Chapter 3. The Knight's Appearance (1)

"What is it?"

The knight muttered to himself.

The gang members, sensing the charisma and courage in his voice, involuntarily took a step back.

The gang leader's forehead veins bulged as he saw this.

"You bastards, what are you doing! Just shoot him dead!"

"But, he just deflected the bullet with his sword..."

"Of course it was a coincidence! A coincidence! Are you stupid? Shoot him all at once!"

The leader, with his neck veins popping, shouted, and only then did his frightened subordinates change their stance.

They didn't know what this suddenly appearing armored knight was doing, but it was clear he wasn't on their side.

If he wasn't on their side, then he had to be eliminated. The client had requested no witnesses in this area.

No matter what, the opponent was just one person.

On the other hand, they had over 40 armed men.

It seemed the factory workers had hired some kind of fixer, but one person was easy to handle.

The subordinates, who had been about to retreat, swallowed hard and aimed their guns.

They glared at the knight with murderous intent, and the knight immediately read their intentions.

In that moment, the knight's figure vanished from the spot like a candle being blown out.

"What, what? Where did he go!"

"He just disappeared!"

As the gang members panicked and looked around, the knight suddenly appeared among them.

Just as they were about to notice his appearance, the knight's sword moved first.

The sharp longsword sliced through the air. The silver trajectory, shining under the moonlight, swept past five gang members.

The five members fell, spraying blood, and the knight's figure vanished like a ghost almost simultaneously.

The gang members, realizing the situation too late, aimed their guns at the knight, but all they saw was empty space.

"Where did he go..."

Thud!

A fist flew into the jaw of the gang member who was muttering, connecting with a solid impact.

The knight, crouching low, had quickly approached and punched the jaw.

Despite being hit with a bare fist, the man flew through the air, spinning.

During the brief time it took for him to fall to the ground, the knight delivered punches and kicks to each of the gang members.

Some were sent flying by punches, others were kicked away, and some were sprawled on the ground.

Even the large, aggressive leader was taken down with a single punch.

"Uaaaaah!"

A gang member, finally realizing the situation, fired his gun indiscriminately at the knight.

Though he was too panicked to aim properly, the distance was close, and the bullet aimed for the knight's forehead.

The knight, watching the bullet, lightly twisted his upper body.

The bullet missed the knight and hit an innocent gang member behind him.

"What...?"

The gang member, stunned by the knight's ability to dodge a bullet fired at point-blank range, was left speechless.

And the fist that slammed into his mouth left him unable to speak.

"Hey, you bastards! Surround him and shoot all at once!"

The leader gave the order, and the gang members surrounded the knight.

Seeing no way out, the knight lifted one foot and stomped the ground hard.

Boom!

With just one stomp, a footprint was left on the ground, and the knight's body soared over 5 meters into the air.

No, he didn't fly.

It was a simple leap, but it was so high that it seemed like he was flying for a moment.

The gang members were dumbfounded by the knight's physical abilities, which allowed him to leap over the surrounding circle despite the heavy armor.

The silver-gray armor, reflecting the moonlight, glowed faintly.

The knight, landing in the center of the gang members, stepped on the head of a stunned member and crushed it. At the same time, he continued to swing his sword.

The sword, filled with intent, flashed repeatedly.

Silver flashes and red lines intersected.

Each line brought a fair death.

The gang members fell, spraying blood. In the blink of an eye, five of them were dead.

The knight, seemingly not tired, moved to find his next target.

It was an ironic situation.

On one side were 40 men with guns, and on the other was one man with a sword.

Yet, the one man with the sword was overwhelming the 40.

He rampaged like a tiger in a sheep's pen.

"Aaaah! My arm!"

"Damn, what the hell is this!"

"We didn't agree to this!"

The gang members screamed and died. Some resisted by firing their guns, but it was futile.

The knight, moving like a ghost, deflected all the bullets with his sword. Sparks flew, and the cut bullets rolled on the ground.

He then charged at the one who had fired at him and swung his sword.

"Uaaaaah! Run! I don't want to die!"

Terrified by the scene, the gang members dropped their guns and fled in all directions.

"......!"

The leader couldn't even think about scolding his subordinates.

He was just as terrified.

In fact, he wanted to run away more than anyone else.

From the moment he saw the knight slicing his subordinates, he had a bad feeling.

The money from the client wasn't worth his life. He should run away immediately.

'But, I can't move!'

The leader soon realized why his body wouldn't listen to him.

The knight, the cause of all this chaos, was now staring at him.

