Falko sat on a twisted throne, the weight of power pressing down on his shoulders. Shadows flickered around him as he surveyed the darkened hall, filled with the murmurs of unseen subjects he couldn't even recongize. He raised his hand, commanding silence, but as he did, the throne shifted beneath him, and a sickening stench filled the air.
"Wh-what is is happening?" Getting goosebumps seeing the whole atmosphere change, Falko questioned himself because there was no one else to answer him.
His gaze dropped to the throne's base. To his horror, it was constructed from lifeless bodies, twisted and contorted in agony. Panic surged within him as he recognized some of the faces—Selene, his mother, and his sister, their eyes wide in eternal terror.
"Falko!" Their silent screams echoed in his mind. "Falko, why did you let us die?"
With a gasp, he jolted awake, drenched in sweat, clutching his head as reality rushed back in. The darkness of the room pressed in on him like a shroud.
"Not again," he muttered, his heart racing. "I can't keep doing this. I need to calm my mind."
Just as he struggled to calm his breathing, a voice echoed in his mind, deep and commanding.
[You should not be bothered by these nightmares, Falko. They are mere shadows of the past. Overcome them and break these chains.]
Falko winced, recognizing the voice of the tyrant emperor—the one who calls himself an alternate version of Falko from another world. "What do you know about my nightmares?" he snapped, irritation boiling beneath his skin. "What do you know about loosing someone close to you."
[They are irrelevant. Focus on your strength, your purpose. You are destined for greater things,]
The voice replied, stern and unyielding.
[Beside I know what it feels like to loose people close to you. I've killed people that are close to me with my own hands, unlike you,]
[Can you please leave him alone!]
Another voice chimed in, lighter and more casual. It was the voice of another Falko, a version of himself who called himself the greatest gamer on the planet where he is from.
[He's been through enough. Besides, what's the point of arguing? All of us are Falko, you are him, he is me.]
Falko clenched his teeth, hands pressing against his temples. "Enough! Both of you! My head is about to explode! I would really appreciate some silence."
The voices quieted, their arguments fading into an uneasy silence.
[You must be ready to leave this village,]
Tyrant stated flatly.
[Staying here does you no good, especially if you wish to retake the Rondavalu Queendom.]
[Rememeber, we were called here upon your wish. Your wish to retake the queendom and take revenge on people that ruined your whole life,]
He reminded Falko, as he realized that Falko was getting too comfortable in this village that he might even forget about his task.
As the words settled in his mind, a shimmering system menu flickered to life in front of him. Falko's eyes widened as he scanned his details. The text glowed with a blinding light, but his heart sank when he read the Main Objective:
Quests/Tasks
Main Quest: Retake the Rondavalu Queendom
Sub Quests: Not avaliable
Time-limited Missions: Not avaliable
He took a deep breath, the weight of his wish crashing down on him like a tidal wave. "This… this was the day it all changed," he muttered, his voice barely a whisper.
Falko still remembered vividly about Yesner, who was the cause of his awakening. That day when the explosion happened he was teleported to the forest, but lucky for him Brina found him and instead of taking advantage of him, she brought him to her house and took care of him.
After awakening from the deep slumber he was in, Falko realized he was no longer alone. In his mind, there were two voices that constantly kept talking to him, which he quickly identified to be his own voices, despite the tone being completely different from him.
Tyrant's voice interjected again, sharper this time.
[When you faced great danger and wished for salvation, this system unlocked, and here we are—your power, your fate, ready to be claimed. We are destined for greatness no matter what time or universe we are in, and we will make sure you reach your goals."
Falko ran a hand through his damp hair, trying to process everything. "I know and I'm grateful for that? I know I can believe in you since you are me." he asked, frustration evident in his tone. "But why do you always have to be so stern and irritating."
[And you are soft and indecisive,]
Tyrant retorted, a hint of scorn in his voice.
[You should not be here, just because these people saved you. You should leave to find a better mentor for you,]
But Gamer chuckled softly, easing the tension. It was another personality of Falko from another world, where he was much easy going and playful.
[At least we're all in this together. Besides, we know what we need to do. Let him take it easy for now. Beside, we don't want to leave that hot woman called Brina.]
Falko sighed, fatigue weighing heavily on him. "Let's just get on with it, then. I can't let these nightmares hold me back. I want to these those imperial bastard out of my queendom, as soon as possible."
[Good. This world it is a world where the female have the dominant power unlike my world. Men doesn't go to war, they are weaker and wait until their female come home with money or food. It's the complete opposite of my world.]
Tyrant gave a smile explanation about the situation so far, so Falko would get an understanding why Tyrant found this world strange.
[Because of this quality among men, your body is rather weak compared to most of the women in this world, so you would have to work extra hard to catch up with them. To be honest, I don't think even if you work hard, you will be able to beat these women purely with your strength.]
While Tyrant was explaining, the gamer brought an interesting concept to the conversation.
[Maybe testerone in this world is weak! Or maybe some kind of a weird curse is happening? I don't know, there are many possibilities.]
"Does it even matter? Look!" As Falko said those words, suddenly the screen flashed in front of him showing the information about himself.
Name: Falko Grandveil
Sex: Male
Age: 14
Parameters+
STR - 5
AGI -8
VIT -7
INT -8
END -7
CHR -11
Skills:
[Hmm~ your stats increased slightly because of practice. It's not hopeless.]
Gamer said with a excited tone, as if he was watching a real time character developing. He viewed everything as some sort of a game.
[You have to get the appraisal skill. It will be really useful. Do some side quests and you will definitely get it some day,]
Tyrant didn't really have any idea about the stats and the skills he were looking at because he wasn't the reason Falko found these special features in his system. It was solely because of gamer that Falko managed to get this quest system, as well as information system.
[With my advice and strategy combined with this system, you will definitely become a powerful unit even in this world.]
Falko kept his eyes close while talking with the two personalities inside his head, and he knew these two were genuinely trying to help him because he felt it, after all, they were also Falkos, but he still had so many questions.
"Let me ask you one thing because from now on we are going to support each other, so I should know this," Falko passed for a minute, as he muttered his next words. "Why do you even support me? What do you get from this? Especially you, Tyrant. I can easily see that you're not fond of me,"
Hearing Falko's words, both the gamer and tyrant went silent, but it didn't remain for too long as the tyrant answered his question.
[It's not something you should know yet, believe in yourself and move forward with what have been given to you because we are destined for greatness.]