When Aryumon Brushun arrived at the Arctic Iceberg Mountain, the incident was already nearing its conclusion.
A dome-shaped black barrier loomed over the mountain range, trapping the chaos within. Hundreds of magic warriors and troubleshooters milled about at the entrance, their efforts futile against the unyielding obstruction.
Aryumon approached with deliberate calm, his hands buried in the pockets of his tailored suit. The dark circles under his eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, lending him an air of detached confidence.
"Ah, there you are."
When he spoke, Sael Ri, a Class 9 elder hovering in mid-air while observing the situation, nodded in acknowledgment.
"I've been analyzing the barrier."
"If a Persona Gate of this size has synchronized with reality... This could be a bit troublesome for us."
Resolving it wasn't impossible, but the sheer magnitude of the task made it daunting.
'A dark mage of the class 9 must have caused this. What a nuisance...'
Solving such puzzles, while technically achievable, was far more arduous than creating them in the first place.
"Even if we combined our strength, it would take at least a week to dismantle this…"
But there was no time for that. After all, two Class 9 mages being tied down in such a place meant they were far from having free time.
From the outset, Aryumon had no intention of wasting precious time on a full analysis.
"What's your plan?"
With a casual shrug, Aryumon reached for a cigarette but stopped short, as if remembering an unspoken rule. "I'll provide the researchers with a simplified interpretation route and leave them to it. My hands are already full with other dark mage problems. What about you?"
"... I'll stay until the end and help with the analysis."
"You must have time to burn."
"And you must have nerves of steel, leaving after witnessing a disaster of this magnitude."
"Well, Persona Gates like this tend to remain stationary once they're firmly established. Anyway, see you later."
With that, Aryumun lightly waved his hand and gave a casual farewell.
But the anomaly occurred immediately afterward.
"H-Huh?!"
"What's going on?!"
"The Persona Gate… it's expanding!"
"... What?!"
Rumble—!!!
The Persona Gate, which had been firmly rooted in place without the slightest movement, suddenly began expanding its territory!
It was already larger than most major cities, so what would happen if it grew even bigger? Aryumun panicked and quickly shouted orders.
"Abandon all heavy equipment and fall back! Get on the carriages and move as far away as possible!"
There were ways to forcibly suppress the expansion of a Persona Gate, but the side effects of doing so were too terrifying to risk. For now, retreating was the only viable option.
Aryumun also hurried to evacuate, but he noticed that Sael Ri remained standing in the same spot, unmoving.
"Hey, Sael Ri! You'll get caught up in it if you stay there!"
Sael Ri didn't respond. Instead, he silently stared at the barrier, nodded, and then turned around to soar into the sky.
In an instant, Sael Ri put a considerable distance between himself and the Gate.
"... Seriously? Good for him and his healthy body."
Aryumun grimaced. Using mana twisted his insides and caused excruciating pain, but given the situation, he had no choice but to follow. He took off and quickly caught up with Sael Ri, then stopped at a reasonable distance.
"This is insane. For the boundary to expand this much... What the hell is happening inside?"
As he spoke, Aryumun scratched his head and tried to take out a cigarette. But then—
He noticed something unusual at the boundary of the Gate. Startled, he dropped the cigarette to the ground.
"Wait... Is that...?"
The boundary of the rapidly expanding Persona Gate was originally covered in pitch-black darkness—like the color of the void or a night sky filled with stars.
It was essentially a dimensional barrier, a crucial safety mechanism that separated reality from the false world inside.
But now—
It was fading.
"What the... Is that even possible?"
It was only natural that the mages on the ground had fallen into complete chaos.
Incidents involving the full synchronization of such a colossal Persona Gate with reality were exceedingly rare in history.
And every time such a synchronization occurred... Humanity suffered devastating, unforgettable wounds.
'No way... Even Baek Yu-Seol couldn't stop it?'
Aryumun's pupils trembled violently as he struggled to maintain his composure. At that moment, Sael Ri spoke.
