Come to the Land of Fantasy (2)
A world dyed entirely white. As I walked along the white floor, I spoke ahead toward my three teammates trailing far behind me.
"We talked about it before coming in, but this is a world where your own 'mind' shapes your body. A realm of magic."
No conversation happened. I just kept talking one-sidedly. Even Unia, who you'd expect to ask at least once about this magical realm that transcended physical laws, simply followed in silence.
"Miss Unia."
"Yes."
Her reply was curt. She was clearly sulking for real. Like a golden retriever who'd been told they were going for a walk in the park, only to end up at the vet getting a shot—downcast and pouty.
"Just so you know, this place lets people's emotions come through more genuinely, so you can sense them more easily than anywhere else."
"........."
"You're feeling it too, right, Miss Unia?"
"Feeling it and hearing it straight from your mouth are two different things."
"Sorry."
"That's fine then."
At my straightforward apology, Unia dashed forward and fell into step beside me.
"Give me a heads-up next time, at least. Let me prepare myself mentally."
"Miss Unia. Do you want to keep the secret between us?"
Rydmila Lionheart stepped forward. She'd been in her swimsuit until moments ago, but now she approached in her combat bunny suit.
"What about your swimsuit?"
"This is more comfortable for me. Especially if we're gearing up for combat."
"You'd rather prioritize your comrades' safety over showing off a sexy look to a guy? I get it, even if it's a shame."
"...So what does that make this swimsuit I'm wearing?"
No sooner had I praised Rydmila's choice than Unia puffed out her cheeks and pointed to her red bikini.
"Does that mean I dressed like this just to look good for a guy, without a thought for my comrades?"
"Miss Unia."
"Yes."
"That's not wrong, is it?"
"Tch."
Unia was being bold and honest, so I had to match her—no holding back. That was the scary part of this space. People wear masks and hide their true feelings out there, but here? It doesn't work.
"Then does that mean Miss Evangeline wore that to show off to Mr. Phoenix?"
"Miss Unia. Can you even call that 'wearing' anything? It's basically just bandages slapped on."
"Oh yeah? Let's take a look."
"No, you can't."
"Absolutely not."
Unia and Rydmila grabbed my head from both sides and marched me forward. Back in the real world as a gold-tanned delinquent, I'd never dream of this, but in this form and place, they were acting more direct and aggressive.
"Fine, fine. Still, we can't keep Evangeline in the rear forever. At minimum, A-rank mana beasts will pop out ahead—we can't fight blind."
"True, but what can we do if she hasn't decided yet?"
Evangeline whimpered from behind.
"Shaping clothes with mana... I still need to get the hang of it...!"
"That's why I suggested the swimsuit."
Constructing outfits purely from thoughts in the mental world isn't easy. Unlike Unia and Rydmila, Evangeline lacked the mana reserves or skill. Combat-wise, she'd clock in around C- to B-rank. No surprise she was struggling compared to straight-A Rydmila or Unia, who was practically A-rank despite no formal testing.
Except...
"Is your swimsuit maybe one of those designs where if I turned around, I'd get a red handprint slapped across my face?"
"........."
"Didn't you buy any separately to try on when you got that swimsuit in the real world via Silverstar's golden carriage?"
"Well..."
Anything too risqué, and Evangeline couldn't easily conjure it here. Tricky for me too. For the others, I could just think of skins I'd bought with real cash back home and kit them out. But Evangeline? Her chest was ballooning by the day.
Kids grow like weeds, they say—hers seemed to funnel every growth hormone straight to her mana pouches.
"Looks like we're nearing the 'entrance,' so we need to decide. Evangeline, I'll whip up a mana suit for you this time. Next round, you make proper clothes with your own mana, got it?"
"Uh, okay... It won't be anything weird, right?"
"Would I do that?"
I wove a full outfit from mana, like crafting a Mana Skin, and tossed it back.
Pat pat pat.
