“Logout is in progress.”
A message he had not seen in a long time.
He relayed the news to Regarda at once, but the time was far too short to entrust him with everything.
A momentary darkness came over him, and when he opened his eyes again, he was in a completely different place.
Skyscrapers soaring high into the sky, and cars filling the roads.
People walking about with coffee in their left hands and phones in their right.
It felt unfamiliar.
Now, this kind of scenery had become unfamiliar to him.
If asked why, he would have a hard time finding an answer.
The years he had lived in this place were far longer, after all…
And yet, the reason it felt so empty and so uncomfortable was perhaps because his heart had already settled in another world.
“Phew…”
And so, with a small sigh, Hio sat down on a bench that happened to be beside him.
A busy street, in front of a café where many people passed by.
It was the same place as before, but unlike then, the Gate had vanished, and the area had returned to its original bustling state.
“Will it be all right?”
Failure to clear it meant that Abyss monsters would be unleashed in both worlds.
It meant that cursed energy would begin spreading in earnest.
There was only one Gate that had appeared in Arilleiya, and Regarda was there, so the situation should be far better than on the continent… but what was this nameless unease?
“I hope nothing happens.”
It would take several days to return.
Hadn’t it been that way last time?
Only after he had dealt with all the Abyss Gates that had burst open in the world had he been able to go back.
Of course, many things were different from back then.
—So this is that world of yours I’d only heard about?
For one, he was not alone.
Pureunel’s soul was with him.
That alone eased the sense of dissonance quite a bit.
—Hohoho, what a fascinating world. A world where magic never existed from the very beginning.
Pureunel’s voice rang out in delight, exclaiming again and again.
Hio sat there, half-listening and letting it pass in one ear and out the other, when—
—But why do those people keep glancing at you?
When he suddenly came to his senses, he realized quite a crowd had gathered around him.
As if that were not enough, some had even turned on their cameras and were taking pictures.
Only then did it feel a little real.
That he had truly returned to his original world.
“It’s because my outfit looks strange.”
—Mm. Come to think of it, I’ve only seen the world through your eyes. From their perspective, our clothing must look unusual.
“Not our clothing. My clothing.”
—Same difference. Let’s not quibble over details now.
In any case, he would have to steel himself and move.
There were not many people in this world connected to him.
No, in truth, there were practically only two.
Nam Taemin and Yun Seula.
He had to find those two somehow and obtain information, but…
“Um… if it’s all right with you, could I take just one picture with you?”
“Yes?”
A man he had never seen before approached and cautiously made the request.
“Ah, well… sure.”
“Thank you!”
When Hio nodded in confusion, the man raised his phone as if he had been waiting for just that, pressed his face in close, and took a selfie.
Then, after bowing his head, the man left with a short word of encouragement.
“Your cosplay is amazing! Fighting!”
That was the beginning.
Perhaps encouraged by the man’s actions, the others who had been glancing over also began asking for photos, and before Hio knew it, a short line had formed to take pictures with him.
“Wow! That staff is so cool! Where did you get it?”
“Ah, this is an official Tetradia mage staff…”
“Huh?”
“…I bought it on Coupang.”
“Ah!”
In a way, it was only natural.
Hadn’t he been abruptly summoned into a crowded downtown area?
Even in the world of Bentaiol, where historical facts about mages existed, he was treated as an odd person, an eccentric. How much more so would that be here?
There was no cosplay event venue nearby, either, and Hio, who had appeared wearing a wide-brimmed pointed hat, a large staff, and a robe adorned with ornaments, could not help but draw attention.
“But what cosplay is this? It can’t be an Awakened, since they all wear modified suits… Anime? A comic?”
“Ah, actually, it’s not cosplay…”
“Huh?”
“…It’s an anime. An anime. Something about a mage.”
“Ah! It suits you really well!”
“Thank you.”
People saw the crowd and gathered, and those who saw that gathered again.
Before long, the area around Hio was packed with people.
It was troublesome.
He did not care if his face became known or anything like that, but he had to meet Nam Taemin or Yun Seula as soon as possible, find the Abyss Gate, and deal with it.
