IN GAMAND
NO. 22
W. Seolha
[To Julia,
I heard it's quite hot in the west, but I wonder how you're doing. The Dukedom is relatively cool, so everyone's doing well. Oh, RM asked me to send you my regards. He's been so busy lately that I'd need two bodies to write him in person. Anyway, how are you? Don't forget to contact me if anything happens.
… … Omitted … …
As I always say, if something dangerous or urgent arises, don't even think about hiding it; report it immediately. It's best to stay as far away from dangerous situations as possible. Also, if you need to travel to another area, don't forget to send a telegram in advance. Just in case, please refrain from the risky act of wandering alone. Also…
… … Omitted … …
…I don’t know how this letter ended up being so long. Anyway, I hope you’re doing well. I hope nothing bad happens. Always take care of yourself, and if you have the chance, please reply. There are many people waiting for your letters, after all. I’m not trying to rush you. It’s just that when you have the chance… . But I really hope you reply. I can’t forget the last time you forgot to reply, so I had to send 23 letters from your people at once. Please take care, and I’ll see you when you return to your home. Take care, little brother.
Jin Bian Orte.]
[To Jin
I'm doing well. How many times have I written a letter asking how I'm doing? Anyway, I'm doing incredibly well, with nothing to worry about, so please, don't worry. Give my regards to RM Uncle. Oh, and to the Duke and Duchess. And to all those Dukes!
And I've said it time and time again, but please remember that I'm not a five-year-old brat, I'm an eighteen-year-old student, soon to be an adult. Please, do you think it makes sense that four out of five pages of the letter are nagging?jungkook jeonKylos and V were laughing their asses off. I refuse to be their clown, so please, please, skip the nagging in the next letter. Please. Please.
Julia.]
[To Julia
As a family member, I can't help but worry about my younger sibling living in a foreign land, so I keep asking him how he's doing. So, I'll ask again in this letter, as always. How are you? I heard you recently attended a summer festival in the West. My mother was moved to tears when she saw the photos you sent her of you and your friends. She said she was relieved to see you doing well. While you're at it, please send me more photos.
And the nagging… , because I was worried and kept talking too long… . Anyway, I’ll actively reflect your opinion and try to reduce the nagging this time. To put it simply, first of all, be very careful of food and suspicious people… ,
… … Omitted … …
You're heading to the capital soon, aren't you? I heard you'll be staying at the capital's townhouse. RM is also in the capital, so we'll see each other soon. It'll be a long time since we last met. I know it's not long until the academy starts, but if you have time, I'd love for you to stop by the duke's place. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take a break and return to the academy with me. Anyway, stay healthy and come back. My next letter will be to the capital. See you later, little brother.
Jin Bian Orte.]
[To Jin
Thanks to my brother for bringing me the camera, I got some pretty good pictures, so I'll send you a few more while I'm at it. I'm still very healthy and doing well, so don't worry. By the way, even though I asked you to cut down on nagging, that didn't mean I wanted you to cut it down from four to two. Besides, it's all the same old nagging. Why on earth would you waste two sheets of paper and still keep nagging me?
Julia.]
[To Julia
To be honest, I feel like if I don't do this, you won't even listen to me. So I'll say it again: always be careful, avoid anything too dangerous, and... (omitted)
[To Jin
Ah, please stop!!!]
- Excerpt from letters exchanged between Julia and Jin, Imperial Year 117 -
Naturally, time passed steadily. In this world, which resembled Earth in its seasonality, five seasons changed. The academy's grades changed, some graduated, and amidst this natural flow of time, I felt like the only outsider among those who gradually began to confuse me. I alone remembered who I was. And that was only for a full two years.
So, 'Julia' turned twenty.
IN GAME
Let's talk a little about the two long and short years that passed. The story begins in the year 117 of the Imperial Calendar, that is, on a summer day in the year I first entered this world and entered the Academy.
That summer, on one of those sweltering days, we began our journey across the Empire. On the surface, we were assisting the future Emperor, Prince Kylos Cesla von Crea, and traveling the Empire to gain diverse experiences. But in reality, we were on a journey to destroy the Source and retrieve Vivian's records in order to complete a quest. Since the third quest specified the western region of the Empire, it was no surprise that our first destination was naturally the western region. The journey was not easy, especially for a group whose only experience was a few modern-day camping trips. The excuse we'd given for "integrating more seamlessly into the Empire" was that the five of us were the only ones, and we couldn't carry much. With limited inventory, food was always scarce, and with minimal rest, fatigue mounted. The terrain was rugged, and the weather was hot. Even in an environment that could easily have caused us to collapse from exhaustion, we gritted our teeth and persevered. It was a time we endured, driven by the single-minded desire to return to our original world.
