In the sky, Taro folded back his wings.
He renewed his flight spell, then used teleportation to land on a deserted path.
Glancing at his casual outfit, he thought for a moment. From his personal storage, he selected a simple, lightweight silver-white armor set.
Helmet off. Cloak off. The heavy knight's greatsword replaced with an ornate one-handed sword.
Though different from the clothing styles he had glimpsed in the port city, it was far less out of place than his modern casual wear.
At least the scrying mirror had shown people in armor—soldiers, warriors, mercenaries.
This look was eccentric, but not jarringly so.
He stretched and adjusted to the light armor, then started walking toward the city.
Best not to stand out. Blend in first.
Once inside, he could change again.
If ordinary clothing couldn't be equipped as gear… he had plenty of appearance-enchant coupons saved up. He could slap any look onto an existing piece of armor.
But that probably wouldn't be necessary. His earlier casual outfit clearly hadn't been "equipment."
Still, after two transmigrations, who knew what had changed?
For now, speculation was pointless. He would test it when the chance arose.
Plop. Plop.
"What's that?"
The strange sound made Taro stop.
Five bright-blue, gelatinous blobs were bouncing toward him.
"Slimes?"
They looked different from the ones in-game, but were still recognizable.
But hadn't the nearby city looked Chinese in style?
So why were Western-style monsters like slimes here?
A mishmash fantasy world, then.
If so, there was no need to fuss about what to wear. Anything went.
With that thought, Taro drew his sword.
He triggered Flame Slash, a basic skill imbued with fire.
The blade swept through the five slimes without resistance.
A hiss of vapor, and the monsters were gone.
On the ground remained gelatinous loot drops.
"This is so cliché…"
Too tired to complain further, he picked them up.
After all, he had spent a third of his second life grinding.
Every spare coin after necessities had gone into YGGDRASIL.
Toward the shutdown, he had gone all in—sold off everything, poured it into last-minute hoarding.
He had grinded, he had paid, he had strategized.
He had farmed until sick of farming.
But as a max-level player, what else was there besides chasing world-class items?
And now, after transmigration, he still had to deal with random mobs?
Annoying.
As for betting everything on catching the transmigration "train"… he had been confident.
He had done it once. Why not again?
Worst case, he would have ended as an unclaimed corpse in some slum.
But that hadn't happened.
He had succeeded again.
His mind wandered, but his body didn't stop. He looted the slimes.
[Ding~ Acquired Slime Condensate ×3, Slime Secretion ×2, Slime Pure Essence ×1]
"…Huh."
He froze, then went silent.
Even the in-game loot prompts had carried over?
But before he could dwell on it—
[Ding~ Experience full. Level up?]
Level up!?
I'm max level… and I can still level up?
Shock.
In YGGDRASIL, level 100 was absolute. Even "Twenty" couldn't alter that rule.
But now he could break it?
"Level up. Now!"
No hesitation.
[Ding~ Level up successful. Current level: 101]
Done?
And then… nothing?
No new class? No new race? No new skills?
"…Do I have to operate it myself?"
He opened his panel.
[Name: Taro
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown (?)
Race: Unknown (?)
Level: 101
Race Modules: Seraph LV.15, Virtue LV.10, Cherub LV.5, Throne LV.5, Ophanim LV.5, +(Add Race)
Class Modules: High Priest LV.10, Judge LV.10, Holy Priest LV.10, Knight of Judgment LV.10, Hand of God LV.10, Dawn LV.5, Oblivion LV.5, World Champion, +(Add Class)
Skill Modules: Tiered Magic (expand), Super-tier Magic (expand), Class Skills (expand)… omitted, +(Add Authority)
Items: Divine Artifacts (expand), World Items (expand)… omitted]
The panel had changed.
Race, Class, Skills—all now had "Add" slots.
He clicked eagerly.
[Ding~ Race: None available. Class: None available. Authority: None available.]
"…What a waste."
The empty lists left him speechless.
At least give me some hint.
This was like a hidden quest with zero prompts. Pure luck.
How many players had wasted years chasing such traps, only to fail?
This felt like one of those.
"Forget it. No leads, no point wasting time."
His excitement cooled.
"The priority is figuring out this world."
Could he live out his perfect retirement life here?
Hopefully the world wasn't too cursed.
If there was another Demon King threatening the apocalypse…
Goodbye retirement plan.
Probably. Maybe. Hopefully not.
Anxious, he resumed walking toward the port city.
The path merged with a wider official road.
Up ahead was a bustling human marketplace.
Caravans, varied clothing, lively crowds.
But Taro didn't go in.
At the hilltop, he stopped.
By the roadside stood a statue.
A hooded figure reclined, leaning on an armrest, cube in hand, eyes cold under the hood.
The posture dripped with arrogance.
"…Tsk. A Statue of the Seven."
He looked away, gaze to the distance.
"So that's why it felt familiar…"
"This world isn't safe."
It all made sense now.
The inconsistencies lined up.
This was Teyvat.
Had he lost?
Maybe not yet.
Maybe already.
(End of Chapter)
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