Chapter Text
By the time I realized something was wrong, the first truly horrifying detail wasn’t the landscape.
It was the fact that I had absolutely **no memory of arriving here**.
Not a flash of light.
Not a summoning circle.
Not even the cliché truck that every other poor soul in an isekai story seemed to get flattened by.
Just… grass.
A sloping hill rolled down beneath my boots, blanketed in thick green blades that rippled in the wind like the surface of an emerald sea. Each gust bent the field into waves that rushed toward me before breaking around the rock I was sitting on.
The sun sat high overhead, blazing in a cloudless sky.
Early afternoon, maybe.
The smell of damp soil and crushed grass drifted through the air, carried on a steady breeze that also rustled the forest behind me. Leaves whispered together like gossiping conspirators.
I stood up without thinking.
My eyes drifted toward the horizon.
It stretched impossibly far.
No highways.
No power lines.
No towns.
Just rolling plains and dark forests as far as I could see.
“Okay…” I muttered slowly. “That’s… different.”
Midwest America had wide skies.
But this?
This looked like someone had turned the **distance slider to maximum**.
And then I noticed my body.
Not the armor.
Not the cape.
The **size**.
I looked down.
The first thing that caught my attention wasn’t the ornate armor wrapped around my body.
It was the way the **crimson cape** snapped behind me in the wind like a war banner.
The ivory armor plating was trimmed in gold and segmented perfectly across my chest, arms, and legs. When I moved my fingers, the gauntlets responded instantly, like a second skin rather than solid metal.
No weight.
No stiffness.
No clanking.
Just smooth, terrifying precision.
“…No way.”
My heart skipped.
I knew this armor.
Not from real life.
From a **game**.
The exact armor my character wore last night before I fell asleep with my VR headset still on.
The same ridiculously expensive armor I’d bought after losing a stupid bet.
I flexed my hand again.
The metal responded flawlessly.
“…No way,” I repeated quietly.
A horrifying realization crept up the back of my mind.
Am I—
No.
No.
Absolutely not.
I took a deep breath.
Then shouted at the sky.
“What the **actual hell?!**”
My voice boomed across the hilltop.
Deep.
Metallic.
Like someone had put a cathedral bell inside my throat.
The echo rolled across the plains.
I slowly reached down to the sword sheaths at my waist.
Two hilts rested there.
Familiar ones.
I pulled them free.
Steel sang as the blades slid into the sunlight.
Twin swords.
Black metal.
Crimson veins pulsing faintly through the steel like blood trapped inside glass.
“Okay,” I muttered. “Stay calm.”
I spun them once.
Perfect balance.
Perfect weight.
Like they’d always belonged in my hands.
Then the panic hit again.
“What the **hell?!**”
The swords were light.
Too light.
They should’ve been heavy.
Massive.
Ridiculous fantasy weapons that no sane human could swing.
But they moved like extensions of my arms.
I tested a swing.
Then another.
The blades hummed.
A faint vibration traveled through the hilts.
Like the weapons were… excited.
“…That can’t be good.”
A memory surfaced.
A skill.
One I’d spammed constantly while grinding mobs in the game.
My mouth moved before my brain could stop it.
“「Twin Crimson Slash」!!!”
Both blades swung outward in a cross-shaped arc.
Reality broke.
A surge of violent red energy exploded from the swords.
It tore across the field like a screaming comet.
The forest ahead of me erupted.
Trees splintered.
Trunks cracked.
Birds exploded into the sky in a panicked swarm.
Several seconds later—
**CRASH.**
Half a dozen trees slowly tipped over and slammed into the earth.
Silence returned.
I stared.
“…Really.”
My voice came out flat.
“What the hell.”
⏳
Thirty minutes later I had accepted three facts.
One: I wasn’t dreaming.
Two: The skills worked.
Three: The collateral damage was… concerning.
I slid my swords back into their sheaths and lifted my left hand experimentally.
Another skill came to mind.
Something ridiculous.
