Sorim Grapes is Wronged

07.

Teisia, the race of light.

A fairy that lives in the Forest of Light appeared. A character with long, pointed ears and a slender build looked at me. It was wearing green clothes similar to Peter Pan, with a large instrument on its back, which was the harp – the weapon favored by this race.

They say it plays the harp during battle, but honestly, does this make sense? How can you play an instrument while fighting in a bloody battle? Moreover, I can’t understand the concept of attacking with melodies. It’s not like they’re tormenting the enemy’s mind with extreme dissonance. Games are indeed childish and pathetic.

After randomly selecting hair color, eye color, and skin color, a character with white skin, dark green hair, and golden eyes appeared. The next step was naming the character. I placed my fingers on the keyboard.

I’m annoyed at having to type after barely managing to log in, but I peck at the keys with my index finger.

‘Watermelon’

[This name is already in use.]

‘Apple’

[This name is already in use.]

‘Melon’

[This name is already in use.]

Ah, I really don’t want to do this… I looked up at the ceiling.

It seems I need to input something longer. I gather my resolve and input six whole characters.

‘WatermelonAppleMelon’

[This name is already in use.]

This too?

I tried inputting a few more, but they were all taken.

Aah…

I went into the bedroom, slammed the pillow on the bed about three times, and came back.

‘Angryy’

[‘Angryy’ Are you sure you want to use this name?]

Finally!

I quickly pressed ‘Yes’, and a loading screen appeared. For a moment, I felt gloomy at the thought of having to input four characters every time I log in. I should copy and paste it into a notepad.

After the loading finished, a video played, similar to when I first started the game, but this one was quite long.

It showed animals frolicking peacefully in beautiful and fantastic natural landscapes with graphics that were surprisingly realistic. There were strange animals that don’t exist on Earth, like fairies and unicorns, mixed in. There were also humans laughing happily while harvesting crops.

…This is really childish.

As I watched with a sullen expression, suddenly black and red clouds gathered in the sky, and the sound of thunder striking, “Kuung,” was heard.

Soon, a voice explained what happened in this game world. The sound was too loud, so I turned down the volume and watched the video unfold like a movie.

“The world of Feisia, where various races including humans, fairies, and beastkin lived peacefully together around the World Tree ‘Page’.

One day, danger approached this beautiful and peaceful place.

Demons appeared, trying to destroy this world and devour the World Tree. In response, all races of Feisia overcame their fear and fought together.

The Hundred Years’ Human-Demon War…

The power of the four high-ranking demons ruling over chaos was too mighty.

When everyone was despairing and giving up, five heroes appeared.

Those ‘Heroes of the World Tree’ who gained the power of the World Tree Page, bravely vanquished evil more than anyone else. And finally, the decisive battle with the Demon King…”

Kraaah-.

The screen changed to a battlefield.

Monster corpses and human bodies were scattered everywhere. I hadn’t expected to see corpses, and my mood instantly soured, but I held back because I didn’t want to get worked up over mere game settings.

In a hellish landscape with blood-red clouds rising, there were five heroes and four high-ranking demons. But since they’re demons, should I say ‘four’ instead of ‘four people’? I’ve only heard of demons until now, but seeing them for the first time, they just look like clean humans. I’m not sure if this is just in this game.

The demons were about to summon the Demon King, but they were enraged because the heroes’ attack meant they could only complete half the summoning.

An enormously large monster appeared from the oval space created by the demons. It was a monster with fingers larger than a person, but fortunately, only the upper body was visible. This obviously incredibly strong monster was the Demon King.

The high-ranking demons and the World Tree heroes fought against each other, and a handsome human hero faced the Demon King. He was a man with short blonde hair and blue eyes, and he seemed to be the main character.

“However, even those borrowing the power of the World Tree were not enough to face the high-ranking demons and the Demon King.

Sensing defeat, the hero Callen unsealed ‘Riafrea’, the jade seal passed down in the imperial family of the Sojisis Empire…

With the power of that jade seal, they were finally able to defeat the darkness.”

Thanks to the power of the jade seal, they were able to send the Demon King back to the demon realm and annihilate the four high-ranking demons. I wondered why they didn’t unseal the jade seal earlier if it was so powerful, but I suppose you can’t expect completeness from a mere game.

Although they won the Human-Demon War, the hero Callen disappeared along with the jade seal. Two of the other heroes died, and two were critically injured. Except for the central area where the World Tree was, the other four continents were devastated. In other words, the good side also suffered severe damage.

