[Achieves level 99!]
[Successfully unified]
The message in the game sparkled. This game, which I'm totally addicted to these days, is set against the backdrop of the otherworldly Warring States period.
After playing enthusiastically from the day of the game's release, I finally succeeded in unifying the world.
Management message received]
The moment I fully conquered the game, a message window appeared that I had never seen before. Does the management ever send me a direct message?
It's a solo-player game, but the strategy rankings are aggregated in real time to create player rankings. Because of that, you're connected to the internet and, well, you can receive messages, that's for sure.
Do you get any perks? Coupon or something?
Curiosity piqued, I clicked on the message window first. Then another series of messages appeared on the screen in rapid succession.
Game management will appreciate your strategy]
Challenge for glory. This is a benefit only for you, number one in the rankings]
Benefits]
When you're ready to take on the glory, you'll earn the rewards first. Perks can be obtained through exploration from the beginning MAP]
Glory?
No way, there is even a sequel? The game was completely conquered. In chaotic and war-torn times, starting from the hero of a small town, he became a king and achieved the unification of the country.
I'm not inclined to play laps without a sequel story, as I don't find the second week of play very enjoyable, but the word "perks" appealed to me a bit.
If you say it that clearly, it seems like there is a hidden story behind it.
Where's the beginning MAP?
My curiosity exploded. This is not a neat thing to attack. So I looked around for perks.
However, no matter how much I scoured the in-game MAP, I could not find any perks.
Operating prank?
That's all I can think of at this point. I entered the developer's website from my computer. As the contact form was set up, 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 tell him to hang on.
A message from the management has erased my sense of accomplishment and left me with only exhaustion. It was already 3:00 a.m. I hadn't even received a reply to my inquiry email. It was already 3:00 a.m. The time for a reply to my inquiry mail had not arrived.
"Phew!
I had no choice but to turn off the game because I was yawning spontaneously. No, I tried to turn it off. At that moment, I suddenly lost consciousness. All around me was darkness and I was terribly dizzy.
*
*
Woke up.
That is, waking up from sleep and opening your eyes.
It means the beginning of the day.
The day began as usual. I stretched and yawned. It's a habit of mine. It makes me feel a little refreshed when I wake up.
'Huh?'
By the way, the scenery in front of me was completely unfamiliar to me. I closed my eyes, wondering if I was sleep-deprived. Then I rubbed my eyes and opened them again.
But it was still an unfamiliar sight.
Someone's house?
It's the first bedroom I've ever seen. It's also a luxurious medieval European-style bedroom.
I'm not even drunk.
Ah!
That's when I first remembered. I remembered that when I tried to turn off the game, my eyes went black and I was terribly dizzy and lost consciousness!
What? Are you dreaming of losing consciousness?
Not being able to wake up from a dream. It's painful. I immediately pinched my cheek.
"Ugh!
It was painful. I pinched too hard.
But one thing is certain with this: it's not a dream.
There was no way I was going to feel pain in my dream!
I was probably moved to this place after I passed out.
I looked around again, horrified and with goosebumps on my face.
Had I been abducted?
Where the hell am I?
Walked over to the window seen in front of the bed and opened a sort of curtain.
Open the window and look out at the landscape.
Outside scenery.
It is.
It's.
What's this?
A hollow soliloquy popped up unexpectedly. I couldn't keep my mouth very open. This is not the city I know. It wasn't a city with a forest of buildings, but a collection of one- to two-story buildings. Such a city was surrounded by a castle wall.
The morning sun was shining on the walls, and the scenery itself was somehow exotic and very beautiful.
However, this was not the time to admire the beauty. What unfolds in front of my eyes is a real landscape. It's not on the screen.
It was not a situation that I could ever understand.
I've heard that there are cities in Europe that have been left in their medieval state, but it's not like that. There was no modern atmosphere at all. The same is true of the clothing of the people passing through the streets, but instead of cars, horses and carriages were on the road.
What's more, the place I was in was a castle. It's the tallest building in the city. The landscape of the city can be seen at such a glance.
I was in my bedroom in the castle with the window open.
Are you awake?
Just as my mind fell into chaos, I heard a knock from outside the door.
Thinking that he might be the one who created this situation, I hurriedly ran to the door and opened it vigorously.
There was an old man with white hair standing there. It was an old man dressed like a butler.
What do you mean by that? A person living an ordinary life in a place like this!
When I asked the old man this, he started to look at me rather than the other way around.
"Master?
Moreover, the old man suddenly called me master.
"Who the hell am I, master? Besides, who are you?
I couldn't understand it any better, so I asked back. The old man and the two women in maid outfits standing behind him looked at each other with a look of complete trepidation at my question.
I'm Chief Chamberlain Landers. Isn't your master the Lord of Aintorian, Master Erhin? What is this gagging again?
The chief chamberlain's eyes glazed over. He looks terribly puzzled. But I'm the one who's confused. This is no way to play around.
