Chapter 2

“No, no… This can’t be… This is a dream… It’s just a dream….”

I clutched my hair, denying the reality.

At first, I thought I had gone mad from being too engrossed in the game.

Or perhaps it was a dream I had while I unknowingly fell asleep.

But it wasn’t.

After struggling for hours, I finally admitted, with a sense of resignation, that I had become Otto de Scuderi, the worst trash character and my main character in the game *Manor War*.

“Haha… Hahaha….”

A hollow laugh escaped me, unable to believe it.

How could a person possess a character in a game?

This isn’t even a novel.

But reality can be stranger than fiction.

‘Hardcore mode… This is what it meant…’

I looked at the familiar landscape before me, feeling utterly defeated.

An empty courtyard.

This was *Iota Manor*, managed by Otto de Scuderi.

The very place I had seen countless times over the past three years.

‘I have no idea how this happened, but… some warning would have been nice…’

Right then.

Ding!

An alert window appeared before my eyes.

[Alert: Synchronization complete!]

[Alert: Game starting!]

[Alert: Warning!]

[Alert: Remember! If you fail to clear Hardcore mode, your existence will be erased!]

How was I supposed to take this alert?

‘Am I really going to die? Trapped inside the game?’

Me, Kim Dojin, who had played the Otto de Scuderi character for three years in reality?

Meanwhile, a status window appeared before me, showing my current state, that is, the current state of Otto de Scuderi.

[Otto de Scuderi]

Young lord of Iota, a rural manor located in the far western outskirts of the continent.

Having engaged in all sorts of wicked deeds and a dissolute lifestyle since his days as the heir, he has lost the trust of his subjects and the people of the manor.

Age: 24

Race: Human

Affiliation: Iota Manor

Position: Lord