Past Life Returner

If we were to compare as system administrators, I was at Level One, whereas the Old One was at the maximum Level Ten. Looking back, the restrictions I was subject to did not seem to apply to the Old One. I had once gained XP in one of the lands of the Saint Land of Death where I had been wandering to obtain the skeletal dragon, as well as on the Baclan mainland.

However, such a thing was impossible in my current system. The transfer of power was only possible in spaces where the server exerted influence. Therefore, the Awakened could only grow within Saint Dragorin, where the server was installed and only within a single dimension that was physically connected.

Especially if the outside was surrounded by the power of something like Doom Kaos, just like the mainland, there was no way to penetrate that power for now. The reason Jonathan was leveling up explosively was probably that Saint Dragorin and the mainland were somehow linked.

There was even a big difference between his and my collection quest. The Old One’s system had no limits in the ability to manipulate space, but what about me? I had no choice but to create a separate collection area at the association because I wasn’t able to accommodate all the loot that was being collected simultaneously for now.

Awakeneds had to directly offer their collections to complete the quests. Even at this moment, the quests were being completed in this way.

However, if the objects to be moved were just two or three pieces of paper, there was no reason to artificially create an area. Such shallow space manipulation was possible even with my current system capabilities.

[The Corps One Commander Kwon Seong-Il has completed the quest ‘Saint Cassian’s Records.’]

[Kwon Seong-Il has acquired fifty Reputation points.]

After issuing the quest, Seong-Il was the first to meet expectations.

[* Storage box]

[Saint Cassian’s Records have been added.]

Even then, I was at a distance where I could see the blue barrier that covered Jonathan’s hideout and the entire space of the controlled area at a glance. Except for meal times, it was the first time I turned my gaze.

I pulled out the record that had been stored.

[A Part of Saint Cassian’s Records

Category: Education Volume

Collector: Kwon Seong-Il

Source: Species - Greenwood

Faction - Land of Moonlight

Target - Holy Knight, Moonlight Sword]

…Education volume? I had classified Saint Cassian’s Records into three major volumes, and this was one of the education volumes that contained things like ascending swordsmanship and magic.

[The blueprint ‘Swordsmanship(S) - 21’ has been found in this record.]

[The blueprint has been added.]

The reason why it was named the Education Volume was that it was actually composed for such a purpose. Anyone that handled swords would have wanted this item regardless of their species and social status. It was an item that could make an individual a successor with a formidable swordsmanship, capable of impacting the world. This was the fundamental item for S-class skills.

However, what would have been the reason for the Old One to leave these instructional texts when he had eyes that transcended time and space and also had completed the big picture by calculating all the possibilities?

It was fair to say that records were overwhelmingly composed of educational volumes, and it was common sense in outer space that the records consisted mostly of the educational text. It was extremely rare to find war records, and the existence of prophetic volumes was almost legendary. Filling the pages with useless information?

And look. If it was foreseen that I would collect these records up to this ‘current time frame’ under a vision that transcended time and space…then the prophetic volumes of the records would be the secret instructions and persuasion left for me by the Old One. Regardless of whether or not I accepted it, there was never a more fitting time for them to be sent.

Doom Kaos was clearly violating the contract. From the Old One’s perspective, it was rational to show me a shortcut to guarantee the safety of my people and the mainland while punishing Doom Kaos.

Therefore, I had been waiting for the first record to come in. If the incredibly hard-to-find prophetic volumes had miraculously fallen into my hands, then that would have been proof that everything was rolling like the giant gears of the Old One.

However, that was not the case. The first one that came in was merely an educational text. Even if all of these came together to form something and even if this was part of the Old One’s grand scheme, the undeniable fact was that there were too many pages that were allocated to the educational topics.

When would I be able to collect all of them? Moreover, I had reached the level where I could collect blueprints on the battlefield even without going through the educational volumes. Looking solely at the records themselves without considering the circumstances before and after, it was safe to say that its primary purpose lay in enhancing the abilities of future outer space species.

This raised another question.

Why were the records torn into pages and scattered all over the area?

There was no consistent pattern. Some were found in a single sheet while others were in bundles of two or three sheets. No matter what purpose they were created for… And even if the Old One had the ability to perceive through time and causality, it couldn’t have been this inefficient.

It appeared that the Old One wasn’t able to figure out that the records would fall into my hands. Different assumptions kept coming to mind, but they contradicted each other.

