Chapter 3
“Ta-da!”
“W-whoa…?”
Upon stepping inside the Illusion Magic Tower beyond the curtain of lights, a completely different scene unfolded before me than what I had imagined.
“Huh?”
There were no giant floating magical stones, no mages flying in the air reading magical tomes, no ceilings so high they seemed to touch the heavens, no spiral staircases winding along the walls, and no bookshelves filled with magical books or numerous private research rooms.
None of that existed here.
Instead, there were tattered magical books, ordinary stairs, and bookshelves and doors made of fragile-looking wood that seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
The floorboards creaked ominously, as if they could cave in at any second.
I kept going in and out of the entrance repeatedly, unable to reconcile the tower’s exterior with the dismal interior.
“Were you surprised? We prepared an event just for you, Rai. I hope you liked it!”
“What…?”
“This is actually our real tower. What you saw before was just an ‘illusion’!”
With that, the appearance of the grand, towering structure that seemed to touch the sky started to fade away.
“We created an illusion to make our tower look like the others. Haha.”
“…Ah.”
Haha. Hahaha. Hahaha…
Realizing what was going on, I laughed hollowly and sat down on the floor in defeat.
Of course. It was too good to be true for a mere Illusion Magic Tower to be that spectacular.
As the illusion completely faded away, what remained was a rickety tower, about 7 or 8 stories tall, that looked like it could crumble at any moment.
It was pitifully short compared to the other towers that reached up to the sky.
“It’s unfortunate, but our tower doesn’t receive much support, so we couldn’t expand it any further. But don’t worry, Rai! It’s still a fun place to be.”
“…Then why not use illusion magic to make the inside look grand too?”
“Using illusion magic in actual living spaces is dangerous. After all, it’s just an illusion. You can’t really use it, and if the illusion’s size or shape doesn’t match reality, you might get hurt using it.”
“Right… I suppose so.”
I mindlessly listened to the tower’s introduction and was shown to my room.
“But where are the other people?”
What struck me as odd was the severe lack of people in the tower.
Could it be that everyone got fed up with this insane tower and ran away? As I pondered this…
“Oh, they’ll be back soon. Most of them are out working right now.”
“…Working?”
I thought for mages, researching magic was their work.
Mages study magic, sell scrolls, take on large-scale commissions, or receive investments to make money. Or they work as professors or something…
“Ah, they’re here now. Shall we go downstairs?”
As Rain said, the Illusion Mages were entering the first floor.
“Man… Today was exhausting. There were so many customers.”
“Yeah, I’m beat…”
“Hey, at least I made good money with all the spectators today.”
“Alright, everyone! Let me introduce our newest member, Rai. Oat!”
Following Rain’s introduction, a round of applause ensued.
Although I may be cursed with the useless Illusion Attribute, at least the people here have kind hearts.
“Oh, is this the Illusion S-rank?”
“Welcome. Let’s get along, Rai Oat.”
“Cute~ I remember when I was just like you.”
“H-hello… But where have you all been?”
“We were out doing part-time jobs! We need to work hard to make a living.”
Hearing the word ‘part-time jobs,’ I tilted my head in confusion.
One of the female mages began to explain.
“I just got back from working as a ghost at a nearby amusement park. My attribute is Ghost Maiden Illusion (C), you see. Being all blurry actually makes me look like a real ghost, so I get a great reaction.”
“Ghost… maiden?”
“And over here is someone with Clone (A). She can create multiple clones that look real. She works at a local theatre.”
“I can act as six backup dancers at once, so the pay is good!”
“Ah…?”
I wasn’t the only one who thought like my mother.
It seems that with an A-rank attribute, she’s able to control multiple clones that look real.
Wow… That’s amazing…
“And over here…”
One by one, the mages took turns introducing themselves.
They were all supporting themselves by using their worthless illusion magic to work various part-time jobs.
It made sense why the tower was in such a shabby state.
“So that’s how we live here. Welcome aboard, newbie! Hahaha!”
Hahaha!
The Illusion Mages laughed heartily, as if there was something to be happy about.
For some reason, seeing them laugh like that made anger well up inside me.
“But… doesn’t that mean you’re not really mages? Aren’t you just day labourers…!”
I couldn’t hold back anymore and blurted it out.
Maybe it was my dissatisfaction with the reality in front of me.
After all the hardships I went through, this rundown tower is where I ended up. And the work we’re doing is just part-time jobs.
“Um…”
“Hm.”
But I soon realized that I had made a mistake.
The atmosphere, which had been lively until a moment ago, suddenly sank as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on it.
Everyone, who had been smiling just a moment ago, now wore sombre expressions.
It was only then that I realized everyone here thought the same as me.
Yet, they had forced themselves to smile to welcome me, the newcomer.
Feeling guilty, I tried to take back my words.
“Oh, um, what I meant was…”
“No, it’s okay. You’re right. We’re no different from part-timers… all of us.”
“But the Tower Master is amazing. And you too, you can become a great Illusion Mage.”
Even though they must have felt bad, they comforted the young me.
They worried about me more than their own situation.
Perhaps it was because they had gone through the same struggles as I did.
They were good people.
Regardless of their inherent talent.
Realizing that I had made a big mistake, I bowed my head to apologize.
“Alright, alright! How about we have a meal now? Since the new member is here, let’s have a party!”
Rain lifted me up as I was about to bow and shouted those words.
