Chapter 191: The Unveiled Condition |
This young knight was more reasonable than I expected.
I thought all the knights here had bad tempers, judging by the one who stabbed me with a spear, but they seemed to vary from person to person.
“Oh, by the way. I am Wilhelm, the baron who rules this territory. I am truly grateful for your help in saving us from the invaders.”
“Ah!”
I finally realized what he meant by saying I was his benefactor.
This territory belonged to this young knight, and the fight that I had just joined had turned into a victory for his side with my help.
“Haha…”
I had no intention of doing that, but I became a benefactor by accident.
I scratched the back of my head awkwardly, while Wilhelm opened his mouth again.
Of course, I had no idea about that information, since I had just connected(?) to this place.
“Haha… It just happened that way.”
“Hmm?”
Wilhelm tilted his head.
The kingdom he belonged to was a place where battles broke out almost every day.
A normal traveler would never come here.
‘He seems very ignorant of the situation on this continent… And he has unbelievable martial arts skills…’
“Ah!”
Wilhelm slapped his knee and nodded his head with a look of understanding.
“Since you don’t know the situation around here, are you perhaps from the Eastern Continent?”
“…”
I couldn’t tell him the details, so I nodded my head slightly.
“I knew it!”
Wilhelm looked at me with sparkling eyes and admired me inwardly.
‘He doesn’t seem much older than me, but he has such skills… The rumor that the Eastern Continent is the origin of martial arts was not wrong!’
And that evening, I was invited to Wilhelm’s castle and received a lavish treatment.
Of course, I didn’t accept his invitation without any thoughts.
“You seem to be looking for your companions?”
“That’s right. We came together, but we got separated for some reason.”
I explained my situation with a serious expression.
I was sure that I had connected with two other people, but no matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t find any traces of them.
“A young man and a woman from the East… I haven’t heard anything about them. They have distinctive appearances, so if they were in our territory, we would have heard some news.”
“Damn…”
I sank into disappointment and thought.
‘Did they fall into different areas? And it’s been quite a while since then, but there doesn’t seem to be any action taken from outside the capsule.’
Where exactly is this place? Is it a virtual space that I connected to with a capsule? With endless questions in my mind, I finally asked him.
“By the way, this is my first time on this continent… Why did those enemy knights attack me?”
“…”
Wilhelm’s face clouded at my question.
“Sigh… It’s a long story.”
Wilhelm sighed and began to explain his situation.
According to him, this continent was currently in a state of having no proper kingdoms or lords.
There used to be a huge unified empire, but it collapsed and the lords of each region exercised their own authority or even claimed themselves as kings.
“I see…”
I nodded as I listened to his explanation. My favorite historical novel came to my mind.
‘So it’s similar to the Three Kingdoms period.’
This continent was in a situation where various factions with their own armies were rampant!
Without a strong central government, the strong forces would subjugate or plunder the weak ones.
And some of those who grew their power by doing so would claim themselves as kings.
“You seem to understand. Sigh…”
Wilhelm sighed again and started to explain his own situation.
“Actually, I inherited this territory only a few months ago. My father died in the fight with the eastern territory that just happened. I had to take over after him.”
“Hmm…”
Emperor Scharnos looked at Wilhelm and the surrounding soldiers with a look of displeasure.
‘Come to think of it, this castle is small and the army is not impressive. They have done well to survive until now.’
In this turbulent era, the fate of a small territory like this was one of two things. Either cling to a strong power or perish.
“As you may already know, our territory is not in a good situation. If you hadn’t come today, we would have had a hard time securing victory.”
Wilhelm bowed his head carefully but not humbly.
“Would you mind staying in our territory while you look for your companions? I will do my best to help you in any way I can. Even if it’s just for a few months, please.”
Wilhelm had his own desperate reasons. His territory was in a dire state due to repeated battles. He needed time to catch his breath and recover his strength.
