Game of Thrones: The Guard of Winterfell

He didn't know how long he had been asleep, but he felt his face hurt, accompanied by a "pop" sound, which became increasingly painful.

He opened his eyes suddenly and saw a large hand falling. Quickly, he raised his own hand and grabbed the large one, which was quite strong.

Looking at the owner of the big hand, he said, "Hewlan, thanks."

"You finally woke up, Lance Del. I thought you were happy to see the old gods."

"Guys, the bastard hasn't seen them yet, how could I go first?"

Lance sat on the bed and looked at his companions who were laughing around him — the guards of Winterfell, who had been with him day and night for three years.

He remembered all of them — the memories of his previous life had been awakened from the depths of his mind, twenty years late. Now, it seemed he had emerged from his shell and been reborn, although he had already been reborn twenty years ago.

"Lance, do you want to drink with us outside the city? Soon we'll be following Lord Eddard Stark south, to King's Landing. In the coming years, I fear we won't have another chance to return to the tavern outside Winterfell to drink, nor to see my lovely Rose again."

"I won't, I'm a bit tired." Lance declined Hewlan and the others' invitation. Lost memories were resurfacing, as there was always a discomfort in his heart.

"Then rest well. After you fainted upon hearing that we might head south to King's Landing, Jory said we wouldn't need to be on duty for the next few days. I'll be heading home with Weir tomorrow. It's time for you to return to Del Village. I remember you still have a cousin living there."

Lance nodded silently. After his happy companions left, he was left alone in the spacious guardroom.

In the silence, he found the reason for his discomfort buried deep in his memory: it came from the plot of the TV series Game of Thrones.

That afternoon, King Robert Baratheon, ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and protector of the realm, brought his family and a large entourage from the distant southern capital to Winterfell, the cold northern city.

He came to visit his foster brother, the current head of House Stark, Eddard. And Lance, born into the Del lineage, which had been loyal to the Starks for six hundred years and ruled the North for millennia, served Lord Eddard Stark, the Lord of the North and protector of Winterfell.

King Robert wanted to invite Lord Eddard to go south, to King's Landing, to replace him as Hand of the King , after the sudden death of Jon Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie and Protector of the East.

When Eddard went south, he would take with him a quarter of Winterfell's fifty guards, along with his two daughters and a dozen servants to tend to his daily life. In distant King's Landing, this might include Eddard himself and perhaps Lance, although he wasn't sure.

Because, in the TV series, he was just an unknown among the fifty guards, without a name. Dying without a trace was his fate.

He didn't want to travel all the way just to die, but even if he stayed in the North, he would live only one or two more years than the others and still face many battles.

When Lord Eddard Stark was imprisoned in King's Landing and about to die, his eldest son and heir, Robb Stark, would summon all the northern vassals and form an army to march south and avenge his father. The northern army would be almost completely wiped out, and even many northern nobles would lose their heirs, not to mention an unknown guard…

Even if he stayed in the North, Lance was destined to die, just like his father and uncle, who, seventeen years ago, followed Eddard Stark in the Usurper's War and died at the Trident. Nine years ago, his brother followed Eddard Stark in the Iron Islands Rebellion and died at Siege of Pyke.

Six hundred years ago, Lance's ancestor, Old Del, received lands on the banks of the White Blade River from the Starks. Since then, the Del family had dedicated hundreds of fearless warriors to the Starks, all returning to the ice-covered village to die in the snow or falling in distant battlefields. Three of them were lucky enough to be buried in Winterfell's cemeteries.

Before awakening his memories, Lance had wished to follow Ned Stark and was willing to die for him. Damned loyalty and honor even affected his only close relative, his cousin Duncan, who had sworn to go to Winterfell and become the lord bodyguard.

In two days, it would be Duncan's seventeenth name day, and after that, he would follow Eddard south. Perhaps the two cousins could see each other one last time.

Although Lance had awakened the memories of his past life, he had lived twenty years in this one, and the bonds and emotions he had formed could not be easily erased.

Out of familial affection, he couldn't bear to see Duncan die prematurely. Out of friendship, he couldn't bear to see his companions perish. Out of loyalty, he couldn't ignore Eddard Stark walking towards his death.

So, as a time traveler, he cried out sincerely from the depths of his heart: "Goldfinger, appear!" If it didn't appear, Lance would take Duncan south or flee to Essos, crossing the Narrow Sea to Braavos, to avoid the cruel fate he could not bear to witness. Loyalty to Stark should come after the safety of his own family.

At that moment, less out of ambition or a desire to save the world, he fought merely to survive. His humble origins in Game of Thrones condemned him to a difficult existence, which reminded him of the hard work of his previous life.

He wanted to live, live better, live free, live with dignity and without restrictions.

In his previous life, he worked hard to improve his life. Now, he had to fight just to stay alive. It was a regression of civilization, a tragedy for humanity, and the end of the Del family.

"Get out here, Goldfinger!" His soul called for the ninety-eighth time. Lance's heart was full of despair. He thought that no time traveler had ever wanted their "cheat" as much as he did, but his ability was limited.

"Goldfinger is dead for the ninety-ninth time."

"Die, Goldfinger!" for the hundredth time, Lance thought, desolate.

The emotions had shifted from frustration to numbness, and from numbness to surprise.

A panel of light and shadow appeared before his eyes, displaying a medieval style. It was very similar to the game Mount & Blade that he had played in his previous life, but not exactly the same.

[Character: Lance Del]

Level: 0

Experience: 0/100

Identity: Winterfell Guard

Title: Greedy Lance

Prestige: Unknown

[Physical Attributes]

Available Attribute Points: 0

Strength: 5

Endurance: 5

Agility: 3

Charm: 1

[Skills]

Available Skill Points: 0

Riding: 2

Weapon Mastery: 1

Leadership : 0

Beast Control: 0

Danger Detection: 0

Nervous Reaction: 0

[Weapon Proficiency]

One-handed: 100

Two-handed: 100

Polearm: 50

Bow and Arrow: 50

Throwing: 0

[Troops: 0/0] None

[Pets: 0/0] None

Lance Del, twenty years after his rebirth, finally saw his "golden finger" emerge, at his sincere call.

But... no matter how he looked at it, it seemed very simple.

Having played many games and read many novels, Lance recognized at first glance that this was a typical "kill monsters and level up" system.

Now, he was at a humble level 0. As long as he gained 100 experience points, he could advance to level 1. Perhaps he should… perhaps… he should become stronger.

Ignoring the title and prestige, he focused on the four attributes in the column

[Physical Attributes]:

Strength = physical power

Endurance = durability

Agility = speed

Charm = beauty?

The six skills in the [Skills] column seemed clearer. He could easily guess the role of the first four skills. Besides riding, which was related to his existing abilities, the other three probably corresponded to the [Weapon Proficiency], [Troops], and [Pets] categories. However, the specific use of troops and pets was still unknown and would need to be discovered as he leveled up and gained experience.

As for the other two skills, Danger Detection and Nervous Reaction, he couldn't exactly understand how they worked. Various ideas passed through his head, but he didn't know which to trust. This "Goldfinger" that should have appeared long ago was so stingy that it didn't even offer a clear hint.

Therefore, the most important question now was: how could he try to level up? Would he need to kill chickens and fish, or would he have to kill people ?