Chapter 10
TL/N: Changing Residual Thought to Residual Sentiment
Chapter 10 - What I Left Behind
It took me a very long time to regain my senses.
I don't remember exactly, but I must have sat there in a daze for at least an hour. The giant rats even bit my legs thinking I was dead.
"... Let's calm down. Right."
I took a deep breath. Then I got up while gradually filling my body with tension again.
Looking beyond the endless sewer passage that stretched like an abyss, leaving the corpse behind. The sound of water is particularly chilling. I kept my senses fully open, not letting go of the tension.
'I'm okay. I'm... okay. For now at least.'
Anyway, what's important now is the fact that I've already died here.
And now I'm in a state of resurrection after death. Because I had lost my memories, I thought I was just starting my adventure now.
In other words, combining these facts.
It means there's something dangerous lurking in this sewer that could kill me.
"First, it seems there's no... residual sentiment here."
I immediately held up the lantern but it showed no reaction. It just flickers slightly, continuously scattering dark light towards the opposite passage.
"Is it over there?"
The lantern flashed brightly as if understanding my words.
I barely suppressed the urge to vomit and moved away from my corpse. Then I stared at the lantern for a while.
[Name: Izanami's Heart]
[Correction: Past life memory restoration, partial ability restoration, sentiment 2x stack impossible]
[Details: Death God Caius's contract item. Maintains corpse and residual sentiment until next life upon death, enabling recovery of some abilities and memories. Corpses left by this item's effect can be touched by others but are not recognized.]
[Number of possible enhancements: 0]
I rechecked the item's detailed description that I had carelessly passed over earlier. I read it several times and paused at the last part.
'... The corpse isn't recognized by others?'
Then this situation is strange. The corpse is on the cart, but there's no residual sentiment. Anyone can see that someone moved my corpse.
As I was confused by the gap between the situation before my eyes and the information, a notification window inevitably appeared.
[Detailed Information - Unique Item: Izanami's Heart]
[While the corpse cannot be recognized by anyone except the lantern's owner, if it becomes too separated from the death location, the boundary between past and present life becomes unclear and others begin to recognize it.]
"Hmm."
So because my corpse moved away from the death point for some reason, it started becoming visible to others?
I looked at the sewage flowing right beside me. The most likely reason in this situation would be... that I fell into the sewage while dying and floated away.
The corpse on the cart was soaked in sewage too. I nodded slightly.
"......"
I swallowed hard and turned my gaze toward the darkness the lantern was pointing at. It seems my guess about the corpses being moved by the yellow cart wasn't wrong.
Since I didn't die here, while the corpse could be moved, the residual sentiment must still be there.
'Which means... whatever killed me is probably there too.'
A reasonable suspicion. At least it can't hurt to be careful.
I nodded firmly and began walking down the passage with muffled steps.
Screech, screech!
As I took each step, there was a group of small creatures darting past beneath my feet. They were rats.
... No, let me correct that. Not a group of small creatures. They were seriously large for rats.
Giant sewer rats bigger than nutrias swarmed past me.
"Ugh!"
I unconsciously rubbed my arms and quickly pressed against the wall.
The rats paid no attention to me and ran their own way. Soon many groups passed by me and disappeared into the passage beyond.
'I, I aged ten years from that.'
I wiped my chest. Then I took in the few rats that hadn't yet disappeared from view. As always until now, a panel appeared.
[Monster Information]
[Name: Hunting Rat]
[HP: 21 MP: 0]
[Strength: 3 Agility: 6 Intelligence: 1]
[Details: A creature that dominates the sewers of northern Mittelland border. Cunning, fast, and violent.]
"These were monsters too?"
I muttered while fixing my gaze on the top of the appeared panel.
Monster.
According to Minerva's explanation, they were beings summoned from various dimensions by someone called Diana something who supposedly consumed the old world once. They're also like minions that demon kings command.
Are these small(?) ones before my eyes also one of those species?
I nodded. Then I carefully observed the large rats with their glossy black bodies. I muttered without realizing.
