I woke up to Sera shaking my shoulder frantically.
"Kyle! KYLE! She's here!"
**[SERA]: The Ice Princess arrived early. Like, RIGHT NOW early. I'm not ready! My mission briefing said I'd have three days before she showed up! Why is everything going wrong?!
I bolted upright, immediately regretting it as my head spun from two days of not eating properly.
"Who's here?"
"Captain Eliza Frostborne," Granite whispered from his cell, actually looking nervous for the first time. "The Ice Princess herself. I've seen her execute fifteen men before breakfast. Without blinking."
**[GRANITE]: New meat's first real test. The Captain can smell guilt like a bloodhound. If he's actually innocent, he might survive. If he's hiding something... well, it was nice knowing him.
The prison doors slammed open with enough force to crack stone.
CLACK. CLACK. CLACK.
The sound of heels on stone echoed through the dungeon like a death march.
Every prisoner fell silent.
And then she appeared.
Captain Eliza Frostborne was everything the game had described: tall, stunning, with ice-blue eyes and platinum blonde hair tied in a severe bun. She wore a pristine white military uniform with a sword at her hip that radiated magical energy even I could feel.
But what terrified me most was the chatbox above her head:
[CAPTAIN ELIZA FROSTBORNE]: ██████ ████ ███████ ████ EXECUTE ███ TRAITOR ████████ ████ JUSTICE ██████ ████
Completely scrambled. Just like I'd feared.
She was too high-level for my ability to read properly.
"Attention, inmates," she said, her voice like winter itself. "I am Captain Eliza Frostborne, your new warden. The previous warden was executed for corruption. I am here to restore order."
**[ELIZA]: ████ CORRUPTION ██████ FIND THE ████ TRUTH ██████ NO MERCY █████
She began walking down the cell block, eyes scanning each prisoner with inhuman precision.
"Any prisoner currently under false charges will be freed immediately after I review their case."
Wait, what?
"Any prisoner found guilty of crimes against the kingdom will face immediate execution."
Oh. There it was.
She stopped in front of a cell three down from mine. An old man who'd been muttering to himself.
**[PRISONER #2154]: Please don't notice me please don't notice me I didn't mean to embezzle those funds I was desperate please—
"You," Eliza said. "Prisoner 2154. You embezzled 50,000 gold from the merchant's guild."
The old man went white.
"H-How did you—"
"Your chatbox is quite informative," she said calmly.
My blood turned to ice.
SHE CAN READ CHATBOXES TOO?!
**[ELIZA]: █████ READ ██████ LIES ████ TRUTH ██████ JUSTICE ████
"Wait, you can see them too?!" I blurted out before my brain could stop my mouth.
Every eye in the dungeon turned to me.
Eliza's gaze locked onto mine, and I felt like a mouse being observed by a hawk.
She walked toward my cell with measured steps.
**[ELIZA]: ████ INTERESTING ██████ HE KNOWS ████ ABOUT ██████ SPECIAL ████ ABILITY?
"Cell 47," she said. "Kyle Henderson. Condemned for theft."
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
She studied me for a long, terrifying moment.
**[ELIZA]: ████ HIS EYES ██████ FEAR ████ BUT ALSO ██████ RECOGNITION? ████ IMPOSSIBLE ██████ UNLESS ████
"Tell me, Mr. Henderson. What exactly did you steal?"
"A loaf of bread, apparently. I don't actually remember—"
"Don't lie to me."
**[ELIZA]: ████ LYING ██████ OR ████ MEMORY LOSS? ██████ HIS CHATBOX ████ WOULD SHOW ██████ BUT ████
She frowned, then did something that made my heart stop.
She looked directly above my head.
Where my own chatbox should be.
**[ELIZA]: ████ NOTHING? ██████ IMPOSSIBLE ████ EVERYONE HAS ██████ CHATBOX ████ UNLESS ██████ UNLESS ████ NOT FROM ██████ THIS WORLD?
