Bug Player

Chapter 1. I’m The Lord? – Episode 1

“…It’s time for you to wake up, my lord”

“My lord?”

I thought I’d fallen into a sweet sleep.

Is that the reason why?

I ignored the feeling of someone shaking my body and swallowed the saliva in my mouth repeatedly. I wanted to sleep some more.

I really do need more sleep.

But that was when a surprisingly rational thought came to my mind. Regarding where I last slept.

“Oh shit! I was working overtime at the office, man!”

I sprang up.

Clearly, I’d fallen asleep in my seat at the corner of the office.

I had been working overtime. It was a bad company with an unfairly large work quota, so working overtime was almost my daily routine. Still, it was nice to be there.

But, while all my colleagues are sober working overtime, I’m the only one sleeping like a baby? That can’t happen. It is obvious that if someone finds out about this, people will be badmouthing me soon enough.

This was the reason I tried to get up in a hurry.

“Huh?”

Something feels strange. Very strange.

The place I’d fallen asleep in was definitely an old squeaky chair. Now I’m lying in a very cozy and fluffy bed. Beside my bedside, someone holding a tray apparently has been intensely staring at me. On the tray are a glass of water and a slightly dampened towel.

My quickest reaction is to deny reality.

“What, is this a dream?”

“My lord, what do you mean?”

I ask if this is a dream and the reply was ‘my lord’? What do you mean by ‘my lord’? I’m Shin Tae-Pong, a low-level office worker at Jeonhan Trading Co. Not some lord.

Just then, “Ugh!”

My head hurt like crazy.

It was just for a moment, but it felt like someone had forcibly split open my brain and stuffed all kinds of information inside it. It was as though I had gained some kind of enlightenment.

I felt like I was squeezing myself into a place where there was no more space to squeeze into. It was very unpleasant and painful but there was nothing I could do. Irrespective of my will, the pain continued, and every time, a myriad of information and facts got embedded in my head.

At that moment, I was able to realize it naturally.

The fact that this wasn’t the Earth I used to live in and not on the office chair I slept on.

‘…death by overworking, it’s really a thing?’

Life passed by in a flash. My life as an office worker, Shin Tae-Pong had become a ‘previous life’.

That was it.

I had died in my previous life.

And by overworking at that.

The last moment of my life was when I fell asleep while working overtime.

‘Wow, I’ve never been in a relationship even at the age of 34 and I died like this?’

I wanted to deny it but the assessment of the new knowledge that poured into my head made me unable to. I’m no longer the office-worker Shin Tae-Pong. He was just a part of the past life that had already ended in death.

I see, alright.

I think I’ll need some time to calm down after the shock and adjust.

“My lord, did you have a nightmare?”

Now I can clearly see the person who woke me up.

Haze. One of the maids who work for me.

How do I know her name right away? Because all of my memories were naturally combined. Memories of the past and the present life.

“It’s okay, Haze. Don’t worry and go out. I’ll call you if I need you.”

“Yes, my lord”

Haze left immediately without saying anything more, leaving me alone in my room. Thanks to this, I can now concentrate on the situation more rationally.

First, I got up.

I know this is not my body from my previous life, but I don’t remember what this body is like now since it seems to have been a long time since I looked in the mirror. I only remember how this body looked when I was a kid, which was about a decade ago.

Why?

In retrospect, I had a pretty handsome face at least until ten years ago. But now, there’s no memory of it for the last ten years. I felt the need to look directly at my body that has changed over time. So I’m looking for a full-length mirror.

Something’s off.

Usually, mirrors are placed in the most visible part of the room.

But somehow, the mirror I found was placed in the corner of the room that could be seen only after a long search. And with a lot of dust and even spiderwebs all over it too.

After wiping everything off with the towel I found, I stood tall in front of the full-length mirror.

But…

“Oh my.”

What I’m seeing is a standing pig.

What’s standing in the mirror is not a sleek body nor a handsome face but a sloshing belly and black-hole-like navel. The waist area of my pajamas is so full that my eyes can’t see its ends, all due to this damn belly fat.

