1 - The first episode, "Game."

The progress of science is remarkable.

What used to be something to be admired in the past has now become something to be taken for granted.

The game industry is no exception.

In fact, it could even be said that the game industry is a field where it is relatively easy to realize such < and .

There is even one game company that has used the latest technology to create <> that could only be expressed in two dimensions, but that's just for fun.

The point is that there has always been a certain group of people who have longed for fantasy, science fiction, and other imaginary worlds.

Thankfully, those people in the past have created them in reality, albeit in the form of games.

He (she), who has just graduated from high school and is living a carefree college life, is also benefiting from it.

The fourth generation of Virtual Reality System (VRS) games, commonly referred to as "full-sensory projection type".

It is based on a revolutionary brainwave-reading electronic device operation technology called BC Brain Control NI Nano Interface. --In short, it is a type of game that uses a mechanism to read the player's thoughts and output them into virtual reality.

In addition to outputting information, the "full-sensory projection" system also includes a mechanism for receiving stimulus information from the virtual reality, thus realizing a new function of feeding back the player's "five senses" beyond the visual and auditory senses.

In other words, the "full-sensory projection system" can provide the player with a second world - a complete virtual reality.

As a result, VR 《virtual reality》 games based on the full-sensory projection method became very popular, and many titles were created, which caused a worldwide craze.

One of them was a game titled [Tactics Chronicle].

As you can guess from the title to some extent, it is a strategic simulation type of boxyard game.

You start a country, raise a country, defend a country, attack a country, and eventually become a superpower.

The genre of "strategic SLG (simulation game)" itself is a good old genre that has existed for a long time if it is played offline in single-player mode.

However, this work (title) has the fantasy element of <>, and is characterized by a game style that is somewhat similar to an RPG.

This was the first game in this genre to use the "full-sensory projection" method, and the fact that it was released by a game company with a reputation for being extremely thorough in its production made it well received by the public.

Tactics Chronicle], which was postponed three times and made users impatient, grabbed the hearts of many players.

It is no exaggeration to say that it is a masterpiece of the level that there are only a few of them a year.

--Of course I'll buy it.

He (he) mutters to himself in an empty room.

I don't mean to make excuses to anyone, but it's normal to line up the night before the release date to buy it.

He had been anticipating this game for quite some time, since the titles released by this game company are famous for not disappointing their core users. That is why he was so angry and sad when he saw the news that the release date had been postponed for the third time.

Finally, he got the game and he was hooked (・・・・). He was hooked. He was so immersed in the world of [Tactics Chronicle] that he didn't have time to play other games.

I can still vividly remember the day I first played the game.

On the first day of its release, he was still in junior high school at the time, and as soon as he got his hands on the game, he headed home with the speed and agility of a member of the track and field team. As soon as he jumped into his room, he laid himself down in the dive pod, and Tsukasa Misaki, or "Helian" as he was known by his character name, landed on the land of Tactics Chronicle as a king.

Magnificent prairies spread as far as the eye can see.

A wooden hut built in the middle of it all.

This is the land where the King of Helian ruled ......[Alkimaira].

The first thing he felt was the wind.

The feel of a soft green breeze caressing his cheek.

The sound of the wind caressing the tall grass reaches his ears with an echo similar to that of a ripple.

Then the scent of flowers and the earth.

And then the overwhelming presence of the meadow spreading out before his eyes.

It was a reality that even impressed him, as he had only played console games of the third generation or earlier.

"-Well, let's start building up the country. Our adventure starts here!

I will never forget the day when I ran out into the empty meadow like a child who could not contain his excitement, shouting such lines.

Thus, Helian, leading three demons, took a memorable first step into the [Tactics Chronicle].

--Several years have passed since then in real time.

Alkymyra], led by King Helian, has developed and sometimes nearly perished, survived the turbulent times that unfolded with other players, and through twists and turns, has grown into a superpower, a world champion.

And today, as usual, Helian logged on to the game and was greeted by a host of demons who had gathered in the capital to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the country.

+ + +

"Oh, it's a spectacular sight indeed."

Helian, the king of Alkimaira, let out a gasp of admiration.

From the balcony of the castle, I looked down on the town.

There, the famous demons that had been scattered all over the world were gathering one after another in the great plaza of the capital city, leading their own armies.

Beastmen, demons, ogres, giants, elves, dwarves, dragons.

As I watched the various other races gradually gathering, I was deeply moved as if I could see the results of my efforts. It is also enjoyable just to watch the legions that have been placed at each base marching in an orderly fashion to the battlefields.