Her eyes widened fractionally.
"Fascinating," she murmured. "You're not—"
"Captain!" Sister Aria appeared, slightly out of breath. "Captain Frostborne, I must insist you don't interrogate this prisoner without proper spiritual counsel present!"
**[SISTER ARIA]: THAT WAS TOO CLOSE. She almost figured it out. If Eliza discovers Kyle is a transmigrator, the Church's entire operation will be exposed. I need to eliminate him NOW. But... but I don't want to?
Eliza turned to face the nun, one eyebrow raised.
"Sister Aria. How... dedicated of you to rush here at this hour. Tell me, why does a simple bread thief require daily spiritual visits from a Sister of the Holy Church?"
**[ELIZA]: ████ SUSPICIOUS ██████ THIS NUN ████ REPORTS TO ██████ ARCHBISHOP ████ KNOWN TRAITOR ██████ WATCHING ████
"All souls deserve salvation, Captain," Aria said sweetly.
"Indeed. How charitable."
**[ELIZA]: ████ LIAR ██████ SHE'S ████ CHURCH ASSASSIN ██████ BUT WHY ████ TARGET THIS ██████ BOY?
The tension between them was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Then Sera stood up, drawing both their attention.
"Captain, if I may—Kyle has been nothing but kind since arriving. Surely that counts for something?"
**[SERA]: What am I doing?! I'm supposed to stay low-profile! But I can't let him be executed! This mission is completely compromised and it's all his fault for having those stupid kind eyes!
Eliza's gaze shifted to Sera.
**[ELIZA]: ████ ANOTHER ONE? ██████ THIS GIRL ████ TRAINED OPERATIVE ██████ ROYAL SPY ████ PRETENDING TO ██████ BE PRISONER ████ THREE OPERATIVES ██████ ONE BOY? ████ WHAT IS ██████ SO SPECIAL?
"Prisoner 2193," Eliza said slowly. "Sera, was it? Arrested for stealing medicine?"
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
"For your sick brother with the... 'coughing disease'?"
Sera went pale.
**[SERA]: She knows. Of course she knows. She's the Ice Princess. I'm so dead. Kyle's so dead. We're all dead.
"I—"
"How curious that your brother seems to have made a full recovery. According to the medical records I reviewed, no one by your description has any siblings registered in the kingdom."
**[SERA]: ABORT MISSION. ABORT ABORT ABORT.
"Captain," I said, stepping forward. "If you're going to arrest someone, arrest me. Sera's just a scared girl who—"
"Who is a trained Royal Intelligence operative planted here to monitor you," Eliza finished. "Yes, I'm aware."
The dungeon went dead silent.
Sera looked like she wanted to melt into the floor.
**[SERA]: He's trying to protect me. ME. The person sent to KILL him. I'm the worst. I'm absolutely the worst. Why is he so stupidly noble?!
"Sister Aria," Eliza continued, turning to the nun, "is an assassin from the Church's Shadow Division, also here to monitor or eliminate Mr. Henderson."
Sister Aria's hand went to her hidden blade.
**[SISTER ARIA]: Does she want me to attack? Is this a test? If I move, I'm confirming her suspicions. If I don't, I look weak. Why did I take this mission?! I should be eliminating heretics, not falling for condemned prisoners!
"And Mr. Henderson himself," Eliza said, now looking directly at me, "is apparently a transmigrator from another world who can read people's chatboxes."
My jaw dropped.
"How did you—"
"Because I can also read chatboxes," she said simply. "And yours doesn't exist. Which means you're either a transmigrator, a demon, or a very confused god. Given your power level—" she glanced at my pathetically low stats "—I'm ruling out god."
**[ELIZA]: ████ TRANSMIGRATOR ██████ LIKE ME ████ ANOTHER ONE ██████ FROM EARTH? ████ BUT WHY ██████ THIS TIMELINE? ████
Wait.
