Player Beydia
Beydia was born into a prestigious martial family but had absolutely no talent for martial arts.
He was constantly compared to his younger sister, who, despite being younger than him, displayed incredible talent in the martial arts.
He couldn’t even lift a sword properly, let alone wield one. He was so frail that he could barely leave his room for long periods.
Though he was pressured by his family into enrolling at the academy, his weak constitution made it impossible for him to properly engage in academy life.
Ignored by his family and isolated at the academy, Beydia had nowhere to fit in.
The only refuge he had was in games.
Games were something he could excel at, even with his frail body.
He would lock himself in his dorm room, immersing himself in gaming.
His favorite game by far was the newly released virtual reality game, [Akashic Archive].
In the game, he could take on the powers of countless heroes, moving and acting in ways he couldn’t in real life.
He could become the kind of hero he had only ever read about in books and admired from afar.
“Hmm. A new story, huh.”
Even though he skipped most of his academy classes, he was always quick to dive into newly released content updates.
As usual, he logged into the game and immediately entered the story mode.
In doing so, he met his new teacher, the Queen, and stepped into the story of another statue.
“Help that muscle-head over there?”
He looked at the massive figure the Queen pointed out and then turned his gaze back to her.
“Help him or not, it’s up to you. After all, this story is a completed world with a predetermined conclusion. Nothing you do will change the outcome of this story.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“You’re here to learn from this story. Go and interact with the story’s protagonist. Don’t worry—your role in this story has been set as that of the muscle-head’s subordinate, so nothing will go wrong. As for me, I’ll remain unseen to others.”
In past stories, there was always a clear objective.
Whether it was driving out the Abyss that had corrupted the story, guiding characters in a set direction, or escaping from a trapped world, there was always a purpose.
But this time, she was telling him to just do as he pleased.
Although Beydia was slightly bewildered, he decided to approach the muscle-head to see what kind of person the protagonist was.
As he moved closer to the giant, the battlefield grew more intense.
The organized maneuvers of a regular army clashed against the unrestrained yet individually powerful barbarian warriors.
At the center of the barbarian army stood the giant, who swung a massive club, shattering the enemy’s ranks.
“Come forth!!! Anyone who dares challenge me, Yastora, come to me!!!”
Despite standing alone, his overwhelming presence kept the enemy soldiers from daring to approach.
It was a sight that truly deserved the title of "hero."
“This... this is the kind of person I wanted to be.”
His chiseled jawline, the thick beard covering his chin, the clearly defined muscles visible through his tattered armor...
He exuded raw masculinity and unrestrained power.
For someone like Beydia, who was so frail that he had spent his days lying in bed reading books, this was the kind of man he had always admired and dreamed of becoming.
The terrified enemy soldiers began to retreat instead of advancing.
With their ranks broken, the enemy commander ordered a retreat.
Though Beydia skipped his academy classes, his extensive reading of hero stories from a young age had given him a wealth of historical knowledge.
Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.
From the current state of the battlefield, he could tell exactly which era this was.
“This is from 600 years ago—when the now-destroyed Baidos Empire launched an invasion of the northern Germanica region.”
He also knew what happened next in history and the eventual fate of the barbarian chieftain Yastora.
“The Queen said this story is a completed one, so the ending won’t change.”
Which meant the story would follow the exact course of history.
No matter what he did, the result would stay the same.
“Waaaahhhh! We’ve driven them back!”
“Long live Chieftain Yastora!”
Beydia shook his head as though to clear his thoughts.
“What am I even thinking? These are just game characters. Whether they live or die, what does it matter?”
With that, he and Thystina’s ghostly figure joined the ranks of the barbarian army.
***
The Germanican Camp
Beydia leaned against a nearby tree as he ate the rations he had been given.
“As expected of our chieftain Yastora! I heard he crushed over ten Imperial soldiers with a single swing of his club!”
“I can’t even imagine Yastora losing!”
The barbarians praised their leader, Yastora, as they celebrated their victory.
Watching them, Beydia recalled the episode he played when he first started this game.
Once again, he had been thrown into the middle of a battlefield as a soldier.
Back then, he had been too stunned by the virtual reality experience to do anything and ended up being dragged away by Ren to hunt down the Queen.
“So does that mean I have to fight alongside Yastora, the protagonist of this story, this time too?”
Beydia bit into his bread and glanced at Thystina.
“You told me to learn something from that chieftain.”
“That’s right.”
“What exactly am I supposed to learn?”
“That’s for you to figure out.”
“...What?”
Figure out what to learn on his own?
“Aren’t you supposed to be my teacher?”
