A Shield for the Bold
“You’re the last one. Why aren’t you leaving?”
The Warden glared at me with a look that could kill. Of course I had my reasons for staying until the bitter end. There was a hidden Easter egg here.
An Easter egg was something developers deliberately concealed in a game—hidden events, items, story hooks, that sort of thing. Usually they didn’t affect gameplay much unless they were truly significant.
But this insane game was different. It hid Easter eggs all over the place, and ignoring them made clearing it borderline impossible.
That’s why I used to hunt for them like a madman, eyes burning.
It was such a broken mess that no guides existed, so I had to slam my head against it and discover every last one myself. Not that any of that matters right now.
The Easter egg here was going to help me enormously. It would let me take an extra weapon.
The conditions were simple. First, remain in the basement until the very end of the introduction event. Second…
“This is your final warning.”
The Warden’s hand slid toward the hilt of the blade at his waist. God, why are these bastards so damn impatient?
The second condition was to speak with the Warden in that state. It wasn’t enough to simply talk; I had to choose the correct dialogue options from the branching choices. Pick the wrong one and he’d kill the character on the spot for acting suspicious.
Of course I knew the correct route, but… the problem is that this isn’t a game anymore. It’s reality.
Even the Warden wasn’t outputting fixed lines like he had in the game. There was no guarantee that buttering him up would actually get me the extra weapon. If the system here worked completely differently… if this was an entirely separate world that had simply borrowed the game’s concept…
“If you stay any longer, I will kill you.”
Whew… No time to think, huh?
Anyway, I had zero intention of backing down after coming this far. Better to die here than cross the wall carrying nothing but a broken dagger.
“…Warden, sir.”
“So you’re not mute after all.”
Thankfully conversation worked. It seemed that upon waking in Rian’s body I had naturally absorbed this world’s language. Both listening and speaking felt perfectly natural.
I had been genuinely worried I might open my mouth and blurt out Korean.
“Choose your words with care. If you’re wasting my time with nonsense, I won’t be merciful.”
…For now, I’d follow the script I’d prepared.
“Warden, sir. This humble servant of the benevolent King of Blessings has a request.”
“How dare a wretch like you utter His name?”
Tsk… Not the right approach? Dropping the king’s name had worked most of the time before.
“I was once lost and wandering, but I now wish to repent for my sins and serve the kingdom with this new chance.”
Shing—
“To carry out that duty more effectively, there is something I wish to request…”
Swish!!—
…The madman’s blade was suddenly pressed against my neck. Warm blood trickled from the shallow cut.
“You expect me to swallow that garbage? Are you mocking me?”
Damn it. In the game that was enough.
Still, there was room. If he were truly enraged he would have taken my head already. The fact that he hadn’t meant he was willing to listen, at least.
Okay. I’ve got a read on his personality now.
In that case, the answer was to push harder. I dropped the formal act and went straight for the main point, pretending I wasn’t rattled.
“I want to receive one additional weapon.”
“…Watch that tongue. Imperial regulation is to issue only one weapon.”
Ugh. They act so high and mighty while handing out weapons that are one swing away from snapping.
“I only wish to repay the kingdom’s grace. If I return alive from beyond the wall, it will benefit the kingdom.”
It wasn’t a lie. Most of the wealth harvested outside the wall flowed straight into the royal coffers. From the kingdom’s perspective, even a single prisoner returning safely was an investment that easily broke even. Hell, it wasn’t even an investment. They simply handed us discarded weapons and shoved us out the door.
“Hmph. Even if trash like you takes an extra weapon, nothing will change. If anything, the kingdom will simply lose another precious weapon resource.”
Just give it to me already. It’s not like you’re using them.
“So tell me. Why should I grant your request?”
The Warden’s eyes sharpened. This was the signal—he would decide whether to kill me based on my next answer.
But I had already used every prepared line. Time to improvise. Something a native would say, laced with just enough bravado.
“Because I have no intention of dying.”
“……”
The air turned icy. Shit, was that too bold? Maybe I should backpedal right now—
“Kahahahahahahaha!!”
While I was busy worrying, the Warden exploded with laughter. So the bastard could laugh after all.
Was that a good sign? No, I couldn’t let my guard down. This madman looked perfectly capable of laughing one moment and slicing a throat the next.
I stayed tense, watching him. The Warden looked at me and spoke.
“Well, there’s no rule against it. The regulation does say to issue ‘at least’ one weapon.”
You’ve got to be kidding me. So I’ve been getting screwed over this whole time?
“However, as one who has become a Warden, there is a tradition I must uphold. After all, most of you pathetic weaklings die the moment you step beyond the wall. I can’t hand out extra weapons to just anyone.”
So that was the setting. This world resembled the game yet differed in countless details. Even this Warden event had the same core context, but these small nuances were completely different.
Still, the way he spoke suggested the event itself remained valid.
I’ll need to be more careful. The progression might diverge significantly.
Clank. Clack.
The Warden rummaged through his sack and tossed a weapon toward me.
…A small shield?
