"Everyone!"
Leo settled back at his table and slowly picked at the food from this strange new world. Varyn planted himself in the middle of the common room, clapped his hands, and drew every eye in the place.
"The man sitting right here is Lord Neo Presto, son of a duke from a far-off eastern kingdom! Lord Neo is a true adventurer who's traveled thousands of miles to reach Westeros. Due to some bad luck at sea, he's lost contact with his own men. He needs to hire soldiers and servants to keep him safe!"
"I'm sure you've already seen how generous Lord Neo is. Anyone who wants to work for him, come register with me in a bit! He's just named me his temporary adjutant!"
Varyn kept glancing at Leo for approval while he spoke. Leo met his eyes and gave a firm nod, which lit Varyn up even more.
Most of the room stayed buzzing with excitement, cracking their knuckles and ready to jump in.
Only Griff and his two buddies traded sour looks. They muttered "ass-kisser" and "he beat us to it" under their breath.
"Anyone got paper and a quill?" Varyn asked, already deep in the role.
Leo stood and turned to the innkeeper. "Give me your cleanest room. Don't disturb me unless it's important."
"Yes, m'lord! Right away!"
The innkeeper eyed the barely touched food on the table, secretly thrilled.
Typical spoiled noble. Such fine cooking, and the man only took a couple bites! What a waste!
Still, it was already on the tab—no refunds. They'd eat well tonight.
He signaled his wife, bowed low, and led Leo up the stairs. His wife swooped in fast, clearing every plate and mug from Leo's table before anyone else could touch it.
Want the good stuff? Pay extra.
As Leo passed Varyn he said quietly, "I want my crew ready by first light."
"As you command, my lord!"
Varyn bowed deeply.
A minute later Leo stepped into the inn's so-called "best room." He shut the door behind the innkeeper and finally let out a long breath. Playing the untouchable noble all evening had been exhausting.
The room was bare-bones and smelled faintly of mold. Leo frowned. Living standards here were straight-up primitive.
Even the "delicious specialties" the innkeeper had bragged about tasted like cardboard to someone raised on modern food.
If he actually ate that slop, the water, the ingredients, or just the general filth would wreck his stomach for days.
Leo sat down. A hot bowl of braised pork with potatoes appeared in his hands out of nowhere. He set it on the table.
It was one of the cooked dishes he'd stashed in his inventory back in World of Warcraft.
Since crossing over he'd learned that anything in his game bag could be pulled out fresh, no matter how long it had been stored. The food stayed exactly as it was the moment he put it in.
The meals he'd crafted in-game for health, mana, and buffs were now actual dinner. He also pulled out a large bowl of mint honey tea—a monster drop that now tasted like the best refreshing drink on the planet.
One of the definite perks of his transmigration.
Next, Leo opened the simple system panel floating in his mind. It was a semi-transparent interface, a stripped-down, heavily modded version of the old World of Warcraft UI.
The only tabs that worked in the bottom-right corner were Character, Collections, and Bag.
The Character panel showed a 3D model of himself wearing his current gear. All the item stats were grayed out—they no longer gave any bonuses.
His personal attributes sat beside it:
Character Name: Leo (Neo Presto)
Level: lv2
Class: Warrior
Four Attributes: Strength 14.2, Agility 11.9, Stamina 15, Magic Power 0
Health: 95/100
Mana: 0/0
Skills: [Slam] lv2
The layout was different from the original game. WoW only tracked Strength, Stamina, Armor, Crit, and so on—no clean four-attribute system.
And what the hell was Magic Power 0 and Mana 0/0?
Warriors in WoW ran on Rage, not mana. The sudden appearance of magic stats made Leo wonder: did that mean warriors could actually use spells in this world?
The bigger question was how the hell he was supposed to get any.
His only skill was the basic warrior starter: [Slam].
[Slam]: Deliver a heavy, powerful strike. Damage scales with your Strength.
Both his [Slam] and his level had been 1 when he first crossed over.
It all went back to the moment of his transmigration.
Right before it happened, Leo had finally looted the Onyxia dragon reins he'd been farming for ages. He was riding around in pure joy when everything suddenly went black.
When he woke up, he was already in this world—inside his game character, wearing his transmogged Seventh Legion plate.
At first he thought he'd landed in Azeroth. He was standing in the middle of a dense forest, after all. Then he ran into three armed men. Naively, he walked right up and asked where he was.
The second he spoke, his words came out in a language that sounded a lot like English. He understood them perfectly too.
That's when he learned the shocking truth—he was in Westeros, the world of Game of Thrones.
Even worse, the three men instantly saw him as easy prey. They weren't simple farmers or hunters. They were bandits working the kingswood.
A soft-looking noble in expensive armor? They decided to kill him, take his gear, and bury the body.
Leo never expected his first encounter in this world to be a life-or-death fight with murderous thugs.
A brutal brawl broke out.
But Leo had been an ordinary office worker back on Earth. He had zero real combat experience. Even though his high-level plate armor offered solid protection, he was still a complete rookie.
The three bandits, swinging rusty swords, quickly had him on the defensive and in serious trouble.
At the critical moment, everything changed.
In his panic, Leo accidentally hit the hotkey for summoning his Onyxia mount.
Unlike in the game, the dragon actually appeared in battle.
The second the great black dragon showed up, the fight was over.