I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 2

◈ 003. [STAGE 0] Even If the Sky Falls

The forward base of the city of Crossroads.

The commander’s private quarters.

“……”

I stared intently at the mirror.

In the mirror stood a handsome man, as if drawn from a picture, with jet-black hair and piercing dark eyes.

The third prince of the Everblack Empire. Ash ‘Bonehater’ Everblack.

That was the name of this pretty boy I had possessed(?).

“This is driving me crazy……”

I had to admit it.

I had entered the game world, become an extra who dies in the tutorial, and the tutorial would begin as soon as the sun rose tomorrow.

“Why, of all people, why this guy!”

I groaned and ran my hands over my face.

The familiar transparent system window was floating in front of me, and it was filled with descriptions of Ash.

[Character List – Ash ‘Bonehater’ Everblack]

It was almost the length of a short story, but to summarize it roughly:

Ash, the youngest son of the Everblack Empire’s imperial family, the third prince.

Ash had suffered from madness since childhood. His nature was violent and cruel.

From a young age, he always took what he liked and eliminated what he didn’t.

All sorts of incidents and accidents were constant in Ash’s detached palace.

Upon reaching adulthood, he was constantly embroiled in scandals with the daughters of noble families and squandered the national treasury with his debauched lifestyle.

He looked down on officials and knights and acted arrogantly.

As his tyranny grew worse and numerous complaints arose within the capital, the Emperor took drastic measures.

‘Ash, I hereby appoint you as the lord and commander of the fortress city of Crossroads.

There, you shall defend against the monsters and contribute to the peace of the Empire.’

It was an appointment as lord and commander in name only; in reality, it was exile and demotion.

The fortress city of Crossroads was located at the southern end of the world.

And the monsters that emerged from the great lake to the south endlessly poured into this place.

The worst monster front in the world, with an average of thousands of casualties per year.

To be told to defend against monsters here was no different than being told to fight an endless battle and never return.

And Ash was a completely insane bastard.

On his first day in office, he gathered the imperial troops that had escorted him from the capital and most of the mercenaries stationed in the fortress city and marched south.

‘If we destroy the source from which the monsters are pouring out, won’t it all be over!’

Ash’s idea was, in a way, correct.

Going to destroy that source was the journey of this game.

The problem was the timing. The day Ash led his troops out was the day the monsters, who had been quiet for the past dozen years, began to stir in earnest.

Ash and his soldiers were immediately surrounded by a black spider legion that suddenly appeared upon their arrival at the forward base, and they fought a bloody battle for three days and nights.

And on the fourth day, the forward base fell.

The troops that had marched out were annihilated.

Ash’s escort knight, the protagonist Lucas, escaped with Ash, but Ash eventually died during the escape.

In the end, Lucas alone survived and returned to Crossroads.

And Lucas, as acting commander, would defend Crossroads and simultaneously attack the dungeon that was the source of the monsters……

……That was the introductory story of the game.

No, but the problem now isn’t about the introductory story!

‘I’m screwed.’

I wiped the cold sweat from my face with my hand.

‘Ash, you stupid bastard! You should have just stayed put in the fortress city, why did you go out! Why!’

No matter what point in this game I was dropped into, I was confident that I could find a way out.

I was the only human who had cleared this game on the most difficult setting.

Except for right now! Except for this tutorial point!

‘I absolutely can’t clear it. It’s a stage designed to not be cleared.’

In the game, this tutorial was designed so that you could not win no matter what you did.

The monsters were overwhelmingly higher in level and stats than the soldiers, and there were even more of them.

In this game, which lasted a total of three years, the black spider legion were monsters that could only be hunted in the middle of the second year.

There was no way you could win when you met hundreds of those guys right from the start.

In the end, the tutorial ended with Lucas escaping alone.

‘……No, get a grip, you old game nerd.’

I tried to calm down. I slapped myself on the cheeks.

‘Games exist to be cleared. If this situation is a trial that someone has given me, there must be a solution.’

That’s right.

This place was definitely reality, but it was the same as the game I had cleared.

I knew this game better than anyone in the world.

If I mobilized all my knowledge and experience, I would be able to find a way out, even under the collapsing sky.

‘First, I need to organize the cards I have and the cards the enemy has.’

I calmly organized what I had and what the enemy had.

First, what the enemy had.

I could also view the enemy’s information in the system window. How kind of them.

“Let’s see……”

[Enemy Information – STAGE 0]

– Lv.?? Black Spider Queen: 1

– Lv.60 Black Spider Siege Unit: 196

– Lv.55 Black Spider Assault Unit: 912

The queen was just one, as is typical of the black spider legion’s colony life, and she didn’t have any combat ability. The queen wasn’t the problem.

The real problem was just the level and number of these spider bastards. What? Level 55? Level 60? And why are there so many? Over 1,000? That’s too much.

“Oh my, oh my, my head……”

I clutched my head again and despaired.

I’m done for. No matter how I think about it, I’m done for. How am I supposed to win this?

‘No. Calm down, let’s calm down. I need to consider what I have too.’

I also brought up the ally information window. Various information popped up.

“Let’s see, the fortress wall’s durability is…… at rock bottom.”

The arrows and cannonballs were also depleted. The food was also depleted. The medicine was also depleted. The morale was also at rock bottom. Is there anything that isn’t at rock bottom?

‘The only thing that’s somewhat useful is this mana cannon, I guess.’

[Artifact – Ancient Mana Cannon (SR)]

A giant cannon installed at the highest point of the forward base.

It is the most powerful weapon in this forward base, firing concentrated magic power using ancient technology.

‘Originally, in the tutorial, I escaped using this mana cannon.’

When the soldiers were annihilated and the fall of the forward base was certain.

