✦ Chapter 95 – Ezekiel 223.38 (2) ✦
「Translator – Creator」
𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝
[Your alias is Verd.] – change in prev chap
“…………..”
For a moment, it felt like my mind went blank.
Logically, such an alias should be forbidden. But then I realized how foolish that thought was.
‘…No one would ever think to use that name.’
There was no need to prohibit it.
I frantically tried to change my alias, but…
“Start over, begin again…”
…But there was no opportunity to reconfigure the alias. I had no choice but to proceed as is.
[Initiating full entry into the virtual society…]
[This virtual society is based on large-scale illusion magic.]
[Please disable your illusion resistance.]
*Swoosh—*
I disabled my resistance, and a wave of dizziness washed over me. My soul felt as if it were being pulled from my body.
‘The Black Tower really loves its illusions.’
Teddy’s Transcendent Realm, her desperate attempt to break free from reality… that had been illusion magic, too.
This virtual society seemed to be a large-scale illusion magic-based spirit world.
And the one responsible for creating it was…
‘The former Black Tower Master.’
After gathering information here, I decided I had to meet with the former Black Tower master. She would undoubtedly have much useful information.
Before long, my soul landed in some sort of waiting room.
[Welcome to the virtual society, the ‘Black World.’]
[The Black World is evaluating your constitution.]
—Constitution: Low-rank Mage.
“Low-rank”
I couldn’t help but scoff.
My constitution was so complex, so chaotic… it seemed the Black World system had misinterpreted it as belonging to a low-rank mage.
[Your constitution is abnormal.]
[Error detected…]
[Correcting to a standard constitution.]
Now it was just insulting.
[Please enter an invitation code if you have one.]
Ah, yes. The invitation code.
— Master, here’s my invitation code.
— You have to use it! You must! You absolutely must!
I channeled my mana into the code, and it was automatically entered.
[Authentication successful.]
[Both you and the inviter have received 100 points.]
“Points?”
Why were there points?
The answer became clear a moment later.
[Choose a Class]
….
[Choose an appearance]
[Choose a race]
[You have 10 minutes to complete your selection.]
‘This is basically like being reborn.’
This ‘Black World’… it allowed you to customize every aspect of your virtual self, living up to its description as a ‘virtual society.’
Class, appearance, race… But every choice cost points; the more appealing your appearance or prestigious your class, the more points you needed.
Which meant… more agonizing decisions.
‘What would be the best choice?’
My purpose for being here was to gather information.
…To blend in with the mages using this Black World and extract information from them…
Given that I’d already accidentally chosen the emperor’s name as my alias… I needed to choose my class and appearance carefully to facilitate my information-gathering efforts.
“Ugh…”
This was a dilemma.
Choosing an appealing appearance resulted in a very lackluster class, while opting for a decent class made my appearance rather unremarkable. Balancing the two was extraordinarily difficult.
And then, at one moment…
[10 minutes have elapsed.]
[Your virtual self will be randomly generated.]
“Huh?”
A blinding white light engulfed me, and my mind went blank.
.
.
.
.
.
I opened my eyes and found myself in a room with a mirror.
“…………….”
The first thing I did was check my reflection.
“…How… ordinary.”
My height was average, and while I wasn’t ugly, I wasn’t particularly handsome either. This was my persona in the Black World.
As I was marveling at the intricate illusion magic…
“Ah, Master!”
Someone called out to me.
I turned to see a young woman standing in the doorway. She was… flamboyant, to say the least.
Pink hair, heavy makeup, star-shaped stickers under her eyes, a sparkling outfit…
“It’s me, your disciple Seina! I get a notification whenever someone I’ve invited logs in. I came as soon as I could!”
“…What’s with… that look?”
“Oh, this…”
She sheepishly scratched her head.
“Actually, I’ve always dreamed of being a singer. Since this is a virtual society and not reality, I’m living my dream here as a singer… ha ha ha…”
Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.
“So, what’s your Class, Master?”
“My Class…”
I hesitantly checked the notification window.
I was curious myself. I hadn’t chosen a Class, so it had been randomly assigned.
[Your Class: Idler]
An idler… Even in a virtual world…
“It says… Idler.”
“…Huh?”
Her shoulders slumped.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh… well… an Idler? Why an Idler…?”
She seemed genuinely troubled.
“Being an Idler… it’s a bit… well… it gives off a decadent, lazy vibe, don’t you think?”
“I didn’t choose in time, so it was randomly assigned.”
