Chapter 1

Chapter 1

#1. Prologue

My heart was pounding with a strange mix of excitement and awkwardness.

“It’s been how long since I’ve had a break like this?”

I run a small business, so I’ve been living a life without the concept of holidays.

Then recently, I collapsed from overwork and was prescribed a week of rest by the doctor.

Of course, with my personality, I didn’t plan to take the whole week off. But I was thinking of resting for about four days.

Not going to the office for a few days made me feel uneasy, but I trusted my employees would do well.

I told them to call me immediately if anything came up.

“Couldn’t have planned it better. My vacation coincides with the release of the sequel to that game.”

Sitting in front of my computer, my eyes sparkled at the thought of spending my rare holiday in style.

“Silver Age 1 was truly fun.”

The extremely niche game “Silver Age,” set in an arcanepunk world where magic engineering had developed, was a single-player RPG without online functionality.

Even though it was a solo-play game, it had incredible freedom.

This was the game I liked the most and played the longest.

Even during busy times with my business, I managed to play it whenever I had a spare moment.

Almost ten years later, they released Silver Age 2.

The graphics had evolved from 2D to near-realistic 3D.

Investing my golden holiday here was more than worth it.

“First character should definitely be a production hybrid, right?”

In Silver Age 1, I mainly enjoyed playing as production-focused characters.

I tried combat and magic-based gameplay too, but what suited me best was a specialized production hybrid.

One feature of this game is that hunting and player killing aren’t mandatory.

You can fully enjoy the game just by doing production work within the city.

And I find this kind of playstyle enjoyable.

It probably reflects my real-life entrepreneurial tastes in the game.

“Finally.”

While reminiscing about Silver Age 1, the game installation completed.

Suddenly, energy surged through my body, which had been drained from overwork.

-Loading……

After logging into the game and pressing the character creation button…

Pow!

The first thing that greeted me was a special bonus message.

[You achieved legendary accomplishments in Silver Age 1.]

[A bonus has been granted.]

[You can play your longest-played Silver Age 1 character in Silver Age 2.]

[However, items cannot be transferred.]

Looking at the message window, I paused to think.

“Should I experience the whole game with a max-level character first?”

Playing this way might not be as fun, but the last line said items wouldn’t transfer over, which changes things.

“Since grind is default in this game…”

I had a good feeling that trying out the full experience would be enjoyable.

Most importantly, production hybrids in Silver Age require immense time investment.

With only four days, I wouldn’t even get to properly taste it.

[Character ‘Arad’ from Silver Age 1 has been summoned.]

So I immediately summoned my longest-played max-level production hybrid from Silver Age 1.

“Holy crap!”

Even when summoned, the character stats were ridiculous.

Strength 10

Agility 10

Holiness 10

Evasion 10

Defense 10

Mana 38

Concentration 61

Spirit 49

Intelligence 54

Willpower 70

Strength 55

Health 58

Craftsmanship 300(MAX)

Luck 101

Stats first.

Since this is a production hybrid active only in towns, most combat-related stats were basic values.

By the way, the mana stat was the minimum required to create magic items.

Other stats like concentration, intelligence, willpower, strength, and health increased naturally through production work.

The only stats I manually allocated were craftsmanship, a bit of mana, and luck.

Craftsmanship is obviously the core for production hybrids.

Luck was where I put everything left after maxing out craftsmanship, for increasing crafting and enhancement success rates.

“Next is skills?”

After the stats window came the skills window.

Cooking Level MAX

Farming Level MAX

Alchemy Level MAX

Herbalism Level MAX

Leatherworking Level MAX

Sculpture Level MAX

Magic Engineering Level MAX

Construction Level MAX

Music Level MAX

Tailoring Level MAX

Mechanical Engineering Level MAX

Magical Engineering Level MAX

And more…

“I guess I was pretty crazy back then.”

All the life skills I leveled up over years of grinding in Silver Age 1 were summoned at MAX level.

