……He was dead.
That was the last thought Takuto Ira held.
His consciousness had already fallen into darkness, his five senses long since lost.
Calling it an incurable illness sounded dramatic, but it didn’t bring any sense of closure to his heart; all he gained was the worthless life of spending a long time on his sickbed.
Dying at the mere age of eighteen was unfortunate, but fortunately, his heart was at peace.
It was the satisfaction of having lived fully, and the miracle of having found a game in his final years that he could become so absorbed in that his doctors and nurses worried.
Words could not exhaust the story, but Takuto had died satisfied.
However.
“……Hmm. Is this the afterlife? It’s a little cold, isn’t it.”
His consciousness returned to him once more.
When Takuto opened his eyes, what spread out before him was a sea of green. Sunlight streamed through the gaps between the tall trees overhead.
His back felt a hard surface. When he touched it lightly with his hand, a rough texture returned, so he deduced it was probably some kind of stone pedestal.
His familiar hospital gown was still on, but the pesky IV needle and ventilator mask had completely vanished.
More than that, his body felt stronger than it ever had, filled with a vitality he could best describe as the most potent he’d ever experienced.
“Ha, the air tastes good.”
He took a deep, satisfying breath, and the refreshing air filled his lungs, the green scenery before him erasing the gloomy memories of his sickroom.
The fact that his body, once so heavy with illness it was painful to move, now felt so light and agile was, he was moved to conclude, proof that this must indeed be the afterlife.
As he patted his body all over, checking his condition, a voice suddenly called out to him.
“You’ve awakened, then?”
The hesitant voice, if his guess was correct, belonged to a young woman.
Perhaps this is the being rumored to be an angel.
It was an absurd prediction, but the mere fact that he was conscious and aware of himself in this very moment already indicated something beyond common sense was occurring.
If she was an angel to guide him to the afterlife, he could not afford to be rude.
He hurriedly straightened his disheveled hospital gown and raised his face toward the voice.
But—
The true abnormality was the girl before his very eyes.
(—Eh? What… what is this?)
How great was his astonishment.
But no matter how many times he blinked, the scene remained unchanged before him.
The girl before him stood quietly, as if she understood, waiting for the time it would take Takuto to process the confusion that had arisen within him.
Ash-gray, dull white hair, and a pitch-black robe enveloping her slender form.
The crafted metal ornaments possessed a twist that seemed to disregard existing laws, yet all of them harmonized brilliantly.
And above all, those deep, abyssal eyes that could draw one in, which no human could possess, were the very proof of her identity as he knew her.
Takuto knew her.
No, he would probably never forget her even in death.
The game he had always played from his sickbed.
A dark fantasy nation-building simulation game, "Eternal Nations," and the hero unit that appeared within it.
"Could it be… 'Atou'?"
"Yes. —My lord."
She was the character he had loved most in the game he had loved most in his entire life.
Whether she knew of Takuto's shock or not, the girl called Atou responded to his words with a soft smile and an exceedingly formal bow.
"Your Majesty..."
That single word brought him a small sense of dissonance and a tidal wave of confusion.
He hadn't been given time to comprehend what had happened to him, but the only thing he understood was that she was showing him respect.
He couldn't show weakness. He didn't want to disappoint the very character from the game he loved most.
It was mere vanity, perhaps, but for him, who had spent his days in that hospital room, it was everything.
Showing a pathetic side was never, ever among his options.
If she called him king, then he had to be one.
It was an emotion bordering on obsession, but it was Takuto's conviction, and for him, the most precious thing.
(W-what do I do!? Roleplay!? If I'm the king, that means I'm the leader of Mynoghra, right...? Should I act kingly? But how!?)
"Hehe..."
"Tah—!?"
That small smile made his heart pound painfully.
In his previous life, a reaction like this would have brought nurses and doctors rushing in, but now, fortunately, his condition didn't deteriorate from something this minor.
That said, it didn't mean the smile the girl before him showed explained its own meaning...
"It's alright, Takuto."
Her gentle words were more than enough to melt his tensed heart.
However, the words that followed startled him even more...
"A flawless clear of the unprecedented Nightmare difficulty! Using the nation considered the most difficult to handle, Mynoghra! The skill to shine prominently at the top of the official user rankings! The legendary player, Takuto Ira!"
"Wh-why?"
That was the trail he had left in his life.
Takuto's life could be described as having been mostly in the hospital room.
Each day was a series of tests, with no time to rest.
