A red light swirled around me. Soon, black smoke approached from afar and filled my dream.
As the red light gradually faded, I began to feel trapped within the black smoke. It was so suffocating, I could barely breathe.
"Gah!"
'Is this... a nightmare?'
"Hey! Rain, you're awake?"
Esso spoke to me, while Kim Dream seemed to be jotting down her dream journal into her spellbook.
"Phew! I think I wrote down everything I remember!"
"Rain, do you have something to write in your spellbook too?"
"It's not much. I'm fine. We might be late, so let's head back."
We climbed back up from the dim upper-level magic school and arrived at the classroom with the Fire Professor around sunset.
"Did everyone write their dreams on the first page of their spellbooks? Esso?"
"Ah... I couldn't remember my dream, so I didn't write anything."
"Esso, you couldn't remember because you weren't focusing in class. Even if the dream is vague, you'll be able to write it down if you keep trying."
Because of that nightmare earlier, I still felt weighed down.
"Fire Professor, is there a way not to have nightmares?"
"If you're remembering dreams, it's natural you'll remember nightmares too. Dreams are connected to reality—your fears and guilt in real life manifest as nightmares. If you have one, face it. If you eliminate your fears and guilt in real life, the nightmares will stop. Until then, write them in your spellbook. In the end, even your nightmares will strengthen your magic."
After hearing the Fire Professor's lecture, I began writing on the first page of my spellbook.
'A red light lingered around me, and soon I was trapped in black smoke, suffocating. Then I woke up.'
"That's it for class!"
The students began packing up their spellbooks and leaving the room. But I felt the Fire Professor's gaze on me.
"Rain, Kim Dream, come to my workshop."
'Huh? That place he mentioned just flickered strangely...'
"Yes!"
Kim Dream answered in a slightly worried tone. The place she mentioned started to appear yellow to me—and I could see the yellow color approaching me. What's happening? Is that yellow... Kim Dream?
"Rain! Why do you think we're being called?"
As Kim Dream spoke in front of me and I saw the yellow color exactly where her voice came from, I became certain—Kim Dream looked yellow to me. And Esso, slowly walking beside me, appeared red.
"Dream, you're... yellow."
"Huh?"
"I'm starting to see people in colors!"
Seeing me speak with a smile for the first time, Esso immediately grew envious and asked:
"What? What color am I?!"
"...We'll be in trouble if we're late. Let's hurry to the Fire Professor."
"Ah... Right! But where did he go?"
I could see the flickering glow of the Fire Professor walking in the distance. Seeing people as colors—just seeing someone clearly felt like magic to me. My heart fluttered as I followed the flickering light of his path.
"Rain! Wait up!"
I had never walked so happily and confidently before.
"I can even see where the Fire Professor is!"
"Really?"
Esso and Kim Dream followed me into the door where the Fire Professor had gone.
"Rain, be careful! There are two steps with white carpet!"
"Huh? But this carpet is warm... Maybe the Fire Professor was lying here."
What they called "carpet" appeared white to me.
'Why do the carpets look white?'
As Esso and Kim Dream stepped down the two stairs, they suddenly turned around, feeling a presence behind them—
A giant white bear, the size of an elephant, was staring at them.
They had unknowingly stepped on the bear's back, using its nose and paws like stairs. When the bear stood up, it filled the room, over 3 meters tall.
Overwhelmed by its size and pressure, Esso and Kim Dream trembled, but the bear turned to look at me.
Then, gently, it cupped me in its paw and carried me safely down into the room.
Soon, the Fire Professor's voice came from the next room.
We, filled with unease, sidestepped into the adjacent room. Inside the Fire Professor's workshop, we saw a room full of white dogs, white birds, and arctic foxes. Amid the sea of white, I could see the flickering glow that marked the Fire Professor. Among the animals, a scared Esso muttered:
"These animals... must really... like the professor."
A dog pulled a cart, the size of a spellbook, and brought it to me. Inside was a matchstick.
"Kim Dream. Esso. Since you two are always with Rain, if anything urgent happens, use this match to call me."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
"Rain was assigned to the summer campus because, of all professors, I'm the easiest to find."
