Chapter 163: Journey to the Past (3)

-Scrape!

I killed the soldier of the Asran Kingdom.

No, I killed him, the one who was partially possessed by Nepas.

-Thud, slump!

A collapsing body.

But, I felt no joy or relief from eliminating an enemy. 

No emotion at all.

On the contrary, I was engulfed in unease.

Because I knew all too well that this wasn’t the end.

‘He… still exists.’

From a Galas Empire soldier to an Asran Kingdom soldier.

And now, he must be parasitizing someone else’s body.

I can’t predict who he is or how many there are.

One thing is clear: he prepared thoroughly, and it must be a perfect plan that could drive me to my death.

If I try to eliminate his fragments, whose numbers are unknown, I will have to merge completely with my past self and vanish.

If I fear that merger and return after eliminating Nepas moderately, he will kill my past self and gnaw away at my current lifespan.

Perhaps both my future and past selves will die, and I might die the instant my past self vanishes.

I have no choice but to pick one, but either choice leads to death.

But.

“Are you sure about that?”

Death seems inevitable.

Having lived through a thousand years, I learned that nothing is absolute.

That still holds true now.

Looking at the situation I face, it seems inescapable, but it’s not.

Therefore.

I ponder.

A way to escape from this absolute plan.

But that train of thought couldn’t last long.

“Ahhh!”

A scream.

The owner of that familiar voice was my past self.

A man in his mid-thirties who lived in a peaceful, powerless modern era.

For him, this war and the frenzy of killing intent were unbearable.

Moreover, the ever-present threat to his life from Nepas’s reach.

To avoid that, it would be best to first escape this frenzied battlefield.

Of course.

Whoosh!

That applied to me as well.

A Galas Empire soldier who had approached without me noticing thrust a spear.

I gazed at it indifferently.

Swoosh.

I twisted my body slightly to dodge.

I feel a sense of dissonance.

My past self was the pinnacle of the Gritia Continent.

Just the sight of me made countless soldiers and Knights tremble in fear.

But now, an ordinary soldier was radiating killing intent toward me.

Of course, I should deliver death to him.

“Disappear.”

A single release of will.

“Ahhh—”

Startled by that will, the soldier threw the spear he was holding to the ground and fled.

I stared intently at his retreating figure.

I let him live.

It wasn’t because my emotions stirred.

Even if my emotions were alive, the ironclad rule that those who must die should definitely die remains unchanged.

However.

‘Killing recklessly during time travel is forbidden.’

The butterfly effect I mentioned earlier.

That wasn’t limited to the existence of my past self.

If I were to kill that soldier now, I can’t predict what future changes might occur.

Of course, beings parasitized by Nepas’s fragments are an exception.

I don’t know what trick he used, but they are beings that violate the laws of time.

So, I have no hesitation in killing them, but killing ordinary soldiers, those who belong to this time, is extremely dangerous.

Because that soldier’s death could become a butterfly effect, negatively affecting my past self, and my present and future selves.

That’s why I released my will toward the approaching soldiers, making them flee on their own.

“P-please spare me!”

Thus, I reached my past self.

A figure begging for his life, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Right.

That is the bare face of a man in his mid-thirties, dimensionally transferred with no special traits.

Before that gaze could linger on me.

Crackle.

I moved my muscles and changed my appearance.

Transforming my appearance by completely making the flesh my own was no trouble at all.

Honestly, I pondered a little.

Whose appearance should I take?

Then, a being came to mind.

It was the old swordsman, Kasnar.

I transformed into his appearance, the one who had exerted the greatest influence on me.

The wrinkles and white hair made me look exactly like an old soldier.

“Gasp!”

My past self, who belatedly confirmed my appearance, opened his eyes wide in surprise.

That was only natural.

Because someone who looked like an old man everywhere, who seemed too weak to even hold a cane, had repelled fierce soldiers and reached him.

“Let’s go.”

But there was no more time to think.

I didn’t know what other schemes Nepas might be plotting, so I had to leave this place immediately and move to a location where he couldn’t play his tricks.

*

The place we moved to.

It was the old swordsman’s hometown, a small nameless village.

A tiny village nestled deep in the mountains, with a population of barely a hundred.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too far from where the war had broken out, so we could easily reach the village.

Moreover, being disguised as an old man, I was able to secure Kasnar’s house as a place to rest.

The villagers pretended to know me, and having learned some information about Kasnar through the Tower’s trials, I managed conversations smoothly and avoided suspicion.

And.

“Just what in the world is happening…?”

I gazed at my past self, who was still in a state of panic.

Ever since escaping the battlefield and securing some safety, he had remained like that.

“It must be a dream.”

“This makes no sense.”

“Let me wake up.”

My past self thought this was a dream.

Denial of reality. It was a phenomenon I had also experienced in the past.

But it had never been this severe.

That was only natural.

‘Because back then, I had to survive on my own.’

Back then, I was left alone on that battlefield.

Since no being like my current self came to help, to survive somehow, I had to quickly accept reality and struggle desperately to live.

