CH 2

Ayra looked up at Shinjae with a trembling gaze; it seemed as if Shinjae was unable to see this system window. To confirm that clearly, Ayra pointed at the air where Shinjae’s stat window should be, “Shinjae, you have something stuck there. It seems like an errant thread.”

“Hm? Where? What?” Shinjae’s waving hand passed through the translucent stat window. When he turned his head reflexively, his gaze was directed beyond the floating stats. Ayra watched as Shinjae wriggled his hands, struggling to remove the thread that never existed. That’s good, these windows don’t seem as if they could be perceived by or have a physical effect on others.

“Is it still stuck there?”

“No, it’s gone now.”

“Is that so? Anyway, with how round it is, what a cute guy.” Shinjae soon stopped paying attention to it since artificial spirits were quite common in Labyrinth. At the end of his visit, he observed Ayra’s complexion and stood up from his seat, “I brought you something to eat, so let’s eat.”

“Thanks. And I’m sorry–you’re a guest but I couldn’t properly entertain you.”

“Tsk. Sick people should just rest.”

After Shinjae patted his shoulder a few times to comfort the young lord, he opened the door and left; the stat window soon turned off as well. Even though the two weren’t that intimate, the younger mage was willing to come this far to accompany Ayra to the funeral; Shinjae was truly a rare good person. As the door closed, Ayra caught the spirit floating before his eyes.

Dark blue-gray eyes shone delicately. The artificial spirit within his hands was warm and unexpectedly soft, like holding soft pudding. It was a bit like holding a warm soap bubble… Since the spirit rounded its eyes so cutely… Ayra casually began to stroke it; a little while afterwards, he returned to his senses.

“Stat window. First of all, it definitely doesn’t exist in the physical realm.”

Ayra patted the blanket and ordered the spirit to come closer–it did–and he ordered it to leave him–and it went away. In addition, the spirit was pulling at and consuming his mana, though not to the extent that it was burdensome.

Ayra soon reached a conclusion, ‘As expected, did I undergo enlightenment?’

In this world, the phenomenon where a person living an ordinary provincial life suddenly going through spiritual awakening or gaining keen insight, and thus becoming a mage, was called ‘enlightenment.’ Similarly, within the labyrinth, ‘enlightenment’ also referred to when a mage was able to perform magic that he had never been able to before. In gaming terms, the mage might be considered the first stage, and the enlightened mage may be the second stage, a promoted class.

However, enlightenment was not a concept that could be simply defined as a promotion. For mages, magic earned through enlightenment was like a writ from the gods, and it’s not the kind of thing one could easily talk about. Ayra didn’t let Shinjae believe he personally created this artificial spirit for nothing.

However, since he had no memories of the time during his illness, Ayra wondered if he truly underwent enlightenment. As he tilted his slender face, fine silver hair slid down his shoulders. As if in protest, the artificial spirit inflated its body a little and manifested another window.

[Master! Please give me a name!  ]

“Be patient; Master is thinking.” Ayra scolded it as he pressed its soft and squishy body with his hand. Then, the artificial spirit manifested an ‘X’ on its body. (Since it was so cute, Ayra pressed it a bit flat, and the message changed into an ‘XO’ emoticon.)

…..This fellow…Is it having fun?

In any case, enlightened magic was infinitely varied according to each mage. However, there was no way that his awakened magic could be the game system itself. To be precise, the ability would often express itself in the most comfortable and familiar method tailored to one’s consciousness; the magic must have taken the form of a ‘game system’ according to that custom.

Immersed deep in thought and simultaneously kneading the artificial spirit like a rice cake, Ayra heard a knocking sound.

“Ayra-nim, may I enter?” 1

“Yeah, come in.”

The door opened, and a familiar looking man came in. Gray eyes, common to the people from this area, turned towards Ayra before lowering to the ground.  He bowed his head politely; dark hair fluttered. With his glasses, neat attire, and well-groomed dark hair, he looked more like a typical young scholar than a clerk.

“I’ve come to find you after hearing news that you’ve woken. How does your body feel?”

He had definitely heard the young man’s name when he first introduced himself as the governor 2 of this territory, but Ayra hesitated for a moment because he couldn’t remember his name. He was completely absorbed by the whole funeral business, but, even without that, he was rather bad with remembering names. At that moment, his magic power was once again drained, and the stat window reappeared.

<Ginas>

HP: ???

MP: ???

Physical Attack: ???

Magical Attack: ???

Affection : ??? <3

“I’m a bit better, Sir Ginas. Thank you for your concern.” Responding as if he had always known the other’s name, Ayra pretended to look around the room, taking the chance to pay close attention to the stat window that he wasn’t able to observe closely earlier. Looking closely, the stat window wasn’t all that was present–there was also a faint ‘???’ floating above the person’s head.

“Ayra-nim?”

