Chapter 1: The World of the Twenty-Five Kingdoms264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHjuqtWiwL
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I was lying on the couch, in front of the TV, which was displaying my maxed out Storm Wars warrior. Drowsy, I had to blink twice when a line of text began to flash before my eyes. Strangely, it seemed to float about half way between myself and the screen.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFEpJXUoUVB
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I was lying on the couch, in front of the TV, which was displaying my maxed out Storm Wars warrior. Drowsy, I had to blink twice when a line of text began to flash before my eyes. Strangely, it seemed to float about half way between myself and the screen.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZKDUNynu2
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You have an invitation to join the World of the Twenty-Five Kingdoms. Do you accept?264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdbi0yP84B
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Yes / No
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Amazing. Some sort of new 3D advert?264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwMkG1uR7k
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Alert now, I sat up and I was surprised to see the text moving to keep its prominent position in the middle of my vision. That was strange. It was like I was wearing 3D glasses. And, for a second, I caught myself reaching up to my face to check whether I really was. How the hell did they manage that? It was annoying now, intrusive. Plus, I wasn't going to start a new game, no matter now smart the technology. Not after becoming the most indestructible warrior in Storm Wars. Two years and pretty much non-stop play during COVID lockdown had equipped me to be the most sought-after tank in the game. Only yesterday, I had been the main tank for a raid of three guilds, nearly two hundred players, against Warwrath, the mightiest dragon in the game.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoXOLaSfqOk
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After attempting to get rid of the message with a finger movement, I discovered I could focus on the 'no' button with my eyes, getting it to glow, before a blink sent it away.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdfBmXSPF4
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Lying back on the couch, I felt tired. Of course, late hours playing Storm Wars made me tired. But it wasn't just that. It ran deeper. It was two years since my parents had died in a car crash and since then, I'd felt cut adrift from the world. There were friends whom I cared about and who cared for me. But since COVID restrictions, I hadn't seen them. Then too, my college course in Occupation Therapy had been moved online and I'd lost a lot of interest in that as a result. It was all biology now and the practical side of the course, with the opportunity to help people, was on hold. No, it wasn't lack of sleep. It was despair that made my energy levels low.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNHJQMR2Be
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The popup came back.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkhGuSS27q
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You have an invitation from the World of the Twenty-Five Kingdoms. Do you accept?264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTJ2Bli78x
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Yes / No
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This time, more from curiosity to find out how this technology was working than any desire to try a new game I concentrated on the 'yes'.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIIeOB2Dqy
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A huge lurch seemed to shake the house, like an earthquake. It was unpleasant and something dark crossed my vision. A feeling of nausea swelled up in my throat, which I was just able to quash. And then I could see again.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzc879JSBVx
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I was in room with three other people: a silver-haired woman in fancy dress, like a medieval LARPer; a grey-bearded, slender man, dressed like a medieval noble; and a clean-shaven, stocky man in chainmail armour, scabbarded sword at his side. All three of them were staring at me with extraordinary intensity.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvIq7RAuhm
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'Who are you?' asked the woman.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnbjRpe71s
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'Sean de Courcy.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG48tG5SuD1
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Astonishingly, there were smells; this wasn't a normal game: burning candles; incense; sweat; and that sharp tang you get when racing with electric cars. How did the game-makers achieve such realism? I looked around. It was a dim room, with a wooden floor, bare stone walls, with arrow slits in them. Like the inside of a castle tower. Across the floor was a complicated design, with unrecognisable, fanciful letters and candles distributed in an uneven way, like a constellation. And a slight haze of purple-tinged mist was everywhere.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHFut1Ps1A
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The warrior took a step towards me, then hesitated. 'Sire? Are you well?'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63rP7I98ky
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Sire? Apart from that strange term, it was a good question. I felt disorientated but no longer sick. In fact, I was hungry. Looking down, I had a shock. My body was that of a very fat man. My fingers – I held them up – were stocky. My vast stomach blocked my view of my feet. There was a weight on my head. Reaching up, I felt a band of metal. A moment later I held it in my hands. A crown of gold with diamonds and rubies.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cXWXl4aZ9
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'Where am I?' My voice was different too. Deeper, somewhat older than my own.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHo4dYCirw
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The three people looked at each other and the concern on their faces shifted to becoming signs of excitement.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHsAW6DkWMN
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The woman smiled and stepped over to offer her hand, which I shook. Perhaps I was supposed to kiss the back of it as for a moment she looked surprised. Then she spoke with a gentle voice, 'welcome Sean, I am Carlena and you are in my tower, in the town of Carrick, in the kingdom of Greyland, in the world of Regnia. You have been summoned to replace a king who was leading us to disaster. Please forgive us if this is undesired on your part. We will make it worth your while.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGRmkojL8o