“The fabric is really nice. You really look like a mage!”
“Ah… thank you.”
“It must have cost a lot.”
“A tremendous amount.”
Even so, the reason he was taking photos and exchanging this sort of pointless conversation was because no immediate method came to mind.
He had certainly lived in this world for a long time, but not a single trace of that remained to him.
He was now a complete outsider.
That much became clear even from a brief conversation he started on the off chance.
“There’s something really different and fascinating about you compared to other cosplayers! Thank you!”
He asked one student who was about to leave after saying that.
“Do you happen to know someone named Nam Taemin? He was a guild master somewhere.”
“Nam Taemin… You don’t mean Nam Taemin, the guild master of Taeryong, do you?”
“Yes. That’s him. If I wanted to meet Nam Taemin, where should I go?”
The answer that came back at that moment was—
“Pfft!”
A scoff that burst out instinctively.
“Ah, sorry. That was just such an unexpected question… How would ordinary people like us ever meet Nam Taemin? He’s world-class. World-class.”
The emotion Hio felt upon hearing that answer was not anger.
It was just… how should he put it?
Even this felt unfamiliar.
A strangeness, as if he had come to a world that had nothing to do with him.
“Then Yun Seul… Never mind.”
And so he decided not to ask the next question.
Thinking back on their last meeting, hadn’t Yun Seula also been an incredible celebrity?
Only when that thought occurred to him was he finally able to rise to his feet.
A what-am-I-even-doing sort of moment of clarity had come over him.
As for a way to meet Yun Seula, well, he could find one.
In this world that had somehow begun to feel unfamiliar, he needed Nam Taemin’s or Yun Seula’s power and fame in order to locate the Abyss Gate and freely enter it.
He had no phone and not a penny to his name, but since he had magic, he would surely be able to find some method.
He pushed through the crowd and took a step.
People had gathered in such numbers merely because his outfit was a little unusual.
That was proof of just how peaceful this place was, so perhaps there was no need to think of it entirely negatively.
With that thought, Hio tried to leave, but his steps came to an abrupt halt before he had gone far.
What stopped him was not the people gathered there, nor their murmuring voices.
It was the rather abrupt message notification that appeared before his eyes.
“The story of the ‘master of mage cosplay’ is spreading.”
“Fame points have increased by +0.02.”
“Fame points have increased by +0.02.”
“Fame points have increased by +0.02.”
……
His fame points were rising not by +1, but by a minuscule 0.02 each time. However, the speed at which they rose was not ordinary.
“No, how long has it even been since they started taking pictures…?”
He could feel the power of modern civilization.
It did not take very long to take a picture and upload it to a community or the like.
And at that moment, one brilliant idea flashed through his mind.
“Tsk… If this goes well…”
If he could not find Yun Seula or Nam Taemin from his side, then all he had to do was make them come looking for him instead.
The moment that thought occurred to him, he pushed the message aside and smiled.
“Ladies and gentlemen, hello.”
When he lifted his pointed hat slightly and greeted them, the response that came back seemed to say, What is he doing?
“I happen to know a little magic.”
But at Hio’s next words, people began raising their phones one by one again.
“Shall I show you?”
The appearance of a severe mage cosplay patient had begun.
* * *
—Some… cosplay? Patient? Some weird person suddenly appeared.
Yun Seula’s brow furrowed as she checked the text.
—He does seem like someone doing a performance, but he stands out so much, and yet I missed when he appeared. Please check once.
A few photos were sent by text.
In the photos, some man was holding a staff and putting on a show.
His clothing and props seemed, to anyone’s eyes, to be imitating a mage.
Compared to the clothing of the spectators surrounding him, he certainly stood out.
However…
“There’s no way it’s him.”
There was no way someone like that could be Lee Hyeonseung.
His face was not clearly visible, but as far as Yun Seula knew, Lee Hyeonseung was not the type to enjoy standing out like that.
No, setting that tendency aside, why would he be doing something like that there in the first place?
