Chapter 1
In organizations where people gathered, situations where social skills are more important than ability were quite common.
There were employees with excellent skills who couldn't get promoted due to poor interpersonal relationships, or people who were demoted for offending the wrong parachute appointee.
The importance of social skills was a historically proven fact.
A prime example was Zhang He from the Three Kingdoms period, who served three lords - Han Fu, Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao - but received good treatment in his final destination, the Wei Kingdom.
He was even included in the term "Wu Zi Yang Jiang," which referred to five capable generals.
On the other hand, Lü Bu, according to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, served under three lords - Ding Yuan, Dong Zhuo, and Liu Bei - but was regarded as an icon of betrayal both in his time and in modern times.
Although he was a figure with exceptional martial prowess, often given a perfect 100 rating in Three Kingdoms games, his reputation in comparison, was very poor.
In my opinion, the biggest difference between these two was their social skills.
Unlike Zhang He, who was absorbed into Yuan Shao's army after Han Fu's defeat and later surrendered to Cao Cao after being branded a traitor by Yuan Shao, Lü Bu took the initiative to kill Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo with his own hands.
When Liu Bei took in the fleeing Lü Bu, he betrayed Liu Bei and seized Xuzhou as soon as Liu Bei left.
As a result, Zhang He died somewhat honorably on the battlefield as a general of Wei until the end, while Lü Bu was captured as a prisoner and executed by Cao Cao after begging for his life.
Therefore, when I suddenly found myself in a strategy game world, after tasting bitterness in the early stages due to ignorance, I naturally came to focus most on social skills.
After all, one needs to be alive to conquer the world or do anything else.
I worked hard to ensure that unlike Lü Bu, even if I wasn't a good person, I wouldn't be ostracized based on reputation alone.
"His Majesty orders your arrest."
"..."
Even when the first kingdom I served decided to discard me, I didn't act rashly.
Although I didn't like the kingdom, showing it would make them question my loyalty itself.
I played the role of a loyal subject who was unjustly but gracefully exiled.
By giving up resistance and allowing myself to be captured for the sake of peace, I created an image that helped me build a reputation in the empire later.
"I like you now, but if you betray my expectations, I won't be very pleased."
"I understand."
Although I was marked by the Empress in various ways, I knew that showing a cowardly appearance would weaken all my future opinions.
So I hid my trembling hands and stood up straight.
After several of my strategies succeeded, the Empress no longer threatened to have my head.
"...I surrender."
"Why are you coming to me to say this?"
"I heard you're the real power in the empire."
"That's not true."
When an opportunity came to greatly enhance my power, I remembered the story of Han Xin, who was discarded after unifying the Central Plains.
Since what I wanted was world conquest, not the Empress' throne, I firmly refused various proposals.
From a certain point, strange individuals stopped approaching me.
"Fine, I've lost! I've lost! Do as you please!"
"...I'm not sure what you mean by 'do as you please'..."
"Profit! Do I have to spell it out for you?"
It was the same even when the queen of an enemy country suddenly burst into my quarters and said strange things.
Knowing that even the leader of a defeated nation could be dangerous if they harbored resentment, I persuaded her through a long conversation.
"I-I'll come back again!"
The queen, who had entered with a bright red face, left looking a bit calmer.
Thus, even in a frightening world, I wasn't afraid as long as I had my well-honed social skills and mini-map.
After all, people were always the scariest thing.
"Come to the back garden after the meeting."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Then..."
"Alone."
"...Yes."
...I wasn't afraid!
---
Grand strategy games.
These are games where you choose one of many countries and aim for world domination.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms series and the Civilization series could be considered representative works.
Influenced by my father, who loved these types of games, I played every grand strategy game I could get my hands on.
While my friends were playing games like Legend of the Fighting or MapleStory, I was at home managing countries.
I enjoyed coloring the map with the color of the country I chose, and at some point, I could easily clear even games I was playing for the first time.
In the midst of this, a game called "The Great War" was released.
Despite its name suggesting a World War I setting, it was set in a fantasy world with orcs, elves, and dragons, and notably included tactics where you directly controlled unit-level troops.
It was a game that even provided fun in repeating the same battle multiple times to get a high evaluation, as it assessed my tactics with phrases like "decisive victory" after each battle.
I mainly played as the Dragonian Empire, which had a large starting size but significant penalties.
Everything was enjoyable, from coordinating the power struggle between the noble faction and the imperial faction while fending off invasions in the early game, to conquering the world with a perfected empire.
As a result, most of my over thousand hours of playtime was filled with empire gameplay.
Instead of trying out numerous other countries, I delved deeper into the empire.
I looked into detailed aspects such as tactics utilizing the empire's unique troops and the settings of the empire's key figures.
