The Ruined World Was Mistaken for a Game

Translator: Dreamscribe

The heroes and champions of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire had come to the rescue!

In truth, the real objective was that warship and the supplies stored inside it, but either way, judging by the result, it was fair to say they had come to the rescue.

The composition of the scene looked far too good.

Heroes standing atop the hill, gazing down on the demon and the monsters with imposing dignity.

Unlike Arsilan Saga, RL was a third-person MMORPG controlled through a screen. Thanks to that, players could freely adjust the third-person camera and take in the sight of their own avatar and everything around it.

Everyone connected to RL, on the Golden Planet and elsewhere, felt a shiver run through them.

They looked incredible.

We looked so incredible.

Behold the weapons and armor purchased at such a steep price!

Radiant outfits that couldn't be obtained anywhere inside the Kalsus Dimensional Empire, the kind that never got old no matter how many times they were shown off.

Click! Click!

The avatars froze in place, striking poses, and used the screenshot function to capture this magnificent sight.

Viewed through a screen, there was nothing the least bit strange about it, but seen from inside this world, created in sync with RL, the scene was downright eerie.

Stiff-faced mannequins were repeating identical motions as they held their poses, their mouths moving awkwardly while voices spilled out that didn't match their postures or actions at all.

Faced with the avatars looking like that, the Inspector General couldn't help but flinch.

'Perfect.'

Jinwoo thought that and nodded.

This entire scene was going to be recorded as footage and spread across the whole Kalsus Dimensional Empire. It would do an excellent job of teaching everyone that Arkia actually existed and just how important it was.

Jinwoo moved Haebyul... no, the demon and the monsters.

Kieeeeek!

Kiek!

The skeletons opened their mouths all at once and let out shrieks. Their jaws gaped wide enough to unhinge, and ominous red light poured from their hollow eye sockets.

Sticky gobbets of flesh dropped from the skeletons' bodies, staining the ground around them black. The Inspector General noticed something on those hideous skeletons.

"That's...."

The tokens that marked a knight's identity.

Sacred emblems of knighthood, made from material resistant to contamination. The Inspector General finally realized what those skeletons were. They were the very knights who had come with him.

He looked to the side.

The knights impaled on the trees were screaming as all their flesh melted away, turning them into skeletons. Every one of them had suffered like that until they finally fell to corruption and became skeletons.

[U, uuurgh!]

[K, kill me....]

[Why me...!]

[Die!]

Voices like those drifted faintly through the shrieks the skeletons were letting out.

The demon picked up a skeleton in her hand.

She studied it as though appreciating a work of art, then smiled a smile that crawled down the spine. It felt as though that demon, who had created this dreadful hell, might turn him into one of those skeletons wailing in agony at any moment.

Little by little, the Inspector General was coming to understand what suffering with no escape truly meant.

"H, haaugh!"

Terrified out of his wits, the Inspector General trembled all over.

It was then that the skeletons came rushing wildly at him.

"Attack!"

"Ooraaah!"

The avatars on the hill leapt down in unison and began attacking the skeletons. The avatars moved magnificently. They were fast enough to surpass the knights, and their power was devastating.

"Ah...."

The skeletons, against whom Dimensional Energy had done nothing, went down one after another. To the Inspector General's eyes, the avatars who wielded the unknown energy of Arkia looked like true heroes.

The skeletons, which had been numerous enough to fill the whole area, vanished rapidly. Each one dissolved on the spot and dropped an item, and the avatars quickly scooped the items up.

The battle with the demon began.

The avatars spammed skills at the demon and poured on attacks, but they couldn't break through her barrier.

"You vermin...!"

The demon stretched out a hand and tentacles burst forth, slicing through several avatars. As the blades at the tentacle tips swept through the air, hundreds of towering trees were cut in two, and the avatars' bodies were carved apart and dropped to the ground.

In an instant, half the avatars were gone.

FLASH!

