What is [Mystique]?
It is similar to magic yet distinct; if magic is the power mimicked from nature maximized and materialized through language, then mystique is the potential inherent in humans.
As the pinnacle of sentient beings evolved over millions of years, it is a power that only humanity can wield.
However, it remains a powerful miracle that has not yet been fully understood in terms of how it can be utilized or its origin.
This is what refers to the mystique within the Dreaming World.
Moreover, that mystique is a unique sensation possessed by individuals that cannot resonate with any other power.
It is also a skill that only those who can draw their emotions into power, encompassing all pain such as anger, sorrow, despair, and hope, can utilize.
“Is this the place?”
Therefore, while the abilities of those who use miracles are certainly limited, they all possess a powerful range or performance.
Much like the person I am about to recruit.
Their inherent ability is outstanding, yet unlike Charlotte and Skolla, they do not particularly require anything.
They are not even in a position to approach, and they possess a way of thinking that I, even I, cannot easily comprehend.
Somewhat broken, yet she clearly has the will to converse.
I was thinking of slowly approaching her in the time that remains…
But something went wrong.
“Huh?”
Her ability is simple.
It is the distortion of perception through drawing and creation.
New structures created from beginning to end within reach only change human perspectives and do not affect reality.
However, the influence of this mystique is so powerful that it cannot be undone by ordinary magic, of course.
Unless a capacity related to exploration… or a higher mystique intervenes, it is also impossible to undo.
That alone takes quite a long time.
Considering that I have been circling the same place for hours, it is only natural.
[4:11]
Five hours have passed since the exam began.
Broken rebars mark the path, yet I do not know how to escape.
No, it is only natural that I cannot escape in the first place.
I must either eliminate the source that generates the mystique by obliterating the entire area with extremely wide attacks or find an unusual way to escape this illusion.
If she does not desire it, it is impossible for me to reach her, at least.
However, what I truly want is different.
Just to let her know that I am here.
Since the entire space is under her influence, she can also observe the people within it.
After all, I was not planning to meet her today, so it is fine.
It should have been the case.
“… The illusion has been undone?”
The repetition of the space, which had been ongoing for hours, was suddenly released.
The repetition of broken rebar and pipes vanished, revealing a new path before my eyes.
I wondered if it might be another illusion, but she does not have such an ability.
Even if that person were to paint over a picture already drawn from afar and create a new one, it is absolutely impossible at this time.
So why has the illusion been lifted?
‘I was had.’
Before I approached, just after the first day had passed, the conclusion that she had been deceived by someone is drawn.
I may not be able to confirm it, but certainly, the significant difference from other rounds must be the presence of Yoon Si-woo.
After all, it would have been impossible to reach the end of that path through ordinary means.
The influence would have acted in some way.
“Damn.”
The moment I recognized that the situation was not good, I ran straight toward the center of the distortion point.
And I finally discovered Yoon Si-woo, who was running somewhere, along with several others beside him.
Among the fallen individuals, I found the person I was looking for.
But problems still remain.
‘Of all people, that person.’
No, no matter who was left, it would be problematic for me… but Helisia of all people.
She seems not to have noticed yet, as we are still at a distance, but she will surely detect me as soon as I get closer.
That said, if I were to ask whether I could win in a fight…
Of course, it is impossible.
However… I quickly turn my head.
The only way to achieve my goal and safely escape from here.
And, finally, I arrive at a conclusion.
“I guess I’ll have to drink it all.”
I am confident that the time it takes Yoon Si-woo to catch someone he has fled with will not exceed five minutes.
Since, besides Yoon Si-woo, there are other party members with him, that is the time it will take.
It is a time that allows for neither stealthy escape nor forced abduction without being quickly caught, but…
I definitely saw a possibility.
***
“When on earth is he coming? It’s already been a minute.”
It’s boring.
It’s not fun.
No one can rival them.
The first place reward for the tournament is certainly appealing, but the fact that she has to wait five days to obtain it is what makes her feel bored.
“See, everyone is weak except for Yoon Si-woo?”
Of course, there are a few students who could fight her on equal footing, but Yoon Si-woo was the only one who lost every fight… no, all fights.
Helisia had merely self-suggested that they were just good practice opponents, but in reality, she had been observing actions around her every time, thinking of ways to win.
She had already analyzed everyone’s behaviors and movement patterns.
“After both feet, then the left hand… no, right hand?”
Yoon Si-woo’s patterns of behavior are difficult to establish.
A strange movement that always balances between instinct and reason.
Moreover, with magic and various restraints, he effortlessly cuts through attacks, making it seem that they possess an extreme relationship with her.
“No, the next is…?”
Countless theories and hypotheses passed through her small head.
The staggering number of rematches that a mere ordinary person could not even dare to imagine.
Like a genius handling Go or chess pieces, the girl visualized the game in her mind.
As Helisia muttered to herself, a bottle suddenly rolled into her detection range.
“?”
Suddenly, a bottle.
Even though this is an industrial area, something like this shouldn’t just appear out of nowhere.
“····.”
And immediately, another presence is sensed.
Could the vanguard have outsmarted Yoon Si-woo and the others and returned?
But the first thought that crossed her mind was.
‘Could they be trying to distract me and approach with just a bottle?’
At the very least, something capable of drawing her attention would need to shake the entire space with enough mana to create hundreds of magic circles simultaneously.
She felt deeply underestimated.
Enraged by that thought, she launched a magic circle toward the sensed presence.
Kwah-woom!!!
Smoke rose, and a faint energy detectable within it.
Yet she instinctively felt that the person had not fallen, so she used magic once again to try to render them unconscious.
“I don’t know who you are, but that’s too bad. Did you really think you could catch me just because I’m alone?”
There was no response.
No movements were detected within the visible magic circle.
Just as she was about to approach.
She sensed something strange.
“Another… bottle?”
The smoke rapidly cleared to reveal a bottle shattered by the explosion.
The moment she sensed another movement behind it.
This time it was clearly a person’s movement, and filled with rage for having been deceived, she was about to unleash an attack.
“···Running away…?”
As if from the very beginning the intention was not to fight, one figure began to retreat with the person they had captured.
At that moment, Helisia’s objective shifted from observing the remaining individuals to recapturing the one who fled.
And punishment.
Just in case, she cast a powerful binding spell on the two unconscious individuals and soared into the sky, beginning her search for the one who had escaped.
“Haha… this is infuriating?”
In the sky, a majestic number of magic circles unfolded in succession, beginning to burn everything within reach, following the trace of the fugitive.
However, as it wasn’t an attack filled with malice, no restraints were imposed.
“Where could you be~?”
Once again, she amplified her detection range severalfold.
While this would slightly increase her own consumption, when considering that she would have to tell Yoon Si-woo that she had failed to catch one person… this was rather preferable.
That meant her pride would be utterly torn asunder.
As she wandered while tracking the fugitive’s location, she finally discovered it.
“I found you.”
Layers of amplifying magic spread across the sky, enveloping the area within dozens of meters of the fugitive in light.
“El Rabos Baron (Ultra-Range Restraint)”
A strong gravitational force acted beneath all things within the area.
Ordinary individuals could not muster a single step due to the powerful restraint.
Furthermore, this wasn’t the end; there were various slow and speed-reducing spells linked to it, making it a high-cost spell that utilized considerable mana even for Helisia.
However…
“···There’s no one?”
When she approached that area, she could not confirm the presence of any person.
All that could be seen was… a backdrop of a repeated city and the identical structures sprawled into the distance.
“Ha… haha!!”
She missed.
The thought gnawed at Helisia’s pride, causing it to crumble.
