The Genius Archduke of the Gunpowder Empire - Part 1
(I am a Royalist)
This office was so quiet that the breathing of others rang clearly in my ears, yet it was surprisingly home to dozens of people.
Normally, there would be someone chatting about a drama they watched yesterday or how much they were looking forward to lunch, but no one opened their mouths.
Because a colleague who had suffered alongside us all was packing their things with empty eyes, as if they had lost the will to live.
Not just veteran employees well along in years, but young workers were visible here and there—so who could possibly remain calm?
From the standpoint of a mere employee, I wanted to give the company a big round of applause.
After all, it inspired not just tension enough to stiffen your back, but sheer terror.
Who could work properly while afraid?
In their minds, the question "Could I be next?" must be continuously swirling.
In this situation, how could anyone have the leisure to care about yesterday's drama or worry about what to put in their stomach?
They must be praying that it isn't them.
The emotion I felt was anger. They demand results yet cut people, so work had lost its flavor. And these were colleagues I had spent considerable time with.
During work, their attention and concentration had floated away too—an enormous hindrance.
I felt some helplessness as well. I knew there was nothing a mere employee could do. The company's sales had dropped lately, so they were reducing headcount—what could I say?
Moreover, this wasn't just the company's problem. Not just us, but all domestic enterprises were slowly downsizing.
With domestic sales walking a severe downhill path, it was natural for the company to reduce personnel.
There was no hope of a rebound. Anyone would agree. This country had no future.
This was a phenomenon that neither a mere employee nor the company could do anything about.
Since this wasn't a once-or-twice occurrence, things would return to normal in a few days, but this time I couldn't.
"What's going on?"
The crotchety department head, perhaps having suffered at the hands of the Minister of the Interior again today, wore an expression like he wanted to pickle someone alive—but it twisted even further at the news that I was quitting.
My gloomy heart loosened slightly.
A workplace superior's agony is a subordinate's happiness.
"I'm quitting."
"Are you crazy?"
"I'm perfectly sane."
"You little bastard. You're in your prime working years, and your career is solid—why are you doing this? Have you really lost it?"
The department head would normally start with curses and shouting, but perhaps because he hadn't expected me to do this too, he was doing something resembling persuasion.
"You're getting promoted faster than your peers, so why? Do you have some complaint about the company? Huh?"
This attitude from the department head was a first. He wasn't someone who held onto employees who wanted to leave.
That said, the department head's words weren't strange either.
I wasn't old, but I wasn't exactly young either. If the company was hell, then society was truly the land of the dead; saying I was walking out of my own accord meant I was as good as dead.
For a normal person to see someone end their own life and feel that something was wrong was not strange at all.
The department head before me might seem like an old fogey, but he wasn't the type to tell someone to hurry up and die when a life was at stake.
"Is there something about company life these days you don't like? Hm? Tell me."
There was a reason. I didn't like the way the company was being run lately.
But even if I told them not to cut people, would they listen? I was a mere employee. Even the chairman's family couldn't change this.
With all enterprises downsizing, opposing that would just make me an idiot.
More than anything, I just wanted to rest a bit. I had accumulated a lot of stress working.
I might regret it later, but I could think about the future when it came.
Perhaps sensing that I had made up my mind, the department head sighed.
"Listen well. I'm saying this because I'm worried about you. The company is going to send you overseas soon, you know? So why are you doing this, really?"
I frowned at the word "overseas."
An overseas assignment was naturally a chance to build a career. And given the current sorry state of the domestic market, going abroad wasn't a matter of success but survival.
Someone like me, with many days left to live, had to go overseas unconditionally to survive. It wasn't for nothing that the domestic market was called the land of the dead.
It was a land of such hellish difficulty that there was no influx, only death, and in the near future everyone would be scraping by to survive.
But I had thought an overseas assignment was fated not to happen to me.
Because I had butted heads with the division head last time, I had thought it was completely out of the question.
"Hey, didn't you know our division head has a good personality?"
I didn't know about his personality, but he seemed like an interesting person. He had chuckled and let my words slide.
"I've been in this line for a long time, but you're the first ignorant bastard I've seen who slammed into the division head saying the company was cutting people so much that work couldn't get done."
Thinking about it now, I was like a madman. But people can get sensitive while working too.
Do people who cause accidents weigh everything beforehand? It just happened, and the result turned out that way.
I was working on important company business too, and I was just annoyed that the company was slashing people and ruining the internal atmosphere.
"You know the project you designed this time turned out well. The overseas branch used it exactly as is, and they said the effects were good. So just endure a little longer. The division head is taking you to the overseas branch, you know?"
The department head probably thought his words had persuaded me, but.
"You crazy bastard!"
I naturally disregarded the department head's words and stormed out of the company.
