Chapter 1

So that’s how it turned out in the end.

The tip of the assassin’s knife pierced his lungs and stirred the inside.

When he felt the cold yet hot touch, Erun didn’t get frustrated, nor did he fall into despair.

‘So this is what it has come to…’

In a shabby inn room.

The smell of blood and a stuffy odor mixed and filled the room, creating a feeling of nausea.

His family’s reputation had already been stained, and his house had been completely screwed up.

As if that wasn’t enough, his land had been completely stolen by others.

The Navaro nobility pointed at Erun Steelguard and said the following…

That he was a moron Count who screwed up the Steelguard family’s high reputation.

That there was also a case in which a dog was born from a tiger, and that that was exactly his case.

‘Every single word is true. Is there any death more appropriate than this one for someone like me?’

Steelguard.

It was the name of Navaro’s Northern part and the name of the family who governed for generations.

In this country, Steelguard held more meaning than just a simple proper name.

In the past, they climbed the power ladder with their great loyalty and heroic achievements.

However, they currently were the downfall itself. They were turning into a symbol of transience.

Erun grabbed his stomach as his tears fell silently.

The cold-hearted assassin didn’t even bat a single eye as he watched Erun’s face.

He then asked with a low voice.

“Where is the book?”

“Do you… urgh! Th… think I will tell you?”

“Oh right. I will look for it by myself then.”

The book that the assassin was looking for was [Dimensional Transaction Book].

It was the rarest among the rare books.

There was no better way to express it.

It was something that was out of the world’s common law. It made it possible to do transactions with inhabitants from other dimensions.

It was when Steelguard were living their golden age that their downfall began…

Erun, who gained the Lord position, was rummaging through his family’s notes when he discovered a book.

Nothing was written on the cover, and all its papers were blank, making it a strange book.

When Erun wondered why this book was in the family notes, he accidentally found out how to use it.

It was the start of a Dimensional Transaction.

At first, he felt happy.

If he could utilize it well, the deteriorating Steelguard family might as well rise.

…Or so he thought three years ago.

Erun wasted all of his family’s wealth and lost the Lord position.

‘I must have been possessed by something… if that wasn’t the case, how could I be this idiot?’

He was overwhelmed by self-guilt and self-hatred that he couldn’t breathe.

Of course, it was also because his lung was stabbed.

The uncontrollable regret was surging in and started to make him forget the pain.

“So this is the book.”

After a while, the assassin found the Dimensional Transaction Book.

He opened the book, thinking that something great would have been written inside, but there wasn’t even a single piece of scrap written there.

Doubt lingered only for a little while.

The assassin closed the book without much thought.

As long as he’s going to be paid, the content of the requested book was none of his concern.

“Don… don’t touch it!”

Erun’s eyes that were starting to get blurry became fiery.

‘The Dimensional Transaction Book is mine and mine alone! No one can steal it! Never!’

Bam!

The assassin didn’t even listen to Erun and kicked his stomach hard.

“Shut up!!”

Erun vomited blood.

Due to the sudden violent kick, something fluttered and fell from the Dimensional Transaction Book that was in the assassin’s hand.

Drop.

What fell in front of Erun’s eyes was a small bookmark.

Among all the plentiful pushover acts, it was the most serious pushover product chosen by his first finger.

“This is called [Bookmark of Wish]. You can get only one in your whole life. It has an astonishing ability to listen to any kind of request that you have.”

“Hey. You should at least say something that makes sense so that I can pretend to believe you.”

“Why do I have to lie? Just look at its description.”

“…Oh?”

“But it’s under one condition.”

“What?”

“It needs a strong wish. A wish like a blazing flame. Because it won’t be fulfilled unless you pray for it sincerely.”

“Sincere? No one’s more sincere than me. How much is it?”

“Well… it’s a bit expensive…”

It was received after smacking all the territory’s one-year tax revenue on the ground as he firmly believed the words of the Dimensional Trader.

As soon as the bookmark was being handed to him through the Dimensional Trading, he prayed.

He wished for the best ability to be given to him.

