LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 1: Reincarnation
Prologue
Is there anyone here who hates money?
Well, I sure don’t.
On Earth or my hometown, money has always been a magical thing.
Without money, a person dies. So, I worked hard to make money.
That was all I did.
“May I have a word, please!”
“I’m Lee Ji-young from YTV. Is it true you handled an A-Class Gate by yourself in the past?”
“Reporters, please don’t push in; it’s dangerous!”
However, while I was relentlessly making this damn money, at some point, fame came creeping in.
Wealth is proof of success.
Modern people always want to eavesdrop on the secrets of success.
“I’ve heard that you subdued an S-Class Hunter during the recent Dungeon Break incident; surely you must have manipulated or concealed your Awakening Level?”
“Why did you deceive your rank during the Awakening Test?”
“I await your answer!”
I glanced over the gathered reporters.
Their gazes mixed with expectation, jealousy, and curiosity. All good, really.
But… I had a little secret.
“With the emergence of a new high-ranking Awakened, expectations for national safety are rising. Do you have any plans for the future?”
Actually, the money I earned from this damn Hunter gig was just a simple coincidence.
It wasn’t because I had the abilities they thought I did… Luck and a bit of bluffing had brought me here.
Yeah.
In short, I’m just a damn nobody.
I barely understood what the reporters were asking me either.
“A plan? You mean I have a plan?”
If I had the opportunity, I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding.
But… now I know.
Too many irreversible things have already happened.
“If I had a plan, would things have turned out this way?”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, that’s not what I meant. Um, what I’ll do moving forward is…”
What would happen if it were revealed that I was on the same level as F-Class Hunters?
First, the S-Class Hunter I had supposedly subdued would probably blow my head off, right?
That guy, the top of the ranking who became my enemy after we entered a Gate together, would he just let me be?
“Hmm.”
But letting people keep misunderstanding means I’d be in the same spot as a Hunter anyway…
“I’ll say no comment.”
As I conjured various futures in my mind, I finally spoke a single line.
As soon as my answer dropped, the shutter clicks erupted again.
The reporters fired off several more questions afterward, but they couldn’t get any meaningful answers.
Anyway, no matter what the article says tomorrow, I’m already screwed.
“No comment, you damn mammals.”
Whether it’s revealed that I’m a hidden strongman!
Or if it’s revealed that I’m a trash class ability user!
I won’t be living long on this damned planet.
Just as the camera flashes from the reporters blared bright, I tightly closed my eyelids and sunk into memories of the past.
I wanted to touch on what went wrong in my hopefully new life that began with so much hope.
*
Chapter 1: Reincarnation
Until recently, I was a resident of a binary star system.
This planet, known as Alphauri, was my hometown, and I played a significant role here.
But who cares about the position now? The real issue is that at some point, I had this thought.
[I should just quit this damn job.]
Do you know how I’m treated here?
This job is treated like community service, meaning no pay even if I work my ass off, with 640 days of work a year without holidays. And since technology has developed to the point that I don’t need sleep anymore, I work overtime like I’m breathing.
[Damnit!]
Of course I’m cursing.
Anyway.
I decided to quit my job.
However, I had a few issues before quitting.
First off, this isn’t a job you can just leave whenever you want. The higher-ups have restrictions that make it impossible to escape.
If I try to use teleportation magic, it sends electric shocks to my brain.
And even if I somehow manage to escape, this planet is already beneath the grips of rulers, leaving nowhere to hide.
I sometimes thought about killing my superior.
But I’m absolutely forbidden from harming fellow residents of this planet.
[Even the range includes myself, so suicide is hard too.]
I was deep in thought about quitting.
During this process, I keenly observed that our hometown’s magic technology has yet to master dealing with ‘souls.’
[Right. Let’s see. No matter how much Magic Studies has advanced, there’s never been anyone who could interpret a soul. It’s obvious that you can’t cast magic on a concept you don’t even comprehend.]
According to this logic, my restrictions were, strictly speaking, bound to the coordinates of my ‘body’…
Once I thought that far, I could come to one conclusion.
