Internet Magic in Fairy Tail (Re-upload)

After waiting for over ten minutes, two new players finally joined the game.

Their names appeared above their heads: Wendy and Carla.

Perhaps because the real world didn't provide the companionship they sought, they turned to the game for solace. Wendy had created a character with an abundant figure, a choice completely opposite to Erza's. As for Carla, her character looked almost identical to her humanoid catgirl form.

"Brave heroes from another world, you've come at the perfect time—"

"Nate-niisan~"

Wendy interrupted, cutting off the scripted lines Nate had prepared. After a moment of thought, he decided there was no point in sticking to formalities and got straight to the point:

"Wendy, Carla, what magic did you choose?"

The two exchanged glances before answering one after the other:

"We both chose Fire Dragon Slayer Magic!"

Seriously?! Nate was rendered speechless. What was with everyone's obsession with fire? Were they trying to form a Five Fireball Squad?

"Fine, Wendy, you already know Sky Dragon Slayer Magic."

Shaking his head, Nate added, "You five should form a team. Try fighting a dragon together; you'll get the hang of it. You know how to use the party system, right?"

"Of course! We've already figured it out."

Happy brought up the menu screen and started forming a party, inviting the other four members to join. Meanwhile, Erza opened the map. Seeing the densely packed red markers representing dragons, she showed no sign of hesitation:

"Follow me. We'll head south to the nearest dragon!"

"Wait," Nate quickly intervened. "The southern one is a Coal Dragon. Your Five Fireball Squad might want to pick another target."

For a Coal Dragon, fire wasn't an immune element, but it was significantly less effective.

"Understood. Then we'll head west!"

Erza nodded, leading her team toward their new target. Nate watched them depart. This was already the third team to form. Before them were Gajeel's team and Laxus's team.

"No mounts for faster travel makes things inconvenient. It'll probably take them over an hour just to reach their destination,"

Nate muttered to himself, pondering potential solutions. After all, the game world was vast—perhaps too vast for practical purposes. In the early stages, there were plenty of dragons near the capital, making it manageable. But as those were hunted down, teams would have to travel farther and farther, with some trips potentially taking days.

"Once the first batch of dragons is defeated, we'll have to let players tame them as mounts."

With that thought, Nate activated his telepathic link.

"Lasteigeeney."

Moments later, a blue dragon soared down from the skies, descending gracefully before Nate.

"Master, how can I serve you?"

The Sea King Dragon sat obediently, awaiting instructions.

"I need your help with writing in 'Water Dragon Slayer Magic.'"

The Sea King Dragon's attribute was water, one of the few missing from the current Magic App roster. Fire, Lightning, Iron, Poison, Shadow, Sky, and Light were the seven elements currently available to players at the start. To access more attributes, players would eventually rely on dragons like Lasteigeeney.

…

In the Western Continent, Alvarez Empire

A crimson dragon descended over the imperial capital, causing a wave of panic among the soldiers below.

"Why the commotion? Maintain order!"

A tall young man with blue-gray hair and glasses emerged from the palace gates. He wore a calm, stern expression, his demeanor composed as he gazed upward at the sky.

"Invel-sama!"

The soldiers quickly bowed in respect.

Invel Yura, the Winter General, was one of the empire's top administrators and a member of the Spriggan 12. Renowned for his mastery of ice magic, Invel was the acting regent in Emperor Zeref's absence, overseeing all imperial affairs. Standing with his hands clasped behind him, Invel watched the red dragon descend.

Just as it seemed the dragon would crash into the palace, it transformed into a human mid-dive. Holding her staff, Irene gracefully landed on the red carpet leading into the palace and began striding forward.

"Were you here to greet me?"

"I was preparing to repel you," Invel replied coldly. "Irene, I heard you went to Ishgar searching for Emperor Zeref?"

Huh? Did I do that? Irene raised her eyebrows, realizing she had completely forgotten about Zeref while chatting with Nate and reconnecting with her daughter.

Oh well, it's not important.

"Couldn't find him, but I got myself a new toy."

Irene strode past Invel and into the grand hall, her words trailing behind her:

"Summon the others. I have an announcement to make."

