30 Years Have Passed Since the Prologue
chapter-219

Chapter: 219

“ No, Eugene and Yuri are only twenty! They don’t have exceptional battlefield experience, and they don’t have a lot of combat experience either… Of course, Yuri is the top student in the Knight Department, but I remember your brother never even touched the children when he taught them…”

“ Did they attach a monitor to me?”

“ Just…? You seem a bit…? Um… like that?”

After watching the flustered Saint sip her tea for a while, Ivan sighed, thinking, Right, priests are usually like that.

He shook his head and replied.

“ Eugene is strong enough, and Yuri does not lose.”

“ What’s the basis for that belief?”

“ The Hero, the Demon King, and me. Eugene, Oswald, Yuri.”

At Ivan’s words, the Saint fell silent for a moment, lost in thought. Was he saying to consider the commonality among those six? They were all so different in origin, talent, appearance, and gender…

No, wait a moment. Compared to the first three, the latter three, whom she had almost forgotten due to their faint presence…

Those three were indeed the ones who were possessed last semester. And for the possessed…

“ Then, what you said about ‘the Lord’s voice’…”

“ Yes. It was probably the ability of the possessed. Just as the Hero was born with ‘power,’ that too was his strength.”

“ Then, what about the Saint Yuri?”

Yuri had only been possessed for four years, and in the body of an orphan girl, she had entered St. Jan’s University Knight Department as the top student despite the unfamiliar environment.

Since then, she had not missed the top spot in practical exams every semester, even without any special training or education. What that meant was,

“ She has a special possession advantage.”

Like Eugene who had a status window, and Oswald who had elf blood and magical talent.

After confirming that, Ivan dismissed his thoughts about Yuri. There was no need to teach her; she was immediate combat power. In any situation, she could almost perfectly substitute for his absence— a “completed power.”

Her special advantage is:

“ As long as there’s even a slight chance of victory, she does not lose.”

*

Yuri Frank. No, she was an illustrator. And she was responsible for the illustrations of a very ‘strict’ game.

She had no idea what kind of game she had been possessed into. All she usually saw was low-quality erotic game scripts; she just assumed it was something like that.

Fortunately, there were many similar things. Medieval fantasy with magic, academy, bearded men, half-squinting characters, and Kim Taeyang.

The problem was that the genre of this world was dark fantasy. Since she had never played such games, it was even harder to grasp.

But luckily, this body had a strange power. No, it had a talent. She can skillfully wield a sword she had never used in her life, and ‘fantasy university classes’ learned without ever being trained stuck into her head.

So what kind of work had she been possessed into? It was time to consult Ivan while contemplating.

“ I don’t know.”

“ No, I mean… what I’m saying is….”

“ No, I mean I don’t know the work I entered.”

“ …Huh?”

Ivan and Yuri had a commonality. They both possessed after encountering a large number of unspecified works. Ivan had been possessed after leaving negative comments on dozens of works, while Yuri had been possessed after working as a freelance illustrator for various erotic games.

There was no way to know the original work. However…

“ There are tendencies.”

“ Tendencies?”

“ The common denominators of the works I usually encountered. In other words, ‘clichés.’”

Everything Ivan had thought was cliché had ‘actually happened.’

After several experiments, he realized he did not possess any ability that manipulated reality. Then why did these nonsensical things happen?

Why had the university been terrorized three times in one year? Why was there an ambush during their journey, and why did the demon races invade during external field trips? Why were ancient ruins sleeping underground in a newly established university just four years old?

“ Tendencies.”

The very world desired a ‘flow’ from him.

The world does not move according to the clichés he knows.

Instead, it brought forth one who could act while recognizing such flows as ‘clichés.’

In other words, his possession was inevitable. To some power or deity of this world, a man who left ‘5,700-character critiques’ on various works and had studied all sorts of clichés and hidden pieces in preparation for the possibility of possession was ‘needed.’

That was his ‘tendencies.’ In other words, his ‘possession advantage.’

And Oswald and Eugene had similar advantages. Status windows, race and title, talents in swordsmanship and magic, combinations that formed their roles.

Then what about Yuri? What role or tendencies were necessary for this ordinary woman in her twenties?

“ I… came from making erotic games… um. Yeah.”

“ Hmm.”

Ivan silently nodded. Right, it was said to be a humiliation genre. She said she didn’t know the title.

