Prologue Story

So, isn’t the inner world, or the mental world, essentially like a person’s dream world?

At least, my dream world is part of my mental world.

In that case, wouldn’t it be possible to enter someone else’s dream through this dream world?

You know, it often appears in comics too. Dreams are connected. Dreams are another world.

I thought this wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility.

Opening countless dreams to choose where I want to go may be a gamble, but returning to my world should at least be simple enough.

Because, literally, it’s ‘my’ world.

From the start, illusion magic of the mental type is a magic that manipulates others’ mental worlds.

If mental illusion magic involves entering and disturbing someone’s mental world, perhaps it’s also possible to visit someone’s dream.

Looking at the corner of a note I had written a few years ago, I decided to try it today.

How much influence could I exert over the dream world with my current abilities?

Would that influence persist even when the person opens their eyes and becomes conscious again?

I chose In-ha as the target. I planned to give her a heads-up.

And today, I received my first lesson from Teacher Joon-hwi on training my body as a magician.

“Daily running at that level should be enough for basic physical training. Did you understand the meditation technique?”

“Yes. The point is to move more outwardly, right? If I usually move along internal blood vessels, this time it should flow as if along the skin.”

I brushed my hand over my arm. To be precise, I swept the air about one centimeter above my skin.

Teacher Joon-hwi nodded, though he seemed somewhat dissatisfied.

“You still grasp things quickly. Not at all like a child.”

Teacher Min, who was sitting next to Teacher Joon-hwi and listening to our conversation, looked at me with a curious expression.

I lowered my head slightly with a bashful smile.

Teacher Joon-hwi pointed to the clock and said,

“It’s about time to start class. Go on to the classroom.”

“Yes!”

Already? I stood up with a bright smile.

Teacher Min returned the smile, understanding.

“Now that I think about it, in the second semester, you’ll start mixing in some practical exercises, right? Like using magic items or making potions?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Well, you’ll probably already know most of the magic we’ll practice, but pay attention to potions. There’s a lot you probably don’t know yet.”

That made sense. Since making potions requires ingredients and suitable tools and locations, I hadn’t done any prior study on them.

After cheerfully saying goodbye to the teachers, I headed to the classroom.

Just thinking about taking my first potion class filled me with excitement.

Humming a song under my breath, I clasped my hands behind my back, walking as usual.

I planned to start meditation right after school today.

First, I’d meditate as I usually did, then meditate to strengthen my body.

And tonight, I’d go for a run. Rather than setting a specific number of laps, I’d aim to keep running for a set amount of time.

If I got tired, I’d pace myself by walking quickly for a bit…

When I entered the classroom, my friends, who were gathered in one spot, all turned to look at me.

Seeing me sit down with a cheerful expression, In-ha asked curiously,

“Where have you been?”

With the new seating arrangement in the second semester, In-ha and I were still seatmates at the back near the window.

However, we were now quite far from the other kids.

Other friends seemed to share In-ha’s curiosity, looking at me with questioning eyes.

I sat down and replied,

“Hm? Oh, I had something to talk about with Teacher Joon-hwi.”

“What kind of talk?”

“I don’t get why you always have so many questions for the teachers.”

“Yeah, I agree with Han-soo!”

I chuckled at Hyun-ho, who raised his hand in agreement, and answered lightly,

“Oh, I just heard a few things here and there, like usual. It was about training methods… Oh, right, In-ha, I have something to tell you──.”

“…?”

Just as I was about to say something, the front door slid open with a creak, and the teacher entered.

Hmm, normally I’d just pass notes, but not today. I’d been really looking forward to the potion class.

Watching the others scurry back to their seats, I leaned toward In-ha and whispered,

“I’ll tell you later.”

“Yeah, okay.”

The first potion class was as fascinating as I’d anticipated.

After hearing quite a few precautions, we went straight into potion-making practice.

From now on, we’d learn to make one potion per class whenever possible.

This time, we learned to make a potion that instantly changes the color of a flower’s petals with just a light spray.

Depending on the potion’s color, the petal color would change, so caution was required for its use on objects as well.

The potion itself was incredibly simple, but it was meaningful to make it with my own hands.

I decided that I’d buy a book on potions and read it soon.

As I made the potion, I kept that thought in mind.

Throughout the process of creating the color I wanted, a smile stayed on my face.

The color of the potion I made was a deep, vivid blue.

Incidentally, I heard it could also be solidified.

It was definitely interesting.

The second class was physical education, where we just played dodgeball as usual.

A few days ago, when I had no interest in sports, I would’ve just pretended to dodge until it ended, but this time, I ran around enthusiastically, staying within the bounds of what seemed natural to the other kids.

With an average level of athletic ability, I didn’t do exceptionally well, but I ran enough to feel out of breath.

It was In-ha who truly showed exceptional athleticism, running alongside me tirelessly.

Even though she’d been running everywhere with me, she didn’t seem even a little out of breath. Not a drop of sweat.

I didn’t think she’d done proper exercise before either, so I couldn’t help but feel this was just something innate.

A true genius—someone like In-ha is what the word refers to.

It might not be something to say to a first-grader, but In-ha was certainly unique.

They say you can recognize a promising tree from its leaves. She would definitely grow up to be someone remarkable.

