Volume 1 — Chapter 2 Revenge, Victory Over the Boss, and New Problems

The first thing Airi Amamiya felt was cold.

Not the kind of cold she had known in the real world.

This cold was deeper.

It seemed to pass through her entire body and settle somewhere inside her bones.

Airi slowly opened her eyes.

For several seconds, she couldn't understand where she was.

The ceiling above her was made of ancient stone.

Small cracks ran across it.

A few torches burned along the walls, their flames moving gently despite the complete lack of wind.

The floor beneath her was hard and cold.

Airi blinked.

"...Where am I?"

Her voice echoed through the tunnel.

She tried to sit up.

Her head hurt.

Her body felt heavy.

Her memories were confused.

She remembered the boss room.

She remembered the King of the Undead.

She remembered the enormous magical attack she had released.

She remembered her strongest spell entering cooldown.

She remembered trying to move.

Then—

The attack.

The enormous weapon descending toward her.

And then darkness.

Airi touched her chest.

Her heart was beating.

She was alive.

That realization immediately frightened her.

"Why am I alive?"

She looked at her hands.

Nothing appeared to be wrong.

She checked her HP.

HP: 100/100

Airi froze.

"Full health?"

She opened the system menu.

Her status appeared before her eyes.

Name: Airi Amamiya

Level: 1

Class: Sorceress Girl

Class Rank: D

She stared at the rank.

D.

She remembered that it had been F before the battle.

But that wasn't what bothered her.

What bothered her was the fact that she was alive.

She had seen the system message.

She had seen the words.

DEFEATED.

She had believed that she was going to die.

But she hadn't.

Someone had brought her away from the boss room.

Airi looked down the tunnel.

There were traces of other players.

Footprints.

Dropped items.

Pieces of equipment.

She slowly remembered.

Other players had dragged her away from the boss room after the battle.

They had probably assumed that she was some kind of powerful NPC.

Airi lowered her head.

"They brought me here..."

She didn't know why they had done it.

Maybe they had thought she would reward them.

Maybe they had thought she was part of a hidden quest.

Maybe they simply didn't want to leave a mysterious character near the boss.

Whatever the reason, they had saved her.

But Airi couldn't stop thinking about something else.

If death in Astrea meant death in reality...

Why was she still alive?

Her breathing became faster.

She remembered the moment immediately before the attack.

The King of the Undead had attacked.

Airi had been unable to move.

And then she had seen her best friend.

The girl who had invited her into the game.

Mika Avilia.

Mika had been beside her.

Airi remembered reaching out.

She remembered pushing Mika away.

She remembered placing herself between Mika and the attack.

The weapon had struck her.

Not Mika.

Airi closed her eyes.

"So that's why..."

The answer slowly became clear.

She had survived because of Mika.

She had protected her friend.

If Airi had not moved...

Mika would have been hit.

Airi didn't know what would have happened to her friend.

But she knew that, for some reason, protecting Mika had changed the result.

Airi opened her eyes.

"Then..."

She whispered.

"I didn't survive because I'm strong."

She looked at her hands.

"I survived because I protected her."

The thought gave her a strange feeling.

She had been afraid of death.

She still was.

But now there was something else.

A reason to continue.

Airi remembered that Mika had invited her into Astrea.

Mika had been the person who had told her about the game.

Mika had been the one who had encouraged her to try it.

Mika had been the one who had been standing beside her when everything 

went wrong.

And now—

Airi didn't even know where Mika was.

She tried to open the player list.

Mika's name wasn't there.

Airi's expression changed.

"Mika?"

She searched again.

Nothing.

She tried the friend list.

Nothing.

She tried the communication system.

PLAYER NOT FOUND.

Airi's eyes widened.

"What?"

She searched again.

PLAYER NOT FOUND.

"Mika..."

She couldn't understand it.

Mika had been there.

Airi knew she had been there.

She remembered seeing her.

But now the system acted as though Mika didn't exist.

Airi didn't know that, in the real world, something even stranger had happened.

Mika Avilia could no longer enter Astrea.

Her player profile had disappeared.

Nobody knew why.

The developers had already begun investigating the incident.

They were attempting to restore the deleted profile.

But there was no explanation for how it had happened.

Mika's account had not simply logged out.

Her profile had been deleted.

At least, that was what the system appeared to indicate.

And that was impossible.

The developers had never designed the game to randomly delete a player's profile.

Yet it had happened.

