Past Life Returner

“My name is Kwon Seong-Il, and I’m in my forties. What about you?”

The youth repeated, “Kwon Seong-Il.”

“Yes, that’s my name. Why don’t we move to a safer place? Let's go somewhere else if you don’t want to be around people.”

“Are you going to keep following me?” the youth asked indifferently.

“Am I not allowed to?” Kwon Seong-Il asked.

“I’m not going to stop you, but it’s safer to be with people.”

Seong-Il thought Seon-Hu was extraordinary due to the large backpack on his back, his ramrod straight posture, and his cold eyes. The Baekgol Reconnaissance Battalion had been recognized as a fierce domestic unit, but Seon-Hu’s eyes seemed more relentless than Sergeant Lee Kyu-Bum’s.

Seong-Il replied while lightly patting his chest and making eye contact with Seon-Hu, “My heart tells me to follow you.”

Seon-Hu shrugged. “It’s up to you, but keep in mind that if you follow me, you will likely die.”

Seong-Il’s eyes shook. “No problem. This world is already crazy, but I’ll be able to survive somehow.”

***

The space was narrower than what Seong-Il thought as he found out that the area that resembled an ordinary town was only about a block long. He couldn’t see anything beyond the area due to pervasive darkness. The areas had been perfectly separated from other spaces as if someone had drawn a line with a ruler. Seong-Il stood at the borderline and just stared into the darkness instead of stretching his arm into it. Then, he looked at Seon-Hu, who was facing the boundary as well.

Shit, I’m scared to death. What the hell did he do in reality?

“What are you waiting for?” Seong-Il asked, but Seon-Hu didn’t answer. Then, Seong-Il saw people coming out of the building. They were gathering around Sergeant Lee Kyu-Bum while intentionally avoiding the dead body with an exploded head.

A moment later, Seong-Il flinched as a message had suddenly popped up on the window. Since he was looking at the darkness beyond the boundary, the message looked like it had emerged from the darkness, which made him frightened.

[Don’t be afraid of me. I care about you all. (｡ó ̫ò｡)]

“Hey… did you get the message, too?”

Seong-Il then looked around.

[Please pay attention. In this stage, there are one hundred participants… no, there are ninety-nine of you since one failed, right? Ninety-nine of you had just awakened. I believe that you have familiarized yourself with the basic system, so let’s move on to the next step. Are you ready?]

Seong-Il felt embarrassed, but he couldn’t afford to think about it. He got closer to Seon-Hu so that he could touch the youth’s shoulder. An uproar had occurred as the small demon, who everyone thought had disappeared, had suddenly showed up in the crowd. It was about two hundred meters away from where Seong-Il was standing.

“B…bastard has appeared. I don’t know what you are waiting for, but for now, we should run away…” Seong-Il whispered in case the spirit could hear him, but he soon fell silent.

[Use the Awakened Rewards to defend yourself. I believe in you guys! Oh, by the way, the Stage of Advent had been prepared for you. It must be cruel to let monsters jump onto you on the first day, right? So, I decided to give you some time to prepare for the battle. Please accept it with appreciation. Then, let’s start Act One, Stage One.]

[The quest ‘Wave’ has been activated.]

[Until Wave: 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds]

[Until Wave: 23 hours 59 minutes 58 seconds]

“H…hey!” Seong-Il screamed hurriedly, but Seon-Hu didn’t give him a backward glance. The youth stepped right into darkness without hesitating.

“...”

That was the limit of Seong-Il’s pompous courage as he couldn’t even take one step into the darkness where Seon-Hu had disappeared.

He doesn’t even know what’s in there.

Seong-Il didn’t know either, but he could assume that there would be a number of monsters swarming in there. They were probably the same monsters that had been broadcasted in the news, and he didn’t even want to see those in his nightmares.

Seong-Il shouted at Seon-Hu, who had completely vanished into the darkness. He never thought that Seon-Hu would really go in there.

“I’m going back! Sorry!” he squeaked.

