He became the most insane emperor of all time

“Let’s break up.”

My girlfriend told me she wanted to end things.

These days, people break up over text instead of doing it face-to-face, trying to keep things cool. But whether it was out of respect for me or her own conscience, she chose to meet me at a café and talk about it.

“Alright, let’s break up.”

And I accepted it without much reaction.

Perhaps she knew my detached nature all too well, which might be why she decided to break up in person. No, it was probably that.

“Aren’t you going to say anything else?”

“I get your reasons. You feel the same, don’t you?”

“….”

She didn’t have much to say to my dry response.

And of course, she wouldn’t.

People say love comes from the heart, but marriage is a decision of the mind.

“Thanks for dating someone like me all this time.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“Do I need to say more?”

If you’re wondering whether there was some dramatic reason behind it, the truth is, it all came down to my poor family background.

Ah, in my case, calling it a “family” would be inaccurate. I don’t even have parents who raised me.

The only thing I can boast about is my decent grades, which at least ensure I won’t starve.

But in a country like South Korea, where people’s financial situations are getting tighter by the day, that alone might be enough for dating, but not for marriage.

The saying “Even old straw sandals find their match” is a thing of the past now.

Everyone wants better circumstances when it comes to marriage. Honestly, that’s better for both sides, even for the “straw sandals.”

“Take care, then.”

Leaving my ex, who seemed a bit down, behind, I walked out of the café.

It was summer.

…Though it felt more like the chilly early days of autumn.

With nowhere else to go, I stopped by a convenience store and headed home.

The place I live in is a small monthly-rent studio. To be fair, I could afford a slightly better place.

Of course, owning a home is a distant dream, and I’d still have to settle for renting or taking out a loan and paying it off.

Still, the reason I live in such a small space isn’t because I can’t afford better but because I don’t really need anything larger at the moment.

“Well, I guess that’s not even necessary now. Tch.”

If I were planning to settle down, I’d have looked for a bigger place, even if it meant taking out a deposit loan. I’d have stopped hopping between high-paying tutoring gigs and found a stable job.

Sure, I don’t have much, but I’m not completely without prospects.

But reality made it clear that what I have isn’t even close to enough.

But the funny thing was, I didn’t feel sad enough to break down into tears.

Instead of sadness, a sense of “this is just how it is” took precedence, which was a bit bitter.

“Damn it, if I had been born a king or emperor, I wouldn’t have to deal with this crap.”

Forget being a king or emperor—even if I just had a lot of money, people would’ve lined up to say they liked me.

And I wouldn’t have to worry about breaking up with someone I cared about.

Heartbreak, love, sadness—these things had become luxuries reserved for those who already had everything else.

“Emperor, huh…”

Muttering to myself, I opened my gaming platform, Steel.

When I thought of an emperor, a new game suddenly came to mind.

A new strategy simulation game from Parallel Interactive, Empires.

“They said it’s set in a fantasy world this time.”

They were originally known for making grand strategy games where you develop a historically-based nation, wage wars, and conquer other countries.

But this time, they decided to create it in a fantasy setting, and I heard they tried a lot of new ideas.

“They’ve mixed in RPG elements? Sounds like a risky move.”

By RPG elements, they meant adding things like stats, items, traits, and skills for the leader character that would represent the player.

In their previous games, leaders and characters had a few stats, but this time, the overall approach seemed completely different.

The description didn’t provide enough detail, so I went ahead and bought the game to try it out for myself.

[Quick Start] [Load Game] [Scenario Selection] [Emperor Mode]

After watching the intro video, the main menu appeared, showing familiar options.

But there was one unfamiliar one.

“Emperor Mode?”

The game was called Empires, and since it was an “Emperor Mode,” I was more curious about that than anything else.

I clicked on it, and an interface similar to character creation in a typical RPG appeared.

“Ah, I can create my own character.”

I could customize everything: the name, appearance, the country and rank, skills, traits—everything.

And I could use that character to start within the game world.

It was essentially an official version of a feature that might normally be found in user-created mods.

[Remaining Custom Points: 10,000]
[Use points to set up your character. The better the traits, the more points are consumed. Conversely, if you assign disadvantages, you will be refunded some points.]

Reading the brief tips, I quickly understood how it worked and started creating my character.

[Name: Franz I]
[Rank: Emperor of the Gross Empire]
[Starting Difficulty: Slightly Hard]
[Base Stats: Governance 10, Diplomacy 10, Combat 10]

I set the name, rank, and starting difficulty.

The Gross Empire, depending on the scenario, was either thriving or on the verge of collapse. I chose a period when the empire was nearly finished.

Because of the unfavorable setting, the emperor rank required surprisingly few points to select.

“It’s probably because it’s going to be really hard,” I thought.

The scenario title itself was Fall of Humanity, which gave me that impression.

