A Fortuitous Encounter in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 1
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1. Fortuitous Encounter (1)
I am a reincarnator.
A reincarnator who retains the memories of my previous life.
I was granted a new life, moving from Earth—a world centered on electronics and mechanical engineering—to a fantasy world where magic and miracles exist.
Because of that, my nationality changed from "Republic of Korea" to the "Kingdom of Reinharts."
My name changed from "Kim Min-ki" to "Adrian Lawrence."
My background shifted from the son of an ordinary middle-class family to the second son of a **viscount** family that holds its own territory.
The end of my previous life was truly pathetic.
Before I died, I was serving in the military. Under the pretext of "civilian support," I was being dragged off to have my labor exploited when the two-and-a-half-ton truck I was riding in overturned, and that's how I met my death.
Among all the pointless, miserable deaths, wasn't that one of the worst?
What made it even more regrettable was that I only had one month left before discharge.
In the old days, they say senior sergeants in their last months were excused from work details and spared annoying tasks, but whether I was born in the wrong era or just had bad luck with my unit assignment, I ended up dying in the unluckiest way.
Thanks to that, right after reincarnating, I had to endure a long period of emotional torment as I thought about the family I'd left behind on Earth.
"Agonizing over it won't solve anything. Right now, adapting to this new environment comes first."
Fortunately, time took care of that pain.
It took as long as two years before I accepted reality and decided to adapt to this world, though.
"Young Master Adrian is remarkably bright. I have taught many noble children, but this is the first time I've seen someone with such extraordinary learning ability."
The memories of my past life brought me anguish, but conversely, the life experience I accumulated over more than twenty years became a major asset in my new life.
While other children my age rolled around and played without a care in the world, I devoted myself to my studies and was able to successfully play the part of a prodigy, earning recognition from those around me.
My father always looked at me with eyes full of expectation, and that naturally led to good treatment.
However, as I grew older, one regret emerged: the knowledge from my previous life was of little use here in Rondel.
Rondel may be a fantasy world, but it is not a medieval society; it is a world whose civilization is more advanced than twenty-first-century Earth.
Unlike typical web novel protagonists, it was impossible for me to use memories of my previous life to revolutionize this world.
All I could do was to tirelessly devote myself to study and scholarship in order to raise my own value.
"Ugh...."
–Clang!
However.
Life is not so easy that everything can be solved with effort alone.
"Adrian!"
When I was seven years old, someone attempted to poison me.
"It is an immense relief. If treatment had been delayed even a little, he would have died."
Luckily, I avoided ending my life with two consecutive pointless deaths, but the poisoning incident was enough to instill a keen sense of danger.
"Oh my, Adrian, you have no idea how worried this aunt was. Are you all right?"
"Thank you for your concern."
There is no need to ask who the culprit was.
My biological mother is a concubine of commoner origin, and my father has a legal wife from a high-ranking noble family.
It was obviously the work of Anna, the legal wife—birth mother of my half-brother, Cedric.
Of course, there was no proof she was the culprit.
But I will never forget the murderous look in her eyes when she visited me in the sickroom.
At that moment, her gaze seemed to say to me:
"If you are a concubine's child, then behave like a concubine's child."
I never imagined she'd bare her fangs so openly.
Putting it nicely, you could call it bold; putting it harshly, you'd call it ignorant.
The problem was that her ignorance worked out just fine for her.
If I were alone, I might have stubbornly fought back just out of spite, but I couldn't recklessly make a move when Anna's clutches might reach my mother.
There were many retainers who kept an eye on me, but their interest went no further than that. Compared to Anna, it was as if I had no faction at all.
Because of that, I considered asking my father for help, but in the end I couldn't bring myself to do it.
I wasn't confident that he would set Anna aside and take my side, and stirring things up might have only made matters worse.
"Damn it. What's the point of an advanced society if the country's political system is this backward? Damn feudalism."
This is not the democratic Republic of Korea, but the feudal Kingdom of Reinharts.
For a small child with no backing whatsoever to hold Anna, who had the solid support of a border count behind her, accountable was impossible.
In the end, I yielded to her threats.
I discarded my prodigy image, put on an air of ordinariness, and minimized interactions with the retainers, isolating myself.
"Why is Adrian, who used to be so bright, acting like that!"
"It must be aftereffects of the poisoning..."
My father's reaction was unbearably disappointing.
Is he really asking because he doesn't know?
If his head is more than decoration, there's no way he doesn't know Anna is the prime suspect in the attempted poisoning.
No, in this case, it's more accurate to say he knows and is choosing to turn a blind eye.