There was no reply. Seong-Il had no choice but to turn to where the other people were gathering. He continually opened his status window while walking back. He intuitively felt that the status window was linked to the quest window, and it was a unique experience that made him forget about his fear for a moment.

Kyu-Bum approached Seong-Il.

“Mr. Kwon Seong-Il, you can’t act alone. I’m sure you agree with me, so why did you do that? Also, where is the other one?”

Seong-Il pointed towards the back, and Kyu-Bum’s eyes naturally looked in that direction. As a matter of fact, the place that Seong-Il was gesturing at had bothered Kyu-Bum as there was a strange phenomenon happening there. The darkness stood there like a barrier, blocking their view beyond that point. It also felt like a warning to never approach.

“He went in there?” Kyu-Bum was surprised.

“I want to bring him back. Is there any way?”

“Do you know him?”

“It’s not that, but he seems to be someone we need.”

Much more than those who are crying!

Seong-Il was annoyed by the people who were sobbing and screaming. That was the main reason why he had followed Seon-Hu outside the building. Everyone was wailing regardless of age or gender.

“Mr. Kwon, please join the people and follow our orders.”

“What about you, Sergeant?”

Kyu-Bum’s eyes slightly moved upward to the right as the time was constantly decreasing in the notification window that was placed on the top. Instead of answering, Kyu-Bum called two people over. Seong-Il joined the people after watching Kyu-Bum heading towards the boundary with a reservist.

“I don’t like these people…” Seong-Il murmured to himself.

***

“Lieutenant Lee.”

People had started calling Kyu-Bum a lieutenant.

“You are not going in there, are you? It seems dangerous. Please don’t,” the reservist said while stepping back with a deathly pale face. From the very beginning, Kyu-Bum had no intention of entering the darkness. He had thought he would see something if got closer, but there was no such thing. Pitch black darkness greeted him, which made the hairs rise on his body. He placed the tip of his gun against the border, but although his face was right in front of it, it was impossible to see what was hidden in the darkness with the naked eye.

I can’t believe he went in there… What was he thinking?

He couldn’t understand it with common sense. Moreover, he couldn’t bear facing the darkness longer. After confirming that there was no damage to his gun, he turned toward the crowd of people. Only then did the reservist become relieved.

“Lieutenant Lee, about the quest we just got… Isn’t it similar to the defense game? The name of the quest and the fact that we have time to prepare are quite similar to the game.”

“What is the defense game?”

“Have you not played it before?”

“Is it a computer game?”

The reservist passionately explained it to Kyu-Bum.

“If it goes according to your description… that’s a relief.”

It was different from the computer games where users had to fight against stronger opponents as the number of waves increased. Kyu-Bum checked the quest window multiple times, but nothing in there mentioned that he had to deal with additional attacks. Therefore, he could receive points and rewards if he blocked only one wave, but the problem was at the beginning of the raid.

I feel like they will come out from there.

The road looked like a milestone. It was stretched out straight, but the north, east and west sides were blocked by buildings. The only passage where Seon-Hu had disappeared into the dark was in the south.

Kyu-Bum came to a decision on what to do. There were now ninety-eight people, including himself. He planned to organize all men under the age of fifty into combat personnel and collect all the items people had gained as rewards to arm them. He excluded the elderly and women from the offensive force. Although some of them had been awarded with superpowers, he judged that putting them in as combat personnel would weaken their offensive team. People would die from this battle, and blood and flesh would fly in the air.

Those who haven’t received basic training will be a burden.

However, he still placed those with skills to assist the team from the rear. After thinking that far, Kyu-Bum stared at his chest as the insignia he had received as a reward was embedded there. He had a feeling when got the insignia and was going to test it.

“Stand over there.”

[Would you like to hand over the Crow’s Insignia?]

As he expected, his body was able to use and cancel the insignia without him needing to do anything extra to learn how..

Nice! We can use insignias as combat supplies!

