Chapter 1

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: penny

Chapter: 1

Chapter Title: Royal Possession (1)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"No matter how many times I see it, that true ending is just..."

I let out a sigh as I stared at the scene playing out on my 24-inch monitor.

Dark Fantasy RPG

Savior of World.

The goal of this game was to become the Savior of the World and rescue a planet turned into a chaotic playground for evil gods.

It was packed with countless monsters, as well as the world's secrets scattered far and wide.

Impressive graphics, the occasional alluring female characters (even the enemies).

A well-balanced gameplay system, with a variety of skills and equipment allowing for endless combinations.

This game never failed to satisfy and earn rave reviews from players, and it featured multiple endings.

There was the ending where you became the sole ruler of a rotten world.

A corruption ending where you went completely mad and made the world even more of a mess instead of saving it.

An ending where you became firewood to sustain the world alongside some mysterious, ethereal woman, holding onto hope.

But the so-called true ending, where all the hidden elements came together...

Was the destruction of the world.

The true salvation for a world long broken as the evil gods' playground was to put it out of its misery once and for all.

Even for a dark fantasy, it was so hopeless and without answers that after release, the community forums exploded in outrage.

If the game had been boring, I would've just written it off as trash and moved on. But it was genuinely fun, so players like me grew attached without realizing it—and that made us even angrier.

I was one of them.

When I first unlocked all the endings with 100% completion, I was so shocked that I sent long, detailed feedback emails to the developers every single day for a full year, questioning if this was really the intended ending.

For the record, I never got a reply.

Aside from that one godawful ending, it was a brilliantly made game. Even when playing others, I'd boot it up daily just to ponder new builds.

And then one day...

"Huh?"

An email notification popped up. When I opened it, the sender was the game company I'd been bombarding with "feedback" for a year straight.

The subject line read:

Selected as Beta Tester for the Expansion Pack.

Expansion pack.

Maybe new content? A new ending? My heart raced as I clicked the announcement attachment.

To sum it up: Thank you for the heartfelt feedback over the long haul.

Your passion and interest motivated the entire dev team to pour everything into the expansion.

And now the test version is complete, so we'd like you to help test it.

As an expansion, difficulty would ramp up, but players could use three special perks unlocked progressively to experience new storylines impossible in the base game.

I could hardly believe it.

After that ending, who'd have thought an expansion was even possible?

But...

'They just sent this email!'

I clicked the attached link right away.

An electronic contract page loaded.

Skimming it: NDA until official release—no leaking info externally.

'Agree, agree, agree.'

I hammered the agree buttons, typed my name, and hit confirm.

Then my monitor erupted in blinding light, and my consciousness faded.

"Ugh... mm..."

I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

No, a ceiling I'd never seen in my life.

Startled, I sat up—and this wasn't my modest one-room apartment.

It was a room fit for a medieval noble.

And I was lying in a canopy bed.

What the hell is this place?

When ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠did I ever have something like...

"You're awake, Your Highness Aren."

To my right, a woman sat in a chair, watching me.

She wore a headband, a maid outfit that boldly revealed her cleavage, black gloves, and had silver short hair with yellow eyes.

Her outfit felt oddly familiar.

And she called me Aren... Aren?

No way.

"Ridel, ugh...!"

Suddenly, agony surged through my head, like 20 years of a man's memories were being force-fed into my brain.

Not just pain—actual memories from two decades flooded in.

My name is Aren Eldiad.

Ninth Prince of the Eldiad Imperial Family.

And the woman watching me is Ridel Nelraid.

Daughter of Count Nelraid, who chose to become my exclusive maid.

Ridel saw me clutching my head and spoke.

"Are you alright, Your Highness? I had the priest treat you. Does it still hurt? Did you hit your head too hard when you fell?"

Her worried words jogged "my" memory of why I'd collapsed.

A cat had climbed a tree branch in the garden and couldn't get down, so I offered to rescue it... and went up.

'And fell right off.'

What was I thinking? My body wasn't even trained for that.

Just trying to show off in front of Ridel?

"I'm fine, Ridel. Just a bit dizzy."

"Really? No serious pain anywhere? If there is, I'll march right over and demand the priest compensate us for shoddy work."

"Compensate how?"

"They failed to treat you properly, so we demand fair restitution."

"And after we get it?"

"I'll use the compensation wisely for Your Highness."

She meant she'd pocket it.

She's always loved money.

......

"Ridel, I'm thirsty."

"Water at once, Your Highness."

"No, first some fruit. I want to share it with you."

"Understood. Please wait a moment."

Ridel stood and left the room to fetch fruit.

And then...

"Haa... what the hell is going on."

I sighed deeply, clutching my head.

I was confused.

I'd just agreed to play the expansion pack, and suddenly... here I was in this world.

Awakened as Aren Eldiad.

But after those memories hit, everything felt so natural.

Ridel felt natural. Being a prince felt obvious. Even chatting with her brought up old memories effortlessly.

Logically, this screamed "possession." But now, I wondered if I'd just suddenly recalled past-life memories or something.

Either way...

"This is fucked."

The situation was the worst.

Why? This world was a dark fantasy barreling straight toward becoming the evil gods' playground—a total shitshow was inevitable.

But before the world went to hell, I was in deep shit.

Aren Eldiad.

Ridel Nelraid.

I knew these two.

Of course I did.

They were monsters in Savior of World.

Mid-early game bosses, punching bags for geared-up players: Aren Eldiad and Ridel Nelraid.

But this Ridel didn't match the game's version at all.

In the game, she was shrill and neurotic, but her decadent beauty made her a fan favorite boss.

As for Ninth Prince Aren Eldiad...

He didn't look human in the game.

Aren Eldiad was a horse with a grotesquely twisted face.

And Ridel Nelraid rode that horse, attacking the player.

-Your Highness Aren! What are you doing? Slay this insolent intruder!

She'd debut barking orders at the "prince" horse-maid combo while assaulting you. But drain its HP, topple the horse...

-A-ahhh! No! Your Highness! Your Highness! Nooo! Aaaaaah! ...Finally drifting off to sleep, Your Highness. Sweet dreams.

She'd scream in delirium, then suddenly go serene, hug the dead horse, and explode on the spot.

'If things stay on track, I'll turn into that freakish horse, and Ridel becomes the mad rider who dies hugging me.'

My gamer memories clashed with the prince's, igniting rage.

I couldn't let Ridel end up like that.

But it felt hopeless.

I got out of bed and stood before the full-length mirror, inspecting "my" reflection.

A handsome young man with blond hair and green eyes.

Familiar from the prince's memories, but shocking against my possessor's perspective.

'This turns into that monstrosity later?'

The evil gods' prank sent chills down my spine.

Despair and powerlessness crashed over me.

'Just a mid-game boss— what the hell can I even do...'

That's when it happened.

A translucent window appeared before my eyes, and a voice echoed in my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mind.

"...What?"

"...What?!"