Chapter 2

0. Well done. It was a beta test!

In the sky where fluffy clouds drift, blood drips down.

Screams and cries echo like songs from all around, and beside him, people are dying with agonized wails. In front, a monster lunges with its mouth wide open.

“Annoying brats!”

A man, squeezing every bit of strength from his body, split the lunging monster in half.

After slashing one monster with a roar, the man immediately turned and ran.

It might seem like he was fleeing to save his own life while his comrades died, but there was no hope left for this defensive line.

“Everyone, retreat! Survive at all costs! Abandon the castle!”

The man issued the best order he could, a retreat.

He felt a sense of futility, knowing that this was all he could do for his troops, and a deep sorrow for his own impending end, having barely clung to life until now.

Once a noble family vying for the position of the strongest, the dukedom was now on the brink of annihilation, which was tragic. But even more desperate was the fact that the entire northern region was about to be occupied by monsters.

“Worked like a dog and now you’re throwing us away? You bastards.”

He had become the head of the dukedom despite his lack of talent, and that was the problem.

He tried to cover his lack of talent with connections, but since his abilities in both civil and military matters were lacking, he ended up being used by the smarter ones, leading to this situation.

“Shouldn’t have believed in that dog-like reincarnation nonsense.”

He thought of the dog-like being who had led him here, but quickly erased it from his mind.

In a place where one cannot see even a step ahead, idle thoughts are a direct path to death.

Normally, he wouldn’t have had such thoughts, but today they were unusually numerous.

“Is this to be my grave?”

The man smiled bitterly as he looked at the monsters that had already surrounded him.

The castle, befitting the strongest family in the north, was once sturdy, but it had long been half-destroyed by the monster horde.

Even the inner stronghold was no longer safe.

“Sigh... This isn’t my style.”

Sacrificing himself for others wasn’t his style, but with this body, he had no chance of survival.

So, buying time for those fleeing was the right thing to do.

“Come on!”

With the intention of making a grand final stand, the man raised his sword and shouted. The monsters, seeing the prey that wouldn’t run, charged at him en masse.

- I pay tribute to your courage for fighting in a hopeless situation. As a reward, I grant you the unique title ‘Last Valor’.

- Last Valor: All abilities increase threefold in moments of crisis.

“Giving it to me as I’m dying.”

Despite his sarcastic remark, the man smiled at the effect of the unique title he had finally obtained.

Feeling an overwhelming surge of power throughout his body, he exerted strength he never thought possible.

Even though he was sent here with the words “God’s game,” and there were no status windows or skills, this unique title and its ability were the only things that made him feel different from the people here.

However, the title’s effect couldn’t turn his mediocre abilities into those of a sword master.

As proof, when a Hell Cow suddenly charged at him, he was thrown into the inner castle wall.

“Cough!”

His body shattered instantly, and his internal organs ruptured.

His consciousness gradually faded due to the intense shock.

“What a mess.”

The man muttered to himself, his vision blurring from the blood flowing from his head as he looked straight ahead.

In the distance, monsters were feasting on the bodies of soldiers, and more monsters were sniffing around for any remaining corpses.

He knew that the moment he lost consciousness, he would die, but seeing the monsters running towards him from afar, he thought it would be better to just die this way.

Dying peacefully was far better than being eaten alive.

Right then.

“What the...”

The monster running towards him froze mid-stride, and he looked around in surprise.

The blood droplets falling and the people dying also froze.

As if the entire world had stopped, a ball of light appeared in the air.

-Congratulations. ‘Lee Jung-ho’ has survived until the end as Jaiden Leonhardt Dazan, a beta tester.

“Beta tester?”

Blinking at the term, he asked stupidly as a mechanical voice came from the ball of light.

-Generating a list of completed quests during survival...

-Sub-quest: Survive until the end.

-Sub-quest: Survive for 300 days during the Void’s assault.

-Sub-quest: Obtain at least one title (Survival King, Royal Dog, Shame of the North, Last Valor).

-Sub-quest: Survive until the age of thirty.

-Main quest: ‘Protect the continent’ failed.

-No completed quests related to the main quest.

The mechanical voice paused, and the ball of light began to illuminate Jaiden’s body.

His mangled body, like a lump of meat, slowly turned to dust and was absorbed by the ball of light, and Jaiden’s soul was pulled out of his body.

-The beta test is over. You will be reincarnated into the Osria continent. If you achieve your goal, you can return to your original world. The quest goal is to prevent the continent’s destruction or survive until the age of thirty-five. However, note that the reward for simple survival may be smaller.

-As a special benefit for being the last survivor, you will regress to a point ten years earlier than other users.

-As a reward for completing the quest, you will obtain the unique ability ‘Incomplete Family Talent’.

-I pay tribute to your excellent survival as a beta tester. I hope you achieve your goal in the main game.

With the mechanical voice as the last thing he heard, his soul was swept into a vortex of light and sucked in.

Thus, as Lee Jung-ho and Jaiden, he would awaken at the point where he started as a beta tester, right then and there.

The Duke’s Eldest Son Runs Away to the Army (2)