Excited by the magic I had just awakened, I spoke up.
"Fire Professor! I'm starting to see people in colors!"
"Rain, you'll become a light mage. Congratulations on your first magic."
"Thank you!!"
"Esso, Kim Dream. Make sure to support Rain when needed. Alright, dismissed."
"Yes, sir!"
In front of the professor's room, the white bear had laid down again to form stairs. Carefully, we stepped on the bear's paws and back to exit.
"Pew..."
"These animals must really like the Fire Professor. Just like I do."
"Maybe... So, should we head to the dorm now..."
Suddenly, Esso's stomach growled.
"I'm starving. Wanna go to the cafeteria?"
"Sure!"
At the cafeteria, we looked over the menu.
"Rain. Look! They have tteokbokki—oh?! Gungjung tteokbokki and Octopus ink tteokbokki too!"
"There are three of us, should we order all three and share?"
"Sounds good!"
"Sir!"
The cafeteria chef, half-asleep, lazily waved toward a notice.
"Meals available only from 10 PM to 4 AM? But it's around 6 PM now..."
"Sir, why only at night?"
"That's when the professors upstairs are sleeping."
"What?!"
"New students, right? You're the 60th group I've told today... sigh Haven't you heard about the Fire Professor? If you cook now, the smell drifts toward him, so you'd have to tilt the pot 90 degrees to avoid it—and then your food spills."
"Ah..."
"Come back for a midnight snack during the Fire Professor's sleep hours!"
"Okay..."
Still hungry, we went to check another shop—an unmanned snack stand filled with snacks.
"Rain, there's walnut snacks here... but no owner. Can we just take it?"
As Esso reached for a snack, something suddenly moved 180 degrees like a CCTV.
A white owl, perched among the snacks, turned its head and stared at Esso.
"Is it... talking to us?"
"Why is there an owl at the front...?"
Judging by its position, the owl must be the shopkeeper. While we couldn't understand it, a familiar face approached—Ilon, who had taken the advanced magic class earlier.
"You guys are new, right? I'll be joining your classes starting tomorrow. I'm Ilon!"
"Huh? Weren't you in the advanced class? What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to try advanced magic early, but it was a bit tough! Haha. Let's hang out!"
"Ah... Rain can't see, so we usually..."
"Owl sir! Four bags of snacks, please!"
Ilon tried speaking to the owl, but he couldn't understand it either. He just placed enough money in front of the owl and grabbed the snacks. The owl, satisfied with the payment, let him take them.
Ilon handed us the snacks, and we took them.
"What should we play?"
"Hmm... Rain, do you have a game in mind?"
Since I couldn't play like regular people, I began feeling a little down—until Esso shouted:
"I know how we can all play together! Follow me!"
"You're from the summer campus, right? With the Fire Professor as your homeroom?"
"Yeah."
"Have you heard his legend?"
"Huh? About the fire following him? We've seen that already!"
"No! I mean why it follows him!"
We leaned in closer to hear Ilon's story.
"Decades ago, there was a massive forest fire in the winter mountains. The Fire Professor stopped it by killing the fire spirit—but in doing so, he was cursed. The fire follows him because of that curse. And the animals that nearly died in that fire have followed and protected him ever since."
Kim Dream, Esso, and I began to understand why those animals in his workshop were so devoted.
Just then, a sweet scent wafted through the air.
"Mmm... something smells nice. Where are we?"
"This is near the Magic School Station."
"Something smells really good."
"There! A bunch of lily-of-the-valley flowers are blooming!"
Choo-choo—
In the distance, a train approached.
"Hey! See that train light? When it passes, light will shine between the cars—if you step on it, you lose!"
I could see the train's glow clearly from afar, and as the sunset light passed between the cars, we began to play.
"Don't step on the light between the cars—it means you lose!"
Like a game of jump rope, we leapt over the beams of light moving at the train's speed.
'My first game ever... It feels like jumping rope.'
Kim Dream, Esso, Ilon, and I happily jumped together.
Then—slowly, dark energy began to surge from beneath Rain's feet, though no one noticed.