By the time we arrived in the West, we were exhausted. We slept like rats for a full day in the accommodations, presumably reserved by the imperial family. After a good night's sleep, we ate like crazy, stuffing food into our mouths until our stomachs were about to burst, then went back to sleep. After two days of this, we finally got up to start the quest. While "Vivian's Records" were marked on Jeon Jungkook's map, the source wasn't, so we had to spend much more time searching for it. After destroying the source and obtaining Vivian's Records, we completed the quest, and immediately the fourth quest was assigned. The moment we saw the location of this quest, we groaned and jeered because it was set in the east. Traversing the empire's very edges brought tears to our eyes. It was so exhausting we thought we could die.
We set off quickly. This was possible because we'd concluded that delaying any longer would be fruitless. Throughout our journey to the eastern part of the empire, we grumbled at the system—or rather, "Jimin"—for more efficient planning. The five of us gathered together, swearing that this was the first trip we'd ever had that wasn't worth the money. Every so often, a bright blue quest window would pop up before our eyes.
[Sudden Mission: Physical Training]
! Sudden mission!
Do 200 push-ups right away!
Progress : 0%
Time limit : 30M
In case of failure: Beating with a stick!
Then, we'd jeer into the air with discontented voices, but ultimately, we'd just lie face down on the flat ground. This was a sign of sorts. It was a sign that "Jimin," whose existence had been shattered by someone's hacking, still existed, unbroken. It was also a sign that he was slowly restoring the system that had collapsed. The fact that this world's system, absolutely favoring the "players," still existed was a great comfort to us. I often jeered whenever such a mischievous quest appeared, yet felt reassured.
That doesn't mean Jimin always gave us grueling quests like physical training. For those of us with virtually no knowledge of the empire, the quests he gave us sometimes included local specialties or suggested we enjoy a festival. For example:
[Sudden Mission: Summer Festival]
! Sudden mission!
It belongs to the grand festival of the western region.
Tour the Western Summer Festival
Write a review!
Time limit: 1D
Whether to write a review : X
- Quests like this. I wore the pretty clothes Jin had stuffed into my bag, telling me to take them just in case, and wandered around the festival. I also took a few pictures with the camera Jin had provided. Anyway, that's how our trip went. Due to the nature of the sources, the terrain was often rugged and dangerous, but Jimin's help kept the journey from being completely arduous and painful as we continued to wander in search of those sources. On the day the fourth record was stolen by an "excluded player," he even offered a mission like singing a verse of a song to liven up the dying atmosphere.
On the fifth day of destroying the Source, Jeon Jungkook patted my head and said he sometimes got confused about whether he was Kylos or Jeon Jungkook. On the other hand, I still had absolutely no memory of Yulia. Jeon Jungkook and Kim Taehyung were increasingly confused about who they were, and they spent more time looking through their journals. Jung Hoseok also occasionally made a puzzled expression. As for Min Yoongi, honestly, I didn't know. It didn't show much. Still, judging by the fact that he often talked about the places we were traveling to and often spoke as if he knew everything about the Empire, I knew he was losing his memories too. I wasn't the only one. I protected my memories in exchange for my name. Sometimes, that feeling of loneliness was terrifying, but I tried not to show it. Anyway, that summer's trip ended with the destruction of the fifth Source.
The new semester meant I had to return to the North again. After all, it was expected, being an academy student after all. Unlike the first semester, the new semester wasn't full of major incidents. Aside from a few minor mishaps, it was relatively peaceful. For example, Kim Taehyung destroyed my training ground while using his newly acquired skill, or he overslept on midterms and failed three exams. He studied like crazy for the finals, barely avoiding failing, but he couldn't do anything about the professors' harsh glares. I looked at him pitifully as he whined.
Another thing that changed with the new semester was that the freshmen now had a designated upperclassman. You could think of him as a deskmate. Anyway, my assigned upperclassman was a boy named Glenn, who introduced himself as a senior in the Military Science Department. Typically, an assigned upperclassman would supervise the training of his juniors or engage in light sparring, but Glenn couldn't have been more annoying. His speech and behavior were so frivolous that I thought he was a rascal, but his body language was also quite different, and I consistently lost in sparring. Even with the help of the system, I couldn't beat Glenn in sparring. I could have just said, "Well, it's just a matter of effort," but this crazy guy would always add a comment or two to get on my nerves.
"Oh my, it's so slow... I can't even brush past it-"
Here's what I mean. On the thirteenth day of losing to Glenn, I finally got so angry that I screamed at him.
"I'll beat you once before you graduate!!"
I glared at Glenn, who was clutching his stomach and laughing, wondering what was so funny. It was fucking annoying. Sadly, I couldn't beat him that semester. My skills had improved, but I gritted my teeth, refusing to acknowledge it, and Glenn burst out laughing again at the sight.
