Chapter 95

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 95

Chapter Title: Zekiel 223.38 (2)

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[Your pseudonym is Verd.]

"…."

For a moment, my mind went blank, as if it had turned pure white.

I thought it might be wise to ban such pseudonyms outright, but soon realized that was a foolish ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠notion.

'...No one would ever think to use it as a pseudonym.'

There was no need to prohibit it at all.

"Cancel, again, reset…."

In my haste, I spat out commands frantically, but…

"Start over, restart…."

No chance to reset the pseudonym was given. There was nothing for it. I'd have to go with this.

Sssshhh—

As soon as I released all resistances, my mind grew hazy, and I felt as if my soul was slipping out of my body.

'The Black Tower sure has a lot of interest in illusion magic.'

Teddy's desperate outburst when he invoked Transcendence was illusion-based too.

This virtual society seemed to be a spirit world built on massive illusion magic as well.

The one who pulled this off was probably…

'The former Black Tower Lord.'

I decided that after gathering info here, I'd meet the former Black Tower Lord right away. She was sure to have all sorts of useful information.

A moment later, my soul dropped into some kind of waiting room.

—Constitution: Low-tier Mage.

"Low-tier?"

I muttered in disbelief without thinking.

Perhaps because my constitution was so complex, the Black World system had judged me as a hopelessly messy low-tier mage.

Now it was treating me like an error outright. How pathetic.

Ah, right—I did have an invitation code.

—Master, this is the invitation code I'm giving you.

—You have to enter it! Absolutely! No exceptions!

Infusing it with mana automatically completed the input.

"Points?"

Why did points even exist?

But the very next moment, I understood.

'It's practically a full rebirth.'

True to its purpose as a virtual society, in the Black World, you could customize every aspect of yourself.

Job, appearance, race… But everything cost points. Fancier appearances and jobs required more points.

So, once again, I was forced to deliberate.

'What would be the optimal choice?'

My goal here was to gather information.

…Right—infiltrate the mages who enjoyed the Black World and collect intel.

With the unprecedented situation of already using the emperor's name as my pseudonym, I needed to set my job and appearance sensibly to make casual inquiries easier.

"Haa."

It was truly tricky.

Pick an appealing appearance, and the job was lackluster; pick a solid job, and the appearance felt a bit ugly… Balancing it was downright vicious.

Then, at some point…

"Hm?"

A white light flashed, and my mind faded…

.

.

.

.

.

.

When I opened my eyes, I was in a room with a mirror.

"…."

I checked my appearance first thing.

"…How is it this ordinary?"

Average height, not ugly but not handsome either—this was my avatar in the Black World.

As I marveled at the intricate illusion magic…

"Ah, Master!"

Someone called out to me.

Turning around, I saw a girl who had slipped through the now-open door. Her look was outrageously flashy.

Pink hair, heavy makeup, star-shaped stickers under her eyes, sparkling outfit…

"It's me, your disciple Seina! I get a notification when the inviter logs in, so I came right away!"

"…What’s with that getup?"

"Ah, this is…."

Seina scratched her head sheepishly.

"Truth is, I’ve always dreamed of being a singer. Since this is a virtual society, not reality, I do it here… Haha…."

Finishing her explanation, her eyes sparkled.

"So, what’s your job, Master?"

"My job is…."

I quietly checked my surroundings.

I was curious about my job myself. It had been randomly assigned since I didn’t select in time.

Ne'er-do-well… Ne'er-do-well, even here…

"Ne'er-do-well."

"…Hm?"

Seina's shoulders twitched slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"Uh… Um… Ne'er-do-well? Why ne'er-do-well…?"

Seina looked genuinely troubled.

"A job like ne'er-do-well is a bit… How should I put it… It just screams blatantly indulgent and lazy."

"I didn't pick in time, so this is what I got."

"You said you wanted vivid info on the Magic Towers excluding the White Tower, right? With a job like ne'er-do-well, people won't even give you the time of day."

