I was born a king, the strongest whether in reality or in any game. I am him. I am the unrivaled.

“Throughout the sky, earth, and all the realms, I alone am the honored one!” I proclaimed, my hand raised high as if grasping the very sun. My voice was brimming with an unshakable confidence, each word flowing from my lips as effortlessly as I commands, undeniable as fate itself.

Nothing can stop me from claiming whatever I desire, I glance over my new game collection with satisfaction. A smile slowly crept onto my face as my butler carefully adjusted the luxurious VR headset for me.

This experience…

The moment the headset turned on, a strange and familiar sensation wrapped around me. Wait, something feels different. It felt as though I were slipping away from my own body, shifting into another space entirely. Could it be…

I tried to move. I could feel the faintest sensation of confinement, what a thrilling moment. Undeniably, I was inside a woman’s womb. Such excitement! This immersiveness, it is truly next generation!

For a man who had long grown bored of his life, the surge of excitement he felt was anything but ordinary. He who was born with everything, expects everything to come to him. Game is but an entertainment for him to experience lives with different upbringing. Yet no matter the realm, real or virtual, he believes he was destined to reign. He who had taken the crown from his own father, proven himself the worthier ruler.

This man was none other than King Kairus Of Ashan!

[Three years passed]

“Status window!” shouted a young boy, his voice full with anticipation, he crossed his arms with confidence expecting something to appear.

[…]

Nothing happened as he waited for a while.

After a moment, a gentle voice called out, breaking the silence. “Kairus, what are you doing out here shouting at the field all by yourself? Status window? What’s that you little cutie?”

A woman in her 30s approached from the house nearby, a warm smile on her face as she waved at him.

The young boy sighed, “It’s nothing.” He muttered, looking up at her with a hint of disappointment in his eyes. Three years… that’s long enough to be in any game without a tutorial, menu, or even a hint of guidance, he thought to himself. Maybe this game is imitating life itself, such realism towards this extend are uncalled for.

I wonder if time flows the same way outside as it does here, he mused. Would they really risk using color abilities to manipulate time just for a game? No, the damage alone would cause an uproar. Or could this be some new, groundbreaking technology? But if that were true, the marketing would have mentioned it, and my own intelligence agents would have heard of it by now. Something this advanced couldn’t escape my ears.

“Mother, could you please show me your class transformation.” The young boy asked with curiosity, looking up at the woman who played the role of his mother in this game.

“Awww, my little baby is so diligent!” she replied with enthusiasm as she smiles warmly. “So, you’ve been training here all by yourself, hmm? Even though you’ve asked me to show you this so many times before, I never grow tired of that adorable look of yours.”

She straightened and continued, “Watch closely, okay? As a Hero Class, my main weapons are a sword and shield.”

She raised her hands, calling out, “Come to me, Love & Hope.” From thin air, a gleaming silver sword and a shield plated with gold materialized in her hands. Her simple dress transformed instantly into heroic armor, golden cloths wrapping around her as she stood radiantly before him.

The young boy looked at her with his full attention, his eyes wide admiration. “See? Isn’t it pretty?” she said proudly, showing off her transformation with a smile. “One day, you’ll be able to do this too. I can’t wait to see your heroic transformation! Remember, for the Hero Class, the key is determination. My determination is to spread love and hope, no one will suffer, not on my watch!”

“Amazing!” he exclaimed, raising his hands in excitement.

“Come! Command & Conquer!” he declared boldly. Suddenly, a crimson silver sword and a crimson black sword materialized in his small hands, and in an instant, a majestic white cloth wrapped around him like a hero’s robe.

The woman gasped in delighted surprise. “Oh my! Oh my! Blessings to the Almighty, this is… this is adorable! So cuuuuteee!” with a squeal, she scooped him up, raising him high and showering him with kisses. To her, he looked like a tiny, valiant warrior, fully equipped and ready for battle, albeit in a miniature, lovable form.

“Aghh, let go of me! I’m not a kid!” the young boy protested, squirming in her arms. He tried to push her away, but her strength easily overpowered his small resistance.

