Chapter One: The Game Becomes Reality

“Mmm!”

With a muffled groan, Hongchen opened his eyes.

A dim room met his gaze.

A crash of thunder split the night outside.

The sudden illumination, streaming through a broken window, cast harsh light across the chamber.

“Your Highness, you’re awake? How are you feeling?” A woman’s voice sounded nearby as Hongchen felt himself being helped upright.

Only then did he realize that every fiber of his being ached, his body limp and battered as if he’d been taken apart and put together again.

He looked at the woman supporting him.

The room was too dark to make out her features, but he could see the grime smeared across her face.

So hard.

He now noticed she wore a suit of battered armor.

“Aliris,” he blurted.

“I’m here, Your Highness,” Aliris replied gently, though her voice was hoarse.

How do I know her name? Hongchen couldn’t help but wonder.

The question barely formed when his mind supplied an answer: standing before him was none other than Aliris, the knight assigned by his mother as his protector.

Mother? Where did I get a mother? Didn’t I grow up without one?

His memories swirled, confusion and fragments of knowledge interweaving.

Ah, it was this body’s mother—but from what he could recall, she was gone as well.

“Your Highness, are you all right?” Aliris’s worried voice brought some clarity. Hongchen, feeling his head lighten, nodded.

“I’m fine.”

He had transmigrated—into the very game he used to play.

His current name was Kana Safro Satt.

Why is that name so familiar? He dredged his memories.

Of course—this was the Jester.

I am the Jester Emperor!

Kana was stunned. This was the name of an NPC from his game, affectionately known among players as the Jester Prince, or the Jester Emperor.

Why the nickname? This NPC was notorious for his clownish antics in-game—once a prince of a fallen nation, now a tragic fool. To reclaim his kingdom, he resorted to outlandish schemes, and was the designated boss of the April Fool’s event dungeon.

Even the developers had poked fun at him.

But now wasn’t the time to reminisce. Hongchen—or rather, Kana—shook his head and surveyed his surroundings.

Everything about the place screamed danger.

The air was damp and reeked of mold and blood; the metallic tang of rust dried out his mouth, a clear reminder of his dire state.

Thunder rolled again, rain hammering down outside.

“The useless prince’s awake. Damn it, we’re all dead because of that bastard,” a coarse, raspy voice called out from nearby.

Kana turned. At the foot of the stairs, three soldiers sat huddled together. The speaker was among them.

“How dare you speak to His Highness like that!” Aliris snapped.

“Tch, still think you’re royalty? This country is finished! You hear me? All because of you damned nobles!” another soldier shouted in their direction.

“Shut up!” The third, who had been silent, hissed. His words brought instant silence to the room.

“Keep your mouth shut. You know where we are? Want to die?” he whispered, glancing nervously toward the window.

As more control returned to his body, Kana began to pick out, amid the rain, the shrill, unnatural howls that drifted through the storm. Sometimes, screams pierced the night.

We’re still on the run.

Recent memories stirred in his mind.

A prince, though only the fourth. And just as that soldier had said, his country was no more.

Drawing on his knowledge of the game’s lore, he quickly matched up locations and factions.

Safro—the Free Nation.

At the start of the game, this country had already fallen; in fact, the story began soon after its destruction.

From its ashes rose a new race—one modeled after vampires, the Bloodkin.

But in this world, the Bloodkin were far more monstrous than mere vampires.

They called themselves a race of intellect, but “monster” was a better fit.

Kana’s mind raced, comparing the memories of his current body with his gamer’s knowledge.

I haven’t turned yet. Aliris, my knight, hasn’t either.

That means the Blood Plague has only just begun. The kingdom has fallen, and we’re fleeing.

His memories confirmed it.

They had escaped the capital, which by now had become the Bloodkin stronghold.

“Where are we, Aliris?” Kana asked.

“A village outside Boulder City, Your Highness. I’m sorry, I don’t know the name,” Aliris replied, uncertain but loyal.

“Our prince has finally lost his mind, eh?” sneered one of the soldiers.

“Shut it, Matt. Save your strength,” the captain ordered.

He glanced toward Kana, lowering his voice. “Rubble Village. That’s what this place is called.”

Boulder City he recognized, but Rubble Village… not a name he’d heard before.

But if they’d made it this far, this must be the same village from the game where his character was captured.

He remembered, as a player of “Genesis Stone,” running through the Jester Emperor’s personal story.

He watched, through cutscenes, how a noble prince was cast down overnight, how he was captured while fleeing and dragged back to the Bloodkin capital, transformed into one of their own.

He was caught outside Boulder City—right here.

Should I just give up and let myself be turned?

The thought was dismissed at once.

No. Absolutely not.

The Bloodkin at this stage were nothing but monsters. If it were later, when the purebloods emerged, maybe. But not now.

He had to find a way out. The memories of this body and his own gaming experience overlapped perfectly.

There was no doubt: he was inside “Genesis Stone.”

If that was true, with his knowledge of future plotlines and his own prowess as a player and lore enthusiast, as long as nothing in the story changed dramatically, he could surely make his mark on this world.

But as a Bloodkin? Never. That was too inhuman.

With his mind made up and his goal fixed, Kana forced himself to sit up despite the pain.

Aliris hovered anxiously, supporting him.

“They’re coming. Captain, we have to go now or it’ll be too late,” someone whispered. The howls were growing louder, the rain and thunder barely masking them.

The captain glanced at Kana and Aliris.

“Forget it, Captain. If we take them, we’ll all die,” another soldier said.

Aliris pleaded, “No, Your Highness can still move. Please, take him with you.”

Only then did Kana notice that Aliris’s left leg was bent at an unnatural angle.

A death sentence in a flight like this.

“We’re not dragging a useless prince along. That’ll only get us killed faster.

Our brothers already died for him. Not killing him here is proof enough of our loyalty,” one soldier muttered, tugging at his captain.

“Let’s go. There’s no saving them, or this country. We’ll flee to Cohen and hire ourselves out as mercenaries.”

Even the scout added, “He’s right, Captain. If we don’t leave now, we’re all dead.”

The captain seemed to waver, then made up his mind. “Sorry.”

And with that, he and his men hurried downstairs.

“No, at least take His Highness!”

“Enough,” Kana said, clamping a hand over Aliris’s mouth. He crept to the window and peered outside.