Chapter 2: Volume 1 Chapter 2: Lost World
Author's note:
Wow 37 views and 1 Star! Sorry for the poorly made first chapter. I didn't realize how short it was nor that on the phone version the sentences were mashed together. Hopefully double spacing helps.
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Justin rolls over. He is sleeping on a grand bed designed for more than one person. Then he suddenly wakes up. Without questioning how he got onto his bed he fumbled on the nightstand. He was trying to bring the electric clock towards himself with one hand and find his glasses with the other.
Knock Knock Knock
Someone was knocking on the door. Justin quickly gets up and turns the light on. At that moment he freezes. The floor is way too far from his eye level and it's tripping him as if he took a full dosage of LSD. He felt blood rush to his head as if he was suffering from vertigo. His hands are too large, hell even the room is not the one he remembers sleeping in. Outside in the light of dawn the Eiffel Tower can be seen.
Then the door opens to reveal a young man dressed in military clothes. Justin frowned and instinctively squinted because he did not have his glasses. After staring at the officer for a few more seconds he comes to understand that he was too detailed, even with glasses he couldn't see this amount of detail.
"Ummm... sir?"
"Ah yes sorry. Proceed."
"Message from General Rommel, the encirclement of Berlin is complete. However British Expeditionary officer Charles Young is missing."
"What?"
Who?
Justin was nervous. He had no clue where he was or what he is supposed to do. Everything around him is new, the young man, the room, even this hulking body that was disproportionate to his normal size.
"Ah yes. Tell the general to continue what he was doing."
"Jawohl!"
The young officer took his right hand, made it into a fist and slammed it against his breast. At the same time his left arm snapped to his left leg. A salute (AU: kind of like the AoT salute but instead arm on back is on the respective leg.
The officer excused himself and hurried out his room leaving Justin puzzled and wondering why the officer didn't do the German Salute. The officer clearly was wearing German fatigues. There was even a light spot on his uniform which outlined where the eagle and cross should be. Justin assumed it was removed.
Then it hit him. That removed eagle told him all he needed. He remembered the game, Will of Iron II. He remembered the Berlin encirclement. He remembered the follow up years to today. He shuddered. It should be April 13th, 1941.
Justin walked over to a calendar on the wall to confirm his fears. April 14th, 1941.
"Shit. What the hell is happening?"
Justin lamented over this new truth as he walked over to a mirror. He gasped. He studied that face which looked back at him. Chiseled jawline, smooth skin, jet black hair, blue eyes, no acne, well toned a defined body with muscles but not too much muscle. The ideal body. The perfect body.
"At least this is a plus."
Justin walked to the bathroom where a servant was waiting. The male servant assisted him in washing his face and clothing him. Without saying a word he was guided to a large conference hall where various men of rank, status and branch were all arguing. Secretaries and personal assistants rushed about in the hallway outside the loud room.
(AU: this is chatter outside the conference room)
"What do you mean we lost our contact with the United Kingdom??? Try again... no, no try it again!"
"Where is the Japanese diplomat? We arranged for a meeting today? Where did he go?"
"All of the American lend-lease material is still in the warehouse. The American personnel who arrived the other day are gone! How do we use these M1 Garands?"
All these snippets of conversation could not compare to the commotion inside the conference room.
"Field Marshal Kluge, how much time until Berlin falls?"
"I believe in about a week or so. Intel says that at least 2 divisions are trapped in Berlin here and here."
Marshal Kluge taps a map with a meter stick. Besides him General Beck whispers into his ear.
"Sir, we lost contact with the Soviet Union."
"What?!"
The marshal's outburst silenced the room. He stared at all of the other members of the High Command Staff.
"Tell me, who do we contact with?"
A voice piped out from across the table. Freidrich Paulus, a General in the army years before his famous surrender at Stalingrad.
"Jawohl, we currently are in contact with members of the French, Polish, Austrian, Norwegian and Czechia resistance. Movement as of yesterday April 13th of the 3rd Reich is minimal. No other contact available."
A murmur spread among the staff until someone noticed Justin.
"Attention!"
All of the staff snapped to attention with a salute. Justin started sweating with so many eyes on him. He cleared his throat and started ad-libbing.
"At ease. Marshal Kluge. I am aware of our precarious situation. Commander Sperrle."
"Jawohl!"
"Send reconnaissance aircraft to England. We need to know what they are doing if our communications were cut. General Beck."
"Jawohl!"
"General, find out the status of all theatre and report to me as soon as possible."
Both men excused themselves to make calls to their respective branches. Justin was surprised. He was talking way too well. He had never been good at public speaking. Something was off, he was being too charismatic. Maybe it's his new body, the body used to attention and speaking in front of expecting eyes.