But light burst from the spots where the avatars had died, and they revived. They had paid a price to the Authority System to come back.

The factions of Kaljest and Scharnhilde, and the high nobles who had joined them here, spared no expense.

'Let's squeeze out a bit more money.'

Jinwoo controlled the demon wearing Haebyul's appearance and kept killing avatars.

Scharnhilde and Kaljest were rivals, and other imperial factions were present here too. Retreating now meant admitting defeat, so every time they died they threw money at reviving.

[Warning! You have revived more than 5 times! For the next week, a greater price will be required!]

The more they revived, the more the cost of the Resurrection Stone kept climbing. After ten or more deaths, the cost reached a level that even high nobles found burdensome.

An enormous pile of money was steadily accumulating for Jinwoo!

It was about time to let them taste the thrill of victory. If he only ever exploited them, RL wouldn't last long. He would make them feel a flood of emotions they could never feel in reality, until they couldn't live without RL.

Jinwoo crooked a finger, and the demon looked at the avatars with an expression of utter boredom before withdrawing.

"How tedious. See you next time."

With that, she sank into the ground as if seeping into it and disappeared. Once she was gone, the Black Forest seemed to brighten a little.

With the demon gone, the remaining skeletons and monsters all turned into black liquid and soaked into the ground, vanishing.

The Kalsus Dimensional Empire had won its first victory against the wicked demon!

"We won!"

"Wooooo!"

The avatars all shouted at once. They flung both arms up and expressed their joy with slightly awkward poses.

The Inspector General finally allowed himself to feel relief.

Jinwoo walked up beside him.

"Looks like we've survived, at least."

"S, so it seems."

All those countless knights and soldiers had been wiped out.

The only survivors were the Inspector General and Jinwoo, who had taken the form of a knight.

Scharnhilde's and Kaljest's avatars approached the Inspector General. Barely pulling himself together, he dropped to one knee on the ground and paid his respects.

"I, I greet the radiant stars of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire. I am Alunma Grente of the Inspection Corps, dispatched to confirm whether Arkia truly exists."

The Inspector General immediately stated his identity and his purpose.

The Inspector General was known to belong to the Crown Prince's faction. The Inspection Corps' authority was formidable, extending even to the right to inspect and interrogate nobles.

If the Inspector General wanted to survive going forward, he would have to lean on Scharnhilde or Kaljest. They were the two most powerful factions, separated by an enormous gap from the Crown Prince, who had only just managed to form a Blood Alliance.

"I am aware that the Inspection Corps was sent. I will by no means let this matter pass. I see an intent to deny and trample upon my younger brother Reist's sacrifice and effort."

"H, His Highness the Crown Prince did not dispatch the Inspection Corps with any such intention!"

At Scharnhilde's words, the Inspector General jumped in alarm and answered at once. Beside her, Kaljest nodded along.

"Rather large in scale, wasn't it, for a force meant only to determine whether a place exists."

"Th, that was... t, to be certain of it...."

"They were a vital asset of our empire. What's more, they were not some privately owned legion but a core resource of the imperial family. This matter is anything but trivial."

At Kaljest's words, the Inspector General swallowed hard.

An excellent pretext to attack the Crown Prince had presented itself. The Inspector General desperately tried to defend the Crown Prince and insist there had been no such intent.

Kneeling beside him, Jinwoo grinned inwardly. The timing was perfect.

"Kkhhk...."

When Jinwoo suddenly broke into sobs, every gaze turned to him.

"Only now have I come to realize what truly serving the empire means."

Jinwoo went on.

"The Crown Prince intended to nitpick at RL, pressure His Highness Reist, and take profit for himself. And should anyone push back, he is resolved to cut them all down."

"Wh, what?! What nonsense are you spouting...."

The Inspector General recoiled in shock, but Jinwoo kept talking.

"Now that things have gone so wrong, His Highness Reist is in danger!"

Scharnhilde and Kaljest were appalled by Jinwoo's words.

It was sudden information.