It felt like facing a giant beast in the mountains.

The leader couldn't move a finger or an eyelid.

At that moment, the knight moved.

Despite being over 20 meters away, the distance was meaningless to the knight.

The moment the knight took a step, his figure stretched and appeared right in front of the leader.

The leader, who had been trying to twist his body, barely managed to open his trembling lips to shout.

"St...!"

Before the leader could finish his sentence, a sword flash appeared.

The severed head rolled helplessly on the ground.

The workers, watching from a distance, held their breath.

For them, it was more difficult to accept the reality than to be happy.

The gang had attacked, causing several deaths and injuries. They had even been in danger of losing the factory they had just occupied.

But then the knight emerged from the ground and sliced all the gang members with a single sword.

They say God sends a savior from the sky to help people.

Then, what should they call the armored knight who emerged from the ground?

An angel? A demon?

Of course, it was impossible to understand.

At that moment, the knight turned to them.

The menacing gaze, still filled with the aftereffects of battle, made the workers hold their breath.

They were anxious that this monster might suddenly turn his sword on them.

Given his ruthless killing of the gang members, it wasn't impossible.

As the workers were tense, the knight spoke.

"Where am I?"

*

"Where am I?"

While asking the workers, I was internally very confused.

There were many reasons. I calmly organized them in my mind.

First, my unbelievable physical abilities.

I understand breaking a stone door and digging through the ground, but deflecting bullets with a sword by sight?

I've never even held a sword before, let alone perform such clean swordsmanship.

This must be the influence of my body, the wandering knight character I was developing.

This leads directly to the second reason.

I killed people. Dozens of them.

With a sword, against armed opponents.

Even a serial killer wouldn't kill this many.

Of course, it was self-defense since they attacked me first.

But killing people is a different matter, even if it's self-defense.

Yet, I was fine. No panic, no shock, just calm as if I had done my duty.

At that moment, I realized something.

I wasn't myself.

More accurately, I had become one with the wandering knight character I was developing in the game.

And the third, most surprising thing is this.

"Let me ask you again. Where am I?"

What I originally wanted to say was, "Where am I?" But this body was using an arrogant tone, like something from an old drama.

'What is this tone?'

Surprised, I asked again.

"Can't you hear me?"

Trying to correct the tone, my body resisted.

At that moment, I recalled the characteristics of the [Wandering Knight] origin.

Each origin has its own characteristics. Thieves have [Cowardice], Barbarian Warriors have [Simplicity], and Priests have [Piety].

Wandering Knights have [Chivalry], [Nobility], and [Wisdom].

And [Wisdom] refers to the personality of this wandering knight.

In the game, it was just a basic setting, but now it was fully applied to me.

"Th... That is..."

Among the people watching me from a distance, someone approached cautiously.

A man in his 40s, with dirt on his face, looked exhausted but had a lively gaze, indicating he was the leader of the group.

The middle-aged man bowed to me.

"Thank you for helping us. My name is Bill."

"My name is Ossian."

Ossian was the nickname of the playable character I was playing.

"I didn't specifically intend to help you. I just drew my sword because they attacked me first. It was my duty as a knight."

"......?"

Damn, this tone again.

The middle-aged worker was also looking at me with a strange expression, as if I was odd.

I tried to correct my tone a few more times but gave up.

It wouldn't change by force, and I could fix it gradually later.

More importantly, where am I?

"Let me ask you a third time. Don't test my patience. Where am I?"

"Is this your first time in Tírna?"

"Tírna?"

No matter how much I thought, I couldn't recall the name.

Seeing my confusion, the man had a strange expression, as if he couldn't believe I didn't know.

His gaze was quite painful, but I decided to be bold.

"Tell me about it."

Feeling my confidence, the man, though surprised, explained everything he knew.

Tírna is the name of the city where I am standing, known as the City of Gold.

It is the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and the future's goal, with the most advanced steam machinery.

"Wait a moment. Industrial Revolution? Steam machinery?"

"Yes. Is there a problem...?"

Seeing the worker's confusion, my head spun.

At first, I thought this world was the one from the game I was playing.

That thought hasn't changed. But the world I knew has changed so much.

Even the place I emerged from the stone elevator is different.

Instead of the vast nature I expected, there were smoke-filled factories.

'Gang members with guns. Workers covered in oil. Standing factories and chimneys.'

At that moment, I realized.

I was indeed in the world of the game I was playing.

But there was one difference.

This world was hundreds of years in the future from the game I played.