WELCOME
Please choose your nickname.
Lyxander frowned.
"Nickname?"
Rather than choosing a nickname, Lyxander preferred pressing random keys on the keyboard, hoping to uncover some hidden feature. However, it seemed that a nickname was mandatory to log in.
"Alright then, I'll enter my nickname."
His fingers began to type. One by one, letters appeared on the screen, forming two words that sounded rather ridiculous.
Pup dog
A trivial name—ugly, even. But Lyxander hadn't chosen it carelessly. There was a reason behind this awful nickname.
Back when he was still active as an athlete, the most common insult thrown at him was pup dog.
An insult born from his own behavior.
To sell tickets, one had to put on an entertaining show—and people loved watching villains get beaten up. Because of that, Lyxander often played the role of the villain, deliberately provoking his opponents.
Pup dog became his iconic insult. It first appeared when he was defeated by a fighter he had mocked as a stray dog because of his street background. After losing for the first—and last—time, Lyxander was labeled as something lower than a dog—
Pup dog.
"What a beautiful past," he reminisced.
Back on the PC screen, text began to appear as the display shifted, revealing a sigma symbol commonly seen in mathematics.
Admin
"Welcome, pup dog. Congratulations on becoming the 11th member of this group chat."
A greeting appeared on the screen.
"Eh? So this really is a group chat. Then what am I supposed to reply with?"
Before he could type anything, another message appeared.
Admin
"We hold meetings every Saturday night at 9 p.m. If you're interested in joining, draw the sigma symbol on your screen exactly at 9 p.m."
Admin
"I hope we can meet this Saturday night."
Lyxander's PC, which had been glitching earlier, suddenly shut down—then turned back on. The screen returned to normal.
"Wait! I didn't even get the chance to type anything!"
Lyxander was stunned. However, he wasn't too worried about forgetting the information, thanks to his photographic memory.
In the end, all he could do was wait for Saturday night.
---
Saturday, July 3rd, 1740
While waiting for 9 p.m., Lyxander decided to train his body, remembering the outcome of his fight with Simon.
Unfortunately, Lyxander's body was utterly pathetic.
Spoiled by air conditioning when it was hot and a soft bed for sleeping, the original Lyxander rarely exercised.
Even during simple push-ups, his arms trembled violently.
Lyxander was extremely annoyed with this body.
In his previous life, his physique had been extraordinary. A single punch from him was enough to shatter a wall. Although his endurance wasn't exceptional, it was compensated by his incredible speed and reflexes.
If only this body could contain his true strength, he would have been worshipped as the strongest of his era.
In the end, Lyxander had to stop training far earlier than he had planned.
Although he wasn't someone who gave up easily, destroying his own body in his previous life had taught him to respect his limits.
—
At last, the long-awaited moment arrived.
The clock struck 9 p.m.
Lyxander began drawing the sigma symbol on his PC screen, following the Admin's instructions.
The screen glitched once more. A sigma symbol appeared, and messages from the group chat began to flood in.
"Woah… it really worked."
Lyxander hadn't expected that simply drawing the sigma symbol would immediately connect him to the group chat.
"The technology in this world really can't be compared to Earth," he praised.
—
Pup dog logged in
Fraud
"I think I like headless women."
"…What the hell is this?!" Lyxander frowned.
"Is this just a group chat full of people with weird fetishes?" he muttered.
Admin
"Oh! Everyone, let me introduce our new member—pup dog."
Pup dog
"Please take care of me."
Lyxander tried to sound polite.
No scope
"Oh? We finally have a new member. Welcome, pup dog."
Fraud
"Welcome, pup dog."
Alice
"Welcome to the group, pup dog."
"Hehe, looks like the members here are pretty friendly," Lyxander praised internally.
Pup dog
"Haha, thank you."
Fraud
"So, do you guys have any advice for my love problems?"
No scope
"My advice is to see a psychiatrist—and stop having weird fetishes."
Fraud
"Come on, this isn't a weird fetish. The woman I like is a six-star—Dullahan."
"SIX-STAR?! Wait—wasn't this supposed to be a random group chat?!"
Lyxander was shocked. He hadn't expected to join a group chat filled with identity users.
He searched through his inherited memories for any trace of this group chat—but found nothing. That meant the link copied on his PC wasn't the original Lyxander's doing.
Pup dog
"Wait a second! Is this an identity user group?"
No scope
"Come on. If she's a six-star, you don't even have a chance of getting close to her."
Alice
"Admin, you didn't tell pup dog about this?"
Pup dog
"No. I was just invited here. I thought this was a normal group chat."
Admin
"Hehe, sorry about that. I honestly forgot to tell you."
Admin
"This group chat can only be found by identity users."
"Only found by identity users… Wait, does that mean the link was copied onto my PC because I became an identity user? That explains why there's no memory of this group in Lyxander's mind," he muttered.
Another message appeared.
Fraud
"No! I believe there's still a chance for me in her heart!"
No scope
"You rock-brained idiot. I hope that headless woman beats you up."
Fraud
"Tch. If you don't want to help, don't curse me. Besides, I wasn't expecting anything from a cold-blooded hitman like you.
@King, please help me, oh master of women."
"Hitman?! There are hitmen in this world? Damn, now I really want to see John Wick," Lyxander thought. Still, he wasn't too surprised, considering all the bizarre things he'd encountered since transmigrating.
King
"Haha, I've been waiting for your call, young man. Very well—tell me, what made you fall in love with that Dullahan?"
Fraud
"Alright, it all started when—"