Lucid Dream.
I’d heard about it, but this was my first time actually experiencing one.
The moment I opened my eyes, the luxurious room around me was the first thing to register, followed by the sight of my own body.
From my arms to my legs, it looked as if I’d been dried out like a mummy. My limbs also seemed abnormally short.
Could these be the arms of a child, maybe around ten years old?
No matter how much I looked at it, this wasn’t the body of a 36-year-old man named Lee Hyun-woo. It didn’t resemble the body of any well-fed Korean who ate three meals a day.
A surge of unease rushed through me, and I tried to scream, but no sound came out.
‘…What’s going on?’
The panic didn’t last long. I quickly assessed the situation.
It seemed like my consciousness had entered someone else’s body.
‘Is this some kind of bizarre dream?’
Considering I was fully aware of my surroundings, it felt like a lucid dream. There wasn’t much I could do except wait and observe. After all, I couldn’t even see anything beyond my limbs for now.
“Damn it!”
It was a youthful voice.
Was it English? No, it wasn’t.
It was an entirely foreign language I had never heard before. Despite that, I could understand the meaning perfectly.
The kid, who had just opened their eyes and was glaring at their limbs, shouted loudly.
“Is there no one here?!”
After a short pause, a door that seemed to be made of high-quality wood swung open. A maid, who looked about ten years old, stepped into the room.
Her skin was pale, and her hair was blonde. Anyone could tell she wasn’t Korean.
‘What the hell is going on?’
As I rolled my eyes around in confusion, the maid cautiously approached me and asked, her voice trembling.
“M–Master?”
“Bring me some wine! Now!”
“But the master of the house—”
“You wretched girl! Do you want to die? How dare you talk back to me?”
At the kid’s harsh words, the maid immediately dropped to her knees.
“I–I’m sorry! Please, spare my life…”
“If you want to live, bring it. Now.”
At his words, the maid hastily bolted out of the room.
Judging by the way things were going, this brat had quite a high status. But his behavior wasn’t any different from some low life thug from the slums.
“Damn it…!”
Still seething, the kid walked over to the full-length mirror beside the bed.
His emaciated body reflected back at him. He stood there, staring at his reflection for a long time, his fists trembling. Then, suddenly—
“Uaargh!”
Unable to contain his rage, he hurled various objects at the mirror with all his might.
Crash!
Even after smashing the ornate mirror, his tantrum didn’t stop.
Does this brat have anger management issues or something?
I couldn’t make heads or tails of who he was.
‘He does look familiar, though.’
The gaunt face reflected in the broken mirror felt strangely recognizable.
Where had I seen him before?
‘Ah.’
It didn’t take long for me to remember where I’d seen him. It was in a game.
‘Man, I’ve played so much that I’m dreaming about this now, huh?’
Fantasy Defense.
A virtual reality game released in the 2030s, and the one I had devoted ten years of my life to.
From its astonishingly realistic sensory experience to its lifelike immersion, it was a game that seemed impossible to create with modern technology.
You know, like how people in novels always say that the game world exceeds current technological limits?
The goal of the game was simple: fend off the waves of evil minions—commonly referred to by players as villains—that appeared one by one.
The difficulty level was brutal.
‘No one has cleared it in the past ten years.’
Even the most experienced players could get knocked out immediately if their luck didn’t hold.
Yet despite the crushing difficulty, players kept coming back, driven by how thrilling the gameplay was.
It wasn’t just the fun that kept them hooked; there was another reason.
Even if you couldn’t reach the ending, the game awarded you points based on your performance, spurring fierce competition among players.
My score was 930,000. Officially the highest score.
The second place was only 320,000. That says it all.
Thanks to my uncanny talent in virtual reality games—something even I hadn’t realized—I made a name for myself as a gaming streamer and lived comfortably. In the ten years I spent enjoying Fantasy Defense, I never had to worry about money.
Looking at the kid reflected in the shattered mirror, I realized who he was.
‘It’s Kyle Seltarion.’
A minor villain character who gets involved with the protagonist in an event, only to get his teeth kicked in.
That was this guy.
After throwing his tantrum for a while, the brat began chugging wine the maid brought to him.
‘Wow.’
It looked like wine, probably grape wine, and yet here he was drinking it straight from the bottle. A sight to behold.
After downing the wine, he turned to the maid.
“Ugh. I’m still not satisfied. Bring me more.”
“…Yes, sir.”
After about three bottles, the brat finally seemed to feel dizzy and collapsed onto the bed.
Moments later—
Snore.
He passed out, dead drunk.
He was the perfect example of a good-for-nothing wastrel.
Since he closed his eyes, my vision darkened as well.
While he was asleep, a series of scenes suddenly flashed before my eyes—quickly, too.
It seemed to be his childhood memories.
The scenes passed by in rapid succession, but somehow, I understood each one in intricate detail, as if I were being spoon-fed the information.
What the hell?
By the time the night had passed, I had seen four years’ worth of the brat’s memories.