“Looks like the stats and skills are carried over exactly from Silver Age 1’s system. Not much difference. Guess skill reallocation isn’t possible.”

After checking the skill window and moving on, the appearance customization screen appeared.

Unlike the previous stat and skill windows, appearance could be changed.

“Let’s just go with this. Kinda looks like me anyway.”

Too lazy to customize every detail, I decided to keep the original dark-haired, dark-eyed handsome young man character.

Didn’t notice it in the 2D graphics of version 1, but in the realistic 3D graphics of version 2, he looked surprisingly like me, which made him more appealing.

“Starting location?”

Pressing the next button brought up the starting location selection screen.

Probably the final step.

Options included desert, jungle, forest, metropolis, rural village, plain etc., but only one place naturally caught my attention.

“Still Northern Region, huh.”

If the game setting hasn’t changed much, Northern Region is optimal for producers.

It’s rich in magic stones, rare minerals, and monster byproducts.

Having chosen the Northern Region as my starting location, I pressed connect.

“Huh…?”

Simultaneously, I felt intense dizziness and lost consciousness.

[…Please! Save us!]

[Legendary craftsman.]

[Legendary alchemist.]

[Legendary magical engineer.]

[Legendary merchant.]

[Save… Save the Northern Region!]

Desperate pleas echoed in my dreams.

* * *

“…?”

Waking up, I opened my eyes to find myself in a snowy land.

A small city on the snowy field was covered in snow.

The city seemed both familiar and strange.

“Ugh…!”

Then, unfamiliar yet familiar memories assaulted my mind.

Specifically, the memories of the body I had possessed.

How much time had passed?

Understanding the general situation, I muttered a curse.

“Crazy.”

I had to accept being reincarnated into the game world faster and less surprisingly than expected.

“Status window! Status window? Stats!”

I repeatedly called out for the status window.

“…?”

But despite being reincarnated into the game world, no status window appeared.

Eventually giving up on the status window, I looked around.

If my Earth memories are correct, and the information possessed by this reincarnated body is accurate…

This is Haven in the North.

“Did I enter Silver Age 2?”

The Haven I knew from Silver Age 1 was one of the few major cities in the North.

But this current Haven feels like a small-medium sized town just emerging from village status.

“Silver Age 2 takes place 100 years before Silver Age 1, right?”

Considering it’s 100 years earlier, this city’s appearance makes perfect sense.

[Haven… Save the Northern Region!]

Recalling the request from whoever sent me to this other world after understanding the situation.

“Save the Northern Region?”

The abstract “main mission” of saving the Northern Region.

“Do I need to complete this mission to return to Earth?”

Instinctively, I felt I’d have to complete this main mission to return to Earth.

“But why does the Northern Region need saving?”

Shaking my head, I recalled the world of Silver Age I knew and gathered the information in Arad’s mind.

“In Silver Age 1, the Northern Region was directly governed by the royal family. But originally, it was ruled by Duke Lenslet.”

Meaning there must be the Lenslet ducal house in the Northern Region 100 years ago when I’m reincarnated.

“The treatment of Northern citizens in Silver Age 1 was… terrible. Comparing it to Earth history, it was similar to the relationship between the British Empire and Ireland.”

I think I understand roughly what I need to do.

Simply put, protect the Northern Region and the ducal house from the empire and the royal family.

“But this body I’m reincarnated into is completely non-combatant. Fight the empire’s golden generation with this body?”

The problem is my current situation isn’t suitable for completing this mission.

I’m an old-school Silver Age player.

Therefore, I know the world and history of this game fairly well, though not in extreme detail.

If my guess is correct, there are currently extraordinary figures in the empire who make the term “golden generation” seem humble.

The future emperor known as the Light of the Empire should be the crown prince now.

The 8th Circle Grand Magician and Master of the Royal Mage Tower, Duke Yulkaneis, is likely just beginning to establish the empire’s magical engineering.

Archbishop Theresa of the Imperial Church is in the midst of religious reform, constantly spilling blood.

