"Ding!" A notification echoed in Ian's mind, pulling him out of his deep sleep.
He blinked and looked around in surprise.
The room was an old, run-down inn. The creaky bed, the wooden table stained by years of grime, and the dusty curtains all gave the place a cheap, neglected look.
A light drizzle fell outside the window, bringing no relief from the heat, only making the air feel even more stifling.
Ian felt sticky and uncomfortable. He slowly lifted the blanket, realizing his body was drenched in sweat.
For some reason, his brain suddenly throbbed, and he instinctively bit down on his forearm. Only when the sharp pain registered clearly did he stop, staring at the teeth marks on his skin with a wry smile.
This feels so real.
Though the organizers were well-known for their professionalism, Ian had never doubted their abilities.
But now, actually being in another world, in another body, still felt surreal.
He sat still for a few minutes, trying to calm his mind.
At that moment, Ian realized something—it wasn't just the dream-like sensation that had him disoriented. He now had new memories, memories that didn't belong to him but were clear and vivid. There were no specific people or places tied to them, but a complete story had taken shape in his mind, one rooted in this world.
The memories were mostly intellectual, like stories of small noble houses in the valley, the history of heraldry, the process of Andal knights' vigils in the septs, and bits of information about riding horses and sword fighting.
As the auxiliary AI had explained, these memories would be invaluable in helping him pass as a true mercenary knight.
Hedge knights—often called hedge knights—were known for their lack of wealth aside from their horses and equipment. They earned their name because they often slept in the wild, under hedges.
Of course, a player starting as a hedge knight wouldn't be in such dire straits—otherwise, Ian wouldn't have chosen this path.
Taking a deep breath, Ian climbed out of bed and walked over to the window.
Outside, the sky was overcast, and the dull gray glass reflected Ian's golden blonde hair. He hastily opened the window, and his eyes fell on a towering structure in the distance. A massive black tower stood out among the nearby castles, its shape still imposing despite the damage. The tower, which had once reached straight to the sky, was now tilted at an odd angle, melted and deformed, resembling a giant black candle that had half-melted.
"Is that melted stone? A masterpiece of dragonfire? Is this Harrenhal?" The scene in front of him matched what Ian had seen in his memories. He licked his dry lips, feeling parched.
Ian turned around and walked to the table. He grabbed a water bottle and drank, savoring the faintly spicy, grainy taste on his tongue.
"Ugh! This is terrible luck!"
Although he'd made the right choice by starting in the Riverlands, the Riverlands was so vast—why did he have to start in Harrenhal?
Harrenhal, the largest fortress in Westeros, was built by the last king of the Iron Islands and the Riverlands, Harren the Black. It had taken him forty years to complete, draining the financial and material resources of the Riverlands, all on the shores of the God's Eye Lake.
Its walls were thicker than those of Storm's End, and its gate was as grand as the main castle in Highgarden. Harren the Black had proudly called it an "unbreakable fortress."
But just as an unbreakable alliance had crumbled, the mighty walls and towers of Harrenhal fell, not to ground forces, but to dragonfire rained down by Aegon the Conqueror's dragon, Balerion the Black Dread.
Harren the Black, along with all his children, perished in the tallest tower, burned alive. The now-melted black tower before Ian's eyes was known as the "King's Burning Tower."
Since then, Harrenhal had been cursed. Every family granted control of the castle had lost their heirs, and any who took it by force met with a grim fate.
"What bad luck," Ian muttered, wiping cold sweat from his brow. He then asked in his mind, "By the way, when did we start?"
"Hand of the King Jon Arryn has just died. King Robert Baratheon is preparing for his funeral. He plans to travel to Winterfell after the funeral and invite Eddard Stark to come south to serve as Hand of the King," Anne replied.
Ian nodded in understanding.
When the story of A Song of Ice and Fire begins, King Robert is already on his way to Winterfell, but right now, Robert is still in King's Landing and hasn't yet set off.
The land distance from King's Landing to Winterfell is about 2,300 kilometers. Considering Robert is traveling by royal carriage along the King's Road, it should take him about two months to reach Winterfell.
This meant that the current time was around three months before the start of the original events, placing it at the end of Aegon's Calendar year 297.
At this point, Westeros is still a year away from the outbreak of the War of the Five Kings.
This realization made Ian pause. When he first signed up, the organizers had promised that all the game designs were ready before players were sent back in time, and once the game started, they would no longer intervene—no fixing bugs or adjusting the system in any way.
So, what kind of mechanism had the planners put in place to allow players to opt out of peaceful development and choose to fight other players during such a calm period?
In this kind of game, there's no room for mistakes early on. If a player is killed, they lose everything, so the early stages should be avoided for risky conflicts.
"Alright, AI, tell me the detailed mechanics of this game," Ian asked the auxiliary AI, still feeling uncertain.
"There are three main mechanisms in this game," Annie began to explain.
"The first is the killing mechanism: For every player killed, they will receive 4 points, and all unused system resources of the killed player will be inherited, including points, attribute points, skill points, and system items. Additionally, the system will reward the killer based on the development of the killed player."
"However, the player gets the full benefit if they kill the target themselves. If the player's subordinates or other 'employees' do the killing, the player only receives 50% of the benefit."
Note: According to the original book's setting of "100 Leagues (480 kilometers) of the Wall" and the official map, some experts estimate that the mapped area of Westeros is about nine million square kilometers.
Here are a few figures to help you understand the size of the world of A Song of Ice and Fire more clearly. The land distance from Winterfell to King's Landing is about 2,300 kilometers, roughly equivalent to the distance between US and Japan. The land distance from Winterfell to Castle Black is about 1,100 kilometers, which is roughly the distance between US and LA