The Female Lead Who Almost Died Upon Appearing, and the Male Lead Who Reaped the Benefits

The Holy Continent is a land cherished by the great God of Light. The Endless Sea, the Void Volcano, the Forest of Magical Beasts, the Dragon Nest, the Frozen Snowlands, the Underground Labyrinth, the Bottomless Swamp, and more—these are all places illuminated by the radiance of the God of Light. Naturally, this also includes humanity. Legend has it that humans are the most beloved children of the God of Light; thus, from the moment they are born, they possess a talent for magic. Whether strong or weak, this talent grows through cultivation, and since everyone is a mage, humanity has gradually come to dominate this continent through such exceptional gifts.

However, today, the Holy Empire—one of the four great empires of the Holy Continent—is filled with mourning. From the monarch down to the common peddler, everyone wears a look of sorrow. The only—no, the Holy Continent's only—Archmage has been struck by a vicious curse. Even the Pope, a Saint Mage, cannot cure her despite casting the ninth-tier healing spell [Angel's Redemption]. This is undoubtedly a death sentence handed down by the Grim Reaper.

Although most people have never seen this youngest Archmage in history, there are many rumors about her. Some say she is a young girl who has just turned twenty; others say her hair is as beautiful as the galaxy, her eyes as lovely as rubies, and her voice more enchanting than a siren's. Her existence is not just a deterrent of military might, but a form of faith. The very term "Archmage" represents the possibility of a human ascending to the level of a god.

The aged Pope stands before her with a heavy heart. The young girl standing there has a delicate face with narrow eyes, a high nose bridge, and soft lips. She is not as breathtakingly beautiful as the rumors suggest, yet she is a top-tier beauty. The reason one feels stunned upon seeing her is entirely due to that pair of red eyes—as beautiful as rubies and as clear as lake water. Both men and women alike are captivated by those beautiful eyes. Her naturally supple, cherry-colored lips have become pale and dry due to the torture of the curse, making her look exceptionally fragile.

She wears a pitch-black mage robe. The dress is not adorned with flowers or stripes, but with brilliant stars. If one looks closely, the stars even shift over time; it is one of the holy artifacts that mages dream of possessing.

"Mayuna, I am truly sorry. If only I were also an Archmage capable of casting the tenth-tier forbidden spell [Light], perhaps I could have cured you."

The Pope could be said to have watched Mayuna grow up. He feels a deep sense of guilt toward the disciple left behind by his old friend. Even as the Pope who leads millions of believers, he is merely a Saint Mage and cannot cross the threshold to cast a forbidden spell.

"Please do not say that. If this is fate, I will accept it."

Mayuna's crisp voice carries no emotion, as if it were someone else being cursed rather than herself. Her attitude only makes the Pope feel more heartbroken. Ever since her teacher passed away, this girl has closed off her heart; no one has been able to reach her.

"Is there truly someone in this world capable of cursing you? A curse-user... even a Saint Mage could not curse an Archmage. But... if it were another Archmage, would they really have a reason to do this? They could obtain anything they wanted through their own power."

The Pope is utterly baffled, pulling out a few strands of his beard in frustration. There are ways to save Mayuna... but they all involve methods contrary to the Church, such as turning into an undead creature. With her magical power, she could live a colorful life even as the most common ghost. But even if the Pope were to turn a blind eye to the Church's mortal enemies, the undead, Mayuna herself would refuse the proposal.

"Perhaps this is just fate. If it weren't for my teacher, I would have died fifteen years ago. Perhaps I will be able to see her after I die; thinking of it that way, it's not so bad."

Mayuna removes the mage hat from her head. It is a tall, triangular hat; the middle part stands high like the top of a tower, while the very tip flops limply toward the back. The wide brim can cover part of her face, and Mayuna usually relied on it to hide her eyes while traveling. Now that it is no longer restrained, her snow-white hair cascades down to her waist, adding a touch of sickly beauty to her appearance.

The Pope opens his mouth, knowing why Mayuna removed that hat. He then watches as she takes off the mage robe that countless mages dream of, revealing a plain white shirt underneath. She places the mage hat on top of the folded robe and hands them both to the Pope.

