“Today, a floor of a residential building in our city suddenly vanished without a trace, causing panic and speculation among local residents. After investigating the incident, we learned that the famous novelist Xie Han, who lived there, has also mysteriously disappeared. We will continue to follow this story and bring you the latest updates.”
A female reporter was delivering the report on television.
Of course, our protagonist, Xie Han, knew absolutely nothing about any of this.
His memories remained frozen at the moment the Infinity Stone fell to the ground.
A tremendous force erupted from the stone, wantonly destroying everything around it.
In an instant, it swallowed Xie Han whole.
But at the moment his body was destroyed by that power, Xie Han saw the chaotic energy being enclosed by something, preventing it from spreading to the surrounding area.
After that, darkness descended before his eyes.
Xie Han could still feel his own body, but nothing else.
It was as though he were drifting through an endless void.
No sound.
No temperature.
No scent.
Xie Han felt as though he had been locked inside a cage, destined to exist forever in endless darkness, yet somehow suffering worse than death itself.
Am I… dead?
I… must be dead.
Then just let me die quietly…
Although Xie Han’s soul remained completely intact, his spirit was gradually withering away.
“Slap!”
Pain!
That was pain!
“If you’re not dead, hurry up and pay your bill!”
A loud, grating voice rang beside Xie Han’s ear.
He opened his eyes.
Light!
“I’m not dead?”
Xie Han muttered to himself.
The words coming out of his mouth were no longer Chinese, but countless memories had been forcibly stuffed into his mind, allowing him to instinctively understand and speak this language.
“Customer, of course you’re not dead right now. But if you don’t pay your tab, you might be meeting Sithis soon.”
That same grating voice sounded beside him again.
Xie Han turned his head.
Holy crap, what the hell?!
Standing before him was a humanoid creature with the head of a lizard, staring at him with a cold and unfriendly expression.
The Argonian clearly wasn’t pleased by Xie Han’s gaze.
A dangerous atmosphere began to spread between the two.
“Twenty gold. Is that enough?”
A gentle voice suddenly came from between them.
A hand extended into the space separating the two, and coins began falling one after another from its palm.
But…
That hand clearly couldn’t possibly have been holding that many coins!
Curious, Xie Han followed the arm with his eyes.
A white man with Western features was smiling at him.
Xie Han was just about to say something when a sharp pain suddenly erupted in his brain.
It felt as though his skull were being torn apart.
“Thank you. I’ll pay you back.”
Clutching his head, Xie Han tried to leave the inn.
His mind was a complete mess.
Countless memories, images, and a whole jumble of ancient voices were overlapping chaotically inside his head.
Right now, he simply wanted to find somewhere quiet to rest.
But a hand suddenly grabbed his arm tightly.
Xie Han turned around.
It was the man who had just paid his bill.
However, the man’s expression had now become anxious.
“Dragonborn, where are you planning to go? I was sent by the Greybeards to escort you to Sovngarde. We don’t have much time left.”
The man looked at Xie Han solemnly.
“Hiss…”
His head hurt terribly.
Xie Han clutched his head.
“Dragonborn, are you all right? The carriage is already waiting outside. We don’t have much time. I’m afraid you’ll have to rest on the way.”
As he spoke, the man helped Xie Han toward the carriage outside the inn.
Once inside the carriage, it wasn’t long before Xie Han was overwhelmed by the memories flooding his mind and passed out.
While unconscious, those memories played through his mind like a movie.
Xie Han slept for three whole days and three nights.
When he finally woke up, he was still inside the carriage, which continued to jolt along the road.
Xie Han stretched out his hands and carefully examined them.
Suddenly, two flames appeared between his fingertips, dancing gently.
Holy crap!
I really transmigrated into the Last Dragonborn—the Arch-Mage of Winterhold, Imperial General, Harbinger of the Companions, Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild, legendary Nightingale, and leader of the Dawnguard…
And yet somehow became the random nobody that no one recognizes?!
But this Dragonborn who had actually come to exist in this world wasn’t some random nobody that everyone failed to recognize.
His reputation resounded throughout all of Skyrim.
Everything this body had experienced in this world had evolved according to the choices Xie Han had made while playing the game.
As a novelist who spent his days imagining all sorts of absurd things, Xie Han quickly accepted the situation.
But there was now an enormous problem right in front of him.
He was an impostor…
Well, perhaps “impostor” wasn’t quite accurate.
I’m the genuine article.
It’s just that only this body is the genuine article…
How was he supposed to face Alduin?
Although Xie Han’s mind contained countless spells and his body possessed tremendous strength, the current him could only use the Thu’um.