Ayra, who had fallen deep into his own thoughts, was returned to his senses at Ginas’s call. “Mm, Sorry. I still have a bit of a headache…”

It wasn’t as if it was fully a lie; his physical condition was still not well. As soon as he touched his head and uttered those words, a worried look flashed across governor Ginas’ face. However, since they had only been acquainted for a few days, it felt more akin to concern for the health of the sole heir of this territory’s lordship rather than concern for Ayra on a more personal level.

“Should I call for the medical team?”

“I’m just momentarily tired; If I sleep well, I’ll be fine.”

“I understand. If you’re feeling inconvenienced or uncomfortable, please let me know.” Ginas was perfectly polite, but Ayra felt a wall between them. This was perfectly natural: The lord he was loyal to and the successor he was familiar with had died overnight, and the only remaining successor was a mage who had been raised in the Labyrinth since childhood. Ayra, who had been dispatched outside several times, was well aware that the public sentiment regarding mages was not positive in some areas.

Sure enough, Ginas’ eyes were vigilant as he warily observed the artificial spirit Ayra held. He didn’t even ask what it was, which was proof that, rather than good manners, his words spoke more to a gap between them.

Ginas, who barely removed his reluctant gaze from the artificial spirit, finally brought up the reason for Ayra’s visit, “In that case, we shall discuss the succession ceremony matters immediately after Ayra-nim’s physical well-being recovers.”

“Okay, I’ll leave that to you.”

As Ayra nodded in reply, Ginas bowed his head politely and closed the door, taking care not to create noise.

A while later, Ayra released a deep sigh. “Succession Ceremony.”

For as long as he lived, he never thought that he may one day visit the estate again. But, this was no mere visit, this was a home-coming. Ayra was more familiar with the labyrinth than his childhood estate, to the extent that a trip here would be called a ‘visit’ rather than a ‘return.” Although he could list all kinds of magical theories, he didn’t even know the fundamentals of territory management. Even his favorite game was an RPG 3 suitable for solo-play.

He tried to heave another heavy sigh but instead sneezed a couple of times loudly. “I-it’s cold…”

In order to raise his upper body, Ayra had uncovered the blankets momentarily; a chill passed through him, however, and he shivered. Ayra pulled the blanket up to his shoulders and covered them; he hadn’t gotten used to this chill yet. Could an outsider like him manage the land well? Wasn’t it possible that he would ruin the territory instead? He already began to long for the labyrinth which maintained mild weather during all four seasons.

At that moment, Ding! A transparent window floated before his eyes.

<Quest!>

[Let’s name the adorable GM 4 with whom you’ll share your adventures through this world]

Enter a Name: ___________

Reward: GM spirit’s affection and obtain a guide.

Looking down, the artificial spirit was being squeezed far too much between Ayra’s palms while Ayra was focused on his conversation with Ginas. When the mage released it from his hands in surprise, the spirit floated into the air and returned to its original state with a popping sound. Shyly, it manifested a small heart.

“Do you like being treated like that……?”

Anyway, what should I name it? Ayra was troubled, pushing away various prospective names that came to mind. It was impossible to name insincerely like he had in the past for game characters: ‘Muscle Fairy’ 5, ‘EarthBall uwu,’ or ‘[Insert game monster here] FTW.’ 6.

After pondering for a while, Ayra was finally able to come up with a suitable name for the artificial spirit, “Your name is Pebble.”

In Korean, the name gave the nuance of something small and cute, and even in this world’s pronunciation, the phonetics sounded nice. He had thought it was a cute and well-fitting name, but somehow the spirit didn’t seem to be very happy about it. Ayra became concerned at its sulky expression; he was ten times more nervous than when he had to write a thesis paper for job promotions.

“Glutinous rice-cake? Stony? Do you dislike it? Is it because it makes you sound too small? Gravelly?”

While various names were thrown at it, a new window emerged with a Ding! sound

<Quest!>

[Let’s name the adorable GM with whom you’ll share your adventures through this world]

Enter a Name: Pebble

Reward: GM spirit’s affection and obtain a guide.

Its facial features were created so simply that Ayra couldn’t tell whether or not it looked resigned, gloomy, or persuaded.

<Quest!>

[Let’s raise the level of this cute Pebble.]

*Check 10 people’s stat window (0/10)

*Introduce this cute Pebble to 10 people (0/10)

Reward: Open one stat feature.

Reading through the quest window carefully, a new feeling swept through Ayra. The most painful aspect of coming to this new world was parting with modern civilization conveniences. Cell phones, internet, computers… and especially video games! ‘A quest’. Ayra clenched his fists and teared up, reminiscing about the games that he had been trying hard to forget.

“Let’s work on the quest and level up, Pebble-ah.” 7

TL: After things were a bit confusing for last chapter (sorry for the info dump! >.<) I hope this chapter was a little more understandable. We’re essentially staying in the present! I’ll upload 3 sometime soon!