After the unprecedented success of the virtual idol Heart-chan, the state of the Purple Mage Tower seems a bit strange.

 

He seems to be under a slight misunderstanding.

 

“…?”

 

‘Are you really gay?’ that kind of look.

 

Only the Purple Mage Tower across the continent knows the true identity of the mysterious beauty Heart, a man’s illusion magic (female character) that has swept the continent. It’s not unreasonable for him to think that way.

 

But the Purple Mage Tower fails to understand one important truth.

 

“Characters and players are clearly distinguished.”

 

“……?”

 

While playing RPG games, one may immerse themselves in their character, but they must never fuse with it completely. Imagine becoming one and the same with your character in GTA – what could possibly happen in real life? Your life would be a disaster.

 

The same holds true for TRPGs.

 

Even if I roll a supremely beautiful girl character, I don’t become one, and if I start identifying with her, disaster strikes. You become afflicted with the inability to see a game simply as a game.

 

“GM, my character tried so hard, so even if the dice rolled a 1, shouldn’t they be able to succeed?”

 

A level 1 character picked a fight with a dragon, and the dice even fumbled – what can you possibly spin from that?

 

“GM, that’s what I’m saying, my character is an elf and doesn’t want to sit at the same table with these trivial humans?! It’s not that I don’t want to play, but my character feels it’s right!”

 

Everyone else chose human races, so how are we supposed to proceed with the session?

 

“………”

 

So you’re just going to shut up and turn on Hearthstone because your character failed a check?

 

“Ugh.”

 

I clenched at my chest, twisted with the overwhelming urge to convert.

 

Nonetheless, a character and a player are separate entities, just as a novelist introducing a furry female character does not become said character themselves.

 

I may have sweetly milked donations by manipulating Heart, but that’s because I created the character of Heart, not that I’m engaging in some online masquerade.

 

I like women.

 

“Y-Yes, are you still hurt from the rejection by the Northern Duke?”

 

How did they perceive me, tormented by this trauma?

 

I decided to blacklist the Purple Tower Master who started stirring the pot with the bait of forbidden love.

 

Misunderstandings can be hard to clear. If they won’t believe words spoken or unspoken, then it’s best to leave it to the heavens and move on to other tasks.

 

That task is magical development.

 

I had already decided what kind of magic I would create next.

 

Aren’t the three elements of a story character, event, and setting?

 

I completed my paper while working on implementing Virtual Idol Heart along with ~realistic holography using Illusion Magic: enhancing tactile illusions by leveraging one’s immersion in fiction~.

 

Illusion Magic is, after all, just an illusion. Just as no physical injuries result from dreams of severed fingers or burning people, illusions, no matter how deceptive, cause no physical damage. It’s a fatal weakness.

 

Moreover, illusions generally have little effect on superhumans above a certain level. They don’t work against strong magical resistance or strong-willed individuals. Swordmasters can even shatter hypnosis with a kiai.

 

To compensate for such weaknesses, I developed a special hologram.

 

It’s a spell that uses the target’s will in reverse to reinforce the Illusion Magic. If the adversary so much as wants to believe, it inflates that emotion, solidifying the illusion.

 

Such amplified illusions became capable of reproducing even tactile sensations. An illusion you can touch!

 

In the development phase, due to a lack of resources, I couldn’t emulate smells, but with further modifications and enhancements, now I can even infuse the illusion with scent. With such a perfect replication of a character achieved, next comes the setting.

 

The earth, a running stream, a rising sun, a blowing wind.

 

If one could feel – through an illusion – the sunrays fracturing through the quivering leaves and the scent of phytoncides, what then?

 

At that moment, my otherworldly TRPG plan was as good as complete. My motivation surged anew.

 

I made a bold request to the proprietor of the violet magic tower.

 

“I’ll be holing up in my room for about three years to develop some magic, so please ensure I have three meat-inclusive meals a day, and don’t come to find me unless it’s truly important.”

 

“Mo-more and more rubbish talk… Th-three years?”