She let out a deep sigh.

"Ugh… I was hoping for something like manager. Me, the popular idol singer, and you, the ordinary manager—a dizzying romance the world wouldn't allow…."

"…."

What kind of roleplay fantasy was this?

"Anyway, this place is all about socializing. People with cool looks or good jobs are super popular."

Seina scrutinized every inch of my face.

"Your avatar came out way uglier than the real you… What about skills? What skills do you have?"

I checked the notification window for skills.

There were exactly three.

"Loafing, Sleeping, Resting."

"…."

Seina swallowed dryly. It was the look of someone staring at a hopeless case.

"…No other skills?"

"Nope."

"Oh…."

That short exclamation held a world of meaning. Her face said she'd never seen an avatar this botched.

Soon, Seina shook her head vigorously.

"It's fine. Master, I'll guide you properly here. I'm pretty famous as a singer. So many people love me!"

"Yeah?"

"Of course! How much time have I poured into this virtual world? I tweak my appearance to stay cute every time—"

"…Yeah, yeah."

From what she said, Seina seemed awfully lonely.

She was the only young one in the White Tower, so no friends; her elder status meant always acting with gravitas; always busy, no time to go out…

So she'd spent all her dorm time glued to this.

"Shall we take a tour first?"

"Sure."

"Don't get lost—want me to hold your hand?"

"I'm good."

As I wandered with Seina, one thing that surprised me was the sheer number of avatars in the Black World. Way more than I'd expected.

Groups gambling, others huddling like adventurers to discuss something… It really was a world unto itself.

"Everyone seems to be having a pretty good time."

"It's easy."

Seina smiled brightly.

"Way simpler than real training, and you can change your looks anytime with points… That's why it's so popular. The Black Tower rakes in insane revenue from this every year."

By the time we'd circled the whole village…

Curiosity flickered in Seina's eyes.

"Oh, right. What's your pseudonym, Master?"

"…Pseudonym?"

"Yeah! Your pseudonym. Let's add each other as friends!"

Her sparkling gaze poured toward me.

I'd planned to log off after gathering info and never return, but Seina seemed convinced I'd stick around to enjoy it with her steadily.

Accept.

And shortly after…

"Okay, Master's pseudonym is~"

Seina's movements froze.

"Uh…."

Her blue eyes slowly widened.

"Wha? Wha-wha-what…."

Soon, her face turned ashen as a corpse.

A while later, after Seina had calmed down…

We headed to some training ground.

"Master, how in the world…."

Seina muttered in a dazed expression.

"You can change jobs and appearances later by spending double the points. But pseudonyms can't be changed… Why did you name it that…."

Was she even feeling some primal fear? Her jaw trembled, teeth chattering.

"Not getting permanently banned right away is a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠miracle! Job: ne'er-do-well, nickname: His Imperial Majesty. Even the Black World's worst avatars don't go that far."

Seina's explanation was straightforward.

True to a society run by anonymous avatars, there were bad actors, but they got permanently banned the moment the admins caught them.

"Aghhh…."

Seina clutched her throbbing head and sighed deeply, then pointed at a wooden scarecrow.

"Master, this is really our only option now."

"What option?"

"Hit this scarecrow, and it records ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the damage dealt, ranking you in real time. Unless you stand out here, you'll get chased off everywhere."

Sure enough, there was a leaderboard-like thing.

"It bases the rank on the highest damage from your three hits, so treat the first as practice. Try a light spell."

"Alright."

I casually conjured ice.

But the process was impossibly smooth.

'Because my constitution was normalized?'

Unlike reality, there was no sense of obstruction.

The ice spear flew lightly and struck the scarecrow.

And then…

Boomkwakakaka—!

It utterly shattered the scarecrow.

Kwaa—! Boomkwakakaka—!

Not just the target—the ice shards flew everywhere, pulverizing nearby ones too.

"…."

"…."

We stared blankly at the scene.

"…#1 overall?"

No reply came.

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