“I am.”
“What kind of teacher is this? At the very least, you should point me in the right direction.”
She hadn’t even explained anything properly and just dragged him to some strange place.
What exactly do you want from me?
“As I’ve said before, you’re going to be the next Administrator. The Administrator of the [Archive], the one who oversees all the stories of the universe. After becoming the Administrator, will you still go around asking what to do in each story?”
“No, that’s not...”
“Are you an incompetent fool who, despite being a prospective Administrator, can’t figure out anything on your own?”
“...Ha.”
Incompetent?
Grinding his teeth, Beydia got up from where he had been sitting.
“Fine. Alright. I’ll show you. I’ll show you how competent I can be.”
Perhaps in the real world, it would be different. But here, he had already experienced countless worlds.
Stepping into the heart of a story like this was no big deal.
He found the chieftain, Yastora, training shirtless.
“Chieftain. My name is Beydia.”
“...Hmm? What is it?”
“I want to become your lieutenant.”
“My lieutenant? To fight by my side, you must be a strong warrior.”
Beydia demonstrated the abilities of the various characters he had acquired up until now.
Manipulating molten lava, imbuing his sword with magic, and other mystical powers of the heroes he had embodied left Yastora wide-eyed with astonishment.
“Is this enough to convince you?”
“...Very well. Follow me, Beydia.”
Beydia glanced back at Thystina with a smug look, as if to say, See that? But her expression remained as indifferent as ever.
***
"Beydia!"
"I'm here!"
Boom!
After regrouping, the Imperial army launched another assault.
Beydia fought alongside Chieftain Yastora to repel the invaders.
Thanks to the Empire's relentless advances, battles continued the next day, and the day after that, with no end in sight.
Fighting so close to a hero whose name would go down in history and eventually become a Constellation was a unique experience.
Beydia started to get a faint idea of what Thystina had meant by something to learn.
"You’ve all done well! Today’s victory is one we achieved together!"
Yastora's ability to lead his allies, his selflessness, and his charisma were all undeniable.
"But we must never forget the sacrifices that made this victory possible!"
His ability to inspire his army as a leader was unparalleled.
Seeing a hero in action firsthand, rather than through words in a book, offered countless lessons.
"You did well today, Beydia. Without you, things could have been much worse."
"Not at all, Chieftain. Rest well."
Late at night, after saying goodnight to Yastora, Beydia returned to his own tent, which was situated near the chieftain's.
"Another victory today."
As he lay on the bed, Thystina spoke to him.
"Yeah... we won."
It had been a clear victory, yet Beydia’s expression as he lay there was far from happy.
“The predetermined outcome... so that’s what it meant.”
Beydia’s presence on the battlefield, wielding the powers of other heroes, had drastically altered the course of the conflict.
Unlike the events in recorded history, the Germanicans had managed to hold out for much longer.
But now, even that had its limits.
Their food and supplies were nearly depleted, while the enemy’s reinforcements showed no signs of slowing down.
If things continued this way, the result would inevitably be the same as in history.
I already knew this.
“...Hah.”
Feeling frustrated, Beydia stepped outside his tent to clear his mind.
And that’s when he saw it.
"Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!"
Even late into the night, Yastora was training alone in secret behind his tent.
Thud.
Drenched in sweat, Yastora dropped to his knees.
But he clenched his teeth and forced himself to rise again.
"This isn’t enough...! I can’t protect them like this...!"
Through the magic etched into his tattoos, he quickly regenerated his torn muscles and temporarily enhanced his physical abilities.
It was a forbidden technique—while it allowed him to increase his combat power for the following day’s battle, the aftermath left devastating side effects.
Even now, his entire body must have felt like it was being pierced by needles, yet he picked up his club and rose again.
“...Damn it.”
Beydia had come out to organize his thoughts.
But now, they were more tangled than ever.
***
“Uh... Director.”
“Yes, Lady of the Night?”
“Uh... about this story.”
“Is there a part you’re not satisfied with?”
“No, no! Of course, I’m satisfied! If the Director made it, it doesn’t matter how it’s done! But for it to turn out this cool... there’s no way I could have complaints! It’s just that...”
“Just that?”
“It feels like I came across as too cool...? I never said those kinds of things while secretly training with a forbidden technique.”
“Did you not?”
“I didn’t.”
“But you had thoughts similar to that, didn’t you?”
“...What?”
“These kinds of scenes are important.”
“They... are?”
“Yes. The players can’t read your mind, so we added this as a device. It makes the narrative flow more smoothly. Don’t worry—it’s not made up, so it’s fine.”
“If you say so, Director...”