Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Why So Early?
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Sion couldn't remember his exact age, but having lived in his original world until his late twenties and over eighty years in this one, he was well over a hundred.
A century.
In that vast span of time, Sion had witnessed what could truly be called an enigma—a genuine mystery—for the very first time, excluding his own immortal existence.
Even with its wings folded and its long neck drawn down, the dragon's height was dizzying, equivalent to a fifteen-story apartment building.
Roughly forty meters? It might even reach fifty if it stretched its neck upward.
And then there was its colossal body, proudly displaying an overwhelming mass.
But Sion didn't define the dragon before him as an enigma solely because of its appearance.
"I have been waiting for you, User."
A voice like thunder rumbled down, stimulating Sion's eardrums.
That was right. The dragon was an intelligent being capable of speech.
Moreover, the content of its words was even more shocking.
"User...?"
Having experienced everything life could throw at him over those eighty-odd years and reached the level of an old monster, Sion was still flustered.
No, beyond flustered—his thoughts tangled in an instant.
User?
What did it mean to use something?
And waiting? For him? Why?
"Should I call you Player? Or Adventurer? Outsider? Which title suits your fancy?"
"......!!!"
Sion felt a shock like a lightning bolt as the voice pierced through his muddled mind repeatedly.
'I finally found it.'
Today, he had at last uncovered the answer to the question he'd sought throughout that endless time.
"Ha... haha......"
Ecstasy, emptiness, and a sense of accomplishment.
A whirlwind of emotions swept over him, and Sion laughed without realizing it.
The dragon knew.
It knew he wasn't a native of this world.
It also knew he was a User—an Outsider—who had come to this world through the medium of a 'game.'
"You and I have much to discuss. However, I have one question."
Proving it wasn't a reptile, the dragon's round pupils—not slitted vertically—held a glint of curiosity as it continued.
"Why have you come so early?"
* * *
Sion went to the lair of the dragon, who had introduced itself as Derkeios.
Riding atop its enormous body—nearly seventy meters from nose to tail, the size of a large passenger jet—was a profoundly novel experience.
The raging winds weren't much of an issue, but the sheer speed was indescribable.
After traveling for about ten minutes astride Derkeios's neck, they arrived at a mountain with gentle slopes.
The mountain, composed solely of rock, sand, and soil, had a hollowed-out summit, and its interior was Derkeios's dwelling.
The inside consisted of sheer rock walls, descending hundreds of meters underground—so deep that not even humans, let alone beasts or monsters, could enter.
No, crossing that vast wasteland to reach this place would be impossible from the start.
Yet at the same time, Sion felt a certain conviction.
'Only someone like me can come here.'
And that someone was what Derkeios called a 'User.'
'Does that mean I've really entered the actual game world?'
It was hard to believe.
That this world he had believed to be entirely real was a collection of data made of zeros and ones? His long years here too? All those connections he'd formed?
'No, that can't be.'
Sion shook his head vigorously.
The dragon Derkeios would resolve his doubts and confusion.
Kwaaa!
At that moment, Derkeios, having set Sion down, suddenly spread its wings wide, sending a fierce gust of wind howling with a sharp whoosh.
Fwoosh......
As the turbulent air calmed, the dust that had risen from the ground slowly settled.
With its massive, curtain-like wings blocking half the sunlight descending from the mountain peak, the dragon's form amid the floating dust like snowflakes appeared all the more mystical and imposing.
Even Sion involuntarily stepped back at the grandeur of the sight.
Soon, the dragon's voice resounded.
"Welcome to my lair, User. Based on the imprinted memories, you are the first Adventurer."
"The first Adventurer?"
"Indeed. This is a feat deserving commensurate reward......"
Derkeios, speaking in a manner as grand and archaic as its appearance, suddenly thrust its neck forward and tilted its head.
"As I asked before, why have you come so early?"
"......I have no idea what you're talking about. No, before that—what exactly are you?"
Sion had his suspicions, but he asked anyway.
"Me? Based on the imprinted memories, I am an advisor and guide to this world for Users like you."
"......!"
His fist clenched involuntarily.
His hunch had been correct. Derkeios was undoubtedly connected to the entity that had cast him into this world.
"Then, can you guide me back to my original world? Do you know the way?"
Licking his parched lips taut with anticipation and tension, Sion asked.
Depending on this answer, he might finally......
"No. That is not in the imprinted memories."
"What?"
A profound sense of exhaustion drained the strength from his body in an instant.
"That's for you to figure out. Didn't I ask from the start? Why so early? Ah, perhaps you've come too soon and don't know? I thought something was off, and that's it."
"What do you......"
"Something has gone awry. The imprinted memories can't be wrong, so perhaps it unraveled from there."
Derkeios examined Sion closely with its large eyes, then let out a deep sigh.
"Indeed, you and I have much to discuss."
"......"
The same words it had spoken at their first encounter.
But Sion instinctively sensed they carried a different meaning now.
* * *
Derkeios's tale was a long one.
Sion occasionally asked questions or responded, but mostly he just listened.
By the time the long story neared its end, Sion was remarkably calm, rendering his initial confusion laughable.
It would have been shocking if he'd heard it upon first arriving in this world, but having lived over eighty years and partly guessed what Derkeios would say from the beginning, it wasn't.
In any case, the conclusion was that, as Derkeios said, Sion had come to this world far too early.
"The prologue... is that it?"
*Once upon a time in a distant galaxy...*
The famous opening line from that classic SF movie sprang to mind.
The time when he had fallen into this world was precisely the 'once upon a time' of *Another World Saga*.
Of course, it wasn't hundreds or thousands of years.
