Battle of Bubat

A thousand fully armed warriors stood in orderly formation, surrounding the Bubat square.

Their swords gleamed in the sunlight, thirsty for blood. Round shields protected their upper bodies, completing their formidable appearance.

Speed was the essence of their combat style, coupled with ambushes and traps, tactics they employed daily.

They were Majapahit warriors, renowned for repelling the Mongol Tartar forces from the land of Java and emerging victorious in various battles, striking fear into the hearts of their enemies.

Their command was clear: not a single soul should leave the Bubat square alive.

Meanwhile, amidst the square lay the victims of this siege.

Their faces flushed with anger, they had come in response to the call to marry the royal princess they loved, only to be met with sharp blades that were ready to pierce their hearts.

Thus, these two hundred men were not prepared to face the Majapahit forces before them.

They carried only swords at their waists, and many among them possessed only keris that were more suited for ceremonial occasions than battles against the strongest forces in Java.

Nevertheless, none of the Sundanese warriors trembled in the face of the enemy before them.

Well, none except Aditya, who now stared wide-eyed and pale face.

Though he was a law faculty student and not a history student, the figure with a chubby body, narrow eyes, and hair tied up in front was unmistakably recognized by every high school student in Indonesia: Gajah Mada.

It can be said that in Indonesia, there is hardly anyone who does not know the name of Gajah Mada.

He was someone who came close to unifying the entire archipelago, expanding the territory of Majapahit far beyond what Indonesia is today.

The influence and expansion of Majapahit even reached distant lands, including the Malay Peninsula (Malaysia and Brunei), Tumasik (Singapore), as well as parts of Thailand and the Philippines.

The Majapahit Navy at that time was so powerful that it was referred to as a Thalassocracy or Maritime Empire, signifying their mastery over the seas.

He was known as a ruler who governed Majapahit with an iron fist and showed no mercy to his enemies. He was also a strategic genius, and even today Indonesian historians are still trying to uncover the extent of Gajah Mada's abilities in commanding warfare.

Facing Gajah Mada was akin to facing the god of war. It is no exaggeration to say that Gajah Mada was Indonesia's Napoleon.

Aditya swallowed hard, his mouth dry and lips chapped.

His breath quickened, making him feel as if something were wrong with his body.

Aditya couldn't pinpoint the sins he had committed that led him to stand opposite Gajah Mada. If Aditya had to meet Gajah Mada, he wanted to be at least one or two kilometers away from the Majapahit commander.

Or at the very least, he wanted to be on the same side as his servant or cupbearer, someone entirely out of the commander's sight. But the reality now was that Gajah Mada was staring at Aditya with his fierce eyes like a tiger eyeing a herd of deer daring to delay its mealtime.

It was only natural that the first thing Aditya wanted to do now was kneel at the commander's feet and beg for forgiveness.

Though the sun shone brightly overhead, he felt incredibly cold.

Having never killed anything except mosquitoes with their blood-filled stomachs, he failed to recognize the thirst for blood that now filled the Bubat square.

His knees trembled, barely able to support his weight.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, but Aditya let it flow, oblivious to his own condition.

He was consumed by fear and confusion over what was happening. His last memory was how excited he was to play Pendant of War and win loads of money.

Yet, that had nothing to do with the dire situation he now found himself in.

Attempting to calm his thoughts, Aditya found parallels between the current situation and the history of the Bubat war he had once studied in high school.

And the blue panel appearing in front of his eyes confirmed his hypothesis.

[Welcome to Tutorial Mission!]

[Mission: Survive.]

[Background Story:

[It all started with a king named Hayam Wuruk who had no queen to marry.

[After seeing a painting of a beautiful Sundanese princess, Hayam Wuruk decided to propose to her.

[The king then sent his trusted advisor, Patih Mandu, to propose to the Sunda king, Linggabuana Wisesa.

[The Sunda king, pleased with the proposal and seeing an opportunity to form an alliance with Majapahit, the strongest kingdom in Java, gave his approval and decided to accompany his daughter to Majapahit for the wedding.

[In 1357, the Sunda king and the royal family arrived in Majapahit after sailing across the Java Sea with a fleet of 200 large ships and 2000 small ships.

[The royal family boarded a nine-story Jung ship and landed at the port of Hujung Galuh, sailed to the mainland through the Brantas River, and arrived at the Canggu River port. The royal entourage then camped at the Bubat square in the northern part of Trowulan, the capital of Majapahit, and awaited the wedding ceremony.

[However, Gajah Mada, the prime minister of Majapahit, saw the event as an opportunity to demand the surrender of Sunda to the Majapahit kingdom, insisting that instead of becoming the queen consort of Majapahit, the princess should be presented as a symbol of surrender and treated merely as a concubine of the Majapahit king.

