- Skyhaven Kingdom, 1430 A.N -
Skyhaven Kingdom is a kingdom located on a floating island. Majestic and luxurious towers are its hallmark. However, all of that is now just a remnant of its past glory.
The once clear sky is now filled with thick, dark clouds. Sunlight can barely penetrate the darkness that envelops the land. The air feels heavy, filled with the stench of rotting corpses and the bone-chilling sound of thunder.
In the corner of Zephyria, the capital city of Skyhaven Kingdom, Lev observes the strange phenomena occurring for the first time in this world.
Countless black holes have formed in the sky. These holes continue to spew out grotesque creatures. They are demons from the Dark Land. Their wings spread wide as they flew across the sky, their red eyes scanning for prey.
Just like the demons that had already emerged from the black holes, the newly arrived demons began descending and invading the city.
They scream and laugh, reveling in the destruction they cause. The once bustling cities are now in ruins, buildings reduced to rubble, and the streets littered with countless corpses. The faint sounds of screams and cries can still be heard, but they grow fainter, swallowed by the darkness.
Skyhaven Kingdom was once renowned for its sturdy fortresses. But look at it now—everything has been leveled to the ground.
'Is this what the world looks like after the main character achieves his happy ending?'
Lev wondered silently.
Lev is just a former noble child. However, at some point, he gained memories of his life on Earth.
Back then, he remembered a notification suddenly appearing before him.
[Compatibility rate between body and soul: 100%.]
[Initiating memory fusion process.]
[1%.]
[5%.]
[...]
The pain he felt during the memory fusion process was something he would never forget.
After the pain subsided, he saw a very strange point of view.
He saw a world that was unfamiliar to him.
There were high-rise buildings everywhere. All the buildings looked the same. Four-wheeled vehicles zoomed along asphalt roads. Strangely, he could understand what he was seeing—cars, apartment buildings, airplanes, and more.
[50%.]
[75%.]
The images he saw began to change rapidly. It felt as though he was experiencing a long journey through time, from infancy to adolescence and then to old age. It all passed quickly, yet it felt like an eternity.
The experience of being an ordinary gardener.
The experience of being betrayed by those he once called parents.
And finally, the last memory he saw was the experience of being killed by the side effects of the extraordinary power he had obtained—Black Magic Authority.
[100%.]
Along with the memories of his life on Earth, he realized that the world he now lived in was strikingly similar to a novel he had once read.
The novel was titled Hero's Destiny.
Did you think Lev would become a shadowy figure who would disrupt the main character? No. Even though he gained memories of his previous life, there wasn't much he could do.
By the time he regained those memories, the timeline of this world had already surpassed the events of the novel. While the main character in the novel had already achieved his happy ending, time in this world continued to move forward. Lev ended up unable to utilize any of the information from the novel.
[Installation of Hero's System in progress.]
[Current progress: 99%.]
Despite gaining no benefits, this notification kept appearing, leaving him confused. Aside from this unclear notification, he received no other advantages. When he first saw the notification, it was only at 1%. It took years just to reach 99%.
'It seems I'll die before that notification reaches 100%.'
Lev staggered as he tried to distance himself from the chaos. He walked hunched over, clutching his stomach, which had been pierced. If he hadn't used his shirt to cover the wound, his intestines, and internal organs might have spilled out. He had already suffered numerous attacks from the demons.
"Ough!"
A mouthful of blood spilled from his lips.
It was a miracle he had survived this long.
Slash!
While his left hand held his stomach, his right hand still gripped a sword. He occasionally slashed at the necks of demons who blocked his path.
His destination was his hideout outside the capital city of Zephyria. He had a hidden house in the forest beyond the city.
Crackle!
A crack resembling the opening of a dimensional portal appeared not far from Lev. From the empty air, a small light slowly emerged. Unlike the black portals from which the demons emerged, this portal emitted a white light.
"Phew~ What a mess."
A human hand reached out from the portal, gripping its edge, which was adorned with mysterious ancient runes. First, the hand, then the head, and finally the legs emerged until the entire person stepped out. The man exited the portal while muttering complaints.
