landed on it lightly, then pressed down, compressing the bubble until it burst in a muffled pop—releasing a concentrated shockwave that propelled him forward.

He flew through the forest like a comet, using another bubble to catch his momentum before hitting the ground. Then another. And another.

Each one gave him a burst of speed—an improvised trampoline, an aerial platform, an escape mechanism.

Bubble Creation. It had once been mocked as a joke of a skill. A waste of mana. But through ruthless experimentation and imaginative mastery, River had twisted it into something lethal. It was no longer just a novelty—it was his signature.

The path curved ahead. In the distance, shadows darted between trees.

River narrowed his eyes.

The Limo Group. They were running hard, feet pounding the dirt, trying to escape whatever chased them deeper in the forest.

River exhaled slowly and conjured one final bubble beneath him—bigger than the last. He kicked off it, flying into the air like a bullet.

Time to catch up.

"Sh*t! He caught up!" one of the Limo Group shouted, panic threading through his voice as River soared through the night sky like a bullet, the dying trees of the dark forest whipping past him.

"F*ck!" Kayl cursed, skidding to a halt. His boots dug into the earth as he spun around to face the masked menace. "Just f*cking die!" he roared, raising his twin Gatling Guns and unleashing a furious storm of bullets.

The others followed his lead. They understood now—there was no running. River wasn't just fast—he was relentless. Even with the head start, even with their abilities, he was on them like a ghost in the night.

The two Physical Class Hunters grit their teeth and activated their skills, their bodies glowing faintly with pulses of raw energy. With twin bursts of force, they rocketed toward River, hoping to overwhelm him in close quarters.

Behind them, the group's mage steadied himself, his eyes glowing with fiery mana. Flames curled around his fingers before erupting into a fireball that streaked toward River's position.

But River wasn't caught off guard.

In fact, he smiled. He had seen this exact maneuver before. They were trying to repeat the same strategy—charge him with brute strength while their mage provided cover.

Not this time.

With a smooth, almost lazy gesture of his hand, River summoned his next move.

Dozens of translucent spheres shimmered into existence, suspended in the air like ornaments. They floated lazily around the battlefield, each one about the size of a basketball. At first glance, they looked harmless—playful even. The kind of bubble a child might chase through a park.

Yet these were no toys.

Under the pale light of the moon, the surface of the bubbles reflected a mesmerizing array of colors—radiant rainbows that shifted with every ripple of their delicate skin. The dying trees around them cast skeletal shadows that danced along the glistening surfaces.

Kayl's eyes widened. "Be careful! Those bubbles are dange–"

Before any of them could react, River snapped his fingers.

Pop.

Then another.

Pop-pop-pop.

The chain reaction began.

Each bubble exploded in rapid succession, releasing not just sound but concussive force. The night lit up in bursts of color and fire, the explosions echoing through the hollow forest like the rumble of thunder.

The physical class Hunters were sent hurtling backward, their bodies colliding with the twisted trees hard enough to snap branches and shatter bark. One slammed into a trunk so violently the impact echoed like a gunshot.

The mage fared no better. The blast caught him mid-cast, sending him crashing to the ground. He rolled over twice before coming to a stop, coughing violently, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"What… the f*ck…" he wheezed, barely able to breathe.

River landed on the ground. The moonlight glinted off his toy mask, now cracked at the edge, revealing a faint glimpse of his cold eyes. The catchy sone is gone.

"The treasures… give it to me," River demanded.

"Treasures? What treasures?!" Kayl's voice trembled with rage, his eyes bloodshot and burning with fury. The relentless rounds from his Gatling Guns poured down on River, but each bullet merely bounced off harmlessly. A translucent bubble armor shimmered around the strange masked man, absorbing the hail of gunfire like it was nothing.

"We fought that damn thing for long!" Kayl roared, stepping forward. "The Alpha Rotling's head should've been mine! You took the kill! You even murdered my archer—and now you've come for the treasures?!"

River raised a brow, unamused by the tantrum. "Woah, woah. What's with the accusations?" he said, frowning beneath the mask. With a lazy flick of his fingers, a single bubble bullet zipped out and struck the side of the Gatling Guns. The trajectory of the incoming fire instantly skewed, the bullets tearing into the surrounding trees instead of him.

It was enough. The moment the heat lessened, River dismissed the mana-consuming armor, saving himself from wasting precious MP. He crossed his arms. "First of all, I didn't kill your archer. I only knocked him out and destroy his legs. He's probably out there somewhere—still breathing, hopefully. Second of all…" River tilted his head. "I killed the Alpha. By dungeon rules, the rewards technically belong to me."

"F*ck you!" Kayl snarled and raised both weapons at River.

River sighed, almost disappointed. "Figures. You're really not getting it, huh?"

The atmosphere grew heavy. Trees groaned as wind passed through the dying forest, scattering ash across the clearing. River's masked face was unreadable, but something cold and dangerous settled in his voice.

"I was hoping we could be civil about this," he said. "But if you're too stupid to see the situation you're in, then fine…"

His eyes narrowed.

"I'll just take what's mine—by force."

Kayl didn't back down. He snarled and clenched his jaw, gathering what energy he had. The mana crystals embedded in his weapons lit up violently. "I'll kill you!" he shouted.

The resonance began. Bright arcs of white and blue mana coursed through his mechanical weapons. He was activating Resonance Beam, a skill that amplified power based on previous hits. But River noticed it right away—Kayl hadn't stacked it enough. He was forcing it prematurely. Desperate.

"Tsk. Too soon," River muttered.

The masked Bubble Mage calmly extended his hand.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of glistening Bubble Bombs emerged around Kayl—perfectly spaced, hovering in place like a halo of death. Each one pulsed softly, growing brighter as mana flowed through them.

Kayl's expression twisted. "Wha—?!"

Boom.

The entire forest clearing lit up in a blinding flash of light and color. A series of magical explosions erupted in unison, swallowing Kayl in a vortex of deafening sound and radiant force. The shockwave leveled a chunk of the dead forest, sending zombie like birds fleeing and branches snapping like bones.

When the light finally faded, the air hung heavy with silence. Smoke drifted lazily where Kayl once stood.

River lowered his hand, expression unreadable. "I did warn you."