Chapter 1: Reborn as the Knight
Leon woke up suddenly and almost screamed from the pain.
His chest hurt badly, like something heavy had slammed into it.
It was hard to breathe. Every small movement made his ribs burn.
His body felt sore, weak, and not quite right.
He slowly opened his eyes.
Above him wasn't the white ceiling of his apartment, but rough wooden boards, patched with straw and mud.
Faint sunlight came through the cracks.
Leon blinked in confusion.
'Where am I'?
This wasn't his home.
When he tried to sit up, sharp pain shot through his side.
His arms were wrapped in bandages thin strips of linen tied tightly around them.
Something was wrong.
Next to the bed were a damaged metal chest plate, a shirt made of many small metal rings linked together, stained dark, and a sword with a broken edge.
'What… what is all this'?
The door creaked open.
A small boy peeked inside. His face was dirty, and his hair stuck up in messy clumps.
His eyes grew wide. He froze for a moment, then ran down the hall, shouting with excitement and a shaky voice:
"He's awake! The knight is awake!"
Sir? Knight?
Leon barely had time to think before three villagers came in.
Their faces looked tired and worn from many hard years. Their clothes were patched in lots of places, but they stood tall and steady.
When they saw Leon was alive, their faces brightened like sunlight breaking through clouds.
"Sir Knight," an old woman said, her hands shaking as she leaned on a wooden cane. "The gods have saved you. We didn't think you'd live."
Leon tried to speak, but his throat was dry and his voice wouldn't come.
'What is she talking about? What gods'? I blinked, confused.
No words came.
"You saved us," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "You fought the goblins when no one else could. Without you, the village would have burned."
A man with a scarred jaw stepped forward. His face looked tough, but his voice was shaky. "Our children are alive because of you."
Leon's chest felt tight.
He wanted to tell them the truth that they were wrong, that he wasn't their knight, that he didn't belong here.
But when he saw how much they needed hope, how thankful they were, he couldn't say anything.
He swallowed the words and stayed quiet.
The villagers gave him water in a cracked cup.
They gave him bread that was dry and hard, but they held it out with both hands.
They wrapped a blanket around him. It smelled like goats but was warm.
They didn't have much, but they shared it with him.
Then they left him alone to rest.
The room was quiet again.
Leon lay back and stared at the wooden ceiling.
Slowly, memories came back, memories of the life he had lost.
It was a simple life.
He lived in a small apartment with thin walls.
He worked a 9-to-5 job in a plain office.
He sat at a desk, typing on his computer and listening to quiet talking around him.
His days were full of spreadsheets, emails, and fake smiles.
He drank cheap coffee to stay awake and kept looking at the clock, waiting for the day to end.
But freedom never came.
At night, he came home exhausted.
He didn't have the strength to cook a proper meal.
Instant noodles, leftover takeout, or a sandwich was all he could manage.
He sank into his worn-out couch, turned on his computer, and played games to escape the tiredness and loneliness.
He loved playing RPG games.
The ones with knights, mages, and long journeys across kingdoms.
Games where he could hold a sword, fight monsters, and save the world.
Games where he could be someone important.
In those games, he was a hero.
But in real life, he was just a tired man with bills to pay.
He felt invisible, like no one noticed him or cared.
His days were lonely and hard, and sometimes he wondered if anything he did mattered at all.
The games gave him a way to feel strong, even if just for a little while.
That life ended on a rainy night.
He remembered leaving the office late again, feeling tired and lost in his thoughts.
The wet street shone with bright lights.
Suddenly, he heard someone yelling from above.
He stopped and looked up just in time to see something heavy falling straight toward him.
He panicked and didn't know what to do.
He wanted to move, wanted to run but couldn't.
Then came a loud bang.
Something heavy hit him hard on the head.
He fell to the ground as people nearby ran toward him, shouting and yelling.
His vision started to blur.
He touched his head and felt warm blood on his hand.
Fear and helplessness washed over him.
Then everything went black.
After that, he remembered nothing.
Until now.
Leon's eyes burned and his chest tightened as he realized, 'I really died… but why am I here?'
'And how the hell did I end up in this place?
This… this isn't even my body'!
Leon's thoughts screamed in panic.
Then, he heard a chime inside his mind.
Blue words appeared in the air, glowing softly.
[System Activated]
[Chivalry Knight Protocol Online]
[Welcome, Leon Ashford]
Leon froze. That was his name, his real name.
But Ashford? That wasn't his last name.
More words appeared, calm and unreal:
[Newbie Pack Granted]
- Basic Swordsmanship Lv.1
- Knight's Endurance Lv.1
- Aegis Pendant (Equipped)
- Inventory Slots: 10
Then the light faded.
Leon's breath quickened, his heart pounding in his chest.
This wasn't a dream.
Or if it was, it felt too real too sharp, too heavy, like it was crushing him.
Fear and confusion mixed inside him, making it hard to breathe.
His eyes fell on the sword leaning against the wall.
The villagers believed he was a knight.
The system wanted him to be a knight.
But Leon knew the truth.
He wasn't a knight.
He wasn't strong.
He was just an ordinary man with a boring job, who played games to forget how empty his real life felt.
Now, he was in a body that wasn't his, wearing armor he didn't know how to use, in a world he didn't understand.
And in this world, people already saw him as their protector.
Leon swallowed hard.
His voice cracked as he whispered into the empty room:
"Who… who am I supposed to be?
And I don't even have any memory of this body."
He looked down at his bandaged arms, feeling strange and heavy.
Everything felt unreal, like a dream.
He might have believed it was just a dream, if it weren't for the pain.
The knight had died.
And now, somehow, the man who once sat in an office… had to take his place.