Chapter 3: [STAGE 0] Even under the crumbling sky

The forward operating base of the fortress city of Crossroad.

In the commander’s room.

“......”

I stared intensely at the mirror.

There stood a man with black hair and dark black eyes, so handsome that he seemed to have popped out of a painting.

The third prince of the Empire. Ash ‘Von Heiter’ Everblack.

That’d be the name of the handsome man whose body I took over.

“For god’s sake…”

I had to admit it.

Admit the fact that I have indeed entered the world of the game as an extra side character who dies in the tutorial.

And the tutorial begins as soon as the sun rises tomorrow.

“Why?! Why did it have to be this guy?!”

I wiped my face with both my hands as I let out a groan.

A transparent system window was floating in front of me, and there were lines of explanations about Ash.

[Character Summary - Ash ‘Von Heiter’ Everblack]

The summary’s length was about as long as a short story, but here’s the real summary of it.

The youngest son of the Everblack Empire imperial family, third prince Ash.

Ash suffered from madness since childhood. His demeanor was cruel and ferocious.

Since childhood, he always received anything he wanted and got rid of anything he disliked.

All kinds of incidents and accidents continued to happen in Ash's private palace.

Once he reached adulthood, he hosted parties every day with noblemen and women, living a prodigal life and leeching off the Empire’s treasury.

He looked down on his knights and officials and caused many disputes.

As the tyranny became more and more extreme, and many resentments arose within the capital, the emperor took extraordinary measures.

“Ash, I appoint you as the lord and commander of the fortress city of Crossroad.”

“Stop the monsters there and contribute to safeguarding the peace of the Empire.”

That appointment was an exile and a demotion in disguise.

The fortress city of Crossroad was located at the southern end of the world,

And the monsters that rose from the giant lake in the south attacked the city endlessly.

The world's worst monster front, averaging thousands of casualties per year.

To stop the monsters here meant that he was never to come back and fight off the monsters for the rest of his life.

Ash was an insane bastard.

On the first day of his tenure, he took most of the imperial troops who had followed him from the capital, along with the mercenaries stationed in the fortified city, and marched south.

“All I have to do is destroy the source from which the monsters are pouring out!”

Ash’s thought was somewhat correct.

Because that’s the main objective in <Empire Defense>.

The problem was the timing. Because the day that Ash marched off with his troops was the day the monsters, who had been quiet for the past decade, began to move in earnest.

As soon as Ash and his men arrived at the outpost, they were surrounded by an army of black spiders that suddenly appeared, and they fought a bloody battle for three days and nights.

And on the fourth day, the forward operating base was captured.

The deployed troops were completely annihilated.

Lucas—the main character who was Ash's escort—escaped with him, but Ash eventually died while escaping.

In the end, Lucas survived alone and returned to Crossroad.

He protected Crossroad as the deputy, and at the same time attacked the dungeon, the source of the monsters…

…That was the introductory story of the game, <Empire Defense>, but that’s not the important part!

‘I’m fucked.’

I wiped the cold sweat off my face.

‘Ash, you stupid bastard! You should’ve stayed in the fortress city, why did you come out?! Why?!’

I was very confident in finding a way out no matter which point of the game I was dropped into.

Because I was the only person who managed to clear the game in the most horrifying difficulty.

But that does not include the tutorial, which is where I currently am.

‘It’s not happening. The stage was meant to be unclearable.’

The tutorial level was systematically designed to be impossible to clear in the game.

There was a huge amount of monsters with overwhelming levels and stats compared to the soldiers.

In this game, which lasted for three years, monsters from the Black Spider Army could only be hunted once you were halfway through the second year.

Running into hundreds of them, there was just no way I could win.

In the end, Lucas ended up being the only survivor of the battle as he managed to escape.

‘…No. Get yourself together, Classic Nerd.’

I tried my best to stay cool. I slapped my cheeks twice with my hands.

‘Games exist to be cleared. If this is a trial given to me by someone, then there has to be a solution.’

