CHAPTER 100: CHAPTER 99: TRANSMIGRATOR MEETS REINCARNATOR.

[High class ’Eclipse Knight’, ’Master of Shadow’ detected... medium class....]

’No special class?’ Lioro was somewhat disappointed; he had expected more from Shadow.

Though based on the number of classes, he was around level 85 to 90...

----

"Earth."

For a moment, silence enveloped the place.

But then—

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Cid replied in a plain voice, ready to take Lioro’s hand off him.

’Still pretending?’ Lioro narrowed his eyes, then curled his lips.

"Shadow."

Cid’s movement stopped.

Un, behind them, visibly trembled.

Cid looked back at Lioro, then repeated, this time in a calmer voice,

"I don’t know what you’re talking—"

"I know you’re Shadow, Cid."

The instant those words left Lioro’s mouth—

Un, behind them, moved at incredible speed.

The slime suit that had been acting as her school dress wrapped around her arm, forming a sword. With precise movement, she thrust toward Lioro’s head, ready to kill him on the spot.

’Shadow’s identity... must never be revealed...!!’

Her face turned ferocious as she poured all her strength into the strike.

But just as it seemed her sword was about to pierce him—it stopped in place.

Unable to move an inch forward.

Un’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Wha—"

Before she could say anything, she locked eyes with Lioro.

Looking into those calm blue eyes, she understood almost instantly.

This opponent was way out of her league.

On the other hand—

"Nice sword."

Lioro gave her a harmless smile and said.

"Hide it fast, or else everyone will notice."

Un felt goosebumps rise all over her skin as she quickly returned the slime sword to normal.

Cid, who had been secretly observing the entire scene from the start, couldn’t help but ask Lioro with interest.

"How did you do that?"

Un’s attack.

It was stopped.

He had sensed a new type of mana—a darker form—but he didn’t know what it was, so he couldn’t be sure...

"Secret," Lioro replied, then continued.

"So, are you interested in talking now?"

Looking at Lioro’s mysterious move, Cid’s eyes glowed with excitement.

Hehe, it seems fun things were happening one after another. First, the school attack trope, and now this!

Mysterious stranger who appears to be incredibly strong trope!

In a nearby park, three individuals were sitting side by side on a bench.

Un on the left, Cid in the middle, and Lioro on the right.

"Tell me, what is your motive?" Cid asked in a calm voice.

"Motive? Oh, it’s nothing grand. I just want to be friends."

"Friends?" Cid narrowed his eyes and asked in a heavy tone.

"Yup, friends."

"...Just friends?"

"Yup."

"...Truly?"

Lioro raised an eyebrow and looked at Shadow’s face.

Although he appeared calm, he couldn’t help but feel a faint sense of disappointment there.

’...Don’t tell me he thinks this is some kind of hidden trope?’

Suppressing his laughter, Lioro suddenly turned serious and said in a heavy voice.

"Actually, I want more."

"!..."

Shadow’s eyes narrowed to match the atmosphere.

Several cold sweats slipped down Un’s face as she felt their aura rising.

"But before that..."

Lioro glanced at Un and continued,

"How about we talk—just the two of us."

Without saying anything, Cid simply waved his hand.

"B-but Lord! Your safety—" Un stood up and protested in a hurry.

"Leave," Cid commanded in a calm tone.

"Y-yes!"

Not daring to disobey, Un disappeared with the wind.

----

After creating some distance, she hurriedly took out an emergency communication artifact given to her by her superior, Gamma.

As soon as the call connected, she spoke before the other party could even react.

"Shadow’s identity has been revealed!!"

----

After Un was gone, Lioro blinked and got into a more casual posture.

Seeing the look Cid was giving him, he simply explained.

"Eh, I was just acting in front of your subordinate."

"Acting?" Cid blinked in confusion.

"Yeah."

"Oh."

Cid shrugged his shoulders, matched his vibe, and got more comfortable.

"So, you’re from Earth?" Lioro asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Yeah. You too?" Cid asked curiously.

Did he truly meet a fellow reincarnator?

It made him feel a little nostalgic.

"I am, but not at the same time."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Your Earth and my Earth might not necessarily be the same."

"What?" Cid looked confused.

"There are two different Earths?"

"In the whole of existence, there are an uncountable number of Earths."

"The probability of the Earth you came from and the one I came from being the same is extremely low."

"And I am someone who can travel through different worlds—including those Earths—"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Cid hurriedly interjected.

"You can travel through worlds?"

"Yes. How do you think I came to this world?"

"Y-you’re something like a world traveler??"

Cid asked with an incredulous look.

’I can also access parallel world lines, but you don’t need to know that.’

Lioro smiled and said in a calm voice, "Yes."

"Holy shit! That’s like so fucking cool!" Cid’s eyes glowed with excitement.

"I know, right?" Lioro grinned in response.

"Wait! You have to tell me how many worlds you’ve been to! I want to know!"

"Hmm... Do you know Disney?"

"Disney? The studio?"

"Yeah, that. I went to a combined world of Disney—with all the princesses and whatnot—"

"You mean comic books are real?!?"

"Seems to be. If Disney is possible, then who knows what else is out there?"

"Damn!" Cid shouted, his fists clenched in excitement.

Fucking fairy tales are real!!

"Hey, uh... what was your name again?"

"...Lioro."

"Lioro! You said you wanted to be friends, right??"

"I did?"

"Best friend!"

"What?"

"You’re my best friend!"

"...What do you want?"

