A/N: Gore warning.

Lumen reappeared elsewhere; he remembered seeing this earlier. The empty, luxurious hallway shone brightly, proudly displaying the Empire's wealth, but he paid no attention to any of that.

As soon as the teleportation finished, he closed his eyes and did his best to calm his seething mind. His head wanted nothing but to lay waste to those arrogant magic casters. Seeing those elves reminded him of his life before he was summoned, a life that he despised to the depths of his heart.

As a matter of fact, had he not been summoned, he would be back in that filthy, rat-infested dump of a library that he had been thrown into, managing millions upon millions of digital books that millions of users constantly accessed. For an avid reader, one might think that he was lucky, but that was far from the truth. Every one of those digital books was safely secured behind a digital lock and key. Only those who paid their ridiculous prices were allowed to read them.

In truth, it wasn't the elves that sparked his wrath. It was the attendant who pushed them along, and those who cheered him on were those who infuriated him. Their incessant and rude shouting gave him flashes of his own experiences, flashes that were currently threatening to overtake his mind. Lumen staggered to the wall, clutching his head. Various memories flooded his mind unbidden despite his efforts.

Know your place, you useless piece of shit! You work for me, that means you listen to what I say, not your dumb little brain.

What the hell are you doing, sitting around?! A break?! Stop lazing around and work, you son of a bitch.

"Stop!"

Lumen gritted his teeth. However, his mind pressed on. Moment after moment passed by as he struggled to regain control of it.

Whoops! My hand slipped. That's going to leave a stain. Now go get me a new cup of coffee before I deduct your salary again.

Where are you going? You still have work to finish here! Leave that door and you're not coming back here ever again. Enjoy finding work elsewhere 'cause no one will be accepting an insubordinate worker like you.

"Argh, stop!"

Lumen uttered a furious growl as he tried to force the memories back into his mind—memories he thought were behind him now. He felt like he was back in that hellhole once more where his old boss pushed him around, sending him on numerous errands. Some of them even ended up pointless where his boss simply ended up laughing at him as if he was a clown putting on a show for him. When he wasn't sent on errands, he was an office drone that worked several hours straight, even past his work hours until his boss could no longer legally keep him there.

Listen here, Shitane. You have no more family; your parents are dead; you don't have any siblings; and you're a loser no woman would dare touch. You're nothing. And you're nothing more than a slave to me, a good little slave who will obey my every fucking command if you want to live. You either drill that into your brain or you'll end up living in the streets, where you won't last a day. No one cares about you; you will die alone and broken, but until then, you belong to me.

One day, his boss said these words to him. It was at this point in his life that Lumen, or Shirane Yuji, hated the world and being alive. Before, he had begrudgingly accepted it all as part of growing up in the real world, a fact of life. At that moment, he wanted it all to end, but he couldn't—or wouldn't.

The reason for that was YGGDRASIL, the one thing in his life that gave him a chance to be something more, to be alive. In the game, he had worlds to explore, quests to accomplish, and abilities to learn and master. And most of all, he had friends to enjoy it all with, friends he laughed with, cried with, and shared life stories with. Friends with whom he fought tooth and nail with. Friends he knew he could rely on, friends he treasured, but real life caught up with them, revealing another truth: nothing remained the same. As the game approached its end, he saw less and less of his friends. Friends who eventually left him alone in a world full of misery and-

"ENOUGH!"

Lumen yelled as he closed his eyes, focusing every ounce of willpower he could muster to banish his memories. Reluctantly, his mind finally eased and the memories receded, leaving him blank. He was tempted to slide down to the floor as mental exhaustion took over. He felt emotionally drained as he stared at the wall across from him. Who knew having such mental abilities could negatively affect him so much? He had to stop considering the flavor texts that became real to be a good thing. What else could possibly go horribly wrong?

'I need to start learning how to control my rampant mind. I also need to practice how to remain calm. I don't need another outburst to occur like that. People could get seriously hurt because of me.'

Lumen straightened himself out. His thoughts wandered back to the slaves.

'Were they really slaves? Or does the Ministry of Magic just have a fucked-up sense of fashion for servants? Well, they had normal servants like the one in the library.'

He shook his head.

'No, those were definitely slaves. They were certainly treated as such. I know this is another world and "when in Rome," but I can't ignore their existence now that I've seen them.'

Slamming the wall with the side of his fist, he cursed them. The wall was left with a web of cracks. Taking more breaths, he calmed down again.

