“Professor Felix, it’s been confirmed. The person behind you is…”
“Oh, it’s a student who will be helping with this project.”
“Hello.”
“Understood. You may proceed.”
“Thank you, have a good one.”
“Whoa… Isn’t this kind of cool? A professor? That’s impressive!”
“Right? Me, a professor.”
After finishing their meal and learning they had free time, Felix immediately led the student somewhere. He held up his ID card for verification, striking a playful pose as he muttered to himself.
Students at the academy carried magical devices that served as proof of identity. Once registered, the device automatically stored the student’s information.
These devices were essential for identity verification within the academy.
Even students without magical power could use these devices since they operated using the device’s inherent magic.
The devices had become so widespread that they were used not only in the academy but also by mercenaries and public institution employees, akin to Korea’s national ID cards, student IDs, or employee badges.
“So, where are we….whoa. This place is huge!”
Rosaria marveled as they entered the space Felix had brought her to. The ceiling towered at least 10 meters high, and the room was almost as large as half a parade ground. The space welcomed Rosaria with its sheer size.
The interior was entirely white, giving off a stark, refreshing, and futuristic vibe that was both eerie and captivating.
“This is the training room. It’s usually used for sparring or drills, but we’ve reserved it entirely for this project.”
“Training? Here? There’s nothing in here.”
“It’s deliberately empty.”
“So, what are we doing here?”
“Just stay here for now. I’ve got somewhere else to be.”
“What? You’re leaving me here? Where are you going?”
“Stretch or something! You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Hey! Hey! Are you seriously just leaving?”
Even as she reached out toward Felix, questioning his abrupt departure, he disappeared without looking back. Rosaria was left standing there, confused.
“…Ugh. So, I just stretch and wait, huh?”
Though bewildered by the sudden solitude, Rosaria eventually decided to follow Felix’s instructions. She started some light warm-ups to loosen her body.
At that moment—
[Testing, testing. Can you hear me?]
“Whoa?! What the—?!”
Felix’s voice suddenly boomed throughout the room, startling Rosaria.
[I’m in the control room watching you now. I need to operate things from here.]
“Got it…”
[As I mentioned earlier, you’ll be fighting monsters here using something similar to augmented reality.]
“Monsters? Out of nowhere?”
[It’s a triple-purpose test: checking if the circuits we designed work properly, testing the weapon’s power, and gathering combat data. Efficient, huh?]
“Even if you tell me to fight monsters, I don’t know what to do…”
[Oh, right. Hold on… Let me create an environment where you can focus.]
“Huh?”
As Felix noticed Rosaria’s bewilderment at the sudden news of fighting monsters, he began manipulating something.
Then—
Shrrrkk—
[How about now? Does this help you get into the mood?]
“…Uh? Wh-what? The surroundings… suddenly changed?”
The training room, previously nothing but plain white walls, rapidly transformed into a damp, shadowy cave that oozed a dark and eerie atmosphere.
The walls, layered with jagged rocks, were lined with artificial torches that flared to life, casting flickering light across the cave.
“Wow… This isn’t real? But it feels so vivid and tangible.”
Initially startled, Rosaria soon marveled at how the scene before her had completely changed.
She reached out to touch the cave wall, and to her amazement, she felt the cold, damp surface beneath her palm. It was so lifelike that it couldn’t possibly be an illusion.
[Well… in a way, it is real.]
“Real? What do you mean?”
[Unlike illusion magic, this was created by compressing tiny magical particles into solid forms. As long as the magic is sustained, you can touch and interact with it just like reality. Basically, the magic is molded like clay to build the cave environment.]
“…How is that different from an illusion?”
[Think of it like theme park attractions. They use props to replicate places like the White House or haunted mansions, right? This is the same concept, except made with magic as a disposable construct. Does that make sense now?]
“…Ah, I get it. It’s like a studio setup.”
[Exactly.]
“Whoa… That’s incredible.”
[Alright then, I’m going to generate the monster now.]
“You made the monster the same way?”
[The monsters are a bit different. They’re golems designed to resemble actual monsters, with cores made of mana stones at their center. The focus of this test is to see how well the core can simulate realistic monster movements. So, do your best, okay?]
“Hm… This does feel like a game. It’s getting exciting.”
Click-clack.
As Rosaria listened to Felix’s explanation, she nodded decisively, her actions now confident. She swung the rifle she had been carrying on her back into position, settling it against her shoulder.
“What about ammo?”
[Suppressive rounds should be enough. If the firepower is too strong, the training room won’t be able to handle it.]
“Got it.”
[Alright, let’s start simple. Summoning the first monster now!]
Rosaria, having loaded her rifle and chambered a round, stood ready as tiny magical particles began to coalesce before her. Slowly but surely, they took shape.
And before long—
Grrr!
Kek-kek-kek!
Krrr-KRRRR!
[Let’s start off easy with three goblins.]
As Felix finished speaking, three green-skinned monsters emerged into Rosaria’s line of sight, their menacing forms illuminated by the dim torchlight.
He was about the height of a lower elementary school student, with skinny ribs and a bulging belly, his skin was green and grotesquely distorted in parts like a teddy bear.
His ears were long and floppy, his nose was flared, and his fangs were bared, making him a sight to behold in more ways than one.
in more ways than one.
Add to that a club and some sort of loincloth, and you have the makings of an early game monster.