While the developers desperately attempted to restore Mika's account, Airi remained inside Astrea.

Alone.

Airi looked at the empty tunnel.

Her best friend was gone.

She didn't know whether Mika was safe.

She didn't know whether Mika would ever return.

And she didn't know whether she would ever see her again.

Airi slowly stood.

Her legs were still weak.

She looked at the status screen.

Class: Sorceress Girl

Class Rank: D

Her statistics had increased.

Ten points had been added to her characteristics.

It wasn't enough to make her physically strong.

But it was enough for Airi to feel the difference.

Her body was slightly more responsive.

Her movements were faster.

Her magical energy felt more stable.

She clenched her hand.

"I can fight."

Airi remembered the boss.

The King of the Undead.

She had lost.

She had been defeated.

She had run out of options.

She had been too confident in her magic while simultaneously being too afraid to use her power properly.

Her magic was incredibly strong.

But she hadn't understood how to fight with it.

She hadn't understood her own abilities.

She had assumed that having overwhelming magical potential automatically meant she could win.

It didn't.

The King of the Undead had proven that.

Magic resistance.

High defense.

Enormous strength.

Experience.

Airi had power.

But the boss knew how to use his.

She had lost because she didn't.

Airi looked toward the direction of the boss room.

The enormous doors were somewhere ahead.

She could still feel the presence of the undead king.

Airi slowly clenched her fists.

"Then I'll fight again."

Her voice was quiet.

"I won't run."

She checked her abilities.

There were several spells she already knew.

Her magic was powerful enough to destroy normal monsters instantly.

But her strongest spells had enormous cooldowns.

That had been her biggest problem.

She had used one of her strongest attacks.

Then it became unavailable.

After that, she had been almost helpless.

But now she understood something.

She didn't need to use everything at once.

She needed to understand her abilities.

And there was one ability she had not properly tested yet.

Airi opened the skill menu.

A strange symbol appeared.

MANIPULATION OF SPACE AND TIME

She stared at it.

The ability seemed impossible.

According to the description, it allowed the user to interfere with the surrounding space and time.

Not simply teleport.

Not simply slow an enemy.

It allowed the user to distort the world according to her perception.

Airi swallowed.

"Space and time..."

She had never used it before.

She didn't know its limits.

She didn't know how powerful it was.

But now she had nothing left to lose.

Mika was gone.

Her way home was still unknown.

Her life was connected to this world.

And the first floor had already defeated her once.

She couldn't allow herself to remain afraid.

Airi began walking.

The monsters appeared almost immediately.

Skeleton soldiers.

Undead beasts.

Dark creatures crawling along the walls.

Normally, a level-one player would have struggled against them.

But Airi was different.

Her class rank had increased.

Her characteristics had increased by ten points.

And, more importantly, she had stopped hesitating.

The first monster rushed toward her.

Airi raised her hand.

A small magical circle appeared.

The monster vanished in an instant.

Another appeared.

Airi turned.

A second spell.

Destroyed.

A third monster jumped from the ceiling.Airi didn't even look at it.

Space distorted.

The creature suddenly stopped.Airi moved her hand.

The monster was crushed by the distorted space.

She continued forward.

One monster after another disappeared.

The tunnel that had once seemed terrifying now felt almost empty.

Airi walked deeper into the dungeon.

She wasn't thinking about levels.

She wasn't thinking about rewards.

She wasn't thinking about the title.

She was thinking about Mika.

She was thinking about returning home.

And she was thinking about the King of the Undead.

Eventually, the enormous doors appeared.

The boss room.

Airi stopped in front of them.

She could hear the undead king on the other side.

The sound of metal moving.

The sound of something heavy striking the floor.

Airi took a deep breath.

"I'm coming back."

She placed her hand against the door.

"I'm not losing again."

The doors opened.

The King of the Undead stood in the center of the room.

His blue flames burned inside his empty eye sockets.

His ancient armor was damaged from their previous battle.

But his presence remained overwhelming.

Airi looked at him.

The boss looked at her.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then the undead king raised his weapon.

Airi raised her hand.

"Three spells."

The magical energy around her began to increase.

"I'll use three at once."

The first spell activated.

A massive number of fireballs appeared around her.

Hundreds.

Then more.

They filled the air like stars.

The King of the Undead raised his weapon.

Airi pointed toward him.

"First."

The fireballs launched.

The entire room exploded.

Fire consumed the battlefield.

The floor shook.

The walls trembled.

