<Original Main Character - Rex's POV>
Rex.
30 years old, single.
He is exceptionally talented and has an average appearance, but he comes from no distinguished family line and is a commoner.
Rex’s memories began with that of an ordinary gamer from the year 2178 in South Korea.
<Hell and Cry: Eternal Conquest - Online>
简称 <Hell Online>
It was a strategy simulation game that quickly stood out after the creation of VR-enabled full-dive technology.
This game, which firmly supported the transitional period of full-dive devices all the way to its peak era, was commonly regarded as the grandfather gamers’ legend.
Rex was one of those grandfather gamers.
By day, he lived a life devoid of individuality, being a cog in society’s wheel, and by night, upon lying inside his capsule, he would awake within the game world.
The day he reincarnated into this world was no different from usual.
Setting his capsule into sleep mode, after falling asleep, he opened his eyes in Hexion Online with a new character.
The only difference from the usual was that he couldn’t log out.
“Hm? Today, the dream feels particularly vivid.”
The full-dive technology was developed using lucid dreaming techniques,
so occasionally, one might slip into a dream just after pressing the logout button, giving the impression that logout was not working.
In such instances, it was simply a matter of naturally waking up without panicking.
However, after pinching his cheek and checking the time,
it was only after being brutally beaten by a gang of alley thugs that Rex realized the truth.
“Ah.”
That he had been reincarnated.
Though initially bewildered, Rex quickly adapted.
Ironically, in this world, he received more respect than in the real world where individuality was squashed under the banner of equality.
Therefore, it was only natural for Rex to love games.
Thus, without any regret, he decided to live life in this world.
According to the information gathered after reincarnation, this world wasn’t the game world.
While the rules of the world and the laws of physics were similar to the game, the geography, place names, history, etc., were entirely different from the game.
This was only slightly disappointing, but it wasn’t something to be particularly worried about.
After all, thanks to the game system that had accompanied him into this world as a reincarnation privilege.
The ability to open an interface akin to a simulation game, to judge heroes and people, and to issue orders directly into their minds.
With such a system in place, the future might be unknown, but there wasn’t anything Rex feared.
He was initially jubilant after reincarnation.
This simulation game system, conveniently referred to as the interface, was immensely practical in various ways.
Enrollment in the youngest-ever class at the Royal Military Academy of the Eshirik Kingdom,
a 20-year curriculum compressed to 12 years through consecutive grade skips,
he never stepped down from the top of his class until the moment of graduation,
and he was immediately employed by a city as a strategist soon after graduation, acknowledged for his command skills.
Following the path of an elite among elites, he firmly believed in a happy life.
‘Make a home using my name, indulge myself by having two, maybe three wives, and then have children, and live happily ever after.’
Rex was an ambitious commoner.
Possessing this level of ability but living a slow life would be too much of a waste.
Yet, he didn’t want the bloody, chaotic life either.
‘With great power comes great responsibility.’
While he knew he had the ability to serve as a strategist in the royal court, that position came with the appropriate amount of responsibility.
For the ambitious commoner Rex, it was responsibility far too heavy.
Therefore, he chose the position of a city strategist.
It was out of an utterly materialistic reason that he thought it would yield a decent amount of affluence while maintaining an acceptable level of daily peace.
He had no desire to wield his command staff in the very heart of the inferno.
‘Now, I shall gain merit in this city…’
But Rex’s happy musings didn’t last long.
‘Should’ve just chilled and been content!!’
The reason was the fact that a commoner without a single copper piece had bested the nobles’ children and won both top marks and the youngest-ever double crown, which had made him rather detested.
Certainly, at that time, he was somewhat rebellious too.
And part of that was because he wanted to show off his abilities with his cheat skill.
Most importantly, the admiring glances from female students were too delightful.
The problem was that he hadn’t given enough thought to the consequences.
On the road to the designated post after graduation, the carriage was attacked, and a sack was placed over his head.
When Rex regained consciousness, he found himself in the laboratory of someone who introduced himself as Retor.
Would the mayor not notice that the newly appointed strategist on the way to his post had disappeared?
