LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 1: Prologue
[YOU DIED]
Is this for real?
I stared at the black-and-white screen for a while. It was beyond belief, leaving me speechless.
It was because this playthrough had been going so well.
Starting as an illegitimate child of a noble family with a legitimate claim to the throne, I was on the verge of becoming the king through politics and wars.
I had even formed an alliance with the Empire.
But assassination really?
The game message explained that I had died due to sudden acute poisoning.
However, I could tell without confirming that I had fallen victim to an assassination scheme.
Of course, it was common for characters to die like this in the game.
Yet, the futile annihilation of the time I had poured into it never became familiar.
I have no luck, none at all.
A deep sigh escaped my lips. Having no luck was what gamers with insufficient skill always said.
But in my case, it was different.
It was true.
I wasnt just consoling myself; it was because the game was designed in a way where events like this depend on probability, much like a game where even shooting a gun in front of you had only a 1% chance of missing.
I had even recruited quite competent individuals in the field of stratagems to avoid being assassinated.
Well, there might have been someone among them who was involved.
In a realistic game, it was impossible to satisfy all human relationships.
But even so, the probability wouldnt have been high.
Even with a 1% chance, if you tried it 200 times, you were bound to succeed. But did you really want to make that many attempts?
As a gamer, I naturally blamed luck in such situations.
Ha, damn it. Should have been more cautious.
I mumbled, but it was a futile remark.
I didnt even know who arranged it. The probability was high that it was a devil worshipper, but I couldnt be certain.
Considering I started as an illegitimate child with the throne within reach, it was a situation with a lot of static.
And well
I wasnt a character specifically built for stratagems or scheming in the first place.
I focused on combat prowess, so even if my subordinates were skilled in stratagems, the chances of success were low.
Sigh.
Even though the game was displaying Game Over, pressing the confirm button wasnt easy. My character was rarely well-developed in a game where you didnt allow to abuse the load and save.
Well, there was nothing I could do.
Lets stop.
Valhll was an early access game that I happened to come across after being discharged from the military.
It was a medieval fantasy with a touch of modernity, offering a high degree of freedom in gameplay.
Although it was quite challenging, it was so enjoyable that I invested a considerable amount of time even after returning to school.
But now I really needed to find a part-time job.
I had exhausted all the money I saved up while playing the game, so I needed to earn living expenses before the new semester started.
When I pressed the confirm button to exit the game, a parchment-shaped window appeared in the center of the refreshed main screen.
[Challenge quest Significant Death 100 Times completed. Tutorial ends. From now on, you can choose three high-ranking traits when creating a character.]
Huh?
Was there a challenge quest called Significant Death?
As I moved the mouse cursor, an explanation appeared, stating that it referred to the characters death for more than 10 hours of playtime.
Were they insane?
It was an absurd challenge quest that required at least 1,000 hours of gameplay, considering that many players died before even reaching 10 hours. It made no sense.
Regardless, it made me slightly alert that I had spent that much time on Valhll.
But it was somewhat surprising that the tutorial was ending.
Does that mean at least 1,000 hours are considered part of the tutorial?
Hmm I had a vague idea of what that meant.
Any gamer who played Valhll would have had the same thought as me.
Once you passed the midsection of the main story, the character inevitably died.
Of course, it was a difficult journey to get there as well.
Anyway, 1,000 hours seemed excessive no matter how I thought about it.
Perhaps it was due to the game being in early access, but I felt that the developers were being too arbitrary.
Or is it that the aspiring game developer is overflowing with confidence?
Although I did it this way, most gamers didnt spend more than 200 hours on a single game.
Sighing, I tried to quit the game, but my fingers hesitated to move.
I can choose three high-ranking traits?
Traits were usually randomly given during character creation. They were said to vary depending on values, but I didnt feel much of a difference.
It was a system that relied entirely on luck.
Id restarted the game multiple times due to getting trashy traits or penalty traits.
Among them, high-ranking traits were special. There were times when I envied the high-ranking traits of other characters.
I, too, had played for over 1,000 hours and had received high-ranking traits only five times so far.
Even if I wasnt particularly skilled, my playtime itself was quite long.
But now, I could choose them instead of relying on randomness?
And not just one, but three?
Should I try again just one more time?
The instinct of a gamer was preventing my rationality from pressing the end game button.
Hmm.
Since Id already wasted so much time, should I just give it one more try?
If I received three high-ranking traits, it wouldnt hurt to enjoy them and then quit, right?
Yes. Just one more time.
My rationality was shouting at me to stop, but I couldnt resist the temptation and pressed the start game button.
With a thud, the screen refreshed.
[Combat] [Charm] [Learning] [Politics] [Stratagem]
Five simple choices for selecting the values of the character came to mind. After choosing the values, the character would be randomly generated.
They could be nobles, knights, or commoners.
Because of that, there were times when I rerolled the character creation dozens of times. However, that wasnt important now.
What should I choose this time?
In truth, Combat was the most efficient option. In a fantasy world, regardless of what anyone said, power was paramount.
On the other hand, Charm, Learning, and Politics required too much attention.
Some people even pursued romantic relationships with charm as their value but I wasnt particularly interested in pursuing romance in the game. It was more about self-satisfaction than clearing the game.
The most ambiguous option was Stratagem. It was difficult to develop and had a high risk of being exposed.
But if I ignored it completely and fell victim to stratagems like this, it would be infuriating.
Still, with three high-ranking Traits, wouldnt it be worth a try?
