When Ethan opened his eyes, he found himself inexplicably inside a small, unfamiliar house. He stared blankly at the television in front of him, utterly confused.
"Three hours ago, a large-scale pirate uprising erupted once again along the southern coastal regions of our country! Coastal cities suffered heavy losses. However, Scarlet Queen, the Guild Leader of Scarlet Legion—one of North America's top ten guilds—personally took action. Leading an army consisting of 600 Royal Griffins (Tier 6), 400 Medusa Queens (Tier 8), 100 Arcane Archers (Tier 9), and 6 Druid Elders (Tier 10), she single-handedly took down Pirate King Pete Girly, one of the six great pirate lords of Somalia! Her overwhelming strength has once again proven itself to be at the pinnacle of the world's elite."
"Meanwhile, in the Denmark-England war, the Viking King—one of the three Nordic powerhouses—made a dominant move, dealing a devastating blow to Alfred, the top-ranked stronghold leader of England. Reports from the battlefield indicate that an 11-Tier Wyvern was spotted during the fight. If true, this suggests that the Viking King's power has reached an even greater level! As of today, fewer than five people in the world possess an 11-Tier unit."
"Recently, the world of Ashan has once again been engulfed in war, causing drastic shifts in territorial control. These changes have directly triggered real-world border adjustments. The laser boundary walls that have suddenly appeared along national borders have now been recalibrated to reflect the latest developments in the war, reshaping the global geopolitical landscape. In response to this major shift, the United Nations has officially released an updated world map today..."
"According to high-ranking officials from Holy Concord Guild, their Guild Leader—Xavian Serpentis, currently ranked second on our nation's Monarch Leaderboard—has received an extremely rare A-Rank quest in the capital city of Unicorn Duchy, Dunmire. If completed, this quest could potentially reward him with an 11-Tier unit. This might mark the first-ever 11-Tier unit in our country's history. Will Xavian Serpentis succeed? The world is watching!"
"And finally, the highly anticipated 'Ashan Martial Grand Tournament' has officially begun! In the first round, an 8-Tier Crusader from England effortlessly defeated an 8-Tier Ogre Mage, securing a dominant victory and advancing to the next stage!"
Ethan's expression at this moment was nothing short of spectacular.
Scarlet Queen? Pirate King Pete Girly? Viking King?
What the hell is all this?
Royal Griffin? Medusa Queen? Arcane Archer? Druid Elder? Wyvern? Crusader? Ogre Mage?
"Wait... these are all units from Heroes of Might and Magic? Did the world of Heroes of Might and Magic actually become real?"
"Ow—damn, that hurts!" Ethan pinched his cheek hard, wincing in pain. But the sting only confirmed that everything in front of him was real.
"And then there's this..."
His gaze returned to the television. The screen displayed the time—6:35 PM Eastern Time. Just like in his previous world, NBC Nightly News was broadcasting reports on national and global events.
These so-called Royal Griffins, Medusa Queens, Arcane Archers, Druid Elders, and Wyverns... they had to be the faction units from Glory Lords X, right?!
And now there were already large-scale pirate uprisings and full-blown wars between nations?
Isn't this all happening way too fast?!
In his past life, even after the Age of Heroes began, things didn't escalate this quickly.
Even up until his death, 11-Tier units had never appeared.
And why was the news still mentioning Earth? What was this about laser boundary walls? Wasn't Earth supposed to have fully transformed into the world of Glory Lords X?
But the news was clearly real—there was no way this was fake. This sudden shift was completely baffling, leaving him utterly lost and bewildered.
Could it be that the world of Heroes of Might and Magic and the real world hadn't fully merged yet?
"Aaaahhh, what the hell is going on?! Did I mess something up? Or is the difficulty level higher because I got reincarnated?" Chapters first released on novel★fire.net
Ethan clutched his head and groaned. His brain was starting to hurt.
Suddenly, there was a loud, forceful knocking at the door.
At the same time, a cute, mischievous voice rang out from outside.
"Ethan! Ethan! Open up! I heard Sophie dumped you? Haha, serves you right! I knew this day would come! Hurry up, open the door! Let me see if you're curled up in bed crying your eyes out..."
Ethan's face immediately darkened.
Where the hell did this little brat come from? Where are her parents?
Out of nowhere, a sharp, searing pain shot through his head like a bolt of lightning. Ethan clutched his skull, feeling like his brain was about to explode, and dropped to a crouch.
But just as quickly as it came, the pain vanished.
In a matter of seconds, it was gone.
At the same time, a flood of new information and memories surged into his mind.
"So that's how it is... A parallel universe?"
"Wait... this world is also Earth?"
Rubbing his temples, Ethan slowly stood up, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
So this world was Earth.
But compared to the Earth he had known, its history had taken a completely different path.
[Ten years ago, in the year 2025, the first year of the "Heroic Era"—
The world of Glory Lords X, a game centered around units, resources, warfare, and territory-building, suddenly merged with Earth overnight.
Mysterious glowing yellow laser walls appeared along national borders, and the territorial shifts within the game began altering the real-world geopolitical landscape.
No one knew why or how it happened.
The revelation sent shockwaves across the globe.
And then, something even more terrifying was discovered—nearly all advanced military technology had mysteriously failed. Missiles, tanks, fighter jets—rendered useless.
As if that wasn't enough, Earth itself seemed to come alive, expanding continuously, growing larger by the second.
From that moment on, Earth, now fused with another world, entered the Heroic Era.
The global power structure was completely upended.
High-tech weaponry became obsolete, replaced by heroes and armies.
And now, in the present day, Ethan found himself living in the tenth year of the Heroic Era.]
As for the little brat outside the door... she wasn't just some random kid.
According to his new memories, she wasn't actually his biological sister. Their late parents had apparently picked her up from somewhere.
But this little troublemaker was a genius.
Though, in this world, the definition of "genius" was a little different from what he was used to.
Here, being a genius meant being a gaming genius.
If you were insanely good at games, you were considered a prodigy—above and beyond any other profession.
Shaking his head, Ethan instinctively walked toward the door and pulled it open.
In an instant, a small, energetic girl darted inside like a little whirlwind.
She circled around Ethan, scrutinizing him from head to toe.
Then, her cute face twisted into an expression of pure shock.
"Wait a second—Ethan, you got dumped by Sophie, and you're not crying? That's not like you at all!"
Ethan flicked her forehead with his finger, his face stern.
"Watch your mouth, kid. Getting bold, huh? Show some respect—big bro here!"
This little menace was Emily Parker, Ethan's younger sister in this world.
She was two months shy of turning sixteen.
And yet, she was already a top student at Harvard University, one of the world's ten most prestigious schools.