"Then, I'll log out now! See you tomorrow!"
Two hours had passed, but Miyabi and I had barely reached level 20. We still hadn't moved on from the southern Teru Plains.
The reason was, of course, the spike in difficulty.
Tutorial monsters were basically scarecrows that could try and hit you back. The monsters in the beginner maps were a completely different story. They had a fully-functional AI system implemented, enabling complex thinking.
They could dodge attacks, move in groups, or even set up ambushes.
In fact, Miyabi and I got caught in dozens of ambushes while out in the plains.
One might think getting ambushed in a wide-open field would be hard. But the tall grass was more than enough to hide the Horned Rabbits, Grass Wolves, and Dagger Moles that inhabited the region.
I was mostly fine—I could dodge even surprise attacks, or parry them if needed. Ram was an android, so her reaction time far outpaced any human player. But Miyabi? She died roughly 10 times in total.
Even with her new armor, her defense was still paper thin.
One solid combo, and her health hit zero faster than I could shout her IGN.
Since I had to wait for her to run back to our hunting spot each time she died, we lost a lot of ground.
"I really need to add more members, or it'll take us several days just to reach the Howling Forest." I sighed, shaking my head.
Technically, I could've stayed and kept hunting on my own to push my level further, but I chose not to. A level gap between me and Miyabi would only complicate things—EXP sharing, for one.
If someone in the party was too high-leveled and you killed a monster that was basically "white-named" to them, the whole party would earn zero EXP. There was the workaround of letting her land the killing blow while I whittled the monster's HP down to the wire, but that was far too tedious to keep up consistently.
So I returned Ram to storage and logged out.
Back in my dark room, I slowly opened my eyes.
The transition from inside the game to the real world still felt strange, but I was getting used to it. I removed the Dive Ring—the neck pillow-like device—from around my neck and walked to the fridge for a glass of cold water.
I grabbed a pitcher and a glass from the kitchen counter, and poured.
The icy water hit my parched throat, and I sighed in relief.
"Hmm..."
Standing in the dark—lit by nothing but the refrigerator's glow—I flexed my arms experimentally. As expected, just 20 levels wasn't enough to feel any real change in my body.
Too bad. The conversion ratio was way too steep.
"I guess reaching level 100 is the primary goal for now. That much should at least start showing up in my real body..."
Right. This was a reality most players never noticed.
Leveling up your character also improved your real body.
However, without the game fully "descending" to Earth, the power transfer was limited—all stats capped at 1/100th of their in-game value.
For anyone under level 100, that basically fell within the margin of error. The effect was barely observable.
"Well, rushing now would just make things harder. Let's take it carefully."
After returning the glass to the cupboard, I plugged the Dive Ring back in and put it on. Not for diving, though—I was using it as a computer.
I browsed the internet, looked for profitable gigs, and drafted resignation letters for all my current part-time jobs. Since it was roughly 3 a.m., I didn't send them immediately, instead setting them on a timer to go out at six in the morning.
Having gone to sleep before midnight, I wasn't particularly sleepy.
So I kept at it, combing through options until morning, looking for something that could bring in decent money in a short amount of time.
After going through everything, one thing stood out above the rest.
"Streaming, huh..."
At this point, Miyabi already had roughly 5,000 followers.
Not on a streaming account, though—on her player account.
Which meant there was no way to monetize those views at all.
But after digging around online and piecing together some hazy memories, I recalled that it was possible to link a stream camera's feed to an external streaming platform—the kind viewers used to watch us through the in-game cameras.
That way, we could monetize the whole thing.
"It'd need Miyabi's cooperation, but it'd benefit her too. The earnings wouldn't be something she could brush off."
She had her parents' ramen shop, but it wasn't exactly raking in the big bucks. Comfortable enough to get by, but far from financial freedom.
If she found out she could earn money just by playing games, I was pretty sure she'd jump at it. Ninety percent chance she'd say yes.
By the time I finished my research, morning had already crept up on me. 6:30 a.m.—the time I should've already been out delivering milk bottles door to door.
I quickly logged out and sat up.
[Good Morning, Master. Please give me a command.]
Ram greeted me the moment I was upright. I scratched my head, thinking over what to say, and—
"Ah, Ram, huh... Then, go and lure—wait, RAM?!"
I shot up, pressing my back flat against the headboard. There she was—the familiar android girl, standing right in front of me. There was no mistaking it.
"Why are you here?! What's going on?!"
If I remembered correctly, bringing class skills and properties into the real world was only supposed to unlock after the fifth class change—level 250! There was no way I'd hit that already...
'Could this be a Returnee privilege?!'
I had reached the maximum level after defeating the final boss in my previous timeline, after all. Was that what triggered it?
But after calming down and taking a closer look, I realized Ram's body was transparent.
Almost like a ghost—a hologram.
[As the Android Meister, your Android's AI will follow you into the real world. However, as we exist as ethereal objects, we are unable to interact with anything physical.]
Ram answered before I could press further, delivering a clear explanation. At the same time, she moved as if gliding through air and lay down on the bed, right where I'd been sleeping moments ago.
So it wasn't really a returnee privilege, but just a UR Class's privilege... I guess the UR Class users in the previous timeline just kept things hushed, so nobody else learned of this privilege.
[Currently, I can assist with managing your schedule, acting as your visual and auditory relay, and serving as a bodyguard—an early warning system. Please give me a command, Master.]
"..."
Even if half her body was machine, the other half was still flesh—artificial as it was. And that very human-looking figure, basically unclothed, was doing serious damage to my composure.
"First, can you change your appearance? Something... smaller?" I asked, deliberately averting my gaze.
[Detecting elevated pulse rate and accelerated blood circulation in Master. Analyzing probable cause—]
"No need to investigate! I'm fine!"
Ram stopped. Her eyes held mine in silence for a long moment before she gave a small nod.
[Understood. In the interest of Master's mental health, I will adopt a deformed appearance.]
Her figure shifted immediately. From a full-sized, distinctly feminine android—the kind whose original purpose you wouldn't have to guess twice—into a three-inch-tall, chibi-fied version of herself.
Significantly less dangerous to look at. Leaning more toward cute, honestly.
If only her face wasn't so completely expressionless.
"That'll do." I sighed, running a hand through my hair.
"Alright... I guess it's off to school, then."
Just me and Miyabi wouldn't cut it against what lay ahead. I needed more hands. And the fastest way to get them was to track down the people I already knew were trustworthy—ones with a genuine knack for gaming.
As I got ready, I filled Ram in on my rough schedule. For the finer details, she pulled what she needed from publicly available information online—class times, time slots, the works.
It had been over 30 years since I last set foot in a university, after all. There was no way I still remembered my own timetable.
After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I headed out.
[Master, by 7:00 a.m. we need to finish a meal at Miss Miyabi's Ramen Shop. By 7:15 a.m., please reach the milk seller's shop to notify him of your resignation.]
With Ram floating just beside my ear and keeping me on track, forgetting things was no longer a concern.
I grabbed my backpack, laced up my shoes, and stepped out the door.
Time to recruit some new members!