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Chapter 2
“…nder!”
My head was pounding. It was like there was a huge hammer going through my head and cutting through my brain. At the dizzying headache, Yeonhwa instinctively touched his forehead.
“…nder…del!”
‘Who is being so noisy…’
As I took a deep breath with my brow wrinkled, I felt my fuzzy mind slowly clear up.
“Commander Cardel!”
‘…Cardel?’
At this moment, a voice that he could fully hear was calling out a familiar name, right next to Yeohwan.
As I slowly opened my eyes, the face of an unfamiliar man filled my sight.
“Commander, are you awake?”
He was such a handsome man that Yeohwan’s drowsiness was blown away.
An impressive man with brilliant silver hair that couldn’t ever be achieved with dye and golden eyes shining as intensely as the sun. The outlines of his features were sharp, giving him an initially cold atmosphere, but there was only warmth in his eyes that were looking down towards him.
“You must have been very tired. I wish you could have slept more… but something happened.”
“Who…”
“Yes?”
Yeohwan, who had been staring blankly at the man, moved his gaze. Then he saw the shabby wooden interior and old ceiling, windows full of dust and stains, hard beds and stiff blankets, and lying beneath them, a dark green tunic that he had no idea he had ever bought.
“Are you not awake yet? It’s me, Commander.”
“...Yes?”
“Van Herdos.”
Van Herdos!
As soon as I heard the name, my heart suddenly started beating with a stinging pain as if it had been beaten. Yeohwan, who nearly raised his upper body reflexively, looked at Van with surprised eyes.
‘That’s crazy. Is he really Van Herdos? What the hell happened?’
The unrealistically tall handsome man was very similar to the illustration on the ‘Van Herdos’ card. No, it wasn’t similar, it was the same! Yeohwan, who realized this late, carefully opened his mouth, swallowing the loud scream that was about to come out.
“Is my name Cadel Laitos…Is it?”
“Commander? What’s wrong?”
“Is that correct?”
“That… that’s correct. But why are you suddenly speaking so distantly…”
It was shocking. Yeohwan almost unconsciously bashed his head in shock. The surprised Van grabbed Yeohwan's wrist to stop him from harming himself, but that didn't remove his shock.
Cadel Laitos.
That name was the basic nickname of the main character and player of [Hero of Knights].
‘Is this the only-heard-of transmigration into a game? No, realistically, I might’ve just gone crazy. But… but still…’
All the sensations were too vivid. The pain in the head that was struck, the stinky air in the room, and the body temperature of Van who was clutching his wrist.
‘Wait a moment. Come to think of it, didn’t it say that it was doing something like soul transfer, and once it was done, I would be given guidance? Where’s the explanation, explanation!’
No matter how busily I looked, the system window was not there. Yeohwan, who suddenly became anxious, tightened his mouth. Van, who was watching him, gently released his wrist.
Squatting by the bedside, while glancing at Yeohwan, he asked, “Did you have any nightmares?”
Speaking of nightmares, this was the nightmare right now. He looked at Van, with a terrible mood. The handsome man, the main cause of his feeling of disconnection from reality, smiled softly.
“Were you unable to sleep because of the issue of naming the mercenary corps? Any name given by Commander is fine.”
“Naming the mercenary corps…?”
“You were supposed to tell me this morning. Of course, I didn’t wake you up because of that.”
The voice mixed with laughter echoed in his ears, and the system window he had been waiting for appeared in front of Yeohwan, who had a stupid expression on his face.
[Please name the mercenaries.]
[When completed, the game will begin in full.]
Players of [Hero of Knights] started the game by forming their own mercenary corps. As the mercenary corps grew and rose in fame, it would naturally be promoted to a knight order. So, if someone was a true full-immersion player, they would have to be careful about choosing the name of the mercenary corps.
“The Scarlet Scales Mercenaries? Scarlet Scales? How symbolic and cool, Commander.”<sup data-mfn="1">TL Note: The “Scarlet” in Scarlet Scales (orig. ??(赤鱗)) also means loyal/sincere
However, when I heard the name of the mercenaries from someone else’s mouth, it seemed like there could be no one with worse naming sense. Yeohwan smiled awkwardly, rubbing his cheek to hide his reddened face. He had given them a name shamefully, so now it was the system’s turn.
[Congratulations on becoming the owner of the Scarlet Scales Mercenaries!]
[Soul Transfer complete! Shin Yeohwan’s soul has been moved to the body of ‘Cadel Laitos’.]
