“Ugh, seriously! I blew it again! Is this a game, or am I rerolling my life?!”
Late at night, Kang Minjun vented his frustration in front of the old computer in his cheap rented room. The Character Creation screen he had gone through countless times was displayed on the monitor, endlessly repeating itself until he was sick of looking at it.
“Why can’t I quit this crappy game?”
The PC game Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Unify the Realm was Minjun’s only hobby and his sole escape from reality. Though it had been released quite some time ago, it was still a masterpiece with a die-hard fanbase, thanks to its deep systems and compelling characters. What especially kept people like Kang Minjun from letting go of the game was its system of following the broad framework of the Three Kingdoms while changing the details every time.
‘A new user patch just came out, so I thought I’d have some fun with it.’
On top of that, the game had been around so long that various user patch versions were constantly being shared. Whenever he started to get bored, he could enjoy a fresh kind of fun all over again. Minjun proudly called himself a Three Kingdoms hardcore fan and played every new patch version without discrimination. He even had the bizarre mission(?) of unifying the realm with his own unique lord character. The problem was that creating that “unique character” was harder than reaching the stars. Since the stats were distributed randomly, finding a character with the unique stats Minjun wanted required beating astronomically low odds.
“What good is Leadership at 90 when Charisma is 20? At that rate, I couldn’t recruit Zhuge Liang even if I met him!” “ might 100? Great. But if Charisma is 5, who’s going to genuinely follow me? Are you telling me I have to be Lü Bu?”
Half out of his mind, Minjun pressed down hard with the finger he had resting on the Stat Redistribution button. His grades were rock bottom, he had zero dating experience, and his prospects for employment were bleak. He had nothing to show for himself in real life. On top of that, his desire to become a charismatic figure like Liu Bei—putting benevolence and righteousness first and winning all kinds of heroes over to his side as a die-hard Shu loyalist—burned even stronger.
“Please, just let Charisma come out high this time... I want everyone to like me, even if it’s only in the game!”
With the mindset of someone half resigned to his fate, he started furiously clicking the Random Stat Generation button. His fingers moved so quickly they were invisible.
[Redistributing stats.] [Redistributing stats.] [Redistributing stats.] [Redistributing stats...]
-FLASH!
In an instant, an intense white light burst from the monitor, so bright that Minjun couldn’t keep his eyes open. At the same time, every electronic device in the room shut off with a cacophonous din. The old fluorescent light crackled and spat sparks before everything went dark!
“W-What? Why is this happening all of a sudden?”
Confused, Minjun narrowed his eyes and stared at the monitor, the only thing still giving off light. Then he couldn’t help but doubt his own eyes. The stats displayed on the Character Creation screen showed unbelievable numbers.
[Kang Minjun] Leadership: 5 Might: 3 Intelligence: 12 Politics: 8 Charisma: 100
“Charisma... one hundred? Seriously, one hundred?!”
His other attributes were pitiful beyond words, but his Charisma stat was “100.” As far as Minjun knew, it was the highest value in the game. Had the god of probability finally looked his way? Just as Minjun excitedly moved the mouse to finish creating his character, the monitor changed to display a bizarre system message.
[Warning! Spacetime anomaly detected! User Kang Minjun, abnormal Charisma value detected!] [Hidden Trait ‘Beloved by All’ Unlocked!] * Beloved by All: Your charisma has transcended human limits. Most humans will naturally feel strongly drawn to you and can be easily swayed by your words and actions. ※ Caution: May not affect animals or certain entities!
[As a side effect of manifesting the trait, the user's soul data is becoming unstable.] [Emergency protocol activated! Transferring soul data to the closest matching dimension!] [Target dimension: CODE-03K (the Three Kingdoms era, AD 184)] [Beginning transfer. Good luck, stranger.]
“Wait! Transfer? What kind of crazy crap is this?! I haven’t even saved yet... Aaargh!”
Along with Minjun’s scream, his body was engulfed by intense pressure, as if it were being sucked into a black hole. Amid the chaos that left him unable to regain his senses, his consciousness sank into distant darkness.
“Cough! Cough! Ugh... my head...”
Minjun struggled to open his eyes at the unfamiliar smell of dust and the noisy voices of countless people. What spread out before him was a landscape of old wooden buildings stretching endlessly beneath a blue sky, with people dressed in hemp clothing hurrying between them. It looked as though he had arrived at a massive historical drama set.
“Where... where am I? In the game? Or... is this real?”
The clothes he was wearing were definitely the hoodie and jeans he had put on before starting the game. The people around him whispered among themselves, sneaking glances at him as though he were some kind of monster.
“What in the world is that bizarre clothing?” “Is he a barbarian from the north, or a Nanman tribesman?” “His attire is so shabby, yet why does his face seem to have an almost radiant air about it...? How strange.”
‘My face is glowing?’
Minjun tilted his head. Just then, his stomach let out a loud Grrrrooowwl. Perhaps because of the sudden dimensional transfer(?), an intense hunger swept over him.
“Ha... I need to eat something if I’m going to survive... Do I have any money?”
He rummaged through his pockets, but naturally, he found only modern currency and cards. There was no way they would be accepted here. Just as he was about to sigh helplessly, a translucent system window appeared before his eyes.
[Kang Minjun] Courtesy Name: ??? Level: 1 Leadership: 5 Might: 3 Intelligence: 12 Politics: 8 Charisma: 100 Trait: Beloved by All Inventory: Smartphone (Battery 7%), wallet (Various unusable currencies), Hoodie, Jeans Status: Confused, hungry, slightly motion-sick.
“...This really is a game system, isn’t it? The attributes are exactly the same as before.”
Minjun was vaguely beginning to accept the fact that he had become a custom officer.
