In the study of Stormwind Barony's baronial castle.
Lord Narante, slumped over his desk, was drenched in cold sweat. His eyelids twitched violently behind closed lids, teeth grinding audibly as if trapped in some harrowing vision. Abruptly, he jolted upright, eyes snapping open to dart about the shadowed chamber in primal terror. Only when the familiar stone walls and flickering candlelight registered did his rigid posture slacken, breath escaping in a shuddering exhale.
"Another visceral nightmare... Was there some cosmic error in my transmigration?"
Though reborn into a noble knight's body—a seemingly auspicious rebirth—two soul-rending premonitions within a single week gnawed at his sanity. This medieval realm of chivalric orders and arcane beasts held darker wonders still: the weekly celestial tempests. These meteor showers rained both fortune and calamity—gem-studded meteorites promising wealth, or worse, portals disgorging abyssal horrors.
Tragically, his new domain lay within the accursed "Blighted Vale," a crucible where four predecessors had perished beneath claws and cursed steel. The original owner of this flesh had expired from sheer dread en route to claim this poisoned chalice.
Thud-thud-thud.
"Milord!"
The steward's muffled call pierced the oaken door. "Enter," Narante commanded, schooling his features as Thomas burst in, parchment clutched like a holy relic.
"Triumphant news! By your strategic genius, Captain Quirk has slain a skeletal warrior and archer! Our lands emerge unscathed from tonight's celestial storm!"
Narante froze. The nightmare... was prophetic?
Seven days prior, his first vision had compelled him to dispatch guards against imagined threats. Now reality confirmed those twin falling stars bore exactly the horrors he'd foreseen. Which meant...
His latest vision—thirty undead abominations, hellhounds, and a headless knight descending next week—was no mere phantasm.
Dread pooled in his gut as his gaze fell upon the chronicle spread before him:
"Year 355, February: Stormwind Barony besieged by 24 dark entities (12 skeletal warriors, 10 archers, 2 hellhounds). Baronial fortress breached. All personnel slain, including the lord..."
The grisly entries cascaded—lords named Bond, Peter, Duke—each entry a tombstone marking another failed ruler. Now Death's scythe hovered at his own throat.
Flee? Abandon his people? Yet desertion meant forfeiting title and facing the Earl's wrath. This "gift" of barony came with poisoned strings: the Earl's decree offering landless cadets a perilous gamble—survive three years governing blighted territories, with the victor wedding the Earl's sole heiress, the fabled Lady Stella of House Tulip.
As existential panic crested, crystalline chimes resonated through his psyche:
[Ding! Main Quest Completed: First Omen Unveiled.]
[System Activated. Weekly Lottery Function Unlocked.]
[Reward Granted: 1 Energy Point.]
[New Quest: Second Omen Unveiled (0/28 eliminated). Reward: 5 Energy Points.]
Narante's bitter laugh startled the waiting steward. Eleven guards against twenty-eight abominations? Desperately, he focused on the holographic interface now overlaying his vision—a minimalist panel with two functions: Maidens of Fortune Codex and Scouting Protocol.
The former purportedly identified mystical "Daughters of Fortune," though local folklore only whispered of ill-omened "Doom Maidens." Dismissing this enigma, he examined the latter function:
[Scouting Protocol: Expend 1 Energy Point to detect elemental sprites within territory.]
His breath hitched. Elemental sprites—living constellations from the meteor showers—were keystones of prosperity: Verdant (fertility), Amethyst (crop enhancement), Aureate (mineral veins), Cerulean (habitat enrichment). Each worth a small treasury, yet vanishing within hours if unclaimed.
With tonight's meteor shower ongoing...
"Thomas! Saddle my steed!"
The steward blinked at his lord's sudden fervor. "At once, milord!"
As hooves clattered in the courtyard, Narante's finger hovered over the holographic [Scan] button. His sole Energy Point dissolved. A radar overlay bloomed—crimson blip pulsing northeast.
[Ding! Elemental Sprite Detected: Verdant-Type.]
Life. Hope. Currency.
The baron's manic grin outshone the falling stars.