Something I’d never actually used in combat because it was purely for mobility and dramatic entrances.
“「Obsidian Steps」!!!”
The ground cracked.
Shadow spilled upward like black water.
Then it hardened.
A staircase of pure darkness erupted beneath my boots and spiraled toward the sky.
I blinked.
“…Well that’s horrifying.”
I climbed.
The steps groaned faintly under my weight but held firm.
Higher.
Higher.
Wind roared around me as the ground shrank far below.
At around the hundredth step, I stopped.
The world stretched endlessly in every direction.
Mountains in the distance.
Rivers like silver threads.
Forests like dark oceans.
“…Okay,” I muttered. “I might be in actual fantasy land.”
Naturally, the next logical step was to test another spell.
I raised my hand.
“「Lunar Beacon」!!!”
A silver sphere shot from my palm like a meteor.
It soared into the sky.
Then exploded.
A second moon appeared overhead.
Cold pale light flooded the land.
“…I just committed celestial vandalism.”
⏳
Four hours later.
I sat in the center of a crater.
Around me lay the aftermath of what could only be described as **irresponsible magical experimentation**.
Burn marks.
Collapsed trees.
A newly formed lake.
Which had appeared after I accidentally panicked and triggered—
“「Tidal Surge」!!!”
Right.
That one.
I leaned back against a boulder.
“…I’m so glad I spent actual money on this class.”
Even if it had been because I lost a bet.
I stood up again and stretched.
Then activated another skill.
“「Voidstep」!!!”
My boot hit the air.
And stopped.
Like it had landed on solid ground.
“…Oh this is dangerous.”
I kicked upward.
Again.
Again.
Soon I was sprinting **vertically** up a cliff face like gravity had politely stepped aside.
Below me, a bear stared.
Its expression radiated deep existential confusion.
“Gravity’s just a suggestion, buddy!” I shouted while backflipping through the air.
I landed near a deer.
It stared.
I stared.
The deer slowly turned and ran away.
“…Fair.”
⏳
By the time the sun began sinking, I had wandered out of the mountains.
A wide river stretched ahead of me.
Three hundred meters across.
Clear water.
Fish darted beneath the surface.
“Alright,” I muttered. “Water break.”
I removed my helmet.
Cool air brushed my face.
Oddly enough, despite wearing full armor all day, I didn’t feel sweaty or tired.
I crouched by the river.
And looked at my reflection.
Then I froze.
“…Oh.”
The face staring back wasn’t mine.
Not even close.
Long black hair spilled down my shoulders.
Sharp features carved from pale skin.
Eyes like pools of liquid darkness with pale glowing pupils.
Strange black markings trailed beneath them like jagged mascara.
I touched my cheek.
The reflection copied the motion.
“…Oh no.”
The memory hit me.
The class lore.
The one I’d skimmed and immediately forgotten.
Until now.
My stomach dropped.
“The **Twisted Knight**.”
In the game, it had been described as a fallen warrior who sacrificed their humanity in exchange for overwhelming power.
I had chosen it because—
Well.
Because it was **overpowered as hell**.
I stared at my reflection.
“…I’m a demon.”
Technically not a demon.
But close enough that any reasonable medieval civilization would probably react by forming an angry mob with torches.
I slowly put my helmet back on.
“…Well.”
That solved one problem.
But created several new ones.
If anyone saw my face…
Best case scenario: panic.
Worst case scenario: **bounty quests**.
“Great,” I muttered.
“First day in a new world and I’m already a potential raid boss.”
I drank from the river and stood.
Then looked downstream.
Rivers meant civilization.
Villages.
Cities.
People.
Money.
Because right now, I had exactly two assets.
This armor.
And these swords.
Which were very impressive.
But unfortunately not edible.
I adjusted my cape and started walking.
“Well,” I sighed.
“Time to go pretend I’m a normal traveler.”
A pause.
“…While being an at least seven-foot armored nightmare with world-breaking skills.”