“But at least I can choose better stats and traits.”

As more disadvantages were added, I had more points to spend on strengths.

The game would get harder, but it also allowed me to choose the advantages I wanted to start with.

Typical elements desired by seasoned players.

I used the extra points to choose useful elements.

[Emperor’s Eye – 3,000 points]
If the conditions are right, the emperor can see all the information necessary for governance.
“This is definitely essential.”

Having access to all information.

I wasn’t exactly sure how far this would go, but considering it wasn’t like looking at a strategy guide, the importance of information was undeniable.

And at 3,000 points, it seemed pretty cheap for such a useful function.

[Innate Talent – 1,000 points]
[Genius – 2,000 points]
Next, I picked these two traits, which seemed to be the RPG elements people were talking about.

Innate Talent would be important for direct combat, while Genius was a more long-term trait to help me learn things more efficiently.

“That leaves me with about 3,000 points.”

I started thinking about where to invest the remaining points.

Interestingly, everything I had selected so far was a trait.

Kind of like passive skills.

When I shifted my focus to skills, there were many available.

But I pondered carefully. Was it really necessary to start with skills already learned?

[Tip, Traits are mostly innate and cannot be acquired later.]
[Tip, Skills are relatively cheap to learn at the start, but you can also learn them during gameplay through training.]
Even without the tip, I could guess this intuitively, but the tip was very helpful.

According to the tip, skills weren’t something I had to start with.

Of course, starting without proper skills would increase the difficulty, but…

Since I was starting as an emperor, that would probably offset the difficulty.

So, I boldly decided not to learn any skills and selected one more trait.

“This one seems good.”

[Blessed by the Gods – 3,000 points]
This character is deeply loved by the gods. They have overwhelming advantages in matters of religion and faith, including decisions and actions related to them.
[Remaining Custom Points: 0]

“All done. Let’s start.”

Having finished the customization, I selected the [Start Now] mode.

Since I had already chosen the scenario, the game started with the press of a button.

[The God of Fate grants you a new destiny.]
Please, show us an interesting result.
“What?”

As the words suddenly appeared on the screen, my consciousness vanished entirely.

***

“Your Majesty, here are the matters for your approval today.”

The chancellor, who looked stern and serious, spoke to me.

Hearing him call me “Your Majesty” didn’t feel like a play or a hidden camera prank.

“Ah, damn it. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have chosen this.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing, forget it.”

Without even glancing at the stack of documents the chancellor brought, I mumbled to myself.

Having unexpectedly become the young emperor Franz of the Gross Empire, I regretted not choosing a better starting time.

Well, of course, I never expected that the game character I created would actually become real.

“Just handle these things on your own. I want to be alone for a while.”

“Ha, Your Majesty…”

“Anyway, this stuff isn’t worth my time!”

I shouted, and the chancellor’s face turned red before he sulked and left, offering a formal bow.

I felt a bit guilty, but since I had just recently taken over this body, I needed some time to gather my thoughts.

“Becoming an emperor is nice, but the country looks like it’s going to collapse in a few years.”

The scenario title [The Fall of Humanity] wasn’t just for show.

An empire that was once so strong it nearly dominated the entire human world had now lost much of its territory from its heyday.

Even now, it was being conquered and threatened by other races and demon forces.

The empire was in decline, and humanity itself was falling into slavery under these races and demons.

It was in a state where avoiding destruction was nearly impossible.

“Being the emperor of such an empire, thinking I can just have fun as emperor… that seems unlikely.”

Back on Earth, I had often wished to live like an emperor again.

And, in a way, my wish came true, but this felt far from what I expected.

I had become emperor, but with the state of the empire, whether I saved it or not, it seemed like I would just work myself to death.

Or worse, I might die at the hands of the enemy. Or even worse, from a rebellion.

“No, wait. That’s not it. It’s not impossible, is it?”

But then, I had a change of heart.

Why should I let this get to me?

If the empire is going to fall anyway, it will fall, no matter what I do.

Of course, I wasn’t planning to just give up, but if the result is going to be the same, then why not do whatever I feel like?

“Even if I mess up, all that will happen is I’ll get dethroned or die, right?”

I may not have actually died in my past life, but now that I was a completely different person, it felt like the ‘real’ me had died.

Of course, I could still be alive, but I had no lingering attachment to my life on Earth.

I might have had it once, but after getting dumped by my girlfriend because I was broke, I felt like my previous life was just a case of choosing the wrong world to be born into.

But this life… I want to live differently. Yeah, this time, I’ll live for myself. That’s it.

“Why not? I’ll try everything I want to do.”

All I need to do is take care of the necessary tasks to make it happen.

So whether it’s honor, hedonistic pleasures, love, or thrills, I’ll do whatever I feel like.