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The bearded man fidgeted anxiously at my side. 'Now, sire. My name is Chancellor Parrin. If you would, please look up at the roof and raise your right arm, what do you see?'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6K3yTW2hmg
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The roof was a dull, near-black set of planks and I was about to say so when I reached up and a menu of tables filled with silver words cascaded down to hover about three feet away from me.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerwKYpqAoN
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Greyland264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8n1dZh55na
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Economy Military People264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGp0BqJQ5gd
Currently building: granary level 2264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2x6zt4oABb
Monthly trade income: 0264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYOsFteIra
Monthly tax income: 54264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Xwv6Cfa4W
Research: steel pickaxes
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And a lot more that I didn't take in.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiN7ToqMfcW
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'What was that?' I blurted out in surprise. 'Those messages in the air?'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdFmjessH9
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'Oh, how marvellous,' the elderly man – Chancellor Parrin – brought his hands together in front of his chest: half a prayer, half a clap. 'You can access the kingdom's menu. We had very much been afraid that you would not be able to do so. And that would have been catastrophic. But matters are so desperate, we had to take the risk that bringing you here, into the king's body, would not cut us off from the realm controls.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhI89AzA0p
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'So this is a game? But it's so real.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSHQy0TRl2
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'A game? To you, perhaps, but this is our world.' The woman looked intently at me through startling indigo eyes, 'our lives are at stake.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuaE32jXIm5
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'Sire,' touching my arm, Chancellor Parrin gave me a grin that was probably supposed to be encouraging. It wasn't. 'If our spell located you correctly, you are the foremost warrior and strategist of your own world?'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8FadzDdUdu
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I had been experiencing some anger at the thought that if this was true – and it certainly felt completely real – these people were effectively kidnappers. But at this I had to laugh. 'I'm a student of Occupational Therapy not… oh… wait. In Storm Wars, maybe I am. My warrior was maxed at level one hundred.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiycwUo3JZw
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For once, it was their turn to look puzzled.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZgZEDFlya
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'You can fight, sire?' The man in chainmail came closer, speaking with urgency. 'You can lead us to victory in war?'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WvsRL0n6F
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'Sure. No problem.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtS5nemVoDI
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The relief in the room was palpable. Everyone was distinctly more relaxed and their smiles were genuine. Probably mine was too. Admittedly, I knew very little about military command, but I was good at RPGs and assuming this was an RPG, they'd gotten hold of the right guy.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrgUONXucc
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'Then,' said the chancellor, 'let us go somewhere more comfortable and explain the dire crisis faced by our kingdom.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDdTQSt3iE
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***
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By the time we reached a large room with a huge map spread out on a table in the centre of it, I'd learned the name of the soldier – Lord Arval – and reached several conclusions.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGVeIUt51p
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First, I absolutely hated this body. It was immensely fat and slow and made even walking up five steps a task that sapped my energy and made me breathless. It was also useless for fighting. Yes, probably this guy I was inhabiting was stronger than me and probably too, he had an ability to soak up blows, but he was so ponderous and lumbering that no opponent would have any trouble killing him. I wouldn't back myself against the kid I'd seen sweeping the halls. Plus, he reeked of stale body odour; his hair was greasy (I made the mistake of touching it); and he had sores and bites on his globular skin that I felt as incessant itches.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzpf9P1rVp
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Second, this definitely was real. No game could get you to sweat and feel the signals of discomfort that this body was giving me. The ambient sounds alone, or the subtle scents, were too much for a game. Just possibly, I had somehow been hypnotised. But when Carlena had said that she had cast a spell to exchange my consciousness with the previous owner of this body, well, that had resonated with everything my senses were telling me.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4McSRZTgZg
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Thirdly, these people really needed me and feck it, I was going to embrace the challenge. Not only because at heart I was a decent guy and always responded to a call for help, but also because I was up for this. Having the task of saving this kingdom from its enemies energised me; motivated me in a way I hadn't felt for months. I needed this just as much as they needed me.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WWEgqSd1r
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'This is our kingdom, Greyland,' Lord Arval placed a finger on the lower left part of the map. 'Three days ago, having lost a battle against a united army of two of our neighbours, we forfeited control of all this region,' he moved his finger, 'leaving us with just the capital and the territory around these mountains.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbreTZud8DA
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I came to stand beside the soldier and studied the map for some time. It was detailed enough to give me a pretty good idea of the situation. We were easily the smallest kingdom of twenty-five in the bottom corner of a five-by-five grid. Worse, the region we had lost was farmland. The tiny patch labelled Greyland only consisted of hills, valleys and a mountain.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡan9ixpyMnv
