Chapter 20

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Episode 4 - Weekend [5]

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Maybe I shouldn’t have told Professor Ashly anything.

Honestly, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.

But what’s done is done, and there’s no going back, unless I go back in time; like Lumina, I can’t change the situation.

After a few hours, together with Professor Ashly and Lumina, we transcribed the entire contents of the grimoire.

Then, Professor Ashly made the proposal to Lumina, who accepted by signing the contract.

After that, Professor Ashly began reading. The emotions were all over the place, but they could be summarized as follows:

Shock, surprise, ecstasy, joy, etc.

There were too many emotions to describe; besides, I was curious to know what was written in the grimoire.

It wasn’t something that existed in the game.

And why did Professor Ashly show me the grimoire instead of addressing the topic of magic verses, as in the game?

Everything was different; I didn’t know what caused this change, but I didn’t care.

In fact, I was very intrigued; a grimoire that only I could see and decipher was something that didn’t exist in the game.

An unknown event.

〖You’ve given me many surprises, you know, disciple.〗

Alice said, and I simply responded:

’Well, everyone has their own abilities, don’t they?’

By the way, I discovered that I could communicate with my teacher simply by thinking, without having to speak out loud.

〖I suppose you’re right.〗

After a few minutes, a long sigh escaped Professor Ashly, and she finally said, ecstatically:

"I can’t believe it, I’ve had something so valuable with me all this time!"

She turned toward me and suddenly embraced me tightly. Confused, I tried to say something, but...

"Ha, ha, thank you, Cadet Adel; if it weren’t for you, I would never have known that this grimoire was written by the Firstborn Mage himself."

"..."

’W-wait, did I hear that right? Did you say Firstborn Mage?’

〖No, you heard that right.〗

In this world, before humans appeared.

There were eight individuals who appeared out of nowhere.

Usually, when you talk about who the first human was on Earth, especially in religion, you talk about Adam and Eve.

However, in this world, the first humans were eight.

Four of them were called Good and four of them were called Evil.

If you notice, there are a total of eight people and a total of eight specialties.

In short, the Primogenitor Magus is the creator of the Magus specialty.

He is the creator of all magic and the origin of all magicians.

He has several names, but the best known is Firstborn Mage.

His identity, appearance, and origin are unknown.

The same is true for the other seven.

The Sword Lord, the Elemental Progenitor, and the Lady of the Beasts.

These are the best-known names of the creators of the four specialties classified as Good.

Meanwhile, the four specialties classified as Evil have the following names:

Lord of the Dead, Primordial Witch, Commander of Darkness, and Lich.

They would be the creators of the Necromancer, Witch, Dark Knight, and Dark Mage classes.

’As the creator of the story, I only mentioned the names of those eight, making it clear to the players that those eight are the creators of the eight classes in the world of Holy Land.’

That’s all I know about who they are and where they come from.

There is no answer; perhaps the <Star Project> has the answer.

The Star Project is a non-physical entity that stores all the information of this world: the year, month, day, minutes, and seconds of everything that has happened since the beginning of this world.

Of course, something so extraordinary is considered nothing more than a legend, but I am the creator of this story.

Along with the words of other developers, I can affirm that the Star Project does exist.

’The problem is that I have no idea how to access it.’

It was something only Lumina could access to find answers in the Holy Land DLC.

Lumina’s main question was going to be why she can go back in time and what her purpose is, aside from saving the world.

That would be her first question.

In any case, I looked at the grimoire in my hands in disbelief.

"This was really written by the Firstborn Mage."

"Legends say that the Firstborn Mage left his mark on all grimoires. Only unique and special people, chosen by Destiny, could read them."

"But that’s just a legend, isn’t it?"

When I asked my skeptical question, Professor Ashly said:

"But here we have the proof. It’s exactly as the legends say."

She pointed to a character.

Interestingly, the character was a mixture of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

Even if I came from Earth, it would be impossible for me to understand that character.

’But when I saw it for the first time, I was shocked.’

I suspected that the Firstborn Mage was a person from Earth.

But I don’t understand any of this.

Before I woke up in this world, it was just a game.

But now I’m wondering if this world existed in another reality from the very beginning.

