Editor : Amethyst00



Carl looked into the mirror and stroked his chin.

"Don't you think future me looks pretty handsome?"

At those words, Chelsea frowned.

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

"No, I'm just pretty satisfied with how I'll look."

Seeing Carl smiling brightly, Chelsea folded her arms and snorted.

"It's still you, though."

At Chelsea's somehow prickly response, Carl looked at her with pity in his eyes.

"Chelsea. Even if the future appearance doesn't match what you hoped for, there's no need to react so disapprovingly…"

"I like the way I look now!"

Chelsea shouted, flaring up.

Carl, with his hair neatly slicked back, now appeared taller than before. His body had also grown sturdy—enough that one could mistake him for a seasoned warrior instead of a mage.

Experience could be seen on his face.

Chelsea had changed, too. Her height alone made her completely different from the original version that her rivals used to tease by calling her "runt." Her long, slender limbs gave her excellent proportions. Her face was no longer that of a sharp-tongued girl but of a breathtakingly beautiful young woman.

Except… there was one part of her that stubbornly refused to grow.

Seeing Carl continuously send her those pitying glances, Chelsea grew emotional and launched a dropkick at him.

Wham—!

"Guh-uck?!"

Carl was flung through the air like a twig caught in a storm.

Chelsea crossed her arms and looked at him with a scornful expression.

"I just gave you a light kick like always. Why'd you fly that far?"

"What part of that was light?! And what do you mean like always?! You put so much power into it!"

Carl shot back, flustered.

At that, Chelsea tilted her head in confusion.

Then she opened her palm and cast a spell.

"Wind."

CRASHHHHH—!

It was just a simple wind spell, yet it surged like a storm.

"Gyaaaaaaaah?!"

Swept up by the gale, Carl screamed and clung to a nearby boulder.

Chelsea silently looked down at her own palm, then clenched her fist, dispelling the magic.

"Wow. What the heck? My mana's increased a ton!"

It really felt like they had come to the future.

As the shocked Chelsea stared at her hand, Carl struggled to his feet, still clinging to the rock.

"Your mana increased? By how much?"

"I cast the spell expecting just a gentle breeze, but for it to have that much force… It's incredible."

At her words, Carl wore a puzzled expression and released his own mana.

"Ooooooh!"

He lit up with excitement.

"What?"

"My mana's increased a lot, too!"

Clenching his fists, he released more mana.

"I feel like I could do anything! I didn't know I could be this powerful!"

Carl was genuinely overjoyed.

His strength had always been his ability to read the battlefield quickly, identify enemy weaknesses, and—based on analyzing their attacks—develop tactics that maximized his allies' strengths.

He had outstanding capabilities as a support commander.

In fact, he had proven his worth on the battlefield multiple times.

Even the gods acknowledged him as someone worthy of the title "Hero," so there was no doubting his talents.

Carl himself was well aware of his capabilities.

Still, as a mage, it was hard not to envy his classmates who could casually toss around massive spells.

So, gaining a previously unimaginable amount of mana—it was only natural for him to be excited.

Watching Carl rejoice, Chelsea gave him a slightly pitying look.

'It's increased… but not that much.'

It was barely enough to cast one high-level spell.

Still, Chelsea let Carl enjoy his joy for a while and began assessing the current situation.

'Anyway… what is this situation?'

A mysterious burst of light.

They had clearly been exposed to the Fairy King Sylord's magic.

'Fairy Kiya said the spell's range hadn't reached us yet…'

And yet they'd been caught in it.

'There's usually only one reason a spell suddenly expands its range.'

When magic runs out of control.

Considering the caster was a sorcerer who had lived for 5,000 years, this was deeply troubling.

Chelsea's face tensed slightly with anxiety.

But she quickly took a deep breath and calmed herself.

'Fairies, especially, are magical beasts skilled in illusion spells.'

Even Kiran, Leo's contracted fairy, had once used illusions to prank Lumene students.

Now, both she and Carl had suddenly taken on their future appearances.