“You’re even cuter when you try to resist!” she teased, ignoring his pleas and continuing to shower him with affection. “And not only are you adorable, but you’re a little genius too! Most heroes can’t materialize their weapons until they’re at least seventeen. Even I didn’t manage it until I was eighteen during my first adventure.” She added proudly, finally setting him back on the ground with a fond smile.

“Of course! As expected of me, I am King Kairus!” he declared confidently, crossing his arms in a regal stance.

“That’s right! My cute little king.” She replied with a laugh, nodding as if to affirm his words with all her heart. She truly believed he would rise to greatness, despite not being born in the Royal Class.

She remembered the first time she held him in her arms. Even as a newborn, he hadn’t cried. Instead, he seemed to try to communicate, making expressive faces and gestures that were surprisingly easy to understand. By his first year, he was already walking, his tiny arms crossed with pride. Once he grew teeth, he quickly learned to speak fluently, much to her amazement.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

To her, he is a miracle. For fifteen years, she had been unable to conceive, but she had never stopped praying to the Almighty. Each night, she cried softly, holding onto hope for the child she dreamed of. When he finally arrived, she saw him as a blessing, a gift beyond measure.

Noticing a hint of sadness in her expression, the young boy’s gaze softened. Children grow up so quickly, she thought. And someday he would set off on his own journey. Determined to cherish every moment with him, she had set aside her duties as a hero to focus fully on being his mother.

[Six years passed]

“This world is just a game.” The young boy declared, his charisma sharpened with a smirk that sent chills through those who saw it.

“Kill them all! Massacre them all! Leave no one alive!” Kairus’s voice thundered with a cold unyielding authority. His eyes gleams with fierce intent. He commanded his force of a thousand men to reduce the opposing noble city to ashes.

“Yes, sir Hero!” his men responded with unwavering loyalty, eyes burning with determination.

Blood soaked the streets as the onslaught began. Women and children fell, their pleas and cries for mercy echo unanswered. “Oh, Lord, what have we done to deserve this?” they wailed but their cries met only with cold steel of blade. Heads fell, rolling lifelessly on the ground.

Watching everything unfold, Kairus’s gaze hardened, his expression twisted with disgust. “This is nothing more than purification.” He muttered, his tone cold, as if he were simply sweeping away trash.

In this world, territorial wars were common, with winners seizing land, wealth, and the people themselves. But Kairus, emerged victory, chose to leave nothing but scorched earth. In his heart, a fierce hatred burned, fueling only his desire to annihilate those who opposed him.

“You monster! Just kill me already!” a nobleman cried, bound and trembling before him. Kairus’s guards held the man in place, forcing him to witness the slaughter of his people.

“Look!” Kairus shouted, gesturing to the burning city, the smoldering ruins, and the bodies strewn across the ground. “This is the consequence of your own actions. The only one to blame here is you!” His voice was ice-cold, eyes blazing with vengeance.

“But this is only the beginning.” He lowered his voice, pulling the man’s head up by his hair to look him dead in the eye, as if piercing his very soul. “I will hunt down every one of your kin, your allies, and everything you hold dear. And you, you will watch it all burn before I finally let you die.

The nobleman’s face twisted in despair, his bloodshot eyes wide with terror as he screamed, hysterical, tears of blood streaking down his face.

* * *

The massacre continued for months. Kairus was a man of his word. Every noble’s city, every lord’s village tied to that man was reduced to ashes, leaving nothing but ash and terror. People began to whisper his new title, The Tyrant Hero.

His actions struck a heavy blow to the kingdom’s economy, shaking it’s stability to the core. Eventually the king himself summoned Kairus to the royal palace.

Head held high, Kairus entered the grand hall, his hero’s robe flowing behind him with authority. The king, seated upon his throne, commanded “Kneel before me.” But Kairus, who had been born a king in reality, had never knelt to any man. To kneel before an NPC? To him, it was the ultimate insult.

“You kneel.” Kairus’s voice echoed coldly as he pointed at the king with an air of unyielding authority.

The royal knights gasped at his audacity, eyes flashing with outrage, drawing their swords with killing intent. “Unforgivable!” one knight advance, stepping forward.

The king’s face darkened at this defiance from a mere child. “Execute him!” he commanded, his voice rings through the hall.

