Chapter 1
I’m Hiroshi Sugawara, 30 years old, a self-styled bachelor noble.
My parents have passed away, and thanks to the house and inheritance they left me, I’m right in the glorious midst of my shut-in life.
And what am I doing, you ask, cooped up like this? I’m playing a veteran MMORPG called Nordic War Online.
Outside, it sounds like a typhoon’s hitting; the rain and strong winds are making a racket, but today is the day for the weekly Siege Warfare.
Pouring all my abundant free time into it, I’ve amassed considerable in-game assets over the years. With those, and my overwhelming Stats, I continue to single-handedly repel all challengers.
On certain forums, there are even rumors I’m using cheats, but it’s all purely down to my player skill.
There was even a time when the devs released a slew of patches that I could only assume were aimed squarely at me, but I’ve triumphed over every single one.
A group of players is now entering the map where I lie in wait.
If even one of them slips through, it’s my loss, but I don’t panic. First, I use wide-area magic to thin their ranks.
Many players can’t take the hit and go down, but some manage to endure and start advancing.
For those who withstand it, I mercilessly hit them with high-firepower, single-target spells to send them packing.
This game does have gear with complete magic resistance, but only a handful of players actually possess it.
Among the survivors, I spot one of those rare players with complete magic resistance gear.
He’s a veteran player—sometimes he challenges me solo, other times he tries to sneak in with a group.
I click my tongue. As I close in, I quickly switch to my melee gear to handle him.
Most players assume I’m a magic-focused build since I usually finish them off with spells, but melee combat is actually where I truly shine.
I rapidly swap through my weapons, inflict status ailments to prevent them from using healing items, and then swiftly take them down.
He’s faced me for years, so he’s clearly prepared countermeasures and puts up a tenacious fight, but against me, his defeat is only a matter of time.
Right as I finished him off, today’s Siege Warfare concluded.
I took off my headphones, smirking to myself. “Nailed it again today.”
Muffled by the howling wind, the emergency broadcast system seemed to be announcing something, but I couldn’t make out what it was saying.
Even if it was an evacuation warning, there’s no way I’d be leaving my house.
One hour until the date changes.
In the meantime, I took a break with a bento I’d bought earlier and a canned drink from my stash to recharge.
The hour flew by in a flash, and I entered the treasure chest area—my spoils from the Siege Warfare.
The main reason I fight through the Siege Warfare solo is for the items that drop from these treasure chests.
My objective is to monopolize the craftable gear that requires items exclusively found in these chests.
And then, the item that dropped… it was the exact one I’d been aiming for!
Overjoyed, I couldn’t stop myself from yelling, “Alright!”
However, my joy was short-lived.
Why, you ask? Because a massive deluge of water crushed my house, and I was swept away by the muddy torrent.
“So that emergency broadcast was warning of danger, huh?” I thought, as I lost consciousness.