WAIT.
"You're... you're also...?"
She smiled. Actually smiled. It transformed her face from terrifyingly beautiful to just... beautiful.
"You didn't think you were the only one, did you?" She said it in perfect, casual English.
I nearly collapsed from shock.
**[ELIZA]: ████ FINALLY ██████ SOMEONE WHO ████ UNDERSTANDS ██████ BEEN ALONE ████ TEN YEARS ██████ ANOTHER ████ PERSON FROM ██████ HOME ████
Granite was staring at both of us like we'd grown second heads.
**[GRANITE]: Are they speaking demon language? Is new meat a demon? IS THE CAPTAIN A DEMON? This plot twist is INSANE.
"You've been here for ten years?" I asked in English.
"Transmigrated when I was fifteen," Eliza confirmed. "Worked my way up from street orphan to Captain. You?"
"Two days ago. Woke up as a death row inmate. Currently being hunted by an assassin nun and a spy, both of whom I think are catching feelings."
She laughed. Actually laughed. It was such a normal, Earth-like sound that I almost cried.
**[ELIZA]: ████ HE'S FUNNY ██████ AND HONEST ████ REFRESHING ██████ EVERYONE HERE ████ SO FAKE ██████ FINALLY ████ SOMEONE REAL ████
"Sister Aria, Sera," Eliza said, switching back to the local language. "You're both terrible at hiding your growing affection for the prisoner. It's almost painful to watch."
Both girls turned bright red.
"I don't—" Sera started.
"It's purely professional—" Aria tried.
"You visit him nine times a day with increasingly elaborate excuses," Eliza said to Aria. "And you," she turned to Sera, "your mission reports say 'target eliminated' but somehow the target is still very much alive."
**[SERA]: I HAVEN'T SENT THOSE REPORTS YET. HOW DID SHE—Oh god. She intercepted my communications. I'm so fired. Or executed. Probably executed.
"Here's what's going to happen," Eliza announced. "Kyle Henderson, you're being transferred to my personal supervision. Your execution is postponed indefinitely pending investigation."
"Wait, what?"
**[ELIZA]: ████ NEED TO ██████ PROTECT HIM ████ FROM DUKE ██████ AND CHURCH ████ ANOTHER TRANSMIGRATOR ██████ CAN'T LET ████ THEM KILL ██████ ONLY PERSON ████ WHO UNDERSTANDS ██████
"Furthermore," she continued, "Sister Aria, you're being reassigned as the prison's official chaplain. You'll report directly to me, not the Archbishop."
**[SISTER ARIA]: She's cutting me off from the Church's command chain. This is either protective custody or a trap. Either way... I can still see Kyle? My heart shouldn't be racing like this. I'm a professional!
"And Sera—or should I say, Agent Seraphina Nightshade of the Royal Intelligence Division—you're being promoted to my personal assistant."
Sera's mouth fell open.
**[SERA]: PROMOTED?! I failed my mission! I was supposed to be executed for failure! Why is she... wait. She's keeping us both close to Kyle. She knows we won't hurt him now. She's using our feelings against us. That's... actually brilliant. And annoying.
"Captain, I must protest—" Aria began.
"Your protest is noted and denied. Unless you'd prefer I report your assassination orders to the King? I wonder how His Majesty would react to learning the Church planned to execute a witness to Duke Blackwood's crimes before his trial."
Aria went pale.
**[SISTER ARIA]: She knows EVERYTHING. How?! We were so careful! Unless... unless someone in the Church is feeding her information? I need to warn— no. No, if I make contact now, she'll trace it. I'm trapped. Trapped in a situation where I have to stay near Kyle. Oh no. OH NO. Why am I not more upset about this?
"Now then," Eliza said, producing a key ring, "let's get you out of this disgusting cell. You too, 'Sera.' Come along."
She unlocked the cell door.
I stepped out into the corridor for the first time in two days, my legs wobbling.
