Sean sat at his desk, staring intently at a world map on his monitor as he scrolled through various research papers, archived geological surveys, and satellite data. He wasn’t looking for just any location — he was searching for places where elemental particles were the thickest on Earth and where the connection to the Primordial Nexus, the origin place of mana, was the closest.

  So far, he had identified a few potential hotspots: areas known for abnormal magnetic activity, ancient ley lines, and unexplained natural phenomena. Places like the Bermuda Triangle, the Grand Canyon, the depths of the Amazon rainforest, and specific mountain ranges where strange energy readings had been recorded. However, he still needed more data before drawing any concrete conclusions.

  He exhaled and leaned back, rubbing his temples. He wasn’t crazy, was he?

  Ever since that fateful night when he first meditated using the Myriad Elements Method, his mind had been spiraling down this rabbit hole. And now, he was about to do the unthinkable, which was to try and convince his in-game friends that they could practice meditation on Earth.

  With a deep breath, he pulled up a private group chat on Discord and typed out a message.

  KuroUsagi: “Oi, get on the call. I need to talk to you guys about something important. @everyone”

  However, since it was very early in the morning and most of his friends were still inside the game, only one person responded.

  ChickenSmackdown_MaxLevel: “Bro, it’s like 3 AM, what the hell?”

  KuroUsagi: “Just get in the call. This is serious.”

  ChickenSmackdown_MaxLevel: “Okay, okay.”

  A minute later, the voice chat connected.

  Chicken was the first one to speak. “Dude. What’s so important that you had to wake me up at this ungodly hour? I was just having a midnight snack before going back to playing Magus Academy Online. Couldn’t we just talk in the game?”

  Sean smirked. What a typical response. Considering that Chicken was one of the more easygoing ones in their group, the others would be far less patient if he wasted their time with nonsense. That was exactly why he had chosen to tell him first. If he could convince Chicken, then getting the others on board would be easier.

  “Listen carefully,” Sean began. “What I’m about to tell you might sound crazy, but I need you to hear me out.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve been researching areas on Earth where elemental particles might be denser than normal. And before you roll your eyes, yes, I mean elemental particles, as in the ones from the game. Which also means the existence of mana.”

  Chicken let out a dry laugh. “Bro, do you even hear yourself right now? Mana doesn’t exist in real life.”

  “That’s what I thought too… until I proved myself wrong.”

  There was a brief silence before Chicken asked, “Wait, are you saying you actually managed to—”

  “Yes,” Sean interrupted. “And I have a way to prove it to you.”

  Sean explained everything he had discovered, including the secret technique that allowed him to perceive the extremely thin traces of elemental energy and mana on Earth. Of course, he knew that just telling Chicken wouldn’t be enough; he needed him to experience it firsthand. The only concrete proof he could offer was for Chicken to try practicing the Myriad Elements Method himself while using the secret technique.

  “To think that such a thing is possible… Aight, I’ll test this out and report back to you as soon as possible,” said Chicken before he disconnected from the voice chat.

  Sean let out a deep sigh, rubbing his tired eyes. He wasn’t going to sit around and wait — he had already spent too much time awake, pushing his mind and body to their limits. The past two days had been exhausting, with little to no sleep. As such, he decided to log into Magus Academy Online using his gaming capsule while his physical body was resting.

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  At least in the game, things still made sense.

  ***

  A few hours later, as Sean wandered through the academy grounds, a sudden notification popped up from his Shadowlink Mark. It was a message from outside the game. This prompted him to log out and sit up inside his gaming capsule, quickly turning on his computer.

  ChickenSmackdown_MaxLevel: “Bro, what the fuck. I tried your method and it fucking works!”

  Sean smirked, already knowing what was coming. He then typed a response: “Right? I wasn’t lying to you.

  ChickenSmackdown_MaxLevel: “No, seriously. What the actual fuck. I did everything you said. The breathing, the focus, the visualization. And… I felt something. The faint trace of elemental energy in the air, the barely existing mana… I don’t even know how to describe it.”

  KuroUsagi: “Like a weird tingling sensation deep inside you, right? Like something’s there, but just barely?”

  ChickenSmackdown_MaxLevel: “YES! That’s exactly it! Holy shit, dude, mana is real? Like, real real?”

