Chapter 1 1: Ashen Empire (1/2)[1/4]

Read Chapter 00 for character img before continuing. I've created illustrations for some characters and will update them as new characters appear.

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[Thanks for Playing!]

As Renji looked at the screen showing a "congrats" message with fireworks, he took a deep breath and sighed.

The game he'd just finished was called <<Fallen Chronicles>>

It was a survival game set in a wasteland, Players took on the role of a leader guiding survivors. You had to find teammates, level up characters, build your own base, and face all sorts of disasters.

In this harsh world filled with mutated animals and a poisonous energy called "Tainted Miasma," the goal was to create a safe haven. The game offered tons of choices; its story would change based on what you decided to do. Plus, the graphics and design were top-notch. It seemed perfect in every way, but there was one catch—it was incredibly hard!

Resources were Limited, Terrifying monsters roamed the wasteland, and thieves hid in the shadows. And that was just the start! The game's unpredictable nature meant constant disasters, making it impossible to use a simple guide to beat it. Every player faced a unique set of challenges and events, so copying another person's strategy rarely worked.Continue reading on N0 VêLbIn

According to official statistics, the number of global players who had completed the game was less than a thousand.

And the number of players who achieved a "perfect clearance" completing all achievements, collections, and explorations, remained at zero.

'Oh, wait'

'That number should now be "1"'

At the end of the game, there was an additional CG image titled <Family Portrait> which summarizes his five strongest "Eclipse" characters of various professions nurtured by him during the game.

Eclipse was a specific term in "Fallen Chronicles"

It refers to people who were affected by Tainted energy of [Miasma] in the wasteland and experienced mutations while temporarily retaining their consciousness.

They were classified into five distinct professions based on their mutated abilities.

For players to establish themselves in the game, recruiting and nurturing powerful Eclipse Characters was of utmost importance and served as the core gameplay of the game.

As a qualified straight male, Renji naturally focused on cultivating his wives and aimed for a diverse family.

They transformed into "Base Defenders" with excellent weapon equipment, combining high defense and attack.

The two physical damage dealers who used to dominate the battlefield now struggled to leave a mark.

Renji had no choice but to put them into 'storage', strip them of their resources, and invest everything into his new characters, namely the Succubus Lena and the elf knight Miyuki.

The former possessed powerful Mind abilities, effortlessly dealing with heavily armored enemies, while the latter's natural magic and shields provided Renji with solid defense and output capabilities, withstanding the enemies' terrifying firepower.

Only after the final wasteland faction was defeated and surrendered did Renji truly achieve the unification of the entire wasteland.

[Ashen Empire]

That was when it was officially established.

By the way, "Ashen" was the ID Renji chose for himself in the game.

After integrating the forces of various races, Renji, as the "Emperor of Ashen" led his army to reclaim the territories occupied by monsters step by step, declaring war on the source of the wasteland and the root cause of the disaster [ Tainted Miasma ]

However...

Despite becoming immensely powerful and having an abundance of resources far surpassing the initial struggles for survival, Renji found himself lacking the joy he felt at the beginning of the game. The interaction between him and the Eclipses he had raised drastically diminished.

Firstly, as the all-out war with the wasteland monsters began, the role of the army outweighed individual strength.

Secondly, as Renji became very powerful and comprehensive as the "protagonist" he no longer needed to rely on his Eclipses Wives in battle.

Instead, it made more sense to have them work behind the scenes. They used their special skills to make his empire and cities run more smoothly.

Let's Take Suthia, for example:

lightsnοvεl [Light of Darkness (increases with level): Placing "Suthia" in a "Church" type building provides the city with +15% resistance to Tainted energy and reduces Eclipse's berserk rate by 10%.]

[Divine Heal (increases with level): When "Suthia" is in the backline (not in the combat lineup), the camp's disease and plague occurrence rate is reduced by 30%.]

So putting them in 'storage' didn't mean he was totally giving up on them. Even if they weren't fighting, their special skills were still super useful. Renji kept giving them resources and considered them an important part of his team.