IRL Fight from Day One
"I want a community."
Inside a research lab of the magic tower, I muttered that with a deflated sigh.
Wasn't there a saying that grad school is a place only half-crazy people enter and come out fully insane?
Chief apprentice.
One step short of becoming an Official Mage.
I had to write a new thesis, and I didn't even have the faintest idea what to write about.
Day after day of wringing my brain dry for ideas left my already twitchy fingers itching worse than ever.
I mimed holding a phone and scrolling with my thumb.
Shitposts.
Humor posts.
Troll posts.
And a world where all of that mixed together into a noisy, chaotic free-for-all.
Socially speaking, the reputation hadn't exactly been glowing even by generous standards — but you could still pick up information, and you could chat with people who shared your hobbies. That kind of place.
"Fuck, I want a community."
With a gloomy face, I stopped scrolling on a phone that didn't exist.
Ten years had passed since the worn-out web novel cliché of falling asleep and waking up reincarnated in another world.
One thing led to another, it turned out I had talent as a mage, I entered a magic tower to study magic, and now all that stood between me and Official Mage status was a single thesis.
Everything else, I could endure.
The food that had suddenly changed? I was the type who could eat anything, so that was fine.
The culture that had suddenly changed? Fine. Mages were a respected profession — even with a different culture, I never got snubbed anywhere I went.
Just one thing.
The internet. And communities.
That was what I truly missed.
"My game's probably dropped a new character by now."
Log into the community, check the reactions, cackle along with everyone, pile on the trolls if there were any, trade info, look at fanart people had drawn........
Of course, that was pure fantasy.
This was a fantasy world with no phones and no internet.
"Wait a second."
A single mad idea flashed through my mind.
This world has magic, doesn't it?
No phones, no internet — but magic.
And this wasn't just some ordinary fantasy world, either.
The absolute peak of high fantasy.
A place that brought Dungeons & Dragons to mind, where all kinds of races and cultures coexisted.
A world where magic was so widespread that everyone — even a kid on the street — could use simple telekinesis or household utility magic.
A place with many gods and many dimensional systems.
And the magic field I was majoring in right now?
Spatial magic, specializing in dimensional travel and spatial translocation.
A world that connects the divine realm to the soul to borrow sacred magic from the gods. A world that connects the spirit realm to the soul to summon spirits. Then maybe...?!
What if I artificially created a virtual dimensional system, then borrowed text and images from it so people could view them? Couldn't I run a community even here?
It was a crazy idea.
And it was the moment the topic of my graduation thesis was decided.
I threw myself into the project like a madwoman.
Exploring the magical feasibility of artificially generating a virtual dimensional system.
Exploring the technical feasibility of pulling nothing but pure text and images into that generated dimension and displaying them to a specific individual's soul.
Exploring the magical feasibility of letting anyone with a soul — not just humans, but any soul-bearing being across multi-layered dimensional systems — connect to it.
And after nearly half a year of being utterly consumed by the project —
It's possible! Holy shit, I can build a community in another world?!
I realized it wasn't magically impossible.
Artificially generating a dimensional system?
That was a field that normally required divine power, of course.
But what I wanted to make wasn't some vast dimensional system where people and creatures could live.
I just wanted a place where text and images could be called up. That was all.
If you simplified the functions of a dimensional system to the extreme, generating one was possible even with human magical ability.
I immediately crafted a single virtual dimensional system with precision.
I layered thorough magical defenses so it wouldn't be destroyed or shaken by external magical interference.
And I configured the dimensional system itself so that written posts and records would be stored and remain.
And so my precious virtual dimensional system was born.
It was closer to the internet itself than to a community — and at the same time, something that couldn't quite do more than a community either.
A thoroughly strange existence.
"What should I name it?"
A place where anyone with a soul could connect, call up text and images, and upload them.
"Soulnet it is."
It was childish, but it was the only name that came to mind on the spot.
I carefully gathered the Soulnet-related papers and went to see the elders of the magic tower.
And then —
"This is truly novel research."
"You actually created a virtual dimensional system? Does it work?"
"Yes, Elders! It actually works — you can upload text and images, and you can call them up!"
"Haha! How fascinating. I ought to try posting something myself, just for fun."
"Ah! In that case, right here — please create a new gallery and converse with each other there."
"And the method of connection?"
"I'll teach you the spell that can link to the dimensional system. It's very simple. I made it a Level 1 spell so anyone can connect."
"This is truly remarkable. How does one specifically upload a post? Do tell me."
My research was recognized, and I was granted the status of Official Mage.
And Soulnet's first gallery was born.
The Magic Gallery.
Those were the first post and comments ever registered on Soulnet.
And the Magic Gallery began to bustle in earnest.
The scale was still small, of course.
Only the people who posted, posted — and it wasn't yet the kind of community I was used to.
But that was fine.
Someone would post, and I could sit there grinning at it.
Even just this much was more than enough.
For now it was only known inside the Black Magic Tower I belonged to — which mainly researched spatial and dimensional travel — but once it got famous and the user base started growing, I'd get to see far more varied posts.
"Ahh. This is satisfying!"
I snickered as I gazed at the text and images pulled up in a form similar to a status window on Soulnet.
I hope this gets more famous!
Should I try promoting it a little?
Or maybe it'd be great if some celebrity became a Soulnet user.
And as luck would have it —
"Elsi?"
"Tower Lord. What brings you here?"
"Come with me to the capital. Your thesis has been selected as a Supreme Article. You are to be awarded a Golden Ring."
"A Golden Ring? Isn't that the thing where if you get three of them, you can use the title of Archmage?"
"Indeed. Congratulations. It is quite rare for an apprentice to earn a Golden Ring with their very first thesis. As expected, you have talent. Haha!"
"Thank you very much!"
A chance for promotion had arrived.
The imperial capital of the Valrod Empire — the largest empire in the Wirod Dimension, the intermediate realm where I lived, boasting the greatest territory and population.
At the council of Rune's Round Table, the assembly of mages, I was given the chance to promote my community before thousands of high-ranking mages, tower lords, elders, and a handful of Archmages.
"Soulnet! You can call up simple text and images. Currently there is only the Magic Gallery, but if you have a field of interest, you can create a new gallery and post and debate there. Please make good use of it!"
I waved with the Golden Ring on my finger as I said it, and applause erupted.
And as a result of attending Rune's Round Table, waving that Golden Ring, and introducing Soulnet — the Magic Gallery grew enormously.
At first, it was curiosity.
Casual greetings.
Posts testing whether images and text actually went up.
Posts marveling that this actually worked.
Images of what people had for lunch, what their labs looked like.
The Magic Gallery had been nothing but those kinds of posts — but at some point, it began to go beyond mere curiosity.
That one simple question post racked up over three thousand comments and sparked a heated debate that raged for more than a month — and from that point on, the Magic Gallery became, true to its name, a place for debating magic.
I was happy.
At last, a community had been born in another world too.
Giggling along, picking up knowledge from info posts, watching debates and seeing how the threads would roll — I could do all of that!
"Ahhh! This is the life!"
Lying in bed, snickering as I watched the posts, I disconnected and pulled the blanket over myself.
And I prayed inwardly.
Please.
Let Soulnet get more famous.
Let it grow even bigger.
Let there be even more users.
I fell asleep.
And the next day —
My wish came true.
A large-scale mage duel broke out between Kalaksil and the Isrban Kingdom at the Black Wasteland.
Dozens injured.
In an instant, Soulnet became the most famous name across the entire continent.
Fuck.