It didn’t show the trivial moments, so it seemed like only the most significant memories were being transferred to me.
When the memory transfer ended, my vision brightened again.
It looked like the brat had woken up.
Once again, the first thing I saw was the luxurious room around me.
‘When is this going to end?’
The dream was dragging on longer than expected.
Still, I wasn’t too worried. I assumed I would soon wake up from this strange lucid dream.
So time continued to pass within the dream.
Day Four.
I woke up from a long dream.
“Gasp!”
I was only briefly relieved to be able to speak again. But soon after, I frowned at the all-too-familiar sight before me.
Naturally, my gaze turned to the mirror.
“…Ha.”
A sigh escaped me, half in disbelief and half in resignation.
The full-length mirror next to the bed reflected the same face I had been staring at for the past three days.
Kyle Seltarion.
There he was again.
‘…’
I pinched my cheek hard, and a sharp pain shot through me.
‘Damn.’
In all my ten years of playing games, I had never experienced such a vivid sensation.
Fantasy Defense was an impressive game, sure, but it didn’t provide this level of 100% sensory immersion.
This felt too real.
What kind of situation was this?
Unlike before, the thin arm I saw was moving under my control. It felt like I had truly possessed this body.
If not, I couldn’t come up with any other explanation for what was happening.
Just as I was adjusting to the complexity of moving this body, a knock came from the door.
“Master? May I come in?”
It seemed like one of the maids.
What should I say?
As the young master of a Marquis household, I figured responding casually would be appropriate.
Thanks to absorbing this brat’s memories, I didn’t feel awkward about it either.
Words naturally flowed from my mouth.
“No. Don’t come in.”
I wasn’t in the mood to meet anyone right now.
The maid cautiously asked again.
“Then for your meal… Should I bring you wine again today?”
Oh, for heaven’s sake.
Now that she mentioned it, this spoiled brat had been drinking wine instead of eating for three straight days.
As that thought crossed my mind, I naturally felt a pang of hunger.
‘This is insane.’
It really seemed like my soul had settled into this body. Otherwise, there was no way I could feel this kind of hunger and sensation so vividly, which I hadn’t experienced before.
‘Ugh.’
First things first, I needed to eat.
“…Just leave it outside the door. I’ll take care of it.”
“Understood, sir.”
After finishing the conversation, I waited a bit.
Soon, I heard her voice again.
Though polite and formal, the gist was simple: the meal was ready, come and get it.
I cracked the door open and saw a tray with dishes on it.
‘Porridge?’
The white rice gruel looked familiar enough.
As I scooped it into my mouth, my thoughts continued to race.
The Seltarion Marquisate.
Alton Empire.
The Seltarion family was one of the most famous swordsmanship households in the Empire.
As the term Marquisate suggests, they were among the top ten most powerful families in the vast Empire, holding both wealth and influence.
Kyle Seltarion was the youngest son of that prestigious house, the fourth child.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t the child of the first wife but a concubine’s son.
As I reflected on this brat’s situation, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
‘Wait a minute, isn’t this place dangerous?’
Trastan Territory, governed by the Marquis.
This was one of the places already targeted by the villains in the game. According to the in-game storyline, it wouldn’t be long before this land was thoroughly wrecked.
That realization made me frown.
If I truly possessed a character in this game’s world, the situation wasn’t looking good.
A sickly, malnourished, illegitimate son with an incurable disease.
The only thing I had going for me was the Seltarion family’s prestige. But what if the villains destroyed the Marquisate?
Even that faint backing would be gone.
‘That would be a disaster.’
Yet, I didn’t have the strength to stop it, nor would running away solve the problem.
The Marquisate was only the beginning. After that, their invasions would grow fiercer, eventually wiping out not only the Empire but neighboring kingdoms as well.
What was I supposed to do?
The first thing that came to mind was the hidden items and knowledge scattered throughout the game world.
The so-called Hidden Pieces.
If this was really the world of the game, and I had truly been transported here, then those Hidden Pieces must exist too.
If I could get my hands on them, I could potentially stand a chance against those enemies, even in this feeble body.
But there was one glaring problem.
‘With this body… I can’t retrieve them.’
The worthwhile items were all guarded by powerful enemies.
And those enemies were definitely not ones this emaciated body could handle.
If I didn’t die on the way to get them, I’d consider myself lucky.
“…Seriously. What am I supposed to do now?”
Usually, in these situations, aren’t you supposed to get something in return for being pulled into a different world?
I’ve never cleared this game, even when controlling a protagonist with great stats and incredible traits. But now, with this wastrel’s body, there really seemed to be no hope.
Still, I wasn’t ready to just give up and die.
At that moment, something strange appeared.
Blue particles, dozens of them, began to float around the room.
“…Huh?”
Was something wrong with my eyes?
As I stared at the floating objects, text appeared in my vision.
[Mana Particles]
“…”
If the words in front of me were correct, it seemed like these were indeed particles of Mana.
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