Flashback
In the past—or rather, to be precise, in a future that had not yet happened—I could not say exactly why war had broken out.
At the time, I was far from the center of the continent, so that made sense.
Of course, there were still a few things I could guess at.
The struggle over the Tutorial’s interests was tangled up in it, and so were questions of ideology and belief.
In a case like this, what mattered was less the cause than the consequences.
What had begun as a small skirmish soon became a raging fire and swallowed the entire continent.
Some groups came to hate one another for no reason at all, and before long they stopped even shouting their lofty ideals and philosophies.
They cared more about venting their hatred than defending their convictions.
Malice bred malice, rage bred rage, and revenge bred revenge.
I thought it would end someday, but the war never did.
Earthlings against natives.
Natives against natives.
Earthlings against Earthlings.
They changed and expanded the object of their hatred, sank deeper and deeper into war, and used one another like slaves while slaughtering each other.
Scenes of such horror that you could hardly bear to look at them were everywhere, and everyone tacitly agreed to pretend none of it was happening.
As distrust between them grew, the alliance itself was unable to hold together for the battles that followed.
And in the midst of it all.
The Great Mage, once an object of admiration to all, left behind an incomprehensible final remark and hanged himself.
The Japanese shrine maiden was assassinated.
The Mercenary Queen’s fate became unknown.
Those he had called family, along with every member of his clan, lost their lives.
So did many who had been called heroes.
Even the holy sword of the chosen hero lost its light.
Some time later, the alliance collapsed, and after countless casualties, the first act of this meaningless war came to an end.
It was as if a boomerang thrown far away had finally come arcing back this way.
It was all humanity’s fault.
“Battle and war are different things.”
“Wh-…”
“To be honest, I’ll admit you’re strong. I can’t beat you. And it’s not just me—none of the people under me can beat you either. No matter how many times I think about it, that’s an undeniable fact. Yes. It absolutely can’t be denied.”
“You’re… human.”
“Yes. I am human. I thought the mask would keep you from recognizing me, but… I suppose the genius swordsman everyone praises is different after all. I’d heard you were protected by mana, but the quality is really rather poor.”
“It’s just a feeling. Even at a glance, you don’t seem like the rest of them.”
“That’s hard to tell whether it’s a compliment or an insult.”
“Why did you side with them?”
“I simply bet on the side with the higher win rate. A perfectly natural, perfectly rational reason, don’t you think?”
“A lot of humans died.”
“I know. But humans were already killing one another. However many died, it wouldn’t have been as many as in the past. In fact, the people at the top would prefer to keep the human population stable. In a very peaceful, standardized place, of course. That would be more useful.”
“You betrayed humanity…”
“How obvious. I wasn’t the only one who betrayed it. You know that, don’t you?”
“Do you not feel any remorse?”
“Let’s see. It’s not that I feel no remorse. When I had to kill civilians, it did sting a little. And when I had to betray that cute little mage who loved me, it hurt too. Love at first sight with a fated partner you just happen to meet—thinking about that naive young lady makes me laugh. Pfft. I never imagined she’d actually take her own life. Why did she do that? I wanted to use her a little longer. I suppose she couldn’t bear the guilt.”
“You…”
“It hurt, too, when I watched the emperor’s queen, who loved her people, kill herself before their eyes. But it was something that had to be done. Necessary work. Even when I watched the hero forced to witness the death of the woman he loved, it tore at me. He seemed to think he had been betrayed by all of you. Hah. You really should have handled those misunderstandings better.”
“You… who are you? Who the hell are you?”
“That’s none of your concern. No, more than that, this is a little strange. I never expected you to react this passionately. It seems there really is a difference between people who die connected to those they love and people who just die.”
“……”
“You can’t exactly call yourself a saint either, Kim Hyunsung.”
“You…”
“You hypocritical piece of trash.”
“I asked you who you were…”
“Didn’t I say you didn’t need to know? Besides, even if I told you, you wouldn’t remember anyway. What matters now is what you should do to survive.”
“I’ll kill you.”
“Don’t act noble, trash. You don’t have a choice.”
“……”
“Of course, I know it’ll be hard. So let’s do this, Kim Hyunsung. I’m not such a bad person that I won’t give you a way to cling to the bare minimum of your conscience. Kill the bastard panting beside you. Otherwise, your beloved lover dies. Ah, or is she not really a lover? I’m not sure how to phrase it. You two did do it, didn’t you?”
“You bastard…”
“Again, you don’t have a choice. If you refuse, that bitch gets handed over to a bunch of perverted freaks who aren’t even human, and she’ll spend the whole day having a very rewarding time. You’d better choose before my patience runs out… Of course, I keep my promises. Unlike some people, I’m very good at keeping them….”
“……”
“Pfft!”
“……”
“See, sister? I told you I’d do it. Ahhh, of course. I’ll keep my promise. I’ll let that guy live, and I’ll let that woman go too. It’s a little too wasteful to kill them here. Of course. They can’t die here. I’ll make sure to explain it well to the people above, too. Ah, I’ll head back soon. Don’t worry, my dear.”
“……”
“……”
“Good work, Kim Hyunsung. I’m not sure how to say goodbye, but… hmm. I think this will do. See you again next time.”
