Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 86: First Friend

Being in shock is a bit of an understatement. Sure, I'm happy to see someone from my school playing [Isekai Online]. But him being hired by our Dad as a beta tester has caught us off guard especially after he suddenly recognized me. As much as I'm happy to see Yuri, I've got a lot of questions about his appearance in the game right now. Before I can ask, I notice Wind's friends rushing to my brother's side after he fainted while Ol' Wally rushes to Azel's side to check on them. As for me, I approach Yuri for some answers.

"Yuri, I-I'm happy to see you playing the game. But why are you here? And how in the world did you buy some equipment to play it?"

"Ask my folks about it. Dad finally got a discount on the [VeilCon] thanks to Mr. Palmer's recommendation," Yuri explains. "As for the beta tester gig, it's thanks to you that I finally decided on my answer after moving here from Japan."

Then, I see Arthur walking to us and say, "Oh? A Japanese newbie kid, huh?"

He clears his throat as I watch in confusion. "Konnichiwa, Yuri-kun. Ore wa..."

"Don't. Please don't," Yuri interrupts and shakes his head. "One, there's the game's automatic translation feature. And two, I can speak just fine without it. Besides, my English is perfect compared to your attempts to speak Japanese poorly. By the way, watching anime is not a good way to learn Japanese unless you're an idiotic otaku."

I don't know what that means. But it is enough for me to hear Razul laughing behind me and seeing Arthur's face turn red.

"Yeesh... Talk about snappy. You're practically an opposite from a gamer kid we know."

Gamer kid? Is he talking about me or Azul?

"Whatever. I'm just glad to see you again, Kaz," Yuri says as he grins at me. "Although, I'm surprised that you got a large entourage in the game already."

"Thanks. But most of them are friends to my older brother," I answer before I turn around to see him getting up after his shock. "Speaking of which, are you okay, Wind?"

"Y-Yeah. Barely..." Wind answers as he rubs his head after hitting it on the ground. "Still, I never expect my brother's classmate would be playing the game, too. I'm Wind, Kazu's partner. Sorry about his antics earlier."

"Hey, it's no bother at all. While those guys might be back for revenge soon, I'm just glad someone is there to protect me for once," Yuri says. "Most of the time, other players were only watching than doing while I got into some rude players' nerves. Sometimes, I had to smack some sense out of them outside <Initio>. And yet, out of all of them, you're the one who stepped in to save me."

"You're welcome, Yuri. I'm glad that you're safe. But I have to ask. What kind of [Masteries] that caused that guy to get angry in the first place?"

"Oh, that?" Yuri hums in thought as I stare at him out of curiosity. "It might be better if you see it for yourself."

He takes out his status screen and using the share feature of it, he lets me and Wind see his stats and his [Mastery] set.

[Yur1's Masteries]

[Swordsmanship] Level 16

[Arcana] Level 15

[Earth] Level 16

[Fire] Level 14

[Restoration] Level 10

[Dark] Level 15

[Magical Affinity] Level 18