Prologue
Who is your favorite warrior from the Three Kingdoms?
It is a popular enough question that everyone’s answer tends to be different. Some would name Cao Cao — the undisputed lady-killer, brilliant in every arena that mattered.
Others would choose Lü Bu, the living emblem of raw martial might and treachery, or Zhuge Liang, the very definition of a genius strategist. Any number of heroes might come up. For me, though, there was only ever one.
Guan Yu. Courtesy name: Yunchang.
Through the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he became the icon of loyalty — the sworn vassal who gave everything for his lord — and in China he is still revered as a god of war. Learning that the historical records painted him as arrogant toward the scholar-officials had been a bit of a letdown, true.
Even so, when I was asked to name my favorite general of the age, Guan Yu was always the first name that rose to mind. On this trip to China I had even planned to visit his tomb — right up until the bird strike brought the plane down.
“Are you all right, Nanggun!?”
A young woman was weeping over me, tears bright at the corners of her eyes.
Who is she?
She looked at me with such open concern that affection seemed to pour from her gaze like honey.
“……Who—”
“Nanggun? Don’t tell me you don’t remember me!?”
She pressed a hand to her chest and cried out in desperation.
“I am Po Sanniang — the woman who is to swear a lifelong vow with you!”
Po Sanniang.
The moment I heard her name, unfamiliar memories began to flood into my mind. As those strange recollections blended naturally with my own, I understood who I had become.
A figure who should never have existed at all — a character born from a dating sim — the youngest son of Guan Yu.
Guan Suo.
I had become the youngest son of the Guan family.