People who cause accidents don't think in the first place!
I'm free now!
***
-You crazy bastard. Are you really doing this?!
Calls came in succession on my way home, but when I didn't answer, messages arrived in succession.
-Yeah. Work is hard, so that can happen. Let's just clear your head, okay? I'll cover it up well as vacation. Alright? The division head is keeping his eye on you, you know?
The resigned department head's final message was quite sweet.
Oh, vacation.
He was a bit of an asshole by nature, but very competent. That's why he had survived in the company until now, preserving his rank in this ruthless society.
Anyway, I had said I quit in a fit of anger, but I felt quite relieved inside.
I know I shouldn't feel this way, but for my superior to beg like this—wasn't that rather pleasing? Was I a more important employee than I thought?
Anyway, the department head would take care of the aftermath.
People might think I was too reckless, but I really needed rest.
If I kept going like this, it wouldn't be strange at all if I collapsed before long.
Because in this damned country, dying of overwork was all too natural.
To survive, I had to rest like this.
But when I actually arrived home, everything felt empty.
I knew rest was good, but I didn't know what to do.
In school I studied like crazy, went to university for a year before enlisting in the military, then went back and got hired before graduation—I had been running nonstop until now.
They say those who have played know how to play better; there was no way I could properly enjoy myself when I had only ever worked.
Lying on the bed, worrying about how to rest, my eyes fell on the computer sitting on the desk.
I got up, turned on the power, and stared blankly at the monitor.
But as expected, thinking there was nothing I particularly wanted to do, I was about to press the shutdown button when one icon caught my eye.
The icon of a game I had once loved very much. It was a strategy simulation game set against the backdrop of World War I or World War II.
These games had a bit of a learning curve, but the moment you got hooked, they let you experience a time machine.
There was a time when I had lived obsessed with this game.
If it hadn't been for work, I would have certainly died playing games.
Click.
Immersed in memories, I reflexively launched the game, and familiar interfaces came into view.
-Saved Game File Name: Austro-Hungarian Empire
I liked starting with a WWII backdrop too, but I also loved WWI for its unique personality.
'Empire.'
An existence where an emperor existed and ruled the state—by modern standards, an utterly uncivilized existence.
But romance is like that. It doesn't always have to be realistic, does it?
What was wrong with dreaming of an emperor who reigned, ruled, and dominated, rather than a powerless me who couldn't defy the era and society?
In modern times, everyone dreams of omnipotent power and dictatorship.
I wasn't much different, so when playing games, I was an ardent royalist.
Democracy or communism didn't matter. The moment I could convert to a kingdom or empire, I was the madman who started a civil war right away.
Thinking about all this made my blood boil. Shall I give it a go?
The last save was the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
More than a hundred years had passed, and because of WWII its prominence had faded; a country dissolved after losing WWI, so there were many who didn't know of this empire.
Wasn't modern Austria a country with even less presence than Australia?
But thinking of its past, it was an incredibly charming country. Existing in the center of Europe during WWI, its ruling house was the famous Habsburg.
Could you possibly leave the Habsburgs out of European history?
That alone was enough to make any in-game royalist's heart race. A tremendous prestigious house! And an emperor! An empire precariously shaken by the changing times!
And the nation's composition itself was all over the place.
A dual monarchy formed by combining two sovereign states, Austria and Hungary, it was a multi-ethnic nation mixed with Germans, Hungarians, Romanians, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbo-Croatians (Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, etc.), Poles, Ruthenians (Ukrainians), Slovenes, Italians, and countless other ethnic groups.
But the moment you chose it for its personality, you tasted hell.
Naturally, since the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost WWI, its difficulty was insane.
In the Balkans, you had to fight Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, and Greece supported by the Entente; in the east, the Russian Empire; in the west, Italy.
It was a simulation game that required no physical ability, yet for the Austro-Hungarian Empire alone, users said you needed at least some physical chops—it was overwhelmingly hectic.
And since the army itself wasn't strong either, users' heads would spin as they took a beating everywhere, desperately needing the German Empire's help.
The German Empire was strong, but in the end it was AI controlled by the computer. Eventually the user had to overturn the situation, but with the Austro-Hungarian Empire that was too difficult.
Even if you barely patched up various problems, what could Austria-Hungary do when in the late game America directly joined the war and even the German Empire crumbled?
Naturally, most users chose the German Empire, which had high potential and excelled at fighting like a maniac.
Even I had first chosen the German Empire, leading the Central Powers to wage a world war.
But one can't subsist on a single dish forever, so reaching out to Austria-Hungary was only natural.
As an in-game royalist, how could I pass over the Austro-Hungarian Empire?
With plenty of time now, thinking, "Shall I give it a try?" I pressed the confirm button.
"Huh?"
My consciousness gradually faded.