An ability given by God himself, an ability that surpassed the Founding Emperor Payware!

That was his estimation to raise his family’s prestige.

If he gained an ability on the same level as a Founding Emperor, he could save his territory and build a new country.

And the result?

The bookmark was nothing more than a bookmark.

‘Is it even possible for a bigger idiot and pushover than myself to exist?’

Erun endlessly vomited blood as he continued to blame himself.

“Oh my!”

The assassin quickly searched through his body.

He pulled a healing potion and an anesthetic and fed them to Erun.

“Wh… why are you giving this to me?”

At his question, the assassin twisted the corner of his mouth.

“Because it’s my client’s request.”

Erun’s condition was visibly growing better.

He still couldn’t steady himself, but he wasn’t going to die immediately.

“Good. This is just right.”

The assassin opened the box that he brought with him.

Creek.

There were dozens of sharp daggers inside the box.

“Wha… what are you going to do?”

“I have no personal feelings towards you. Instead, just think of it as a terrible habit. Even so, a request is a request… if I was asked to do it, then it’s my job to do so.”

“Aha… ahaha…”

“Hahaha! Hahahaha!”

When Erun started to laugh like a lunatic, a question popped up on the assassin’s face.

“Are you finally going crazy?”

“So you are going to go this far, Kunts…? After you stole my everything… all of my precious things… without anything left! Even after all of that, you’re still not satisfied, huh?”

“So you’re not crazy. It’s better that way, though.”

“Just do whatever you want. I’m not going to surrender!”

“…So?”

The assassin started to stab Erun’s body with daggers.

He was an assassin, but he was also a torturer at the same time.

As Erun was tied on the chair, he gritted his teeth as hard as he could while enduring the bizarre sensation of his flesh getting sliced.

As his body shrank, his consciousness also gradually began to shatter.

Suddenly, his sight fell on the Bookmark of Wish that had dropped on the floor.

‘Why does it have to end like this? Because of what? Because of who?’

‘What’s the point of asking now? Everything was my fault. If only I weren’t an idiot, I could’ve avoided the worst situation.’

‘If I knew that it’s going to end this way sooner, things wouldn’t have turned this way, right?’

‘If I just were given one more chance, I would fix all the mistakes I have made.’

He felt that all the iron inside of his body started to fade away.

Erun determined for the last time.

‘And I won’t act like a pushover and a farthing idiot! If only I could do that….’

Erun had turned into a state in which he could no longer get tortured.

It was a miracle that he could still breathe.

The assassin formed a satisfied smile.

“This is… an art. Nobody could ever survive this long till now.”

He appreciated Erun, whose body became a shattered corpse but still hadn’t died.

“Hmm, even so, I should still kill you.”

Stab.

Once the knife pierced his forehead, Erun’s head dropped.

His 33 years of life ended in vain.

Just then, when he was facing death.

Flaash-

The Bookmark of Wish that had dropped on the floor started to emit blinding light.

“Wha… What the heck?”

The assassin flinched and took a step backwards.

At the same time, there was an unknown voice ringing inside Erun’s head.

[The self-reflection of someone on the brink of their death, the unbroken will, and the desire to correct oneself.]

[All of the requirements are met. Therefore the wish will be granted. Please make your final wish.]

Just at that time.

The Bookmark of Wish displayed its magnificent ability.

But, Erun couldn’t make his long longed-for wish.

[…?]

The voice stopped.

Soon a loud, alert noise hit his brain.

[System error! System error!]

[The subject’s ego has crumbled. Therefore they currently cannot make their wish.]

[A solution is being searched for.]

[The subject’s desires will be analyzed with the given data.]

Soon after.

[A total of 3 wishes were found. Now calculating the intensity of each wish.]

[A significant difference could not be found.]

[…]

This time there weren’t any voices for a while.

After a very long time had passed.

An unknown voice spoke.

[…All wishes will be granted.]

---

When he opened his eyes, it was 17 years ago.

It had to be at that time.

It wasn’t the vast Lord’s dwelling, but it was the cozy bedroom, with the interior decoration within his memory.

The scent that was tickling his nose was gentle and clean.

