Chapter 1.
New Game Start
[At last, the Tower is freed from its ancient curse.]
Seeing the ending message appear on the screen, she shot both hands into the air.
“Yesss! I beat it!”
The game she was playing was called The Darkness Tower.
Or simply, Dark Tower.
It was a CRPG where you became the lord of a city built around a mysterious Tower that sealed away an ancient evil. You managed your territory while conquering the Tower itself.
As the ending credits rolled, she couldn’t help thinking:
There really isn’t another game like this.
The graphics were stunning, rivaling even the latest releases.
There were countless companion characters.
The character customization was practically limitless.
The amount of content seemed endless.
Despite being over six years old—and despite playing it almost every single day—she never got tired of it.
Why doesn’t everyone play such an amazing game?
Of course, Dark Tower wasn’t without its… quirks.
Being a dark fantasy game, its world was utterly devoid of hope, complete with a relentlessly tragic storyline.
Many quests were so obscure that clearing them without a guide was nearly impossible.
There were no convenience features whatsoever—no speed-up, no battle skip.
The playtime was absurdly long, with no regard for the limited free time of modern gamers.
Every DLC somehow made the game even more brutally difficult.
And…
And…
Let’s stop there.
Despite all those minor flaws, Dark Tower was an incredible game.
Maybe other people wouldn’t understand, but to her, nothing else even came close.
Which was exactly why, six years after release, she’d accumulated over 30,000 hours of playtime.
She’d gone beyond being a veteran player.
She had become fossil fuel.
Even for someone like her, however, soloing the final boss in Hardcore Mode—where a single death meant permanent game over—had never been easy.
But I did it.
[Lone Legend]
Lift the Tower’s curse alone on Hardcore difficulty. (Completed)
0.0001% of players have earned this achievement.
The achievement had previously shown 0% completion.
Now it showed 0.0001%.
Which meant she was the very first person to clear it.
The world’s first.
This is it. This is why I play games.
Smiling contentedly at the achievement screen, she immediately clicked New Game.
She had literally just finished the ending and completed every achievement.
Why start over?
Because that’s what veteran players do.
Nod.
Now then… what should I try this time?
She’d spent ages playing seriously to earn every achievement.
It was about time for a fun, relaxed playthrough.
Maybe I’ll make an overpowered character by dumping every New Game+ bonus into them.
She’d conquered the Tower solo so many times she’d grown sick of it.
This run, she’d take it easy and spend time with the companion characters instead.
Opening her saved appearance presets, she loaded the female character she’d painstakingly crafted using even paid CC items—custom content such as player-made outfits, hairstyles, weapons, makeup, and other cosmetic mods.
Her eyes shimmered with the iridescent glow of pale violet opals.
Long, butterfly-wing lashes framed those beautiful eyes.
Her delicately sculpted features were surrounded by cascading violet hair that flowed elegantly around her small face.
Her graceful figure had been perfected by moving every character creation slider in increments of 0.01, with the devotion of a master artisan.
She looked so dazzling that she seemed completely out of place in a grim dark fantasy world.
But that didn’t matter.
As the proud president of the “If My Character Isn’t Pretty, I Quit” club, genre accuracy meant nothing compared to making a beautiful protagonist.
Now that appearance was settled, it was time to choose a class.
“Sorcerer, obviously.”
Sorcerers were essentially fantasy-world psychics, capable of casting high-tier spells from Level 1.
Spells like Intense Charm, Dominate, and Irresistible Compulsion—
Skills absolutely essential for recruiting companions.
Why did recruiting companions require brainwashing magic?
Because it was dark fantasy.
Nod.
Next came stat allocation.
She adjusted the default stats of ten points each to better suit the class.
Vitality: 6
Strength: 4
Dexterity: 4
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 16
Any stat above 10 cost two bonus points per increase.
Even after spending every available point, she’d still had to brutally slash several other stats.
No regrets, though.
Her Sorcerer’s primary stat—Charisma—was now sky-high.
“Race… Nephilim.”
As descendants of angels, Nephilim gained a hefty +2 Charisma bonus.
That brought her total Charisma to 18.
Immediately—
[Mind Sorcerer has been unlocked.]
Thanks to her Sorcerer New Game+ rewards, she could now select the hidden class Mind Sorcerer.
