Generally, "memories" passed by in front of those on the verge of death. Yeohwan thought blankly, blinking his blood-stained eyelids.

The pain of the shattered bones as if crushed by a giant grinder, the disgustingly bent limbs, and the blood flowing outwards with a bubbling sound instead of breathing.

He could not overcome the presence of the enormous window that enveloped the sky.

[After a moment, your soul will move to the ‘Starting Member Selection Area’.]

[Remaining time: 54 seconds]

Seeing this right before death was such a futile fantasy. I must have really been addicted to gaming.

Delayed self-hatred and remorse rushed in, and Yeohwan's consciousness rapidly faded away.

*

[Hero of Knights]

Released in the first half of this year, this mobile game had the colorful identity of a ‘female-oriented card collection strategy game’. It gained sensational popularity within a day of its release and made a huge impact, rising to top 10 in sales at once.

I thought there would only be romance since it’s female-oriented, but the battles are serious.

The card illustrations are so pretty!

I started because I was watching my girlfriend play and it looked fun, and it really is so much fun.

Hero of Knights, or 'HeoKni' for short, was different from the previous female-oriented games.

'Save the world by forming your own handsome knight order.'

—Of course, there were colorful illustrations that fit the game’s big theme, and also favorite individual stories. The main story focused on battle, a detailed strategy system, and the training methods that got more complicated the deeper you dug. It had successfully grown in size by attracting other users who were fascinated by the strategy and development.

‘What the hell. It’s so much fun.’

It was natural for Yeohwan, who had started playing half-curiously, to fall in love with ‘HeoKni’. He didn’t spare any money and immersed himself in the game. His account balance, which grew smaller day by day, was troublesome, but that was all. I didn’t want to cut back on the costs, for the sake of enjoying life.

Thanks to that, he was able to collect most of the knights, and as a result of his near-obsessive analysis, the balance chart he posted on the cafe bulletin board was even registered in an announcement. Was that all? Because of the generously devoted money, time, and effort, Yeohwan had even firmly maintained his position at the top of the server rankings.

It was fun. Seriously, I drowned in it like an idiot.

So, was this the result?

Yeohwan looked around with unclear feelings. As if flooded with light, the entire space was dyed pure white. There was no floor or ceiling, and there was no end to it. It was truly a perfect space of nothingness. He was standing dazedly somewhere in the space. His body, which had been shattered in a car accident, had been completely restored, and he could feel no pain.

If it weren’t for the floating system window on the right side of his field of vision, he would have come to the conclusion that maybe this was the afterlife.

[Please select a starting member.]

There were ‘cards’ surrounding Yeohwan in a circle.

Yeohwan’s expression on his face, which was calmly looking at each card, became more and more subtle. He smirked and shook his head sullenly.

“What the. Are you kidding me?”

All the images drawn on the cards were knights appearing in ‘Hero of Knights’. He was someone who had collected almost every knight in the game and used them until he got tired of them. There was no way he couldn’t recognize a single illustration.

Was this what happened after the death of a game addict?

He was speechless for a moment, torn between bewilderment and embarrassment, then let out a deep sigh. It seemed like it would be better to think of it as something like a delusion.

“If I were to choose, a born S-grade card would be better… what?”

A transparent screen formed in front of Yeohwan, who was approaching the S-grade card he had been using until recently. As he nervously kicked the screen, a system window popped up as if it had been waiting.

[The starting member selection criteria is maximum B-grade.]

“Then why didn’t you tell me that from the beginning!”

Who were they trying to kid?

He shook his head in annoyance, and then turned around. If the maximum was B-grade, the card chosen should of course be B-grade.

“A born B-grade…”

At some point, Yeohwan was trying to choose a card with seriousness. His head was rushing to select the card that could extract the greatest optimal efficiency among the B-class knights. Even the madness of a game addict was glimmering in that tenacious gaze.

And finally, his gaze lingered on one card.

“He’s the one I used often in the beginning.”

Van Herdos.

A berserker of the deal-tank position with an excellent balance between dealing damage and tanking. Although there was a limit to his grade, it was a card that Yeohwan had continued to use until he set up a deck of S-grade knights.

As he took the ‘Van Herdos’ card in hand, the system window appeared once again.

[Starting member selection complete.]

[Now, the system will activate ‘Soul Transfer’ for Shin Yeohwan.]

[After completing ‘Soul Transfer’, the system’s guidance will start. Please have a pleasant trip.]

Soul Transfer?

He felt confused by the unfamiliar word combination, but the white space flickered in an instant.

“…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.”1

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.

Bills Village.

The first village in the story and the place where the tutorial was carried out. Cadel sighed inwardly as he looked around the village, which was strikingly similar to the scenery he had seen through the screen of his phone.

