The Soldier Shouted Save

Chapter 1

One year ago.

I had met a man called a hero once.

The opponent was the Undead Legion.

It was horrifying.

I had to swing a crude sword like a blunt weapon with all my strength to take down even a single skeletal soldier, but even then, they would rise again.

Yet, driven by my duty to protect the royal palace, I swung my sword once more.

Once.

Twice…

I couldn’t remember how many times I swung my sword.

But the number of undead didn’t decrease at all.

As the soldiers fighting alongside me slowly turned into undead and started wielding their swords against us, my spirit broke.

I thought we couldn’t win.

In that moment of surrender, the hero appeared.

When he swung his pure white holy sword, the undead crumbled to dust and scattered in the wind.

The hero extended his hand to me as I sat collapsed on the ground.

He looked younger than I expected.

He seemed younger than me, and I was 26.

“Are you all right?”

Pulled to my feet by his hand, I nodded.

With a reassuring smile, he turned back toward the battlefield.

I thought it was incredible, the way he charged alone into a legion of what seemed like hundreds of undead.

But that was it.

He was someone chosen by the holy sword.

I thought it was only natural for him to be that way.

However, after witnessing the battle with my own eyes, I couldn’t help but think differently.

There were moments when his leg was bitten by a ghoul he thought he had defeated, and he barely avoided the deadly strikes of a Dullahan’s sword.

That’s when I realized.

The hero was just a human too.

A person only a little stronger than the rest of us.

That’s why, when the battle was over, I had to ask him.

“Aren’t you afraid, Hero?”

Even though he looked younger than me, I naturally used honorifics.

At my question, the hero gave a bitter smile and said,

“Of course I’m scared. Sometimes I wish I could just save my progress, you know?”

“Sa…ve?”

The hero looked slightly troubled as he saw my confused expression.

“Is it some kind of magic you use, Hero?”

“Oh, uh, yes! In the world I used to live in, we’d always save right before dangerous moments.”

At that time, I didn’t understand what the hero meant by “save,” even when I saw him laughing awkwardly.

Since that day, I, who had been just a soldier protecting the royal palace, returned to my rural hometown.

I wasn’t even in my thirties, but after surviving that close brush with death, the faces of the family I’d left alone back home kept coming to mind.

And now, one year later, as I face monsters heading toward the village, I mutter unknowingly in a trembling voice.

“Save…”

* * *

“Sa…ve? Hey, what did you just say?”

A 17-year-old boy with youthful, blond hair, Rian, asked, curious about my muttering.

“It’s a magic the hero used.”

“Wow, brother! Did you learn magic while you were at the royal palace?”

“No, in my case, it’s just a habit of talking to myself.”

“But still, if you were at the royal palace…”

Rian was unusually persistent today.

I ruffled his hair roughly.

“What do you call me when we’re here?”

“Sorry, Captain of the Guard. But the village guard is only five people anyway…”

Rian was right.

The so-called village guard was nothing more than a name, with no actual combat experience except for me.

Our equipment was pitiful too.

The clothes Rian and I wore were just leather-patched garments, and our swords were rusty and dull.

But even with such shabby gear and a flimsy-looking guard, I felt our presence was needed.

We had to show those vicious monsters with green skin that if they attacked here, they would pay a price.

“With this, it’s not even a challenge.”

“…What?”

“Rian, go to the village and alert them of an emergency.”

“W-wait, are those really monsters?”

There was no mistake.

The bright lights coming down from Goblin Mountain.

Only goblins used torches with a greenish hue.

Looking into Rian’s anxious eyes, I said,

“Tell the people who can fight to grab even a kitchen knife and come out. And tell the rest to stay inside their homes, no matter what. Got it?”

“S-so, the people who can fight…”

Rian’s legs were already shaking, even though the battle hadn’t even started.

If our father, who had put a sword in my hands when I was ten with the intention of making me a royal guard, were still alive, he would’ve scolded him harshly.

But I knew firsthand that my father’s methods didn’t work.

If I were the father back then, I’d probably try to calm him like this.

“What…what is that?”

“It’s what royal palace soldiers do before they go into battle. Now, stretch out your right arm.”

