An annual salary of 30 million won.
A monthly take-home pay of 2,251,650 won.
After paying rent, maintenance fees, transportation, phone bills, and other miscellaneous expenses, it was a life where saving even one million won a month was a struggle.
A future that felt suffocating no matter how much of my life I ground into it.
So, I made a decision.
'Let's just think of myself as dead until I turn thirty-five.'
And so, I added a side job to my main job, and another side job on top of that.
I worked two, even three jobs to save money.
I did it to live my own life, not just to be a component in a company machine.
I did it to have at least a little bit of control over my own choices.
Then one day, a junior colleague contacted me, suggesting we go out for a drink.
He was the son of a so-called "have" family, whose parents owned several apartments in Gangnam. Apart from that, he was a genuinely good junior who was polite and quick to open his wallet.
But then, this guy said something.
"Bro, honestly, I don't get it. If you want to make money, you should invest or something. If you don't have money, save it. Honestly, I borrowed my initial 100 million won from my parents, you know? It was money I had to pay back. But you go on about how it's because I'm from a rich family and whatnot…."
This bastard?
"No, I really don't understand. You work, so why don't you have money? Are you just spending it recklessly? High risk, high return. You need to know how to adventure if you want to make big money. Seriously, why don't you have money? Do you not have it, or are you just spending it all?"
"Y-You…!"
"Uh, uh-oh! Bro, Bro, what's wrong!"
My rage was brief; I soon lost consciousness.
And back to the present.
"I… died just like that?"
This was the past life realized by Ktun, the fifteen-year-old son of the Palaon Baron family.
***
A sunny afternoon.
I stood in front of a mirror and quietly observed my reflection.
Black hair, pale skin, and a face that was quite easy on the eyes.
It was the face I had seen to the point of boredom until yesterday, and the room reflected behind me was nothing special either.
In other words, there was no reason for it to feel unfamiliar.
So why did it feel strange?
The reason was likely due to the memories from just a moment ago.
The memory of a frail South Korean man who had completed his military service, thirty-three-year-old Kim Kang-min. The tear-jerking memory of a man who worked himself to death only to die from rage at the thoughtless remarks of a bourgeois capitalist junior.
Then, here is the question.
What exactly is the nature of this memory?
Fortunately, the answer lay within the memories of thirty-three-year-old Kim Kang-min.
'It is a past life.'
It was a situation belonging to "Reincarnation," the third of the Holy Trinity of web novels, commonly referred to as Regression, Possession, and Reincarnation.
Does this make sense?
It was not that I did not have doubts, but that is how the world works.
Originally, there are not many things that can be explained perfectly.
Thirty-three-year-old Kim Kang-min knew this fact well.
So, he learned "how to accept."
In a world where unreasonable and unbelievable situations are common, getting upset and feeling aggrieved provides no answers, so one simply accepts it.
Anyway, now that I have accepted my past life.
I became depressed again.
Why?
Was it because I reincarnated into a fantasy world of medieval civilization? Or because of the miserable end of thirty-three-year-old Kim Kang-min, which could not be heard without tears?
It was neither.
'I… was an illegitimate son.'
That is right.
This body was an illegitimate child.
I was the result of a "fire" my father, Baron Sahad Palaon, started elsewhere while he was out on the battlefield, supposedly to raise the family's status.
My mother left me at the Palaon barony about a year ago, and my father learned of my existence for the first time in fourteen years.
Fortunately, my father was a good person, even from the perspective of my past life.
'He accepted my existence, which must have been uncomfortable, and he even felt sorry for me.'
It would have been great if it ended there, but there was a problem.
I had a brother.
His name was Vilheim. Age: 20.
He was the eldest son of the Palaon family, born between my father and his official wife, and the legitimate heir. The memory of when I first met him was still vivid.
—I-I am Ktun.
—…I am Vilheim.
That cold gaze looking down at me.
Father said he was just naturally blunt, but in my opinion, Vilheim was undoubtedly a psychopathic killer lacking a human heart.
The reason I was sure of this was because of what I had seen.
I happened to wake up early one day and went for a walk at dawn, only to see someone entering the castle.
I glanced over out of curiosity, and guess what?
'It was Vilheim.'
I did not know where he had been at that hour, but his body was soaked in blood.
It was as if he had just finished slaughtering someone.
He was truly a crazy bastard, but the bigger problem was that this crazy bastard was watching me.
Whenever I felt a gaze and turned around, Vilheim was always watching me from a distance.
Because I was illegitimate?
Or did he notice that I saw him that day?
I did not know which one it was, but it was clear that Vilheim was looking for a chance to get me.
So, I had to leave.
But empty-handed?
'That makes no sense.'
In this world where farmers moonlighted as bandits and slave traders actually existed, fifteen-year-old Ktun was nothing more than easy prey to be robbed.
It was different from South Korea, which had polished the virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom over ten thousand years of Confucian history.
Especially if I met a monster, I would end up as a hearty meal.
In the end, it meant I needed power….
Fortunately, there was a way.
What was it?
' The Blood Awakening Ceremony.'
It is a ritual that blood relatives of noble families undergo on their fifteenth birthday. It uses a special chalice to awaken the talents dormant in their bloodline.
And that was exactly today….
Knock knock.
"Young Master, it is time to come out."
"Okay, I am coming."
At the words of my dedicated servant, John, I left the room.
