The Throne of Arcadia
The first thought that struck him was simple:
I'm younger.
Not a feeling—a fact. His body was lighter. His breathing deeper. His mind split in two: memories of a man who had lived over seventy years, and memories of a youth whose life had barely begun.
He stood before a mirror.
He did not see General Kang.
He saw a nineteen-year-old with calm, sharp features and a presence that didn't make sense for his age. Sky-blue eyes—bright as if the sea lived inside them. Dark hair that caught a faint blue under the light.
He raised a hand to his eye, touching that impossible color.
The door opened.
An elderly man in formal attire stepped in, bowed respectfully—yet grief weighed heavier than protocol on his face.
"Your Highness… thank the heavens you're awake."
The title hit him like a stone dropped into a still lake.
"What happened?" His voice was quiet, but carried a weight too heavy for this young body.
The man swallowed.
"The King and Queen… have passed."
The words fell like a blade.
Then, softer:
"And today… you will be crowned."
A Rich Kingdom… That's Poor
From the palace window, the capital looked like a city trained in survival rather than prosperity. Clean streets, modest buildings, harbors that never slept. The capital alone held nearly three hundred thousand souls, and the rest were scattered across villages and small towns on the islands—bringing the kingdom to roughly four hundred fifty-six thousand.
Arcadia was a realm of eleven islands. One massive main island large enough to swallow entire cities, and other mountainous, forested isles rich in resources: timber, agriculture, fish, minerals.
And yet… the annual budget barely held together.
A small nation wedged near giants—China, Korea, Japan—surviving through fragile neutrality and trade that kept it breathing.
The kingdom was a monarchy… but the truth was uglier.
After the King and Queen's deaths, real power belonged to ministers and merchant lords—backed by noble families who had built a deep web of influence. The prince became a "king in name," while the keys to the kingdom sat in other pockets.
The Blue Blood Legacy
On the way to the coronation hall, he caught his reflection again. The blue in his eyes wasn't coincidence.
The royal house was of Korean origin, descended from a line that fled Joseon six centuries ago to escape wars and famine. They brought a crown… and a secret.
A bloodline nobody understood, yet it stamped itself in eyes and hair like a mark that never faded.
He did not yet know it was tied to water and ice.
But he felt it—like a distant ocean whispering through his veins.
The Corridor That Remembers
The palace's chief steward led him to a side wing and a dark wooden door engraved with a symbol like a wave frozen mid-crest.
"Every king walks this corridor before coronation… the tradition of House Arkadios."
The door opened.
The corridor wasn't stone alone—it was memory. Along the walls, images moved like living scenes: kings signing treaties, queens hiding fear behind smiles, wars won by deception, wars lost to betrayal.
Each step granted him a flash: a decision, a scar, a price paid and never written into history.
At the corridor's heart, a window appeared before his eyes—seen by no one else:
Cosmic Resource System: Activated
First Objective: Reclaim one sovereign resource
He didn't panic.
He smiled—the smile of a man returning to a battlefield whose rules he understood.
The Crown That Doesn't Rule
The coronation hall roared with applause. The crown settled onto his head. The oath was spoken. The cheers rose.
But Lee Soo-yeon's eyes didn't linger on ceremony.
In the front row sat the merchant lords—the real power. Polished smiles, expensive rings, eyes measuring him like a contract.
After the rites, a decree was brought for his signature—"to stabilize trade and secure supplies."
He took the document, didn't open it, and said calmly:
"I won't sign anything today."
Air froze for one heartbeat, then smiles returned—thinner, sharper.
A simple sentence.
The first crack in the cage they'd built around the throne.
A Night's Promise
That night, Lee Soo-yeon stood on the palace balcony. Sea before him, and in the distance, the abandoned northern mountain island.
The enemy was not neighboring states.
Not secret organizations.
Not even time.
The enemy was poverty, corruption, and weakness.
The system appeared again:
First World Unlocked: The Lord of the Rings
Summonable: mines – fortresses – races – resources
Cost: remnants/civilizations will appear across your world in scattered mountain regions
He didn't ask for luxury.
He asked for a beginning.
He stared at the distant island and murmured:
"This kingdom will not remain poor."
Teaser: When Time Trembled
Far from Arcadia… inside a temple that didn't treat time as a straight line, sat a woman who had watched civilizations fall before most humans were born.
She lifted a hand. A green glow pulsed—the Time Stone within a mystic circle.
She closed her eyes… and reality split into countless paths.
Then—suddenly—emptiness.
A point that couldn't be seen. A center that couldn't be located—like it existed outside time itself.
She opened her eyes slowly, astonishment touching her face for the first time in ages.
"Everything has changed…"
She tried again—pushed the Time Stone to its limit—but the center remained hidden.
She whispered as if speaking to the universe:
"Nothing will stay the same… even the Time Stone cannot see the center of change."
And far away, on Arcadia's mountain island, the earth shuddered softly—like the mountains were breathing for the first time in a thousand years.
End of Chapter One