-3- Magic

“Ivette.”
“Ivette.”
“Ivette!”

Li You felt someone speaking beside him in an unfamiliar language, yet somehow he could understand it.

He opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed. At the doorway stood a somewhat blurry figure, looking at her and saying, “Hmm, finally awake. How did you sleep last night? Is the bed comfortable?”

“…Me?” Li You looked at the slightly translucent figure before her and realized it was a strange woman wearing a white lab coat.

“Yes, who else would be in this room?” The woman smiled.

“Mm… comfortable enough…” Li You said, glancing around. The room’s layout felt vaguely familiar. Although the glowing vines were gone, it was exactly like the room where he had awakened on the ninth underground level. With this phantom speaking to her, the answer seemed to emerge clearly.

He had returned to the past in the form of a hallucination or dream!

Was it because of the mists on the negative tenth floor?

He had fallen asleep amidst the fog, establishing a connection with the history of this underwater facility?

It sounded unscientific, but it was the only plausible explanation!

“Good to hear you’re comfortable,” the woman said. “Breakfast time is soon. Hurry up and change, then get ready to wash up.”

“Oh, okay…” Li You obediently nodded like a well-behaved little girl. She spoke in Chinese, while the blurry woman used a strange otherworldly language, yet their communication was perfectly understood on both sides—a clear sign that this was indeed a dream.

After Li You got out of bed, the woman left. Li You peeked cautiously at the doorway and soon heard her talking with other children in the next room. This helped her roughly identify the woman’s role—either a dorm supervisor or a teacher…

So this was actually a closed school?

Perhaps because it was a dream, everyone appeared slightly transparent and hazy, like NPCs in a game, which didn’t cause Li You much anxiety.

She found a blue children’s uniform, underwear, socks, and shoes in the wardrobe. Using the half-length mirror inside the wardrobe door, she saw a little girl with silver hair and deep red eyes quietly staring back.

The girl’s features were delicate and beautiful, her figure slender, dressed in children’s clothing that didn’t quite suit her elegant aura, like a beauty stepping out from a painting scroll. Slowly, she gave Li You a faint smile—somewhat shy, yet endearing.

After a dozen seconds of this silent standoff with the girl in the mirror, Li You put away her awkward smile. Looking at the silver-haired, red-eyed little girl who now mirrored her expression, she thought, So this is what I look like now?

She was too beautiful; at first, she hadn’t reacted, almost thinking she was seeing a ghost… And though she was unhappy about wearing the clothes of the opposite gender, at least the original owner wasn’t unattractive, so it was somewhat acceptable…

Enough of these trivial thoughts for now!

Shaking her head, Li You changed her clothes and left the room. With the other children, she went to wash up, have breakfast, and finally arrived at a small classroom to wait for the morning lessons.

During roll call, Li You finally learned her name—or rather, the original owner’s full name.

“Ivette Lochivia.”

“Present.”

She raised her hand silently, telling herself: from now on, I am Ivette Lochivia.

…

After roll call, the first class was language, teaching an otherworldly tongue called “Black Tide Language.” The teaching method was unique—all the children went to a computer room, lay down on specially designed metal chairs, wore helmet-like devices, and then learned through virtual reality by following a guided program.

Since she couldn’t tell when the dream would end, Ivette was especially attentive during the lesson and was amazed by the headgear—it was like something out of a science fiction novel.

To prevent distractions, the system’s permissions were limited during class, locking most functions. Ivette couldn’t browse other information and only learned that the device was called a “Head-Mounted Visual Terminal,” produced by a company named “Gravity Group,” accompanied by matching teaching software that used a mysterious technology called “Rune Sets.”

“Rune… Sets?”

Chewing over the term, Ivette guessed that this world’s technological development might differ from what she imagined.

After class and before lunch, all the children had to undergo a medical examination in a clinic next to the classroom.

While waiting in line, Ivette asked other children and obtained some clear information.

“You mean this isn’t a school?” Ivette asked in surprise.

“Don’t you know?” a little girl ahead of her, also a translucent figure, replied. “This is the Ish Mountain Black Tower Research Center… Didn’t you come here because of a genetic illness?”

“Genetic illness? What’s that?”

“I don’t know either. Before they sent me here, Grandpa Director at the orphanage said I have this illness. It will flare up when I grow up, so I need long-term treatment here,” the girl said.

“Grandpa Director?”

“The director of the orphanage I lived in before.”

“Oh…”

Soon, after gathering information from various sources, Ivette pieced together a relatively clear picture—

This place was a research center under the super pharmaceutical company “Black Tower Pharmaceuticals.” Because it was built underwater in darkness, it was often called the “Abyss Base.”

In response to government initiatives providing free health screenings for many orphanages, they discovered numerous orphans suffering from a rare genetic defect. To research and cure these incurable diseases, the company collaborated with various orphanages, bringing sick children here for long-term observation and treatment.

The lake outside was a huge volcanic crater lake. The entire Abyss Base was built atop a dormant volcano called Ish Mountain—according to staff here, Ish Mountain last erupted tens of thousands of years ago, and the magma chamber below had completely solidified, posing no eruption risk.

But what happened afterward to cause the death of everyone here, with monsters outside and only the original owner seemingly surviving…

Images from many classic works flashed through Ivette’s mind.

Could it be that this place was researching some terrifying bioweapon, using orphan children as test subjects, and a virus leaked, contaminating the entire base and the volcanic lake outside?

Perhaps the reason no one came to clean up or collect the bodies was the virus’s spread—no one dared approach?

What about the original owner?

Perhaps she had awakened unharmed not because of time travel, but because she mutated to become the only one able to withstand the virus?

Maybe even the virus’s source itself?

Well, that was a bit too wild of a theory. This wasn’t Resident Evil or Prototype… Ivette stopped overthinking and followed the other children into the examination room in turn.

The medical check was simple—no need to lift clothes—just standing briefly on a scanner and drawing a bit of blood.

After leaving the room, Ivette saw a woman watching at the door and asked, “Dr. Tabitha, may I ask you something?”

Tabitha was the woman who woke her up that morning and then led them to the computer room for class. She seemed originally a researcher here, temporarily assigned as the children’s caretaker. Her full name was Tabitha Clovian.

Upon hearing Ivette’s question, she replied kindly, “Of course. What would you like to ask, Ivette?”

“What is a rune?” Ivette asked.

“Oh, that,” Tabitha said. “It’s the foundation of magical research and the cornerstone of human civilization. Simply put, they are like little points that combine to form you, me, all matter, magical elements, and everything in the universe.”

“…Magic?!”

“Yes, magic. You should be familiar with the term. I see many kids nowadays want to become great sorcerers when they grow up.”

“Can I learn magic right now?” Ivette asked eagerly.

“Right now? Don’t rush. Focus on mastering the language first. When you’re older, you’ll naturally encounter courses like rune compilation. But even then, you might not like it,” Tabitha smiled and said.