The Worst Reunion with My Master (3)
“Whoa!”
Whoooong!
Valtburg and I, dragged along by Perigit, were hurled through the gate.
That bizarre, overwhelming status window from moments ago lingered in my mind, but her firm grip forced me to shelve those thoughts for now.
Once this is over, I need to look into that guy... figure out what the hell he is.
I had the authority to check the status of every single person logged into Luddera, so it was something I could do anytime. Sure, even if it was the Demon King or a Dragon Lord enjoying the game, a status window like that probably wasn't a huge issue. But letting a monster like that roam free without a proper investigation? That wouldn't make me a responsible GM.
I pushed aside thoughts of him and surrendered my body to the gate enveloping me.
Fwosh!
“This is...”
“The desert...?”
Having crossed the gate, we stood in the heart of a vast, sprawling desert.
I winced at the intense sunlight stabbing into my eyes.
I didn't notice when I created this place with my GM account... but logging in with this low-level character based on my real body? This is no joke.
It was an extreme environment I'd intentionally designed, but I hadn't realized it would be this brutal to endure.
Did that Beast King Brigand really cross this desert all by himself?
This Sprigganz Great Desert, floor 2 of the Labyrinth Tower—adventurers who entered for the first time were set to warp to one of the desert's edges. That meant challenging players had to traverse the sands to reach the grand pyramid at the center, where the first party to arrive earned priority rights to the main quest, Threat of Apophis.
In other words, the Beast King had crossed this massive desert in a single night and taken down Apophis.
How much of a monster is the Beast King...?
Even though I'd created this game myself, I couldn't help but be impressed by that player.
Click.
“Right there.”
Perigit pointed in one direction across the desert.
“Over there?”
Following her finger, I spotted the faint silhouette of a pyramid in the distance.
Duamutef's grand pyramid. Among the many pyramids in this great desert, it stood at the very center—the place where Apophis and Duamutef had been sealed.
The beastmen worshipped me as Duamutef's successor, so building a sanctuary in her pyramid made sense, I guess. I could understand the context for erecting my shrine inside this labyrinth, at least.
“...That's way too far.”
Valtburg said it with a look of utter disbelief.
I nodded in agreement.
Trudge through this hellish desert all the way over there? Are they insane?
“Ahem. No choice. Without permission from Fathe—er, Great King Brigand, warping near the sanctuary is forbidden by our laws. That's why we have to walk from this drop point.”
They made a law like that already?
Your religion's only been around for a week!
It'd barely been seven days— what the hell happened with the beastmen in that short time?
“No, seriously, no mounts or anything? Horses might not work, but camels...?”
“This is a holy site among holy sites, where GM-nim's miracle occurred. Who would dare bring something as profane as a camel here?!”
I'm the GM, and I don't really care.
Can't we just grab some camels?
“No way we're walking all the way there, right? That's crazy!”
Thwack!
“Gahk!”
Valtburg crumpled to his knees from Perigit's kick to his shin.
“Sinner, do not question your trials! This is all to pay for your crimes! Embrace the hardship with joy!”
Perigit shouted with a stern face, but it just looked like she was trying to wriggle out of the awkwardness.
“Guhk... I'm not even a sinner, so why am I the only one getting hit since earlier...?”
Clutching his leg, Valtburg muttered in grievance.
Come to think of it, she'd only been targeting Valtburg, not me.
From her perspective, I was the sinner—why hit him instead of me?
“Whatever, no helping it. Let's give it a shot.”
Valtburg hauled himself up, shrugged, and glanced at me.
“And hey, this might actually be a good thing. Even though floor 2 of the Labyrinth Tower is open, the Beast King has the center locked down. Thanks to Perigit, we get to see it—something other players can't.”
So laid-back. Or maybe he just loves Luddera that much.
No choice, I guess.
I couldn't exactly reveal I was the GM.
Nothing to do but try.
This is an adventure, right?
The reason I created Luddera to survive this boring isekai world.
I had to keep my GM identity secret no matter what.
With renewed resolve, I started walking toward the pyramid with Valtburg and Perigit.
Ten minutes in.
