Chapter 168

The Tower of the Mage.

When I first encountered it, the place felt alien and unsettling due to its bizarre appearance, but now it feels familiar.

Could it be the growing intimacy from frequently meeting the person inside?

Even the sound of knocking on the door feels warmly familiar now.

“Enter.”

An incredibly vague voice.

Following that sound, as always, reveals the expansive library.

Now I understand.

The mystical magic circle harmonized with mana.

This library, which expands space and forcibly occupies reality, borrows an odd form by stretching the entire area including upper and lower levels sideways.

Though it appeared as a tower rising high, it only had one floor because of this.

Once you reach a certain level of magic, things like this become visible.

It’s no longer surprising – just another skill effect.

“I’ve brought something interesting.”

“The way you jump straight to the point deserves praise.”

“Is it okay if I put it here?”

“By all means.”

“It might be a little dangerous.”

“How much?”

“Hmm… Should we take precautions?”

“I’ll do it. Wait a moment.”

Gilbert casts a mana-based isolation spell across the desk. The magical energy disperses like a vacuum, creating quite a visually stunning effect.

“Is this sufficient?”

“It should be fine.”

“Show me then.”

Slowly, I pull out the metal plate containing the fog from my bag.

With a thud, I open the lid, and wisps of fog begin to seep out.

“So thick, explosive…”

“It’s strange, isn’t it?”

“You’ve brought something intriguing. Though it appears as fog visually, my senses tell me it’s some kind of alien presence. Examining it with mana, it feels like condensed magical life force.”

I wait for Gilbert’s interpretation to continue.

“I sense time. Hmm… long ages. Or perhaps it’s from a living being? Some ancient trace contained within life…”

Gilbert’s muttering continues.

Not wanting to disturb his concentration, I maintain silence.

“This doesn’t belong to our dimension, does it? Where did you get this?”

“From the Fortress Drifting Through Dimensions.”

“Fortress Drifting Through Dimensions?”

“Yes. It’s also called the Floating Island.”

“Floating Island!”

This is the first time I’ve seen Gilbert’s voice rise in pitch. After shouting “Floating Island,” he gazes steadily at the fog.

Looking even more intently, the mana swirling around his hands begins to rotate while shaping something.

“How could a place proven to no longer exist in this world…”

“It was in another dimension.”

“How did you end up there?”

“It just happened.”

“I’d like to hear that story sometime. For now, let’s focus on the fog. Hmm…”

Gilbert’s curiosity returns to the fog.

He touches it with his hand, separates a small stream of it, and continues to fiddle with it while I watch silently.

“All I can discern through the system is what I already know.”

Without using secret information or my once-a-week question ability, obtaining additional information would be difficult.

I’m saving that last resort for when all other methods fail to gather information.

“Hmph, tricky.”

“Will it take time?”

“Perhaps. Right now, it’s difficult to extract information.”

Because it’s not from this world, even Gilbert shows difficulty.

“At least what I’ve discovered so far – this fog appears to be some kind of life form. It carries the energy of a living being. Ironically, the mana is so dense that it creates an environment where life cannot survive.”

“What if this fog is the remains of some kind of life?”

“Have you ever seen a living corpse? Clearly, this fog is alive. You could say it’s in a comatose state. That’s all I’ve discovered so far. To go further, I’ll need to examine it more deeply.”

“I’ll leave it with you. Please handle it carefully.”

“Ho ho.”

“If you discover anything, please let me know. I’ll wait.”

“An interesting task has come my way. Thank you for bringing it.”

Living corpses, huh.

Then dragon eyes and blood…

If these fragments come together to form a complete shape, would it create a living dragon?

Or are the dragons still alive in the form of fog?

I don’t really know.

I just hope the dragons are still alive.

Saying goodbye to something that’s died isn’t very appealing.

In the end, that’s all I could learn for now.

After handing over the metal box containing the fog to Gilbert, I leave the Tower of the Mage and stroll through the forest.

Suddenly, I think about the people in the mirror world.

What if they know something about the Floating Island?

With that thought, I carefully enter the world I created.

The walls of the world I created.

Inside the neatly divided circular world, there’s a lively atmosphere.

Has it been quite a while since I last visited?

The scenes I see are quite different from before.

A gentle warmth replaces the coldness I used to feel here.

I’m at the very top of the royal castle.

A place on the terrace where I can overlook everything below.

“It’s been a while, benefactor.”

A familiar voice comes from behind.

The king.

Golden tassels hang from his imperial robes.

Wearing a shining crown, he sits on the throne looking down at me.

His formerly weary and weak appearance has vanished.

Instead, there’s a solemn dignity as he looks down upon his subjects.

“It’s been a while.”

“Do we need anything from you? We’ll help with whatever it is.”

For some reason, his dependable nature feels comforting.

That’s why, naturally, related stories flow from my mouth.