That winter, just like the summer, we traveled the empire. We began our journey on high alert, worried about the "Excluded Player" who had been hot on our heels the previous summer, taking our fourth record. But for some reason, the "Excluded Player" disappeared. It was a troubling experience, but we persisted, driven by the belief that we needed to widen the gap, even if only a little.
The Empire's winters were cold. In that frigid weather, we climbed the Ileniz Mountains, renowned for their harshness. We lived in the mountains for three weeks. More precisely, we were trapped within them. As I mentioned earlier, the source was hidden deep within the rugged terrain, hidden from view. Therefore, we risked our lives searching the already treacherous terrain, choosing the most rugged of these mountains. We slipped off cliffs and shattered our heads, and even encountered high-level monsters, tearing off an arm so bad it dangled. Fortunately, Jeong Ho-seok was a magician who could use healing magic. Otherwise, we would have been on friendly terms with each other long ago. On the day we finally managed to destroy the source and escape the Ileniz Mountains after three weeks, the innkeeper greeted us warmly. We laughed off her comment that she thought we were dead. We didn't bother to mention that we had actually come back from the brink of death. He handed me my mail, saying I'd been getting a ton of letters lately. Two-thirds of the five letters were from Jin. Feeling a little embarrassed, yet somehow guilty, I ate my empty stomach and, barely keeping my bleary eyes open, scribbled out a letter to Jin. Of course, I omitted the mention of my near-death experience from the letter.
That winter, we finally broke up to search for Vivian's records. It was terribly difficult. Even so, there were only two weeks and an hour left until the new semester. Kim Taehyung couldn't go to the Lumian Marquis' residence due to circumstances, so he stayed at the palace with Jeon Jungkook. Min Yoongi and Jung Hoseok went back to their respective homes, and I went back to the Duke's residence. Madame Orte cried and cried, telling me I'd lost so much weight that I barely managed to leave the table that night until I was practically bursting.
The school year had changed. Jin had graduated last semester, so I was the only one going to the Academy this semester. Arriving at the Academy and being assigned to a new dormitory made it all feel real: I was a sophomore. That meant it had already been a year since I'd been dropped here. The road back to reality felt so long, and I spent that year's entrance ceremony feeling a little gloomy. Even that was all gone thanks to Glenn. Glenn, now a fifth-year student (the graduating year at the Academy is fifth year), was still my senior, and I was still his junior, so I had no choice but to spar with him on the practice field. Every time he rolled over on the field, his bright grin was so annoying. It really pissed me off.
And here's something new I learned about Glenn: that punk is the second son of the First Commander of the Empire. He's crazy! He lashed out, saying, "If you're the Commander's son, you should join the Imperial Knights. Why are you squandering your time at the Academy?" He got hit in the forehead with a training stick. A bump appeared. Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook were thrilled to see the bump on his forehead, so he made one for them.
Anyway, the first semester of my second year passed without incident. Since returning from the palace, Jeon Jungkook's mood had become strangely tense, but I kept quiet, thinking it was the influence of the original "Kylos Cesla von Crea." Of course, Kim Taehyung remained the same. He was still whining, still sleeping late, and still barely avoiding failing. Jung Hoseok and Min Yoongi also didn't seem to have changed much.
After graduation, Jin decided to live with RM in a townhouse in the capital. He worked at the palace, or something. Thanks to that, the letters they'd exchanged only during vacations continued even during the semester. Still, the nagging, which filled several pages of paper, forced me to give up reading the letters and close my eyes. A groan escaped me.
On my second summer in the Empire, I'd already toured the entire empire, and now I was off to another land. I'd thought I'd only have to search the Empire, but the newly granted quest window so proudly displayed "Derobar Kingdom" that I felt a pang of anticipation. The continent where the Crea Empire resided contained three other kingdoms, but now the search scope had expanded beyond the Empire to encompass the entire continent. Jin gently stroked my head as I packed my things, grumbling.
The trip, which began with a look of sheer reluctance, proved surprisingly enjoyable. Perhaps it was because the atmosphere of the Kingdom of Deroba felt so different from that of the Empire. The search for the source, ostensibly intended as a tour of the kingdom, ended rather insignificantly. It was also because the Kingdom of Deroba was so small compared to the Empire, but Jeon Jeong-guk, who had stumbled upon the source in a well in a small village, achieved his goal by abruptly destroying it. Thus, the trip to the Kingdom of Deroba ended in a remarkably short four days.
