By now, close to a week had already gone by since the release of Island Ascension Online. As a result, information regarding the game was propagating faster by the day, which in turn, only increased its influence in the real world.

Now, Island Ascension Online could truly be considered a second world for humanity! The amount of people who had entered the game was nearing two thirds of the entire human population, and the media was naturally not relenting on its coverage of the game.

Information regarding magic was also being suppressed for the time being, but instances of mages appearing in public were slowly becoming commonplace.

At this point of time, the mysterious phenomena occurring around the globe was also starting to affect day to day life. Ships would mysteriously sink in the deep oceans, while airplanes would occasionally disappear from within the endless skies, leaving no trace of where they had gone. Certain species of wildlife that could not adapt to the new environment were also becoming rapidly endangered, while other new species steadily arose.

Moreover, the destruction caused due to natural disasters were only exacerbated as time passed, forcing the various governments worldwide into a state of vigilance.

As a result, conspiracy theorists were going crazy on the media, causing widespread panic, and people began buying out supplies from stores to weather the upcoming storm. By now, it was fairly clear that things would only deteriorate!

It seemed as if it were only a matter of time before society started failing.

It was also public knowledge that in Island Ascension Online, the average player was still at Island Level 1, while experts were at Island Level 2. Those who had reached Island Level 3 were experts among experts, while level 4 was still a legend.

Meanwhile, in the time between reaching island level 5 and the airship becoming complete, Kenny had sent Simon a flurry of messages, both in game and in real life.

What these messages contained... Was that Kenny’s island had been raided by an organization and wiped out!

Such a situation was truly unfortunate. It was rare to be targeted by an organization which could manage to destroy one’s island so early on, after all.

Naturally, Simon felt rather guilty. If he had just revealed to Kenny the truth and guided him in the ways of magic, such a situation would have never happened in the first place! After all, he had long since sensed that Kenny had a strong affinity for magic.

As a result, following this piece of news, Simon finally decided to reveal that he was a mage; he could no longer bear keeping it from Kenny. After all, even if it may have been dangerous… He did not wish to let his bro suffer any longer!

In any case, he would offer Kenny a choice; it was not like he was forcing him.

However, he would not go so far as to reveal that he was the number one player and from another world. Revealing such information would simply be excessive.

For this occasion, Simon headed out to the company building to meet Kenny in person. In any case, it didn’t feel right to simply text or call him about such important information.

After freshening up and donning a casual work attire, he headed out of the building and soon, into a taxi.

-----

15 minutes later, outside of an office in a particular complex.

“Yo, what’s up bro, I'm here!” Simon said, casually leaning next to the door of the office.

“Come in, why even knock! I’m doing alright.” Kenny hurriedly said, upon realizing that Simon was standing outside of his office.

He promptly pushed the office door open and stepped inside.

The room’s walls consisted of tinted glass, while a variety of plants, screens and displays were spread about, giving the room a very futuristic feel.

Meanwhile, the man himself was sitting behind a desk, with bags under his eyes and a gloomy demeanor.

Seeing Kenny in this state, Simon felt another surge of guilt.

‘Damn! Did I really need to be so selfish? Who gives a f*ck if people find us out, I should have at least told him about magic…’

“So what’s up? I heard your island is going well.” Kenny said while laying back on his seat and looking up to Simon.

“Well, it’s going fine but I came here for something else.” Simon glanced at Kenny before asking, “You know how mages are a thing?”

“Of course! Are you here to tease me for being wrong about their existence?” Kenny asked while rolling his eyes.

Simon sighed and waved a hand. In an instant, all the plants were now floating in the air like they were in zero gravity, appearing quite surreal.

He stated simply, “Well, I am... a mage.”

“...”

Kenny was speechless and almost fell off his chair when seeing all of these floating items around him.

“Bro, you’re a mage?!” Kenny exclaimed while jumping out of his seat, his eyes wide in excitement. “You have a lot of explaining to do, then! Holy f*ck!”

Simon nodded solemnly. “Before I start, I need to let you know that I can’t tell you the whole story.”

“Of course, of course! We’re bros you can cut the crap; just tell me already, hahaha!” Kenny replied impatiently.

“Alright, then!”

Simon nodded and took a deep breath, before beginning the story.

“A few days before I met you, my memories of this world were inexplicably gone; there were no traces of my past anywhere. No documents, no hints, and no contacts to be found.”

“However, I actually contained the knowledge to practice magic. Unfortunately, it was impossible to actually do so for the time being, due to the planet being devoid of mana.”

“And as you know, with the release of Island Ascension Online, utilizing mana is not impossible. And the rumor is true! Magic ingame really equates to magic in the real world. In fact, the recent phenomenon that occurred on this planet was due to mana returning to the planet.”