"I promised your teacher I would take good care of you. Sigh!"

The Pope understands Mayuna's intent. Every mage leaves behind their precious legacy before they die, either to their loved ones or hidden away in some location, waiting for a young and lucky mage to find it. She is no exception.

Mayuna thinks for a moment, then takes a milky-white staff from her spatial ring. The shaft is crystal clear, emitting a faint luster like white jade, and the top is twisted into a crescent shape, with a purple gem embedded inside the crescent.

Seemingly sensing its master's intentions, the staff shakes its body, wanting Mayuna to change her mind.

"Alicia, I hope you will listen to my final act of selfishness. I do not want you to see me die. Just wait here for a new partner."

Mayuna strokes her long-time companion with a look of reluctance. Hearing words that sound like a final testament, even the Pope cannot help but weep, his tears falling onto his graying beard. The staff named Alicia remains silent for a moment, then emits a crisp sound like a wind chime before floating over to the hand of the glowing statue of the God of Light behind the Pope, where it remains motionless.

"In the time I have left, I want to visit my hometown. I haven't been back once since my teacher took me away. Farewell, Your Holiness. If you see Tinasha, please ask her to forgive my departure without saying goodbye."

Mayuna gives a soft laugh, a blue magic circle lights up beneath her feet, and she vanishes from the spot in an instant.

"To use spatial magic so skillfully... it is truly the jealousy of the heavens. The jealousy of the heavens! I hope the great God of Light will bless that child."

The Pope wipes away his tears and turns to pray before the statue of the God of Light. The statue, which has always gazed into the distance, seems to feel the sorrow as well, and the light it emits dims significantly.

In the blink of an eye, Mayuna appears in a small town called Dris. It is one of the most remote cities in the Holy Empire; aside from merchants, almost no one ever visits. The people here lead simple lives, and no one would ever imagine that this place is the birthplace of an Archmage.

Mayuna walks along, looking at everything: the fruit stalls, the stalls selling magical beast meat, the healer at the pharmacy, the fabric shop where people get clothes made, the small church, the elderly priest—everything remains unchanged.

Twenty years ago, Mayuna was born in this ordinary little town. A child born with white hair and red eyes was seen as a curse and was not well-liked. Although humans in this world have hair and eyes of every color, no one else had hair as white as snow like Mayuna. Everything about her resembled a certain woman from legend. People feared her based on the appearance described in those legends. Fortunately, her parents still loved her, and their care for her was meticulous.

Mayuna remembers clearly: her father was an adventurous mage, and her mother, knowing his personality, always stayed by his side to act as his healer. When Mayuna was five, a massive earthquake occurred, and soon after, they heard that a strange labyrinth had appeared somewhere on the continent. Her father couldn't resist taking her mother to investigate.

Leaving their young daughter behind to go off on their own was certainly questionable. Mayuna doesn't know if she should blame them; perhaps it was just because they were too young and playful, after all, her mother had just turned twenty when she gave birth to Mayuna.

After leaving Mayuna in the care of the church priest, the two never returned. It is said they died. After losing her parents, not only did no one help Mayuna, but a local bully seized the house her parents had left behind. The church priest did not abandon Mayuna, nor did he discriminate against her, but the church also served as an orphanage. This place did not belong to Mayuna, and she was ostracized by her peers because of her unusual hair and eyes.

Realizing there was no place for her in this world, Mayuna eventually ran away to a small wooden hut on the mountain. The mountain behind the town was rich in resources, and people often went there to find materials for magic. The hut was likely a temporary shelter built by someone.

Mayuna was rescued by her teacher, the Saint Mage Yura, just as she was about to starve to death.

"Will you come with me? I believe you can overturn this world."

A mature woman with wavy black hair suddenly appeared in Mayuna's sight. There was not a hint of discrimination or dissatisfaction in her beautiful black eyes. Yura did not mind the dust and spiderwebs covering Mayuna and carried her out of that rotting wooden hut.

Fifteen years later, Mayuna arrives at the small wooden hut once again. She does not use magic, but walks up the mountain step by step, just as she did when she was young.