***

The preparations were complete, and reservists roamed around and took down lists of people’s rewards.

“Everyone, please sit comfortably,” Kyu-Bum said after gathering people.

“From now on, we will collect supplies in one place, and our military will manage them fairly.”

People who had entered this world without anything were fine with his orders, but there were people who had hurriedly packed their backpacks after seeing an emergency conference of the World Awakened Association. There were also people who had prepped survival backpacks while watching monsters’ frenzy that couldn’t be suppressed by modern firepower.

A woman suddenly said, “Wait.”

He interrupted her, “Before you continue to speak, please reveal your identity first, including address, occupation, age and name.”

“I work in Bucheong, twenty-eight years old, and my name is Cho Eun-Sil.”

“Okay, Ms. Cho. You can speak now.”

“I understand it’s an emergency, and we all have to cooperate. I also know why collecting and managing supplies in one place is beneficial in the long run. However.” The woman checked the notification window in the corner of her eye and continued, “We only have twenty-two hours left. Until then, I’m willing to share my supplies with those who get thirsty and hungry. But is the military conscripting everything? Is that reasonable?”

At first, Kyu-Bum didn’t intend to.

“The demon is calling this Act One, Stage One. It means there’s more to come.”

“I’m saying that you will have to ask for our cooperation again after this.”

“You are saying that with the assumption that this will end well. When we say ‘supplies,’ we’re not just referring to food and water, but anything else you may have. Among these items, we will allocate those considered as combat supplies to personnel on the frontline. Then, they will be able to protect your life and safety…”

However, Eun-Sil simply looked at him in a way that basically said that she thought that it was his own personal opinion and not the group’s.

Then, she looked at people in the same situation as her. Everyone was sympathetic to her and gazed at Kyu-Bum with the same look in their eyes, but Kyu-Bum didn’t react to any of them.

He repeated, “We can overcome this crisis only if you trust and follow our orders.”

She protested, “I’m not done talking yet. You didn’t even give us a convincing reason.”

“We will have time to adjust the matter after dealing with the situation.”

“What? No!”

“Ms. Cho, this is an emergency. Do you really not know what’s going on? Please trust us.”

Eun-Sil felt her temper bubbling inside of her, but she couldn’t counter-argue anymore because Kyu-Bum’s oppressive attitude and the reserve forces standing behind him made it clear they would stand firm. Those who had entered the stage in combat uniforms had gotten together. By forming a group, they were exerting governmental power in this bizarre world. Eun-Sil had been looking straight at Kyu-Bum in a rather hostile manner, but her eyes slowly lowered down. Then, she sat down with her jaw tightly clenched.

“Then, I’ll tell you more about the supplies. From now on, our military will take over your valuable items and insignias, then place them in the right place.”

People, including those who entered the stage with nothing, began making a commotion. However, since they had witnessed how Eun-Sil’s attempt had flopped, no one raised their voice. Kyu-Bum continued while keeping an eye on the people who could cause problems.

“I will demonstrate how to hand over the insignia. Please watch carefully and hand over your insignias to us under our military’s control.”

After the demonstration, Kyu-Bum looked back at the reserve forces and said briefly, “Begin.”

Those in combat uniforms came forward and began to enter through the crowd. The sound of their boots stamping was horrible to Eun-Sil. The shrieks of the monsters she had seen through the news had somehow felt unrealistic when she watched through a screen, but the sound of boots right in front of her made her heart flutter. While she was closing her eyes tightly, she heard the loud voice of two people behind her.

“Hey, soldier guy! I think I’ll use this knife anyway, so can I keep it?”

“We ask for your cooperation once again. And from this point on, please call me by my name and title, not ‘soldier’ or ‘hey’ or else face the consequences.”

A few people argued, but in the end, everyone’s items and insignias were requisitioned under Kyu-Bum’s control.

“Huh?”

“What the heck is this?”

Everyone opened their eyes wide with astonishment as one message had popped up on their status window.

[You have completed the quest ‘Wave.’]