episode_0001

“Sigh…”

As I exhaled, the moisture in my breath instantly turned into white vapor.

If I had blown on something solid, it would have frozen in an instant.

The territory of Viscount Kristia, named after me and my girlfriend, was nothing short of an extreme environment for any living being.

Residing in this extreme land meant facing the worst possible conditions for any creature.

Even someone accustomed to this cold from living in these extreme lands would freeze to death without wearing thick layers of clothing.

And yet, here I stood with just a thin piece of leather draped over me.

Still, I couldn’t consider myself fortunate, given the situation of having only human skin covering me.

“No… why of all places…”

The name Kristia and this damn extreme cold were clear hints that I couldn’t ignore about where I was and who I had become.

“Sigh…”

Unintentionally, I let out another breath, as if shivering from the biting cold, and once again, it condensed into a chilly vapor.

“Even after transmigrating, why end up in a place like this…”

I knew the name Kristia better than anyone else.

It might sound childish, but my girlfriend and I used to enjoy creating and manipulating settings in such places, where our characters fit perfectly into the same worldview.

In that world, the character’s name wasn’t the protagonist, but rather the final boss—Kristia. Hence, I couldn’t be unaware of that name.

“And I also know what fate awaits this world.”

Kristia was the ultimate final boss we had concocted through our combined imagination.

With overwhelming talents, a cruel disposition, a significant desire for conquest, and a fanatical personality, she was a madwoman who, if left unchecked, would subjugate the entire continent and rule over all its inhabitants like slaves.

That was the woman named Kristia, created by my girlfriend and me.

“It was quite fun discussing how to defeat this damn boss…”

Creating numerous characters who could potentially become adversaries to Cristia and contemplating how these characters might thwart Cristia’s ambitions was our own form of entertainment and a date.

However, due to an agreement with my girlfriend that the likelihood of actually stopping Cristia would be less than 50% unless we came up with truly exceptional methods in our character discussions, there weren’t many characters with the capability to apprehend her.

“Even if I were to possess the strongest individual, the probability wouldn’t exceed 50%…”

A boy with a body that looked truly impressive amidst the shattered glass entered.

“How did you end up in the body of the worst kid?”

His name was Saka.

This orphan boy from the north was in the worst situation among the characters my girlfriend and I had designed.

As of the year 298, which marked the beginning of the story, Cristia’s influence was strongest in the northern region. On top of that, he had virtually no talent, wealth, or connections to seek help from.

My girlfriend and I often said that Saka, even if he were to die and come back to life, wouldn’t be able to defeat Cristia.

“But that doesn’t mean I can just sit still.”

When my girlfriend and I first created this world, we established one absolute rule: if we couldn’t stop Cristia, this world would become a paradise solely for her.

Everyone else would struggle in pain, despair, and fear, while only Cristia would thrive in a world where she alone laughed.

Even if not for the sake of others, I had to stop her in order to survive.

“First, we need to escape the north.”

Cristia’s most brilliant talent was undoubtedly her overwhelming power, but she was also incredibly cunning.

She wouldn’t tolerate any activities against her in the north.

“Sigh…”

I barely managed to move my frozen body.

At least that was something.

North was both Kristia’s hometown and the place where her dominance was strongest. Because of this, my girlfriend and I had meticulously set up the details about the North. Thanks to that, I could almost perfectly devise a plan on how to get out of the North.

“[Hooray! Hooray!]”

As I slipped out of the narrow alley, a lively square came into view.

“Luckily, the square is close by.”

It took me less than three seconds to feel a sense of liveliness as I looked at the bustling square.

“But why is the Kristia Duchy not as lively?”

The cruel nature of Kristia’s rule didn’t suddenly awaken at the start of the story. She had been ruthless and malicious from birth. Therefore, even at this point, the entire North should have been handled roughly as if it were her possession, but people’s expressions were too cheerful.

“And what’s with the ‘hooray’?”

Kristia wasn’t the kind of person to leave the media alone. While she would later operate the media essentially as her own lackeys to further strengthen her dominance, at this point, she was thoroughly controlling and suppressing all media.

So, carrying a newspaper around like that was practically tantamount to offering oneself up to Kristia’s henchmen.

“What’s going on?”

In a situation that absolutely couldn’t happen, I approached the boy who was calmly holding a newspaper and looking around as calmly as possible. I might face Kristia’s wrath for showing interest in the media, but I had to resolve this question and move on.

“Oh, our great Lady Kristia has done it again this time. It’s a policy for orphans like you. Would you like to read it once? But you have to return it to me right away since I’m lending it to you, okay?”

What?

Kristia had introduced a policy for orphans?

“That’s ridiculous…”

And “Lady Kristia”? What kind of title was that? Her formal title was Duchess, and within the North, she was referred to as the Grand Duchess.

When it came to conducting brutal wars, he was called the Warlord or even the Slaughterer, but never was he addressed as a Great Emperor.

“Ah, I see.”

He snatched the newspaper the boy was holding and began to flip through it.

Despite the thick gloves making it difficult to turn the pages, he adeptly managed to do so, as if the owner of this body had often encountered such situations, even if he himself was not accustomed to it.

“A policy for orphans? Nonsense.”

If it were Christia, there was a high probability that while presenting a facade of policies for orphans, she would actually assign them as slaves to her close aides. It was highly likely that such absurd policies were being touted.

[Emperor Christia! Decides to operate orphanages for orphans!]

[It’s absurd that such facilities have not existed until now…]

He immediately closed the newspaper.

“It’s just a torture chamber disguised as an orphanage.”

Perhaps it was a recreational space to relieve the stress of the journalists.

Or maybe it was created to train soldiers for herself.

Christia was never someone who acted for the sake of others.

“Do I need to read more?”

“No. You don’t need to read anymore.”

“There’s news that an orphanage is opening nearby. Are you going to apply too?”

At that moment, he was sure.

This world seemed to be not just a direct implementation of the world he and his girlfriend had created.

In these kinds of transmigrations, it’s common to modify parts that don’t make sense, right?

Given their future strong control over the media, it would make more sense for them to release their own pawns at this time.

“I need to escape as discreetly and cautiously as possible.”

Even though she was innocently smiling, he didn’t know when she might lead him into the den of wicked intentions.

“Hey, Tarun, can you give me a newspaper?”

“Yes!”

As a female knight in white armor approached him and asked for the newspaper, his suspicions grew even stronger.

“Even the lowest-ranked knights of Christia receive treatment comparable to most nobles.”

“Because of that hierarchy, everyone possessed cruel and arrogant dispositions, never treating others equally unless they were fellow knights or received the favor of Crestia.

They held such high authority that even if they played with and killed someone just because they felt like it, they would be praised for it.

Would you ever hear such familiar words from a knight like that, no matter how informal you were with them?

‘That’s not like Crestia. Those kids’ acting is really terrible.’

Seeing how casually they treated the knight, it was obvious to anyone that they were close to Crestia.

“I’ll take my leave now!”

The boy known as Tarun raised his newspaper to his chin and immediately turned to run away.

He didn’t want to stay nearby in case he upset the knight and ended up dead, or worse, dragged off by the knight and forced into the guise of an orphan at the torture chamber.

“…Why is he acting like that?”

“I have no idea.”