Spending My Retirement In A Game

The room was silent for a short while that seemed practically eternal. The giant clans' chieftains were looking at the old man with eagerness. They could all recognize what was going on at the moment. Eisen had created a contract that would cost him his life and every single possession of his if he were to tell even a single lie in his next words.

And judging from that being, the reaper behind the old man's back, it was clear that this was truly an overseer of a magical contract, and an incredibly powerful one as well.

"My name is Eisen de Grandour, son of the first Grandour, and I'm the Original of the Mechanical Arts. I, as well as the other Originals, were placed into this world with a simple task in mind; to curate and guide it in the exact way that Samuel wished. In the case of a rebellion against this, we would be punished severely... which led to the creation of the giants' curse," Eisen started to explain.

How exactly the curse came about was a secret that not even these people knew, but that changed the moment that the reaper's scythe didn't move for even a fraction of an inch. The old man was telling the truth.

However, before any of the chieftains could even comprehend what Eisen said, he already continued on, "The final task we were given was for us to come up with a method to create true new life which would act as the hosts for another realm's people, who come to this place for enjoyment. As a game for them to play.

But even then, those people, who now roam the world as the 'Artificials' on the central continent, are just a ploy to gather enough essence of 'experience' to connect this world to the other one, to introduce magic into that realm so that Samuel could rule there as he does here. But in order to do that, he needs the 'Artificials' to keep playing the game that Samuel prepared for them.

He needs to create excitement for them. That excitement comes not only in the form of a war between Chromatic and Metallic dragonkind, but once that battle has concluded... Samuel wants to start the war between the central continent and your country."

Eisen finished, and glanced back at the reaper. Realizing that the statement it was here to judge had ended, it released the scythe from Eisen's throat, before simply disappearing into the same dust that had formed its body to begin with. The old man sat back down on his seat, and closed his eyes. Because now, it was time to let the chieftains react.

"What... what are you even saying?" the desert giant chieftain muttered out, being the first to speak. She jumped up from her seat and slammed her hands into the stone table, cracks spreading out from the place that she hit, "A game?! They're just treating our lives as expendable for their own damned enjoyment?!"

"How are we supposed to accept this?" the Bralfam exclaimed. He knew that the contract confirmed this as the truth, but that didn't mean that it was any easier to comprehend the magnitude of the information that had just been revealed to them all.

Usually, a lot of this information would have been simply wiped from their minds the moment Eisen spoke about it, since it revealed information about Earth and the players, but from a lot of different tests and experiments on that effect, Xenia had figured out that by infusing an immense amount of 'pressure' into your voice as you spoke, an amount that was hard to come by if you weren't someone like Eisen or one of the other originals, it could make the information push through that spell's effect.

For a while, the chieftains were yelling and complaining about the situation, and asking each other what they were supposed to do. Until the current Grandour spoke up, "So basically... a war with the central continent is useless. A war with the 'Artificials' is what we need to aim for."

Eisen sighed and shook his head immediately, "And how exactly are you going to do that? The artificials are people of the central continent. You can't attack them without declaring war on the central continent, and with the control that Samuel has, you can't create a cultural backlash on the artificials either. Not to mention... the way they were created has turned them into 'Faux Peaked'."

"Faux peaked?" the Irngrad repeated, as the room once more turned quiet in anticipation of Eisen's words. The old man quickly began to explain, "I already told this to most of you, but now that you know for certain I told the truth, maybe it might sink in a bit more.

The way the artificials were created is as such; us five, the Originals, have acrued such a massive amount of experience in our lifetimes that it can shift reality to an extent. Not as much as Samuel needed, but enough to stabilize and create new life by borrowing the status of what the system acknowledges as 'people'.

Since they were made from our experience, the artificials gained some abilities that a 'Peaked' would gain. And the most central ability in this regard would be that they inherited our immortality. After a certain amount of time, albeit ever so slightly weakened, they will be resurrected. Eradicating them is... impossible."

"Then is it not hopeless after all..? How are we supposed to fight against immortal soldiers whose only goal is to kill us for sport..?" the Bralfam asked, but Eisen shook his head, "I think I should have made this clear earlier, but the Artificials don't know that this is a 'true' world.

They were convinced that this is an artificial and controlled space where they are allowed to live out their hopes and dreams. Like a playground for young children, practically. Of course that is not truly the case, but fact is... the Artificials are not the enemy. Not as a whole, at least. All they want is to be entertained.

If we mess with Samuel's plans to start a war, well... he can't force it to happen, at least. Xenia, the original of magic, is currently working out a way to completely block Samuel's control. And once we have that set up, things will truly just be up to the people living in this world again."

The chieftains seemed to relax at Eisen's words. The Irngrad in particular looked happy to hear this. Inwardly, he was clearly quite anti-war, even if he said he would like to keep the final decision up to the other chieftains. That being the case, the Irngrad looked at the old man sitting across from him, "That... thank you. I truly cannot thank you enough."

"What are you thanking me for? I didn't really do anything, did I?"

"Of course you did. Without you, we would have simply played into that man's hands, but like this..." the Irngrad said, standing up from his seat. He looked at the chieftains around the table, "I believe we have everything we need to come to a decision already. Will we strive to prevent this war to the best of our abilities?"

Without a moment's hesitation, the hands of every single chieftain in the room had been raised. Even the ones that seemed generally pro-war agreed with this statement. Knowing that they would have to fight against extremely powerful, immortal soldiers, while also having to fend off the control of a seemingly nigh omnipotent being, only an idiot would agree to something like that.

It would be a war certain to be lost. At the very least, they didn't want to play right into Samuel's hands.

With a broad smile, the Irngrad clapped his hands together, "As such, it has been decided. We will prepare for a diplomatic meeting with the representatives of the central continent immediately."

"Ah, about that-" Eisen started, quickly raising his hand, "It's just a suggestion, but how about you call for to take place in Asgard? If not in our capital, Prototype, we should be able to find a perfect spot amongst our islands. Not to mention, even once Xenia manages to create a way to block Samuel's control, at least in the beginning, it will require a lot of space and maintenance to keep up.

We will create this 'safe space' in our country, so you can be sure that any conversations you have are truly held with each other, and not with Samuel in your mids."

The Irngrad smiled and nodded. He didn't even have to think about it for long, "It will be as such! Once the representatives of the central continent agree, we will start preparing for our journey to your country, Lord Eisen."