"FFF—CCKKK YEEAAAHHHH!!!"
Inside a twenty square-meter bedroom, a black haired young man around twenty-five exploded with excitement.
He shot up from his chair, slamming both palms against his desk with such force that the keyboard rattled and a half-empty cup of instant noodles trembled dangerously close to the edge.
His monitor bathed the room in a cold, bluish glow, reflecting off the countless posters sticking to the wall.
The flickering light made his grin look wild — almost triumphant.
His unkempt hair stuck out in every direction, and a thin sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead.
For a moment, he just stood there, panting.
Then he laughed — a loud, disbelieving sound that quickly melted into a sigh of relief. Tears of joy glimmered at the corner of his tired eyes.
After several seconds, he collapsed back into his gaming chair, the spring creaking beneath him. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, eyes still glued to the frozen victory screen that showed all the data.
"...Finally." he muttered with a shaky grin.
Reaching toward the cluttered side of his desk, he grabbed a small, worn-out notebook with several pages sticking out.
Flipping it open, he began scribbling quickly, the pen scratching against paper.
'100 vs 3,000 — Success.
Key factors: narrow hill, cavalry distraction, large-shield infantry.'
He paused, tapping the pen against his chin before underlining the words twice.
"Now that I've finally beaten their largest force…" — confident smile crept onto his face — "the rest will be easy."
"But… that's for tomorrow."
A helpless smile crept onto Magnus's face as his eyes drifted toward the clock hanging on the left wall. The clock pointed at 12:00 a.m.
He blinked, then laughed quietly to himself.
Unknowingly, he had been playing for more than eight hours straight.
When he finally stood up, his joints cracked in protest.
As he stretched and reached for the lamp switch, his gaze fell on the row of cabinets standing proudly beside his desk.
They were packed full — shelves overflowing with books, old papers, and miniature figurines.
To most people, it might look like a cluttered collection.
But to Magnus, it was his personal shrine to history — a museum of everything he admired and wished he could experience firsthand.
Each book told a story:
Alexander the Great, the young conqueror who tamed half the world.
Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, the wise ruler who shaped a golden era.
Cyrus the Great, founder of empires.
Hayam Wuruk of the Majapahit Empire, whose kingdom once united the seas of the archipelago.
And many others.
Each name etched itself in the annals of history — men of vision and steel, whose ambitions transcended mortality.
Magnus had even collected replicas of ancient inventions and tools from those times.
Little models of trebuchets, old compasses, parchment maps.
None of them had any real use in modern life, but he didn't care.
They made him feel closer to the past — to that age of courage, conquest, and chaos he loved so much.
After all, Magnus was a complete medieval addict.
And the game he had just finished playing was none other than Mount & Blade: Bannerlord — a brutally realistic medieval war simulation.
It wasn't flashy. There were no magic spells, no guns, no modern vehicles.
Just swords, shields, horses, and strategy — a world ruled by strength, cunning, and willpower.
A game that demanded both patience and intelligence — one that punished mistakes as ruthlessly as history itself.
Tonight, Magnus had almost completed it on the highest difficulty & iron man — a challenge most players never dared to attempt.
"Twenty-five, huh…" he muttered under his breath, referring to his age as he flicked off the lamp.
The room plunged into darkness, illuminated only by the soft glow of his computer screen fading into sleep mode.
Tomorrow, the cycle would begin again —
working through the dull routine, pretending to smile in meetings, being lectured by superiors who didn't understand or care.
All for a meagre salary that barely kept him afloat.
He sighed quietly.
He didn't know what the future held — just like so many young people these days, wandering in uncertainty.
"Well… as long as I have my game," he whispered, almost like a prayer.
And with that final thought, Magnus drifted into sleep, unaware that tonight — his world would never be the same again.