Chapter 4

3====================

Prologue.

‘Am I truly in my world?’

I surprised myself. Was I truly considering the possibility of being in my own game? Xian was sitting in front of me, saying nothing, just sitting there, smiling. At least that gave me time to organize my thoughts. Him being here certainly strengthened my theory of being trapped in my game world. But how could this be? And why?

Well, the person who can answer this question might be sitting right in front of you. The look of his weirdly shaped, decaying body horrified me. But I forced my mouth open and asked him:

“My Lord, This is…is this a game?”

At least my voice didn’t tremble too much. But why did I call him ‘Lord’? It’s not that I’m not usually a polite person, but calling someone Lord is unusual. He has this aura that compels you to respect him. Also, calling me ‘Creator’ made it seem appropriate to call him by an honorific title.

Surprisingly, he nodded as if he had seen a satisfactory reaction. Like he was telling me that he should be addressed in this way.

“Surely, it is only because you are the Creator that you know instinctively how to address me properly. To answer the question, my first instinct is to say ‘Yes’, but the truth is ‘No’.”

“I don’t understand. Lord.”

He didn’t seem to care about the class words, so I tried to speak naturally. But for the sake of courtesy, I attached a proper title. This caused him to open his eyes as if surprised.

“You can talk normally. It’s you. Rather, it makes me feel more comfortable.”

“…Then that’s what I’ll do. Okay, so the point is, this isn’t a game?”

“Haha, that’s not it.”

I don’t understand why he is laughing.

Is my misery making him happy? Is this a hidden camera show? I wanted to shout at him, but I managed to hold myself back.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m just telling the truth. While yes, this is a game, it’s also a reality. Some systems are open to others, but you have access to all the systems. In other words, it’s not different from a game, but the others don’t know it.”

Wow, this explanation made my head spin.

There was still one question left unanswered. The most important question.

“Why am I here? How did I get here?”

“You’re calmer than I would have thought. Or do you think this is an illusion or a dream? Unfortunately, I can’t answer that question yet. The Creator just needs to enjoy this world as if he was playing a game and collect all the fragments. Very simple Isn’t it?”

He stated it so matter-of-factly that there didn’t seem to be any doubt in his mind that’s what I have to do.

I, however, had doubts.

“Why would I want to do that, even if it was simple?”

He frowned and answered in a displeasing tone that made me feel as if he was talking to a misbehaving child.

On top of that, he cried and laughed, then opened his arms wide, as if he were in a drama.

“Oh, Creator. This is a game for you, but at the same time it’s your ‘duty’. If you ever wanted to get out of this world, then you have to play the game. You have to gather all the fragments and become Perrnern’s successor. Only then can you leave this world. This is the fate you have created for yourself.”

“…….”

“One thing I can promise you. If you are successful, then I can promise my former Creator great power and wealth in the original world. “

Xian didn’t stop smiling as he kept talking without waiting for an answer from me.

“Of course, you don’t have a say in this matter, and because of this coercion, you might be displeased with me. You might even hold a grudge.”

“But what if I die? What if I don’t collect the pieces? If so, are you going to force me to stay here?”

“If you die, then you’d have to start over. The game won’t end until you have collected all the fragments. While it is certainly going to be difficult for you to die, because the potential of the body you inhabit is enormous, this world is extremely dangerous and you will probably die countless times. When you start over you have to collect all the fragments again.”

What started as a conversation at first turned into a monologue.

His gaze turned to the ground; he tilted his head and muttered a few incomprehensible words.

After a while, he nodded to himself, as if he’d made a decision.

“Fine. I will grant you two gifts that will benefit you if you die. Firstly, whenever you acquire a fragment, a save point will be created from where you can start over when you die. You can also save whenever you want until you get the shard.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag.

“Secondly, I will grant you this pouch. You won’t be able to open it. It will open by itself on the day of your fifteenth birthday. Don’t lose it.”

He tried to stand up to hand it over. But he couldn’t muster the strength to heave himself up. Incredulous, he looked down at his legs.

“Oh. It looks like there were unforeseen complications in transferring myself into this body.”