 

“If it’s short, maybe two and a half.”

 

“There’s… you know about the exhibition early next year, right?”

 

“What?”

 

“The magic tower research exhibition… Nobles and representatives from the royal family make the rounds to the magic towers to scrutinize how the grants are spent… Although I’ve only been scolded in the past, with you here this year…”

 

“Uh…”

 

Red alert.

 

Although I sweetly earned a fair amount from the heart, my conscience didn’t allow me to amass a fortune. If I’d been willing to sell out and shake my booty, I might have earned enough to build another tower, but that would have torn my tender heart to shreds along with its masculinity.

 

The amount received from grants is too immense to coolly say ‘I’ll just earn and spend my own money’. I must secure the budget by some means to fund my research…

 

An exhibition, huh.

 

A virtual idol project demo would likely make a sensational impact, but who knows, it might set the magic tower ablaze on that day.

 

After cautiously enquiring through the violet tower master, it seemed Heart-chan’s popularity was beyond imagination.

 

Even now, two years after Heart’s graduation, there are guys still searching for her trail; revealing her would be foolish. Imagining their beloved girl was in fact an illusion spell from a male magician?!

 

They might come charging at the violet tower with pitchforks and gasoline.

 

Nor did I want to do research on a flashy mass destruction spell for the presentation. Such magic held no excitement, no emotion; my soul would die if I delved into it.

 

Hmm.

 

Without much hesitation, I said, “Just trust me.”

 

“Re-really? It’s not going to be something weird again, something peculiar?”

 

“Yes. I believe the high and mighty would all appreciate it.”

 

“Then, I trust you and leave it in your hands… Fi-fighting! I’ll serve you lamb for dinner tonight!”

 

The proprietor of the violet tower ran off with a renewed vigor, as if her face, previously ashen as though stricken with gastritis, suddenly blossomed brightly; it was a joy to behold.

 

Yes, contentment is important.

 

There are things called benign lies in this world. If I had spoken my true thoughts, ‘Upon reflection, I’m not the one responsible for the tower. Shouldn’t you be the one worrying about insufficient funds?’ would she still be able to smile so brightly?

 

I think not.

 

I prayed earnestly for her peace of mind and body to last a long time. After all, it ensures the food keeps coming.

 

With the approach of the exhibition, even the tower master, who had calmed down by my empty promise, was hit by a storm.

 

A week before the exhibition.

 

Perhaps because he had said that he would “trust and entrust it to me,” now he wandered beside me, unable to ask “Is everything ready?” or “How is it going?”

 

At times, he seemed resolved and would say “Hey, talk to me!” only to smoothly pivot to “Ah, never mind… How’s the stew today?” It was a slick advance and retreat. Since it was crucial material for portraying a social outcast character, I noted it down thoroughly.

 

After about three days, his compassion overtook his scholarly passion. I felt pity for him, watching him bite his nails like a woodpecker, so I decided to show him my magic.

 

“Really…?!”

 

“Yes. I thought it would comfort you.”

 

“Y-you’re using your brain in strange ways, but you’re a genius! You’ve prepared properly for the exhibition, right? So I trust you…”

 

His boundless trust made my heart swell with emotion.

 

He managed to spit out just one syllable of that slander about me using my brain in a rubbish way, so that’s safe, isn’t it?

 

I planted my staff and floated it in the air, crisscrossing my arms and spreading them to the sides.

 

I gathered magic power. The magic coursing through my body traveled in a fixed pattern through various points.

 

Precisely. As precisely as honing a blade from water.

 

Infusing a soul into the pointlessly perfect convergence of motions, I offered it to the world. This is what is called magic.

 

“The heavens are indifferent. There’s no love in the casual glance they cast down.”

 

“If no one can comprehend my heart, then I must cross the moon alone.”

 

“Using my heart as a brush, I bloom under my steps.”

 

“Je Wol Gyeong (濟月景) – Gong Sang Ju Bak (空上柱縛).”