[The system’s ‘Stats Reading’ has been unlocked.]
[The system’s ‘Story Reading’ has been unlocked.]
[The system’s ‘Inventory’ has been unlocked.]
The system windows popped up in succession with loud notification sounds. Among them, Yeohwan focused on the notification that his own soul had been transferred to ‘Cadel Laitos’.
‘My soul was transferred… What does it mean by that? Have I possessed the body of a game character?’
As if answering that question, a new system window appeared.
[Be ‘Cadel Laitos’ and steer the story. Upon completing the story conquest, you can choose one of two privileges.]
? Privilege: The life of ‘Cadel Laitos’
? Privilege: The life of ‘Shin Yeohwan’
The meaning of the privileges was the two kinds of life. I knew even without thinking too deeply. When I completed the ‘story conquest’ required by the system, I would have the choice to stay in my current body or return to my original body.
My heart was pounding.
‘So, you’re saying I’m not dead yet?’
It didn’t matter if this was real or not.
There was the slight hope.
His own body had been hit by a truck and turned into rags. Yet, there was an opportunity to return to the life of Shin Yeohwan.
I could wake up to the white hospital ceiling. It would be okay even if several years had already passed. If only I could get out of this absurd situation. If only my parents’ last memories of me weren’t decorated with the nervous calls of their overworked son. If only I could wash away the regret of having my greatest achievement in life be number 1 in a mobile game’s rankings!
In this absurd situation, that hope was important.
“Commander?”
He was staring at the system windows tenaciously, and Van, who began to worry about the condition of Cadel Laitos, called out to him with a serious face. As Cadel responded harshly, Van’s expression darkened even more.
“Commander, are you okay? If anything is uncomfortable…”
“Huh? No, it’s okay…”
Cadel, who was trying to be polite as if he practiced Confucianism, was shaking inside. If he had transmigrated into [Hero of Knights], Van Herdos was his subordinate. There was no need to show manners or formality to subordinates. Cadel smiled as if he was relieved, and then stared at Van with a sudden curiosity.
‘How do you view stats?’
I wanted to check the function that had been unlocked. Cadel looked at Van’s shining face, contemplating on how to activate it, and just when Van was blinking awkwardly at his intense gaze…
A new window popped up.
〈Van Herdos〉
Current Grade: B Grade
Maximum Awakened Grade: A Grade
Position: Tank, Damage Dealer
Equipment: Old Greatsword (D), Old Armor (D)
Favorability and Loyalty: 70/100
‘Wow, it’s just like HeoKni. How can the initial equipment be the same?’
Cadel was startled and rubbed his lips. At this point, I couldn’t deny it anymore. I had definitely possessed the body of the game’s main character.
‘I was hit by a truck and lost consciousness, so I transmigrated into a game character… Isn’t that too common?’
It was a common development that made me laugh out loud, and seemed to help me accept reality.
As I stared blankly at the system window, the knight next to him tilted his head ans smiled awkwardly. The commander, who had been acting strangely since morning, looked like he was closely observing a rare gemstone. Van seemed to be worried about what to do if he had lost his mind overnight.
Cadel, noticing those troubled eyes, came to his senses late. Even if it was a game, it was rude to stare at people’s faces without saying a word. There were no exceptions to that, even if the person in question was handsome enough for others to go crazy.
Ahem. Cadel cleared his throat. Van opened his mouth cautiously, to explain why he had come.
“Anyways, Commander, I think we should leave right now.”
“Leave? Why all of a sudden?”
“I ran out of money to pay for the lodgings. I asked to stay one more night, but the innkeeper yelled at me to leave if I had no money…”
Van scratched his head shyly. It was quite unrealistic to hear about poor financial conditions through the voice of a handsome man.
‘No way, we’re being kicked out because we don’t have money, right at the start? The room looks shabby at first glance, yet there’s not enough money to rent it?’
Cadel, who opened his mouth slightly in embarrassment, stopped for a moment.
‘...Come to think of it, the story seems to have progressed like this in the beginning.’
If so, would the game story of [Hero of Knights] proceed as it was? He wasn’t the type to read the story thoroughly, but it was much better than not knowing at all.
“It’s just money. Let’s get going.”
Cadel responded bluntly and got out of bed. Before making any plans for the future, I had to see for myself how this world worked.
***
TL:
The MTLing is actually going smoother than I thought, so I think after a few more chapters I'll see if I want to continue.
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