Past Life Returner

It was the morning after the fifth night raid.

[Level: 484, XP: 3731450 / 4242555]

[Level: 355, XP: 2100 / 60654]

An influx of various Baclan squads and their war supplies had come, but they were just XP for us. Seong-Il was putting the monster corpses aside in the street, and even that made him look like a bulldozer. He couldn’t avoid getting injured this time, but his motto was not to be a crybaby.

Despite how he casually dealt with his injuries, I could tell that his back had been severely scratched. In fact, I could see his exposed muscles under his ripped-up skin. Indeed, the difficulty of night raids was higher than the difficulty on the first floor of the trap. The situation would change starting from the third floor, but we still had a long way to go until that day. Anyway, the later it happened, the better it was for me. Of course, that was assuming I was able to control the risk of the light pillar.

Seong-Il shouted from behind, “Where are you going?”

I responded, “Food.”

“Wait, wait!”

He hurriedly went into the city hall and came back with a huge bag.

“I only put the expensive ones in,” Seong-Il said while opening the bag.

[Baclan Leather Bag (Item)

This is a bag made by Kwon Seong-Il with all his heart and soul. It’s filled with high-class mana stones and items above level 241.]

I wanted to tell the System not to waste energy on sending me useless messages, but there must have been a reason why it did this time. Anyway, Seong-Il must have noticed something when he saw the attackers who stopped by our city and their carts yesterday.

“There must not be any… soju here, right?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Let’s find it out.”

We couldn’t ignore the crops we saw from their carts. In the past, food began to diversify around this time. Not only did crops grow in the blue zone, but there were also traces of that someone had intentionally cultivated different kinds of grain. All the types that had a tenacious hold on life were growing there. Presumably, this stage must have been a place where civilization had lived before. Was it Moong Tribes? Or was it a different old tribe that had followed in the same footsteps as the Moong?

***

[City: Seven

Defense Level: 2

Jurisdiction: Revolucion (12)

Residents: 9112 people

Mayor: Lee Wang-Soo]

The night raid must have continued until dawn appeared in this city. The bodies of monsters and humans were tangled up with each other, and the gigantic footprints of Balcan Corps made some parts of the blood-soaked ground cave in.

Some people glanced at me as I walked in alone. They looked closely at me as my face was buried in the hoodie, then they soon turned their attention back to recovering the bodies and removing mana stones. Lee Tae-Han was doing a good job in maintaining the mana stone economy. If the foundation of our life and the channel that created our vitality were blocked, we would be no different from the Seven Demon Kings’ corps. Our growth would also slow down.

It had been six days since we entered this stage, and the early confusion seemed to have been resolved. The city was busy at the start of another day. I saw the Awakened gathering outside of a building which would have been used as a shopping mall if this was a place on Earth, and some of these buildings were actually being used as markets. It was easy to find the largest mall as the buildings were crowded in one area. The smell of bread filled the air of the street. The smoke from the improvised oven came out through the open door, and I heard laughter from inside.

“Korea? China? Denmark?”

The people who led the commercial district were usually Korean Awakened, who were already familiar with the mana stone economy that started in Act One. The shop owner who asked me that was also a Korean.

I replied, “Korea.”

I opened the bag, then he gasped in surprise. He tried to check my face hidden in the hoodie, but all he could see was my lower jaw.

“You didn’t steal them, right? Do you live here?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Then?”

I asked, “Why? Are you scared that I’m from the city, No Entry?”

His flat face and wide nose elongated as he freaked out, and his nostrils flared aggressively.

He grumbled, “That’s not even funny. You will get into big trouble one day.”

My city had become a place that the residents of other cities were afraid to talk about.

“Are you not going to accept them?” I asked.

He paused for a moment and then responded, “...It’s too much. Let’s make it clear. I don’t need to call the security guard, right?”

I asked sardonically, “Who would say ‘yes’ to that question?”

The shopkeeper continued, “There are too many things here. There are only a few who can own this much, but you are not one of them for sure.”

“Stop joking.”

“What are you looking for?” he asked.

I replied, “Anything usable. Mmm… Anything to eat, drink or wear.”

He nodded. “That makes a huge difference… Is that all you need? There is a Level 320 weapon here. That must be the best one that matches the value of what you have.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s okay. I’m also looking for alcohol too. I don’t think there are any here, so where can I find some?”

***

It was crowded with Korean Awakened. There was no cigarette smoke, but the air was stuffy and noisy. The fish that came from the blue zone were being roasted and served to people, and well-equipped Awakened even had bread and grain wine on their tables. Others’ eyes were full of envy as they looked at them.

