The Wizard World

The wall was the only thing in Angele’s eyes.

The engraving of a pale-faced woman was surrounded by black vines as she herself was silently staring at him with a pair of dark hollow eyes.

"You can understand my words?" Angele responded in the ancient language. He stood in front of the wall and looked into the woman’s eyes which were akin to two dark shallow holes.

"Of course." The woman’s face moved as though she was nodding in response. The vines around her were being dragged to the side.

"So, why did you decide to talk to me?" Angele asked.

"You heard the voice of that young boy, right?" The woman smiled. "This ruin is dangerous, very dangerous. Unfortunate things will happen if you are not careful enough. Tell me why you are here. Perhaps I can offer you some help. Seeing you is like seeing my long-lost children..."

"Why am I here?" Angele hesitated.

"Yes, one does not come here for nothing. This is the Nightmare Realm which will make you have an experience as if you had a nightmare. So tell me, why are you here?" the woman replied in a light tone.

"I’m searching for a bloodline that will help me enter this realm again." There was no point for Angele to hide his true purpose.

"Why do you wish to enter this realm once again?" the woman continued asking.

"For the sake of obtaining rare resources, knowledge, and... some other things," Angele answered in a serious tone.

"Why do you wish to obtain the knowledge and the resources?" Clearly, she would not stop any time.

"I want to become stronger, to advance to the next rank."

"Why is that? What will the high rank bring you?"

Angele stopped and pursed his lips.

"What will the rank bring me?" He lowered his head and started thinking.

‘Power? Money? Beautiful women?’

‘No, none of those.’

Angele once asked himself the same question but the conclusion he got was to keep moving forward.

"What are you seeking from this world? Have you ever thought about it?" the woman questioned him again.

"What’s the purpose of your life?"

Angele was getting confused.

He recalled his former life back on Earth. The only thing he had done every single day was to have fun. This lifestyle made him feel like he was rotting from the inside like a worthless worm.

His past life was boring but safe.

Yet if he had not reincarnated into this world after the car accident, his dull, boring life would have continued as it was, forever.

This new world, on the contrary, was charming. His life was far more colorful than dull as it had been before.

At the beginning, Angele wanted to gain power in order to protect his family and to become a strong individual. His dream had come to fruition when he advanced to become a formal wizard, then the only thing he needed to accomplish was to keep progressing as a wizard.

There was no point in him stopping as all the resources he needed was near his grasp.

Angele could have chosen to return to the west coast and merely settle in selling potions the rest of his entire life. He could have enjoyed being in a peaceful environment for the next several hundred years.

However, such a way of life was not what he desired.

Angele now figured out the answer to the questions.

Suddenly, he raised his head and glanced at the woman again.

"What is your name?" he asked.

The woman smiled. "You may refer to me as the ’Wall of Confusion’. I can see through your mind and I shall guide you to your life purpose. Once you find the answers to my questions, I shall bestow you a special reward."

"What if I could not?" Angele narrowed his eyes.

As he lowered his head, he saw countless black vines climbing up his legs which nearly covered his waist. Angele’s legs became numb, unable to move it in the slightest bit.

"If you cannot find the answers, I shall consume you. I feed on wanderers’ confusion as it will let me become more powerful." The woman started laughing.

"Interesting." Angele blinked his eyes, then he slashed the vines with his cursed scimitar.

*Clank*

The scimitar was blocked, and the vines were not damaged.

He took out the Light of Thorns.

"It will not work. You must find the answer, then I will free you." The woman pursed her lips.

"Find the answer, huh?" Angele took a deep breath.

"You want to know what I’m seeking from this world?"

*KA*

The vines started climbing again. Angele had already felt tired and he could barely move his arms.

Back on Earth, Angele had no passion for his job and the only thing he wanted to do was to search for an exciting purpose in his life.

"I will keep moving forward to search for the things that will excite me; this world is vast. The higher my rank is, the more interesting things will I encounter. I will climb the peak of the mountain and enjoy the best view."

