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Tl: Sam

…

　All my precious memories were in the game.

　When I was in elementary school, I stopped going to school. I didn’t have any friends, and I didn’t go outside anymore.

　I don’t really remember why.

　I think it was because I was bullied or something like that.

　My parents were concerned about me until I was in junior high school.

　But by the time my former classmates became high school students, my parents had given up on me and stopped talking to me.

　The fact that I was able to grow up without having my heart broken is definitely thanks to games.

　｜The Heroic Tales of the Seven Swords Knight “Seven Knights Online,” a full-dive MMOPRG.(Tl: Basically a 5 senses VR game)

　It is a monstrous game with over 80 million accounts.

　The graphics are so beautiful that they look like reality.

　The immersive experience makes it hard to believe that you are playing a game.

　A wonderful historical setting and an exciting royal fantasy feel.

　And above all, the presence of …… reliable and trustworthy friends, the 《 Players 》.

　I devoted my youth or rather…… my life to this game.

　Ever since I first put on my FD goggles and went into the game world, my heart has been trapped in this virtual space.

　I really, really enjoyed it.

　I have countless memories of defeating strong enemies with my friends, debating whether this equipment is strong or weak, fighting wars with other guilds, and so on.

　I was so moved that I still cry in my dreams when we won the All Guilds Unification Tournament and stood at the top of all the guilds.

　Yes, our guild, the Silver Knights, was the strongest.

　It was the strongest. —-

“The Stabilizer is now normalized and the next step is to repair the anti-gravity device. …… I wonder if we have enough materials for this.”

　I struggled while glaring at the operation screen 《 Console 》 floating in front of me.

　Right now, I’m inside the base of the guild 『 Silver Knights 』, 『 Silver Castle 《White SIlver Castle》 Regalia 』.

　　Unlike ordinary castles, The SIlver Castle is a so-called 『 floating fortress 』 that allows you to float and move through the air.

　Even in Seven Knights Online, where fantastical things are everywhere, floating fortresses are rare. In fact, so far only this castle has been found, and my guild has a monopoly on it.

　It is no exaggeration to say that with this castle alone, our guild ruled the skies.

　｜The attacks that are launched into the sky are weakened by the effects of gravity, as there is a gravity setting in “Seven Knights Online. However, attacks from the sky are accelerated and become more powerful under the influence of gravity.

　The advantages of dominating the sky need not be explained in detail.

　However, this castle, the most powerful base of operations, does have a drawback.

　It is the 『 maintenance cost 』.

　Just by floating, the Silver Castle consumes a lot of energy and materials.

　Some of these materials are rare ores, and it is quite laborious to collect and replenish them.

　In addition, if the equipment is left running, it begins to break down. To repair them, you need materials, so you have to keep accumulating supplies.

　When all the guild members were present, we all turned out to collect materials, and we could afford to do so at all. However,

“Now it’s just me. It’s hard for me to do this work alone. ……”

　The 13-member Silver Knights is now left with only me.

　The other members are no longer in this game world. Everyone has returned to the real world.

“Nothing lasts forever, I should have known that.”

　The glory days of the guild.

　We were the best and the strongest. We could achieve everything we wanted, and we knew nothing was impossible.

　And I thought that time would last forever. But I was wrong.

“…… hmm?”

　Suddenly, a red “!” mark suddenly appeared on the operation screen 《Console》.

　When I tapped it, to my surprise, information appeared that there were other players in the Silver Castle.

“There are two intruders and the location is the garden. With this many people, they can’t be here to pick a fight, can they?”

　This White Silver Castle is an unbreakable castle that once annihilated an allied force of ten guilds. Even though it’s weaker now than it was then, it’s unthinkable that two people would be looking to pick a fight.

“I mean, how come we didn’t notice it until it was invaded?　What’s the defense system doing ……, it’s off because it’s out of energy. Damn, I guess I deserved it.”