Crack!
“Ah.”
My eyes flew open in an instant.
My back was soaked with cold sweat.
For a moment, the clammy sensation soured my mood, but when I lifted my head, the familiar ceiling came into view.
I’m back. I came back, right?
It was a question I asked myself several times a day.
Without a doubt, I had returned.
This wasn’t the place I had been before. It was unmistakably the Blue Guild house.
A sword hung on one wall of the room.
Another sword lay on the bed.
The plain room, so spare it was almost bare of any interior decoration, was unquestionably my room.
The blood scent that had always clung to my body was gone.
Instead of screams, bestial howls, or cries begging to be saved, all I could hear were the birds welcoming morning.
Rather than dark, ominous mana, I could feel bright light pouring in.
It had been a long time since I last dreamed of what happened before.
Even longer since it had felt this real.
I could still feel the disgusting sensation of driving a blade into a dying comrade’s chest.
Even the conversation we had then, and the atmosphere of that place, remained vivid.
It was only natural that my mood had turned rotten in an instant. Before I knew it, every muscle in my body had tightened.
My breathing grew more ragged, and my head started to spin.
A wave of dry heaving rose up for no reason, and all sorts of thoughts began devouring my mind.
As one memory after another from the past surfaced, I finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and vomited everything in my stomach onto the floor.
“Hah… hah…”
It went without saying that I grabbed my trembling arms tightly.
Things are different now.
Of course they were different now.
There had been no accident in the Tutorial, and I had saved a great many people.
Things are different now.
I had corrected as many of my mistakes as possible. At the very least, I had fixed every mistake I’d made up to this point. There wasn’t a single thing left weighing on me.
“It’s different. It’s not like before. It’s definitely different….”
I had found Jung Hayan from the start, and Kim Yeri had begun with us too.
The fact that I’d been able to kill Jung Jinho in the Tutorial Dungeon was a tremendous achievement.
Of course, there were still plenty of people to find and plenty of work to do, but I had to admit that I’d built up a certain foundation.
It could be called just the beginning, but I’d landed on a very good starting line.
That was the right way to put it.
Compared to before, things had changed beyond imagination.
This wasn’t something that could be explained as merely “the situation improved.”
The world itself had been overturned.
And it was obvious who had stood at the center of that change.
An exceptional talent I had never seen in the first turn.
Lee Kiyoung.
He was the sort of talent I had never found in the first turn. Park Deokgu, who followed training so faithfully, was one example; and Lee Kiyoung, who handled everything from public relations to every part of the party, was even more so.
His role as a mage or alchemist was still hard to expect too much from, but that wasn’t all that made Lee Kiyoung valuable.
A capable man.
To call him merely capable felt like an understatement. He was an absurdly gifted talent.
Even from where I stood watching him, it felt as if he were working magic.
He had maneuvered us into Blue under favorable conditions and built ties with the Mercenary Queen.
He had also succeeded in recruiting the previously unheard-of talent, Sun Heeyoung, into the guild.
It almost felt as though he’d contributed more to the party than I had.
That wasn’t all.
The alliance between the Black Swan and the Red Mercenary Company, which had once been on bad terms—if this had been the first turn, it would have been an unimaginable sight.
The future has changed.
And in a very positive direction.
Endless, unrelenting war had killed or twisted an enormous number of talents.
From the very beginning, many noncombat classes had been caught up in the struggles of those in power, whether they wanted to be or not.
It was only natural that I’d thought we needed to build a foundation where people like that could grow from the start.
I had expected a positive change, but the situation was even better than I’d imagined.
There’s a reason people call it the butterfly effect.
A small flap of wings can create a typhoon.
Seeing it happen for real left me practically dumbfounded.
A tiny connection made in a place I never could have predicted was now transforming Lindel.
And in a very positive direction, at that.
Of course, it wasn’t good to change the future too drastically, but at least at this moment, it wasn’t a bad current.
I need to stockpile.
Now was the time to build up strength as much as possible.
Just as I was thinking that, a voice came from outside.
“Hey, mister.”
“Yes, Park Deokgu.”
“It’s time for breakfast. Hyung-nim and noona, and the kid and the priest lady are all waiting too.”
“Yes. I’ll be out shortly. Sorry for oversleeping….”
“You’re usually up early every day. If you’re sleeping in, did you have a rough night or something?”
“Something like that.”
“What, did you have an erotic dream or something?”
“……”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Everyone’s waiting, so hurry up and come down.”
“Yes. Thanks for coming to get me.”
Things could change.
Somewhere deep in my chest, an indescribable unease was surging, but still, I was certain they could be changed.
That was why I had started this second turn, and why I had made a choice so I wouldn’t regret it.
When you looked at it one way, it was an act of atonement for everyone.
I can change things.
I’ll change the future.
That was the very reason I came back here.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
“Not at all, Kim Hyunsung.”
“Then I’ll explain the direction the party should move in from here on out.”
“Yes.”
“I’d like everyone to eat while listening in a relaxed atmosphere.”
“Yes.”
“This is about upgrading our specs, raising our stats, and class advancement.”
“A new job?”
“Yes, that’s right.”