Chapter 1: Young & Lich #1

Chapter 1: Young & Lich #1

「Entered the Lich’s Mansion.」

「A chilling cold seeps into your very bones. The scent of death hangs heavy in this place.」

「Danger Level: Extreme」

***

In the dark room, only the monitor glows white.

On the game screen, four adventurers in formation walk down a dark corridor.

The young man at the very front is ‘Michael’, the player character I’m controlling.

He’s a young man with stunningly handsome features that elicit involuntary admiration.

It was worth spending over two hours customizing him when creating the character. A hero, naturally, must possess innate beauty from the start.

Michael’s perfection isn’t just skin-deep. His stats, combat skills, magic, and faith-everything has been meticulously refined.

‘Nine Stars’, a game where you raise adventurers and save the world.

I’m a veteran player who has played this game for over ten thousand hours.

The hero Michael is the culmination of all that experience.

His companions are no different.

The continent’s most outstanding cleric, mage, and rogue. My dream team, finally completed after extensive research.

I’m confident that this combination is the best possible one that can be created in this game.

Michael and his fellow adventurers continued to advance through the mansion.

Despite the ‘Extreme’ danger level, no significant enemies appeared. The mansion was eerily empty.

 「Entered the 2nd floor of the Lich’s Mansion.」

 「Entered the 3rd floor of the Lich’s Mansion.」

 「Entered the deepest part of the Lich’s Mansion, the Hall of Death.」

 「Warning: Lich Frostwind awaits the adventurers.」

As the adventurers reached the final area, a short cutscene began.

Thump-!

Michael kicked the door open.

The camera shifted to the Lich, who was standing with its back to a grand library.

-You’ve kept me waiting. You’ve finally arrived.

The Lich slowly turned its head.

Massive horns jutting out from either side of its head. Piercing eyes flickering with blue flames.

Its form was truly the very embodiment of a demon.

-You foolish lambs, who know not your place.

-If you desire it so much, I shall send you to hell.

The Lich’s eyes blazed fiercely. Then, the Lich reached its hand towards the sky.

-…!

The adventurers looked around with tense expressions.

The camera zoomed out from the ceiling, surveying the hall.

-Kch…! So many elite undead…! Everyone be careful not to get surrounded!

What’s wrong with their eyes?

There wasn’t even a single undead creature around, yet the adventurers were warily scanning their surroundings, drawing their weapons.

It was an awkward scene, like a movie with unfinished CGI.

The cutscene ended.

 「BOSS: Lich Frostwind」

Soon, the Lich’s health bar appeared at the top of the screen, and the battle began.

A familiar sight, having seen it so many times.

-My army, the time has come to tear into the flesh of the living you’ve so longed for. Go, and enjoy yourselves to your heart’s content!

The Lich shouted, raising its right hand with a seemingly imposing gesture.

But…

Nothing happened. Understandably, since there wasn’t even a rat, let alone an army.

After standing still and spacing out for a moment, the Lich moved on to its next pattern.

-I shall harvest your souls.

A magic circle appeared on the floor, and a scythe emitting an ominous aura rose above it.

The Lich lifted the scythe with one hand.

No, it tried to lift it.

-…

The scythe remained on the floor, not budging an inch.

Since it couldn’t lift it with one hand, the Lich gripped the scythe’s handle with both hands.

And then, once more.

It attempted to lift it, straining with all its might like a weightlifter challenging a new record.

-Ughhh…

After a few more attempts, the Lich gave up on lifting the scythe.

Instead, the Lich walked towards the adventurers and began punching Michael with its bare fists.

Tap! Tap!

A series of weak punches followed, so pathetic they made the observer feel drained.

‘It’s always funny to watch.’

I rested my chin on my hand and watched for a moment as the Lich threw its useless punches.

Even if I put down the mouse and let it hit me dozens of times, Michael’s health points wouldn’t decrease by even a sliver.

The scene of the Lich flailing desperately while Michael and his companions stood idly watching was almost pitiable.

-Die!

Despite the Lich’s wish, even if left like this all night, Michael wouldn’t get a scratch.

‘What happened to you to end up like this?’

The Lich is by no means a weak enemy.

An apostle of the goddess of death, one of the continent’s strongest named monsters. A terrifying being that revives no matter how many times it’s killed.

Its raid difficulty is also extremely high. It’s a formidable foe that can barely be defeated even with the best equipment and without sparing any consumable items.

According to statistics, less than 0.1% of players achieve the challenge of defeating the Lich.

That’s generally true, though…

However, this only applies to ordinary players.