The Dark Duke Doom, Commander of the Royal Knights and known as the Swordmaster of the Empire, is currently suppressing rebellions within the empire.

The Hot Rose of the Empire, another Swordmaster and Lady Habana, is cutting down all external threats to the empire.

Just these figures that immediately come to mind are formidable.

Meanwhile, in the Northern Duchy of Lenslet, there’s Duchess Ariana Rune Lenslet of the Northern Region.

The Frost Sword Demon Valkyrie of the North.

The Ice Wall Sun of the North.

Spring Grand Witch Isabel and the future Snowfield Grand Witch Mary, who appear later, are about the only notable figures.

Worse still, both the Duchess and Valkyrie go missing later.

Truly a difficult mission.

“If I want to return to Earth, I probably need to fulfill that request.”

If I had been living a meaningless bottom-of-the-barrel life on Earth, it might be different.

But until just before reincarnation, I was a promising young entrepreneur running a startup.

I already miss my employees and investors waiting for me back in that world.

“But right now, I can’t even protect my own life, let alone guard the Northern Region.”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The snowstorm is getting fiercer.

“Cold…”

Also, the clothes I’m wearing are a problem.

Currently, I’m dressed in Silver Age’s starting gear.

Leather shoes, leather jacket, linen shirt and pants underneath.

Linen in this freezing North? It might actually be warmer without it.

Besides that, there’s only a leather bag the size of a notebook and a dagger on my belt.

In other words, I’m perfectly set up to freeze to death.

“Need to warm up my body!”

First, I needed to find somewhere to stay alive.

“This is Haven. Close to the Magic Realm and Manus River of the North. Merchants, adventurers, mercenaries come and go frequently. So there are plenty of inns.”

Sure enough, I found an inn after taking just a few steps.

A sign clearly indicating it was an inn entered my view.

It was a two-story inn made of wood and stone, looking appropriately messy and worn-out, suggesting it’s a place frequented by low-ranking adventurers and mercenaries.

Without hesitation, I walked into the inn as if drawn by some force.

There were quite a few people inside.

As I entered, everyone’s gaze focused on me for half a second before dispersing.

Murmur, murmur

They continued their conversations.

Apparently, my appearance wasn’t very impressive.

Thud, thud, thud

I slowly, slowly took a seat at one of the few remaining empty spots.

“Welcome! What would you like?”

Soon, a server approached me and asked.

A fairly diligent and sprightly-looking teenage boy.

“Can I see the menu…”

“The menu’s over there. And… sir, do you have money?”

The server pointed to the menu board hanging by the inn entrance while eyeing me suspiciously.

“Yeah.”

“We operate on prepayment.”

For a server to say this much to a customer, even in this late medieval alternate world, is quite rude.

No, in fact, people tend to be more polite in such worlds.

In a world where axes come before laws, one bad temper could cost you your life that day.

Yet this young server dared to speak this way because my appearance must have been that pitiful.

“I’ll pay when I choose something.”

“Understood. Please select quickly.”

The bold server gave me a clear hint before heading off to other tasks.

“…”

I silently stared at the menu board.

Since there are many illiterates, the menu board featured pictures of food with brown coin counts instead of text.

Prices were cheap, considering this is 100 years before Silver Age 1. About 5 to 10 times cheaper.

“But even cheap doesn’t matter when I have no money.”

Though cheap, it was still beyond my reach.

Inside my leather bag, there wasn’t even a speck of dust, literally.

“Think, think. The highest stat of the character I’m reincarnated into is craftsmanship. Next is luck. Which means coming into this inn could be considered influenced by my luck stat.”

While thinking this,

I could feel the innkeeper and server’s glares becoming sharper.

“Hem! Excuse me, sir? Could you please order…”

Just as the innkeeper couldn’t bear it anymore and stepped forward to speak to me,

Clang! Pow!

“You little bastard! What did you just say?!”

A fight broke out at the table next to mine.

Whoaaa!

Seeing this, the people inside the inn started cheering loudly as if they had been waiting for it.

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