Chapter 4

“Loyalty! Corporal Han Jae-yeon has been ordered to be discharged as of August 3rd, 2089. This is reported. Loyalty!”

“Yes. Our mad dog is finally being discharged? It will be a bit boring from now on. Still, your presence made my military life spectacular.”

Lieutenant General Shin Dongkyu, commander of the second space soldier training unit, laughed while smoking his cigarette. I bowed my head respectfully.

“Thank you for everything until now.”

Shin Dongkyu paused before nodding.

”…Yes. I heard that you have become somewhat human at the end. Well, it doesn’t matter how long it lasts, but it’s good to see. After all the hardships you caused me, this change makes my tough military life more fulfilling. Oh, by the way, they mentioned something about a curse at the infirmary. What was that about?”

I responded to Lieutenant General Shin Dongkyu’s question with my prepared answer:

“I’m not sure if it was a curse or something… But now I’m fine. You don’t need to worry.”

“Tsk. Even if you seem okay, go straight to the hospital for a check-up. That stone breaker couldn’t detect anything because his specialty is healing magic, but any hospital in the capital should be able to identify it.”

With these words, Lieutenant General Shin Dongkyu opened a drawer and took out a pre-made discharge certificate. Then he threw it into the air.

“Hey~ong!”

A cat that seemed hidden under the desk leaped up, caught the discharge certificate in its mouth, and landed in front of me. The brown cat’s eyes sparkled like jewels as it quietly looked up at me.

”…Sir?”

“If you stay in this place, various gifts come along. I don’t really need it so I’m selling.”

“But this is the latest model… Doesn’t it cost almost four million won?”

In 2080, several innovative core technologies were unlocked for civilian use around 10 years ago. There was Simplified Teleportation, which allowed delivery via teleportation from anywhere at any time; Energy Networks that continuously supplied energy over long distances; and Magic Stores where magic could be purchased without burden if located near infrastructure. Initially, these technologies were used as household appliances but as time passed and they became established, people started thinking:

‘Can’t we use this function individually?’

People had wanted these features integrated into their smartphones, but it was impossible due to technological limitations at that time. Despite advancements, each feature required components weighing over eight kilograms and taking up space comparable to a desktop computer. Initially, people carried or wore them as backpacks, but they were too cumbersome and heavy to gain widespread adoption.

However, humans eventually found a solution.

If smartphones were too heavy and bulky to carry around, why not have them follow their owners autonomously?

And thus, this invention came to fruition: Smart Pets.

At first glance, this creature appeared to be an ordinary cat, but it wasn’t a living being. It’s an artificial life form powered by rare metals, enchantments, and cutting-edge components.

‘I heard these are trendy nowadays, but I never expected to receive one as a gift.’

As I was confused by this unexpected situation, Lieutenant General Shin Dongkyu snapped his fingers.

Wing!

The smartphone on the bookshelf flew through the air and landed in Shin Dongkyu’s hand. The lieutenant general operated the smartphone, then…

“Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow!”

“T-That sir, this guy is crying…”

“Oh, you country bumpkin, don’t be clueless. It’s a phone ring, a phone ring. Since I am calling, press its nose to answer. Later, you can also register voice commands.”

Following his words, I pressed the cat’s nose. Then, the cat spoke to me with a clear female voice, making its previous ‘meowing’ seem like a lie:

“Mage Shin Dongkyu’s call. Beep! C-can you hear me clearly? Register my number.”

The cat spoke with Lieutenant General Shin Dongkyu’s voice, lightly leaped up and stopped at face height as if someone had grabbed it. It was Basic Magic Class 1: Fixing. The cat’s round belly displayed like it had just flopped down on the floor, showing its address book.

‘How amazing.’

From here, there wasn’t much difference from a regular smartphone, so I manipulated the screen to save the number. Watching this, Lieutenant General Shin Dongkyu spoke, “During your three years of military service, the world has changed greatly. You really… made me very tired, you idiot but that makes me more worried.”

Lieutenant General Shin Dongkyu clicked his tongue while looking at me. Despite always nagging and even assaulting me, his eyes were filled with concern now.

“Society isn’t like the army where opportunities are given freely. You say military life is shit but for those who haven’t experienced it, society itself is shit. I’m glad that you seem to have woken up…but if things become desperate, contact me. I’ll find you a job.”

”…,”

I looked at Lieutenant General Shin Dongkyu smoking his cigarette. In the past, or rather, what felt like 20 years ago, I used to despise him as a stubborn old man with no answers. However, the person I saw now was completely different. Only one day had passed on Earth’s timeline, so there was no way he could’ve changed.

‘Ah, I was the one without any answers.’

“What are you looking at? We’re done talking, so get out.” Seeing Lieutenant General Shin Dongkyu frowning amidst the cigarette smoke, I deeply bowed my head.

“Really…thank you very much.”

His eyes widened momentarily before curving like half-moons. “Son of a bitch. Yes. Congratulations on your discharge.”

It was August 3rd, 2089.

Finally, the day had come for me to leave military life and enter society again.

I tapped on the belly of the brown cat sitting on my thigh inside the unmanned taxi. Naturally, I wasn’t playing with a pet but registering a smart pet.

“Okay. Your name is Cheddar.”