"Oi, new meat!" Granite called out. "Don't forget about your old pal when you're living the high life!"
**[GRANITE]: I'm gonna miss that kid. He made prison interesting. Although knowing my luck, he'll probably end up back here within a week. The universe has a sense of humor like that.
"I won't!" I promised.
**[GRANITE]: He actually means it. Good kid. I hope he survives whatever conspiracy he's stumbled into. Those girls better take care of him or they'll answer to me. ...Not that I could actually fight them. But still. The principle matters.
As we walked through the dungeon corridors, Eliza leading with Aria and Sera flanking me like jealous bodyguards, I noticed the other prisoners staring.
**[RANDOM PRISONER #1]: Lucky bastard. Gets out after two days AND has two beautiful women fighting over him.
**[RANDOM PRISONER #2]: Is that the bread thief? What did he DO to get the Ice Princess's attention?
**[RANDOM PRISONER #3]: Those girls are gonna kill each other within a week. My money's on the nun. She has crazy eyes.
We climbed stairs I didn't know existed, passing through security checkpoints where guards immediately stood at attention when they saw Eliza.
**[GUARD CAPTAIN]: The Captain's escorting a prisoner personally? And she's SMILING? Did hell freeze over? Is this the apocalypse?
**[FEMALE GUARD]: That prisoner is kinda cute though. Lucky him, getting saved by the Ice Princess. I wonder if she's single— WAIT why is the nun glaring at me?!
Finally, we emerged into what looked like the prison's administrative wing. Clean floors, actual windows with sunlight, and—was that fresh air?
Eliza led us into a spacious office with a desk, bookshelves, and a sitting area. She gestured for us to sit.
"Alright," she said, switching to English again. "Let's talk Earth stuff. What year did you die?"
"I didn't die! I just... fell asleep playing Ardenfall Online in 2024 and woke up here."
Her eyes widened.
**[ELIZA]: ████ 2024?! ██████ I DIED ████ IN 2015 ██████ NINE YEARS ████ DIFFERENCE ██████ THE GAME ████ STILL EXISTS?! ██████
"The game?" I said. "You know about the game?"
"Know about it? I was a beta tester! I died in a car accident and woke up here as a homeless NPC. Wait—if you played the game, then you know the storyline?"
"Yeah! Kyle Henderson gets executed in the tutorial as the inciting incident for the player's revenge quest!"
"So you know what he witnessed that got him killed?"
I froze.
"I... no, actually. The game never explained. It was just 'your friend was executed for discovering the truth' but they never said what truth."
Eliza leaned back, processing this.
**[ELIZA]: ████ DOESN'T KNOW ██████ WHICH MEANS ████ ORIGINAL KYLE ██████ TOOK SECRET ████ TO GRAVE ██████ BUT IF ████ DUKE BLACKWOOD ██████ STILL WANTS ████ HIM DEAD ██████ THEN ████
"What's she saying?" Sera whispered to Aria. "What language is that?"
"I don't know," Aria whispered back. "Ancient demon tongue?"
**[SERA]: They're way too comfortable with each other. Is she stealing him already?! We just met! I called dibs! WAIT I DIDN'T CALL DIBS I'M SUPPOSED TO BE PROFESSIONAL.
**[SISTER ARIA]: The way he looks at her... they share something I can't be part of. A whole world I don't understand. Why does that hurt? I've known him for two days. TWO DAYS.
"Okay," Eliza said, switching back. "Here's the situation. Duke Blackwood is trafficking illegal mana crystals, which is treason. The original Kyle witnessed something—probably the Duke himself during a deal. The Duke wants Kyle dead. The Church wants Kyle dead because they're in on it. The Royal Intelligence Division—"
"Also wants him dead," Sera admitted quietly. "My orders were clear. Eliminate before trial."
"Right. So basically, everyone in power wants this kid dead."
"Except you," I pointed out.
She smiled.
