KakaoPage
My chest thudded with a strange mixture of excitement and awkwardness.
"How long has it been since I’ve taken a break like this?"
I run a small business, which means I’ve lived a life without the concept of holidays.
Recently, I collapsed from overwork, and the doctor prescribed me a week of rest.
Of course, knowing myself, I wasn’t planning to take the entire week off. Four days would be plenty.
I felt uneasy about staying away from the business for even a few days, but I trusted my staff to handle things well.
I also told them to call me immediately if anything went wrong.
"What perfect timing! My vacation coincides with the release date of that game’s sequel."
Sitting in front of my computer, I was thrilled at the thought of spending my rare holiday in the best way possible.
"I had so much fun with Era of Silver 1."
The game Era of Silver was a niche but highly enjoyable title.
Its world was set in an arcane-punk universe, where magic and technology intertwined seamlessly.
It was a single-player RPG that didn’t support online features.
Despite being a solo experience, the game offered incredible freedom.
It was my favorite game, and I had played it the longest.
Even during my busiest moments with work, I’d find time to play it here and there.
Now, almost ten years later, the sequel, Era of Silver 2, was finally being released.
And this time, it wasn’t in 2D like its predecessor but in near-photorealistic 3D.
Spending my precious holiday on this was more than worth it.
"For my first character, I’ll go with a production-focused jack-of-all-trades build."
In Era of Silver 1, I primarily played as a production-type character.
I had tried other combat or magic-oriented builds, but production and crafting-focused characters suited me the best.
One of the standout features of the game was that hunting or PvP weren’t mandatory.
You could fully enjoy the game by simply focusing on production within the cities.
I found this type of gameplay particularly fun.
It reflected my real-life preferences as someone who ran a business.
"Finally."
While reminiscing about my memories of Era of Silver 1, the game installation completed.
My body, worn out from overwork, suddenly felt energized, as if nothing had happened.
I logged into the game and clicked the Create Character button.
Ta-da!
The first thing that greeted me was a special reward message.
[You achieved legendary accomplishments in Era of Silver 1.]
[A special privilege has been granted to you.]
[You can play as your most-played character from Era of Silver 1 in Era of Silver 2.]
[However, items cannot be transferred.]
I paused for a moment, contemplating the message.
"Should I test the waters with my max-level character first?"
Of course, playing the game this way might not be as fun.
But the note about items not being transferable changed things.
"This game thrives on grind-heavy mechanics by default."
I had a feeling that this approach would still be enjoyable.
More importantly, production-type characters in Era of Silver required an extraordinary amount of grinding.
Four days wouldn’t even scratch the surface.
[Your Era of Silver 1 character, ‘Arad,’ has been loaded.]
So, I decided to bring in my most-played max-level production jack-of-all-trades character from Era of Silver 1.
“Awesome!”
The character that loaded was absurdly overpowered, even in my eyes.
Stats:
The stats were the first thing that caught my eye.
As a production-focused character who only operated in towns, most combat-related stats were at their bare minimum.
For example, the Magic stat only had the minimum required to craft magical items.
Other stats like Concentration, Intelligence, Willpower, Strength, and Stamina had naturally increased over time through grinding.
The only stats I had personally allocated points to were Dexterity, a bit of Magic, and Luck.
Dexterity was the cornerstone for production-focused characters, so it was maxed out.
Luck, on the other hand, was what I invested all remaining points into after maxing out Dexterity to improve crafting and enhancement success rates.
"Next up: Skills."
The next screen displayed my skill window.
Skills:
"I must’ve been insane."
Every single life skill I had spent years grinding in Era of Silver 1 was fully maxed out upon loading the character.
"The stats and skills seem to carry over directly from Era of Silver 1. No real changes here. Too bad I can’t reallocate points."
After reviewing the skills, the character customization screen popped up.
Unlike the stats and skills, appearance could be modified.
"Let’s just go with this. He kind of looks like me anyway."