‘Garbage except for Charisma... How am I supposed to make it through this chaotic age with this? Come to think of it, my Courtesy Name field is empty.’
Minjun thought for a moment. Now that things had turned out this way, he felt he needed at least a Courtesy Name if he wanted to adapt properly.
‘Kang Minjun... Min means autumn sky, and Jun means high and steep... Then how about “Ziming,” meaning bright and clever?’
After coming up with a Courtesy Name whose relevance he wasn’t even sure about, Minjun shouted.
“All right! Starting today, my Courtesy Name is Ziming!”
When Minjun shouted, the ‘Courtesy Name: ???’ section of the system window changed to ‘Courtesy Name: Ziming.’
[New Courtesy Name ‘Ziming’ has been set. Your name is now Kang Minjun Ziming.]
‘Whoa, it really changed.’
His amazement lasted only a moment before his stomach let out another Grrrrooowwl.
“Ha... I have to survive somehow...”
As Minjun looked around, his gaze stopped at one corner of the marketplace. Three women were selling woven mats. One was a beautiful woman with unusually long ears and a gentle, dignified air. Another was a majestic female general with fair skin instead of a red date-colored face, sharp phoenix-like eyes, and beautiful black hair braided down her back. The last was a bold-looking heroine with an intense gaze that seemed to blaze like fire and a fearless, swaggering bearing.
“...The Liu-Guan-Zhang trio?!”
Minjun’s heart pounded like crazy. They looked exactly as he had seen them hundreds, even thousands, of times in the game. No, anyone who knew the Three Kingdoms would have recognized them.
‘Liu Bei Xuande, Guan Yu Yunchang, and Zhang Fei Yide. But... why are they all women?! And they’re insanely beautiful! Oh, wait... could this be because of the patch?’
As Minjun stood there blankly, stunned, confused, and a little excited(?), Liu Bei, who had been selling the mats, approached him first. Her eyes held a warmth that couldn’t ignore someone in trouble, along with deep compassion.
“Please excuse me, but where have you come from? Judging by your appearance, you must have traveled from far away, yet your complexion looks terribly unwell. Have you perhaps run into some sort of difficulty?”
Liu Bei’s voice was as gentle as a spring breeze, with a power that put the listener’s heart at ease. Without realizing it, Minjun answered as though entranced.
“Ah... I’m... just lost. I don’t have anything with me, and I’m so hungry...”
The moment Minjun spoke, something subtle changed in Liu Bei’s eyes. It wasn’t simple pity. It was a complex mixture of intense attraction, affection, and protectiveness, as though she had met a precious connection she had been waiting for a long time. Minjun could feel it with his whole body. This was the power of Charisma 100—the Beloved by All trait!
“Oh my... You must be hungry and exhausted. We aren’t exactly well-off ourselves, but if you’re willing, why don’t you come to our home and have a bite? We have little to offer, but I’d like to serve you a warm bowl of porridge.”
At Liu Bei’s outrageous proposal, Zhang Fei, who was standing beside her, jumped in angrily.
“Big Sis! Who are you going to trust if you bring some suspicious stranger home?! Just look at those bizarre clothes!”
Zhang Fei’s voice was booming, and just like her personality, it was fiery. But Liu Bei gently soothed her.
“Yide, calm down for a moment. Look at his eyes. Aren’t they clear and pure, filled with a good and honest air? My instincts are telling me. This person can’t possibly be a bad man. If anything... he may be someone precious who will bring great fortune to us.”
At Liu Bei’s confident words, Zhang Fei’s fiery momentum ebbed. She still glared suspiciously at Minjun, but whether because of Liu Bei’s words or the inexplicable aura radiating from him, she could no longer strongly object. Instead, she kept sneaking glances at Minjun with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Maybe Big Sis is right? I am kind of drawn to him...’
Meanwhile, Guan Yu, who had been quietly observing the situation, slowly opened her mouth. Her voice was low and composed, but it carried an air of integrity and authority.
“If Xuande Big Sis wishes it, then it would only be proper to offer our guest some hospitality. Since he is hungry, let us feed him first.”
Guan Yu sharply looked Minjun up and down. There was still wariness in her eyes, but alongside the keen perception of a martial artist carefully assessing the person before her, there was also a subtle curiosity. Minjun’s unusual appearance and Liu Bei’s strong favor toward him seemed to have piqued her interest.
“I-I... If you don’t mind, I’d be grateful for your help. My name is Kang Minjun... and my Courtesy Name is Ziming.”
Still dazed, Minjun introduced himself as politely as he could.
“I am Liu Bei, Courtesy Name Xuande. Please, call me Xuande. This is my sworn sister, Guan Yunzhang, and this is Zhang Yide.”
With a gentle smile, Liu Bei introduced herself and her two sworn sisters.
“Xuande, Yunchang, Yide... I look forward to working with you.”
Minjun didn’t think they were close enough for him to call them Big Sis yet, so he stuck to formal titles for the time being.
‘Somehow, I’ve gotten roped in. Still, this worked out pretty well. I met the three Liu Bei siblings—or rather, the three Liu Bei sisters...’
As he headed toward their home with the heroes of the century—beautiful, gender-swapped versions of those heroes at that—Minjun’s heart was tangled with both joy and anxiety.
‘Did I just hit the lottery? But can I really survive here? Leadership 5, Might 3, and on top of that... Liu Bei’s group at the beginning of the game...’
It was an awkward yet fateful first meeting with the heroes who would one day establish Shu Han—beautiful, gender-swapped versions of those heroes, no less. And so, Minjun’s unbelievable Three Kingdoms survival story was beginning. His only weapon was not his pathetic [5/3/12/8] attributes, but the single stat of [Charisma 100]. And perhaps that one stat could change everything.