······30 minutes earlier.
The waiting room for the symposium judges.
“Ruel unni. Is this answer for real?”
Roserio, an Aether-rank mage, muttered dubiously. Ruina shrugged and asked back.
“What do you mean, for real?”
“I’m asking if Deculein really wrote this answer.”
Roserio, whose short pink bob left a strong impression, was a major figure of the Aether rank, but as one could tell from the way she called Ruina unni, she was younger than Ruina.
After staying in the Magic Tower for only six months, she had gone straight up to the Floating Island and reached the Aether rank at the age of twenty-five—a genius of the “Alchemy·Support” field.
“Yeah. They say Deculein wrote it himself.”
“······.”
Roserio still looked unconvinced. Gindalf, who had been sitting stiffly in another chair, asked in return.
“Is that true? I know that Deculein brat’s disposition, so I cannot help but be suspicious.”
Now in his seventies, Gindalf—with his white hair, beard, and round glasses—was the very image of an old mage one might see in a fairy tale.
“No, more than that, this here. This part’s what bothers me.”
Roserio pointed at the final section of “Deculein’s Theorem.”
[ ······In addition, I succeeded in interpreting and organizing 48 runes, but as they do not suit the topic, I have not included them. ]
“Is this for real too? Ain’t he lying? He says he interpreted a bunch of runes?”
Ruina chuckled.
“I got a brief look at the translations. I even recited them.”
Deculein had shown her part of his rune translations.
Of course, one might think, were those not faulty interpretations in themselves? But whether a rune interpretation was correct or not was surprisingly easy to distinguish.
One only had to pronounce it. Since runes contained mana in the language itself, simply speaking them correctly required mana.
“That Deculein fellow has a talent for languages. He spoke something like ten languages.”
“Hmph, is that so? I still can’t believe it.”
Roserio’s eyes remained narrowed, and Gindalf stroked his beard as he laughed heartily.
“Think whatever you like, Rose~”
In truth, runes were secondary to Ruina.
She had been buried all this time in the “five years” Deculein had stipulated.
It could not be so, there was no way, what sort of disease could not be cured even with Yukline’s capital······.
Even as she repeated that to herself, no other reason came to mind.
─······I promise you once more. If it is five years, there will be no matter of you becoming an obstacle to me, nor of me becoming an obstacle to you.
Why had he promised five years?
─You are four years younger than I am, are you not? You still have much room to grow, so time is certainly on your side.
Why had he said such a thing?
“······It doesn’t make sense.”
Time is certainly on your side.
If he were the normally arrogant Deculein—no, even if he were not Deculein—he would not have said something like “time is on your side” while solving a symposium problem.
For the glory and feat of interpreting runes would shine all the more brilliantly as time passed.
But Ruina soon shook her head.
“Sigh. What does it matter?”
When she thought of everything Deculein had done to her, her teeth still clenched. In one corner of her heart, her hatred toward him still smoldered like embers.
However, whether she liked it or not, Ruina was a thorough mage. She was accustomed to the law of the jungle, and was an extremely rational animal.
Thus, rather than burning with passion, she coolly set her own practical interests.
Her family’s magical secrets.
The title of head professor.
She would concern herself with nothing else. The humiliation she had suffered at his hands, her personal feelings, her family’s grudge—she could bury all of it.
Besides, according to Deculein, in any case, in five years······.
“Then are we revealing these ‘translations of 48 runes’ today too?”
Roserio asked. Before answering, Ruina spoke as if sighing.
“Before that, please come out now.”
She raised a wind and drew back the waiting room curtain.
Behind it, the short chairwoman stood like a statue.
“······Ahahang.”
Receiving Roserio and Gindalf’s gazes, she laughed sheepishly, then clenched both fists and asked back.
“Deculein has translations for 48 runes?! He interpreted as many as 48 runes?! He’s revealing them today?! This is going to cause an uproar, isn’t it?!”
“We’ll have to ask him to know whether he’ll reveal them or not, Chairwoman.”
“No! This isn’t the time for that!”
The chairwoman’s eyes turned mischievous. It was the face of a gossipmonger thinking—she had to spread the rumor at once.
Watching the chairwoman hop away, Roserio let out a hollow laugh.
“That unni really is~ the same as ever.”
“And your dialect is the same as ever.”
“······Me? What. I’m using standard speech↘, you know↗?”