The undead king disappeared beneath an enormous storm of flames.

Airi didn't wait.

She activated her second spell.

Her eyes changed.

A strange symbol appeared inside her pupils.

MANA EYE — ACTIVATED.

Airi looked directly at the boss.

The world seemed to become transparent.

She could see magical energy flowing through the undead king.

His mana.

His power.

His defenses.

Everything became visible.

Then—

Red lines appeared.

They wrapped around the undead king's body.

His arms.

His legs.

His torso.

His neck.

The lines tightened.

The undead king attempted to move.

He couldn't.

The spell had completely bound him.

Airi's eyes glowed.The red lines began absorbing his mana.

The undead king's magical energy started disappearing.

His flames flickered.

For the first time, the boss showed something resembling fear.

Airi continued staring.

"Second."

The mana continued flowing toward her.

The undead king's resistance to ordinary magic didn't matter.

She wasn't simply attacking his body.

She was controlling the magical energy surrounding him.

But Airi wasn't finished.

She activated the third spell.

The entire room changed.

Space began bending.

The walls stretched.

The floor seemed to curve.

Time became distorted.

Everything around Airi slowed.

The movement of the flames.

The movement of dust.

The movement of the undead king.

Even the sound of the dungeon became strange.

Airi raised her hand.

She could see space as if it were something physical.

Something she could touch.

Something she could reshape.

She imagined the room changing.

And it changed.

The distance between her and the boss disappeared.

Then it returned.

The floor beneath the boss twisted.

The space around his body compressed.

Time itself distorted around him.

Airi's power continued increasing.

There was no visible limit.

She didn't know where her power ended.

Perhaps it didn't have an ordinary limit.

Perhaps the system itself didn't understand what she was capable of.

Airi looked at the undead king.

"You defeated me once."

The magical energy around her intensified.

"But not again."

She closed her hand.

Space collapsed.

The undead king was crushed by the distortion.

His armor shattered.

His weapon broke.

His mana disappeared.

The flames in his eyes flickered violently.

Airi pushed further.

The world shook.

The first floor of the tower trembled.

Players throughout the dungeon stopped moving.

They could feel something happening.

The walls vibrated.

The ground shook.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

A sound like thunder traveled through the corridors.

Airi continued.

The undead king resisted.

He was the King of the Undead.

The boss of the first floor.

A creature that had defeated countless players.

A creature whose magical resistance had stopped Airi's first attempt.

But this time, she wasn't relying on a single attack.

Fire.

Mana manipulation.

Space.

Time.Three powers combined.

Airi had learned from her defeat.

She wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

The undead king raised his broken weapon.

He tried to move.

The red lines tightened.

He couldn't.

His mana continued disappearing.

The space around him collapsed again.

Airi's eyes remained fixed on him."I can't lose."

The distortion intensified.

"I won't lose."

The undead king's body began breaking apart.

His armor shattered into fragments.

The blue flames inside his skull became weaker.

Then Airi used everything she had.

The entire boss room became white.

For one moment, there was no sound.

No movement.

No darkness.

Only light.

Then—

Silence.

The light disappeared.

Airi stood in the center of the room.

The King of the Undead was gone.

His weapon had fallen to the ground.

His armor had disappeared.

The boss room was empty.

Airi remained standing.

She was breathing heavily.

Her mana was almost completely depleted.

But she was alive.

She had won.

The system appeared.

FIRST FLOOR BOSS DEFEATED.

Airi stared at the message.

Then another notification appeared.

FIRST FLOOR CLEAR.

And then—

WORLD NOTIFICATION

THE FIRST FLOOR OF THE TOWER HAS BEEN CONQUERED.

The notification was visible to every player.

The first floor had been cleared.

The impossible tower had finally been advanced another step.

The requirement to defeat the first-floor boss had originally been designed for a party of ten players.

Ten players.

That was the expected number.

A coordinated team.

Different classes.

Different roles.

Attackers.

Defenders.

Healers.

Support.But Airi had done it alone.

She had entered the boss room alone.

She had challenged the King of the Undead alone.

And on her second attempt—

She had defeated him alone.

A level-one player had conquered a boss designed to require ten players.

But the system wasn't finished.

Another message appeared.

PLAYER LEVEL INCREASED.

LEVEL 1 → LEVEL 10

Airi stared.

"Level ten..."

She checked the boss information that had been displayed earlier.

The King of the Undead had been level fifteen.

Airi had defeated a level-fifteen boss.

