Chapter 61: To Idea

“Teacher, have you ever met the protagonists in person?”

“I met Sarah Harundas in Idea. She was the second daughter of a noble family where I worked as a tutor. A spirited girl, swinging a wooden sword as big as herself, determined to become a swordsman like her father.”

“What about Jin Seongha?”

“I met him once. Why, want to meet him? I was planning to introduce you all to him one by one later. Why the sudden question?”

“Just curious. Why not tell Jin Seongha about the future to prepare him?”

“Child, you still don’t understand my teachings. How many beatings will it take?”

Ion held out his palm. Teacher disciplined him with the crow-carved cane the orphans called the ‘whip.’

“You must never reveal yourself to key figures. Especially you, Ion—never act familiar or engage with them. That’s the only way the story unfolds as intended. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“In truth, just harboring such doubts warrants your expulsion from the orphans. But your skills are the best, so I can’t. I’m disappointed my most promising child asks such foolish questions.”

“I’m sorry, Teacher. I won’t question again.”

“Always remember: you must never reveal or imprint your existence on key figures. You’re unworthy dregs.”

“Yes, Teacher. I’ll always remember…”

Teacher drilled into the orphans their status as extra dregs, yet told Jin Seongha the future.

Looking back, she said, “You must never reveal yourself to key figures,” not “We must never.”

A big difference between ‘you’ and ‘we.’

Teacher’s possessed body wasn’t an extra like the orphans.

A renowned mage in Idea, a brilliant scholar certain of other worlds’ existence—a supporting character often mentioned early in the novel.

Right. Teacher was a supporting character, so she had the right to approach Jin Seongha personally.

Sixteen years ago, when Teacher crossed from Idea to gather the orphans—2034—she met Jin Seongha before collecting them, binding him with a contract magic akin to a gag contract item.

She was a great mage, after all.

“Master Ion, you okay? You look shocked. Was the one who told you the future the same person?” Jin Seongha asked sharply.

“I’m not sure yet. Keep going. What else did the old man say? He mentioned ‘Moshi’ and personal rewards, right?”

“He did.”

Jin Seongha continued, Ion’s eyes widening.

The old man gave four instructions:

1. Never join the guild D-NATE after the Cataclysm.
2. After the Naju dungeon raid, technology to predict dungeon info would emerge.
3. Consume the personal reward ‘Lutan Pale’ immediately.
4. Warn someone planning a long journey: if they go, they’ll die there.

Outrageous.

Because… the novel never mentioned a guild called D-NATE.

D-NATE was created by the orphans.

How did Teacher, sixteen years ago, know two orphans she’d raise would form D-NATE?

“If that prophecy’s true, Master Ion, you’ll die in Idea. I’d advise against using the teleportation crystal.”

“That’s not the point.”

“You might lose your life, and that’s not the point?”

“Dying’s like saying ‘kimchi stew cools eventually.’ No surprise. All stews cool. But…”

Knowing D-NATE’s existence sixteen years ago wasn’t kimchi stew—it was like mistaking it for doenjang stew.

Was it really Teacher?

A rugged, fit old man with a crow-carved black cane.

Could there be another like him?

A figure flashed in Ion’s mind—someone whose face and age were unknown but definitely existed.

Not someone who knew the ‘novel,’ but the ‘future’ where D-NATE was created.

…Another Breeder.

“I don’t even want to call that trash ‘Master,’ but he claimed he was a regressor. He said he regressed thirty years back the moment the Demon King’s subjugation team defeated it.”

Hahoe Mask said their Breeder was a ‘regressor,’ not a possessor.

It wasn’t Teacher.

The one who told Jin Seongha the future was Hahoe and Butterfly Mask’s Breeder—a true regressor, not a novel possessor.

“Master Ion, you’re deep in thought. Care to share some clues?”

“Was that all? Any more future details?”

“That’s it. He left after those prophecies.”

The Teacher-like regressor only predicted up to a year post-Cataclysm, setting the contract to expire then.

He knew further prophecies were pointless—these would drastically alter his experienced future.

“I don’t know what’s going on either. But I’m sure the person who told you the future isn’t the same as mine.”

“If two on Earth know the future, Idea might have two or more.”

“Yeah.”

Ion stood. He needed to get to Idea fast.