“Following the loss of my memories, well… You know the rest.” Simon finished, pausing to let Kenny take it in. After all, even though he withheld certain parts of the story... there was still a lot to take in!

However, Kenny seemed to take all of this in stride - as if he had suspected such a thing the moment Simon revealed himself to be a mage.

Simon continued, albeit with a slightly raised brow.

“Here’s the important part, though. I personally don’t know much about the undercurrents in this world - all I have is extensive knowledge of magic.”

“That being said, I will no longer hide, and teach you myself!”

“Too long have I hidden, and I feel that with the reintroduction of mana and the loss of your island, there is no more urgent time to reveal myself than now.”

“Brother Kenny, I am sorry for keeping this from you. I can only apologize and try to make it up by training you to the best of my abilities!” he finished with a solemn and determined gaze.

Kenny was grinning ruefully by the time that Simon finished.

“I knew that something was special about you but… Damn! Magic? That’s f*cking awesome bro!” He then broke out into a wide smile. “I don’t mind the secrecy in the slightest, and I certainly don’t hold it against you; some things in this world require patience, after all! So uh…”

He fell silent for a moment, before excitedly saying, “When will we begin?!”

“We will begin now!” Simon said with a grin before taking a deep breath.

It was going to be a lot of explaining, after all. Just like he had thought, Kenny didn’t hesitate to learn magic.

And so, he began the lengthy process of explaining magic.

“Absorbing mana is…”

Simon continued on and on, describing the various intricacies of magic, while Kenny intently listened with a glow in his eyes.

-----

Several hours had passed since the big reveal. By now, the first of many instructing sessions had ended.

“Thanks, bro. With this, surviving in Island Ascension Online should be much easier, haha!” Kenny exclaimed, joyfully patting Simon on the back.

“No problem, no problem! It’s all due to your talent that you could learn so fast… It’s really something.” Simon said with a humble smile.

After all, Kenny was truly a genius when it came to magic.

Although he could not compare with Jake, Kenny was definitely talented in his own right. More specifically, in the subject of clairvoyance!

Still, it was not unexpected when one considered his frightening intuition.

After all, as a regular human, he could already gain a faint sense of the mysteries of a person with a single glance. As a result, when he gained actual clairvoyance magic, who could possibly hide anything from him anymore?

Suddenly, Simon was inexplicably reminded of a certain figure while looking at Kenny, who now had finally embarked the path of a mage…

After leaving the room, he stood outside of Kenny’s office, lost in thought.

The figure in his memories was like the wisest of sages, who seemed to transcend the mortal world in every way. The man that he remembered seemed as unfathomable as the endless void, and more wise than the information within countless libraries combined…

Simon had met him one day in his past life, when at his lowest, adventuring in some remote mountains to find the right place to end his life.

This was right after escaping an assassination attempt where his life hanged by a thread. And as he trudged through the mountains on the verge of death, he truly was resigned to his fate.

Back then, days passed like autumn leaves gently tumbling to the ground, and he felt his life steadily diminishing. He was a shell of his former self, and he felt like he could collapse at any point, never to rise again.

But when he lost all hope… the moment finally came.

The man was merely fishing on a humble wooden boat, in a rippleless and tranquil lake between a beautiful valley of mountains.

Such a simple scene invoked such a strange, yet overwhelming sense of awe and profundity in him that he had gone into a daze for weeks straight!

Indeed, upon simply seeing the figure, Simon had instantaneously gained many enlightenments and stood there in a daze, overwhelmed by the influx of information.

When he finally regained consciousness, his wounds were healed, and the figure was long gone, giving him a deep sense of loss.

After all, during those few weeks, he had made great strides in every element of magic and more importantly... he had also regained his will and ability to survive.

It was ultimately that man who had caused his will to become indomitable, and led to him becoming a farming genius!

Naturally, he contained endless gratitude for such a figure and was confident that he was some immortal deity who had descended from the heavens. Not even the legendary ninth star core mages could compare to him in the slightest!

It was certainly strange why he was reminded of him when looking at Kenny, but he simply brushed it aside.

-----

After leaving the compound, Simon felt like a weight had been removed from his back.

Simon had no regrets, and would have no regrets - even if it spelled out his doom. He had made his decision, and therefore, would stick to it until the very end!

He was a man of honor and virtue; if he said something, then he would definitely do it. He would support Kenny with everything that he had, now that he was embarking on the path of a mage.

He then began making his way home, after leaving the office.

...

20 minutes later...

Woosh!

Simon excitedly launched himself onto his bed and simultaneously put his VR helmet on.

‘Now should be about time for the expedition… Activate Virtual World!’