The Same Soul from Another World (1)
Three hundred years ago, one day.
The world changed overnight.
An unknown substance permeated Earth's atmosphere.
People later named it mana.
The result was a nightmare—90% of the global population vanished.
Centuries passed.
By then, everyone in the world fell into one of four categories.
First: Mana Rejectors, those who still couldn't accept mana even after the world changed. Cursed from birth, mana acted as poison in their bodies.
Incompatible with mana, they rarely survived past their early to mid-twenties before their internal organs—especially the heart—ruptured and killed them.
Untouchables, in other words.
Second: Mana Adapters, who could accept mana without any hindrance to daily life. Think ordinary people.
The so-called producer class.
Third: Mana Compatibles, gifted with superior physical abilities thanks to mana. The new humanity.
They grew tougher muscles, blood vessels, and organs upon absorbing mana.
Ninety-nine percent of Awakeners came from their ranks, earning them the nickname "aspiring Awakeners."
From them onward began the true ruling class.
Fourth: the pinnacle elite, Awakeners.
One of the supernatural phenomena science couldn't explain.
Awakening etched a tattoo onto their faces.
A mark of connection to the System.
They grew stronger through the System.
Only Awakeners could face elite monsters and champion monsters.
There was technically a fifth type.
Mines.
Awakeners whose awakenings had gone wrong.
But Mines weren't treated as human, so they didn't count.
The Samhan Empire.
A rising superpower on the Eurasian continent.
Three hundred years ago, it had been called South Korea.
Its territory was vast.
Hence, empire.
Japan's islands had lost half their land to the sea, while the empire claimed the fertile Manchurian breadbasket, lush green Mongolian plains and Gobi steppes, and the factory-packed Primorsky region.
Lieutenant Kim Taeju of the Samhan Imperial Army took a brief rest in a makeshift barracks on Daecheongbong Peak at the Seoraksan Outpost on the eastern coast. He chugged an ice-cold beer can.
"Ahh!"
Finally felt alive.
For a man with a death sentence hanging over him, this was pure bliss.
"Fuck."
The curse slipped out naturally.
A life where death could come any moment.
He'd wanted to spend his last days in some peaceful resort, but here he was, on the front lines where monster battles raged.
Taeju was a Mana Rejector.
Hence, his terminal life.
But as Mana Rejectors went, he'd held out impressively.
At 29, he was still breathing.
However—
"...Ugh."
Sudden agony hit. Taeju clutched his chest and collapsed.
"Sh-shit!"
The seizures came periodically, but they'd grown more frequent over the past few days.
"Gah! Grraaah!"
He writhed on the bed, groaning in pain, but no one entered the barracks.
Was this anything new?
If anything, more people hoped he'd just die.
He was trash who couldn't handle mana—an untouchable.
And yet, that trash was a lieutenant in the Samhan Empire.
How?
Taeju's father was Master-rank General Kim Ungbang.
He even ruled his own territory.
The Samhan Empire's Paju Territory.
Not a wealthy one.
A plain, small place—poor and insignificant, by some lights.
Still, his father was a general with land. No matter that Taeju was a Mana Rejector, could he really banish his son to the borderlands?
Complicated circumstances.
Kim Taeju, rightful heir to Paju Territory.
But tragically, his birth mother had died giving birth to him.
Afterward, his father remarried.
Honda Mitsui, second daughter of the Kyushu Territory lord in what used to be Japan.
She came to Paju, bore two sons.
From then on, Taeju's position grew ambiguous.
A congenital Mana Rejector.
A fatal flaw for a territory heir.
At first, stepmother Mitsui left him alone.
He'd surely die in his twenties anyway.
She might have stayed the "good stepmom" if things had gone that way, but they twisted oddly.
He passed 20, 25, even 28—and still lived?
Mitsui grew anxious.
Mana Rejectors didn't always die guaranteed.
Rarely, some suddenly Awakened.
Surviving longer boosted the odds.
Actual cases showed Awakenings around the early thirties.
What if Taeju Awakened?
Untouchable to ruling elite overnight?
Her own sons would be swept into the river like duck eggs.
So she nagged her husband to ship Taeju to Seoraksan Outpost.
A general's son lounging at home at 29? Unthinkable.
He needed action, fighting monsters—to raise his Awakening odds.
Father Kim Ungbang pretended to relent.
Truth was, his biggest promotion hurdle was his own son, Kim Taeju.
A Master-rank father with a Reject son.
Better if he died fighting monsters.
Military honors for death in action.
That'd help the old man's career.
In the end, Taeju was exiled.
To Seoraksan Outpost.
"Whew."
Thankfully, the heart pain subsided.
Survived another day.
Suddenly!
"Lieutenant Kim, you in there?"
Taeju bolted upright in bed.
"Lieutenant Kim Taeju!"
His direct superior, Lieutenant Jang Indong.
"At ease!"
"At ease."