I overheard a conversation from the left corner of the room.

One person said quietly, “I heard there are mana stones everywhere there. You will be able to even swim in stones.”

“That’s nonsense,” another guy refuted.

The first person insisted, “No, that’s what I heard.”

“And?”

“There’s no defense facility. The city is wide open, and the bodies are piled up like mountains that are so high that some people thought the stack was a building painted in blood.”

The second person responded, “Ah, that must be real. It must be his…”

“Yes, his…”

Then, I heard another group of people talking from the right.

“How many do we have left?” someone asked.

Another person responded, “Forty-two.”

“That’s not enough. We will be kicked out if we don’t fill the quota.”

“So, I expanded the target region to the silver section. As you know, dealing with monsters there is doable.”

“Expand it to the bronze section as well.”

“Those punks in the deep sea…? Isn’t that too hard?”

“There’s no fucking difference between silver and bronze. Finish it by morning. We should at least depart in the afternoon.”

I heard all kinds of conversations at once. Then all of a sudden, the sound died down and people started looking at me. To be exact, they were paying attention to the group that had come in after me. They must have been the ones who had the power of the city, the captains under Lee Tae-Han’s control. They took some spots while smelling heavily of blood. They seemed to have encountered multiple life-or-death crises. Some of their eyes were still sharp with anger and rage, while the others looked sorrowful, as if they were screaming inwardly.

Their appearance turned the rowdy atmosphere into a deserted warzone. According to their conversation, they were carrying out the trap quest like the detached force during the night raid last night. It was a good strategy if they had a strong defense because it not only prepared them for the immediate attack, but also allowed them to counterattack the monsters and complete the quest at the same time.

One guy grunted, “Bring anything.”

They didn’t yell at the people working there. They ordered in a groaning and whispering manner, then stopped talking. They looked at me with irritation, wondering why I didn’t clear the way for them.

The guy who appeared to be their leader said in a low voice, “He smells like a fucking bronze.”

It was obvious that he had no desire to start a fight with me as I wasn’t worth dealing with. That was really the end of their talk, and an uncomfortable silence continued.

While everyone except for them was rapidly getting out of the building, I only left after paying for the grain wine for Seong-Il. The street now had different vibes as the attack squads filled the bars. I passed by diverse races, genders, and facial expressions.

My impression of the city was quite good. In fact, it couldn’t have been better than this. The long-cherished image I had hoped for had come true here. Just as the large and small gears in a clock roll together, the city was filled with not only a soldier’s life, but also all the residents’ life.

***

I barely finished the sixth night raid and could finally level up to Level 485 after the seventh one. XP, which usually was distributed to approximately ten thousand Awakened, came only to Seong-Il and me every night. If the Stage of Advent was a tutorial and was only built for the Awakened’s growth, then it should have been like this to everyone. It should have maximized their muscle memories learned from repeated battles and ensured steady growth. It also should have provided enough rest and food after each fight.

It had been eight days since I occupied one city.

[Guild: Ilsung Corps’ Lee Tae-Han attack squad destroyed the trap section (First Floor of District 3).]

Unlike what I had expected, Lee Tae-Han had reached the goal earlier than Angela and Gunnarson.

It was that day. I was having a relaxed meal as always, and Seong-Il was eating nervously. No one knew when the monsters would attack after the sun went down and darkness covered the sky. There were times when they stormed in from early evening, and sometimes they rushed in after midnight. Seong-Il was annoyed by that.

“What the fuck? Did she lose her sense of fear?” he suddenly exclaimed.

He got up, chewing the grilled meat. There was someone trying to peek in at the point where the main gate would have been located if the outer wall had been established. I didn’t care because Seong-Il was striding toward her.

However, Seong-Il said something strange after coming back, “She came to see you… and… umm… I think you should meet her.”

I responded, “Send her back.”

He persisted, “She knew your name. Not Odin, but your real name…”

“What?”

I raised my head, and my naturally extended Sense made the distant point clear. Then, I zoomed into her face at great speed. The mole under her eyes grabbed my attention, and I recognized the curve of her egg-shaped, slender face. She was on my stage.

It didn’t matter if she was in the north during Act One. We finally met in Act Two, but when and where we met didn’t matter. I was just glad that we met while we were both alive. She started walking toward me and we met in the middle.

“It was really… you… you… you were…”

She was stuttering in shock and with complicated feelings.

I replied, “Nice to see you, noona.”