This F-Rank Bubble Mage Is Too OP!

The sound of a heavenly voice that could melt any listener's heart reverberated across the park and spilled into the streets surrounding it. The night sky above was alive with spectacle. Dozens of sleek, silver projection drones hovered in neat formations, their lenses shimmering like stars. Each drone beamed down brilliant streams of light, weaving together into vast illusions that danced in the air—giant images of the girl on stage. Her smile, her movements, her glow—replicated larger than life and cast across the skyline for everyone in the city to see.

Suspended just beneath the drones, spherical Speaker Orbs floated serenely like fireflies, pulsing softly with each note. They carried her voice with crystalline clarity, amplifying every syllable and every vibration, ensuring that not even the faintest tremor of her song was lost. It was as though her voice was wrapping itself around the city, weaving into the air and becoming part of it.

On the stage below, bathed in radiant light, Melody sang with a vibrant smile on her face. Her voice soared, tender yet powerful, touching the souls of every person gathered. Each lyric dripped with warmth, each note carried a raw purity that made even the most hardened onlooker feel their chest tighten with emotion.

The crowd roared with unrestrained joy. People clapped, waved glowing bracelets in the air, and sang along with her. Some had tears streaming down their faces; others laughed as if they were children again, basking in the unshakable happiness her music brought. The atmosphere was electric, alive, as if the very city itself was breathing in rhythm with her melody.

Yet, despite all of this, River wasn't swept away by the feverish joy that gripped everyone else. His gaze never left Melody. His lips pressed tightly together, his expression unshaken, but his eyes carried something different. Something heavy.

"Melody…" River muttered under his breath. His voice trembled, not from awe but from a storm of memory and guilt that surged through him.

Because unlike everyone else, River did not just see the glowing idol before him. He saw her shadowed future. He saw what she would become.

River didn't know much about her past—about her family, her struggles, or the path that led her to this stage tonight. But her future… her future was carved into his mind with brutal clarity. She was destined to stand among the Last Hunters—the desperate band of survivors who fought beside him in humanity's darkest hour.

She would become one of the finest mages River had ever known. No—more than that. She was a monstrous talent, a prodigy whose power could warp the battlefield itself. He had once guided her, trained her, pushed her toward the peak she was destined to reach. Yet even without his guidance, River knew, she would have carved her name into history.

In that future, she would be known by a single title.

The Mute Mage.

It was an irony so cruel that it twisted in River's chest even now.

Because the woman on that stage—smiling so brightly, her voice carrying hope into the night—would one day lose that very voice. After awakening as a Hunter, her song would be silenced forever.

She became mute.

Most people, faced with such a loss, would have shattered. A singer stripped of her voice, a bird with its wings clipped—what could be more devastating? But Melody… she never let despair consume her. She never let that smile waver, even when her throat could no longer carry a sound. Not even in the face of her own death.

Remembering her death, River's fists clenched at his sides. His teeth ground together as anger surged within him, a bitter tide that threatened to overwhelm his calm. Guilt twisted its knife into him—guilt for not being able to protect her, guilt for failing to save her when it mattered most.

But as quickly as it rose, that same voice—the one carrying through the night now—eased his heart. Her singing poured over him like a balm, smoothing the edges of his rage. For a moment, just for a heartbeat, he let it in.

Shaking his head, River exhaled heavily and narrowed his eyes on her radiant figure.

"Right now, she's still a normal human… but in the future, she'll become one of the greatest mages I've ever seen." His words were quiet, but the conviction in them was sharp as steel.

Because Melody's gift—her cursed blessing—came at a price. The day she lost her voice was the day she awakened as a Hunter. In exchange for her song, she gained something terrifying.

Her Skill… no one knew its true name. No record carried it. But everyone who survived long enough to see her fight knew what it could do.

Sound Manipulation.

It was simple in concept yet limitless in execution.

As long as there was sound, Melody could control it.

If an enemy spoke, their words could be their undoing—the vibration of their own voice could rupture their skull, shattering it like glass. If they took a step, the faint noise of their heel striking the ground could trigger destruction, peeling the flesh and bone from their legs until nothing remained.

The louder the sound, the stronger her Skill became.

And in the chaos of a battlefield, where steel clashed, Skills roared, and soldiers screamed—Melody was untouchable. Every cry, every clash, every explosion only fed her strength. She turned the noise of war itself into a weapon of unparalleled devastation.

An overpowered Skill, beyond measure. A nightmare for her enemies, and a beacon of salvation for her allies.

That was the woman River remembered. That was the woman the world would one day come to know.

And yet… as he stood among the cheering crowd, watching her sing with such innocence and light, River could only feel the weight of inevitability pressing down on him.

Because he knew what was waiting for her.

And no matter how beautiful this moment was, he could not forget the silence that would one day follow.

Melody was not just anyone to him. She was a friend who had stood shoulder to shoulder with him when monsters surrounded them, a student who once looked up at him with trembling determination, and—more than that—family. The memory of her silent resolve, her quiet yet unyielding courage, still lived inside him. Seeing her now, bathed in the soft glow of stage lights, voice soaring through the hall like a spell that could calm storms, made River's chest tighten.

She looked so bright, so alive—almost too radiant for the cruel world that awaited her.

River didn't want her to become a Hunter.

It was a selfish thought, and he knew it. He wanted to keep this version of her intact—the Melody who could bring light to people simply by being herself, not the Melody who would one day walk into dungeons filled with death. But the world didn't care about his desires. The world needed Hunters—more than that, it needed the best of them. If humanity wanted to endure the sleeping calamity, people like Melody would have to step forward, whether they were ready or not.

River's throat tightened as he exhaled, the conflict inside him almost unbearable.

First, he had met that golden-haired youth who would rise to become the Sun God Mage, Nolan—or Helio, as the future knew him. Then came Freya, the girl destined to shine as the White Knight. And now… now, by some twist of fate, he stumbled upon one of the Last Hunters before her legend had even begun—the Mute Mage, Melody.

It was too much coincidence. Too many legends gathering in one place.

"What is wrong with Voulton?" River muttered under his breath, his sigh lost beneath the thunderous applause around him.

He opened his senses, letting the faint hum of mana ripple outward. What he found made him chuckle bitterly. The group of D-Rank Hunters who were supposed to be following him were no longer paying attention. Their eyes were locked onto the stage, their minds completely captured by Melody's voice. She had them enthralled, wrapped in the invisible chains of her song.

River's gaze softened. That was just who she was. Melody didn't need to cast a spell to captivate people—her very presence was enough.

And that was when River realized this was the perfect moment.

His eyes sharpened, a flicker of intent crossing them. The distraction was too good to ignore. Everyone's attention was on her, not him.

As much as he wanted to stay—no, as much as every part of him screamed to stay—River had priorities, responsibilities pulling him elsewhere. There were things only he could do, things that couldn't wait.

Still, it wasn't easy. His feet felt heavy as he turned away, his chest twisting at the thought of leaving. Watching Melody sing was like watching a glimpse of hope the world could scarcely afford to lose.

He cast one last look over his shoulder.

"I will find you in another time," River whispered, his voice low, almost a promise carried away by the music.

On stage, Melody shone under the lights, her song rising like a prayer in the night. She didn't know it yet, but she was already walking the path of destiny.

River clenched his fists and walked into the darkness, leaving behind the warmth of her voice, and the brief illusion of peace it carried.