< Chapter 1 - Pleiades >
prolog
[Outboxer009 has logged in.]
Namman Cat: Oh, the old man has come.
Outboxer009: The old man’s asshole when we’re rotting away together. Why are you guys still sitting here doing this? It’s been over 10 years since the game came out.
Kowabunga: First, look in the mirror and ask.
Outboxer009- Im Jin-ho chuckled at the answer he heard from beyond the monitor.
Hero’s Chronicles 2.
It’s been 10 years since its release, and even a third sequel has been released, but it’s still a true classic with die-hard fans who are still digging into it.
Why are you playing a game that’s over 10 years old?
‘Because it’s fun.’
What other reason do you need to play games?
Actually, there was one more decisive reason.
Im Jin-ho was a top ranker who was considered an old-timer – no, even a rotten one – even among the die-hard users of Heroes Chronicle 2.
And in this chat room, there was one more person who was just as rotten as Im Jin-ho.
Yellow Storm: Is the boxer here? Are you ready to come down to second place?
Outboxer009: Oh my, are you still dreaming? Arthur, you shouldn’t even look at a tree you can’t climb.
Yellow Storm: Damn it. This time, I’m definitely going to get first place.
Outboxer009: Yes, yes. Everyone has the freedom to dream. I grant you your dream.
Namman Cat: Both of them are shut up and this month’s rankings are revealed.
Hero Chronicles 2 had been announcing server rankings every month by adding up various points including time attacks. And this ranking list had also long since become a battle of the old.
[1st place: Outboxer009 – 315,234,999 points] [23 consecutive months!]
[2nd place: Yellow Storm – 315,234,125 points] [22 consecutive months!]
[3rd place…]
Yellow Storm: What the heck! What the heck is this! Is this going to collapse!
AAA: Look at all the typos. I guess I’m having a real mental breakdown.
Namman Cat: I think I hear a bbbb sound!
It really seemed like he could hear a rumbling sound. Im Jin-ho swallowed dry saliva and let out a sigh of relief before bursting into hearty laughter from the depths of his lungs.
Outboxer009: Haha …
Outboxer009: You’re always second! E-rank! Second place! Number two!
Yellow Storm: sdlkghiosdghsodighsdighiofsdoighiosd
AAA: Ah, here it comes. Mental breakdown.
Kowabunga: I’ll tease you more because you reacted like that. Jire jire.
Outboxer009: Ah, it was fun. I’ll sleep well today. You too, yellow second place. Try harder next month.
Yellow Storm: Hey! It’s only an 800 point difference?!
Outboxer009: That’s right. I don’t know why you couldn’t get that 874 points. Oh, is this the difference between 1st and 2nd place?
Yellow Storm: Excessive profanity will result in sanctions.
Yellow Storm: Excessive profanity will result in sanctions.
Yellow Storm: Excessive profanity will result in sanctions.
Yellow Storm: Excessive profanity will result in sanctions.
Yellow Storm: S|What kind of curse is this, an exclamation of praise!
Outboxer009: Anyway, I’m going to sleep. Sleep well. Dream about me♥
Yellow Storm: Excessive profanity will result in sanctions.
And a few minutes.
When no new conversations appeared in the chat window, the veterans who had been watching the monthly event with popcorn in one hand began to speak again.
Namman Cat: What, did you really go to sleep?
Kowabunga: Did Nobok go to sleep too? He’s not saying anything either?
AAA: The eternal first and second place are side by side, side by side. Just live happily ever after, live happily ever after.
Kowabunga: A really good BL novel is coming out.
AAA: Oh, shit. I imagined it.
Namman Cat: What the? I don’t know about Boxer, but if it’s Nobok, it’s normal to tell him to stop talking nonsense. Did you two really go to sleep?
.
..
…
[Outboxer009 has logged out.]
[Yellow Storm has logged out.]
.
..
…
[Im Jin-ho has entered Pleiades.]
[Hong Yu-hee has entered Pleiades.]
Chapter 1 – The Pleiades.
Count Bayer.
They were once a renowned military family that monopolized the Northern Margrave position of the Kingdom of Seilun, but as can be inferred from the past tense, they are now a fading family.
But even so, it was the Count of Bayer.
It has been said since ancient times that even if a rich man goes bankrupt, he will only last for three years, so even though his family was in decline, they still maintained enough power to be ranked at the bottom of the twelve northern families.
The mansion of the Counts of Bayer.
In the room of the second son, called the agony of the Count Bayer family, there was someone suffering.
“Keuu …
It was a boy who appeared to be in his late teens, with his head wrapped around his neck and groaning strangely.
