The Viking Era

Matthew and Eric arrived at their house—a large, well-crafted structure made of sturdy wood. Its robust design and the intricate detailing gave it an air of importance, even if it wasn't massive. Behind the house stretched a sprawling, frozen lake, glistening under the pale light of the day.

Matthew had barely noticed the grandeur of the house, his mind consumed by the whirlwind of events from the last few hours. Reincarnation, the system, the fight… he thought, replaying every detail. He tried to make sense of it all, but the pieces refused to fit together.

And then it hit him.

The reward.

His eyes widened as he recalled the glowing triangle's promise after the fight. The first quest had been completed, but the second quest—Survive—was still looming over him.

In his mind, Matthew screamed, Quest window, open!

To his surprise, the glowing triangle materialized before his eyes, pulsing faintly. Words appeared, sharp and clear:

[Would you like to claim your reward?]

[Warning: It's best to do so when you're completely alone.]

Matthew's heart skipped a beat. What kind of reward comes with a warning like that?

"How come you're so quiet?" Eric said, not bothering to look at Matthew. "Normally, you'd be all chatty about what you've just accomplished."

The glowing triangle materialized before Matthew's eyes once again, its text pulsating with a faint light.

[Play the part, you idiot.]

The only thing Matthew could think about was how and why he'd been transported to this place.

"Well…I'm…You're…hmm," Matthew stammered, struggling to form a coherent sentence now that the adrenaline from the fight had faded.

[You're actually pathetic. Man up and speak to the guy.]

Matthew took a deep breath, frantically searching for something clever—something cocky and charismatic—that Elliott would say.

"Yeah, my bad… I'm just too excited about telling Ace all the details of what I did with that woman!" Matthew finally blurted out, hoping to sound as confident as Elliott was supposed to be.

He knew from the novel that Elliott and Ace were more like brothers than master and slave. Ace—the main character. Long white hair like his mother's, sharp features, and piercing light blue eyes like his father's. Matthew knew Ace's twisted fate well. After his father is killed by the earl for Elliott's mistake, Ace's mother and younger sister are traded as slaves. To survive, Ace joins the northern earl, who, even now, is plotting to overthrow the eastern earl—their current earl, Erthan and Ren's father.

Matthew had read all of it. Not because the writing was great—the historical details and character interactions were downright terrible. But the story itself had intrigued him enough to keep reading. At least, that's what he told himself—to justify the time he spent and the hate he felt for it.

Before the pair could continue chatting, the wooden door of the house creaked open, and several people stepped out. Four, to be exact—three women and one man.

Ace appeared first, grinning from ear to ear. Behind him was a woman with striking white hair and dark, beautiful eyes—Ace's mother, her features unmistakable. Beside her was a little girl with a playful skip in her step, Ace's younger sister, Rafaela.

The third woman, however, drew Matthew's attention like a magnet. Sofia, their neighbor. Her ginger hair glistened under the sun, and her piercing green eyes seemed to hold a mischievous sparkle. Freckles dotted her cheeks, adding to her natural charm. And her figure—God had truly blessed her. She was around the same age as Elliott and Ace, but the way she carried herself made her seem timeless.

[Stop drooling, you virgin pervert.]

Matthew snapped out of it, shaking his head. He recalled why Ace and Elliott had argued so much in the flashbacks of the novel—Ace had been hopelessly in love with Sofia for as long as he could remember. But Sofia had always set her sights on Elliott, ever since Eric had bought him from his parents and brought him into their lives.

When Elliott died, Sofia had spiraled into depression for most of the novel, her vibrant personality replaced by a shadow of grief. In the final chapter, when Ace finally confessed his feelings for her, she rejected him, still unable to move past her love for Elliott.

For Elliott, though, life had never been that simple. Treated as nothing more than an object all his life, love and freedom had always felt like distant, unattainable dreams. Maybe that was why Elliott had grown so cocky and arrogant—an armor forged from pain, hiding the vulnerability he refused to show the world.

"Hey, Eli, who gave you a left?" Ace shouted jokingly, already aware that Elliott had likely planned to seduce Ren's soon-to-be wife.

Matthew scrambled to find a response worthy of his character, one that Elliott would have confidently delivered. Finally, he smirked and replied, "It was Erthan—caught me and Marie, Ren's soon-to-be wife, in the act." He motioned suggestively, completing the image with a sly grin.

Despite the laughter shared by Matthew, Ace, and Eric, the women were far from amused—especially Sofia. Her face burned with frustration as she turned on her heel, storming away without a word. Anger practically sparked in her eyes. Matthew had a sinking feeling that Ace's mother would give him a stern lecture before the night was over.

"I want to know all the details—every single one," Ace demanded, grabbing Matthew by the arm and dragging him into the house, his excitement bubbling over.

…

Meanwhile, Michael the Brave had just learned of the events. Seated on his grand throne in a vast hall, a young slave girl massaged his massive shoulders. His long black beard flowed like a dark river as he idly stroked it, a smirk forming on his lips.

"I'll have to teach that brat a lesson about respect," he growled, his voice echoing through the chamber like distant thunder.