Roserio’s hometown was Rococo on the outskirts of the Empire. It was a rural region known for its particularly strong dialect.
“Well, compared to most, you’re practically refined. When I first went to Rococo, I thought I was in another country~”
“What? Wow~ This unni’s regional prejudice is awfully strong. I didn’t take you for that. It ain’t that different, you know?”
“Try pronouncing ‘sossaum.’ So-ssa-um.”
“······.”
Roserio shut her mouth.
*
The Grand Hall’s capacity was 400. Compared to its grandiose name, it was small in scale, but it was more than enough of a place to prove the symposium answer.
In truth, the name “Grand” itself was not wrong.
Three hundred years ago, when the Floating Island’s designer and archmage “Rophlang” established Mejiseion, this had been the largest hall.
In other words, it was a tradition that had accompanied the Floating Island from the beginning.
“How, how, h-how, h-h-h-h-how, h······”
That was probably why Allen was showing symptoms of an anxiety disorder right now.
“Calm down.”
“Yes, yes. Yeees.”
Even while sitting in his seat, he could not stop fidgeting.
When he gripped his trembling right hand tightly with his left to calm it down, the tremor now spread through his whole body.
Like one of those shaking machines at a gym.
“Ubbbebebebe······.”
“······.”
Seeing him like that, I sometimes found Allen impressive.
His original personality surely wasn’t like this.
It was quite a natural performance.
“Hoo. Hoo. Hoo······. Hik! Ah, hic! This is bad, I suddenly got hiccups······!”
Without a word, I looked at the [ Organized Rune Interpretation Compendium ]. It was a compendium in which I had interpreted 48 additional runes besides the 14 runes the magical world had already finished interpreting.
At first, I had considered revealing it, but I had decided against it. I could not predict what repercussions the public disclosure of runes might lead to. I would keep them only in my head.
For all I knew, it could lead to a disaster on the level of an atomic bomb, like the Manhattan Project.
“Pfft.”
And yet, it was truly strange.
When I looked at this font, a smile would sometimes appear without my realizing it.
Was it because a voice from some day rose like an auditory hallucination······?
─Kim Woojin! Look at this.
An old memory played back like faded film.
─It’s the rune language the setting team is working on. They said they mixed Hebrew and Latin half and half?
As she said that, she placed both hands beneath her chin like a flower. It was her usual attempt to act cute.
─Now, Woojin, all you have to do is tidy it up neatly. Try out different fonts too. Make it look a little old.
As she chattered about the setting, the eyes looking at me were clear.
─Woojin, you look surprisingly handsome when you’re focused.
Her name was Yoo Ara.
─Mm-hmm.
The memories of Kim Woojin that remained within me.
─What are you talking about? If you put it that way, I’m the one who’s wasted on you······.
But her voice was gradually growing faint.
─······.
Perhaps because quite some time had passed.
Only now did it feel like I might be able to forget.
······Rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle.
The sound of Allen’s vibration drew me back to reality. Was he an alarm clock or what?
“Allen. The stone tablet?”
“H-here it is!”
Allen brought out the stone tablet. It was a kind of medium made by processing a large magic stone into a slab and engraving runes upon it.
─Knock knock.
At that moment, at last, came the knock announcing that it was time.
“Let’s go.”
Allen stood up trembling, and we left the waiting room together.
“Please follow me.”
Following the guiding mage, we stood on the dais of the hall where the curtains had fallen.
“We will begin shortly. The two of you?”
“Do so.”
“Y-yes, yes, yeees.”
Behind us were a large blackboard and chalk. Since it was a hall thirty years old, even the fixtures were classical.
─From now on, Head Professor Deculein of the Imperial University Magic Tower will prove the answer to Symposium Problem No. 6.
The host’s voice rang through the hall.
As expected of the Floating Island, it was quiet, neither noisy nor clamorous.
Srrrrrk─
Beyond the opening curtain.
The Grand Hall was filled to capacity, but I recognized one person at once.
······Yuli.
The present me would surely find you in an instant, no matter where you were or what crowd you were buried in.
That was what affection that had become one’s nature was like.
─Today’s judges for the proof are Roserio of the Aether rank, Gindalf, Ruina of the Monarch rank, and the Addict Astal.
I was not nervous in the slightest. As I had once said, the attention and gazes pouring down upon me felt only natural.
It was an exceedingly natural sense of elitism.
