NOLMES. ZACRIYA KINGDOM.

"You still can't reach him?"

A red light emitted from the infuser orb on Dolan Zacriya's office table, carrying with it a feminine voice.

"It's been a day, and I can't sense his mana," Mia's voice echoed from the orb. "This has never happened before."

Dolan leaned back in his chair, finger knocking on the wooden surface. Beside him, Saire Harkness adjusted the rims of her spectacles.

"No traces of teleportation were detected in the mine," she said. "It is extremely probable that he'd fallen into an illusory trap. First, it took him to an alternative space, then transported him out of there altogether."

"Give me the coordinates of the mine," Mia's voice echoed from the infuser orb. "I'm his sister, so I'm more sensitive in detecting his whereabouts. If I'm there in person, maybe we'll discover something new."

"Bad idea," Saire said. "The mine is currently off-limits for investigation. Irregular mana activity has been detected in the mine since your brother's disappearance; this is extremely dangerous for mages. The Risk Faction has dispatched its expedition team for investigation. They should be there now."

"Professor Harkness is right," Dolan concurred. "I know you are worried about Magnus, but the worse thing that could happen right now is if you also succumb to danger. Magnus is one of the most prominent mages in Zacriya. He will be fine."

Saire nodded. "The Mage Faction is currently attempting to track down his location. His mana stream is registered in the database, so it shouldn't take long before we get results.

"Until then, please stay put and focus on your studies. We'll let you know firsthand if we receive any new information."

A long silence ensued on the other side of the call.

"...Fine," Mia said. "Contact me immediately if you hear anything about him."

With that, the infuser orb returned to its original colour, signalling the end of the conversation.

Staring at the white orb sitting on the table, Saire exhaled softly. She turned toward Dolan, who also puffed out a sigh.

"We must hurry," he said. "Knowing Mia, she won't stay still for long. Who knows what outlandish acts she'll resort to once her mind runs wild for too long?"

"Would it be easier if we call her here as well? To keep an eye on her?"

Dolan shook his head.

"Once she looks through our intentions, she'll want to rebel even more. Teleportation's not Mia's forte. I'd avoid making her exert unnecessary mana, since we might need her help once the time comes." Dolan ran a hand through his hair. "Plus, she's not currently in the area. She's preparing for her Archmage Examination."

"She's not in Nolmes?" Saire blinked. "Then where?"

Dolan turned toward the window, eyes solemn as he gazed toward the western hills.

“The Adalan Kingdom.”

***

On the other end of the call, Mia Vyris tossed the infuser orb into her Spatial Pouch.

Peering up through her lashes, she squinted at the stone statue hovering above her head.

She currently stood on the borderline between the Northern and Southern Lands—the site of Labyrinth pulls that occurred at every Tip of Crescent. Having arrived in Adalan's capital a month ago, she'd settled down in this area due to its intricate mana makeup.

Indeed, Mia had been amidst her daily field study when she received the call from the Crown Prince, only to learn that her troublesome twin brother had gone missing.

Although Dolan told her to stay still and await the Risk Faction's investigation results, Mia wasn't the type to leave important tasks in other people's hands—especially if it involved her family.

While on the call, she'd already initiated a connection with Magnus, attempting to link his mental space with her Playroom.

The attempt had ended in failure, which only implied one of two things:

First, Magnus was currently unconscious and hence could not accept her invitation.

Second, Magnus did not receive her link, because someone had blocked the attempt.

Neither was a good sign.

But for Mia, a failed attempt only meant she had to try again.

She swerved around and headed straight to the Healing Faction. During her stay in Oden, she'd arranged regular meetings with advisors in the capital's Healing faction to use their resources for her study.

Large strides carried her down the faction's hallway and past a group of Adalarian mages. Each of them wore a dark robe, with hoods over their heads.

Soul Patchers, Mia mentally noted.

They made up of a special unit of Adalan's Healing Faction. As a result, their uniforms also differed from the average mage.

Unlike the Mage Faction in Nolmes, the one here had a narrower hallway. Brushing shoulders with one another, the two sides exchanged a simple greeting. Mia almost crashed into one of them while bypassing, but managed to save herself by steering to the edge of the crowd.

The curly-haired mage stumbled a few steps back, and Mia muttered an apology before entering the room.

Adalan's Healing Faction had specialised rooms saturated in mana, explicitly designed for experiments or spellcasting that consumed a large quantity of the user's mana.

