After finalizing his bloodline, class, and development path, Alex turned his attention to the last remaining option—starting location.
> [Where do you arrive?]
Westeros, Essos, Sothoryos
Alex couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Westeros and Essos he could understand, but what the hell was Sothoryos doing here?
That place was a forsaken land filled with poisonous mists and monstrous beasts. Not even the most legendary adventurers could survive there.
If a player spawned in that hellhole, wouldn't it be an instant game-over?
After thinking it over, Alex selected Westeros. The original material described it in far more detail, and he figured that with his knowledge of the lore, he'd have a better chance of surviving and developing early on.
Next, a more detailed map appeared.
> The Crownlands, The Riverlands, The Stormlands, The Reach, The Vale, Dorne, The Westerlands, The North, The Iron Islands, Beyond the Wall
Alex chose The Riverlands this time. It was centrally located and well-connected—ideal for rushing to any tournament or event he heard about.
But just as he was about to pick a specific city, the system didn't give him that option.
That surprised him. It meant the player's exact starting point would be randomized.
So even players who planned to form alliances wouldn't start in the same city. They'd have to rendezvous after landing.
Of course, that didn't really put Alex at any advantage. Traveling to regroup would only take them a few days at most.
After double-checking his choices, Alex hit the Confirm button.
> Please enter your name
"Name?" he muttered, then casually typed in: Ian.
> Please customize your appearance
"Huh? You can edit your face?" Alex blinked at the preview image on screen—a full-armored mercenary knight, riding a warhorse and gripping a longsword.
He tried adjusting the facial features but quickly realized he had no talent for character creation. The result looked like something straight out of Mount & Blade—and not in a good way.
So he switched to random generation. After three minutes of trial and error, he finally settled on a handsome, golden-haired Andal youth and hit Confirm.
> Character creation complete
A full backstory appeared before him:
---
Background Overview:
You carry the blood of both the First Men and the Andals. (+2 Strength, Skill Gained: "Common Tongue - Spoken")
Your father was a farmer in the Vale. Your mother served as a maid in the estate of a landed knight.
In the year 281 AC, you were born the eldest son of your family. It was an unusually warm end to winter, as if spring itself had arrived early to celebrate your birth. But by the year's end, the cold returned with a vengeance. Heavy snow blanketed Westeros. The year would come to be known as the False Spring. (Starting Funds +200 Silver Stags)
When you were a year old, Jon Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, raised his banners in rebellion against the Targaryen crown. Your father was summoned to war by his local lord and never returned.
After the war, your mother sold the family mill to repay the debts your father had left behind. She brought you with her to the knight's estate, where you caught the eye of the lady of the house. She assigned you as a companion to her son, who was about your age. (+1 Willpower, Skills Gained: "Basic Etiquette", "Common Tongue - Reading & Writing")
At age 11, you and your young master were sent to the castle of a local count to train under the master-at-arms. You excelled in swordsmanship, riding, and jousting. (+4 Strength, +4 Agility, Skills Gained: "Basic Swordsmanship", "Basic Horsemanship", "Basic Lancework")
Two years later, you defeated your young master in a tourney. Impressed, the count appointed you as a squire to one of his household knights. (+5 Strength, +5 Agility, Skills Gained: "Novice Swordsmanship", "Novice Lancework", "Novice Horsemanship")
At 16, during a campaign against the hill clans of the Vale, you distinguished yourself in battle. Your knighted lord dubbed you a knight on the battlefield. That very night, you anointed yourself with the Seven Oils and took your vows in a sept. (+10 Strength, +10 Agility, Skills Gained: "Intermediate Swordsmanship", "Intermediate Lancework", "Intermediate Horsemanship")
Not long after, you married the steward's daughter from a landed knight's household. She wasn't a great beauty, but you were deeply enamored with her.
But on your wedding night, your former young master barged into your chamber, drunk and furious, accompanied by four armed guards. Still bitter over his defeat years ago, he declared that your bride was technically his subject—and that he would now invoke the First Night.
However, this so-called right had been abolished generations ago during the reign of King Jaehaerys I, thanks to Queen Alysanne's influence.
You refused his command, taking it as an insult and a provocation. You shouted for your squire and your friends. A bloody brawl broke out.
By the end, your former master and his guards lay dead—but so did your wife and comrades.
The manor you'd once called home burned to the ground. With no time to grieve, you salvaged what little you could—a half-sword with no sigil, a worn set of chainmail, a trained warhorse, and 200 silver stags—and fled the Vale under cover of night. You drifted into the Riverlands and began your life as a free knight for hire.
---
After the story came his character sheet:
> Ian
Strength: 21
Agility: 19
Willpower: 1
Skills: Basic Etiquette, Common Tongue (Reading & Writing), Intermediate Swordsmanship, Intermediate Horsemanship, Intermediate Lancework
(Note: In-game, reading & writing automatically includes speaking. "Spoken-only" will only appear if the character is illiterate.)
After Alex finished reading the summary, the AI host, Annie, spoke up.
"Please note: all players are assigned bio-synthetic bodies inserted into the world. These avatars have no prior existence in the eyes of the natives," she explained.
"But the system generates a logical background based on the player's choices and implants all associated memories to help players blend seamlessly into the world of A Song of Ice and Fire."
"That's actually pretty considerate," Alex nodded. This kind of immersion definitely helped players adjust. After all, even the most dedicated lore buffs wouldn't know every single detail of a peasant knight's daily life.
Still, this raised another concern: it would be harder than expected for players to identify each other. If someone played their role well enough, two players could sit across from each other in a tavern and chat for hours without realizing the other wasn't an NPC.
That directly contradicted the receptionist's claim that players would be thrown into brutal competition and even mutual slaughter right from the start.
From a design standpoint, if they wanted early PvP, they wouldn't have built in such strong identity-concealing mechanics.
Something didn't add up. Alex mentally jotted this inconsistency into his little mental notebook.
"You've now completed all steps of the creation process," Annie reminded him. "Click Confirm to begin your transmigration. While you can't act until all players finish initializing, this is a good time to study the game systems and mechanics."
That made sense. The organizers had strictly forbidden any in-depth rulebooks after entering the game.
So if he could use this buffer period to analyze how everything worked, he could hit the ground running the moment the game began.
With that thought, Alex didn't hesitate any longer and clicked the Confirm button.
The instant his finger touched the screen, he felt as if his entire being began to melt. Sight, sound, and touch all faded. The world turned into a blinding field of white—