But now was different.

My past self, having escaped that crisis with my help, was in a state where all sense of reality was dulled.

Dimensional transference.

An old man who saved his life.

No matter how you looked at it, it was content that could only be thought of as a dream.

“Ahk!”

“That hurts, right?”

“This… isn’t a dream?”

It seemed it would take quite a long time for him to accept reality.

I watched that spectacle the entire time.

But I didn’t just watch.

While looking at him, I carefully organized what needed to be done going forward.

‘For now, it’s safe.’

The threat of Nepas?

Of course, as long as I’m here, he can’t easily make a move.

The reason is that he wasn’t parasitizing with his main body, but rather attaching fragments to beings belonging to this time period.

Of course, the power of those he parasitized was nothing compared to before, and they posed no threat to me.

Somehow, moving to the desired time period must be related to the separation of his life force.

Therefore, as long as I am together with him, no matter what schemes Nepas employs, he cannot threaten my past self.

But.

‘Wait…?’

Then something occurred to me.

Nepas isn’t strong.

Of course, it’s true he’s somewhat strong, but he doesn’t exceed the level of Knights in the current time period.

In that case.

‘I just need to train my past self.’

Although time isn’t plentiful, it wouldn’t take that much time to equip him with the necessary strength to deal with the current Nepas.

And conveniently.

‘My appearance is the same as that of the old swordsman who gave enlightenment to my past self. It wasn’t intentional, but my current form is that of old swordsman Kasnar, who gave me great inspiration.’

Since the being who gave enlightenment is the same, the influence on the future shouldn’t be lacking.

“Enough.”

So, I intervened with my past self who was in confusion.

Because time was short, to immediately execute my planned task.

He looked at me as if entranced.

“You should already know. This isn’t a dream.”

“If it’s not a dream…”

“It’s reality.”

“But this… makes no sense, just where is this…?”

“The Gritia Continent.”

“Gritia?”

“A completely different dimension from the Earth you lived on.”

“A different dimension…?”

“Yes. A mysterious continent where magic, swords, monsters, and gods live and breathe.”

He still had a dazed look in his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe it.

But soon.

“But how do you, sir, know about Earth…?”

Even in his panic, it seemed he had questions about me knowing Earth.

Of course, I wasn’t flustered.

Because I had already prepared an answer for that question.

“I am also a dimensional transferee like you, who came from Earth to this continent. In a way, you could say I’m a senior who set foot here first.”

It wasn’t a lie.

It was true that my past self was a senior who experienced dimensional transference first.

“Dimensional transference? Senior? Just what is all this…”

But he still wore a confused expression, sinking into despair.

That was natural.

Because it wasn’t something a man in his thirties, living an ordinary life (though he had spent despairing days due to his former wife), could handle.

But that wouldn’t do.

“Snap out of it!”

I suddenly shouted.

“Do you think denying reality will change the current situation? No. It will only worsen it. Quickly recognize reality and find a way to survive somehow. Cultivate the power to protect yourself.”

But even at those words, his expression remained dazed.

Well.

What’s needed at a time like this, when there’s no sense of reality, is…

“Ha Yeon Lee.”

The moment that name left my lips.

“…!”

His expression was completely different from before.

The dazed look was replaced by a face filled with poison energy, as if he would pour out his anger at any moment.

“You don’t plan to just leave that woman who made you miserable alone, do you? The pain you’re experiencing now, you must return it all to her in full.”

He is my past self.

And I know best what motivated my past self.

Ha Yeon Lee.

My former wife.

The target of revenge, the first thing I thought of upon returning to Earth.

“To take revenge on her, you must survive. You must survive somehow, cultivate power, return to Earth, and take revenge. That is your mission.”

When things are this confusing, it’s good to set a single goal.

Just as my past self did.

To achieve that goal, I could disregard means and methods, and whenever things were hard, I could push forward by recalling that goal.

And that wouldn’t be any different for my past self.

“Ha Yeon Lee…”

Grind.

He gritted his teeth hard, making a sound.

The effect was certainly tremendous.

Just mentioning that name brought a look of resolve to my past self’s face.

“If you have the will to learn, as a senior dimensional transferee, I will teach you how to survive.”

Training a guy who has solidified his resolve.

That was the method I had thought of.

Luckily, I had recently gained insight into teaching someone.

Leon was like that, and Lee Seo-jun was like that.

Furthermore, through Siwon School, I had even acquired the knack for teaching those without talent, so I could say I was qualified to make him grow rapidly.

“Well? Will you give it a try?”

In response to my question.

“Yes. If you teach me, I will learn diligently.”

My past self, his resolve solidified, bit his lip firmly and answered.

With this level of resolve, with my past self burning with a desire for revenge against Ha Yeon Lee, I thought he could surely reach the level I desired quickly…

But not long after, I couldn’t help but recall one fact I had been mistaken about.

And that was…

“…Was I this untalented?”

My past self.

He was the most untalented, merely an ordinary person, among all those I had taught so far.