◈ 002. [STAGE 0] Let the tutorial begin
!
When I opened my eyes, a pile of bricks fell in front of my eyes with an explosion.
“uh?”
At the same time as making a stupid noise, someone grabbed my shoulder from behind.
I couldn’t even think of moaning and had to lie flat on the floor.
“What is this all of a sudden… !”
I tried to turn my head to see the person who pushed me, but
it was a cuguagua!
Before that, there was a tremendous vibration accompanied by an explosion. It felt like a bomb had exploded right in front of me. I freaked out and pressed myself closer to the floor.
Soon the vibrations subsided and my deafened ears calmed down. I raised my shaking head and looked around. What is it?
It was on top of a wall made of large bricks. Acrid smoke billowed from the fire, and shouts and screams rang out.
The wall right next to it was melting red and flowing like water. It really looked like something like a bomb had exploded.
“What’s crazy… … ?”
I muttered shyly and looked further up the wall.
People armed with armor covered in soot and bloodstains were busy moving.
Cannons on top of the wall spewed fire, and people screamed and swung swords and fired arrows over the wall.
Is there something on the other side of the castle wall that’s why it’s like that? I slowly raised my head and looked at it.
and beyond the walls.
“… !”
There were monsters.
Ayeek-!
Monsters resembling spiders, but bigger than humans, roared ferociously and endlessly flocked to the walls.
There seemed to be hundreds or even thousands of them.
I was dumbfounded and my body stiffened.
What is this?
“Is it a dream? Or maybe you’re eating the wrong thing and hallucinating… … ?”
“It’s good to deny reality, but isn’t that a very banal reaction, Your Highness the Prince?”
A grumbling sound came from behind. It must have been the one who pushed me to the floor. I looked back in bewilderment.
Somehow, there was a young man I had seen many times.
“… Uhm?”
In the middle of this terrible battlefield, I couldn’t come to my senses even more when a handsome flower girl came up with her face.
It’s burdensome, so step back for a moment.
Two blue eyes twinkled beneath the shiny blonde hair. His handsome muscular body was clearly visible even through the leather armor.
It was as if he was claiming to be the main character. Yes, it’s just the main character… … .
uh?
“… Lucas?”
Unknowingly, I pointed my finger at the handsome man.
Because he looks exactly like Lucas, the main character in the game I was playing a little while ago, Defend the Empire.
The blonde young man’s face became intimidated.
“You are finally calling me by my name. He didn’t even remember while I served as an escort knight for the rest of my life.”
“uh… uh?”
Are you really Lucas?
No, wait a minute… … Hopefully this is… … .
Kwakwang-!
Something flew again and part of the wall collapsed. I screamed and rolled across the floor. Save people!
Lucas, who grieved at this, rushed over and forced me to stand up.
“You forgot again, so let me explain again! The enemy is the ‘Black Spider Legion’! Two hundred heavy-armored siege objects, nine hundred short-range assault objects! This outpost is on the verge of falling!”
“Oh my father.”
I’m so confused that I can’t even speak properly.
The Black Spider Corps is a monster from < Protect the Empire >. It harasses the player from the middle.
Lucas growled, looking over the wall.
“But they are not active at sunset! The sun will set in another 30 minutes! That’s why I’ve asked you several times to quietly stay inside the base building… … !”
Apparently, the bombardment was a siege attack by the Black Spider Corps.
bang! Kwakwang! Sparks flew from all sides and the walls of the castle melted. The soldiers who fought on top of the wall fell down with continuous blood spraying.
“Damn this way!”
Lucas almost lifted me up and dragged me into the base.
The buildings inside the base were all scorched and collapsed, and there was no sound, but the situation was better than the hell outside.
Lucas lightly put me in it and shouted.
“Just stay here until sunset! never come out! Did you know?”
“Oh yeah… .”
Then I said without knowing.
“Thank you Lucas… .”
“… ?”
Lucas glanced at me curiously and ran back toward the wall.
what. Is it too precious for me to say thank you? What kind of relationship do you have with a guy like me?
“Mmm.”
I straightened my back from rolling around and looked around. First, I had to figure out the current situation.
“Ugh… .”
“It hurts so much… .”
The inside of the base building was filled with wounded soldiers.
The soldiers groaned as they wrapped themselves in bloodstained bandages. Every time I hear the cries of monsters outside, I struggle with fear.
But there was something the soldiers feared more than monsters.
“Hey?!”
“Your Highness, Prince Hua?!”
… It was me.
As I approached the sick-looking soldiers, they all collapsed on the floor in disgust.
“sorry! sorry! I have nothing to say!”
“We, who are resting with only this much injury, are the ones to kill! I will go out and fight again, so please only the death penalty!”
yes?
death penalty?
no that’s scary I hurriedly waved my hands.
“No, I was just trying to help because I looked sick… .”
“Are you saying you’re going to kill me to make it easier?!”
“I don’t care about these injuries! We will return to the front immediately! Aaaaaa!”
Before I could say anything, the soldiers dragged their wounded bodies and ran toward the wall.
“… .”
In an instant, I looked around blankly inside the empty building.
“… What is it?”
let’s calm down I don’t know if this is a dream or real life, but let’s keep calm.
There was a chair in the empty room. I sat down and rubbed my aching forehead with my hand. The situation needed to be sorted out.
‘First of all, it sounds absurd, but.’
This is the world of < Defend the Empire >.
Yes the same game I just saw the ending on the highest difficulty.
There is Lucas, the main character, and the black spider army, a typical monster species. Almost certainly.
I don’t know what the hell caused me to come here, but it’s the result.
‘Then who is ‘I’ now?’
