Chapter 1

“Master! Wake up quickly!”

I never got a teaching certificate. But the brown-haired girl in front of me was calling me “Master.”

“Alright… I’m up, I’m up… So stop shaking me, Airi.”

I was supposed to have died when the VR machine exploded while I was playing my favorite VR game, *Draghinty Fantasy 2*.

“Ah, come on, Master~ The sun is already high in the sky. Wake up already!”

But instead of the King of Hell or an angel, Airi Res, the protagonist of *Draghinty Fantasy 2*, was standing in front of me.

So, I had reincarnated as the master of the game’s protagonist. But this has to be the worst possible reincarnation ever.

Werner Altan, a character who appeared as the protagonist’s ally in *Draghinty Fantasy 1* and as Airi’s master in *Draghinty Fantasy 2*. He was the character who died protecting her from demons targeting her and left her with a message to find her parents.

I’d rather have reincarnated as a villain or an extra in the game. Why? Because those guys just have to live normally without committing evil deeds, and they won’t die. But in my case… I’m a character who has to die for the protagonist’s emotional growth.

Of course, I like the spirit of sacrifice, but it’s different when it’s me doing the sacrificing.

Werner’s popularity in the game community was insane. With more screen time than most female characters and an outstanding personality, he was a beloved character among users.

**Title: Lightner Lighton**

– Upvote

– Sigh, just this once.

**Title: If only Godly Lightner-sensei were alive, how much help would he be?**

– Do you think the Archmage Light-light-light-sensei would look like a fool?

– If you think about it, isn’t Airi the MVP of the enemy side for causing Lightner’s death?

**Title: If you like the Lightner x Airi couple, upvote**

– Why are you doing this to Lightner-sensei?

– Are you serious?

– Godner-sensei has a clear preference for women.

– What’s his type?

– Calm women.

Posts like these say it all. But I still have no intention of making a noble sacrifice. Why? Because I don’t want to die. Werner was a person of great character, but I’m not.

“My cute disciple has prepared a delicious breakfast!”

Airi, with her brown hair swaying, scooped a ladle of purple liquid from the pot and served it in a bowl. Some parts were watery, some were lumpy—it was a revolutionary phenomenon in the food world.

“Airi, what on earth is this?”

“Beef stew, of course.”

The beef must have been sourced from some twisted netherworld. Eating this kind of food might kill me. But I wasn’t given the option to run away.

“So, Master, no reply from your father?”

“When has that brute ever sent a reply to you?”

Airi was the child of the protagonist from *Draghinty Fantasy 1*.

Sticking with her might kill me, but abandoning her would definitely kill me. If they find out I’m not Werner, I’ll be torn into thirteen pieces. No joke.

Fortunately, I had the knowledge to teach her. I was a hardcore fan of the game, and the battles were no different from actual gameplay. The spells I memorized for fun all worked too.

Airi savored the stew she made.

“Mmm, delicious.”

“It looks like a monster corpse crushed under a rock, but surprisingly, it tastes good.”

“Why do you keep insulting my cooking!!!”

Airi puffed up her cheeks. At seventeen, she acted much younger than her age. The developers intended her to be lively in the prologue and broken after Werner’s death in the mid-game.

That image got a huge response in the community.

**Title: Airi’s eyes turning red after her master’s death was so sad**

– That’s her own fault, why is she crying?

– Your mom cried when she gave birth to you, isn’t that her fault too?

– F*** you.

**Title: Honestly, Airi pretending to be fine but crying over beef stew was sad**

– Wasn’t that just because she hadn’t seen meat broth in a while?

– Is Airi from North Korea?

– Part 2’s theme was unification.

**Title: After Lightner’s death, Airi briefly [redacted]**

– Don’t spoil it.

– Edited.

The same reactions poured in. But since I’ve decided to live, I won’t die. I’ll survive by any means necessary, return Airi to her parents, and live out the rest of my life leisurely as Werner.

