After a series of twists and turns, I was dragged to a nearby construction site. Half-built skyscrapers loomed like beheaded giants around us. Cement carts and scattered bricks littered the ground.

Workers had long gone home at this hour. Few passersby dared approach anyway—not with a gang of delinquents gathered here.

At the center of about a dozen thugs stood a hulking man resembling a gorilla. A massive ape tattoo coiled across his bare arms. His voice rumbled like a deep bell: "So you’re the one who hurt my brother?"

Beside him, Yuan Kui—arm in a plaster cast—glared venomously at me. "Bro, it’s him! But this kid’s tricky. Seems to know some martial arts. Watch out."

"Hold on! He attacked first! I was just… just defending myself!" I stammered weakly, surrounded.

"I’ve looked into your feud with my brother. He provoked you, true. But seeing him injured like this?" The giant loomed over me, cracking his knuckles. "I can’t ignore it. I’m Yuan Ba. Trained in freestyle fighting since childhood. The martial world calls me ‘Long-Arm.’ I’ve always wanted to test a true kung fu master. We’ll settle this here—life or death. No grudges after."

His thugs instantly produced a document. "Sign the death waiver."

*They even prepared this?* The terms were horrifying. I looked up timidly. "Can… can I refuse?"

"Refuse?" A thug to my right licked his switchblade. "Then we handle it the old way. Leave one hand behind."

*Wouldn’t that be fun if his blade was poisoned?*

I’d just learned magic, but surrounded by knives at close range? I didn’t dare test spells against steel. After signing, the thugs backed off, clearing a classroom-sized space. Yuan Ba warmed up five meters away. His knuckles cracked like gunshots. Murder glinted in his eyes.

*Real* murder. I’d never fought much, let alone faced a killer—but I knew this beast meant to end me.

Better one-on-one than a gang beating. I was just a ordinary high schooler. I tried chanting the Stonehide Skin spell again.

*AGH!*

A splitting headache exploded in my skull. I crumpled, clutching my head. Yuan Ba paused, but Yuan Kui yelled: "He’s faking it, bro! Crush him!"

*Was "crush him" literal?!*

Yuan Ba’s eyes turned icy. "Hurt my brother? Pay with your life!"

Five meters vanished in a blink. His fist slammed into my cheek. Bells roared in my ears. Blood gushed from my nose. Darkness swallowed me as I hit the ground.

*Pain! Is he really trying to kill me?* Another blow like that would finish me. My head throbbed too fiercely to even cry out. Yuan Ba straddled me, fists raised for the kill—I saw my grandparents smiling down from heaven.

*Sorry I won’t continue the Wu family line…*

Just then, two patrolling officers sprinted over. "HEY! STOP RIGHT THERE!"

*I love you, officers!*

The thugs scattered instantly—especially with a bloodied victim in their midst. Yuan Ba spat, "Same time tomorrow!" before roaring off on motorcycles.

*He wasn’t done torturing me?!*

An officer helped me up, sighing. "Kids today… fighting like animals. Luckily your grandpa called us."

*Grandpa?* He’d passed years ago. Then a familiar wizened face blocked my view. "Grandson, you suffered. Let Grandpa take you home."

Darkness swallowed me again.

---

I woke on my living room sofa. The same robed old man sat beside me, face oddly gentle. "Young one. You’re awake."

"My head… splitting…" I sat up slowly, then froze. "Old man! This is *my* house! How’d you get in?"

"The grimoire’s tracking mark led me. Keys were in your pocket." He waved it off like nothing.

*Breaking and entering is illegal!* But he’d saved me… "Uh… thanks. That ape would’ve killed me."

He sighed. "Don’t thank me yet. You have five days left. Write your will. Pick a burial spot with good feng shui—"

"Hold up! Five days? I’m not sick!"

"Your mana core is fracturing. When it shatters completely, you’ll never wake. A vegetable. Permanently."

"Are you joking?!"

"Exhaustion? That’s the fracture spreading." His usual lecherous grin vanished. His eyes burned sharp. "Magic requires foundation. You skipped basics, cast spells recklessly—and in this world? Mana here is thin and unstable. Like pouring acid into a plastic bottle. It *will* leak. Chapter One warned you. Didn’t you read it?"

…I’d skimmed the theory to jump straight to spells. His grave tone made my stomach drop. After seeing real magic today… and this crushing fatigue… I could barely keep my eyes open now.

"Master… is this true?"

"Worse. You took a head blow. For mages, the mind holds all magic—all knowledge. It anchors the mana core. Lose limbs, but *never* damage the brain. Yet you…"

His seriousness and my symptoms convinced me. Panic clawed up my throat. "Is… is there a cure?"

"One way. Build an Elemental Matrix before you die. Become a full Mage. Then you can mend the core yourself."

"How?!"

"Mana here is too weak. Only a once-in-a-century prodigy like you could cast apprentice spells so easily. To advance fast? You must go to *my* world. The… ‘other world’ from your novels."

*Sounded like a human trafficker’s pitch. What if he sold me to a host club?*

He stood, back turned. "I’ll prepare the portal. Midnight. Same place. I hate wasting talent. Choose wisely."

He left. Dawn light filtered in. My phone showed 7 AM—I’d been out ten hours. The mirror revealed a swollen, blood-crusted face. The room spun. Double vision blurred my sight. Headache hammered like a drum.

No way I could face school. I texted my teacher an excuse, then rushed to the hospital.

After tests, the doctor sighed at his chart. "Acute neural collapse. One in 700,000 odds… kid, buy a lottery ticket. Tell me the numbers."

*Was that comfort?* His verdict boiled down to: *Terminal. Days to live. Go home. Prepare.*

Stumbling out, I turned on the TV to numb the dread. But overwhelming drowsiness washed over me… the screen faded to black…