It was a scent that let him know he had passed through life, death, space, and time.

‘Is this even possible?’

Erun blinked his eyes and tried hard to accept the reality.

The fact that the end of his 33 years of life was connected with the 16 years old him.

He could know even if he didn’t look at the mirror.

His hand was smooth without any calluses.

His steel-like muscles disappeared, and he was inside a frail body.

‘My chest and abdomen are soft.’

How much effort did it take to make those abs and chest muscled?

Because his body initially couldn’t develop muscles well, he had to make an effort multiple times.

It was indeed such a shame. However, he wasn’t feeling any frustration.

It was because this happened, his life was ruined to a miserable and despairing point.

Steelguard was the greatest knight of honor within Navaro.

Lazekan Steelguard.

Erun’s grandfather.

He was the hero in the Navaro’s wars, and he was the outstanding figure who’d prevented the ambition of the Payware Empire to do a subjugation.

Just because of that one person’s existence, the Empire gave up its advance and retreated.

“If there’s no Lazekan, Navaro will surely collapse!”

There wasn’t anyone in Navaro who didn’t acknowledge this fact.

The Rank of Lazekan as a knight was ‘Myth.’ It was among the Special Ranks.

The Rank of a knight started from 9th Rank to 1st Rank, and from here on, it was classified into [Common Rank].

After this, they were called [Special Rank Knight] from their states.

Here, there were also stages, Awakened – Heroes – Legend – Myth – Beyond, and they were developed in order.

For reference, it was a mainstream theory that the Founding Emperor of this Empire, Payware, was the one and only [Beyond Rank] throughout human history.

But, even raising to the Myth Rank just like Lazekan would make one the strongest knight rank.

Levadan Steelguard.

This person was Erun’s father.

It was as if proving the old proverb ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,’ his state was [Heroes Rank].

Even though he couldn’t be greater than his father, he was still a knight who could represent a country.

Even after Lazekan’s death, he could manage the territory well and maintain Steelguard’s reputation.

On the contrary, his youngest son, Erun Steelguard, was…

‘…Stuck at 3rd Rank and couldn’t even ascend.’

3rd Rank was enough for a knight to be called successful.

If a common folk ascended to 3rd Rank, he would hear people telling him that he was a successful person on his own, and he would be able to raise his family’s prestige and receive a devoted son’s treatment.

But for someone who was born from a genius father and a heroic grandfather, it was a disappointing result.

Erun’s 33 years of life.

It was a life full of disappointment no matter what he did or what kind of way he used to try and change it.

People judged his life so easily.

Saying that a descendant who wasn’t great at all was born from a mighty family.

His brothers weren’t like that, so they wondered, what if he was picked from the street?

‘What should I do when my ability was only up to that point!’

Some people were also calling him lazy and thought he hadn’t been working hard enough.

Whenever Erun met those kinds of people who said such things, he wanted to look straight into their eyes and say.

‘You said I’m not working hard?’

At one point, it was like that.

But he ended the lazy life as he determined and strived to improve his sword skills.

Lack of effort?

‘I have even ground my soul.’

Blood and sweat were falling, and he even vomited blood.

It was until his hands and feet were festered, and his shoulder was out of its joint.

Even though it seemed like he would die many times during his training, he gritted his teeth and swayed his sword.

And swayed it again.

But what couldn’t be done can’t be done.

Erun’s ability was only to the point of being useful, and only that.

Even so, good things had happened as well, like when he inherited the Steelguard castle.

The inheritance to Erun, who entered his 30s, came back to his memory.

Even though he didn’t want to recall the things that happened after that.

‘No, I have to remember them well. In order to not make the same mistake.’

All the choices and decisions he made after obtaining the Dimensional Transaction Book were impulsive and foolish.

The cost was terrible.

The collapsed family and the stolen territory.

As soon as he remembered the things that happened along the way, one side of his chest was tightened because of self-guilt.

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‘Even so, I have now been given one more chance. I don’t know how it happened, but…’

Erun approached the mirror.

“Whoa…”

An impressed handsome young man was looking at him.