Arriving in Middle-earth

"Holy crap, where was this?" Roland had been playing The Lord of the Rings on his computer when a flash from the screen had instantly brought him to this godforsaken place.

"Eeek, eeek, eeek!" A piercing shriek rang out, startling Roland into hurriedly looking around. But when he lowered his head, he froze. He was actually wearing the lord's Mithril Armor from The Lord of the Rings, with the epic Dragon-slaying Sword hanging at his waist and a mithril Tower Shield strapped to his back...

"Holy crap! Wasn't this my gear from The Lord of the Rings?" Roland's mind went blank as he looked at the unfamiliar equipment covering his body.

"Did I transmigrate into Middle-earth from The Lord of the Rings?" Roland pondered.

Then Roland discovered, to his dismay, that it would have been fine if this were Middle-earth from the movies. But if it was the Middle-earth from the computer game... Roland felt he might as well dig a hole and lie down in it.

The Lord of the Rings was a game heavily modified from films like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It had added Battle Qi, magic, and a whole host of fantasy elements, while changing the map of Middle-earth, the distribution of powers, and much more. Aside from a few major characters, nearly everything else had been heavily altered. Roland was panicking...

"Eeek, eeek, eeek!" Several short Green-skinned Goblins leaped out of the bushes, clutching bone clubs, iron picks, and other things that could barely be called weapons.

"Holy crap! This really was The Lord of the Rings." Roland recognized them at once as the most easily identifiable Wasteland Goblins from the game.

Clang! Roland drew the Dragon-slaying Sword from his waist and took the shield from his back, holding it before him.

The goblins charged at him with shrieks, their frail arms wildly swinging their crude weapons as they weakly battered the mithril shield.

"Ha!" Roland shouted angrily. A streak of golden light flashed past, instantly dismembering several goblins.

"As expected..." Roland felt the surging Battle Qi within his body. He should currently be at the Great Knight level. This was undoubtedly the world of The Lord of the Rings.

The hierarchy of extraordinary power was: Novice Knight, knight, Great Knight, Knight Captain, and Knight Commander. Other extraordinary professions were likewise divided into five levels.

Forcing down the nausea in his stomach, Roland turned away and stopped looking at the dismembered goblins on the ground. He sheathed his sword. The Dragon-slaying Sword really was an excellent blade—blood did not stick to it, and it was exceptionally sharp...

A minor trial battle: Completed. Reward: Fully equipped Shire Warhorse ×1. Stored in Ring Space.

The ring on Roland's hand suddenly grew hot, and a screen of light appeared before his eyes.

"The Ring System? Holy crap! This thing came with me too? I'm rich!" Roland said excitedly. With this thing, he could rely on all sorts of rewards to build his own kingdom and play at being a lord. Middle-earth was simply too vast, and most places were uninhabited. Back in the game, countless players had established territories in the wilderness and become influential lords in their own right.

After figuring out how to use it, Roland took the fully equipped Shire Horse out of the ring. After all, cavalry had a greater advantage than infantry in the wilderness. Besides, could a knight without a warhorse still be called a knight?

"Good lord! It really was fully equipped..." Roland said helplessly as he looked at the Shire Horse draped in three layers of horse armor. This was probably for heavy cavalry, wasn't it? Looking at the steel Chainmail extending down to the horse's lower legs, Roland suspected that if it were not a Shire Horse with extraordinary carrying capacity, any other warhorse would collapse after running a few miles.

"Fine. At least we don't need to fear small groups of Orcs now!" Roland encouraged himself. Orcs had some instinct for survival too. Who would go out of their way to raid a fully armed Great Knight?

"One Ring, One Ring, tell me what I need to do next?" Roland tried asking the One Ring.

"..."

"Right. Looks like this One Ring was only for achievement rewards... It would probably only reward me whenever I did something that met its criteria," Roland muttered to himself.

"Then I should find somewhere to settle down now... It'll be dark soon. Maybe I should find some food too. Tomorrow, I should set out and look for a town or village. Who knows where I am..." Roland said helplessly, clutching his head.

After gathering some dead branches along the way, Roland rode onward without any particular destination. Right now, he only hoped that a few foolish Orcs would show up so he could kill some time.

"This place will do." Roland looked at several crisscrossing slabs of stone. Beneath them was a small stone cave of more than ten square meters. Roland decided to spend the night there.

"So... how was he supposed to start a fire?" Roland suddenly froze.

"Damn it! I should've watched more wilderness survival shows..." Roland said bitterly as he stared at the pile of dry wood before him.

"How about trying to start one by rubbing sticks together?"

"Damn it... nothing's happening."

"Oh! It's smoking!"

"Damn it! My hands!"

"Forget it! To hell with this!"

Roland completely broke down. Looking at the gradually darkening wilderness, he felt utterly dejected.

"No! I have to get this fire going! The wilderness isn't friendly at night." Roland encouraged himself.

Finally, just before the sky turned completely dark, a small cluster of sparks illuminated Roland's face. Ignoring his cramping hands, Roland carefully placed tinder into a dense pile of thin, dry branches.

"Ah! Praise the light!" Roland danced with joy as he looked at the fire.

First fire: Completed. Reward: Long bread ×100, fresh water ×100. Issued to Ring Space.

"Huh? It gave me a reward! Now I won't have to worry about food or water." Roland smiled.

The long bread was about half a meter long and a palm's width and thickness, while the fresh water came in bags, each containing roughly a liter.

Roland roasted the bread over the fire, took out a waterskin, and gulped down a few mouthfuls. Once the bread had turned golden brown and gave off the fragrance of wheat, Roland removed it from the fire and began chewing in large bites.

After leading the horse into the stone cave, Roland began removing its horse armor under the firelight. As he worked, he praised the system's excellent quality. Through the firelight, he could see that the Chainmail links were fine and dense, yet lightweight. It had surely been forged from high-quality alloy steel. Casually storing the horse armor in the system space, Roland leaned his shield beside him, drew the Dragon-slaying Sword, and lay against the warhorse. Looking at the bright stars overhead, a wave of loneliness washed over him.

"Heh, first night in Middle-earth. Good night!" Roland muttered to himself.

Outside the cave entrance, the fire flickered gently in the evening breeze. Roland did not know that firelight could not only drive away wild beasts, but also attract unwelcome visitors.

Snort, snort! The Shire Warhorse snorted uneasily.

Roland had been sleeping lightly to begin with, and the sound woke him. He rolled over and sprang up, bracing the shield against his left shoulder while drawing his longsword with his right hand and warily staring outside the cave.

"Oh! Shit! Fuck! Bitch!" Roland had a thousand languages to express how he felt at that moment.

"Damn it! It was a fucking Earth Drake!" Roland wailed.