If there was someone who could easily defeat dozens of knights and soldiers in armor, the neighboring territories would not dare to invade.
“Of course, I know this is a brazen proposal, but…”
He decided to be honest. With the skills that Emperor Scharnos showed today, he could go to a bigger lord and get better treatment than here.
‘He’ll find out sooner or later anyway. There’s no reason to hide it and it’s better than nothing.’
Wilhelm, who revealed his poverty, closed his eyes and made his last request.
“I know you may not like it, but please stay for a few days at least, until we can restore our military.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you… What?”
To be honest, Wilhelm did not have much hope. But Emperor Scharnos agreed readily with a casual tone.
“I’ll stay here for a while. I can’t just freeload, so call me if there’s a battle.”
“Your Grace…”
Wilhelm looked at him with a grateful expression.
“I will never forget this favor.”
Emperor Scharnos smiled inwardly as he watched him bow his head again.
The reason he accepted his request was partly because he didn’t have a bad first impression of Wilhelm. He liked that he was honest about his situation and acted like a man.
Of course, it wasn’t just a choice driven by emotion.
‘It’s better to have a decent power on my side than wandering around alone, right?’
Judging by the situation, his companions didn’t seem to be easily found. He didn’t even have a clue about this world, let alone wander around aimlessly.
‘I need to stay here for a while and figure out what’s going on.’
***
“No, how come the descendant is so stiff and unattached when the ancestor was so generous?”
Eurius laughed mockingly as he watched the characters in the video.
Emperor Scharnos had entered somewhere through a capsule.
And he met a young lord named Wilhelm.
The identity of this lord was none other than the first Grand Duke Wilhelm, who was Emperor Scharnos’s first follower.
‘Then Emperor Scharnos must have entered this world through a virtual reality capsule.’
This video was quite long and there was still a lot of footage left.
‘I wonder what kind of hint is in this one?’
Eurius immersed himself in Emperor Scharnos’s whereabouts with an interested expression.
That’s how Emperor Scharnos took his first step in this world.
Zzzzzz…
Even though it was a video, it couldn’t show all his actions, so the rest of his exploits were briefly described by scene.
He started as a simple foodie, but after that, Emperor Scharnos’s moves were shocking.
Crash!
His sword swung down and flattened a small mountain peak.
Emperor Scharnos was a being with god-like power in this world.
“I will serve you as my lord. Please lead us.”
First, Wilhelm and the nearby lords voluntarily swore allegiance to him.
“Eek… I surrender! Please… spare my life!”
The lords who tried to resist him in the vicinity also couldn’t withstand Emperor Scharnos’s sword, which was like a one-man army.
Before long, his power grew absurdly and reached almost the level of a small kingdom.
The legend of Emperor Scharnos Sharnos, who dominated the continent, began like this.
But there was no special reason why he kept growing his power.
“Did you find any information about the Easterners?”
“Unfortunately, it seems that there are no such people in the area we conquered this time.”
“Tsk!”
The emperor bit his lips with a restless expression.
He had been in the capsule for more than a year by this world’s time. But he still hadn’t heard any news of his companions who came in with him.
Of course, this continent was very vast, so it was possible that they just hadn’t met each other. But wouldn’t they have tried to find him too?
The emperor thought of the worst-case scenario as well.
‘What if I was the only one who couldn’t log out?’
Then he would have been scammed big time. He was practically trapped in this world right now.
“Sigh… What should I do…”
On top of that, the power he had built up had grown too large.
He said it was to get some information, but now Sharnos was recognized as one of the biggest powers in this continent.
He hadn’t established a country yet, but he was practically a king in this world.
He had also gained a lot of followers.
‘If I find my companions, would it be too heartless to leave them all behind?’
Thud.
“My lord! Excuse me.”
As he was thinking that far, Wilhelm suddenly burst into the room.
“Hmm?”
“We finally found them.”
“Found what?”
The emperor blurted out a stupid question.
It was too sudden.
Wilhelm spoke with a trembling voice.
