Chapter 1
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 1
Chapter title: 'That cliché' indeed.
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『Countless nations have fallen, but your fatherland still stands tall. You have become a hero to be recorded in the history of your people, and your descendants will praise your achievements for generations to come.』
Ba-bam, ba-bam, ba-bam, ba-bam~♪
With grand music, the ending credits rolled.
[Game Victory!]
[Play Time: 6 hours 32 minutes 18 seconds]
"Hoo."
I let out a long sigh and stretched my body. I had been glued to the game for nine hours, so it was only natural that my whole body felt stiff and sore.
Hearts of General.
A masterpiece strategy simulation game that had been out for over five years.
Its main objective was to win a war on the fictional continent of Pantara, and it was praised for its excellent graphics, historical accuracy, sound, and various other systems.
Even though it's a simulation game with a notoriously high barrier to entry, it swept all sorts of game awards the year it was released, which says it all.
And I was a total veteran player who had enjoyed this game for about 10,000 hours.
"Let's see, should I check my record?"
[Kim Jin-hyuk's Account Information]
[Play Time: 12,452.4 hours]
[Record: 1000 Wins / 32 Draws / 237 Losses]
"Oh, so I've hit 1,000 wins with this."
It feels a bit surreal.
I play Hearts of General for nearly 12 hours a day, so I didn't expect my win count to have stacked up to a thousand.
'If I post this on the community, it'll definitely be a popular post.'
For the record, my 10,000-hour playtime had already been certified and made it to the real-time best posts.
Just as I was grinning and about to take a screenshot of the game screen, a single system message popped up.
[Congratulations on achieving 1,000 wins! A new difficulty has been unlocked!]
A new difficulty?
Hearts of General has difficulties ranging from Beginner to God, and I've only been playing on God difficulty since the day it was released.
I had been wishing for an even harder difficulty, so this is what unlocks after 1,000 wins?
"I knew it. They release DLC every year without fail, but they never add a new difficulty. So it was hidden all along?"
I'd never heard of any content beyond God difficulty being unlocked.
So, am I the first?
This is beyond a popular post; it might be something even bigger. It's sure to be a hot topic on overseas forums, too.
The title of World's First! Isn't it something every gamer always yearns for?
I took a screenshot of every single screen and then started a new game on the newly unlocked difficulty.
If I just post a single screenshot, people will definitely call it fake, so I'll have to post the gameplay screen as well, right?
[New Difficulty: Reality]
Reality, the next level after God.
That must mean it's incredibly realistic. As a new difficulty, a new gameplay style that has never existed before might be added.
I selected the Reality difficulty and started a new game. Soon, the country selection screen I had seen so many times appeared.
The game is about selecting a country belonging to either the Free Alliance Army or the Imperial Alliance Army and leading that faction and country to victory.
The gameplay style and advantages/disadvantages differ drastically depending on which faction and country you choose.
However, for some reason, I couldn't select a country. I thought it might be a bug, but that didn't seem to be the case.
[In Reality difficulty, you can only play as the 'Ukran Duchy'.]
"Ah, right. You need to have something like this to be called harder than God difficulty."
I simply agreed.
The Ukran Duchy.
A country that appears in the game, but it's in a state of permanent neutrality, not belonging to any faction.
It happens to be located between the Allied and Axis front lines, so whichever faction you choose, your territory gets torn to shreds the moment the war begins.
In short, it's a punching bag and total trash.
Winning a war by choosing a country like this?
Just that fact alone can be seen as raising the game's difficulty to the extreme.
Hearts of General is different from other games; it's a "strategy" simulation game where a single character's rampage is impossible.
"This is going to be fun."
Unable to hide my excitement, I immediately clicked the next button.
[Please set up the character who will be active in this country.]
Character customization.
I roughly made the appearance decent and opened the trait window, the most important part of customization.
These are traits the character possesses, and they determine your stats.
I usually have a preset I use, but since this is a fresh start, I wanted to try brand new traits.
"Wait... what is this?"
The screen was filled with numerous traits. Among them, one unique trait caught my eye.
『Savior of a Fallen Nation』
"A trait I've never seen before, but why does it cost 3,000 points?"
The trait system is simple.
You're initially given a total of 1,000 points. Adding good traits deducts points, while adding bad traits gives you more points.
So what kind of trait is this to cost three times the base points?
The 3,000-point constraint was enough to pique my curiosity. It's my style to try something out if I'm curious.
I started adding various bad traits to create the additional 2,000 points.
First were appearance traits.
These are traits about how other people evaluate your impression.
"I can raise Charisma slowly, so Cold and Stiff... and add Aloof as well."
Next were physical traits.
I wanted to build this character towards the magic corps rather than infantry, cavalry, or artillery, so I added traits that don't hinder spellcasting.
Since I already had the Frail trait, I threw in similar ones like Slow Recovery and Frailty.
