ALL NOVEL chapter 1
Episode 1. The Loner Becomes a Totem (1)
There is a game called “Survive as a Knight.”
It’s an online game with a simple yet intuitive plot – a wandering knight player fights to save a world ruined by demons.
It was shut down 10 years ago due to insufficient content and declining revenue. But I had a lot of fun with it when I was young.
I was so into it that I emailed gameplay ideas to the game company as a kid.
Of course, my suggestions didn’t go anywhere since I was just a broke kid.
It’s normal that the company shut down their flagship game “Survive as a Knight” and went under a year after release. And it’s normal that the middle schooler eagerly awaiting a reply grew up to be a convenience store clerk.
If I remember right, my email went something like this:
[Title: (Surprise!) Innovative ideas to increase users
Developers, please hear me out.
Isn’t the game failing because the enemies are always demons and demon worshippers?
Instead of that, let’s make a new enemy force.
There’s a barbarian tribe NPC that lives in the mountains right? What about them?
Their concept is primitive religion and voodoo. Make their shamans and witch doctors into elite mobs, and their tribal gods and spirits into boss characters.
Wouldn’t that be more interesting?
Make their patterns and concepts different from the demons. So for example…]
I probably sent an email like that.
I didn’t get a reply, which is normal. Why would any company care about a kid’s feedback?
It’s normal that a broke game company shut down their flagship “Survive as a Knight” a year after release. And it’s normal that the middle schooler waiting for a reply grew up to be a convenience store clerk.
[New mail received!]
“Hm?”
So is it normal to get a reply from a defunct game company 10 years later?
No. Clearly this is abnormal.
With a mix of curiosity and chills, I checked the email subject line.
[Subject: Sir Knight Ultrasanz, thank you for your valuable input!]
“Uh oh.”
That Ultrasanz thing was my old gaming handle. Cringy stuff I came up with as a kid.
To be fair, all kids have usernames like that.
Anyway, they got my attention. I clicked the email to read the full thing, intrigued.
[Let’s fight for justice!
Epic RPG – Survive as a Knight!
Thank you for your valuable input, Sir Knight.
We relayed your thoughtful gameplay improvement suggestions to the team. We discussed with the Lua and did our best to implement them.
We also forwarded the additional character background suggestions. We’re working hard to showcase better.
Please continue to support an improving Survive as a Knight up close. Your feedback helps us grow!]
“What is this?”
Why would a dead game need improvements? Why would it have a team 10 years after shutting down?
Discussed with the Lua? What concept is that?
“Ugh.”
My interest fizzles out.
I was excited, or rather very excited, about a fun old game. Oh well.
Must be some prankster who got the email address. I turn off my phone, disappointed.
Then in the blink of an eye…
“Huh?”
Piles of beast carcasses in front of me.
A massive bonfire, campfire-style.
People in animal skins circled around it.
“Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!”
That strange chanting too.
I was in a space I’d never seen before.
– Uh…
A low, reverberating voice flows from my mouth.
“You responded!”
A big, burly man in a bear skin hood yelled.
He was at the front of the circular crowd.
“The Lua has responded!”
The rumbling, roaring voice made my eardrums ring. The man lifted a battleaxe.
Lua? The primitive tribe’s gods?
What does that mean?
“Newly awakened!”
“Malak! Malak! Malak!”
Cheering and strange chants from the crowd.
Men and women alike, armed and wild-eyed with fervor.
Their bulked up muscles alone terrified me.
I tried grasping the ground to run or something…
Wait, no arms? Ah, whatever. Gotta get up first…
No legs either?
I don’t feel restrained, so I’m not tied up.
And my vision is weird too. Zooming in and out like a camera.
I jerked my vision around in shock. It spun dizzyingly fast.
I read somewhere human vision is about 135 degrees vertically and 200 degrees horizontally.
…My vision just spun a full 360 degrees and I’m back to the burly axe guy.
Is my neck weird? Or my eyes?
Paralyzed by unfamiliar fear, something strange in the corner of my vision grabs my attention.
A white, square piece of paper… yes, it looked like a status window you would often see in games.
[Name: Malak]
– Available Blessings: None
– Available Points: 0
– Patron: Paya
– Enter Community
– …
A suspicious reply after 10 years.
The contents telling me to “enjoy the new mode” and “watch closely”.
My changed body.
People who look like Native Americans. Or more precisely, like the barbarians in “Surviving as a Holy Knight” which were modeled after them.
And the status window visible in the corner of my vision.
Only then did I realize the situation I was in.
What… did they possess me into their game just because I sent them one feedback 10 years ago?
And that was because of a single email I sent 10 years ago?