'Then... if I catch these, can I level up?'
I compared my status with the hunting rats' status. My level is 5. My stats are much higher too. There aren't many rats left either. Should be doable at this level, right?
Swoosh! I raised my sword without hesitation. Then I carefully approached the few rats lingering around.
Screech?
The rats sensed my approach and quickly turned their gaze.
But even after noticing me, they didn't show any particular hostility, and were busy tearing apart some remains with their heads buried in the ground. What you'd call a 'non-aggressive monster' I guess.
I swallowed once and took a deep breath. Then I immediately kicked off.
"Heeyah! Die!"
I plunged the sword right into the back of a defenseless Hunting Rat.
Squelch! A flesh-splitting sound rings out. Simultaneously, an unpleasant sensation stings my palm. I quickly pulled out the sword in horror. The sword came out smoothly, as if cutting through tofu.
[Learned how to use the skill 'Back Stab.]
Such a panel appeared amid the chaos. I dismissed it without properly looking at it.
Blood seeped profusely from the rat's torn back. The rat I stabbed died sprawled on the ground without even managing a proper scream.
Is the sword sharp, or am I strong? I alternately stared at the sword and the rat's corpse in bewilderment.
Squeak! Squeak!
But what followed was the problem.
A red-eyed rat seemed to cry out toward the sky, and all the surrounding rats followed suit.
The rats moved in unison and soon surrounded me from all directions. It happened before I could make my next move.
'This is insane... they're fast!'
I frantically surveyed my surroundings. The rats that surrounded me in an instant numbered around 10.
This is bad. It seemed other rats hiding nearby had gathered too. No wonder they're called Hunting Rats. Their hunting prowess flows as naturally as water.
I raised my sword straight again and focused on my footwork. I intended to respond wherever they might spring from.
I realized immediately after that it wouldn't be as easy as I thought.
Squeak―!
The rats charged simultaneously from ten directions.
I stumbled backward in panic, swinging my sword wildly.
"W-wait, time out! This is cheating, you bastards! Argh! My leg!"
The fight devolved into a messy brawl.
Rats hit by my wild sword swings were split in two, while the others clung to me and bit frantically.
I only managed to cut down four of them. A burning pain surged through my limbs. My body felt heavier with rats clinging to me.
"Get off!!"
I tried desperately to shake off the rats, but it was futile. Their bite force was so strong that it felt like my skin would tear off with them. Finally, I took drastic measures.
Splash! I jumped straight into the sewage flowing in the center of the sewer.
Squeak! Squeak!
The rats hurriedly released me and began swimming. The sewer's depth was about 1 meter, only reaching up to my waist.
I immediately raised my sword.
"Dieeee!"
I screamed and stabbed down at the swimming rats one by one with my sword. Squelch! The rats died helplessly as their bodies were cut in half.
Stab, stab, stab! The horrifying sound of flesh splitting and the sword hitting the water surface rang out. Sewage splashed up repeatedly along with purple blood.
I continued until no rats were visible around me. I repeated it as if possessed.
"Huff... huff... hah."
Silence fell.
Only then did I come to my senses and lower my sword. Then I surveyed my surroundings.
It was filled with rat corpses split in half. I quietly watched as they floated in the sewage, slowly drifting with the current. I somehow managed to put the sword at my waist and spread out my hands to look at them.
They were trembling violently. Whether from gripping the sword too tightly, from pain, or from fear - I'm not sure.
"I-I almost died."
This wasn't an exaggeration.
When all the rats charged at once, biting my head, shoulders, knees, and feet, I thought I was done for. Without that moment of quick thinking, I would have died.
"Ugh... I'm dying."
I climbed out of the sewer with a groan.
My pants and shirt were stained black, giving off a nauseating smell. I gently touched my wounds where blood was flowing freely. It stung terribly.
'Still, these aren't... no.'
However, there was a fundamental difference from the wounds on my past life's corpse. Those were stab wounds from blades, while my current wounds were tears and rips.
As I pondered seriously, a fanfare shattered my train of thought.
[Level Up!]