  KuroUsagi: “You tell me. You just felt it with your own body, didn’t you?”

  ChickenSmackdown_MaxLevel: “Yeah, but that doesn’t make sense! How? How does this even work?! Is it some kind of trick? Maybe a subconscious placebo?”

  Sean chuckled to himself, leaning back in his gaming chair. That had been his first reaction, too. He had spent days trying to rationalize what he had discovered, but no matter how many explanations he tried to come up with, the results were undeniable.

  KuroUsagi: “That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. Regardless, now that you’ve felt it too, we’re way past the point of calling this a coincidence. There must be something bigger at play here.”

  It appeared that Chicken tried to type a response, but he seemed to keep deleting what he wrote since it took a full minute before a message came.

  ChickenSmackdown_MaxLevel: “So what now? No, wait, does this mean that the world inside the game is all real? Or…?”

  Sean’s eyes flickered with excitement as he typed his next message.

  KuroUsagi: “I wouldn’t go that far just yet. There’s still too much we don’t know. For now, I want your help convincing the others. By ‘others,’ I mean Butterfly, Patrick, and Scarlet. They’re our most trustworthy friends in the game. If we put together a reliable crew, we can test the limits of what’s possible far better than just the two of us.”

  ChickenSmackdown_MaxLevel: “Great idea! Should I call them?”

  KuroUsagi: “No need. I’ve already sent them a message when I was in the game. They should be joining us shortly.”

  True to his words, the others started appearing in the chat one by one.

  ButterflyWingsAreDelicious: “What’s this about? You dragged me out just when things were getting interesting. I was in the middle of beating up that arrogant little twerp’s underlings.”

  The “twerp” Butterfly referred to was none other than Auralise.

  DigitalMagicianPatrick: “Well, KuroUsagi has never disappointed us with his information before. I wonder what you have in store this time.”

  LunaticScarlet: “Mm. Let’s hear it.”

  KuroUsagi: “Don’t worry. What I’m about to tell you won’t disappoint. In fact, I’m willing to bet you’ll all be shocked. Just get in the call since it’ll be easier for me to explain.”

  And so, they all joined the voice chat.

  “All right, Kuro, mind telling us what this is about?” Patrick asked.

  Sean sighed before speaking. “At first, I didn’t believe it either. I thought it was just another baseless theory made by bored players. But now, I have proof.”

  “Proof of what? Don’t beat around the bush. Just tell us,” Butterfly urged.

  To add to the tension, Sean spoke slowly. “Elemental particles and also mana exist in the real world.”

  Silence. The voice chat went completely still, with no one uttering a single word for quite some time.

  “…You must be joking,” Patrick finally said.

  “Hah. Good one. Almost had me there,” Butterfly added, sounding unimpressed.

  Sean smiled and spoke slowly. “I’m dead serious.”

  “He’s not joking. I tried it myself. It works,” Chicken chimed in.

  “What?” Scarlet’s voice was shaken.

  Thus, Sean began explaining everything to them — the same way he had with Chicken. He detailed his discoveries, the secret technique, the Myriad Elements Method, and how Chicken had successfully replicated the process. Their reactions were just as he expected which were disbelief, skepticism, and stunned silence.

  Since words alone wouldn’t be enough to convince them, Sean instructed them to try meditating using his secret technique and report back in a few hours.

  A few hours later, the voice chat reconnected, but this time, the usual lively energy was gone.

  “This can’t be…” Patrick’s voice came through, sounding almost dazed. “Even though they’re very faint, I can sense the elemental particles… Am I dreaming?”

  “I thought I was imagining it at first,” Scarlet admitted. “But the longer I focused, the more real it felt. I have honed my swordsmanship in my family’s dojo all my life, and I’m absolutely certain that this is not a trick.”

  Even Butterfly couldn’t completely hide the excitement in her voice as she asked, “Kuro, mind explaining all this?”

  “Hold up,” Chicken cut in. “So, we can all agree that mana is real, right? That’s what we’re saying?”

  “I’ve told you everything.” A grin appeared on Sean’s face. “Instead, what we should be figuring out now is just how far this rabbit hole goes.”

  He paused for a moment before adding, “And I already have a plan.”

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  I will be taking a break for 2 weeks on Magus Academy to focus a bit on writing as it's currently high on RS