Chapter 2 : This Isn't It (1)
The revolving lantern of memories doesn't flash by.
So I thought maybe I was dreaming.
But it wasn't a dream either.
There's no way a dream could be this vivid.
After countless thoughts raced through my mind, the conclusion I reached was that I was alive. And not just alive, but I had regressed.
Is this for real? Funnily enough, it is. Because it's happening right before my eyes, as vivid as can be.
If it's true that I've regressed, then the next thing to happen is... all the children gathered here will be abandoned in the mountains.
"From now on, we will distribute supplies. And from today onwards, you will all live on Heavenly Demon Mountain."
To be more precise, it's not living, but surviving.
The period is one year.
We are simply abandoned in the mountains without any support from the outside.
This was one of the traditions that the Heavenly Demon Cult had carried on since the time it was called the Demonic Cult.
The way of the strong surviving, the law of the jungle.
The law of the jungle.
"There is only one thing we can say to you. Survive! Survive and prove your own worth! That is what will guide you on a brilliant path forward! However! Killing among fellow trainees is not permitted!"
The Heavenly Demon Cult was currently the strongest single faction in history, occupying the lands north of the Yangtze River. So, it could be said that there was no longer a need to inherit the evil customs of the past.
Is abandonment not an evil custom?
Well, let's just gloss over that. Anyway, back when it was called the Demonic Cult, there was ample reason to be cruel.
The Orthodox Faction bastards had taken all the good land and occupied that vast territory all by themselves.
Therefore, we who were driven out to the barren lands needed to become strong by any means necessary.
To survive.
To eat and live like human beings.
Of course, there was no need for that now. But the tradition of the law of the jungle, passed down from long ago, was still being carried on.
The instructors bring out bundles of boxes.
As far as I know, in the past, they were just thrown into the mountains with nothing. And they said that they had continuously killed each other until a certain number of people survived.
Thinking about it now, it was a method where you couldn't help but become strong.
The final survivor would have been called a human weapon and would have driven the martial world into terror.
Those Orthodox Faction bastards, they should have just shared a little. Tsk tsk.
"Line up! If you don't receive your supplies now, know that there will be no further opportunity."
At the instructor's words, the children began to line up one by one.
It was flowing exactly as I had experienced in the past.
For now, I also went and stood in line.
'If I have really regressed, I can change the future!'
Instead of a shitty third-rate life where I wet my pants every day because of a broken dantian, I can live a normal life where I don't wet my pants.
For reference, if I were to classify myself as a person within the martial world, I could be considered quite a decent talent.
After all, I can reach the Transcendent Realm without much trouble.
Even without the help of spiritual elixirs like in the past, I was confident I could reach the Transcendent Realm before I turned forty.
And if I'm a Transcendent Master...
'I'll have more than enough to dominate the martial world!'
In the past, I wanted to eat a rice cake I couldn't have. Not knowing that it was a pie in the sky.
'The conclusion is that if it weren't for that damn Young Lord position, my life could have been quite good!'
No! Not just good, it could have been beautiful.
As a Transcendent Master, I would earn more than enough money, and I wouldn't really be threatened by anyone.
The number of people who can kill a Transcendent Master, combining both the Orthodox and Demonic factions, is just a little over ten.
I can just be careful of them, spend time only for myself in my own comfortable home, and end the day leisurely looking up at the moon.
In my left hand, there won't be cheap bamboo leaf liquor, but high-quality rice wine, and in my right hand, there will be a well-cooked chicken leg.
After chugging the high-quality rice wine from the bottle, I'll take a bite of the chicken leg. The tender meat will fill my mouth.
The full moon in the sky will faintly illuminate the courtyard, and a cool breeze will blow and tickle my hair...
This is life! Shit!
What's so special about life!
In the past, in order to become that shitty Young Lord, I lived without even knowing this good thing.
The opportunity to change that has now come to me.
'I will definitely seize it!'
My life's reversal! I will definitely achieve it!
I don't know why I returned to the past, but the reason wasn't particularly important.
The heavens must have helped me because I was so pitiful.
Yeah. It was a damn pitiful life.
Dragged to the cult at the age of five, I poured everything into becoming the Young Lord, only to be cast aside just like that. It was a pitiful life.
The fact that I regressed to the nursery was also a huge stroke of luck for me.
Because only I, here, know what the true purpose of this nursery is.
In a word, it's a placement test.
The very first gateway where selection takes place.