Though his family was well-off, they probably weren't very interested in their sickly son.
They only came for obligatory visits once in a while, and after that, loneliness was his only companion.
But amidst that, the one thing where he could find his own possibility was the national simulation game "Eternal Nations."
A turn-based game where you use the myriad races and nations existing in a fantasy world to vie for supremacy over the world.
The fact that a single session could take over a dozen hours made it a time thief, which strangely matched his lifestyle.
Eventually, he forgot his loneliness—he became so absorbed in the game that it drowned it out, and before he knew it, he had achieved a ranking high enough that players competing for the top knew his name.
Yes, it was a feat he was proud of: clearing the game's highest difficulty, which was said to be impossible for humans, using the nation "Mynoghra," which was considered the most difficult to wield.
The reason he could establish what players called a legendary record was also because of the girl before him—the unit known as Atou.
"I remember everything, too."
Her words, spoken briefly, answered all of Takuto's questions, setting aside their sheer impossibility.
"Takuto talking to me, conquering the world together countless times. Failing over and over again. I remember it all."
Her words might have seemed flat, but you could tell that emotion was tucked into every phrase.
Probably, she felt the same way he did.
Takuto's chest overflowed with the two characters for "deeply moved."
"Please rest assured. I properly remember you, Takuto."
Those words made him feel his eyelids burn.
Perhaps tears had already spilled.
I thought I should say something clever, but I had no composure left in that moment, and could only rasp out the thoughts within me.
"I used you... 'Atou' was part of my playstyle, my principle."
"Yes, I was always honored to fight alongside you."
Atou was a hero unit of possibilities.
Each nation could possess special, powerful units known as heroes. Atou, who the nation called Mynoghra could use, possessed the unique trait of having the weakest initial stats among all hero units.
Conversely, she was also a unit that could grow into the most powerful existence.
It was only natural that Takuto, who had longed for the outside world, for freedom, for possibility and the future, would develop a certain kind of obsession.
"My body was always frail. I suppose I thought... if only I could become like you."
"You showed me so many different worlds, Takuto."
"I'm a little embarrassed thinking you heard me talking to you secretly when I was alone."
"I was always waiting for you to speak to me."
"I'm... glad I can talk with you directly."
"The pleasure is truly unexpected, to be able to converse with you as well, Takuto."
Though they had met for the first time, their words were woven together like those of old friends.
No, the form was different, but the trust that existed between them had been cultivated over many years.
Takuto was wrapped in emotion over this unexpected event, but then he realized—could such miracles exist in the afterlife?—and a flood of various questions surged forth.
"Is this... heaven? Did you bring me here?"
"No, that is not the case. I also found myself here when I became aware. If I may add, I judge it to be slightly different from heaven as well. If anything, I sense an atmosphere more like... the world of 'Eternal Nations'."
Atou slowly looked all around her, then gave a slight shake of her head.
From her demeanor alone, he somehow understood she was not lying.
Takuto accepted this without question.
“I don’t know… the world…” Atou gave a small nod at those muttered words. With that gesture, he grasped the general situation.
“‘A miracle,’ one might say, but that sounds trite, doesn’t it? Yet I think it’s fine to be trite. I’m just happy I was able to meet you, Takuto.”
As if in response, Takuto nodded.
Confusion still dominated him, but the simple fact that he could converse with Atou was a source of profound joy.
However, he couldn’t simply indulge in that joy.
Takuto thought with the remaining shred of calm within him.
His past self had struggled just to get through each day, but that limitation was now lifted. If that was the case, then life required a purpose.
This was a near-obsessive conclusion reached only by someone who, having been struck down by an incurable disease, had been forced to contemplate death more times than he could bear.
The meaning of living.
He desired the reason he had been brought to this situation, a new purpose for his new life.
“Takuto… shall we start over again, together?”
“…Huh?”
That was why her words slipped so easily into a heart where death had just retreated.
“Now, before that, please, get up.”
Gently prompted, he rose. He appeared to have been sleeping on a stone-built platform—like a bed—and felt rather stiff, so he stretched lightly.
Atou watched him with a look that seemed almost like affection, carefully careful not to impede his movements, then found an opening to continue.
“I don’t know where this is. It might be the world of ‘Eternal Nations,’ or the real world you came from. Or perhaps some entirely different other world. But let’s, just like back then—let’s start over together. Let’s build a kingdom of our own.”
Her wish was terribly simple, and at the same time, unchanging.
They were in a relationship of game character and player, but they had built and nurtured kingdoms together time and again.
