It lulls players into a false sense of security with its peaceful atmosphere.
And then it kills them.
All of them. Heroine or not—it doesn't matter.
AnotherTale.
A notoriously infamous dark fantasy game.
Naturally, I never played it myself.
Killing heroines? That kind of thing is a big no-no in our industry. You don't eat that, write that, or even talk about that.
I was one of those who watched from across the river—watching the early players get wiped out without knowing a thing, and the reckless later players lining up to die next.
That's how AnotherTale trended for a while.
On YouTube Shorts, there were videos titled "[Top-tier betrayal moments: Gamers reacting to AnotherTale]," featuring edited posts from the AnotherTale Gallery.
Famous streamers uploaded videos of themselves writhing in agony as they played AnotherTale.
Instead of playing it myself, I just absorbed the juicy parts from YouTube, forums, and Namuwiki.
I joined the hype the same way.
In short, I don't know much about AnotherTale.
I barely remember anything about it.
I probably wouldn't even recognize the main characters if I saw them.
...Unless you showed me the scene where they die. Then I might remember.
It wasn't a particularly meaningful game in my life.
If it were, I would've played it.
...And yet, for some reason...
I sometimes think about that game.
Of all the countless games, why that one?
It pops into my head out of nowhere.
Could it be? This world.
Could this fantasy world be the one from Another Tale?
"...Nah."
No way.
This world is far too peaceful to be part of a dark fantasy.
About a year ago,
I became aware of my past life.
Because of that, my identity as a modern Earthling and the existing personality of this fantasy world blended together to form who I am now.
But not much really changed.
I was still the young master of House Vendel, a noble family.
The Vendel family was what you'd call a prestigious house.
Although the Vendel territory was far from the capital, that was because the previous head had no interest in politics.
Vendel was a famed swordsmanship family that had produced generations of renowned swordsmen.
In other words, every member of this household had incredibly sharp instincts.
They were living weapons raised on sword thrusts since childhood.
So, the first emotion I felt after realizing my past life was fear.
What if my family noticed the strange change that happened to me?
This world was a fantasy realm filled with wonders and miracles.
One day, your family member's soul suddenly changes?
That's not unheard of in this world.
The problem is, anyone who swaps souls like switching parts is considered enemy number one regardless of their type.
A young master whose identity suddenly changed?
The only options when you click on that are probably [1. Interrogate] [2. Torture].
So, I did my best to behave exactly like I did before the personalities merged.
To make sure no one noticed the difference.
But it was all for nothing.
Before long, I realized all of that didn't matter at all.
Because the keen instincts of a swordsmanship family were not so easily fooled!
—Or so I thought.
But the truth was completely different.
I...
I was an illegitimate child.
My mother was just a mere servant.
She became pregnant with the head's child, but that didn't change her status.
She wasn't even a handmaiden—just a plain servant. And my "father," the noble head of the house, was far too virtuous to take her as a concubine.
The child of such a woman?
No one in the house paid me any attention.
They were never interested in me to begin with, so there was no way they'd notice any changes.
Even if someone did notice, they didn't care.
I was confused.
Should I be happy about this?
I chose to think positively.
Yeah. At least the biggest problem was solved.
Another thing—being called a bastard in this world was both the most common and the most insulting curse.
So being born immune to that?
It was as inspiring as being an orphan immune to being insulted for having no parents.
And so, after surviving the crisis from my past-life awakening, I faced a new chapter.
—So now what?
I was the young master of a famous noble family in a fantasy world... but a bastard.
The family ignored me. Even the servants treated me like I didn't exist.
If I stayed here, what kind of future awaited me?
—The army...!
In this world, it was common for bastards to enlist in the military to gain their family's approval.
But I swore to myself—absolutely never.
In my past life, I died at 21, finally freed from the cursed cycle of conscription.
And this world doesn't even have smartphones.
No hesitation. Enlisting was off the table.
But let's think realistically.
A family disgrace saying, "I don't want to join the army like the other bastards."
How would the family respond?
They'd pretend to listen with sparkling eyes... and then send me to the harshest unit as punishment.
So I reached a very rational conclusion:
Escape.
Would anyone really care if the bastard who didn't exist just vanished?
Nope.
And so, I, the bastard, have been working hard on my escape plan lately.
The early-rising bastard becomes the most self-reliant.
At dawn, as always, I left the annex where the servants stayed in the Vendel estate.
"Lord Lishir."
Waiting at the entrance was a woman.
Maya, my younger sister Roella's personal maid.
"Good morning, Miss Maya."
"Lady Roella requests your presence. At noon today. Please come to the front yard of the main building."
She ignored my greeting and went straight to delivering the message—might seem rude for a maid, but honestly, that's already an improvement.
A Vendel maid vs. a Vendel bastard.
Who has the higher status?
No question—the maid.
Most maids here were of noble origin.
Unlike me, a half-noble at best.
The servants of the Vendel house addressed me as "young master," but that was just for show.
Their tone always carried deep disdain.
Maya used to ignore me completely.
But now?
"..."
"..."
See?
She even gives a slight nod when our eyes meet.
All because I've been greeting her warmly every day.
That's real progress.
At this point, she's practically treating me like a prince.
Since realizing my past life, things have slowly been improving for me.
...But Roella wants to meet me?
That can't be good.
Vendel folks only ever seek out the bastard when they're about to throw a tantrum.
"Well, what a shame. I have something very important to do today."
A very important task I just thought of.
Avoiding Roella until evening.
"Then shall I tell her you'll visit once your task is done?"
"Please tell her not to wait for me."
"Of course. You wouldn't keep a lady waiting, after all."
Yeah, no.
Let her be mad.
Not my problem.
What can she even do?
Snitch to Dad?
What can he do?
Kick me out of the house?
Yes, please.
Give me that industry award.
"..."
"..."
Maya looked at me suspiciously as I raised my head.
But when I gave her a big cheeky smile, she averted her eyes and hurried off.
I should get going too.
-------------------------------------
▶ AnotherTale ◀
This is another tale story.
[Father]
[If I return from here, will you finally acknowledge me?]
[Will you regret those harsh days of neglect?]
[I choose to believe you will.]
[So please, oh gods,]
[Let me return home.]
[Haven't I suffered enough?]
["Please..."]
[The man sobbed.]
[He instinctively knew—]
[He would die here, on this nameless, wind-swept snowy mountain.]
[The last thing he saw was his father's face.]
[He had come here for his father's honor.]
[But even now, his father still looked at him with contempt.]
[Soon, his sobs blurred into laughter.]
[He didn't even finish pouring out all his emotions before his breath ran out.]
[When his breath was no longer warm,]
[He began to mutter while staring into space:]
["Alright."]
["Alright."]
[At last, the man died, his body falling limp.]
[At the same time, an ice pillar from above struck through his skull.]
[Moments later, the bastard stood up.]
[With eyes void of light, he stared in the direction of his homeland.]
▶ Destiny 19: The Returned Bastard
▷ Destiny 19: The Returned Bastard - Deactivated.
The associated reward has been granted.