Before I could think about saving the empire…
I first had to remember exactly how it was destroyed.
Because the world I had just reincarnated into was not unfamiliar to me.
I had seen it before.
I had spent thousands of hours inside it.
This world was the setting of the game "Chronicles of the Ruined Empire."
A story that began with tragedy and ended with the destruction of almost everything.
The game itself was famous for its deep worldbuilding and dark storyline. Unlike many fantasy games where the hero simply defeats evil and saves the world, this story was different.
In this story…
Humanity still lost.
Even after defeating countless enemies.
Even after becoming stronger.
Even after fighting until the very end.
The world still collapsed.
And the reason was far more complicated than simple monsters or villains.
The story of the game began in the Ether Empire, the greatest power on the continent of Preta.
The protagonist of the game was not a prince or a noble.
He was simply a boy born into a poor servant family working under a cruel noble house.
From a young age, the protagonist lived a miserable life.
The noble family treated their servants like animals.
They beat them for small mistakes.
Forced them to work day and night.
And sometimes punished them simply for their own amusement.
Among the servants, the protagonist had only one person he truly cared about.
His younger sister.
She was the only light in his dark life.
He worked tirelessly every day just to make sure she could eat properly.
But even that small happiness did not last.
One day, the noble family falsely accused the girl of stealing a valuable ring.
Without any evidence…
Without even listening to her explanation…
They ordered the servants to punish her.
The punishment was brutal.
By the time the protagonist returned from his work and saw his sister again…
She was already dying.
Her small body covered in bruises.
Her breathing weak.
She tried to smile when she saw him.
But her life faded away soon after.
That moment changed everything.
The boy who had once endured everything silently finally broke.
Standing beside his sister's lifeless body, he made a vow.
He would destroy the nobles who treated human lives like toys.
That night, he escaped from the estate.
Thus began the protagonist's journey.
At first, his story was simply one of revenge.
He trained relentlessly.
Fought bandits.
Explored ruins.
And slowly gathered companions who believed in his cause.
One by one, corrupt nobles fell beneath his blade.
But while the protagonist fought his personal war…
The world itself was slowly heading toward disaster.
Then one day…
The sky cracked open.
Across the world, mysterious gates began appearing.
Some appeared above mountains.
Some in the middle of cities.
Others deep inside forests.
From those gates emerged creatures never seen before.
Monsters.
Terrifying beasts that devoured villages and destroyed entire towns.
At first, people believed they were just rare magical anomalies.
But they quickly realized how wrong they were.
Each gate was ranked according to its danger.
F Rank gates were the weakest.
Even ordinary soldiers could clear them.
E Rank gates required trained fighters.
D Rank gates were dangerous enough to threaten entire towns.
But as the ranks increased…
The danger became unimaginable.
C Rank gates could destroy cities.
B Rank gates required armies to defeat.
A Rank gates were disasters capable of wiping out entire regions.
And then there were S Rank gates.
The appearance of an S Rank gate was considered a national catastrophe.
Entire kingdoms had fallen because of them.
When the first gates appeared, the world was completely unprepared.
Cities were destroyed overnight.
Armies were overwhelmed.
Panic spread across every nation.
Even the powerful Ether Empire struggled to control the situation.
During this chaos, the protagonist of the game began rising in fame.
He cleared gate after gate.
Defeated countless monsters.
Saved thousands of civilians.
Slowly, he formed a powerful party of companions.
Warriors.
Mages.
Archers.
Even people from other races.
Together they became known as the strongest group of hunters in the world.
People began calling the protagonist the Hero of Humanity.
But despite all his victories…
Humanity still failed.
Because the true enemy was not the monsters.
It was themselves.
The continent of Preta was not inhabited by humans alone.
There were many intelligent races living across the world.
Elves who ruled ancient forests.
Dwarves who built underground cities.
Beastmen tribes who lived in vast plains.
And demons who ruled their own kingdoms in distant lands.
But humans were the most numerous race.
They controlled most of the land.
And because of that, they had spent centuries oppressing the other races.
Humans enslaved beastmen.
Invaded elven forests.
And fought endless wars with demon kingdoms.
Hatred had slowly grown between the races.
So when the gates appeared…
The world failed to unite.
Each kingdom fought only for its own survival.
Each race distrusted the others.
Alliances collapsed.
Treaties were broken.
And while the world argued among itself…
The gates continued appearing.
The monsters continued growing stronger.
Then came the disaster that sealed the fate of the world.
The appearance of an SSS Rank Gate.
A gate so powerful that its energy alone distorted the surrounding sky.
Even the strongest heroes could barely approach it.
For the first time, the world truly faced extinction.
But instead of uniting…
Humanity made its greatest mistake.
They blamed the demons.
In many fantasy stories, demons are portrayed as the ultimate villains.
But in Chronicles of the Ruined Empire, the truth was more complicated.
Demons were not mindless monsters.
They were a civilization.
They had cities, rulers, and families just like humans.
Some demons were even capable of forming alliances with humans.
In fact, depending on the choices made during the game, the protagonist could even recruit a demon warrior into his party.
But fear and prejudice blinded the world.
When the gates appeared, many people began spreading rumors.
They claimed the demons were responsible.
That the gates were their doing.
Hatred spread quickly.
Across the continent, demon settlements were attacked.
Demons were hunted down and slaughtered.
Entire villages were wiped out.
The demon race was pushed into a corner.
And eventually…
They fought back.
Instead of fighting the monsters invading their world, the races of Preta began fighting each other.
Humans against demons.
Kingdoms against kingdoms.
Old grudges resurfaced.
Wars erupted across the continent.
By the time the SSS Rank gate finally opened…
The world was already broken.
Humanity fought bravely.
The protagonist and his party led the final battle.
Countless heroes died.
Entire cities were sacrificed.
In the end…
The Demon King was defeated.
The gate was closed.
But the victory came at a terrible cost.
The world had already collapsed.
The Ether Empire had fallen.
Entire nations had vanished.
Human civilization was reduced to scattered survivors.
The hero stood victorious…
But there was nothing left to protect.
That was how the game ended.
A victory that felt more like defeat.
And now…
I was living in that world.
Ten years before the gates appeared.
Ten years before the invasion began.
Ten years before the world collapsed.
I slowly opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling.
"So that's the future waiting for this world…"
A small smile appeared on my face.
"Well then…"
"If the empire collapsed because of stupid decisions…"
"Then I just have to stop those decisions from happening."
After all…
I had already finished the game once.
And this time—
I was playing with the advantage of knowing the future.