A goblin appeared as Rosaria’s opponent.
“Wow… I never thought I’d see a goblin in real life after only seeing them on screen… They’re even uglier than I thought!”
Rosaria was in awe of the goblin that she usually killed in the game, but now that she saw it in front of her, she couldn’t help but drool on its face and giggle.
Kerrr! Kerrrr~!
Keke!! Keke!
Kerrrrrrrr!!!
As if it hadn’t heard Rosaria’s so-called criticism, it turned toward her and began to run around wildly.
And.
Keruk!-!!
Kueh!
Kerukkeruk-!
He immediately clutched the wooden club in his hand and charged at Rosaria.
The goblins, who were about ten meters away from her, were unexpectedly fast, perhaps because they were elementary school children in height, but they were literally beasts of burden, and they immediately rushed towards her, surrounding her.
But.
“This is my first time shooting at something that moves, but I don’t think I’ll miss.”
Thang-.
Cuhhhh…!
Aiming at the torso of the first goblin to rush toward the center, Rosaria pulled the trigger, and the goblin’s body jerked as if it had been caught by a thread in midair, and the goblin that had fallen backward spun around and around before falling to the ground and writhing.
A tiny hole was clearly visible in the goblin’s chest.
“One down.”
Cha-kang-.
A smile tugged at the corners of Rosaria’s mouth as she realized her shot had hit the target with unmistakable accuracy, and she pulled the trigger again, preparing for a second shot.
But.
Kerrrrr!
Aaaaah!
One of the goblins, who didn’t seem to care if his comrade fell or not, immediately stepped in front of Rosaria and swung his club.
Where-!
Pfft!
Eek…!
But Rosaria had already seen it coming, and swung her gun around and smashed the goblin headfirst with the buttplate, causing its skull to crumple into a flesh-cracking heap.
The goblin collapsed in a heap, tongue hanging out, and shuddered.
K-k-k-eh…
“The last!”
Taang—
“Kuueeek!?-Hic…”
No matter how shocked it was, the goblin—now alone after two of its comrades were instantly struck down—froze in panic, hesitating in place.
Rosaria didn’t miss this opportunity. She launched her second attack, sending the goblin flying into the air. Its feet left the ground, and before long, it crashed to the floor, limp like its companions.
[“Oh, that was clean.”]
“Phew… Are these really golems? They’re so lifelike it’s unreal.”
Even after taking down all the goblins, Rosaria didn’t feel triumphant or relieved. Instead, she found herself unsettled by the sheer lifelike movements of the goblins, despite knowing they weren’t real creatures but golems.
[“Of course! I put so much effort into this! Especially the second goblin—you know how hard it was to add the little habit of licking its molars before charging?”]
“Ugh… Why would you even add something like that?”
[“Realism! Realism!”]
As Rosaria muttered in disbelief at the ridiculous level of detail, Felix proudly explained every nuance of his creation. Rosaria sighed deeply, clearly tired of his over-enthusiasm.
[“Still, you’re pretty strong even without Ariel around, huh?”]
Felix’s comment made him pause, suddenly curious about Rosaria’s impressive combat skills despite Ariel’s absence.
“Oh, in the beginning, I needed Ariel nearby to control my enhancements and abilities. But now, I can use them anytime, even when she’s not here. It’s like there’s an invisible thread binding us tightly together.”
Rosaria lowered her gun and looked proudly at the tattoo on the back of her left hand a windmill-shaped symbol that glowed faintly as she focused on it. It was the mark of her contract with Ariel.
At the start of their partnership, Rosaria struggled to wield Ariel’s power without her direct support. But now, after growing more accustomed to it and perhaps closer to Ariel she could easily enhance her body on her own.
[“Hmm… So that’s how a spirit contract feels. Learned something new today.”]
“Right? Huh? Wait… Where did the goblins go…?”
[“Well then, shall we move on to the next stage?”]
As Felix manipulated something, the fallen goblins began to dissolve into white dust, their forms disappearing.
[“When their magic runs out or the core mana stone is destroyed, they lose their structure and return to their original state as pure magical energy.”]
[“And hey, since we’re gathering data anyway, we can’t let things end too easily, right?”]
“What… kind of monsters are coming next?”
[“Next, we’ve got orcs, kobolds, lizardmen, goblin wizards… I’m working in the order they were designed.”]
“Orcs… kobolds… lizardmen… and high-ranking goblins, huh.”
[“Don’t worry! Even though they’re tangible and attack you, their power is heavily reduced, so they’re no real threat to your life!”]
“Is that so? Fine! It’s starting to feel like I’m clearing a game! This is actually pretty refreshing! I’ll keep going for as long as I can!”
Though she hesitated briefly, Rosaria ultimately decided to continue. After all, when else would she get the chance to unleash her gun so freely?
‘Now this feels like I’m really living in a fantasy world! The true joy of fantasy is cutting down monsters!’
Having just taken down the goblins, Rosaria finally felt the reality of being in a fantasy world sink in. The thrill of mowing down monsters with her gun was exactly the kind of scenario she’d imagined while reading web novels.
“Alright, who’s next? Come at me I’ll take you all down!”
Lost in the exhilaration of feeling like an overpowered protagonist, Rosaria confidently raised her gun. Her bold and commanding presence was striking, like a scene straight out of a fantasy game cutscene.