Chapter 2
2 – A New Life.
Dutdug. Dutdug.
I woke up to the sound of rain hitting my eardrums.
I open my eyes.
Then, instinctively, I could grasp one thing.
“A new life, perhaps.”
Exhaling deeply, I assumed a sitting posture.
Right after reincarnation is when I become most vulnerable.
A tremendous sense of loss is felt.
A decade’s worth of accumulated grudges.
And a plain-looking physique.
Those were what greeted me.
“Reincarnation sure feels unpleasant.”
I’m different from others.
Because I’m a reincarnate.
To me, death is just a new beginning.
“No time for distractions.”
I listened attentively, preparing for the impending shock.
Though I’m a reincarnate, my past life is quite peculiar.
Almost akin to possession.
After my first life, I’ve always been possessed by the deceased.
In my second life, I was a boy soldier who died on the battlefield.
In my third life, I drowned in a pond, drifting lifelessly along the lakeside as an unknown person.
“Quite unique.”
And there’s one more peculiar thing.
My name never changed.
As if my existence belonged to someone named Han Seojin, I’ve always been possessed by someone named Han Seojin.
And this time is no different.
Memories dormant within me begin to resurface.
“Is this the child of the Blood Sword Clan? The one who wasn’t even chosen by the system…?”
“How could someone like that be born to the Gaju family? A person who wasn’t chosen by the system or even by mana!”
“Compared to that, the second daughter is nothing more than a mediocre genius. hahahaha…”
The old man looked at me with disdainful eyes.
The woman’s eyes were filled with hope, knowing that her daughter was better than her eldest son.
And then there were the looks of pity from my younger siblings, who always saw themselves as unfortunate.
I frowned.
There was an error in the process of recalling memories.
A person’s life should be connected like a movie, but this time, that wasn’t the case.
“It’s strange how my memories are scattered.”
This kind of situation only occurs when the past isn’t pleasant.
“I guess this life is halfway ruined if I can’t spend it peacefully.”
The second and third lives were somewhat structured.
But this life seemed to be completely unstructured compared to those.
“Well, what can I do?”
Still, I had one thought.
If I regain my memories, I’ll seek revenge. On those who made this body like this.
“Rest in peace.”
After a moment of silent reflection for the original owner of the body that had already died, I realized something tremendous as I pushed my memories into a corner of my mind.
“Never.”
First, life.
As a professional gamer, I achieved a record that will never be seen again in the history of gaming.
Second life was a world of fantasy.
There, I studied magic, became a grand sorcerer, and ultimately annihilated a demon lord.
Third life was a world of martial arts.
From Noble mtl dot com
Combining the magic I learned in my past life with martial arts, I traversed the world of martial arts.
That’s how it went.
From my first life, where I tasted the culture of the modern world, to my second life, I couldn’t taste the modern culture until my second life…!
“There’s cola in this world?”
In my second life, there was a time when I desperately wanted to drink cola.
At that time, I had some vague knowledge that if I put the liquid into electricity, it could produce carbonation, so I conducted an experiment that ended up sacrificing about 50 people…!
Even so, I couldn’t make carbonation.
When about 50 magicians sacrificed themselves to create a liquid, I received countless complaints and had no choice but to give up.
In that sense, isn’t cola, which doesn’t require the sacrifice of 50 magicians, a source of life?
“I should go in search of cola.”
But where is this place?
A pungent smell of dust.
Because of the rain, it’s hard to hear, but I could sense faint signs of life.
“An abandoned factory.”
Drip, drip.
Confidence overflowed in each step.
As if there was nothing here that could harm oneself.
An enemy?
Things approaching slowly from my direction.
It’s hard to think positively.
Han Seo-jin died a little while ago.
‘About three, roughly.’
Tsk.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
As expected, danger was lurking even in this reincarnation.
Should I call it a disadvantage of reincarnation?
It’s inevitable since I’m possessing a dead body.
First, I should check the condition of the body.
‘Huh?’
I let out a bitter laugh.
The body’s condition is not great.
My previous life only extends to resurrecting wounds that lead to death.
Therefore, my muscles and mana sensitivity are random, but I’m born with talents that are considered top-notch in most cases.
‘Muscles are at the lowest. Haven’t trained stamina….’
As I fumbled through my memories, I realized I hadn’t been blessed with magical abilities.
It seems I lack any rare attributes.
Even though I was raised in what could be considered a prestigious family…
I wasn’t chosen by the abilities in this world referred to as the “system.”
Even in that aspect, mana had abandoned me. Instead of despairing, I should have at least undertaken minimal training.
“It’s alright.”
But what possessed me was a possession.
Even if I had no talent whatsoever, I could still become the best anytime.
“No, thinking about it, I might have talent in a different area.”
As I probed my memories, this guy had an exceptional face.
Hmm, a facial genius.
The faces from my past lives weren’t bad either.
But the body I now inhabited, through this possession, had a face so outstanding that even I marveled at it.
Could this life be that of a facial genius?
Organizing my thoughts, I got up.
And then, a translucent window appeared before my eyes.
[System is loading….]
…Did they call this a system?
It was mentioned that it could objectively assess the user’s abilities and gain a power called ‘characteristics,’ right?
As I fumbled through my memories, I deduced information about the system.
“This world was supposed to be chosen by the system, right?”
The original owner was said to have been abandoned by the system for some reason.
But as soon as I was reborn, I was chosen by the system.
“Is this something engraved in the soul?”
