“Lord Lucian?” A voice called out from behind the elegantly carved mahogany.

  When he heard the voice, Lucian couldn’t help but curl inward. He didn’t want to respond to it. He wanted all of this to go away. But after three days, nothing had changed. Not one thing. He wasn’t Lucian. He wasn’t. He couldn’t be. But when he tried to think of his own name… nothing else came to mind.

  “Lord Lucian, may I enter?” came the voice once more. “If you stay silent, I’ll take it as a yes.”

  After a few moments of silence, the doorknob turned and the door opened up. The old man that entered looked around the room in alarm. Countless things were broken, and the room was generally in a state of chaos.

  “Lord Lucian…” the old man walked up, stepping over the junk on the floor.

  Lucian looked up at him. His spectacled face, his neatly combed hair, his glorious moustache… he recognized this man from War of Four, though he’d only seen him once. Lucian had often talked about him in his dialogue. This was Lucian’s private butler. He took a seat on the bed, not far from where Lucian curled up.

  “Could you at least tell me what’s wrong? I’ve never seen you like this,” Walter said, with what seemed to be genuine concern.

  Lucian looked at him in total torment. He wanted to tell him. He wanted to explain that he’d been trapped here for three days. He wanted to explain that what he thought was a fiction had become a reality. He wanted to tell this kind old man who seemed concerned that Lucian wasn’t his name, but he found himself already forgetting what his name actually was. Had his name been Lucian? Something about it seemed wrong, but as the days passed, it felt more and more ordinary to respond to it.

  Three days ago, he had woken up as Lucian Villamar. And no matter how he raged, acted out, or denied reality, nothing changed. And worst of all, he couldn’t talk about it. Whenever Lucian tried to open his mouth and explain what was happening, it felt like he was being choked. Something was preventing him from confessing his situation. He was in an entirely new world with no one to confide in.

  “Since you seem resistant to my help… I’ve taken the liberty to invite your brother-in-law over,” Walter said, rising back to his feet. “My hope is that he can help you.”

  “What?” Lucian looked at him in alarm.

  “Perhaps Duke Metterand can better speak to your troubles,” Walter said, all his earlier warmth gone. “I believe he can help you understand your situation better than I ever could.”

  Lucian’s blood ran cold hearing that, and ran colder still when someone appeared in the doorframe to his room. He immediately rose to his feet, wearing nothing but a silken purple robe. Duke Clemens Metterand stood there.

  “Brother…” he said, his voice like honey. He looked around the room, but his eyes stopped on Lucian. “What a state.”

  Duke Clemens Metterand, the midboss of the War of Four, walked toward Lucian. Most called him ‘Metterand’ rather than his first name. He was a handsome white man with brown hair, but he possessed only one extraordinary feature. His eyes were white and clouded as if they were blind. He most certainly wasn’t. Metterand decorated himself in incredibly ostentatious garb, often wearing white decorated with vibrant colors to contrast. Today wasn’t an exception.

  “Your Grace,” Lucian answered, keeping his voice steady. He stood a fair bit taller than Metterand, but felt small in front of those lifeless eyes.

  Metterand tsked. “You’re my brother-in-law. Dispense with the formalities.” Walter left as Metterand reached out and put his hand on Lucian’s shoulder. “The butler tells me you’ve been out of sorts. Talk to me, Lucian. What troubles you? I can help.”

  Where to begin? he wanted to say. I’m in a world where demons and monsters are about to become commonplace. That crazy bastard—the First Emperor—is manipulating things behind the scenes to cause war. I don’t even have average talent, but very below-average talent. My lifelines are withering, and my enemies are formidable, one and all. And now… you, psychopath that you are, show up at my doorstep.

  “I see your fear,” Metterand said, gently squeezing Lucian’s shoulder. “Rest assured, brother… my ruthlessness is reserved for the enemies of my family. And you are family. The day I took your sister as my wife, I resolved to protect you until my last breath.”

  Lucian tried not to show his obvious unease at the hand so near his neck. “It’s nothing.”

  Metterand looked around once more at the wrecked room. “It seems to be a whole lot of nothing.” He looked back with concerned eyes. “This is about your father taking away your budget, no? That’s the only thing that I could think of. If it isn’t that, please talk to me. I’ve known you since you were a little boy. There’s no need for secrets between us. Nothing you could say would make me hate you,” he said with a warm smile.

