Chapter 1: Crossing Over and the Girl

O, you who persevere.
Accept this beautiful blessing~

Prologue: The pitch-black abyss was filled with the aura of death and violence.
In its gloomy depths, countless souls shrieked and roared, as if by doing so, they could release their fury and resentment.

Among this crowd of wrathful souls, there was a special one, with no shrieks or roars, no fury or anger.

This soul, at the edge of the abyss, was as calm as a mirror-like lake without a single ripple.

Slowly, this soul began to emit a faint light.
The souls around it, as if purified, ceased their shrieking and roaring.
They basked in the sliver of warmth brought by this faint light.

‘Ah, where am I?’
‘Hmm? Am I already dead?’
‘That’s right… I’m already dead.’
‘I remember, I was hit by a car, and then, I bled a lot.’
‘Yes, that’s how it was.’
‘But, I still died.’
‘Is this what it’s like after death?’

“How peaceful it is!”
“I want to stay here forever and ever, just by myself, all alone.”

As the soul fell into a deep slumber, the light gradually began to change, slowly growing as if it had a life of its own, until finally, the entire abyss was enveloped by its glow.
The souls in the abyss, bathed in the light, stopped their roaring and grew calm.
Then, the light began to slowly shrink like a balloon, turning transparent until it vanished, and with it, the soul disappeared as well.
The light was gone, and the souls in the abyss resumed their shrieking and roaring.

“Achoo!”

With a sneeze, I emerged from a pile of straw.

“What’s wrong, big brother?”

Following another voice, an exceptionally cute little head peeked out from the haystack, looking at me with big, bright eyes.

“It’s nothing, I just came out for some fresh air.”

After I spoke, I turned my head towards the city that still shone brilliantly in the night.

Nordanlon, the most bustling and prosperous city on the entire continent.
Hailed by scholars of the world as the Pearl of the Desert, it was one of the continent’s most technologically advanced cities, and also the one with the most developed civilization.
This city was home to many nobles and wealthy individuals, so its economy was also ranked among the top in the world.
But those who lived here knew the city by another name: the City of Sin.

Robbery, murder, blackmail, extortion—behind this city’s glamorous facade, it was rife with all sorts of hideous evils.
The rich oppressed the poor, and the nobles exploited the commoners, simply because they possessed gold coins.
Here, as long as you had gold coins, you could even commit murder in broad daylight.
Although you would be taken away by the Nordanlon guards, what did that matter?
As long as you paid a hefty bail fee, you could be released immediately.
In this city, there were no true rulers; those in power were merely puppets of the rich and noble, puppets used to exploit the common folk.
Here, the rich and the nobles were power—no, it should be said that gold coins were power.

“Sigh.”

With a sigh, I helplessly shook my head.
But what did any of that have to do with me?
Like Aisilis, I was just an orphan.
Thinking this, the young man turned his gaze to the little girl two years younger than him, named Aisilis.

“I’m sorry!”

“Eh? Why are you apologizing to me?”

“Because if it weren’t for me, maybe brother would be living a better life now.”

As she spoke, tears were about to fall from Aisilis’s eyes.

Hearing this, I smiled and gently stroked Aisilis’s head.

“That’s not right! If it weren’t for Aisilis, I probably wouldn’t have been able to survive.”
“Because it was Aisilis who gave me the will to live.”

“Then…”

Aisilis looked up and asked expectantly.

“Can I stay by Brother Yuren Xing’s side forever? Always, for a lifetime?”

“Mhm, of course. I’ll take care of Aisilis for a lifetime.”

I made a lifetime promise.
After hearing this, Aisilis happily jumped out of the haystack, hugged me, and said loudly:

“Then I’m going to stick with you forever, brother!”

I looked at this beautiful young girl with a helpless smile.

“Mhm.”

It’s been four years.
It’s been four years since I came to this world.

That’s right, I’m not from this world.
I was supposed to be living in a place called Earth.
On my 19th birthday, I came to this world because of a car accident.
Who would have thought that my birthday would also be the day of my death.

But this place was completely different from Earth.
Medieval European architecture, incredible magic, swordsmen whose physical abilities completely surpassed human limits, all sorts of creatures and elves I had never seen before, and fervent believers who worshipped gods—everything served as a reminder to Yuren Xing that this was not Earth, but another world.

I was just about to sigh, but then I saw Aisilis, who had already fallen asleep from exhaustion in my arms.

‘If I sigh, this child will probably get sad and blame herself.’
‘Because Aisilis is very kind and never wants to hurt anyone, which is why she gets bullied by others.’