The pyramid showed no sign of getting closer, and my legs were shaking.
“Uwaaaah! I can't take it anymore!”
“Whoa! Hold on, buddy! Just a bit longer!”
I finally snapped.
At this rate, I'd rather out myself as GM!
The desert's brutality over those ten minutes shattered my fresh determination.
I adjusted the permissions on this sub-account.
Area Setting
With the necessary permissions granted, I set up a hemispherical zone around me with a radius of about 10 meters.
Environment Change
I altered the basic environment inside the hemisphere—temperature, light levels—to my liking.
Whummm.
The scorching heat that had felt like it would melt me vanished, replaced by cool, refreshing air. The blinding sunlight dimmed to a gentle warmth.
“Ahh... finally livable.”
I collapsed onto the sand.
My body was drenched in sweat; I couldn't stand anymore. But escaping that hellish inferno brought an incredible sense of refreshment.
“...Cool. How is a mere human doing this...?”
“Buddy... how the...?”
Ah...
Of course, I'd have to pay for my rash actions.
“Uh, well, y'see...”
Back in that sweltering heat, my brain hadn't been working right, leading to this slip-up. But I couldn't exactly tell them I was GM.
What would the beastmen do if they learned the god they worshipped was just a powerless human? Nothing good, that's for sure.
I had to hide it somehow.
“Ah! Got it, buddy! You're a mage, right?”
“...Huh?”
“I'm a magic swordsman, so I only know combat spells, but this has to be some cold magic, yeah? Even so, blowing away desert heat like that? Impressive.”
“Y-yeah!”
I clapped at Valtburg's guess.
“I know a bit of magic that handles this kinda aura. Ahaha.”
“Magic? Magic that works like this?”
Perigit tilted her head suspiciously, but...
“Hmm... Magic is such a vast field that there are more spells I don't know than ones I do. Totally possible.”
She nodded, convinced.
Phew, dodged that somehow.
“But buddy, can you keep this up? Might as well stay like this till we get there.”
“Yeah, no problem. I can make this cool space follow me—just stick close.”
I could've outright changed the desert's climate with sub-account perms, but that'd be too obvious.
“Really?!”
Perigit's face lit up as she shouted.
“Yeah... right?”
Her stiff expression cracked, her round tiger ears perking up.
Excited, huh? Even beastmen hate the heat, I guess.
“Haha, you were all 'embrace the trials' earlier, but couldn't hack it yourself!”
Valtburg burst out laughing at her.
Thwack!
“Gurk!”
He clutched his gut and toppled.
“...Hmph.”
Perigit crossed her arms and snorted.
Her move was too fast to even see.
Whoooong.
“...Impossible.”
Ahenobarbus, the First Emperor, had chased the boy who seemed to have glimpsed his true nature through the gate.
Upon emerging, he surveyed the great desert and let out a low groan.
“This isn't just a different environment.”
He'd wandered countless dimensions searching for his master and could tell.
This desert was in an entirely different dimension from the Labyrinth Tower's first floor he'd just left. The air composition was completely different—not like varying climates in the same world.
That gate had crossed an entire dimension.
“So this labyrinth is packed with dimensions like this...?”
He'd approached out of curiosity, but Luddera was far vaster and more mysterious than he'd imagined.
“A place like this... I've never seen.”
He'd visited dimensions of humans battling on iron horses with massive cannons, warriors wielding special energy called qi, realms teeming with walking corpses—and more. Yet Luddera stood unparalleled.
That only heightened his interest.
“First, that boy.”
Seemingly young, yet he'd pierced Ahenobarbus's realm to some degree. Perhaps a raw gem of talent that could prove useful.
Thung!
“Let's see.”
He leaped high into the sky.
Scanning around for the boy from earlier.
“There he is.”
Spotting Albus, he prepared another massive leap from midair—
Area Setting
Environment Change
!!!!!
He froze at a sight more shocking than Luddera itself.
“...Impossible.”
Having roamed countless dimensions, he knew the miracle the boy had just wrought.
“A god's... authority.”
The power the boy wielded was the authority of a god itself—unmistakable.