Invel frowned. As one of the two strongest members of the Spriggan 12, Irene rarely involved herself in imperial affairs. After a moment of thought, he turned to follow her.

"What is it?"

"You'll see."

Irene casually tossed a second-generation Magic Net ring behind her. Invel instinctively caught it.

A ring? Is this some kind of magic item?

Hesitating briefly, he slid the ring onto his finger and infused it with magic power. The interface for first-time registration appeared, causing him to freeze in shock. There was no trace of magic energy—was this divine magic?

[Welcome to the world of the Magic Net.]

[Please enter your nickname.]

[This nickname cannot be changed later, so choose carefully.]

[Nickname: ______]

"What is this? Magic Net?" Invel muttered in disbelief.

"A god's creation," Irene's voice echoed as she walked away. "Register and notify the others promptly."

Without entering a nickname, he couldn't proceed. Invel stood motionless for half a minute, then finally entered a nickname:

Winter General.

[Nickname confirmed.]

The floating text burned away in golden flames. Still, no magic energy was detectable.

"The power of a god…"

Before him appeared the interface for the Magic Net:

[Magic Net Forum], [Magic Library], [Chat], [Video Section], [Novel Section], [Magic Marketplace], [Magic Net Express Delivery], [Magic Net Bank], [Magic Net Map]...

[Poker], [Fruit Ninja], [Mahjong], [Magic Arena], [Celestial Pokémon], [Getting Over It]...

The more he explored, the more shocked he became. Has Ishgar's magic advanced to this level? No, this wasn't magic. It had to be the work of a god!

With a grave expression, Invel pressed two fingers to his forehead and activated telepathy, his magic signal sweeping through the city.

[Urgent matter! Assemble in the council chamber!]

Instantly, the rest of the Spriggan 12 received the summons.

…

Late February, Year X785

Spring was arriving in Magnolia. The weather was warming, and residents had begun shedding their heavy winter coats. The occasional rainstorm added a refreshing touch to the air.

Nate hadn't traveled anywhere recently, enjoying a rare period of leisure. Not having to write code was truly blissful.

The beta testing for [Dragon Hunter] was progressing smoothly—though the results were disheartening. Even with five-member teams of Fairy Tail's top players, no one could defeat a dragon. If Fairy Tail's strongest couldn't manage, what hope was there for other guilds?

To push testing further, Nate began organizing larger groups: ten-player raids, twenty-player raids, even forty-player raids… But the outcome remained the same—failure. The only positive takeaway was that larger teams could at least start to pose a threat to dragons.

In the meantime, most of the dragons within a 100-kilometer radius of the capital had fled, except for one Coal Dragon still holed up in an open-pit mine. As a "game," this was turning out to be too challenging. For the past two days, Nate had been pondering how to lower the difficulty for players.

Maybe I should just capture a few dragons myself and hand them over as mounts? Let them ride dragons to hunt dragons?

While effective, it would diminish the fun of the "game." Then again, does this even need to stay a "game"? The original purpose wasn't entertainment but to clear out a thousand dragons. If he abandoned the game aspect, [Dragon Hunter] might become the first project to be scrapped.

Should I scrap it?

While mulling over this decision, Zeref unexpectedly sent him a private message.

I Want to Live and Die Naturally: "Nate, did you solve Mavis's curse? 🫨"

Huh? How did he find out about that? Nate's curiosity was piqued.

I Want to Live and Die Naturally: "Please help me!"

Sigma Male: "Can't help…"

I Want to Live and Die Naturally: "What if we make a deal? I know you have a way to fix this."

There was indeed a way. Like Mavis, Zeref's curse could be removed via the Magic Net by extracting its essence. Nate considered this and replied:

Sigma Male: "A deal?"

Zeref seemed to take a moment to think about what he could offer. After a while, another message came through:

I Want to Live and Die Naturally: "I'm not sure what you want, but I can give you everything I have."

I Want to Live and Die Naturally: "I founded the Alvarez Empire in the Western Continent. I'm its emperor."

I Want to Live and Die Naturally: "I'll give you the throne. How about it?"

Good grief. He's offering an entire empire? Nate was stunned. It seemed Zeref was truly desperate to be free of his curse.