A person with that kind of power.
“I can’t see his face…”
Because the crowd around him was quite large, his face could not be seen in detail.
Even so, with an extremely high probability, it was not Lee Hyeonseung.
Seeing that the photo had captured something like bright light pouring out from the end of his staff, it did seem certain he was someone doing some sort of performance…
“Should I go, just in case?”
It was so obvious that it could not be him that there was really no need to think about it.
Why on earth would Lee Hyeonseung be putting on a performance there?
And in ridiculous clothes, at that.
Still, she had been feeling quite stifled lately, so the thought briefly crossed her mind that it would not be bad to go take a look and clear her head.
As an Awakened, Yun Seula had left the Taeryong Guild, but her value shone even more when she was not an Awakened.
She may have retired as an Awakened, but that did not mean her eye for talent or her business acumen had disappeared.
The discerning eye that had recognized Nam Taemin in an era of upheaval. The decisiveness with which she had boldly supported him so that he could establish the Taeryong Guild.
On top of that, the wealth her family already possessed.
Based on such things, she had investigated the first Awakened while also founding and nurturing multiple guilds.
“Yes. He must be frustrated too, to send me photos like this.”
The man who had sent the report was also one of the people in charge of such a guild.
To him, Yun Seula was a benefactor and sponsor.
So he must have been doing his utmost to be of help to her, yet with no results, how frustrated must he have been?
How little progress had there been in the investigation, how few unusual points had there been, for him to report this show as an unusual point?
“Let’s go.”
At a glance, she knew it was not him, but she had nothing to do right now anyway.
She intended to go for a bit, if only to get some air while her mind felt so stifled.
Just as Yun Seula made up her mind and was about to stand, her phone vibrated once again.
Thinking perhaps another photo had arrived, she checked the message, but the sender was someone completely different.
—Black Gate appearance.
It contained the contents Yun Seula had been desperately waiting for.
—An unprecedented Gate of enormous size. Assessed to be dozens of times larger than a super-large Gate. Appeared over the Pacific Ocean.
Yun Seula’s gaze sank deeply.
With a single message, her destination had changed in an instant.
* * *
“The story of the ‘master of mage cosplay’ is spreading.”
“Fame points have increased by +0.02.”
“Fame points have increased by +0.02.”
“Fame points have increased by +0.02.”
……
Just how had it been posted on the internet?
It was a small number, 0.02, but because it was rising quickly, the points were accumulating at a rather decent rate.
Of course, his purpose was not to gather fame points, but to have Yun Seula or Nam Taemin see the video and come find him.
For that reason, he used first-circle Aqua and Fire, and even, for the first time in a long while, a spell like Summon Crow, receiving the spectators’ admiration and countless flashes, but…
“So I’m asking where you’re from, sir.”
Perhaps because far too many people had gathered and it had become far too noisy.
Hio was now being diligently questioned by the police, who had been dispatched after receiving a complaint.
“I don’t have a home…”
“Does that make any sense? You look perfectly normal… Show me your ID.”
“I lost that too…”
Even though he was the last remaining mage in this world, possessing as many as four top-tier skills, he somehow shrank before the police.
“Your name and resident registration number?”
“I’m Lee Hyeonseung, and my resident registration number is…”
“Yes, yes. Just a moment.”
One police officer left to run an identity check, and as Hio stood there for no reason feeling awkward, the officer returned before long.
However, his expression was deeply furrowed.
“Haah… Sir, you can’t do this. You need to tell us properly.”
“Yes?”
“We can’t verify your identity. It’s not a big deal anyway, so don’t be too scared and just tell us properly.”
“That can’t be… That’s the right one.”
Even if he had gone to another world and come back, would he really have forgotten his own resident registration number?
He repeated the number and checked it several times, but… the result that came back was the same.
No identity found.
Every record related to Lee Hyeonseung had disappeared.
“If you keep this up, things are really going to get serious, sir.”
The officers’ expressions grew harsher and harsher, but—
“…This is…”
Compared to the bewilderment Hio felt, it was surely nothing.