After that, whether because he felt uncomfortable facing me or because he no longer had any interest in a concubine's child who wasn't a prodigy, my father gradually stopped appearing before me.
Thanks to that attitude of his, nothing happened that directly threatened my life, but in exchange for safety, people's evaluation of me sank to rock bottom, and my treatment was no longer what it used to be.
And so, living with my presence erased like that for about ten years.
I became a twenty-year-old adult.
* * *
– Year 2019 of the Magic Era, May 1.
"Welcome. This is Ford Convenience Store."
Ford Convenience Store, a retail chain boasting the largest number of outlets in the Kingdom of Reinharts.
As a convenience store whose motto is kindness and convenience, the moment a silver-haired young man stepped inside, the clerks reflexively bowed their heads.
And when the two clerks raised their heads, they finally saw the customer's face.
"Thank you for your hard work."
A handsome young man, with silver hair and blue eyes you'd expect to see only on TV, gave them a gentle smile and moved toward the book section.
An appearance every woman would find appealing.
However, for some reason, the female clerk flinched with a look of surprise rather than admiration, and the new hire tilted his head in puzzlement.
"Is he someone you know?"
The female clerk furrowed her brow as if asking whether he was in his right mind.
"He's the second young master of House Lawrence."
"Pardon?"
House Lawrence is the family of the local lord of this region.
Naturally, the new hire's eyes widened in shock, and the female clerk, looking at him as if he were pathetic, jabbed him in the side, telling him to get a grip.
When she happened to shift her gaze to the store entrance, what she saw were men in black coats staring holes through them.
They were clearly the guards of the lord's son who had just entered the store.
"Excuse me."
"Eep!"
Thanks to that, when the noble young master approached, the already tense new hire involuntarily gulped down a dry swallow.
"How may I help you?"
The female clerk quickly shoved the frozen new hire aside, smoothly leaned her face closer, and asked what he needed.
"I don't see the Chronicle Online point cards."
"Ah, they're right here. The policy changed, so point cards can now only be purchased at the register. How much would you like?"
Even though he was the son of a lord, perhaps to avoid drawing attention, his clothing was no different from that of ordinary commoners.
His looks were dazzling, but because of his clothes, someone who didn't know him would find it hard to imagine he was the lord's child.
"All of them."
"We just got a shipment of point cards yesterday, so we're holding 5 million Root's worth (5 million won)."
"Yes, I'll take them all."
"Then I'll ring you up."
Five million Root is the amount a convenience store clerk would earn by working full-time for three months.
Seeing him pay that amount as casually as buying snacks made it clear that, even if his clothes were plain, a noble was still a noble.
"Thank you for shopping with us."
A moment later, after the storm had swept through, the convenience store sank into silence, and once her tension finally eased, the female clerk kicked the new hire's ankle.
"Are you ever going to pull yourself together?"
"I'm sorry."
The female clerk shook her head.
If the lord's son had been a picky sort, they might well have ended up in serious trouble.
"He could just order his subordinates to do it, so why does he come to the convenience store himself?"
"How should I know? Well, I was really scared the first time I saw him too."
"Does the second young master come often?"
"About two or three times a month? As you can see, he seems thoroughly hooked on games."
"I'm jealous. To be able to live like that, splurging money without working."
"He lives in a different world from us."
* * *
As I exited the convenience store, the guards stationed at the entrance approached me.
Because of the guards at my side, each wearing a sword shimmering with blue light, the gazes of the domain's residents weaving busily through the forest of buildings converged on us.
No matter how advanced the world becomes or how much commoners' human rights improve, in a feudal system nobles are objects of fear.
Therefore, once the residents recognized who I was, they hurriedly cleared the way.
"Young Master."
How many steps had we taken like that?
Vice, a trusted close aide and knightly guard, carefully opened his mouth.
"We just received word that Young Master Cedric has arrived at the manor."
Not exactly welcome news.
I immediately frowned, and Vice gave an awkward laugh.
"Cedric" is my half-brother.
As soon as I graduated from the academy, which I attended from age ten to sixteen, I left the lord's castle to live independently, and one of the reasons I did so was precisely that half-brother.
"How annoying."
Depending on the family, there may be houses where half-siblings are close, but his mother is the one who tried to kill me, and he himself is a pathetic sort who wouldn't be able to take care of himself if he weren't a noble.
On top of that, he's so obsessed with women and has such a vile temper that trouble never stops following him.
With a half-brother like that coming to visit my manor, there was no way I'd be in a good mood.
"Let's walk faster."
I hated even the sight of him, but for Mother, who was sure to feel uncomfortable around Cedric, I had to hurry my steps.
