My senses were wrapped in a blinding white as they disconnected from reality.

  First went sight, then hearing, then touch, then smell—and stly, taste.

  Before I knew it, I was inside an endless white space, empty and silent.

  I had reached the hub.

  Clearing my throat, I tilted my head toward the nothingness and called out clearly.

  "Library!"

  A soft melody echoed through the vastness, and the world shifted.

  I found myself inside a gray—almost bck—space filled with massive cubes hovering in carefully arranged patterns.

  Each cube dispyed a different image. I passed one showing a red car drifting across asphalt, another depicting a blood?soaked battlefield.

  But the one I was searching for was nowhere to be found.

  So I did what any normal person would do instead of wandering endlessly.

  "Find: One Time Mage."

  The cubes burst into motion, flying past me at impossible speeds until one stopped directly in front of me.

  A simple purple cube. Etched into its surface was a witch holding a staff—nothing fshy, nothing extraordinary.

  Without hesitation, I touched it.

  The cube unfolded like a blooming flower.

  Inside was its information.

  One Time Mage.

  File size: 101 GB.

  "There it is," I muttered, a grin spreading across my face. "Great Guild Studios' new game... a new dawn is coming."

  I stepped through the unfolded cube as if it were a doorway.

  ---

  I found myself standing inside a rge, old atelier.

  Wooden floors creaked beneath my feet. Tall shelves lined the walls, overflowing with fabrics, masks, wigs, hats, and strange magical tools I couldn't even begin to name. Mannequins stood frozen in pce, dressed in robes ranging from elegant archmage attire to battle?worn cloaks stitched with softly glowing runes.

  The air smelled faintly of dust, ink, and something undescribable—mana, maybe.

  A soft light illuminated a tall mirror standing at the center of the room.

  As I approached it, a calm, genderless voice echoed through the atelier.

  "Welcome, young apprentice."

  "This is the Atelier of Origin."

  "Here, your existence will be shaped."

  I breathed in the old, slightly dusty air.

  "Ah... kind of suffocating," I said happily. "I love it."

  I walked toward the mannequins.

  One resembled a normal human. The next was shorter and bulkier.

  They came in pairs—male and female.

  "Race and gender selection," I muttered, rubbing my chin.

  "Alright... human, dwarf, beastman, elf..."

  After a moment of thought, I approached the slim, slightly taller figure with pointed ears.

  I touched the wooden surface.

  Instantly, the world twisted.

  Ripping me away, through space and time itself. Before I became grounded again, on yet another wooden floor.

  I was surrounded by hundreds of elven mannequins—tall, short, bulky, slim. Some had long ears that drooped gently, others short and sharply pointed.

  "Welcome to the elven selection,"

  The system announced in its unwavering robotic voice.

  "Please choose a model to your liking."

  I took my time. Walking around the dusty storage room, taking a good look at every single wooden doll.

  In the end, I chose a slimmer build—not tall, not short—with short, pointed ears.

  "Selection complete," the system said. "Returning to the Atelier of Origin."

  The world pulled itself apart—

  And snapped back together.

  I found myself back inside the original room, still a little startled, I made my way toward the section with the wigs.

  There were countless options, each dispyed proudly on its own stand.

  "Hm... what do I take...?" I murmured, tapping my chin as I examined them.

  When you have too many options, choosing becomes harder, not easier.

  "I want something long, but not too long..."

  After a long search, I nodded to myself.

  "Low?key, I kinda want a ponytail... yeah, this one looks good."

  I picked up a wig loosely tied into a ponytail, with two untied strands framing the sides of the face.

  "Alright, this is it."

  I pced it onto the dyeing table and grabbed the white dye, carefully coating every strand until the color was perfectly even.

  Once satisfied, I set the dye aside and picked up a purple?pink shade, coloring parts of the two loose strands.

  "Yeah... now that looks fire."

  I pced the wig on my head.

  "Hair number 428 selected," the system announced.

  "Four?twenty?eight?" I excimed. "Yo, how many hairstyles are there?"

  Shaking my head, I moved on to the contact lenses. Without much hesitation, I chose a pair of purple contacts, put them on, and walked away.

  I skipped the face?paint section entirely and finally approached the outfits.

  There wasn't much to choose from.

  Five simple robes, nearly identical except for color.

  "That's a bit disappointing," I shrugged. "But whatever—I'll get better gear ter."

  I picked the gray version.

  "Alright... yeah, that works."

  I examined my reflection in the mirror, touching my hair and pointed ears while adjusting to my new height.

  That was always the weird part—being taller or shorter than your real body. It took time to get used to.

  "Alright, system," I called toward the ceiling. "I've finished my character creation."

  A gentle melody pyed, followed by the system's soft voice.

  "Please select a username."

  A book appeared in front of me, together with a gss of ink and a feather.

  "Hehe, no problem at all."

  Grinning, i picked up the feather dunked it in the ink and began writing.

  "Username GoldenDayz is already taken."

  My smile vanished.

  "...Huh?"