No, wait. Erhin?
Adrian?
If it's Adrian, it's the name of the game I was playing until just before I fell asleep, I believe.
No, no way?
Aintorian was a region where a lot of events of considerable importance happen in the later part of the game. Come to think of it, I think the name of the Aintorian lord in the early game was Aintorian Erhin.
I'm that Aintorian Erhin?
"You don't mean to tell me that this is the kingdom of Lunan and this is the territory of Aintorian?
Yes, of course. We are in Aintorian, a territory of the Lunan Kingdom.
"I'm that lord's Aintorian?
Yes, master. Master. Today you can visit ....... What do you intend to do?
The chamberlain asked me with a frightened face as usual. I'm so serious that I'm dying, what are you talking about earlier? No, it doesn't matter.
Does that mean that to them I'm the character Aintorian Erhin of the game?
Does that mean I've gotten into the game as well?
Impossible.
Certainly not possible, but the surrounding scenery and the appearance of the chamberlain and maids. It was true that such things gave a sense of reality to the current situation.
Totally disgusting, but not to talk about.
"Mirror ....... Do you have a full-length mirror anywhere?
Downstairs. Master!
It was the maids who responded.
There was no mirror in the room. But I don't even know if there is a mirror in this era.
'Where is it downstairs?'
I'll be right with you!
The maids ran somewhere else, perhaps misinterpreting the question of where it was to mean bring it immediately.
I didn't stop them, as I wanted to see my appearance immediately.
Why in the world do I look like Aintorian Erhin?
And the map! How about a map of this country?
"Map? Of course there is and also. Please wait a minute.
The chamberlain also responded immediately and disappeared somewhere. He was very agile in his movements. Well, he's calling me master, and that's only natural.
I went back to the bedroom and sat down on the bed for a while.
I was stunned, but I was clearly in the game I was playing.
It was undeniably such a situation.
Soon, the maids returned. They were holding a full-length mirror and looked as frightened as ever.
But now is not the time to allay their fears.
I stared in the mirror.
My body froze in shock. I couldn't speak. I couldn't hide my confusion.
The image of myself in the mirror.
It bore a striking resemblance to an illustration by Aintorian Erhin, which was the graphics in the game. The illustration was live-action, something like that.
It's not me.
Now I definitely looked like Aintorian Erhin, Lord Erhin in his early 20s. The cool illustration became reality, and in the mirror I saw a handsome man I had never seen before.
'This is me, ......?'
"Master?
I need to be left alone.
"Cool, I'm cool!
The maids obediently followed his words and withdrew in a huff. Soon after, the chamberlain returned with a large map in his hand.
'Master, I have a map for you: ......'
Wanting to be alone, I interrupted the chamberlain's words.
'Leave it there. And don't let anyone enter the room until I call you.
"Yes, sir.
The chamberlain also reacted the same way as the maids and disappeared in a huff. The big door to the bedroom closed and I was alone again.
I'm 25 years old.
My hobby is gaming.
I don't know if I was punished for my daily life or not, but I found myself in a scene from the game. Moreover, I was one of the characters in the game.
It's hard to believe, and I don't want to believe it, but this situation was in the game for all intents and purposes.
No way was this the kind of opportunity to challenge glory?
Do you think the developers of this game are gods?
Otherwise, the situation was absolutely impossible in reality. Unless the game developer is an all-knowing God.
Even more so, because what you see in front of you is not a game that runs in 2D or 3D graphics, but the real world where the game setting is applied.
The expressions and actions of the chamberlain, the frightened faces of the maids.
Everything was like a real, live person.
And this is glorious? This situation where the game became a reality?
If this had been a normal game, as a game lover, I might not have been able to help but rejoice, because I'm not that attached to real life. Not that I'm that attached to real life.
But there's a problem. This game is about war. In other words, it's a deadly game.
The fact that such a world has become a reality, though, means that we have to live in a time of warfare.
My head is starting to hurt. No, the pain was long gone, but the headache was at its peak.
I scratched my head and unfolded the map that the chamberlain had left behind.
The place names on the map, and the country, are still the same as the setting in the game.
Wait, that means ......!
And then.
I noticed the biggest problem. This is the setting in the game, and if I was Aintorian Erwin, the biggest problem I had was the biggest problem that would happen.
Aintorian Erhin was not the main character. He's not even the protagonist, he's someone who dies right at the start of the game. He's not even a supporting character.
Am I, of all people, the Aintorian Erhin?
The game tells the story of how, in the ancient kingdom of Aintorian, a civil war hundreds of years ago united a nation divided like a warring nation.
That's the question, though.
The Aintorian region is one of the most important regions in the game, and the one that is most prone to outbreaks of conflict by those who want to occupy it. Above all, Aintorian Erhin, or just now me, was set up at the beginning of the game to be the first to die in a surprise attack by the Kingdom of Nalja.