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『I’ll be there soon.』

Jinseong replied briefly to the message that seemed to urge him, but was oddly considerate towards him.

He couldn’t help it.

Right now, Jinseong was paying the ‘cost of magic,’ as his muscles twitched and jerked uncontrollably.

If he continued in this state, he would undoubtedly end up confined to a hospital, being treated for some rare illness as someone remarked on how he was wandering around aimlessly. No amount of saying it was the cost of magic would change the future of being admitted to the hospital.

He believed that if it was just a cost that made his muscles twitch, it could be suppressed with external electrical stimulation or medication.

‘It’s actually possible.’

However, Jinseong had no intention of doing that.

Getting confined to the hospital for treatment?

Why should he?

The twitching muscles, cramps, and sleeplessness were merely light inconveniences. If his fingers were jerking and he was about to drop a spell, he could just grab the air and lift it back up, and if his limbs were flailing recklessly, he just needed to brace himself to stay upright.

No sleep?

‘Sleep, huh.’

Before his rewind, Jinseong was far from sleep.

Every day his body was in disarray due to the cost of magic; he couldn’t even dream of getting a solid night’s sleep because of the pain and aftereffects. The most he could manage was a few hours of light dozing. Plus, with most safe places disappearing after the Third World War, and being a mercenary, he couldn’t even dream of lying down comfortably to sleep.

Sleeping?

How could he even take a moment to close his eyes when enemies could attack at any moment?

The best he could do was spread bugs as eyes and ears all around, and create a temporary shelter with a spell to catch some nap inside it.

In his later years, even that had become difficult.

He had to take massive doses of narcotic painkillers just to temporarily forget the pain and get a little sleep, and after almost dying a few times while asleep, he had sworn off sleep and clung to life with sheer will.

Seeing him like that, some would shake their heads and say things like this.

[If there ever was a legendary skeleton wizard, a lich, it would be just like you.]

So compared to then, now was like heaven.

He could sleep as much as he wanted without pain, and rather than the piercing agony that felt like nerves burning when he tried to rest, it was just a matter of muscles twitching and cramps – nothing more than mere costs.

Thus, he left vague words that he would ‘be back soon’ and continued checking the spells and artifacts.

But that wasn’t the end of the messages from Lee Yang-hoon.

Starting from that text, other messages began to arrive from others.

『Brother, aren’t you taking too long on your self-discovery journey? Why don’t you come home quickly and prepare for the coming-of-age ceremony instead of getting lost in some strange place?』

A text from Iarin nagging him with a slightly whiny tone.

『We need to get our clothes tailored… You should hurry back.』

『They say the designer is really famous. Supposedly, she makes the fabric from threads spun from spider-type summon creatures, and each piece takes a long time because she puts a lot of effort into them.』

A text from Iserin, casually stating, ‘We need to get clothes tailored, so hurry back.’

And….

『Hair Park. It has been a while since I’ve seen your face, so I wanted to send you this text to update you on my recent experiences. As a lady, I hesitated before expressing this long update in text, concerned that it might seem frivolous, but ultimately, I overcame my embarrassment and decided to write.』

『Your precious younger sister, and my dear friend, Iserin, and I have returned to Korea after our exchange student program. Subsequently, my sister and I need to return to Russia, but having come to Korea, we formally requested to be exchange students to experience the culture and developments of a foreign land.』

『Fortunately, the relationship between Russia and Korea isn’t bad, and thanks to the connections of our teacher and the Great Witch, the necessary procedures went smoothly without any friction. Just after you silently embarked on your journey, my sister and I officially became students at Seoul Specialization High School for Ability Users, and perhaps blessed by the heavens, we’re in the same class as Iarin and Iserin, allowing us to enjoy our school days together.』

『However, unfortunately, Iarin and my sister …』

An exceedingly long and tightly packed text from Ella, as if she were writing a letter.

It didn’t even finish properly before cutting off.