Thinking this, I looked at Aisilis again.

‘Mhm, maybe her pretty appearance is one of the reasons too.’
‘After all, in a city where everyone is an orphan, a pretty child is bound to be disliked by other orphans, especially the girls.’

The whitening sky drew my gaze, and I then recalled the time when I had just arrived in this world.

Back then, after being hit by the car, I fell unconscious.
When I woke up, I was inside this body.
The original owner of this body must have been bullied a lot, because his physique was frail and his body was covered in fresh wounds from a beating.
It was probably that beating that caused this child to lose his life, and then my soul settled in effortlessly.

I am an orphan, with no family or friends, both now and in the past.
I have always lived on my own, never knowing what kinship or friendship felt like.
That must be why I stepped in to save the bullied Aisilis after I transmigrated.
Although I got beaten up badly, at least the child wasn’t harmed any further.

‘Seriously, even though I didn’t even want to live anymore, I still saved her.’

As I thought this, I recalled what happened that day.

It was my second year in this world, and this body was only eight years old.
However, I had already lost the will to live and planned to end my life in the ditch outside the city.
But on the way to the ditch, I came across Aisilis being bullied by others.
Her helpless expression and her eyes, swollen from crying, made me feel as if I were looking at my former self.

That’s right; before I transmigrated, I had also endured plenty of bullying as a child.
I don’t know why, maybe it was out of sympathy, but I rushed forward.
The outcome was obvious; how could a frail child possibly win against other, sturdier children?
Even though we were all orphans, the physical differences had already sealed the fate of that fight.
I was beaten terribly, but I succeeded in protecting the child from them.

Afterward, this girl named Aisilis stayed with me.
No matter how exhausted or in pain she was, she always faced me with a smile.
Letting the smiling Aisilis live a happy life—this became my reason to live.
And for the past few years, I’ve spurred myself on with this conviction, which is how Aisilis and I have made it to this day.

But I never would have imagined that all of this was about to change, and the person who would change it was now on their way to Nordanlon.

Komia, a beautiful woman with fiery red hair, was currently fuming.
Because she had to do a job that wasn’t supposed to be hers.
Imagine, just when you’ve finished your own work and are about to enjoy your vacation, you’re suddenly told there’s someone else’s job to do, one that isn’t even within your scope of work.
I think anyone would be angry in that situation.
Recalling the words the Academy Head said to her outside his office before she left, Komia grew even more furious.

“Komia, are you done with your work?”
“Mhm, you are, excellent.”
“Well, I’m tied up with other things right now, so I have a few other matters to entrust to you.”
“Hey, hey, what’s with that look on your face? Why the look of disgust?”
“I’m the Academy Head! I’m the boss of this academy.”
“Watch it, or I’ll fire your ass, you damn brat.”

“Ahem, alright, hmm… you should head out now.”
“The High Priestess has requested we bring back a girl named Aisilis.”
“This child has inherited the bloodline of the previous Hero and will likely become the next Hero to vanquish the Demon King.”
“But as you know, being the Academy Head, I’m a very busy man.”
“I have all sorts of things to do on a daily basis.”

“Hurry up, Head! We’re one short for our game, just waiting on you! Are we playing Tarot or not?” (This came from inside the Head’s office).

“Erm… that is… ahem, anyway, I’m very busy.”
“So I’ll have to trouble you, the person with all this free time.”
“Here, this is a portrait of the child.”
“That’s all… off you go…”
“Coming, coming! Nobody touch my cards! I was keeping track of them!”

With that, the Academy Head left, leaving a completely bewildered Komia behind.
And so, Komia left the academy in a rage.
As she was leaving, she thought she could hear the Academy Head shouting that the Vice Head was stealing his cards.

“Pah! A bunch of old coots who won’t die! They do nothing productive all day, only knowing how to play cards, bet on horses, and watch plays!”
“Just hurry up and get in your coffins, you b*stards!”
“Aaaahhh! My wonderful vacation is gone just like that!”

Komia shouted as she made her way towards Nordanlon.

“Still, if someone who inherited the Hero’s bloodline has really appeared…”
“Does this mean something big is about to happen again?”
“Whatever, forget it. It’s none of my business anyway.”
“I should just find that child quickly and go back.”
“Maybe if I’m fast enough, I’ll still have some time to enjoy myself.”

“Blessing of the Wind!”

After saying this and casting a speed-enhancing spell on herself, Komia took off at an astonishing speed.
And her destination was Nordanlon… the City of Sin.