'Then this must be an illusion showing the future. Illusions like this often reflect what the person desires.'

That must be why both she and Carl had become adults.

'…Is this really what I want, though?'

Chelsea subtly brushed her chest with her hand, then shook off her thoughts.

'Anyway, this is an illusion spell.'

Chelsea aspired to be a battle magician.

And the Lewellin family was quite different from the Mage Tower.

If the Tower's magicians were scholars, then the Lewellin mages were warriors.

Compared to the Tower, their focus was less on theory and more on efficiently defeating enemies.

But even so, the essence of a magician as a seeker of truth remained unchanged.

Though not quite as scholarly as those from the Tower, the Lewellin family had produced many excellent magical researchers, and Chelsea, influenced by that legacy, had consistently been among the top students at Lumene.

Her depth of understanding in magical formulas was unusually high for someone her age.

Even with such knowledge, this spell's mechanism was beyond comprehension.

It felt like they had stepped into the world of heroes.

'And we're sharing the same illusion.'

Unlike typical illusions, which trap each individual in their own dream, she and Carl were sharing one.

'That must mean others are in this illusion, too.'

With that thought, Chelsea folded her arms, letting out a hum.

'Then… does that mean Leo oppa is also seeing his future self?'

Her thoughts briefly wandered, but she shook her head.

'Maybe Leo oppa and Lady Melina are here too. Either way, the priority is to regroup with the other parties.'

Deciding that, Chelsea turned to the still-delighted Carl.

"Carl. Can you figure out where we are on the continent?"

Carl, still caught in his excitement, nodded.

He opened a subspace pocket, reached in, and pulled out a world map along with a semi-spherical crystal orb.

"Up we go."

After magically flattening the ground, Carl spread the map and placed the flat side of the crescent-shaped crystal on top.

He moved his body to let sunlight hit the orb clearly.

The crystal, gathering the sunlight, pointed to a location on the map.

"We're in the eastern part of the continent."

"Eastern?"

Chelsea tilted her head.

They had been in the Forest of Illusions in the mid-northern region.

And now they were in the east?

"That's way too far. Are the others even nearby?"

"I'll check. Let's see…"

Carl took out three small vials from his subspace.

Each contained a small amount of red liquid.

Labels on the vials read: Lyl, Xia, and Eliza.

Removing the lids, Carl dripped the liquid onto the crystal.

Drip—!

The liquid was absorbed by the orb, which then pointed toward the south of the continent.

"Huh? Senior Lyl is down south?"

Looking perplexed, Carl then dripped the samples for Chen Xia and Eliza.

And when the map pointed north, his confusion deepened.

"Eliza and Xia are in the north… more precisely, in the Hergin territory."

"You drew a bit of our blood before we left—was this why?"

Chelsea looked intrigued.

"Is this a new invention?"

"Yeah. Inspired by astrology. Blood carries a person's information. With this crystal, created through alchemy, we can roughly determine someone's location. Not exact, but good enough."

"That's amazing. Do you have Leo oppa's blood too? If you do, let's find him."

"Unfortunately, the sample loses effectiveness after a day."

"Too bad."

Still, it was a remarkable tool.

"Can you use it to find someone within a small area?"

"Not yet. Right now, it only works on a continental scale. But maybe, with further development based on Lord Dweno's alchemical texts, we could make it more precise."

Just as Chelsea let out an impressed "Hooh~,"

A black shadow suddenly loomed over the sky.

CRAAAAASH—!

A powerful gust of wind followed.

"What the heck?"

"Lady Melina?"

Carl looked flustered while Chelsea's eyes widened.

The gust came from something enormous flying at high speed.

That enormous being… was a dragon.

It was a silver dragon with shimmering scales.

However, patches of its body were covered in black scales, forming strange patterns—a highly unique appearance.

Chelsea recognized this dragon form.

It was Melina, who had inherited Lysinas's mana and now bore some traits of a black dragon.

Melina, who had just soared past them, suddenly turned around midair.