They might overlap, but I can suck up the extra points.
If the character is in pain, it's the character's problem, not mine.
But I was still short by about 400 points.
"If I add any more, I'll be no different from a walking corpse."
Mental traits are really important in this game, so I tried to hold back...
In the end, the answer was to add mental traits.
[Stress Sensitivity]
[Sleep Disorder]
[Chain Smoker]
After carefully selecting only the ones with the least side effects, I finally added the Savior of a Fallen Nation trait.
It's still better than a severe mental illness, right?
"If it's a trash trait, I can just reroll in the game."
It's simple.
I can just change the traits later if I need to.
After finishing the setup, I confidently clicked the start game button.
[Good luck with your endeavors.]
With a message I had never seen before, the monitor screen lit up brightly.
All the web novels, anime, and games I had consumed while living as a NEET in my room came to mind.
This instinctively creepy feeling.
"Hey! Don't tell me it's that cli--!!"
It was already too late to regret it.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Right, now I have no choice but to admit it.
The fact that I've fallen into that damn game.
I looked at the full-length mirror in the room. Neat blond hair and green eyes. My skin, close to Caucasian, had no trace of the native Korean Kim Jin-hyuk.
"I'm totally screwed."
My head throbbed.
When I read about protagonists getting caught in trap-like systems and being possessed in all those novels, I thought it was so ridiculous I could burst out laughing.
So it was all plausible?
I started the game without a second thought, and the monitor went *pop*. I was possessed right into the game world.
How am I supposed to deal with this? Am I crazy?
I felt like I was losing my mind.
And of all things, it had to be Hearts of General.
It's a world without dreams or hope, where soldiers and even low-ranking officers are ground down by the dozens or hundreds every day.
If it were a lewd game where you die if you don't win over the heroines, or a fantasy game set in a hopeful academy, wouldn't that be a bit better?
Is it even logical to be possessed in a hardcore war simulation game?
I already confirmed it wasn't a dream or an illusion. I had slammed my head hard against the wall, and it hurt so much I passed out and just woke up.
Well, what can I do?
The last message was 'Good luck,' so the only way to get out of this world must be to 'win the war.'
There's no way I can get back to my original world just by whining.
I quickly accepted my fate and resolved myself to tackle the game.
"Well, if they have any conscience, they would have given me this."
I took a deep breath and cautiously opened my mouth.
"Status Window."
As if reciting a magic spell, a pane of light instantly popped up in front of me.
"Yes!!!!"
I clenched my fist and cheered. The status window! A privilege always granted to the possessed.
But.
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[Name: Enok Levandel]
Ukran Duchy Army Magic Corps 2nd Lieutenant
Affiliation: Northern Legion, 3rd Magic Battalion, 2nd Company
Position: 5th Platoon Leader
Title: None
[Owned Traits]
Savior of a Fallen Nation★
Cold
Stiff
Aloof
Frail
Slow Recovery
Frailty
Stress Sensitivity
Sleep Disorder
Chain Smoker
-------------------
"The fuck?"
For a moment, it felt like I'd been hit hard in the back of the head. There was no way I could forget what happened just a few minutes ago.
I remember trashing my character's traits just to add the 'Savior of a Fallen Nation' and such.
-If it's a trash trait, I can just reroll in the game.
I shouldn't have done that.
It made sense why I passed out from just hitting my head once. My endurance as a soldier was way too low.
If I knew I'd be possessed, I would've never added those traits.
"I-I guess the traits are one thing, but what about my stats and abilities window?"
I swiped my hand across the status window, and the screen scrolled as if I were operating a touchscreen.
The stat window that appeared next.
However, its contents were clearly different from the trait window, which was an absolute mess.
And for good reason.
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[Abilities]
※Savior of a Fallen Nation trait applied
Politics: MAX
Combat: MAX
Command: MAX
Insight: MAX
Maintenance: MAX
Intelligence: MAX
-------------------
All stats were at their maximum limit.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Uh... hmm."
Now I see why the Savior of a Fallen Nation trait consumed so many points.
If it's a trait that gives all stats max values, of course it would. It's actually strange that it only costs 3,000.
Even with the trait presets I usually use, I can't raise all six stats to the max limit.
At best, maybe two or three.
And even then, I would have had to play a lopsided build, sacrificing other stats.
All stats MAX.
It seemed this body wasn't just a total idiot after all.
Realizing this, hope to overcome this situation began to slowly bubble up.
In Hearts of General, every single stat is extremely valuable.
Since it's inherently a strategy simulation game, there are no ways for the player to arbitrarily raise stats like in RPGs or other games.
You can only raise stats by earning military merit to get promoted, managing your subordinates well to receive stat bonuses, or joining special groups.
Moreover, from the mid-to-late game, the stats of your subordinates become more important than your own.
After a certain point, the standard strategy is to focus on training your subordinates rather than your own stats.
