Remembering World. A very popular Gacha game with an open-world system. It follows the story of Maximilian the Hero, an adventurer who travels the world to search for his lost memories. On his journey, Maximilian will meet a lot of characters whom he’ll consider his friends. These characters will eventually become playable.

Since my family was not financially well off, and the salary at my part-time job wasn’t enough for a student who also contributes to the bills at home, it would take me months to save for the characters I like. I just have to make sure that they are worth it so I won't get disappointed. Ultimately, I collected all the characters from playing too much, since the game was my only comfort throughout high school.

I noticed my reflection in the glass window as my mind wandered. That’s right, I reincarnated as Lilivienne, one of the characters in the game. Except that I wasn’t part of the playable ones, but an NPC who was meant to die at the hands of another playable character.

I felt my stomach dropping from the thought. How could I ever forget? When Lilivienne was killed by a fan-favorite, Zathrian Lestrange, better known as Granger!

He was an SSR class anti-hero and one of the popular characters of Remembering World. He was a prince and nephew of Queen Serenova of the Valencourt Kingdom. At such a young age, Prince Zathrian was bestowed the title of marquess and was sent as a diplomat in the kingdom of Evermore. But while he was there, he was possessed by an evil god to bring destruction to the kingdom where thousands of people were killed including Lilivienne Van der Horst. That day was called the Cataclysm.

What Zathrian did was unforgivable and he was immediately sentenced to execution, but he disappeared without a trace the night before, causing the war between the two nations.

He was captured by an organisation AUGEX and was experimented on by a mad scientist called Malcolm. Zathrian spent two years in a hydrogen crystal before his awakening which killed everyone in the facility including Malcolm, with his newly acquired ability of necromancer—summoning demons at his will. Since his mind was blurry, he could not remember the gruesome mess he made on that island, or how to properly use his new power. He didn’t even know his past or his real name.

Using the name Granger, he wandered the kingdom of Galicia under a mask, with no memories of his true self. But he regained them back thanks to Runa—his childhood sweetheart and another SSR character. Due to guilt, Zathrian returned to Valencourt to surrender for his crimes. But at that time, the two-year war had already ended through a peace treaty. The crown prince of Evermore acted as a mediator on behalf of the king, with Maximilian on his side who was just entrusted with the title of holy knight for the bravery he showed in the entire course of war.

To keep the peace with Evermore, the queen decided to exile Zathrian for good. He returned to the outskirts of Galicia to start a new life as a mercenary, hiding his necromancer ability from everyone—even to Runa.

But in the third act of the game, an ancient dark sorcerer has returned, Merodach. As Granger, Zathrian aided Maximilian against Merodach, but due to the experimentation he went through, Merodach had him under control and ended up hurting his allies, including Runa. Zathrian was defeated, letting Merodach escape. Once again, he ended up in a coma, where Maximilian learned his real identity. When he woke up, he found Maximilian, Runa and everyone around his bed. Fearing he might hurt his friends again, he decided to leave without saying a word, that same night.

At the end of the game, Zathrian participated in the final war and teamed up with Maximilian for the last time. By that time, he had been cured of demon cells and had already mastered his necromancer ability. Despite that, Zathrian died by sacrificing himself, much to the surprise of the players who liked his character writing and thought he deserved to live a good life with Runa after what he went through.

His death earned him the most popular character title in the game next to the main character. He was also the only playable hero who died in the story, making him truly special.

I didn’t care much about Zathrian, but if his tragic fate would cost me this life just like the original story, I have to do something about it.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

For the past two days, I was locked in my room during recovery. I couldn’t protest against Duke Oswald and Alasdair—Lilivienne’s father and older brother—to let me get out even for a moment. Based on my knowledge, Alasdair is the commander of the holy knights and the best friend of Percival Colt, the mercenary king and another SSR character. In the game, Percival and his guild called WarCry were involved in the war. He was known as the last man standing as everyone he loved died. His goal was to avenge his friends and loved ones using Alasdair’s sword.

I spent those days sleeping and immersing myself in the new world by the window. It was a good thing that I woke up knowing how to speak the language and read the letters so they wouldn’t become a problem in the future.

The afternoon of the second day, I was called for dinner. At the long table was only me, the duke, and Alasdair. It was the first time that I went outside of my room since my transmigration. I thought that the maids standing on each side of the dining room was only a thing in period dramas, but I guess not.

I wonder where the mother of the family is.

“How are you feeling, Lilivienne?” Asked the duke.

I smiled formally, still not used to it. “I’m doing great now, father.”

“Good to hear that. How about you, Alasdair? How was today’s duty?”

“Escorting Prince Zathrian to the palace and the hotel was a success, father.”

“Did you offer him our best suite viewing the Mortimer mountains?”

“Of course, father.”

In the game, the Van der Horst family was known for the world-class Grand Hotel D’aureville, an extravagant hotel that welcomes citizens on the northern shore of Evermore. When Maximilian arrived in Evermore, he was offered to stay in D’aureville. The Van der Horsts also funded the military a massive amount during the war. When the war came to an end, the state of the duke was never mentioned again even after he lost both of his children, but Grand Hotel D’aureville remained standing.

“Is there something wrong, Lilivienne?” I choked on my food at the sudden mention of Zathrian Lestrange. I waved my hand to tell the duke not to worry.

“I-I’m already full. I apologize, father. But I’m returning to my room.”

So Zathrian had just landed in the capital. If my calculation is right, in the next four months since his arrival, the Cataclysm will happen where I will meet my death. I should start thinking of a plan!