“Please state the device name again,” responded a clear female voice from the cat.

“Cheddar.”

“It has been registered.”

I registered DNA and letter patterns while downloading apps. First, I decided to find a home. The location was Seoul. After the restrictions imposed by warp gates and teleportation were removed, real estate prices in the metropolitan area plummeted, making it a holy land. Even a studio apartment near Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul had a high price tag.

‘But living in Seoul was my dream.’

I used more than half of the 80 million won I saved during my three years in the military to buy a studio apartment. The studio was narrow, less than 10 pyeong (approximately 33 square meters), but it didn’t matter since I was already estranged from my parents and living alone.

I started searching while stroking Cheddar’s belly.

Ardenia Continent.

Kilian Mountains.

Bronze Sword Marquis.

The results came up quickly:

-Stat One Changed My Life!

-The Real War Begins: Revenge!

-Revenge: The Beginning and End-

“Ha. Seriously?”

It was an online game. It could be played through virtual reality equipment or on a PC, but most players accessed it as a mobile game via smartphones.

“It’s even doing quite well.”

‘Revenge’ was a popular game shining as the top-grossing title worldwide. Its highest daily revenue reached 92 billion won, with an average of 11 billion won per day. The average amount spent by each player was around 2.8 million won.

This success propelled Nemesis Soft, the developer of Revenge, to become one of the world’s top ten companies. However, online reviews from netizens were not favorable.

-The game is trash. No, it’s not just bad; it’s a money-sucking garbage game. Rubbish!

-Saw the average spending per person? It’s 2.8 million won! Seriously, WTF?! My monthly salary isn’t even that high. LOL

-Look at those numbers despite having many non-paying players. Just how much are these whales throwing away on this game? LMAO

– Ah, this game has been number one for revenue for the past 10 years, so all new games benchmark it and become desperate to make money –

– Ah hahaha but Revenge is still a profitable game.

– To make money hahaha you have to do things hahaha

– Student ^^ Lower your post ^^

In fact, I had heard the name ‘Revenge’ so much that it was stuck in my ears. It was such a popular game. However, I never played it before. This was because Revenge was a typical pay-to-win game.

“I don’t know the game’s name since I haven’t played it.”

Actually, I sometimes thought it was strange. A continent shaped like a Go board?

The terrain with its mountains and rivers delineated by straight lines looked unnatural to anyone. Moreover, the common language of Ardenia was Korean using hangul script. Yet despite this, all proper nouns and place names were Western-style, making it clear that something wasn’t right.

All these circumstances pointed towards one truth.

“A game.”

I felt my entire body go limp.

“The place where I lived for 20 years is within a game…”

Over those 20 years, numerous events had occurred. To survive, I endured humiliation, experienced both bitter defeats and dramatic victories, crossed the line between life and death countless times. Starting as a juvenile delinquent in school, a layabout in society, and a drill sergeant in the army, he transformed over two decades into a seasoned knight, general, and Lord.

But all that time and experience happened within a game world?

“However…it’s somewhat different.”

The search results showed Ardenia Continent and Killion Mountains but nothing about a Bronze Sword Marquis or his fiefdom. Even when he tried to locate where his fiefdom should have been, the place had a completely different name.

“It means I entered a world identical to the game.”

For now, jae-yeon assumed this was true and installed Revenge on Cheddar. Since it was connected to his computer, the PC version automatically downloaded as well. Had there been a console at home, the game would’ve likely installed itself there too.

While waiting for the installation process…

“Log in.”

In an instant, the appearance of my room disappeared and I was filled with a vast sky. When I lowered my head, I saw a square continent. There were 19 lines horizontally and vertically, forming a massive Go board where each space was 100 kilometers long. The role of the lines was played by flowing rivers and soaring mountains.

“Waaaah! Mother! Where is Mother?! Waaah!”

“Tinya…I’m sorry…Father is sorry.”

“What are those monsters? Where did they come from?”

“It’s the end… Everything is over…”

“Kuaaack! It hurts! It hurts!”

We had gathered at the training ground located in the north of the territory. As per my belief that this territory was just the beginning, the training ground was quite large and could accommodate all the people of the territory.

To be precise, there was room and equipment left over.

“Damn.”

The number of people who safely arrived at the training ground was just around 1,000. Two-thirds of the population had disappeared in an instant. Of course, some might’ve scattered and fled elsewhere, but waiting for more than a day without any arrivals meant it was futile to expect anyone else.

“We must move on.”

Despite my frustration with this disheartening reality, I couldn’t show annoyance or despair. Even though we lost our territory, I remained their leader. If I faltered, it would shake not only the lone knight and mage but also the confused soldiers under me.

“Steinstone.”

“Yes, Lordship?”

“We have gained this territory only to lead our people wandering once again. Does it not remind you of twenty years ago?” My words caused Steinstone’s stony face to soften with a faint smile.

When I first arrived in this world, Steinstone was one of the villagers rescued from the nobles’ human hunting expeditions. He was a talented member of the village militia who stood up against the nobles, the only one among his fellow villagers capable of doing so. Over time, he became a bandit leader and operated within the mountains before serving as a mercenary during wars. When I became a Count, he became my knight, guarding me faithfully ever since. And now, he remains a trusted comrade by my side.