'Today, I gain power.'
The power to run away from home.
I did not need great power.
Why?
Because if I gained too much power, that lunatic Vilheim would surely slice my throat.
So, what I needed was a humble power that was moderately useful but would not provoke Vilheim!
Well, since I am illegitimate, such power probably wouldn't appear anyway.
I moved my steps toward the ceremony hall with that thought.
***
The training ground of Palaon Castle.
"Please enter."
As I approached, the soldier guarding the entrance opened the door.
Through the open gates, several faces were waiting for me in the training ground.
Father in the center.
To his right, Lady Hella, Father's official wife and Vilheim's biological mother.
And the man standing to Father's left….
'Vilheim.'
Vilheim was looking at me with a cold face that suggested not a drop of blood would come out even if he were stabbed.
I tried to ignore that freezing gaze and approached my father.
"You are here."
"Yes."
"Only our family and Sir Balt will observe today's Blood Awakening Ceremony. Keep that in mind, and stand in front."
Even though he spoke stiffly now, he was not like this when it was just the two of us.
Anyway, I stood in front according to Father's command.
It was then that Father called for the knight, Sir Balt.
"Sir Balt, bring the chalice."
"Yes."
For reference, Sir Balt was a comrade-in-arms whom Father met in the war where he met my mother.
According to Father, he was not a figure who belonged in a rural estate like this, but that story had little to do with me.
After all, I was someone who would leave once the Blood Awakening Ceremony was over today.
Anyway, Sir Balt brought the ceremonial chalice.
"We shall begin."
Father stood before me with a solemn expression and placed his hand on my head.
"Who is the one seeking the chalice?"
"I am Ktun."
"State your roots."
"I am a descendant of Ark, the Dragon Slayer and one of the founding heroes of the Kingdom of Heorn."
"State your family."
"The Sword of Heorn, Palaon."
The Blood Awakening Ceremony process itself was simple.
Perhaps it was because I was an illegitimate son, or maybe because our estate was not particularly wealthy.
Anyway, after the brief process ended.
Father received the chalice from Sir Balt.
"Prove your blood."
"Yes."
Now, all I had to do was drop a single drop of blood into the chalice.
Then, the mysterious magic contained in the chalice would awaken the talent sleeping in my blood. I did not understand the complex details, though.
I glanced at Vilheim's reaction and pricked my finger with a needle.
Drip!
A drop of blood fell onto the chalice, which looked as crude as a brass bowl.
The fallen blood drop spread along the shallow grooves inside the chalice.
The pattern inside the cup began to reveal itself slowly.
I swallowed dryly.
'Please, please.'
The talents dormant in the Palaon bloodline were Greatsword and Divine Power. One could obtain both, but that was an extremely rare case.
I did not even hope for two.
Just one.
'If possible, let it be Divine Power.'
The color of the light indicates the type of talent, and the brightness indicates the magnitude of the talent.
Greatsword is green, Divine Power is brown.
I prayed that the ceremonial chalice would glow brown.
It was then.
Sizzle, zzz—
The blood-soaked chalice seemed to shimmer, and then light gathered in a circle at its center.
But the color was strange.
'Purple?'
What does a purple talent mean?
It was at that moment.
Sizzle, sizzle!
'Uh, uh-oh?'
Like a snowball rolling down a slope growing instantly, the light inside the chalice swelled up.
Immediately after that.
FLASH—!
A blinding light filled the training ground!
I instinctively knew.
Something had gone wrong.
***
Bright daylight.
The residents, who were leading peaceful daily lives, suddenly raised their heads to look up at the sky.
"What is that…?"
"What is with that light?"
A purple light shot out from Palaon Castle.
Its color pierced through the sunny afternoon rays and covered the sky.
At that incomprehensible sight, the residents lost their wits and stared blankly, capturing the scene in their eyes.
The light surged as if it possessed a will of its own.
How much time passed while they were captivated by the strange magical power that felt like it would suck them in if they kept looking?
FLASH—!
The light covering the sky vanished in an instant.
"Huh…."
"What did I just see?"
While the residents were blinking their eyes, unable to understand what had happened.
In the middle of the training ground.
Baron Palaon looked at Ktun with a stiff expression.
"What on earth is this…."
The Baron was just as astonished.
And it was no wonder; the Baron had never even heard of such light, let alone seen it.
This was like the Grand Nobles, who are called the nobles among nobles… no, wasn't it even beyond that!
And purple?
The Baron looked at his son, Ktun, with blank eyes.
His son, whom he had met only a year ago and with whom things were still awkward.
His son, who possessed a fragile heart, was weak and timid, and rarely came out of his room.
If he was this surprised, how shocked must the boy be….
"I'm screwed."
"…?"
The Baron tilted his head.
What?
Did I hear that correctly right now?
The Baron narrowed his eyes and looked at his son. Then, with a doubtful heart, he opened his mouth.
"Son."
"Yes?"
"That, what did you say just now?"
At the Baron's question, Ktun tilted his head.
"Yes? Say what?"
"Did you not say something was screwed just now?"
"Yes? Me? I did not say anything, though?"
At the sight of Ktun tilting his head innocently, the Baron felt severe confusion.
Meanwhile, Ktun was just as confused.
'What do I really do now?'
I glanced to the side and saw Vilheim staring straight at me.
With a ferocious gaze.