CH 1

Note: This is an edited MTL as you all are already aware. I should probably stop putting this here, I guess. Haa, life sucks.

A certain memory swept through my mind like a wave.

‘Mom, I will be a wizard when I grow up!’

I could tell right away.

This was Baek Yu-Seol’s memory.

In other words, the character of Aether World, Baek Yu-Seol, had the same name as the real ‘me’.

‘Yeah. You can do it.’

In a world where everything was decided by magic, non-magicians had no choice but to live as the lowest class.

Baek’s family was pitiful.

Born and raised by Ivani and his father, who could not learn magic, Baek Yu-Seol dreamed of becoming a wizard amidst poverty.

His parents somehow saved enough money and bought him an expensive second-hand magic book and he devoted himself to studying until his eyes bled.

However, a fatal flaw was found in him.

‘Of course, doctor…my son, did you say mana leakage?

I was unable to accumulate mana in the body…Magic

A cursed constitution for a wizard, a body that leaks mana.

To have such an extremely rare constitution that it only appears once in a hundred years would happen to him.

He wanted to curse the world, but he did not give up on his dream of becoming a wizard.

Even with a mana leak, he could freely use just one magic, and that was the ‘blinking’ magic.

From that day on, I started to hone my blinking skill.

“Huhhhh”

As I pushed air into my lungs and raised my upper body, my mind blanked.

“Ugh, uh… !”

A throbbing headache.

It was a pain that occurred in the process of cleaning up some of the strange characters that came into my head.

In reality, my name was Baek Yu-seol.

The name of my character which I raised in the game ‘Aether World’ was also called Baek Yu-Seol.

However, it is distinguishable.

That the real me and Baek Yu-seol in the game are different people.

… Is not it. Were they both me?

‘What the hell…?’

When I opened my eyes and looked around, I realized the place where I was lying was a crumbling hut.

Wheyy!! An old board swayed in the cold winter wind and hit the ground!

It floated down with a sound.

While curling up in the stinging cold, I accidentally discovered a mirror, it was broken and left lying in a corner, neglected.

My next action was almost instinctive.

I picked up the mirror to see my face, and soon I had to doubt my eyes.

“…I’ve gotten younger, haven’t I?”

I was 29 years old.

I used to hear a lot that I looked young for my age, but I still didn’t have this teenage-like face.

But my face in the mirror was young as if time had gone back to when I was in middle and high school.

It was difficult to understand the situation properly.

At that moment, a message floated in the air.

[Episode 1]

[Avoid the pursuers and run away!]

“Huh…?”

Rather than a message floating in the air, I was more surprised by the fact that it was such a familiar phrase.

Isn’t that the Prologue Quest of the character ‘Baek Yu-seol’?

The game Aether World was able to progress the story by transferring to many characters, and most of the episodes start with the entrance ceremony at the academy.

However, the only different thing was that this episode started with me running away from the pursuer.

“No way.”

I knew the reason very well, so I had no choice but to get up.

I was wearing a medieval-style commoner’s outfit with a bit of a fantasy style, not a modern one. A dagger was tied to a belt for self-defense along with a water bottle.

In the waist pocket, there were biscuits and miscellaneous items such as a few pennies and a certificate of admission to Stella Academy.

“…Really?”

It was precisely Baek Yu-Seol’s starting item list.

I hurriedly stroked and pinched myself, but this was no dream. In the first place, even with this biting cold, I was able to realize that this was a reality.

‘At least…’

Since most of the other characters are from aristocratic families, they have quite generous starting items.

However, because Baek Yu-seol came from a poor commoner family, he started with nothing.

Such a disadvantage was a good thing for a hard-core gamer, but in reality, it didn’t mean anything.

“I have to think calmly.”

I hurriedly looked for the memories of the moment before I fell here.

‘True Ending.’

I’m sure it said something like that.

But this was an otome-game with ‘multiple-ending’ and a single ‘true ending’ didn’t exist at all.

“Is it possible that for over 10 years, no other users have seen the end of the game?”

It was understandable that no one had reached the true end of the game.

‘Damn it.”

I put the matter of true ending for later and quickly decided to grasp the situation that was right in front of me.

Snowy mountains in a blizzard, a crumbling hut, a dagger, a certificate of admission.