  I stared at the red glowing letters on the old page.

  "Someone stole my goddamn username?"

  I took a deep breath.

  "Alright... fine. I've still got backups."

  "Username Viceend is already taken."

  Silence.

  Just me—and the red text, mocking me.

  "WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WHY IS IT TAKEN TOO?!"

  I fell to my knees as tears welled up in my eyes.

  Dust swirled around me, shimmering in the orange sunlight like countless stars.

  "I still got one more option!"

  I muttered, pulling myself up and writing down my st remaining choice.

  I pced the dot.

  The system's voice rang out again.

  "Username xZweeZy is already taken."

  I felt my world crack.

  Heat rushed to my head as I began violently punching the mannequins around me.

  With every hit, the same message appeared.

  Indestructible object.

  Over

  and over

  and over.

  Eventually, I stopped.

  Panting in defeated, I wrote down the first word that came to mind.

  "Username BakingTray was selected. Tutorial starting now."

  The system announced it cheerfully. As the book began to disintegrate.

  I stood there while time slowly began to flow again, life returning to the old pce.

  "BakingTray! There you are!"

  A female voice called out as footsteps approached, birds chirping outside the window.

  I closed my eyes, letting the sunlight shine through my eyelids.

  "I want to die... maybe this game just isn't meant for me..."

  I exhaled as a hand gently rested on my shoulder.

  "Did you say something?" the girl asked.

  I opened my eyes and looked at her. Holding back the tears forming in my eyes.

  Pink hair, tied back into a tight ponytail.

  A blue apprentice hat resting on her head.

  "No... it was nothing."

  I sighed.

  The girl just stared at me with a dumb expression.

  Her ocean-blue eyes were fixed on mine—but slightly off, like she wasn't actually looking at me.

  The same empty gaze NPCs always had.

  It was a limitation of the AI that couldn't be fixed. That problem had existed even back in Cssic Adventure.

  Only there, it had been way more severe.

  The developers really outdid themselves this time.

  "Well then, let's go. We have no time—practice is starting soon. We're going to be te!"

  She grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the old atelier and into a grand hallway made entirely of marble.

  Fmes burned from nothing, embedded into the walls to provide light.

  Stained-gss windows on the other side let sunlight pour through in a cascade of colors.

  We rushed through corridor after corridor.

  Hasty footsteps ccked against the marble floor, magic present in every corner of the building.

  Self-burning fmes.

  Brooms cleaning the floor on their own.

  I couldn't help but look around like a fascinated little kid.

  "Don't dawdle around, BakingTray! Today's the day we learn our first magic spell!"

  The girl cheered, pulling harder at my sleeve—almost yanking me off bance.

  "Alright, alright, Pinky! I was just lost in thought—I'm coming, geez!"

  I picked up the pace, holding the small hat on my head, afraid it might fly off.

  "Hey! I'm not Pinky! My name is Ellis, and you know that!"

  She pouted.

  Soon, we reached a massive wooden gate. So tall it might as well have been made for giants.

  It looked so unbelievably heavy that opening it seemed impossible.

  "Damn... now that is one chunky door. How are we supposed to open that?"

  I shouted, putting my hands on my head.

  Ellis just giggled, her hat nearly slipping off.

  "What do you mean, you dummy? Like we always do—or did you forget?"

  She straightened up, cleared her throat, and spoke loudly and clearly.

  "Gates, open!"

  With those simple words, the gate began to move.

  It creaked and groaned as it slowly opened, the sound fitting for such an ancient wooden door.

  "Oh right... I forgot this was a game with magic and shit."

  Before I could say anything else, I got yanked forward again.

  Moments ter, we stood before an elderly woman wearing a witch hat three times the size of her head.

  Her expression was as grim as my biology teacher's.

  "You two are te."

  Her voice was cold enough to make me swallow hard.

  "We are very sorry, Misses Dingledongle!"

  Ellis said, bowing deeply—way too genuinely.

  Meanwhile, I struggled to keep myself together, desperately trying not to ugh.

  "Misses Dingledongle—pfft—"

  I hissed, turning my head away.

  The witch's cold gaze snapped toward me.

  Without a word, she lifted her wand and cast a spell, hoisting me into the air by my colr like a wet rag.

  "Is there something wrong with my name... BakingTray?"

  Hearing my in-game name out loud hit way harder than it should have.

  And the pause before my name drop, only made it feel way more personal.

  I had absolutely no right to mock her when I was named after kitchen equipment.

  "N-No! I'm sorry, Misses Dingledongle!"

  I blurted out.

  She nodded once, then dropped me into the back row between several other kids wearing the same robes Ellis and I had on.

  "Now then, css," she said, turning to face everyone.

  "Let us begin your first real experience with magic."

  "Of course, we'll start with the simplest of spells."

  She raised her wand, swirling it gracefully.

  At the tip, a deep-purple sphere formed—cosmic, magical like one would expect from a magic spell.

  "Magic Missile."

  The sphere burst forward, expanding as it flew, smming straight through a training dummy's chest.