Chapter 2: When the Mentor Falls.

“3 o’clock! Seven Alpha-class entities appearing!!”

“Distance 500m… 400m…!”

“Shoot! Shoot, you bastard!!!”

“It’s, it’s breaking through!”

Crunch-, Crack-

“Aaaargh!!”

“Kee-ack-!!!”

“Status window….”

“Status window, please…….”

Seo Jin had completed his mandatory military service in his previous life.

Sergeant in the Army, honorably discharged. It was tough back then, too. The painful and grueling memories were still vivid in his dreams.

But no matter how awful the experience was, it couldn’t compare to the real hell of being eaten by monsters.

The 47th Defense Line, 107th Armored Infantry Division, B4 Defense Garrison.

That was the name of the front line where Seo Jin was immediately deployed after completing basic training.

The experience there was….

“Shit! They’re coming again!! North-west, encroachment reaction!!! Prepare for battle!!!!”

“Uh, uh-oh-“

“Get a grip, you bastard!! Follow me if you don’t want to die!!!”

Bang! Tatatata-!!

“Aaaaaaaaargh!!!”

It was terrible.
The first battle he’d ever seen,
The first screams he’d ever heard,
The thick stench of blood and the acridity of gunpowder.

Swept away by violence he had never experienced, Seo Jin’s mind half-left him. He still doesn’t remember how he survived his first real battle.

After that, he just endured day by day.

A week passed, a month passed, and when over a year had gone by –

Among the new recruits who had been deployed together, he was the only one still alive.

But Seo Jin was still helpless.

Far from thinking about future possibilities, he was struggling just to do the job he was assigned.

In that place where people were dying every hour, any hope or pride was abandoned. Even the wish to return to his original world someday was a luxury.

All that was allowed to him was just one thing: a struggle to survive.

Seo Jin did anything to avoid dying.

He had been doing that for a year.

But he was gradually getting tired.

‘What am I doing here….’

I want to go back. To a world without monsters trying to chew on people’s heads every other day. To the place where my precious people who know me and worry about me are. I wanted to go back right now, no matter what it took.

Around that time, he started dreaming every day. In his longing fantasies, he would return to college as if nothing had happened, and chat with his friends as usual in his normal life.

Seo Jin would eat the warm meals his parents had prepared and talk about the things that had happened during the day with his family.

Then he would suddenly wake up.

Whenever he woke up and felt the dog tag rattling in his clothes, he would suffer from cold eyes and a terrible sense of futility every morning.

Because the nostalgia he thought he had forgotten came back to him. He couldn’t help it because the longing was so intense that it grabbed his heart and wouldn’t let go.

Seo Jin himself knew that such a state was dangerous. This was a battlefield where lives were lost in an instant. He had seen countless people, veterans and recruits alike, lose their lives while spacing out.

Nevertheless, Seo Jin couldn’t stop imagining returning to his original world.

Because there was nothing else to rely on.

As he continued to get tired, a crisis came.

“Encroachment reaction approaching! G, g, Gamma-class entity!!”

“Everyone retreat immediately! We can’t stop it!!”

“No way!!!”

A sudden attack by an unidentified mutant encroachment species. The nearby base was said to have been completely annihilated by just one of them. Seo Jin already knew its identity from the rumors he heard here and there.

[Annihilator], a high-tier mutant species among the encroachment units in the game that consumes a particularly large amount of resources. It is a monster that can only be suppressed by deploying at least a mechanized unit when playing on the Allied side.

He was certain that it was that guy.

But knowing that didn’t mean he could deal with the situation. He realized that too late. As soon as it appeared, the squad members all turned into pieces of meat in the blink of an eye.

The only weapon in Seo Jin’s hand, who was luckily pushed back to the last spot, was just a rifle. It was firepower that could hardly even scratch the carapace of a mutated species that had evolved repeatedly.

He knew that all too well.

But Seo Jin stubbornly aimed his gun. It was a habitual action ingrained in his body.

No, maybe he was just tired. The desire to end the unwanted misfortune that had been going on so persistently until now. He felt it was meaningless.

So he pulled the trigger.

But as expected, all that happened was that a human-head-sized eyeball gleamed towards him from under the unscarred carapace. Seo Jin sensed his own demise.

He closed his eyes, waiting for rest.

Because he was so tired. Because he didn’t want to do this anymore, anymore. He put down all expectations and accepted his turn that he had been putting off.

But what Seo Jin faced at that time was the first stroke of luck that had come to him in this world.

“Get back!”

A high and strong shout and a flash of sword light.

