I'm Yuan Shu?!
I was Yuan Shu?! There's a story that says when someone living in the modern world gets hit by a truck, they reincarnate into another world. "Oh, shit." To think that I was the protagonist of that very story?!
Hmm, you're quite fortunate. A bloodline from a prestigious noble family, a strength so powerful it's nearly impossible to stop, the charisma to draw people in, and I'll even grant you three fitting talents to assist you in your new life.
I even heard those words before reincarnating. I didn't know who was speaking, but to deliver a message like that to a dead man and then drop me somewhere to be reborn right after, it had to be some god-like existence, right? Anyway, after hearing that, I figured I'd become the eldest son of some noble house in a standard fantasy world. Since I'd be a pretty successful guy, I planned to dump all the work on those three talents who were supposed to assist me and live a lazy life until I died.
But when I opened my eyes, instead of the fantasy world I'd imagined, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling straight out of a wuxia novel. When I came to my senses, I realized I'd been dropped into ancient China.
"Waaah! Waaah!"
This is going downhill fast...
God damn it. It wasn't a fantasy world with magic and modern conveniences! I'd been thrown into ancient China where I'd have to squat over a latrine to take a shit! What kind of cruel twist was this?
Still, the prestigious family bloodline part wasn't a lie. As the legitimate heir of a truly powerful clan, I received treatment I'd never known in my previous life and lived like a king. Money and power I once believed I'd never possess were now firmly in my grasp. It was good enough to make the minor inconveniences worth it.
Wow. I guess people really do change when they suddenly succeed. Now I get it.
After growing up a little more, I realized this wasn't even ordinary ancient China.
...Animal ears in ancient China? Is that an elf over there??
It looked like a bizarre fusion of fantasy and ancient China. Had I landed in some xianxia novel, or maybe the mythical age of China? Our family inheriting the blood of divine beasts, being descendants of dragons... so that was all true? My head's spinning.
Still, it was a relief to be born with thick noble blood rather than as some commoner or slave. The outside world wasn't exactly in great shape. This wasn't a peaceful, tranquil era. Even as a well-fed, well-cared-for child, I could sense the chaos.
Or maybe stepping back from it let me notice things more clearly. Living here taught me I wasn't particularly smart. Well, I hadn't been all that bright in my previous life either. Instead of academics, I showed far more talent for martial arts. They said they'd give me strength, and sure enough, I seemed gifted in that department. I possessed enough raw power that I wouldn't get pushed around anywhere.
My parents scolded me for neglecting my studies, but since I was their precious son, the scolding was mild. In the end they simply let it slide. Still, they cared for me in their own way, so I didn't want to disappoint them too much. I made sure to put some effort into my books as well.
One thing I learned while training in martial arts was that this world was a massive mishmash of everything, and the martial might of its powerhouses was no joke. You know those phrases, right? Praising individual bravery with terms like one-against-a-hundred, one-man-army, unmatched by thousands, worth ten thousand men.
Just like the sad truth that "one against a hundred" doesn't literally mean one person can beat a hundred people, in the common sense I knew, an individual displaying such power was nearly impossible. But here? It was possible. Shockingly so. People really could take on a hundred men alone.
It wasn't like there were special martial techniques or anything. The martial strength of those who weren't ordinary humans simply operated on another level. Like the bizarre sight of other races walking around ancient China, their base specs were just different. Strong people were genuinely strong.
Wow. The first time I saw someone swing a weapon and send out a shockwave or storm that blew people away, I nearly had a heart attack. Up until then, I'd assumed this world was something like a wuxia novel. I thought it was at least a fusion wuxia story.
That belief didn't last long.
I had learned the truth of this world...!
"...The Ten Attendants? General-in-Chief He Jin??"
As I grew and learned more about the world, I started hearing names that were far too familiar. These days plenty of people don't know the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but I wasn't one of them. I didn't know it deeply, but I was at least a casual fan. Maybe that's why I couldn't shake the strange sense of déjà vu when I heard the names of the major figures who dominated the very beginning of that era.
"Eunuch's grandson Cao Cao...? The Inspector of Bing Province is none other than that Dong Zhuo?!"
