The Soldier Shouted Save

Chapter 8

The Hall of Fate.

I had spent quite a bit of time here.

It felt like an entire day had passed.

“Keyword, Scenario.”

[Searching for posts containing the keyword ‘Scenario.’]

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[You are an unregistered user.]

—Some posts are restricted.

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[You are Level 2.]

—Some posts are restricted.

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76 posts found.

This was what I had been doing all day, trying to see the records left by the other heroes.

By now, I was familiar with this method—uttering a word to summon the posts written by the heroes.

[You have been in the Hall of Fate for 26 hours.]

[Excessive use may interfere with normal daily life.]

I had grown used to this message, too.

[Do you want to exit the Hall of Fate?]

My answer was always the same.

“No, I won’t leave.”

I might never be able to enter this place again.

I wasn’t a hero, but I had gained the power of one.

I needed to understand the thoughts and circumstances of the heroes, to learn how to use and grow this power.

However, the Hall of Fate seemed unwilling to let me stay any longer.

[You are in a critical condition.]

[Exiting the Hall of Fate.]

“…What?”

I blinked.

Before I could even question it, my view changed.

—

Sunlight.

How long had it been since I last saw sunlight?

Throughout my three lives, I hadn’t seen it once.

Everything had started at night and ended at night.

‘…Where am I?’

I looked around.

I could see the mountain, now blackened.

The wildfire that should have raged for days was out.

‘Did the Lord’s Castle send a mage?’

The details didn’t matter as long as no one was going to hold me responsible.

I reached out to the ground to push myself up.

‘Ugh!’

Pain surged through my entire body.

I looked down at myself.

My skin was scorched, burned by the intense heat.

‘This is strange.’

―Your level has increased.

With that message, my body, which had been dying from burns, had been completely healed.

But now, my skin was blistering, oozing, and dying again from burns.

‘…I see. I must have fallen down the mountain and remained here.’

I hadn’t actually been transported to the Hall of Fate.

It must have been something like a near-sleep state.

‘But why am I burned?’

The grass around me was still green.

The fire hadn’t reached this area.

‘The heat was intense, but it shouldn’t have been enough to cause burns.’

Suddenly, something from the Hall of Fate came to mind.

“Incarnation of Grimgal, was it?”

I mumbled to myself, trying to recall, and something appeared before me.

[Great Achievement: Incarnation of Grimgal (Fire Resistance -200%, Physical Resistance +50%)]

“…How strange.”

According to the message, I had only slain a monster, but now I was more vulnerable to fire and more resistant to physical attacks.

Can I get rid of this?

I didn’t know.

If I could return to the Hall of Fate, I’d have to look into it then.

“…First, I should worry about walking.”

I felt faint, and my body had no strength.

It wasn’t because of the burns.

It was the hunger that had been gnawing at me for over a day.

—Thud!

I stumbled and fell.

Getting up was not easy.

‘Still, I’m lucky.’

I saw someone running toward me from a distance.

It was Dane, the village carpenter.

“Allen! Are you all right?!”

I had no strength to respond.

Unable to fight off the weight of my closing eyelids, I drifted into sleep.

—

When I woke up, the sun was setting.

The sky was bathed in the colors of dusk.

As I sat up and looked around, Dane rushed over.

“You’re awake? Even if you’re tired, you should eat this.”

It was cold vegetable porridge.

Instead of accepting the spoon he offered, I grabbed the whole bowl and drank it down.

“At least you’re looking better now. Thank goodness.”

I felt my strength returning as the food filled my stomach.

I looked around the tent where I had been resting.

“Where am I?”

“…This is our village, or what’s left of it. That monster swallowed everything, and now there’s nothing left.”

My hometown, the village I had burned down with my own hands.

“I’m sorry.”

When I said that, Dane chuckled as if he couldn’t believe it.

“You were always different, even as a kid.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I mean, I always thought you’d become a hero, just like yesterday.”

Dane headed toward the tent’s exit, throwing a final comment over his shoulder.

“Thank you for saving us, Allen.”

It was an unfamiliar feeling.

Even though I was left alone in the tent, I didn’t feel lonely.

—

By the time I had rested enough, the sun had fully set, and night had fallen.

People were packing up what little they had left in the place where the village once stood.

I approached them and asked about my siblings.

“Have you seen Croa or Rian?”

“…Hmm, I don’t think I’ve seen them?”

If they weren’t here, they must have safely reached Tallin.

I hoped they had found a place to sleep there. I couldn’t help but worry about them.

“Would it be all right if I accompanied you to Tallin?”