She had dark blue hair, a slender white face, and mysterious green eyes, all combined to create a striking beauty, but for some reason she had a serious expression on her face.
boy.
Jude Bayer, the second son of the Counts of Bayer, stared blankly at the mirror on one wall and thought.
‘I guess it doesn’t seem real?’
Everything in front of my eyes.
The fact that Juder Bayer himself is Juder Bayer.
It was a joke, but Yuder was serious. That was because he was both Yuder and Im Jin-ho.
‘No matter how you look at it, it’s the world of Heroes Chronicles 2.’
Two days have passed since Yuder ‘awakened’ Im Jin-ho’s memories.
And two days was by no means a short period of time.
The name Juder Bayer.
The situation of the Counts of Bayer.
The Kingdom of Seilun and the surrounding situation.
There was nothing that was out of sync with Hero Chronicles 2.
‘Pleiades.’
The world that serves as the background for the entire Heroes Chronicles series.
‘Let’s face it. This is the Pleiades, and I am Juder Bayer.’
It felt a little different from simply entering a game like you often see in novels or comics.
Rather than that, should I say that it feels like I was born as Yuder Bayer and remembered my ‘past life’ as Im Jin-ho?
That’s why, even though I became a yandere, I hardly felt any sense of discomfort.
From the beginning, he was both Yuder and Im Jin-ho.
Uther raised his head and looked in the mirror again.
A handsome boy, as if drawn in a painting, was sitting with a look of superiority on his face.
‘You’re handsome.’
He’s not just handsome, he’s seriously handsome.
Uder stood up and looked around the room.
It was spacious, nice and clean.
It seemed more spacious than the villa he had lived in during his Imjin-ho days, and although the furniture looked a little worn, it was of a high quality that no one could deny.
Uder looked at the situation objectively.
Differences between the Im Jin-ho era and the Yuder era.
First, he became younger, then he became dozens of times more handsome, and he became a rich nobleman.
It’s literally like a world of difference.
It was an upgrade that deserved applause.
But Uther thought.
‘I guess it’s probably fucked up?’
It wasn’t because of Yuder.
Although Juder Bayer was a fairly flawed character among the characters in Heroes Chronicles 2, the bigger problem was the fact that this was the world of Heroes Chronicles 2.
The setting of Heroes Chronicle 2 was not a peaceful fantasy world.
It was a world of chaos – no, a world of great tribulation – where demons descended from the underworld, and angels came down to fight them and cause chaos – where all the countries and races of the continent were caught up in war and killed each other.
In a word, should we say that this is a world where an apocalypse is scheduled?
‘It’s fortunate that it’s not the 3rd point.’
Because Hero Chronicles 3 deals with the aftermath of the great war between demons and angels, in which all human nations collapsed.
If I had entered Heroes Chronicle 3, I would not be sitting here looking at the mirror, but would be attacked by monsters and having fun getting bitten.
‘There is only one way.’
I need to get stronger.
Enough to be able to endure even when the time of great tribulation comes.
And if possible, to protect not only yourself but also those around you.
In the reality that Im Jin-ho lived in, there was a clear limit to how strong a human could become, but this was the Pleiades, a world of heroic tales.
It was possible for a single individual to become an absolute powerhouse who could shatter mountains and shake the heavens.
‘Hmm… I wonder if it will really work, but anyway.’
Yuder looked at his thin, long arms for a moment, but soon pulled himself together and clenched his fists again.
‘Let’s try.’
You can do it.
You can do it.
Uder himself is Outboxer009.
Wasn’t it the rotten water that held the #1 spot on the server rankings for 23 whole months!
Uder decided to first look into Uder Bayer.
Yuder Bayer.
The second son of the Count Bayer family.
A heretic who comes from the Bayer family, which has produced many excellent swordsmen for generations, but has not even learned basic swordsmanship.
Of course, since he was one of the playable characters, he wasn’t just a useless guy.
Uder clearly had talent.
And it wasn’t just any ordinary talent, it was a truly peerless talent.
The Thousand and One Body.
As the name suggests, it is a talent bestowed by heaven.
‘But there’s a trap card here again.’
Yuder was born with a body with abnormalities in all of his blood vessels, or in martial arts terms, a body with a nine-yin vein.
‘Short-lived, weak, unable to use mana, and possesses immense negative energy.’
These were roughly the effects of the nine-syllable system.
An unfortunate genius born with both the ability to speak and the ability to memorize texts.
That boy was Juder Bayer.
‘Why not just Leon? Or Maximilian?’
