The forward outpost of the fortress city, Crossroad.
Headquarters reserved for the commander.
"..."
I was locked in a fierce staring match with the mirror.
Reflecting back at was a striking man, adorned with jet-black hair and eyes that glead like the night sky as if he were a figure plucked straight from a masterpiece painting.
The third prince of the Everblack Empire, Ash Born Hater Everblack.
It seems this pretty boy was the one Id inexplicably inhabited(?).
"Have I finally lost it..."
It was a bitter pill to swallow.
Id not only stepped into a ga world but also beco a dispensable character destined to die in the tutorial. As sunrise greeted the dawn of the new day, the dreaded tutorial would comnce.
"Why, of all people, did it have to be this bastard!"
I groaned, running both hands down my face in exasperation.
Hovering in front of was a translucent system window, detailing a comprehensive character profile of Ash.
[Character Summary - Ash Born Hater Everblack]
It was almost as detailed as a short story, but to summarize:
Ash, the youngest son of the Everblack Empire, the third prince.
Plagued by madness since childhood, Ash was known for his volatile and cruel nature.
From a young age, hed been indulged with everything he wanted and was quick to discard anything he found displeasing.
His palace was a breeding ground for constant calamities and mishaps.
As he matured into adulthood, his days were consud by lascivious escapades with noble daughters, his profligate lifestyle draining the national treasury, and his flagrant disrespect towards bureaucrats and knights causing mayhem.
As his reign of terror escalated and grievances within the capital proliferated, the Emperor was left with no choice but to take severe action.
Ash, I hereby assign you as the lord and commander of the fortress city, Crossroad. Dedicate yourself to ensuring the Empires tranquility by combating the monsters at bay.
While it sounded like a comndable appointnt, it was effectively an exile and demotion.
The fortress city, Crossroad, was situated at the southernmost tip of the world.
From the colossal southern lake, monsters erged relentlessly.
With a staggering average of thousands of casualties each year, it was the most formidable monster frontline in the world.
Being tasked to combat monsters here was akin to a life sentence a never-ending struggle.
And Ash was an outright lunatic.
On his inaugural day, he rallied the Imperial soldiers whod accompanied him from the capital, along with the rcenaries stationed in the fortress city, and ventured southward.
If we obliterate the root of these monsters, our troubles will be over!
In essence, Ashs approach wasnt entirely flawed.
The mission to exterminate that origin was precisely the premise of this ga, Protect the Empire.
The predicant arose due to timing. The day Ash led his forces to march coincided with the day the dormant monsters of the past decade sprang into action.
Upon their arrival at the forward base, Ash and his soldiers were ambushed by the sudden ergence of the Black Spider Legion, and they waged a blood-soaked battle around the clock for three consecutive days.
On the fourth day, the forward base fell.
Their deployed forces were annihilated.
Lucas, the protagonist and Ashs personal knight, managed to escape the carnage with Ash, but Ash didnt survive the escape.
Ultimately, Lucas was the sole survivor, making his way back to Crossroad.
As the deputy commander, Lucas held the fort at Crossroad, all while initiating an assault on the dungeonthe source of the monstrous outbreak...
... This was the opening narrative of the ga .
But damn it, that wasnt the pressing issue right now!
"Shit."
I wiped the cold sweat coursing down my face with my hand.
"Ash, you dumb fuck! You shouldve holed up in the fortress city, why did you barge out! Why!"
I was certain that regardless of when I was plunged into the ga, I could carve a path to survival.
I was the only person who had completed the ga at its harshest difficulty setting.
Except for this one ti! This accursed tutorial phase alone!
"Its unbeatable. This stage is designed to be lost."
In the ga, this tutorial was crafted to guarantee defeat, regardless of the strategy employed.
We were vastly outnumbered, and the monsters, equipped with higher levels and superior specifications, far eclipsed our own soldiers.
During the three-year run of this ga, the Black Spider Legion monsters only beca viable targets midway through the second year.
Confronted by hundreds of those bastards right from the get-go, victory seed an impossible dream.
