TONLWF | Chapter 4

Episode 4

『 Hello.
Bonjour.
こんにちは。
.
.
.
안녕하세요. 』

A burst of bright light exploded over the pitch-black surface.

Countless lines of text quickly passed by, and finally, the imperial language familiar to her appeared on the screen.

『 Hello.
Swipe up to unlock. 』

“What does it mean by swipe up…?”

Awkwardly, Isabella moved her finger across the screen.

The screen wobbled in response to her touch.

Surprised, she immediately lifted her finger off.

Among all the magical items she had seen, nothing like this tool existed.

As she stared at the moving screen that responded even without magic, Isabella turned the small object over in her hand.

“This is really fascinating.”

Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

She had always stood out at the academy, especially in linguistic and magical research.

Recalling the words Swipe up to unlock, she awkwardly placed her finger back on the screen.

As she slowly swiped upward, the lock screen disappeared.

“Gallery, Camera, Settings…? What does all this mean?”

When she tapped the first icon labeled Gallery, just as the man had said, a new world unfolded before her eyes.

When she touched one of the small portraits displayed on the screen, the figure inside began to move.

[We are! the VENUS! Hello, I’m Haeyoon, leader of VENUS.]

Jet-black blue hair, mysterious ash-gray eyes.

Porcelain skin, a tall slender figure, and a well-toned muscular build.

On top of that, a genre of music she had never heard before, visually stunning performances, and solid vocal ability.

“How can someone be this perfect…?”

As she watched videos of Han Haeyoon, top idol of South Korea’s VENUS, one night passed in the blink of an eye.

Stretching her stiff shoulders, Isabella stared blankly out the window.

After watching the final video left in the gallery, the dark dawn sky had begun to lighten.

The thrill from the concert footage still hadn’t faded.

Her heart pounded so fiercely that she unconsciously placed her hand over her chest.

Since it was her first time hearing Korean, Isabella couldn’t understand a word Haeyoon said in the videos.

She became deeply curious about what he was saying, and what the lyrics of the songs actually meant.

“It’d be even better if I could understand the lyrics. But I don’t know a single word of the South Korean language.”

Wasn’t there any good way to understand?

As Isabella pondered, a sudden notification popped up on the smartphone screen.

『 Would you like to try a one-week trial of the Translation System? 』
▶ Accept / Decline.

“So it’ll translate what Haeyoon is saying…?”

Thanks to the settings being in the imperial language, she could easily read the message in the pop-up window.

But it was still full of unfamiliar terms like system and trial.

Hesitating in front of the choice window, her fingertip slowly moved to the left.

The moment she pressed ‘Accept’, translated subtitles of Haeyoon’s words began to appear at the bottom of the video.

She could only access the videos and photos saved in the gallery, but even that was more than enough.

The more time she spent rewatching the videos, the more Isabella became familiar with Korean.

She never imagined her studies in linguistics at the academy would become this useful.

“How can someone be this cute? No, he’s cute and cool-he’s got everything!”

After eating, she would return to her room and replay the videos hundreds of times, until it was suddenly the middle of the night.

She lost track of how many days she’d been holed up in her room. Isabella had become completely captivated by idol Haeyoon.

Over the past week of constantly watching and rewatching the videos, she had learned Korean so quickly that she no longer needed the trial subscription.

Though there were still a few difficult words, Isabella had become proficient enough to fully understand most of the Korean language and even write in it.

“Wow.”

Stretching her stiff shoulders, Isabella stared blankly out the window.

The emptiness that had always weighed down her heart was now filled with an overwhelming joy.

So much so that she barely even thought of Icanuel anymore.

Though the pain of heartbreak still lingered, Isabella’s eyes sparkled brighter than ever before-now that she had someone new to admire, a kind of adoration she had never felt before.

“I want to go to South Korea.”

She wanted to see her favorite with her own eyes and feel that moment in person at a concert.

When she exited the gallery and returned to the home screen, a new app had appeared, as if prepared just for her.

<Beginner’s Guide to the System>

“If it’s a guide, I guess I should read it.”

Now slightly more familiar with the controls, she tapped the app icon on the home screen, and a new window appeared.

『 Congratulations on registering, Player ‘Isabella’!
If you wish to use the dimension system, please press the ‘Next’ button~! 』

As if hypnotized, Isabella moved her finger and tapped through to the next screen. A semi-transparent window popped up on the display.

