Chapter 28 (1/2): Another Me?

Alisia opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was an unfamiliar white ceiling.

She was lying in a soft bed, covered with a light pink blanket. Several teddy bears sat beside her.

The light after the rain squeezed through the gap in the curtains and fell across the floor.

Alisia blinked.

“……”

She remembered having a dream last night.

In the dream, there was a girl whose abdomen had been pierced by a Long Thorn, along with Qiu Meng’s blurry silhouette.

But after waking up, she could no longer remember much of it.

Only a lingering chill remained along her spine.

“Thank goodness… thank goodness it was just a dream…”

she murmured softly.

Then she rolled over.

The soft blanket swallowed her up again like a swamp.

“I should… sleep a little longer.”

Just as she closed her eyes, Mo Lan’s voice came from outside the room.

“Breakfast’s ready! Eat it after you wake up!”

Alisia stirred beneath the blanket.

“Okaaay—”

After saying that, she continued sleeping.

Perhaps it was because there was no Magus here.

Or perhaps she had exhausted too much strength before arriving in this world.

In any case…

Alisia quickly drifted back to sleep.

She had no idea how much time passed.

When she woke up again, a question finally surfaced in her mind.

How were Qiu Meng and Seraphina Cadera doing?

Was that black-winged Celestial Wing Tribe member still chasing them?

After she had been knocked into this strange world, what had become of the Training Forest she originally came from?

“……”

Alisia lay there with her eyes closed for a while.

Then she suddenly sat upright.

“Wait!”

She rubbed her messy silver-purple hair, forcing herself awake.

“I need to find a way back!”

She threw off the blanket and prepared to get out of bed, but the moment her feet touched the floor, her entire body stiffened as though all the bones had been pulled out of it.

Supporting herself against the bedside, Alisia wore a conflicted expression.

“Ugh…”

It was the first time she had ever experienced this feeling.

She had not trained at all, yet her entire body ached.

“Is this… a side effect of a Low-Mana Environment?”

“Yes… that must be it.”

Alisia nodded very seriously.

Then she crawled back under the blanket.

“To make sure I have enough strength to find a way back, I should conserve my energy. I’ll act after my body adapts to this Low-Mana Environment.”

She found herself the perfect excuse.

Then she went right back to sleep.

***

The next time she woke up, it was because Mo Lan was grabbing her shoulders and shaking her desperately.

“Hey! Hey! You’re not dead, are you?!”

Alisia wriggled beneath the blanket.

Mo Lan panicked even more.

“You’ve been sleeping for an entire day! It’s already six in the morning on the second day! Get up and eat!”

Alisia slowly opened her eyes.

“Haaah…”

She let out a long yawn, her eyes still unfocused.

“What is it…?”

“I feel like if I hadn’t woken you up, you would’ve slept for another whole day!”

Mo Lan stared at her, looking somewhere between angry and worried.

Alisia sat on the bed and thought sluggishly for a few seconds.

Mo Lan seemed a little angry.

‘What was she angry about again… Oh right… because I slept for an entire day.’

‘Then… why did I sleep for an entire day again…’

She gently moved her body around and discovered that the soreness had indeed eased considerably.

“So, Mo Lan… aren’t you going to school?”

“Of course I am! I just came to make sure you hadn’t died!”

Mo Lan lightly smacked her.

“Come on. Go wash up.”

Like a cat being led around, Alisia was dragged into the bathroom by Mo Lan.

Afterward, Mo Lan leaned against the wall. Clearly having given up any expectations regarding Alisia’s life skills, she simply watched her wash her face and brush her teeth personally.

Alisia quietly lowered her head and began washing her face.

After a short while, once Mo Lan confirmed she was finished, she turned and left.

“All right… I need to go to school too…”

Mo Lan hurried out of the bathroom, quickly changed into her school uniform, and slung her backpack over her shoulders.

“There’s egg fried rice in the kitchen. Eat it yourself. And don’t touch anything around the house! Especially don’t mess with the gas stove. Got it?”

“Hmm…??”

“I’m leaving for school!”

The door closed.

The room fell silent once more.

Alisia stood in the living room, staring at the plate of egg fried rice on the table.

Each grain of rice was distinct. The eggs were fried to a golden color, mixed with bits of chopped scallion. Warm, fragrant steam drifted upward, making it look incredibly delicious.

She sat down solemnly and began thinking.

‘I fought that monster… and only afterward did I come here.’

‘Then… that monster looked like someone from the Celestial Wing Tribe… but it didn’t seem like an examinee.’

She looked toward the chopsticks on the table.

“Chopsticks…”

They used chopsticks here too.

It gave her an incredibly strange sense of disorientation.

A world completely without Magus, yet it had tableware so similar to that of the Western Ship City.

‘So… how am I supposed to get back?’

“……”

Alisia pulled the egg fried rice in front of herself.

‘After I finish eating, I’ll go check the place where I regained consciousness.’

‘No matter what, I have to find some way to earn money. I can’t keep troubling Mo Lan forever.’

Three minutes later.

The egg fried rice had completely disappeared.

Alisia set down the chopsticks and let out a solemn breath.

“That really hit the spot.”

After finishing her meal, she copied the way Mo Lan had washed dishes earlier and carried the bowl over to the sink.

Although she didn’t know how to use dish soap at first, thanks to her incredible learning ability—and her overwhelming respect for soap bubbles, which led her to use an absurd amount of detergent—she eventually managed to wash the bowl clean.

Afterward, she washed her hands, dried them, and prepared to head out.

However, when she reached the entrance, she stopped.

She was still wearing the Magic Academy uniform.

In her own world, this outfit wouldn’t have attracted any attention.