**[ELIZA]: ████ EXCEPT ME ██████ CAN'T KILL ████ ONLY OTHER ██████ PERSON FROM ████ EARTH ██████ WOULD BE ████ TOO LONELY ██████ ALSO ████ HE'S KIND OF ██████ CUTE ████ WAIT NO ██████ PROFESSIONAL ████
"Except me," she confirmed. "Because A) you're innocent, B) you're a transmigrator, and C) this entire corruption scheme pisses me off. I didn't work my way up from street rat to Captain just to watch the kingdom rot from the inside."
"So what's the plan?" I asked.
"We expose Duke Blackwood, dismantle the conspiracy, and keep you alive long enough to see justice served."
"That's... surprisingly straightforward."
"Oh, it'll be anything but straightforward," Eliza said cheerfully. "The Duke has the Church, the Intelligence Division, and half the nobility in his pocket. We have... us. One captain, one confused transmigrator, one conflicted assassin nun, and one spy who can't follow orders."
**[SISTER ARIA]: She just called me conflicted. I am NOT conflicted. I'm perfectly clear about my... my... okay I'm extremely conflicted.
**[SERA]: I CAN follow orders! I just choose not to when they involve killing innocent people! That's different! That's called having morals! ...Since when do I have morals?
"What about evidence?" I asked. "How do we prove the Duke is guilty?"
"That's where you come in," Eliza said. "Your chatbox-reading ability is perfect for gathering intelligence. People can't lie to you."
"But I can't read YOUR chatbox clearly. If the Duke is as powerful as you say—"
"He's not as strong as me," Eliza said with complete confidence. "I'm level 87. He's maybe level 60. You should be able to read him if you're within range."
**[ELIZA]: ████ LEVEL 87 ██████ TOOK TEN ████ YEARS OF ██████ GRINDING ████ BUT WORTH ██████ IT ████ STRONGER THAN ██████ MOST HEROES ████
Level 87?! In the game, the max level was 100, and only end-game raid bosses reached the 80s!
"You're insane," I said with admiration.
"I'm a min-maxer," she corrected. "There's a difference."
We spent the next hour discussing strategy. Eliza had been investigating the Duke for months but lacked concrete evidence. With my ability to read chatboxes, we could identify co-conspirators, find weaknesses, and build a case.
The plan was simple: I'd be assigned as Eliza's "rehabilitation project"—a prisoner being reformed through community service. This would give me access to the castle, noble gatherings, and eventually, the Duke himself.
Aria and Sera would serve as my "handlers," ensuring I didn't escape (publicly) while actually protecting me (secretly).
"One problem," I said. "I'm level 1. If I walk into the castle, any guard could sneeze and kill me."
"That's what training is for," Eliza said. "Starting tomorrow, you're learning combat. Sera will teach you espionage. Aria will teach you... what DO you specialize in?"
Aria looked uncomfortable.
**[SISTER ARIA]: Poison, seduction, and silent killing. None of which I want to teach him because they're all terrible and I'm having a moral crisis.
"Healing," she said instead. "And... protective blessings."
**[SISTER ARIA]: I KNOW healing spells?! Since when?! Oh right, I'm supposed to be a nun. I should probably learn actual nun things.
"Perfect. Between the three of us, we'll get you combat-ready."
"How long will that take?"
"In a normal RPG? Months. But this is real life with game mechanics. If we grind efficiently..." She did some mental math. "Two weeks to hit level 20. Three weeks to level 30 if we're aggressive."
I stared at her.
"You're suggesting we speedrun my character development."
"Exactly!" Her eyes lit up. "See, you get it! These NPCs don't understand optimal leveling strategies, but WE do!"
**[ELIZA]: ████ FINALLY ██████ SOMEONE WHO ████ UNDERSTANDS ██████ GRINDING ████ SKILL TREES ██████ META BUILDS ████ I'VE MISSED ██████ THIS ████
Sera raised her hand tentatively. "Um, what's 'speedrun'?"