“You mentioned wanting to gather live information from the other mage towers, right? If your profession is an idler, people might not take you seriously.”
She sighed dramatically.
“Ugh… I was hoping for something like a manager. Imagine, a popular singer like me and my ordinary manager, Master — such a forbidden and thrilling romance…”
“…….….”
Just what kind of role-playing scenario had she concocted?
“Anyway, this is a place where people interact, and… well… people with impressive appearances or prestigious classes are more popular.”
She scrutinized my face.
“You’re much less handsome in this virtual world… And what about skills? What skills do you have?”
I checked the notification window.
And I had exactly three skills.
“Playing, Sleeping, and Relaxing.”
“……….….”
She gulped, looking at me as if she was staring at something beyond salvation.
• • • ₪ • • •
“…No other skills?”
“No.”
“Oh…”
That short sigh carried a lot of weight. She seemed genuinely amazed, as if she’d never seen a more pitiful persona before.
She quickly shook her head, regaining her composure.
“It’s okay, Master. I’ll guide you properly here. I’m a pretty famous singer in this world, you know. I have so many fans!”
“Really?”
“Of course! I’ve invested so much time in this virtual world! I’ve perfected my appearance—”
“…Yes, yes.”
It seemed Seina had been quite lonely in reality.
She was the only young mage in the Blue Tower, so she had no friends. As an Elder, she had to maintain a dignified demeanor at all times. And she was so busy with her duties that she had no time for leisure.
This Black World… it was her only escape.
“Shall we take a look around?”
“Sure.”
“Do you want to hold hands so you don’t get lost?”
“No, that’s fine.”
As we explored Black World, I was struck by two things—
First, the sheer number of virtual selves inhabiting this world. It was far more populated than I’d imagined; people were gambling, discussing adventures, forming parties… It truly was a society.
“Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.”
“It’s relaxing,” she said with a smile.
“It’s much simpler than training in reality. You can change your appearance as much as you want if you have the points… That’s why it’s so popular. The Black Tower makes a tremendous amount of income from this every year.”
After we’d explored the main town…
A curious look crossed Seina’s face.
“Oh, right. What’s your alias, Master?”
“…Alias?”
“Yes, your alias. Let’s add each other as friends!”
Her bright gaze fixed on me.
I had planned to collect information and never log in again, but Seina seemed to believe that I would be enjoying the Black World regularly with her.
[Seina has sent you a friend request.]
Accept.
And a few moments later…
“Okay, Master’s alias is…”
She froze.
“Uh…”
Her blue eyes widened gradually.
“Uh… uh oh…”
And then, her face drained of all color.
• • • ₪ • • •
After she recovered from her initial shock…
We headed to a training ground.
“Master, how could you…?” she mumbled, her face pale.
“You can change your class and appearance later by spending more points. But you can’t change your alias… Why… why did you choose that name…?”
She was trembling, her teeth chattering, as if she were genuinely frightened.
“It’s a miracle you haven’t been permanently banned already! An Idler with the emperor’s name… Even the most notorious users in Black World wouldn’t dare do something like that.”
Seina’s explanation was simple.
Though anonymous personas ran this society, there were still troublemakers. However, they were permanently banned as soon as they were caught by the moderators.
“Ugh…”
Seina held her throbbing head, sighing heavily, and then pointed to a wooden dummy.
“Master, this is our only option now.”
“What option?”
“When you hit this dummy, the damage you inflict is recorded, and a real-time ranking is displayed. If you don’t distinguish yourself here, you’ll be ostracized wherever you go.”
Indeed, there was something resembling a leaderboard.
[1st Place: MountainWind 103,403]
[2nd Place: FireFire 99,343]
[3rd Place: …]
“The ranking is based on your highest damage out of three attempts. Think of the first one as a practice run. Try using a spell, lightly.”
“Alright.”
I casually conjured a shard of ice.
But the process was… effortless.
‘Is this because my constitution has been normalized?’
Unlike in the real world, there was no resistance.
The ice shard struck the training dummy.
And then…
BOOM—!!
The dummy exploded.
CRASH! BOOM—!!
The ice shard shattered, sending fragments flying in all directions, obliterating not only the target dummy but also several nearby dummies.
“………….”
“………….”
We stared at the destruction in stunned silence.
[Damage ranking has been updated.]
[Congratulations. You are now ranked 1st.]
“…It says I’m ranked 1st.”
However, there was no response.