'Before I get any stupid ideas, I need to find a way out of here.'

He heard footsteps approaching from a distance. Looking around, he rendered himself invisible once more as he saw someone reveal herself from a corner. It was another one clad in the same robes as Bryon. However, she was the youngest he'd seen so far as her height and petite build made Lumen think she was still a teenager.

"Hello? Anyone there?"

She called out, expecting to see someone as her eyes darted around. When no one responded after several seconds, she exhaled.

"Must have been my imagination. Get it together, Arche. Once you're back with your sisters, everything will be okay."

Arche whispered to herself as she continued moving. After casting [Discern Enemy], Lumen started following her.

'She knows the way out. Though, I feel like a creep following a young girl around.'

Lumen shook his thoughts away as the girl continued to mumble while he kept his distance.

"I should have taken Hekkeran's offer. Being a Worker offered more gold than this job. Also, it's more fun than being hounded by my "colleagues" for not seeing any trace of magic from the magic caster we summoned. Now I'm going to lose my job because my Talent stopped working. Ugh, but it didn't stop working, damn it! I could still see their magical auras, just not the one we summoned for some reason. It's not my fault!"

Lumen's eyes widened as the girl continued to rant.

'She could see magical auras as a Talent? There wasn't anything like that in the game.'

From the books he read, he knew that the people of this world had a chance to obtain a Talent when they were born. But most of them sounded so ridiculous that he thought it was just a joke.

'Also, she was there. She also works for Felice.'

Lumen needed more information, and this girl could possibly tell him everything he needed to know. He needed a way to be able to find her again later. He could, of course, simply ask Felice, but this needed to be done away from prying eyes, under the table. The girl needed gold, and he had plenty to offer—more than enough to buy whatever he needed to know plus her silence if necessary.

Lumen wracked his brain for a method while the girl sighed, finally going silent. What his mind gave him was something different, something he never knew before. Gulping, he approached Arche and touched her shoulder for a brief moment. She immediately stopped and turned around, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Hello? Is anyone there? If someone is pulling a prank on me, it isn't funny! Show yourself!"

Lumen returned to his original distance, ignoring Arche's calls. However, what happened next made him freeze up.

"[See Invisibility]!"

Lumen stood still as Arche scanned her surroundings. When she saw no one, she sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"It's okay, it's okay. There's no one there. You've had a long day. It's time to go home."

Lumen exhaled as Arche comforted herself. He thanked the heavens that she wasn't skilled enough to see through his invisibility, or things would've been awkward. What Lumen did to her when he touched her shoulder was leave a lasting mark he could always find, courtesy of his Choromancer class. He wasn't able to do that before everything became real.

He continued to move as the girl was no longer willing to stay here for another second. They passed through several hallways and climbed down a few stairs. They also passed by plenty of people, so Lumen had to dance around to avoid being detected. The lower they descended, the more people they encountered before they finally reached an imposing pair of doors.

'Finally, the way out.'

Lumen breathed a sigh of relief as a pair of guards opened the doors, revealing a bright new world outside. Not willing to tarry any longer, he moved past Arche as he discovered another world. He did not waste another second and cast a quick [Fly] spell.

He flew into the welcoming arms of the bright, blue sky. Steadily rising, he did not stop until he was several hundred meters off the ground. Here, he ended his invisibility and finally took off his mask. Lumen basked in the sight before him.

Gone were the black clouds that always blocked the sky. Gone was the thick, toxic fog that covered the ground. Gone was the depressing and hopeless atmosphere that choked the dreams of everyone not living in the arcologies.

Here, the blue, expansive sky warmed everyone. Here, the clean, fresh air gave everyone life. Here, the bright and cheerful atmosphere offered everyone hopes and dreams.

Lumen said nothing—he could not say anything. He could feel his remaining anger dissipate. Even his worries and anxieties temporarily took a leave of absence.

Past the cityscape, he observed sweeping grasslands that glowed under the radiant sun, swaying in the wind. Numerous trees dotted the landscape. Beyond that, he spotted extensive green mountains that walled the horizon.

Lumen could not help but sigh.

"I have no words. No amount of photos could ever do justice to the experience of seeing it for yourself. This is paradise. This is heaven."

Lumen remained where he was for some time, enjoying the view of his lifetime. It was only when he noticed that the sky had begun to dim that he returned to reality. He noticed the sun above the horizon, heralding the end of the day.