So now that I’ve become some sort of Loa or something, I have to lead these guys to fight the Holy Knights?
Me, a 3-month convenience store part-timer?
***
Let’s think this through.
I was on the verge of going crazy, but I had to confirm at least what state I was in.
– A mirror.
I requested as sternly as I could to the muscular guy in front of me. He was probably the chieftain of the barbarians.
“Malak has commanded that a mirror be brought!”
When he bellowed out the order in his distinctive thunderous voice, the barbarians swiftly moved to place a large mirror before me.
The quality was rather opaque, probably due to technological limitations.
– Ah…
How should I describe my appearance?
A snake peeking out just its head? With the antlers and beard, it looks dragon-like.
But it’s not a snake or dragon exactly. It’s a wooden sculpture about human-sized.
The eyes do seem to glitter piercingly, I’ll give it that.
But that doesn’t matter. I can’t move.
I wasn’t even a living thing. Just a piece of wood.
This is Loa? The barbarians’ god? I feel hopeless.
The chieftain who had been watching me cautiously asked.
“Does the totem displease you? Pinya and Ulla’s daughter, the priestess Paya who is also Chief Kanto’s younger sister, did her utmost to make it.”
No matter how earnestly you tell me that, I don’t know who any of them are.
Why does a priestess have so many useless descriptors?
– Hm.
I recalled the game’s lore.
The priestess. She communicates with Loa and presides over all kinds of mystical affairs. Compared to modern roles, she would be like the Pope.
The barbarian tribe is essentially a religious group, so she may hold an equal or even higher position than the chieftain.
In any case, the chieftain here says she is his younger sister.
– That is not the issue.
Whether I like it or not, we may have to spend a long time together. Starting off on the wrong foot would be troublesome.
Who knows if this gruff, hulking man might smash the totem in a fit of rage if I insulted his sister.
I still don’t know how much influence Loa wields in this society.
– I wish to see the priestess. Where is the priestess?
First I need to see the priestess.
From the circumstances, it seems she was the one who summoned me. Perhaps she can even send me back to Earth.
It’s too small a hope, but I need to check first.
“The priestess Paya is receiving treatment due to the aftereffects of the ritual… Shall I bring her?”
– There is no need.
It would be awkward to disturb an unwell person.
Then what now? Ah geez. My mind’s not working.
– I will hear everything after the priestess Paya wakes up. All of you rest for now.
Yes, secure time first.
It’s too chaotic right now. There’s too much information to process.
“Thank you. Please enjoy the souls of the freshly killed animals in the meantime.”
The chieftain and barbarians left, leaving behind the piled carcasses.
I looked at the status window again.
Available Blessings. It says none.
Maybe they unlock later. Next.
Available Points. Can’t tell now either so pass.
Patron is… Paya. That was the priestess’s name.
The one who summoned me or formed a contract is marked as Patron?
Enter Community? What’s this?
Only this glows faintly in blue.
Should I click it? But I don’t have hands to click with.
Damn it.
Staring hard at it makes a larger white screen appear next to the status window.
[DinoPunch: Day 154 of Collection]
[StayHomeIntrovert: Pope’s breath smells awful today too] (4)
[Pppppon: Where is the cathedral?]
[FallenHolyKnight: How to identify devil worshippers. Fact]
[DragonKing: 14 days of homelessness] (1)
[LoveDeathMeow: (Moving through the 384th multiverse) Meow meow…]
[MorningTentKnight: I stand no more] (4)
[HobbyHeretic: Is the god of this world righteous or unjust?] (1)
[IBelievedTheMonkeyUncle: Live blasphemy went to sh*t;;] (2)
[WordsOverFists: I don’t want to die…] (3)
[CloakAndDagger: Ijustplayedagameandidontdeservetobethrownintothissh*ttyworldwiththesef*ckingdevils…]
[HolyHolyKnight: Dear Knights~ Have a tasty meal today too!] (1)
[NotA NetKarma: Anyone killed people from this world?] (2)
What is this?
As if hypnotized, I clicked on the first post. With my eyes, not hands.
[DinoPunch: 145th Collection Log
Today’s meal looks like porcini mushrooms. Tastes kinda like tomatoes. Not bad.
I’ve been feeling unwell lately. Depressed. Feeling alone. Although I really am alone.]
…It’s a real community.
I felt a mix of curiosity about why this exists, and relief that perhaps I’m not the only one brought to this world.
Should I try posting too?
Staring hard at the [Write Post] box and keyboard that appeared, I could type with my gaze.
Maybe I’ll say a quick hello first.
[UltraSansInMurderModeAtNight: Hi~]
Ah.
How do I delete this?