[The Sundanese king was angered and humiliated by Gajah Mada's demand and decided to return home and cancel the royal marriage. However, Majapahit demanded the hand of the Sundanese princess and besieged the Sundanese camp at the Bubat square.]

"This is a tutorial mission?" Aditya could only gape at how ridiculous the Pendant of War tutorial was.

Right now, he didn't have time to think about the strangeness of suddenly finding himself in the Bubat square during the legendary battle. He was too busy and confused about the mission ahead of him.

Survive!

The first thing Aditya did was to deny the reality of being in the Bubat square. His mind was trying to neutralize the mounting stress, making the gears in his brain work overtime.

"Hahaha... this is just a game... yes, it's just a game."

"It's impossible for me to suddenly teleport and leap through time to end up in this deadly place from my comfortable dorm room."

That's how Aditya tried to reassure himself, even though all his senses were telling him that he was indeed in the real world.

"Wisesa! You are surrounded and there is no way out for you! Surrender and submit to the leadership of Majapahit, and I will spare your life and allow your daughter to marry my king, Hayam Wuruk!"

A deep, commanding voice pulled Aditya back from his reverie.

He raised his head to the source of the voice and found Gajah Mada speaking. Instantly, his hair stood on end at the clarity of the commander's voice.

From his voice alone, Aditya could feel a dominant aura so strong that it made his knees tremble even harder.

"*Puih! Gajah Mada, don't expect me to surrender Sunda to Majapahit in this lifetime! If you really want it, take it from my corpse!" replied a man dressed in Sundanese aristocratic attire of that era.

Aditya wanted to turn around to see who was speaking, but his head was forcibly turned back to face forward.

"What are you doing, fool! Look at the enemy in front of you and don't show your back! Show those Majapahit scoundrels that Sundanese warriors are not afraid!" the man who spoke scolded Aditya fiercely.

Immediately, Aditya's body trembled with fear.

Aditya had already had a nightmare when Mrs. Murni scolded him, of course he wouldn't be able to bear the gaze of a warrior who was used to seeing blood.

Aditya's mind went blank, and he could only stand still like a statue.

Gajah Mada and Wisesa exchanged a few words that Aditya no longer heard.

At this moment, all his senses felt completely numbed by the fierce glare of the Sundanese warrior beside him.

But before Aditya could regain his bearing, suddenly, Wisesa's voice was heard from behind him,

"ATTACK!!!"

Without waiting, the Sundanese warriors behind Aditya pushed his body forcefully, causing him to fall forward. He didn't have time to prepare himself, and his face thudded into the ground as he lost himself in thought.

Before Aditya could cry out in pain or shock, his vision was filled with the footsteps of soldiers passing him by.

Without seeing Aditya lying helpless, the Sundanese soldiers trampled him heavily.

In reality, these warriors were just running as usual, but their bodies, forged to face battle, were incredibly tough.

A weak and flabby Aditya, who lived on fast food and a lax lifestyle, couldn't withstand the weight of the Sundanese warriors stepping on him.

Aditya tried to scream, but his voice stopped abruptly after a warrior stepped on his chest.

His soft ribs instantly broke, piercing his lungs.

Aditya's voice choked, and his face contorted in agony, but it didn't last long before the feet of other warriors came stomping on his head. His vision instantly darkened, and he felt the pain of a broken nose.

After that, the footsteps of other soldiers rained down on his bedridden body.

There is a chance that Aditya's suffering could not have been unintentional if these soldiers hadn't been shouting and glaring at the Majapahit soldiers in front of them ferociously.

It all happened so fast that he could not fully comprehend it. Before he could react, his body was already battered and lying on the ground miserably.

Only his sense of hearing remained, but it was overshadowed by the sound of the warriors' clashing swords.

Aditya was left behind, helpless and stricken, his body lying against the sky, his chest caved in from broken ribs.

The pain he felt almost drove him insane, but death did not come.

Slowly but surely, Aditya was tortured in silence, with only faint moans escaping his shattered lips.

Never did he imagine that he would be killed not by the swords of Majapahit warriors but by the trampling of Sundanese warriors who should have been on his side.

Aditya continued to whimper and moan until his chest could no longer move. His swollen eyes stared at the blue sky, filled with fear.

No one could ever tell how terrifying death was.

A body slowly chilling, vision gradually fading, a heart ceasing to beat, and then it all ended in darkness.

That day, for the first time, Aditya experienced how terrifying death could be.

[Congratulations, you have died for the 1st time!]

Along with the blue panel congratulating his death, the darkness disappeared as the sight of thousands of Majapahit warriors lined up in neat rows came back into view.