NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 1
Click, click.
I kept changing the numbers by one and repeatedly clicking the mouse in a meaningless manner.
[Strategist / Jinoru’s Message]
[Alliance / Serpina Army / 36 Months / Payment: Gold 2558]
[Executing Figure / Monarch]
[My Lord, I understand your intentions clearly, but it seems unlikely you’ll achieve your goals.]
Click.
[Strategist / Jinoru’s Message]
[Alliance / Serpina Army / 36 Months / Payment: Gold 2557]
[Executing Figure / Monarch]
[My Lord, I understand your intentions clearly, but it seems unlikely you’ll achieve your goals.]
Click.
[Strategist / Jinoru’s Message]
[Alliance / Serpina Army / 36 Months / Payment: Gold 2558]
[Executing Figure / Monarch]
[My Lord, I understand your intentions clearly, but it seems unlikely you’ll achieve your goals.]
‘Ahhh, seriously!’
I had exactly 2558 gold left.
Somehow, I had to form an alliance with the current strongest force, the Serpina Army.
If I didn’t, I’d almost certainly face an invasion of our homeland next turn and it’d be game over.
This game, [Garland Eternity Saga], was a classic from over twenty years ago.
By today’s standards, it was just a land-grabbing game where you defeat enemy castles and aim to unify the fictional fantasy continent of [Garland Continent].
Turn-based battles with not too much depth—just average fun without being overly tedious or complex.
Still, I liked this game because of childhood memories, so I attempted unification every few months.
There were various rulers on this continent, but my favorite playstyle was always choosing a [Randomly Generated Ruler].
I’d already played through all the named rulers and cleared the game at high difficulty levels, so they’d grown stale.
Of course, since each ruler in this game has subtly different lifespans and receives varying stat adjustments depending on the situation, even playing as the same named ruler can feel like a new experience.
For most players, unless they’re super dedicated, the unwritten rule is to avoid random rulers.
But for someone who’s spent 10,000 hours on this game, there was no other way to enjoy it besides random rulers.
Anyway, summarizing the current situation—
The army led by my randomly chosen ruler, [Random Lord 5338], respawned right next to the most brutal and warlike tyrant in the game, the Serpina Army.
Serpina, inheriting the bloodline of Jerome von Einhardt, the last emperor of the Unified Empire before the Age of Turmoil, was practically the final boss of this game, achieving unification in six or seven out of ten playthroughs.
In-game time starts counting after one year, meaning the CPU begins invasions after four turns. If I couldn’t ally with Serpina within those four turns, I was doomed.
Still, it wasn’t time to give up yet.
After all, this is a classic game that’s been around for over twenty years—it doesn’t have that much depth.
Besides, there was a reason not to quit.
Our strategist, Jinoru, who was advising me, had an intelligence stat of 99.
That was quite impressive. In fact, it might as well be considered maxed out.
Only the named character [Elenora], who always dies prematurely, has an intelligence of 100 outside of cheat usage.
In this game, advice from someone with Intelligence 100 is 100% accurate.
With Intelligence 99, it’s 99%.
And since 99% is practically 100%, it was reliable enough.
Plus, not only was our strategist good, but the neighboring countries, excluding Serpina, were also pretty decent.
Behind us was the Aishias Army, which starts weak but eventually becomes strong due to their talented pool exploding later on.
The best time to absorb their talents is right at the start of the game.
So, if I could successfully ally with Serpina and win against Aishias, absorbing their talent pool, I could stabilize the game to the point where it wouldn’t feel like playing with a random ruler anymore.
It might even be possible to achieve a speed run with this random starting setup.
Compared to modern gacha games—
It’s like succeeding in rerolls in everything except starting position.
So, I couldn’t give up.
Currently, my situation involves Jinoru with Intelligence 99 telling me, “You won’t succeed in allying with Serpina.”
Then why am I mindlessly tweaking the tribute gold amount by one and repeating the process?
Because sometimes, this approach results in the message changing to “There’s a possibility.”
It’s basically a loophole play.
What mechanism allows such a loophole? What’s the basis for it?
No idea.
I just saw something written in an old strategy guide that said, “Sometimes, if you keep trying, the advice changes. This is your chance! Use it when making difficult proposals.”
Since it’s an old game, maybe there’s some programming issue? Not sure, though.
What I do know is—
There exists a “[Divine Moment]” where even absurd proposals get accepted.
Ten thousand hours of gameplay has built up my mental database to confirm this.
Besides, with no other options since we’re destined to be crushed by Serpina otherwise, this was worth trying.
“Please work, please!”
How many minutes, how many hours did I spend clicking?
I turned on Netubu on my phone, watching videos while mindlessly clicking away on the computer.
Finally.
