In D&K, the player becomes a commander in a uniquely named nation called 'Purity'.
The player recruits soldiers, forms their own unit, and uses the system to train them.
Leading the unit they created, they go to the battlefield to achieve victory and earn honor and rewards.
The primary goal is to repeat this process and build a stronger army.
Ultimately, the goal is to use the highly trained army to sweep away the enemy and become the ruler of the continent.
The enemies of Purity are a vast alliance formed by approximately 20 nations.
Purity, which follows angels with beautiful white wings, is usually depicted as good, while the alliance, which follows black and ferocious dragons, is depicted as evil.
Unlike Purity's soldiers, who wear various outfits according to the commander's, or player's, preference, the soldiers belonging to the alliance usually wear their nation's emblem on their shoulder and the black dragon emblem symbolizing the alliance on their chest.
And the knights who rescued me from the forest had the black dragon emblem carved on their chests.
In other words, I, who had swept away the alliance's soldiers in Purity and ranked second, was now left alone in the heart of the alliance's territory.
"...Haa."
A sigh involuntarily escaped me as I recalled.
A week had already passed since I was rescued from the burning forest.
And I had learned a few new facts.
First, all of this I was seeing and experiencing was not a dream.
At first, I desperately denied it, but at this point, not admitting it would be foolish.
For some reason, I found myself living in the world that served as the stage for D&K, the continent of Asland.
It didn't seem like dimensional travel or reincarnation... I thought it was possession or something similar.
Second, in this world, I was not a 25-year-old office worker from South Korea, but Ryan, a 23-year-old son of Karsan, a hunter from the outskirts of the Valant Kingdom.
The knights who rescued me from the forest told me that the man I first encountered was Karsan the hunter, my father.
Needless to say, I felt no sadness or mental shock from losing my father.
Infinite gratitude, regret, and sorrow for the benefactor who sacrificed his life to save me were all I felt.
And third, the treatment of refugees in this world was terrible.
Ryan's hometown, the Valant Kingdom, seemed to have fallen after being attacked by Purity.
As a result, I became a refugee, and most refugees, including myself, were used as soldiers to fight Purity's army.
For now, I was provided with a hospital bed, medicine, and meals due to my injuries from the forest, but I had just received notification from the doctor that I could be discharged.
"...Damn my life."
Living in South Korea, a ceasefire country, I never thought I would be dragged to a battlefield.
The sheer helplessness choked me.
It felt more terrible than when my older brother left home without a word and cut off contact.
"Hey, recruit."
The ward door opened, and a middle-aged soldier with his helmet tucked into his belt burst in.
Damn it, I was already being treated as a soldier.
His eyes, staring at me, were devoid of emotion.
"Stop feigning illness, get up, pack your bags, and come outside. I'll give you exactly five minutes."
"Understood."
I wasn't feigning illness; I was hospitalized based on a doctor's judgment.
But anyone who has served in the military knows that it's physically and mentally easier to just nod your head quietly than to argue about injustice.
After confirming that the soldier had left the ward, I immediately packed my bags.
"By the way, I never thought I'd go to the military twice in my life... If I was going to be possessed by a game, how great would it be if it were a game with dreams and romance like Pocket Monsters? Why did it have to be D&K?"
Compared to this place, the South Korean military was heaven... well, not quite, but relatively not bad.
Although the 18 months of wasted life were regrettable, at least the possibility of being dragged to a battlefield and fighting for my life was relatively low.
The soldier gave me five minutes, but I managed to pack all my belongings in less than a minute.
It wasn't because I was quick; it was because I had nothing to call luggage.
A refugee who escaped with only the clothes on their back after an enemy surprise bombardment at night couldn't possibly have any luggage.
Stepping out of the hospital, a scenery that was still hard to believe as reality greeted me, despite having made peace with myself.
A street with a peculiar atmosphere, as if the medieval and modern eras were intricately mixed, came into view.
When it was a game, I didn't think much of it, but it seemed that the era of this world was influenced not only by scientific development but also by magical development.
Whatever it was, my feelings were complicated.
Regardless, the soldier led me somewhere without paying any attention to my agitated expression.
The city was quite large.
Although there were significantly fewer high-rise buildings, the spacing between buildings was wide, and the roads were quite well-maintained.
After walking for a long time, we arrived at a three-story building in the center of the city.
There, people presumed to be in similar situations to mine, in other words, refugees from other countries, were lined up in a long queue.