Evangeline scurried up and caught it.
"Th-this is...!"
"Gotta wear something like pajamas to bed, right?"
A cute animal onesie. Unlike her dolls, it was a green dinosaur that looked ready for a pinch-hitter gig. Not from Regiph or player knowledge—straight-up a [Made in Korea] item I'd actually bought in the real world.
Swish.
"H-how's it look?"
Evangeline stepped forward. The green dino's open mouth hovered over her head like it was chomping down, but thankfully, it was a kid-friendly cute design—not some Jurassic Zoo reject. The kind where a bite might just X you out.
I hadn't forced it on anyone; just one of those impulse buys. If there was a bittersweet twinge to making it...
"Wh-what? Why the wistful stare? Bad memories with drakes or something?"
"Not bad memories."
Drake, huh. It was a T-rex. No dinosaurs in this world—dragons filled that niche. Made sense in the Breadcademy lore. And since no dinos haunted the illusions we'd fight, Evangeline could only think "drake."
"Evangeline."
"Yes."
"It suits you."
"R-really?"
"Totally. When we get back to reality, I'll make you one for free. Think of it as your go-to outfit and wear it comfy."
"F-for real?!"
Evangeline yanked at her dino onesie, beaming wildly.
"Promise!"
"Promise. Now that Evangeline's geared up and it's decision time, let's check our surroundings?"
I halted dead center. Nothing but white everywhere, but even in the blankness, paths clearly existed.
"Miss Unia. What do you think this place is?"
"A transcendental space created 500 years ago by the Four Saints, ignoring physical laws with grand magic?"
"Spot on. This transcends space-time concepts."
"Like a dream world?"
"Yeah. Not sure if you've had the experience, but sometimes in dreams, you realize 'hey, I'm dreaming' and gain free rein?"
Lucid dreaming, that thing.
"Think of it as feeling that more vividly. It's magic-made anyway, so keep it light. Everything from here on is just... illusions from the Great Hero's magic."
Take it easy.
Gravity flipping, up becoming down, infinite stairs rising to the sky—
"If where we walked is the entrance, then from this circular array, seven paths branch out. Minus the entrance."
As I stood center and channeled mana, seven colors of light radiated from the core in seven directions.
"This is...!"
"The seven attributes of mana?"
"Right. The path we came from is the gateway."
Red, blue, green, yellow, gold, black, silver. They looked like the seven earthly cores, but actually mirrored the seven demon lords of the demon realm.
"We have to conquer these seven zones."
"Zones? Eek?!"
Whoosh.
Startled, Evangeline gaped and pointed at the light pillars erupting from the seven directions.
"Th-those are the zones?"
"Yeah. More precisely... 'towers.'"
As the light pillars faded, seven similar-looking towers revealed themselves.
"We climb each to the top floor and defeat the 'guardian' there. That clears the trial."
"...This really feels like a trial."
Rydmila stretched, smacking her lips.
"Split by attributes means we can counter with the right mana type and breeze through, right?"
She clenched her fist at the yellow tower, like she could exploit attribute advantages any second.
"And here... I can cut loose with 'wind fart' without prying eyes."
"...I can show off what Master taught me more freely too."
Unia steeled herself.
"M-me? I'm the same as always. Or... eek?! Wh-what is this?! Dolls popping out of thin air!"
Evangeline looked shaky at first, then flailed as her real-world main weapon—dolls—materialized from nowhere.
"I-I didn't even summon them yet...!"
"Mental world. Nothing's impossible."
"S-so I just... think it?"
"Exactly. Go with the flow. Whatever happens, it's all a virtual world from one of the Four Heroes, the [Sage]."
"Virtual..."
"...world?"
"Yeah."
Created by one of the Four Founders, [Sage Alreister].
And...
"Cardisha should be 'contacting' us soon, so shall we discuss which tower to tackle first?"
Our alchemist and health teacher, Cardisha—full name Cardisha Alreister.