 

The world reversed around me.

 

Moisture began to seep from the ground. The moisture soon turned into droplets and rose into the air. The dry dusty grounds of the practice arena became the surface of a calm lake in an instant.

 

“Ugh, hyah!”

 

The purple tower master flailed in the splashing, but she wouldn’t drown in the lake. The water droplets only splashed around, and the tranquil lake supported her feet like jelly.

 

Beneath the clear lake, the sky was reflected.

 

A pure and clear blue sky reflected in the lake, with a colossal pillar floating in its center like Sun Wukong’s magical staff. From the surface of the pillar, strands of magic power undulated like jellyfish. It was a scene both beautiful and majestic, but the tower master instinctively shrank back from the intense threat she felt.

 

Her instincts were right. The strands of magic power emitted by the pillar were poisonous like the tentacles of a jellyfish. If struck even once by them, one would lose the power to resist the illusion magic.

 

It was a background model built upon the setting that all illusion magic occurring within the occupied space would have magical resistance penetration, the pinnacle of illusion magic…

 

Hmm.

 

What the old fandom nerds called a unique barrier is now referred to by the current fandom as realm expansion.

 

I had toiled hard, carving it out. Implementing the moisture and scent of the lake, and the inexplicable oppressiveness.

 

Taken aback by the unnerving effects, the purple tower master stared at me with wide eyes, filled with anticipation and awe. She placed one hand on her chest, seemingly trying to steady her heart, taking deep breaths.

 

Then, I asked cautiously.

 

“What effect does the spell have…?!”

 

I too answered cautiously.

 

“It’s cool.”

 

“…Huh?”

 

“It’s stylish.”

 

“…Other than that, what effect does it have?”

 

“None.”

 

From Noble mtl dot com

 

“Gurgle.”

 

The purple tower master, with her twin-tails fluttering, fell backward.

 

It seems she was too moved by the declaration of coolness.

 

Hmm. I hadn’t planned to use this at the presentation. Illusions that are merely cool would be quickly seen through by the strong; no matter how much they pretended to be ultimate techniques, they wouldn’t be effective.

 

The tower master was taken in because her specialty was a little different.

 

The video I’d play at the presentation was something else.

 

The point is that I can produce killer visuals. Then there’s no reason not to jump into the media industry, like movies! What is the most popular genre in movies? Action.

 

Everyone loves action.

 

And I’ve heard that the nobility like new things.

 

So, the answer is… martial arts.

 

It would be really cool if the Martial God of martial arts used his Martial God Domination Wave and obliterated a mountain with the Martial Death Beam.

 

Wouldn’t everyone like it this time too?

 

…

 

It was a failure of analysis.

 

“Do you actually think you can swindle funding with this pitiful illusion? Ridiculous.”

 

“With that posture, you seem to know nothing of the word ‘swordsmanship.’ Why swing horizontally? It would only be inconvenient when imbuing magic.”

 

“Giggle… Pfft, hahahaha! Which knight would use such a half-baked and cost-ineffective technique?”

 

“Using fancy words to look good? What, ‘Competent Supremacy’? Wahahahahaha!”

 

In a world with magic, it wouldn’t be odd for a Sword Master to suddenly spring forth from oppressed commoners. What does that mean? Without strength, it’s tough to play the role of a noble.

 

Generally, titles and might are proportional. Even if they aren’t, one would have a bodyguard of equivalent strength by their side. And before the human weapons who roamed battlefields cutting down all sorts of people, my illusion magic was…

 

It was like telling a football player, ‘How to dribble well: Use your heel, it works great!’

 

I ended up being massively ridiculed.

 

Solely, a tiny young knight had shown a look in his eyes that was not disapproving. Indeed, at that age, anything flashy and cool strikes a fancy …

 

After the disastrous presentation, the Purple Magic Tower had turned into something of a wake.

 

“My, my sponsorship money… the sponsorship …!!”

 

Crack.