She had been level one.

The difference was enormous.Yet she had won.

Not because she had understood her power from the beginning.

Not because she had been invincible.

And not because she had never been afraid.

She had lost first.

She had fallen.

She had reached the brink of death.

Only then had she realized something.

She couldn't lose.

Not now.

Not after Mika.

Not when her life was still connected to this world.

She had to survive.

She had to become stronger.

And she had to find a way back.

Airi looked at the notification.

Then another appeared.

NEW TITLE ACQUIRED

TITLE: MAGICAL GIRL

Airi blinked.

"Magical Girl?"

The title description appeared.

TITLE EFFECT: ALL CHARACTERISTICS ×2

Airi's eyes widened.

Her characteristics doubled.

Every characteristic.

Her physical statistics.

Her magical statistics.

Her abilities.

Everything.

Then another effect appeared.

MANA RECOVERY: COMPLETE

Airi felt the change immediately.

Her exhausted magical energy returned.

Her mana filled.

Her body felt lighter.

She stared at the status window.

The title was absurd.

It didn't simply give her a small bonus.

It doubled everything.

Airi suddenly realized how dangerous that could be.

But at the same time, she felt overwhelmingly tired.

She had already learned another important fact about herself.

Her magical power might be nearly limitless.

But her body still needed rest.

Whenever she pushed her abilities too far, the exhaustion became overwhelming.

And the easiest way to recover was simple.

Sleep.

Airi sighed.

"I just want to sleep..."

She sat down.

For a moment, everything was quiet.

She had conquered the first floor.

She had defeated the boss.

She had reached level ten.

She had received a new title.

But she still didn't know what would happen next.

Then something unexpected happened.

Airi looked toward the entrance of the boss room.

Nothing.

No players.

She could no longer see anyone.

The dungeon had become strangely empty.

She opened the player list.

The names were there.

But she couldn't see the players themselves.

The system seemed to be behaving strangely.

Airi stood.

"What is happening?"

Then—

Every light in the dungeon went out.

Darkness covered the first floor.

Airi froze.

A strange pressure filled the air.

Something was coming.

Not a monster.

Not a player.

Something else.

A figure appeared.

It stood at the center of the first floor.

The players could see him.

Airi could see him.

For the first time, the entire dungeon seemed to become silent.

The figure looked like a man.

But nobody knew his true identity.

He wasn't a normal player.

He wasn't an NPC.

He wasn't a monster.

He was the administrator.

The creator of Masters of Astrea Online.

The being who had created the game.

The being who had created the world.

He looked around the first floor.

Then he raised one hand.

Airi watched.

She couldn't move.

The administrator snapped his fingers.

Snap.

The world changed.

Red spread across the dungeon.

The floor became stained with blood.

The walls changed.

The beautiful fantasy world suddenly became horrifying.

The entire first floor seemed to transform into a bloody battlefield.

Players looked around in confusion.

Nobody understood what was happening.

The administrator remained calm.

He looked at the world he had created.

Then he spoke.

"The tower's trials have opened."

His voice echoed throughout the entire floor.

Airi stared at him.

The administrator smiled.

"And now..."

He paused.

The blood-red world seemed to become even darker.

"...let the bloody feast begin."

The administrator disappeared.

Silence returned.

Airi stood alone in the transformed dungeon.

She looked around.

The first floor was no longer the same.

The tower had changed.

The rules had changed.

And something far more dangerous than the King of the Undead had begun.

The first floor had been conquered.

But that victory had not brought safety.

It had opened the tower's trials.

And Airi now understood something terrifying.

The boss had only been the beginning.

She had defeated the King of the Undead.

She had survived.

She had grown stronger.

She had obtained the title Magical Girl.

But somewhere above her were ninety-nine more floors.

For two hundred years, nobody had reached the top.

Nobody knew what waited there.

And now the creator of the game himself had declared that the tower's trials had begun.

Airi slowly looked upward.

The ceiling hid the floors above.

She couldn't see them.

But she knew they were there.

She clenched her fists.

She was still afraid.

She still wanted to go home.

She still wanted to find Mika.

But she couldn't retreat anymore.

She had already lost once.

She had already stood at the edge of death.

And now she knew what she had to do.

Survive.

No matter what waited above.

No matter how powerful the enemies became.

No matter how terrifying the tower was.She would continue.

Because this world was now her reality.

And the tower had just begun its bloody feast.

End of Chapter 2.