The autumn symphony

[The waiting time is over, welcome, traveler to the autumn symphony trip.]

A familiar sound of broken glass rang out, a beam of light flashed and disappeared immediately following the system's greeting.

Daniel slowly opened his eyes. A soft, dim light entered his eyes. The space around him was no longer the familiar bedroom but the inside of a classic car. Looking through the car window, the surrounding scenery was filled with trees and weeds. The orange-yellow color of fallen leaves filled the ground.

In front of him now was a giant ancient mansion covered with moss and weeds. Looking at himself in the rearview mirror, the familiar sound of broken glass rang out, a beam of light flashed, and disappeared immediately following the system's greeting.

Daniel slowly opened his eyes. A soft, dim light entered his eyes. The space around him was no longer the familiar bedroom but the inside of a classic car. Looking through the car window, the surrounding scenery was filled with trees and weeds. The orange-yellow color of fallen leaves filled the ground.

In front of him now was a giant ancient mansion covered in moss and weeds. Looking at himself in the rearview mirror of the car, Daniel saw a figure that was not himself.

A young man with white skin, red eyes, and long, light golden hair like the sun. He was wearing a formal outfit with the same main color as his hair.

And most of all, around his neck was a familiar pocket watch.

'Isn't this the appearance I have in my personal space? Different for each outfit. Could it be that every player changes their appearance when they join, and so do I?'

'System.'

[Yes, master, what do you need?]

'What does this appearance of mine mean?'

[Sir, every player who joins the game can change their appearance to preserve their identity. However, since he was a traveler, his appearance had already been customized to suit him.]

Daniel didn't ask any further. Looking inside the car, he saw a letter and a pistol.

'I know the letter, it's in the introduction. What about this pistol?'

'Is the identity I'm playing someone's intention to kill? Or is it to guard against something...?'

'More importantly, where are the other players?'

Daniel got out of the car after searching the entire car and found nothing unusual. Although the ground was covered with dusty weeds, he could see the paved path leading to the mansion.

Looking around, he couldn't see any other cars or creatures besides him.

'If it's like the game system announced, then the rest of the players should also be in the car and have arrived here, right?'

But apart from the entrance to the mansion and the lake next to it, everything was covered by dense vegetation. Somewhere in the forest, a strange black mist could be seen.

'Let's still go to the mansion in front of us first, who knows, maybe they've already arrived and are staying here? If not, it's not a bad idea to scout the situation.'

Walking to the gate leading to the mansion grounds. Just as he touched the gate to open it, a system notification suddenly appeared. Daniel was surprised.

[Congratulations, master, you have found the main tourist destination of this trip. The Evigheden Duke's mansion.]

[You have received an offer to join a special game, become a duke, and guide other participating players. Do you accept the offer or not?]

[Yes or no]

Daniel raised his eyebrows, a rare smile appearing. An interesting offer. Becoming a duke was no different from directly becoming an NPC or the final boss of this game's instance. So, how was it different so that he could freely play around with these players?

'Proposal accepted.'

[Congratulations, traveler, on obtaining the title of Duke of Evigheden. You have received the right to manage and coordinate the dungeon.]

[Have a pleasant trip with your companions.]

The old great gate gradually opened with Daniel's action of opening the door.

The creaking sound echoed, and the door was very old. And if you look at the scenery of this large mansion, it is not surprising. The surrounding grass grew all over the old brick walls.

Apart from the stone-paved entrance and the fountain in front of the yard, everything was covered by overgrown trees.

Walking to the large main door of the mansion, Daniel opened it gently, even though it was extremely large and thick.

The light outside just followed his footsteps, and the darkness in the mansion disappeared because of the light from the torches that automatically turned on.

'How strange, is it because I accepted the offer and am in the position of a duke that everything around me is like this?'

'Or is it like that in all games?'

In the breathless night, the great hall gradually appeared as if it had just woken up from a centuries-old hibernation.

At first, there was only a thin ray of light like a silver thread that slowly flowed down from the high ceiling, where the giant chandelier hung like a golden spider.

The first candle flared up, the small flame trembling as if afraid of the vast darkness.

Then each candle gradually followed, slowly spreading like a golden tide, lighting up the chandelier layer by layer.

The light poured down like honey, clearly illuminating the white marble and sparkling gold lines of the palace ceiling.

On both sides of the corridor, the ancient stone columns began to cast long shadows, creating a feeling that was both magnificent and creepy.

