I yawned out loud as I looked at the blue sky above me. Last night was a real drag, yet I learned a lot from my first training. I haven't gone far on my first day, though. I'm not the meditating type like Harley, so it may take a few days to complete the [Mental Imprint]. If the time conversion from [Isekai] to the current timezone is correct, it will take about a week until the full moon. So that means I have to finish the training by the end of it. Which means I have to balance out between work and play. Oh, to be an English major...

"Lucas!"

As soon as I arrive at the entrance, I see Harley and Bryan waiting inside with the latter waving at me with a big smile. Dorkiness aside, I'm glad they keep their promise to keep an eye out for David and his cronies. So far, I haven't seen them lately. But I should keep my guard up in case they appear again when we at least expect it.

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A few hours of lectures later, we meet up at the cafeteria for lunch. Again, no signs of David... I'm glad I got through a school day unscathed. Still, they should be around here by now. While I did unintentionally humiliate him, that's no excuse to skip some lectures. Then again, that might be my paranoia talking.

"Man, this week is going to suck. I just know it."

My thoughts broke once I heard Bryan's complaints. Well, no point in looming over the dreaded, I guess.

"Hey, you're in the same major as me, Bryan. If you keep complaining, you won't get the chance to become a best-selling werewolf novel author," I said while eating some French fries.

"Geez, do you have to go into specifics, Luke? Besides, some popular authors like Wayne Enigma tend to drop out to take up writing."

"But there are some who graduated from college. Seriously, just man up and survive, Kessler. You'll get through this with no problem."

I hear a grumble from Bryan. "Says the guy who went to college for no reason..."

And that's my cue to change the subject before I give in to my urge to smack his head. "Speaking of majors, how's your Fashion Major, Harley?"

Harley shrugged his shoulders. "So and so. Between the commissions in [Isekai] and some group projects, everything's going decent, I guess. I would go down the route of reality shows to make a name for myself. But I rather go old-fashioned than take the risk of being edited as a villain. Besides, I want to start from zero just like you with writing."

"What a shame. I'm sure one of Dad's sponsors would have scouted you for an upcoming fashion design reality show by now."

My eyes widen. Dammit, of all times he had to appear, it would be lunchtime! I didn't have enough time to notice his presence as a man suddenly grabbed my collar and pushed me down on the ground. When I look up, I see a familiar sneering man with brown medium slick-back hair wearing a vest and light blue shirt.

"Lucas!"

I can my friends rushing to my aid. But I turned to see a few more men blocking their path just as the leader I knew approached me.

"Do you really think you would get away just because we can't find you in ?"

I scoffed. "G-Good afternoon to you, too, David," I grunted. "Seriously, this is not the right time to turn me into a rag doll."

But he quickly responds by stepping on my head with his brown loafers. "Stop being so ignorant, you traitor! Thanks to your little stunt, we lost most of our equipment and we can't log back into the game until tomorrow! You owe us some explanation while paying us back tenfold for your unforgivable actions!"

"Unforgivable?!" Harley shouted in pure shock.

"Hey! If this is because of the antics you're pulling him in, then there's no way he's responsi-"

"Shut it, Kessler!" David turns back to me again. "I'm giving you one last chance to make up for your stupidity..."

Terrific... Just when I think he learned his lesson after Fenrir and Lawrence penalized them... That's enough for me to grab his leg and remove it from my head before I mutter some strength to stand up once more.

"My stupidity?! I should say the same to you, David!" I shouted. "If you hadn't worked those newbies like slaves and let them level up before rushing into the dungeon, none of this would have happened. No, scratch that. If you haven't thought about the potential consequences that would happen in the game world in exchange for riches, the chances of a powerful raid or worse could have come! Being powerful is nice, but at least think of the other players before doing that shit!"

After that, I noticed the whole cafeteria grew silent. David's goons seem to have their jaws dropped while Bryan and Harley stare at me with their eyes widened.

"H-How dare you shout at me?! Do you know who the hell are you talking to?! I am David Lawson, son of the famous CEO, the heir of..."

"Nobody cares!" I turn in the other direction and grab my friends' arms. "I will entertain your ramblings a bit longer. But if you dare lay your hands on my friends, then you will pay more dearly than that failed dungeon run." I started to walk away, but I stopped again. "As for our agreement in [Isekai], consider it null and void. Destroy my stand or ruin my reputation all you like, but do not meet me or my friends in again."

With that, I have cut ties with my bully as I drag my friends out of the cafeteria (but not before grabbing our food from our tables). I have a feeling they won't follow through with my warnings, but what's done is done.

"Dude, since when do you have a backbone? That was freakin' awesome!" Bryan commented.