“We found someone who knows about your companions.”
“…!?”
***
“Ah!”
“Hehe…”
“Both of you are safe!”
The three of them met again in the inner sanctum of a temple.
Surprisingly, they were all summoned to the same place at the same time.
The emperor scolded them as soon as he saw them, rather than being glad.
“Seriously, what were you doing that you didn’t contact me?”
“I feel hurt by your words. I fell across the sea to the Eastern Continent. Do you think it was easy to search that continent and then come over here?”
Lee Cheongmun explained his situation with a shrug.
He had been on a different continent, so he couldn’t be found.
“I was staying at a temple in a remote village for a few months.”
“…!?”
Dimiana sighed and told him about her hardships.
At least Lee Cheongmun and the emperor had some power, but she was just an ordinary person.
She didn’t even have the privilege of a player, such as a stat window.
There wasn’t much she could do in that situation.
“And then I received a divine message that allowed me to find you.”
“A divine message?”
“It seems that there are peculiar jobs in this world, such as priests or saintesses. I don’t know why I was chosen, though.”
She said that she became a saintess and used her authority to try to find the two of them. But she didn’t need to do that, because as soon as she came to this temple, she met her companions.
The two of them told their stories and then looked at the emperor.
“What about you?”
“Grr…”
At Lee Cheongmun’s question, the emperor briefly explained what had happened so far.
“…”
“Huh… So we three were separated to different places?”
“That’s unexpected. There was nothing like this during the test.”
Somehow reunited, the three of them exchanged information.
There were many questions, but one definite conclusion came out.
“It doesn’t seem like this is a virtual space.”
“Yes. There was no problem in the test, but something must have gone wrong with the soul transfer.”
They had entered the capsule and used Lee Cheongmun’s psychic power, soul transmigration, to move their souls. Something had definitely happened during the process.
This place was not a virtual space, but another world.
“Is there no way to take any action from the outside?”
Emperor Scharnos asked with an incredulous expression. Did that mean they had no way out of here?
Dr. Dimiana nodded with a serious look.
“That’s what I’m wondering too. It’s been so long that they should have pulled us out forcibly by now…”
“…”
“Good grief…”
The three of them looked visibly gloomy.
They had hoped that joining up with their companions would lead to some solution, but they had none.
“…”
But their silence did not last long.
Thud thud
Dozens of people in white clothes started to enter the place where they were standing.
An old man at the front of the group opened his mouth.
“Pardon me, but are you the ones who came from another world?”
“…!?”
Nod
The three of them were surprised, but soon nodded their heads.
“Oh…”
“As expected!”
The people in white clothes murmured and exclaimed.
And then the next moment.
“We greet the newcomers.”
“We greet the newcomers chosen by the great one!”
They fell to the floor with expressions full of emotion.
The three people who received their bows were bewildered.
“Newcomers?”
“The great one?”
“Oh! We didn’t explain it to you.”
The old man got up again and spoke.
“We are the ones who brought you three newcomers to the temple.”
“Ah!”
Come to think of it, the three of them had heard each other’s news around the same time and met at this secluded temple.
It was not a simple coincidence. But what was the purpose of these people in white clothes?
“Hmm!”
The old man cleared his throat and returned to a solemn expression.
“We are the people chosen by the great one! We are ‘players’.”
“Huh? Players?”
Emperor Scharnos was startled when a familiar word popped up. But regardless, the old man continued with a serious tone.
“Yes. We are here to follow you as entrusted by the great one. Please lead us according to the will of the great one.”
“What are you talking about?”
“…”
“…!?”
The three of them exchanged glances, but they had no clue.
What were players and newcomers? But then, as if to answer their questions, a clear sound rang out.
Ding!
[You have received the main quest ‘Pacify the chaotic world!’]
[You can receive rewards for completing the quest.]
“Quest?”
“This is… a system notification window?”
The three of them were so shocked that they couldn’t speak for a while.