At that, the mages began to laugh again.
“Yes, yes! I’m hungry! Let’s eat!”
“I heard we had a newcomer, so I went all out and bought a ton of meat! Let’s grill it up!”
“I brought some drinks.”
“Hey, the newcomer is still a kid, so no drinks for him. I’ll take them all instead, so hand them over.”
The atmosphere became boisterous again.
I watched them in a daze while still in Rain’s embrace.
“Come on, eat up, Rai.”
“Uh, well, I, um…”
“Since you’re the youngest here, it’s fine to just eat quietly. That’s what I did when I was the youngest too.”
It’s really okay.
Rain emphasized those words once more.
It was easy to tell that ‘okay’ had a different meaning here.
They were good people, and their foolish laughter was heartwarming.
It made me feel ashamed of myself for having been upset over such trivial matters just a moment ago.
“Rai! Come sit over here!”
“Hey, newbie! If you don’t come soon, we’ll eat it all!”
“…Yes!”
I, too, wore a foolish smile and joined them to eat.
Alright, if it’s come to this, I might as well try to get along.
Even if our lifestyle here is lacking compared to the other towers, it might still be okay.
Thus, my life at the Illusion Magic Tower began.
***
“…Okay, it’s not fine.”
Seven years after becoming an Illusion Mage.
By now, I had long realized that a warm heart couldn’t buy happiness.
All happiness stems from money. And the Illusion Magic Tower has none.
Today, too, I wore a ragged robe as I continued learning my useless illusion magic.
“…Tower Master. These spells are useless. Why are you even researching them?”
“They, they’re not useless…!”
“But there’s no one who’d invest in these kinds of spells. They don’t make any money!”
“W-well, but we were born like this…”
Hina shrank down, whimpering in defeat.
Because of my S-rank attribute, I quickly learned and mastered illusion magic.
I even felt like I had a natural talent for it.
And using magic was fun.
But the problem was that it didn’t make any money.
In a world filled with all sorts of powerful magic, no one sought out illusions.
I’m also at an age where I’m nearing adulthood, and I have to start considering what kind of part-time job I’ll have to do with my illusion magic like my seniors.
Since I can use most of the illusion spells, I could probably take on any of the jobs my seniors have.
But I don’t want to be a backup dancer creating a bunch of clones.
“Haaa…”
I went out to buy food for the day to clear my head.
Since the Illusion Magic Tower is located in a corner of Trinity, it takes quite a while to walk to the market.
This city is unnecessarily large.
But there is one good thing about it.
I can take my time and admire the beauty of this city as I walk leisurely.
Up until about six years ago, I considered that a positive, but now I’m just sick of it.
“This world… is unfair too.”
A world where your rank is decided at birth. It’s no different from my past life.
At least in my previous life, there were places to escape to.
I could spend all day playing games.
Games don’t cost much unless you’re buying things in-game, unlike other hobbies.
But there’s nothing like that here.
This is a world with a severe lack of dopamine. If I had a different, more powerful attribute, I’d be able to recharge my dopamine every day by learning powerful spells…
…My life was just as unfortunate in my past life as it is now.
“Please, great Mage. If you do this, how are we supposed to make a living…? Please, just this once, help us.”
“That’s what I told you to have ready by today. Didn’t I? Didn’t I clearly say that when I was here before? Do you not remember? Are you getting senile because you’re old?”
“But I told you back then that it would be difficult to get it done by this date…”
“Hah, so you’re saying this is my fault? This won’t do. Should I make it so you can’t do business here anymore?”
“Oh, oh no, oh no, please, great Mage…”
There he goes again. Haster from the Fire Tower.
He’s quite notorious among the common folk of Trinity for his thuggish behaviour.
It’s not just the commoners—our seniors hate him too.
Whenever our seniors are out working part-time, he mocks them for doing such menial jobs and tries to pick fights.
And if anyone dares to fight back, he threatens them with fire magic.
Since we don’t have any combat spells, all we can do is swallow our anger.
All because he got lucky and was born with a good attribute.
He looks down on people who aren’t as fortunate as him, ignoring and bullying them as he pleases.
And the shopkeeper has to endure that just because he wasn’t born with a good attribute.
If only we could all start on an equal footing.
If only there was a space where everyone could heal, like the games I used to play in my past life, even if it’s just virtual…
“…Huh?”
It was like a flashbang went off in my head.
“Why didn’t I think of this? I played so many games in my past life…!”
What if I made a game with illusion magic?
A world where everyone starts at level 1, like in the online games I used to play.
A world where everyone competes on equal grounds, not based on the attribute they were born with…!
“This is it!”
I immediately turned around and started running back to the tower.
After reincarnating into this world, the gamer inside me, which had been dormant, began ticking again.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
-> MAKE ACCOUNT AND GET [50] COINS FREE!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
https://discord.gg/S8c2kGVr2g
-> Rate/Review us on NOVEL UPDATES. It Will help us a Lot!!
Read Our 8 New Additions – Click on the to Read!
- I Became a Plagiarizing Composer in Another World
- I Became a Calamity-Level Villain in the Magical Girl Universe
- I Became the Incompetent Youngest Daughter of the Demon Realm
- [Harry Potter] Another Legacy Weasley
- I Fell into the Hardest Dungeon
- I Became a Mythical Awakener Through In-Game Purchases
- I Became the Administrator of the Hunter Gallery
Comment