‘As far as I can remember, as soon as I woke up, the pursuers came into the hut…’

As those thoughts fell, I could hear the sound of footsteps from far away.

“You bastard, how far will you run!”

“There is a hut over there!”

“Go and search!”

I’m fucked.

I bent down and hid under a half-broken plank, to not get caught right away, but it was only a matter of time before they catch me.

I checked the pursuers’ weapons and stuff through the holes in the board.

Armor made of steel or something unknown and weapons with magic patterns on them.

In this world, those weapons were something only street mercenaries who are at the bottom in terms of combat power would use.

However, the only combat experience I had in my life was as an elementary school kid in the neighborhood, so even if they are not magic weapons, I will not be able to win even if they are just holding a stick.

‘What should I do? How should…,’

[You can use the skill ‘Blink’.]

Something flickering in front of me.

The moment I recall those familiar words, a message pierces my eyes.

***

[Blinking]

Class: 0

Maximum Range: 9m

Maximum Charge: 1

Cooldown: 3 seconds

***

The only hope and magic skill given to me, Baek Yuseol, was ‘Blink’.

And it was a skill that I practiced the hardest throughout my life.

‘However, it was in a mouse and keyboard game……!”

But there is no way it is possible now. Because the sound of footsteps had already reached a close distance.

I clenched my teeth, got up from my place, opened the door of the hut, and ran out.

“I found him!”

“Catch him and kill him!”

The worst downside of blinking was that if you fail to control the range, you may crash into an object and die.

However, it will be different when I use it.

‘Shut up.’

Haven’t you already used it countless times?

Instinct understands timing better than the brain.

[Blink]

In an instant, my body was pulled toward the front, and a tree that felt far away appeared in front of me instantly.

“What, what!”

“Blink? Was he a wizard?!”

Some of the pursuers panicked, but the experienced ones were already pointing weapons at me.

They were aiming for the 2 seconds of stiffness that takes place immediately after using blink.

However, such a limit didn’t apply to me.

Because I’m Baek Yoo-Seol, the Flash Wizard.

Thududuk!!

As I rolled forward in a jam, in less than two seconds, countless magic and weapons came down the spot where I landed.

If they all had hit me, nothing of my body would be left.

After a glance behind them, I ran forward again, and the pursuers were taken aback.

“What is that kid? How did he move?”

“-I don’t know! Get him!”

After a while, the pursuers followed me closely again.

It was a rough terrain with many rocks and trees, and even ‘floating stones’ were floating in the air, forcing me to die in vain if I used the flashing skills incorrectly.

I know it well.

Why was the terrain here like this?

“The speed of the pursuers is faster than me thanks to their magic boots.’

‘If I want to be left alone, I have to use the blinking properly.’

It was the tutorial episode of Baek Yu-Seol.

Players who haven’t mastered the flashing control properly here will never be able to move on to the next episode and will continue to get killed.

In fact, 99% of the players who played Baek Yu-Seol failed to pass this tutorial, and the 1% who somehow passed this were overcome by the evil barriers of the ‘Blink Range Control’ and ‘Continuous Blinking’.

‘Carefully. More carefully.’

[Blink]

Shoo! As if the body were attracted by a magnet, it naturally traversed the rough terrain and made its way through the endless mountain road.

The speed was not as fast as expected.

It was correct to say that the difference between the control that was operated with the mouse and the actual movement was the difference between heaven and earth.

Even during the cooldown, I had to run myself, but as I sprinted through the slippery snowy mountain road for over 30 minutes, I was out of breath.

“Huh, huh! How fast is he!”

“Using Blink in this terrain? He’s crazy”

“Damn it! What are the wizards doing?”

“I’m already tired and I’m out!”

“Wrap an arrow!”

Second gate. I used Blink to avoid the flying arrows and magic.

‘But in the game, I was able to avoid objects coming from behind because I could see them all on the monitor…?’

The wind enchanted arrow almost chased me with a flexible curve, and to dodge it, I had to use Blink in time to match the exact timing.

Suddenly, another message floated in the air.

[The skill “‘Mana Leakage Delay’ is being applied.]

[The derived skills of mana leakage delay, ‘Sixth Sense’ and ‘Cognitive Acceleration’ are applied.]