　Swearing, I headed for the garden.

　I don’t know what they’re doing here, but it’s the Silver Knights’ way to entertain to the fullest, whether friendly or hostile.

　I put on my full-plate armor, which shines white and silver, and a silver sword at my waist.

　This armor and sword are mythic-grade items that rank quite high even among the countless items in “Seven Knights Online”.

　In exchange for its high performance, the conditions for obtaining it are quite strict. It’s an item that every knight in the game would drool over and covet.

“…… them.”

　I went out to the garden and found two players.

　Not much equipment. They’re not wearing any high-end gear, just stuff you can get at a store or by completing a simple quest.

“Let’s have a look. Strength Information Vision 《 Appraisal 》”

　Activate magic to see into the opponent’s information.

　In this game, how much information you gather before you fight determines the outcome. Even if your opponent has better equipment, there are many ways to win if you know that information.

“Both of them are around 80. Aren’t you still beginners?”

　If you play this game for 200 hours, you will reach the maximum level of 100.

　Of course, it doesn’t end there. There are many ways to become stronger, such as raising your job level, strengthening your equipment, and changing your race.

　The game starts at level 100, and the tutorial is written in the strategy wiki that it is a tutorial until that point.

　In other words, these guys in front of me are beginners who have not played for 200 hours.

　It is …… humiliating to have them step on the cobblestones of the White Silver Castle. I feel sad and helpless.

“I can’t stay depressed forever……. If they wandered in, let them politely leave, and if they entered with malicious intent, let them disappear.”

　I invoked some magic just in case and then appeared in front of them.

　Then the two players raise their weapons and point their blades at me.

“Oh, who are you?　Are you a self-defense doll 《Golem 》?”

“No, I am not. I am a player.”

　The two intruders seem relieved as they loosen their grip on their weapons.

　If it had been a “golem,” it would have been an immediate battle. Incidentally, there is a Golem in this castle as well. However, since it continues to consume energy during activation, it is currently in dormant “sleep” mode. It’s a hard world.

“Let’s see, you’re the guy from the guild that owns this castle…… right?”

“Yes, that’s right. What do you want with this castle?　I don’t remember sending you an invitation.”

　The two players trembled as they said this.

　The Silver Knights are a vigilante guild whose motto is “Crush the wicked, Help the weak. Attacking other players for no reason, or so-called “player kills,” are not allowed. Even if I am the only one left in the guild, I have to abide by this rule.

　However, if the other party is an intruder, that rule is a different story.

　I would never allow anyone to tarnish this place where the memories of my friends are left behind.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute!　We just happened to see a flying castle and thought it was a dungeon!　We have no intention of attacking the guild!”

“Yes, yes, yes!　We’re going to leave after the cool time for the Fly, so can you give us a minute?”

　I allowed, “Yeah, that’s totally fine”.

　In fact, they didn’t look like players who had come to take down the Silver Castle.

　They probably just happened to see the castle, which had run out of energy and lost its camouflage “stealth” function and was now completely visible, and came in with a light heart.

　The movements of a real player and a beginner are different. If they’re acting like beginners in disguise, they’re doing a great job.

“Can I ask you a few questions while I recover my magic?”

“……, yeah, sure.”

　”Act nice to newbies,” was the motto of the former guild leader, Arup-san, who is no longer with us.

　I shared that belief. It’s pretty heartbreaking to face unreasonable treatment right after you start playing a game.

　There were many people in the Silver Knights who had been hurt by unreasonable experiences in games and in real life. That is why we set up a guild to help the weak. I wanted to be the one who could save the weak, at least in a fictional game.

“This castle is amazing, isn’t it? It must be a lot of work to run it, right?”

“Well, …… it is in its own way.”

“But I don’t see many people in it. Are there a lot of people inside?”

“No, I’m the only one running this castle. There is no one else.”

　The player opens his mouth thinly and smiles faintly when I say so.

