The Future Rolls Right By

Opportunities just lying around, huh.

Ziiing...

"...Morning."

I stepped out of the capsule. A little chirp greeted me from somewhere in the apartment — the sounds of reality welcoming me back — and sunlight came pouring through the floor-to-ceiling window straight onto my face.

It had been a long session.

"Was that almost sixteen hours?"

After meeting Pharaoh, I'd cleared the ruins dungeon and then the Interference Dungeon, reclaimed his original body, and returned to the Elbrit Principality — and by the time I'd checked the clock, this was how much time had passed.

Granted, the Interference Dungeon had eaten up most of that.

"Mmmgh..."

I stretched lazily and shuffled out to the living room. Same old routine. Into the kitchen for something quick to eat, then settled in front of the computer.

My editor's Discord server was still ablaze with activity. Inside, posts about me were flooding in without pause.

"Alien, NPC, hacks, Fourth, Pharaoh, Raccoon..."

It was utter chaos — as if one single broadcast had somehow churned out every buzzword on the planet. The 'dungeon lore drops' like the Fourth Era, Pharaoh, and Raccoon were hot topics in their own right, but the thing burning hottest was still my identity.

Who exactly is Lily?

I'd said the word "alien" with my own mouth, but it was such an absurd claim that hardly anyone believed it. Like I said before, 'hack' or 'NPC' was the far more plausible theory — and honestly, I hadn't exactly delivered the line with a straight face.

It's the truth, though.

This world really is short on faith.

Ding-dong.

─Kirang-karang.

"?"

─Bzzz. Bzzzzz. Bzzz.

"What are you doing, White Autumn?"

─Hmm. This wasn't it?

The moment I entered the Discord voice channel, White Autumn muttered something strange. Then a faint giggle drifted through the call — Jjoa, my thumbnail manager.

─The alien boss lady has arrived! Welcome, welcome!

─......

─Hey, Jjoa! You agreed to do this with me!

─I know nothing about any such thing.

─Y-you... traitor!

"What are you two up to?"

Why was it just the two of them in the call, with no one else around? White Autumn let out an awkward ahaha...

─Everyone's busy managing the fan café and NewTube. A few of them stepped out for a break, too.

"Ah, I see."

─There are a lot more troublemakers stirring things up now, though. Saying all sorts of weird stuff.

─I know, right? Unni.

Now that my identity was half-exposed, it was only natural that the number of people who looked at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me unfavorably would grow. Alien or not, I was no longer a pure, ordinary player — and from that alone, grievances were bound to sprout.

An entirely predictable phenomenon, really...

─Deoen was always a garbage RNG luck-fest anyway. Coming at it now is hilarious, don't you think?

─Agreed. I only got a hidden class a few days ago and already I'm in the top 10%.

─...Is that a flex I'm hearing right now?

─Oh, unnni. As if~

Those two have gotten really close.

"I should give you both a bonus. You're working hard."

─...Um. There's something I'm curious about.

"Ask away."

─What's your real identity?

Jjoa asked. My identity, huh...

─There's no way you're actually an alien. It's just a penalty thing, right? From what I've seen, past-Lily showing up seemed connected to the class advancement quest too...

"I'm an alien."

─Ehh... Sorry, what?

"I said I'm an alien. I really did come from another world."

I had no particular intention of hiding it anymore. It's not like I'd been all that eager to hide it before either, but I'll admit I was careful about it. Now, though, I could finally speak and act comfortably.

Not that I felt any burning need to prove it — I simply had no plans to deny it.

Believe it if you want. Don't if you don't.

─Hmm... Oh. I see. Uh-huh...

─Knew it! The alien boss lady! No wonder you felt different from the very first time I saw you!

"Is the editing all done?"

─Eh?

"Because from what I can see, Academy episode 3 still isn't finished. I distinctly remember someone saying it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would be done yesterday."

A truly puzzling mystery.

─...You're not an alien. You're just human.

White Autumn grumbled for no reason and muted herself. She'd been playing around all this time, so she'd work hard now. Probably.

─Oh, Lily! Is that thing actually true?

"What thing?"

─That after the Great Cataclysm update, there's a high chance multiple World Bosses will appear?

It was what Raccoon, the owner of the token shop, had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠once said. A calamity is coming. I'd taken that to mean simply the Kraken — but what he'd spoken of was something far bigger.

─As in 'not just one'! I'm guessing that just like when three World Bosses showed up at once before, a whole swarm of them is going to pop out this time, right?

"Probably, yes. Two of them are already decided."

Scorpio — the World Boss that had vanished after claiming the full authority of the Great Sun. It had already possessed power beyond that of an Intermediate World Boss, and now that it had absorbed the complete authority, its tier had likely climbed another two notches or so.

─Ah, you mean Scorpio? The scorpion.