Everything ended in an instant with a squelching sound.

Belatedly, beyond his eyelids, the body of the giant mutant species was slowly splitting apart.

And one beat later, the tip of a foot gently touched the ground.

Seo Jin blankly looked up at the back of someone standing in front of him.

As she watched the monster’s body crumbling into pieces, she finally slowly turned her head. Then, her long, rich blonde hair fluttered, revealing emerald-like blue-green eyes.

Surely she wasn’t big. Even though she had a slender figure, the strength contained in her eyes made him understand why they were called the Shield of God, Aegis, who protect humanity.

Blonde hair that seemed to contain sunlight, skin as white as the first snow, a slim face and calm features. A woman who exuded even dignity with her graceful posture.

As soon as their eyes met, Seo Jin recognized her at a glance.

She looked younger than he remembered, but she was still familiar.

They were all figures he had only seen in illustrations, but he could still tell at once.

Her name was Arcel Daylight.

One of the main characters in the ‘Aegis Project’ main story, and the mentor of the original protagonist.
And the first stroke of luck that came to Seo Jin.

Her first meeting with him was like this.

It was a calm yet confident smile as usual.

As if breaking the faded colors of the war-

Always capturing her dazzling beauty in the most beautiful way,

That smile she showed me for the first time,

I still….

Arcel Daylight.

She was an important character in the ‘Aegis Project’ main story.

Her role is the protagonist’s mentor. As a hero of the previous generation, she is a figure who influenced the original protagonist with a lot of motivation, teachings, and even spiritual growth and life goals.

That’s why he couldn’t help but recognize her from the first moment he met her.

But at the same time, Seo Jin thought that was all.

It was the first time he had actually seen a character from the main story, but he didn’t expect anything more than that. Even surviving death with Arcel’s help was just a postponement.

Seo Jin at the time was withering away without any motivation or hope.

There is no hope of returning to reality.
Every day, he has to fight to the death just to barely stay alive.

Such a battlefield environment was on the verge of almost destroying Seo Jin’s mind.

But as mentioned earlier, meeting her was a stroke of luck.

Arcel was an ‘Aegis’.

A psychic who can kill the Queen of [Encroachment], which is impenetrable by physical force.

In the game, they appear as hero units. As such, they are very limited and special forces. They are the only means to eliminate encroachment contamination clusters, and they are never operated alone. As valuable forces, the main forces to protect them were essential.

Certainly, Arcel was strong.

But she was still immature.

Of course, that was to be expected. There were still 7 years left until the start of the main story. Naturally, she had to be far less experienced and skilled than she would be at that time.

But Seo Jin knew how the future her would fight. It was the result of Arcel later growing up pursuing her own efficiency. It was like a pre-written answer sheet. So, although it was only a rough concept, Seo Jin was able to get the chance to advise her in a chance situation.

As a result, Arcel grew further.

After that, the two unexpectedly became friends.

Like the protagonist’s mentor, Arcel was a good person. She was so friendly that she could be friends with anyone, regardless of their position or ability. Even if Seo Jin, who had forgotten how to talk due to being constantly harassed, started talking about something, she would listen and laugh. She had a simple and kind personality.

She was a beautifully shining person.
Seo Jin felt hope from her.

If he couldn’t return to his original world, he would rather end this war and create a world where people were no longer in danger. That was when he came up with such a plan.

He actually saw a possibility.

Seo Jin had not yet forgotten his experience as a player. Therefore, he focused on growing Arcel as quickly as possible by utilizing all the means and methods he remembered.

She also believed in Seo Jin. Thanks to this, Arcel grew stronger much faster than the original flow and achieved several victories. So much so that she was called a hero of the Allied Forces as her reputation grew. Through her, who had secured influence, Seo Jin was also able to indirectly utilize his memories and experience.

Thanks to this, the humans in this world, unlike their original fate, even went beyond the defense lines and launched an offensive against [Encroachment]. Until then, all the plans were successful.

He thought that maybe there would be no need to pass on this war to the generation of the main story 7 years later. He was optimistic.

He certainly was-

Where did it all go wrong?

Like the smoke that rises for the last time from a burnt wick, a voice that fades away.

“I’m sorry, I can’t anymore…….”

Watching her lying in the mire,
Seo Jin couldn’t say anything.

“I’ll leave it to you, so please…..”

I don’t know where it went wrong.

It was a reality that he didn’t want to believe even while seeing it.

But in the end…

He had no choice but to accept everything.

“Arcel….”

Five years before the start of the original story, the protagonist’s mentor died.

It was the moment when all the developments were twisted.