Even though Heroes Chronicles 2 had a variety of playable characters, there was still one character who was a pearl attacker, and that was Leon Gadriel.
A cheat character born with incredible talent in both swords and magic.
He was the so-called title protagonist prepared by the production team so that even beginners could see the ending.
‘Come to think of it, Leon might be there too, right?’
It wasn’t just Leon.
It was highly likely that all the characters from Hero Chronicles 2 existed.
‘I’m feeling nervous for no reason.’
I was just lamenting that I had fallen into a world of chaos, but after all, this was Heroes Chronicle 2.
My heart started pounding at the thought of meeting the characters from Heroes Chronicles 2 that had become reality.
‘Okay, whatever happens, I just need to treat the palatine veins.’
Then the Heavenly Wisdom Body will begin to bloom.
Of course, treating the palatine veins was never an easy task.
The fact that the Count Bayer’s family had not been able to do anything about Yuder’s syllables up until this day was proof of this.
‘There is a way.’
As expected from the rotten water of Hero Chronicles 2, Yuder knew several methods of treating the nine-syllable pulse. However, knowing and putting it into practice were two different things.
Will I be able to secure a cure with my current body, which is weak itself due to the nine-syllable pulse?
No matter how much I thought about it, it was impossible.
It wasn’t something I could do alone.
But that doesn’t mean you can leave it to someone else.
The methods were all quite complicated, and it was doubtful whether the Bayer family would even believe Yuder’s own words.
‘I need allies.’
A person who can believe in Yuder’s own words and put them into practice.
Someone who will be on Yuder’s side anytime, anywhere.
But that was just then.
“Your Majesty, may I come in?”
The voice heard from outside the door was that of Maia, Yuder’s personal maid.
‘Exclusive maid.’
It was a world where great tribulation was predicted for a body born with a nine-syllable vein, but isn’t it much better now than when I was living as Imjinho?
Yuder, who had been lost in thought for a moment, soon raised his head and spoke.
“Oh, it’s okay.”
After giving permission, the door opened silently and Maia appeared.
She was a woman in her early twenties with neatly tied blue hair, and a cold, attractive beauty.
As soon as she entered the room, Maia bowed briefly to Yuder and continued speaking.
“Your fiancée, Miss Cordelia Chase, has come to visit you in the hospital.”
“ah.”
Get well soon.
When I think about it, it was understandable. After all, he started talking nonsense right after Im Jin-ho’s memories were awakened.
Moreover, isn’t Yuder usually weak?
‘What should I do?’
Im Jin-ho’s memories were awakened, but Yuder’s memories did not disappear.
That is, there was no particular problem with meeting his fiancée Cordelia.
‘Cordelia.’
A peerless beauty with red hair that is almost pink.
I thought the ratio of pretty boys and pretty girls was too high, but isn’t that how all games are?
In any case, if it was Cordelia Chase, Im Jin-ho also knew quite a bit.
‘The Magician Chase.’
If the Bayer family, Uder’s family, was a renowned family of swordsmen, the Chase family was a renowned family of magicians.
Of course, both sides are now weaker.
In any case, Cordelia Chase was a wizard character, to put it simply, born with outstanding magical talent.
Although he wasn’t born with the ability to move like Yuder, he was easy to handle because he didn’t have any penalties like the nine-syllable system.
‘I’m shaking.’
I think I’m meeting my fiancée, and she’s a playable character from Heroes Chronicle 2.
“master?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. It’s okay. I’ll go see you right now.”
When Yuder readily answered, Maia hesitated for a moment, then nodded and stepped back.
“Please wait in the reception room.”
As she said that, Maia began to lead the way as if guiding people.
‘You are truly a noble.’
As I came out into the hallway, it suddenly felt like I was in a noble family’s home, a home that once boasted great power.
Although the hallway emphasized practicality rather than extravagance, it was so large and magnificent that it felt more like walking through a large castle than a mansion.
“Your Majesty has arrived.”
Maia raised her voice once in front of the reception room door and opened the door with a measured movement.
Unlike the hallway that gave off a bleak feeling, it was a fairly well-decorated reception room, and inside was a girl with red hair that was almost pink, and a female prosecutor standing right next to her as if escorting her.
‘Cordelia Chase.’
Juder Bayer’s fiancee.
Uder swallowed dry saliva and entered the reception room. He faced Cordelia with a natural smile.
But right after that.
The moment I locked eyes with Cordelia.
Uther opened his eyes wide. And so did Cordelia.
Without saying who would speak first, the two shouted almost simultaneously.
““Why are you here?!””
&
< Chapter 1 - Pleiades > End