'They're probably panicking when they learned I "escaped."'

Lumen sensed someone touching his copy some time ago, but he was so busy sightseeing that he simply canceled the spell after delivering a message since it was ruining his moment. He tried to imagine what their reactions would have been when they saw his copy just vanish from existence. He predicted surprise and perplexity, as was obvious.

'I should go back, but then again, should I? They haven't found or contacted me yet despite being gone this long. They either don't have someone well-versed in divination magic or all of them really are that weak and low-leveled. I'm now willing to bet it's the latter, but if that's case, how were they able to summon someone like me in the first place? Do they have some kind of specialized magic or item that enabled them to do so?'

Curiosity filled Lumen, but he knew he couldn't trust them, especially after seeing the slaves that reminded him so much of his past. But he also couldn't continue being ignorant. He needed to learn more. Not to say that only the empire could provide the information he required, but he was here now, and risking travel between nations without knowing the risks would almost certainly result in his death. Back in YGGDRASIL, even environmental hazards could one-shot you, not to mention the various monsters that populated it.

Still undecided, Lumen turned invisible again as he slowly descended. He landed on the rooftops of one of the tallest buildings not guarded by dozens of knights in the city. Here, he watched the sun slowly descend. As it sank, he couldn't help but wonder if other players were watching the same thing he was. He wondered if there were other players at all. He knew from the history of this world that other players existed in it. For example, the Six Great Gods and the Eight Greed Kings that Felice told him about seemed like players to him based on their descriptions, despite the exaggerations.

'If only there was a way to contact other players.'

When he was summoned, he tried to [Message] other players, his friends included, but none of them went through. It saddened him to learn that none of the people he knew came with him, and that he was all alone. The only other way that Lumen knew to contact other players was through his console, but that has ceased to exist. At this time, he might have to resort to using his items that attract players.

'Items. That's right, I still haven't checked my items! How do I access my inventory?'

After consulting his mind, he reached out in midair and saw a hole ripped open. Hesitantly, Lumen pushed his hand inside, and countless pieces of information streamed through his mind. Unlike the previous times when his mind was flooded with information, this time was far more bearable, to the point that he was barely affected by it.

He scanned through his inventory and zeroed in on a particular item. He pulled his hand back out, revealing it to be holding something resembling a flare gun. This item could only be obtained during a one-time event and was more akin to a quest item, meaning it could only be used during said event. The only reason he kept it in his inventory was as a memento to remind him of the fun he and his friend had during that time.

However, as Lumen stared at the object, he knew it was real, and he knew that if he fired it, it would work. Slowly, he pointed it at the darkening sky. Without hesitation, Lumen pulled the trigger.

From the barrel of the gun came a wispy, green orb that trailed upward. It shone brightly like a star ascending to the heavens before, and once it flew high enough, it erupted into an expanding circle of light that disappeared beyond the horizons.

'If there truly are other players out there, this should let them know that they are not alone.'

The thought of whether this was a smart move or not only came to Lumen after the fact, but he didn't care. Friend or not, he needed to know whether he was truly alone, and this was the fastest method to accomplish it that he knew of. He deposited the item back.

With a long exhale, he continued to watch the beautiful sunset before him. Lumen's tranquil thoughts were interrupted when he heard a noise down below him. He looked over and saw carriages lined up down the side street. Curious, Lumen cast [Hawk Eye] to get a closer look. He wished he hadn't.

The carriages were cages filled with people. He noticed a dozen elves chained together with manacles around their necks. There were also a dozen men following them from the sides with swords and whips on their hips. The men were loading more elves into the cages. When one of the elves fell down, a whip came to force him back up.

Lumen was appalled at the inhuman treatment that the elves were given. He had to close his eyes and focus his mind to avoid having another repeat of his memories invade his consciousness. Taking deep breaths, he struggled to remain calm.

Scanning the area more, he found a squad of knights nearby on patrol. However, they merely gave passing glances when they passed by, not bothering to interfere.

'What? Do they not see what these men are doing? Does the empire truly fully support slavery?'

As a rush of energy flooded his body, hatred soon followed as he clenched his fists. If looks could kill, the men would be dead a thousand times over. He was tempted, oh so tempted, to cast the numerous lethal spells he knew. At that moment, he wished nothing but the deaths of the slavers. He wanted it so badly that his fists were shaking from the effort.