It was a compact shield roughly the size of two human faces. Not the best item, but incredibly useful right now. In the game it had ranked among the better weapons available to a Prisoner.
“Take it. I chose something that should actually help you.”
He hadn’t just thrown me any random junk?
Is this guy secretly a tsundere?
If I asked for one more—
“Now get out of here. You’re delaying the schedule.”
Yeah, that wasn’t happening. Still, obtaining the shield was a huge relief. If he’d given me another dagger I might have collapsed right there and sobbed.
This is decent progress.
My brain wasn’t fried enough to get greedy, so I turned away without lingering. My business here was finished.
Time to go.
Escorted by the attendant, I walked out of the exit.
Step. Step. Creeeak—
Whew… I paused to breathe in the natural wind I hadn’t felt in that gloomy basement.
I had been quite nervous, but it had somehow gone well. Maybe because I had read those dialogue lines thousands of times while playing? Even though it was an archaic speech pattern no modern person would ever use, I seemed to have delivered it flawlessly.
But it was too early to relax. The real game was only now beginning.
Time to head for the wall. Time to advance the main story.
********
A quiet, nearly deserted night. I walked under the attendant’s watchful eye.
Cleanly paved roads and medieval-style stone buildings. Looking toward the kingdom’s center, I saw spires soaring into the sky. It was exactly the scenery from the game.
To see it with my own eyes instead of through a monitor…
Rather than feeling moved, worry came first. I knew exactly how cruel this world truly was.
“Hurry it up!”
When I reached the wall, the prisoners and attendants who had departed earlier were waiting in a corner. The moment I took my place beside them, every prisoner’s gaze locked onto me. They all wore sullen, dissatisfied expressions. It wasn’t simply because I was late—they were clearly jealous that I alone carried two pieces of equipment.
Tsk. If you’re that upset, try asking for an extra one yourselves. Not that any of you have the guts.
Still, not a single prisoner raised an objection. They understood perfectly. Their own lives were far more precious than one extra weapon.
“Everyone gather! Before we enter, let’s do one final check to make sure nothing was forgotten!”
While enduring those envious stares and waiting in a corner of the wall, groups of adventurers began arriving one by one at the gate. Parties made up of humans, elves, beastmen, northern warriors, dwarves—every race imaginable.
“Tsk, prisoners?”
I hadn’t expected anything better, but the glares aimed at us were indeed sharp. That much was within expectations.
What truly surprised me was…
The wall…
The colossal barrier surrounding the last kingdom of Apraphel. It rose as tall as an entire building. I had been overwhelmed by its scale even on a screen, but seeing it in person was something else entirely. How in the world had they built this? The Egyptian pyramids seemed like child’s play by comparison.
And the gate. If giants existed, they could probably pass through it naturally.
“Opening the gate!!”
Rumble—
With a heavy, low groan the massive gate began to open. What waited beyond wasn’t the ruined outer world but a wall of fog. The mist pressed against an invisible barrier, unable to flow inside the gate.
…Seriously?
In the game too, a fog wall had waited beyond the barrier. Touching it would instantly transport you to the dungeon’s main stage. I had assumed it was merely a gameplay device for quick travel, but it existed here as well?
At this point it no longer felt like a world modeled after the game. If anything, it seemed the reverse—the game had been modeled after this world.
“Let’s move!”
While I was lost in thought, the adventurer parties began crossing the fog wall one after another. Time passed. Silence settled over the gate. The only ones left were our group of prisoners.
“Enter.”
The attendant’s voice was cold as ice. The prisoners hesitated, feet frozen in place.
Shing—
“Ugh…!”
The moment the attendant drew his sword, several prisoners panicked and threw themselves through the fog. Of course they did. Who wouldn’t move with a blade at their back?
“Hic… Uwaaaaaah!!”
But not everyone shared the same thought. Some broke formation and tried to flee.
Slash—!
The attendants cut the fugitives down without hesitation. The runners immediately screamed and begged for mercy.
“Aaaaaagh!!”
“Save me!!”
Watching the bodies collapse, complex emotions swirled inside me. I had spoken boldly, but the truth was I was terrified. I had tried to brainwash myself with the idea that this was just virtual reality, yet…
“Hwaaaaaagh!!”
Slash—!
How could I possibly dismiss those ear-piercing, soul-shaking screams as mere illusion?
This was reality. No matter how much game knowledge I possessed. No matter how confident I was that no one could match me in this particular game.
One slip and life ended. A cold, unforgiving reality. It was frightening.
I had never fought anyone before. Never once held a sword, let alone swung one. And now they wanted me to fight monsters? Could I… really survive out there?
“Ugh…!!”
Having witnessed the merciless slaughter, the remaining prisoners fled through the fog wall in terror. And then…
Shing—
One attendant leveled his blade at me. Looking around, I realized I was the last prisoner left.
“Enter.”
Whew, always so pushy. Still, having a sword pointed at me made things crystal clear.
There was no other choice anyway. I had always placed survival above everything else, and that hadn’t changed. I wasn’t walking to my death. I was moving forward to live.
So…
I stepped forward. Just like I always had.