 

The master of the Purple Magic Tower collapsed, gasping for air.

 

With a somber face, I ruminated over my defeat.

 

Then it hit me; even if I wasn’t going all-in on lethal magic research, there was no benefit in wallowing. The character background was set, now it was time to build the server, so to speak.

 

I entered the laboratory and quietly closed the door behind me.

 

“Yo-you f*cker, yo-you son of a b*tch! Do you really want to do this now?!”

 

I heard harsh swearing from someone, but I wanted to believe it wasn’t coming from the master of the tower …

 

————-

 

Thud, thump.

 

A young lord and his servant were riding in a carriage through a forest path.

 

A boy, who was seated in the place of honor, carried a longsword much taller than himself, while a bearded, middle-aged knight held the reins, driving the carriage. It was a peculiar sight.

 

They were discussing the curious performance put on by the Purple Magic Tower.

 

“The magic was laughable. The illusion magic was flashy and convincing, but its content was utterly childish,” said the boy.

 

“Well …,” hesitated the knight, who, unusually, was speaking respectfully to the boy while the boy used a condescending tone with him.

 

The boy cocked his head sideways, then asked the middle-aged knight, “Do you really think that was illusion magic?”

 

“Are you saying it wasn’t illusion magic, my lord?”

 

“What we were shown was certainly an illusion. But the content of the illusion wasn’t made up. How did that man’s martial arts appear to you?”

 

“I thought them to be outlandish. The idea that stepping forward could make the earth tremble is ridiculous, and creating an orb of aura on the tip of a sword? That seems like something a magician would conjure. And that final, mountains-splitting slash was simply farcical.”

 

“Is that how you saw it?”

 

The young warrior-knight recalled the man in the illusion, wearing peculiar clothing made of cloth.

 

The man who likens himself to a demon. The Devil of the Cloth.

 

Certainly, there was something sloppy and exaggerated about his martial arts.

 

However, his spoken words were intricately laced with the profound principles of martial arts. Some phrases and expressions had depths that became clearer upon reflection. “Profound transparency,” “Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground beneath it.”

 

Could a reclusive magician have come up with such lucid enlightenment that only those deeply immersed in martial arts could convey? Moreover, the man’s attire and the landscape where he stood were of a cultural realm unseen even on this vast continent.

 

More plausible than the delusion of a single person was the possibility that a mage, having witnessed the scene firsthand, had attempted to recreate it using illusion magic. However, due to the mage’s lack of discernment, the intricacies of the movement could not be fully captured.

 

“So you’re saying…”

 

“I had thought that dimensional magic was purely theoretical.”

 

Indeed.

 

The simpletons had merely scoffed, thinking it was but an illusion concocted by a mage, but the truth was that the event wasn’t intended as a ‘demonstration of illusion magic’ at all.

 

Dimensional magic.

 

The Amethyst Tower had metaphorically announced that they had observed another world, traversing the ocean of space and time.

 

“Then why twist such a great achievement? If all the nobles gathered there had invested, it could have been a considerable sum.”

 

“To sift through them.”

 

It was a demonstration reserved for those capable of discerning its true value, filtering out the unworthy, the very reason why the tower whispered its secret to a select few over broadcasting wealth and fame across the entire continent.

 

One could interpret the demonstration in many ways, but since the image presented was of a man who unapologetically practiced self-aggrandizement…

 

The message was clear: ‘We will follow our path, so you ought to sort out the traffic on your own.’

 

“Clever indeed.”

 

If the turmoil the reveal of practical dimensional magic could cause across the continent could be mitigated behind the scenes, then investing some money in the tower was a bargain. The boy wrote on a high-quality parchment, ‘Amethyst Tower Royal Subsidy Increase: 30-fold.’

 

…

 

After the exhibition, the master of the Amethyst Tower, who had been bedridden, spent the entire day running around the tower delivering kisses to everyone he met, invigorated by the sudden 30-fold punch to the funding.

 

The illusion magic now included the sensation of the lips’ touch.