　It is a dirty smile that a greedy person would show. I’ve seen this look before, in games and in real life.

“I see, you’re the only one here. How …… careless of you!”

　One of the players said and stabbed me in the stomach with the sword in his hand 《・・・・》.

　Another player immediately shouts, 《Leo Fire》 ! and he hits me with a lion-shaped flame.

“I’m sorry, I have nothing against you, but I’m going to take what’s in this castle.”

“This is too much for one person to own, right?”

　The two players then laugh at my fallen alter ego.

　They are really …… a very conceited group of people.

“If you think you can defeat me with such a poor attack, it’s shocking. I was just going to let you return alive,…….”

　When I appeared, the two players opened their eyes wide in surprise.

“Why ……?”

“High-ranking magic・｜Solid Illusion 《 Reality Phantom 》. I’m not so foolish as to go in unprotected to players who may or may not be friend or foe.”

　I honestly don’t think their attacks will be able to break through my armor and do any damage.

　But if there is even a 1% chance of that, it is best to be cautious. That’s how we made the White Silver Knights so big.

“You —-!”

　The player with the sword comes running toward me with it again.

　It seems that he has no other means of attack than his sword. I aim at the player coming toward me and snap my fingers, activating my magic.

“《 Slash! 》”

　With a sound like scraping metal, both of the legs of the guy who was coming at me are severed.

　The guy on the ground doesn’t seem to understand what’s happening, and desperately tries to stand on his own feet, but of course it doesn’t work.

“How can you use a sub-magic like 《 Slash 》 to do something like that?”

　It is true that 《 slash 》 is the first magic that knights learn. It is not very powerful.

　However, if you shoot it at areas where defense is weak, such as cuts in armor or sutures, it has plenty of power.

　Equipping strong armor and being proud of it is something a fourth-rate player would do.

　But only a few of the players of Seven Knights Online are able to narrow down the target of their magic to such a small area.

“Hey, help me!”

“Hold on, I’m recovering —- now.”

　I snap my fingers once more and activate the “Cutting 《Slash》”.

　I cut off the head of the player who was trying to heal his friends.

“Mipu!”

　The head rolls on the ground with an inaudible voice.

　If the head falls, the player’s strength is forced to zero. The headless player’s body becomes a particle of light and disappears. All that remains is a piece of equipment the player was wearing. I’ll take it, though I doubt it’s very rare.

“Uh-uh. ……”

　The player whose leg was amputated is rolling on the ground, fiddling with the console.

　Since there is no recovery by magic, they are probably trying to recover with the recovery medicine 《Potion》. I cut off the arm that was operating the operation screen 《 Console》 with my sword to stop it.

“Gah!”

　The intruder “Player” distorts his face in pain.

　This game does not have a function to reproduce the sense of pain, but when you take damage, you feel a peculiar discomfort. In addition, the discomfort increases considerably when the player sees that a part of the body is missing. Some people even say they feel pain.

　I grab the rolling player by the hand and lift it up. Then I walk to the edge of the garden and take the player’s body out of the castle.

　This castle is a floating castle in the sky, and if I let go of the player’s hand, he will fall headlong to the ground several hundred meters below.

“Oh, come on!　If you’re going to drop me from here, you might as well just give me a normal kill!”

“That’s not terrifying enough. If I let you off easy, you’ll come after me again, won’t you?”

“No, don’t. —-“

　I release my hand quickly and drop the intruder down.

　The player falls according to the gravity engine installed in the game, and in no time at all he is out of sight. If there was a lake below, the damage from the fall would be mitigated to some extent, but at this height, even if it were mitigated, it would not be enough to withstand the fall.

“Now that the evil has been defeated, let’s go back.”

　On the way back, I picked up the items dropped by the two intruders.

　As I guessed, none of the items were of any importance, but there was one item that I didn’t know about.

“What is this?”

　It was a bracelet called a 『 boost ring 』.