In this game, the effect of [event] was to raise the morale of the corps, the level of loyalty, and the happiness of the people according to the degree of achievement of the event.

In addition, since the commemorative ceremony, the National Celebration, falls under the category of [Special Event], its effect is quite high. There is no way not to do this.

In addition, it would also reduce the rebelliousness of the recently annexed ogre faction, thus killing two birds with one stone.

The ogre faction has a lot of guts to pick a fight with us at this time of year when the heads of the military forces are all gathered here.

I mean, even for an ogre of low intelligence, it was a reckless thing to do.

What was the boss ogre thinking, who was leading only a force that could be easily subdued even if there was no corps leader at all?

......Well, I can only say that the AI loaded on the boss auger was particularly stupid.

"Oh, the Eighth Legion is here too. Dragons stand out after all."

The figure of a dragon swoops down from the sky above.

The dragons, which threaten to burn the city to the ground, descend into the plaza of [Alkimaira] in herds.

It may look like hell to some people, but the leader of the herd is the red dragon, the leader of the 8th Legion, and in other words, this herd of dragons is also a part of the army of [Alkymyla].

"I'd better get ready for the event to start.

With the swarm of dragons descending upon us, we turn on our heels.

I think back on the many hardships I went through in adding the prideful dragons to my army, and I am mildly moved by how far my country has come.

I then went to my office, switched my equipment to ceremonial use, and after killing a few minutes or so, I checked the to see that the various corps had finished lining up. Various stage sets to enhance the effect of the speech have been set up. The time is now ripe.

Then, it is about time for "her" to arrive.

Helian, who is familiar with the behavior patterns of the NPCs (Non-Player Characters) he has assigned to the king's entourage, hums a countdown to the door of his office.

"5......,4......,3......,2......,1......"

With a zero count, a subdued knocking sound.

<

"Excuse me, King Helian."

A quiet voice announces that a woman of around 20 years old has entered the room.

Her semi-long silver hair was cut into a wolf cut, and her slit eyes peeking out from her bangs had an amber light in them. She was tall for a woman, standing about 170cm tall. Her posture and straight back remind us of a <.

On her upper body, she was wearing only a body gown with a cloth wrapped around her from the left shoulder through her chest, leaving her right shoulder and navel exposed.

On the lower half of her body, she wears only a loin cloth (loin cloth) wrapped around her waist like an ethnic-style skirt on top of a subliga protecting the outer thighs, which gives the impression of a lot of exposed skin overall.

However, this is the result of emphasizing mobility in accordance with her style that favors melee combat, and all of these items are clearly first-rate pieces of armor.

Also, on the top of her head, as if to indicate that she was a wolf-like beastman, her triangular dog ears stuck out from between her hair. In addition, a large, fluffy tail sprouted from her waist and waved loosely from side to side.

She is Leewe of Managarum, the moon wolf who is a close aide of the king and the leader of the First Army.

"Preparations for the [ceremony] of the [national celebration] are ready. Please move to the platform."

She bows her head politely to Helian, the king (player), as she utters a line automatically formed by combining several important keywords.

"[I understand]. Thank you."

Helian felt a slight sense of emptiness that he had perfectly timed his greeting, but that was probably because he was taking the game so seriously.

It's only a game, but it's a game. is Helian's motto.

"Now, let's move to the podium. Follow me."

"[Yes, sir.

Levee, the head of the first corps, follows behind Hélien as he leaves his office, following his verbalized .

I was impressed at first by the well-designed AI, Herian recalls fondly the day he started playing.

Perhaps he is getting a bit sentimental on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the country.

(Now, what should I say in my speech?)

As I walk, I try to think of lines for my speech.

No matter what I say, the result of the action of the is always the same, but it is precisely because I am concerned about it that I am able to immerse myself more deeply in the world and enjoy the experience.

Time is a finite consumption, and it should be used effectively and intensively. In other words, we should enjoy it to the fullest.

（Okay. Let's do it Major style this year. (Okay, this year I'm going to go with the Major's style...)

It was in the corridor on the way to the podium that Helian made up his mind to do so, and then it happened.

"...... yeah?"

Noise flickered at the edges of my vision.

I peeked into the system window, wondering if the connection rate with the dive equipment had dropped, but it remained at normal values.

While tilting my head, I began to hear noises.

"Oh, come on, why at this time again? It's a ceremonial event and you're supposed to be ...... making sure you're on top of it. Not only our country, but many other countries are holding their own national celebration events.

Helian stops with a sigh and says, "Well, it'll be fixed in a while.

He stood still and waited for the noise to subside.