"Well then we should..."
"PARDON MY INTRUSION!"
A runner burst into the room, out of breath. He was panting hard as if he had ran a marathon. Justin recognized his face, the officer from earlier.
"Lieutenant Hans Gunter. What is the meaning of this?"
The lieutenant paled under the assault of the field marshal.
"Umm... uh sir? I have an urgent message."
"Humph, carry on."
"Ahem... the western lines report strange phenomenons. Upon advancing into the outskirts of Berlin, numerous tanks and trucks were found abandoned. They still had gas in the tanks and ammunition was full yet were abandoned. Even more curious the 9th infantry brigade captured a weapons depot to find it completely abandoned and all material left for us. We have yet to find a single soul from yesterday's battle, as if they all got up and disappeared. We captured the port city of Kiel 5 hours ago. The two Hipper class heavy cruisers were still in port. All crew and personnel are missing. Upon further inspection every cabin had sailor uniforms folded neatly on each bed but no person in sight."
(AU: retreating Germans usually destroyed material and abandoned vehicles).
Lieutenant Gunter paused. The shocked faces of the staff. No one spoke for a few moments. Justin then mustered enough courage to speak.
"Lieutenant."
"Jawohl!"
"I believe I asked for a status report, not a fantasy novel."
The staff started to relax. Two officers in the back sighed with relief. Another two nodded to Justin.
"Um sir? May I continue..."
"PARDON MY INTRUSION!"
Another runner ran through the doors. Without asking for permission he began.
"The 4th panzer division has captured the Fuhrer Bunker!"
A collective commotion began among the staff. Lieutenant Gunter started to leave the room.
"Don't leave lieutenant."
He stopped dead. He nervously turned to Justin. The messenger continued.
"No sign of the fuhrer nor anybody in Berlin. All civilians, soldiers, officer nor slave workers were to be found."
Dead silence. No one could speak. This continued until Lieutenant Gunter spoke up.
"May I continue?"
Marshal Kluge nodded to him.
"Ahem... again there has been no sight of any enemy personnel or any allied personnel. All captured cities and towns were empty. A report from the East Prussian Army Group 2 says that Auschwitz camp was liberated. Not a soul was found nor any trace of a last minute execution. Allied air raids have stopped entirely since only our planes appeared on the radar."
"It's as if everyone simply vanished."
Justin scratches his head. The mood of the staff was uncomfortable. Finally Justin spoke again.
"I take that back, tell Commander Sperrle to send scouts in all directions. If I'm not wrong we may be in grave trouble. Dismissed!"
"Jawohl Kaiser Wilhelm X!"
Justin turned and left the conference room. Officers started to shuffle out while a few stayed behind and argued.
I guess Wilhelm X is my name in this world. Wilhelm then went to his office. A light headache started to throb. This turned into an excruciating headache as he collapsed into his great chair. Gasping for breath he started to lose consciousness. As he started fading a maid opens his door.
"Sir I brought coffee may I..."
The maid dropped the coffee tray. She rushed outside and alerted the guards. Soon two well dressed guards, the maid and a man dressed in white burst into the room just as Wilhelm's vision went dark.
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Emperor Wilhelm woke up in his bedroom. The fancy tiled roof of the Parisian palace hinted strongly of Renaissance art. Realism. This indeed was a thing that the Kaiser enjoyed.
It wasn't long since he was confined to his bed after doctors diagnosed a seizure which caused him to collapse. This was not the case and he knew it.
During his time of the headache and during his sleep he can distinctly remember talking to himself, or rather a version of himself. Justin saw himself across from him. It was the bulkier and taller version yet still keeping characteristics from his old body. It was surreal, like someone wanted to show him that he was given a new body. Except that body stared back.
"Who are you?"
"I am you."
"What? No! That's not what I meant."
"I am you, there is no alternative. I am you, you from your Vapor account. I am your ideal created from your sense of perfection."
"What?"
"You wanted this life, so take it."
Justin hesitated. He couldn't argue, he did want this life. His old life studying for a job with a low pay for years at a time was boring, uneventful and slow. This was his motive to start reading mangas and web novels. His younger brother actually introduced him to them. His sister however was indifferent. Leaving them behind he could do, he was going to anyways after graduating college.
"Okay, I accept. I accept this new life."
"Good, now observe."
The memory then cut there. Wilhelm did not have enough time to go over what he remembers when he was quickly ushered back to the conference room.
"Report marshal, what happened?"