　The description said, 『 A beginner’s bonus!　It has a level boost effect (extra large) 』

“Is it possible for a beginner to get something like this? Or rather, the experience value boost rate of this item is too high. With this, it won’t take 100 hours to reach level 100.”

　The two guys we just defeated may have been in the game for about 20 hours.

　When I think that I was invaded by such guys, I feel exhausted.

“The game may have come to a point where it’s time to give out such broken items to all newbies. ……”

　｜The number of people playing “Seven Knights Online” is still high. The game will not be ending soon.

　But the number of players is definitely decreasing. No game, no matter how godlike, will last forever.

“Let’s take a break…….”

　I went to the round table room in the center of the White Silver Castle.

　In that room is a cool round table with a motif of a knight of the round table.

　There are thirteen chairs on the round table, but twelve of them are empty. It is unlikely that anyone will sit at the table in the future.

“…………”

　Silence envelops the round table.

　The 『 Silver Knights 』 were known as the strongest guild in the world.

　Its end was sudden.

　The leader who decided to form the Silver Knights and led us, Arup-san, suddenly retired from the game.

　He said nothing to anyone. He simply left a message saying, 『 I hand over the leadership to Wang Dyle 』.

　By the way, “Wang Dyle” is my player name.

　This name has no deep meaning. It is just a play on the name of a monster from a monster-breeding game I was playing before this game.

“Arup-san, Nuu-san, Li Ji-san, and Halogen…….”

　If I close my eyes, I can immediately recall the scene of that time.

　My sparkling youth.

　I can’t go back to that time when I was just a kid. No matter how hard I try to maintain the castle, my friends will never come back. I know that.

　Even so, I could not abandon this castle.

　If this castle, which holds the memories of my friends, were to disappear. I would really have nothing.

“But I’m a little tired…….”

　I mutter and close my eyes.

　Then I fall asleep and wake up to the sound of a beeping alert.

What’s that, ……?”

　I wake up and check the console.

　I opened the “map” and checked it.

　I immediately opened up the map and checked it. Before I knew it, I and Shirogane had reached the edge of the game’s map.

The patrol mode had been turned off!　Damn, the rudder is broken. ……”

　Normally, Shirogane Castle goes around in circles along a fixed route.

　The rudder, which changes the direction of travel, has been broken for some time. Because of this, the castle just keeps going straight and …… sleeping and has come to the edge of the map of this game.

　｜The edge of the map of 《 Seven Knights Online 》 is an ocean, and we don’t know where it goes.

　In the past, many players went exploring to see if there was anything beyond that point, but the sea at the edge of the map was filled with powerful sea-dwelling monsters, and those who tried to go out became their prey.

　And there is nothing in the game that can fly for an extended period of time, except for this silver castle. In other words, this castle is the only one that can go off the map.

“……Come to think of it, there was a lot of talk about going outside in this castle a long time ago.”

　That was a tough time.

　There was a heated debate between those who wanted to go outside and those who were against it because it was dangerous.

　Everyone wanted to go. If we went outside, maybe we could receive some kind of secret quest that only those who went outside could receive. There might even be a hidden map.

　But what if there is no such thing and the White Silver Castle simply sinks?

　Then we would be screwed. I disagreed, saying that such a thing was impossible without any certainty that the castle would reappear (repop).

　In the end, the topic was put on hold, and not long after that, Arup-san disappeared.

　So I had forgotten that we had had such a discussion.

“Maybe it would be a good idea to finally answer the question…….”

　Maybe I could fix the rudder in a big hurry now and turn back.

　But I didn’t have the energy left to do that.

　My spirit was worn out from the daily work, and the break-in earlier had broken my heart.

　Let’s just finish the answer to that last question and be done with it. That’s what I decided.

“Booster output at maximum. Aim to get off the map. Use up all remaining energy.”

　Operating the console, I set the Silver Castle in motion.