Ultimately, even in the final tutorial, only Lucas managed to escape.
"...No, pull yourself together, RetroAddict."
I sought to regain my composure, delivering a few sharp slaps to my own cheeks.
"Gas are made to be beaten. If this situation is a challenge thrown at , there must be a solution."
Yes.
Even though this place was undoubtedly reality, it also mirrored the ga Id conquered.
I had a greater understanding of this ga, , than anyone else in the world.
If I could harness all my knowledge and experience, I should be able to devise a plan, even when the sky seed to be falling.
"First, lets catalogue what cards I and the enemy hold."
With a calm deanor, I began to dissect what resources both my enemies and I possessed.
Firstly, the enemys hand.
I could access the enemys information via the system window. They were surprisingly generous with their intel.
"Lets see..."
[Enemy Information - STAGE 0]
- Lv.?? Black Spider Queen: 1
- Lv.60 Black Spider Siege Soldier: 196
- Lv.55 Black Spider Assault Soldier: 912
The queen, given the swarm-like structure of the Black Spider Legion, may tag along but possesses no combat abilities. The queen isnt the concern.
The real issue lay in the level and quantity of these spider bastards. What? Lv.55? Lv.60? And why are there so many? Over 1,000? Theyre really crossing the line here.
"Damn it, oh my god..."
I cradled my head in despair once more.
It seed hopeless. No matter which angle I viewed it from, it seed a lost cause. How was I to triumph against such odds?
"No. Calm down. Lets evaluate what weve got as well."
I summoned the allied information window. A stream of various information began to populate the screen.
"Hmm, the durability of the wall... its listed at the bottom."
Everything was depletedarrows, shells, food, dicine, morale. What in the hell wasnt drained?
The only viable asset left is this Mana Cannon.
[Artifact - Ancient Mana Cannon (SR)]
A colossal cannon stationed at the apex of the forward base.
The weapon with the most formidable firepower in this base, it discharged concentrated magical energy utilizing archaic technology.
In the original tutorial, this Mana Cannon was the key to our escape.
When the soldiers were annihilated and the fall of the forward base was inevitable,
The thinnest part of the Black Spider Legions encirclent was obliterated by the cannon, and Lucas, carrying Ash, fled through the resulting breach.
In the midst of their escape, Lucas attempted to safeguard Ash to the very end, but in a cruel twist of fate, Ash was captured by the black spiders, brutally torn to shreds by their claws, and killed.
The scene of Lucas fleeing in tears, abandoning Ash to his horrific screams, was the closing scene of the tutorial...
I cant die like that.
The thought of being seized by the colossal spiders and devoured alive was revolting.
Are there other escape routes?
I contemplated various strategies, like mobilizing the entire army under the veil of night for a massive escape, but soon discarded the idea.
Those damn spiders, though they loathed being active at sunset, could easily adapt. They would imdiately tighten their encirclent and strike.
On open ground, the velocity of the Black Spider Legion was on par with that of a warhorse. Abandoning the fortress would be a death sentence.
Survival isnt impossible, but the odds are incredibly slim. I need to find a strategy with better odds.
Nurous plans popped into his mind one after the other. His initial state of chaos slowly morphed into calm.
I coolly evaluated my options.
Playing the ga in Ironman mode ant no save scumming could be used. A single mistake could lead to ga over.
Therefore, every mont was spent searching for the optimal move.
From six months of rigorous training, I had learned one thing: there was always a smart move, always a chance of survival.
A slightly higher probability.
A slightly more certain thod.
I needed to find it.
"...!"
A sudden idea sparked in my mind, and I swiftly manipulated the system window. Soon, the screen I was seeking popped up.
The party screen.
[Main Party (5/5)]
- Lv.1 Ash(EX)
- Lv.25 Lucas(SSR)
- Lv.15 Lilly(R)
- Lv.15 Ken(N)
- Lv.10 Damien(N)
I swallowed hard.
This is it.