Not in the mood for detailed customization, I decided to stick with the default appearance: a young, good-looking man with black hair and black eyes.
The realistic 3D graphics of Era of Silver 2 made the character feel oddly similar to me.
"Starting area?"
Clicking the next button brought up the starting area selection screen.
Options included deserts, jungles, forests, major cities, small villages, plains, and more. But my choice was clear.
"The North, of course."
If the game world hadn’t changed significantly, the North was the optimal choice for production players.
The region was abundant in magic stones, rare minerals, and monster byproducts.
Choosing the North as my starting area, I clicked the login button.
“Uh…?”
A sudden wave of dizziness hit me, and before I knew it, I lost consciousness.
[Please save us. Save us!]
[Oh, legendary craftsman.]
[Oh, legendary alchemist.]
[Oh, legendary arcane engineer.]
[Oh, legendary merchant.]
[Save the North. Save the North!]
A desperate plea echoed in my dreams.
When I opened my eyes, I was met with a snowy landscape.
A small city nestled in the snow lay before me, its rooftops blanketed in white.
The sight felt both familiar and strange.
“Ugh...!”
A flood of memories, unfamiliar yet oddly recognizable, struck my mind.
More specifically, they were the memories of the body I had apparently inhabited.
After some time passed, I muttered a curse under my breath.
“Damn.”
I had to come to terms with the fact, faster and with less surprise than I’d expected, that I had somehow transmigrated into the game world.
“Status! Status window? Status screen!”
I immediately shouted commands in an attempt to summon the status window.
“…?”
However, despite finding myself in the game world, I couldn’t summon the status window.
Eventually, I gave up on trying and instead looked around.
If my memories from Earth and the knowledge of this body I had inhabited were correct, this place was Haven, in the North.
"Is this really Era of Silver 2?"
In Era of Silver 1, Haven had been one of the few large cities in the North.
But now, it looked more like a small, burgeoning town, as if it was just beginning to grow.
"Right, the setting for Era of Silver 2 is a hundred years before Era of Silver 1."
Considering the hundred-year gap, this small-town version of Haven made sense.
[Please save the North. Save it!]
As I began piecing the situation together, the desperate plea that had brought me here echoed in my mind.
"Save the North, huh?"
A vague “main mission” to save the North.
"Do I need to complete this mission to return to Earth?"
I instinctively felt that fulfilling this main quest was the only way to return home.
"But what exactly is wrong with the North that it needs saving?"
I tilted my head, recalling the lore of Era of Silver and compiling the memories of Arad, the body I now inhabited.
"In Era of Silver 1, the North was a territory directly controlled by the Imperial Crown. But originally, it belonged to the Grand Duchy of Renslet, ruled by the Renslet family."
This meant that in the current timeline—100 years before Era of Silver 1—the Renslet Grand Duchy still existed in the North.
"The treatment of Northerners in Era of Silver 1 was awful, though. It was similar to how the British Empire treated Ireland in Earth’s history."
It was starting to become clear what I needed to do.
To simplify: I had to protect the North and the Renslet family from the Empire and the Imperial Crown.
"But this body I’ve taken over is a complete non-combatant. How am I supposed to fight against the Empire’s Golden Generation with this?"
The real problem was that my current circumstances were far from ideal for tackling such a mission.
I was a veteran player of Era of Silver 1.
So, while I didn’t know every detail, I was familiar with the game’s lore and history to some extent.
If my assumptions were correct, the Empire’s current era was home to figures so exceptional that calling them the "Golden Generation" was an understatement.
At this time, the Crown Prince would be Kanvraman, later known as the Bright Emperor of the Empire.
Yulkanes, an 8th-circle archmage and head of the Imperial Magic Tower, was likely just beginning his revolution in arcane engineering.
Theresia, the Archbishop of the Imperial Church, was probably waging bloody campaigns to reform the church.
Doom, the Sword Master known as the Empire’s Blade and Commander of the Imperial Knights, was likely eradicating rebel forces within the Empire.