“Really? We’d feel much safer with you!”

With a man whose arm was in a splint, I set off from the village.

On the way to Tallin, I suddenly stopped.

The man looked at me, puzzled.

“…Did you leave something behind?”

He couldn’t see it, but I could.

[You cannot escape your fate.]

A message.

And an invisible wall blocking my path.

“Gah!”

I swung my elbow at the wall with all my might, trying to break it, but it felt like striking water—there was no impact.

“…Allen?”

I remembered what had been written in the Hall of Fate—anything related to the hero’s powers couldn’t be discussed.

I spoke to the man, who was looking at me with concern.

“…There’s something I need to take care of. Can I ask you to look after Croa and Rian when you reach Tallin?”

“Of course. I’ll start asking around for them as soon as we arrive.”

The man walked past the invisible barrier, continuing on to Tallin.

I mulled over the message that had appeared before me.

‘I can’t escape my fate?’

It was an issue related to the power of the hero.

I could only contemplate it on my own.

I turned back to the village ruins.

“Oh, Allen! Are you all right?”

It was the old lady who had lived next door to me.

She looked worried when she saw the burns and blisters on my skin.

“This kind of thing happens often when you’re a royal soldier.”

I had meant it as a joke, but she only looked more sympathetic.

“It would have been nice if a priest had been here to help you…”

“A priest came by?”

“Yes, they seemed busy, but they checked on everyone in the village before they left… It looked like they were heading to Dane Village.”

Dane Village. I remembered it.

A village abandoned due to constant monster attacks.

“What would they be going there for?”

“They said they had some investigation to conduct. The lord must be so thoughtless, sending a young woman alone to such a dangerous place. There must be bandits there, too…”

I had hoped to have my burns healed by the priest, but I had no intention of going all the way to Dane Village.

But

“Allen, are you worried about that priest?”

No.

I wasn’t looking toward Dane Village because I was concerned about the priest.

[Your choice will change someone’s fate.]

A new message appeared before my eyes.

Was this what it meant to be unable to escape fate?

“Croa is my priority.”

“…Of course, look after your sister first.”

There was nothing more important than my only family, Croa.

I walked to a secluded spot and pulled out the dagger Croa had given me.

‘Maybe I can escape this fate with this.’

Taking a deep breath, I aimed the dagger at my heart.

―Thud!

The cold metal pierced my body.

My legs gave out, and strength drained from my body.

—You have died from your own attack. [Confirm]

—Reloading from Auto-Save. [Confirm]

I opened my eyes.

I was back in the village.

It was evening, the sun having fully set.

I passed the villagers and headed straight toward Tallin.

[You cannot escape your fate.]

‘…Not even through death?’

Once again, the invisible wall blocked my path.

I turned back to the villagers and asked.

“When did the priest leave the village?”

“I think they left in the morning… Are you planning on going to Dane Village?”

I turned to look at the man.

[Your choice will change someone’s fate.]

I glanced at the message and replied.

“I plan to stop by. If you reach Tallin, please look after Croa and Rian for me.”

“That won’t be a problem! Don’t worry about it!”

I checked my equipment.

The dagger Croa had given me.

I also grabbed a few strips of jerky from the villagers.

“…Let’s get going.”

I wasn’t afraid of this forced fate; I was just tired of it.

My life repeated, after all.

With simple preparations complete, I set off toward Dane Village.

“This way.”

I knew the area like the back of my hand.

I was confident the map I had drawn myself was more accurate than anything the mercenary guild could have made.

‘There was a fight here.’

I inspected the ground.

Relying on my experience as a scout, I followed the traces left by people.

As I moved along the bent grass and disturbed earth, I soon saw the figure of a person.

A corpse.

It was a gruesome sight—its body riddled with holes.

‘What kind of weapon caused this?’

I cautiously examined the man’s body while remaining alert.

He hadn’t been stabbed with a sword.

Whatever pierced him was as thin and sharp as a rapier, stabbing mercilessly into the man’s body.

‘What’s this?’

I checked the man’s bag.

A map, a water bottle, dried food, and several small glass bottles filled with various liquids.

I didn’t know exactly what was inside, but I did recognize who would use such items.

‘These are the potions priests use.’

I could guess the identity of the dead man.

He was a bandit who had stolen someone else’s belongings.

‘Did he steal the priest’s bag?’

The situation was hard to figure out.

It wasn’t the priest who was dead but the bandit who had stolen their bag.

Did the priest fight back?

That didn’t seem right—if the priest had won, their bag wouldn’t still be here in the bandit’s possession.

