The Worst Reunion with My Master (2)

A bustling throng of countless people milling about in a massive plaza.

Where am I? Who am I?

I stood there in the middle of it all, utterly dazed.

Just moments ago, during our meal at the restaurant, I'd run into this beastkin girl named Perigit, who told me to head to her sanctuary and sincerely repent and apologize to her.

To do that, I needed to log into Luddera.

From my perspective, it was such an absurd, outlandish demand that I couldn't even find the words to respond.

"Oh, buddy. We were gonna hit Luddera anyway, right? Might as well go with this girl while we're at it?"

The guy who called himself my friend didn't even try to talk her down—instead, he egged me on to go along.

He'd seemed kinda cool when he stepped in to stop that fanatic beastkin girl from flipping out, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but the second Luddera came up, his eyes glazed over.

This jerk... maybe he doesn't actually hang out with me out of friendship. Maybe I'm the only one he's got.

He looks even more like a Luddera addict than I do.

Anyway, for those reasons, here I was, lying in my dorm room, logged into Luddera on a brand-new level 1 account, waiting in a plaza on the first floor of the Labyrinth Tower where we'd agreed to meet as a trio.

Of course, I knew better than to show up on my usual GM account—that would've caused a total shitstorm.

Who could've guessed my first adventure would be dragging me off to some "sanctuary" for me that I didn't even know existed.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sheer ridiculousness of it had me chuckling despite myself.

Maybe it was for the best, though.

All the worlds inside the Labyrinth Tower were ones I'd planned and created myself.

They'd all come straight from my imagination.

Which meant my own world had become one I couldn't enjoy myself.

"But if it's a place the players made—one I don't know about..."

A spot crafted by players would be completely unknown to me.

An unknown to me meant something I could actually have fun with.

A faint thrill started bubbling up inside.

"Yo! Albus!"

Then a voice calling my name echoed from afar.

I turned toward it and spotted Valt waving wildly at me.

"Hey!"

Unlike Earth's VR games, Luddera offered no avatars or customization, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so players looked exactly like they did in real life.

To be precise, since it ran on illusion magic, it mirrored whatever image the player had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in their mind—but that was basically their real appearance anyway, so it just copied reality outright.

Thanks to that, I recognized Valt right away, even though we'd just met in Luddera.

"What the... Albus, you..."

Valt came running up with a huge grin, but then he squinted at my clothes.

"Isn't that the academy uniform? Did Luddera even have academy uniforms?"

Oh crap!

In my rush to make a new account after dinner, I'd logged in still wearing my dorm clothes—which got reflected as-is.

Obviously, Lichten Academy uniforms didn't exist in Luddera.

Even though player appearances were copied directly, outfits tied to armor items, so you could only wear stuff that actually existed in Luddera.

"Uh, that’s..."

What do I even say...?

'I'm actually the GM, so I can make any clothes I want, but I accidentally pulled my real-world uniform over. Ahahaha'?

No way I could play it off like that.

I was racking my brain when...

"Customizing Luddera armor to look like the academy uniform? Man, you must really rep your school more than you let on."

Valt said it like he was impressed.

"I heard first-years are often super proud of Lichten Academy since it's the continent's top school. Totally get it. Yeah."

He nodded sagely.

"Ah... ahahaha!"

I could only pray my laugh didn't sound as forced as it felt.

How'd that work out so perfectly?

"Hmph. Neither of you is late."

Suddenly, Perigit's voice came from behind me.

"Ack! You scared me!"

Valt jumped in surprise.

She'd been lurking in stealth until just now, then revealed herself.

"Can't you just show up normally? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

...She was there?

I'd been startled too. Never imagined she'd be hiding in stealth right here at the meetup spot.

If I'd been on my GM account, I would've spotted her easily, but this sub-account mirrored my real specs, so I hadn't noticed a thing.

Guess I need to enable status window viewing on this alt.

I adjusted the access permissions on my sub-account.

I'd kept them minimal to make the adventure fun—too much power would ruin it—but status windows seemed essential.

"Hmph. Humans have such tiny bodies, no wonder their courage is lacking too."

"...Huh? You saw that? You saw?? Wait, that's sexual harassment!"

"I never specified any particular body part."

"You were staring right at it!"

I tuned out their bickering—despite barely knowing each other, they were already at it—and pulled up their status windows.

Sure enough, just like he'd bragged, Valt had the Rare class Magic Swordsman.

Level 79, huh.

In real-world terms, that put him at mid-to-upper Sword Expert.

This guy's... stronger than I thought?

I'd started lowballing him since he was always slacking off or yapping about games, but this status was impressive.

Considering my sister—top of her third-year class at the academy, Sword Expert pinnacle, total genius—at his age, he had to be prodigy-level at least.

Of course, part of it's the Rare class from Luddera.

Still, breaking through that insane difficulty to snag it proved his chops.

I closed Valt's window and opened Perigit's.

...92?

Sword Master threshold was level 100, so she was peak Sword Expert, one step from mastery.

...Basically on par with my sister?

Hitting Sword Expert before your twenties was supposed to mark serious talent.

Why are there so many monsters around?

Her level alone made me doubt my status-viewing perms—not to mention holding a Rare class like Sand Assassin.

If we'd actually fought back at the restaurant, I'd have been screwed.

One look at her stats, and I knew getting jumped by her would've left me in pieces.

Hold up.

Then her full name caught my eye—properly this time.

Perigit al Brigand.

Brigand—the Beast King's surname, right?

And "al" was a middle name reserved for tribal chieftain direct descendants among beastkin.

Why does this girl...?

Come to think of it, Sand Assassin was exclusive to the Sprigganz Great Desert.

And modern Sprigganz was under Brigand control.

...No way. Is this chick direct lineage of the Beast King?!

"Human, you could stand to speak less."

"Huh? You wanna go?"

No, Valt, don't.

You'll die.

Shredded to bits.

"Hmph. Enough. Your fragile pride and body parts aren't important right now."

"Okay, you're dead."

Valt whipped out his sword from inventory.

Kwachik!

"Gahk!"

It shattered pathetically under Perigit's strike.

"Ugh... what the hell's with this girl? I didn't even see her move."

"Heh. This is the special power bestowed upon us beastkin by the GM. Praise the great GM!"

The actual GM—that's me—hadn't seen her move either.

Judging by how she dominated Valt, my status powers were working fine.

For kicks, I checked some passing randos' statuses.

Totally normal.

Guess I just had the rotten luck to get tangled up with this fanatic.

I sighed inwardly and went to close the windows—when my finger slipped.

"Huh?"

My slippery digit sliced through the air, popping open another passerby's status.

And in that status window, I spotted...

What the hell is this?

A monster unlike any I'd ever seen.

"...Hm?"

Emperor Ahenobarbus noticed the gaze of a certain boy fixed on him.

He'd concealed his power and minimized his presence to draw no attention whatsoever.

No one should've even registered his existence, let alone taken interest.

"Intriguing."

He was already growing fascinated with this world called Luddera.

Now a human who could pierce his true nature?

No human—save divinities or transcendent beings—had ever seen through his stealth and prowess.

"Looks like a lot's happened on the continent while I was away."

Grinning, he trailed after the boy being dragged toward the gate by the beastkin girl.