Chapter Seventy-Four: Entering

Alice was in a particularly good mood today. After being cooped up by her foolish father at home for several months—he had the nerve to claim it was for her own good, hmph!—she was finally free, and had come to this fascinating exploratory laboratory. Of course she was utterly delighted.

As the time to depart drew near, Alice was engrossed in lively conversation with a few newfound friends when she heard the door open again. She thought it must be another newcomer, and turned to see the lab supervisor, Mr. Wesley Adie, entering with a strikingly handsome young man who looked oddly familiar.

Then Alice heard something that left her dizzy and bewildered: “Long time no see, Alice!”

After Landor spoke, he watched as Alice’s expression shifted from astonishment to confusion, then to bewilderment and doubt, before finally settling on shock and disbelief—her eyes opening so wide she looked almost comical.

“You, you, you, you… you’re… Landor?!” she stammered.

Landor smiled faintly, ignoring the slightly hostile glances from the nearby boys and the admiring stares from the girls, and walked straight up to Alice to greet her again, “Long time no see, Alice.”

Alice was utterly dumbfounded. She simply couldn’t reconcile the elegant, striking, graceful, distinguished, and charismatic young man before her with the Landor she remembered from half a year ago, who was only somewhat good-looking. (Dear readers, does this sense of immersion draw you in?)

Does it seem abrupt? In truth, not at all. Except for one occasion during the academy’s secondary assessment, Landor had always worn the [Prince of the Sun (Violet)]. The [Gift (Violet)] bestowed upon its bearer the innate talents of their race’s limits—including appearance. Although this power wasn’t his by birth, over the past half year it had continuously refined and subtly altered him. Since he was still growing, those who saw him daily, like Aldo, simply thought he had grown more handsome. But for Alice, who hadn’t seen him in a long time, the change was utterly astonishing. Landor seemed entirely transformed.

If this were a comic, there would now be a flashback: as Landor and Aldo walked through the academy, every eye was drawn to him, though the two paid it no mind.

After a while spent chatting, Alice finally came to terms with the change.

Meanwhile, the two friends beside Alice kept glancing at her, trying to signal that she should introduce them, but Alice, oblivious, continued her conversation with Landor.

“Alright, the equipment is ready. Now that everyone’s here, let’s begin,” Wesley Adie’s voice interrupted the gathering as they were getting acquainted.

Under his guidance, the group entered a room filled with hibernation pods—one for each participant, as a quick glance confirmed.

“The pods can be entered at will. After the projection, you’ll awaken in new bodies around the age of eighteen. If you wish to explore together, agree on a secret code now. The pods will activate in ten minutes, so don’t waste any more time,” Wesley instructed.

Some participants promptly chose a pod and slipped inside, while others arranged codes with friends before entering. Landor, Alice, and her two friends agreed on their own codes, then entered the pods to wait.

The ten minutes passed in a flash. As a beam of light swept the room to confirm everyone was inside, the projection device activated. In an instant, Landor’s consciousness was wrenched away—much like his first entry into a virtual world, though this time felt even more complete.

His mind raced through streams of brilliant light, the surrounding flashes impossible to discern. As Landor struggled to see clearly, sparks flickered within his consciousness, and his rapid movement suddenly stalled for a brief moment. Looking outward, he witnessed a breathtaking sight.

A colossal world, its periphery wrapped in layer upon layer of space, each with a different hue. If he had to compare, it resembled a multicolored… onion?

When the fleeting spark vanished and his thoughts returned to normal, Landor realized belatedly that his mind hadn’t stopped—the process had simply pushed beyond its usual limits.

A beam of light appeared far ahead, expanding rapidly. Landor plunged headlong into it.

…

Noisy voices echoed in his ears, his head felt heavy and muddled.

“Hurry! Someone, help! This student has fainted!”

“Take him to the infirmary, quickly!”

“Lay him down first, the stretcher is on its way…”

When Landor awoke again, memories flooded his mind, which he rapidly absorbed and organized.

The owner of this body was also named Landor—a high school student, an orphan, attending a public academy. His looks were average, his grades unremarkable, and he was virtually invisible to those around him.

“You’re awake? You must have suffered heatstroke. Be careful next time!” The nurse’s tone was impatient, perhaps annoyed at the extra work he’d caused her.

Landor looked around to confirm he was indeed in the school infirmary.

Under the nurse’s disdainful gaze, Landor left the infirmary and began to contemplate his next steps as he walked through campus.

Back in his empty dorm room, Landor sighed. It was clear that all the rules set for this world experiment were meant to help young arcanists hone their exploratory skills without danger. Yet Landor realized he had found a way to cheat.

*Snap!*

With a crisp snap of his fingers, the cluttered dormitory vanished, replaced by a boundless grassy plain. If Prince Sandy were here, he would immediately recognize this as the place of his final battle with Landor—if not for the magic tower that now stood at the heart of the prairie!

This was Landor’s Mindspace—a talent rooted in his consciousness, able to manifest wherever his thoughts reached.

He had even placed his self-crafted magic tower within it; its defensive capabilities, bolstered by Mindspace, had soared to rival those of a fixed magic tower.

Combined with Mindspace’s unique powers, any attack within his comprehension could be nullified, and even those beyond his understanding could be partially negated—just as Landor could prevent fire from igniting paper.

In terms of defense, even a stage-two peak arcanist would be hard-pressed to threaten him now.

He beckoned lightly, and a thumb-sized black cube flew from the magic tower—it was a copy of Little Grey. From memory, Landor knew the technological level of this world was even more advanced than his previous life, though not by much.

Dismissing Mindspace, the dormitory reappeared. He tossed the black cube, which darted to the router and dissolved into a cloud of particles, burrowing inside.

Then came a period of thought and waiting—ten minutes or so. Some of the black particles emerged from the router, forming a bracelet on Landor’s wrist.

“Let’s see what’s different about this world.”

A virtual screen appeared before him, granting access to numerous top-secret files, whether he cared about them or not.

“Hm? This world… Good thing we only agreed on a code. Sorry, Alice—it looks like I’ll have to wait a while before I can come find you.”

PS: This world arc won’t last long. Would you like to play a game? From the moment this chapter is posted until midnight tomorrow, if anyone can guess why Landor awakened his Mindspace talent ahead of time, I’ll dedicate an entire day this weekend to writing—no other activities, from the moment I wake to when I sleep. Let’s see how far I can push myself. There will be clues in the coming chapters; here’s a hint: he did it to create something.

Hmm, maybe that makes it too easy. If no one plays, I’ll be embarrassed!