　The castle accelerates with a whoosh. I wonder when was the last time I drove it at such a speed. I’ve been running it at the lowest speed recently to save energy.

“I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you…… but I’m going to give it my all for the last time, okay?”

　That’s how much I care for the Silver Castle who stayed until the end.

　The wall creaks under the load caused by the speed increase, but I don’t mind. We’re going to make …… this castle shine one last time.

“Go, go ……!”

　Multiple danger alerts appear on the console.

　The rudder is broken, the engines are going haywire, and several walls are apparently broken. But I ignore them all.

　Finally, an extra-large danger sign 《alert》 appears.

【 You are about to leave the Seven Knights Online game. Are you sure?　[Y/N]】

“Nn?　What is this notice?”

　What do you mean “outside the game”? Isn’t it a mistaken way of saying “outside the map”?

　The only thing outside the game is the real world. Does that mean I’ll be forced to log out?

　Well, that’s fine. I answer without hesitation.

“Of course, yes.”

　When I answer, the danger alert disappears after a few seconds. What was that all about?

“Well, it’s okay. It must have been a typo or something.”

　No one would have noticed if there had been a mistake, since no one would have come this far in the first place.

“Well, I’ll see the final moment with my own eyes.”

　I got up and left the castle and went to the garden.

　The endless sea spread out before my eyes. The castle is flying above it at high speed.

　If I go off the map at this point, will I be forced to sink into the sea or will I be treated as dead? Or will he be able to go to a hidden area? Whatever happens, I want to see it with my own eyes.

“…… hmm?”

　While I was pleasantly enjoying the sea breeze, the danger sign 《alert》 appeared again.

　When I opened the operation screen 《 Console 》 , I found that something like a wall was being deployed in front of me.

“I can’t see that kind of thing… in other words, it’s a wall in the system. If you hit it, you’ll be forced to log out. It’s a more boring ending than I thought.”

　Simply waiting for death is also boring.

　I operate the operation screen «Console» and enter the transformation command of the Silver castle.

　The middle of the castle opens and a huge turret appears from there.

　This is the final weapon of Shirogane Castle, the “Stardust Cannon. It is the most powerful weapon in the game, having turned raid bosses that were once said to be impossible to conquer into dust in an instant.

“It was correct to leave only one round in case something happened. Let’s put up a big firework display at the end.”

　Without hesitation, I pressed the launch button on the Stardust Cannon.

　The muzzle of the cannon glowed blue, and an ear-splitting, high-pitched noise rang out.

“I regret that I won’t be able to share this final spectacle with you all.”

　The glowing ray of light, as if it were a condensed starry sky, collides with an invisible wall, generating violent sparks and sounds.

　I know. I know that there is no point in doing this.

　But it’s frustrating, isn’t it? I don’t want to give up and say it’s just a system.

　I wanted to prove that this castle, the fruit of our friendship, could overcome any difficulty.

“…… hmm?”

　I felt a sense of discomfort and stared at the space where rays of light were colliding.

　I felt like there was a crack in the space where the rays of light were crashing.

　It couldn’t be, there was no way it could interfere with the system. But my heart beat loudly.

“Go!　Shirogane Castle!　Full speed ahead!”

　The Stardust Cannon, a starlight convergence turret, is fired while advancing on Shirogane Castle.

　The castle begins to crumble as it creaks and cracks in the growing space.

　The recoil of the light rays and the speed at which they advance make it difficult to stand still.

“Go, go, go, go!”

　I and the castle slam into the wall of the system.

　At that moment, a tremendous impact and a flash of light that paints my vision white dominate the scene, and my —- consciousness is cut off.

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“…… hmm?”

　Slowly I awaken to consciousness.

　How long have I been unconscious? My head throbbed with pain.

　When I managed to open my eyes…… there was a forest I didn’t recognize.

…….

Tl Note: Welcome to the new novel. Took a while to get this chapter translated, but it’s worth it. enjoy!

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