I pretended to act all cool as I extended my right hand diagonally, and Rian’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

The phrase ‘royal palace soldiers’ must have triggered Rian’s sense of heroism.

I chuckled at his childishness, grabbing his right hand and pulling his arm close to my body.

“Rian, you can do this, right?”

“Yes! I will complete my first mission perfectly, Captain!”

What mission?

He seemed overly eager, but at least the result was good.

Rian took off running toward the village with swift steps.

How long would it take?

With Rian’s legs, it would take him about five minutes to reach the village, so if I were to think optimistically, we’d have support in about 15 minutes.

If I were to think pessimistically… well.

One thing I learned as a royal guard was that thinking about worst-case scenarios wasn’t helpful.

“…Goblins, huh.”

Truthfully, goblins weren’t much of a match for me.

Even though I had been just a low-ranking soldier in the royal palace, in this small village, I was looked upon with awe and respect.

“Still, it’ll be tough to take on this many by myself.”

The light that I’d seen halfway down Goblin Mountain was now nearly at the base.

Seeing how they carried such bright lights that could be seen from a distance, I guessed there were about twenty of them.

Phew…

If I wasn’t going to tuck tail and run like a scared dog, then there was no point in worrying.

I drew the sword from my waist.

Though I’d tried to maintain it, the sword had been rusty from the start.

But it was still sharp enough to slice through their necks.

I had kept the blade as sharp as the one I used in the royal palace.

Whoosh.

I swung the sword through the air.

It cut through the wind with a beautiful white arc.

I moved my body, warming up as I shifted side to side, keeping my eyes fixed on the lights ahead.

Though goblins were known for their intelligence, they were still monsters.

They had the intelligence to attack at night but lacked the wisdom to conceal themselves.

If they had that kind of wisdom, humans would’ve gone extinct long ago.

“Has something happened?”

Without realizing it, I glanced toward the village where Rian had run.

The goblins’ torchlight was drawing closer, but there was no sign from the village yet.

I turned my gaze back to the front.

At the edge of my vision, I could see the torches swaying with each step and the green skin of the goblins coming into view.

“At least, my instincts haven’t dulled,” I thought to myself.

It had been exactly 13 minutes since Rian left.

I had almost perfectly estimated the goblins’ arrival time, judging solely by the distant torches.

If the commander had seen me, would he have praised me?

Knowing how stingy he was with compliments, probably not.

“Kieeeek!”

The goblins were now close.

I extinguished the torch in my outpost and hid myself in the nearby bushes.

One goblin, wearing a helmet, began speaking in some incomprehensible language, gesturing around.

It was clearly puzzled by the sudden extinguishing of the torch that had just been burning brightly.

There were about 20 goblins in total.

The helmeted goblin was their leader.

At its command, the goblins spread out, searching the area.

While I remained hidden, their torches gave away their positions.

I crawled on all fours through the bushes.

“Kii! Kieee!”

When the helmeted goblin found nothing, it started gathering its subordinates.

I couldn’t wait any longer.

If I stayed hidden, they’d pass me by and head straight for the village.

I grabbed a small rock.

Watching their positions and movements carefully, I threw the rock over their heads.

Whoosh.

Rustle.

The rock arced through the air and landed in the bushes on the opposite side, away from me.

“Kieek! Kiee!”

Hearing the rustling sound, the helmeted goblin sent some of its subordinates to investigate.

Now.

I quickly rushed towards the helmeted goblin, legs already prepared for the sprint.

Tap, tap, tap.

The helmeted goblin turned its head toward me at the sound of my footsteps.

I stopped abruptly with my right ankle, using the momentum to pivot and slice the goblin’s neck with my sword.

Thunk.

Without a chance to scream, its body fell to the ground, the sound of its helmet and body hitting the earth ringing loudly.

“Kerk! Kerk!”

The goblins noticed their leader’s decapitated body and turned their gazes toward me.

Seeing the one who had beheaded their commander, they began to charge, waving their spiked clubs wildly.

‘Not yet?’

The reinforcements were taking too long.

Had something happened in the village?

I couldn’t afford to worry about that now.

If the village was in trouble and they couldn’t send help, all the more reason I couldn’t let these goblins pass.