In her second attempt, Mia redirected her focus to pinning down the past traces of her brother's mana usage, rather than his real-time location. She forcibly bonded her mana to Magnus's channel based on their previous interactions in the Playroom. Although the guy might suffer a bit because of this, it was her best shot at tracking him down.

She calculated the time of Magnus's disappearance, narrowing down on the last location where his mana was detected. Mia had been building on the capabilities of her Playroom, so she could now extract the latest memories of the linked mental space.

Closing her eyes, she condensed her mana in the Playroom and directed it to piece together Magnus's mana traces into his most recent memory.

As the visuals surfaced on the white wall, Mia's eyes widened.

"...What is this?"

Viewing the scene from Magnus's perspective, Mia found herself staring straight into a pair of round, brown eyes.

They were eyes belonging to a child.

The child stood amidst a room made of wood, illuminated in warm light. Behind her was an enormous bookshelf, its width and height filling the entire wall. Mia recognised the books sitting on them; many were well-known fables of the eastern continent.

To the right was a mini round table, adorned with a pink tablecloth and a complete tea set. Paper scattered on the space around their feet, their contents varying from colourful scribbles to intricate portraits of random individuals.

A child's playground.

Amidst the colourful room, one of the papers on the ground caught her eye. It was a realistic portrait, but the person being drawn looked familiar to the eye. Mia squinted, focusing her vision to get a clearer look.

"Isn't that…" She rubbed her eyes, giving the drawing another good stare. Mia blinked twice.

"Traveller Edris?"

***

MW ACADEMY. LABYRINTH 53.

"Join the student's association, you say?"

Standing by the reeds and the tower burning behind him, Edris peered towards Magenta in amusement.

The moment Magenta voiced the proposal, the ground beneath them began to rumble. First only tremors, then growing larger in amplitude. Situated by Edris's right, Ace was the first to notice the irregularity.

His eyes widened, but before he could react, they were forcibly separated by a wall that emanated from the ground between them. The wall shot towards the sky, curving over until it formed a half-sphere spanning the entire reeds.

Inside the sphere, Edris and Magenta stood across from each other.

The moment the latter had voiced the invitation, the space around them was enclosed by an opaque barrier.

Aside from the muffled yelling on the other side, all was still. Edris paid no attention to the changes around him. He merely locked his gaze with the pink-haired woman.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you will benefit from joining." Magenta stared back, hysteria present in her eyes. "Throughout the past days, we have been observing and gauging your potential. Your actions have proven your worth."

"My worth?"

"Your worth to be a part of us."

Edris blinked twice, contemplation visible under his lashes. In his calm eyes was Magenta and the blazing tower behind her, adding to them a dash of anomaly.

"By 'us,' do you mean…" A peculiar expression flashed across his face. "The professors?"

Magenta smiled.

"By joining the SAA, you will experience perks that will push you far beyond your peers. Depending on the value of your membership, you may even be given to opportunity to become a professor yourself. This will mark the beginning of your bright future as a promising alumnus of the academy."

"The academy." Edris stifled a laugh. "Don't you mean Labyrinth?

"You just called me 'Player 111' earlier, no?"

Magenta's smile grew wider.

"As expected, you have potential."

"I have ears," Edris said. Despite his laidback tone, his mind was rapidly processing the information from the discourse at hand.

If what Magenta told him was the truth, the true nature of SAA—under the pretence of compiling talents of the academy—was a reserve for future professor candidates.

Their recruitment standards are not rank-based, which meant they hoped to draw out some other qualities among the players who entered the Labyrinth.

In that case, the answer was plain as day.

"If we're speaking in terms of potential, then why not recruit No. 1?" Edris said slowly. "He's much more competent in knowledge retention and learning capacity."

"No. 1 is still lacking." Magenta shook his head, almost regrettably. "He does not show the tenacity to leave everything behind him to achieve his goal. At least, not yet."

"And I do?" Edris raised an eyebrow.

"Why ask if you already know the answer?" Magenta cocked her head to a tilt. "I see it in your eyes. Although you act calm and rational, I can tell that if it comes to it, you will throw away anything necessary to reach your goal. Ethics, morality, humanity—your eyes leave no permanent spots for them."

As she said that, Magenta strode forward, closing their distance to less than arm's length. She leaned forward, reaching for the side of his face. She smiled dreamily.