[Gained 3 ability points.]
[Gained 1 skill enhancement point.]
So it says.
I let out a hollow laugh and concentrated. Soon, along with a sense of exhaustion, panels appeared - one showing my status on the left, and another showing my skill list on the other side.
[Name: Park Jeong-yong]
[Title: 163417413th Hero. Guardian of the Demon King's Egg. One Bound to Immortality]
[LV. 6]
[HP: 67/150 MP: 96/120 Physical Status: Laceration, Bleeding(Minor), Risk of Infection]
[Strength: 15 Agility: 18 Intelligence: 10 Hero Sense: 3]
[Remaining Ability Points: 3]
'Looking at it like this, it really is just like a game.'
I smirked while reading the panels before me. Then I carefully examined my aching body again.
Level up.
Then you get ability enhancement points and strengthen abilities.
Skills seem to be generated based on my actions. When leveling up, you can either learn new ones or enhance existing skills.
"Survival comes first for now..."
I invested 2 points in agility and 1 in health. For health, each point increased it by about 15. I'm not sure if it increases proportionally to my total health or if it's fixed at 15.
Until level 5, I inherited what my past self had raised. My current self doesn't know exactly what was raised. I just hope they didn't make a useless build.
'Next is skills…'
Looking at the changed status window with satisfaction, I noticed something strange.
[Skill List]
[Unique Skill: Mimir’s eye (Passive) LV.1 ― Upgradeable]
[Legendary Skill: Divine Favor (Passive) LV.1 ― Upgradeable]
[Unique Skill: Death God's Favor (Passive) LV.13 ― Upgradeable]
[Unique Skill: Ether Collection (Passive) LV.1 - Upgradeable]
[Relic Skill: Prometheus (Passive) LV.1 ― Upgradeable]
[Common Skill: Back Stab(Active) LV.0 - Learnable]
[Remaining Skill Enhancement Points: 1]
One skill was already at a higher level.
While other skills were normal, only one skill was unusually high. I immediately fell into confusion.
'What's going on? Could it be my past life?'
But I clearly heard from Minerva that past life skills aren't inherited until memories are restored. Then is this a bug? Should I report this to the GM(?)?
Eventually, I focused my attention on the Death God's Favor skill. Seeing is believing, so I checked the detailed description.
[Skill Information]
[Name: Death God's Favor LV. 13]
[Effect: Upon death, 38% (20+18) of current life experience points are inherited to the next life.]
[Details: A special skill for Egg Guardians. Inheritance amount is adjusted by 1.5% per level.]
[Special Note: This skill is applied to the contractor through an independent contract with Death God Thanatix. Level does not reset even after death.]
"Hmm..."
Reading the details, I'm not sure what it means. But since it's clearly written in the description, it probably isn't a bug. From what I understand.
"... Double contract?"
Separate from the contract made with the Immortal Demon King as an Egg Guardian, Death God's Favor is a skill that works because of a separate contract made with the Death God.
So it seems they don't interfere with each other.
'Wait... That means?'
I shook my head quickly.
That's not what's important right now. What's important is that through this skill, I can deduce one piece of information about my past life.
And quite serious information at that.
'If 38 percent of experience points were inherited and I'm at level 5... my past life level was at most 13.'
But that's just a simple calculation. In reality, there are variables. When you level up, the required experience points for the next level increases.
In any game, leveling up becomes increasingly difficult as you repeat it. Since this system is the same, my past life probably didn't reach level 13.
But then. One critical contradiction arises.
'If the level didn't exceed 13... how is the skill level at 13?'
From what I just experienced. You get 1 skill point per level up.
So if you haven't reached at least level 13, it's impossible for the skill level to be 13.
At that moment. One hypothesis flashed through my mind like a beam of light.
"No way..."
My head feels dizzy. Because one shocking conclusion was drawn.
Though I was afraid to even say it. I finally muttered with a hollow laugh.
Because no matter how I thought about it, there was no other answer.
"I guess... I didn't die just once here?"
It seems I've fallen into an endless hell with no answer.