Internet Magic in Fairy Tail

As October settled in, Magnolia's weather cooled, with temperatures dropping sharply day by day, bringing a distinct chill to the air even before winter officially arrived. Cold winds seeped into every corner at night, as the approaching winter seemed to announce itself with each breeze. Around two or three in the morning, the dead of night was the coldest part of the day.

But inside the little inn's guest room, it felt warm and cozy, like a gentle spring. The bed was toasty—a level of comfort that seemed to make sleep nearly impossible.

Cana, her face still flushed, nestled contentedly against Nate.

"Those romance novels were totally lying! That wasn't painful at all—it actually felt amazing."

Always bold, Cana felt completely at ease, her heart aglow with satisfaction, as if she had embraced a whole new world, brimming with the happiness she'd craved.

Nate gently ran his hand down her smooth, toned back with one hand, while the other restarted the Pokémon animation, fast-forwarding to the end of the first episode.

"Think your dad would find out and come after me?"

"What do my relationships have to do with him?"

Cana chuckled, giving Nate a playful peck on the cheek. "Now you're worried? You didn't mind a bit earlier when you had me calling you daddy."

Nate couldn't help but laugh to himself, finding Cana just as warm and comfortable as he'd imagined. Unlike Juvia's soft, almost water-like feel, Cana's warmth had a plush, cushiony comfort, almost like hugging a cloud.

"If he knew you were seeing someone who had 'several' girlfriends, he might get pretty upset."

Cana rolled her eyes. "And you still took me to an inn? Thought we were just watching an animation!" She chuckled. "Besides, he's one to talk; he was quite the flirt himself."

Growing up, her mother had sometimes shared stories about her dad, and even if she hadn't fully understood them as a kid, Cana had come to realize their meaning over the years.

Nate pressed play on the animation, sliding his hand back under the blanket, where it found a certain comfort.

Internally, Nate couldn't help but think, 'I'm still a lot more serious than your dad ever was.'

In the original story, Nate recalled how, when Cana finally met her father, Gildarts had gone through a list of women's names before finally remembering her mother's. Compared to that, Nate thought of himself as a much better man.

'Every girl deserves a warm and loving home,' he thought to himself.

"Let me watch this properly!" Cana said, snapping him out of his thoughts, her tone teasing as she nudged his hand away.

"Not going back to your dorm tonight?"

Her reply came quickly, "I live alone, so it's no problem." She rested her head on his lap, draping one leg across him with a sly smile. "Worried one of your 'other' girlfriends will find out?"

"My love for each of you is the same, Cana. Including you."

"Yeah, right! Just let me watch my show," she said, smiling despite herself.

Nate shifted the animation screen to a more comfortable angle for her, allowing her to keep watching, then closed his eyes and let part of his mind drift into the Deep Web. Six hours had passed since the latest update, and he was most eager to check on the feedback from [Magic Net Bank].

…

In the core space of the Deep Web, Nate opened his eyes, only to be nearly blinded by the sight of a massive, expanding sphere of light.

"Wow... how much has this grown?"

The enormous sphere, composed entirely of pure magic energy, was now at least five times larger than before. The update hadn't even been live that long, and yet in such a short time, the growth of stored magic energy was staggering.

"Over 20,000 stars' worth of magic!"

Nate was impressed, but not completely surprised. With nearly 140,000 users online and over 40,000 mage users, even if each stored just half a star of magic, they'd still reach that number easily.

The best part? This giant sphere was still expanding, its growth visible to the naked eye.

"At this rate, it'll grow every day."

It wouldn't take long before the reserves broke through to a hundred thousand, or even a million stars' worth of magic. Magic Net's bank was clearly a game-changer, and as long as there was no mass withdrawal, Nate figured he could safely access about half of it for his own uses.

With a snap of his fingers, a forum interface materialized before him.

The forums were buzzing, with posts flooding in too fast for Nate to keep up.

"It's manageable for now, but once more people join, I'll have to add some sub-forums to organize the flow."

He then entered the [Magic Net Marketplace], where countless items were already listed. The most popular listings, naturally, were official products—particularly the second-generation Magic Net rings, which were listed for 19,999 jewels by Jude Heartfilia, but currently showed as "sold out."

No, they hadn't actually sold out—there simply weren't more rings available until the next batch in November.

Next on the sales leaderboard were points, which had seen a high volume of trades totaling over five million points in just a few hours. This increased trading meant more transaction fees, contributing even more to Magic Net's profits.

In third place were Magic Net Coins, with trades also in the million range.

"Who's buying so many Magic Net Coins? They're mainly for watching the show right now."

Curious, Nate dug a little deeper and found out why. The forum had posts where players had leaked news about the upcoming 'Celestial Pokémon' game, and users who'd watched the first ten free episodes of the anime were now scrambling to buy coins in anticipation of the game's release, hoping to have plenty saved for card draws.

He even stumbled upon a thread from Fiore mages thanking him, with many praising his innovation. For many mages, the opportunity to earn money simply by selling their magic was a game-changer.

Nate chuckled to himself, finding the posts somewhat endearing.

"Grateful Fiore... they're kinda cute, aren't they?"

Feeling a little more appreciative, Nate decided he'd make sure to treat these users well in future updates.

After checking other sections and ensuring everything was functioning smoothly, he finally entered the [Magic Arena].

To his surprise, the top rankings were already filled—with 100 players achieving King rank.

"They maxed out the leaderboard already? That's impressive."

It had only been a little over a month since the Magic Arena was introduced in the 0.6 update.

…

Just a week ago, there were only about thirty Kings.

"These players must be real grinders, playing at least three matches a day and winning consistently to even have a shot at reaching King."

This wasn't a game of 'League of Legends' with a mouse and keyboard; this was real-time, head-to-head combat. Winning wasn't just about magic power—it also drained mental energy, leading to real fatigue.

Nate rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Who are these hundred Kings?"

He scrolled through the leaderboard one by one.

The first familiar name appeared at rank six: "World of the Strong," Azuma from the Seven Kin of Purgatory. Further down, at rank nine, was "Ur." Then, at rank thirty-seven, "Laxus." At eighty-six, "Fairy Hunter." Ninety-two, "Knight." And at ninety-nine… "Gone Fishing."

After a quick glance, he recognized a few people, but not many.

"Gone Fishing?"

Nate double-checked. That was Gildarts, wasn't it?

No way.

Gildarts had only had the ring for a week, and he'd already reached King rank?

Nate opened his profile.

[Player Nickname: Gone Fishing]

[Rank: King 99]

[Wins/Losses: 99/0]

[Status: Currently Matching]

"99 straight wins?"

Nate narrowed his eyes. Ninety-nine games in a week, averaging fourteen matches a day.

Gildarts was the 'real' grinder here!

It was impressive. Gildarts was still up at two or three in the morning, going all-out in the game...

Oh, wait. I'm up too? Fair enough, then.

Without further ado, Nate used his developer privileges to set his account directly to "King" rank, filling in some arbitrary win-loss record. Instantly, the former hundredth rank disappeared, replaced by his name.

"Match!"

Nate hit the button and directly selected Gildarts as his opponent.

Ah, the perks of being an admin.

In the next instant, Nate was transported into the [Magic Arena].

~~~

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