But in this world, it would probably stand out even more than when she had been carrying a Greatsword in the middle of the street.

She opened the wardrobe and found two spare sets of Mo Lan’s clothes.

One was a short-sleeved shirt with a short skirt.

The other was a pink tracksuit with matching sweatpants.

Alisia looked at the short skirt, then at the sweatpants.

‘Why does this outfit use so little fabric…? Forget it… I’ll wear this one instead!’

Without the slightest hesitation, she changed into the tracksuit.

The reflection in the mirror looked much simpler.

The pink sportswear was soft and lightweight, though it looked somewhat lacking in combat readiness.

Alisia walked to the door, closed it behind her, and left.

After leaving the apartment complex, she followed the route she remembered and headed toward the intersection where she had first regained consciousness.

The streets were lively in the early morning.

Students, office workers, elderly people, and cyclists all passed by one after another.

Alisia quickly noticed that almost everyone here had black hair with either black or brown eyes.

Even after changing clothes, her silver-purple hair still made her stand out ridiculously.

“Otherworlders… really are strange.”

she muttered quietly.

After walking for a while longer, she noticed many students wearing sportswear similar to hers.

They all walked together in the same direction, so she subconsciously followed the crowd for about ten minutes.

Then she saw a school.

The entrance sign read:

No. 7 Middle School.

An elderly security guard stood at the gate holding a registration book.

The moment he saw Alisia, he frowned.

“Hey! Young lady… what class are you in? School rules clearly prohibit dyed hair!”

Alisia looked up.

“Huh…?”

Thinking she hadn’t heard him, the old man raised his voice.

“I SAID! Hair dye isn’t allowed in school! What class are you in?”

“Huh? I didn’t dye it! This is my natural hair color!”

The old man froze for a moment.

“Natural? Are you a foreigner?”

Alisia nodded.

The old man looked her up and down.

He clearly wasn’t completely convinced, but with only five minutes left before class started, he had no time to keep arguing.

“Forget it this time. Hurry up and get inside for class!”

“Uh… what?”

Alisia took a step back.

“I’m not a student here!”

“If you’re not a student, why are you wearing the school uniform?”

“I was just passing by…”

She immediately turned around and walked away.

The old man shouted after her.

“Hey! You kid! What are you doing?”

Alisia quickened her pace.

She had to find a way back.

Qiu Meng and Seraphina Cadera were still waiting for her.

She absolutely could not get dragged into attending school in this world.

But she hadn’t run very far when a deafening roar suddenly came from her left.

A massive truck charged through the intersection.

Across the front of the truck were several eye-catching words—

Hundred-Ton King.

Alisia had no time to understand what those words meant.

She only knew that the enormous iron vehicle—one that had no Magic Core whatsoever—was hurtling straight toward her at an incredible speed.

“!”

She jumped straight into the air.

One foot landed on the truck’s windshield.

Using it as leverage, she flipped gracefully onto the roof.

Screeeech—!

The shrill sound of brakes echoed throughout the street.

The old man at the school gate froze in place.

The driver flung open the door and leaned out with a horrified expression.

“Holy crap!!!”

Squatting on top of the truck, Alisia also realized she had attracted attention again.

She immediately jumped back down.

She landed almost silently.

Then fled at top speed.

“Hey! Stop!”

Someone shouted behind her.

Two students had already raised their phones and started recording.

Alisia instinctively lifted her arm to cover her face.

Her gaze swept across both sides of the street.

She spotted a wall connected to a building on her right.

Without hesitation, she sprinted toward it.

She ran two steps up the wall, grabbed an iron pole, vaulted upward, stepped onto the second-floor window ledge, leaped again, grabbed the edge of a billboard, climbed onto the third-floor rooftop, and quickly hid herself.

Sitting on the rooftop, she caught her breath before looking toward the teaching building across from her.

That building was much smaller than the Magic Academy.

It also had no Defensive Runes whatsoever.

“The architecture in this world… is really fascinating… such a tall Cottage.”

After confirming no one was chasing her anymore, she opened the rooftop door, headed downstairs, walked for a while, and finally arrived at the same intersection where she had regained consciousness.

She looked around in every direction.

There wasn’t the slightest sign of a Space-Time Rift.

“……Haa.”

Standing by the roadside, she searched desperately for an exit.

Just then, a series of beeping sounds rang out in the distance, accompanied by flashing red and blue lights.

A white police car stopped beside her.

The door opened.

A man wearing a police cap stepped out with a smile and presented his identification.

“We just received a report that someone with silver-purple hair has been disturbing public order in this area.”

Alisia’s pupils contracted instantly.

She remembered Mo Lan once saying she’d send her to the police station.

So these were the police.

The other car door opened as well.

Another officer stepped out.

The first officer spoke in a gentle tone.

“Could you come with us for a moment?”

Alisia looked at him warily.

“Why should I go with you?”

“I don’t think I’ve done anything.”

The officer took out his phone and opened a photo.

In the image, Alisia was standing on the truck’s windshield.

The second picture showed her climbing onto the rooftop by grabbing the billboard.

The officer looked at the photos, then back at her.

“Miss, please come with us.”

“……”

Soon afterward, Alisia had a pair of silver handcuffs placed on her wrists and was escorted into the back seat of the police car.

Once inside, she discovered the door wouldn’t open from the inside.

Her mood became rather complicated.

If she resisted recklessly, things would probably become even more troublesome.

She could only remain silent and wait to see where they intended to take her.

About ten minutes later.

She found herself in front of a building marked “Police Station.”

She was escorted into a small room.

Inside were a table, chairs, and a surveillance camera.

Several police officers stood nearby.

Alisia sat in the chair with her eyes closed, doing her best to maintain the calm expected of a noble.