After P.E. class, I spoke to In-ha in the restroom about the matter.

“Tonight, I’ll visit your dream.”

Hearing my words, In-ha’s eyes widened.

“My dream?”

“Yeah. So don’t be surprised if I show up. Well, I’m not sure yet if it’ll work, and since it’s a dream, you might not remember, but…”

“No, if it’s you, Eun-ha, I’m sure you’ll succeed. Meeting you in my dream sounds amazing…”

“Really? Honestly, I’m looking forward to seeing what your dream world is like, too.”

I had created my world directly while lucid dreaming, but I believed that everyone had their own dream world, just like I did.

It might just be a dream they are currently having, or it could be a fixed image of their mental world, like mine.

In that case, what would In-ha’s mental world look like?

With a faint smile, I imagined In-ha’s world.

Even though In-ha’s appearance and temperament were calm and collected, I pictured her world as a soft gold color, just like her magical aura, filled with warmth—completely unlike her outward demeanor.

“If you succeed in entering my dream, show me your dream, too.”

“Of course, I will.”

We made this promise, hooking our fingers playfully.

It was only a few days later that I succeeded in entering In-ha’s dream.

☆

Teacher Joon-hwi had definitely been right.

Starting in the second semester, we began to study magic more seriously during class.

We began learning magic theory in a more systematic way and started studying the attributes of magical power in detail.

We learned about the characteristics of magical attributes and how to recognize our own.

The goal for second-semester first graders was to learn one basic magic spell from the four fundamental natural attributes most compatible with each of us: fire, water, earth, or wind. This would also be the content of the second-semester exam.

It seemed this exam would be a guaranteed success for us again. Knowing this, all of us, including Shia, reached the same conclusion.

Shia, who also had some talent, had already mastered one or two spells from the attribute that suited him best.

Apart from that, we each continued our training at our respective levels.

As a result, I succeeded in entering In-ha’s dream.

It happened about three days into my attempts.

In-ha’s world was stunning and quite close to what I had imagined.

Contrary to her cool exterior, In-ha’s world was pure white, filled with light, with a gentle lemon color layered over the white, creating a bright and dreamy world.

It was like an unreal, fairy-tale realm floating above the clouds.

Also, after deciding to train my physical strength, I began jogging around the neighborhood every evening.

Every single day, I did two types of meditation.

In the morning, I practiced meditating to circulate magical power internally, and at night, I practiced moving magical power over my skin.

Teacher Joon-hwi said that while it was faster than planned, he would teach me the common martial arts techniques used in magic combat in about two months.

He thought I might need them sooner rather than later.

After a month of physical training, I began to feel its effects.

One day, I suddenly realized that it had become easier to control my magical power.

That feeling was truly indescribable.

The magic, once as soft and light as a feather, now spread sharply around me with a mere thought.

When I focused deeply, I could clearly feel the pulse of magic within me, intensely quiet and strong.

Compared to before I started the physical training, my magical capacity had significantly increased.

My sensing abilities had improved as well.

The color of visible magical energy became clearer, and the once hazy feeling when sensing others’ magic had largely disappeared.

I could even sense a hint of emotions, though very faintly, by noticing slight fluctuations in color.

At the very least, I could distinguish whether the other person was calm or agitated.

“Oh, Eun-ha! Hi! Huh? Where’s In-ha?”

“Oh, Eun-hee unnie.”

Eun-hee unnie was alone for a change.

I was also out by myself today to buy something personal.

Seeing the magazine I was flipping through, Eun-hee unnie looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“An illustration book? And it’s enchanted with three-dimensional magic? Why are you looking at something like that? Oh, are you thinking about traveling somewhere?”

The magazine I was reading was an illustrated book filled with beautiful landscapes from around the world.

I hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Well, it’s just…something I need for magic practice.”

“Really? Well, there are definitely plenty of spells you can’t use without first building knowledge by seeing and reading about things.

When I first started learning spirit magic, I struggled a lot figuring out how to make it work.”

Listening to her words, I hugged the illustration book close.

Up until now, I had been creating illusions using a bit of imagination and vague images.

Thinking I wanted to develop this into ‘Illusion Magic’, I had been practicing that way.

But Teacher Joon-hwi mentioned that the range of my illusions was somewhat limited.

He said that by seeing more and imprinting those images in my memory, I could create even more vivid and impressive illusions.

Hearing this, I felt a need to imagine things in more detail.

Of course, creating illusions with vague images as I had been was fine since it had worked well so far.

As I grew more familiar with it, I would be able to create illusions that felt almost real, even with just a vague image.

The more skilled I became, the higher the chance those illusions would evolve into true illusions.

But reaching that level would take quite some time.

The faster method, as Teacher Joon-hwi said, was to imagine things more vividly.

For that, I would need to see and explore many things directly.

That way, I could reach my desired level more quickly.

Starting today, I decided to look for and observe more things, both in my dreams and in reality.

I also planned to make good use of the virtual system.

“What brings you here, unnie?”

“Oh, I was just taking a break with a little stroll. Want to chat? I’m a bit bored.”

“Huh? Oh…sure.”

I unconsciously clutched the magazine tightly and glanced at Eun-hee unnie.

Today, she seemed somewhat subdued.

We walked through the park in silence for a while.