Chapter 1: The Debt of a Fool
The taste of copper was the last thing I knew.
It wasn't a heroic death. There were no dragons, no glorious last stands at the border of the March. Just the cold, clinical sting of a dagger between my ribs and the sight of the two people I had burned my life to protect.
"Is he dead?"
The voice belonged to Kael—my 'best friend.' The man I'd shared my rations with when the game first merged, the man I'd treated like a brother. He was currently wiping my blood off his sleeve with a look of mild annoyance.
"He's always been stubborn," Elena replied.
My lover. The woman I had spent a month of sleepless nights clearing debts for. I had sold my starting equipment, my dignity, and my future just to keep her comfortable in a high-tier city. I thought she was my anchor in this nightmare.
She wasn't even looking at me. She was leaning into Kael's chest, her fingers tracing the expensive silk of his doublet—silk bought with the gold I'd bled for.
"At least he's useful one last time," she whispered, her eyes meeting mine for a split second. There was no guilt. Just the boredom of someone discarding a broken tool. "He was always so... pathetic. So clingy."
Clingy. I wanted to laugh, but my lungs were filling with blood. I had given her everything, and in the end, I was just a 'clunky' starter quest she'd finally finished.
I closed my eyes. The world of the 'Game Merge' faded into a grey void. Fine, I thought, the bitterness finally overriding the pain. If there is an afterlife, I hope it's politically neutral and has better heating.
Then, I felt a sharp, stabbing pressure in my skull.
"Agh—!"
I bolted upright. My hand flew to my chest, searching for the hole, the blood, the cold steel.
There was only soft cotton. A t-shirt.
I blinked. The air was different. It didn't smell like horse manure and ozone; it smelled like... cheap laundry detergent and stale coffee. I looked up. Above me wasn't the stone ceiling of a debt-ridden noble's manor. It was a popcorn ceiling with a glow-in-the-dark star stuck in the corner.
"What the hell?"
My head throbbed. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand—a sleek, glass slab that felt like an ancient relic in my hands. The screen lit up, blinding me.
08:42 AM
June 14, 2025
The date hit me like a physical blow.
The game—The World of Authority—wasn't out yet. It was launching the day after tomorrow. The "Merge" that turned the world into a chaotic, level-based hierarchy wouldn't happen for another two months.
I stood up, my legs feeling strangely light and healthy, and caught my reflection in the mirror. I didn't comb my hair; I just shoved the messy strands back with a trembling hand, staring at a face that hadn't yet seen the horrors of the border wars.
"I'm back," I whispered.
The shock lasted exactly sixty seconds. Then, the gamer mindset kicked in.
Last time, I was a fool. I picked a low-tier noble house because Elena liked the 'aesthetic' of the region. I spent the most critical sixty days of human history playing 'Debtor Simulator' while the real players were securing World Authorities and Ancient Contracts. I had survived the Merge by a fluke, only to be butchered by a pair of leeches.
I looked at the clock again.
Two months.
In two months, the 'NPCs' become real. The titles become law. The contracts become unbreakable reality. And anyone who isn't a 'Player' becomes a random roll in the Rebirth RNG—likely a peasant or a slave.
I didn't need to be a hero. I didn't need to save the world or even get revenge. Revenge was a waste of efficiency.
"House Viremont," I muttered, remembering the sickly, ignored third son of the Border Marquis. A house that was destined to collapse. A house that was 'politically boring' and 'socially neutral.'
Perfect.
If I could secure that identity, keep the territory from falling, and use my knowledge to hoard high-level contracts before the NPCs realized they were people... I wouldn't just survive. I'd be the only person in the world who could afford to be lazy.
I sat at my desk and opened my laptop, my fingers hovering over the pre-order page for the VR interface.
"You wanted 'pathetic and clingy,' Elena?" I felt a cold, playful smirk tug at my lips. "Wait until you see how clingy I get with the world's power balance."
I clicked [Confirm Purchase].
The game was a simulation layer for now. In sixty days, it would be my life. This time, I wasn't playing for love. I was playing for the ultimate luxury: never having to work a day in my life again.
[Countdown to World Upgrade: 60 Days, 15 Hours, 17 Minutes]