Hmm. Since I might as well reroll the character a few more times, it was not a crucial decision at the moment.
If I got a good result, Id give it a proper try; otherwise, Id just move on.
I chose Stratagem. Normally, a loading screen would appear, and the character would be randomly selected.
Instead, a screen I had never seen before came up.
[Please select three high-ranking traits.]
Favor of Magic
Unrivaled Beauty
Fearless and Unyielding
God of Strategy
Beloved Diplomat
Midas Touch
Genius
.
.
.
There were some that I had never seen before and some that looked familiar. But the scroll was longer than I expected.
Were there so many high-ranking traits? As I scrolled down, one caught my eye.
[Death Avoidance]
-Provides a warning at the moment of impending death.
It was a trait I had never seen before. It had a brief and simple description, but it was an absolute must-choose.
There was nothing better in this game. It was much better than dying without knowing anything.
Even if there was a chance to find a way to survive or not, just knowing why I died could help me survive next time.
I clicked the mouse, and Death Avoidance was placed in one of the three slots. I scrolled again.
Oh?
In the midst of scrolling, something caught my eye. It stood out among the high-ranking traits.
Its meaning was clear.
[Winds]
-Unique Trait.
-Commands the winds.
A Unique Trait.
It was a trait that only one person in the world could have. Wow, I could choose this too? Was a unique trait also a high-ranking trait?
The description itself was simple, but that made it even better. It meant it could be used universally.
At this point, my expectations grew considerably. I quickly scrolled the mouse.
Ah, not two.
I found another Unique Trait, but I couldnt select it. It seemed that choosing two unique traits was impossible.
Well, even though I said just one more, I knew. Since I knew I would try it multiple times, I chose Winds without much hesitation.
Considering the choice of strategy, Winds seemed better even though I chose Stratagem. It allowed for discreet movement.
[Ironman]
-Becomes incredibly strong, healthy, and robust.
Lastly, it was natural to choose Ironman. Since I had chosen survival-related and ability-related traits one by one, there should also be a health-related trait.
Sometimes, unexpectedly falling from a horse or suffering from an epidemic could happen.
[Do you confirm the chosen high-ranking traits as they are?]
There was nothing more to see.
Actually, I didnt really brainstorm or think hard, but after trying it a few times, I would know what was good and what wasnt.
How should I play this time?
If the end of the tutorial meant unlocking the main story
It would be better to sketch out a rough outline and go.
The process of repeatedly generating characters randomly was quite boring.
Especially if you didnt narrow down the range, you would keep pondering.
If you plan ahead, you could reduce the time spent on decision-making when a suitable character appears.
Although it was better to change the plan if a really good character appears.
The game was about stopping the rise of devil worshippers that coincided with the division of the empire.
Their influence was quite powerful and widespread, so uniting the divided empire was the mainstream opinion to oppose them.
Ive never played it all the way to the end, though.
The brief thought led to one conclusion. It seemed okay to side with the princess.
To unite the divided empire, we needed someone mentally sound and who would not cause controversy in the future, and the only person who fit those criteria was the princess.
The rest of the princes were all lunatics. There had been cases of cannibalism, improper executions, and accidental deaths.
Actually, there was no prince who inherited the blood of the emperor.
I felt a sharp pain in my back when I found that out.
There were devil worshippers within the empire, so it wouldnt be easy, but with stratagem and secrets, assassination could be actively utilized.
I already knew how to exploit the weaknesses of the princes. I pressed the confirm button.
And
The game message was updated.
[High-ranking trait selection is complete. You have selected 3 high-ranking Traits. 3 penalty traits will be randomly assigned.]
What? There was no mention of that!
It was a moment of realization.
Bzzt! A bright white light emanated from the monitor.
* * *
Humans always repeat the same mistakes.
It was a phrase that came to mind when the modern-themed medieval city, which I had seen countless times on the screen, unfolded before my eyes.
Pressing the game start button instead of searching for a part-time job had resulted in a very unfortunate outcome, akin to a stroke of genius.
Like wasting time on a game after the discharge.
No, that was not it.
Could this be called a mistake?
In fact, it was closer to a natural disaster. No one could have imagined such an outcome.
I didnt know what to say, but
I entered the game.
And it was none other than the game I enjoyed, Valhll.
At first, I thought it was a dream.
Considering how much time I had spent playing Valhll, excluding sleep and meals, I had dreamt about it more than once or twice.
But
The vivid senses and the people living within them were telling me that this was not a dream.
People who looked like to be adventurers, knights, and mages, awakened my senses to reality.
It was beneficial for my mental health to acknowledge and move on without denying reality. There was no use in denying reality for no reason.
I had undoubtedly entered the game.
But that didnt mean I refrained from swearing.
Fuck.
Yes. I had entered the game.
Even if I wanted to deny it, I had no choice but to accept it now. I had tried slapping my face and pinching my palm to the point of hurting myself.
The familiar pain only served to awaken me to the fact that this was reality.
The problem was that this game, which I had played for over a thousand hours without ever seeing an ending, was known for its nonsensical difficulty.
And the landscape before me was also a very serious problem.
Fuck.
In Valhll, the characters were randomly selected after choosing ones values.
The main characters leading the main story were impossible to get, but someone close to them could be chosen.
Of course, it was not always a good thing. If you were unlucky, there could be more than ten people trying to take your life right from the start of the game.
But to see a shabby alley and the floor of a market right after entering
Fuck
It meant that even my luck in character gacha had failed.