"Teacher, I really did overturn this world and became the first Archmage. But you are no longer here, so what is the point? I am also about to die, and all that remains is this dilapidated house."

Mayuna touches the door of the small hut with nostalgia, shedding a few tears—not out of fear of death, but out of longing for her most important teacher.

Click.

As Mayuna touches it, the door of the small hut suddenly opens inward, revealing a room with simple furnishings. The space is small, containing only a desk, a bed, and a bookshelf filled with books. It is clear that someone has moved in.

"Huh?"

Mayuna looks into the room, puzzled. It is hard to imagine that anyone would be willing to live in such a small, dilapidated shack.

"Who are you?"

A strange voice suddenly comes from behind Mayuna, startling her so much that she retreats several steps and sits down on the bed inside the room.

"You... are you human or a ghost?"

The reason for Mayuna's surprise is simple: in this world, as long as one is human, there is a flow of magic within their body. As an Archmage, she can naturally sense it, and she is stunned by the boy in front of her who has no magical reaction whatsoever.

"I am obviously human. A thief? It's quite clear I have nothing worth stealing. Get out of my house."

The boy has a strange, spiky hairstyle, and his hair and eye color are the common black seen everywhere. He is dressed as simply as any ordinary person in town. He is about a head taller than Mayuna, and his otherwise decent face is full of dissatisfaction as he shoos Mayuna away like a pest.

"How dare you speak to me like that! I am... I am the original owner of this house."

Ever since Mayuna became Yura's disciple, no one in the world had ever been so rude to her. She initially wanted to use her status to pressure him, but decided against it—what would be the point when she was about to die? However, she didn't want to be bullied like this, so she retorted.

"The original owner? I've been living here for fifteen years."

"You don't believe me? Look here."

Mayuna walked outside the house and lightly tapped the soil with the tip of her toe. Earth magic activated, pushing up a section of the ground until it rose to the height of a person, topped with three thin, transparent crystal shards.

"I buried these fifteen years ago, and they have my name and my parents' names engraved on them."

Mayuna clutched the shards, a sour ache in her heart. She truly never expected to see them again. These were the world's equivalent of identification cards, issued by the state to every person at birth.

"Fine, I admit you are the original owner, but that's all you are. Don't even think about taking my house."

The youth naturally knew the purpose of these shards, having dug them up himself while excavating the ground. They were usually buried in the grave along with their owners, so he had simply assumed this was the burial site for those three and returned them to their place, never thinking to use them for anything.

"You—who would even want this dump of a house... ugh!"

Mayuna was so angry she laughed. No sane person would want this place; it was not only on a mountain, but also eerie at night and far from the town—it was essentially useless. But before she could finish, she felt a wave of nausea in her stomach and collapsed to the ground to retch.

"Hey, are you alright? Are you really that angry?"

The youth tilted his head and asked. This person's temper seemed unexpectedly large; she was actually vomiting from his words.

"None of your business."

Even though she was near death, Mayuna's feminine pride compelled her to use water magic to clean her mouth before wiping it with a handkerchief.

"This is..."

The youth suddenly picked up a branch from the ground, poked through Mayuna's vomit, and began to study it carefully.

"You're disgusting! Are you a pervert?"

Mayuna knew her body was failing. She had been suppressing her condition with magic, but her mana was nearly exhausted, and she could no longer hold back the internal injuries.

"Gastrointestinal bleeding, facial muscle rigidity. Open your mouth."

The youth tossed the branch aside and pinched Mayuna's cheeks. When she refused to cooperate, he forcibly pried her mouth open to examine it, then immediately scooped her up and carried her back into the house.

"You! You rude scoundrel, let me go!"

Mayuna felt terrible. She had wanted to find a quiet place to wait for death, only to encounter a pervert who seemed to have ulterior motives. If her body weren't in such a wretched state, she could have killed this petty thief in an instant. Now, she could only resort to the most primitive cries for help to escape, but there was no one on this mountain to hear the screams of a frail girl.

"Quiet. I'm going to save you."

The youth walked to the front of the bookshelf and pressed down on a specific book. A section of the floor rose up, revealing a staircase leading deep underground, and the youth carried Mayuna down into the dark.