I’m not a ‘classic fan’ who used to make a living while broadcasting games in real life. That would be too.
“Are you okay, Your Highness the Prince?”
Everyone who sees me here calls me that.
Lucas asked me, poking his head inside from outside the building. I nodded helplessly.
“Uh what. I think it’s fine… … .”
“The sunset has begun. The Black Spider Corps also started to retreat. It seems that they will put a siege in the near future.”
Lucas sighed, wiping the blood from his cheek with his hand.
“How did you survive today? I don’t know what will happen tomorrow… … .”
I glanced at Lucas’ face.
The guy who was on my monitor just a moment ago was now in front of my eyes, so it was both amazing and unfamiliar.
But right now there are more important things than looking at a man’s face. I slowly got up from my chair.
“What about the wounded Lucas?”
“yes?”
“The wounded soldiers in this room. When I came in, they freaked out and ran away. Where are you now?”
“I wondered what was going on when the wounded soldiers came pouring out… They are all on the wall now.”
Immediately, Lucas’ face turned pale.
“majesty. Did the soldiers even mislead Your Highness?”
“huh? Not that.”
“Please kindly forgive me. Now, each soldier who can hold a weapon is important. There is a limit to maintaining morale by using the death penalty… … .”
“No, no death penalty! Because it doesn’t kill me! What’s wrong with everyone? Do I look like an idiot homicidal maniac who sees people’s lives like insects?!”
At my words, Lucas’ eyes widened. It’s a face that says, ‘Do you understand now?’
I broke out in a cold sweat. Are you real? Really? am i that kind of person? Are you a human being who cuts the throats of innocent subordinates for being wrong?
“What is it? I really won’t touch you… … Everyone tells me to come back and rest here.”
At my words, Lucas asked back as if he did not understand.
“yes?”
“It’s done. It will get cold soon. Burn the stove here and tell the injured to rest. You have to get better before you fight tomorrow.”
“uh… yes… .”
“And you can talk to me.”
Having said that, I went outside first, and Lucas asked in a trembling voice.
“Your Highness, by any chance.”
“huh?”
“Are you going to kill me instead of sparing the soldiers?”
“No, I won’t kill anyone if I don’t kill!”
What the hell was ‘I’ a child doing?!
***
The wind blowing over the walls is cold.
The wind that brushed my face was winter.
And it was night. It was natural to be cold, but there were other reasons as well.
“… .”
I slowly looked around.
death.
Death was everywhere. The lower part of the wall was full of monster corpses, and the upper part of the wall was full of human corpses.
There was a chill in death. It was much more bitter cold than in winter or even at night.
“Lucas. When is it now and where is it?”
Standing at the edge of the castle wall, I managed to ask while holding back my nausea at the vibrating smell of blood.
Lucas, standing behind me, was puzzled by my question, but answered clearly.
“It is the last day of February in the year 649 of the imperial calendar. This is the forward base of the fortified city of Crossroads.”
“… Then tomorrow must be March 1, 649.”
“That’s right.”
I gritted my teeth.
March 1, 649 IC. Kaiju frontline advance base.
It was a very familiar time and a very familiar place.
It has to be. It was the time and place of the ‘tutorial’ that I had to play hundreds of times while playing < Defend the Empire > for the past half year.
‘How come the situation is familiar… … .’
I cleared < Defend the Empire > in Ironman mode on Hell difficulty.
Ironman mode requires you to play the game with only one save slot.
And the game will forcefully overwrite and save the progress in that slot. It means that the save road new construction is impossible.
But what if the situation of the entire game is so bad that you can’t clear it?
You have no choice but to give up the game in progress and start over.
Viewers called this restarting the game “New Earth” or “New Empire.” I recorded the number of times I restarted.
And I cleared the game in District 742.
That means I failed 741 times, which means I played only this tutorial map 742 times. I have no choice but to know the tutorial well.
‘Tomorrow is the prologue of Defend the Empire. The tutorial stage begins.’
The tutorial is simple.
It explains the world view, tells you the controls and the game system, and… … .
Everyone dies except Lucas.
“… .”
I forgot the story because I skipped it hundreds of times, but I remembered it easily once I recalled it.
At the same time, I was able to know who ‘I’ was.
“It’s ‘Ash’.”
“yes?”
“That’s my name. ash. Ash ‘Bonehater’ Everblack.”
Lucas looked at me as if he was talking about something obvious, but I was serious. I gritted my teeth and tore out my hair.
“Why are you this bastard all the time?!”
The 3rd prince of the Empire’s idiot Psycho.
The worst commander who arbitrarily drags most of the troops in a fortress city to the forward base and then annihilates them.
And the character with the most horrific end in the tutorial.
Ash ‘Bonehater’ Everblack.
In this game, a minor role extra who dies as soon as he appears without having as much weight as a snot.
‘It’s a shame that I was brought into the game world, but it’s because of this kind of kid that I ended up?’
It was the very moment I realized who I was.
Tring!
A familiar cheap sound effect sounded, and a transparent window appeared in front of my eyes.
[STAGE 0]
– Goal: Survive the monster attack
– Reward: ???
It was a system window that I had seen many times.
Yes, the interface of < defend the empire >, the game I was playing a while ago, was the same.
“… .”
Only then did I realize for sure.
I’m really into the world of games and
the fact that this game is a very crappy game.
“Hey, Your Highness the Prince. Are you okay?”
Lucas looked at me worriedly as I stared into the air with wide eyes.
“… Lucas.”
“Yes, Your Highness the Prince.”
I turned my head stiffly to Lucas and whispered quietly.
It was a word of passion, sincerity, and sincerity.
“It’s X, fuck it.”
