Damn, We Have to Praise the Admin

Explaining magic had somehow eaten up several hours. Even Choi Yebin, sitting off to the side, had leaned in to listen with quiet interest — and for a mage like Riena (love peace), there was nothing more to say.

"How do you know all of this? I feel like my magic has improved so much more than before you taught me!"

Riena bounced on her feet, practically vibrating with excitement. She said her magic formulas felt sharper and more refined, that every vague or half-understood piece had finally clicked into place, and she thanked me over and over.

"You said theory and practice are completely different, and you were right! I can't sense any mana from you at all, Admin, so it doesn't seem like your total mana is very high. How on earth did you study this much theory?"

"It's not that my mana is low. I just can't use it for a while."

Riena tilted her head as if that made no sense, but I didn't bother explaining further. Going into the twenty-four-hour restriction would have been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠complicated — and unnecessary.

Magic as a discipline only truly makes sense when you build your own formulas and cast them. Even for the simplest manual labor people say a hundred readings aren't worth one look; for magic — which turns imagination into reality — using a single formula once teaches you far more clearly than reading thousands of books. That I, someone who can handle nearly every form of magic in existence, would be rock-solid on theory was only natural.

"Anyway, thank you so much! As repayment, if there's anything you want from me, I'll do it!"

When she made the offer, I answered without a second thought.

"Then would you let us stay here for just one night?"

"W…what?!"

Riena's eyes went wide. She threw her arms across her body and stepped back.

"I…I said I'd do whatever you wanted, but we're not even dating…? I…I do think it's amazing and intellectual how deep your grasp of theory is, but for people who only met today to do something that shameless is a little…"

She started babbling. She'd clearly misread "stay the night," so I corrected her at once.

"Not like that. I just don't have anywhere to go right now. Someone I know is coming to pick me up tomorrow, and it's too dangerous outside to sleep rough until then. I'm only asking you to put us up for tonight. If you have another room free, just let me and my friend sleep there."

"Hwaaaa…"

Riena made a troubled face, then hung her head.

"I…I've never had a man stay at my house before, but…you did teach me magic theory, so I'll let you sleep here tonight! But you can't sleep anywhere except this room. If you go outside and run into my mother, she'll throw you out on the spot."

"So then?"

"Admin, you sleep on the floor, and that person over there…and I will share the bed."

Riena pointed at Choi Yebin as she spoke. Choi Yebin didn't even glance her way; she looked straight at me instead.

"Sleeping in a bed is uncomfortable, so I'll sleep on the floor. I'm more used to it anyway."

"But if you sleep down there, your back will hurt…"

Choi Yebin didn't answer. She simply closed her eyes.

Could you at least try to be a little warmer?

Then again, given how thoroughly unhinged the novel killer Choi Yebin had possessed was, that girl had probably killed dozens — maybe hundreds — of people despite how she looked. Her emotions would have been worn down to nothing, and forming bonds with anyone would only have gotten harder.

She followed me because I'd shown her one-sided ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kindness and because I told her everything without a single lie. But she was hardly the type to warm up to someone she'd just met today.

"It's late, so let's call it a night."

With that, Riena took the bed while Choi Yebin and I claimed a corner of the floor and went to sleep.

I slept fairly late. When I woke, Choi Yebin was already up, back against the floor, scanning the room.

"Aren't you tired? Did you sleep all right?"

"…I slept enough. I don't usually sleep much to begin with."

Riena was still lost in deep sleep on the bed, breathing slow and even.

Choi Yebin spoke up.

"She seems way too naive. What is she going to do if we attack her?"

It was a fair question. No matter how much magic theory I'd taught her, letting complete strangers sleep in her room was, by any normal standard, hard to understand.

"People are different, I guess. I did tell her I was the admin of the Dying Novel Gallery, so that might have lowered her guard."

"Even so."

"Or maybe it's because we're from the same community."

The Dying Novel Gallery. People who'd been dropped into novels spent their entire lives looking at the cast of those stories. Just because a character had a human face and a human way of speaking didn't mean they shared the same identity. The simple fact of having lived on Earth — in Korea, of all places — looked trivial, but it forged an enormous sense of solidarity.

"Same community, so she can be friendly…"

Choi Yebin listened, then nodded slowly.

"Maybe that really is part of it. After all, the only Koreans we can still build any sense of home with are the ones in the Dying Novel Gallery."

Watching her stare blankly out the window, a question suddenly rose in me.

"So why did you follow me out of the novel you were stuck in?"

"You already know. That novel was a nightmare. I never got a proper night's sleep. The second I closed my eyes, vagrants and raiders came at me, and plenty of bastards tried to put their hands on me more times than I can count. I wanted out of there the first chance I got. For me it was hell, pure and simple. I didn't want to die, but I wanted to escape. So I just hung on day after day. And then you showed up, Admin."

"You never thought about doubting me? I could have been a bad person."

"Is there any point in doubting?"

"Ah…right. You can tell when someone's lying."

"No. It wasn't because of that ability. You're strong, Admin. If you'd meant to do anything bad, you would have done it the moment we met. When I first ran into you I was already dying — if you hadn't poured Elixir on me, I would have bled out. And if you hadn't saved me after that, I would have died then too. You're my benefactor. You risked yourself to keep me alive when I was about to die, and you even pulled me out of that hell."

"You talk just fine when it's with me. Try being a little friendlier with other people too. Riena doesn't seem like a bad kid."

"That might be hard. I don't really want to get close to just anyone."

"Fine…do whatever you're comfortable with."

I finished the short conversation with Choi Yebin and closed my eyes again. She looked worn thin — and that was exactly why she felt so reliable.

Even after my nap, Riena was still asleep. I opened the Dying Novel Gallery.

The second I logged in, I traded some warm, heartfelt well-wishes with my board friends.

Coming to meet love peace and nearly dying right away had made me neglect the Dying Novel Gallery without realizing it. I immediately started dumping shitposts.

I was dumping shitposts and cackling to myself when Choi Yebin turned an unreadable look on me. The faint sigh and the head-shake — I must have imagined those.

"Ahem…"

I cleared my throat and hit refresh, watching the new posts roll in. The Admin hadn't been back long (not even twenty-four hours), and already the board felt lively again.

Still — the Archmage's Research Journal I'd "coincidentally" found and uploaded. The mass-slaughter magic in it was high-tier enough that the number of people begging me for more was hard to ignore.

Not everyone was begging, though. Call-out posts aimed at me started showing up one by one.

I looked at the flood of hate posts and considered my options. Pretend I didn't see it — or throw the board a bait so big it would burn the place down. The decision didn't take long. Firepower this large needed matching bait. I started writing a post, finished typing, and hit upload on the spot.

What went up on the board was the lost Archmage's Research Journal, Part 3.

Ten minutes after posting.

Three hundred fifty comments. One hundred twenty upvotes.

For the first time, a post of mine hit trending without any admin privileges behind it.