“Kieeek!”

I charged at the goblins, dodging the club aimed at my head and slicing through one of the goblins with my sword.

There was no chance of winning if I allowed myself to be surrounded.

I had to cut down the green beasts before they encircled me.

‘I never thought I’d feel this damned sensation again.’

My heartbeat quickened, and my body grew hot with adrenaline.

This feeling of standing on the battlefield reminded me of my first battle, where a fellow trainee’s head had been taken off in front of me.

I thought I’d cry, but there wasn’t even time for that.

I had to step over his body and decapitate the monster in front of me.

‘Compared to that, this isn’t even a real crisis.’

Constantly reassuring myself, I focused on dodging the goblins’ attacks.

I saw a goblin swing its club at my head.

I was about to dodge to the side, but—

Thud.

“Ugh!!”

A sudden, unexpected pain shot through my back, causing me to groan involuntarily.

If I were a fresh recruit, I might have been paralyzed by the blow.

But I was a veteran who had survived many battlefields.

I knew, from sheer experience, that I had to keep moving, no matter the pain, to keep cutting down my enemies.

Swish!

With a spray of red blood, a green goblin’s head rolled to the ground.

It hurt.

Every time I cut down one of the goblins, another bruise formed on my body.

The leather-patched clothes I wore had been torn apart.

The spikes from their clubs had pierced deep into my skin.

Thud.

I felt a sharp pain near my head.

Damn it, I should have protected my head…

Blood dripped down over my eyes, obscuring my vision.

I couldn’t see their faces anymore.

I couldn’t see their bodies.

But it didn’t matter.

I could still see their feet.

Keeping time with their stumbling rhythm, I swung my sword again and again.

After several minutes of combat, I stomped the ground, bringing my body to a halt.

There were no more goblins.

I wiped the blood from my eyes with my sleeve and looked around.

I saw no more goblins.

“One… two…”

Following my old habits as a palace soldier, I counted the goblin corpses as I stabbed my sword into each one.

Twenty-two, exactly.

I had taken down 22 goblins on my own, but I couldn’t laugh or celebrate the victory.

‘I need to get back…’

Something felt off.

Though my feet were on the ground, my body felt weightless.

I staggered as I began to walk, turning toward the village where I could rest and heal.

Whoosh.

The world turned red.

* * *

‘Ah.’

My mind suddenly felt clear.

I moved my body slowly, testing it.

There was no pain. I felt perfectly fine.

Had I made it back to the village and received treatment?

But as I looked around, something felt strange.

This was the wooden outpost I had built, about a kilometer away from the village.

Why would they leave me here, a wounded man?

‘…What is this?’

Letters appeared before my eyes.

― You have died from a ??? attack. [Confirm]

― Reloading from the last save point. [Confirm]

‘Save…? Died?’

I reached out to grab the floating words, but it was futile.

Just then, new letters appeared.

― Hint: Be cautious of what’s behind you. [Confirm]

“…Brother! Brother!”

It was only then I realized someone was shaking my arm.

I turned my gaze toward the slender hand that was tugging at me.

“What’s wrong? You suddenly spaced out.”

“…It’s nothing. What were you saying?”

“How could you not be listening! I was asking, what is ‘Save’?”

“…It’s magic. The magic the hero used…”

“Wow! So you can use magic too, brother?”

‘Is he teasing me?’

Rian’s reaction was as if he was hearing about it for the first time.

That’s when I realized something was wrong.

“B-brother! Where are you going?”

I grabbed a torch and examined the ground outside the outpost.

‘It’s gone… Why?’

There were no goblin corpses.

It was evening.

A whole day had passed, so they could have cleared the bodies, but there wasn’t even a trace of blood.

I had killed 22 goblins.

It made no sense that all the blood could vanish in just a day.

“Brother! Seriously, what’s wrong? And what about the lights on Goblin Mountain? Is that okay?”

“Goblin Mountain?”

I turned my head toward Goblin Mountain.

It was the exact same scene I had witnessed the day before.

Torches were descending the mountain, coming toward us again.

My perfectly healed body.

The missing bloodstains.

And the goblins descending from the mountain.

Only now did it start to make sense.

‘…I’ve gone back in time?’