After firing the cannon at the thinnest part of the black spider legion’s encirclement, Lucas carried Ash on his back and escaped through there.

During the escape, Lucas tried his best to protect Ash until the end, but Ash was eventually caught by the black spiders and torn to pieces and died.

Lucas running away with tears of blood, leaving behind Ash’s screams, was the last scene of the tutorial……

‘I can’t die like that.’

Imagining being caught by giant spiders and eaten alive made me feel nauseous.

‘Is there another way to escape?’

I thought about plans such as mobilizing the entire army to escape at once under the cover of night, but I gave up.

The spiders only dislike being active at sunset, but it’s not impossible. They would immediately close the encirclement and attack.

The speed of the black spider legion on flat ground was comparable to that of warhorses. Leaving the fortress was an act of suicide.

‘It’s not impossible to survive, but the chances are too low. I need to find a method with a higher probability.’

Dozens of methods came to mind one after another. My confused mind gradually calmed down.

I calmly checked the cards I had.

When playing the game in Iron Man mode [a game mode where you cannot save and load], it was impossible to save and load, so the entire game would be ruined the moment you made a mistake.

Therefore, every moment was a process of searching for the best move.

Through the past six months of training, I knew well. That there was a clever solution in any situation, and that there was a way to survive.

Even a slightly higher probability.

Even a slightly more certain method.

I will find it.

“……!”

Having thought of something, I quickly manipulated the system window. Soon, the screen I was looking for appeared.

It was the party window.

[Main Party (5/5)]

– Lv.1 Ash (EX)

– Lv.25 Lucas (SSR)

– Lv.15 Lily (R)

– Lv.15 Ken (N)

– Lv.10 Damian (N)

I swallowed hard.

‘This is it.’

is a game where you nurture hundreds of heroes and send them to the battlefield.

The heroes are managed in parties, and one party consists of five members. The party given in the tutorial was the same. Five people.

‘Even if I forget the story, I won’t forget the tutorial party members.’

They were just pitiful friends who were there to teach the game mechanics and die in order, but I, who had delved into the game to its limits, knew everything about these characters.

‘Out of these five, the four except for Lucas are bound to die.’

Because they were characters who were bound to die, the developers had played a little ‘prank’ on these four.

A prank that could never be used in the game, just for fun.

‘If this is really the game world…… that ‘prank’ will still be there.’

And if I could use that prank, then…… there was a possibility.

A slim but certain strategy.

“Lucas!”

I flung open the door and stuck my face out. Lucas, who had been dozing off while standing guard outside, was startled and looked at me.

“Yes, Your Highness! What is the matter?”

“Summon my direct party right now!”

Lucas blinked his eyes.

“Party, you mean Your Highness’s direct escort unit? You haven’t called them once, why all of a sudden……”

“Oh, stop talking! Just bring them here quickly!”

I pointed my index finger at Lucas and grinned confidently.

“I’ve thought of a way to overcome this situation!”

***

A little while later.

All five members of the tutorial party had gathered in the hallway in front of my room.

Me, Lucas.

And three new faces.

‘Lily, Ken, and Damian, huh……’

I quickly scanned their familiar faces.

Well, they were familiar. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen them die.

Lily was a red-haired woman wearing a mage’s robe.

Ken was a burly man with a shield and a closely shaved head.

And Damian was……

“……Why is he all hunched over like that?”

He was a boy with brown curly hair and glasses, wearing a priest’s robe.

He looked fine, but he was huddled in the corner of the room, sobbing. Why was he like that?

“Damian is like this because he lost a comrade today. Please understand,” Lily said with a wry smile, asking for my understanding.

Damian was one of the few remaining healing priests in the unit, and he had just come from tending to the wounded.

Apparently, a close comrade had just died from his injuries.

“Sniff…… sob……”

Damian’s white priest’s robe was stained with the blood of his allies.

Lily, sitting next to Damian, gently stroked his back.

‘Come to think of it, that’s right, it was like that during the game’s tutorial.’

Damian was the first member to die because he was always afflicted with status ailments such as ‘fear’ or ‘confusion’ from the beginning.

I remembered that he was an important healer, but I couldn’t use him at all.

“Okay, okay, I understand your sadness, but get up for now, Damian! It’s sad to lose a comrade, but you still have to live, right!”

I patted Damian on the shoulder and said, but Damian just kept sobbing.

Ken, the burly knight, who had been glaring at me with dissatisfaction, growled.

“‘You still have to live’? Are you serious, Prince?”

“Huh?”

When I looked at Ken, Ken spoke in an agitated voice.

“You brought us all to our deaths with your wrong command, and you’re seriously saying that!”

“……”

“What do you mean live? We’re all going to die because of you anyway, damn it!”

No, I’m wronged. I only entered this body after Ash, that bastard, caused an accident.

That excuse was on the tip of my tongue, but I barely held it back. Who would believe such nonsense?

More than anything, I could fully understand Ken’s feelings.

A parachute commander [a leader who is suddenly appointed without prior experience] who suddenly came down from the capital and immediately led the entire army into enemy territory. He had every right to be pissed.

……Yes, he had every right to be pissed, but.

“Ken.”

I couldn’t back down here.

“Are you defying me, the Emperor’s son and the commander-in-chief of this front?”

When I lowered my voice, Ken flinched. It seemed he had finally realized that the prince in front of him was a crazy madman.

Grinning, I raised the corners of my mouth and smiled dangerously.

If I lost the initiative, it would be over. Because the operation I was about to order was going to be absurdly reckless.

I needed to make them follow me without saying a word.

“Lucas!”

So I,

“Immediately behead this rude bastard who has insulted the royal family and the commander-in-chief!”

Since I had entered the body of a madman, I decided to act even more like a madman.