Jesus Christ.

This is a dream, it has to be a dream. I pinch my cheek with that thought, but the only thing that I received is a very real ebbing pain.

‘No, no matter how lazy I am in my present life. How can I be so fat?’

I was stunned.

In movies, dramas, and novels, reincarnation usually makes you handsome, you are born a great man and live a wonderful life.

There is no such thing as that in this case.

My condition in my last life was better.

Although I was a 34-year-old single man who had never been in a relationship, my body was still well taken care of thanks to the exercises I did in my spare time. But my body in the present life is a complete mess.

Perhaps because of the fat on this face, it was completely different from the face I remember from ten years ago.

“First of all, first of all… status.”

This word popped up subconsciously. It was a shortcut from the self-awareness phenomenon that came with a headache earlier.

Then a stat window opens in front of me as I expected.

[Jared – Lv. 1]
[Muscle Strength : 51] [Health : 5]
[Magic1: 75] [Wisdom : 15]
[Agility : 5] [Charm2 : 0]
[Physical Defense : 5]
[Magic Defense : 5]
[Residual Stats : 0]

[*Warning : Abnormal Status ‘Extreme Obesity’ is applied.
While ‘Extreme Obesity’ is in effect, the attractiveness value is fixed to 0]

[*Warning: The state of ‘Extreme Obesity’ has been maintained for 10 years. Life expectancy is reduced by 20 years.]

‘What, life expectancy is reduced by twenty years?’

My eyes focused on the red flashing warning message. As soon as I saw those phrases, I was astonished. Being reincarnated in a body like this already makes me mad, but now even my life expectancy has been reduced by twenty years.

What kind of preposterous nonsense is this? 3

“Hu….”

Unknowingly, I let out a sigh. I looked up at the date visible on the top of the status window.

[Nasu Continental Calendar, January 1, 1414]

‘Wait a minute, this… the continental calendar of the game I used to play, ‘Paradiso’, has the same name, right? Not only that but there are other things too.

I was panicking so much for a moment that I had forgotten the memories of my present life. As I recall them, the first thing that comes to my mind is the god of this world.

The God of Transcendence.

The Higher, Intermediate, and Lower Gods.

If you think of God as a silent figurehead, you’re wrong.

Among the Gods, there’s a god who likes to play very ugly tricks. So, it is said, in the case of someone like me who died an unjust death, more often than not, he takes the person’s soul far away and inserts them into a new body. It probably wouldn’t have been difficult even for an intermediate-level god to do this. Because they are, well, Gods.

For an absolute being, nothing is impossible.

‘The problem is, this knowledge of God is consistent with the worldview of the game “Paradiso” that I used to play.’

Fragments of memories that seemed to have been scattered began to merge into one. And I could think of it without difficulty, right away that, “The game “Paradiso,” which I enjoyed for a long time since I was young, has come to life. Anyway, I don’t know why things are going this way.”

I don’t know why this happened.

Is it God’s joke, or a dream, or is there really a world like this in a parallel universe?

But what’s certain is that I’m perfectly within the worldview of ‘Paradiso’.

Not only that but also the memory of my previous and present life has been stored in my head in the process of awakening. Therefore, it wasn’t difficult to recall information about ‘Paradiso’  from my previous life.

March 4, 1424, is the day of the “Great Stallion” on the Nasu Continent. The day the main quest for ‘Paradiso’ begins. The day the protagonist begins his great journey.

Current date, January 1, 1414.

Quest start date, March 4, 1424. Ten years from now,  the “Great Stallion”, one of the most brutal wars within this world will begin.

It’s a war, where millions or even tens of millions of lives are lost. At this time, the main character of ‘Paradiso’ appears and fights against the demon king and his legion. The story of the game’s player begins then.

After that, the true ending can be seen either by protecting the continent from the Demon king and his legion or by conquering the entire continent and becoming a monarch.

Of course, ‘Paradiso’ is a fierce battleground within the framework of virtual reality.

It’s not a game.

It’s the contemporary world.

I am someone who knows the secrets of this world.

