Chapter 1: Rogue Lords (1)

Here’s the new novel everyone. Some of you maybe read the previous version, but after the author deleted the novel on Syosetu he decided to rewrite it on Kakuyomu. The reason I decided to start it from the beginning even though it would take more time to deliver new content is because the author made some changes to the story so I wanted to have the entire series on my site.

[Level 99 achieved!]

[World unification successful!]

The message in the game sparkled. This game, which I’ve been completely addicted to lately, is set in another world, during the Warring States Period. I’ve been obsessively playing it since the day it was released, and as a result, I’ve finally succeeded in unifying the world.

[You have received a message from the administration].

The moment I completely conquered the game, the first message window I saw appeared. Does the administration ever send messages directly to you? It’s a solo-player game, but the strategy ranking is aggregated in real time to create the player ranking. As such, I’m connected to the Internet, and I can receive messages.

Do I get some kind of reward? Like a coupon?

My curiosity piqued, so I clicked on the message window. Then, successive messages appeared on the screen.

[The game’s administration appreciates your strategy.]

[Challenge for glory. This is a favor given only to you, the number one ranked player].

[Perks].

[When you are ready to challenge for glory, the first step is to earn Perks. Perks can be obtained through exploration from the beginning MAP].

Glory? Don’t tell me there’s going to be a sequel? I conquered the game completely. I started as the main character in a rural town in a chaotic war-torn era, became a king, and achieved the unification of the world.

I’m not going to play the game again unless there is a sequel story, because I don’t find much enjoyment in playing a second time, but I was a little attracted to the word “perk”. When you say it so clearly, it seems like there is a hidden plot.

Where’s the beginning MAP?

My curiosity exploded. This was not going to be easy to figure out. So I looked around for the perks. But no matter how many times I searched the game’s MAP, I couldn’t find any perks.

Is this a prank by the administration?

That’s all I could think of when I got this far. I entered the developer’s website from my computer. There was a contact form, so I sent an email asking about the meaning of the message that appeared.

I looked at the clock, thinking that if it was a prank, I would give them a good scolding. The message from the administration had taken away my sense of accomplishment in conquering the game, and I felt exhausted. It was already 3:00 in the morning. There was no time for them to reply to my inquiry.

“Fuhaaaa!”

I yawned spontaneously and had no choice but to turn off the game. No, I tried to turn it off. At that moment, my consciousness suddenly faded. My surroundings turned dark, and I was struck by a terrible dizziness.

******

I’m awake. That means the beginning of a new day. Today started as usual, I stretched and yawned. It’s a habit of mine, after I do this, I feel a little refreshed when I wake up.

“What?”

By the way, the scenery in front of me was completely unfamiliar. I thought I was dreaming, so I closed my eyes. Then I rubbed my eyes and opened them again. But the fact remained that I was in an unfamiliar place. Was it someone’s house?

For the first time in my life, I saw a bedroom. It was an opulent medieval European-style bedroom.

Oh! I remembered that when I tried to turn off the game, my eyes went black and I got so dizzy that I lost consciousness!

What? Losing consciousness and dreaming? I couldn’t wake up from the dream, so I quickly pinched my cheek.

“Aah!”

It hurts. I pinched too hard. But one thing I was sure of was that it wasn’t a dream. How could I feel pain in a dream? I must have passed out and then been moved to this place. I looked around again, horrified.

Was I kidnapped? Where the hell am I?

I walked over to the window in front of my bed, opened what looked like a curtain and looked at the scenery outside.

“What the hell is this?”

I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. This was not the city I knew. It was not a city with a forest of buildings, but a collection of one to two-story buildings. The city was surrounded by a wall. The morning sun was shining on the city walls, and the scenery itself was exotic and very beautiful.

But this was not the time to marvel at the beauty. What lay before me was a real landscape, not on a screen. It was a situation that I could never understand.

I’ve heard that there are cities in Europe that have been left in their medieval state, but this was nothing like that. There was no modern atmosphere at all. The clothes of the people passing through the streets were the same, and horses and carriages were running along the streets instead of cars.

Furthermore, the place I was in was a castle. It’s the tallest building in the city, and I can see the entire landscape of the city at a glance. I was in the bedroom of the castle, with the window open.

“Are you awake?”

At that moment when my mind was plunged into chaos, I heard a knocking sound from outside the door. Thinking that it might be the person who had created this situation, I hurriedly ran to the door and vigorously opened it. There was an old man with white hair standing there. He was dressed like a butler.

“What do you think you’re doing? Bringing an ordinary person to a place like this!”

I asked the old man, and he started to look at me.

“Master?”

The old man suddenly called me master.

“Master? Who the hell am I? And who are you?”

I couldn’t understand what was going on, so I asked him. The old man and the two women in maid’s uniforms standing behind him looked at each other with a look of utter fright at my question.

