"Thirty-four thousand and two days... or is it thirty-four thousand and three?"
Durin stared blankly at the marks on the rock, utterly lost in confusion.
He had been trapped in this godforsaken place for over a hundred years!
Even his once-clear memories had become blurry.
All he could remember was that his name was Durin and that he came from a place called Earth.
But unlike others who crossed into another world, his situation was special—he had traveled to an empty, desolate world devoid of any life.
Time seemed frozen here. Even after more than thirty thousand days, Durin never felt hunger.
Other than the slowly flowing yet seemingly stagnant Time River before him,
there was nothing.
Durin had long since formed a habit—spending each day staring at the long river, passing time in a trance.
That day was no different. He gazed dully at the river's surface, his eyes unfocused and lifeless.
Suddenly, a streak of color flashed across his vacant pupils.
"A person! There's someone there!!"
Durin sprang to his feet, his long-numb heart now pounding so fiercely it felt like it would burst from his chest!
He lunged toward the riverbank, hands trembling as he grabbed the figure floating on the water.
The man wore a tattered golden robe and a crown on his head, his eyes shut as if in deep slumber.
"Hey! Hey! Wake up! Wake up!"
Durin's voice was hoarse and desperate, brimming with longing.
But the man remained motionless, lost in an eternal sleep.
"You… you…"
Durin's voice cracked, and as he reached out to shake the man awake, he realized—
The man was already dead.
"Dead… he's dead!?"
Durin collapsed to the ground in despair, his gaze once again unfocused.
What he failed to notice, however, was that the crown on the corpse emitted a soft, golden glow.
Before he could react, his entire body was suddenly engulfed in dazzling light…
"The Emperor! The Emperor has awakened!!"
"The Emperor has broken through! Our Ilan Kingdom is saved!!"
…The Emperor?
Durin instinctively scoffed, but in the next moment—
A flood of fragmented memories exploded in his mind!
The Emperor… shadewhite…
Level up failed… Land of Time Stop…
His head felt like it was splitting open. He reflexively reached up to rub it—only to realize that at some point, the crown had settled onto his own head.
Durin jolted upright, suddenly wide awake.
After quickly sorting through his thoughts, he roughly pieced together the situation:
The Emperor had failed his level up and died in the Land of Time Stop.
By sheer accident, Durin had touched the Emperor's crown and was transported here.
Good news: This place had many living people.
Bad news: This Emperor was an imposter. If anyone found out, he'd likely be burned alive.
What now?!
Durin began to panic when a mechanical voice rang in his mind.
[Congratulations, Host, on awakening the Emperor Role-Playing System! As long as you continue playing the role of the Emperor and resist the shadewhite invasion, you will receive rewards.]
[Friendly reminder: The Emperor is currently humanity's strongest warrior, a peak demigod rank level 2 entity. Please ensure your performance matches the strength of a demigod rank fighter.]
[First mission: Eliminate all invading shadewhite.]
???
Durin was dumbfounded. Hold on! I'm just a regular guy! How the hell am I supposed to eliminate the shadewhite?!
Even with only a few memory fragments, he knew that shadewhite were not easy to deal with.
These creatures could take on any form and had an unknown origin. They were humanity's greatest threat.
Just as he was still lost in confusion, the massive stone doors in front of him were forcefully pushed open!
I'm doomed.
Durin squeezed his eyes shut in despair. He knew he was just an ordinary person—there was no way he could convincingly act as the Emperor.
In the end, he'd almost certainly be thrown onto a pyre and burned as a heretic.
But in the next second, he heard an unexpected sound—
"We humbly welcome our King's return!"
Huh?
Durin snapped his eyes open, utterly stunned by the scene before him.
A group of lavishly dressed men and women were looking at him with expressions of pure excitement.
"This… you all…"
"There is no need for explanations, Your Majesty! We understand everything!"
Of course. These people were sharp—they'd definitely see through him. He was dead for sure.
Durin despaired. Just as he was about to beg for mercy, hoping for a more dignified death, the elderly white-haired mage leading the group spoke with exhilaration:
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, on successfully developing ancient shadow magic! We can no longer perceive your power or even recognize your appearance. This must mean you've ascended beyond demigod rank!"
"???"
Durin was completely dumbfounded.
Before he could react, the old mage continued:
"Now that the Emperor has returned, we must hurry back to the kingdom before those damnable shadewhite notice!"
At this, the rest of the group immediately activated their magical abilities, rising into the air.
Durin, however, fell into deep self-doubt.
Wait… what? They actually haven't realized I'm a fake?
They really think I'm the Emperor?
Are they all blind?!
As the thought crossed his mind, flashes of memories surfaced. The young Emperor did indeed bear a striking resemblance to him!
And with the crown on his head, it wasn't unreasonable for them to mistake him for the Emperor in his youth.
As for why they couldn't detect his strength?
That's because he had no strength at all!
I'm just a regular guy!
No way. Pretending to be the Emperor was far too risky—he'd be exposed in no time. I need to get out of here, fast!
Durin steeled himself to run.
But before he could move, the airborne group all turned to look at him in unison.
"Your Majesty, why are you not moving?"
…Ah.
Durin's eye twitched. He wanted to walk, but—
You guys aren't walking!
You're flying!
I'm just a regular human!!!
At that moment, Durin could almost see himself tied to a stake, about to be burned alive.
Just as he thought he was doomed, the elderly mage suddenly turned and delivered a swift kick to the one who had spoken.
"Milin, are you an idiot? Do you still not understand the importance of secrecy?!"
"We're flying back so blatantly— even if the shadewhite were brain-dead, they'd see through our plans!"
"His Majesty the Emperor is wise! He chose not to use magic with us to avoid exposing our intentions!"
"All troops, listen up! We shall follow His Majesty and walk back to the kingdom!"