Young and Rich #1

 

“You have entered Richie’s mansion.”

“A chilling chill seeps into my bones. The smell of death permeates this place.”

Risk Level: Extreme

***

In the dark room, only the monitor glows white.

In the game screen, four adventurers in formation are walking down a dark corridor.

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

He is a young man with a handsome appearance that makes one exclaim in admiration.

It was worth spending over two hours customizing my character. Of course, a warrior should be born with a beautiful appearance.

Michael’s perfection extends beyond his physical appearance. His abilities, combat skills, magic, and faith are all meticulously honed.

Nine Stars, a game about training adventurers to save the world.

I am a veteran of this game, having played it for over ten thousand hours.

The warrior Michael is a character that embodies the essence of my experiences.

The same goes for my colleagues.

The continent’s finest priests, magicians, and thieves. After years of research, I finally assembled my dream team.

I am confident that this combination is the best combination you can make in this game.

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

The claim of extreme danger was meaningless, as no enemies appeared. The mansion was utterly desolate.

“We have entered the second floor of Richie’s mansion.”

“We have entered the third floor of Richie’s mansion.”

“You have entered the innermost part of Rich’s mansion, the Hall of Death.”

“Warning: Rich Frostwind awaits adventurers.”

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

thud-!

Michael kicked the door open.

The screen shifted to Richie, who was standing with his back turned in front of a tall library.

—I’ve been waiting for a long time. You’ve finally arrived.

Richie slowly turned his head.

Huge horns sprouting from both sides of its head. Its eyes glow with a fiery blue flame.

The figure was truly like the devil himself incarnate.

—You little lambs who don’t even know your subject.

—If you want that much, I’ll send you to hell.

Richie’s eyes burned fiercely. Then he reached out his hand toward the sky.

—…!

The adventurers looked around with nervous faces.

The camera looked down at the hall from the ceiling.

—Ugh! There are so many elite undead! Everyone, be careful not to get surrounded!

I wonder what happened to everyone’s eyes?

Even though there were no undead or anything around, the adventurers looked around cautiously and each took out their weapons.

It was an awkward scene, as if it were a movie with unfinished CG work.

The cutscene is over.

BOSS: Lich Frostwind

Soon, Richie’s health gauge appeared at the top of the screen and the battle began.

A screen that looks familiar because I’ve seen it so many times.

—My army, the opportunity to tear the flesh of the living has come. Go and revel in it!

Richie raised his right hand in a rather intimidating manner and shouted.

But⋯

Nothing happened. That’s understandable, since there wasn’t even a single rat, let alone an army.

Richie, who had been standing there blankly for a moment, moved on to the next pattern.

—I will harvest your souls.

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

Richie held the scythe in one hand.

No, I tried to hear it.

—…

The scythe lay on the floor, motionless.

When one hand didn’t work, Richie grabbed the scythe handle with both hands.

And then, once again.

I tried to lift it with all my might, like a weightlifter trying to set a new record.

—Ugh…

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

Instead, Richie, who had been walking towards the adventurers, began to strike Michael with his bare fists.

Knock! Knock!

A series of cotton-fisted punches that make even the onlookers lose strength.

‘It’s always funny to see.’

I rested my chin on my hand and watched Richie throw a useless punch for a moment.

Even if he let go of the mouse and took dozens of hits, Michael’s stamina points did not decrease even by a single penny.

The sight of Richie desperately struggling alone while Michael and his colleagues stood there blankly watching was a bit pitiful.

—Die!

Contrary to Richie’s wishes, Michael wouldn’t even get scratched if he were left alone all night.

How did you end up like this?

Rich is never a weak enemy.

An apostle of the Goddess of Death and one of the continent’s most powerful named creatures. A terrifying being that will always come back to life no matter how many times you kill her.

The difficulty of conquering this formidable foe is also extremely high. Equipping the best equipment and sparing no expense in consumable items is all it takes to defeat this formidable foe.

According to statistics, less than 0.1% of all players have achieved the challenge of catching a lich.

In general, yes⋯.

However, this only applies to ordinary players.

‘You too, you suffer needlessly because you have a trait like ‘immortality.’

Even so, to a veteran like me, it’s just a sandbag that keeps coming back to life.

It was a tense and formidable foe until the first ten or so hunts, but with each resurrection it was weakened little by little, and by now it had long since become a scarecrow.