“Baba! Time to go!”

Baba, tangled in fruit vines, flapped over.

Prurrt!

Ion, startled, untangled the fruit and tossed it to Jin Seongha, who caught it and stood.

“You named the bat.”

“It happened. I’m off.”

“Master Ion, I’m coming to Idea. Give me time to prepare.”

“What? Why?”

“I’d rather your kimchi stew not cool.”

“It’s a one-person crystal. And you need to protect Choi Jung-go here.”

“It’s just an item, right? Show it to Guildmaster Jipyeongseop; he’s a master craftsman. He can mod it for three—Jung-go hyung can come.”

What, a sightseeing trip?

“Fine, deal with your calls first. I’ll head to the guild tonight.”

Jin Seongha’s devices buzzed nonstop—he’d rushed here straight from the dungeon.

“Liar. You’re ditching me to go alone.”

“No time to argue.”

“Then I’ll hold your plant hostage.”

“What?”

Jin Seongha reached out fast. Ion, clutching Sansevieria, stepped back. Golden mana surged, binding Ion’s wrists and pot.

Mana manipulation! He’s already mastered it.

Using mana as a weapon, not just for skills—a step beyond reading ether structures, as Ion taught Hong Insu. In Level 1, only Jin Seongha could wield mana this way.

Even the orphans hadn’t reached this stage.

“I’ll keep your plant safe and return it tonight. Don’t hate me; I’m not letting you go alone.”

“…”

“Warn someone planning a long journey: if they go, they’ll die there.”

The warning wasn’t just for Ion.

If Jin Seongha followed to Idea, he’d be the one at risk.

Protagonist 1 could die there.

“Sorry, but I can’t ‘travel’ protecting you in Idea’s unknown chaos. Train hard for two months.”

“What!?”

Ion moved his mana, unraveling Jin Seongha’s golden ropes instantly. Ion had mastered mana manipulation at five.

He cast invisibility magic, derived from a flower that turns transparent when wet, cloaking himself, Sansevieria, and Baba.

“Damn it, Master Ion! I won’t force you to take me—just take some potions and items!” Jin Seongha shouted, flailing.

“Ion!”

Ignoring his booming voice, Ion left the lot.

Ion didn’t entirely dismiss Jin Seongha’s warning. With a high chance of danger in Idea, he grabbed defensive items, all provided by Da-on.

He didn’t tell Da-on about the conversation or the prophecy of danger—she’d never let him go alone.

But she found it odd when he left all his plants except Sansevieria, despite initially planning to take them.

Under her suspicious gaze, Ion kissed each plant goodbye.

He couldn’t leave for Idea’s uncertainty with half-hearted farewells.

By evening, preparations were complete.

Ion entered a pre-selected forest terrain E-rank dungeon, easily clearing monsters and destroying the gate stone, revealing the exit gate.

He pulled out the glass vial of blue powder, broke it, and infused mana into each grain.

It drained significant mana—why he chose a forest dungeon.

Shwaaa—

The blue powder merged with the gate, turning its shimmering white into radiant blue.

Guuu—Clank, creak. Clank.

A sound like a massive machine roared, and a blue door bound in mana chains appeared.

A slot in the center awaited coordinates.

The novel listed several Idea coordinates.

Ion chose ‘Somind Mage’s Tower.’

One year and seven months post-Cataclysm, Protagonist 2 and her party should be near Somind’s Black Marsh, spanning the Somind-Iliand border.

If the novel’s on track.

Ion input the coordinates.

Wooong—

Another mechanical sound, then clank, clatter—chains unraveled, and the door opened.

Beyond was a pitch-black void.

The same black hole Giants and Demonkin emerged from.

“Dam Ion. Scary.”

“…Get in the bag.”

“I’m in.”

Opening the zipper, Baba dove inside. Sanse wouldn’t fear. Ion stroked its leaves and stepped into the void.

Then—

[Divinity detected.] [Automatically redirecting to divine realm.]

A system message, impossible for a non-awakened like Ion, appeared.

Pop!

A white space materialized—no ceiling, walls, or floor. Ion floated in it.

Definitely not the Mage’s Tower. Not Idea.

Instinctively, he knew.

The system had intercepted him before Idea, diverting him to this unknown place.

And then…

-What… is this? A human…?

A voice echoed.