In a city where the sun never rose, the sky lay under the constant glow of a luminous moon and a thousand blinking stars. Auroras rippled through the eternal night, painting the heavens in surreal hues of violet and emerald.
The air was crisp and cool, curling around the skin like a silken shroud, sending an involuntary shiver down the spine.
At the western edge of this city stood a modest, nondescript building. Its brick walls bore the soft patina of age, neither flashy nor decrepit. It was the kind of place the eye might skip over entirely… unless one knew what to look for.
Inside, in a quiet guest chamber lined with worn velvet curtains and the faint scent of dried herbs, sat a youth unlike any other.
His name was Gilgamel Shad.
A sixteen-year-old, he bore the air of someone important—without ever needing to flaunt it. His navy blue hair, thick and slightly unruly, framed a face sharpened by thought.
He wore a tailored midnight-blue three-piece suit that shimmered faintly under the lamplight, embroidered with faint starlike patterns. A silver-chained brooch fastened his ceremonial robe, its hem adorned with golden runes and the image of a distant castle—a dream stitched in thread. The robe swept behind him like the mantle of an aristocrat, yet he bore no princely arrogance. Only the poised calm of someone used to working with purpose.
Across from him sat a nervous, middle-aged man in a faded robe, wringing his hands as Gilgamel examined a small purple flower.
"Sir, this is a Tier-0 elixir called the Lovia Flower," Gilgamel said, his voice calm and assured: "Its scent induces infatuation and thoughts of desire. Not particularly rare, but not commonly harvested either. You could sell it to a regular elixir shop for about fifty mana crystals. But—"
He tapped the edge of the table lightly, "—Love Love Paradise will pay you eighty."
The man blinked in confusion, "Where is Love Love Paradise?"
Gilgamel paused mid-breath, visibly stunned.
He doesn't know?
Love Love Paradise was practically a landmark—one of the most infamous brothels in Evernight City, with branches stretching across several cities within the empire.
For a man of his age to be unaware was... deeply suspicious.
"Walk south until you reach Magnolia Street," Gilgamel said, managing to keep his tone even: "If you see a bunch of middle-aged men pretending they're not lost, you're in the right place."
The man nodded awkwardly and, after placing the appropriate fee onto the table, left in a hurry.
As the door clicked shut, Gilgamel leaned back in his chair and exhaled. His work for the day was done.
He stood, gathering the pale mana crystals into a small pouch and slipping it into his inner robe pocket.
The room fell silent again.
He stepped outside shortly after.
Above him stretched the city's eternal night sky.
Time in Evernight City moved differently. Not slower, not faster, but... suspended. Like a breath that never ended. As if the heavens themselves had chosen not to rotate.
Evernight City wasn't a place most people found by accident. It was a city for the forgotten, the magical, the exceptional.
And it was here that Gilgamel began the turning point of his second life.
He was originally not from this world.
Once, Gilgamel Shad had been an ordinary college student on Earth. He had neither great achievements nor an epic destiny. He was just another quiet face in a crowd, juggling a part-time job at a ramen shop.
His death was mundane. It was quite tragic, even pathetic.
He had forgotten to turn off the gas stove.
The fire consumed his apartment in a breath of heat and smoke.
He died and was reborn as the illegitimate child of a nobleman. His mother was a servant and died during childbirth.
Due to his low birth, Gilgamel grew up in the shadows of the luxury he was forbidden to touch.
Neglect was his daily companion.
Hunger was his constant shadow.
His half-siblings treated him like trash.
The household staff ignored his presence.
The family name he bore meant nothing.
In his old world, he had no parents.
In this one, he wished he didn't.
But Gilgamel wasn't one to wallow in misery.
He was a transmigrator, someone gifted with memories of another life. That alone made him different.
Had it not been for one specific reason, he might have run away before he could even speak.
The reason was none other than a mysterious book that had awakened within him.
The book was peculiar. It appeared thick like an ordinary tome, yet strangely, Gilgamel could not turn any of its pages except one.
That page granted him the ability [Appraisal]. Unfortunately, to activate it, Gilgamel needed a mana crystal.
But even after years of searching through libraries, he still could not discover what a mana crystal was.
It was not until he turned twelve that he finally decided to leave home and search for clues about mana crystals.
He wandered from town to town for weeks, until he collapsed in front of a quiet countryside inn run by an elderly couple. They gave him food, a bed, and a job.
For the first time in either life, he felt like a person.
He worked for six months, cleaning, cooking, and running errands. It wasn't glamorous, but it was real and honest.
Then, one rainy evening, a peculiar woman arrived at the inn. Draped in silks and shawls, she called herself a fortune teller. She had no money, but offered to read the couple's futures in return for shelter.
The old couple laughed but accepted.
She not only read the old couple's fortune but also Gilgamel's.
"In the South," The woman said, "That's where you'll find the answers you've been looking for."
Gilgamel was stunned.
What is he looking for?
It took him some time before he finally remembered that he was looking for a clue about mana crystals.
He was excited but hesitated.
What if this woman were just a fraud?
But the couple nudged him gently.
"If you find nothing, just come back."
And so, he set out.
He traveled south for seven days and nights, until at last, he crossed the shadowed threshold of Evernight City—a metropolis shrouded in magic, ruled by the wizarding order known as Owl.
Here, Gilgamel found the turning point of his new life.
It turned out, magic was real.
Not tricks or illusions, but true, tangible power drawn from mana that flowed invisibly through all things.
Wizards... witches... magical beasts... spells... potions... magic items, etc.
Only then did Gilgamel discover that the world was vast, strange, and full of mystery.
In this world, although magic exists, only people with magic talent can learn magic.
Meanwhile, magic talents were ranked as follows: Chaos Talent, Medium Talent, Advanced Talent, and Abstract Talent.
Chaos Talent possessed compatibility with four basic elements: fire, water, wind, and earth. However, due to its broadness, it was slow at absorbing mana.
Medium Talent allowed faster mana absorption, but its elemental compatibility was limited.
Advanced Talent granted a stronger connection to high-tier elements such as lightning, ice, and darkness, and its mana absorption rate was even faster.
Abstract Talent was rare and legendary. Its compatibility encompassed all elements, and it possessed the fastest mana absorption rate. Those who had this talent were free to learn any kind of magic, even forbidden or lost spells.
Gilgamel's magic talent was Chaos Talent.
This kind of talent was like a weed—ubiquitous and unimpressive.
Fortunately, he had his Goldfinger.
It was only after he obtained a mana crystal that he finally understood the abilities the mysterious book had granted him.
[Appraisal] was a skill that allowed him to identify the properties, uses, and weaknesses of anything within his field of vision.
He used this ability to open an appraisal booth.
Over time, the business earned him both money and a modest reputation.
One day, by pure chance, he appraised an unknown treasure for a senior member of a local wizard organization known as Owl.
Impressed by Gilgamel's knowledge and potential, the man sponsored his entry into Owl.
From there, Gilgamel began to rise.
He trained in secret and studied obsessively. Despite his Chaos Talent, he advanced to become a Zero Circle Wizard in record time.
Still, this was only the beginning.