’There are so many questions.’

"I suppose that’s true; it is a strange symbol."

Snapping out of my thoughts, I voiced my opinion.

Anyway, there was nothing I could figure out just from a single symbol.

Still, it’s better to keep it in mind in case I find another Grimoire of the Firstborn Mage.

I might discover something if I manage to decipher the character.

"Oh, of course. Since you’ve accepted my proposal, I have a gift for you, in addition to the benefits you’ll receive for being my assistants."

Professor Ashly stood up and went straight to the display case.

Several hours had passed; it was probably noon by now.

After a few seconds, Professor Ashly returned, handed me something, and also gave something to Lumina. Then she said:

"These are Advanced Quality Elixirs. They can increase mana and all physical capabilities by 25%. It’s a gift for accepting my proposal and a token of my gratitude."

As I said, Professor Ashly has a cheerful and playful personality, but she is also very kind.

"Thank you, Professor Ashly."

"... Thank you."

Ashly smiled, then grabbed the papers on which she had transcribed the entire Firstborn Mage Grimorium.

Then she went to her office, leaving me alone with Lumina.

In the silence, we were both sitting at the same table.

’Mhm... Definitely an awkward atmosphere.’

I rested my hand on the table, then rested my cheek on my hand.

In the midst of that, I couldn’t help but think of something I had ignored until now.

’Why isn’t Lumina paying more attention to me? I’m supposed to be an anomaly that didn’t exist before.’

That was my suspicion because Lumina wasn’t reacting the way she did with the other players.

She seems too calm compared to the game.

When I say "too much," it’s because she’s actually very calm.

Of course, there have been two or three times when she’s looked at me intently, but that’s all.

’I’ve been observing her using my senses, but she hasn’t done anything particularly special like she did with the players.’

Maybe there’s an answer, but...

’No, I highly doubt that I already existed in her previous regression.’

I thought that maybe I already existed in her previous regression.

But if that were the case, I shouldn’t exist.

’I don’t understand the topic of regression or anything related to time very well, since it’s a very complex enigma, but...’

Naturally, what returns to the past is Lumina’s soul and memories.

In that case, if I had already existed, then I shouldn’t exist in this regression.

Since I don’t belong to this world, my soul would obviously be tied to my body on Earth, and the laws of time in this world have different meanings.

In short, if I existed, I wouldn’t exist at this moment because I would be tied to Earth, unless whoever brought me to this world changed the rules of time.

In any case, for now I believe that no other "me" existed in Lumina’s previous regression.

And that my current "me" is the only one that actually exists.

’Well, maybe I did exist, but the power of time and space is simply an enigma, a subject I can’t understand.’

I’m not a scientist or anything like that. I’m just good at writing stories and creating graphic designs.

In any case, while I was thinking about that, Lumina was playing with her fingers.

She turned toward me, her eyes fixed directly on my bandages as if she were looking me in the eye.

Then she asked, 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Why do you always wear eye patches?"

"..."

’That’s your question, protagonist.’

Anyway, I answered her question.

"Because I’m used to it, and it bothers me not to wear the bandage."

Sure, that’s an excuse; the real answer is twofold.

’First, because it is a Mythic-rank item; second, it has to do with the Unique Trait Eyes of the End.’

When I checked the details of the Unique Trait Eyes of the End, I discovered that if I took off the bandages for about five seconds,

The power of my eyes would activate, and there would be three unknown penalties once I stopped using the Eyes of the End.

Lumina didn’t change her expression and then asked another question:

"You wouldn’t mind showing your eyes."

"..."

’What is it that you’re looking for by just showing you my eyes?’

As the creator of Adel, I know what Adel’s eyes look like.

But that’s not important right now.

’What does he want with my eyes? They’re not special or anything, technically they are, but that’s not what I mean.’

In response to her question, I asked her another question.

"Why do you want to see my eyes? They’d probably look pale gray or completely white, like any other blind person’s."

However, her expression didn’t change. Then she turned her head and said:

"I understand."

Her voice sounded strange. It was as if she were disappointed or something.

While neither of us continued talking, Professor Ashly returned.

"I’m back. Then let’s change the topic and talk about the verses."