This F-Rank Bubble Mage Is Too OP!-Chapter 34: The Second Trial (Part-1)

A blinding flash of light assaulted River’s vision, forcing him to shut his eyes on instinct.

Immediately, his body felt as though it were being unraveled and dragged in all directions—folded, twisted, pulled—yet strangely, there was no pain. Only a deep, unnerving discomfort. Like being gently shredded and stitched back together all at once.

He recognized the sensation. It was similar to stepping through a portal—but this... this was worse. There was no stable connection, no steady flow of mana or space. It felt wrong, unnatural.

Just when River thought the experience would end, the sensation shifted again.

The world around him tilted. Gravity twisted. His stomach turned.

A wave of nausea struck as his consciousness spun, and a sharp ache bloomed in his skull.

Then—

"Welcome to your second trial! You are qualified to enter after successfully understanding the concept of Trial One!"

The voice rang out like a mechanical chime, hollow and emotionless—yet it echoed with unnatural clarity in every direction.

River’s eyes snapped open.

"What the..."

His words caught in his throat as he took in the scene around him—only to feel bile rise in his throat.

"This..."

It wasn’t just dizziness or disorientation. He was actually spinning. His body was suspended midair, tumbling weightlessly in a swirling vortex of distorted gravity. Every direction was up. Or down. Or sideways.

His surroundings were a chaotic blur—a cyclone of floating rocks, shattered debris, glowing sigils, and strange fragments of earth drifting through what looked like a torn void.

River narrowed his eyes, fighting through the disorienting swirl. Among the spinning rubble, he spotted a large boulder lazily orbiting the empty space.

Focus. Stabilize.

Without a second thought, he summoned a [Bubble Creation], his signature ability, with hundreds of bubbles covering one another. A shimmering sphere snapped into place around him with a soft hum, creating a barrier that slowed the chaotic spinning and cushioned his movement.

With a groan, he forced himself upright inside the bubble, hands pressed to the interior surface as he stabilized himself.

He took a deep breath, then another. The dizziness lingered, but at least the world had stopped turning.

"Where... is this?" River muttered, eyes darting to the fragments of land and strange symbols etched onto the drifting rocks. There was no ground, no sky—only this infinite void of churning gravity and endless space.

"Trial Two will now begin. Objective: Reach the Heartstone without perishing."

That same monotone voice again. Flat. Cold. Final.

River squinted through the haze. In the far distance, he could see it—a pulsating red crystal, embedded into what appeared to be the largest floating mass of stone. It glowed ominously, almost like a heart still beating.

And surrounding it... were dozens of massive, jagged rocks moving in violent orbits.

A shifting maze.

A deathtrap.

"Of course," River muttered with a weak chuckle, "because Trial One wasn’t enough of a headache."

He clenched his fist, mana surging into his veins.

Then River calmed down.

Hovering inside his shimmering bubble, suspended in the void like a lone star adrift in chaos, he took a slow breath. The swirling fragments of debris, the strange sigils etched into floating stones, and the disorienting currents of gravity momentarily faded from his attention as a troubling thought crept into his mind.

That guy.

The one who supposedly completed this Quest first in the future.

River frowned.

There’s no way... right?

He replayed the details again, carefully, cautiously. According to the scattered data and testimonies recorded in the future, the man reached Level 15 before escaping the Quest. And yet, here River was—Level 15, having passed Trial One, standing at the edge of the second trial—and he saw no sign of this being the end. Not even close. Not even an exit outside the trial.

In fact, it felt like he was sinking deeper and deeper into something far more complex.

"Anyone can complete it," the man had said.

River scoffed under his breath. "Yeah, right."

He glanced at the vortex of debris spinning through the void, each massive rock a death sentence if miscalculated. He hadn’t even moved yet, and already, the trial reeked of difficulty—not just physically, but mentally and spatially. One wrong step, one moment of hesitation, and his bubble would be crushed between colliding boulders, or hurled into the unknown.

No ordinary person could pass this..

Doubt settled in like a cold fog.

Who was that guy, really?

Something didn’t add up. River had trusted the logs from the future—well, not trusted, but considered them valuable data—but now, that data was looking more like fiction. If this Quest was something anyone could complete, then why did it feel so... tailored?

Maybe that guy in the future wasn’t just omitting details—maybe he was planted. A decoy. A deliberate distraction to make this Quest seem harmless... when in reality, it was something far more dangerous.

A gatekeeper of secrets.

River’s eyes drifted to the distant Heartstone, still pulsing ominously like a beating heart, far beyond the floating chaos.

He felt the weight of something bigger—something ancient—lurking beneath the surface of this entire Quest.

This wasn’t just a test of mind or body. This was a puzzle wrapped in lies, cloaked in misdirection.

And River intended to rip it open piece by piece.

"You’re not just going to be some mysterious footnote in the future," he muttered, narrowing his eyes. "Whoever you are... I’ll figure out your secret too." ƒrēenovelkiss.com

To think that he would stumble upon such mysteries barely a week after returning to the past.

He had chosen this F-Rank Awakening Ceremony precisely because he thought the Quest inside would be simple—quick EXP, easy progress. But he couldn’t have been more wrong. This wasn’t just a trial. It was a labyrinth of secrets, carefully wrapped in misdirection and danger.

Letting out a deep sigh, River’s eyes glinted with renewed resolve.

He wasn’t the same person as before—not the naive support mage, not the powerless version of himself waking up in a foreign time.

With purpose in his breath, he extended his arms and directed mana into the foundation of his bubble. Light shimmered across its surface as new layers formed—denser, tighter, more responsive. The sphere pulsed with energy, now fully under his command.

The vortex of floating death loomed ahead, a shifting storm of boulders and traps, each one threatening to reduce him to dust. But River wasn’t planning to sit still anymore.

He locked his gaze on the Heartstone—embedded in the largest of the orbiting rocks, its red glow steady and alive, like a heartbeat.

He didn’t know what reward awaited him after all this was over. But somehow... he could feel it.

The way that crystal pulsed in the void—it stirred something inside him.

Excitement.

Anticipation.

Purpose.

"I chose the wrong Quest," River muttered with a smirk, "This Quest should reward me handsomely!"

And with that, he shot forward—into the chaos.

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