Yuna Shirosaki — Perspective
This world was slowly becoming more real to me.
Too real.
At first, everything felt like a dream.
A strange forest, floating system screens, magic, monsters…
But now, after watching Kaito complete impossible tasks without stopping, I finally understood something.
We weren’t going home anytime soon.
I stood in front of a tree, focusing on the magic gathering in my hand.
A small flame appeared again, flickering weakly.
Still unstable.
Still difficult.
But compared to before, I could control it a little better now.
“Your control improved,” Reina said from nearby.
She was using her Appraisal skill on almost everything around us.
Plants.
Animals.
Even the air sometimes.
I lowered my hand slightly.
“…It still feels strange.”
“Of course it does,” Reina replied calmly.
“We got transported into another world yesterday.”
Fair point.
But my attention kept drifting somewhere else.
Toward Kaito.
Even after completing all those physical tasks, he barely complained.
Most people would already be exhausted or panicking.
But Kaito just kept moving forward quietly.
Like he had already accepted this world faster than the rest of us.
That thought bothered me.
Eventually, Reina suggested we split up to search for goblins faster.
I didn’t like the idea immediately.
“Isn’t that risky?” I asked.
“We can’t stay grouped forever,” Reina replied.
Kaito agreed silently.
And somehow… that made me even more nervous.
After separating, the forest suddenly felt much bigger.
Much quieter.
I tightened my grip slightly.
“…This is scary.”
The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.
I continued walking carefully, trying to sense anything unusual around me.
Every shadow looked suspicious.
Every sound made my heart jump slightly.
This world really was dangerous.
Then suddenly—
A distant scream echoed through the forest.
My body froze instantly.
“…Kaito?”
Without thinking, I started running toward the direction of the sound.
Branches scratched against my arms as I pushed through the trees.
Please be okay.
Please.
When I finally arrived…
I stopped completely.
Kaito was there.
Standing beside the body of a dead goblin.
And beside him…
Was a girl.
No—
An elf.
Her silver hair reflected faintly under the forest light, and her pointed ears immediately stood out.
But that wasn’t what shocked me most.
She was hugging him.
Tightly.
Like she didn’t want to let him go.
For some reason…
My chest tightened slightly.
A strange uncomfortable feeling appeared inside me.
I couldn’t explain it.
Relief that Kaito was safe.
Confusion about the elf girl.
And something else I didn’t want to think about.
Kaito noticed me first.
“Yuna?”
His voice sounded surprised.
The elf girl slowly looked toward me while still holding onto him carefully.
Her eyes looked frightened.
Like she had gone through something terrible.
I should’ve felt sympathy first.
And I did.
But strangely…
The first thing I noticed was how naturally she was clinging to him.
“…Who is she?” I asked quietly.
Kaito glanced toward the elf girl.
“I don’t know yet,” he admitted.
“But she was injured. The goblin attacked her.”
Then his eyes moved toward his own hand.
“I used healing magic…”
Healing magic.
Right.
The system reward.
The elf girl slowly loosened her grip slightly, but she still stayed close to him.
Like she trusted him already.
That strange feeling in my chest became even harder to ignore.
And for the first time since arriving in Elyndor…
I realized something dangerous.
This world wasn’t only changing our abilities.
It was slowly changing our relationships too.