The feeling came again.

I felt every object flying from behind vaguely.

As if the antennae were blown off the back.

Everything in the world was made up of the law.

In other words, there was “mana” in everything, and all that moved by it were detected by the cursed body of the Mana Leakage Delay!

To put it simply, I couldn’t use magic by accumulating mana in my body, but I was able to feel all the mana around me with my sixth sense.

From the arrow that flew at my waist, the helmet thrown from the back in anticipation of where I would arrive, and the wide-area magic of the flame that was cast to grow in a radius of 30 around me.

I felt like I could hold it, and in less than 0.3 seconds, I used blinking by timing exactly to avoid the shell attack.

Tuduk! Gwang!

Light!!

A rain of arrows fell on the spot I passed.

My heart was pounding, if I had delayed even for a moment, I would have died.

“They numbered seven. Two of them fell behind.”

It was understandable that they were getting tired because they had to run on a mountain road wearing heavy armor while I was moving by blinking.

But I’m also tired of every single thing.

It was painful to endure this cold with cloth, and it was difficult to ride on the slippery mountains, but the most difficult thing is to use blinking continuously.

If you go deep into it even once, you die.

I had no choice but to put my mind to it naturally, and the dizziness was coming.

“It’s right in front of you!”

“He’s tired!”

The distance from the pursuers was about 100 meters.

‘But, there is still the next gate…`

Wheeeeeeee-!!

Cliffs.

A sharp, snow-capped cliff awaited at the end of the mountain road where I had run at its best.

Between the stone wall and the cliff, there were floating stones floating around at intervals of about 5 to 6m, and I can only cross to the other side if I perfectly execute the ‘Range Control’ of [Blink].

If I just cross this cliff, I will encounter the passing wizards and will be rescued, and the tutorial will also end.

But… to cross the cliff, it was necessary to complete the ‘Blink Cancel’ in 0.1 seconds.

If I fail even once, I will die instantly.

It’s easy to say, it’s 0.1 seconds.

Most of the players that succeeded had only passed because they were very lucky after challenging hundreds and hundreds of times.

That is, it is at a level of difficulty that a human being cannot do at all.

The minimum number of floating stones to pass through here has exceeded 20, and if you fail in the process, you will die.

But…to be honest.

‘It won’t be too difficult.’

Even while climbing the mountain, I had already found most of the sense of distance control.

Some terrain was easily passed by hitting a short blink.

The problem, however, was that the pursuers followed closer than expected.

The cliff was an open space, and there was not enough space to set up a field.

In the midst of that, using blinking that has a cooldown of 3 seconds, and go to the other side?

It’s impossible. I’m sure I’ll die helplessly on a floating stone under a rain of arrows and magic.

Even at this moment, the distance was getting closer.

There was not much time to think.

The most efficient way for me to survive.

Probably.

There seems to be only one.

‘… I have to kill the pursuers.’

Surprisingly, even the thought of killing people did not feel uncomfortable at all.

Because they are enemies of my parents in the story development? It wasn’t like that.

I just thought I could win.

I think that would be safer.

If this world was a game, it would have been impossible to attack those pursuers systemically.

However, this place was real, and no criminal blindly followed the instructions of the game system.

‘Whoa…’

Yeah. I think it’s crazy. Why did I think this way when I’ve never really fought a man in my life, let alone kill him?

Was I this cold-hearted and brave in the face of death?

‘… I do not know.’

However, instead of worrying, I gently touched the dagger that was tied to my belt.

“Huh! hyuk! It is a cliff!”

“Damn, where did he go!”

The pursuers had chased me to the brink of ruin.

The question of whether I could do it was put aside. I haven’t quite figured out my situation yet, but one thing was for sure.

“If I don’t do it now, I will die.”

The only experience I’ve ever had with a knife in my life was when I sold it at the end…

How to use was simple.

Approaching so fast that the enemy cannot resist, and stabbing it at the vital point.

Hiding behind the rock, I quickly rolled over and revealed myself very well, figuring out where they were.

“It’s the bastard! catch and kill…!”

Target distance, 8.70.

Towards the archer’s neck shouting while pointing the bow.

[Blink]

…Huh?”

puuk!

I stabbed him.