Chapter 2: PLEIADES (1)

Count Bayer.

It was once a famous family of swordsmen, and its head was the Margrave of the Sälen Kingdom's northern frontier, but that was all in the past, as they are now just an old family clan.

But even so, they were the Bayer family.

Even if the father and son fell and their family declined in approximately 3 years, they still maintained their position at the bottom place of the 12 northern families.

In the mansion of such Count Bayer…

There was a struggling man in the second son's room, who was called the 'anguish of Count Bayer.'

“Kkeuoeo…eoo…eoo”

It was a boy in his late teens who held his head and let out strange groans.

He had dark blue hair, a white and slender face, and a pair of mysterious green eyes that all blended together to show off his good looks, but now, he was thinking of his situation as he looked at himself.

The boy was named Jude Bayer, who was also known as the second son of Count Bayer and was now thinking as he stared blankly at the mirror hung on the wall.

'Is this likeness totally real?'

Is everything that he could see in the mirror real?

The fact that Jude Bayer is now Jude Bayer.

The sentence was like a play on words, but Jude was serious. He would be, too, because he was both Jude and Kang Jin-ho at the same time.

'No matter how I look at it, this is the world of Legend of Heroes 2.'

Two days have passed since Jude “awakened” his memory as Kang Jin-ho.

And that time of two days was not short.

The name 'Jude Bayer.'

The situation of Count Bayer.

The Sälen Kingdom and its surrounding circumstances.

None of them were inconsistent with Legend of Heroes 2.

'Pleiades.'

A world that is the background of the entire series of Legend of Heroes.

'Let's face it. This world is Pleiades, and I am Jude Bayer.

It felt a little different from simply entering a game, which was common in novels and manhwa (comics).

Rather, the situation felt like he was born as Jude Bayer, and then remembered his 'past life' as Kang Jin-ho.

So, even though he had become Jude, it almost didn't feel out of place.

Because from the very beginning, he was both Jude Bayer and Kang Jin-ho at the same time.

Jude raised his head and looked at the mirror again.

He saw the beautiful view of a handsome looking boy with superior looks, sitting down in front of the mirror.

'I am handsome.'

He wasn't just handsome…he was exceedingly handsome.

Jude rose from his seat and looked around the room.

It was spacious, nice, and clean.

It seemed to be larger than the villa he had lived in when he was Kang Jin-ho, and though the furniture showed signs of age, one cannot deny that the all the furniture were luxury items.

Jude considered his situation objectively.

The difference between the days of Kang Jin-ho and the days of Jude.

He was young again, a dozen times more handsome than before, and he had become a golden spoon noble.

It was absolutely perfect.

It was an upgrade to the point where he felt like applauding.

But then Jude thought.

'Isn't this f*cked up though?'

It wasn't because of Jude.

Although Jude Bayer was character with some flaws among the characters of Legend of Heroes 2, the bigger problem lies in the fact that this was the world of Legend of Heroes 2 itself.

The background setting of Legend of Heroes 2 was not a peaceful fantasy world.

No, it was a world of great tribulation – demons descended from the demon world, and angels came down to fight against them – all the countries and races of the continent were embroiled and killed in the war.

In short, it was a world destined for Apocalypse.

'I was fortunate that it wasn't the third installment.'

Legend of Heroes 3 dealt with the aftermath of the war between the angels and demons, where all human nations had collapsed.

If he had entered Legend of Heroes 3, he wouldn't be sitting and looking in the mirror like this, but he would've been bitten and torn apart by monsters.

'As expected, there's only one way.'

He must become strong.

So that when the times of great tribulation come, he could endure it.

And if possible, he must become strong enough to protect himself and those around him.

In the real world where Kang Jin-ho lived, there were clearly limitations for humans in becoming strong, but this was Pleiades, the world of Legend of Heroes.

It was possible for an individual here to demolish mountains and become an absolute power that can shake the sky.

'Well…the authenticity of that is questionable, but moving on…'

For a while, he looked at his slender forearm, but soon made up his mind and clenched his fist again.

'Let's do it.'

He can do it.

He must do it.

Jude himself is Outboxer009.

Wasn't he the rotten water that kept the top spot in the server ranking list for a staggering 23 months!

So, Jude decided to consider Jude Bayer's situation first.

Jude Bayer.

The second son of Count Bayer.

He hails from the Bayer family, which has produced outstanding warriors for generations, but he himself hasn't mastered even one of the sword basics.

Of course, he wasn't just a useless guy as he was one of the playable characters.

Jude certainly had a talent.

It wasn't just an ordinary talent but a truly incomparable talent.

Cheonmujiche (Heavenly Martial Body).

As the name implies, it's a heavenly talent for martial arts.

'But there's a trap card here.'

Jude was born with an abnormality in the Yin meridians of his whole body, particularly called, Gueumjulmaek (Nine Yin Severed Meridians).