“Pleased to meet you.”
I continued speaking calmly.
“I am Head Professor Deculein. I will now begin the proof of Symposium Problem No. 6, the runes.”
* * *
······Deculein’s theorem proceeded step by step, and the Grand Hall watched him amid a tranquil atmosphere.
All attendees had been given a document titled “Deculein’s Theorem.”
“If one interprets the inscription of Problem No. 6—that is, the runes—the following sentences are formed.”
[ Where there is light and will, there is God. ]
[ God feared mankind’s pursuit and concealed His own form. ]
The interpretation of this inscription had already been accomplished to about half its extent by Roten of the Monarch rank together with the linguist Frange.
Thus, there was nothing particularly special about it, but the main point began after that.
“Remove the second sentence here. It is useless.”
“Yes, sir!”
Deculein boldly erased the second sentence.
“Only the three runes corresponding to ‘light,’ ‘will,’ and ‘God’ in the first sentence also serve as magic circuits, and the rest are nothing more than materials for combination.”
[ Where there is light and will, there is God. ]
[ איΘ פה שיφש אור ומל ח ζ, יש ]
The first sentence floated in the air.
The runes were lofty, as if rejecting interpretation itself.
“The first process in deciphering these runes is ‘division.’”
Deculein dismantled the runes into pieces. The entire sentence scattered into the air in numerous fragments.
“The first sentence consists of a total of 13 syllables, but even within these 13 syllables, 45 segmentations occur.”
For example, it was similar to the way the syllable “gang” could be segmented into the three phonemes “g,” “a,” and “ng.”
Because runes, in the end, were also a language.
“However, if one simply tries to combine these 45 segments, the number of possible cases is innumerable. At minimum, more than 3,923,023,104,000.”
Three trillion, nine hundred twenty-three billion, twenty-three million, one hundred four thousand and more. “More” was the word used, but in truth, it was a scale approaching the immeasurable.
“However, within that number lies the second process. It is to ‘discover’ and select the most meaningful rune combinations. That process is as follows······.”
From that moment on, Deculein’s theorem entered a field that ordinary people could not understand.
For nearly two hours, countless rune combinations unfurled like waves, those waves transformed into certain figures, and those figures formed magical formulae.
It was, in general, work that required an enormous amount of effort and time.
It was the result of the trait “Comprehension” combining with the “setting knowledge” in the game designer Kim Woojin’s head, then breaking through a certain limit.
“······Thus it is.”
To summarize all of the above in two sentences:
─The runes were broken down, and a magic circle was made from their combinations. However, it was in a form that deviated greatly from the standard modern magic circle.
Roserio asked.
─Are you sure about↗ the combination↘? If there are that many possibilities, aren’t other combinations↗ entirely↘ possible↗ too?
Her voice was heavily mixed with dialect.
“Runes are magic composed of language itself. Like Dragon Speech, power is carried in the voice.”
To be honest, it grated on him, but Deculein continued without showing it.
“As they are performed not with the dantian, abdominal cavity, or brain, but with the ‘oral cavity,’ I selected only the combinations ‘easy for humans to pronounce.’”
Just as pronouncing the double consonant “ss” was difficult for Roserio, there certainly existed structures that humans could not pronounce.
Deculein dug into that point.
—Mm.
Rogerio was convinced, and Deculein gave Allen a look. Allen hurried over and handed him the mana-stone tablet.
Deculein placed his hand on the mana-stone tablet.
“I will now demonstrate the answer.”
At that moment, a quiet heat rose within the silence of the Grand Hall.
There was excitement in the eyes watching him.
“......”
Deculein closed his eyes. In that state, carefully, he repeated the process he had proven today exactly as before.
First, he broke down the runic language; second, he summarized the runic combination formula; third, he reconstructed that combination into a magic circle; and finally.
He murmured an unknown rune.
“───.”
Where there is light and meaning, there is God.
That single phrase.
Swaaaaaaa......
Blue light rose from the stone tablet. Wind whirled, and an illusion emerged. An unknown scene filled the Grand Hall with color.
It was an ancient time, an age when runes were part of daily life.
The scene moved slowly, as if borrowing a person’s gaze.
A pure white marble floor, beautiful statues, austere glass, a priest kneeling at the center of that temple......
At last, the priest clasped his hands as if in prayer and opened his mouth.
────.
