Is this Elden Ring?

Zhao Si had transmigrated.

He had taken time off to go home and spend the night playing the newly released Elden Ring. Eventually, he could no longer keep going and passed out. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself somewhere completely unfamiliar.

No, not completely unfamiliar.

The scene was exactly the same as the one in the game-the Chapel of Anticipation.

But instead of being as dilapidated as it was in the game, it was clean and tidy, with everything in perfect order, as though it were brand-new.

Zhao Si kept scratching his head as he surveyed the unfamiliar yet familiar surroundings, running his hand over the back of a pew. The feel of the wooden bench beneath his fingers was real and solid.

Smack!

He gave himself a hard slap, leaving his cheek red.

It hurt. It burned. The pain felt so real.

"This probably isn't a dream."

Convinced that all of this was real, Zhao Si felt himself over and looked down. He was wearing a well-fitted set of silk noble's clothes, which felt quite comfortable.

There were no mirrors nearby, so he had no idea what he looked like now or who he was.

He walked to the door, opened it, and stepped outside. A breath of fresh air instantly left him feeling refreshed.

The Chapel of Anticipation stood atop an isolated peak, surrounded by sheer cliffs with the sea below. As he remembered it from the game, this was where the Tarnished protagonist first appeared, reaching Limgrave by dying.

But what about now?

Following his memory, Zhao Si searched for the path and descended the steps to a wider area. From here, he could look up and see the absurdly enormous Erdtree blotting out the sky.

All the light in this world seemed to come from the Erdtree. There was no sign of the sun.

No golden leaves drifted through the air, nor was there that sinister atmosphere.

"Could it be... the Elden Ring hasn't shattered yet?"

Zhao Si made a bold guess. If he could appear in the Lands Between, did that mean he wasn't a Tarnished?

Zhao Si touched his face, eager to find some way to confirm his identity.

If this really was the timeline before the Elden Ring shattered, that would be terrifying-tens of thousands of times more terrifying than the world after its shattering.

Because he knew the Elden Ring would shatter. Afterward, those blessed with grace would lose it and might well become living corpses.

That was one problem.

Another was that the demigods would wage a prolonged war known as the Shattering, leaving the Lands Between torn apart and devastated.

Ordinary people would have no way to survive. Worse still, there wouldn't even be a winner. Otherwise, there would have been no need to awaken the Tarnished and send them to the Erdtree.

Knowing all of this would happen, Zhao Si felt like a condemned prisoner waiting for his execution. He was deeply unsettled.

"What if I stopped the Night of the Black Knives?"

He quickly dismissed the idea. Before the Elden Ring shattered, Godwyn, the first to die, still lived in Leyndell, while Ranni, who planned the assassination, was still the Lunar Princess in Carian Manor.

Neither place was somewhere he could just stroll into. After the Shattering, he would have to fight his way in.

During peacetime, he would probably need status and standing. Meeting a demigod would likely be harder still.

Zhao Si kept tugging at his hair, frustrated. He couldn't think of a single way out of this predicament.

Even knowing about the conspiracy, he had no power to stop it. No, this wasn't just about Ranni and Godwyn. The Greater Will and Marika were both part of the problem.

If he could, he would have liked to kill Marika outright. From his understanding of the story, she was the root of the problem.

As for ushering in another age, he didn't dare gamble recklessly on something like that. At least for now, he didn't have the slightest opportunity.

"I only made an offhand comment about wanting to see the world before the Shattering! How did I actually get sent to this period?"

Zhao Si shouted at the sky, paying no attention to how he looked.

"What are you yelling about?"

The sudden sound of a female voice startled Zhao Si. He hadn't noticed anyone nearby.

If possible, could you give me a game interface so I can level up? No, with Elden Ring's difficulty, I'd still suffer even with extra stats. Just let me use a cheat tool!

Zhao Si's heart pounded. Then he saw a girl with her eyes covered.

"A... maiden...?" he called softly.

"You didn't know I'd become a maiden?" The girl sounded surprised. "Have you gone stupid?"

Zhao Si panicked a little. From what she said, the girl clearly knew him.

"It's me, Helena!" The girl introduced herself, finally giving Zhao Si a way out.

"Helena... oh, Helena!" Zhao Si forced a hollow smile. He had no memory of her at all. The body's previous owner hadn't even left him a few memories to work with.

Helena suddenly said, "Why do I get the feeling you barely know me?"

"Why would you say that?" Zhao Si grew increasingly nervous.

"Because... whenever you used to see me, you'd try to lift my skirt!" Helena accused him loudly.

Zhao Si was mortified. Just what kind of filthy pervert had this body's previous owner been?

Helena wore a maiden's robe that covered her from head to toe, yet she still nervously placed both hands over her lower abdomen.

Just how much of a creep was the old 'me'?

Embarrassed, Zhao Si said, "Um... I'm sorry..."

He didn't know why he was apologizing. Still, apologizing seemed like the right thing to do.

Helena tapped her chin with a finger. "You're acting so strange. Oh, I know! Being awakened as a Tarnished must have messed up your head. Don't worry, it's nothing serious. What happened to a Tarnished before doesn't matter at all. What matters is accepting the guidance of the Two Fingers."

"Why awaken the Tarnished?" Zhao Si found that strange.

Before the Elden Ring shattered, the Tarnished weren't allowed into the Lands Between. It was all because Marika had banished them. Of course, that bastard of a Greater Will was also to blame.

Helena shook her head. "I don't know either. Anyway, let's get going."

She jogged over, took Zhao Si's hand, and pulled him into a run.

Helena's hand was small and soft. Its warmth traveled through Zhao Si's palm to his brain, sending a shiver through his entire body.

This is the first time I've held a girl's hand since kindergarten.

In that instant, he even came up with names for their children!

But then a question occurred to him: wasn't Helena blind?

A blind girl had recognized him without any trouble and was now leading the way. That felt far too strange.

-Was she really blind?

Countless question marks swirled in his head, while the beginner-killer he remembered-the "Graft-

ed" Scion of the Grafted-had not appeared.

Perhaps Godrick hadn't yet begun his inhuman practice of "grafting" at this point in time.

A bridge at the edge of the cliff connected it to the other side.

He could reach Stormhill directly and enter Stormveil Castle. He didn't particularly want to go there, though. In his memory, Stormveil Castle was a twisting, winding maze, designed with utter disregard for human convenience and ridiculously easy to get lost in.

But what choice did he have? That was just how the Souls games were!

Zhao Si felt as though he could see his tragic fate unfolding before his eyes.

This wasn't needless worrying. After all, not a single protagonist in that old bastard Miyazaki's games escaped misery. He really had taken the sentiment of "the pathos of things" to its absolute limit.