"Over a hundred years after the fall of the Demon Dragon Viuslek......"
That was the starting point of *Another World Saga*.
Meaning about twenty years from now. Perhaps even less.
Ultimately, Sion had indeed come to this world too early, just as Derkeios said.
Whether this world was truly a game or something else, he had arrived over a hundred years before the beings called 'Users' were supposed to come.
"I have conveyed all the tales to provide to Adventurers like you from my imprinted memories. Is there more you wish to know?"
Derkeios's resonant voice snapped Sion from his reverie.
Sion looked up again.
"More or less. By the way, that makes you something like a GM."
"GM?"
"Operator. Or think of it as a guide."
"Hoo. Not perfect, but it overlaps somewhat with my role. Indeed. Based on the imprinted memories, one of my missions is to show the way to Users like you."
Sion frowned slightly at Derkeios's words and asked again.
"I've been wondering since earlier. What are these imprinted memories? Who imprinted them in you?"
He had his guesses.
Assuming this world was a game, the memories were data, imprinted by the creators, probably.
Of course, he absolutely couldn't accept that this world was just a simple game.
"They've been with me since I awakened as a 'being.' And the one who imprinted them is, naturally, a god."
"God......"
Right. It was a blatant cliché, but without a god or something akin to one, no entity could wield such transcendent influence across worlds—or dimensions. A power that could be called divine authority.
"Then, can I meet that god? Communicate somehow?"
"Possible yet impossible, probably. No. Why ask me that in the first place?"
"What? What do you mean?"
Derkeios clicked its tongue at the frowning Sion.
"Communication with the god is only possible for Users like you. And you Users would know the method."
"Damn it."
Sion scowled.
They were back to square one. He had come too early and didn't know the method.
'In the end, all this mess started because I came to this world through some abnormal means.'
The responsibility and solution lay with some transcendent being—god or whatever—but for now, he couldn't meet it or even talk.
Ultimately, Sion had only one choice left.
"Waiting, then?"
Derkeios nodded its massive head, taking the mutter as a question.
"Indeed. Until mana returns to the world and Adventurers arrive on this land, you must wait. And to obtain answers to your questions, you must become the 'victor.'"
"Victor? What's that... Ah!"
Sion's scowl lasted only a moment before he let out an exclamation.
He had forgotten, the memory being so ancient.
*Another World Saga* billed itself as an RPG, but it was unmistakably a grand strategy game infused with RTS elements.
It wasn't just about adventuring, hunting monsters for rewards, and leveling up.
Whether Users or NPCs, you gathered companions to form clans or guilds, and ultimately waged 'faction wars' represented by territories and nations.
And those faction wars would inevitably be wars.
The victor Derkeios mentioned had to be the final winner of that.
"Ha! Insane......"
A sigh escaped him.
All that suffering over those long years wasn't the end.
To meet this so-called god, he'd have to endure even more?
"No. No."
Sion shook his head.
Weren't 'Users' coming in just twenty years or so anyway?
He could just ask them.
Unlike him, they'd arrive through the proper route with full information, so they'd know the answers.
'Alright. I endured over eighty years; twenty more is nothing.'
Sion steeled himself anew.
He had thought exploring the Dragon Wasteland, Eltis Island, and the Northern Great Snow Mountains for clues would take about ten years. It had doubled, but with the clues in hand now, it was no issue.
Even if the incoming Users didn't have the answers, it wouldn't be a big problem.
Unlike Users starting from scratch, he already had the 'Sion Dukedom' as his faction.
It was like starting a step—no, dozens of steps—ahead of other Users.
'Leaving that request in Burgos was a brilliant move after all.'
Upon arriving in Burgos—the gateway city closest to the Dragon Wasteland—Sion had prepared supplies for crossing it while commissioning the local information guild.
Uncertain how long he'd wander the wasteland, he tasked them with continuously gathering info on the Sion Ducal Family until his return.
Though he was long dead to his children and grandchildren, with no intention of going back, blood ties and affection weren't so easily severed.
Even without stepping forward openly, there were ways to help, so he left the request in case his blood kin faced trouble.
The commission lasted until he revisited the guild.
The content: Track major changes in the Sion Dukedom and Ducal Family annually.
He paid upfront with a one-kilogram gold bar (by original world standards) and contracted automatic annual renewals, one bar per year.
'I just commissioned it out of worry for the kids left behind, but it's turned into an unexpected masterstroke.'
It seemed he couldn't fully abandon the family and dukedom after all.
'But this isn't breaking your dying wish, right?'
Recalling his late wife, Sion smiled faintly.
Though she'd told him to live for himself, she'd be pleased if he watched over the children.
"Hoo, so you can smile too."
"Ahem."
At Derkeios's voice, Sion cleared his throat and hastily changed the subject.
"By the way, you said earlier that I'm the first User here. And that there's a reward."
"Indeed. I am duty-bound to reward all who find me."
"All Users? So the rewards are the same?"
"Hardly. The first visitor is special, as are the second and third. Thus, the rewards differ."
"As expected......"
A tiered reward system.
Those achieving the feat first naturally received superior rewards over later ones.
"So... what is it?"
Sion asked, unable to hide his anticipation.
"Based on the imprinted memories, the reward for you is......"
A reward from a dragon tantamount to a GM. It had to be something staggeringly beyond imagination.
Sion swallowed dryly, awaiting Derkeios's words.
"I shall bestow it on the day other Users arrive."
"......"
*The final winner is......! We'll continue after a 60-second break!*
The voice of a TV host from long ago echoed in Sion's mind like an auditory hallucination.
Of course, it wasn't sixty seconds but twenty years—a minor difference.
(To be continued)