『They’re helping us to have a wonderfully enjoyable school life!』

『I’m so happy!』

『Everything’s great, and there’s no nagging.』

『In fact, there might even be too much praise!』

And the unnatural cutting-off of Ella’s message felt as if someone had snatched her phone away and subjected her to “censorship.” The previously polite, stiff style was gone; her tone was now bursting with excitement, ready to burst out.

『L-』

『I need some-』

After that chatty style, there was a long pause, with words tumbling out without even forming comprehensible sentences.

Thus, with that final short message seeking help, Ella’s texts abruptly ended.

In exchange, a message from Anastasia flew to him.

『Nothing happened!』

It sounded like a vague jumbled message with the beginning and end cut off.

『But when is my benefactor coming?』

『I’m going to the coming-of-age ceremony too!』

『I contributed a little with my ability! Just a hand in helping out!』

Anastasia sent a flurry of texts to him at incredible speed, and as if sending texts alone wasn’t enough, she even sent him three pictures.

The first was a photo that seemed to have been taken from the rooftop of a mansion.

It captured Anastasia smiling with the mansion’s garden behind her.

In the photo, she made a V sign with her right hand while looking up, and the clear blue sky, the vibrant garden, and her white skin and red eyes created a strangely harmonious magazine-like effect.

The second photo followed, showing Anastasia standing on the rooftop railing.

She looked like a teenage daredevil, balancing perilously on the edge while striking a dramatic pose, winking at the camera, as if she were in some anime adventure.

And the last third photo.

“Hmm. Already using it skillfully.”

In this photo, Anastasia stood outside the rooftop, being held up by ‘something’ resting in her palm, suspended in the air.

The appearance of that ‘something’ was frankly bizarre.

It looked like a haphazardly assembled toy block tree, meticulously edited and polished until it looked shiny.

The brilliantly colored, tentacle-like figure had an adorably bizarre face that mismatched its grotesque body, and it connected its tentacle-like branches to form a palm shape, supporting little Anastasia’s body.

On that palm, Anastasia struck a triumphant pose, as if showing off her summoned creation.

『Isn’t it amazing?』

『I transformed a real tree into the one I saw in my dream!』

She sent the picture of her creation, like a proud huntress showing off her trophy.

Jinseong couldn’t help but reminisce about the past.

‘Trees… Come to think of it, I used to make that kind of tree to sneak through air vents.’

When he was mercing alongside Danbi before his rewind.

Back then, Danbi would use materials from actual living beings to make that ‘mysterious something’ she’d seen in dreams and not only that, but she’d also wear ‘promising-looking things’ from her dreams or imbue them into her body to enhance herself.

Danbi, enhanced like that, was as formidable as most warriors, using bizarre means of combat, like having tentacles burst from her severed arms or spreading cloaks to show off countless eyes to create illusions.

She even modified her body using dream-like organs to gather mana and create circles she could use.

However, there were efficiency issues, but such downsides were somewhat mitigated with the help of some mysterious element that absorbed life force and gathered mana.

‘She was exceptionally capable back then.’

Jinseong gazed longingly at the photo of the colorful toy-like tree Danbi had created.

The tree, bursting with vibrant colors in the picture.

The trees Danbi used back then were nothing like this.

They looked like they were dragged out from hell or some abyss, colors so repulsive they made you feel nauseous just to look at them.

Thus, Jinseong couldn’t help but feel a sense of distance between the Danbi of his memories and the current Danbi.

‘Now that’s not known.’

Danbi’s future has changed.

Her name changed, the Ella who was supposed to give birth and die was alive and well, and all the education she received since birth had shifted.

When the environment changes, so does the disposition of the individual.

Danbi from before the rewind and the current Anastasia were not the same.

If before the rewind Danbi fought primarily using witchcraft, close combat, and magic, then the current Anastasia might only rely on witchcraft to fight, perhaps support or focus on enhancing herself, becoming physically stronger than most warriors.

Danbi had a future open to her and possibilities.

Thus, Jinseong sent a reply to Anastasia.

『Well done. That’s very impressive.』

A compliment as a sign of congratulating her changing future.

 

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