"--?　What the hell?

Suddenly, my sense of balance is off.

The red carpet in the hallway shakes in my vision.

I felt as if I had been thrown into an old-generation drum-type washing machine.

My sense of balance, up and down, left and right, has been shaken so badly that I can hardly stand up properly. He sat down on the corridor.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what is this?

I try to scream, but the inexplicable phenomenon does not stop.

This time, right after I felt a momentary floating sensation, a shock hit my entire body as if I had been pushed up from below. It was as if the car in which I was riding had flown slightly and fallen.

As if on cue, my sense of balance finally began to return to normal. The noise subsides again, and after a good ten seconds or so, my vision and hearing stabilize.

"It finally stopped. ....... What the hell was that? Was it a bug?　You don't think this is a natural disaster event, do you?"

I get up, complaining.

It's not nice to have an event that spoils a beautiful day.

"Mr. Helian!　Are you all right?

Lieve comes running up to her and carefully inspects Helian's body from top to bottom.

He seems to be trying to examine her to see if she is injured.

"Hmm?　Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

The fact that the NPCs immediately reacted to the situation suggests that this phenomenon is not a bug of any kind. This means that it is most likely a natural disaster event.

From the impact we saw earlier, it could be a major earthquake, or perhaps a falling meteorite.

Either way, it is a nasty natural disaster. It will damage a wide range of facilities, take a long time to recover, and lower the happiness of the citizens.

I look outside the castle, wondering if it is today of all days.

Then I notice that the view from the corridor window has changed drastically.

"Where is ......?"

The castle town is alive and well. That's good. A quick look around reveals no collapsed buildings and no fires. No craters, of course.

So what is the problem?

Beyond the walls that cover the castle town, a place that should be nothing but a wide grassy plain was stained with a dense, deep forest. It looked like some kind of jungle or sea of trees.

"......What is this? Is this some kind of terrain interference type of super magic?

No, but the Third and Fourth Legions are in the capital right now.　It's absolutely impossible for a single chanting to break through their cooperative chanting boundary.

And since there's even a 6th Legion, there's no way they can't detect in advance something that stands out like an idiot like group chanting or ritual chanting ......."

This is not the work of a hostile force.

And yet, suddenly the capital is covered in forest.

"A natural cataclysmic event?　Or is it a test of God event?"

Either way, it's still a bonus.

"This is ......!

Rieve, standing a little behind me, muttered something that sounded like a shudder. From the looks of it, it seems that the bad status [Fear] has been applied.

That's unusual.

She has "Dauntless" in her "Characteristics", so she should be resistant to it, but even so, it's a highly influential event that causes her to fall into "Fear".

This is troubling.

"Calm down, Liewe. I'm going back to the office. Follow me."

He instructs Levee to follow him in and heads for his office.

The office is furnished with a pearl, an item for communication. As soon as he arrives at the room, he touches the large jewel on the side table and immediately activates it.

This will allow you to communicate with the other locations where the bead is placed.

First of all, he tries to connect (access) to the nearest base to see how far this event has affected,

"......?　Unaccessible?　No, the "list" of connection options doesn't appear in the first place?"

I wonder why.

This has never happened to me before.

Inaccessible is still good. It has happened before that a base has already been invaded or jammed by a hostile force, making it inaccessible.

But what does it mean that there is no option to connect to the site?

Helian wonders, and opens .

"...... huh?

It's not there. It's not here. No, the map itself was there, but it did not show even a single location under his control.

On the contrary, the entire area outside of the capital was grayed out, indicating unexplored areas.

The world map, which was supposed to have been completed after searching every nook and cranny of the world, was stained gray, with only the capital city drawn in the middle of the map.

Is this a real bug?

There is no place in Archimyra, which has become a superpower, that has not been explored ......,

"I've heard that before. As I recall, a world is only one continent, and there may or may not actually be multiple worlds on a single planet. ......"

This game [Tactics Chronicle] had a system in which a certain number of players participated in several worlds, instead of all players in one open world.

And there are as many ways to enjoy this game as there are players.

Although the basic concept of "to grow one's subordinates to become a superpower" has to be followed, there are many different styles of play. Therefore, each world has its own characteristics as time goes by.

In one world, there was a player who, since the establishment of his country, had been a fool, leaving the military side alone and devoting all of his national power to domestic affairs.

The name is [Zank Kingdom]......, which seems to be a parody of a non-warlike nation from an old robot anime.

And there seemed to be many players in the world who enjoyed it, and [ZankKingdom] continued on its path as a domestic policy power, specializing in domestic policy such as technological research, while being protected by several neighboring countries.

