Chapter 1: The Internet Magic |
"May I ask your name?"
"Nate."
"Nate-san, you just mentioned that you wanted to join our guild?" Mirajane smiled warmly in the reception room.
She was pleased that a new mage wanted to join Fairy Tail.
"Yes."
"Are you a mage?"
"I believe I am." Nate shrugged, a helpless smile on his handsome face.
What kind of answer is that? Mirajane blinked in confusion.
"May I ask what kind of magic you specialize in? Sorry, I don't mean to pry, but it's required for guild registration."
"Could it be ancient lost magic?" Mirajane asked, a little curious.
Ancient magic was always associated with power and mystery. It had special strengths beyond ordinary magic. In her guild, there was already a mage who mastered the "Fire Dragon Slayer Magic," a type of ancient lost magic.
"My magic is called the Internet."
"The... Internet?" Mirajane tilted her head, puzzled. She could understand the individual words, but together, they didn't seem to make sense.
"Ah!" Fearing the other party might feel embarrassed, Mirajane raised a finger as her quick-thinking mind made a connection: "Is it a magic similar to a spider spinning a web? Using threads to create a net? That sounds like powerful magic."
You're too kind. So cute, I want to marry her, Nate thought as he shook his head. "No."
"Eh?" Realizing she had guessed wrong, Mirajane looked apologetic and whispered, "Sorry, I really haven't heard of it."
"No worries, it would be surprising if you had." Nate took a small cloth pouch from his pocket, opened it, and pulled out a silver ring. "This is my magic."
Nate handed the ring to Mirajane. "Once you put it on, you'll understand."
Mirajane studied it carefully with her soft gaze. It was a beautiful ring, made from a magic metal she didn't recognize. It was light in her palm.
"Any finger will do. It's not dangerous, don't worry," Nate added.
"I understand." Mirajane's smile was warm and kind, like candlelight. She placed the ring on the middle finger of her left hand, her pale and slender fingers gleaming softly.
"This is a magic item, isn't it?" Mirajane tried to channel a faint thread of magic into the ring. "It requires magic input. It's a very well-made artifact."
In this world, magic had long been integrated into people's daily lives. There were countless magic items, many of which could be used by ordinary people. But items that required magic input could only be used by mages.
"Mirajane-san, you should be able to see it now..." Nate began to explain, but before he could finish his sentence, Mirajane gasped, covering her mouth in surprise.
In front of her, lines of text floated in the air.
"Magic text? But it doesn't seem to be... I can't sense any magic energy from the letters," she whispered in astonishment.
[Welcome to the world of the Internet.]
[Please enter your Internet nickname.]
[Nicknames cannot be changed, so please choose carefully.]
[Nickname: ______]
Mirajane looked up at Nate, who smiled back at her.
"In the Internet, your nickname is like another name. I suggest not using your real name."
Following his advice, Mirajane thought for a moment and decided to use "The Departing Traveler" as her nickname.
[Nickname confirmed.]
The floating text burned away in flames, but they were not magic flames, leaving Mirajane even more curious. Even illusionary flames usually had some trace of magic.
After the text disappeared, a semi-transparent interface appeared before her, filled with words and images. Mirajane's attention was drawn to a particular line of text.
[I'm preparing to list all the magic in the magic world. I'm now inviting like-minded friends to join!]
"You can tap on what you want to view with your finger," Nate guided her.
Mirajane followed his instruction and tapped with her finger. The screen changed.
[Thanks for the invite, currently in the Celestial Spirit World. Just finished a battle with the Celestial Spirit King. Not too familiar with magic, feel free to add your knowledge below.]
[Is the poster crazy? Magic is so vast, even a lifetime wouldn't be enough to catalog it all. It's a complete waste of time.]
[Jumping in, I'm the legendary black mage Zeref, currently trapped in a secret dimension. Send me 100,000 J, and once I break the seal, I'll teach you invincible ancient magic!]
[The one above is a scammer. Don't trust him!]
Mirajane's eyes fluttered as she carefully read the post. Seeing the name "Zeref," she couldn't help but be startled. But the post later called it a scammer.
"These are...?" Mirajane asked.
"Probably scammers," Nate said, scratching his chin. "Zeref is the legendary founder of black magic. He's been dead for who knows how many years."
In truth, Nate himself had left those comments using alternate accounts. But Mirajane, unaware of this, thought they were written by real people who, like her, had entered the Internet using the ring.
"This magic is amazing," she remarked. "It's somewhat like telepathy magic, but instead, the Internet communicates through text."
After reading a few more posts, Mirajane began to understand how it worked. She paused for a moment, then gently furrowed her brows.
"No, it's different. It doesn't seem like real-time communication," she noted. "There's even a post about free food distribution at the Kardia Cathedral... but that was last week."
The Kardia Cathedral occasionally distributed free food, but the timing was irregular.
Nate, serving as her guide, explained, "There are other sections too. Look at the top right, next to your name, there's a 'Daily Check-In' feature."
Curious, Mirajane tapped the Daily Check-In button.
[Check-in successful. You are the 101st person to check in today and have received 10 points as a reward.]
"What are points?" she asked.
"They're a currency I created for the Internet. You get points every day you check in. The higher your rank, the better the reward."
"Like the Jewels currency we normally use?"
Mirajane nodded, feeling a bit happy. "Just by tapping, I earned 10 points. Nate-san, you're going to go bankrupt at this rate."
Nate thought, people who haven't been through the Internet age are so easy to fool. "Yeah, I'm going broke fast."
Mirajane smiled sweetly and asked, "Since it's a currency, can you use points to buy things?"
"For now, you can only use them to play games."
"Play games?"
Nate stood up and sat beside her, guiding her through the process. They entered the games section.
Mirajane saw three different titles:
[Poker]
[Mahjong]
[Fruit Ninja]
Filled with curiosity, Mirajane clicked on Mahjong.
[Matching...]
[Match successful!]
The screen shifted to a Mahjong-playing interface. As a first-time player, the system introduced the rules. Mirajane was quick to learn, and the game began.
One game, two games...
Mirajane bit her lip, her face showing a hint of determination. The rules were simple, so why couldn't she win?
Three games, five games...
A long time passed.
Mirajane, blushing slightly, held her face. "Sorry... I lost everything."
The system prompted, [You don't have enough points to continue.]
Nate, who had been watching her play the entire time, felt his blood pressure rise. With a 100% losing rate, if you didn't lose everything, who would?
Feeling embarrassed, Mirajane quietly asked, "Nate-san, could you give me another 10 points? I can buy them from you with J currency."
Nate was speechless. Is this the start of a pay-to-win player? He realized he had made the right move developing those games.
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