That was how they lived, and the nature of their bond.
And for that very reason, her wish could hardly be called strange.
The change it brought to Takuto was equally natural.
Atou gazed at Takuto with eyes that held a deep darkness, as though awaiting his answer after offering a solemn bow.
There was no way those eyes could fail to move his heart.
She was the character he had loved most, a precious existence, and above all else, the embodiment of his ideals.
(A kingdom, huh...)
A tiny, powerless human with nothing to his name—no strength, no land, no treasure, nothing at all.
Hearing Atou call him king and pledge her loyalty, Takuto felt his heart surge with undeniable clarity.
No—even that word, surge, was too mild.
He was doing everything in his power just to contain his turbulent emotions and suppress his trembling body.
(We don't know what's happened to us. We don't even know where this is. But since we're here, let's try one more time. Let's recreate those brilliant days in this world.)
A healthy body that moved without the slightest resistance. With illness vanquished, limitless possibilities now stretched before him.
Above all, the game character he had once devoted himself to was now at his side.
Takuto took his first step forward.
From that world where he had done nothing but wait for a bleak, gray death, he was entering one where he could, for the first time, carve out his own destiny with his own hands.
He had gained his freedom.
"Atou..."
"Yes. My Lord."
"Let us build our kingdom. A realm for just you and me alone."
The pact was sealed.
The moment she heard those words, her expression shifted from its previous allure to a radiance befitting a girl of her years, and she gave a deep nod.
Then, with a soft "then," and a slight clearing of her throat, she spoke the contracted words Takuto had seen repeated so many times in the game—the vow spoken during a hero's summoning.
"My name is Atou of the Odei. The child of mud destined to ruin the world. Henceforth, my body and soul belong to you.
—Come, let us fall together, endlessly. My Lord."
He nodded firmly, answering her words.
Thus, for the first time after the death of Takuto Ira, the human possessed a dream he would want to fulfill even at the cost of everything.
*New Game Start!*
Player: Takuto Ira
Civilization: Mynoghra
Attribute: Evil
Difficulty: ????
………
……
…
Now, as for what happened after that.
Having completed the ceremony, the two stood in an awkward silence.
Setting aside Atou, Takuto had never in his life conducted himself with such formality.
This was also the first time he had ever uttered words resembling a confession of creating a nation with just the two of them to a strikingly beautiful girl.
In truth, it was also the very first time Atou herself had ever received such words.
To put it plainly, both of them were squirming with embarrassment.
"...Well, something like this is pretty embarrassing, isn't it?"
"I was a little shy too. More than that, I was happy, though."
The two of them exchanged soft chuckles like a bashful young couple.
But after some time, their expressions turned somewhat serious. This place was unknown territory beyond their imagination. Action was needed above all else.
Having reached this conclusion, Takuto decided to act immediately.
"Then, my sole and irreplaceable subordinate! My confidant and second brain! The evil nation destined to lead the world to ruin, Mynoghra—understand what must be done first!?"
"Of course, my King!"
Perhaps to shake off the clinging embarrassment, or perhaps for another reason, Takuto leaped onto a raised platform and addressed his one and only confidant with a theatrical flourish.
Naturally, it was Atou, the greatest hero Mynoghra boasted, who answered him in perfect sync. Without a single word exchanged between them, they both understood the policies and principles by which their nation would be governed. It was a pattern repeated thousands of times, etched into every corner of their minds—a standard procedure.
Their playstyle. Their way of fighting. Their nation-building. This declaration condensed all of it.
The Mynoghra led by Takuto was...
"We're hunkering down!"
"Let us become shut-ins!"
Despite its official designation as the most evil nation, this was an ultra-domestic-focused Player nation where all civilization traits favored internal development but disadvantaged warfare.
=Eterpedia===
[Atou of the Mire] - Combat Unit
Combat Power: 3 Movement: 1
<Affinity for Ruin +2> <Affinity for Darkness +1> <Affinity for Chaos +1>
<Evil> <Hero> <Fanaticism>
*This unit has a certain probability of acquiring the abilities of units it defeats.
---
~~~The great god of light created man from mud.
Afterwards, a nameless, dreadful being birthed Atou from the mire.~~~
Atou is a hero unit of Mynoghra.
At the start of the game, she is extremely weak, sometimes even inferior to standard units, but she possesses powerful affinities that more than compensate for this.
Furthermore, she can acquire the abilities of units she defeats, giving her the highest growth potential among all hero units.
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