Chapter 1: No time to hesitate

I am a die-hard lore junkie.

I don’t care about spoilers at all.

Whenever I start something new, I always read through the lore first.

There’s one work that I fell deeply for.

It’s called [Old Tales].

This is truly a work by lore junkies, for lore junkies.

A vast world and detailed settings.

An insane level of detail, as if the world itself was transcribed into words.

All of it is truly captivating.

As a lore junkie, how could I not drool over it?

‘There’s no time to hesitate!’

For several years, I lost myself and enjoyed everything related to Old Tales.

The original novel, the game, the TRPG, and all other media mix projects.

But.

Did the work perhaps recognize my affection?

As if it were trying to repay the love it received with even greater love.

When I woke from an uncomfortable sleep one day, I found myself inside the world of Old Tales.

F*ck.

---

‘F*cking hell.’

First, let’s calm down.

There are a total of five stages of accepting death.

The first is denial, the second is anger, the third is bargaining, and then so on and so forth…

“Sigh, f*ck.”

Spouting nonsense doesn’t make me feel any better.

I decided to stop with the bullsh*t.

The five stages or whatever, it feels like this confusion won’t go away unless I do something.

‘First, where am I? The more I look, the more familiar it seems.’

I collected myself and checked my surroundings.

Inside a pure white ship that looked like a plaster statue.

Its design is somewhat familiar.

As I stared blankly, something flashed through my mind.

‘Wait, isn’t this the airship [Wyrcana]?’

The airship Wyrcana.

The exclusive vehicle of the protagonist from [Old Tales]’s side story, the mobile game [The Ship That Shines on a Holy Night].

It’s set to be made with ancient technology.

The ship itself is practically one with the protagonist, and as he grows, the ship also gets upgraded.

But that’s not what’s important right now.

What’s important is why I’m here.

First, only the protagonist can board the Wyrcana at the very beginning.

But right now, I’m alone on this spacious ship.

The answer this points to is only one.

‘So I’ve entered the protagonist’s body. There’s no need for any troublesome doubts.’

Just in case, I plucked out a few strands of my hair.

An ashen gray color.

It’s exactly the same as the hair color of Noah, the protagonist of the side story.

‘My origin is confirmed with this. Noah’s story began with him waking up from a slumber on the airship. In that case, is this the very beginning of the story?’

It’s a relief that I don’t have to bother making up a backstory.

Noah’s situation and mine are roughly similar.

No, perhaps that’s why I ended up in Noah’s body.

‘…Wait, Noah woke up? Then what’s today’s date?’

For a moment, something came to mind.

There was definitely something that overlapped with the date Noah woke up.

‘The airship operates on the protagonist’s brainwaves. Would this be the same?’

I hurriedly sent a signal with my mind.

Date, calendar, and time.

Soon, a calendar with the date written on it slowly appeared above the plaster statue-like cockpit.

-Pop!

Bingo.

I immediately checked it.

Upon seeing the date, I couldn’t hide my shock.

‘What the f*ck! Today is the day the prologue starts!’

Today is June 28th.

It’s the very day the prologue event of [Old Tales] takes place.

‘I’m f*cked. If I can’t stop it now, I’m really, truly f*cked.’

I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine.

To briefly explain, the prologue of Old Tales is based on the World Wars.

Just as a single gunshot in Sarajevo set the world on fire, in Old Tales, everything begins with the assassination of the crown prince.

With the line of succession destabilized, the feudal lords start having different ideas, and in that gap, monsters, the enemies of humanity, run rampant across the continent.

In this situation, the alliances between different races become increasingly ambiguous, and eventually, all races gradually run towards their promised doom.

Conspiracy and politics, war and masterminds.

The end is none other than the destruction of the world.

Except for a few races, every single character is killed off.

I’m not kidding, that’s really how it ends.

The fans called it the spectacular end of an unprofitable franchise.

‘This f*cking… Of all the times to be transmigrated, why now? Is this some kind of torture, giving me false hope?’

A wave of irritation washed over me.

If they were going to send me, they could have given me some time to relax, but why send me at this exact moment?

‘I’ll stop it. I absolutely have to stop it.’

The grumbling was only for a moment.

I immediately took action.

I know the ending, I can’t just let it happen like an idiot.

‘The incident definitely happened late at night.’

Looking at the time, thankfully, it’s not too late yet.

There’s still some time.

And there’s still a chance, too.

Above all, I had now become Noah, the protagonist of the side story.

‘Thankfully, the airship is already activated. No need to waste time. The controls should be the same. I should be able to use the abilities from the original work without any problem.’

Noah’s ship, Wyrcana.

I know the detailed lore about this thing mentioned in the original work.

With its performance, it’s possible to just barely make it to the destination.

Of course, even that isn’t certain.

But as I’ve said, the time to hesitate is a luxury I don’t have.

Didn’t I say there’s no time to hesitate?

To avoid the worst-case scenario, I had to use everything at my disposal.

“Wyrcana! Wyrcana!! I know you can hear me!”