The soldier placed me at the back of the line and then went somewhere.
I subtly looked around.
Among the anxious faces of the refugees, I saw the faces of soldiers.
However, there weren't many of them.
I could have escaped at any time.
But I hesitated.
'What would change if I ran away from here?'
To survive, a person needs food to fill their hungry stomach, clothes to protect them from rain and cold, and a place to rest their body.
Having only preserved my life from enemy bombardment, Ryan had none of the things I mentioned.
Nor did I have money to buy them.
I didn't even have any special skills to survive easily, and even if I did, I didn't have the basic common sense of this world to use them.
It was obvious I would just wander the streets begging, or die outside, or be caught again and thrown in prison... no, as a deserter, I would surely be executed.
I prided myself on knowing more about D&K than anyone else, but that was only about soldier training and combat.
In everyday matters like this, I was as blank as a sheet of paper.
"Hey, buddy. Go ahead."
As I was lost in thought, refugees had already lined up behind me.
The line was shrinking rapidly, and a fairly large empty space had formed in front of me.
"...Yes."
In the end, I had neither the ability nor the courage to change this undesirable reality.
I calmly accepted the reality given to me and slowly walked forward along the shrinking line.
It was only when the sun, which had been high in the sky, was about to touch the mountaintops that the packed line in front of me had completely disappeared.
Only then did I realize that at the end of this line was a door guarded by two soldiers.
"Next."
A slightly high-pitched male voice from beyond the door announced my turn.
I entered the room, guided roughly by the soldiers.
There were many people in the room.
A tired-looking man sat on the other side of a large table, with two people who appeared to be attendants on either side, and two knights standing behind him as if guarding him.
In D&K, knights were considered high-tier personnel.
The fact that two such knights were mobilized, and merely for guard duty, meant that this man was a very important figure.
'A magician?'
Perhaps thanks to the rich experience I gained through D&K, I could identify the man's identity just by his attire and aura.
If you were to ask what the trickiest enemy class was while playing D&K, ten out of ten would unanimously point to magicians.
D&K's magic was incredibly diverse.
Hence, their combat style was hard to predict.
Unlike typical games where a Level
1 magician throws fireballs, and a Level 2 magician casts lightning, it was just arbitrary.
Some would shake the ground, some would create beasts made of magical power, and some would launch invisible wind blades.
Since you wouldn't know what abilities they possessed before fighting, from a player's perspective, there was no enemy as troublesome and annoying as a magician.
A characteristic was that the magical aptitude, a prerequisite for becoming a magician, appeared only in the noble class.
For what reason was this esteemed individual here, meeting refugees?
Even in this situation, curiosity arose.
"Soldier. Sit here and place your hand on the plate."
"Understood."
My opponent was a privileged class who could end my life on a whim.
To avoid giving them any cause for complaint, I moved quickly.
As instructed by the magician, I sat down and placed my hand on an unidentified iron plate on the table.
It wasn't just a simple iron plate; as soon as I placed my hand on it, a faint green light emanated from it.
The magician also placed his hand on the iron plate, and a blue light flowing from his hand intertwined with the green light, filling the room.
"I hope this time it's a winner."
The magician muttered something I couldn't understand.
At that moment.
"...Huh?"
I involuntarily let out a foolish sound.
That's because a slight pain in my right eyeball was followed by something that shouldn't be seen starting to appear.
Name:Ryan Kaltz.
Level: 1.
Attribute: None.
Strength: 9 Agility: 7
Mentality: 15 Endurance: 11
Reflexes: 12 Resistance: 4
Mana: 0+0
Potential: Unknown.
Trainable:
"What is this..."
A translucent message appeared in thin air.
I knew what this was.
It was a system message that I had to see disgustingly often when training soldiers in D&K.
"Finally, a winner. Was this the second one today?"
The magician's right eye, shining cyan, seemed to be looking at the same thing as me, wearing an intrigued expression.
Conversely, my mind was extremely confused.
The system.
Wasn't this exclusively for players belonging to Purity?
Because they could use the differentiated function of the system, players could train mere soldiers into superhumans beyond human limits, i.e., heroes, and win against numerous enemies with a small number.
But why could an Alliance magician use the training system?
After much deliberation, the answer came.
'Version 1.1 update... Enemies can now use some of our combat systems... Could this be it?'
Thinking about it, this was incredibly good news for me.
Currently, I belonged to the Alliance, the enemy that a player was supposed to defeat, and I was merely a common soldier.
