Chapter 1

https://novel.munpia.com/364596 17th Century, I Became the King of Taiwan

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Where am I?

While searching the internet inside a virtual reality device, I found out that the game I had been waiting for was finally released.

“Woooh!”

I let out a cry of joy.

Mount & Saber.

This was a game I had enjoyed since the PC game era.

It was a game where you become a king in the Middle Ages with a single sword, and this series had new content added.

That new content was pirates.

‘This time, I’ll become the Pirate King. That’s my dream.’

Recruiting comrades to form the Going Merry and eventually building a kingdom would be an indescribable thrill.

After purchasing the game, I immediately started it.

Soon, the familiar logo appeared, and the game began.

When I pressed the ‘Start’ button, a section for selecting the difficulty level appeared.

The difficulty level determined the damage you dealt to enemies, the damage you received, and the costs of maintaining soldiers.

“Of course, Real Mode.”

The most difficult difficulty was Real Mode.

It was literally as real as it gets, with no status window or inventory.

Death was also realistic.

In other modes, the protagonist rarely died, and even major injuries could be recovered in a few days. If you lost a battle, you would just become a prisoner.

However, Real Mode was different.

While the prisoner function still existed, losing a battle almost certainly meant death.

Despite this, I chose Real Mode.

It felt more realistic that way.

‘Still, I should turn on the automatic translation and interpretation modes, right?’

The game featured various countries, each with its own language. Without the translation function, it would be difficult to recruit characters from other countries.

Since I couldn’t communicate, I wouldn’t be able to recruit them even if I wanted to.

It was also impossible to learn all the languages of the many countries.

So, I changed one setting in Real Mode and clicked ‘Complete.’

The next setting was the country selection.

Here, I chose an Eastern island nation called the ‘Sea Kingdom.’

If you became a member of this nation, you gained advantages in all sea-related activities.

The biggest advantage was the ability to predict natural disasters like typhoons.

Next was the avatar’s appearance setting.

If it were the computer era, I might have set it up casually, but with a virtual reality device, I couldn’t do that.

I set my avatar to have a 185cm tall, well-built appearance that would be popular in the Middle Ages.

Since the game’s world was divided into Western and Eastern settings, I chose an appearance that would be appealing in both.

After setting the appearance, I moved on to the avatar’s background.

This included where they were born, what they were best at as a child, and what they did during a war.

The avatar’s background affected their stats.

When the new Mount & Saber series was announced, I had already decided on the concept I would play with.

‘This time, I’ll become the Pirate King.’

Starting as a mercenary, becoming a lord, and then becoming a king was too boring.

I had done that in every series.

This time, with the addition of several maritime nations and content reminiscent of the Age of Exploration, it seemed like a good idea to play in a new way.

So, I chose to become the Pirate King.

I set the avatar’s stats to be suitable for becoming a Pirate King.

While I could eventually max out all stats, the initial stats were crucial in Real Mode.

After setting all the initial settings, the game officially began.

“Oh. Starting on the sea, huh.”

Mount & Saber usually started near a training ground after creating the avatar.

But this time, it was different.

There was no city or training ground in sight.

All I could see was the sea.

Of course, I wasn’t just left on the sea with nothing.

There was a small boat, not much different from a raft.

Boom!

Then, a sudden explosion was heard.

“What! Lightning at the start?”

In the vast sea, an explosion was unlikely, so I naturally assumed it was lightning.

The sky was indeed full of dark clouds.

But I soon realized that the explosion I heard was not in the game but in reality.

Boom!

Another explosion was heard, and a tremendous shock hit my entire body.

“Gah!”

***

After the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the establishment of the Southern Ming, the Southern Ming army was ineffective.

After the Manchu tribes crossed the Shanhai Pass, the Southern Ming army never won a single battle and was pushed back helplessly.

However, the only effective force in the Southern Ming was the navy.

Of course, even the navy was a shadow of its former glory.

For example, the Fujian Navy, which originally had 40 warships, now had only 13.

Still, they performed basic military activities like patrols, so they could be considered effective.

“What’s that ship?”

Zheng Xian, a junior officer, tilted his head at a small ferry boat that looked no different from a straw sack.

He found it strange because the ferry boat had no flag.

In the South China Sea, you needed to fly a flag to receive ‘protection.’

The flag of the Zheng family, to be precise.

The flag cost 3,000 silver, and without it, any ship could be plundered indiscriminately.

This was because the head of the Zheng family was the famous former Pirate King, Zheng Zhilong, the Marquis of Nan'an.

As the most powerful figure in the Southern Ming, known by the nickname ‘Yu Buwei,’ you couldn’t pass the South China coast without paying him.

“What should we do?”

“What can we do? If they’re asking to be plundered, it would be impolite not to.”

“Hehe! You’re right.”

Zheng Xian was a former pirate.

His subordinates were the same.

They protected ships flying their lord’s flag but thoroughly plundered those that didn’t.