"Pull yourself together. I heard your condition's been deteriorating lately… seems your brain's slowed down too. What a pity."
"What?"
Aryumun was momentarily infuriated by Sael Ri's unexpected joke, especially in such a dire situation. However, the comment also had the effect of instantly cooling his head.
Sael Ri wasn't the type to crack jokes during critical moments.
Which meant—
"Ah... I see."
Now calm, Aryumun finally turned his gaze toward the interior of the Persona Gate's boundary.
"This is... Unbelievable."
Through the fading boundary of the Persona Gate, a vibrant, otherworldly realm was coming into view.
The frigid, lifeless Arctic Iceberg Mountain was transforming. It had become a warm, verdant paradise filled with vibrant flowers and lush greenery… a spring-like haven in stark contrast to the icy desolation it had been moments before.
"I… never thought I'd see something like this."
Up until now, the fear surrounding Persona Gate synchronizations wasn't without reason.
The environments inside Persona Gates were often horrifying and completely unsuitable for human life.
In some, dark magic saturated the air, twisting all creatures into monstrous abominations the moment synchronization occurred. In others, lethal radiation swept through, snuffing out all life in an instant.
Because most Persona Gates were hostile to humanity, synchronization had always been regarded as a nightmare scenario.
And yet, this Gate...
This Gate defied everything they knew. It was a breathtakingly beautiful world, brimming with vibrant life.
"Baek Yu-Seol must have forcibly expanded the Persona Gate to weaken its boundary."
"Yes. After a long curse, spring has finally returned to the Arctic Iceberg Mountain, which has been trapped in eternal winter."
If that Persona Gate successfully synchronized with reality, it would undoubtedly bring back the season of spring.
However, fundamentally... Would that spring truly last?
Deep beneath the Arctic Iceberg Mountain lay a Sealing Stone, its magic keeping the region locked in perpetual frost. If they wanted to preserve this fleeting spring, that Sealing Stone had to be destroyed.
"That's not Baek Yu-Seol's job, though."
"… You're right. That's true."
That task likely fell to the knights of the Ice Spirit Plateau Fortress—
Before the warm spring could once again be swallowed by the bitter cold of winter, they would have to break through the monsters in the depths of the Arctic Iceberg Mountain, find the Sealing Stone, and destroy it.
For generations, no general of Ice Spirit Plateau had ever succeeded.
But this time—
"Selphram… There's a lot riding on that child."
With that thought, Aryumun let out a hollow laugh and turned away.
"Figures. Things always seem to work themselves out."
"I'm heading out now. What about you?"
"I'll stay and keep watching until the end."
"Cautious as always."
That was just how Sael Ri had always been.
Without another word, Aryumun turned and soared into the sky, leaving his companion behind. The two only crossed paths once every few decades, yet neither felt the need to say farewell.
Not saying goodbye was their unspoken promise to meet again… alive.
***
Click!
The sound of a camera shutter closing.
Whirr...
The noise of a tape rewinding.
Click! Click!
Something kept flickering in and out.
Stop it.
At the sound of the shutter, Flame writhed in excruciating pain, but the camera didn't stop.
Click! Click! Click!
She scrunched up her face and shook her head violently from side to side, but the noise wouldn't go away. Her ears throbbed with pain, and tears welled up in her eyes. She forcefully pulled her hands away from her ears.
But then—
'My hot dog earlier today... Why do people act like that... Should I learn magic... Piggy banks and coins... I should have known better... Dieting means exercising... Bean sprouts taste good with sauce...'
A chaotic torrent of nonsensical thoughts surged into her mind, crashing over her like a tidal wave. Flame let out a guttural scream, clutching her head.
Stop it! Please, stop!
And then—a voice.
'We made a mistake.'
It was Hong Bi-Yeon. Her face appeared before Flame's eyes.
No, it wasn't real.
It was just a fragment of memory replaying in Flame's mind.