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'Is the world a sphere?'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlX0dRFSnM
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Lord Arval looked shocked; Carlena snorted with what might have been derision; and Chancellor Parrin raised his eyebrows in a pretty good expression of surprise.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZipilSAoLZ
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When Carlena saw that I was serious, she shook her head. 'No. It's as you see here.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxF2KNvK7i
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There was a small section of sea around the entire world. I gestured to it. 'What happens if you sail off the edge?'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78EyWXGcQz
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It was the Sorceress who answered, 'some say there are other realms beyond the mist. But no ship can survive the thundering torrents.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPC404PM21
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'Well, at least we have one flank secure.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8fzSVHeU5
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'Indeed, sire.' Lord Arval gave me a nod. 'Although sea invasion is possible. There is enough sea room for an enemy fleet to avoid the current that draws you to the edge.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMO6T4Kncg2
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I lifted my fleshy right arm and pointed up. Immediately the silver menus cascaded in front of my vision.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVv5Nplxco9
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Greyland264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOkNKPlLBc
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Economy Military People
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I didn't open any of the three sub-menus. Instead, I swept them away with a gesture and raised my left arm. A new menu appeared.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjtyG51eCX
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Sean de Courcy, king of Greyland264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopH5ScWfxp
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Str 7264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vmYjwNEg9
Dex 4264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQibm9uvnUh
Con 8264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUJG84M7Oq
Int 16264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcE4BP3KwT3
Wis 16264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1fdy0PLsGn
Cha 3264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWiUHhgTWnX
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Please choose a character archetype:264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdX50jYmAXY
Fighter; Wizard; Healer; Scout264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMn4rio6Ag
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Interesting. Charisma 3 though. I waved it away. 'Can I improve my stats by exercise?'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtXC6ni8Ig
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'Sire?' Chancellor Parrin had wrinkles in his face that fell naturally into an expression of uncertainty.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQfnrkcKMb
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'I've just called up my character sheet. My Strength is seven. Can I get it to eight by working out with weights?'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0gz2RcA2k
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Lord Arval looked to Carlena, who shook her head. Not so much as to answer me but to say she didn't know.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBoBytFzSu
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'King Carlos kept his powers secret.' It was Chancellor Parrin who answered me. 'We know he had access to menus for himself and for the realm, but he never, ever spoke about them. He was… He feared…'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CrvStMloc
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'He was a useless tyrant who bullied us all, knowing we couldn't replace him because he was the only one with the power to make decisions for the kingdom.' Carlena gave a bitter smile, 'but I found a way to get rid of him and still allow planning for our realm. I found you.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpYjaQ7I0h
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'Can you see your own levels and stats?' While I was interested in learning about my predecessor, I didn't want to change the subject. My focus right now had to be on understanding whether this world was like RPGs I was familiar with. In particular, if I was stuck with those starting stats, I'd have to choose Wizard or Healer archetypes. If, however, I could get my Strength and Constitution to rise somehow, I'd opt for Fighter. I wanted to be a Fighter, but if I was stuck with this body and those stats, choosing Fighter would be a complete disaster.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvOpq9YvRFv
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'No, but I believe the king could. I know from my spells that I'm level seven Paladin,' said Lord Arval, 'but he never told me my stats and skills.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJ5q80KAdl
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Carlena nodded, 'King Carlos was a liar, but I know that when he said I was a level nine Sorceress, he was telling the truth. I get one new spell per level and I have nine spells.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhrpgVLAV7
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'And that I'm a level five Scout,' Chancellor Parrin gave a shrug. 'I certain I'm above that, however.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVk4Ewnxb4r
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'Interesting.' I tried pointing at Chancellor Parrin in the hope of calling up some information about him. Then simply concentrating, looking into his eyes. Nothing changed. 'Oh well. I need to conduct an experiment. Can you assign me a trainer to work on my Strength?'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjLRCfL6Mk
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'Now sire?' asked the chancellor, 'it's late.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VT59iieYI
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'In the morning then.' This body certainly felt tired. 'For now can I get a bath, fresh sheets on my bed and a clean set of clothes.'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bai9uHul5
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This request caused Lord Arval to chuckle and soon Chancellor Parrin and Carlena were doing their best not to grin.264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZIJveLDRg
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'What?'264Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU54Rwp61on
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'Whoever you are, Sean de Courcy, you are certainly not King Carlos.'
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