Han was looking at Ms. Palmer, who he hadn't seen since school had ended for summer vacation. Being inside of the base, Han had believed he had met everyone but by being confronted by the sight of his Tech and Computer Science teacher standing in front of him, there was clear evidence of more people living inside of the location that he wasn't aware of.

"Han?" Ms. Palmer asked him, a look of similar confusion on her face.

"Scarlett, do you know Han?" A woman asked from inside of the Office of the Captain. From what he remembered, her name was Sandra, and she was the assistant to Becky.

Looking like a fish out of water, his teacher opened and closed her mouth as she tried to find the words. Han had heard what she had shouted, about the dungeon not being a simulation but instead a portal to another world.

"I was wondering why I was getting a different feeling compared to what he had inside of the Stronghold's simulation room," Han muttered to himself. Seeing Sean looking at him, Han realized that he had said that out loud and quickly shut his mouth. "Great job, Master of Felicitas. You nearly blew your cover as being a normal teenage kid living through a typical apocalypse," He criticized himself.

"Scarlett, I want to know what you're talking about," Becky asked in the background.

Blinking a few times, Ms. Palmer, whose first name appeared to be Scarlett, turned around as she remembered the purpose of why she barged into the Captain's office. "I've been spending as much time inside of the training simulation, in order to prepare myself to go outside. Ever since we've received communications from Star and Moon, I've been curious about some things..."

"Get on with it," Becky demanded, making it seem like Ms. Palmer or Scarlett often got sidetracked when she was explaining something.

"I was trying to figure out had Star and Moon had created the arena and training rooms in case Star and Moon decided to end their communications with us, again, while I was training and after getting deeper into the dungeon I found another adventurer," Scarlett explained. "What was stranger, aside from meeting an adventurer, was how they appeared to be familiar with the name Star and Moon."

"Well they're the ones that made the training facility, so I'm sure that it's not unreasonable to assume that they would put in references to themselves inside of the software," Sandra chimed in, not seeming to understand what the big deal was.

Scarlett shook her head in denial to Sandra's words. "I don't think that's the case. I mean, it makes sense, but the way the adventurer talked about coming from another guild that assigned him the quest and Star and Moon was an emerging guild made me question the simulation I was in." Around her waist was a pack and out of it, she pulled out a book, the style looking very similar to what he had seen in that world.

There was a long silence as everyone looked at the book inside of her hand. Seeing the book, Han assumed everyone was thinking the same thing.

"How did you take that book out of the simulation?" Becky's voice was shaking.

Scarlett appeared to disregard the Captain's question as she continued, "This is an elementary level book for learning magic. I had asked if he had anything I could try and take back with me, and he directed me to a laboratory inside of the dungeon. On the bookshelf were several books covering a wide range of topics, and I chose this one." She walked over to Becky and placed it on the Captain's table.

Becky picked up the book and read the cover, "Introduction to Elementary Magic." Opening the book, she appeared to scan the contents of what was on the pages.

"So there are two things that I've learned after bringing out that book. The first one is the simulation I was inside was labeled differently compared to my previous attempts. It was listed as 'Portal Activation into World 089012' which was strange considering I had never seen that before. I tried to go back using the original method I would do to train inside, but when I entered the area, the book I was holding had disappeared. I went to the same place I had met that adventurer and couldn't find him or the laboratory with the books." Her voice was rising in pitch as she was talking. "When I left the simulation, I found the book on the ground, so I went to my room and tried to read what was inside. After spending weeks on that book, I finally completed the second step."

Han entered into the office and saw Becky's face growing more confused as she flipped through the pages.

Becky flipped a page and read a little of it before quickly looking up at Scarlett. "Did you just say you completed the second step? You mean inside the training room?"

"No," Scarlett answered with a grin on her face. I completed it inside my room in this world..." Some sweat was on her forehead as she said this with a smile.

Seeing the look on Scarlett's face, the Captain's face blanched. Looking down at the book again, flipping through several pages before looking at the book intensely.

"And it was at that point, completing the first step, that I realized that the world inside of the training room wasn't a simulation, all the time. It's leaking into our world." Scarlett said in a serious tone, no longer smiling but sweating even more.

"Leaking?" Becky repeated.

"A lot," Was all Scarlett said to Becky's question.

Sandra and Sean looked at the two of them, trying to understand what was going on. All of us were now inside the office, and it felt like only Scarlett and Becky were there having a private conversation.

Not wanting to explain what was going on, Becky merely lifted the book and indicated for Sandra to take it. Her hand was shaking as if the book was too heavy.

Sandra didn't appear to know what to do as she stared at the book in Becky's outstretched hand. Then, Sandra jerkily reached out to take the book in both hands. As Sandra slowly opened the book and read the contents, Han looked to the Captain and Scarlett.

"I've been trying to develop something to measure the concentration of the substance that's now in the air. The technique in the air only allows us to sense it, not the ability to feel how much concentration there is. To make matters worse, all the training simulation and the arena have been expelling this stuff. I tried sending a message to Star and Moon, but they haven't responded aside from that stupid auto message about how Star and Moon values us." Scarlett had a sneer on her face, thinking about the experience.

"This can't be real! You said you got to step two?" Sandra yelled in a panicked tone.

Scarlett turned to face Sandra and lifted a finger into the air. There was no explanation before a flame materialized just above Scarlett's finger, just hovering there with no sign of being created from scientific means.

"Ahhh!" Everyone in the room screamed in fright, including Han.

Seeing the fire created in thin air, Han thought, "Nice job, Han. You timed it perfectly with the others. Though the thinking that Ms. Palmer is having is not exactly correct. Mana has always existed in this world, just not in the concentration that it now currently has. I was wondering how long it was going to be before someone stumbled onto such things."

"We're going to need to begin gathering everyone into the main conference area and start the process of explaining to them that magic isn't just children games," Becky said after she had calmed down and was able to gather her thoughts into an orderly manner. The shock was still evident on her face, but her professionalism was obviously taking over.

They turned their heads to look at Becky after she voiced her plan.

Sandra was next in voicing her thoughts, "Are you just planning on telling people that magic is a thing? Like, 'Hey, everyone, you might be wondering about the things outside trying to kill us but, hey, magic is now a thing!'"

"Sis, that's going to need to be done. We can't just hide such a thing from everyone. Just imagine what we can do with the ability to use magic like in those fantasy books? Maybe we can fight off the modified humans?" Scarlett said.

While the sisters were arguing about the implications of such a discovery being shared with the rest of the population inside of the base, Sean's face looked like he was trying to figure something out.

"What's up, Sean?" Han asked the man.

Sean merely shook his head, as if the idea he was having was silly and beyond any logic.

"Sean, what are you thinking?" Becky asked, also curious about what Sean was mulling over in his mind.

Noticing everyone looking at him, including the sisters who had stopped arguing over the implications of revealing such a mind-blowing discovery, Sean chuckled and appeared embarrassed. "I was thinking it this discovery is somehow connected with the latest update with those crystals and stones that have been appearing in the game?" Looking at Han, Sean asked, "You know how you've been able to use various attacks that look like magic? I was just thinking whether this discovery isn't tied to us finding out that magic is something real."

Han felt impressed by the way the man had connected the dots in his mind. Looking at the others who were staring at Sean, he grinned at how everyone had just realized the possible implication of his words."