Protect the Empire was a ga where you trained hundreds of heroes and dispatched them onto the battlefield.
Heroes were organized into parties, with one party consisting of five mbers. The tutorial followed the sa structurefive mbers.
Even if I could forget the storyline, I wont forget the tutorial party mbers.
They were rely pitiful characters, destined to die after teaching the ga chanics, but as I had pushed the ga to its brink, I knew them well.
Out of these five, fourexcluding Lucasare fated to die.
Given the inevitable death of these characters, the ga developers seed to have inserted a little joke for these four.
A joke that was non-functional in the ga, serving solely as a quirky detail.
If this is genuinely a world within a ga... then that joke should still exist.
And if that joke could be exploited, then... there were potential strategies.
The plan was as fragile as a spiders web, yet it held a certainty.
Lucas!
I thrust the door open and stuck my head out. Lucas, who had been dozing on his feet while on guard duty, jumped and turned to face .
"Yes, Your Highness! Whats the issue?"
"Summon my personal party imdiately!"
Lucas blinked, taken aback.
"A party? Do you an your personal guard unit, Your Highness? Youve never summoned them before, why the sudden..."
"Enough with the questions! Just bring them here!"
I pointed a firm finger at Lucas, a confident grin on my face.
"Because Ive figured a way out of this ss!"
***
Monts later.
The corridor outside my room teed with all five mbers of the tutorial party.
Myself, Lucas.
And three new faces.
Lilly, Ken, Damien...
I swiftly scanned their eerily familiar faces.
And it made sense. The number of tis Id witnessed their death events was beyond counting.
Lilly was a woman with fiery red hair cascading from beneath her mages robe.
Ken was a hulking man, bald head gleaming, clutching a shield.
And Damien...
"...Why is he all huddled up like that?"
He was a boy with curly brown hair and glasses, adorned in a priests robe.
He looked fine, yet he was sobbing in a corner of the room. What was happening?
"Damien lost a comrade today. Please understand."
Lilly managed a pained smile and requested my understanding.
Damien, one of the last healers in the unit, appeared to have been tending to the wounded shortly before.
A dear comrade of his had succumbed to injuries just recently.
"Sniff... Sob..."
Damien couldnt stem his tears. His pristine priest robe was stained with the blood of his comrades.
Lilly, seated next to Damien, tenderly rubbed his back.
Now that I think back on it, thats how it was in the ga tutorial.
Damien was always the first to die, perpetually suffering from so fear or confusion debuff.
I recall him being a critical healer, but he was utterly unhelpful.
"Co on, Damien. I know youre grieving, but you need to get up! Losing a comrade is heartbreaking, but you must survive, right?"
I patted Damiens shoulder, but he continued to sob.
Ken, the towering knight, glared at with a look of dissatisfaction.
"You must survive? Are you for real, Prince?"
"Huh?"
As I looked at Ken, he spat out his words, his voice brimming with resentnt.
"Are you actually saying that, Your Highness, after leading us into this death trap with your pitiful command!"
"..."
"What do you an, have to survive? Were all damned to die because of you, dammit!"
That felt unjust. I was not to bla. This damned Ash made this ss and then I was handed the problem.
That defense surged to the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it. Who would believe such an unbelievable tale?
More crucially, I could totally empathize with Kens feelings.
A commander abruptly descended from the capital and threw the entire army into the enemys lap. It was enough to make anyones blood boil.
...Yes, it was maddening, but...
"Ken."
I couldnt let that sway .
"Are you challenging , the son of the Emperor and the Supre Commander of the frontline here?"
As my voice dropped to a whisper, Ken recoiled. He finally seed to grasp that the prince standing before him was utterly unhinged.
With a smug grin, I allowed one corner of my mouth to twitch upward into a dangerous smile.
Once I lost control, it was ga over. The plans I was about to implent were outrageously reckless.
I needed them to follow without hesitation.
"Lucas!"
So I....
"Behead this insolent fool who has insulted the royal family and the Supre Commander, right away!"
Decided to lean into my already well-established role of a madman.
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