I have returned once again to the dark waters I came to after my death. A bright orb of light floated in front of my eyes.
I began to walk around, looking for a way out of this place.
However, unlike before, I wasn't as afraid of this situation. I figured it might be because the orb of light beside me made me feel calm.
I walked for quite a while, but found nothing there, until I felt frustrated and decided to give up on escaping this place.
But then, the orb of light that had been accompanying me suddenly drifted away in another direction.
Panicking, I immediately chased after it. There was no way I would let the only source of light I had just disappear.
I ran after it with all my strength until I was out of breath.
I kept running until I reached a drama stage that stood firmly above the water.
The place had quite a few lights illuminating it, making it stand out in the darkness. The orb of light I had been chasing stopped right beside me.
When I looked at the stage, for some reason, it reminded me of the one I used when I was ten years old.
At that time, I played the lead role in a fairytale drama titled The Prince from the Land of the Magical Trees. That was one of the happiest moments of my childhood.
But as I was immersed in those memories, my attention was suddenly drawn elsewhere.
A person dressed in black with a black hood sat in the audience seats, at the front right corner.
I was utterly shocked by what I saw. His all-black attire made him blend in with the darkness, adding to the eerie feeling.
And yet, for some reason, I didn't feel as terrified as before.
I slowly approached him to get a better look at his figure.
I was now close to him and reached out my hand toward his shoulder to get his attention.
But before I could touch him, the man turned around.
And I suddenly woke up from my sleep.
Apparently, what I experienced was just a dream.
Yet somehow, it felt so real. I couldn't even forget what I saw at the end of that dream.
The figure dressed entirely in black—when he turned to face me, I was utterly horrified.
His face was completely featureless, with pale skin, terrifying enough to wake me from my dream in a cold sweat.
I thought I might lose my appetite for the next few days.
I got up and brewed a cup of tea while watching students training in the field.
Then I thought, maybe I should train too. Even though I didn't know what exactly to train.
Perhaps I could start by improving my stamina through running on the field.
I spent my morning running laps around the field.
Once I felt it was enough, I went to the cafeteria to get some cold water and a few fruits.
I didn't think I could eat a heavy meal for now, as that dream had stolen my appetite.
I returned to my dormitory to clean myself up.
Afterwards, I thought about checking the mysterious book.
When I opened it, just as I had guessed, the third page was now filled with new writing.
The third page had a considerably long message:
Hey, how could you still be relaxing while your classmates are training so hard?
Are you confused about how to start your training?
If that's troubling you, I'll gladly help.
Try looking for a book titled Reversal Composed in the library.
The book may be a bit outdated, and not as well-known as the modern learning books nowadays.
But I can assure you, no other book contains content as thorough and detailed as Reversal Composed.
That book will greatly help you learn what you need to train right now.
This time, the writing was longer than before. The way it was written felt like a mother giving advice to her son.
Reversal Composed, huh?
Honestly, I found the book a bit suspicious, but there was no harm in searching for it first.
Upon arriving at the library, I searched high and low for the book, but couldn't find it anywhere.
I quickly asked the librarian about the book.
But apparently, that book had long been removed from the library along with other old books since about a hundred years ago.
Those books were replaced by newer ones due to a curriculum change enforced directly by the royal government.
As a result, the old books were now stored in the library's storage room.
I found it strange—why would someone recommend a book that had been discarded like trash?
Could this book really help me?
I went to the storage room to look for the book.
After searching several times, I finally found it hidden behind a pile of other old, dusty books.
I quickly cleaned it up and brought it back to my dorm.
Reversal Composed—a black, old book with a cover engraved with ancient gold markings.
After wiping off the dust and dirt, the book looked almost new.
I immediately began reading through its pages.
But I was shocked to discover that the book I had was a cookbook.
I flipped through its pages repeatedly to make sure.
But every page only contained unfamiliar cooking recipes.
Damn it, was this a joke?
I felt completely deceived.
I needed to clear my head.
So I grabbed a pot to heat up some water.
I waited in front of the stove while flipping through the book again, just to make sure.
But then something unexpected happened—one of the recipe lines changed into a new message.
I was shocked and tried to figure out what had caused it to change.
Then my gaze shifted to the stove flame heating my water.
I brought the page closer to the fire.
As I suspected, the book's content changed due to the heat of the fire.
I turned off the stove and took a candle and some matches from the drawer of my study desk.
I used the candle to make it easier to heat each page of the book.
One by one, I warmed the pages with the lit candle.
After thirty minutes, I had finished heating every page.
Now, the entire content of the book had changed.
The book was now filled with knowledge all related to mana.
My heart pounded just reading it.
The true Reversal Composed had finally revealed itself.