Chapter 2
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Opportunity
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Right after his consciousness faded.
Ullan's vision turned pitch black for an instant.
He was swallowed by a vast darkness. A space where he felt neither senses nor the flow of time.
How much time passed like that?
Suddenly, his vanished consciousness began to recover slowly. Like embers reigniting. With it, memories he'd thought forgotten resurfaced one by one.
What? Isn't everything supposed to end when you die?
Why are my memories suddenly coming back?
Just as bewilderment swept over him.
[…Failure]
[Memories… preserved… Restart…]
It was a profoundly alien voice, utterly devoid of emotion. As if it didn't belong to this world.
But before he could even question it.
Light pierced the murky darkness.
Ullan snapped his eyes open.
The first thing he saw was the tent ceiling.
A vividly embroidered red pattern gleamed in his pupils. Soon, wind blew in from outside the tent.
Vast, open plains.
Ullan blinked vacantly.
'This place…'
Where he was born and raised.
The northern continent's plains. Ullan's homeland.
What the hell? Was he still reminiscing about his past life? Questions bubbled up unbidden, and without thinking, he pinched his cheek hard.
Crunch!
It hurt. Ullan jolted in surprise.
Not because of the pain. He couldn't feel the thick beard that should have run from his ear to his jaw.
Then.
He noticed the basin beside the bed.
Full of warm water.
Ullan approached it as if drawn by a spell. And as he peered into the calm surface.
"…!?"
His eyes filled with shock.
No wonder. The reflection was a youthful Ullan. His face from boyhood.
It wasn't just his face that had changed.
The agonizing pain that had wracked his body was gone without a trace. In its place was a clean, muscular torso.
Ullan muttered blankly.
"I clearly died…"
Then he startled again.
His voice was different too.
As confusion refused to settle. Voices chattering outside the tent caught his ear.
"Truly an amazing lad."
"Indeed."
"Who would've thought he'd pass the Hero's Trial."
"So the next chieftain is Ullan?"
"Haha! Of course!"
"No warrior across all the plains could beat Ullan, after all."
Boisterous chatter.
Hearing it, Ullan recalled experiencing this exact situation long ago.
'…Hero's Trial.'
It was late summer at sixteen.
Ullan, who had passed the warrior's test early, had once challenged his clan's legend.
An ancient ruin on the village outskirts.
Teeming with monsters and golems, the clan called it the Hero's Cave.
Challenging the cave, slaying every monster, and retrieving the token at its end was the Hero's Trial.
'Those who pass the trial…'
Shall obtain one thing they desire.
A legend to that effect.
The hot-blooded sixteen-year-old Ullan had challenged it, barely succeeding after a ten-day struggle.
As memories resurfaced up to that point.
Suddenly, his eyes widened.
'Right, the Hero's Token!'
Having passed the trial, the token should be there.
He hurriedly rummaged around.
Then realized the Hero's Token hung around his neck. But one key difference.
'The gem is gone.'
Originally, a large gem was embedded in its center. The very gem that had glowed before he lost consciousness.
Now, the spot was empty. As if someone had pried it out. Amid the confusion.
Flutter!
Someone entered the tent.
A tall young man.
Lean, muscular build; reddish-brown hair; pale crimson eyes.
"Ullan. You're finally awake?"
A warm gaze.
He spoke with a smile.
"Congratulations on passing the Hero's Trial. I'm proud to have you as my brother."
Familiar face. Familiar voice.
Meeting his eyes.
Ullan muttered blankly.
"…Brother?"
Alk Bator.
Ullan's blood brother, six years his senior.
And a family member long gone from the world. Alk had died the winter before Ullan turned seventeen.
'But how…'
Is my brother here?
Ullan's eyes quivered faintly.
Noticing it, Alk spoke with concern.
"If you're not feeling well, say the word anytime. You're our pride now—the clan's hope."
Warm words.
Alk turned to leave.
"Preparations are nearly done. I'll call you when it's time—rest a little longer."
He had a good guess what "preparations" meant. The village always held a festival to celebrate passing the Hero's Trial.
But now.
Ullan had no interest in any festival.
No—more accurately, he had no time to spare on such trifles.
'Let's sort this out.'
Ullan had died in his final clash with Giant King Largtan. Yet opening his eyes, he'd returned to the moment he passed the Hero's Trial.
And the Hero's Token, said to grant any wish, remained—its massive gem conspicuously absent.
Putting it together.
Ullan assessed his situation.
'I've gone back in time.'
A chance to live again.
That had been his wish. And now, it had come true perfectly.
'If that's truly the case…'
This very moment.
Ullan had seized the opportunity he'd craved.
A body and weapons far stronger than his previous life. A chance to cleave monster skulls!
'I won't let it slip this time.'
Ullan's eyes gleamed.
The gaze of one who clutched opportunity tight.
2.
Boom! Dong-dong-dong!
Loud drums resounded.
Flames roared skyward amid raucous cheers. The festival celebrating his Hero's Trial triumph had begun.
The plains clan drank deeply.
They feasted and reveled, forgetting tomorrow in the joy of now. As the mood peaked. Silence suddenly blanketed the area.
