Raven's mind was doing its best to find a logical explanation for his current situation.

He had made use of the 'quick start' option to start a new game on the newly opened second server of Conquest Online. The steps he followed were it totally attached to the instructions given by the game itself and, although what appeared to be an error during the data transfer occurred, the game seemed to start normally.

Yes, everything had been apparently normal until his two NPC Generals started talking, something totally outside the game possibilities. After that, the abnormalities began to stack on top of each other, being the ability to feel the heat of the sun, and the possibility of capturing the sweet scent of those two General NPCs.

An update? —seemed like a logical explanation, but it was a very absurd possibility.

VRID 2.0 can certainly do something like recreate the touch and smell within the virtual environment, however, being something that occupies a great deal of processing power, no video game on the market today uses it. Instead of feeling and smelling, is it not preferable to have a beautiful sky with a changing climate, non-static water, and a world full of an infinity of random events?

As if that were not enough, in front of Raven's eyes there was another series of disconcerting events. His two NPC Generals seemed to be it immersed in a discussion too detailed to be a script, in addition, to his back the soldiers who composed his army of the beginning, they showed themselves immersed in their own situations.

A lucid dream? —discarding by simple logic the almost absurd of a 'reality', Raven should take this is a dream, yet it was impossible for him to accept this.

Endowed with a large number of security measures, the VRID 2.0 would never allow such a dangerous event as a user falling asleep while using the device. Under a constantly monitoring the user's brain activity, if the VRID detected the first symptoms of sleep, it produced a powerful sound to awaken the user. If this measure did not work, the VRID would automatically contact the emergency services. It was not so strange that some individuals ignored the warnings not to use the VRID if they suffered from a heart condition.

If it was not a dream or a surprise update, then what kind of situation was Raven currently experiencing?

Once the impossible was discarded, what remains, however improbable it may seem, must be reality —once this premise came into his mind, Raven felt a chill shake his back.

As one of only thirteen players still surviving the fierce struggle on the main server, Raven was an intelligent and rational person. Even refusing to take his current situation as an absurd reality, he performed a totally cliché action. Using his right hand, he pinched tightly over the side of his left arm. An unmistakable sensation of pain reached his brain.

Reappearing imposing on the pain, that previous shiver returned to insist on the impossible, this not a dream or a game.

Raven's mind began to have numbed, being unable to find a satisfactory explanation was something he had never experienced before in his life.

Listen, there doesn't have to be logic in everything. If you find yourself in a situation where you do not understand anything, do you know what you have to do? You just have to pretend! That is what your Onee-san always does Hahaha∽ —like a ray of light in the midst of deep darkness, into Raven's mind came those words spoken to him by a self-proclaimed 'Onee-san' during his college days.

The mental chaos in Raven stopped. A slight sense of grievance caused a faint smile on his lips. It was unavoidably annoying to him that such careless words spoken by that person managed to restore his calm.

Reality, dream or game, it does not matter, if this is the body of Raven Magnus, then I will be Raven Magnus —Raven took a deep breath and proceeded to put his mind in order— First, the NPCs have become much more complex. There seems to be a real background behind each of them, but whether they are part of a dream or not, they seem to stick to their role as soldiers. Second, as realistic as this situation is, that "curse" does not seem to intend to manifest in me, my mind is clear and this body does not even seem to show the most basic symptoms. Now I do not seem to have to worry about it. Third, "logic" dictates that in a situation like this, there must be some latent danger to "give It color" to this absurd situation, at least it would be that way if this were a book or a movie. Without being alarmist, I must be cautious. Fourth, I need information about my environment —showing that not in vain was the most fearsome of the last thirteen players still fighting on the first CO server, Raven quickly organized his mind.

"Nike" —after sorting everything out in his mind, Raven proceeded to adopt his role as Raven Magnus.

"What is it, Raven-sama?" —Nike quickly put aside his current discussion with Freya when he heard Raven call her.

"We will advance by following that path, send observers to our flanks, front and rear. I want to be aware of any kind of danger to our surroundings" —Raven pointed out his route to follow, an old and worn path between the pastures.

Whether it was a dream, a video game, or an absurd reality, Raven was not planning to take it lightly. Therefore, it was indispensable to secure the weak points of an army advancing through a plain in unknown territory.

"Understood!" —after listening carefully to Raven's orders, Nike quickly rides to the columns of soldiers.

"Nii-sama, do you really think there may be enemies nearby?" —Freya bowed his head slightly.

"We can't rule out the possibility" —Raven's silver eyes took a quick look around, an infinite sea of dry grasslands seemed to extend in all directions.

Only an incompetent commander would enter in unknown territory without any kind of backing or support. I am not an incompetent, much less an idiot, I must move forward because it is the only thing I can do, but I will do it with the greatest possible caution —such conclusion was the only option for Raven.

