Midnight.
On the silent streets of Chiba, the soft rhythm of hooves echoed through the empty city.
A tall, powerful steed with curved horns atop its head moved at an easy pace, its presence utterly out of place against the backdrop of concrete sidewalks and glowing traffic lights. The faint shimmer of spectral energy clung to its form, as though it did not fully belong to this world.
"Just ahead, Torrent. Slow down a little."
Seated upon the spirit steed was a black-haired young man cloaked in dark fabric, a silver staff in his hand crowned with a faint blue gleam. His calm gaze locked onto a small humanoid creature in the distance—a hunched figure clutching a cleaver, its body twisted and unnatural beneath the streetlights.
The young man raised his staff.
A pulse of azure magic surged outward, condensing into a dark streak of sorcery that tore through the night like a falling star.
"Night Comet."
The spell struck first despite being cast second, accelerating with terrifying precision. The dark comet pierced cleanly through the creature's skull.
A short, broken shriek escaped it before the body collapsed lifelessly onto the asphalt.
Torrent trotted forward. The young man flicked his staff once more, conjuring a molten sphere that dropped onto the corpse. In seconds, flames consumed the remains, leaving nothing but drifting ash.
"Done. Let's head back, Torrent."
The spirit steed snorted softly and resumed its light run.
No one witnessed what had just occurred.
Ten minutes later, the door of a three-story detached house opened quietly. The young man stepped inside, switched on the lights, and settled onto the living room sofa. With a relaxed motion, he picked up the remote and turned on the television, as though nothing unusual had happened.
His name was Luo Yu.
A transmigrator.
This was the second world he had come to.
In his first life, a traffic accident had ended everything. When he opened his eyes again, he had awakened in the world of a game he knew all too well—Elden Ring—as the very protagonist: a Tarnished.
Having cleared the game twice in his previous life—including the challenging expansion—Luo Yu had not been completely helpless upon arrival. Though fear lingered at the edges of his mind, he endured. Relying on his memory of the game's routes, bosses, and hidden paths, he began his long journey across The Lands Between.
He adapted.
He survived.
Beginning as a Vagabond, he met Melina, obtained the Spectral Steed Whistle that summoned Torrent, and eventually encountered the Lunar Princess, Ranni.
Naturally, he chose Ranni's path.
Countless deaths. Endless battles. Victories earned through blood and persistence. After a long and arduous journey, he defeated Radagon and the Elden Beast, ushering in the Age of the Stars alongside Ranni.
As for the events that followed…
That was a rather absurd tale.
Miquella, in a twisted scheme, stole Mohg's corpse and carried off Radahn's soul, recreating a younger version of Radahn at his peak strength. What followed was a cataclysmic battle against Luo Yu, the reigning Elden Lord.
But Luo Yu was no longer bound by the constraints of a mere game.
If two stood against him, could he not summon his own god?
He called upon Ranni.
Together, they struck down the one who sought to manipulate the world through charm and false divinity, ending Miquella's grand design once and for all.
Only after that did Luo Yu consider his conquest complete.
Yet at the moment the ending should have sealed his fate, a familiar force—identical to the one that had drawn him into The Lands Between—swallowed him whole.
When he regained consciousness, he stood in a modern world.
This world.
The name Luo Yu belonged to his identity here—a wealthy young man with a spacious home and deceased parents. No complicated family dynamics to adjust to. No lingering attachments.
As for the one who had ushered in the Age of the Stars with him—
Luo Yu lowered his gaze to the coffee table before him.
There sat a small witch doll, dressed in familiar attire.
The doll slowly raised its head, movement limited but unmistakably deliberate.
"My king," Ranni's voice emerged calmly from the small body. "You are thinking improper thoughts again, are you not?"
Luo Yu chuckled. "Of course not. I was merely considering how to restore you as soon as possible."
"It is already fortunate that I can remain like this," Ranni replied evenly. "That passage allowed only you to pass through. It was fortunate you had preserved one of my spare vessels. I was able to anchor my soul within it and follow you into this unfamiliar world."
Ranni had long abandoned her original demigod flesh on the Night of the Black Knives. For ages, she had acted through crafted doll bodies. This smaller vessel differed only in scale.
Luo Yu lifted her gently and placed her upon his lap, meeting her gaze.
"Even so, since you came with me, I want you to truly live again. Fortunately, this world is not as ordinary as it appears. Strange beings exist in the shadows—and creatures from The Lands Between appear here as well. Once I complete my research, I will craft a new body for you."
Granting Ranni a complete vessel was essential.
After all, having one's wife remain in doll form indefinitely was… inconvenient.
Ranni did not seem particularly urgent about it.
"Set my matter aside for now," she said instead. "What of your investigation into this world's supernatural forces?"
Luo Yu lightly tapped the brim of her witch hat.
"Tonight I eliminated two cursed spirits and one Misbegotten. The cursed spirits are peculiar—ordinary humans cannot perceive them, and they possess various strange abilities. The ones I encountered were weak, so I cannot yet determine the upper limit of their strength. But it does not concern me."
His tone remained calm.
"No matter how strong they become, they are insignificant before the Dark Moon Greatsword you gifted me."
With a thought, Luo Yu summoned the familiar status screen of a Tarnished.
Luo Yu
Level: 559
Vigor: 70
Mind: 70
Endurance: 60
Strength: 70
Dexterity: 60
Intelligence: 99
Faith: 70
Arcane: 60
For someone who had completed only a single cycle of the world, such a level was absurdly high.
But Luo Yu had lived in The Lands Between.
To survive in reality rather than through respawns, he had farmed Runes relentlessly, raising his attributes to extreme heights. His current build allowed him to wield virtually every weapon and shield he had collected—truly the culmination of a master-of-arms approach.
With power like this, danger was unlikely.
All that remained was careful research and the crafting of Ranni's new body. After that, the two of them could live peacefully in this world.
Just as Luo Yu allowed himself to imagine such a future, Ranni glanced at the clock on the wall.
"My king, it grows late. You have school tomorrow, do you not? If you fail to attend, someone may come knocking."
Silence fell.
Luo Yu stared at the ceiling.
He had conquered The Lands Between. He had become Elden Lord.
And now—
He still had to go to school?