“Before that.”
TT closed his hand on empty air—
and a black wand appeared,
the same color as his hair.
Crys felt his heartbeat quicken
as TT traced something in the air,
then toward the ground.
What Soliorbis and Rone had done
had been too fast,
almost like sleight of hand.
This—this was the first time he’d watched magic take shape.
And maybe because it was TT,
Crys didn’t feel uneasy.
TT moved the wand
like a conductor,
then swung it once—
and a bench appeared
on the flat of the hill.
A simple park bench.
With a backrest.
A perfect seat,
where you could see the castle—
and the floating islands beyond.
“This’ll make it easier to talk,”
TT said.
He sat first,
then tapped the space beside him.
Crys circled around
and sat carefully.
Solid.
Unmoving,
even when he shifted his weight.
He glanced at TT,
who was smiling at him.
“You’re good at magic.”
“Probably from gaming.
Ad might be good too, actually—”
TT stopped,
realizing.
“Sorry.
You didn’t like magic.”
Crys lowered his gaze
to the grass swaying in the wind.
He couldn’t nod right away.
He used to hate it.
But now—
it wasn’t hatred.
It was something deeper.
The emptiness Tsitsi had forced him to face—
that magic hadn’t saved Amelia.
He didn’t know how to answer.
TT didn’t push.
Just like in chat,
he waited.
Quietly.
“Is this really real…?”
Crys said it softly,
looking toward the distant castle.
The familiar TO scenery
shone brighter than any screen.
Alone,
he might’ve convinced himself
it was just a dream.
But talking with TT—
it felt like cold fingers
slowly warming.
TT answered each time without a hint of annoyance.
“I get why it feels like a dream.
A world you’ve only seen in-game
is right in front of you.”
He lifted his hands,
eyes shining,
toward the islands above.
“Those islands are probably cities too—
just like Adom Yekitsa.
Places we’ve seen in TO.”
Crys leaned back,
following TT’s gaze.
In-game,
TT had always felt older somehow.
But now—
cheeks flushed,
eyes reflecting color—
he looked not so different from Crys.
Crys tilted his head,
turning toward him.
“Why can you believe this is real?”
“Why…”
TT repeated,
thinking.
Light shifted—
and Crys noticed the guide there.
A great bird,
close at his shoulder.
“I don’t know,”
TT murmured,
scratching the feathers
as it chirped softly,
nipping at him.
“When Tsek appeared in my dreams,
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part of me expected this.
And I think most people here did too.
A place not on any map,
but connected somewhere inside—
calling it a dream might be easier.
But not everything is logical.
Somewhere deeper, I just know it’s real.”
“That just makes me wonder more
why I’m here.”
TT turned,
surprised.
“You?
I thought you’d been called too.”
“Why?”
“When Tsek told me about
Emet Echad Olam,
I remembered the girl you used to talk about.
The one from your dreams.
You stopped mentioning her,
so I figured it was just a dream.
And Tsek told me
not to ask too much.
But—
what if she was your Nahal?”
“Not just a guide,”
Crys hesitated—
then continued,
trusting him.
“Tsitsi’s part of the Grand Order.
I think.”
“No way—
that Tsitsi?”
Crys nodded.
TT leaned forward,
patting Crys’s shoulder
like congratulating a lucky kid.
Tsek cried out,
wings spreading wide.
“Don’t tell anyone,”
Crys said quickly.
“I know, I know,”
TT said,
excited.
“The head of Emet Echad Olam
guiding you personally?
That’s huge.
Ad—
you really do have something.”
“She’s not my guide,”
Crys said.
Something stung in his chest.
“She doesn’t want to stay with me.”
“Oh.
The rumor,”
TT said gently.
He glanced around Crys,
not missing the absence.
“So you’re the ‘guide-less’ one.”
He smiled—
not unkind,
but distant.
“You always have another story, don’t you?”
Crys knew TT was trying
to lighten things.
He tried to smile back.
Couldn’t.
The more he learned about this world,
the heavier the doubt grew,
until breathing itself felt hard.