“Master! What will you teach me today? A sword technique to split mountains? A spell to burn mountains? A fist technique to destroy mountains?”

“Airi… Did you have a grudge against mountains? Why do you keep trying to destroy them?”

“But isn’t destroying mountains the most definitive way to prove your strength?”

“Talking nonsense and falling flat on your face, really.”

“Heeeng… Master, you’re just saying that because you can’t do it, right?”

Airi immediately pouted when I pressed her a little. A flower field—that’s the best metaphor for Airi’s mental state. The mid-game plot involved Airi being deceived and trapped, only to be saved by Werner.

“Earth, gather and strike.”

I chanted the basic spell of the game system. A solid hand made of dirt formed and lightly tapped Airi’s forehead. It was a spell Werner often used to assert his authority over Airi.

Usually, after being hit like this, Airi would say something like:

[Master, you’re trash. Abusing a beautiful girl like me. Someday, you’ll get hit harder than this and die with your skull crushed.]

Those words came true, and Werner died with a crushed skull, while Airi cursed her own words and temporarily lost her voice.

“Earth…”

I tapped Airi’s forehead twice more. It was a low-level spell manipulating dirt clumps, and it wasn’t strong enough to hurt, but Airi always pretended to cry.

If you ask how I can use the spells from the game, it’s because it was a VR game. Unlike keyboard inputs, anyone could concentrate their energy and chant spells through a microphone.

Magic is fundamentally based on communication with spirits, and low-level magic doesn’t require communication or only needs communication with low-level spirits.

True high-level magic requires a contract with the Spirit King, but Werner was strong even without one.

Werner was a character who taught the protagonist various combat techniques in the prologue, so he was somewhat skilled in swordsmanship, spearmanship, and archery. Despite not having a contract with the Spirit King, he boasted top-tier strength.

But why the Archmage Werner didn’t have a contract with the Spirit King was a topic of debate.

**Title: Hey, why didn’t Werner contract with the Spirit King?**

– The Spirit King wasn’t worthy of contracting with Lightner-sensei.

– He was strong even without it.

– No one had contracted with the Spirit King before Airi anyway.

**Title: The reason Werner didn’t contract with a spirit**

Body text: He was discriminated against for being a man.

– He was discriminated against for being a man!

– Look at the spirits causing gender conflicts.

– Ah, my head hurts…

– Go to the hospital, idiot.

**Title: The spirits won’t contract with Werner**

Body text: Werner is the one who contracts with the spirits.

– What kind of nonsense is this?

– Brain-dead.

– He’s still the top magic DPS in the game, so whatever.

Most agreed that since he was going to die anyway, there was no need to add such elements.

“Boo hoo, I’ll tell the world that my old bachelor master is abusing his beautiful disciple!”

“Stop with the fake tears, Airi. This master sees through it.”

“Ah, was it that obvious?”

You’re famous for your fake tears. If being unpredictable is charming, then it’s charming, but this side of you also has a lot of haters.

Personally, I wasn’t on either extreme.

Airi got up to clean the dishes, and I unfolded the newspaper she bought at dawn. Thanks to the reincarnation gift, I could automatically understand the language and letters, which was convenient. I wasn’t particularly interested in the gossip of this world, but I had another reason.

‘Baron Braivery commits suicide after being caught embezzling military funds.’

‘Root Trading Company bankrupt due to excessive turnip purchases and price collapse.’

‘National Knights Association protests, claiming current politics are unjust.’

As I flipped through the boring articles, no different from the world I used to live in, I finally found the article I was looking for.

‘Parchment prices plummet, leaving related merchants in despair.’

I hadn’t bought parchment coins or stocks in parchment trading companies, but this was the article I was eagerly searching for. It was the article whose title I glimpsed in the prologue cutscene when Werner put down the newspaper.

“Sigh… So it starts today.”

It took two months after reincarnating to finally see the start of the prologue.