(T/N: Gueumjulmaek is a fictitious congenital disease seen in Korean martial arts novels, like The Scholar's Reincarnation. To quote its description from the above series, “it is being innately born with Yin energy but with blocked meridians. Treatment is very difficult and most people with this disease die very early.” It means that the Yin energy is so strong that the meridians are blocked, and the circulation of qi/chi does not work properly.)

'Short-lived, weak, inability to use mana, but possessing a tremendous amount of yin energy.'

These were roughly the effects of Gueumjulmaek.

He was an unlucky genius born in a body with both Cheonmujiche and Gueumjulmaek.

That was the boy named Jude Bayer.

'Couldn't I just have been Leon? Or Maximilian?'

In Legend of Heroes 2 where various playable characters existed, it was Maximilian who was the main character of the game.

A cheat character born with a great talent in both sword and magic.

It was the so-called title character prepared by the production team to allow beginners to see the ending of the game.

'Then, Maximilian will be here too, right?'

Maximilian wasn't the only one.

There was a high possibility that all the characters in Legend of Heroes 2 existed here.

'It's making me excited for no reason.'

He had just lamented that he had fallen into this world, but this was Legend of Heroes 2.

His heart began to throb when he thought that he would be able to meet the characters of the materialized Legend of Heroes 2.

'Okay, if that's it, all I have to do is treat my Gueumjulmaek.'

Then the heavenly martial body will start to bloom.

Of course, it was not an easy task to cure Gueumjulmaek.

The evidence was that Count Bayer had not been able to do anything about Jude's Gueumjulmaek even up to this day.

'But there is a way.'

As the rotten water of Legend of Heroes 2, he was a player who knew several treatments for Gueumjulmaek. However, knowing and executing it were different.

Is it possible to secure a remedy with his current body, which is itself weak because of Gueumjulmaek?

No matter how much he thought of it, it was impossible.

It wasn't something he could do alone.

But that was not the case if he could leave it to others.

All of the methods he could think of were quite complicated, and he wondered if the Bayer family members would even believe in Jude's words.

'I need allies.'

Someone who will believe and carry out Jude's words.

Someone who will be on Jude's side anytime and anywhere.

But it was then.

“Young master, may I come in?”

The voice he heard from outside the room was Maja, Jude's exclusive maid.

'Exclusive maid.'

Although it was a world where a great tribulation was predicted and he had a body with Gueumjulmaek, Jude thought that his life was much better now than when he lived as Kang Jin-ho.

After his brief lapse of thought, Jude immediately raised his head and said.

“Oh, it's all right.”

With his permission, Maja opened the door silently and entered.

She was a woman in her early twenties with her blue hair tied neatly, and her cold expression belied her attractive beauty.

As soon as she entered the room, Maja bowed to Jude and said immediately.

“Lady Cordelia Chase, your fiancée, is here to visit you.”

“Ah.”

Visiting a sick person.

Come to think of it, he thought, it was worth it coming here. When he awakened his past memories as Kang Jin-ho, he remembered a lot of nonsensical stuff.

Moreover, wasn't Jude usually considered a sick person here?

'What should I do…'

He had awakened Kang Jin-ho's memories, but Jude's memories did not disappear.

In other words, meeting his fiancée, Cordelia, didn't pose any problems.

'Cordelia.'

She was an incomparably beautiful girl with red hair close to pink.

Wasn't the ratio of handsome and beautiful people here too high? Then again, wasn't the original game characters all like that?

Anyway, if it's Cordelia Chase, Kang Jin-ho knew quite a lot about her.

'Chase, the famous family of wizards.'

If Jude's family, the Bayer's, were a famous family of swordsmen, the Chase family were a famous family of wizards.

Of course, both families were now weak compared to the past.

In any case, Cordelia Chase was a wizard character, born with a fairly outstanding magic talent.

She didn't have a natural-borne talent like Jude, but instead, she lacked a weakness like Gueumjulmaek, making her easier to handle in the game.

'I'm nervous.'

He didn't think he would meet his fiancée who's also a playable character in Legend of Heroes 2.

“Young master?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, okay. I'm going to see her right now.”

When Jude willingly answered, Maja hesitated for a moment, but soon nodded and stepped back.

“She is waiting in the drawing room.”

After Maja said that, she began to take the lead as she guided him to the place.

'I am a real nobleman.'

It was a new experience for him, but as he stepped out of the hallway, Jude realized that this was a noble family's house, a residence that once boasted great power.

It was a hall that emphasized practicality rather than splendor, but it was so big and grand that it felt like he was walking in a big castle rather than a mansion.

“Mr. Jude Bayer has arrived.”

Maja, who raised her voice once they were in front of the drawing room door, opened the door with a restrained movement.

Unlike the hall which gave a stark impression, the drawing room was well-decorated. Inside, there was a girl with red hair close to pink, and a female knight right next to her who served as an escort.

'Cordelia Chase.'

Jude Bayer's fiancée.

Jude swallowed deeply as stepped into the drawing room. He faced Cordelia with a natural smile.

But right after…

The moment he made eye contact with Cordelia…

Jude widely opened his eyes. And so was Cordelia.

The two shouted almost at the same time.

““Why are you here?!””