‘…Someone else is nearby.’

Listening closely, I picked up a faint sound.

―Rustle. Rustle.

The noise of someone moving through the bushes.

Instinctively, I gripped the dagger in my hand and hid behind a tree.

Then, I peeked out to see who—or what—was approaching.

‘An undead?’

―Clack. Clack.

A skeleton, with nothing but bones left, its body rattling as it moved, scanning its surroundings with its hollow skull.

It was a skeleton.

An undead created by trapping a dead soul inside a body stripped down to its bones.

‘Why is there an undead here?’

If this were near the royal palace, it wouldn’t be unusual.

Even 500 years later, remnants of the undead could still be found.

But it was abnormal for a skeleton to be wandering around without a necromancer in the vicinity.

‘Is there a necromancer nearby?’

I didn’t have time to dwell on it.

The skeleton was one of the weakest types of undead.

A blunt weapon aimed at its skull could take it down in a single hit.

But this situation was dire.

I didn’t have a blunt weapon. All I had was a dagger—good for stabbing and slashing, but useless against a skeleton.

―Clack. Clack.

The skeleton hadn’t noticed me yet.

Maybe it would just pass by.

―Clack.

It stopped walking.

And then, it changed direction.

‘Damn it…’

The skeleton was tracking my presence like a human would.

Incredible intelligence.

The necromancer who created this skeleton must be quite skilled.

―Clack. Clack.

I wanted to bash its skull in, but with just a dagger and my weakened body, it wasn’t an option.

If I wanted to fight, I needed a better weapon.

―Rustle.

Even the slight movement I made caused the bushes to rustle loudly.

―Clack.

The skeleton’s skull turned toward me.

There was no more time to think.

Now was the time for action.

I looked at the dagger in my right hand.

A weapon that posed no threat to the skeleton.

But even if it wasn’t effective as a weapon, that didn’t mean it was entirely useless.

―Clack. Clack.

Using the tree as cover, I threw the dagger.

It sliced through the air, but it didn’t even come close to hitting the skeleton.

―Rustle.

The dagger flew past the skeleton and into the bushes, sticking into the ground.

―Clack.

The skeleton’s skull naturally followed the sound.

Its head turned away from me.

Now was the moment.

I lunged from behind the tree toward it.

―Clack.

The skeleton’s head began to turn back toward me.

It was closing in fast.

In a hurry, I opened it.

A white potion.

Soldiers, mercenaries, or anyone unfamiliar with potions called this a white potion.

But a royal priest had once told me the truth.

This wasn’t a potion you drank.

The skeleton reached out with its sharp, bony hand.

But I didn’t panic.

The priest had told me that this liquid was a weapon used to kill the undead.

I splashed the contents of the glass bottle onto the skeleton.

―Sizzle…

Its bones began to dissolve.

More accurately, they melted away, disappearing.

―Clatter, clack, clatter.

The bones that had been holding the skeleton together scattered across the ground, unable to hold their form.

After confirming that, I quickly opened another white potion.

I poured it onto the skeleton’s skull.

The skull was the weak point of the skeleton.

Which meant that as long as the skull was intact, it could still pose a threat.

“Hah… Hah… Hah…”

My condition seemed to be worsening.

I scanned my surroundings.

All I found was a backpack. I hadn’t managed to find the priest.

‘Did they get taken down by the undead?’

I tried to dismiss the thought.

‘There’s no way a priest would go down so easily to an undead.’

I pulled out the map from the backpack and unfolded it.

On the map, I spotted a location marked with a circle.

‘Dane Village.’

I folded the map and estimated the distance to the village.

‘About 800 meters.’

It wasn’t far.

But every step felt like a struggle.

The burns on my skin were getting worse.

It felt as though my flesh was about to rot away at any moment.

‘If I don’t meet the priest, I might die here.’

Though in my case, it wouldn’t be death—I’d simply repeat my life again.

‘I’ll just have to hope the priest is at Dane Village.’

With great difficulty, I forced my increasingly heavy legs to move.

“Hah… Hah… Hah…”

I didn’t know how long I had been walking.

My entire focus had been on enduring the pain.

The pain should have become familiar by now, but the endless walk with no sign of the village was sapping my strength.

But then.

‘I see it!’

At last, the village came into view.

Despite the short distance, it had taken me a long time to reach it.

But that didn’t matter.

What mattered was that I had arrived.

There were people standing guard at the entrance of the village.

[Your first Path of Destiny guides you.]

The villagers looked in my direction.

There was something odd in their eyes.