“I’m Landers, the head chamberlain. Isn’t master Erhin, Lord of Aintorian? What is this, another one of your antics?”

The head chamberlain’s eyes widened. He looked terribly confused. But I’m the one who’s confused. It’s not like I’m playing around.

No, wait. Erhin Aintorian? I’m pretty sure Aintorian is a name from the game I was playing right before I fell asleep. No, no way?

Aintorian was a region where many events of considerable importance took place in the latter half of the game. Come to think of it, I think the name of the lord of Aintorian in the beginning of the game was Aintorian Erhin.

You think I’m this Aintorian Erhin?

“Are you saying that this is the Lunan Kingdom and we are in Aintorian territory?”

“Yes, of course. It’s Aintorian, the domain of the Lunan Kingdom.”

“You’re saying I’m an Aintorian?”

“Yes, master……today. What do you intend to do?”

The head chamberlain asked me, looking as frightened as ever. I’m deadly serious, what are you talking about? No, I don’t care about that. So, to them, I’m a character in a game, Aintorian Erhin?

Does that mean I’m in the game? That’s impossible. It was certainly impossible, but the surrounding scenery and the appearance of the chamberlain and maids. It was true that these things made the current situation seem real.

“Mirror……Is there a full-length mirror anywhere?”

“It’s downstairs. Master!”

It was the maids who replied. There was no mirror in the room. I don’t even know if there are mirrors in this day and age.

“Where is it downstairs?”

“I’ll have it delivered right away!”

Perhaps misinterpreting the question of where it was as a request to bring it immediately, the maids ran off somewhere. I didn’t stop them, because I wanted to see what I looked like right away. Why on earth do I look like Aintorian Erhin?

“And a map! Do you have a map of the country?”

“Maps? Of course we have maps. One moment, please.”

The chamberlain also answered immediately and disappeared somewhere. His movements were very agile. Well, he calls me master, so I guess that’s to be expected.

I went back to my bedroom and sat down on my bed. I was dumbfounded, but clearly I had entered the world of the game I was playing. That’s the situation, without a doubt.

Eventually, the maids came back. Two of them were holding a full-length mirror, looking as frightened as ever. But now was not the time to soothe their fears. I stared into the mirror. My body froze in shock and no words came out. I couldn’t hide my confusion.

My reflection in the mirror was very similar to the illustration of Aintorian Erhin that was the graphics in the game. It was like a live-action version of the illustration. I was definitely Aintorian Erhin now, an Erhin lord in his early twenties. The cool illustration had become reality, and in the mirror was a handsome man.

“You think this is me……?”

“Master?”

“I need to be left alone.”

“Yes, sir. Yes, sir!”

The maids obeyed my words and backed away in a huff. Shortly after, the chamberlain came back with a large map in his hand.

“Master, I have a map for you…….”

I wanted to be alone, so I interrupted the head chamberlain.

“Put it there and don’t let anyone else enter the room until I call for you.”

“Yes, sir.”

The head chamberlain had the same reaction as the maids and disappeared in a huff. The big door to my bedroom closed and I was alone again.

I’m 25 years old. My hobby is gaming. Perhaps I’ve been punished for my daily life, but the next thing I know I’m in a scene from a game and became of the characters. I couldn’t believe it, and I didn’t want to believe it, but no matter how I looked at it, I was in the game.

Don’t tell me this is what the opportunity to challenge glory was all about? Are the developers of this game gods? Otherwise, it was a situation that could never happen in reality, unless the game developer was an omniscient god.

This is even more so because what unfolds in front of my eyes is not the inside of a game with 2D or 3D graphics, but the real world where the game setting is applied. The expressions and actions of the head attendant, the frightened faces of the maids, everything was real.

You think this is glory? This situation where a game has become reality? If this had been a normal game, I might have had to rejoice as a game lover. It’s not like I’m that attached to real life. But there’s a problem. This game is based on war. In other words, it’s a deadly game. The fact that such a world has become a reality means that I will have to live in a time of war.

My head was starting to hurt. No, it had already started to hurt, but the headache had peaked. I scratched my head and unfolded the map that the head servant had left for me. The names of the places and countries on the map were still the same as in the game.

“Wait, that means……!”

And then I realized the biggest problem. There was a huge issue that would arise if this was a game setting and I was Aintorian Erhin.

Aintorian Erhin is not the protagonist. He’s not even a supporting character; he’s someone who dies right at the start of the game. Of all people, I’m that Aintorian Erhin?

The game tells the story of the ancient Aintorian kingdom, where a civil war hundreds of years ago led to the division of the ancient kingdom and the start of the Warring States Era.

That’s the problem. The Aintorian region is one of the most important regions in the game, and the one where the outbreaks of conflict by those trying to occupy it are the most common. Most importantly, in the setting at the start of the game, Aintorian Erhin, which is exactly what I am now, was set to be the first to die in a surprise attack by the Narja Kingdom.