Only the Villainous Lord Wields the Power to Level Up

Ryuichi Hasegawa, the top player in a strategic medieval RPG, is granted a special “bonus” by the developer and reincarnated into the game world—not as the protagonist, but as the villainous lord Erhin Eintorian who dies in the prologue! This means Erhin’s survival is a race against time, for his domain is set to be invaded by a hostile foreign power in just one day. In order to save himself, Erhin must use the leveling system that only he can access and his knowledge of the game to prepare his forces. The only hitch, of course, is that there’s no way a villainous lord left a functioning military at his disposal! Can Erhin forestall the tragic fate scripted for him, or is he doomed to play out his own demise?

Euracia’s motherland, the Rozern Kingdom, is facing destruction at the hands of the tyrant who rules the neighboring Brijit Kingdom. The Royal Rozernan Army suffers defeat after defeat in the face of their opponent’s massive army and inhumane tactics. In the history Erhin is familiar with, Euracia dies and her homeland is laid to ruin. In order to save her, he advises the Runan Kingdom to send reinforcements, but the stingy king only gives him a force half the size of the enemy’s?!

Erhin has succeeded in saving Euracia and her people from the war with the Brijit Kingdom. Having won a secret iron mine for himself in the process, he begins making his move toward world domination in earnest. Meanwhile, Frann Valdesca, the Naruyan commander he defeated during the previous invasion, is preparing for a revenge match in the form of the Grand Subjugation. With his prior knowledge of the event, Erhin comes up with a clever plan to take over Runan in the chaos. Will it work, or will Erhin’s efforts go up in flames?!

Having driven off the Royal Naruyan Army, Erhin brings his troops and people with him as he sets up a new base of operations in the Bertaquin Domain of the former Brijit Kingdom. As he takes this first step towards declaring independence, he turns his eyes toward the vast sea around Brijit. Erhin hopes to build a fleet and establish maritime trade, but the neighboring Luaranz Kingdom has him massively outgunned at sea—and if history goes like it did in the game, then a coup d’état is about to turn them into a military dictatorship. What will happen when Erhin tries to stop it?