People in this world have no idea that this is a game’s view.

This is the reality for them. Well, of course, it’s now a harsh reality for me too.

If I lose or die, it’ll be all over.

I ended up dying in my previous life. If I end up dying even in this life. I’ll end up dying twice!

‘That’s why it really matters what my starting point is’

I kept my head as cool as I could, and started to think about things rationally, one by one.

‘Paradiso’ is a typical RPG game, but at the same time a strategy simulation. There were a variety of factors. In other words, it was a game of growing oneself, simultaneously building up territory, and expanding power. So it was really hard and strenuous.

Of course, it was natural that I had to spend a lot of time on the game.

‘Then, Since it’s ten years before the story, it must be the era of five empires and sixteen kingdoms.’

Looking at the date of the Nasu continental calendar, it is now the closest to the Spring and Autumn period. Five years later, the five great empires and the sixteen kingdoms will be fighting each other.

And another five years after that begins the main quest of ‘Paradiso’.

In the year 1419, a war breaks out. It was a civil war called the ‘Great Nasu War’ and it started for a single reason; the lack of food, which is an essential element and oftentimes the foundation of the country.

Drought and famine.

Volcanic activity and major earthquakes.

Pandemics of highly infectious diseases.

As these three catastrophic events took place on the Nasu continent, a global food shortage occurred.

Naturally, the emperors and kings of each nation in the game waged wars to take away the food the other countries stored. Otherwise, it would be impossible to secure enough power to run the nation.

In the Great War of Nasu, all nations and territories were involved in the war. In other words, even a lord will not be able to avoid it. So that the importance of their estate grows even more.

Quite significantly.

‘Haze called me a lord earlier, didn’t she? Which means I’ve got a territory somewhere.’

This body is Lord Jared. Where is the territory managed by Jared supposed to be? What’s certain is that I don’t have any memories of a lord named Jared in the game.

In other words, he was a no-name character.

Perhaps an unfortunate lord who disappeared from the worldview of ‘Paradiso’ before the main quest even began.

First of all, this body is a mess.

Usually, feudal lords make a lot of effort to embellish themselves. So it was rare for a lord to have a body like this without measures having been taken. No, it shouldn’t have been possible. However, it seems that there was one who was abnormal. Just how much restraint did you lack to become like this?

“Please.”

I haven’t confirmed anything yet, but my hands came together without me realizing it.

Naturally, I prayed.

‘Please don’t be the worst.’

I checked the stats window again and a name appeared.

[Caribia – Small Territory]

“What, such a worthless piece of land.”

I remember the names of quite a few territories from my previous life’s knowledge but I don’t recall anything about the territory of Carbia.

Not only that, I realize that the bigger problem is another thing.

“Oh, shit, my stats.”

I looked at the stats window again that I had previously just grazed through since I was so preoccupied with my state of ‘extreme obesity’.

Stats were plastered with five as if they had signed a treaty to be that way.

Only mana and wisdom were slightly higher, and they only managed to meet the qualities needed of a lord.

‘Class 4 wizard. It’s too pathetic a mana stat to try with Class 4 magic that uses 40 mana each time. This is my reality.’

My facial expression naturally got dark.

Wizards of Class 4 or higher are widely seen on the Nasu continent. You can’t call it special. And with the exception of the magic and wisdom stats, the rest of the stats were a disaster. Moreover, the higher mana and wisdom stat was not even sufficient.

Considering the class, it should be at least ten times higher than now, this is very low.

So my comprehensive judgment is.

“C-rank, Low-class, no, F-class armament! Dog shit, garbage!”

I was reincarnated in my present life, as nothing but a feudal lord, that too as one with garbage stats. With this shitty body as a bonus.

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I am not a king, emperor, or even someone who will receive the spotlight in this world…

I was reincarnated as a perfect example of a worthless extra.

 

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Translator’s Notes:

Magic is written as 마력 which literally means horsepower (A strange power of unknown cause that deceives people).Charm is being used to define attractiveness.The idiom basically means “spewing nonsense/bullshit”.