"Bad news sir, we could not locate England. Instead unfamiliar land lies beyond the waters to our north. Our French divisions on the Atlantikwall have been beached. Beyond the sand lies to the immediate west lies not the Atlantic Ocean but dry land. We have redirected three more infantry divisions as support to France."
"Good, what about the East?"
"Out Polish allies have finished reclaiming Poland and stationed at the Soviet Border. We can see a red flag in the distance but no people yet."
"Hold position, reinforce with the 11th panzer regiment."
"Jawohl!"
"Now Berlin, have we taken it yet?"
"Yes, Berlin fell in the hours when you were asleep. Not a soul could be found. Even the birds have left."
"Send a special recon force, assess the damage."
"Jawohl."
The meeting ended with Kluge remaining to give a few extra comments.
"Sir if I may, I believe based off the evidence that this is not the Europe we know. The Kreigemarine report several unknown objects in the waters where the English Channel should be. I recommend with Fleet Admiral Erich Raeder that we deploy destroyers immediately."
"Permission granted."
Upon returning to his office Wilhelm sighs. He cannot imagine the damage caused by the war.
Soon the damage reports flooded in. Brandenburg and other northern provinces were untouched. All equipment was taken and stored. However in the south in Austria the sudden appearance of water caused several towns to flood. The land near Nice, France was undamaged due to previously being located on the Mediterranean. Where Switzerland and Italy should be was 400 km of beaches. Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria no longer were where they should be. Sweden and Finland have disappeared with the UK. The damage was not horrible, it could be worse.
While thinking over the current situation he remembered something that Justin 2.0 told him.
"What do you mean Vapor account?"
"This world is not your game yet you are part of that game. Naturally this includes your national focuses (AU: called goals earlier)."
"Wait, that means that we are still under those crippling debuffs."
"Correct."
Thinking about that conversation unsettled him. He never asked Justin 2.0 how to view the debuffs.
"How stupid of me."
———————————————————————
Sun broke the dawn as life returned to the forest around them.
"Andrew wake up."
A small delicate hand gently slapped Andrew's cheeks. He groaned and rolled over.
"WAKE UP!"
Adriana now positioned herself directly over Andrew's ear and yelled. This caused him to bolt awake and headbutt his sister.
"OWWWWWWW!"
"Adriana, what the hell?"
"But brother, is it true? Is older brother dead? What about aunt Nina? Did Sir Nelson really betray us? Brother answer me!"
"I don't know! I know as much as you do. Nevertheless we need to reach the city."
Andrew rubbed the side of his head next to the ear Adriana screamed into. Adriana had no bruise nor looked troubled by the collision.
They continued to travel along the pathway south.
"This is not good."
Andrew clutched Adriana's hand as they crouched in a bush next to a road. Up ahead was a checkpoint created to stop travelers heading to Wallaceburg. Most likely they were looking for them.
"Brother, what are we going to do?"
"Hold on, I'll cast some mirror magic. Maybe they won't see us."
Suddenly a low buzzing can be heard. Andrew watched as the guards looked up and yelped in surprise. A dark shape with a cross form can be seen blocking the sun temporarily. After the creature passed the guards returned to their stations.
"What was that?"
"You, get to the base right now! Inform the garrison commander of that creature!"
"Yes sir!"
Not missing the chance Andrew had already slipped past with Adriana when the guards abandoned their positions.
"Thanks the gods for this miracle."
Continuing along the road using the sun as reference they kept going south until they reached the gates of Wallaceburg. As they approached the gate the attire of the soldiers made Andrew want to cry. The silver crown was etched into the uniforms of guards, the majority of the kingdom has removed them already. Wallaceburg was still friendly.
The guards stopped them from entering but a flash of their royal ring prompted them to escort them in. The master marshal met them inside by the governor building.
"Thank the gods you two are alright. His highness would have never forgiven me if anything were to happen to you. May his soul Rest In Peace."
The escorts and two royals fell silent for a few moments.
"Oh right, master marshal, are you aware of a strange cross shaped creature? "
"No, I never received information about anything like that."
He motioned for a soldier to him. He spoke a few words and the soldier politely bowed and took off. Come with me, Governor Sebastian would like to see you. He escorted the two inside the building. It was a large lavish estate with many government officials doing their tasks or killing about. Whenever they passed an official they stopped to bow politely to them.
"Please."
The marshal (AU: master marshal to too long. I will just use marshal) opened the door for them. A short lanky man got up from his chair in the center of the room and shook the hands of Andrew and Adriana.
"I am grateful that you two are alive. Please call me Herman (AU: his last name). You must be tired from your journey. I am sorry I could not provide escorts as I am currently under suspicion from the Junta."
"I understand mister Herman."