There was only one way to resolve these issues. If I assumed that the records were not left behind by Saint Cassian under the Old One’s instructions, but rather formed and left behind voluntarily without any relation to the Old One, then most of the contraindications would be resolved.

I hoped that this would be the case. Because then, all the delightful assumptions derived from this would be true.

***

The form of the raid had not changed yet.

[Jonathan Hunter has leveled up.]

[Jonathan Hunter is unstoppable.]

[Conqueror of the Battlefield, Jonathan Hunter.]

It was the second day since the raid began for Jonathan. While the names of various elite tribes diminished as XP ingredients, a few more educational volumes were acquired. Nonetheless, the war records had been strictly managed by the Lacryma sect, and the prophetic volumes had only stated that such a thing existed. My wait was getting longer.

[Deborah Belluci, the Corps Two Commander, has completed the quest ‘Saint Cassian’s Records.’]

[Deborah Belluci has gained 50 Reputation Points.]

Then there was progress from Hera’s side as well. This time, it was a volume of war records.

[A Part of Saint Cassian’s Records

Category: War Volume

Collector: Deborah Belluci

Source: Species - Greenwood

Faction - Lacryma sect, Saint Jayden Presbytery

Target - Bishop Naos]

「…I have been actively searching for White’s soul since Kuda withdrew. However, White’s soul was nowhere to be found. Even in Elsland, where the souls of Blue and Silver are enshrined, White’s soul does not exist. Then it might mean that the Lord did not protect White’s soul, which is not something I can easily accept.

White was not the only one who fled from the Demon King of the Dead. If punishment was due, then Black, who had run away with White wouldn’t have been able to avoid it. Nonetheless, Black was not punished at all.

I think that White must have committed a greater sin than fleeing. An unforgivable sin. I trembled for a long time at the thought that such a sin was possible for us. I did not want to follow in White’s footsteps. Thus, I needed to know what sin White had committed.

The Lord did not respond, so I asked Black, “What happened before you fled?”

Black was shivering as much as I was. She said, “...It has nothing to do with me. I also don’t know anything about White’s death. What sin could White have possibly committed?”

Then, she was consistent in saying that they had each prepared for battle and met in the warzone.

I angrily asked, “Was White acting strange?”

She confessed, “He was terrified from the moment he arrived on the battlefield. He was the one who instigated us to flee together.”

White had committed an unthinkable sin either while preparing for battle or on the way to the war spot. I traced White’s path. On his way down from his iceberg, he had no choice but to stop flying near where Elsland’s altar was located.

Our Lord’s boundless energy was truly holy, and the Tree of Life was growing there. Any power that dares to oppose our Lord will surely be purified by it, and I could not contain my joy in knowing that our Lord had planned for after the victory. It was a true symbol of victory.

However, it did not take long for me to realize that the Tree of Life was made for both the existing and the forthcoming beings. I felt something strange and walked toward the tree. That was when I learned of our Lord’s grand plan. The record begins from then on…」

The text had cut off at a critical point. Perhaps the content that followed had not been excavated yet, or it might have been sealed in the secret vault of Elsland. However, just then something happened.

[Reading Saint Cassian’s Records.]

The System started showing a weird reaction. The piece of paper in my hand was losing its strength and turning transparent. As it completely vanished, the area responsible for Explorer and the Privilege surged at once.

Woosh—

Something unusual was happening inside, but it did not seem threatening.

[ 10%…… 20%…… 30%…… 40%…… 50%……. ]

The progress was gradually filling in the center of my vision. The moment it reached a hundred percent, a message popped up.

[The System has successfully read the intense memories of Saint Cassian contained in this record.]

[Thirty percent of the Old One’s True Ending is contained.]

[* This is part of Old One’s Good Ending, True Ending, and Bad Ending.]

It was a scenario laid out by the Old One. Apparently, he himself didn’t seem to fully trust his plan, so he had divided it into three possible outcomes!

[Now checking the part that has been read.]

I stared at the emerging sentences with widened eyes. Although the ending was not complete, there were keywords that caught my attention immediately.

「The death of Na Seon-Hu.」

My death was presumed even in the True Ending.

Fucking piece of shit. This meant that both Good and Bad Ending were either my death or similar to that. Either way, they must have been built on the premise of my death.