  “It’s really nothing,” Lucian insisted, despite how foolish the lie sounded. He tried to pull away from Metterand’s hand, but found himself fixed in place.

  Metterand sighed, looking out the window in the room for a few moments before looking back. “Do you know why your father cut off your allowance?”

  Of course he knew. It was something that should’ve happened a long time ago.

  “Duke Cyril Villamar wanted to reform my behavior.” Lucian nodded.

  “I’m glad you realize as much.” Metterand’s hand glided to Lucian’s neck. “Your father is a very important man. He’s the most powerful duke in the Empire of Riverra, myself included. During your time of study in Verne, he’s given me the duty of protecting you, looking after you… guiding you. All in the hopes that perhaps, just perhaps, you might one day succeed him as Duke of Villamar.”

  Metterand’s fingers dug into Lucian’s neck, and though he craned with his whole body to break free, it felt as hopeless as escaping a shackle around his neck. His struggle only made the pain worse.

  “I pulled many strings in my capacity as Chancellor to earn you prominence in Verne. If you cannot motivate yourself to act based solely on personal ambition, perhaps you can act selflessly to please your dear brother-in-law,” Metterand continued, his warm affect not diminishing even as he choked Lucian. “It would make me very happy to see you leave your home, head to the Collegium of Verne, and complete your registration. I assure you—any unpleasant emotions you experience now will diminish once you arrive there. We would both be happier—you see?”

  Lucian felt his head swim as oxygen left it.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “There, you’ll have every means at your disposal to become the best version of yourself you could possibly be,” Metterand continued softly. “You’re a young, handsome man from a great house. Go out there, meet some people! This, too, shall pass.”

  Metterand’s vice-like fingers finally relaxed, and Lucian staggered away, breathing quickly.

  “Our talk… has it brought you any clarity, despite its brevity?” Metterand asked. “I could always stay longer if you have more issues you wish to discuss.”

  Lucian grabbed at his throat. Swallowing now felt agonizing, and his vision was still dancing… but even still, he had clarity. Even his ‘allies’ were enemies. This world was real—its pains, its hardships, its everything. Curling up, hiding away… he’d already proven that nothing was changing. If this was his reality, if this was something he’d have to endure, he couldn’t do nothing.

  “Things are much clearer,” Lucian said with a hoarse voice.

  “Good. I’m very proud you could find some inner strength,” Metterand said with a smile. “Do you intend to go to the Collegium, then?”

  “Yes.” Lucian nodded. “I’ll show up today.”

  “Then I’ll be watching for your arrival,” Metterand said simply. “It’s such a joy to work near one’s family. You can make sure they’re well, and monitor their progress in case they need any help. All that to say… if you don’t show up today, I’ll be very concerned.”

  With that, Metterand left as quickly as he’d come. Lucian took a few moments to ease his troubled throat. After a while, he walked over to the mirror in the room. A tall young man with a swimmer’s build wrapped in a silken purple night robe stared back at him. The pale skin, the golden eyes, the long gray hair… he was Lucian Villamar, in the flesh. That wasn’t changing. But unless his behavior changed… the result had been made clear to him.

  “Walter,” Lucian called out, looking over. The old man appeared at the doorframe. He wore that same mask of kindness as earlier, but now Lucian saw through it. “I need an Evercodex. Do we have one?”

  An Evercodex was a magic book that had well over two thousand pages. It seemed to have only three pages, but as one flipped it, new pages appeared. It was what the protagonist used to keep track of their exploits in the game, per the lore.

  “We do,” Walter confirmed. “Would you like me to get it?”

  Lucian nodded. “I need to make some plans.”

  For the first time, he might not be wasting his time planning out another character build for the War of Four. As a matter of fact… it might save his life.

  ***

  As it turned out, action was the right call. Lucian’s mind hadn’t fully quieted, but this project had managed to pull him from his mental spiral.

  Lucian hunched over his Evercodex. It had a black binding with gold fixtures on the cover—certainly a lot grander than the one the protagonist had in War of Four. Everything was written in English, which stood in stark contrast to the language used in this world—a language he could understand, strangely. He had written down a semi-comprehensive plan for the future.

