Chapter 1: Same world view

Regression, Possession, Reincarnation.

These things happen unexpectedly to the person experiencing them.

Like a cold that arrives suddenly one day.

• Young Miss. Are you awake? Oh, what a relief. If something had happened to you, Young Miss…

Edelin Persephone, once a healthy man from South Korea, had been abducted to another world just like that.

‘I was definitely… at the study cafe…’

It was less than a year before the college entrance exam.

Like any other high school student, he was repeating the daily routine of studying intensely until dawn.

His last memory was fainting after a nosebleed.

• Young Miss. Where is this South Korea region?

• It seems the Young Miss is still very unwell. Qu-Quickly, fetch the family head…!

But when he woke up, he was in a completely different world, in a different body.

Edelin, who had been suffering through preparations for the exam, just wanted to enjoy a happy life.

However, the choices given to him weren’t that many.

This was because the original owner of the body, Edelin Persephone, had caused quite a lot of trouble.

The three choices given by the family head to him, who was still struggling to adapt after waking up:

To be quietly married off to another noble as a pawn in an arranged marriage.

To choose the path of a mage and make the family name renowned throughout the world.

To be disowned by the family and live quietly, confined to the remote countryside.

“I will become a mage.”

Since his original body was male, marrying another man was something he’d rather die than do.

Being disowned and sent to the countryside had a high probability of not being able to sustain his life.

So, it was the last option, chosen reluctantly.

But for a high school student who spent more than half his day studying for the college entrance exam, the discipline of magic was…

‘What’s this, it’s so easy.’

He was like a fish back in water.

• Young Miss…? You wish to become a mage? You’ve finally decided to follow the family’s path!

• Our Young Miss must be a genius! She just didn’t want to do it before. As expected, she can do anything she sets her mind to!

Edelin threw herself into magic without hesitation.

Studying was enjoyable in a way that couldn’t compare to the college entrance exam.

The deeper she delved into the subject, the more the results, magic itself, appeared before her eyes.

As more time passed.

• I hereby appoint you as the Master of the Prism Magic Tower.

Edelin became the youngest Archmage and the youngest Master of a Magic Tower.

As the Tower Master, Edelin poured much effort into the study and research of magic.

However.

There was one variable she hadn’t considered.

• Kuhahaha. We shall take over the continent.

There were demons plotting continental conquest while spouting lines fit for third-rate villains.

Thus, Edelin, hailed as a genius, was pushed onto the battlefield as a member of the Hero’s party.

After fighting off invading monsters and demons for a long time, she came to be revered as a hero.

‘I want to let go now.’

In her heart, which had been running nonstop since high school, her homeland remained a place she dearly missed.

So, she decided to give up everything and burn the rest of her life on dimensional travel magic.

.
.
.

“That is what I became.”

“Appears to be suffering from severe delusions of grandeur coupled with psychological paranoia…”

“This body has never spoken a single lie!”

At the hospital branch affiliated with the Korean Hunter Association.

Through various tests and questions, the attending physician confirmed that the girl before him was human, not a monster.

“Given her insistence to the end, urgent psychological treatment is required.”

The doctor scribbled notes onto a page in the chart.

Claiming to have become an Archmage.

Claiming to be a war hero who played a major role in the Hero’s party.

There was zero credibility in the words of the kid who insisted she was a mage while listing achievements never heard of before.

Listening to her story, she insisted on having lived for at least several years, possibly decades.

Yet, her apparent physical appearance was that of a high school student at best.

‘No abilities detected.’

She didn’t possess the mana a mage should naturally have, nor was there any possibility of appearance alteration using mana.

As expected of a hospital affiliated with the Hunter Association, the doctor was also an ability user and had instantly grasped her condition.

From the doctor’s perspective, she was no different from the mentally ill patients he saw regularly.

‘However, there is one point that bothers me…’

Among all the things she said, there was one statement that uniquely turned out to be true.

It was her insistence that she used to be male.

Through various tests and identity verification, it was confirmed that this statement was factual.

“Alright, I understand for now. Patient.”

“Your memory might be confused, but we’ve called your guardian, so please wait just a moment.”

Even so, he didn’t believe her other claims.

Edelin felt frustratingly stifled by the doctor’s reaction.

She wanted to blast a fireball right in front of the smiling doctor’s eyes, but for some reason, there was no response from her mana.

Even when she tried to move her mana, the mana that should have been there was gone.

All she felt was an infinitely heavier body and a suffocatingly low mana concentration.

It was a bizarre sensation she had never felt before.

‘Did my mana burn out while crossing dimensions?’