And then they left for space.

<

.

<>.

>

The dedicated bulletin board became a festival, and there was a flurry of shouting and chatting.

The super-civilized nation [Zank Kingdom] observed a planet from a magic satellite floating in the stratosphere, and discovered another continent.

The continent was about the same size as their own continent, and although it was jammed and could not be seen clearly, they confirmed several nation-like entities.

In other words, the inference that there might actually be several continents "worlds" in one world "server", which had been thought of only as < until then, surfaced.

Unfortunately, [Alkimayla], led by Helian, has not discovered another continent.

They have not been able to break through the distant seas due to the great storms that have been constantly occurring since the creation of the world, and they have not even been able to confirm that the world is still round.

However, it would not be surprising if there is another continent beyond the storm.

And the fact that the that Helian is looking at right now is tinted in gray, indicating areas that have not been explored, is likely to indicate the fact that [Alkimaira], which he is ruling, is an unknown continent that he has not been able to explore at all.

After all, this is ......,

"Forced Transfers?　Are you saying that the entire capital was transferred to some continent in the Trial of God event?　Wow, seriously?"

I hate the game's management team for putting this on the heels of a major event like the National Celebration of the Founding of the Nation.

"......No, wait!"

However, if we change our mindset, we cannot say that this is a bad event in general.

It has been a long time since our country [Alkimaira] became a superpower. There are no unexplored territories left, and for the past few decades in game time, we have been engaged only in wars with the Allies and domestic affairs, and have not had any adventures of an adventurous nature.

However, if new unexplored areas have emerged here, we have no choice.

It is quite an exciting situation to explore again in search of new countries and resources.

Perhaps it was because I was thinking back to the first day of gameplay and reminiscing about those days when I was opening up the unknown with my own hands, that I was able to change my mindset surprisingly easily.

And look at it this way.

Although the country's forces had been dispersed to various bases, the corps commanders and their main forces had been called back to the capital for the national celebration.

Starting over on a new continent is, so to speak, a "strong new game.

There is a concern that there may be other major powers of existing players in this continent.

On the other hand, however, the forces I have are the elite of Alkimaira, the superpower that has become a complete power in [World #3]. There are many ways to do it.

Then, ......

--The king and his elites are sent to a new continent at the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the nation.

--But the elite army led by the king performed remarkably well on the new continent.

--With unknown resources in hand, they make a triumphant return to the old continent, where their beloved people await them.

Oh...

If you try to envision the future, this is quite an exciting event.

"ku...... ku,ku"

I can't stop the excitement.

I'm ready to give it a shot.

A stifled smile breaks out from the corner of Hellian's mouth.

"Heh, Mr. Helian?　Can I help you?"

Rieve gives me an anxious look.

It was a fresh expression and gesture I had never seen before.

I had never seen such an expression and gesture before. ...... I see, Levee becomes so calm when she is in a state of [fear].

It's not a bad thing that there is a gap between her normal appearance and this. And the gestures are quite realistic. The AI team of the operator is doing a very good job.

"Rieve. It seems that our country's [capital] was [forced] to [shift] by [event]. Then, first of all, it is necessary to grasp the current situation of the country.

I will now send the minimum instructions to each corps. You should also contact [each corps leader], gather [information], and try to [grasp] [the current situation]."

"......!　Yes, sir. As you wish."

He bowed deeply and watched Levee leave, displaying a touch-panel projection display in the air.

He calls up the Tactical Window, which is used to send out orders, and sends out instructions to each corps in rapid succession.

The First Corps, as in the past, assists Wang Helian.

The 2nd Corps is responsible for confirming the safety of the residents and maintaining security.

The Third Corps will treat the wounded and check and maintain the capital's wards along the outer walls.

The Fourth Corps is in charge of looking outside the city by means of magic and conducting surveys.

The 5th corps will support the 2nd corps and provide first aid with the 7th corps in case of damaged facilities.

The 6th Corps will cooperate with the 4th Corps and concentrate on gathering information inside and outside the city.

The VII Corps will inspect and repair the facilities.

The VIII Corps will conduct reconnaissance from the skies over the capital area and keep a watchful eye on the surrounding area.

However, all corps are strictly forbidden to take any action that might provoke foreign countries.

The first priority is to understand the current situation in Japan.

With this as the basic policy, the rest is to respond flexibly according to the instructions of the corps commanders.

After issuing a series of orders, he rests his weight on the back of his chair and looks up at the ceiling.

"This is getting interesting ......!"

In the empty office, Helian smiles a challenging smile.