Dark wooden houses and low-rise buildings, rough dirt floors and street stalls, and even carriages navigating the narrow streets. It was a perfect medieval setting where not even a speck of modern Korean culture could be seen. Of course, HeoKni’s culture was drawn from different places, so there would still be strange parts if one looked for them.

Well, if you like fantasy, you're bound to dream of living in an era like this at least once. However, when I fell into a game in a medieval background, that illusion was broken more easily than thin ice.

‘It smells awful! What the hell is this smell? Is it horse dung?’

It was like the fishy smell of animals, and the musty smell of rotten fruits from under the stalls. Cadel pushed forward, trying to hold back from pinching his nose shut.

“Commander, where are we going now?”

Van asked innocently, following beside him. He was carrying Cadel’s luggage. He had insisted on doing it, so Cadel had handed it over after a brief argument, and Van had been delighted as if he had received a present. It was an incomprehensible reaction.

“The tavern.”

“In daytime?”

“The doors will be open, right?”

“They will be.”

Cadel was looking for the tavern. The early story and training quests of [Hero of Knights] were all done in the tavern. It was a place of information in Bills Village and a station for mercenaries looking for work. So, if the story flowed the way Cadel knew it, it would be right to find the tavern first.

“But, Commander, isn’t the tavern this way?”

“...Okay?”

Fortunately, he had a faithful and meticulous subordinate, so Cadel was able to find the ‘Noon Whale’, the representative tavern of Bills Village, without much difficulty. Even though it was still early lunch, the inside was filled with customers, They ate only stew instead of alcohol, or they drank the stew with alcohol and were in the middle of a meal. Cadel and Van found empty seats and sat down.

“What do you want to eat?” Cadel asked Van naturally. He didn’t know what this tavern sold, other than alcohol, so he was trying to guess the menu in this way. But Van shook his head calmly.

“I’m fine. Just Commander can eat.”

“If a mercenary doesn’t fill their stomach, what power will they have to fight? Say something quickly.”

“It’s all right, Commander.”

‘It’s not all right!’

Cadel swallowed back his rising cry and clenched his mouth. A quick glance at the other tables revealed that everyone was eating a stew, but he couldn’t figure out the name of that stew. The waiter was far away and could only take one order at a time.

He sighed in the end and said sullenly, “I’ll have a drink or something.”

“...On an empty stomach? Order something, Commander.”

“You aren’t going to eat either, so why should I eat? Our mercenaries are united in spirit. If one is hungry the other can’t be full.”

By that logic, instead of ordering alcohol, he should go out and exercise on an empty stomach, but Cadel was shameless. Then Van’s face turned pale and he was visibly restless, like a dog that had lost its toy.

While Cadel was surprised by his overly sensitive reaction, Van hesitated for a while and then muttered gloomily, “If you order even my share, you will run out of funds, Commander. I don’t know when we’ll get our next quest… I don’t want to satisfy my hunger by squeezing the commander’s money bag.”

Oh my god. Cadel was speechless at the pitiful answer that he couldn’t have imagined. Of course, it was natural to lack funds at the beginning of the game, but he didn’t know he was such an incompetent boss who couldn’t even buy a proper meal for his subordinates.

“Besides, even if I don’t eat, I’ll be fine for a few days. Don’t worry, just order.”

Facing his friendly smile, Cadel’s expression distorted miserably.

In the end, Van and Cadel decided to order a stew and share it. Cadel did notice his grim expression but decided it wasn’t worth paying attention to. It was probably because the ‘lamb stew’ ordered was surprisingly mediocre.

‘Is there no meat? There’s only one potato… and it tastes completely raw!’

It was so sad that Van had chosen to starve because they didn’t have enough money to order one of these. He was eating the stew and smiled at Cadel whenever their eyes met.

Cadel’s desire to succeed soared at Van’s sorry appearance.

In the game, he had always raised his knights to be the best. He gave them the best equipment every season, invested a lot in their skills, and raised all their stats to the max.

But what kind of nonsense was this? He could not tolerate it. It was about the self-esteem of the number 1 ranked user.

‘I’m going to have to start collecting money. If I continue living this kind of life, I’ll get sick first, even if we become a knight order.’

As he ate the freshwater stew that contained a single potato, Cadel looked around. In order to proceed with the story, the priority was to meet the NPC who provided the quests.

But so far, no one stood out. All they did was stare blankly into the air while drinking bland stew and alcohol, or talking nonsense.

Was it not time yet?

Playing the game and possessing a character in the game had different meanings. There would be a flow of events unique to this place, so maybe he had come here too hastily.

Just then, as Cadel looked gloomily downwards at the half-empty bowl of stew, two men sitting at a table next to them suddenly started having an interesting conversation.