But he didn't. Reason kept his hand. If he attacked them now, the empire would retaliate against him. As selfish as it sounds, he couldn't afford to antagonize the empire at the moment. He needed to do it without revealing his involvement.

Lumen implored his mind to search for a better solution. Several seconds later, it presented him with an idea. It was something he could do that would hopefully not backfire.

Guided by the plan of action, he reached into his inventory once more and pulled out three scrolls. Mercenary scrolls. He also prepared numerous YGGDRASIL coins on the rooftops, enough to pay for the scrolls he was about to use. However, he hesitated. He felt unsure of how the mercenary NPCs would act.

Would they still obey his commands like they would in the game? Would they rebel against him or flee his grasp at the first opportunity? These mercenaries were of a high level, far higher than the people he had seen in this world. If such monstrosities were unleashed without his control, the people here would be massacred.

Another look at the elves below erased his hesitation. He had to save them. They deserved better lives. He was saved from his corporate enslavement when he was summoned to this world. He felt it was only natural that he do the same for the slaves in this world in return. Empire be damned.

Not wishing to waste any more time, Lumen canceled his invisibility and activated the scrolls. The gold coins in front of him vanished. In their place, three ninja-type monsters rose whose levels were over 80. One was called a Hanzo, another one a Fuuma, and the last one a Tobi Kato. The Hanzo was skilled at counter-stealth. The Fuuma was skilled at hand-to-hand combat. The Tobi Kato was skilled in weapons, with a curved, long bow slung behind its back and a katana sheathed on its hips. All three of them were skilled at stealth, and all three of them immediately kneeled before him.

"We await your orders, Master."

The three of them spoke at the same time.

'Good thing mercenary scrolls still work. Let's see if this also works.'

Lumen pulled out three identical cloaks from his inventory and pointed at the scene below him.

"The three of you will don these cloaks, and when I give the signal, you will kill every slaver down there, the men with the whips."

"It shall be done."

He gave the cloaks to all of them. The cloaks were, of course, magic items. They had the effect of concealing your features, which were hidden in darkness, so the ninjas' identities wouldn't be revealed unless one invested highly in detection abilities. Lumen took out another cloak and wore it over himself.

Satisfied, he cast [Complete Invisibility] on himself. The spell was another high-tier invisibility spell, but unlike [Perfect Unknowable], which rendered the target imperceptible to all senses except touch, the spell only blocked sight. The target could still be heard, smelled, and such.

"Good. Now go."

Lumen flew down while the ninjas blurred with inhuman speed. The results were instant. Just a second ago, these men went around with their heads held high. But then, those same heads rolled on the ground, lifeless. Only when Lumen landed did their bodies hit the ground.

Crimson ichor painted the streets in messy strokes, pooling around the bodies. The arterial spray splattered the cages. With Lumen's nose, he could already catch the hint of a metallic scent.

Most of them were cut straight and clean by the Hanzo and the Tobi Kato, as their heads easily slid off their bodies. The slavers' widened eyes and slackened jaws were frozen on their faces. Some, however, had their heads burst open like watermelons by the Fuuma.

Lumen stood still, his brain still processing the scene before him. He had seen plenty of deaths before in his old world. It was not surprising to find motionless bodies lying on the streets covered with toxic fog. However, this was an altogether different experience. The gore invaded Lumen's senses.

He teleported back to the rooftops as he emptied his already empty stomach, vomiting yellow stomach juices. His chest and sides ached from the effort as his head grew lightheaded. He could still hear the gush of blood replaying in his mind.

Lumen walked away from his mess as he tried to regain control of his shaking hands. His body felt cold, which should not have been possible for someone of his caliber. His breathing was ragged as he closed his eyes. The images were now implanted in his mind, an ever-present reminder of how vastly different this world was from the game.

It took a few minutes before he regained some semblance of control over his faculties. Screaming soon registered in his ears. It hadn't ended just yet. He needed to take charge or face serious consequences. His rage had somewhat abated but was still present.

Lumen touched his solid mask.

'Good thing the mask still worked. It would have been very messy if my vomit stayed in the mask.'

He had used up some of its data capacity to allow eating and drinking while wearing it, instead of having to remove it every time. He remembered how his vomit merely phased through it.

Gulping down the bitter taste in his mouth, he teleported back to the grisly site. Nothing had changed other than the civilians' horrific screams. People exited the nearby buildings, moving to get a closer look.

Stabilizing his shaky jaw, Lumen made sure his voice did not reveal his inner turmoil.

