When Ayra lifted her trembling gaze, it seemed that Shinje could not see this guide window. To confirm this, Ayra pointed her finger at the empty air where Shinje’s stat window should have appeared.
“Shinje, you’ve got something on you. It looks like a thread or something.”
“Huh? Where? What?”
Shinje’s hand waved through the stat window. Reflexively, Shinje turned his head, his gaze directed beyond the stat window. Ayra watched quietly as Shinje, trying to remove the non-existent thread, waved his hand. Alright, so it doesn’t seem to be something that can be detected by others or have a physical impact.
“Still stuck?”
“No, it’s gone now.”
“Really? Well, it’s cute, all round and fluffy.”
Since artificial spirits were fairly common in the Labyrinth, Shinje quickly lost interest. After checking Ayra’s condition one last time, he got up from his seat.
“I brought some food, so eat a little.”
“Thanks. And sorry, I should have taken care of you since you’re the guest.”
“Ah, stop. You’re sick. Just rest.”
Shinje patted Ayra’s shoulder a couple of times before opening the door and leaving, and the stat window soon disappeared. Even though they weren’t that close, Shinje had willingly come all this way to attend the funeral, and for that, he was truly a rare, good person. After the door closed, Ayra caught the spirit floating in front of her.
“Now, let’s figure out exactly what this is.”
Her deep blue-gray eyes shimmered faintly. The artificial spirit she held in her hand was warm, and surprisingly soft, like holding a fluffy pudding. It felt like a warm soap bubble... The spirit, adorably wide-eyed, was staring up at her, and without thinking, Ayra gently stroked it. Then, she snapped back to her senses.
“Stat window... So, it's definitely not a physical type.”
When she tapped the blanket and commanded, “Come here,” the spirit came over, and when she said, “Go there,” it went there. It was also consuming Ayra’s mana, but in a way that didn’t feel burdensome. Ayra quickly came to a conclusion.
“Seems like it’s a manifestation.”
In society, when a regular person suddenly gains enlightenment or develops insight and becomes a mage, it's called "awakening." But in the Labyrinth, when a mage suddenly starts using magic they’ve never used before, it was referred to as "manifestation." To compare it to a game, a regular mage would be like a first-job class, and a manifested mage would be like a second-job class.
However, manifestation wasn’t something that could just be defined as a second-job class. For a mage, manifestation magic was like a final trump card, not something that could be casually flaunted. That’s why Ayra had tried to cover up the fact that she had created an artificial spirit by saying it was just an artificial creation.
Still, since she didn’t remember anything from when she was sick, she wondered if it was truly manifestation. As she tilted her face, her delicate silver hair gently flowed over her shoulder. The artificial spirit puffed up slightly as if protesting and opened a conversation window.
[Master! Please name me! :( ]
“Stay still. You’re thinking of your master, aren’t you?”
Ayra scolded the spirit as she gently pressed it with her soft hand. The spirit then displayed an ‘X(’ emoji on its body. It was so cute that Ayra pressed it even flatter, and it changed to an ‘X0’ emoji.
...Is this thing enjoying this?
In any case, manifestation magic varied greatly from mage to mage. However, no matter how different it was, it couldn’t be that her manifestation magic was the game system itself. What happened was that her ability had manifested in the way that was most comfortable and familiar to her consciousness, and it had taken the form of a "game system."
As Ayra sank into deep thought while squishing the warm, snowflake-like artificial spirit in her hands, she suddenly heard a knock.
“Ayra-sama, may I enter?”
“Yeah, come in.”
The door opened, and a familiar man entered. His gray eyes, commonly seen among locals of this area, briefly glanced at Ayra before falling to the ground. He politely bowed his head, causing his black hair to sway. With neat glasses and a tidy outfit, his appearance was more like that of a young scholar than an office worker.
“I heard you’ve woken up. How are you feeling?”
When Ayra heard his name, she hesitated for a moment, not recalling exactly what it was. She had trouble remembering names, and she had been mentally distracted throughout the funeral. At that moment, Ayra’s mana suddenly drained, and once again, the stat window appeared.
<Zhinus>
HP: ???
MP: ???
Physical Attack Power: ???
Magical Attack Power: ???
Favorability: ???♡
“It’s getting better, Zhinus-sama. Thanks for worrying.”
She responded as if she had known his name, while secretly observing the stat window she hadn’t properly looked at earlier. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that it wasn’t just the stat window; faint "???" appeared above his head. If it were the UI of a game he often played, those question marks were probably where the title would go.