"It means we're going to train Kyle very intensely very quickly," Eliza explained.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Aria asked, concern in her voice.
**[SISTER ARIA]: If he gets hurt during training, I'll... I'll... wait, why do I care so much? This is bad. I'm getting attached. Attachment leads to weakness. But his safety matters more than my mission now and that's TERRIFYING.
"Life-threatening, probably," Eliza said cheerfully. "But less dangerous than walking into noble society as a level 1. At least this way, when assassins try to kill him, he'll have a chance."
"Wait, WHEN assassins try?" I yelped.
"Oh definitely when, not if. The Duke will send people once he learns you're out of prison. Probably within three days."
"THREE DAYS?!"
"Which is why we start training tonight. Sera, take him to the armory. Get him fitted for leather armor, nothing heavy—he needs mobility. Aria, prep the training grounds. I'll handle the paperwork to make his release official."
Both girls stood immediately.
**[SERA]: Training montage with Kyle. Close physical contact. Possibly shirtless training scenes. This is VERY PROFESSIONAL and I'm NOT excited about it.
**[SISTER ARIA]: I get to spend hours alone with him under the guise of "healing training." This is perfect. For the mission. Obviously. Not because I want to be near him.
As we left Eliza's office, I pulled her aside.
"Hey," I said in English. "Thanks. For, you know, not executing me."
She smiled, and for a moment, the Ice Princess facade dropped completely.
"You're the first person in ten years who understands references to anime, video games, and what a 'combo breaker' is. I'm not letting you die."
**[ELIZA]: ████ ALSO YOU'RE ██████ KIND ████ BRAVE ██████ AND YOUR ████ SMILE ██████ REMINDS ME ████ OF HOME ██████ BUT MOSTLY ████ THE ANIME ██████ THING ████ ...WHO AM I ██████ KIDDING ████
"Just promise me something," she added. "Don't die stupidly. If you're going to die, make it epic. Dramatic final boss battle, heroic sacrifice, that sort of thing."
"I'll do my best."
"Good. Now go. Your harem awaits."
"IT'S NOT A—"
"Two beautiful women competing for your affection while training you in combat? That's literally a harem anime setup."
I couldn't argue with that logic.
As I walked away with Sera and Aria, I heard Eliza mutter in English:
"Finally. Someone who gets it."
**[ELIZA]: ████ DON'T DIE ██████ KYLE HENDERSON ████ I JUST ██████ FOUND YOU ████ AND THIS ██████ WORLD IS ████ LESS LONELY ██████ WITH YOU ████ IN IT ██████
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: MAIN QUEST UPDATED]
[SURVIVE YOUR EXECUTION: POSTPONED INDEFINITELY]
[NEW MAIN QUEST: EXPOSE THE CONSPIRACY]
[TIME LIMIT: BEFORE THE DUKE KILLS YOU (???)]
[SIDE QUEST: SURVIVE TRAINING WITH TWO EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED ASSASSINS]
[DIFFICULTY: EXTREME]
Day 3 in another world.
Status: No longer on death row (immediate)
New status: Probable assassination target (within 72 hours)
Relationship status: Confusingly complicated
Survival odds: Still terrible, but improving
At least I had allies now.
Terrifying, overpowered, emotionally unstable allies, but allies nonetheless.
"Kyle," Sera said as we walked, "about the training... I might accidentally hurt you during sparring."
**[SERA]: I will be VERY CAREFUL not to hurt him. Maximum gentleness. Unless that other nun tries to heal him too much then I might need to accidentally injure him more so I can spend more time— NO. BAD SERA. FOCUS ON KEEPING HIM ALIVE.
"And I'll be there to heal any injuries!" Aria added quickly.
**[SISTER ARIA]: Any excuse to touch him. Wait. FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES. Medical purposes only. Professional healing. Very professional.
They glared at each other.
Yep.
This was going to be a long three weeks.