"Tobi, cut open these cages and free the elves. Hanzo, keep an eye on our surroundings. Knock out the witnesses and notify me if a patrol of knights approaches."

They promptly complied. The Hanzo disappeared as the bystanders started to fall unconscious on the ground, while the Tobi Kato made short work of the cages. The elves were soon released.

"Fuuma, check the building they came from. Kill everyone inside. If there are other slaves in there, bring them out."

The ninja disappeared into the door. If one listened carefully, one would hear shouting before being immediately silenced. He didn't want to kill others so soon, but since most of it would be out of sight, he caved to the necessity. He needed to kill every single one of the slavers for making him go through this.

Lumen reviewed the plan his mind gave him before opening a [Gate] in the middle of the street. The space warped as an oval, obsidian portal emerged.

"Elves, hear my voice! You are now free. Please kindly enter this portal, which will take you outside. One of my allies here will escort you and serve as your bodyguard until you reach safety."

None of the elves moved. They merely looked at each other, their faces full of fear. Some of them of were splashed with blood.

"Please, you don't have much time. Soon, the knights will be swarming this place. They will return you to a life of servitude at the first opportunity."

It took several more seconds before someone finally moved.

"E-Everyone, let's go. We won't get another chance like this."

After a few more hesitations, they eventually started approaching the shimmering gate. The first one wasted a few seconds before entering it, disappearing from view. The rest slowly followed. By then, the Fuuma had returned to the scene, followed by a stream of freed elves.

"Master, the building is now clear."

Lumen approached the Fuuma. His footsteps made a damp squelching sound like pressed sponge. Trying his best to ignore the sound, he touched the ninja's shoulder before speaking to it.

"Follow them and keep them safe. Use these Message scrolls to contact me when you run into trouble you can't handle."

He pulled out a few scrolls and gave it to the ninja.

"And if you ever come across hostile players—people with the same level of power as me or people just as strong or stronger than you—you will make it your top priority to bring that information to me as soon as possible. It doesn't matter if you have to abandon your task to do so. Is that understood?"

Lumen whispered this part.

"Yes, Master."

The Hanzo appeared beside him.

"Master, I detected a human hiding, watching us from the distance. There is also a patrol of knights nearby and will soon be here."

"I see. We're almost done here. Follow the one hiding; hide in his shadow if you have to. You will follow him back to wherever their bases of operations will be. You will take note of every detail you can find. Members, locations, documents, slaves—everything that can be used against them. Once you're confident enough to have learned everything necessary to shut down their entire operations for good, you will send me a message."

Lumen handed it Message scrolls after marking it as well. After the Hanzo disappeared, he noticed one of the elves approach him, it was the one that moved first. He faced her. Her eyes were darting around, as if looking for something in the air.

"U-um."

"Yes? What is it?"

Lumen let her know he was there.

"U-um, thank you for saving us!"

She gave him a deep bow.

"Think nothing of it. I simply couldn't tolerate the practice of slavery. Thank you for encouraging your fellow elves. Without you, they might have remained frozen in place."

"I-It was nothing!"

He wondered if the scene disturbed her like it did him, as she gave him a smile. He could only imagine the horrible sights and experiences she had endured. She might even be relieved at the fate of her slavers.

That reminded him—he doesn't know anything about these elves. What were they like as people? What did they do in their day-to-day lives? What was their culture like? What else did they need aside from their basic necessities? What even were their basic necessities? Lumen needed someone who knew how to take care of all of these.

"That said, all of you will need a leader sooner or later. More will soon join you, as I plan on freeing more. In the meantime, I hope you will accept the role."

"M-Me? Lead?"

"Yes. What's your name?"

"S-Saida."

"Saida, listen to me. All of you may be free now, but none of you are safe just yet. Fuuma here will protect all of you to the best of his abilities, but he doesn't know your people. You do, and your courage to move first and encourage your fellow elves has earned my trust. I'm sure you will do fine. Just lead your people to safety, as far from these human lands as possible. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes."

"Good. Now go. I can easily find all of you, so we will meet again later. Fuuma, hide in her shadow."

The second ninja disappeared as Saida reluctantly entered the portal. Once Lumen confirmed that there were no elves remaining, he closed the gate.

"Now then, it's time to make myself scarce. Tobi, enter my shadow."

His shadow shifted for a brief moment as the last ninja vanished. Hardly pleased with what he had accomplished, Lumen flew away.