Reist was not on his planet at the moment. He was on his way to Planet 10 to build a relay facility inside the Sanctuary for RL's service and to hold a meeting with the bureaucrats.

Jinwoo just blurted out whatever came to mind.

If he could plant a strong seed of distrust, that alone would be enough, but he pushed one step further.

Blurt first, worry later.

That side of his personality was manifesting here too!

"L, lies! This is slander! That man has clearly been possessed by the, the demon!"

The Inspector General spoke desperately, but the mood had turned strange.

The Inspector General was on the verge of losing his mind.

Why was this man suddenly doing this!

Among the knights who served the Crown Prince, he was the most loyal, loyal enough that even the Inspector General acknowledged it. Watching a knight like that speak through tears, practically pleading, even the Inspector General started to feel the words might be true.

Scharnhilde's avatar stepped in front of Jinwoo.

An emote icon with a solemn expression popped up above her head.

"Do you have proof?"

"I have none. However...."

Jinwoo drew his sword and put it to his own throat.

Watching through their screens, Scharnhilde and Kaljest flinched in shock.

"I offer my head. Forgive this disloyal knight who failed to walk the path that serves the empire!"

Before anyone could stop him, Jinwoo slashed his own throat with the sword.

Blood gushed from his neck and soaked the ground. The Inspector General was horrified at the sight. So were those watching through their screens.

"Please, subjugate evil and build an empire that shall endure forever. Gguuhk! F, for the Kalsus Dimensional Empire... kuhuk! For it...."

THUD!

He barely got the words out before collapsing.

Silence settled over them.

By anyone's reckoning, he looked like a loyal subject devoted to the empire.

By contrast, the Inspector General, wearing an expression like a man with a screw loose, looked like a spy who had come to pull something.

"Bind that man."

At Kaljest's shout, an avatar behind him came forward and used a 'Binding Skill' to lock the Inspector General's limbs in place.

Slipping out of the body that had now outlived its usefulness, Jinwoo looked at the Inspector General, who was brimming with a sense of injustice. Either way, he was never getting out of this place now.

The Blood Alliance members of Kaljest and Scharnhilde approached the warship.

"How about we cooperate for the time being?"

"That would be for the best."

Scharnhilde accepted Kaljest's proposal.

To counter the Crown Prince, cooperation was essential.

The claim that Reist was in danger was somewhat lacking in credibility, but it was information a knight had offered up while laying down his own life.

'My little brother....'

'My dear brother....'

For the sake of their precious Reist, the two of them would do anything! Scharnhilde and Kaljest both resolved to reinforce Reist's guard without fail.

"Your Highness! We've found the supplies aboard the warship. The storage hold is in good condition, so the supplies are all intact. However, the warship itself is unstable, so we'll need to move the supplies carefully."

One of Scharnhilde's subordinates who had gone to investigate the warship came over and reported.

It was welcome news.

They could list the goods on the exchange for a fortune, or use them as payment to the Authority System.

"Let's split it in half."

"Understood."

Kaljest and Scharnhilde agreed to divide the supplies in the hold evenly between them. No other faction could object to their decision. In Arkia, strength was law.

But ending it there wouldn't be any fun.

Jinwoo snapped his fingers, and avatars appeared near the warship and cast a skill. They were avatars of subordinates belonging to the Crown Prince's faction, conjured with illusion magic.

The avatars near the warship spotted them.

"Huh?"

"Those bastards are...."

"Hey? What the...!"

Before anyone could stop them, they cast their skill.

Flames shot from their hands, and the moment they touched the warship, it exploded and swept everything around it.

The avatars carrying supplies out from inside, and the avatars dividing up the supplies stacked in front of the warship, were all caught in the blast and met their deaths.

WHOOOOSH!

The stacked supplies burned away in an instant.

Those who had committed this outrage fled the moment the warship blew. The others hurried after them but lost them. They were illusion magic to begin with, so there was no way to catch them.

"This is insane!!"