Meanwhile, Havana, the Marquisess of Roses and another Sword Master, would be cutting down external threats to the Empire.
And that was just the roster of names I could immediately recall.
On the other hand, the North had far fewer renowned figures in this timeline.
The notable ones included Arina Rune Renslet, the Northern Grand Duchess; Balzac, the Frostblade Ghost; Sun, the Ice Wall; Isabel, the Grand Witch of Spring; and Mary, the future Grand Witch of the Snowfields.
Even then, the Grand Duchess and Balzac were destined to go missing at some point.
This mission was turning out to be more troublesome than I had imagined.
"If I want to return to Earth, I’ll have to fulfill that plea."
If my life on Earth had been miserable and hopeless, perhaps I wouldn’t care so much.
But before being transported here, I had been a promising young entrepreneur running a startup.
Now, just days after arriving in this world, I couldn’t stop thinking about my employees and investors waiting for me back on Earth.
"But right now, I’m barely surviving, let alone capable of protecting the North."
The snowstorm howled louder and fiercer around me.
"It’s freezing..."
Worse still was the outfit I had on.
As expected of a starter outfit in Era of Silver.
Leather boots, a leather jacket, and beneath it, a linen shirt and pants.
Wearing linen in the freezing North? It would almost be warmer to wear nothing at all.
Aside from that, all I had was a notebook-sized leather pouch and a dagger strapped to my belt.
In short, I was one step away from freezing to death.
"First things first: I need to find shelter."
I racked my brain.
"This is Haven, close to the Northern Abyss and the Manus River. Merchants, adventurers, and mercenaries frequently come and go. That means there should be plenty of inns around."
Sure enough, after only a few steps, I spotted an inn.
Its signboard, adorned with an obvious depiction of an inn, came into view.
The two-story building was a mix of wood and stone, its slightly shabby and weathered appearance suggesting it catered to low-ranked adventurers and mercenaries.
Without overthinking, I stepped inside, almost as if pulled by some unseen force.
The inn’s interior was bustling with activity.
As I entered, all eyes turned to me for a brief moment before losing interest and returning to their conversations.
Hum, hum.
Murmur, murmur.
Apparently, my appearance was unremarkable enough to avoid drawing much attention.
Walking slowly and deliberately, I found one of the few remaining empty seats and sat down.
“Welcome! What can I get you?”
A server approached me, a boy who looked to be in his early teens. His energy and brisk demeanor suggested he was diligent.
“Could I see the menu?”
“The menu’s over there. Uh... sir, you do have money, right?”
The boy pointed to a menu board near the entrance, his tone skeptical.
“Yes.”
“We take payment upfront.”
It was rude, even for a pseudo-medieval fantasy world like this.
In fact, in worlds like this, politeness was often a matter of life and death. A poorly timed insult could easily lead to violence.
The boy’s attitude made it painfully clear just how shabby I looked.
“Let me pick something first.”
“Alright, but please choose quickly.”
The audacious server shot me a sharp look before hurrying off to attend to others.
I stared at the menu in silence.
The board featured pictures of food and copper coin symbols instead of text, likely because literacy wasn’t common.
The prices were cheap—around five to ten times lower than what I remembered from Era of Silver 1.
"What should I do? I don’t have any money."
Even at such low prices, the food was unattainable for me.
My leather pouch was genuinely empty, not even a speck of dust inside.
"Think, think. My highest stat is Dexterity, followed by Luck. Maybe my Luck stat brought me here to this inn for a reason."
As I considered my situation, I could feel the innkeeper and server’s gazes growing sharper and more impatient.
“Ahem! Sir, are you planning to order...?”
The innkeeper finally stepped in, likely unable to tolerate the delay any longer.
Crash!
Thwack!
“You bastard! What did you just say?!”
A fight broke out at the table next to mine.
Cheers erupted throughout the inn.
As if they had been waiting for this moment, everyone inside roared with excitement.