The marble statues hidden in the darkness now awakened, motionless gods, queens, and warriors, the candlelight gently brushing their cheeks, making them seem to whisper with cold eyes.

The carpet stretching from the entrance to the central staircase was no longer immersed in darkness. The deep red velvet, like blood, stood out under the flickering candlelight.

The golden carpet border, curved like a sword drawn from its sheath, led straight up to the majestic double staircase at the end of the hall.

'So majestic, with this scale and interior, the noble I play must be extremely powerful.'

'It's just...why is there no trace of time in this place?'

Suddenly, a creaking sound came from behind, causing Daniel to turn his head to look. Daniel was immediately surprised. The large campus that was originally covered in trees was now neat and solemn. The fountain was still a gentle ivory white with sparkling blue water in the lake.

The gate also showed no signs of rust from the effects of time, but was still solemn, large, and sturdy, standing there, but closed as if Daniel had never opened it.

Looking into the distance, the car was far away in front of the gate. It was no longer there. As if no trace of time had ever touched this place.

'Strange, is this the so-called game copy?'

Daniel thought with interest. This kind of absurdity was really interesting. He decided to go sightseeing around this large mansion.

Passing through the ancient wrought iron gate, the main building appeared like a shrine of the past, with a high-ceilinged hall, black bronze chandeliers hanging overhead, candles lit up ceremoniously.

The darkness slowly receded, revealing the silent Greek statues standing along both sides of the corridor. Below was a dark red velvet carpet like coagulated blood, soaked with the royal footsteps of generations who had slept in the family mausoleum.

In the middle of the hall was a double staircase, rising to the second floor like two stone dragons crawling towards the throne.

Going up the stairs on the left led to the second building next to the main building.

The ceiling was intricately hand-painted in fresco, depicting angels descending from above, but the color had faded, and it seemed as if a few pairs of eyes were still watching every movement in the room.

Across a long hallway carpeted in dark brown, where the smell of old paper and dried ink lingered in the air, was the ancient library.

Ebony bookshelves reached the ceiling, supporting thousands of leather-bound books that had faded in time.

Crystal chandeliers hung from gothic arches, the light pouring down like a cold golden stream, flowing over the polished dark wooden floor.

Next to it was the study of the duke, the owner of this place. Daniel found quite a lot of information about this place. Both about the history and the setting in which this game instance took place.

All contained in a Duke's diary. A black-covered diary with extremely delicate gold inlays. The delicate lines of writing stood out on the ivory-white pages.

Each mark of time, each moment of the Duke's life was written in great detail.

"It seems that you are a very delicate and meticulous person in every moment, isn't it, Duke?"

But there is one strange thing: the characters in the book are not like the language of the earth. Not like any type of writing that humans have ever invented.

Even more strange is that Daniel can understand it even though he has never seen it or known it. Like a special power of the person playing the role of the Duke.

Daniel gently turned each page of the diary, touching each time a mark stored in the page.

May 14, 1782

Today is terrible. The heavy rain and landslides in the mountains have forced the food transport team to stay at the border for a few more days to fix the situation.

If this continues, the soldiers at the front will soon be unable to bear it any longer. Drystan, wait for me, I will soon think of a way to deal with those greedy mobs for you.

Wait for me.

May 23, 1782

The weather has improved a lot, and the letter from Drystan said that they have received food and supplies. That is good news, the war there will no longer be in a critical state.

Today is a good day, and everything is going smoothly.

My plan with His Highness is also about to reach the final stage, and everything is still successful. Soon, everything will go according to plan.

May 17, 1782

The goods from the duke have finally been delivered. As I thought, the duke has always been a useful ally. The war situation has turned for the better.

The economic and war situation has been very favorable recently, and there is nothing to worry about.

Today is a beautiful day. The butler said that all the flowers in the garden have fallen. Maybe I should go paint instead of looking at the flowers.

May 30, 1782

Damn it, what the hell do they want to do?

A bunch of damned troublemakers, a bunch of stinking ants like them, dare to touch the southern military district? It's useless, I already have a backup plan.

The goods the duke sent have some problems. It seems that he is not as trustworthy as I thought, it's just... does Your Highness not see it?

Daniel turned to the next page and saw that the book had torn all the contents of the back pages. The tear was very jagged, as if it had been done in a hurry. All the contents of the diary from July 30 to January 1, 1783, were gone.

At the same time, the last diary page was also dated January 1, 1783.

January 1, 1783

It's over. Everything will stop today.

All of you, including you, my brother.

My dear brother, you have made me suffer so much.