If you fail out of such a nursery, you are automatically assigned to the outskirts of the cult.
It's an era of great peace where there are no more fights with the Orthodox Faction bastards.
To be assigned to a quiet outpost, receive the cult's salary, and live without any worries or concerns?
Kyaa!!!!!!!!!!! Awesome!
Moreover, with my abilities, I can earn more money than just the salary, and in the past, my looks weren't half bad.
I didn't pay much attention to the opposite sex, so I don't know for sure, but women often followed me.
In this life, I'll try dating such women, and if things go well, I'll even get married.
Just thinking about it brings a smile to my face.
And I could achieve all of this very simply by failing out of the nursery.
Could there be an easier condition than this!
However, an early elimination was not what I wanted.
Still, I had to at least make it to the final test to receive a high rank, even if I was assigned to the outskirts.
I've even regressed, I have no intention of wiping anyone's ass.
Hehehe!
"Number 99! What are you grinning about? Does this place look easy to you?"
"No, sir!"
It seems I was so lost in thought about the future, more brilliant than gold, that I carelessly let my feelings show.
Thanks to being younger, it wasn't easy to hide my feelings. If this is a side effect of regression, then so be it. It didn't matter anyway.
My goal is the outskirts, after all!
In the past, my number was 999.
The very last among the people gathered here.
Because I stood at the very end of the line.
'The number I received now is 99. The '9' is a recurring theme, but it's also the same that my proper name, Yoo Jae-ha, is useless.'
"Number 99, you smell of piss. Did you wet yourself?"
"I peed a wittle!"
"You're just unnecessarily good at answering. Go over there, they'll give you pants, so change."
"Thank you."
I took the supplies the instructor gave me.
One sleeping bag, one flint, one small short sword, one leather water bottle.
It was exactly the same as in the past.
Among the children who received supplies, the smarter ones were already forming groups.
For reference, while there are orphans like me among the children here, the vast majority could be said to be the children of the cult's members.
Most of the kids forming groups now are probably the children of the cult's members, and all of them would have heard about what the test is from their respective families and prepared in advance.
Probably, if there are survivors, most of them will come from them.
And the children of higher-ranking members would have already been selected and be elsewhere.
Conversely, the kids who looked somewhat small or unimpressive were standing alone.
Of course, even among them, there were groups of children forming here and there.
'I can already see some kids who look like they have no future.'
For a five-year-old child to live alone in the mountains for a year, no matter how many supplies they received, is absurd.
Of course, in the past, I survived on my own.
Even now, I don't have much difficulty surviving alone, but I didn't want to suffer as much as I did in the past.
My goal, to the very end, is to be the final one eliminated from this nursery.
And thus, be assigned to the outskirts of the cult and live comfortably receiving a salary.
To say it again, the Heavenly Demon Cult is the strongest single faction in history, occupying one-third of the Central Plains.
So, for any martial artist in the martial world, it was now unthinkable not to have a relationship with the cult.
Above all, there was no need to cut ties with the cult in the first place. Because the welfare wasn't bad at all.
No! It could be said to be quite good.
Just by becoming a disciple of the cult, even a low-ranking warrior on the outskirts was given a house for free, three meals a day were also provided, and at the end and beginning of the year, and on holidays, they were even given bonuses.
Where else could you find such a sweet job!
The Heavenly Demon Cult, which does everything for you as long as you're not the Young Lord!
Good! So good! Anyone can do it. Owning my own home!
Besides, the outskirts don't have much work, so it's almost like playing around.
I just had to report to my superiors when the Orthodox Faction bastards occasionally threw a fit.
"Hehehe! Hehehe! Hahahahaha!"
Oops, I let out a laugh again without realizing it. Perhaps because my body is young, controlling my emotions is not easy.
"What's with that retard?"
"He's probably gone crazy from fear. There are kids like that sometimes, just leave him be. Ah! Don't get too close, you might catch something weird."
"That's probably for the best. Since it's come to this, shall we introduce ourselves? Nice to meet you. I am Imugi of the Sword Demon Hall's fourth cousin's eighth cousin. And you?"
"I am Hoi-won of the External Affairs Hall's fifth cousin."
"Then the blood of the great cult must flow in your veins as well. This must be fate, how about we form a team and work together?"
"Not a bad suggestion. It doesn't make sense for chosen beings like us to be with those lowly commoners."
"I think so too!"
