Internet Magic in Fairy Tail

[This chapter is proudly sponsored by “Shin.” Please join me in expressing your thanks in the comments! If you're interested in sponsoring a chapter, consider joining the Patreon.]

Fairy Tail only had a few hundred registered mages, so even if Nate gave each person two rings, there would still be plenty left. Plus, most of them were out on missions. Over the past two days, Nate hadn’t seen familiar faces like Gray, Erza, or Elfman.

So, Nate had to find another way to distribute this new batch of rings. The target audience, of course, would be mages who possessed magic. And the best places to find mages were at guilds—whether they were official or dark guilds, Nate didn’t mind.

"The guild with the most mages in Fiore should be Phantom Lord, right?" Nate thought.

He remembered a few key figures from that guild. The guild master was a member of the Ten Wizard Saints, and they had five S-Class mages under their command: the Four Elements and Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer.

To be honest, they weren’t that strong. Nate couldn’t quite understand how these people had the confidence to attack Fairy Tail in the original storyline. Who gave them such confidence?

However, Phantom Lord had many branches and a large number of mages.

With that in mind, Nate stood up abruptly:

"I just remembered I left my blankets out to dry. See you tomorrow."

And with that, he bolted, leaving Mirajane and Lucy staring at each other in confusion.

"Does he really dislike the idea of teaming up with me that much?" Lucy sighed, rolling her eyes. She made a mental note to add extra salt to his dinner tonight—maybe that'll teach him!

Mirajane chuckled, trying to console her. "I'm sure Nate has something urgent to take care of. Don’t worry, Lucy. Take your time getting familiar with the guild. I’ll keep an eye out for commissions that might suit you."

"Thank you, Mirajane."

A moment later, there was a loud bang as the guild doors were flung open, and a shirtless boy burst into the guild.

Lucy, thinking Nate had returned, turned around but quickly realized it wasn’t him.

The boy had short black hair and droopy eyes, with a faint scar above his left eye. The most notable feature was the guild’s crest on his right chest.

"Gray, you’re back from work?" Mirajane greeted him. "Where are your clothes?"

"Huh? When did I lose them!?"

Gray suddenly realized he was shirtless and quickly ran out the door to retrieve his clothes.

Lucy couldn’t help but mutter, "What was the point of him even coming in?"

The guild was full of oddballs!

...

Outside, Nate looked down at the ground.

'Whose clothes are these?'

"Wait!" A voice shouted from behind. "Those are my clothes!"

Nate turned around to see a shirtless young man approaching him.

"Gray Fullbuster?"

"Huh? You know me?"

Gray was surprised. Although he was a Fairy Tail mage, it wasn’t like random people on the street would know his full name.

Nate chuckled, bending down to pick up the clothes.

"Nate, a new member of the guild. Nice to meet you, and sorry for stepping on your clothes."

Nate handed Gray his clothes and, at the same time, offered him a magic ring.

"As an apology, here’s a magic ring for you."

"Uh… thanks."

Gray, still in a bit of a daze, accepted the ring. This newcomer seemed quite nice.

"You’re welcome. Take care, senior."

Nate waved and walked off with a smile.

Watching him leave, Gray scratched his head in confusion.

'Are all the new members this polite these days? Maybe I should team up with him for a mission sometime.'

New members often struggled with picking commissions, and that’s when experienced mages like him should step in to guide them!

Yes, that’s exactly what he would do.

Gray put his clothes on and headed back to the guild, all the while examining the magic ring in his hand.

Back at the guild, Gray sat down at the bar and ordered a juice from Mirajane.

"Mirajane, I just met a new member outside. He’s got great manners and is super nice, completely unlike that flame-brained dragon slayer. He even gave me this ring."

"It was Nate, right?" Mirajane smiled.

"Definitely Nate," Lucy chimed in quietly.

"Nate’s ring," Happy said as he nibbled on a fish, noticing the ring in Gray’s hand.

"So you met Nate, huh?"

"Nate gave out another ring? Didn’t he say he ran out?"

"Nate, I want a ring too!"

Suddenly, the entire guild hall’s attention shifted to Gray.

Gray froze mid-drink, unsure whether to continue sipping or not.

'Wait… wasn’t he a newbie?'

...

After running into Gray, Nate returned to his apartment.

He pulled a map out of the drawer and spread it out on the table.

At the same time, he opened the Library function on the Internet and searched for "Phantom Lord." Other people had to spend points to search, but as the developer, Nate had unlimited access.

Thanks to everyone’s hard work uploading the guild’s books that morning, searching for information was now much easier.

Before long, basic information about Phantom Lord appeared on the screen.

As an old and established guild, there was quite a bit of content on them.

Nate pinpointed the location of their headquarters.

Comparing it to his map, he confirmed the location.

"It’s fairly close. Well, the Kingdom of Fiore only has a population of 17 million, so it’s not a big country."

By Earth’s standards, a population that size was equivalent to a large city.

"If I leave now, I’ll get there by evening."

Nate nodded and glanced at the system’s new task.

...

[Task: Acquire 300 Internet users.]

[Reward: Sharingan, Six Eyes, or Emperor Eye (Choose one).]

...

The task didn’t seem too difficult—it was practically a freebie.

The reward, though, was interesting. He could choose one of three powers.

But Emperor Eye…?

Nate thought, 'Isn’t that a power from a basketball anime?'

He hadn’t yet decided which to choose, so for now, he’d focus on distributing the rings and growing his user base.

"Off we go!"

Nate packed up the map and was about to head out when something occurred to him.

"Wait a second, why don’t I just scan the map and upload it? That way, I won’t need to carry it."

Even a wise person can overlook simple things sometimes.

Nate activated the scan function and thoroughly scanned the map, uploading it to the Library.

Ignoring the point reward, Nate left for the train station.

Several hours later, just before dusk, Nate stepped off the train and arrived at an ancient, historic city—Oak Town.