Kairus’s lips curled into a smirk. “Command & Conquer.” Kairus summon and in an instant, his twin crimson swords materialized in his hands. Effortlessly, he blocked a spear aimed at his heart, then with a swift slash took the head of the attacking knight in a single fluid move. Blood splattered across the marble floor, staining the pristine hall. He turned back to the king, eyes blazing. “You should have known by now.” He said. “I submit to no one. This is a fool’s choice.”

For Kairus, anyone who stood in his way was an enemy. The king should have left him alone, now, he had humiliated him, an offense beyond forgiveness.

Suddenly, glass shattered above as elite soldiers of Kairus’s loyal forces descended from the ceiling, storming the hall in a fierce assault. His army poured in through the palace gates, and chaos erupted as they clashed with the royal guards, sending shouts and the clash of steel echoes throughout the palace.

The king’s confidence wavered, then crumbled as he began to panic, retreating step by step. He had underestimated this child hero, thinking him a mere child who had somehow amassed followers. But now, facing the carnage, he realized too late the depths of Kairus’s ambitions. A coup at the hands of a nine-year-old was the last thing he had ever imagined.

The king’s slowly retreating but was halted by Kairus’s deadly gaze. As bodies of royal knights fell one by one before him, Kairus stepped forward, exuding a menacing aura that filled the grand hall. His soldiers cut down any opposing resistance, creating his path to the throne with the corpse of the royal knights.

“Stop! Don’t come any closer! Stop approaching me!” The king’s voice trembled, his power shattered as his loyal knights fell around him. Desperately, he looked for a way to escape, but every route, even the secret passages meant only for royal blood, was blocked by Kairus’s troops.

“But I can’t sit on the throne if I don’t come closer.” Kairus replied, his voice cold and unyielding.

“S-sit on the throne? That’s blasphemy!” The king’s disbelief was evident, his body trembling with each of Kairus’s menacing steps, as if witnessing a rightful ruler reclaiming his throne.

With no one left to stop him, Kairus strode forward and seated himself on the throne. The instant he settled into it, a surge of power flowed within him. Something change in his body naturally, awakening a new strength. A game with no tutorial, no menu, no guidance, he simply knew this was the King Class.

From thin air, a crown of gold crusted with crimson rubies formed on his head. His robe transformed, turning a majestic shade of gold, fitting for a king. His twin swords shines, their blades shifting to radiant crimson and gold. The soldiers around him looked on in awe, captivated by this historic transformation.

Kairus’s voice rang out, commanding and absolute. “Drag the former king to my feet.”

Obediently, his soldiers seized the fallen ruler and forced him to his knees before the throne.

“Kneel!”

The former king, stripped of his own King Class the moment Kairus took the throne. His crown shattered and crumble to dust, the former king could not resist. Powerless under Kairus’s newfound King’s authority, he sank to the ground, head bowed, desperate to save himself and his family, he dropped his pride entirely.

“Please spare me and my family, O young king.” He pleaded, his voice barely above a whisper.

Kairus considered his words, his tone softening slightly. “I will spare your family. But they will be stripped of all royal titles and exiled from this kingdom. That is the only mercy you earned by groveling before me.”

Hope flickered in the former king’s eyes, until Kairus continued.

“However, the sins of humiliating me and your attempt to kill me can only be repent with your blood.”

Kairus pressed his foot onto the former king’s bowed head, slowly increasing the pressure until a sickening crack and life has left the former ruler’s body. Blood pooled on the marble floor, a stage towards Kairus’s ruthless rule. Those watching filled with determination and absolute loyalty towards the power and brutality of their new king.

* * *

Thus, history marked the rise of Kairus, the nine-year-old king who claimed the throne by force and absolute strength. News of his feat spread like wildfire, shocking everyone in the kingdom and beyond. Among the player, reaction varied wildly.

“Speedrunning his way becoming a king at nine? Dude is a mad lad!” one player laughed, both awed and amused.

“But how did he do it without any guides? This game feels way too real, even the NPC felt human-like.” Mused a skeptical player, intrigued by the immersiveness of the world.

“A king at that age? Maybe I’ll go for his head and become the kingslayer.” Schemed another with violent ambition.

But for the true residents of this world, Kairus’s ascension wasn’t a game, it was a threat. With the throne usurped by a ruthless young king, a new era loomed over the kingdom.