They had been unable to use any virtual reality functions until now, but suddenly a game-like notification window appeared.
‘And rewards too…’
The reason they were surprised was not simply because of the notification window.
The important thing was the content of the quest and the reward!
[Restore Peace to the Chaotic Era! – Chosen Human! Help the ‘Players’ calm down the continent of turmoil.]
[Quest Reward – Return]
***
Zzzzt!
“Ah!”
Eurius opened his eyes wide and returned to reality.
This very long video seemed to end here. He had obtained a lot of information this time, but he did not reach a decisive clue.
“Hmm…”
Eurius groaned as he tried to organize the information.
First, the leader of the Players, Emperor Sharnos, Saintess Demya, and Martial God Ichungmun had somehow come from another world.
Second, as the legend said, Emperor Sharnos had restored peace to the chaotic era and unified the western continent. This was written in the history books, so there was no doubt about it.
Third, the reason they had restored peace to the chaotic era was probably because of the quest reward, Return. In the end, the three of them must have gone back to their own world.
‘But then what about the other Players?’
The keywords were Eurius, Rookie, Player.
These three seemed similar, but they were quite different when you looked closely.
“And what about that statue…”
Eurius looked up at the statue of Emperor Sharnos that was erected in the center of the temple. It was a hundred percent match with what he had seen in the video. Why was there such a statue in the Demon Church?
“Did you watch the video well? I had a hard time preparing that.”
“…!?”
A familiar voice sounded in his ear, who was momentarily lost in his memories.
“Who are you?”
“Tsk.”
The voice did not answer, but clicked his tongue.
“I thought you would come to the promised place first, but I didn’t expect you to start from here.”
“Promise?”
Eurius turned his head.
Somehow, there was a man standing near the entrance of the temple. He was wearing a hat and covering his face with a veil up to his chin.
‘I guess he means that note by promise’
Eurius asked him a question.
“Then are you the leader of the Demon Church?”
“Yes.”
The man answered briefly.
“Huh…”
But Eurius felt like he knew the man’s true identity. He had given him so many hints, how could he not notice?
‘He covered his face, but this situation… And above all, that voice is…’
Eurius finally opened his mouth with a doubtful expression on his face.
“I think I know who you are. Should I be respectful?”
The man let out a sigh of regret at his words.
“Darn… You’re a quick-witted guy. Or did you recognize my voice from the video just now?”
Thud.
The man who claimed to be the leader of the Demon Church took off his hat. And what came out of it was a face that Eurius had seen several times.
Blonde hair and playful blue eyes! The face that was revealed after taking off his hat was very similar to Eurius’s.
That’s right! His identity was none other than.
“Emperor Sharnos!”
“Yes, you’re right.”
The leader. No, Emperor Sharnos smiled brightly.
***
A little later.
“…”
Eurius kept his guard up and maintained a certain distance from the man.
‘I can’t believe that the leader of the Demon Church was Emperor Sharnos from two hundred years ago…’
To be honest, Emperor Sharnos was a hero of the continent and also an ancestor of Eurius for personal reasons. He should have shown him some respect, but since the situation was so suspicious, he had no choice but to be wary.
Why did Emperor Sharnos, who was supposed to have disappeared, still remain in this world?
And why did he appear as the leader of the Demon Church of all things?
Eurius’s mind was spinning fast to find an answer.
‘I have to probe him first.’
But before he could open his mouth, Emperor Sharnos spoke first.
“The reason I asked you to see me is because I have something to ask you.”
“Something to ask?”
“Yes. Didn’t I say that I would tell you what you want to know if you come to find me?”
“Oh!”
Emperor Sharnos reminded Eurius of the silk pouch note that he had momentarily forgotten.
Eurius quickly opened his mouth.
“Then. My question is…”
“Wait! Listen to me first.”
Emperor Scharnos interrupted Eurius’s words and chuckled softly.
“Before I answer your question, there is one condition.”
