Chapter 1: Guild Newcomer…Magic is called the Internet

"Excuse me, what's your name…?"

"Nate."

"Mr. Knight, did you just say you want to join our guild?" Mirajane asked, smiling gently as they sat in the reception room.

She was delighted to hear that another wizard wanted to join Fairy Tail.

"Yes."

"Are you a wizard?"

"I think I am." Nate shrugged, a hint of helplessness on his handsome face.

What kind of answer was that? Mirajane blinked, a bit confused.

"What kind of magic are you skilled in? I don't mean to pry, I just need to record it for the guild registry."

"You probably haven't heard of my magic."

"Is it one of the lost ancient magics?" Mirajane asked, intrigued. Ancient magic always carried a sense of mystery and power.

In Fairy Tail, there was a wizard who wielded Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, one of the lost ancient magics.

"My magic is called the Internet."

"The… Internet?" Mirajane tilted her head, a beautiful yet puzzled expression forming on her face. She understood the words individually, but together? Not so much.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, quickly trying to make sense of it. "Is it like a spider's web? Do you weave magical threads? That sounds quite powerful."

Nate smiled and shook his head. She's so gentle... and cute. I want to marry her.

"No."

"Huh?" Mirajane looked apologetic. "Sorry, I've never heard of it…"

"That's perfectly fine. It'd be strange if you had," Nate replied, pulling out a small cloth bag from his pocket. From it, he produced a silver-white ring.

"This is my magic." He handed the ring to her. "Just put it on, and you'll understand."

Mirajane examined the ring closely. It was beautiful, crafted from some kind of magical metal she couldn't identify, and felt light in her hand.

"Any finger will do, and don't worry, it's completely safe," Nate assured her.

"I understand." Mirajane smiled warmly, a candle-like glow of kindness in her expression. She slid the ring onto the middle finger of her left hand.

"Is this a magic item?" she asked, instinctively channeling a bit of magic into the ring. "It seems well-made and requires magic input."

In this world, magic had long been part of daily life, and magical items like this were common—though some were far more mysterious than others.

"Miss Mirajane, you should be able to see it now…" Nate began, but before he could finish, Mirajane gasped, covering her mouth in surprise.

Floating words appeared in front of her.

"Magic runes? No… I can't sense the usual magic in them." She whispered in astonishment.

[Welcome to the Internet.]

[Please enter your Internet nickname.]

[Your nickname cannot be changed, so choose wisely.]

[Nickname: ______]

Mirajane looked up at Nate, who smiled. "On the Internet, a nickname is like a second name. I recommend not using your real one."

After thinking for a moment, Mirajane typed in The Departing Traveler as her nickname.

[Nickname confirmed.]

The words floating in the air burst into flames, but these flames had no magical aura. Mirajane found it incredibly strange—there was no flow of magic, no illusion, just something… different.

A translucent interface appeared before her, filled with words and pictures.

Her attention was drawn to one particular line of text.

I'm going to catalog all the magic in the world! Looking for like-minded friends to join!

"You can tap on anything you want to see," Nate instructed.

Following his guidance, Mirajane tapped on the post.

The screen shifted.

Thanks for the invite! I'm in the Celestial Realm and just finished defeating the Celestial King. I'll add more soon.

Is the OP mad? Magic is infinite; you'd never catalog it all in a lifetime!

Borrowing this post. I'm the legendary black wizard Zeref. I'm stuck in a secret place. Give me 100,000 J, and I'll teach you invincible ancient magic once I break the seal!

Don't trust the guy above! He's a fraud!

Mirajane's eyes widened at the name "Zeref." Could it really be him? But then she saw the next line. A fraud?

"These people are…?" she asked.

"Probably scammers." Nate scratched his chin. "Zeref's been dead for centuries, after all."

In reality, these were all messages Nate had left with his secondary account. Mirajane, however, had no idea and assumed the posts were from other real people who had entered this strange Internet world.

"This is remarkable… it's almost like telepathic magic, but with text instead of thoughts."

After scrolling through a few more posts, Mirajane paused, frowning slightly.

"Wait… it's not real-time communication, is it?"

She pointed to an old post about free food distribution at the Carthian Cathedral, something that had happened last week.

Nate explained, "It's a bit different from telepathy. Not everything happens in real-time."

He gestured to the upper-right corner of her screen. "See? There's a 'Daily Check-In' button next to your nickname."

Mirajane, still a bit curious, clicked it.

[Check-in successful! You are ranked 101st today and earn 10 points.]

The message popped up and quickly disappeared.

"What are points?" she asked.

"I set them up as the currency for the Internet. The higher your daily ranking, the better your rewards."

"Like J coins?" Mirajane grinned. "You're going to go bankrupt, Mr. Knight, giving away points like this!"

Nate chuckled internally. She's so easy to fool.

"Yes, I'm nearly bankrupt," he teased.

"Can points be used to buy things?" she asked, intrigued.

"For now, you can use them to play games."

"Games?"

"There's a game section here." Nate stood up and sat next to her, guiding her through the interface.

Mirajane saw three games listed:

Happy LandlordMahjong ShoppingFruit Ninja

Curious, she clicked on Mahjong.

[Matching...]

[Match successful!]

The game loaded, and the system explained the rules. Mirajane was quick to pick it up, and the game began.

One round… two rounds… soon, she was deeply absorbed, her lips slightly pursed in concentration. No matter how simple the rules, she couldn't win, and it irritated her.

Three rounds, five rounds…

Eventually, she sighed, blushing. "I've lost…"

The system informed her she was out of points.

Knight, watching her, couldn't help but wonder if the AI he'd set up was a bit too challenging. Is she becoming a gaming addict?

"Mr. Knight, can you give me 10 more points? I'll pay you back in J coins!" Mirajane asked, determined to win.

Knight stared at her, speechless. Is she turning into a pay-to-win player already?