Tsk tsk. For these young brats to be networking already, as someone who was once the Young Lord of the cult, it's truly regrettable, my ass!
It had nothing to do with me anymore.
Soon, all the children had received their supplies.
I could see the instructors subtly making way for them.
"We will depart in one hour from now. Prepare yourselves!"
An indirect way of telling them to form groups to live with.
As soon as the instructors left, as expected, I could see children actively forming groups here and there.
And I, too, had the same thought as them.
When there's an easy path, only a fool would take the hard one.
And since I was going to get them, I planned to get the best. That way, I could spend the next year comfortably.
I first approached the kid who was still sniffling in the corner, looking for her mom.
A little girl crying while hugging her supplies tightly.
The children here weren't giving this girl a single glance.
Because it was obvious to anyone that this girl would be of no help in the life to come. It was indeed a natural choice.
But I was the only one here who knew the infinite potential this girl possessed.
My first subordinate is you!
I squatted down in front of the future Sword Demoness, made eye contact, and said.
"Don't cry. Stop!"
"Sniffle. Stop..."
"Yes, good girl. If you get out of here safely, I'll help you meet your mom."
"Weally?"
"Of course. I pwomise."
"But I don't have a mommy."
Oops, I accidentally made a parental insult. I didn't know the Sword Demoness didn't have a mother.
But this created a sense of kinship between me and the Sword Demoness.
"Really? Actually, I don't have a mom either."
"Weally? Then, will you be my famiwy?"
"I'll be your fwiend instead of family. How about that?"
"Ung... Okay."
Good talents belong to the one who claims them first.
Besides, if I form a connection with the future Sword Demoness, I might be able to get help from her later.
One person, secured!
I went to my next target.
As expected, a boy trembling in a corner by himself while everyone else was busy.
I asked the future Mad Demon.
"Are you alone?"
"..."
The Mad Demon looks at me with wary eyes. If it were the future Mad Demon I knew, he would have immediately planted his fist in my mouth the moment I asked.
"You! Become my comrade!"
I extended my hand to the Mad Demon without any further ado.
The Mad Demon still looks at me with eyes full of distrust.
Just as I was wondering if I should take back my outstretched hand out of awkwardness, the Mad Demon opened his mouth slightly.
"You won't hit me?"
"Of couwse not!"
And from this conversation, I came to understand a little bit why the future Mad Demon would immediately throw a punch at anyone who made eye contact with him.
He was just returning what he had received as a child.
Childhood memories last a lifetime.
Seeing that, there must have been a reason why the Sword Demoness also exuded a coldness colder than the frost of the North Sea.
For now, she's just a crybaby, and the Mad Demon is just a slightly wary child.
This is why early education is important.
The Mad Demon took my hand.
"Good! Let's go to the next one!"
With this, two people, secured!
Finally, I headed towards a kid who hadn't even received his supplies and was still sleeping.
The Sword Demoness and the Mad Demon were also small for their age, but the Demonic Brain, whom I came to last, was the smallest here.
"Hey baby, wake up."
Wiggle?
I first tried shaking the Demonic Brain to wake him up. But besides wiggling his body once, the Demonic Brain didn't wake up at all.
"This won't do. Mad Demon, you carry him."
"Mad Demon? I'm number 847."
The Mad Demon, called Mad Demon, tilts his head. Who would believe it if I said the Mad Demon could make such an innocent expression? They would probably all call it bullshit. I, too, couldn't believe it even though I was seeing it with my own eyes.
"No! From now on, you are Mad Demon. Originally, here, you have to have a strong name so that other kids don't bully you."
"Mad Demon... cool. Ung. I'll be Mad Demon!"
"From now on, if you make eye contact with kids, just throw a punch at them. Got it?"
"B-but I learned that's a bad thing to do..."
"Then do you want to get hit again?"
"I don't want that!"
"Right. From now on, just throw a punch. That's your original identity. And you, little one, you are the Sword Demoness."
"Sword Demoness? Is that something to eat? I don't know what it is, but okay! But what should we call this baby?"
"Demonic Brain."
"Ung. Okay. Then what should we call you?"
"Just call me Captain."
"Ung!"
"Ung!"
"...!"
I have secured all three excellent workers who will work for me in the mountains for the next year.
"Hehehe! I look forward to working with you."
A moment later, the instructors came in, guided us to Heavenly Demon Mountain, and then left.
I knew that they hadn't actually left but were hiding somewhere, watching us.
A year passed.
(End of Chapter)