In a world where it wasn’t odd for an officer or strategist to be eaten by tigers – or rather, goblins – while traveling through the mountains to their new post,
And given the fact that no one even knew what the unknown commoner looked like or what he had, no one would bother to send troops.
In fact, there was a significant possibility that the mayor was complicit as well.
Thus, Rex’s inter-dimensional adventure began in the mad scientist’s laboratory.
‘My dream of cheat-based harem life!!’
Rather than a harem, he appeared destined to become a polygendered Frankenstein.
‘How can this unreasonable treatment happen when I have cheat skills and a handsome face?’
Yet, it was precisely because of his cheat skills and his handsome face that he was in this situation, but there was no one to point that out to him.
‘If only I had known I’d reincarnate, I shouldn’t have chosen the misfortune penalty when creating my character profile!!’
He regretted picking the harsher penalty in an attempt to increase his potential stats.
‘Oh, God.’
Rex wasn’t religious and didn’t believe in God, but he still prayed, just in case.
No answer came, of course, and eventually, he accepted the reality.
‘Should’ve just chilled and been content.’
He should have either cultivated his physical strength or involved himself in politics.
It had made no sense to him when his colleagues in the academy focused more on politics than studying,
but now he understood their deeper motives.
‘Now I see why the education span was 20 years with only morning classes.’
Obsessed with the enjoyment of studying strategy and tactics, he had failed to pay attention to the people around him, and this was now coming back to haunt him as retribution.
If not, perhaps he had overestimated the average personality level of the people in this world.
Bang!
As Rex reflected on the past with regret, a dull sound rang out and an electric shock surged through his forehead.
“Ugh!”
Rex glared at the entity that had slammed a club against his forehead.
‘Ah, you barbaric brute! That’s why goblins are not allowed. What are you trying to do – damage this valuable brain?’
The one who struck Rex was a towering ‘goblin’ with height comparable to Rex’s.
The goblin’s orange eyes met Rex’s.
“Snap out of it, useless human!”
Rex was annoyed that the goblin had the audacity to call him that, but he couldn’t afford to pick a fight with this goblin.
Level 48
This meant the goblin was as monster strong that it could topple a vassal knight of an ordinary noble.
Dr. Retor assigned status based on the results of the experiments, and as the level indicated, this goblin was considered one of his “relatively successful experiments.”
In contrast, Rex was a complete failure.
A failure because, no matter what experiments were carried out on him, there was no observable progress in his abilities.
Under normal circumstances, he would have been discarded, but thanks to Rex’s desperate flattery and political maneuvering, he managed to secure a position as an errand boy.
“Return to your room, failure! Kerk!”
Though Rex’s last vestige of human pride was insulted by being looked down upon by a goblin as well,
“Still looking? Kerk. Do you want to die?”
The goblin pointed its spear at Rex, causing him to instinctively bow his head.
He was a very rational human being and didn’t hesitate to put aside his pride in favor of survival.
Thus, Rex obediently returned to his room without any further resistance.
Having the position of an errand boy didn’t mean Rex was allotted a better room.
His solitary confinement room from his days as an experimental subject hadn’t changed.
A 10.7 square meter room with just a desk and a bed.
Once back in his room, Rex immediately lay down on the bed.
Ignoring the goblins guarding him outside the door, Rex swiftly opened a translucent window.
Anyway, the window was invisible to all except Rex and could be operated with mere eye movements, so he didn’t have to worry even if he used it brazenly.
‘What a fool.’
Rex smirked at the goblin glaring through the bars outside.
Not only the goblin, but he also mocked Dr. Retor who thought of him as a failure.
The truth was that he wasn’t a failure.
In fact, he was an overwhelming success.
‘Should I be grateful for this…’
Thanks to Dr. Retor’s experiments, his interface had evolved.
This enhanced ability was nothing less than perfect memory.
To be precise, it was the addition of footnote, memo, and search functions to the interface, which was as good as having perfect memory.
He had once considered reporting it to the scientist.
However, since he didn’t want to fulfill Dr. Retor’s dream, he intentionally concealed this fact, pretending to be a failure.
‘Some more time…’
Rex had no intention of spending the rest of his life in this sewer.
Escape someday –
“Kerk! Wake up, slug! It’s morning!”