[Then, can a soul freely escape…?]
From that thought, a full decade has passed.
Finally, after a decade, I had reached a domain no one, even in the sharply developed magical civilization, had reached.
「Control of the soul」…
I had finally completed this unique magic.
With the determination to quit my job, I was planning to settle my soul on a distant planet where they couldn’t chase after me.
In other words, a historic first reincarnation.
[It’s done, it’s done! As expected, I’m a genius!]
Once the magic was completed, I unleashed it without hesitation.
And just as the magic power I had been hoarding little by little for ten years arranged itself in the cave.
[!!]
Finally entering this stage, it seemed the administrators had realized something was off, but it was too late.
I was leaving this damn place!
Overwhelmed by joy, I spread my two tentacles wide and yelled.
[You fools! Good luck managing a planet without me! Hahaha!]
Soon, a dazzling light, signaling the magic’s activation, enveloped my body.
Victory. A perfect victory.
Even if it ended in a runaway situation, I still managed to quit!
*
How long has it been since that memory of being wrapped in radiance?
As my consciousness returned, I instinctively lifted a thin pair of skin. My eyelids.
“Hmm…”
The first sight upon opening my eyes was a yellowish ceiling.
Next, I saw flowery wallpaper all over the place.
I looked around, but there were no other beings but me.
Just walls, walls, and more walls.
A very cramped room.
‘What the hell is this creepy place.’
As I tried to move my body around, something dangled out in front of me.
That elongated thing was a bright yellow lump of protein, with five thin protrusions growing from the end of a large cylinder.
Fingers.
‘At least it looks like I succeeded?’
I adapted to my newly settled body.
Of course, I had no anxious feelings.
Though I could worry about how I’d survive suddenly dropped on an alien planet, I wasn’t an ordinary person. I was the strongest mage representing my hometown.
Yet, how could such a genius sorcerer not have a backup plan?
‘Heh, reincarnation is no big deal if it’s me.’
First, I set several conditions before activating the magic.
The first rule was magic power.
I would reincarnate as the being with the highest magic power on this planet.
If I passed this condition, I would naturally also be the species with the highest intelligence.
‘If I could just quit, I wouldn’t even mind possessing a single-cell organism! This is just perfect.’
I got up.
It was time for the next setting to shine.
“Aaaa~ Ah~ Oh, hello! Hello, nice to meet you!”
Thanks to extracting memories from the corpse’s brain, I began to speak Korean perfectly.
Even if the body had died and the soul had separated, the information stored in the brain and heart doesn’t evaporate easily.
Especially if the corpse is fresh.
‘Of course, I can move my body easily; even the language switch is natural.’
But…
‘But why is this all there is?’
A problem was discovered during the testing phase.
According to my plan, I should have perfectly inherited the memories, unable even for the corpse’s parents to recognize me.
But why?
I completely don’t recall who this body’s previous owner was.
Somehow, the memories are all patchy.
‘Damn, where did I mess up this time?’
No matter how much magic is an accumulation of failures, this one seems rather catastrophic.
I stood still, contemplating what to do.
“Ugh!”
Just seconds later, I realized that the time left for me here was running out.
“Gah! Cough!”
This all happened just a few seconds later.
As the organs of the revived corpse began to resume biological activity, I bent over from sudden pain deep in my abdomen. It felt as if my organs had been torn apart and soaked in hydrochloric acid.
‘Damn!’
Finding the cause of the problem wasn’t hard.
Thanks to the intense shock of pain, I just saw a quick flash of past memories in my brain.
“It’s a corpse that died of starvation!”
The body I reincarnated into was that of someone who had starved to death.
How unfortunate… That was the second most undesirable body for me after a decaying corpse.
‘Those who die of starvation suffer immensely for a long time so the buildup of shock is significant.’
Ideally, I’d want to quickly use my magic to fix all the problems.
But right now, casting magic was a challenge.
Being reincarnated, my soul needed time to adapt to the planet’s magic.
