"[Good morning, master]," a sudden voice echoed inside his head.
"Good morning… Wait a minute, who the hell am I replying to?" Elias paused, suddenly realizing something mid-sentence.
"It's me, Alia," the voice replied again.
'Alia?'
Then it hit him. The name sounded way too familiar. It was the same name as the AI system that assisted players back on Earth in the Emperor's Dominion game.
Now that he thought about it, he remembered reading on the game's fandom page that Alia wasn't just a random AI assistant. She was actually the spirit of the Lord Seal—a monument tied to a territory. Once a lord bonded with a Lord Seal, they also became linked to Alia.
Considering he was now inside the world of that same game, and since everything he had seen so far followed the game's plot quite closely, it made sense that Alia would be real in this world too. Just like the fandom had described.
'But wait… her voice came from inside my head?'
"Uhm, Alia, just now, it felt like your voice came from inside my head. Are you… in there?"
"[Negative. I am not inside your head. We are spiritually linked. My presence exists beside yours. However, because of the nature of our bond, I can only communicate with you through your thoughts. That is why it felt like my voice came from your head. It's more like a whisper carried by your thoughts, not actual speech inside your head.]"
Elias frowned at that. "So that means… you can access my thoughts whenever you want? You can hear everything I think?"
"[Positive]," Alia answered cheerfully.
'Motherf—!'
"[Was that explanation acceptable? I am still adjusting to the concept of personal boundaries.]"
Elias sighed. Judging from where he woke up, it looked like his territory was still in the early development stage. That probably meant Alia was also newly formed—like a young spirit without much experience. She was basically a kid who didn't understand much yet. Still, that didn't mean he was okay with her reading his thoughts freely… but what could he even do about it?
"Yeah, it's fine," he muttered, pushing himself up into a sitting position on the bed with a sigh.
"[…You're upset]," Alia said suddenly.
"Of course I am!" Elias snapped. "No one wants their thoughts being read like that. It's obvious!"
"[Oh, I see]," Alia replied thoughtfully.
"[It seems humans dislike having their thoughts accessed without permission. Privacy appears to be important. Noted.]"
"So… does that mean you'll stop doing it?" Elias asked with some hope in his voice.
"[Not exactly. While I now understand that privacy is important to humans and I will take note of it in the future, I can't actually stop myself. Our connection is already established. Even if I wanted to, I can't detach from your thoughts. So, if you want to keep something from me… you'll have to find a way to hide it yourself. I suggest… hiding them, maybe?]"
Elias stared into the air in front of him, sighing. "Hide my thoughts? Seriously?"
"[Positive]," Alia answered, sounding quite proud of her suggestion.
"Come on… How am I even supposed to do that?" Elias asked, genuinely confused.
"[Unfortunately, I do not have enough information to answer that yet]," Alia admitted.
"[But I suggest you try learning. I can document the results and help figure out a method. Would you like to try it out now?]"
Elias sighed again. "Forget that for now. We'll deal with it later." Right now, he needed to focus on figuring out his situation first.
"By the way, Alia, how long has it been?" Elias asked.
It was a vague question, but since Alia could access his thoughts, she'd understand what he meant.
"[Unfortunately, I cannot give a full answer. My memory trail only began approximately… three hours ago]," she replied.
"[However, based on fragmented markers and missing segments, I believe the actual timeframe is longer. I suspect it may have been tampered with]," she added.
'Tempered with?' Elias muttered in his mind.
Could it have been that lady—Karma?
Did she erase the existence of the former owner of this body, and even wipe Alia's memories, just to make it easier for him to take over this body?
He couldn't help but wonder.
But then his eyes widened as realization hit him—he had just thought all that… and Alia could hear his thoughts!
He basically just told her that her former master was gone and he was someone else entirely.
But strangely, Alia didn't say anything. Silence.
'Wait… did she not hear that?'
He hesitated, then spoke out loud just to make sure. "Alia... did you hear what I was just thinking?"
"[No. Your thoughts have been silent for approximately eight seconds,]" Alia replied instantly.
'Silent?'
But he had clearly been thinking just now. His brows furrowed.
'Wait a second… does this mean Alia can't hear my thoughts whenever I think about her or my transmigration?'
He decided to test it out.
He thought of random things first—basic stuff, like what he was seeing in the room or how hungry he felt—and sure enough, Alia responded to those. But the moment he shifted his thoughts back to Karma, the transfer, or his sudden appearance in this world, Alia went silent again.
Elias let out a breath of relief.
Alia might be a young spirit, but that didn't mean she was weak. On the contrary, even in her current state, she had enough energy to obliterate him if she wanted to. He didn't know how she would react to the news that her original master was gone and replaced by someone else.
Luckily, it seemed like she couldn't hear thoughts related to those topics. That alone was a small mercy.
Still, he needed to figure out his current situation.
Since neither he nor Alia had much information to work with, Elias decided to ask something basic instead.
"Alia, is the dome still up?" he asked.
From what he remembered, whenever a Lord forms a bond with a Lord Seal, a protective dome is automatically formed around the territory. It was a powerful, transparent barrier that kept everything and everyone out unless allowed by Alia. It served to give the new Lord some breathing space—about thirty days—to prepare before facing any outside threats.
If he could find out how many days were left, he might be able to guess how long the previous owner had been here before him.
"[Affirmative. The protective dome around the territory is still active. Based on the internal timer of the seal, twenty-seven days remain until automatic deactivation,]" Alia answered right away.
Twenty-seven days?
That meant the original owner of this body had already spent three days here before Elias arrived.
He wondered what that person had managed to accomplish in those three days—but judging from the basic-looking place he had woken up in, it probably wasn't much.
Elias sighed.
So he had roughly twenty-seven days before the dome disappeared.
While that might sound like a lot, Elias, having played Emperor's Dominion back on Earth, knew exactly what waited once that dome went down.
If he remembered the starting plot correctly, the main character—controlled by the player—was usually being chased by some enemy at the beginning. Sometimes it was a group of bandits, other times monsters like wolves. During the chase, they would stumble into the territory, bond with the Lord Seal, and the dome would pop up just in time to stop the enemies from reaching them.
So if this world was following the game's plot exactly, that meant there was likely a group of enemies still waiting outside the dome, unable to enter but ready to attack the moment it vanished.
Elias rubbed his forehead.
Back on Earth, playing the game from behind a monitor was one thing. You could restart, reload, or just laugh at your character dying. But here, this was real. If he died, that would be it—game over for real.
He let out a long exhale as the pressure of the situation settled on him.
[Ding!]
[Daily Quest: Foundation of the Body]
Complacency breeds failure. A Lord must be strong in body, mind, and will.
> Minimum Requirements:
Push-Ups: 100
Sit-Ups: 100
Squats: 100
3km Run
Reward:
+1 Endurance
+1 Strength
+1 Willpower
[Reminder: Just because you've got a new body doesn't mean you should let it go to waste like the last one. Don't become a fat loser.]
[Note: Completing more than the required reps may unlock bonus rewards. Try not to collapse halfway, fatass.]