I Became a Swordsman in the Middle Ages – Chapter 1

“Can I ask just one thing?”

On the endless, barren plain, there stood a girl.

Her silver hair cascaded down to her waist, and her silver eyes were unreadable.

Though her slender frame looked as if it might break at a touch, there was a certain balance and perfection in her appearance.

A demon, pierced through the heart by the girl’s sword, asked in a dry, emotionless voice.

“Why didn’t you kill me sooner, with all that power?”

The girl’s eyes flickered with slight surprise.

But only for a moment.

She muttered in a bored tone.

“I guess it’s time to let you go now.”

“I see.”

The demon let out a sigh and looked around.

In its black eyes, the plain was littered with countless demon corpses.

There was no anger.

In the face of such overwhelming power, all emotions were futile.

“In the end, the era of demons never came. Or perhaps, it was just a delusional dream from the start.”

Countless demon corpses stretched as far as the eye could see.

“To think we’d be slaughtered so mercilessly by just one person.”

Thousands, tens of thousands of demons.

The entire army had been mercilessly slaughtered by a single girl.

No resistance, no matter how proud they were of their immense power, meant anything before her.

“I acknowledge you. Savior of humanity. The demons… have been defeated.”

With those final words, the demon’s body turned to white powder and scattered into the air.

The corpses at her feet also turned to dust one by one, disappearing.

The girl watched it all indifferently.

[New achievement added: Acknowledgment from the Demon God.]

[Final quest, ‘The End of a Long Struggle,’ has been unlocked.]

[Clear completed.]

[World Message]

-The Sword God Cecilia has defeated the most fearsome Demon God.

-Peace descends upon Another World.

An incredible feat that no one had ever accomplished.

Yet, Cecilia’s face showed no satisfaction.

The messages flooding her vision only felt annoying.

She closed the message window and lay down on the ground, gazing at the sky.

“Still beautiful. They really did a great job.”

The night sky was adorned with countless stars.

It was hard to believe this was a virtual reality and not the real world.

This was the first virtual reality MMORPG game, ‘Another World.’

At its birth, it was revolutionary, but now it’s a dying game with barely 1,000 concurrent players.

The developers announced they wouldn’t shut down the service until the game was cleared, but everyone was skeptical.

‘The clear conditions are just too absurd.’

The most fearsome Demon God.

Dozens of instant-death skills, immense health, endless patterns.

For 10 years, not a single player had succeeded in defeating it.

But now, ‘Another World’ had been cleared.

By one player, Cecilia, the undisputed rank 1.

‘What a shame.’

In truth, she had the specs to clear it years ago.

The only reason she delayed until now was simple.

‘I couldn’t find any talented newbies.’

She didn’t want to end it on her own.

She wanted at least a few people to witness this scene with her.

But even after years—

No one had risen to her level.

Everyone couldn’t even clear the mid-boss, the ‘Demon King.’

“If I had done better, maybe I could’ve taken down the Demon God with some newbies.”

Was it just a dream of a veteran with nothing better to do?

For nearly three years, Cecilia had wandered around, searching for newbies.

There were still newbies in this dying game. But they all quit due to the clunky controls and insane difficulty.

But if she had been a little kinder.

If she had helped them more.

If she had given them better gear…

‘It’s all meaningless now.’

Cecilia closed her eyes.

It was all in the past now.

Like the years that had slipped away, the shutdown of Another World was inevitable.

But since it was the final moment, she decided to savor the lingering feelings.

If she stayed still like this, the service termination notice would probably pop up soon.

She decided to make that her bedtime.

“Are you leaving now, hero?”

A sudden voice made Cecilia open her eyes.

She recognized the old man standing before her. He was an NPC from the capital city quest.

“Why are you here…?”

Before she could wonder, more NPCs appeared.

They were people she had helped in the past.

“Thank you so much for helping me back then.”

“I’ll never forget the kindness you showed in bringing my daughter’s smile back.”

“Hero. You were our hope.”

Cecilia was momentarily stunned.

NPCs she had interacted with, from her beginner days to recent quests.

They had all gathered here.

“I’ve seen it all. Your struggles, your countless hardships.”

“Everyone left, but you stayed strong and protected this world.”

‘The pattern’s different.’

Cecilia was sure.

‘This is a new script.’

This was a cinematic the game company had made just for her.

“Thank you. That’s all I can say.”

“Hero. Are you leaving?”

“Don’t leave us. We still need you.”

Cecilia’s vacant expression slowly softened.

And then a small smile appeared.

‘They went this far for me. Thank you.’

Children clung to Cecilia’s arms.

Fairies fluttered around her.

She patted the children’s heads and looked at each of them in turn.

She remembered every single one.

Which quest it was, how she felt at the time.

All those memories were melting into this moment.

“This is really the end.”

Cecilia suppressed her emotions and walked past them.

Like flipping through a photo album, memories flashed by.

At the end, she reached—

The being she had first encountered when she logged into the game.

“Goddess.”

She was the NPC from the character selection screen, ‘Path of Light.’

The symbol of this game, the starting point of the story.

“Stranger who came to this strange world.”

Cecilia gazed at the Goddess indifferently.

‘Is this what a real Goddess feels like?’