She had confirmed that the mana formula activated while crossing the Gate worked correctly.

However, lacking the mana to support it resulted in an overload.

She concluded that a mana burn phenomenon occurred due to high mana consumption.

‘This has become a headache.’

Edelin consoled herself that losing her mana was a cheap price to pay as a sacrifice for dimensional travel.

Perhaps it was fortunate that the mana circuit itself, the Circle within her body, hadn’t been completely burned away.

If that had happened, she would have become crippled, unable to even use magic.

‘It’s alright. Mana can just be accumulated again.’

She was someone who had reigned as the top mage of a continent.

Even if this world had low mana concentration, building it up again from scratch wasn’t a major issue.

For now, adapting to the changed world was the priority.

Click!

While Edelin was briefly lost in thought, the hospital room door opened, and a woman entered.

The woman, appearing to be in her early to mid-twenties, looked around the room and then rushed towards the doctor.

“Wh-Where is my older brother?”

Watching the woman ask the doctor with a desperate voice, Edelin tilted her head.

The face was incredibly familiar.

“Listen carefully, Guardian-nim.”

“Your older brother has returned as a woman.”

“Yes…?”

“It’s been about… 12 years since the missing person report was filed, correct?”

“She claims to be over thirty, but her actual physical age seems to be around eighteen.”

The Day of Upheaval, the day the world was turned upside down by monster attacks.

Her older brother, who had disappeared since then, had returned. And as a woman.

Through a lengthy conversation with the doctor, she realized the girl before her was indeed her older brother.

“So… this girl is my older brother, Yesung?”

“It might be hard to believe.”

“It would be faster if you speak with her directly.”

Yeeun, Yesung’s younger sister who had come as the guardian, spoke to the doll-like pretty girl.

“Um… Oppa?” (Older brother?)

“Hm?”

“Who might you be?”

“It’s me. Yeeun.”

“Your younger sister, remember?”

Edelin stared intently at Yeeun’s face for a moment, then broke into a bright smile.

“Of course, I remember!”

“My little sister has grown so much!”

Overjoyed, Edelin leaped to hug her sister Yeeun, ending up nestled in her arms instead.

Though, due to the height difference, her attempt to hug turned into being hugged.

“Welcome back, Oppa.”

Yeeun felt happy but hid her complex feelings as she looked at her awkwardly changed older brother.

The dependable older brother who used to play with her in childhood was gone without a trace.

What remained was the figure of a delicate younger sister.

‘How much must he have suffered.’

How had he survived for 12 years in this frail body?

Yeeun resolved to take good care of her older brother, who had returned only after enduring hardship.

“How many years has it been!”

Arriving home, Edelin jumped up and down, exploring the house.

Even after so many years, the house hadn’t changed.

Except for one thing.

“So there’s no news about Mom and Dad.”

There was absolutely no news about Edelin’s parents, who had disappeared together on the Day of Upheaval.

“Still, I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re back, Oppa.”

“Today’s special, I’ll order whatever you want to eat.”

“Ooh…! Then chicken and pork belly sound good!”

While Yeeun fiddled with her smartphone.

Edelin searched her memory, sat on the sofa, grabbed the remote, and pressed various buttons.

Beep.

Pressing the red button turned on the TV screen occupying one side of the living room, and a program started playing.

On the screen, fantasy-style characters were posing and being interviewed.

• We have with us the leader who successfully led today’s raid! How are you feeling right now?

• The feeling of having pioneered a path others couldn’t… I feel like I could fly.

• So you mean you’re feeling that great! Excellent. By any chance, do you have any tips to share with the viewers?

Hearing the sound from the broadcast, Yeeun commented casually as if it were nothing.

“Ah, Oppa, that’s called a virtual reality game.”

“If you’re interested, take a look.”

Already having rolled around plenty in a fantasy world and even used magic, a virtual reality game?

Edelin scoffed incredulously.

“This body was the Archmage of a world far bleaker than that one.”

“That kind of fake…”

Adelli’s voice began to tremble slightly as she spoke.

As if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

• Yes, moving on to the next news. With the clearing of a new gateway, a spontaneous festival is taking place on the Other Continent, Kairos.

The town square filled with the sound of cheerful music and merchants selling food.

A village landscape impossible to forget, the familiar sight of that world.

• Especially in the capital, a grand banquet is being held for the users who cleared it…

As the camera panned to show the capital city.

Edelin dropped the remote she was holding.

“Why… Why is the continent I lived on… over there…?”

Edelin’s eyes, staring at the screen, were shaking uncontrollably.