Chapter 2

: The Vanished Young Man 

If anyone knew the whereabouts of Pedro’s Magic Book, it would be the pale young man. 

Dragged into the black hole with the book in his grasp, his current state was nothing short of horrific. 

The moment he entered, his clothing was shredded to pieces. A second later, the immense forces within the black void began stripping the flesh from his bones. 

Yes, it was like being caught inside a giant meat grinder. 

In fact, he had sensed something was wrong the moment his right hand—gripping the magic book—was pulled into the black hole. 

Yet, even knowing the danger, he had chosen to go through with it. 

His dark, determined eyes remained fixed on the book in his hand. 

He habitually pressed his lips together, though the relentless winds tore away the flesh from his face, exposing his teeth beneath. Only occasionally did his lips grow back—thin membranes regenerating almost instantly, only to be peeled away again moments later. 

This constant cycle of tearing and regrowth happened all over his body. One moment he was reduced to bare bones; the next, fresh pink flesh sprouted across his frame, only to be replaced by pale skin soon after. But the process was uneven—some parts of his body were skeletal, others covered in new muscle, and still others appeared fully healed. The grotesque patchwork made him look both terrifying and surreal. 

The only part of him that remained unchanged was his eyes. 

Upon closer inspection, however, even his eyes seemed different from those of ordinary humans. 

A thin, transparent membrane covered his dark irises, shielding them from the violent winds. And if one looked closely enough, they would notice something else—his pupils were not round but vertical, resembling the slits found in the eyes of a predator. 

A dragon, perhaps? 

Eyes wide open, unwavering and fierce, the mysterious young man paid no attention to the endless cycle of destruction and regeneration happening to his body. His black, glassy gaze remained locked onto the magic book in his hands, ignoring the searing pain entirely.

It seems that the closer he got, the stronger the pull from that hand—he thought. 

The proof was his right hand, which had remained in skeletal form without change ever since entering the black hole. This was the same hand he had placed on the book, struggling with the other person for possession of the magic tome. 

In stark contrast to his own hand, the other competitor’s hand remained intact, resting lightly on the book without any apparent effort, as if it were unaffected by the tug-of-war. 

But there was one change— 

After he was pulled into the “black hole,” the dull, intricate symbols on the cover of the magic book beneath the other person’s fingers began to light up. 

They lit up slowly at first, in the same sequence and structure as they were originally drawn. The initial glow was faint, so faint that he hadn’t noticed it at all. But now, the speed was accelerating, and the half-formed symbols on the cover shone brighter and brighter, like a radiant lamp igniting under the person’s palm. 

So, this is “Inheritance”—the inheritance of the magic book. 

The pale young man thought. 

He was indeed incredibly pale now, with only a skeleton remaining, drained of any trace of blood or flesh. As the symbols on the book became more complete, his body couldn’t regenerate fast enough to keep up with the stripping of his flesh. 

He had to squint his eyes—the once-unbreakable membrane covering them was now starting to deteriorate. 

He wasn’t worthy, after all—the young man thought. 

Inheriting the Ped Magic Book wasn’t as simple as defeating other mages physically. The book chose its owner—one with the strongest magical potential. And clearly, that person was not him. 

He was just a dragon without any magical potential—a fleeting moment of melancholy crossed his mind. 

But only for a second. 

So what? 

All he had to do was find a mage with the potential to inherit the book and have them read it aloud to him. 

In fact, that had been his plan all along. 

The other person’s inheritance was progressing smoothly, and he hadn’t died in the struggle—everything was going according to plan. 

Almost reduced to bare bones, the young man clutched the magic book, the corner of his half-missing mouth curving into a subtle smile. 

Everything’s going smoothly? Probably only in his own mind! 

At the moment the dazzling symbols representing magical knowledge fully illuminated, a burst of white light filled the young man’s vision. 

The inheritance was about to be complete! 

Realizing this, the young man channeled all his remaining power into the book. As his skeletal hand pierced into the book, he caught a glimpse of the fully-formed symbols rising from the cover. They settled onto the back of the other person’s hand—the one placed on the book. In an instant, the magic book disappeared, and a black mark identical to the book’s pattern appeared on that pale hand. Yet, an eerie skeletal hand was now layered over the original symbol. 

Seeing this, the young man smiled. 

In the next moment, the brief resurgence of flesh on his face and body—triggered during the final stage of inheritance—once again melted away, this time taking his tough eyeballs and resilient bones with it. 

As the mark symbolizing inheritance burned itself onto the new owner’s left hand, the Ped Magic Book vanished. The skeletal hand that had gripped the book disappeared with it. The rest of the young man’s skeleton shattered and disintegrated, having fulfilled its purpose upon entering the new world.