Even those who criticized Another World acknowledged the Goddess’s quality.

There was a reason for that.

As the Goddess stretched out her hand, a bright gate appeared before her.

It was a gate that seemed to bless her return to reality.

“We will never forget your devotion.”

As the Queen spoke, everyone knelt on one knee in respect.

“May you be safe in your world.”

‘If I go through there, I’ll never see them again.’

This was just a game.

They were just coded NPCs.

She knew that.

But the aching, overwhelming emotions were unavoidable.

Cecilia bowed her head.

10 years.

She had played this game for 10 years.

After school, she’d rush home, throw her bag aside, and turn on the VR device.

On exam days, after failing her first job interview, when she was depressed or happy, this game was always with her.

Thinking that she could never play this game again, to which she had devoted half her life, an indescribable emotion washed over her like a tide.

This wasn’t just a game to her—

It was a precious memory.

‘I wish I could’ve left something behind.’

Of course, she knew it was impossible.

VR MMORPGs are expensive to maintain.

Even with the title of the first virtual reality game, the maintenance costs were in the billions, so it couldn’t go on.

“User.”

“……Yeah.”

The Goddess, with a faint smile, called her.

Cecilia suddenly snapped back to reality.

“Thank you so much for playing all this time.”

The Goddess bowed her head.

The other NPCs were frozen as if time had stopped.

She finally understood the situation.

Ah, the Goddess was the GM.

No wonder the AI was so good.

“No… thank you for going this far.”

The GM smiled.

“We had to. You stuck with our boring game till the end.”

“It’s not boring. This game is fun.”

Cecilia felt bittersweet as she spoke.

If it were fun, there wouldn’t be a service termination.

“A sequel to Another World is in the works.”

“Oh, really? I’ll definitely play it.”

It was a white lie.

She no longer had time for games.

She wasn’t at an age where she could come home from school and play games to her heart’s content.

The age for indulging in games was over.

“So, we’d really like to have you as a tester.”

She was at a loss. She had thrown out a casual remark, but she didn’t expect them to take it so seriously.

‘What do I do?’

She said she’d do it, so it’d be rude to refuse now.

Especially for the developers who went out of their way to give her a special update.

‘A little should be fine. It’s not like I’ll be at the company all day.’

She could probably play occasionally after work.

Since it’s an open beta VR game, it wouldn’t demand too much.

“Sure. I’ll do it.”

“Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t know who to choose… It was really tough. We’ve never had anyone as proven as you.”

“Ah, okay.”

She gave an awkward smile.

Still, it felt good that the GM acknowledged her efforts.

“How would you like the customization?”

“Um, uh… just… keep it as it is.”

Cecilia’s face turned slightly red.

After all, in real life, she was a man, but in the game, she was a ‘woman.’

The GM showed no particular reaction.

Instead, they smiled softly and nodded.

“Do you need any other perks?”

“……Perks?”

“Ah, I didn’t mention it. It’s an open beta, but there won’t be a wipe. So, you can continue playing as normal.”

‘So I can keep playing as is? With only one tester?’

She blinked in surprise.

The game company wasn’t usually this generous, so why were they giving her such perks?

“Of course, you’ll have to keep it a secret from others.”

“Ah, okay.”

If one person got such a big perk, it’d definitely cause a stir.

Well, she didn’t plan to play after the open beta anyway, so she accepted it lightly.

“Then, what perks would you like…”

“No. Being able to play the game early is already a big enough perk.”

The GM was about to say more but cut themselves off.

“That’s just my style.”

“I see.”

“If the game’s too easy, it’s not fun, right?”

She felt a bit rude for cutting them off, so she joked.

Fortunately, the GM didn’t seem to mind and laughed along.

“You’re right. I was mistaken. You’ll have more fun that way.”

“Yeah.”

A brief awkward silence passed.

Cecilia took one last look at this beautiful scene, etching it into her memory like the best screenshot.

“You really made something amazing. I don’t think I’ll ever see a more beautiful scene in my life.”

“……That’s the best thing I could hear.”

“You deserve to hear it. No game company will ever go this far for their players.”

Cecilia looked at the GM with a smile.

“Thank you.”

“……!”

Tears welled up in the GM’s eyes.

Given the appearance, it was easy to feel protective, but remembering that inside might be a bearded man made it a bit awkward.

“I’ll take my leave now. Logging out…”

As she was about to log out, the GM quickly spoke.

“User! Don’t log out, please enter that gate.”

“Huh?”

“We worked hard on it.”

“Ah, okay.”

‘What else is there?’

She was curious but nodded since it wasn’t a big deal.

“Then, may you be well in that world.”

The Goddess stared at Cecilia for a moment, then took a few steps back and bowed deeply.

At that moment, the frozen time of the NPCs resumed.

“Hero! You must remember us!”

“Take care!”

Back in reality, a busy life awaited.

She might never have the leisure to pour dozens of hours into games like before.

But the memories from here would surely become a pillar of strength in her life.

‘It’ll be a short time, but I’ll take the tester role seriously. They went this far for me.’

The gate’s light enveloped her, growing stronger.

“Hero! You must be happy in that world too!”

The NPCs’ final voices reached her.

She slowly, but firmly, stepped through the gate.

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