A beautiful sound flowed out. Its clear resonance spread throughout the hall. Everyone closed their eyes and opened their ears.
That sacred tone in itself, unfortunately, did not last long. It merely flared up in an instant like a match, then faded away.
......
A silence in which the sound that had rushed in like an ebbing tide was swept away like the flood tide.
The caster, Deculein, spoke.
“This inscription was a hymn offered to God.”
A magic already lost, and a fragment of the distant ancient “Age of God.”
Some might mistake it at a glance for nothing more than a hymn, but not only was the archaeological value of the whole immense, the ideas derived from the answer would also lead to the invention of other magic.
“The proof is complete.”
Deculein finished his presentation thus.
The auditorium was quiet.
Within the lingering aftertaste of runes that had seeped in like drizzle, the judge Gindalf asked.
—......Splendid. But is this the end?
—There is↗ a passage↘ at the end saying that↗ the remaining runes were↘ interpreted and compiled.
Gindalf was subtle, while Rogerio was direct.
Understanding their meaning, Deculein shook his head.
“I will not disclose the interpretation.”
—Hmm. Is it not that you cannot↘ disclose it↗? Perhaps there is no↘ interpretation at all↗?
Rogerio asked so. Deculein gazed steadily at her, then took a document from his inner pocket.
“This is that interpretation. The contents interpreting the forty-eight runes are inside. There are no copies; it is the only original in the world.”
At that, the Grand Hall swelled with a small commotion.
Deculein looked down at the interpretation and murmured softly.
“אתה ──לאכ──לם──”
The resonance of the runes shook the space. Most of his mana was consumed from reciting merely three phrases, but it would be enough as proof of content.
“......As you can see, I have interpreted numerous runes that have not been made public in the magical world.”
Deculein’s words came to an abrupt halt. He stared intently at the interpretation he had produced. The wrinkles seemed to twitch with deliberation.
“However, as it does not suit the subject, and if I disclose any more runes, there is no small possibility they may be abused.”
For an instant, flames rose. It was a fire Deculein had created.
The fire of mana spread to the [Compiled Interpretation of Runes] held in his hand.
“I will destroy it here.”
───!
The interpretation was engulfed in flames and cried out in a bizarre sound. The runes recorded within were resonating with mana.
......And so.
The research into which Deculein had likely poured three years of effort crumbled into mere ash.
—Ah?
The auditorium fell silent. The mouths of the startled mages sank more heavily than any uproar, yet Deculein himself simply cleared away the interpretation that had turned to ash with utter indifference and said this.
“We will now begin the question-and-answer session.”
No one asked a single question.
* * *
「 Player: Yuria 」
：Level ─ [ ７ ]
：Mana ─ [ 4,507 ]
：Talent Grade ─ [ Grade 4 ]
：Talent Type ─ [ Origin ]
：Traits ─ [ 3 ]
：Personalities ─ [ 7 ]
：Appearance ─ [ Blond Hair · Red Eyes ]
......Yu Ara lay on the empty bed and thought about her identity.
Blue letters rippling in the air. Character information, including level and traits. The category known as player.
It was a system only Lia could see.
She did not know why she had come to this world.
She did not know the process. She did not know the culprit. She did not know the intention. There was no way she would know such things.
This phenomenon itself was an unknown that far transcended anything like science.
Simply, at the moment when a midnight bolt of lightning had heated the entire company building.
She closed her eyes once and opened them.
And had become a player inside the game.
It was a development she had read in novels countless times, but she did not flounder about like those protagonists.
She was, by nature, a person with excellent adaptability. Her character’s talent was fairly outstanding, and her appearance was the same as the original “Yu Ara”—in fact, a little prettier—so adapting had not been difficult.
The problem was her starting point and age.
Her starting location was the “Dadohae,” far removed from the game’s main quest.
Her age was “fourteen,” a full thirteen years younger than her original age.
Fortunately, her body grew quickly, and with her unique survival ability and desire to improve, her mana grade had already reached Grade 4, but......
“Reconciliation? That’s ridiculous!”
Deculein.
That villain, whom she had simply left alone because there was no way to deal with him in this body, had supposedly reconciled with Yulie by some unknown trick!
Good heavens, Deculein reconciled?!
“......”
Lia bit her nails.
It was no exaggeration—Yulie and Deculein were in a relationship where reconciliation was impossible. They were polar opposites, and yet Yulie’s final puzzle was Deculein.