Mind Sorcerers specialized in mental magic.
Their offensive abilities were mediocre, but they completely ignored enemies’ resistance to mental attacks, allowing them to freely use charm and brainwashing spells.
Even a character with -100 Affinity could instantly become your lover after a single brainwashing spell, skipping every affection event entirely.
The class was so notorious players nicknamed it the “Romance Ending Collector.”
But this alone wasn’t enough.
The trait combination is what really matters.
Now came the difficult part.
She’d unlocked countless traits over the years…
…but could only equip three.
Her mouse darted back and forth endlessly.
Nearly an hour later, after agonizing over every choice…
Her masterpiece was complete.
A perfect brainwashing machine—
No.
A perfectly irresistible protagonist.
At this rate, I could probably start a love triangle the moment the game begins.
Dark Tower had a notoriously unhinged romance system.
Attempt multiple romances, and your lovers would either stab each other…
…or try to murder you.
Honestly?
Even better.
She wanted to watch the chaos unfold.
And who said I’d stop at just two-timing?
With overwhelming Charisma and mind-control magic, anything was possible.
Steal someone else’s lover and date both?
Possible.
Destroy lifelong friendships?
Naturally.
Turn parents and children against each other?
Of course.
“Now this… this is what I’d call a fun playthrough.”
Filled with grand ambitions for her roleplay run, she entered her character’s name.
[Camellia]
Then she clicked Create Character.
Her heart pounded with anticipation as she stared at the monitor.
The screen faded to black as the opening cutscene began.
But it wasn’t only the screen.
Everything around her became dark.
“…Huh?”
Just as it felt as though darkness itself was swallowing her—
Her consciousness vanished.
[Memory Transfer Failed.]
[Retrying Memory Transfer.]
[Memory Transfer Failed.]
[Retrying Memory Transfer.]
.
.
.
[Memory Transfer Completely Failed.]
[Loss of the Vessel Confirmed.]
[‘The Tower’ Seal Has Been Released…]
A low humming echoed inside her head.
Feeling nauseated, she gasped for breath before barely managing to open her eyes.
Her entire body was soaked.
Water dripped from her chin and the tips of her eyebrows.
Why am I so wet?
Looking down in confusion, she saw that the lower half of her body was submerged inside a glass tube filled with an unfamiliar liquid.
She wasn’t wearing her familiar pajama pants anymore.
Instead, she was dressed in a pure white gown.
The floor was wrong, too.
Gone were the wooden floorboards of her room.
Instead, black stone stretched beneath her feet, carved with countless crimson grooves that looked like a child’s chaotic scribbles.
It was unfamiliar…
Yet strangely familiar.
Where have I seen this before?
Trying to steady her spinning head, she slowly climbed out.
As her viewpoint rose, the first thing she saw was a gigantic crimson monument carved with grooves matching those on the floor.
Then she noticed what was nailed to it.
A corpse.
“…Huh?”
She blinked.
Nothing changed.
The eerie glass tube.
The circular altar submerged in unsettling darkness.
The blood-red monolith at its center.
And hanging upon it…
The corpse of a woman with a gaping hole through the middle of her chest.
This can’t be…
As confusion overwhelmed her, heavy metallic footsteps echoed from somewhere beyond the darkness.
Moments later, a knight clad in massive plate armor emerged.
He wasn’t wearing a helmet.
She immediately recognized his face.
Long white hair braided over one shoulder.
Skin as pale as the hair itself.
Sharp blue eyes like finely honed blades.
He possessed a beauty more befitting a noble prince than a knight.
It was a face she knew all too well.
The number one knight companion in Dark Tower.
Second place in the game’s companion popularity poll.
And the very first companion players obtained—
Lohengrin Eschen.
Lohengrin… isn’t on my monitor.
He’s standing right in front of me.
Her instincts—
And an indescribable sense of certainty—
Told her this wasn’t a dream.
Which means…
I’ve transmigrated into the game?
Not a dating sim.
Not a relaxing farming game.
Not even a gacha game.
But this hopeless, merciless dark fantasy?
Dizzy, she squeezed her eyes shut.
At that moment, only one thought filled her mind.
I’m doomed.
Absolutely, completely doomed.