As for everything else…
He couldn’t even properly cast a simple lightning spell.
The reason was that the Thu’um originated from the bloodline within his body.
It was like moving his own hand—something he could control effortlessly.
Magic, however, was fundamentally knowledge.
Putting knowledge in front of you was like putting a book before you.
You could turn to whichever page you wanted.
But the knowledge written on that page still had to be learned and understood by you.
What had Xie Han been left with?
Absolutely nothing…
No, that wasn’t quite right.
This body had left him one thing.
A name.
Yadan.
A name with no surname.
This body’s life had originally begun as an unidentified prisoner condemned to death.
Since he had taken over this body, inherited its memories, and accepted the mission it carried, Xie Han would live under this body’s name.
This was a world that had evolved from the game.
That meant the prophecy could not be wrong.
As the Last Dragonborn, he was destined to kill Alduin.
In reality, Xie Han had no other choice.
Because at this moment, he couldn’t run away.
If he fled, Alduin would inevitably destroy this world, and Xie Han would certainly die as well.
If he fought back, there was at least a chance.
After all, he was the protagonist now.
Wouldn’t he have some kind of protagonist’s halo or something?!
“How much longer until we reach Sovngarde?”
Yadan asked the Greybeard emissary driving the carriage outside.
“Dragonborn, at most ten days. We should arrive within ten days.”
“Then I’ll be troubling you.”
After saying that, Yadan fell silent.
He needed to use every minute and every second to familiarize himself with the knowledge in his mind and the power within his body.
During those ten days, Yadan completely abandoned studying magic and focused entirely on mastering his physical strength.
With the blood of the Dragonborn running through his veins, his physical strength was undoubtedly tremendous.
Combined with the power of the dragon soul and Ancient Nord bloodline, Yadan felt that the strength within his body was enough to smash a mountain apart with a casual punch.
Over those ten days, Yadan managed to gain a fairly decent understanding of his physical abilities.
Before entering Sovngarde, he even took a set of his sturdiest armor from his spell space and put it on.
This spell space is probably the equivalent of the inventory from the game, right?
Except in this world, it manifested as magic in Yadan’s eyes.
Inside were countless weapons, pieces of armor, potions, scrolls, and other items he had collected while playing the game.
Yadan chose the most flexible yet toughest armor he could wear.
For this battle, he only needed to accomplish one thing.
Survive.
As the protagonist, as long as he stayed alive, he would eventually find a way to win.
That was Yadan’s guiding principle for this battle.
…
But after entering the battlefield, the opening scene unfolded.
Under Alduin’s enormous body and overwhelming pressure, Yadan discovered that the battle wasn’t nearly as simple as he had imagined.
Yadan was afraid.
He was terrified.
Under the weight of his fear, he couldn’t even properly use the Thu’um.
Fortunately, at the final moment, an unknown force allowed him to learn how to use the Elder Scroll.
Under the power of time, Alduin was gradually sealed away.
Although Yadan, as the Last Dragonborn, had failed to kill Alduin as the prophecy foretold, banishing him for another few thousand years wasn’t so bad.
At least by the time Alduin returned, Yadan would have long since died.
Just as the power of the Elder Scroll was about to completely drive Alduin into the end of time, Alduin let out an unwilling roar.
He refused.
He absolutely refused to be imprisoned in that void-like world again.
Struggling, he stretched out his dragon claw.
Power began to surge within it.
Suddenly—
A golden gauntlet embedded with six gemstones appeared in Alduin’s claw.
Yadan’s expression immediately changed.
Wasn’t that the Infinity Gauntlet?
How had it ended up in Alduin’s possession?
After transmigrating into this world, Yadan had thought about the Infinity Gauntlet before.
But with time so tight, he hadn’t paid much attention to it.
He never could have imagined that it would appear in Alduin’s hands now.
Alduin’s voice thundered across Skyrim.
“This little trinket… I don’t know what it is, but I can feel the power contained within it.”
“Since you want to banish me, then let’s see you try!”
Alduin crushed the Infinity Gauntlet.
An enormous force erupted from the shattered gemstones, and in an instant, Alduin actually broke free from the restraints of the Elder Scroll.
Carrying that tremendous power, which was on the verge of exploding, Alduin flew toward Yadan.
The storm of energy erupted at the exact moment Alduin collided with Yadan.
After the violent energy swept through everything, all was reduced to silence.
Only the torn fabric of space remained, slowly repairing itself.
Had the prophecy finally been fulfilled?
Had the Last Dragonborn killed Alduin?