Reincarnated User Manual

From far away…

At the starting point of the lake, a splash was heard.

Seeing a person being sucked beneath the ice sent a chill down the spine of the onlookers.

“This can’t be…”

Lucia Prient was no exception. She hadn’t immediately recognized the fact that Shiron Prient failed to pass the succession ceremony. It was an unbelievable event.

She had anticipated that out of three, one might not make it through the succession, but she had never considered that it would be Shiron.

‘Why did he fail? What is Shiron lacking?’

Lucia stared intently at the lake. A hole had appeared in the lake she had just passed, a hole that hadn’t been there before. It was the spot where Shiron had been sucked in.

Even when she struck the ice, it had never shown a scratch, yet it astonishingly crumbled miserably when Shiron stepped on it. Even knowing that it wasn’t ordinary ice, her heart sank.

‘If Shiron isn’t qualified, then who is?’

Lucia’s brow furrowed. Her fists clenched in frustration. A succession ceremony where one merely crossed the ice. While she made it, hadn’t Siriel also passed without any issues?

‘A succession ceremony?’

If the purpose of the succession ceremony was to continue the legacy of Kyrie, Lucia, as the reincarnation of Kyrie, was most fitting for this. Up to this point, she had no issues understanding.

Lucia turned her head to see Siriel tightly holding onto Hugo Prient’s sleeve.

Siriel, who was seemingly in the opposite position of Shiron.

The girl appeared frail, as if she couldn’t even harm a bug. At a glance, she looked like the daughter of an ink peddler.

What about Shiron?

Shiron Prient. Lucia’s half-brother. Wielder of the holy sword.

Thus, she began to doubt the criteria, given the fact that Siriel, who was neither the reincarnation of a hero nor a wielder of the holy sword, had passed.

It was not that she particularly wished for Siriel to fail…

As she was deep in thought,

“He has failed.”

Hugo, with his arms crossed, clicked his tongue in disappointment.

His brow slightly furrowed, but Hugo didn’t necessarily feel like blaming Shiron. Even if Shiron failed the succession ceremony, it wasn’t his fault.

‘I hope he doesn’t take it too hard.’

It was just a pity.

Hugo looked down at Lucia, who stood below him. This girl with red hair, similar to his younger brother Glen, had come to Dawn Castle not long ago and had started living with Shiron. According to Yuma, wasn’t she also supposed to be Glen’s daughter?

While Shiron, Glen’s legitimate child, had black hair and eyes, Lucia had red hair with golden eyes. Whether she had inherited it strongly or not, ironically, Lucia’s appearance strikingly resembled a young Glen.

‘Even worse than a poor heir…’

Hugo sighed and stroked his beard. A “worse heir than a legitimate child,” and by any measure, a label of “a worse brother than a younger sibling.” In Hugo’s view, this tag wasn’t any less significant than the former.

The fact that he was the only one to fail the succession ceremony, while his half-sibling and cousin passed, would undoubtedly scar Shiron deeply.

He recalled the face of the Shiron he saw yesterday.

Shiron, who had smiled at Hugo in understanding when Hugo had insulted their father in front of him, had shown dignity beyond his age.

‘So unfortunate.’

Since when did it start? A fragile emotion called sympathy had found a place in Hugo’s heart.

It was by no means impulsive.

Five years ago…

Irina, Shiron’s mother, was buried in a simple funeral.

He still vividly remembers the face of Shiron he saw then.

The child stood blankly, watching the servants as they shed tears.

At six, Shiron was too young to understand the concept of death. Unaware that she was no longer of this world and expecting a response, Shiron wandered the castle, calling for his mother.

‘Yet Glen… that scoundrel didn’t even show his face at the funeral of his own wife.’

Growing up without even the care of a father, let alone a mother, it seemed only natural that Shiron matured early.

Despicable.

Indeed, Glen was truly a bastard.

“…Father, what will happen to Brother Shiron now?”

“… He’ll be alright.”

Hugo exhaled in response to Siriel’s question, his face softening.

“Even in the last succession ceremony, there were those who couldn’t make it through, but all were safe. The ceremony doesn’t exist to kill the children.”

“That’s a relief.”

Siriel grasped a fold of Hugo’s clothing, gazing across the lake at Yuma, anxiously waiting for her to rescue her cousin.

“But why is she just standing there?”

Lucia, who had been intently staring at the lake, squinted. Her gaze had remained fixed on the frozen lake.

It was an impulsive behavior, but now wasn’t the time to worry about such minor improprieties.

“Hasn’t quite a bit of time passed now?”

“…Indeed.”

“Before crossing the lake, Yuma told us she’d rescue him using magic, and we shouldn’t worry. Is she using some time-consuming spell?”