That’s right.

This place was clearly real, but I’ve already cleared this world once.

I understood the game <Empire Defense> more than anyone.

If I use all my knowledge and experience, I will be able to find a hole I can spring up through even under the crumbling sky.

‘First, let me organize the cards in my hands, and the cards in my enemy’s hands.’

I calmly put together what I had and what the enemy had.

First, what the enemy had.

Enemy information could also be viewed in the system window. Oh, how kind.

“Let’s see…”

[Enemy information - STAGE 0]

- Lv.?? Black Spider Queen: 1 unit - Lv.60 Black Spider Demolisher: 196 units - Lv.55 Black Spider Assaulter: 912 units

Well, due to the nature of the black spider corps that live in a swarm, the queen appeared in the stage, but it had no fighting ability. The queen was not the problem.

The real problem was the sheer amount and level of these damned spiders. What? Lv.55? 60? What’s up with these numbers? Over a thousand? This is crossing the line.

“Oh… Oh, my head…”

I wrapped my arms around my head and despaired.

I’m doomed. No matter how I think about it, I’m doomed. How am I supposed to win against this?

‘No. Calm down, calm down. I need to check what I have.’

I opened up the ally information window too. A window containing a lot of information appeared. “Alright, let’s see… The durability of the fort wall is… completely running out.”

We’re running out of arrows, cannonballs, food, and medical supplies. The morale is also low. Okay, is there anything that we’re not running out of?

‘The only thing usable is this mana cannon, huh.’

[Artifact - Ancient Mana Cannon (SR)]

The giant cannon installed on the highest point of the forward operating base.

It was the weapon with the strongest firepower in this base. It condenses and fires magical energy using ancient technology.

‘I reckon this was used to escape the tutorial level.’

After all the troops were wiped out, and the capture of the forward base became certain,

Lucas picked up Ash and escaped after shooting a cannonball through the thinnest part of the Black Spider Army's encirclement.

In the process of escaping, Lucas tried his best to protect Ash until the very end, but Ash got caught by the black spiders and was torn to pieces.

The last scene of the tutorial is Lucas leaving Ash's screams behind and running away in bloody tears.

‘I can’t die like that.’

When I imagined the scene of getting caught by the giant spiders and being eaten alive, I almost threw up.

‘Any other escape methods?’

I thought of ways to mobilize the entire army to escape at once in the dark but gave up soon after.

Those spiders are just reluctant to be active after sunset, but they’re not incapable of doing so. They will immediately get in position and attack.

On flat ground, the speed of the Black Spider Army was comparable to that of a war horse. Leaving the fortress itself was an act of suicide.

‘It isn’t impossible to survive, but the possibility is way too low. I have to find another way with a higher chance of survival.’

Dozens of methods came to mind one after another. My confused mind gradually subsided.

I calmly checked the methods I thought of.

When the game is played in Ironman mode, saving and loading the game becomes impossible, and for that reason, the moment the player messes up, the entire game gets ruined.

Because of that, it’s important to find the optimal action to take every second.

Therefore, every moment is a process of searching for the best method.

Since I’ve been playing this game for the past half year, I knew this one thing. That there’s always a move to make in every situation, and there’s always a way to survive.

Something with even a slightly higher chance of survival.

Something that’s even just a bit more certain.

I search for it.

“......!”

Thinking of something, I quickly manipulated the system window. Then the screen I was searching for appeared.

The party window.

[Main Party (5/5)]

- Lv.1 Ash (EX)

- Lv.25 Lucas (SSR)

- Lv.15 Lily (R)

- Lv.15 Ken (N)

- Lv.10 Demian (N)

I took a dry gulp.

‘This is it.’

<Empire Defense> is a game where hundreds of heroes are raised and sent to the battlefield.

Heroes are managed in groups, and a party consists of five people. The same goes for the party given in the tutorial. Five people.

‘Even if I forget the story, I won’t forget the tutorial party members.’