"Right. I imagine it'll appear alongside the Cataclysm."

─Ooooh... Then things are going to be pure chaos. The sea gets the Kraken, the land gets Scorpio... the sky — do you think the sky gets one too?

"The sky?"

─Well, you know how these things always go. They just have to fill out land, sea, AND air.

The sky, huh...

The sea had never been a stage for angels or demons, which was why nothing there had ever been able to stand against the Kraken. The land, on the other hand, was crawling with so many powerhouses that picking a single champion was difficult — though at this point, even Scorpio would make for a formidable contender.

And the sky...

"......Yeah. It'd have to be those guys."

The rulers of the heavens. The two most representative races of all.

Angels and demons.

Aside from those two, there was no telling what the incoming World Bosses might actually be. Like Jjoa said, there could be three — or more than that — or entirely different monsters altogether. Perhaps the angels and demons wouldn't appear at all.

But then, lore about the demons had dropped during the Siege War. It had been quite the hot topic at the time — talk that a boss finally worthy of the title 'Devil of Angel' was bound to show up eventually.

They'll come, no doubt about it. The real question is the Kraken.

Devil of Angel — the massive 'virtual reality game' and the organization operating it. Judging by everything I'd seen from Raccoon and his ilk, and from the system's behavior so far, they wouldn't be reckless enough to drop high-tier demons onto players at their current level.

If they did, not just this continent but the neighboring one and the entire region would be drowned in demonic energy, and the game would most likely collapse outright.

By that logic, the strongest demons players would face would top out around Berd of the Black World Tree, or Sepid, the Spirit of Darkness...

"Lily!"

The Kraken was different.

The form of it I'd glimpsed through the Multicolored Successor had looked far stronger than it had been before the angels so ruthlessly tore it apart.

"Oh, Yena. Welcome."

Of course, the system would no doubt prepare its own personal buffs and guild buffs, along with some special gimmick — and even if the players failed to bring it down, they'd be given some chance at recovery afterward.

Like I could actually trust that.

There was no trusting a system that had worked me to the bone for over thirty years and then tossed me a measly twenty million won.

"Another match today?"

"If I lose this one, it's six to nothing. You sure you're up for it?"

"Ha! This time will be different! Behold the brand-new, freshly upgraded me!"

It had been three days since the Interference Dungeon ended. The Eli Academy had been running for a little over ten days now.

I received Yena at the academy's Manifestation Tennis Court. The players had been attending classes nonstop, and even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in my absence, they were growing accustomed to handling mana and casting magic through online lectures and the various facilities and shops.

Above all, what the players needed to master was Manifestation.

On her fifth day, Yena had perfectly reproduced the Fireball I'd assigned her as homework. As expected — the initial struggle aside, anyone with real talent could knock out a simple formula like that in no time.

Beep.

The Manifestation Tennis Court — one of the facilities I'd built for the academy. A space where you could play tennis using rackets and balls that moved only through the 'manifestation' of mana.

There were all sorts of facilities built around manifestation training, but Yena was especially fond of this one.

"What's your rate today?"

"Nine percent. Not bad, right?"

"That's a big jump. I'll adjust accordingly."

I set my racket's power to twelve percent — just a shade above Yena's — and pressed the start button. In an instant, the stark white-and-blue court transformed into a dazzling arena, its phantom crowds conjured by illusion magic watching our match from every seat.

I lightly returned the ball. My blue mana-forged racket sent it sailing across the net, and Yena's racket spun it right back at me.

There was a time she couldn't even swing the thing — now she could rally with me, stroke for stroke.

Everyone's growing so fast.

Yena, and all the other players too.

Pyaang!

"Is that really okay?"

"Sorry, what?"

"Your identity. You went public with it. Aren't you worried about getting found out?"

"I did, didn't I."

But what could I do? Things had already turned out this way.

"Like I said before — I'm just planning to live my life."

"Hee~ So does that mean you'll train ice arts too?"

"Let's leave the ice arts out of this."

All that going public meant, at the end of the day, was that I was an unusual person, full stop. What I had no interest in was letting that bleed over into my real life.

Reality, after all, had no vast reservoirs of power like Deoen — or like the person I used to be.

Not that I go outside much to begin with.

"I might, if the occasion calls for it. But I've got no plans for now."

"Whenever it's comfortable for you is fine. Oh — wait, did you hear the news?"

"What news?"

Thwack!

The ball soared high — so high it seemed it might punch straight through the sky. It hung at the apex of its arc for a long moment, then, its strength spent, dropped straight down in a vertical line toward Yena's court.

"Ah, my bad. So apparently land prices in the port cities have gone up twenty-fold. They're saying you can barely even buy any anymore."

"Mm."

The future really does come rolling right by, doesn't it.