A quick salute.
"Heard groaning earlier. You okay?"
"Ah! Fine now. All good."
"That's the spirit. Hang in there—opportunities come to survivors."
Lieutenant Jang Indong, one of Taeju's few allies.
From day one at the outpost, he'd comforted and looked out for him.
"What brings you...?"
Jang's face was grim.
"Reassignment."
"Reassignment?"
"From admin to field ops. Orders from above for combat deployment."
"...Out of nowhere?"
Taeju's unit: 51st Regiment, 3rd Battalion, Combat Support Company.
Near-handicapped health meant desk work.
Field combat? Insane.
"Checked around. Can't refuse. Straight from Army GHQ."
"..."
Was this—
Stepmom Mitsui's doing?
Made sense.
Still kicking at 29.
"Even the general's pull didn't sway it."
Or maybe Father pulled the trigger himself.
A general's son dying in action?
Perfect optics.
Die honorably, then.
"Combat's too much yet, so start with recon. No command—just tag along with a squad."
No choice.
He was military.
Orders were orders.
"Who knows? Might snag an Awakening chance. Rares happen even for Rejectors."
Jang clapped his back warmly. A Mana Compatible Awakener—facial tattoo proved it.
"Yes, sir!"
Someday, he'd have a tattoo like Jang's.
If he endured long enough.
Next day.
Taeju on recon with the squad.
Target: Jungcheongbong Peak, not far from Daecheongbong.
Sergeant Go Youngho beckoned Taeju.
"That's orc village territory down there."
Seoraksan's most common monsters: orcs. Mana-mutated wild boars into walking pigs.
Resembling fantasy novel orcs, they got the name.
"Come check with binoculars."
Taeju peered through at the orc village.
Outpost mission: cull orc numbers, prevent village unification.
"Not breeding season yet—safe."
"Got it."
Why bother with orcs? Just wipe 'em.
Mass battles were risky.
Empire assaults unified them.
Small villages? No threat.
A united orc kingdom? Empire headache.
'Hmm, nothing unusual.'
Simple recon.
Observe, drone footage, report. Done.
"Drone?"
"Launch?"
"Yeah."
Clack!
Mechanical whir behind him.
Then—
Prick!
"Ugh!"
Something sharp jabbed his back.
He froze.
"Wh-what?"
"Move and you're done."
Sergeant Go Youngho grinned viciously, razor-sharp longsword to Taeju's back.
"Don't worry. No stabbing. Lieutenant Kim Taeju'll slip on recon, plummet to death."
"What...?"
"Just following orders."
"O-orders?"
"Yessir! Platoon leader's direct command."
Platoon leader—Jang Indong?
"Clear out the trash. Platoon leader's subcontracting. We're sub-sub."
Shit!
Betrayed after all?
Taeju didn't want to die.
He'd fought for every terminal day.
Not like this, pointlessly?
Squad's cold stares.
All in on it.
"Fuck you! You bast—"
"Pfft, weakling."
He fumbled for his hip mana gun, but they snatched it.
"Trash disposal time. At ease!"
"You fuckers!!!"
Go Youngho kicked Taeju.
Thud!
Taeju tumbled off the cliff.
Moments later, Kim Taeju cracked his eyes open.
Dim.
Night?
"Nngh."
Every bone felt shattered.
'Here...'
Mid-cliff.
Snagged on a massive tree mid-fall.
'Gotta move.'
Think he'd die here?
Survive, no matter what.
But!
"Hngh!"
Heart-searing pain struck.
Mana Rejector curse again.
"Grah, grraaah! Guh!"
This was bad.
Pain level off the charts.
'F-fuck!'
Vision blackened.
Heart about to burst.
Dying now?
'...No!'
Body convulsed.
Taeju's eyes lost focus.
They said life flashes before death.
Ambition-blinded father ignoring him, demon stepmom Mitsui, half-brothers always mocking and tormenting.
Why only their faces?
Wish he'd seen Mom's before dying.
Even if he couldn't remember her.
Then.
A vision of another figure.
'Huh?'
An old man, white-haired, sitting cross-legged, eyes closed.
Who?
Never seen him, yet he surfaced in his mind.
'...Hallucination?'
But weirdly familiar.
The more he looked...
Who the hell?
Suddenly, the old man's eyes snapped open.
Stared right at him.
Eyes met.
They gazed for ages.
Souls connecting, somehow.
Finally, the old man smiled faintly.
Knowing eyes.
Taeju realized.
Who he was.
'...Dang Gunak?'
His name.
But more than that.
The old man's lips parted slowly.
'You're...'
No sound, but Taeju knew.
'Me. From another world.'
Yes.
The old man was him.
Same soul.
Name: Dang Gunak.
His world: the martial realm of Jianghu.
And in Jianghu, his moniker was Absolute Poison Demon.
The Same Soul from Another World (1) End
© Koochi Koochi