They were poor fellows who only told the player how to play and then died one after another, but I was keen on them since I had no-lifed the game to the limit.

‘Out of these five, four of them will die no matter what, except for Lucas.’

Because they were destined to die, the developers added a little ‘joke’ to them.

Something that can never be used in the game, created solely for fun.

‘If this is really the world inside that game, then that ‘joke’ must still exist.’

And if I could use that to my advantage, then… possibilities arise.

It’s as thin as a thread, but it’s a sure strategy.

“Lucas!”

I swung the door open and poked my face through. Lucas, who was dozing outside and standing guard, looked at me in surprise.

“Yes, Your Highness! What is the matter?”

“Gather the party under my direct control!”

Lucas blinked his eyes in surprise.

“By party… Do you mean your guards, Your Highness? You’ve never summoned them before, why so suddenly…”

“Ah, stop talking back and just bring them!”

I pointed my index finger at Lucas and smiled confidently.

“Because I’ve thought of a strategy to get out of this situation!”

* * *

[Translator: Dawn ]

[Proofreader: Alissa ]

Join our discord for release updates!

https://discord.com/invite/reapercomics

* * *

A moment later.

In the hallway in front of my room, all five tutorial party members gathered.

Me, Lucas.

And three new faces.

‘They must be Lily, Ken, and Demian…’

I glanced at their familiar faces.

I mean, I better be familiar with their faces since I’ve seen their deaths countless times.

Lily is the red-haired woman wearing a wizard's robe.

Ken is the large man wearing armor with his head shaved.

And Demian is…

“Why is he curled up into a ball?”

He was the boy with curly brown hair, glasses, and a priest's uniform.

His looks are fine, but he was in the corner of the room, sobbing all alone. Why was he like that?

“Demian lost his comrade today, please understand.”

Lily smiled bitterly while asking me for forgiveness.

Demian was one of the few healers left in the unit, and it seemed that he had been taking care of wounded soldiers until now.

Just a moment ago, a close colleague of his died of an injury.

“Sob… Sob…”

Demian, as he was unable to stop crying, was soaked with the blood of his allies.

Lily, who sat next to Demian, gently stroked his back.

‘Now that I think about it, he was like that in the game’s tutorial too.’

Since he was inflicted with abnormal status conditions, such as ‘fear’ or ‘confusion’ from the start, he was the first one to die.

I remember that I couldn’t use him at all, even though he was the most important role, the healer.

“Now, now. I understand your sorrow, but stand up for a second, Demian! It is indeed a tragedy that you lost your colleague, but you have to survive!”

I said, patting Demian on the shoulder, but he just kept sniffing.

The big knight, Ken, who was looking at me dissatisfied, growled.

“‘Have to survive’? Your Highness, do you seriously think you’re in the place to say that?”

“Hm?”

I looked at Ken, he cried out in a voice that was filled with emotion—

“Survive? How? We’re all about to die because of you, dammit!”

C’mon now. That’s unfair, I’m a victim too. I only entered Ash’s body after this bastard had already done all the trash things.

Was what I wanted to say, but I managed to stop. Who would believe such words?

And most of all, I could understand Ken’s feelings.

The commander who was sent down from the capital rushed and led the entire army into the enemy camp. His anger was very understandable.

…Yes, understandable, but…

“Ken.”

That doesn’t mean I can just let that pass by.

“Are you protesting against me, the emperor’s son and commander-in-chief of the front line?”

Ken was startled when I lowered my voice. It was then he realized that the prince in front of him was a madman.

I raised the corners of my mouth and smiled dangerously.

‘If I were to lose control, that'd be the end of it. Because the operation I’m about to share with them now is absurd and reckless.’

I need to get them to follow me without a complaint.

“Lucas!”

So…

“Immediately decapitate this rude knight who insulted the royal family and the commander-in-chief!”

Since I had entered the body of a crazy bastard, I decided to pretend to be one.