‘3,600 seconds.’
I recalled the time units on Earth. Then, I bent over again.
“Ugh!”
I barely had time to think. The pain caused by the starving body was beyond imagination.
“No way, this is just too…!”
In this situation, I couldn’t concentrate on anything.
Right now, extinguishing the warning signals blaring in my stomach was the priority.
‘So painful! If this goes on, I’ll die again!’
I made my decision and immediately opened the door.
“Ugh, blech.”
Then I gritted my teeth and looked for a way out of the building.
First, I needed to get outside, out into the open to find wild food.
‘Having revived the organs with reincarnation magic, my digestion should have somewhat returned. I just need to stuff anything into my stomach.’
But why was this body so hard to move?
I had definitely absorbed how to walk, yet my legs felt like lead.
Still, I was fortunate that before long, I was out in the open, and I was left astonished by the view on this planet.
“Light…?”
The landscape of my hometown, mostly covered in liquid, was dark and blue as it didn’t get much starlight.
This place, however, had a warm and dry atmosphere, completely contrasting that.
I was momentarily overwhelmed by the dazzling sight I was witnessing. But I didn’t have time to enjoy it.
‘Ah, this isn’t the time.’
With extreme hunger clawing at my insides, I was left with no choice but to find anything I could consume.
“AAAH!”
But just a few minutes later, I was faced with a despairing situation.
There was nothing to eat.
Nowhere!
“What the hell!”
Shockingly, this place was wrapped in gray all around.
On the flat road, not a single animal was in sight, nor could I find any traces of insects or plants.
All there was were colorful heaps of scrap metal with four wheels lined up.
‘What the hell is this planet? No wonder the previous owner starved to death!’
Sudden urbanization leading to a decrease in greenery…
Those phrases popped up in my mind, but I had no time to analyze them.
“Guh.”
I collapsed on the ground, exhausted.
As I lowered my posture, I finally spotted a tiny insect near some tires…
But it was so small; would it even help me?
‘It’d probably take more energy to digest it.’
While I was debating whether to eat the insect I found, I noticed something appear from the distant corner of the alley.
Pale apricot-colored leather, bipedal, and a blue hat.
‘Kindred.’
I instantly recognized that he was a resident of this Earth.
The figure that appeared was small enough to barely reach the side mirror of a parked car.
He seemed like a child.
‘A kid.’
That word naturally popped into my head to describe the being.
But just for a moment.
I fixated on what the child was holding.
He was clutching a soft plastic bag, eagerly slurping up a solid orange substance that filled the bag.
“Ugh.”
What could that be?
Well, it was food.
And it looked quite tasty… once such thoughts crossed my mind, I was unable to take my eyes off it.
“…?”
Did he notice my gaze?
The kid walking by stole several glances at me before suddenly hastening his pace.
Did he think I was a weirdo? He quickly dashed past me.
‘Should I just grab it anyway?’
Just as I was considering doing something even a beast wouldn’t do, I spotted a new path.
Luckily, this turning path had tall trees and small flowers.
‘Plants!’
However, those plants seemed unsuitable for eating.
Somehow, I felt like I was taking a very wrong approach…
Regretfully, but with my incomplete memories, I had no choice.
I figured it was better to collect unknown plants than to steal someone’s food, and I took a step forward to gather the unknown plants.
That moment.
Bang!
A strange loud sound echoed.
It came from the alley where the child had just entered.
“Hmm?”
I quickly turned my head. I needed to check where that loud noise originated from.
Being attentive to danger is a common trait among animals.
“Gyaaaaa!”
As I entered the alley of concern, another bizarre sound echoed.
“Gyaaaaaaa!”
This scream didn’t belong to the kid that had gone down the alley.
Then who was screaming?
Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a person.
It was a giant, brightly colored wing.
Black and glossy eyes.
And something with a long, sharp yellow beak.
“So it’s a bird?”
“Gyaaaak!”
So, to sum it up.
Today, I reincarnated on a planet called Earth, where I could encounter a massive monster bird on the street.
What the hell.