A single eyebrow rose on the Chairman’s face.

“You don’t know what a player is?”

“No, that’s why I’m asking.”

The Chairman laughed, stroking his white beard, “Very well. It is better if I show you.”

Immediately after the Chairman said that, a translucent yellow panel appeared in front of Yaaro.

Name: [Calvin Gracie]

Titles: REDACTED

Level: REDACTED

Skills: REDACTED

Stats: REDACTED

Yaaro’s jaw dropped, and his eyes burrowed into those redacted words, as if doing so would reveal the information underneath.

“You are not surprised.” The Chairman remarked.

“How do I show my status to you?”

The Chairman nodded, “So you are a player…Go to the settings tab. Along with the other options, there should be a visibility option.”

Yaaro was slack-jawed— never once did he expect to hear such terminology in another world. Nevertheless, he followed.

Status

Name: [Yaaro Ilay]

Titles: None

Level: 4

Skills: [Enhanced Speaking] [Mana Manipulation Lv6] [Tentacle Manifestation Lv1] [Temperature Control Lv1] [Pyrokinesis Lv1] [Mana Armaments Lv1] [Geass Breaker]

Stats: Mana-> 10,315,780 Strength-> 3 Speed-> 2 Stamina-> 3

Settings… Yaaro’s eyes wandered the translucent blue panel and sure enough, there was a gear icon on the top right. Seeing this, his eyes narrowed. Was that always there?

He clicked on it and almost burst out laughing. It was almost identical to the settings menu in a video game. There was a graphics tab that was currently set to ‘realistic’, a sound slider, A subtitle toggle???, a voice and display language selector and finally, there was a visibility option.

His eyes were immediately drawn to the language selectors and he mentally clicked it.

But there was no language aside from the ones he already could speak. It was incredibly disappointing to say the least.

Reducing the sound slider to 0 cut the sounds of the world completely vanished. He watched in awe as the Chairman’s mouth moved, but no words came out.

But he quickly shook his head and reverted the slider back to its usual value. It had no point.

‘Realistic’ was not the only option in the graphics tab, there was also a ‘Performance’ mode. Yaaro selected it and was stunned as he watched the world collapse into its basest forms:

Textureless polygons.

The world looked like an early 2000s computer game and the Chairman especially looked comical with his low-texture face wrapping around a weirdly shaped polygon. Yaaro burst out laughing. The Chairman simply looked at him, an amused expression drawn on his face.

When he picked up a low-poly mug, he could feel the curve of its surface even though it wasn’t visible, and immediately, the light of realization struck him. The mode was affecting only his perception of the world, not the world itself. So he quickly reverted back to the realistic setting.

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“Let’s get back on track.” The Chairman said.

Yaaro’s eyes slowly lost their wondrous spark as he became more focused.

“Yaaro. Except in the Empire, never make the mistake of showing your powers anywhere else.”

It’s that empire again… Just what is it? Although he was slightly curious, he had more pressing questions to ask, “May I know why?”

“It’s because of the Irrevanist Church. Those dogs will put you on trial for heresy.”

“Can’t I just escape?” Yaaro chuckled.

The Chairman laughed, and smiled mirthfully, “Boy! I’ve never seen someone as interesting as you! If it were that easy, why do you think I’m hiding?”

Yaaro scratched his head, “I’m sorry, I just know you’re the Chairman of this university. I don’t know who you are or why you’re hiding.”

The Chairman chuckled and waved a hand, “It’s not an issue, just know that the Church is very, very powerful. Once they have you in their sights you will know that there are fates worse than death… I pray you will never find out.”

Yaaro gulped.

“What if I’m not planning on coming back to this city?”

The Chairman leaned back in his chair, “Oh? You’re not coming back? ”

Yaaro would have been reluctant to share this, but with their trading of secrets, he felt he could trust the man atleast a little.

“I’m going to the Alvina mountains. Then I’ll be gone for good.”

“My advice stands wherever the Church is. Even if it is a small village with nothing but a tiny shrine, do not show your powers.”

Yaaro nodded, understanding why the Chairman asked him to keep his powers a secret, “So you want me to keep my powers hidden, no, to make it look like elemental magic to blend in?”

The Chairman clapped, “Precisely. You’re quick to catch on.”

The chair creaked as it dragged across the wooden floor. Yaaro got up and adjusted his clothes, “If that’s all there is to discuss, then I’ll be leaving.”

The Chairman nodded, “One question, if you may.”

“Go ahead.”

“Are you really alright? After everything that boy had done to you.”

Yaaro grinned, “Of course! I’m really headstrong, you know?”

With that, the boy closed the doors and left the antique room in silence.

Was it really a case of mental fortitude? The Chairman wondered. But ultimately, he had no answer. He stood up and walked to the window, looking outside at the procession and watching in silence for a long time.

Even as it left the courtyard, he still gazed at its former spot.

----------------------------------------

Staring out the window, a rushing breeze brushed past his face. He turned around and watched the beautiful statue’s face transform from polished marble to lifelike pale skin.

“Undine. Welcome back. How was your trip?” he asked.

“My Lord it was well. I visited the Academy of San Malo and some of your contacts in the Payirn aristocracy.”

“Hm.” The Chairman stroked his beard, “What do they say?”

“De Valoir and De Capetia have no information regarding this. But Sir Gideon of the Academy has responded to your request.”

“Sir Gideon?” The Chairman chuckled, “How is that old bastard doing?”

“He is doing well, My Lord, albeit with a few more wrinkles.”

“Ha!” The Chairman laughed, “Whether a few more or a hundred more wrinkles makes no difference on that codger’s face!”

“Anticipating such a reply, he has prepared his own My Lord.”

“Oh? Has he reached such a level? Do tell.”

“He says, ‘Death will not befall me because of my wrinkled face. But were your beard to grow even a bit more, you would trip on it and die.’”

The Chairman scoffed, “Only an egg-headed man like him is jealous of my beard! Let us see if he has a reply for that.”

“... He does, My Lord.”

The Chairman’s eye twitched.

“If I may.”

“... Go ahead.”

“He requested me to expound upon the practicalities of a clean-shaven face… But My Lord, what he told me was too vulgar to mention.”

“Hmph. No manners.” The Chairman scoffed again, “How far San Malo has fallen, to have such a man as their professor. Maybe I should put in a word and have him removed.”

“I would recommend that too My Lord.”

The Chairman chuckled at his statue’s eager recommendation, “Moving on, tell me. What does he say?”

“First he offers his sincerest salutations to the Lord of Thunder and the scion of House Gracie.”

“‘Sincerest salutations’?” The Chairman chuckled, “Go on.”

“This is what he has to say, My Lord, ‘ You have roused a previously great interest of mine, so I shall gladly help. Historically, there have been cases of powerful players without the Mark of the System. That is to say, it is not without occurrence. Fascinatingly, it seems that a large majority of these players have three peculiar traits. Compared to the average player they have incomparable potential, they do not possess the Mark and…”

At her strange hesitation, the Chairman turned to look at the statue, “...And?”

“My Lord, Sir Gideon has asked me to convey this information… But I am afraid I will stain his reputation with the mention of such a thing.”

Along with a mischievous smirk, an eyebrow rose on the Chairman’s face, “Oh? Then do tell.”

“My Lord. The third trait is this:

They claim to come from another world.”