"Yeah. I never seen you standing up against David both here and [Isekai] until now," Harley added. "What's with you all of the sudden?"

Crap... Right, I almost forgot they heard everything including the whole student body.

"Let's just say that incident he mentioned was enough to open my eyes and get away from that bastard."

"But what about those things you said? The next time you log back in and appear in , they might follow through with your suggestions."

Harley has a point there, but it doesn't matter to me now.

"Don't worry. I didn't tell you guys beforehand, but I won't be appearing in for a while. It's part of the private stuff I'm doing right now, but I have somewhere else to be until then. That would also mean I won't see you guys again outside of DMs, RL meetings, and Discourse. Sorry if I have to disappear without any warning."

With the ban on heading outside the village still enacted and the potential threat during my first transformation, I can't risk myself going back again for the sake of the players and NPCs in .

"Again, we won't pry on your privacy, Luke. Besides, you disappearing from town might be a good move if you want to avoid David's goons for a while."

"But are you sure you're going to be okay? Potions aside, you might run out of [SP] if you're away for too long."

Harley has a point. Even if you can't go hungry in the game, you still need to eat to manage your [SP] and avoid debuffs related to hunger. But that's not an issue for me even if I didn't tell him about it.

"Yeah, I'm fine. All I'm asking in return is to make sure those Viper jerks don't do anything crazy in . Worst case scenario, they might make a smear campaign over some dumb scandal I might get canceled on social media."

"Gotcha. We'll make sure they won't get their cancel culture against you, Luke!" Bryan flashes a thumbs-up with a grin while Harley smiles while nodding.

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"Just be safe in-game, okay?"

I nod back at them. "I promised. Now come on, let's finish our lunch and salvage what's left of our school day."

"Though not to be David here, but I doubt I call those French fries "lunch", Lucas."

I glare at Bryan. "Give me a break! I'm already having trouble balancing my budget with rent and lunch, you know!"

If only I could say the same with everything else when it comes to my personal needs and [Lapi] in the game. Oh, speaking of which...

"Hey, Harley. Can I ask a favor from you?"

"Hmmm? What is it?"

I'm trying not to let my face turn red from embarrassment, but I have to make this request if I don't want to regret it later.

"...Do you have room for your next yoga session?"

As expected, Harley raises his eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

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[At the same time in ...]

[Oh! You're here, early, Lawrence.]

I nod my head as I approach Fenrir. "Good afternoon, leader. It seems like the smile on your face means it's good news, correct?"

[Yep. The cub's potions worked like a charm. He actually made a few more before he went to bed back at my cottage. Most of the injured have already recovered including the potion maker and let's just say she's beyond impressed by his potions. Well, with a few criticisms, of course.]

I chuckle at the last sentence. "Same old . Even if she's impressed, she does not lighten up her brutal honesty. But I'm still surprised that boy managed to impress the grouchiest old lady in the village. He really is a prodigy in disguise."

[He might be lacking in combat experience, but he does have a frightening potential when it comes to strategic planning and perception. If he can properly polish those talents, he might become a powerful adventurer that might be on par with the [Alpha Lycans] and those Royal Knights from the kingdom of light nearby.]

"Agreed. If those adventurers in the guild Lowry mentioned didn't treat him as a slave rather than a student, then he would become a famous strategist and a leader of his own guild."

It isn't an exaggeration. Just talking to that kid makes me wonder if he could become a star newbie if it wasn't for those players. But that's the thing about the online game space. Most players are genuinely friendly while some use newbies as punching bags to amuse themselves. I wish I could have met him under different circumstances, but there's no use crying over a missed spoiled milk.

[I agree. Heck, it might give those two adventurers a run of their [Lapi]. I heard from the spirits' associate that they recently saved his home from a corrupted force. I wonder how well he could deal with it alone. He dealt a finishing blow on that evil spirit before we could call on the exorcists.]

I shrugged. "Who knows? But switching subjects, how do you feel about training an [Insignis] [Lycan]? I did recall there are not a lot of [Insignis] despite our friendly ties with them."

[Right. I did recall you had an [Insignis] mage as a leader of the party you were in. Was he part of those higher ranks right now?]

"Yeah. He said he's now a Sage, but that's all he's telling me."

I wish I knew more about what happened after the beta test, but I don't want to betray my brother's promise of privacy and I don't want Earth to grill me on classified information.

[Right, a belated congratulations to your friend. As for the cub, it is rare for an [Insignis] adventurer to be marked than born with [Lycanthropy]. I'm curious how will this boy change the status quo of both the [Lycanthropes] and the [Insignis] race.]