And it immediately activated as soon as I was reborn.
This thing called a system… or the existence that created the system, seems suspicious.
But what’s important now is not that.
I sense a presence nearby.
There’s nothing useful as a weapon around.
No, there is one.
I saw two nails lying below.
Let’s grab them for now.
Step by step.
I heard footsteps.
It was quite close.
Now that I’ve come this far, I can feel it clearly.
There are… three people.
Just in case, there might be someone like an assassin, but they were blatantly giving away their presence.
I felt confident that I could be captured at any moment.
“Why on earth did our lord run away and bring this trouble upon us?”
“Ouch, lower your voice.”
“Brother, we’re in a hurry. Do we really have to wander around like this?”
“We’re in a hurry precisely because we can have an audience with the master like this.”
“Oh, I see. hehehehe.”
A mocking laughter.
“Although they call him ‘master,’ it doesn’t seem like I’ll receive the treatment of a master.”
This is quite a good sign.
The more they underestimate me, the more advantageous it becomes for me.
It’s a little annoying to be ignored by those fools though.
“I can’t know how big this place is, so I have to be cautious.”
The problem lies in this.
I don’t know how many enemies there might be here.
I have no choice but to conserve my magic power as much as possible while moving.
“Should I start by dealing with the two who seem the easiest?”
I close my eyes and sense the mana around me.
This body hasn’t received the blessing of mana.
It doesn’t possess any physical talents in that regard.
However, I am a reincarnated being.
I have lived countless lives.
And I have become a man who can overcome any adversity.
Having the ability to convert the special power of the third round, Cheonmuji’s body, into martial arts.
He is also a genius who created a method that demonstrates the same ability as Cheonan, the special power obtained in the second round.
“Of course, I have to get out of here first.”
He closed his eyes and felt the surrounding mana.
When he exerted his will, he could feel the mana around him surging.
The concentration of mana was thin.
And it was corrupted.
“Could this be the Black Mage’s laboratory?”
I don’t usually laugh at jokes, but this time I can’t help it.
All sorts of souls mixed together and combined with mana.
Using something like this is corrupting.
“Well, there’s no other choice.”
Right now, I can’t be picky.
With his tongue in his mind, he exerted his will.
Then, the mana gathered at his fingertips.
Saaah…
Gathering mana, he blocked his spirit.
But even though he tried once, he could feel the corrupt mana.
He engraved a spell on two pieces of wood with a small amount of mana.
“I never thought I would be engraving spells.”
In my second past life, I almost witnessed the end of magic.
Perhaps that’s why my abilities are at a level where I can perform even the most intricate spells with ease.
But it’s ridiculous that I have to waste my time on basic elemental magic and form contracts with spirits just to reach the level of an apprentice.
If my second and third reincarnations were blessed with an abundance of mana, then this life feels like it’s been abandoned, left to fend for itself.
Sigh.
I perched myself on top of a box, ready to face them all with dignity.
“The problem is that one person always remains, no matter what.”
Should I gather a group to help me?
There was always this risk and burden in the early stages of my past lives.
But then I chuckled.
Was there ever a time when I didn’t take risks?
Clack clack.
I heard the footsteps of the men walking on the metal plates.
In the midst of concocting a drink for the one who seemed more dangerous than the rest, they appeared before me.
Three men.
One with a mohawk, another with a quiet demeanor, and a young lad who resembled a muscular pig.
“Huh?”
The pig-like lad looked at me with a nonchalant voice.
The man with the mohawk furrowed his brows slightly.
The silently observing man looked at me as if puzzled.
The most brazen one, the muscle pig, stepped forward.
“Young master, you’re here.”
The muscle pig smiled brightly.
The muscles wriggled grotesquely.
It looked good, so I smiled back.
“Let’s just ask one question.”
“Huh? What question?”
The muscle pig said, looking puzzled.
“You guys killed me, right?”
“What nonsense is that? You’re alive and well… Oh, it’s because of that stabbing incident while I was playing with a dagger, isn’t it?”
Sign, excessive bleeding.
No wonder there was so much blood around.
Alright, let’s kill these three.
“Well then, young master. Let’s go quickly. Oh, this time, I’ll make sure to smash the leg club so you can’t play any tricks. Look forward to it.”
The muscle pig chuckled and laughed.
The belly wobbled. The feeling was worse than I thought.
“One last thing to ask.”
“What is it, young master? I’m starting to get annoyed too.”
I grinned.
“Is this world a place where weaklings like you can make a fuss?”
“…Huh?”
“Is this guy insane? Brother, I’ll take care of it.”
The muscular pig marched forward.
“My lord, since we’re in my lord’s territory, can’t we really do anything we want? Or maybe we’ve gone crazy?”
“Raise your voice.”
“Huh?”
I activated the spell formation while giving a smile.
Creak.
Very quietly.
A sound, as if the air was being compressed, could be heard.
The spell formation engraved in the back slowly began to activate.
“Activation.”
Enhanced speed. Enhanced accuracy. Enhanced bullet velocity.
Two nails, each inscribed with three spells, were launched.
Phwoosh!
Without any hesitation, the nails pierced through the gap between the muscular pig and the mohawk, rendering their brains mush.
Thud.
The muscular pig and the mohawk.
Both of them collapsed simultaneously.
“I’m in the middle of a story. Shut up, your breath stinks.”
Of course, my voice will never reach them forever.
“Would you like me to tell you the story I want?”
I walked towards a trembling man.