...Looking back now, I wish I had played more in other countries.
Because I suddenly found myself waking up in this game world without any warning.
And not in the empire, but in another country.
***
The place where I opened my eyes was the Rus Kingdom, attached to the north of the empire.
It was characterized by a lack of resources, population, and technology, and irrational and incompetent leadership.
How could such a country exist?
It was because the Rus Kingdom was a stepping stone for the Dragonian Empire's tutorial, a country that players couldn't choose.
The Rus Kingdom repeatedly provoked the Dragonian Empire, which was in turmoil due to the ascension of a new Empress, leading to border conflicts. When the kingdom's soldiers crossed the border, the imperial lords' troops responded, starting the 'Northern War'.
This war was the tutorial for the empire campaign in 'The Great War' game.
Surprisingly, in the tutorial, the Rus Kingdom couldn't even overcome the army of the empire's frontier vassals in the first battle.
After dealing with the remnants, the noble faction gained power due to their military achievements, starting a power struggle with the imperial faction. At this point, the tutorial ended, and the empire's unique 'Imperial Power' system began.
That's right.
The Rus Kingdom was a country whose demise was already certain by the time the game properly started.
...And I became Viktor, a 16-year-old orphan.
Among all those countries, ending up in the Rus Kingdom was a terrible misfortune.
While defeat itself might not mean much to ordinary citizens who only need to change their flags, the problem was that the Rus Kingdom had a special event towards the end of the tutorial.
When an event called 'Forced Conscription' occurred, the population of the Rus Kingdom would drastically decrease, instead generating a large number of peasant soldiers with low morale and no equipment.
While it was just annoying to deal with this in the game because the enemy troops increased, but now that it had become reality, it meant that I could become one of those mass-produced peasant soldiers.
I could end up being driven ahead of the mounted knights while wearing linen clothes and holding nothing but a sickle.
I racked my brains trying to figure out how I could escape the kingdom.
It was somewhat comforting that I was given a mini-map similar to the one I used in the game.
I thought that if I could just leave this hopeless country, I could do great things using my knowledge and the mini-map.
After deep consideration, I decided to use this country as a stepping stone for my advancement.
I made a plan to make a name for myself somewhere to avoid being dragged away as a peasant soldier, and then move to another country at an appropriate time.
It might seem strange, but I believed it wasn't impossible since the monarchs in this game world didn't hesitate to utilize talents who had surrendered.
After pondering over my career path, I decided to enroll in the kingdom's military academy.
I decided it would be better to use my abilities in combat, which I had to control directly at unit-level in the game, rather than in domestic affairs, which were simplified in the game.
***
It wasn't easy.
I thought things would go smoothly after proudly entering as the top student, but I was always an outsider in the military academy, which was inevitably dominated by well-fed and well-educated nobles.
The professors deliberately mistreated me to curry favor with the nobles, and other commoner students either envied or ignored me.
It was the same no matter how well I performed in classes, war games, or tactical exams.
Thinking I could prove myself through ability alone was reckless.
I blamed my background and the narrow-mindedness of those around me, but of course, the situation didn't change.
In the end, despite never losing the top rank in four years, I was assigned to a remote mountain valley in the corner of the kingdom.
Not only the runner-up who was a noble, but even the commoner students with the lowest grades weren't so blatantly assigned to sinecures like I was.
At this point, I could understand what I was lacking.
Social skills.
It was social skills rather than ability.
If I had just stayed quiet and unobtrusive instead of showing off my abilities, the situation would have been better than this.
From this point on, I diligently recalled the memories I was gradually starting to forget.
I was able to learn a lot, especially from the actions of characters appearing in stories like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Besides important lessons, there were other gains as well.
I realized that the mini-map always present in the corner of my vision had a tactical map function, allowing me not only to grasp the positions of enemies and allies but also to directly command troops under my control.
Being able to give immediate orders to personnel in combat without flags or bugles was a huge advantage, completely eliminating any anxiety I might have had about my abilities being insufficient.
Thanks to this, I could wait for the right time with peace of mind.
***
About four years had passed since I was assigned to the provinces.
Knowing that war was coming, I tried to prepare as much as possible without drawing attention.
I gathered supplies using my own money and trained the soldiers.
On the other hand, I tried my best to understand the political situation to keep up with the story.
I obtained and read newspapers, and collected as many rumors as possible from taverns and inns.
I also paid attention to human relationships, so my evaluation was much better than when I was at the military academy.
The soldiers followed my orders well, and I didn't have major conflicts with other officers.
As I was preparing for the start of the campaign, the 'Northern War' suddenly broke out.
***
Two years later.
When I clearly intended to escape at an appropriate time.
I somehow found myself as the interim commander-in-chief of the Rus Kingdom.