“Just die now.”

I aimed at Richie’s head and lightly struck him.

Kwajik!

In one hit, Richie’s health gauge was completely depleted.

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

Puss—

The golden lich’s armor began to swell like a boiling kettle, and black energy began to leak out between the cracks.

This marks the 444th death. I don’t know what Richie will think, but I think it’s a number worth celebrating.

While I was resting my chin on my hand with an expressionless face and waiting for the guy to die.

“uh?”

Something out of the ordinary happened.

—Ugh, ugh⋯.

Originally, Richie would let out a chilling, final scream, then float into the air, flap his wings, and then collapse.

This time it was different.

The horn on Richie’s helmet broke, and soon the helmet split into two pieces and fell to the ground.

—That⋯

Richie, kneeling on the floor, raises his head, trembling.

—Stop killing me, you bastard!

Long, smooth gray hair flows down like a waterfall.

Large green eyes filled with resentment stare at me.

When I learned the unexpected identity of Richie, I froze for a moment as if struck by lightning.

No, fuck.

She was a girl?

—개새끼야!

This was information no one had ever discovered before. Even I, the self-proclaimed veteran of this game.

‘Is this like an Easter egg?’

Maybe it’s just a little prank the production team is hiding.

No matter how many times Richie is resurrected, I don’t think there will be a player who kills him 444 times.

If the developers were aiming to surprise players, they succeeded. Frankly, it was surprising.

But.

“So what.”

It doesn’t matter if it’s a girl or something.

Okay, just give me the item.

Bang!

Michael brought his sword down again on the head of the evil Lich.

***

⋯How much time has passed?

I slept too much. I think I should wake up soon.

I barely opened my eyes.

My eyelids feel heavy, and my eyes feel like they have sand stuck to them.

Not only that, my head is pounding and my whole body is aching⋯.

Did I do too much Rich Nogada? It was nice to finally get the item I was aiming for, but maybe it was too much.

First, I need to eat and wash up.

When you’re feeling tired, there’s nothing better than a bowl of spicy ramen with a beaten egg and green onions.

I tried to get out of bed.

A spatula—

A strange rattling sound is heard.

uh?

It’s a bit strange.

It’s definitely not that comfortable feeling of lying in bed.

This feeling⋯

Suddenly, I came to my senses and was instantly roused from sleep.

I’m tied up in something right now.

Clang clang clang clang clang clang—

I try to flail my body like crazy.

Both arms. Both legs. I can’t move them at will.

Even a thick chain is tied around his neck.

My heart sank and I broke out in a cold sweat.

⋯What the heck is going on?

Kidnapping? Captivity? SM play at a secret club with suspicious tastes?

Suddenly, a scene from a movie flashed through my mind.

It was probably a story about a protagonist who was locked up in a small prison cell without knowing English and spent over ten years eating only dumplings.

“Who, who is nearby-! Please help me!”

A girl’s high, shrill voice rang out as she cried out for help with all her might.

⋯Huh? My voice just sounded a little weird.

I felt a sense of unease, but I didn’t have time to worry about that right now.

Strange messages kept popping into my head.

“Characteristic: Resurrected with the effect of immortality.”

“As a result of immortality, some of your abilities will be permanently lost.”

“However, since it has already reached the minimum, the ability value will not decrease any further.”

Traits, immortality, abilities⋯.

These are familiar terms.

for a moment.

If anyone heard this, they would laugh and say I was crazy, but at this very moment, an absurd possibility popped into my head.

These are the words that were just mentioned in “Nine Stars.”

Did I even enter the game or something?

It was so absurd that I couldn’t help but laugh.

That’s ridiculous. But this situation…

Beep, beep, beep—

I was lost in thought when an ominous, ear-piercing beeping sound brought me back to my senses.

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

“Lifeform response confirmed. Automatic removal protocol will be executed shortly.”

“5 seconds before execution”

4 seconds ago

Oh, I know what this is.

“Nine Stars” is right. This one is in the game too.

Clearly, it was an “ancient magical binding device.” If so, that would explain what this strange device was, binding me to it without being able to move.

I don’t know why, but someone must have bound me to an “Ancient Magic Binding Device.”

But if my guess is correct⋯

“3 seconds ago”

In 3 seconds from now I will die.