A golden temple loomed in her vision.
Hong Bi-Yeon stood at a massive circular table surrounded by others, their faces grave and tense as they formed a solemn ring.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
Hong Bi-Yeon and Eisel were staring at the scene with grave expressions, but their words were garbled, unable to reach her ears properly.
'From the start...'
Eisel said something, but her words scattered like whispers in the wind. All Flame could hear was the roar of a raging waterfall.
'Already dozens of times...'
Hong Bi-Yeon shouted something toward the center, but Flame made no effort to understand.
Because—
She was simply too tired.
Eventually, Flame closed her eyes.
And the last thing to brush against her ears was the faint sound of the two girls' voices.
'We will always.'
'Remember that we were friends.'
When she opened her eyes—
It was class time.
'Huh...?'
She blinked in confusion, the fragmented memories slipping through her grasp like sand. What had she been doing just now?
She was flying somewhere through the sky...
"Flame, are you not paying attention?"
When she looked up, Professor Maizen Tyren was staring at her with a deeply furrowed brow.
"Huh? Yes!"
"Are you saying you won't focus?"
"What?"
Her clueless reply earned a few chuckles from nearby students, their laughter poorly suppressed.
Standing beside the professor, Alterisha, his assistant, seemed unusually tense, her fingers fidgeting nervously as though she was trying to stifle her own discomfort.
'Oh, right... Time travel.'
Finally piecing her thoughts together, Flame hurriedly assessed the situation.
'What time is this...? First semester of the first year?'
It became clear that her time travel hadn't worked as she had expected. Instead of arriving as her future self, she had been transported back into her younger self's body.
'Right now, I'm in Professor Maizen Tyren's class...'
Professor Maizen Tyren was famous even among alchemists, with connections spreading widely throughout the Alchemy Castle.
For anyone dreaming of becoming an alchemist, her class was essential, and no delinquent would dare to doze off in her lectures—except for Flame, apparently.
'Well, it's not like my dream is to become an alchemist anyway...'
As her scattered memories clicked into place, she remembered the real reason she had enrolled in this class. It wasn't out of a passion for alchemy.
It was to keep an eye on the protagonist of the original romance-fantasy novel, Do Not Love the Unfortunate Princess… Eisel.
'Come to think of it... What happened to Eisel?'
Since they had attempted time travel together, did Eisel also end up in the past, possessing her younger self just like Flame?
Her eyes darted toward Eisel. Sitting nearby, Eisel appeared entirely engrossed in the lecture, diligently taking notes without missing a single detail. The genius she had always been, shining brightly even at the start of the semester.
'... Do we really need to be doing this right now?'
Since they had traveled back in time, merely pretending to pay attention to the lecture should have been enough.
'Ah.'
Then, Flame suddenly remembered something - or rather, someone - important.
Baek Yu-Seol from a year ago.
He had always seemed to know more than anyone else.
But now, it was different.
'This time, I know more.'
The thought filled her with excitement, and she began scanning the room eagerly. If Baek Yu-Seol was going to protect Eisel again, he would surely be in Professor Maizen's lecture.
But—
'Huh?'
He wasn't there.
A sense of unease gnawed at her. Flame grabbed the arm of a nearby student and whispered urgently.
"Hey, um... Is Baek Yu-Seol in this class?"
The student frowned, clearly annoyed at being interrupted during the lecture, and replied curtly.
"Baek? There's no one with such a strange surname in this academy."
"... What? You don't know Baek Yu-Seol from Class S?"
"Never heard of him. Look, you might be smart enough to slack off, but I'm not, okay? Stop bothering me."
The conversation abruptly ended.
Refusing to give up, Flame asked other students, but the answer was always the same. They didn't know anyone by that name.
'What...?'
Her heart sank.
"Flame? Flame! What do you think you're doing during class?!"
Professor Maizen Tyren's angry voice rang out, but it barely registered in Flame's ears.
Time travel was successful.
But something had gone terribly wrong.