Before the outbreak of the Human-Demon War, each continent and race maintained balance and peace, but now that balance began to waver precariously. As the power of the four empires that had effectively governed the continents weakened, hidden evil forces emerged. They had been waiting for an opportunity to invade and now stretched out their curled bodies, taking advantage of the empires’ weakness. Among these evil forces was someone named ‘Deborah’, who was once a hero.

“Five years after the end of the Human-Demon War…

As rumors spread throughout Feisia that the Sojisis Empire’s jade seal ‘Riafrea’, which ended the Human-Demon War, had reappeared,

‘Gilenda’, who succeeded to the throne after ‘Callen’, the last user of Riafrea, secretly calls someone.

That person is ‘Lido Arden’, the guild master of ‘Lido Guild’, the best adventurer’s guild in the Western Continent.

Emperor Gilenda asks Lido to find Riafrea.

They must find it before the evil forces calling themselves the ‘Black Light’ do.

Even at the cost of their lives.”

There were so many complicated names that I got confused about what was what.

Anyway, the gist seems to be… The world almost perished due to the Human-Demon War, but peace was restored through the heroes’ sacrifice. However, this peace was actually precarious, and bad guys are trying to destroy the world again, and to prevent this, we need to find the jade seal. That seems to be it.

The video ended with a solemn narration about how the threat of war was once again looming over Feisia.

It was laughable how such a grand background was given to a mere game.

Surely we don’t have to memorize all those names. If the names were like Park Tae-seo or Choi Jeong, I might try to memorize them, but with unfamiliar words like Sojisis and Riafrea, I don’t even feel like trying.

Anyway, having successfully completed the first login, I waited for the next step in a listless, or rather slightly angry, state.

After the loading finished, I thought I was finally going to start the game, but that wasn’t the case.

[The server is currently busy. You are in queue.

Position – 1291st]

So you have to wait in line for this too, like at a bank. I was a bit surprised. Monday evening, 6:30 PM. I couldn’t believe there were so many pathetic humans playing games at this time. I don’t know where the world is heading.

Being 1291st in line, I had no idea how long it would take, so I went to open the fridge to drink some beer while waiting, but there was no beer or soju. Did Jin throw them away? Jin dislikes me drinking when he drinks with his friends. I understand, given how much I used to cause trouble when I was half-alcoholic.

With no choice, I got a glass of water, and when I came back, the queue had reduced to 120th.

After taking a sip of water and blinking once, the warning window disappeared and finally the screen changed.

However, it still wasn’t the start of the game. Another video played.

This video was quite interesting, unlike the previous ones.

“Brother, Angryy brother! Wake up quickly. Mom and Dad are looking for you!”

A girl with pigtails appeared on the screen and woke me up. She seemed to be this character’s younger sister. If I had known my name would be called like this, I should have chosen a more normal one.

Soon, an explanation about me followed.

I’m the son of the chief and high priest of the fairy tribe living in the Forest of Light in the Western Continent. I’m twelve years old and a mischievous troublemaker. I don’t participate in the rituals that all tribe members must attend, and I like to go out to play in the forest whenever I get the chance and enjoy teasing adults. The Human-Demon War is in full swing outside the forest, and the adults are worried about me. Despite being such a troublemaker, I apparently have tremendous talent in light magic and playing the ‘Glory Harp’, which is unique to Teisia.

After briefly showing scenes of a harmonious family and peaceful village…

“The prophecy ritual is long and boring. I should go to the lake and play with Fon.”

On the day of the most important ritual in the village, ‘I’ go alone to play at the lake and return late at night. My leisurely return becomes quicker as I approach the village, sensing the acrid smell, the scent of blood, and hearing screams and noise.

Hurrying to arrive, I find the village in ruins, overrun by bad guys in black robes.

I see my father die while protecting my mother right before my eyes. Then the bad guys stab my mother with a spear, and at that moment, our eyes meet. My mother gives me some kind of signal before breathing her last.

I realize that the signal is pointing to where my younger sister ‘Luna’ is hiding, and I rush there in a panic. My small-bodied sister always used to hide in that cave during hide-and-seek.

However… what I see when I arrive is my sister’s already cold corpse, and in front of it, a man in a black robe wiping his blood-stained sword on the cave wall.

When I scream, the man, whose face is hidden by a deeply pulled hood, walks towards me.

“As if he had been waiting for me to come…”