"Brother, he made it but what now?"
This comment made Andrew hesitate. He was so focused on escaping and saving his sister he completely overlooked the future.
"My liege, the Empire of Kursk east from here across the sea is a mercantile land. They stand to lose with the Junta in power. I recommend that you flee and seek asylum there."
Just then a man cracks the door open and slides the marshal a tied up paper. Everyone's attention is focused on him as he checks the contents.
"I am sorry to say but I object going east."
"Marshal, what is your reasoning? The Empire is a very good choice."
"It's not about choice, mounted wyvern was sent east to investigate the trail left by the creature from before. There is a huge wall blocking the entrance to the bay."
"What? Impossible. Our merchant ships just set sail the other day and left as scheduled! Marshal I strongly recommend that you punish the one who sent such a dubious report."
"I disagree governor. Battalion commander Hugo Lawrence is my right hand man and I trust his word."
"If you say so."
"What now?"
Andrew could not believe it. His chance at survival just plummeted down to zero. Staying at Wallaceburg was a temporary measure. He needed allies, foreign allies.
"Mister Herman, Sir Marshal."
"Yes my liege?"
"You say a wall is blocking my way, can't we just climb it?"
This very obvious answer had passed over the two's heads.
"I am sorry my liege for not realizing something so simple."
The marshal who was opposed to their voyage bow his head to the prince. Prince Andrew could care less and waved him off.
Suddenly a knock was heard from the door. The marshal answered and chatted with the guard for a few moments. He then sternly told the guard something and the guard rushed away. The marshal was glaring and leaking an ominous aura.
"My liege, we must go. Now. A royal inspector is about to arrive in three days."
"Sir marshal, will you come with us?"
The princess was staring at the marshal. Truth be told, the old man was planning on turning himself in to buy for more time.
"Sir marshal, this new wall is too dangerous for us. You must come with us!"
"I agree."
The governor nodded his head.
"I can only buy so much time. Any missing guards will set them off so I cannot give you an escort. The least I can do is reequip you with newer equipment, however I cannot give you any treasures since the inspector might find a few things missing."
He goes through his desk and pulls out a scroll. On it he writes quickly and then heats a stamp. While it heats he neatly folds it into an envelope and then stamps it.
"Take this. I know the Marquis of Cranberry of the Kursk Empire. He will help you if you show him this."
"Thank you."
"Sir marshal, take the two to the armory. Fit them with what you can find in the spare parts area. The guards will not take inventory for today."
"I thank you."
The marshal ushered the two out of room and into the armory. The guard paid no attention to them as they opened the armory gate. There were pieces of armor and gear which fit the sizes of the two. Andrew was 17 years old, he had been trained to fight so the armor fit well. He had no problems finding enough equipment. Adriana however was 18 and too small for most sets even if she was older than Andrew.
(AU: basic overview with no game like features (yet))
[Andrew Wallace]
Age: 17
Occupation: 4th Prince of the Kingdom of Epruilon
Headgear: enchanted headband with wind deflection for projectiles
Torso: steel front and back plates with leather straps and chainmail
Leggings: leather with chainmail (mismatched due to equipment shortage)
Boots: standard army issue and shin guards
Armament: 1x short sword, 1x 30 cm short fire staff (only capable of basic and beginner magic of one type) and 3x healing potions II (AU: grade like I, II, III, IV and so forth).
Assertories: Royal Ring; if user is in life threatening danger, ring will shatter and protect user for 1 minute.
[Erik Steinbeck]
Age: 54
Occupation: Master Marshal of the Kingdom of Epruilon
Headgear: Mystic's Mantel; invisible headgear which increases reflex time by 2 seconds
Torso: Full chestplate
Leggings: Heavy armor skirt
Boots: cavalry boots standard issue
Armament: 1x Greatsword standard issue, 2x throwable daggers standard issue
Accessories: Auxiliary Weight; a legendary item which decreases total weight by 20%
[Adriana Wallace]
Age: 18
Occupation: 2nd Princess of the Kingdom of Epruilon
Headgear: cloth hood
Torso: archer's chestplate standard issue
Leggings: leather pants
Boots: steel boots standard issue
Armament: 1x Lever crossbow, 1x quiver + 15 standard issue arrows
Accessories: archer's gloves; slightly lower pain of drawing a string, Royal Ring; if user is in life threatening danger, ring will shatter and protect user for 1 minute.
Once the all were equipped the governor gave them 20 M each and they set off to the east.
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Info dump:
Currency:
10 Mn = 1 C
10 C = 1 M
10M = 1 D
10 D = 1 K
(Basically metric system)
it costs about 5 C a day to live
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone