Chapter 1

Prologue

Jin Runcandel often thought this.

Am I a failure?

He wasn’t always like this. When he was a young man, not yet thirty, he didn’t always think this way. He, too, had grand goals and shining dreams.

For example, the moment he, the youngest of the Runcandel family, first held a sword.

When he was young, Jin thought his future held nothing but success and glory, just like his father and brothers.

But Jin had no talent.

In the Runcandel family, one became a 1-star knight at the age of thirteen. In the thousand-year history of the family, no one had ever failed to become a 1-star knight before turning thirteen.

By sixteen, one would be a 3-star knight, and before turning twenty, a 5-star knight, roaming the world. This was the average for the Runcandels.

Jin became a 1-star knight at the age of twenty-five.

Becoming a 1-star knight at twenty-five was a realm even a talentless fool could reach, as long as there was enough effort.

His efforts were so commendable that his other brothers only managed to 'drive him away without killing him.'

But I wasn’t talentless. I wasn’t talentless...

After leaving the family, Jin, surprisingly, realized his talent lay not in the sword but in something else.

Magic.

Jin had an extraordinary talent for magic.

After wandering aimlessly and becoming a disciple of a mage by chance, he received a contract offer from the God of Shadows, Solderet, in just three years.

A clear path to becoming a great mage of the era was opened. Solderet was the being that mages most desired.

Moreover, Jin learned through Solderet that he had a great talent for swordsmanship as well.

[Contractor, it seems you were hated by someone when you were very young. You couldn’t draw out your power due to a minor curse. Perhaps that’s why I was drawn to you.]

A minor curse.

Solderet described the curse that had suppressed Jin’s talent in this way. The one who cursed Jin with the 'Delusion of the Blade' was a 9-star mage.

Of course, Jin didn’t know he was cursed until he met Solderet.

Solderet easily dispelled the curse that had bound Jin. The hidden red anchor in Jin’s body seeped into the shadows and disappeared.

[Now, all that remains is for you to become an unparalleled sword-mage, Contractor. It will be enjoyable to watch.]

It was true.

When Jin picked up the sword again as Solderet had said, he saw new realms at every moment. The greatest trash in Runcandel family history, Jin Runcandel, no longer existed.

One hand held magic.

The other hand held a sword.

In about ten years, he would be strong enough that he wouldn’t need to worry about the family that had abandoned him. Now, all that remained was for Jin to become the strongest sword-mage in history and rule the world.

‘Maybe I really am a failure after all.’

Cough!

Jin spat out a mouthful of clotted blood. Blood was flowing from his nose, eyes, and ears.

He was about to die.

He had no chance to use the magic he had learned in three years or the power of Solderet.

Three 9-star knights suddenly attacked the capital of the Akkin Kingdom, and Jin, caught in the aftermath while sleeping, suffered a fatal injury.

While sleeping...

A 9-star knight could devastate a country like the Akkin Kingdom in half a day. With three of them attacking the capital, there was nothing Jin, who had just begun his path as a strong one, could do.

He had just finished a training session and was exhausted, so he couldn’t even react.

It was a ridiculous death. He felt so wronged that he could go mad, but only a hollow laugh came out of his blood-filled mouth.

Even as death approached, there was no one by his side.

Not his beloved teacher, not his brothers who had abandoned him, not his family.

Solderet was silent as well.

‘If this is how it’s going to be, why did the heavens give me... an opportunity?’

That’s how Jin Runcandel closed his eyes.

Thinking that his life was one with no regrets but many regrets.

Chapter 1. Runcandel’s Superstition

Cry, cry.

‘As I’m dying, where is this baby’s cry coming from...’

Jin thought.

Is it an auditory hallucination as I’m about to die? Or did the shockwave from the 9-star knights cause a neighbor’s baby to fall nearby?

The latter would be a tragic event. The Akkin Kingdom would be destroyed today, and a baby like this wouldn’t survive.

‘I want to save it, but my body is split in half. I hope in my next life, I’m born in a happy place, not this cruel world.’

Cry, cry, cry!

The baby’s cry was getting louder. It was crying as if it would suffocate at any moment.

‘What a pitiful death. With a baby crying right in front of me.’

His vision was pitch black.

The baby’s cry showed no signs of stopping. Amid the feeling of helplessness, Jin wondered why he wasn’t dead yet.

His upper and lower body were split in half, and he had numerous fatal cuts and wounds. In a situation where he shouldn’t be able to breathe for more than ten seconds, the cry... ‘It’s coming from me!’

What kind of harmony is this?

The cry was coming from Jin himself.

It was September 9, 1780.

The day Jin Runcandel, the youngest son of the swordsmanship family Runcandel, was born.

* * *

A hundred days had passed since his rebirth.

Jin could now crawl quite skillfully and finally decided to accept the reality of his situation.

There was no other choice. What could he do about being reborn after dying, and now only able to babble?

‘Even if I were five and could explain properly, who would believe that I have the memories of my 28-year-old past life?’

It would surely be dismissed as a child’s delusion or lie.

If he detailed the family’s history and secrets, it might be different, but that would likely result in him being treated as a cursed child.

Therefore.

Jin was destined to live again as the youngest son of the Runcandels.

The youngest son of the Runcandels!

An extraordinary birth.

Most people would consider being born as the youngest son of the Runcandels a tremendous blessing.

But Jin was in a dilemma.

‘If I had another life, I wished to be born in an ordinary family.’

If that were the case, it wouldn’t have taken him 100 days to accept this reality.

He was born in the same family, as the same youngest son, on the same day. That meant he had the same talent.

In swordsmanship and magic.

And Runcandel hated magic. The Zep family, a family of mages, was Runcandel’s greatest rival.

‘Again, the youngest son of Runcandel. Is the curse Solderet lifted still in place? How will I leave the family this time to learn magic?’

If he can’t leave the Runcandels, he can’t learn magic.

If the curse Solderet lifted is back to its original state, he won’t be able to learn swordsmanship either.

Snore, snore.

Jin, who was pondering, instantly fell asleep. This young body would fall into such sleep regardless of his will.

* * *

He turned one.

Time passed slowly.

He was tired of thinking about how to survive in the Runcandels. Falling asleep frequently and living as a young body that couldn’t even speak a word was just tedious.

‘I wish I could grow up quickly! It’s suffocating! I need to grow up to do anything!’

Drinking milk from a bottle, sleeping when the time comes, and having his diaper changed by his nanny, Gilli, when he soiled it. This was Jin’s daily life for the past year, a source of great shame for a young man’s spirit.

Click, click.

A woman approached Jin’s room. His mother and the lady of the house, Rosa Runcandel.

Dark, sharp eyes, a prominent nose. A beautiful but very fierce appearance. The people called her the 'Black Leopard.'

“Gilli, is everything ready?”

“Of course, my lady. Today is the day the youngest master makes his ‘choice,’ so I paid special attention.”

“Good. Then let’s start right away.”

Upon hearing the conversation, Jin realized it was his birthday.

Runcandel children undergo a ritual called ‘choice’ exactly one year after birth.

Various items are placed on the floor, and the child is made to crawl and choose one.

A kind of superstition, where the item the child chooses is believed to be their future. The Runcandels were strangely obsessed with this ritual.

Rosa carried Jin to the central hall of the castle.

In the center of the hall stood Jin’s father.

The strongest knight of the current era, Siron Runcandel, with his arms crossed.

‘Father.’

It was the first time he saw his father since his birth. Siron, who had reached the realm of a half-god, rarely stayed at the family castle.

He was always on the battlefield or training privately.

‘And my brothers...’

Twelve brothers.

In his past life, they always treated Jin like a bug, but not yet. They were all waiting for Jin with smiling faces.

Seeing them, memories of his past life’s miserable times surfaced, making his chest tight.

“Rosa, put Jin down.”

Rosa placed Jin on the floor. The cold of the marble floor pierced Jin’s skin.

About two meters away from Jin, the items needed for the ‘choice’ ritual were placed.

A book, a few coins, a single grain of rice.

And over twenty swords of various types were stuck into the floor of the hall.

Jin had to choose one.

‘In my past life, I had no memory of this, but seeing it directly, it’s a crazy act. Laying out dozens of sharp swords and making a baby choose one with bare hands?’

In his past life, Jin chose a sword. The book, coins, and grain of rice were hard to find among the stuck swords, so naturally, Runcandel children always chose a sword.

“Choose, son.”

As Jin crawled, the Runcandels watched with intense eyes.

They were curious whether the youngest would choose a pair of swords, a greatsword, a longsword, or any other type of sword.

Amid the tense gazes, Jin was crawling toward the sword he had chosen in his past life.

No one in the world would know. The great Runcandel family performed this foolish ritual every time a child was born.

Grunt, grunt. Crawling just a few meters was frustratingly slow and tiring.

‘In my past life, I unknowingly chose a sword, causing me trouble, but this time, I’ll choose it on purpose.’

Thump, thump. His tiny heart was pounding.

Dozens of swords, stuck in a circle. At the end, in the center, was the sword Jin intended to choose.

As Jin rolled around and passed the first sword, the Runcandels’ eyes sparkled.

Even if they were from the world’s best swordsmanship family, babies usually choose the closest item.

But Jin was narrowly passing the first forest of swords. As he moved forward, the family members swallowed their saliva.

They were thinking.

Could the youngest... choose that sword?

As Jin continued to pass the stuck blades, Siron and Rosa’s eyebrows started to twitch, their faces as stiff as stone.

“Ugh!”

Finally, Jin chose a sword. Blood dripped from his finger that touched the blade.

The brothers all gaped, their eyes fixed on the sword Jin had chosen.

They thought Jin had chosen it by chance, but Jin had crawled with determination to choose this sword, despite the difficulty of controlling a one-year-old body.

‘Even crawling on purpose to choose it is this hard. In my past life, I chose it by chance...’

Varisada.

The name of the sword Jin chose. The symbol of the Runcandels.

This sword could only be used by the head of the Runcandels, and only by the head who was recognized by all family members.

Choosing Varisada in the ‘choice’ ritual was a rare occurrence in the family’s long history.

And those who chose Varisada all became the head of the family in the future. Except for Jin Runcandel in his past life.

“Jin chose the sword of the first head.”

Siron said solemnly.

Some cheered, some tried to hide their complex feelings.

The Runcandel superstition was like that.

“I will end the ritual. Move Jin to Storm Castle.”