He muttered something that I couldn’t understand. He tried to get up again, and this time he managed it with ease. Standing up, I noticed how tall he was.

Xian knelt on one knee to get down to my level and handed me the pocket. When I held it in my hand, I felt an immense power coming from it. He proceeded to hold his hand over my head.

“Finally, I give you my protection. However, you need to be stronger to be able to use my gift to its fullest extent. I apologize for putting such restrictions on my gift. You will understand when the time has come.”

A strange power radiated from his hands. I could feel it throughout my entire body. It felt amazing.

He looked at me as if he was sorry.

“You can blame me for everything. Once it’s all over, I’ll put my life in your hands. Until then, it is all about collecting the fragments.”

“…….”

“It’ll be hard. You will experience extreme pain. It might wear you out. But please, Creator, I hope that you will find joy in playing this game. Until we meet again.”

He stood up, waved his hand, and was gone just as suddenly as he appeared.

Find joy in playing this game? Bullshit.

He reached out with his hand toward the spot where Xian had disappeared, then sat down on the bed with a deep sigh.

‘How did this happen?’

I was celebrating because I had received a large amount of money. The next moment I woke up here.

I doubt I will ever be able to go back. I already miss my computer, family, friends, and all the money I had in the real world.

I even endured all sorts of hardships in the army for two years. Was it all for nothing?

I could complain all I wanted. Where I was now was my new reality. It’s strange how this realization doesn’t disturb me more. I should be completely distraught, but for some reason, I’m not.

With a big sigh, I decided to inspect this body I’m currently occupying closer.

There was no way to input commands, nothing I could touch, but when I thought about the status window, a holographic window, like the one earlier, appeared in front of me.

──────────────────────

「Status Window」

[Name: Judah Arche]

[Title: None]

[Level: 1]

[Job: Black Claw _ Shadow Magic Swordsman (Hidden_A)]

[Number of resurrections: 0]

[Strength: 20(D) / Potential A]

[Health: 15(F) / Potential S]

[Agility: 15(F) / Potential SS]

[Magic: 30(D) / Potential B]

[Anti-magic: 50(C) / Potential S]

[Luck: 75(B) / Potential A] ◀ Special

[Points remaining: 0]

──────────────────────

I stared at the window that had appeared in front of my eyes. Slowly, my mouth fell open at the sight of my name.

“Judah Arche? Wait a second.”

I screamed.

“You can’t be serious…!”

Baffled, I looked at the window in front of my eyes and laughed hysterically.

My god, Judah. Judas! Unbelievable.

I should have noticed right away when I saw my reflection in the mirror.

Of all the characters I could have been, Xian intended for me to become Judas.

Incredulous, I stared at the window and blinked a few times, but the text did not change. I was Judah.

I was the protagonist’s rival.

Judah has great abilities, skills, and even looks, but he is not very fortunate. He loses all his female companions and is even going to be betrayed by the protagonist in the end.

Even if the protagonist were to collect fragments, he wouldn’t be sanctioned by the temple. Though, this guy will collect all the fragments after incredible hardships and move on to the second continent. The temple will declare it as an achievement of the continent as a whole. In the end, the protagonist will steal all the fragments from him. It is this character’s destiny to become the platform for the protagonist’s rise to power. I made him only for fun and to keep the story interesting, but now I am him.

*　　　　　　　　　　*　　　　　　　　　　*

──────────────────────

Hint 1: Traits and skills are given to all NPCs, except the player — each with five slots. You can complete Quests and earn achievements to open additional slots for special NPCs, but the maximum number of available slots is 10.

──────────────────────

「Status Window」

[Name: Judah Arche]

[Title: None]

[Level: 1]

[Job: Black Claw _ Shadow Magic Swordsman (Hidden_A)]

[Number of resurrections: 0]

[Strength: 20(D) / Potential A]

[Health: 15(F) / Potential S]

[Agility: 15(F) / Potential SS]

[Magic: 30(D) / Potential B]

[Anti-magic: 50(C) / Potential S]

[Luck: 75(B) / Potential A] ◀ Special

[Points remaining: 0]

──────────────────────