“ Then… um… since I’m a woman, let’s say it’s a ‘female protagonist’….”

Female protagonist.

Swordsmanship talent.

She had a decent… appearance and figure.

If one assumes just this, far too many works would fit, but the important thing is this: ‘Swordsmanship talent.’

“ In other words, it means a female protagonist erotic game that has a combat system or at least a combat script.”

What characteristics do female protagonist erotic games have?

There’s no need to think too much about it. If what she was possessed into was not a novel or a movie, but a ‘game,’ then the biggest feature of games is ‘interaction.’ In other words, it has a somewhat ‘nonlinear’ genre feature where character actions are determined by the player’s manipulation.

And in such genres, especially erotic games, there are specific genre conventions that exist.

“ Not giving up…?”

The aim of erotic games is ‘erotic scenes.’ But such scenes lose their rarity the more easily they are exposed. That is, they become vulgar or boring. It means they become uninteresting.

Unlike adult videos, the consumer’s demands are entirely different. Unlike adult videos, which require quick enjoyment and disposal, games are a genre that enjoys character actions through narrative structure and interaction.

A game that quickly and purposelessly moves to ‘erotic scenes’ can be said to be a characteristic of what is called a ‘bad game.’ In other words, the better the game, the more it pays attention to ‘build-up.’

For female protagonist stories, especially, to keep players’ interest through that process, ‘erotic scenes’ should be inserted from time to time…

“ No matter how difficult and dirty it gets, in the end, you get back up again….”

Yuri murmured without realizing it.

Yes, in any situation, she gets back up without giving up.

So it becomes the motive to move on to the next stage or episode to see various ‘erotic scenes’ again.

A female protagonist who does not give up…

“ In that case, rather than quitting, it would mean not losing.”

“ Huh?”

“ If the controlled character loses, the game ends.”

“ That varies by game….”

“ If we apply the structure of games harshly to reality, it would be like this.”

Ivan summarized Yuri’s words.

In reality, losing is directly tied to death. As he had recalled at one time, death is the most certain proof of existence. Because there’s no other choice.

As previously stated, a game is ‘interaction.’ It is a kind of play that allows the player to ‘choose’ the character’s situation in a nonlinear structure.

In other words, a situation in which one cannot ‘choose.’ A situation in which one can never make any choice again forever means a game over. Then, with somewhat extreme logical reasoning, losing means a game over.

If everyone who has been possessed in this world has a certain ‘tendency.’ If they have some ‘advantage.’

Then for Yuri, that advantage would be, not dying.

“ If it were the Great War era, they would have called you the immortal Yuri Frank.”

“ Hahaha.”

“ Thankfully, you would have had to face many dying comrades.”

“ That’s a joke. Let’s quickly move on to jokes. I feel like I’m really going to suffocate now.”

“ Right.”

Ivan nodded briefly and replied.

A game is an ‘interaction’ that resolves ‘possibility’ with ‘choice.’

Hit rate, damage probability, random encounters. No matter what, the program presents the player with quantified ‘possibilities,’ and the player continues the play through the best choices they desire.

So, in this case…

“ If there’s a possibility of victory…”

*

“ She does not lose.”

Yuri dodged the knight wielding the sword and plunged the sword deep into his chest. Murmuring the prayer she had memorized without forgetting since hearing the story of the ‘possession advantage.’

*

“ If the situation comes where you have to face dozens of knights alone, that means there’s no chance of victory.”

If she had to face the Demon King or the Seven Dragon Lords alone, or ‘overwhelmingly powerful opponents,’ there wouldn’t be any possibility of victory.

She couldn’t face a legion alone, nor could she destroy a nation by herself.

But, if she could lead them into a situation where there is a ‘possibility’…

Ivan finished speaking while looking at the Saint.

“ If given a situation where one can ‘choose’ within a ‘possibility,’ Yuri does not lose.”

That was the reason he placed Eugene and Yuri together. With their combination, they would never die in Frechenkaya.

If someone like the Seven Dragon Lords appeared, Enrique could create a ‘survivable situation.’

A large army could not invade Frechenkaya.

A small strike force could create a ‘winning chance’ if it was Eugene’s power.

That was the reason why Yuri had been deployed to Frechenkaya with at least one companion throughout all their journeys.

Yuri was Ivan’s strongest card allocated to Frechenkaya.