"You have the eyes of a madman."

"How rude." Edris stepped back, once again enlarging the distance between them. Magenta took no offence to his action. She chuckled lightly, shoulders shaking in silence.

"I do not lie. You will benefit greatly from joining the SAA," she said. "Players in the association are given a second chance in the academy. Even if they fail to complete their [MAIN QUEST] or lose all their affinity points, they are given a chance at redemption by becoming a professor themselves.

"It's a free chance at living."

"There are no free things in this world, especially with lives at stake." Edris laughed. "If it is as nice as you describe it, then why are you still here, stuck in this academy?"

At his words, the rising corners of Magenta's lips stiffened.

"And going along with your words," Edris continued, "professors are past players who failed at clearing the Labyrinth. What did they—no—what did you have to give in return for standing here right now?

"What is your true goal?"

A silence ensued between them following Edris's words, bringing about an accumulating tension.

Outside the barrier, a blurred outline of Celio was seen anxiously banging against the opaque surface. The muffled warm light from the burning tower glimmered from the other side.

Magenta was the one to break the silence.

"You are thinking too hard about this," she said. "All you have to do is either accept or decline the offer. By accepting, you will gain all the benefits along with a chance of redemption in the case of failure."

"And if I decline?"

"Currently, we are in a separate dimension created by this sound-proof barrier unbreakable from the outside. You could see it as one of the perks of being a professor." Magenta said. "If you decline, I will wipe your memories of everything in this circle.

"You will walk out as a normal student of MW Academy, as though this conversation had never happened."

"...Is that so." Edris tapped his lips, as though thinking hard about his decision. The next moment, he lifted his head with a raised eyebrow.

"You're more desperate than I thought."

Magenta looked at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean exactly what I said." Edris chuckled. "You speak about all this as though it was a simple proposal, but in reality, I never had a choice to begin with, correct?"

On the surface, the offer may seem beneficial at a glance. Not only would Edris receive the perks of the association, but he'd also basically obtain an extra life if he failed to complete the Labyrinth tasks.

However, he never held hope in such optimistic conditions.

If there were promising benefits to reap from the offer, then equally cruel sacrifices were bound to follow. Especially in his case, Edris had just proved that he was capable of overruling the Labyrinth mana restrictions.

Would the Labyrinth, with a system so focused on hierarchy and order, allow him to go about freely after what he'd done?

His hypothesis was reaffirmed in Magenta's words just now:

A normal student of MW Academy.

Edris wasn't a student—he was a player, someone from the real world who had been pulled into this fictitious reality.

In other words, if he declined the offer, what awaited him would likely be immediate assimilation into his role. The Labyrinth system would erode his consciousness, and he'd walk out as the original inhabitant of this body.

As if his thoughts were voiced out loud, Magenta spoke in response.

"You are truly an anomaly," she said, unaffected by his question. "If you already weighed the situation, I believe we both are aware of the best course of action. So, what are you still hesitating about?"

Amidst the enclosed half-sphere, the dark-haired man sighed softly.

"Professor Magenta," he said. "Even though you said you've been observing me for a while, it appears you still don't know me enough."

Magenta turned to look at him, a glint of puzzlement flashing across her eyes.

"You see, I am not someone fond of decisions. The pros, cons, implications… They make me think too much." Tucking both hands in his pocket, Edris glanced at the barrier's roof. "That's why rather than deciding between the options given to me, I prefer to create my own."

Magenta followed the direction of his gaze, tilting her head upwards as well.

It was then she finally saw it.

The surface, smooth merely moments ago, was now stained with a resounding crack.

A crack that was branching outwards faster and faster by the second.

"You called me a madman," Edris said, his voice dispersing with the wind rushing from above. "The accuracy of that statement aside, I hope you know that even if you're right, I'm definitely not the only one."

The roof over them shattered entirely at that moment, revealing the moonlit purple sky and a familiar silhouette descending from above.

Ace landed lightly between them, his silvery hair pushed back by the gust. He didn't even glance at Magenta as he turned toward Edris with narrowed eyes.

"Where do you think you're going after pulling that bullshit on me?"

Edris gave him a casual shrug, then turned to Magenta, whose face was overcome by a rare disbelief. He jabbed a thumb to his side.

"Ta-da." Edris smiled. "The actual madman."