Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Return
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I opened my eyes in the darkness.
It was startling how my vision, which had been drenched in blood-red just moments ago, was now a peaceful, gentle black.
Was I dreaming now that death had come?
Or had some survivor who made it out alive put me in a coffin and buried me in the ground?
But this place where I lay felt far too spacious to be some confined coffin.
So where the hell was I? Hadn't the world just perished in that horrific darkness?
"What in the world is going on..."
I muttered to myself in bewilderment.
The voice that slipped from my lips was so soft and pure, it felt utterly unfamiliar, like listening to a stranger.
But it wasn't just my vision and voice that felt strange.
The savage wounds from my final battle in life, and the agony they brought, had vanished clean away.
The lethal scars that had piled up like medals over years of a rough, brutal existence were gone.
Just lying still, there was no need to swallow back the usual blood-tinged coughs, no sensation of my body dying on its own.
Humans truly know nothing of the afterlife.
If someone died and came back to life, they'd no longer be human—they'd be a living god.
So was this serene, quiet, gentle stretch of time and space the rest after death?
I sat up to observe my death—and the afterlife—a bit more closely.
"Even the world of Afterlife Rest has beds... What a nice place."
First, I confirmed the white, fluffy bed beneath me.
"Not the highest grade, but the standard bed I saw all the time at the academy. Well, how many dying folks get luxury beds anyway..."
I pressed down hard on the mattress, muttering nonsense.
Top-grade, high-grade, semi-high, standard, mid-grade, low-grade, scrap...
Amid the meaningless words buzzing chaotically in my head like flies, a sudden oddity struck me.
"Academy?"
Engraved boldly on the bed frame was a pattern all too familiar, one I couldn't forget even in death.
The majestic Lion Mark, symbol of the Imperial Academy, Leone.
Leone was the continent's premier educational institution, built to honor the Sephiros Empire's founding emperor, known as the Lion-Hearted King.
The school I'd attended back in my green, fuzzy-headed rookie days.
And the very place where my life had completely fallen apart, spiraling into uncontrollable ruin.
The world had ended, yet death was taking the form of my academy dorm bed? That was too bizarre.
I whipped my head around frantically, scanning my surroundings.
Now that my cognition and judgment had returned, I saw it wasn't just the bed that caught my eye.
No doubt about it. This was Leone Academy's dormitory—my room.
My roommate's empty bed and filthy desk looked painfully familiar in their mess.
In stark contrast, seeing my own desk neatly organized felt profoundly strange.
I slipped out of bed and, with trembling hands, yanked open the blackout curtains.
"......."
Bright sunlight poured through the glass into the room.
Outside, cherry blossoms fluttered through the spring sky.
Seeing students in casual clothes chattering as they wandered about on this beautiful April day, it had to be the weekend.
Stumbling into the bathroom, I stared into the mirror.
The cold, savage man steeped in booze, blood, murder, and darkness was nowhere to be seen.
In his place was just an innocent young master who looked like he'd grin at the world without a care.
I slapped my still-pale, glossy skin until it stung, pinched it hard.
The pain felt vividly real, so it didn't seem like a dream.
"Have I gone back to the past?"
I muttered, feeling utterly deflated.
Could time really go mad and rewind like this?
I'd never imagined the regression I'd craved so desperately would happen at the very moment the world ended.
Maybe this was just some hallucination after death?
But whether I'd truly returned to the past or it was a hallucination, it didn't matter much.
A hallucination was meaningless illusion by nature...
And even if it was real, the world's end was set, so no real difference.
This world was on borrowed time.
Not figuratively—literally, it would perish in about ten years from now.
One day, an incomprehensible, colossal being with immense power appeared out of nowhere, trampling and slaughtering all lesser creatures.
That entity had shown up so abruptly, putting an end to this world—and it had mercilessly sentenced me to death too.
'You're... the last one...'
Those were its only words, first and last...
Some might wonder: death or apocalypse foreseen, why not prepare now that you're back?
But it wasn't something humans could possibly stop.
Because even I—the strongest existence—had failed against it.
Embarrassing as it is to say, I'd gone from a naive youth to an indescribably mighty existence after countless ordeals.
Under these vast skies, only one person could overpower me with raw strength.
Yet even I, and my master the great witch who could control me, failed against that apocalyptic being that descended upon the mortal world.
Before its hollow eyes that shook heaven and earth, and its overwhelming power, we were all powerless.
On that final day, in that final moment, we were defeated—and met our ends.
Not in some distant past, but just moments ago.
Yet that "moments ago" was now ten years in the future again. This world was truly unknowable.
In the end, we knew nothing of its origins, its power, or why it came. Preparation was futile.
And honestly... I had no confidence I'd win even if we fought again.
So what should I do with this second chance at life?
Despair over foretold death, tremble in anxiety, waste away the days?
Or thrash about desperately, trying to become some hero to avert the end?
No. Ten years isn't short.
Enough time for mountains to change, people to transform a thousand times.
No need for noble missions to save the world or quaking in fear of doom.
Aren't those ten years—or even one—worth living to the fullest now that I can?
If the world has ten years left, how vital is it to fill them with satisfaction?
This regression was something I'd once madly craved in my life.
There were days I'd have sold my soul to the devil just to go back.
So becoming a full, happy pig matters most to me.
I'll change the futures I can shape to my taste.
Whether mine or those of the people dear to me.
Even if doom comes in ten years, until then, everyone can smile happily.
For now, the fact that I'm here at the academy, unharmed, is crucial.
I don't know the exact point in time yet.
But no irreversible events have happened. That's certain.
Beep-beep—beep-beep—
Right on cue, the communication magic tool on my desk blared noisily.
An old model I'd all but forgotten over the long years—quite a nostalgic sight.
A communication tool for simple texts with those whose mana was registered.
I recalled that in the future right before death, it had been refined and upgraded quite a bit.
Advanced enough for voice and even video calls—I'd been pretty shocked.
But this early version only handled basic text.
Anyway, at this point in time, few people would ping my old comm tool so insistently.
Sender: Rizli de Gracia
Rizli♥: Ras, you didn't forget our cherry blossom viewing plans today and sleep in all this time, right? If you're late, I'll really scold you bad~?
Rizli de Gracia. This woman was once my fiancée.
A glamorous rose of a woman who filled my young days with her alluring figure and scent—my first love.
And the blood-sworn enemy who dragged my life into the abyss.
Thinking how ironically painful the date of my return was, I let out a hollow chuckle.
April 7th, 998.
The day Rizli and I went cherry blossom viewing.
That afternoon, the cherry blossoms and magnolias bloomed in wild profusion.
The world was filled with sweet floral scents, and Rizli granted me a kiss she'd never allowed before.
The naive kid obsessed with romance lost his soul to that sweet kiss.
And that beautiful spring night...
Instead of fresh moonflower, a sticky flower of adultery bloomed in her garden.
I still couldn't forget that foul scent.
"Can't change the apocalypse, but I can change the future."
Grinning, I picked up the comm tool, sent a reply, and quickly got ready to head out.
No need for fancy primping—this era's me was fresh-faced and brimming with youth.
Time to take the first step toward ten years of comfort and satisfaction.
A delightful time to meet my nemesis.