“A Rofeh without a guide…”
He forced the words out.
“This place gathers people
who might change the world, right?
Dreams.
Talent.
Something worth choosing.
I get why you’re here.
You’re good.
Smart.
Kind.
Even to someone like me.
But I’m not.
My grades are average.
I have no friends.
My family’s a mess.
No dreams.
No goals.
Even my guide won’t stay.
Why am I here?
It has to be a mistake.”
“It’s not.”
The quiet firmness made Crys look up.
TT met his gaze—
serious.
Then softer—
but just as certain.
“It’s not.
Ad changed my world.
You freed me
from things my parents drilled into me,
from the version of myself
I thought I had to be.
Do you realize
you did that?”
“I’ve only ever been helped by you.”
TT smiled gently.
“What Seder Gador said—
I get it.
Changing the world
isn’t always something grand.
You threw a stone into my heart—and everything shifted.
That makes you a Rofeh.
Without question.”
“That’s—”
“You think so. She said that too—you might not realize it at the time, either.
But because of you,
I can choose a future
I couldn’t have imagined before.
Don’t erase that
by calling it nothing.”
Crys bit his lip,
turning the words over,
again and again.
Finally,
he nodded,
slowly.
“I still don’t think so.
But if you say it—
I’ll go with it.”
“Thanks.”
TT grinned,
relieved.
“I won’t use you as an excuse,
but you are my support.
I’m glad you didn’t deny it.”
“What kind of future
did you imagine?”
TT smiled,
like dusk,
and looked toward the castle.
Crys followed his gaze.
The distant castle reflected color,
soft as an aurora.
He’d wanted to keep this view forever—
but now,
he wanted to know
what TT was thinking.
They watched in silence,
as the light shifted.
Calm—
but Crys grew restless.
If he asked,
TT would answer.
If not,
he’d dodge it like always.
Just as Crys opened his mouth—
TT spoke first.
“It was right here,
wasn’t it?
Where we first met.”
TT gazed off,
nostalgic.
“I was still a rookie solo player—struggling with Valentus.
You stepped in and helped me.”
He looked at Crys then,
and flashed a broad, easy grin.
“You were insanely cool back then.”
“You would’ve won even without my support.
I just ended up stealing the drop.”
“I’ve run into plenty of drop thieves.
You weren’t like them.”
TT spread his arms,
almost theatrically,
brushing it off.
“I really didn’t know if I’d win.
You told me how to turn my attacks into a win—
that really hit me hard.
Typing advice in chat
while supporting,
while dodging the enemy?
That’s not normal.
You’re not just good at games, Ad.
You’re kind. You actually notice people.”
“No one’s ever told me that.”
The heat he’d finally managed to settle
crept back into his cheeks.
He tried to cool it with the back of his hand,
but couldn’t look away from TT.
TT kept going.
“That’s why I decided to team up with you.
Even if you already had one,
I’d still stick close—as a friend.
So—
I’m glad you were solo.”
“I thought I knew you pretty well.
Turns out, there’s something new.”
Crys tilted his head.
“You’re more… persistent than I expected.”
TT’s sphene-colored eyes widened.
Then his expression melted,
and he laughed—
openly, happily.
“You didn’t know?
I fell for you at first sight, Ad.”
“At first sight…
of Ad, huh.”
Crys rested his elbow on his knee,
chin in his palm,
and looked away.
Words like ‘like’ or ‘fell for’ came too easily to TT.
Which meant—
they probably didn’t weigh much to him.
That’s what Crys told himself.
Still,
his heart was loud.
Too loud.
He muttered,
half-spiteful,
“So you fell for Ad.
Not Crys.”
But for TT—
who’d been certain, even before names,
that Ad would be here—
it probably didn’t matter.
For Crys,
who’d believed no one noticed him
outside the game,
the thought that TT had been seeing him
was what mattered most.
TT closed his eyes, then lifted the black wand again.
Tap.
Tap.
In his left hand,
something appeared from nothing—
an ice cream cone.
Double scoop.