  In many ways, planning a route was what Lucian was best at. More often than not he would load up War of Four to start a new game, and then spend a long while writing in his Evercodex about how he’d distribute his training time, what items he would get, what perks he would select, which story paths he’d take, which blessing he should prioritize, and what secret items he should beeline toward. He probably spent more time planning new runs than he did playing the game—and he’d played the game a lot. Lucian’s stats were particularly fresh on his mind.

  He'd written down Lucian's starting stats in his Evercodex.

  HP: 10

  STR: 11

  CON: 9

  DEX: 12

  SPD: 11

  MAG: 7

  At the beginning of the game, these stats were below average by a fair amount. In the first battle Lucian was involved in against some petty bandits, he was probably on equal footing with most of them in the easier difficulties. On the higher difficulties, the story was different. The boss, though, ate him alive regardless of difficulty—and Lucian as an NPC always belligerently charged the boss.

  I have control over Lucian now, he reflected. Stats are raised by training in the Collegium, defeating enemies, and by gaining select blessings and items. Only…

  Training in the Collegium had aptitude. Some characters were better at certain training methods than others. Some people would have 110% aptitude with a certain method—one training session would give them 1 stat points, and they’d be 10% there to gain the next one. Aptitude was lowered with repetition to discourage intense focus on one stat, but it recovered over time back to that max value. All characters had aptitudes, even those that weren’t player-controlled.

  Lucian’s aptitude was 25%. And not for one training method—all of them. He was utterly talentless. He’d have to work four times as hard as everyone else for the same result. The lowest aptitude with a training method that the main character had was 75%. Aptitudes could be increased, but opportunities to do that were few and far between. Considering that training was the primary way to raise stats, a low aptitude would be crippling long-term.

  Meaning… battles or blessings. That’s the only feasible way for me to raise my stats, Lucian reflected. I’ll have to kill people, kill monsters. Risk my life for a single, solitary chance at getting strong enough to defend myself. Blessings aren’t easy to get. And killing? The idea made his anxiety spike. I’ve… vacuumed up spiders, but killing people? Jesus Christ…

  And all of that was predicated on things remaining the same as they were in War of Four. There wasn’t anything that he could use to view his attributes, his perks, his skills, or his blessings. Most of the perks and skills were obtained via training, and they were actually referenced in universe, so perhaps there was hope. Nevertheless, there was a dark cloud hanging over his head.

  This doesn’t seem like a game. What if all of this is useless? What if I’m wasting my time in all this? What if things are different in this new life?

  It was those sorts of questions that had prevented Lucian from getting a wink of sleep last night. He had laid down in his bed for five minutes, and then those thoughts bubbled to his mind and made him stare blankly at the ceiling while shuddering. He hadn’t eaten, he hadn’t slept more than once… and frankly, he didn’t see how he could. He felt like he’d been abducted by aliens, and stood shuddering in the cargo bay just waiting for the probe to come.

  What am I going to do? Just wait here until the world ends? Wait here to die? Lucian closed his Evercodex. There’s no place to run. Anywhere I could go in this world is going to be beset by foul creatures. Metterand won’t let me flee, anyway—and on top of that, war is coming. War with high civilian casualties.

  Though he felt some rising nausea, Lucian stood and walked over to the window in this room. He pulled aside the curtains to look outside. A gorgeous marble city lay beyond, buildings standing proud amidst the blue sea. Canals cut across the city every which way. Gondolas bearing iron lanterns drifted through, their gondoliers standing upright and rowing great oars to move through the water. There were passengers aboard—happy people, laughing and chatting and watching the spectacles. He undid the lock on the window and threw it open, hoping for some illusion to shatter. Instead, Lucian smelled the salty sea air, and heard the calls of seagulls circling above.

  Verne. The hub area for War of Four. This place was where the player spent the majority of their time, building up themselves and their allies.

  “I should have gotten into a farming simulator,” Lucian muttered in a dead tone.

  He leaned out on the railing and looked around the city. Nothing had changed after three days of him breaking down. Nothing more would be solved if he kept on like this.

  Maybe someone’s doing a challenge run to save Lucian, he reflected, laughing at the thought. He gripped the railing tightly. I’ll have to make it easy for them.

  “Walter,” Lucian called out, turning around. It didn’t take long for the butler to appear. “I’ll be going out.”