How common could names and backgrounds like these possibly be? The moment they started talking about the Central Plains, the Emperor, the Son of Heaven, I obviously knew it was China. As I heard even more names, my suspicions hardened into certainty. And once my thoughts reached that point, I turned my mind back to my own name.
"N-now that I think about it, my name is... Yuan Shu, courtesy name Gonglu...!"
It felt like every puzzle piece had finally clicked into place. The Ten Attendants, Cao Cao, General-in-Chief He Jin, Dong Zhuo, and Four Generations of Three Dukes Yuan family heir, Yuan Shu...!!
At this point, anyone who'd read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms even once would have realized it. There couldn't possibly be two periods of Chinese history where all these names coexisted in the same era!
That's right. I'd thought I'd fallen into some strange Chinese wuxia or mythical world, but the truth was far more bizarre than that. The world I'd reincarnated into was the Romance of the Three Kingdoms...! Except why the hell were there beastmen and elves running around?! On top of that, the power inflation was so ridiculous it could slap a wuxia novel across the face. Some nameless nobody could fight a hundred men alone?! Just how much fantasy fusion and power creep had they crammed into a historical genre for this to happen?!
"No, more importantly, I'm Yuan Shu?! That Yuan Shu?! The famously incompetent one?!"
The Three Kingdoms had plenty of competent, stylish figures, but it also had just as many useless ones who got crushed. Among the warlords of that chaotic era, if you had to pick the three most spectacularly incompetent lords, the first was Liu Zhang. He held the rich, easily defensible Yi Province, complete with excellent advisors like Fa Zheng and Huang Quan and capable generals like Zhang Ren, Yan Yan, Lei Tong, and Wu Lan, yet he completely ruined it all. Top-class incompetent of the Three Kingdoms period.
Second was Han Fu. As Governor of Ji Province he controlled rich lands full of people and talent. He had an incredible staff of advisors like Tian Feng, Ju Shou, and Shen Pei, plus generals like the future member of the Four Pillars of Hebei and one of Cao Cao's Five Good Generals, Zhang He, along with cavalry specialist Guo Tu. If played right he could have built connections with Xun Yu, but he handed everything over to Yuan Shao on a silver platter and destroyed it all.
And the final, third one... the legitimate son of the Yuan family, the most prestigious clan in the Three Kingdoms that had produced Three Dukes across four generations. Great background, decent reputation, yet through pure incompetence he lost the Sun faction that served him, lost the wealthy territories he controlled, spiraled into madness, declared himself emperor because he held the Imperial Seal, turned the entire world against him, and died while desperately searching for sweet water. The greatest incompetent, the greatest fool of the Three Kingdoms. That was me, Yuan Shu.
Ah, no wonder my head never worked right. It was because I was Yuan Shu all along!
Well, at least I could try walking a different path now. Still, after realizing this was the Three Kingdoms world and shouting "I'm Yuan Shu...!!" it was pretty embarrassing when the servants freaked out.
Though to be fair, the historical records showed a lot of women in visible roles and quite a few holding office, so the era looked very different from what we usually imagine. I figured that counted as a reasonable excuse.
"I was happy thinking I'd just laze around in a prestigious family, but it turns out I'm Yuan Shu... Heh, well, that's something."
Even thinking about it again, it's absurd. But I'm not the Yuan Shu of the original history, and I'm still young! As long as I don't follow the same path, I should be fine!
Hmm. Even if I don't know much, I should start gathering the famous talents I remember, right? Though I don't know the exact locations for most of them...
Lost in these thoughts after discovering the truth, I wandered through the enormous mansion I called home and witnessed a certain scene.
"You lowly wench, how dare you act above your station...!"
"Just because you've entered the main house doesn't mean your filthy blood will change!!"
"If you're the daughter of a slave concubine, then behave like one...!!"
A rather thin young girl, dressed in clothes that didn't quite fit the splendor of this huge mansion, was being mercilessly beaten by the branch family members of the Yuan clan.
What the hell are those bastards doing here?
Causing trouble in my own residence... Feeling thoroughly displeased, I strode straight toward them. Perfect timing. My head was a mess anyway. You lot have walked right into your punishment. Become my stress-relief sandbags...!!