This didn’t change even after they became part of the navy.

‘It doesn’t look like there’s much to plunder, but that guy lying there looks sturdy. Selling him as a slave might be profitable.’

With that thought, the ship Zheng Xian was on approached the ferry boat.

Soon, his subordinates would drag the giant man lying on the ferry boat.

But Zheng Xian was soon shocked.

‘What is that guy?’

As the soldiers approached, the giant man, who had been unconscious, woke up and began to resist with an oar.

“Gaaaah!”

“M-monster!”

The man’s resistance, which was expected to be easily subdued, turned the tables on the soldiers.

When the man swung the oar, the soldier who was hit flew like a leaf in a strong wind and fell into the sea.

The speed at which he swung the oar was so fast that the soldiers who followed were also hit and thrown into the sea one after another.

Realizing they couldn’t match him, the soldiers screamed and jumped into the sea.

Zheng Xian, watching the scene, laughed bitterly.

“To take down ten soldiers alone. You’re a match for Lü Bu.”

But Zheng Xian soon screamed.

The man, who possessed strength comparable to Lü Bu, was now running towards the ship Zheng Xian was on with agile movements.

***

The giant man, Kim Yo-han, looked bewildered.

‘What? Why are these guys so weak?’

When he woke up from his unconscious state, strange men attacked him.

At first, Yo-han thought they were the kind of bandits that appeared in Mount & Saber, like minor enemies.

But even if bandits were weak, he shouldn’t have been able to defeat a dozen of them in his current state.

With a bow and horse, maybe, but in the middle of the sea, even a seasoned veteran couldn’t defeat a dozen bandits.

Yet, Yo-han defeated them easily.

‘Did I set the difficulty wrong? But even on the lowest difficulty, it shouldn’t be this easy, right?’

Even the lowest-tier soldiers, new recruits, were much stronger than these men.

In reality, new recruits were almost 180cm tall and had some skills with a bow or sword.

In contrast, the men Yo-han just fought were around 160cm tall and had skinny builds.

Even if Yo-han had his real body, he could have taken on two or three of them.

With his game body, he could handle dozens.

His physical stats were superior to any fighter from the start.

“D-daring to attack the Heavenly Army! Do you think you’ll survive this?”

“Heavenly Army?”

“We are the navy of the Ming Dynasty! If you realize your mistake now... cough!”

“You’re talking too much for a prisoner.”

In the game, Yo-han was a tyrant.

He executed prisoners without hesitation, knowing the severe consequences.

So, he didn’t tolerate a prisoner’s insolence.

“Gah!”

He forced the man to shut his mouth with a punch.

‘Still, something feels off. The Ming Dynasty? That doesn’t exist.’

Yo-han had studied the game’s world thoroughly before its release.

Naturally, the first thing he investigated was the countries.

Each country had different main troops and strengths.

In Real Mode, he needed to know all the countries’ information to decide on the best army composition.

But among the countries he knew, the Ming Dynasty didn’t exist.

Feeling something was wrong, Yo-han shouted without thinking.

“Log out!”

His ominous feeling was right.

No matter how many times he shouted “log out,” nothing happened.

Yo-han realized what this meant.

‘Could I be trapped?’

Trapped in the game.

It was an unbelievable reality.

But what could he do if he couldn’t log out?

***

While Yo-han was feeling despair at being trapped in the game, a large ship approached from a distance.

It was a massive junk ship, far larger than the one he had taken over.

“You barbarian! You’re finished now!”

With the arrival of reinforcements, Zheng Xian, who had been Yo-han’s prisoner, regained his confidence.

“Do you really want to die?”

“...Please spare me. I was just unconscious for a moment.”

But even with reinforcements, he was still Yo-han’s prisoner.

When Yo-han threatened him with a sword, Zheng Xian regained his composure and bowed deeply.

As they argued, the junk ship drew closer.

Although it was still far, Yo-han could see how many soldiers were on board.

His vision was so sharp that it was like looking through a telescope.

There were at least 50 soldiers on the junk ship.

‘50 men. If they’re as weak as these guys, I have nothing to fear.’

Although it was just game experience, he had overcome more desperate situations.

He had fought hundreds of enemies alone when all his soldiers were dead and his comrades were injured.

Of course, at that time, he had maxed out all his stats, making him almost a supreme martial arts master.

His speed was as fast as a sports car.

Now, he was just starting the game.

His stats were barely set.

Even the few stats he got from setting his avatar’s background were not directly related to combat, like ‘Vitality’ or ‘Control,’ but ‘Tactics’ and ‘Endurance.’

In his current state, he would struggle to defeat even the minor enemies in the game.

But Yo-han felt no fear.

The enemies were weaker than the bandits with straw sacks and clubs.

“Come on! You bastards! I’ll make your ship a pirate ship!”

Zheng Xian just looked at Yo-han with a bewildered expression.

‘Is he crazy?’

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