Chapter 1: Witch Janna
“Ding-a-ling—”
Accompanied by the soft jingle of the bell at the door, a slender, fair hand gently pushed open the heavy door of the Antler Alley Tavern, which was covered in moose graffiti.
The morning breeze was biting cold, mixed with the damp scent of early spring grass, making the few mercenary-looking youths sitting at the entrance shiver involuntarily.
“Are you the one who posted this quest?”
The voice was cool and crisp.
As the figure moved closer to the bar, Luke, the bartender with one-quarter elven blood, finally got a clear look at the face under the light green hood of the witch’s robe.
“H-Hello…”
Fair skin, smooth black hair, and exquisitely delicate features rivaling that of a pureblood elf—just a glance into her eyes made Luke’s cheeks flush and his chest feel as though a moose had rammed into it, leaving him breathless.
“I’m Janna, an apprentice witch from White Coral Academy. This quest to purify the Darksun contamination—you're the one who posted it, right?”
Seeing his flustered expression, Janna, who was long accustomed to such reactions, calmly placed the quest notice on the counter and repeated her earlier words.
“Oh… oh, so you’re the esteemed witch. Yes, this quest was indeed issued through the Antler Alley Tavern… I only handed it over to the Raven Messenger yesterday, and now you're already here.”
Looking at the young witch before him, who seemed only about fourteen or fifteen years old, Luke, who was just a few years older, forced himself to stay composed.
Especially when he noticed the White Coral insignia embroidered on the left chest of her robe, the amazement in his eyes quickly turned into reverence for the White Coral Academy of Magic.
“Please wait a moment, my lady. I’ll go upstairs and bring down the quest applicant for you.”
“Mm.”
Quickly putting down the half-wiped crystal goblet in his hand, even though he was facing a very young apprentice witch, Luke—who had already settled in the Tier-3 wizard hub city of Turin for several years—didn’t dare show the slightest negligence.
He practically jogged up the wooden staircase behind the bar, stirring up clouds of dust.
“It's already been half a year…”
Watching the dust dance in the sunlight by the stairs, Janna’s expression beneath her hood grew distant.
Like an old photo being pulled from the bottom of a box, a long-forgotten memory surged back to her mind.
...
Jiang Bai, 28 years old, a corporate worker in a second-tier city who worked from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., died suddenly in a traffic accident.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself reincarnated in a bizarre world of witches and sorcery.
And her new identity was that of a fourteen-year-old girl from another world—Janna Roland.
Janna Roland was originally the illegitimate daughter of Viscount Roland from the lower city.
After being found to possess magical potential, she was taken in as a witch apprentice by White Coral Academy, a magical organization based in the Tier-3 wizard city of Turin.
Unfortunately, on her journey to Turin aboard a magical steam airship, Janna encountered a magical beast attack.
Although the magical beast wasn’t of a high level and was quickly driven off by several volleys from the airship’s magic cannons, the timid and fearful Janna was so terrified by the sight of the beast’s ferocity that she literally “died of fright” on the deck.
The soul that awoke in her body afterward was no longer the original Janna, but that of the otherworldly soul Jiang Bai.
The traces of the original soul’s consciousness had completely vanished, dissolved into scattered soul fragments and merged into Jiang Bai’s spirit.
Because of this, the reincarnated “Jiang Bai” not only instantly grasped the common language of this wizarding world but also gained a rough understanding of some basic knowledge...
“Hoo—”
She let out a gentle breath.
Memories from her past life flitted through her mind like faded grey-toned photographs.
Even though it had only been half a year since her rebirth, her past life memories were growing increasingly distant.
Like a vivid yet unfamiliar history—etched deeply into her soul, but no longer retrievable.
“To be reborn into a supernatural world—isn’t that a kind of fortune? In this life, I only want to explore the mysteries of sorcery, seek the path to immortality, and live in solitude, guarding myself…”
...
“Thump thump thump thump—”
Not long after Luke had gone upstairs, a flurry of hurried footsteps sounded on the stairs.
In just a few heartbeats, three young men in mercenary gear quickly approached Janna.
“Honorable witch, greetings. I am Bloodfang, captain of the Direwolf Mercenary Squad. This quest to purify the Darksun contamination was issued by me through the Antler Alley Tavern to White Coral Academy.”
Hearing this, Janna’s previously distant expression quickly settled.
She slowly removed the hood from her head, her eyes calm and emotionless as she gazed at the mercenary captain before her.
Brown hair, brown eyes, short stature—apart from a strange black lizard tattoo on his neck, this “Bloodfang” looked much more inconspicuous compared to the two bald giants behind him who were nearly two and a half meters tall and seemed to have troll blood.
“Hello. I am Janna, an apprentice witch from White Coral Academy. Can you take me to see the one afflicted by the contamination now?”
“Of course, that’s exactly what I hoped for!”
Bloodfang’s eyes briefly lit up upon seeing her face, but he quickly lowered his head, well aware of how cold and aloof witches could be.
Upon hearing her words, he eagerly invited Janna to follow him upstairs.
“Creak—”
Led by the group, Janna soon arrived at the door of a second-floor guest room.
She gently pushed it open and saw a brawny young man in knight’s armor lying on a wooden bed. His face was an ashen gray, his eyes closed, and his breath was faint.
“Take off his shirt.”
“Yes.”
At Janna’s command, the two bald mercenaries behind Bloodfang strode to the bedside and deftly removed the unconscious man’s leather armor.
“Hiss—”
As the final layer of cotton shirt was peeled away, flakes of dead skin fell along with it.
The man’s skin was ashen white, and a layer of fish-scale-like keratin covered his body.
The skin bearing these grey scales looked like charred tree bark—just a glimpse made Luke, who had followed them upstairs, gasp and turn his head away, unable to look.
“Tell me exactly what happened to him.”
Seeing the gray flakes scattered by the bed and the heavy aura of dark elements around the man’s chest, Janna furrowed her brows.
“Honored witch, it’s like this: three days ago, the four of us had just returned from the Misty Forest when Wolffang suddenly developed a high fever. The next day, those horrible scale-like things began to appear all over his body!”
“When we saw his condition, the three of us immediately went to find an apothecary in Turin. But the apothecary said Wolffang was affected by some kind of contamination. His potions couldn’t cure it—only a purification witch could remove the corruption…”