How to Live as a Knight After the Ending Chapter 1: Into the Game (1)

There was a ga I cherished above all others.

It was a challenging dieval fantasy ga.

Renowned for its notorious difficulty, it had left many gars frustrated, yet it held a special place in my heart.

Why, you may ask?

Because I found myself inside that ga.

Moreover, I found myself 500 years into the future after its conclusion.

*

My love for gas dates back to my childhood.

After school, I’d eagerly rush to the PC shop, pocket money in hand.

Even now, as a young adult in society, my love for gas remains the sa. However, my once fervent passion has waned considerably.

The pressures of adult life have made averse to overly competitive gas.

Pay-to-win gas didn’t even catch my eye, knowing I couldn’t afford them.

Thus, I predominantly played single-player gas.

The sensation of journeying through a fantasy realm without the pressures of competition was ideal for my weary mind.

High difficulty? It only heightened my craving for a challenge.

Perhaps that’s why I failed to realize I was being drawn into the ga.

Clashing with soldiers on vast plains.

Mythical creatures soaring through the sky.

Giant dungeons and kingdoms.

It was an open-world RPG ga set in a dieval fantasy backdrop, combining all that romance.

With its dazzling graphics and excellent world-building, it captivated completely.

Even as a young adult, I’d spend every weekend glued to that ga after work.

The ga’s reputation for its daunting difficulty left countless gars feeling frustrated.

Yet, for , it served as a catalyst, reigniting my dormant passion and thirst for challenge.

“[You have cleared Ending 99.]”

Having completed 99 playthroughs from start to finish, the experience was so imrsive that it felt as though I could continue endlessly.

Despite the option to continue, I refrained, as the difficulty showed no signs of escalating beyond the 99th playthrough.

It dawned on that perhaps the ga’s endings were limited to the 99th playthrough.

“Is this really the end?”

It had beco a ga I proudly considered as the defining one of my life, yet it had seemingly reached its conclusion.

Presumably, all DLCs had been released, leaving no room for further updates. Realistically, all that remained was to await the ga developer’s next project.

Sensing that a chapter of my life had closed alongside the ga’s conclusion, I reclined in my chair.

On the monitor, the Ending 99 scroll ascended. Typically, I would have skipped this scene, having seen it repeatedly. However, this ti, I allowed it to unfold, realizing it was the final one.

With majestic background music playing on the black screen, white text began to appear.

Suddenly, another screen appeared.

“[Do you wish to comnce the next playthrough?]”

“Wait, what?”

I blurted out in disbelief. How could there possibly be another playthrough beyond the 99th?

Perhaps it was a glitch or anomaly. No one had ever ntioned such a possibility.

Despite my disbelief, my hand, holding the mouse, gravitated towards the YES button.

Click.

And the mont I pressed the YES button…

—————!!!

Suddenly, darkness enveloped my vision.

*

I opened my closed eyes.

I found myself in a dimly lit, damp environnt.

“Where am I?”

I rembered the last scene before losing consciousness.

Yes, I distinctly rember trying to finish the ga after witnessing Ending 99, and then the next episode play button appeared out of nowhere.

“And the instant I pressed it, I blacked out…?”

I slowly got up.

Initially, the darkness obscured everything, but as my eyes adjusted, I began to discern my surroundings.

Surveying my surroundings, I felt a peculiar sensation on my body, prompting to glance downward.

“Armor?”

The everyday clothes I was wearing were gone, replaced by armor. To be precise, it was armor suitable for a knight.

Yet, what struck most was the uncanny familiarity of this armor.

“Could it be… This is the armor my ga character wore at the beginning?”

In the ga I played, players could select their character’s class.

[Wandering Knight] [Barbarian Warrior] [Mage] [Cleric] [Rogue] [Paladin] [Dark Wizard] [Beggar].

There were a total of 8 classes to choose from, each with different starting stats, skills, and equipnt.

Naturally, I opted for the most conventional choice: [Wandering Knight].

Being fond of lee characters, a knight with robust attack, defense, and health appeared as the optimal choice for traversing this hardcore ga.

And it turned out to be true.

The armor I was wearing was the basic armor given when choosing that knight class.

Though basic in design, the equipnt didn’t necessarily lack in performance.

In this ga, equipnt doesn’t co with grades. Each piece has distinct characteristics, ticulously balanced to maintain gaplay integrity.

A unique aspect of this ga was the possibility of defeating the final boss with the humble rusty iron sword provided at the start. Though, in reality, the ga’s difficulty made such a feat nearly impossible.

“Why am I wearing this, though?”

I looked around.

Now, the familiar darkness inside this space kept poking at a corner of my mory.

“This setting, this arrangent… It’s all strikingly familiar.”

The Trial Shrine.

This was the tutorial area players encountered first when starting the ga.

I’ve encountered it countless tis. How could I fail to recognize it?

A modest yet grand temple carved within the depths of a cavern.

The surreal glow of faint fluorescent stones, emitting a bluish light, bathed the surroundings.

Newcors would marvel at the spectacle but soon find themselves cursing its challenges.

That’s because it demonstrated insane difficulty right from the tutorial area boss.