Thud. Thud.
Someone emerged.
A woman draped in enormous snake skin.
A beauty appearing late thirties. Black hair braided to her waist swayed with each step.
She halted.
At the village center. Ullan sat before her. She pointed her feather-adorned staff at him.
"Plains warrior, Ullan Bator."
"Ullan! Ullan!"
Her words ended, and warriors everywhere struck weapons against the ground. Cheers of support, respect, and acclaim for Ullan.
"You have achieved the feat of challenging the legend and passing the trial. Show the proof of your passage."
Her words barely finished.
Ullan silently handed over the necklace.
After scrutinizing it awhile, she bared white teeth in a grin.
"Hmm. Verily, the Hero's Token."
"…"
Ullan, by contrast, looked deflated.
Without the gem that should have been there, he'd expected rejection as the Hero's Token.
'I'd even prepared excuses…'
Who knew it'd pass so easily.
A hollow feeling crept in.
Her shout rang out.
"Thus, warrior Ullan has fulfilled the proof to be named Hero. If any object to this rite, step forth now!"
Silence reigned.
No objections. After scanning the crowd, she beamed and bellowed.
"Then, with all in agreement, I recognize warrior Ullan as Hero!"
"Waaaaaaaaaah!"
"Hero Ullan!"
Earth-shaking cheers erupted.
All voices blessing Ullan.
Meanwhile, his mind wandered elsewhere.
'I'm sixteen now.'
Some thirty years back.
He'd died at forty-five in his past life. Roughly gauging the span, Ullan surveyed his surroundings.
Familiar faces abounded.
Including the woman leading the Hero's rite.
'Shaman Ajuh.'
She looked mid-thirties outwardly, but was over seventy. Her youth endured thanks to her shaman prowess.
'She brewed an elixir of immortality, right?'
Something like that.
Later, Ajuh wandered the continent, returning to the plains just shy of sixty.
'Back then, I pegged her as a youth-obsessed, greedy crone…'
Prejudice on his part.
In truth, Ajuh was a wise shaman and priestess. Renowned even beyond the plains.
As these thoughts swirled.
A voice shattered them.
"Now, choose. Hero Ullan!"
Her staff pointed to the altar.
Ajuh bellowed.
"Rewards befitting your deed await. Pick whatever you desire!"
Three rewards.
A blue-glowing spear.
A seductively smiling beauty and a flag emblazoned with the clan crest.
Each held distinct meaning.
'Choosing the weapon first means…'
Dedicating oneself to protect the clan. The beauty: siring strong heirs for the clan's future. The flag: leading the clan as chieftain.
'Back then, I said…'
I want all three.
He yielded nothing, believing himself worthy.
And took them all.
But now, his thinking had changed.
'The blue spear.'
A fine weapon, sure. But such arms littered the world beyond the plains.
'The clan's fairest beauty.'
Pretty face, ample curves. Nothing more. Outside, lovelier temptresses sparkled like stars.
'And the chieftain's flag.'
That didn't suit him either.
A chieftain needed wisdom, not just brawn. Ullan learned that at forty.
In short, nothing there appealed.
Ullan coldly weighed his true desires. Three goals crystallized.
'First: reach the superhuman realm.'
Claim a body and power eclipsing his past life. Only then could he stand against the Abyss lords unyielding.
'Second: secure a mighty weapon.'
His old axe was a treasure laden with blessings. Top ten strongest in the world.
Yet even it shattered against Giant King Largtan. This time: something superior.
'Third: amass knowledge.'
Strength wasn't everything.
Building and leading a force demanded wisdom. Knowledge would prove useful in many ways.
And one more reason.
Long ago, he'd overheard Ajuh mention it. Beyond the plains lay a repository of all the world's knowledge.
'Arsen Academy.'
The continent's premier institution, a true bastion of learning, birthing countless luminaries.
Surely clues to the superhuman realm lurked there. Perhaps even paths to mighty arms.
Mere conjecture, of course.
But a sliver of hope? Ullan would grasp it.
'To enter the academy, though…'
Basic knowledge was essential.
Arsen's entrance exam was infamous for rigor. And Ullan? A notorious dullard. The clan's thickest skull.
No cause for worry, however.
'Ajuh's here.'
The clan's finest shaman.
She'd roamed the continent young, horizons broadened. Now, the most learned soul among them.
'Perfect mentor.'
Aim for Arsen Academy enrollment. Learn from Ajuh. Eyes alight with resolve, Ullan turned.
And spoke.
"Nothing there is what I want."
His words landed.
The venue stirred briefly.
But only for a moment.
"Silence!"
A resounding command.
Silence descended. Ajuh's gaze returned to Ullan.
"Hero. Then what do you desire?"
With the question.
Ullan replied at once.
"I desire learning."
"Learning, yes…! What?"
Ajuh, nodding sagely, suddenly gaped. As if beholding a ghost. Utterly stunned.
"Shaman Ajuh."
Ullan remained earnest.
He bowed deeply to her.
"Teach me."
The day a hero was born on the plains.
The raucous festival fell utterly still.
As if doused with ice water.
1. Opportunity