『 Recording the player’s information. 』

[ Player Name: Isabella Ledia.
Info: Female, 20 years old, dimension travel candidate.
Player’s Unique Trait: Unmeasured ]

“What is all this? I understand the info part, but what do they mean by Player’s Unique Trait… What on earth does all this mean?”

While going through the list one by one, Isabella’s attention was instantly captured by a glowing item.

“Dimensional Travel System?”

As Isabella murmured softly, a new instruction window popped up as if triggered by voice recognition.

『 Dimensional Travel System 』

▶ If you complete the given mission and prepare a small dimensional travel fee, you too can travel to a new dimension: ‘Republic of Korea’! If you want to use the following service, please press the Accept button.
▶▶ Accept / Decline

Could she really cross over to Korea, where Haeyoon was, with just this?

With a half-skeptical mind, she stared at the acceptance window for a long time.

Eventually, perhaps having made up her mind, Isabella’s fingertip moved toward the accept button.

『 Before proceeding with the mission, we will measure the unregistered unique trait of Player ‘Isabella’. 』

What exactly was it trying to measure for it to take so long?

As time dragged on, suspicion began to creep into Isabella’s eyes toward the screen.

Staring at the spinning circular icon, she absentmindedly turned the smartphone in her hand around. It was definitely different from a regular magical tool.

Inside such a tiny box, magical things she’d never seen before were unfolding.

“As that man said, a new world really is unfolding…”

Parents too busy running their territory to visit the capital mansion, a younger sibling soon to join the knight order after graduation from the academy.

And Icanuel, who would become a stranger once their engagement was broken.

After her grandfather Ferguson, who had loved her dearly, passed away, Isabella had been left to spend lonely days by herself.

As the eldest daughter who mustn’t worry her parents, and as the fiancée of the esteemed House Raseles, she had to endure it all and spend her time alone, comforting herself.

“If I cross over to this dimension called Korea, there will be even more amazing things, right?”

For someone like her, who had been living alone in the mansion, the option of moving to a new dimension full of more exciting and fascinating experiences was presented.

Then, was there really a reason to refuse such an opportunity?

As she tapped the desk with her fingertip, Isabella’s gaze dropped.

On the table were stained ink marks and dents from a pen tip.

Memories of the past, when she sat endlessly at her desk day and night to get into the academy, flashed across her mind.

‘Why am I like this.’

‘If only I were a little smarter, I could’ve solved this easily.’

The perfect fiancée-what was so important about that, that she cried and tried so hard until the table bore marks like this?

The bitter memories she had momentarily forgotten while watching Haeyoon slowly resurfaced.

Isabella bit her lip and scrubbed the ink stains on the table with her fingertip, as if trying to wipe them away.

“Yeah. Let’s go to Korea.”

She would go there and see her adorable, handsome, perfect favorite idol, Haeyoon, with her own eyes.

At that moment, a sound indicated that the measurement was complete. Isabella raised her head from where she had been looking down at the system.

As she read the unique skill granted by the system, her lips slowly parted wider.

『 Unique Trait Measurement Complete. 』

▶ Whether it’s a person or an object, all stains and grime disappear~! lv. 1. >

“What kind… what kind of trait is this?!”

Could it be because she tried to wipe the stain on the table during the measurement?

Isabella looked back and forth between the ink stains on the table and the unique trait window on the screen, disbelief in her eyes.

“No way.”

She took a tissue from beside her and slowly began to wipe the stain.
Soon, a faint glow appeared, and the deeply ingrained ink stain on the table vanished cleanly.

『 Trait used! Level up achieved! 』

▶ Whether it’s a person or an object, all stains and grime disappear~! lv. 2. >

“So this really is… really is my trait?”

As if responding to her dumbfounded muttering, a white light sparkled on the screen and a new window appeared.

『 Mission Generated! 』

▶ Try earning money using your unique trait!
▶▶ Try using your unique trait at Princess Elena’s birthday party!

▶▶▶ Upon success, you’ll receive a dimensional travel discount voucher.

“…So they’re telling me to go clean the imperial palace?”

This was the beginning of Isabella’s first mission in her journey to travel to the Republic of Korea.