‘You really are making things difficult for yourself by having a trait like “Immortality”.’

Even so, to a veteran player like me, it’s just a sandbag that endlessly revives.

It was a challenging opponent that evoked tension for the first ten hunts, but with each revival, it weakened slightly, and now it has long since become a scarecrow.

“Stop dying already.”

I aimed for the Lich’s head and landed a light attack.

Crack!

The Lich’s health bar depleted in a single blow.

There’s no need to even use a skill. The current Lich can’t even withstand Michael’s basic attack.

Hiss-

The Lich’s cracked armor rippled like a boiling kettle, and dark energy began to seep out from the cracks.

This is its 444th death. I don’t know what the Lich thinks, but I feel it’s a number worth celebrating.

While I was resting my chin on my hand with a blank expression, waiting for it to die.

“Huh?”

Something different happened.

-K,kch…

Normally, the Lich would let out a chilling death cry, float in the air, flail, and then fall down.

But this time was different.

The horns on the Lich’s helmet broke off, and then the helmet split into two pieces and fell to the ground.

-Th…

The Lich, kneeling on one knee, raised its head, trembling.

-Stop killing me, you bastard!

Long, smooth grey hair cascaded down like a waterfall.

Large green eyes, filled with resentment, glared at me.

I froze for a moment, as if struck by lightning, realizing the Lich’s unexpected identity.

No, shit.

This thing was a girl?

-You son of a bitch!

This was information no one else had discovered. Not even me, the undisputed veteran player of this game.

‘Is it like an Easter egg?’

Perhaps it was a small prank hidden by the developers.

Even though the Lich revives countless times, they probably didn’t think any player would kill it 444 times.

If the goal was to surprise the player, the developers succeeded. Honestly, it was unexpected.

But.

“So what?”

Whether it’s a girl or not, I don’t care.

Just give me the loot.

Clang!

Michael swung his sword down again onto the gritting Lich’s head.

***

…How much time has passed?

I slept too much. It’s time to get up.

I finally managed to open my eyes.

My eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and my eyeballs felt gritty, as if covered in sand.

Not only that, but my head was throbbing, and my whole body ached…

Did I grind the Lich too much? It was great that I finally got the item I was aiming for, but maybe I pushed myself too hard.

First, I need to eat and then wash up.

When your body is tired, a bowl of spicy ramen with eggs and green onions is the best.

I tried to sit up in bed.

Clank-

A strange sound of rattling chains was heard.

Huh?

This is a bit odd.

This doesn’t feel like the comfortable sensation of lying in bed.

This feeling is…

Suddenly, my mind cleared, and my sleep vanished instantly.

I’m bound by something.

Clank, clank, clank, clank-

I struggled wildly, but…

Both my arms. Both my legs. I couldn’t move them according to my will.

Even my neck was bound by thick chains.

My heart sank, and cold sweat broke out.

…What in the world is going on?

Kidnapping? Imprisonment? An SM play session at a secret club with peculiar tastes?

A scene from a movie flashed through my mind.

It was about a protagonist who was imprisoned in a small cell without knowing why and lived for over ten years eating only frozen dumplings.

“Is… is anyone nearby-! Please help me!”

I called for help with all my might, and a high-pitched, sharp girl’s voice echoed.

…Huh? My voice sounded a bit strange just now.

I felt a sense of unease, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it.

Strange messages kept popping into my head.

「Due to the effect of the trait ‘Immortality’, you have been revived.」

「As a side effect of Immortality, some of your stats will be permanently lost.」

「However, as your stats have already dropped to the minimum, they will not decrease further.」

Trait, Immortality, Stats…

Familiar terms.

Wait a minute.

Anyone who heard this would laugh at me as a madman, but at this very moment, an absurd possibility occurred to me.

These are the words from ‘Nine Stars’, the game I was just playing.

Did I somehow enter the game?

I let out a hollow laugh of disbelief.

It’s an impossible story. But this situation…

Beep, beep, beep-

Lost in thought, I was snapped back to reality by a piercing, ominous beep.

The sound was coming from a thin silver necklace around my neck.

「Lifeform detected. Automatic termination protocol will commence shortly.」

「Commencing in 5 seconds」

「4 seconds」

Ah, I know what this is.

It’s definitely ‘Nine Stars’. This thing is also in the game.

It must have been the ‘Ancient Magic Restraint Device’. If so, it explains this bizarre contraption that has me bound and unable to move.

For some reason, someone must have bound me with the ‘Ancient Magic Restraint Device’.

But if my guess is correct…

「3 seconds」

In 3 seconds, I will die.