That was how the game system itself worked.
The story of the key named character “Yulie” ultimately came down to Deculein.
She would be tormented endlessly by Deculein, overcome her own scars, and bloom tragically as the flower of eternal winter.
Therefore, reconciliation should never happen.
No, only if there was conflict with Deculein could Yulie transcend her own injury......
“Ah...... This is beyond confusion. It’s chaos......”
Of course, she did have her suspicions.
Just as she had become a player, could Deculein be a player too?
You know, in novels, people suddenly possess some good-for-nothing scoundrel and all that.
“......No way.”
It was absurd.
The actions of Deculein that Lia had glimpsed through newspapers and the like were not at a level a player could manage. To begin with, Deculein was far too atrociously difficult to play.
“Tsk.”
But then again, thinking of Deculein made that guy come to mind for no reason.
Deculein’s model, Kim Woojin.
When she first heard that from the writer, she had felt jealous, and she had plenty of complaints like, Why Woojin without his permission— but the Deculein she saw in the picture definitely resembled him.
Of course, only in appearance.
“......I hope he’s living well.”
Lia smiled faintly.
He was fragile, indecisive, and weak, but precisely because of that, he was delicate and deeply wounded.
Though they had parted without making it to the end, you had stayed by my side as a friend.
“Even if there’s only one chance in ten thousand...... I hope you aren’t here.”
But.
No matter how much I want to see you, this world doesn’t suit you.
You’re truly a childlike child, so suffering through this crap is enough with just me alone.
“I do miss you sometimes, though.”
Lia looked out the window. Beyond it, the everyday life of the Duchy of Yuren was swaying.
“It isn’t bad.”
With each passing day, she was growing farther from not only Kim Woojin but even Deculein, but she possessed the trait 「Adventurer」.
──「Adventurer」──
◆ Grade
：Unique
◆ Description
：The innate qualities of an adventurer.
：The more you wander the continent, the faster your growth rate rises.
：Mana and stamina increase according to the number of unlocked regions.
──────
Thanks to this, her growth was actually steep, and above all, in Yuren lurked the princess named character ★Maho★.
Her top priority was to obtain a quest from her.
“Hoo.”
Shaking off her thoughts, Lia looked around. Then she went shashashak— and pulled out the wooden container she had hidden under the desk.
When you’re depressed, money. You look at the money box. It was a container where she saved the allowance she occasionally received from Ganesha, or the money she earned by secretly doing odd jobs and manual labor.
After crossing from Dadohae to the continent, she earned around five thousand elne a month, but unfortunately, she could not save all of it.
Because every now and then, she would lose her reason and squander it on things like jelly or chocolate.
It was because this character’s personality was too much like a child’s.
Anyway, though she had many expenses, she had also saved a tremendous amount of money.
“Heheheheh......”
Lia took out the money box and examined its contents.
Ten bundles of fifty 10-elne bills, grimy with handprints like silverfish.
One bundle of fifty 100-elne bills.
Aside from that, three silver coins and five copper coins she had picked up on the street.
A total of 10,035 elne.
About ten million won in Korean currency.
“I’m going to multiply this. Yes, that’s right. Of course I am.”
First, she would save thirty thousand elne and invest in Yuren’s redevelopment, then take the money she had multiplied and multiply it again through real estate and gambling......
Heh—
As Lia smiled wickedly, she suddenly returned to an innocent expression and blinked.
“......Should I buy some snacks? I have a lot of money, so I think it’d be okay.”
Blankly, she grasped the three silver coins.
“Ah, no!”
But she immediately came to her senses and put them down.
Every time this happened, she was startled. Whether it was the compulsion of her personality or not, if she let her guard down even slightly, she would find herself blankly taking out a bill.
I save money → I watch it with satisfaction → I let my guard down for a second → Huh, I have a lot of money → It should be okay to buy a few snacks → Since I’m buying some, chocolate and ice cream too...... That was the flow.
Chocolate was especially the problem here. In this world, it was an incredibly expensive snack.
Knock, knock—
Just then, a hurried knock sounded. Lia immediately hid the money box.
The Red Garnet Adventurers had a ridiculous amount of debt, so if they found out about this money, they would probably act like a mom taking away New Year’s money, saying things like, “We’ll give it back later, so leave it with us~”
“Who is iiit~”
Lia spoke as brightly as possible and opened the door.