"Ah, Adrian, you're here?"
Covering the ten-minute distance in five, I arrived at my manor to find a beautiful middle-aged woman with silver hair and blue eyes waiting for me.
She was my mother, Sylvia Lawrence, the second wife of Viscount Lawrence.
Judging by how restless she was, Cedric must have been spouting nonsense again.
"Where is Brother?"
Before Mother could answer my question, a booming voice rang out from the manor corridor.
"You roam all over the domain looking like that and without even a carriage? Are you in your right mind?"
A man with black hair, the complete opposite of mine, and a bear-like face strode toward us.
It was the entrance of my half-brother Cedric, nothing more and nothing less than "annoying."
"It's not that far, and I have guards."
"I'm not worried about your safety! As the child of a lord, you should think about the family's prestige!"
A lord's authority is inherited anyway.
No commoner is going to get uppity just because I act approachable.
Among more broad-minded lords, there are some who voluntarily experience the lives of their domain's residents, but I doubt Cedric will ever be like that.
Still, if I voiced these thoughts honestly, it would only rile him up and drag the conversation out, so letting him win was easier in many ways.
"I was short-sighted. I'll be more mindful from now on."
"You talk as if it's something to be proud of, having commoner blood mixed in you."
Cedric kept needling me as if testing my patience.
His words were grating, but I wasn't foolish enough to let my emotions show easily.
If anything, because I'd been compared to him so much when I was young, I knew Cedric harbored a sense of inferiority toward me, and so I just found him pitiful.
"So what brings you here today?"
When I asked directly what his business was, he was briefly at a loss for words.
Then he cleared his throat for no reason and spoke.
"Father seems to be thinking of entrusting you with a business."
In Rondel, nobles can be described as a powerful hybrid that combines the roles of conglomerate heads and politicians on Earth.
Nobles take advantage of their status to run various businesses, and that goes doubly so for lords.
Even if Father entrusted me with a business, the family runs more than a few enterprises, so I silently waited for him to continue.
"Pars Distribution, to be precise."
"Hm..."
Now I knew why he suddenly barged in.
Pars Distribution was, after mining, one of the main sources of revenue among the businesses operated by House Lawrence.
"In short, you don't want me to inherit that business, right?"
There was no need to ask.
He was greedy enough to think everything Father owned should be his.
"Correct."
Cedric looked down at me with a coercive gaze.
I shrugged my shoulders and answered lightly.
"Understood. If Father happens to give me Pars Distribution, I'll refuse it."
Maybe because I accepted it too easily?
Cedric stared at me in silence for a moment, then smirked.
"As expected, you're easy to talk to."
All I was doing was unilaterally yielding for the sake of my personal safety, so it wasn't a matter of being easy or hard to talk to.
I took the game point cards out of the convenience store paper bag and said,
"Now please go back. I spent a ton of money for in-game purchases so I could play."
It was a clear order to leave, but there was no need for flowery language between us.
Seeing the bundle of point cards, Cedric started grinning for some reason and patted my shoulder.
"Right, that's all you need to do."
With that line—essentially telling me not to try climbing up any higher—and a flourish, Cedric kissed the back of Mother's hand and left the manor.
"Will you be all right?"
"The best thing is just not to get tangled up with him."
What I prioritize above all else is the safety of Mother and myself.
If you reach for more than your strength allows, you're bound to choke on it.
If you can't distinguish between when you should hold back and when you shouldn't, you'll only end up dead.
"I'm going to go play my game."
"Fine, just don't play too late."
"Okay."
I gave Mother a reassuring smile, then headed to my room, waving the convenience store bag back and forth.
On the way, I casually turned my head, and when my eyes met those of the attendants, they quietly slipped away.
This manor is for Mother and me, but most of the attendants working inside are under the influence of the lawful wife, Anna.
So I couldn't speak carelessly even at home.
After sending all the attendants away and entering my room, I took out my gaming headgear, the corners of my mouth curling up.
"If you're going to keep watch, you have to do it not only in reality but in the virtual world too."
The reason I'm suppressing my true nature is purely for our safety, not because I lack pride.
I have a fairly selfish personality and am someone who can force harm onto others for the sake of my own gain.
Of course, there are exceptions like Mother, to whom I would never bring out a mental calculator and protractor, but as for everyone else, I'm confident I can cut them off without batting an eye.
Someone this calculating is just burying himself in games for the sake of escapism?
"As if."
The reason I'm absorbed in games and other virtual worlds is because I have a clear objective.
Anna and Cedric just need to keep being fooled by my smile until the time comes.