“Do you know anything about the Floating Island?”

“Floating Island? Isn’t that the island dragons created to escape reality? Why do you ask?”

The initial information provided is surprisingly detailed.

Should I have come here earlier?

Hiding that thought, I calmly ask my question.

“To escape?”

“That’s right. They spoke of building a paradise in the cracks between boundaries in another dimension…”

The king pauses briefly to think, then slowly speaks.

“Hmm. Could there be paradise in a place of escape? Especially when the cracks between boundaries are filled with danger. Even dragons might struggle to endure that.”

“Then do you know the identity of this fog?”

“Fog?”

After leaving some with Gilbert and keeping some for separate research, I reveal the fog’s identity before the king.

“This fog comes from the Floating Island.”

“Hmm. This fog is too complexly mixed to easily analyze its contents. It feels like everything has been squeezed together tightly.”

That expression explains why each fog showed different names and why the system described it in such a way.

“However, this fog doesn’t seem to belong to our world.”

“There’s a good possibility it’s from another dimension.”

“If it’s another dimension, it likely originated from either Qing Interval or White Deer boundary.”

“Qing Interval or White Deer… Are there actually named dimensions?”

“If it’s a dimension where life can’t survive, there are countless ones. Like the countless stars in the sky. Though few dimensions are connected to our world, they aren’t nonexistent.”

That was quite an amazing fact.

It felt like my worldview was expanding.

Starting from the limited village of Starwind Valley, I’ve reached the point of discussing dimensions.

“Qing Interval has a legend about fog creating a region covered in mist. A crack opened, causing it, but after closing the crack and waiting, everything returned to normal. Boundaries connected to us tend to be named like that.”

“Oh! Does it naturally return over time?”

“Not everything. Life didn’t return. It took a full 2000 years for everything to return to normal.”

“Ah…”

“All life perished. Buildings crumbled. It became desolate, leaving only fragments behind. Though the fog disappeared, it essentially took everything away.”

The king expresses wistfulness with those words.

“That’s all I can tell you. Is there anything else you’d like to know?”

“Just a moment.”

The system makes a clicking sound, indicating something new.

The achievement panel unlocks, revealing new information.

[Secrets of the Floating Island!

1. The Floating Island was the dragons’ paradise.

2. The Floating Island was moved to the secondary dimension ‘Qing Interval’ by dragons.

3. The Floating Island was conquered by Qing Interval’s anomaly, ‘Bright Moon Ancestral Garden.’

4. To return the dragons of the Floating Island, you must destroy the anomaly located deep within Qing Interval!

5. Since the Floating Island doesn’t exist in Qing Interval anymore, Bright Moon Ancestral Garden’s power isn’t eternal.

6. Best of luck!!]

Qing Interval must be the name of the secondary dimension, and Bright Moon Ancestral Garden the name of the fog.

This news made my head ache.

No matter how many details I uncover, it doesn’t necessarily lead to the right path.

It ultimately means I have to move forward myself to restore normalcy.

A hollow laugh escapes me.

Why did this game claim to be a healing game when it’s nothing of the sort?

Or maybe I’m learning too much information.

The shadow of the predecessor who once existed crosses my mind.

Despairing until eventually losing their life, that futile figure.

I firmly resolve not to become like that, slowly engraving this information in my mind.

I may need to move a bit faster.

I don’t know how long the life trapped in the fog can be maintained.

Saving the dragons is a grand mission, but…

I consider this my first step toward returning to Earth.

Just that the difficulty level was quite high from the start.

“Do you know anything about Bright Moon Ancestral Garden?”

“That’s the first I’ve heard of it. What is it?”

“I don’t know much either, that’s why I asked.”

“I’ll look into it once.”

“Thank you.”

“We welcome your visits anytime, benefactor.”

“Thank you. I’ll visit again with gifts.”

“Even empty-handed visits are enough.”

With warm farewells, I exit the mirror world.

I’ve gained a lot of information.

The most encouraging fact is that I obtained this information without using my once-a-week question ability from the system.

That ultimate move for when I truly have no way of knowing anything.

Discovering everything except the identity of the fog without using it is quite an accomplishment.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I can resolve this situation immediately.

Especially since I need a reliable plan to deal with the fog, continuing activities on the Floating Island would be very dangerous.

I remember how my body was affected by inhaling even a small amount of fog.

“Should I change my equipment…”

Though I possess excellent combat abilities independent of equipment, this time requires thorough preparation.

Thus, I move back home, pick up the hoe after a long time, and prepare to make equipment, feeling a strange excitement.

Good equipment and materials.

High skills.

How far can the performance of equipment I create now, having changed so much, be improved?

That anticipation makes my steps lighter.

Though my first step toward returning to Earth started with difficulties and struggles,

Considering such an immense process wouldn’t be easy anyway,

I simply remain steadfast and do my best.

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