Scharnhilde shot to her feet in front of her screen and screamed. All those supplies, which would have been an immense boon to her Blood Alliance, had vanished in a single moment.

According to the Authority System's appraisal, they were worth more than enough for the entire Blood Alliance to roll the gacha dozens of times over.

It burned well.

It was burning beautifully, roaring away.

Scharnhilde stared at her screen, then slumped down where she stood. Her Blood Alliance members wore vacant expressions too.

It was the same on Kaljest's side.

Neither of their avatars moved for a good while.

Only the Inspector General, bound and held captive, watched the sight with his eyes wide as saucers.

"Who...! Who dared do this!"

Kaljest's furious shout rang through the Black Forest. A Blood Alliance member of his, revived from death, came running over quickly.

"They wore purple robes, and they had 2-star jeweled necklaces!"

"Is that true?"

"Yes! I saw it clearly with my own two eyes!"

Scharnhilde's Blood Alliance member said the same thing.

The only faction in Arkia that dressed like that was the Crown Prince's side. The purple robes that symbolized the Crown Prince were quite expensive, and the Crown Prince controlled them personally by invoking his authority.

One might have suspected another faction had disguised itself to sow discord, but Scharnhilde's scouts reported spotting the Crown Prince faction's avatars just outside the Black Forest.

They were the real Crown Prince faction avatars, hurrying toward the warship.

Kaljest and Scharnhilde clenched their fists.

They hadn't just crossed a line; they had blown right past it. This matter would never be allowed to slide.

'Well then....'

Jinwoo grinned as he walked over to the Inspector General.

The bound Inspector General met the eyes of the Jinwoo who had suddenly appeared.

That figure, wrapped in black currents, was utterly horrifying. Countless red eyes embedded in the black currents were staring at the Inspector General.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

The Inspector General frantically tried to call for help, but no words came out. Jinwoo stretched out a hand, and a magic circle was carved into the man's body. The circle spread across his whole body and then vanished beneath his skin.

"Huh? U, uh? Serves you right! Bwahahaha!"

The Inspector General suddenly shouted that.

It was not his will. The magic had made the words come out on their own. Not only Scharnhilde and Kaljest but every avatar present heard what the Inspector General said, and they came toward him. Jinwoo had already vanished from sight.

"Wh, what? Th, that wasn't me talking, I... how dare you think we'd let you hold more than His Highness the Crown Prince, the eternal sun who shall shine in radiance! You are all guilty of treason against the throne! Every last one of you will be executed! Hahahaha!"

The Inspector General's face went ghost-white.

Sadly, the man visible on their screens looked like the most faithful loyalist the Crown Prince had.

[You have acquired a large amount of Evil Karma!]

[You have acquired a large amount of Good Karma!]

[You have successfully sown discord! The Evil God's influence increases!]

He had succeeded in planting the seeds of conflict!

It wouldn't matter one bit if Scharnhilde and Kaljest went to press the Crown Prince's side about it.

"I, it's here! At last I too am the owner of a +4 weapon!"

"Congratulations, Your Highness!"

"It's thanks to your devotion. Hahahaha!"

Things were taking a strange turn, but the Crown Prince wore a smile brimming with happiness.

The Crown Prince had, in fact, done nothing at all. He'd been far too busy spending money on gacha rolls and enhancements.

Jinwoo had deliberately rigged the rates to stock the Crown Prince himself and his Blood Alliance with gear and weapons.

"We've found a warship loaded with supplies!"

"Ohhh! Truly excellent news."

Jinwoo arranged for the Crown Prince's Blood Alliance members to discover a warship in relatively decent condition.

Was it even allowed to be this lucky?

The Crown Prince was lucky enough to actually wonder that.

The Crown Prince grinned and started writing a post on the exchange's message board. It was purely out of a desire to brag.

'I have secured a massive quantity of supplies from a warship! Is this a good thing?'

That day, the exchange's message board exploded.

*****

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