“It shouldn’t be. When I did the succession ceremony, some fell into the lake. But each time, Yuma summoned magic to retrieve them. It didn’t even take a few seconds.”

“Then, why now…”

Lucia had a bad feeling about this.

Hadn’t Yuma herself said she would use magic to rescue him? Yet the horned demon in the distance remained unmoved.

As 10 seconds, then 20 seconds passed…

Even as more time ticked by, Yuma remained still. She simply stood with her eyes closed, her hands brought together in front of her.

Lucia turned her head to look at Hugo, growing more anxious.

“Sir Hugo. If we continue like this, Shiron might die.”

Hugo stroked his chin and lowered his head.

“Yuma is acting odd today. Although Yuma is a demon… hmm… there hasn’t been a situation like this before.”

“If needed, I’ll go in.”

Johan, who had been observing the situation from Hugo’s side, spoke to Lucia.

“It’s not like an outsider interfering with the ritual would cause any problems, right?”

“You know it well.”

At some point, a demon, who had always been unusually kind to Shiron, stood in their way.

“…Encia.”

This move made Lucia’s eyes narrow even more fiercely.

“Are you trying to get Shiron killed?”

---

Could one open their eyes in the icy cold water?

Shiron had worried about that before falling in.

‘This really sucks.’

Even when he was pinned to the bottom of the lake, Shiron squinted. Not because he knew in advance, but simply out of frustration.

‘Why the hell did I sink so suddenly?’

He had been mentally prepared from the moment he took his first step.

‘When would I fall? It should be about time now, right? It feels like the right time to fall…’

However, with every step forward, he gradually deceived himself into thinking he might pass without incident.

He might have been mentally prepared if there had been some sign that the ice was cracking. Regrettably, the lake betrayed Shiron’s expectations quite splendidly. He never expected that the very next step he took after letting his guard down would result in the ground evaporating beneath him.

‘What a damn cruel game.’

While Shiron chewed on his flaring emotions, he simultaneously tried to calm his excitement. The faster his heart raced due to excitement, the less time he would have underwater, and he wanted to avoid that.

With clenched fists shaking, Shiron proceeded forward.

Thanks to the icy water, it was easy to regulate his emotions. All the previous training paid off. Even when submerged in cold water, his body didn’t stiffen.

However, it was darker beneath the ice than he had anticipated.

The light couldn’t penetrate, making the lake seem extremely deep, its unseen depths akin to an abyss that, if sucked into, one might never escape from, inducing fear.

Yet…

Failing the succession ceremony and dying wasn’t scarier. The reincarnator had passed, and even Siriel, who was two years younger, had made it through. The embarrassment of being the only one who didn’t pass was more intolerable.

‘Damn it.’

Shiron swam close to the ice, trying to navigate his way.

He didn’t waste the breath he had taken deeply.

He didn’t move his arms unnecessarily, only vigorously kicking with his legs.

Slowly…

Towards the far shore.

Cutting across the current.

He moved forward.

How long had he swum like that?

The depth became shallower, and gradually, he began to see grains of sand.

He had arrived. Above the thick ice was his destination.

‘Well then.’

Shiron planted his feet on the sandy bed to allow him to transmit his full power. His clenched fist was thrust upwards, prepared to break the solid ice.

Boom-!

Boom-! Boom-!

The moment the heavy blow touched the ice, consecutive ripples echoed in the water. It seemed he was ready to pour out all the energy he had conserved up to this point.

Boom-!

‘…I knew it wasn’t just simple ice.’

Shiron alternately looked at the unwavering ice and his slightly scraped knuckles.

Since he possessed this body, he rarely felt pain. Now, his fist felt numb. Blood began to seep from his fist.

‘So entering was easy, but leaving isn’t? Did someone think I wanted to die trapped under this ice?’

Perhaps it was because of the commotion he made underwater.

Outside seemed rather noisy.

Vague murmurs of people could be heard from beyond the ice.

Fortunately, no helping hands reached out to him.

‘It’s a good thing I warned them beforehand.’

Shiron smirked bitterly. It would defeat the purpose if he had accepted someone’s help after coming this far. It would be better to outright fail from the beginning and earn sympathy.

Shiron tapped his solar plexus lightly.

It seems the benefit obtained after the disintegration of the sacred relic had been fully digested. His previously bloated stomach felt much better.

‘I was anxious they might discover it.’

Fortunately, the digested treasure wasn’t detected. In other words, it had already become one with Shiron.

Thus, he became a being who could draw a holy sword from anywhere in his body. And yet…

‘I’ve always wanted to try this once.’

The boy opened his mouth and drew out the holy sword.