Approaching a nearby wall, I ran my hand lightly across its surface.

I felt the stone fragnts beneath my fingertips crackle.

Taking a sniff of the dust, a nauseating odor filled my nostrils.

“The texture feels genuine. This can’t be a dream.”

Instinctively, my expression grew solemn.

Upon opening my eyes, the environnt was akin to the ga. Even the armor I was wearing matched that of the ga character’s.

I don’t know why I’m here.

But if there’s a high likelihood, it’s probably because I clicked the next episode button before fainting.

Honestly, it’s utterly absurd, but since this is the reality unfolding before , I had no choice but to accept it.

“For now, let’s move.”

Remaining within the dark and damp confines of the shrine for too long seed likely to unsettle my mind. I feared it might even trigger claustrophobia, a sensation I’d never experienced.

I walked on.

My foremost priority was exiting the shrine swiftly.

As I pressed on, the initially uncomfortable armor began to feel more natural, my body adjusting to its weight and form.

Naturally, my mind buzzed with countless thoughts.

“What has beco of ? Have I truly traversed into the ga’s realm? If so, does my physical form now mirror that of the ga character?”

As I walked, the space in front of opened up, revealing a small circular arena.

My steps halted abruptly.

If my mory serves right, this is the section where the tutorial boss appears.

The ga garnered infamy for its brutal difficulty, beginning with the tutorial boss.

Commonly referred to as the “Newbie Slaughter Zone.”

The majority of newcors faltered at this tutorial hurdle, crumbling under its weight.

Naturally, this section wasn’t designed to be conquered from the outset.

It served as a pivotal section where death was a prerequisite for advancing to the next stage.

The tutorial boss was nothing more than a warning thrown at those starting the ga.

-This ga is this difficult, so even if it gets harder later on, it’s not our fault.

-So, if you’re going to give up, quit the ga here and ask for a refund.

A truly tear-jerking warning.

While most would heed this caution with humility, I stood apart.

Following that emotional ordeal, I defied fate by breaking through the barrier where my demise should have been inevitable.

The incomparable thrill of that mont was the primary reason I couldn’t part with this ga.

“But that sentint holds true only within the confines of the ga.”

If this is reality.

Now, the ga’s unforgiving difficulty poses a direct threat to my existence.

In the center of the circular arena, there it was.

One knight knelt with his head bowed as if dead.

He wasn’t a living knight but rather a golem, triggered automatically upon a playable character’s entry into this area.

Yet, this golem, boasting a distinctive dragon-shaped armor design and notorious for its brutal difficulty, garnered both criticism and praise.

“The problem is, that’s my opponent now.”

Although it kneels presently, mory serves that it’ll rise to about 2.5 ters tall. Ard with a halberd boasting a range exceeding 3 ters.

I grasped the weapon at my waist.

All I possess is a regular longsword at my side and a dium-sized kite shield strapped to my back.

With equipnt resetting each round, I’m left with only the default gear bestowed upon .

Thus, stability hinges on the shield.

In this ga, there exists a skill known as parrying.

Executing the shield swing precisely at the enemy’s attack apex not only deflects the blow but also offers an opening for a counterattack.

Parrying, in essence, is the wandering knight’s most formidable asset.

“If I ti the parry right, I can block the attack.”

With familiarity of the tutorial boss’s patterns, countering becos entirely feasible.

“The problem is, that was possible in the ga, right?”

It’s unrealistic to believe I can deflect attacks through well-tid shield swings in actuality.

Dependence solely on the shield could easily result in being cleaved by the halberd.

Drawing a deep breath, I steeled myself.

Reluctantly, I faced the truth.

This wasn’t a ga.

The situation now was all too real.

But I couldn’t stay stuck here forever.

To escape this shrine, I had to surpass that tutorial boss.

‘That’s the only way to go.’

I forced the fear out and took a step forward.

Honestly, it’s terrifying.

The from before wouldn’t even have considered facing such danger.

But strangely, instead of feeling nervous, my body was hot with excitent.

I can’t explain it, but I feel braver and more confident than ever before.

In my left hand, I held the shield, and in my right, the sword.

It felt strangely natural in my hands as if it should have been the first weapon I ever wielded.

The surge of newfound courage was overwhelming.

‘Alright. Let’s do this.’

I crouched down and eyed the tutorial boss.

It remained kneeling in silence.

Soon, it would raise its bowed head, crimson eyes glowing through the gap in its helt.

With a thudding sound, it would rise, grasping the halberd placed beside it, assuming its stance.

I recalled. That was its introductory cutscene.

‘First, the halberd beside it… Huh?’

At that mont, I sensed sothing was off.

The halberd that should have been beside the tutorial boss wasn’t there.

‘What? Where could it be?’

It wasn’t entirely absent. There was sothing resembling a handle of a halberd beside it.

If you could even call that nearly broken thing a handle.

I carefully observed the tutorial boss’s condition.

Unbeknownst to , sothing was amiss with its condition as well.

By now, it should have lifted its head, yet it remained frozen in place. Soon, I understood why.

‘It’s broken, though?’