Chapter 3

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 me was a striking man, adorned with jet-black hair and eyes that gleamed 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 I'd inexplicably inhabited(?).

"Have I finally lost it..."

It was a bitter pill to swallow.

I'd not only stepped into a game world but also become a dispensable character destined to die in the tutorial. As sunrise greeted the dawn of the new day, the dreaded tutorial would commence.

"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 me 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, he'd 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 consumed 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 Empire's tranquility by combating the monsters at bay.'

While it sounded like a commendable appointment, 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 emerged 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 who'd accompanied him from the capital, along with the mercenaries stationed in the fortress city, and ventured southward.

'If we obliterate the root of these monsters, our troubles will be over!'

In essence, Ash's approach wasn't entirely flawed.

The mission to exterminate that origin was precisely the premise of this game, 'Protect the Empire'.

The predicament 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 emergence 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 Ash's personal knight, managed to escape the carnage with Ash, but Ash didn't 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 dungeon—the source of the monstrous outbreak...

... This was the opening narrative of the game <Protect the Empire>.

But damn it, that wasn't the pressing issue right now!

"Shit."

I wiped the cold sweat coursing down my face with my hand.

"Ash, you dumb fuck! You should've holed up in the fortress city, why did you barge out! Why!"

I was certain that regardless of when I was plunged into the game, I could carve a path to survival.

I was the only person who had completed the game at its harshest difficulty setting.

Except for this one time! This accursed tutorial phase alone!

"It's unbeatable. This stage is designed to be lost."

In the game, 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 game, the Black Spider Legion monsters only became viable targets midway through the second year.

Confronted by hundreds of those bastards right from the get-go, victory seemed 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.

"Games are made to be beaten. If this situation is a challenge thrown at me, there must be a solution."

Yes.

Even though this place was undoubtedly reality, it also mirrored the game I'd conquered.

I had a greater understanding of this game, <Protect the Empire>, 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 seemed to be falling.

"First, let's catalogue what cards I and the enemy hold."

With a calm demeanor, I began to dissect what resources both my enemies and I possessed.

Firstly, the enemy's hand.

I could access the enemy's information via the system window. They were surprisingly generous with their intel.

"Let's 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 isn't 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? They're really crossing the line here.

"Damn it, oh my god..."

I cradled my head in despair once more.

It seemed hopeless. No matter which angle I viewed it from, it seemed a lost cause. How was I to triumph against such odds?

"No. Calm down. Let's evaluate what we've 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... it's listed at the bottom."

Everything was depleted—arrows, shells, food, medicine, morale. What in the hell wasn't 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 Legion's encirclement 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 can't 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 immediately tighten their encirclement 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 isn't impossible, but the odds are incredibly slim. I need to find a strategy with better odds.'

Numerous 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 game in Ironman mode meant no save scumming could be used. A single mistake could lead to game over.

Therefore, every moment 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 method.

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 game where you trained hundreds of heroes and dispatched them onto the battlefield.

Heroes were organized into parties, with one party consisting of five members. The tutorial followed the same structure—five members.

'Even if I could forget the storyline, I won't forget the tutorial party members.'

They were merely pitiful characters, destined to die after teaching me the game mechanics, but as I had pushed the game to its brink, I knew them well.

'Out of these five, four—excluding Lucas—are fated to die.'

Given the inevitable death of these characters, the game developers seemed to have inserted a little 'joke' for these four.

A joke that was non-functional in the game, serving solely as a quirky detail.

'If this is genuinely a world within a game... 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 spider's 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 me.

"Yes, Your Highness! What's the issue?"

"Summon my personal party immediately!"

Lucas blinked, taken aback.

"A party? Do you mean your personal guard unit, Your Highness? You've 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 I've figured a way out of this mess!"

***

Moments later.

The corridor outside my room teemed with all five members 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 times I'd witnessed their death events was beyond counting.

Lilly was a woman with fiery red hair cascading from beneath her mage's 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 priest's 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 couldn't 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, that's how it was in the game tutorial.'

Damien was always the first to die, perpetually suffering from some 'fear' or 'confusion' debuff.

I recall him being a critical healer, but he was utterly unhelpful.

"Come on, Damien. I know you're grieving, but you need to get up! Losing a comrade is heartbreaking, but you must survive, right?"

I patted Damien's shoulder, but he continued to sob.

Ken, the towering knight, glared at me 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 resentment.

"Are you actually saying that, Your Highness, after leading us into this death trap with your pitiful command!"

"..."

"What do you mean, 'have to survive'? We're all damned to die because of you, dammit!"

That felt unjust. I was not to blame. This damned Ash made this mess 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 Ken's feelings.

A commander abruptly descended from the capital and threw the entire army into the enemy's lap. It was enough to make anyone's blood boil.

...Yes, it was maddening, but...

"Ken."

I couldn't let that sway me.

"Are you challenging me, the son of the Emperor and the Supreme Commander of the frontline here?"

As my voice dropped to a whisper, Ken recoiled. He finally seemed 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 game over. The plans I was about to implement were outrageously reckless.

I needed them to follow me without hesitation.

"Lucas!"

So I....

"Behead this insolent fool who has insulted the royal family and the Supreme Commander, right away!"

Decided to lean into my already well-established role of a madman.