Then she flew straight toward Carl and Chelsea.

"Wait—did she really spot us even flying past at that speed?"

Carl said in disbelief.

Chelsea nodded.

"What do you take Lady Melina for? She's the strongest living hero!"

Not just any hero—the ruler of the dragon race, the strongest species alive.

For her, detecting their presence wasn't difficult.

Melina flew down and, in a flash of radiant light, returned to her human form—a small girl.

Tap—

Landing lightly, Melina looked puzzled.

"Chelsea? Carl? What are you two doing here? You're supposed to be in the Arhi Kingdom and the Hergin territory."

"Huh? School break ended ages ago."

At Carl's comment, Melina paused.

"How old are you guys, exactly?"

At that question, Carl and Chelsea sensed something was wrong and went silent.

"We're always in our prime youth."

Carl gave a cheeky thumbs-up, acting like his usual self.

It was the same behavior he displayed in the world of heroes.

First rule of navigating the hero world:

Cut off outside information as much as possible.

Given how similar this illusion felt to that world, he acted accordingly.

Melina's eyes widened.

"My goodness! How did you two get into this illusion?"

"Wait… you're really Lady Melina?"

At her reaction, they realized she wasn't an illusion—but the real deal—and were shocked.

Carl explained everything that had happened.

"I see. Amazing, Carl. To gather your party and come support us so quickly with just that information…"

"Haha, well, it's my job."

Carl smiled shyly at Melina's genuine praise.

"Lady Melina, what kind of illusion spell is this?"

Chelsea asked, looking puzzled.

"According to Lord Leo, this illusion spell distorts space and time."

"Space and time?"

"Yes. It shows people the illusions they desire, apparently."

"Then why are we sharing the same illusion?"

"Hm… I'm not entirely sure, but maybe because we're both looking at the future?"

"The future?"

"Yes. With space and time distorted, you might see the past or the present as well. But I've been caught in this spell several times and have only seen visions of the future."

After giving Carl and Chelsea a moment to process that, she continued.

"Leo said it's because I want to see the future."

"Ah, I kind of get it now."

"I still don't," Carl muttered, scratching his head.

"To escape this illusion, we need to find the 'key' hidden within it. Only then can we enter the Fairyland."

At that, Carl looked puzzled.

"Are you searching for that key, Lady Melina?"

Melina hesitated.

"Why?"

"Because… this illusion spell is different from any I've experienced before."

"Huh?"

"When I was caught in illusions before, I didn't even realize they were illusions. It felt like a sweet dream."

"But now you do?"

"Yes. Which means something is wrong with the illusion itself."

Carl and Chelsea's expressions turned grave.

All signs pointed to the magic spiraling out of control.

It meant something was wrong with the caster's body.

"And most importantly…"

"Most importantly?"

"Leo wasn't supposed to be affected by this spell. But I think… he's been caught in it now."

Melina had been in the Arhi Kingdom.

But no matter how much she searched, Leo was nowhere to be found.

This had never happened before in any of Sylord's illusions.

Melina pulled out a necklace with a red gem from her robes.

"Leo entrusted this to me. It helps locate him."

Because Melina frequently traveled the continent, she needed to know Leo's location at all times.

"You were following the direction this necklace pointed?"

Chelsea asked.

Melina nodded.

"Then let's hurry and find Leo oppa."

At her words, Melina nodded again.

Then she returned to her dragon form.

"Both of you, climb on."

Carl and Chelsea got onto her back.

Fwoosh—!

Melina soared into the sky.

As they flew higher, Carl asked,

"By the way, Lady Melina. You said this illusion shows one possible future, right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"……"

Carl gave Chelsea a pitying look.

Seeing that, Chelsea smiled faintly, grabbed Carl by the collar, and lifted him.

"You feel like diving from here?"

"W-Wait! If I fall from here, I'll die!"

"I know. You'd die."

"Chelsea noona! I was wrong! Please spare me!"

Carl's desperate scream echoed high in the sky.