An Alliance soldier was nothing more than a minor mob.
They were mere existences that were swept away like autumn leaves with a single gesture from a fully trained, superhuman hero, providing pleasure to the player.
But the fact that the Alliance could now use D&K's training system, and that I could benefit from it, meant that my chances of survival in the upcoming battle had increased, even if only slightly.
It was good news.
At the same time, I let out a hollow laugh.
When I played D&K, that is, when I roamed the battlefields leading Odin, if I compared these stats to my player character's, they were so shameful that it wouldn't be strange to throw myself out the window.
That these were my abilities.
I was worried I might die a miserable death somewhere.
'...No, wait a minute.'
Speaking of Odin, a question suddenly arose.
'If this is the point after the 1.1 version update... Does that mean Odin's soldiers, whom I raised, might also exist in the rear of Purity's faction?'
Suddenly, Leysia, the red-eyed witch's last words came to mind.
[It would be wonderful if Master could come here.]
Surely they were meaningless words.
Just an expression of her feelings.
However, immediately after those words, my vision went dark, I saw terrifying red eyes, and when I opened my eyes again, I was on the continent of Asland.
Perhaps Leysia might be the key to solving my situation and these questions I was feeling.
The problem was that as a mere soldier of the Alliance, I had no way to contact Odin's airship, which was located in Purity's rearmost position.
"By the way, is it a mentality specialization..."
The magician's murmur broke my reverie.
The magician, who had been staring at my training message window for a long time, turned his gaze to the attendant standing beside him.
"From my perspective, the ability distribution is a bit disappointing, but since all refugees are more or less the same, let's move on. Which unit will this soldier be assigned to?"
"According to the order, he will join the 707th Unit, commanded by Viscount Leming."
"Oh dear..."
Only then did the magician's gaze turn to me.
"I don't know if the soldier is lucky or unlucky."
"May I ask what you mean by that?"
"It's a rare success. I'll spare you a little time."
The magician seemed to be in a good mood.
Taking his hand off the iron plate, the magician leaned back in the plush chair as if lying down, then slowly closed his eyes and began to speak.
"As the soldier knows, our Alliance is fighting an unfair battle. A knight of the Alliance spends a lifetime learning the sword, and a magician dedicates all their youth to learning magic. But Purity's soldiers are somehow strange. They raise ordinary villagers with no particular talent into superhumans in a very short time."
"That's..."
It was the influence of the training system.
I was about to say that but closed my mouth.
There would be no good in drawing attention to myself.
To survive, I must not forget that I am in the middle of enemy territory.
If I revealed the information, would they simply be happy?
Would they honestly value the information I provided and treat me accordingly?
No.
They would thoroughly investigate the source, and once I spilled everything, I would be branded a Purity spy and executed.
"Countless knights and magicians die to defeat one superhuman. But then, in a few months, a new superhuman is born again. While we have to wait anywhere from several years to several decades to replenish our lost personnel."
The magician touched his left shoulder.
Only then did I realize that the magician's left arm below the elbow was missing.
It had been covered by his voluminous robe, so I hadn't noticed it.
It seemed the magician before me was a retired soldier who had lost his arm on the battlefield.
"That's why we researched.
How those Purity bastards managed to raise superhumans in such an unreasonable amount of time.
There were many sacrifices.
But in the end, we found a way."
"..."
"They have the ability to forcibly inject magical power into commoners who are naturally incapable of possessing it.
Moreover, it's incredibly efficient, without any loss.
They call it the 'training system'.
We copied it and created new magic, and we applied it to you, soldier."
The magician stood up.
Then he extended his remaining hand, offering a handshake.
"I said earlier that the soldier was lucky, didn't I?
Congratulations.
I said it's possible to forcibly inject magical power, but not everyone can benefit from this system.
We have to test 1,000 people to find just one suitable candidate.
It's a kind of talent."
This meant I had broken through a 0.1% chance to receive the benefits of the training system.
Certainly, hearing this, I could tell I was lucky.
What then did he mean by unlucky?
Hiding my puzzled thoughts, I slowly took the magician's outstretched hand.
As if reading my mind, the magician grinned and continued speaking.
"And I also said the soldier was unlucky, didn't I?"
"That's right."
"The unit you'll be assigned to is the 707th Unit."
"...?"
"It's the front line."
"..."
I barely managed to suppress the curse words that rose to my throat.
Today, I once again realized that this world was by no means friendly to me.