TT grinned,
pressed it into Crys’s hand,
then made one for himself
and took a bite.
“Hm.
Flavor’s right.”
He licked his lips,
impressed.
“But that’s all.
It tastes right,
but the feeling’s thin.
Probably why food’s still prepared here,
even if we can make it.”
Crys looked at the ice cream—
which showed no sign of melting—
then at TT.
TT leaned back against the bench,
gazing at the milky-white castle,
as if he’d always belonged here.
Like it was just a theme park to him.
Crys hesitated—
then bit into it.
“…It’s good.”
Black cherry’s sharpness,
soft amaretto.
Not too sweet.
Rum raisin beneath—
cream spreading,
rum blooming through his nose.
Not the kind of flavor
Larry would drag people to an ice cream truck for—
more like a dessert
served at the end of a course meal.
“Rone said it, didn’t he,”
Crys murmured.
“That magic here
is thought taking form—
not fantasy magic.”
He licked the perfect scoop.
“Thought isn’t just imagination.
It pulls memory with it.
You said the flavor was right.
So this is food from your memory.”
“Distinct things stick,”
TT said lightly.
“Figured I’d introduce myself
with something I like.
Or—
would you have preferred something classic?”
“No.”
Crys shook his head,
took another bite,
and shrugged faintly.
“Just thinking—
you eat well.”
“You don’t eat enough.”
TT laughed,
grabbing the loose fabric
at Crys’s stomach.
“Look at this hoodie.
Can’t even grab your belly.”
“Yeah, yeah.
I’m skinny.”
“Right.
A strong, cool skinny guy.”
They laughed together.
They’d joked like this in chat—
less than half a day ago.
It already felt distant.
Crys looked at TT again,
really looked.
The warmth he’d felt through chat
was all over his face—
a smile anyone would like at first glance.
TT was a little taller.
Or maybe just—
Crys needed to fix his posture.
The light gray uniform looked familiar.
Silver and violet thread,
a book crest on the chest.
He remembered.
“…Your school.
Levius Academy?”
“Correct.
I wore it hoping you’d notice.
Worth it.”
TT flicked the wand.
His clothes shifted—
sky-blue shirt,
light navy jacket,
cream chinos.
Refined.
Not that far from the uniform, really.
Crys leaned forward,
suddenly animated.
“Wait—The Lev?
That’s insane.
It’s like forty minutes from my school.
Less than an hour from my place.”
“Bethesda, right?
Your school’s—
Otterburn?”
TT grinned.
“How did you—?!”
Crys swallowed a huge bite—
and instantly clutched his head.
Brain freeze.
TT didn’t stop.
“You always talked about the library.
Two blocks from home.
How long to Darwood’s Happy Halloween.
Metro and bus to Rose Rise Cemetery.
Give enough details, and it gets easy to narrow things down.”
“…You always told me to watch my online privacy.
This is why?”
Crys groaned.
“Good thing you’re a good guy.”
“Seriously.
Be careful.”
TT said sternly—
then casually pointed the wand at him.
“You attached to that hairstyle?”
“…Huh?”
Before Crys could react,
a warm early-summer wind swept up—
from his face,
over his head.
It curled gently,
lifted,
and vanished.
When Crys opened his eyes,
his bangs were gone.
TT’s face was clearer.
Seeing himself reflected
in Crys’s stunned eyes,
TT smiled, satisfied.
“Waste of a pretty face.”
“Your sense of distance
has always been broken, huh…”
Crys tried to hide behind his hair—
failed.
Flustered,
he changed the subject.
“So.
You just… know how to use magic?”
TT finally looked away,
thinking.
“This world’s magic is thought.
So you just project what you think.
But when you try,
you’re thinking about too much.
You need focus.
Using a Pirit
helps lock your thoughts into form.”
“So TO-style magic too?”
“I think so.
Probably easier if you’re used to seeing it.
You too, Ad.”
TT hesitated.
Crys popped the last bite of cone into his mouth,
looked up.
“…What?”
“Oh.
Right.
I never asked.”
TT said quietly.
“Why do you hate magic?”