That's true. Ever since the beta test, not many players managed to unlock the [Lycan] sub-race, especially during the official release. So far before Lowry got involved, I was the only [Lycan] in the beta test due to a special invitation from my brother from IceChip, and two more got in due to a few [Hidden Quests] that Fenrir hasn't confided in yet. And with [Insignis] being the least popular [Race] in the game, the chances of one is slim to none.

I shrugged. "Who knows? But all I can say is that if he has the right people by his side, maybe he can become a role model not just to the [Lycans], but to the people who are having trouble opening themselves to others. Many people hide their true selves in a mask for several reasons, but if they have the courage to remove them, then the world would change for the better. But that's just a pipe dream. All we can do is to hope for the future generations ahead and see if they can do better to defy the status quo of the current era."

Still, it can all change with the next full moon and it's up to Lowry's decisions whether to break the misconceptions of [Lycans] or to defy the status quo of the world. Regardless, it would be interesting now that another [Insignis] will end up being important to the whole lore and the game's history itself.

[By the way, Lawrence...]

"Hm?"

[You said you were busy with something beyond your adventures. Something about food, but we already have some chefs recovered to serve some villagers.]

Oh, crap! He's right!

"Dammit! Thanks for the big reminder, Fen. I should head back immediately. Tell Capita and the others I said hi!"

I quickly rush back to my cottage to log out of the game. I like playing [Isekai] in my spare time. But with only two of us in the cafe right now, I doubt I can get more time in the game.

I think it's time I put out some hiring posters online. I'm already one person and I can't deal with the stress of multitasking!

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Grrrrr...

[You sensed a foreign presence in your mind.]

I can hear you.

Grrrrooowlll...

I sense some hostility to me. It looks like it's still wary of me. Makes sense since this is my fourth time meditating.

GRAWR!

[The foreign presence isn't amused by your response.]

Dammit! Do I look like I'm armed in here?! Come on, just give me a chance here...

GRAWWWWWRRRRRR!!!!

Ack!

[You have snapped awake from your meditative trance.]

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I quickly snapped my eyes open and caught my breath while sitting in a guest room Fenrir provided for me. I guess calling out to my inner beast won't work either. I wish I could get more advice from Capita. But all she said to me was to stay calm and don't resist my wolf side. But how can I if it's still growling at me like I'm their next meal?! Geez, not even my pet family dog is not that hostile on our first meeting and I'm usually the one who was hesitant to pet him!

I take a deep breath again. Maybe logging back into the game after lectures is a bad idea. Since Fenrir is still busy and my sickness is still debuffing most of my stats, I guess I can do nothing but set my [Sleep Mode] to 3 hours and head to bed. If I keep stressing about it, then it's bye-bye high GPA.

With that, I closed my eyes and let the [Sleep Mode] commence once more.

-----

As soon as I was back in the real world, I yawned and stretched my arms. Since I don't have any part-time work today due to college, the only problems I have right now are my studies and a few projects that I have to submit in a month. Normally, it would be a pain in the neck. But thanks to [ADVR], I managed to mitigate them with a few research apps and a word processor with a special feature similar to the [Browser Room]. And with [Sleep Mode] still active for 2 more hours, I can focus on them while recovering my character's health little by little in [Isekai]. Thankfully, it can occur while my [VeilCon] is turned off. But I have a small penalty if I'm 30 minutes late after it's turned off. So it's a small risk to get back on my feet a bit early.

However, I still need to focus on my training. If I slack off, then suffice to say, I will lose my momentum and my inevitable transformation will hurt as hell. I don't want to slack off with my WIP guides for the blog, but I have to focus on a few things without overexerting myself. Otherwise, I will get an earful from Lucy and my friends. I hope those yoga sessions with Harley will give me a few more pointers beyond the ones Capita taught me. That and I need some much-needed relaxation from everything. Either way, it's going to be a long week ahead of me and I'm not gonna waste any second of it.

Still, no matter how much I try to focus on my studies, I tend to go back to my frustrations over my failed [Mental Imprint] attempts. Looking back, the inner wolf doesn't seem happy to see me. I tried not to deny or ignore its presence. But the beast kept kicking me out even when I started not having a freak out over its howls! I must be missing something here. I can't just tame it with some sweet words or something!

But I guess you can't be friends overnight. Capita did say most [Mental Imprints] are different from many [Lycans] and I'm no exception. At this point, I'm at a crossroads, and if I don't finish this task before the in-game week is over, then hello, transformation complications (and Capita's punishment).

Anyway, I'm wasting time again, and rushing through it isn't helping me both in [Isekai] and college. Might as well hit the books for now before bedtime. I wonder if Harley will come back on that yoga session thing…

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[13 days until the full moon...]