Trapped Inside My Favorite Game

Chapter 2: The Tutorial Is Broken

The crimson beast shot toward Luna with terrifying speed.

Its claws tore through the air where she had been standing a heartbeat earlier.

She threw herself sideways, rolled across the muddy ground, and slammed into a wooden cart.

"Run!" Captain Rowan shouted. "Everyone, get inside!"

Villagers screamed as they scattered in every direction.

Luna pushed herself to her feet, her heart pounding wildly.

This wasn't possible.

Those monsters were called Crimson Fang Beasts. They were elite monsters that appeared much later in Eternal Realm. New players were never supposed to meet them.

Not here.

Not now.

One of the guards charged forward with his spear.

"I'll stop it!"

The beast swatted him aside like he weighed nothing.

The guard crashed through a market stall, blood spraying across the broken wood.

Luna's face turned pale.

"He... he died..."

In the game, Captain Rowan's guards never died during the tutorial. They only suffered minor injuries before the main hero saved the village.

Everything was different.

Captain Rowan drew his sword.

"Archers!"

Arrows flew through the air.

The beast ignored them.

The wooden shafts bounced harmlessly off its crimson scales.

"It has armor?" Luna whispered.

Crimson Fang Beasts shouldn't have scale armor until Level Forty.

Something had strengthened them.

Another beast leaped onto the roof of a nearby house.

It let out a deafening roar.

The roof collapsed.

A little girl cried from beneath the fallen beams.

"Help!"

Luna froze.

Emily.

She remembered her.

Emily was the child Luna originally died protecting.

"No..."

She clenched her fists.

"I know what happens next."

In the original story, Luna rushed forward without thinking.

A wolf attacked.

She died.

The real protagonist arrived moments later.

But there were no wolves now.

Only monsters powerful enough to wipe out the entire village.

"Luna!" Captain Rowan yelled.

"Get everyone to safety!"

She swallowed hard.

"I can't fight those things."

Another roar echoed across the village.

The beast on the roof jumped into the street, blocking the path to Emily.

The little girl's cries grew louder.

"Please..."

Luna looked around desperately.

Think.

There had to be another way.

She forced herself to calm down.

"I know this village."

Her eyes moved across the buildings.

Every house.

Every alley.

Every hidden path.

Then she remembered.

"The grain warehouse."

Behind it was a narrow passage leading directly to the square.

Players rarely used it because it served no purpose.

But now...

"It can get me behind the monster."

She sprinted toward the warehouse.

Captain Rowan shouted after her.

"Where are you going?"

She didn't answer.

There wasn't time.

Her boots splashed through puddles as she raced between buildings.

Behind her, villagers screamed.

Wood shattered.

Flames began spreading across the rooftops.

The village was falling apart.

She reached the narrow passage.

"Still here."

It was barely wide enough for one person.

She squeezed through.

Broken barrels blocked part of the path.

She climbed over them and emerged behind the collapsed house.

Emily was only a few meters away.

The girl looked up with tear-filled eyes.

"Luna!"

"I'm coming!"

Luna ran toward her.

The Crimson Fang Beast suddenly lifted its head.

Its glowing eyes turned toward her.

"It noticed me?"

That wasn't supposed to happen.

Monsters in tutorials always focused on the nearest target.

This one had deliberately chosen her.

The beast growled.

A transparent red window appeared above its head.

Target Identified

Priority Elimination: Luna Ashwood

Luna stopped running.

"What?"

The monster knew her name.

Cold sweat rolled down her back.

"Monsters don't identify individual targets."

Something was terribly wrong.

The beast charged.

Luna grabbed Emily and threw both of them behind a stone well.

The monster crashed into the well instead.

Stone exploded in every direction.

Emily buried her face against Luna's shoulder, crying.

"I'm scared."

Luna gently held the little girl.

"I know."

She looked around for an escape.

Nothing.

Every road was blocked.

The beast climbed over the broken well.

Its red eyes never left Luna.

"Why is it only chasing me?"

She reached for the rusty dagger hanging at her waist.

The weapon felt ridiculously small.

"I'm Level One."

The beast was at least Level Thirty.

Fighting was impossible.

Running wasn't much better.

Another roar echoed through the village.

The second Crimson Fang Beast appeared.

Then a third.

They surrounded the square.

Captain Rowan and the remaining guards formed a defensive line.

"We'll hold them!"

One guard whispered, "Captain... we're going to die."

Rowan tightened his grip on his sword.

"Not while innocent people still breathe."

Luna watched them.

This wasn't scripted.

Their fear...

Their determination...

Everything felt real.

These weren't game characters anymore.

They were people.

A loud chime interrupted her thoughts.

Hidden Quest Activated

Save Oakheart Village

Difficulty: Impossible

Reward: Unknown

Failure: Total Village Destruction

Luna stared at the screen.

"Impossible?"

The game had never given quests with unknown rewards.

The system itself had changed.

Emily tugged on her sleeve.

"Miss Luna..."

Luna forced herself to smile.

"It's okay."

"No... look."

Emily pointed toward the village entrance.

Luna slowly turned.

Someone stood there.

A tall man wearing black armor trimmed with silver.

A long sword rested across his shoulder.

His expression remained calm despite the chaos surrounding him.

Several warriors wearing matching cloaks stood behind him.

Black Phoenix.

The strongest guild in the kingdom.

At their front stood the legendary guild master.

Kael Ravencrest.

Luna's eyes widened.

"He shouldn't be here."

Kael didn't appear until much later in the original story.

He calmly looked across the burning village.

His sharp eyes settled on Luna for only a second.

Something unreadable flashed across his face.

Then he drew his sword.

"Protect the civilians."

His voice was steady.

"No one dies today."

The guild members charged forward.

Hope spread through the frightened villagers.

Luna felt relief wash over her.

"They're early..."

Then she noticed something strange.

Kael wasn't looking at the monsters anymore.

He was looking directly at her.

His cold silver eyes narrowed slightly.

Almost as if...

He recognized her.

Luna's heartbeat quickened.

"Why is he staring at me?"

Before she could think further, a deep mechanical voice echoed inside her mind.

Story Deviation Detected

The Tutorial Has Been Permanently Rewritten.

Luna's face lost all color.

"If the tutorial has changed..."

She looked at the burning village, the impossible monsters, and Kael standing where he should never have been.

"...then everything I know can no longer be trusted."