He had these thoughts in mind and spat everything out without organizing his thoughts too much; these were his pure desires.

"The horrifying Nightmare Realm, the mysterious Chaos Dimension, the legendary Void Domain—such adventures await me. Therefore, I must not stop advancing."

Suddenly, Angele’s body set ablaze and was surrounded by translucent flames, burning the expanding roots. The roots were burnt into ashes in but a few seconds and fell to the ground.

"Never will I stop until I discover every exciting thing in this world. Perhaps I could even explore all realms one day..."

Angele blinked his eyes several times.

"I might also be able to find out the reason why I have been sent into this world...Ha, you cannot feed on my confusion."

*PA*

The last vine dropped to the ground and turned into black ash as Angele’s life purpose became clear.

"Congratulations." The woman was not concerned that she just lost her prey. "I want to know how you solved the problem within such a short duration. Anyway, please accept the reward."

She opened her mouth and stuck her black tongue out. The tongue moved to Angele like a snake; it was more several meters long.

On the tip of the tone was a golden key.

The surface of the key was covered by complicated patterns.

Angele grabbed the key without any hesitation. He could not feel any evil intention coming from the Wall of Confusion. It seemed the key was a real reward.

The key was warm. Angele wondered if the woman had a body behind the wall.

"Go down the tunnel and you will find a garden. Don’t talk to any living being you see inside it even if they speak first. Go across the garden and you will see a door. Once you open that door, you will find another door that this key will be used on. Everything you want is behind that door."

When the woman finished her speaking, her face sank into the wall behind the vines.

Angele held the key in hand, turning around, then he started walking down the tunnel.

He found an exit after walking for several minutes.

He left the tunnel and entered a garden with bright sunshine.

The roses were bloody red and the vines on the ground were covered with sharp thorns. It almost looked like red flowers floating on a black sea.

The sunshine came from the sky, but it was so bright that Angele could barely see anything.

In the center of the garden, there was a white swing.

A short man, wearing a white one piece and a flower band, was sitting on it.

Angele blocked some of the light with his right hand and looked at the swing.

It was an old woman with dry skin.

She was singing a nursery rhyme while swinging, her voice was high-pitched but hoarse.

"The tales say that...from the other side of the sea...there was a cute muffin...its skin was golden...its feet were white..." The old woman was singing and smiling, she sounded happy.

However, the old woman stared at Angele directly in the eyes after noticing his presence.

Her long sharp eyes were bloodshot as if she had not slept for a long time.

The strange song being sung by her was still continuing.

The Wall of Confusion had warned him about the situation. He stopped looking at the old woman and started walking to the other side of the garden.

Angele noticed the voice of the old woman was becoming increasingly closer, almost as if she was already right behind him.

Angele turned his head around and saw the old woman approaching him. She was singing and smiling while slowly walking to him.

His skull numbed, and he decided to proceed with caution.

The old woman was only several steps away from him.

*PA*

When Angele finally found the large door, he quickly rushed to it and pushed it open. The surface of the door was cold and hard.

He stepped into the door quickly.

The old woman stopped outside the door, still staring at Angele but she finally stopped singing.

Angele took a deep breath and closed the door.

He turned around and found himself in a narrow brown hallway. The hallway was about 10 meters long and there was another door by the end of it.

The door looked identical to the engraving in the world stone laboratory’s that had exploded.

Angele compared the door to the record in the database and found some similar patterns.

The mysterious golden patterns on the door were familiar.

He walked to the door quickly and checked the key in his hand.

*CHI*

A small hole slowly appeared in the center of the door and it fitted the key perfectly.

Angele inserted the key into the hole and turned it to the left, but nothing happened.

He then turned it to the right.

*KA*

The door was unlocked.

‘Warning! Warning! You have 10 minutes left. 9 minutes 59 seconds. 9 minutes 57 seconds...’

Zero’s mechanical voice echoed in Angele’s ears.

He quickly pushed the door open.

*BAM*

Angele raised his head. What he saw surprised him.