From the Kingdom of Deroba, we changed our destination to the neighboring Kingdom of Hishak. It was right next door, but in reality, we had to cross a couple of mountain ranges, so it took considerably longer than expected. Even on the way to Hishak, I kept in constant contact with Jin. For some unknown reason, the carrier pigeons always accurately located our party's location. About halfway through the mountains, I received some heartbreaking news from Jin. Glenn had died, he said, caught up in an attack on a noble in the capital. Well, I thought, my father had been proud of being the First Knight Commander of the Empire, so perhaps he had stepped forward in his mission to protect the people and gotten caught up in it. I couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness, as they say, even hatred can be love. I erected a stone monument for Glenn and offered a brief prayer for his soul.
It was inevitable that I would feel uneasy, given the attack in the capital, the center of the empire. Jin and RM were staying in a townhouse in the capital. Fearing they might get caught up in the situation, I wrote a letter to Jeon Seo-gu, warning him to be careful. Perhaps it was my anxiety that kept me from sleeping the longer Jeon Seo-gu's arrival dragged on. I fretted, occasionally shedding tears, wondering if he'd been attacked or if he'd died. Jeon Jung-kook and Kim Tae-hyung consoled me. Min Yoongi, who had never delayed his schedule before, suggested we rearrange it, and Jung Hoseok cooked me a warm soup with ingredients he'd found somewhere. Fortunately, Jeon Seo-gu soon returned to join us again.
[To Julia
You're not worrying unnecessarily, are you? Don't worry. Not all nobles are the same. There's no one in the Empire who would dare attack the Duke of Orte. Even if there were, they'd be fully prepared, so it wouldn't be right away. For now, I'm saying you're safe. So don't worry, and focus on what you need to do, Julia. We're truly fine.
My heart burst into tears as I felt my release. After crying for a while, I filled my empty stomach, and after some sleep, I suggested to my companions that we leave immediately, if they were okay with it. They all packed their bags without a word. Yes, I had to focus on what I had to do. If only to give them their "real" brother back.
It took a full week to travel from the Kingdom of Deroba to the Kingdom of Hishak. Contact with Jin continued, allowing me to search for the source with even greater peace of mind. The problem, of all things, was that the source was located "under the sea," near the Kingdom of Hishak. As we often did during our travels, we split into two teams to search for the source and its records. Around that time, the system, or rather, Jimin, distributed skill stones as rewards for a surprise mission. It was decided that I, with the "Diving" skill, and Jeon Jungkook, with the Portal skill, would search the ocean. We spent a full two weeks underwater. The Diving skill was quite useful, so I could stay underwater for extended periods without issue, while Jeon Jungkook continued his search, moving back and forth between the surface and the sea through portals. The day we finally destroyed the source and returned to the inn, Kim Taehyung covered his nose and complained to me and Jeon Jungkook about the overwhelming smell of the ocean. In the end, he got hit by an angry Jeon Jungkook.
I belatedly opened the letters that had piled up for two weeks. Strangely, only about half the usual amount had arrived. Without realizing it, I opened them. They were still Jin's letters, filled with nothing but my worries. My hands, reading each page, quickened. I felt them tremble. "No way," I said. Without even knowing what was coming out of my mouth, I frantically flipped through the letters. I checked the dates one by one, tossed them on the desk, and ran downstairs to where my companions were.
The last date on the letter was a week ago.
[To Julia,
"You arrived in the Hishak Empire? I've been to the Derobar Kingdom once, but never the Hishak Kingdom. I'm curious to know what it's like. Next time we get the chance, it wouldn't be a bad idea to go on a trip together. RM and I are still staying at the townhouse. The noble attack incident I mentioned earlier is gradually coming to a close. We haven't found the one who led the attack yet, but we've caught quite a few of the remnants. So, you really don't have to worry anymore."
[To Julia,
I thought the attack would be over quickly, but it seems that's not the case. RM said it's largely because the remaining remnants aren't speaking out. The mood in the capital, which had been somewhat subdued, has also become somewhat more tense. If things go wrong, I might have to go down to the Dukedom again. Oh, by the way, I haven't heard back. Is everything okay? I'll believe you're just busy.
[To Julia,
RM and I decided to stay in the capital. RM warned us that moving too quickly could lead to dangerous situations. Looking at the current situation in the capital, that's not entirely wrong, and we've decided to stay. But don't worry too much; the Orte duke's townhouse is safe.
[To Julia,
Julia, how long did you say you would stay in Hishak Kingdom? If possible, I think it would be best to stay in Hishak Kingdom for a while longer. Attacks have started occurring not only in the capital but also in each territory. Things have gotten worse. It would be best to return to the Empire as late as possible.
[To Julia,
Never, ever come to the Empire.]
Jin is in danger.
✨
Sigh... I think I use this once a month... haha
Thank you for waiting ㅠsob sob