It was an ordinary forest scene.
“Hmm… There’s really nothing special here.”
The dense trees blocked the sky, mushrooms grew at the base of the trees, and squirrels scurried up and down the trunks.
It was indeed an extremely common forest.
However, it seemed that the forest of fairies had scattered us apart since I couldn’t see the others who went ahead of me.
‘When will the illusions start?’
Just as I was looking around nervously, a shimmering curtain of light suddenly appeared before my eyes.
“What the…!”
The world around me began to change rapidly. The forest disappeared without a trace, and in its place appeared…
“Aah.”
A woman stood in front of me.
“Sung Ryeong-ah.”
She was once my closest friend, Lee Sung Ryeong.
But at some point, she became a complete stranger.
During our university years, Sung Ryeong and I were close friends. We used to read books together in the library.
Later, when I gave up on my dream and became a math instructor, Sung Ryeong cheered me on. Even though she didn’t like the fact that I had given up on my dream, she still supported me.
But despite her support, I ended up hurting her.
To make excuses, when I met Sung Ryeong that day, I hadn’t slept at all. There was a mistake in a mock test I had written, and I had to review it.
So, I wasn’t in my right mind when I spoke to Sung Ryeong…
“I’m going to become a writer.”
“A writer?”
“Yeah, I’m going to give it a shot!”
“And your job?”
“…Are you going to say the same thing as everyone else?”
“Oh, no. Our textbook research center just had a job opening. If you’re preparing to become a writer, maybe you could work there while preparing?”
But Sung Ryeong responded confidently with a smile.
“I’m fine. I’ll just do part-time jobs for a while.”
“Still, wouldn’t it be better to have a stable job?”
“I hate being stuck. Besides, a part-time job is enough to make a living. You can even call it a decent job.”
“Your parents are really worried about you.”
“…….”
“After all, we’re getting older…”
I clearly remember what she said next.
“You’ve changed.”
“What?”
“I don’t even know who you are anymore.”
After that day, I lost contact with Sung Ryeong.
Later, I gathered the courage to reach out a few times, but it seemed she had changed her phone number, as someone else answered each time.
And just like that, I lost my closest friend.
“Aah…”
The memory of that day caused my head to ache, and I stared at the illusion of Sung Ryeong with tearful eyes.
“Just give me one more chance…”
How on earth can I overcome this hallucination?
Do I have to erase Sung Ryeong from my heart completely?
But I’ve been regretting that day all along.
As I was lost in thought, something else appeared beyond the illusion of Sung Ryeong.
“That is…”
In front of me, something resembling a white black hole appeared. It seemed powerful enough to suck in the entire world.
Hesitating, I walked past the illusion of Sung Ryeong and moved toward the black hole. And as soon as I stepped onto it…
“Aah.”
The world turned upside down.
What was inside came out, and what was outside pushed inward.
Up became down, and right became left.
Darkness turned into light, and light became darkness.
‘What on earth….’
The world flipped so quickly that it was hard even to speak. I was barely holding on, trying not to be swept away by the flow of the changing world.
At some point, I realized that this world was growing larger. The world fragmented, and something enormous wedged into those cracks.
“I’ll help you.”
A voice from the sky, a brief and powerful sentence.
That was all there was, but instinctively, I felt it.
A being from the fourth dimension, even larger than this three-dimensional world, had descended.
I thought I saw something resembling a finger, but I couldn’t be sure if it really was a finger. It was too vast, overwhelming, and magnificent.
And in the instant that the finger touched my forehead, a flood of memories rushed through my mind.
“Heok!”
Memories that I didn’t have suddenly invaded my mind.
“You’re talking about the Aurora from the House of Shae? I am Seraphina Viviana.”
“Wow, Princess Eva is so beautiful….”
“Be quiet, Aurora! Don’t interfere!”
“Are you asking Aurora for a dance? Step aside! I’m going to play with Aurora!”
After Seraphina Viviana’s debutante ball, her memories settled into my mind.
The newly implanted memories gave me insights into Seraphina’s past, which I hadn’t known before.
Although Aurora and Seraphina bickered, they were close, and Seraphina was a somewhat popular lady in social circles.
I also recalled her admiration for Princess Eva, though that wasn’t a memory I was particularly fond of remembering….
‘But there’s nothing here about Princess Eva’s true identity.’
Aside from the day Seraphina discovered the truth about Princess Eva and the day after, I now had all of Seraphina Viviana’s memories.
When I opened my eyes after receiving those memories, I realized I was standing in a different space. It was another forest, different from before.
‘…What is going on?’
Alright, let’s summarize. I was seeing illusions in the fairy forest, and then I was dragged somewhere, where a great and powerful being gave me Seraphina Viviana’s memories.
Once those memories ended, I found myself in another part of the forest.
…Given everything, I could only draw one conclusion.
The original Seraphina Viviana had helped me escape the illusion and passed on her memories to me.
I used to think Aurora Shae and Princess Eva were crazy, but looking back, the original Seraphina Viviana was no less insane.
She devised magic that no one else in this world had imagined, swapped her soul and body with someone from the outside world, and fled.
‘Why did she intervene just now?’
It seemed that Seraphina feared I wouldn’t be able to overcome the illusion and would be trapped.
So she intervened on my behalf, passing on her memories to help me adapt to this world.
Is Seraphina constantly watching me?
No, if that were the case, she could’ve at least told me what Princess Eva really is!
“Hey, are you listening?”
I shouted into the air, but no response came back. It seemed that real-time communication wasn’t possible.
‘Will I ever return to my original body?’
My mind was a whirlwind of confusion.
For now, my immediate goal was to get my money back from Aurora and escape from Princess Eva….
“Seraphina, you should’ve taken more responsibility….”
At the very least, she could have told me Princess Eva’s true identity before disappearing!
Grumbling, I looked around.
Where is everyone else? Have they not made it out yet?
At that moment, I spotted a man with silver hair in the distance.
But something was off—there were several people standing in front of him.
They were dressed in white coats.
‘Oh, an illusion!’
I finally understood what was happening.
I hadn’t escaped the forest; I had fallen right in front of Simone’s illusion.
‘Wait, considering the horrors I saw at the magic tower, if this is Simone’s illusion, then surely….’
“No!”