But to have full stats right from the start?
This means I no longer need to invest a huge amount of time into personal training or practice.
I can just use that time to train my subordinates better, right?
Right, subordinates.
The important thing right now is my subordinates.
What's the use of having max stats if I have no troops under my command? I can't do anything on the battlefield.
Since my affiliation and position were clearly defined in the status window, I must have a platoon to manage right now.
Especially since the Magic Corps is a branch where evaluations differ drastically depending on what kind of subordinates you have.
Rapidly assessing my subordinates' stats would be the top priority in planning my future strategy.
"Let's see... will this be shown in the status window too?"
I swiped my hand like before, and the status window moved to the next screen.
Unit Management.
Soon, the screen displaying the flower and main content of Hearts of General appeared.
"But it's not showing. Is it locked?"
The unit management window showed the members' markers, but it was impossible to view their stats or faces.
Do I have to unlock it by meeting them directly or something?
That's when I noticed.
A single paper envelope sitting alone on the desk caught my eye.
As if possessed, I broke the seal and looked inside. There were four sheets of white paper. The writing on the topmost one said...
[Platoon Member Personal Records]
"Of course."
I shook out the envelope and quickly checked the papers scattered on the desk.
Generally, the starting point of 'Haoje' (Hearts of General) is five years before the start of the full-scale world war.
This is the same regardless of which country or faction you choose.
The Reinhardt Empire, which uses its advanced scientific capabilities to create all kinds of new weapons.
The Ameria Federal Republic, which uses its powerful industrial capacity and population to churn out insane amounts of matériel.
And the Ukran Duchy, which gets crushed in the crossfire between the whales.
In the end, the time specifications are the same. I have to start from here.
'Five years. I have to get promoted to at least Captain within five years. Then I might be able to do something.'
And to do that, the presence of outstanding platoon members is absolutely essential.
"Let's see, what are my first platoon members like."
Since I have overwhelming stats, as long as they perform at least averagely, I can train them into a powerful expert in less than two years, let alone five.
Strong friends!
Ukran Elite Army!
Full of anticipation, I picked up the first document and read through it.
Name: Lumia Blue, 23 years old.
Rank: Sergeant.
Snow-white hair, tied up on one side.
Even in the photo, taken in a dreary brown uniform, her beauty was undeniable. She was a stunning beauty.
"Oh."
I couldn't help but exclaim in admiration at her beauty.
Since noble classes still exist in the background of Hearts of General, she might have a trait like 'Fallen Noble'.
Fallen Noble gives a bonus to Politics, so it's a pretty good trait. My eyes couldn't see Lumia's looks anymore.
Prettiness aside, stats are what matter right now.
She doesn't seem to have received any medals or earned military merit. Maybe because it's the early game, they just matched me with someone of average skill.
As I reached the end of the document, the 'Special Notes' section...
I had no choice but to doubt my own eyes.
『Special Notes: Complains of Frail Mind and Body. Current family identity untraceable. Strong tendency to avoid human combat. Follows orders well, and interpersonal relationships are smooth, but gives off a floating feeling.』
"?????"
This was definitely not good content.
And to add the final nail in the coffin, there was one more sentence.
『No signs of depression, but there is a risk of it developing into depression if left unmanaged. Should be managed with special care.』
"...Ah."
It's a dud. The worst of the bunch.
Looking at her background and family, she's probably not a noble either. So the Fallen Noble trait is out of the question, and there's no real reason to take her.
Why do I have to get stuck with someone like this of all people?
Next!
I casually tossed Lumia's document onto the desk and checked another paper.
"Next is Corporal Roxana Elim, twenty years old... what about her special notes?"
『Congenital heart defect. May have a critical impact on health during high-intensity exercise and training.』
『Unless in special circumstances, it is recommended that this 'patient' be stationed at the infirmary.』
This one's even worse than the last one. Why is a heart patient in the military in the first place?
"You've got to be kidding me."
I flipped through the papers again.
The third platoon member is Bell Mayer, 26-year-old Sergeant.
『Persistent Depressive Disorder. Suffers from Dissociative Amnesia. Tendency for Mana Rampage to occur occasionally. Requires special attention to stress management.』
Next is Claude Raine, 31-year-old Staff Sergeant.
『Veteran. Suspected to be suffering from PTSD. Disciplinary record exists from previous unit due to insubordination. Has a tendency to dislike officers, so be careful.』
Should be managed with special care.
May have a critical impact.
Requires special attention.
Be careful.
Every sentence you don't want to see in a special notes section is there without a single omission.
Throb.
My head, which I had just managed to calm down, started pounding again, and I could feel a fever rising in my body.
"No, seriously, if you're going to ruin the difficulty, there's a limit."
I can only think that the system has pure malice towards me.
In other words, to summarize my current situation in one sentence...
'My platoon is total garbage.'