“Ayra-sama?”
Ayra, who had been lost in thought, snapped out of it at Zhinus’s call.
“Ah, sorry. My head’s still a bit dizzy...”
It wasn’t entirely a lie; her condition wasn’t good. As she touched her head, she saw a worried expression cross Zhinus’s face. However, the worry didn’t seem to stem from concern about Ayra herself but rather about the health of the only heir to the territory.
“Shall I call a doctor?”
“It’s just fatigue. I’ll be fine after some rest.”
“I understand. If you need anything, please let me know.”
Zhinus was exceptionally polite, but there was a sense of distance. That was to be expected. The lord, whom he had been loyal to, and the heir had both passed away overnight, and the only remaining heir was a mage who had grown up in the Labyrinth. Ayra, who had been on a few external missions, knew well that the image of mages wasn’t particularly positive in some regions.
As expected, when Ayra looked at the artificial spirit she was holding, a look of suspicion appeared in Zhinus's eyes. He didn’t even ask what it was, which wasn’t a sign of politeness but rather proof of a considerable distance between them. After reluctantly tearing his eyes away from the artificial spirit, Zhinus finally got to the matter at hand that had brought him to Ayra.
“Then, once Ayra-sama’s health has recovered, we’ll discuss the succession ceremony.”
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”
Ayra nodded and responded, and Zhinus politely bowed his head before carefully closing the door behind him without making a sound. A moment later, Ayra sighed deeply.
“The succession ceremony, huh.”
This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
She had thought that, at some point in her life, she might return to the territory. But this wasn’t just a visit; it was a return. In fact, Ayra felt more familiar and at home in the Labyrinth than in her own territory. She could list all sorts of magical theories, but when it came to managing a territory, she knew nothing. The games she used to enjoy were all solo RPGs, after all.
She was about to sigh heavily again, but instead, a few powerful sneezes escaped her.
“Choo, choo... it’s cold...”
She had just raised her upper body and pulled the blanket down slightly, but the chill made her shiver, and Ayra quickly pulled the blanket back up to her shoulders. She still wasn’t used to this cold. Could someone like her, a total outsider, really manage the territory well? Would she ruin the territory? Ayra already missed the ever-temperate climate of the Labyrinth.
At that moment, a ding! sound echoed, and a transparent window appeared in front of her.
<Quest!>
[Let’s name the cute Spirit GM that will accompany you on your adventures in this new world.]
☞ Enter name ______
Reward: Favorability of the Spirit GM and guidance
Looking down, Ayra noticed that, in her conversation with Zhinus, the artificial spirit had somehow squished itself in her hands. Surprised, she released it, and the spirit floated weakly into the air with a soft pong, returning to its original state before shyly emitting a small heart emoji...
“Is this how you like to be treated...?”
Anyway, what should she name it? Ayra pondered deeply, pushing aside the numerous theories and hypotheses that had been swirling in her head. She couldn’t just give it a name like "Muscle Fairy" or "Earthball" or something like “LaggyVictory.”
After much deliberation, Ayra finally decided on a name for the artificial spirit.
“Your name is Dolmaengi.”
It sounded cute and charming in both Korean and this world’s pronunciation. It felt like the perfect fit. However, the spirit didn’t seem particularly happy about it. Its expression turned somewhat sulky, and Ayra, feeling a little guilty, thought it over some more. She was agonizing over this far more than when she had written her thesis.
“Chalttok? Yakdoli? Don’t like them? Is it because they sound too small? How about Jagali?”
As Ayra tried out other names, a ding! sound rang, and a new window appeared.
<Quest Complete!>
[Let’s name the cute Spirit GM that will accompany you on your adventures in this new world.]
☞ Enter name: Dolmaengi
Reward: Favorability of the Spirit GM and guidance
The spirit, perhaps having resigned itself to its name, or perhaps feeling down, displayed a blank expression as it opened a new window.
<Quest!>
[Let’s level up the cute Dolmaengi.]
Check 10 stat windows (0/10)
Introduce cute Dolmaengi to 10 people (0/10)
Reward: New stat entries unlocked
As Ayra carefully read the quest window, a wave of nostalgia washed over her. The hardest thing about coming to this new world had been the separation from modern civilization—her phone, the internet, computers... and most of all, games! A quest, really? The games she had tried so hard to forget suddenly came rushing back to her, and Ayra clenched her fist.
“Let’s work hard on this quest and level up, Dolmaengi.”