“Viscount Straw is looking for mercenaries again? It looks like the ones sent last time were mediocre.”

“What do you mean! As far as I know, the Crow Mercenaries also sent people. It’s not about the mercenaries; the land is cursed.”

“I heard that the Crow Mercenaries only sent their lower members?”

“Do you say that because you don’t know their lower members are better than most guys?”

Were they looking for mercenaries?

Although he had skimmed through most of the story, the name of the character ‘Viscount Straw’ was familiar. Unless Cadel’s memory was worse than the stew in front of him, Viscount Straw was obviously the main figure in the first quest. Cadel’s ears perked up as he overheard the conversation.

“Anyways, don’t you want to try it? The commission is 5 gold coins.”

“Are you not thinking properly? Why would the commission be so expensive? It’s because it’s the price of a life. Viscount Straw needs to get rid of his damn greed. Does it make sense to send people to death to scrape up a single piece of farmland the size of a piece of dung? If you see mercenaries dying one after the other, you should stop.”

“Okay, okay. I was just asking, don’t get so heated…”

The man had lost his appetite and was leaning against the back of his seat. At this time, Cadel was trying to find the clue to the quest through the two’s conversation.

“You trample on the Straw family’s estate and talk well. How many lives do you think you have?”

Suddenly, the door to the tavern opened with a loud sound. As he turned his head reflexively, he saw that a young man with five escort knights had just entered. Looking at his upturned chin, arrogant expression, gorgeous blue silk robe and lavish accessories, he was probably the son of some aristocrat.

 “I heard that there are mercenaries who rationalize their own incompetence with baseless rumors. I didn’t know they actually existed. Those mercenaries don’t seem to have the least amount of pride.”

The sarcastically-speaking man approached the men who were talking at the table next to Cadel. As he blinked, the knights guarding behind him unsheathed their swords at once.

‘That’s crazy! Why did they pull out their swords all of a sudden?’

The blades that were pulled out made a horrifying metallic screech. Cadel’s eyes widened and he shrank his upper body involuntarily.

“You must remember that if you trample of the Straw family’s lands, the Straw family can always pass judgement on you. You don’t deserve to talk about my father.”

“Sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Your eyes are bad. How about one arm to atone for your sins?”

The man seemed to be the son of Viscount Straw. Judging from his attitude and the way he spoke, it seemed that he had a trashy personality. The tips of the knights’ swords pointed towards the two men sitting at the table. If at any time the man instructed them to do so, they would swing their swords.

Cadel watched them with a mixture of interest and concern, as if watching a house burn down. Meanwhile, Van, who had been watching the situation with him, carefully touched Cadel’s arm.

Cadel reacted immediately and looked towards him, while Van whispered with a serious expression on his face, “Shall I stop them, Commander?”

“Yes…?”

“It looks like it’s Drew Straw. I’ve heard rumors that the second young lord of the viscount family kills people more readily than killing animals. Wouldn’t it be troublesome if blood splattered on your precious stew?”

Cadel blinked slowly. He though about what he had just heard.

‘So… the reason he wants to stop a fight is because the hard-to-get food will be ruined and I won’t be able to eat it?’

Should I grieve over this or should I rebuke him? Cadel, who felt complicated inside, smiled bitterly and shook his head quietly.

“No. You don’t have to.”

At Cadel’s words, Van nodded obediently. There were more important things than saving the stew now.

“I am very sorry. We only hear these stories floating around… What do people like us know? Ignorant people say what they want. Young lord, please have mercy…”

“Ha! Mercy. Are you asking me to just pretend I didn't hear it? There are a lot of things that savages want.”

The man glanced down at them as if looking at disgusting insects, then suddenly changed his expression and let out a fishy smile.

“Well… okay. If that’s the case, I’ll give you a chance. I'll entrust you with the same quest, so go to the 'cursed land' you mentioned. If you go and clean up the monsters there, I'll pretend I didn’t hear today's insults.”

“Yeah? Tha, that…!”

“There are no second chances. If you don’t like it, you can pay the penalty right here.”

The men’s faces turned pale. They thought that death was certain no matter what they chose, so they were sweating profusely. From their point of view, it was like a bolt out of the blue.

And Cadel, who was watching them, cautiously got up. Moving stealthily, he slid between Drew and the men.

“Who are you?”

The man raised his eyebrows at the unexpected appearance. The knights gave him menacing looks, but their vigilance didn’t last long.

“My name is Cadel Laitos.”

“...Laitos? Sounds strangely familiar.”

“It’s no different. I was wondering if our mercenaries could also participate in the quest.”

Cadel spoke with a friendly smile.

Yes. If Viscount Straw was the main figure of the first quest, this quest must be the first quest that he had to get. Cursed land. Didn’t the words just smell like the main story?