–…

“Don’t pretend you don’t know and answer me! Don’t give me that ‘Listen to the ship’s voiiiice’ crap later, hurry up!”

–……

A deep rumbling sound echoed.

After I yelled, a belated response came.

A sound like something stirring was heard, and then a voice echoed from all over the airship.

–…Who in the world are you.

“What?”

–How does a child who has just awakened know my identity…

“This is no time for that! Shut up and move to the coordinates I told you! Quickly!”

–?

“Are you going to keep being frustrating? Then I’ll just kill myself! I’ll just die, you hear me?!”

–?! Are you insane?!

“If you don’t want that, then hurry up and depart! Now!”

The being I’m conversing with is named Wyrcana.

To put it simply, its identity is the ship’s consciousness.

Along with being a vehicle, it is the last survival system created by the Old Ones.

When the star faces danger, it automatically awakens to protect the last Old One, serving as a kind of guardian.

And in the middle of all that, I’m throwing a fit, saying I’m going to die?

This is an act that denies Wyrcana’s very existence.

It must be very flustered right now.

Yes, I can fully understand how it must feel.

But, what can you do about it?

What can you do!

–…Haah. To think the last descendant is like this. The Old Ones must be considered effectively extinct.

“Are you going to keep spouting bullsh*t? I’m really going to die, you know? Huh? I can just kill myself and it’ll all be over!”

–I get it, so just calm down. We are already on our way.

Indeed, it was just as it said.

From the middle of our conversation, lights turned on throughout the airship, and soon, clouds were rapidly passing by beyond the transparent wall in front.

–We’ve departed as you said. But, why on earth are we going there?

“What about it.”

–What do you mean, ‘what’? Isn’t this a human city? If we suddenly appear there, it will cause a huge commotion.

“I don’t care.”

–…I do not understand. In the end, what is the reason for going here?

“To save the world.”

–You’re completely insane…

Were my words that shocking?

Wyrcana sighed and then fell silent again.

It seemed as if it had fallen into a deep sleep.

Regardless, I kept my eyes fixed ahead.

The destination is Germano, one of the Empire’s cities.

Tonight, the crown prince will make an appearance there, and ultimately be assassinated in vain.

That is the very beginning of the ruin.

The star’s destruction effectively began from here.

So, I have to stop it no matter what.

If I don’t want to get swept up in the flow of time and die like an idiot.

‘Do I have the ability to do that?’

For a moment.

For a very brief moment, I thought to myself.

Do I have what it takes to stop the world from ending?

……

After a short thought, I reached a conclusion.

It’s possible.

It’s absolutely possible!

Not just anyone, but me!

---

The Imperial city of Germano.

This place, ruled by one of the feudal lords, is particularly famous for its abundant gunpowder and high-quality steel.

For that reason, it earned the nickname, the so-called Powder Keg of the Empire.

It was a rather double-edged nickname.

“Waaaaaah!!!”

And today was a festival day in that very Germano.

The countless people on the streets couldn’t hide their excitement.

The reason was simple.

The famous imperial figure and crown prince, Alexios, had promised to grace the occasion with his presence.

“How are the preparations coming along?”

“They are all finished.”

“Is that so? Good work. You may leave.”

“Yes.”

The location was a grand mansion in Germano.

At the crown prince’s command, the servants immediately withdrew.

Left alone, Alexios quietly gazed out the window.

Only his escort knight, Marina, quietly stood guard by his side.

“Marina.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I want to run away somewhere far.”

“……”

“Arrange for a carriage at once. Quickly.”

The crown prince spouted nonsense.

Surprisingly, this was a common occurrence.

Marina sighed as if to say, ‘Here we go again,’ and replied.

“Why the sudden change of heart? Were the desserts not to your liking?”

“No, I just have a bad feeling. Something stinks.”

“What kind of stink, Your Highness?”

“The stink of conspiracy.”

“……”

“…It’s not a joke or sexual harassment. I’m being very serious right now.”

Alexios quickly retorted.

The two were actually childhood friends.

And as a child, Alexios had often played terrible pranks on Marina.

“Haven’t all the preparations been completed? To suddenly say such a thing, I am honestly a little flustered.”

“I know. Still, I have a bad feeling. I feel like if I attend the festival like this, something irreversible will happen.”

“…Should we try to cancel the schedule, even now?”

Alexios hesitated for a moment, then sighed and shook his head.

“…Never mind. It’s just me complaining. Still, it’s something Father ordered. I have to see my duties through to the end.”

“Please do not worry too much. I will protect you by your side until the very end.”

“I always trust you.”

Alexios steeled his resolve.

It was true that there were suspicious signs here and there.

But having already arrived, it was no use regretting it now.

‘Let’s not get too nervous. Surely, nothing will happen, right?’

Surprisingly, it actually happened.

-Kyaaaaaaah!!

Late at night.

In the middle of a street full of lanterns.

An airship suddenly crashed near the place where the crown prince was standing.

“Uwaaaaaaah!!!”

“Your Highness! Your Highness!!!”

“Marina! Save me!!!”

–CRRAAAAAAASH!!