Lev's eyes widened in shock. His feet were rooted to the ground, unable to move. His heart began to beat faster than usual, causing his breath to become ragged as if the air had suddenly become scarce.
'How can it be...?' he screamed internally.
There was no mistake. Those facial features—the person he saw was the main character of this world. His name was Hansen.
First, Lev thought that the main character in this world had finally come back.
'He probably came to exterminate all the demons here, right?'
Lev initially believed that the main character had retired and abandoned the world. There had been no news of Hansen's whereabouts for years. Since the line, "The main character finally lived happily ever after," was written in the novel, Lev had never heard anything about the main character again, as if his existence had been erased from the world.
'Has the late hero finally decided to step in and save the world?'
But Lev's guess was wrong.
The demons flying around, tearing apart and devouring humans—Hansen ignored them completely. He casually walked toward the center of Zephyria.
On the contrary, Hansen, once known as the hero, swung his sword at innocent people who were running away. He slashed indiscriminately.
Elderly, children, pregnant women—all were cut down without mercy. As Hansen swung his sword, he didn't even blink. He simply kept walking, not even glancing at the victims he struck.
Even Lev himself was not spared from the main character's blade.
"Holy Slash!"
A golden light surged toward him. Lev raised his sword to block Hansen's attack. With all his strength, he managed to deflect the strike, but his sword shattered instantly. His body was sent flying through the air, tumbling dozens of meters before finally crashing into the ground.
He came to a stop when his back hit a pile of rubble.
"Khe-hough!"
His face turned pale, and blood flowed from a wound on his temple, dripping slowly down his dirt-streaked cheek. His hands trembled as he tried to press on the wound in his stomach. The injury had worsened. It turned out that Hansen's slash hadn't been completely blocked. A new gash now marked his chest.
'Am I going to die?... Again?'
Dying for the second time...
His eyes remained fixed on Hansen in the distance.
'Why did he betray humanity?'
That question would remain unanswered.
"Hey, why are you sitting there?"
Suddenly, a woman appeared from the forest outside the city.
Lev realized that his body had been flung far beyond the capital city of Zephyria. The rubble he was leaning against was the remains of a collapsed fortress wall.
'Harlequeen.'
Lev wanted to call out her name, but his mouth couldn't produce any sound, so he could only speak in his mind.
Harlequeen, who approached him, seemed abnormal. Her eyes darted around wildly, looking up, down, and sideways without any focus. Her hand and body movements were equally erratic. Her arms flailed, and her legs kicked at the ground. She looked like a child playing, even though her body and face showed she was an adult.
Yes, she was a woman who had a mental disorder. Lev's relationship with her was complicated. Teacher, former boss, savior, enemy, lover... he couldn't even describe it himself.
'Does it even matter anymore?'
Harlequeen sat in front of Lev for a moment, hitting her own head repeatedly. If Lev had been in a normal state, he would have stopped her. He would have grabbed her wrist and patted her head, but he couldn't do anything now.
"Wow, look. It's so lively over there."
Seeing the demons invading the capital city of Zephyria, Harlequeen seemed delighted. She stood up and moved toward the chaos.
Lev's surroundings suddenly grew quieter, as if time had paused for a moment. The background noise that had been so chaotic faded away, leaving only a suffocating silence.
[Installation progress of Hero's System has reached 100%.]
[Hero's System successfully installed.]
[Your body has entered a critical state!]
[No recovery features detected.]
[Searching for the best option...]
[Do you wish to return to the past?]
[The further back you go, the greater the price you must pay.]
'YES! Do I even have another choice?'
[Will you sacrifice the 'Shop' feature of the Hero's System?]
'Yes.'
From that point on, Lev answered all of the Hero's System's prompts with a resounding 'Yes' in his mind.
[The price for reversing time is insufficient.]
[Will you sacrifice the 'Conversation' feature?]
[.... Successfully sacrificed 'Shop' and 'Conversation' features.]
[Initiating time reversal process.]