Cid got up from the bench, then did a kowtow on the ground without hesitation, making Lioro look confused.

"What are you doing?..."

"Please take me with you."

"You want to world travel?"

"Yes!"

Lioro rubbed his chin for a moment, then said.

"On one condition."

"I agree!"

"Get up first..."

Under Lioro’s insistence, Cid got back up and sat facing him.

Then Lioro explained his condition.

"Every time I want to go world travel, I have to help you with something?", Cid asked.

"Yes, that’s it."

"Okay! But let me tell you in advance, I’m broke, so—"

"I don’t need money. I’m filthy rich," Lioro said with a disdainful look before taking out a gold bar from his inventory and throwing it away like a piece of garbage.

At almost the same time, a black slime suit extended and hurriedly grabbed the gold bar.

Cid stared at the legit gold bar in his hand, dollar signs flashing in his eyes.

"Y-you... where did you pull this from??"

"Inventory."

"Inventory? Like in the games??"

"Yup."

"Wait! How many of these do you have?!"

"Hm... I defeated a dragon clan and took their treasure. It’s about the size of..."

"A-about the size of?..." Cid visibly gulped.

Lioro grinned and continued,

"A small mountain."

Boom

An explosion went off inside Cid’s mind.

Without any warning, he got up from the bench, turned to Lioro, got on one knee, grabbed his hand, and said in a sincere tone.

"Father."

The very next second, a kick landed on his face, sending him flying.

"Fuck—who’s your father?!"

Lioro cursed loudly.

Are you Cid, the protagonist of this world, so blinded by money??

Your greed disgusts me!

The next moment, Cid appeared on the bench beside him again.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he turned toward him and asked while rubbing his hands,

"Best friend, can you lend me some money?"

Lioro gave him a disappointed look.

"How much do you want?"

Cid’s eyes glowed with intensity.

"As much as possible."

"...You greedy pig."

Lioro shook his head, then opened his inventory.

But just before he was about to take out some gold, he stopped and asked.

"Where do you want me to place the gold?"

"Let’s go to my room!"

After arriving at Cid’s single room, Lioro filled half the place with gold, making Cid kowtow once again.

"Thank you for your grace, best friend."

"...Alright, get up."

Lioro took the chair, and Cid sat on his bed.

"Let me tell you my first condition for world travel."

Cid raised his head, listening with interest.

"It’s very straightforward. I just want you to..."

Lioro paused before continuing.

"Help me kill a Dragon Lord."

The Dragon Lords from Overlord—he was going to get rid of them sooner or later.

"Dragon Lord? Is it a dragon?"

"Yes, but not just any dragon—the pinnacle of the dragon race."

"Pinnacle of the dragon race? Hm, sounds kind of strong," Cid said as he remembered the Mist Dragon he had fought before.

That guy was unkillable, possessing something akin to immortality.

Cid explained to Lioro about the Mist Dragon to understand how strong a Dragon Lord could be.

"They’re stronger than the Mist Dragon, but not unkillable."

"As long as they can be killed, it’s fine."

"So, you agree?"

"Yup!"

"Okay, then I’ll tell you when I’m ready to hunt the thing."

"Alright."

Then they started having a general talk about their experiences in other worlds.

"...So you’re roleplaying as a Lord of Shadow?"

"Yup! And my friends are really nice—they even go to great lengths to play the game with me!"

Lioro couldn’t help but rub his brows, wondering if he should tell Cid that it wasn’t really a roleplay.

But remembering the story, it might actually backfire if Cid found out everything was real. He might even lose his stupidly accurate luck, which always pointed him in the right direction.

Just then, both of them looked at the window at the same time.

The window shattered, and four black figures instantly appeared in the room.

"Shadow! We’re here to support you—"

Alpha stopped speaking as she looked at the harmonious scene inside the room.

Cid and Lioro were sitting normally across from each other like friends.

The only thing abnormal was the massive pile of gold.

"Alpha? Beta? And Delta? Why are you here? You broke my window..." Cid asked in a confused voice while staring at the broken glass.

"We heard you were in trouble..." Alpha said as she turned to look at Lioro.

"Trouble? No no! Look, this is my best friend, Lioro!" Cid said with a smile, wrapping his arm around Lioro’s neck.

At the same time, he silently stuffed the gold inside his slime suit, making Lioro give him a disdainful look.

"Best friend?..." Alpha looked at Lioro in confusion.

She had been with Shadow from the start, and this was the first time she had seen Lioro.

And for Shadow to call someone "best friend," especially when it didn’t seem like a joke...

Alpha took a step forward and gave Lioro a slight bow.

"I apologize for my mistake."

"It’s alright," Lioro said as he casually waved his hand.

"Boss-nim has a friend?"

Delta suddenly approached Lioro and started sniffing him.

"Hmm, doesn’t smell strong..."

"Hey, Delta, stop that."

Cid facepalmed, seeing Delta’s animal-like behavior.

"Boss-nim! Why are you friends with him? He smells so weak!"

"You..." Cid barely stopped himself from hitting her head.

"Delta," Alpha said in a low voice, making Delta flinch.

Beta, on the side, kept writing something in her notebook while glancing between Shadow and Lioro.

"It seems I’m being underestimated," Lioro said with a smile as he looked at Delta and the members of Shadow Garden.

Then, under their and Cid’s curious eyes, he grabbed the black dragon ring responsible for hiding his strength—and took it off.

And almost instantly—

A terrible mana pressure hit everyone in the room.

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