Staying here would not do any good, and if it did, it was impossible to imagine how the NPCs would react. Raven had to keep them busy in their "role" as soldiers and at the same time try to collect as much information as possible.

"Tell me Freya, is it possible that you know where we are?"

After accepting his role as Raven Magnus, Raven also accepted the role of the NPCs, so interacting with them was already a necessity.

"I... I am sorry Nii-sama the last thing I remember is that we traveled to Napoleonica to recruit troops. I do not remember how we got here, although I have the feeling that I have been traveling for several hours”

In his desire for information, Raven had concluded that Freya was the simplest target for it. Her hypothetical young age be to include that curse called naivety. In addition, she seemed very willing to please him.

"What about your memories prior to our trip to Napoleonica?"

"No problem with them, Nii-sama, I remember everything perfectly"

"Just to prove, what's the name of the city where you were born?" —Raven did not miss the opportunity to collect information.

"In Tyr, just like Nii-sama"

"Ok" —although his face did not show it, Raven was astonished to hear that answer.

Napoleonica was a real city in CO, and the only place in the game where you can buy magical items as well as recruit different types of troops with real money. On the other hand, Tyr was not the name of any city in the game or in the real world; it was a fictitious city existing only in the BIO of Freya.

As another aspect of the configuration of the NPC General Class, there was a section called BIO, this was simply a blank sheet where players could write a biography for these NPC. Although this had no kind of effect on the game.

Even though BIO was a simple visual section that could be it left blank, is it, someone who boasts of details and a great lover of books, Raven had put great care into the BIOs of his NPC General. He had practically written intricate and detailed stories for each of them.

As for Freya, her BIO defined her as Raven's younger sister, and under these strange circumstances, this seemed to be her reality. She had been his first NPC General, and adding to this his particular curiosity about the feeling of having a younger sister, this resulted in Freya, who was practically a female and younger "age" version of Raven's own avatar.

"Everything is ready, Raven-sama, the troops are ready to begin advancing" —surprisingly it took Nike just a couple of minutes to implement Raven's orders. Given how complicated it would have to be to organize a thousand persons, this was something that surprised Raven.

"Thank you Nike. Well, go ahead”

Nike raised her right hand giving the indication to the columns of soldiers to start the march. The next step given to Raven by his mind was to move. Who in such circumstances would stand still waiting for the answers to come on their own?

As the large contingent advanced along the thin, worn path through the plains, Raven turned to gather information.

Nike like Freya seemed to cling completely to her BIO, which placed her as a ‘Knight’ who had sworn total loyalty to Raven after being saved by him.

With regard to the present circumstances, Nike also did not remember how she had ended up on this plain, and like Freya, her last memory was that of having traveled to Napoleonica to recruit troops alongside Raven.

Carried by the intrigue, Raven decided to interrogate some of the soldiers.

Surprisingly, each of the soldiers Raven interrogated had his own story, birthplace, age, and family. What was common to all of them was that their birthplaces were existing cities within CO.

The most surprising and unexpected thing that Raven discovered in his interaction with the NPC was the presence of an NPC Class that did not exist in CO, the Captain Class.

These "Captains," which numbered eight in all, stood out notoriously from the rest of the soldiers. Their armor, weapons, appearances, and personalities were as notorious as Freya and Nike.

Intrigued by the existence of these "anomalies," Raven interrogated them only to discover that their stories were the same as those of the rest of NPC soldiers. City and history were it totally attached to CO, including of course, Napoleonica.

Though too intriguing, their current circumstances had completely shattered the concept of impossible. Therefore, Raven left the mysterious existence of the NPC Captain Class for later and focused on the greatest mystery, its surroundings.

Focusing on reading and understanding one mystery at a time, Raven recapitulated a common fact in the history of all NPCs without exception, Napoleonica.

As for this persistence in the "memories" of the NPCs with respect to the present circumstances, it was always the same. They all remembered joining Raven's army at Napoleonica, but no one remembered how they ended up here.

Although this constant about Napoleonica did not seem to make sense, there was it actually something that could explain it.

The starting point for all the players in CO was the surroundings of Napoleonica. Thus, one could hypothetically say that the player took control of his character after he had recruited his starting troops at Napoleonica.

Under such a logic, finding Napoleonica or one of Alexander many other cities, the world where CO developed, did not seem like a completely outlandish idea.

Conquest Online has become real... —a mixture of emotions swirled in Raven's chest as he crossed that fleeting thought through his mind.

If this world, real or dream, was Alexander's world, there would be little unknown to him. If so, Raven might at least have a slight notion of how to cope in this environment.

In contrast, if this was Alexander's world, it was an extremely dangerous world. A world where gods and demi-gods fight relentlessly in a war that will only end until one of them has defeated all the others.

A virtual world like that had been enormously popular, but a real-world like that would certainly be hell.

Regarding this, several emotions contrasted in Raven.