The high-pitched, irksome goblin voice jolted Rex back to consciousness.
‘What is it? When did I fall asleep?’
Rex decided to live yet another day.
Rex returned to his room after finishing the day’s chores.
As usual, he lay down on the bed and manipulated the interface.
He checked the time.
10:00
For reasons unknown, the interface also had a clock function.
After confirming the time, Rex got up from the bed and pressed his ear against the door.
‘Guards… asleep.’
The essence of the goblins didn’t change, no matter how high their levels became.
Having confirmed the guard situation, Rex sat on the bed and gently placed a piece of paper on the creaky desk.
Scraping coal against the paper during his errands, Rex painstakingly wrote today’s note.
Rex completed the note and carefully searched the walls of his solitary cell for a hole, into which he gently pushed the note.
This had been Rex’s routine for the last few months.
Whenever he obtained coal and paper, he exchanged notes with the neighbor in the adjacent cell.
Sentences couldn’t be long.
– [A? I ate meat today.]
Even though it was just a lump of meat scraps, it was still considered a special treat.
Rex waited for A’s reply.
Though he knew neither A’s name, gender, voice, nor appearance, a bond had formed between the two.
However, no reply came.
“Huh….”
Rex let out an unconscious sigh.
He remembered rumors from a week ago that A had been sold to another slave trader.
He had suspected as much since no reply had come since then.
He also knew all too well that no reply would come.
Furthermore, he understood that continuing to slip notes through the empty cell would significantly increase the risk of being discovered when a new experimental subject was assigned to the room.
But as a human, loneliness stung deeper than the scouring of a hot iron rod.
Because of this, he couldn’t stop indulging in such irrational actions.
“Huh….”
Rex turned his head from the left wall and started feeling along the right wall.
There was a small hole there as well.
Rex inserted the note into the hole.
– [D, are you still alive?]
D was another neighbor that Rex had grown close to.
The quick reply came.
– [Still holding on, R]
Fortunately, they (Rex didn’t know if it was a he, but from this point forward, let’s assume it’s male) were still there.
Thinking about the experiments D was subjected to, Rex felt relief.
D’s experiments aimed to enable humans to survive without food.
He had heard that D hadn’t had food or even water for over half a year.
Recalling this fact, Rex measured the size of the hole.
It had started as a gap wide enough to fit three fingers but now ended as a crevice wide enough to pass a sheet of paper.
Having confirmed this, Rex carefully began writing again on the desk.
– [Just hold on a bit longer. It looks like it might be almost done.]
He then began carefully chiseling at the hole with a fork he had pilfered.
About half a month later.
At last, the gap had turned into a hole.
Complete penetration to the other side.
In excitement, Rex began writing a letter.
– [Drink up, D]
Without waiting for a reply, he immediately rolled up the paper into a straw and slipped it through the hole.
He inserted the straw end into the bottle of water he had secretly siphoned off.
Suck –
The water began to drain.
When all the water was gone, the straw vanished to the D side.
A while later, the note that had gone over earlier returned with D’s reply on the back.
– [Would you like to see the sunlight, R]
Rex thought for a moment.
Speaking like that in such a mood was likely a sign that D had found a way.
Though Rex had his own plans for escape, he decided to listen to D’s method too.
– [What method is it?]
But the following actions of D were completely unexpected.
BOOM!
CRASH!!
The two goblins guarding the door of the adjacent cell were met with their dying cries as their door burst open.
The sound of flesh being trampled.
The emergency alarm echoed throughout the laboratory.
– BLARE! CODE BLARE!!! Everyone, report to your stations!
The troll shouted with all his might.
In the midst of this sudden change in atmosphere, the door to Rex’s cell was ripped off.
Peering through the missing door, Rex beheld the face of D.
2 meters tall, with a scruffy bearded and disheveled face – a ragged wild man.
D, the wild man, smirked.
“R. Nice to finally meet you. By any chance, do you have any food?”
Overwhelmed by his presence, Rex nodded and offered a piece of bread.
D- Duke greedily stuffed the bread into his mouth but couldn’t hide the smile.
‘This is finally it.’
After 200 years of effort, it was time for the fruition of the plan.