[Strategist / Jinoru’s Message]
[Alliance / Serpina Army / 36 Months / Payment: Gold 2556]
[Executing Figure / Monarch]
[Given the Lord’s personal visit to show sincerity, perhaps Serpina’s heart will be moved.]
“Yes!”
Almost missed it while watching Netubu, but I managed to stop myself from clicking again.
Alright!
Jinoru’s intelligence is 99.
That means his advice is 99% accurate in this world.
99%! Not 90%, but a solid 99%! That’s practically 100% in this game!
“Great. Now, with an alliance with Serpina, we can eliminate the nearby Aishias Army, recruit Yuri as a general to secure our rear, then deploy troops along the border with Serpina. We should be able to hold them off somehow.”
36 months.
Twelve precious turns—a golden opportunity in this game where you can accomplish a lot per turn.
I thought through my next plan carefully and clicked the [Send Envoy] button.
Then.
[Envoy of Random Lord 5338 / Random Lord 5338]
[Today, I’ve come personally to speak with Lady Serpina.]
[Let us form an alliance for 36 months.]
[Condition: Gold 2556]
[Serpina Army Strategist / Jena]
[My Lord, we mustn’t fall for flattery.]
[Serpina Army Monarch / Serpina]
[People have limits to how far they can push others.]
“Huh? What?”
Why not?
Why won’t you form an alliance?
Jinoru’s intelligence is 99. His words are 99% accurate.
But… there was one cold hard truth often overlooked.
99 isn’t 100.
“Ugh, dammit.”
1%!
Just 1% held me back!
Due to a 1% chance, the alliance failed, and I was rejected.
[Envoy of Random Lord 5338 / Random Lord 5338]
[I don’t need your strength anyway.]
There was nothing I could do.
Plan B would involve abandoning the castle and fleeing to another region.
Of course, I’d suffer massive losses in the process, but I didn’t want to end this round with a 99 intelligence strategist.
However.
Things quickly spiraled out of control, shattering my small hopes.
[Serpina Army Monarch / Serpina]
[Hey, is anyone there?]
[Lock this person in the underground dungeon.]
“???”
What?
Are they imprisoning the envoy?
True, this game does have such a function.
But normally, during diplomacy, capturing envoys leads to massive reputation penalties, severely hindering future diplomacy.
But— who is Serpina?
Isn’t she the greatest tyrant this game has ever produced?
“Hmph…”
Even if locked in the dungeon…
Surely, there must be a way out…
If I can escape before the invading army reaches our territory…
BEEP!!!
Just as I was clinging to my last shred of hope, an unpleasant 8-bit sound rang in my ears.
[Serpina of the Serpina Army has beheaded Random Lord 5338 of the Random Lord 5338 Army]
[Random Lord 5338 of the Random Lord 5338 Army… closes his eyes here]
[The Random Lord 5338 Army will now be led by Jinoru]
[GAME OVER]
“…”
Dead.
Apparently, Serpina locked me in prison and immediately executed me.
Even locking someone in prison alone incurs massive penalties, making diplomacy impossible, so executing an envoy like this would ruin any chance of proper dialogue with neighboring countries.
But whatever.
She’s always been like that!
“Damn you, Jinoru!”
Also, what? My army is now inherited by Jinoru?
Though it’s just a game, the timing felt suspicious.
Did that guy send me to certain death just to take over the country?
“Anyway, Intelligence 99 is unreliable. It should be at least 100.”
It was my mistake for trusting Intelligence 99.
I should’ve restarted the game earlier.
Exhaling deeply, I clicked the mouse to move past the [Game Over] screen, planning to start anew somewhere far from Serpina this time.
But.
No matter how many times I clicked, the screen wouldn’t advance.
“?!”
What? Is it frozen?
After clicking several more times—
An unfamiliar screen appeared, something I’d never seen in 10,000 hours of gameplay.
[Strategist Jinoru / Proclamation]
[Is Intelligence 99 so easy to dismiss?]
“???”
What?
What does this mean?
No matter how many times I clicked, the screen wouldn’t change.
My only option was a single button below that read [Too Easy. Intelligence Must Be 100].
Confusion beyond comprehension—
As if echoing my inner thoughts, I pressed the button instinctively.
[??? / Response]
[Too Easy. Intelligence Must Be 100]
[Strategist Jinoru / Proclamation]
[Is that so?]
At that moment,
The world began to ripple.
“I knew it…!”
I get it. This kind of thing.
Being sucked into the game, right?
I’ve seen this trope dozens of times.
But…
Why am I getting dragged into such an old-school classic game?!
I’d rather be pulled into a novel where cute girls obsess over me or a sleek gacha game!
[Strategist Jinoru / Proclamation]
[I hope you’ll perform admirably.]
With those words, I lost consciousness.
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