MTLNOVEL Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Death
First life.
Over twenty years of life on Earth.
Half of that life is memories of studying.
I attended cram schools since elementary school.
But they said I actually started late.
Elementary, middle, high school.
I studied as my mother told me to.
When I came home after school and cram school finished, it was night.
I got into a top-tier university in Seoul.
My mother was disappointed.
Still, I was happy.
Because the treadmill-like life of a test-taker was over.
Was university life good?
Not really.
I started studying English from the first year of university.
They said finishing English first would make preparing for other things easier.
After finishing the first year, I went to the military.
It was hard. Just memories of hardship are all there is.
I was discharged and graduated from university too.
Did they say there's a basement below the floor?
That was me.
After somehow finishing university, I now became a job seeker.
I had to compete with the top-tier students.
I failed many times.
Every time I tried to lower my standards, my mother opposed it.
Wasting several years like that, I got a job at a small-to-medium enterprise.
I think this was the first time.
That I fought with my mother.
“How do you think I raised you!! To go to a small company!!”
“Mother, I did as much as I could!”
“You didn't try hard enough! Effort!! If you had worked harder, it wouldn't have turned out like this!!”
I left home.
I got a job at a small-to-medium enterprise.
The annual salary was divided by 13 and paid out.
The last part was supposedly severance pay.
The monthly salary, which I thought was low, decreased even further.
After paying rent, eating, and buying a few clothes, there was no money left.
Literally, only the minimum amount to cover food, clothing, and shelter was provided.
Only then did I understand why my mother had insisted so much on going to a large corporation.
The safety management at the company I worked for was poor.
Work was frequently pushed onto subordinates.
My body was exhausted, and the work was dangerous.
That's how my first life ended.
Second life.
I was possessed as the eldest son of the Frontier Viscounty.
Elwin had a major accident when he was 10 years old.
I entered that body.
Thinking about it now, it seems that incident was also plotted by Brilda.
Just like how she used the Black Orcs to kill me.
Anyway, I lived this life diligently.
Like my mother said, I tried fiercely.
For 2 years in the Viscounty,
and also in the Vampiars Duchy after getting engaged to Alencia,
I did my best.
But how did my life turn out?
Was 'diligence' not the answer?
In areas where I was disadvantaged,
in areas I wasn't good at, I just worked hard.
I heard that I didn't suit the nobility,
and also heard that I lacked the charisma of a noble.
They said I didn't know how to deceive or handle people either.
...
And even that I was passive.
What is a life that isn't passive?
If I had lived proactively, would my life have been different?
Elementary, middle, high school.
School studies and cram school hell.
When everyone was striving only for a good university,
should I have answered NO?
Or if I had gone to a different department in university instead of economics?
If I had entered a major I liked, would it have been different?
When my mother told me to go according to my grades, should I have answered NO?
The conscription system in Korea.
When I was forcibly drafted into the military, should I have said NO?
Should I have gotten a health check-up and tried to evade military service?
Or should I have gone to KATUSA to learn English, or gone to an industrial service company to earn money?
If I had done that, would I not have wasted a year and a half?
It was the same in this other world.
When everyone wanted me to be a certain way as a noble,
should I have said NO and done what I was good at?
When Alencia suggested breaking the engagement,
should I have said NO?
When Brilda told me to fight the Black Orcs,
if I had said NO, would I not have died?
Alencia was right.
I am a passive person.
In elementary, middle, and high school, I lived as my mother told me to.
I attended school and went to cram school.
In university too, I followed what the seniors did.
I just went to the military like everyone else.
It was the same in this other world too.
Rather than deciding the truly important direction,
I only focused on rsisterng forward.
Without even knowing where that place was headed.
If a third chance is given.
Not just effort, but I will also decide the direction myself.
Not the path someone tells me to take, but I will walk my own path.
I will live like that.
***
“Is it okay to leave the Young Lord's body here?”
“The Madam said she'll cremate it along with the other bodies.”
“Still, he's the Young Lord...”
“Some people seem to like it. Treating the Young Lord and the residents the same.”
The bodies were gathered in one place, and the surroundings were cleaned.
Soon, the prayer meeting for the dead would begin.
After finishing the cleaning, I stood beside the people.
A moment later, Lady Brilda Frontier came up onto the platform.
“Black Orcs headed towards this place. I sent my beloved son Elwin, the knights, and soldiers to stop them.”
Lady Brilda's eyes reddened.
She shed tears over her son's death.
“In the process, the Young Lord and twenty-seven soldiers died. Let us all pray for them.”
I closed my eyes.
Rumors had spread about how fierce the battle with the Black Orcs was.
The Young Lord died in that battle.
May the gods bless them.
I prayed earnestly.
“Uh…?”
“Wha…what!?”
Chattering during prayer time.
And during the prayer time for the Young Lord and soldiers, no less.
“Uh...”
“How…”
The murmuring grew louder.
Still, I kept my eyes tightly shut and prayed.
May the Young Lord and the soldiers find rest in the gods' embrace.
May they spend peaceful time there.
“It's the Young Lord!!”
“It's the Young Lord!!!”
“Waaaaah!!!!”
I could no longer keep my eyes closed.
The deceased Young Lord?
What kind of nonsense was this?
I opened my eyes.
“Uh…”
The same sound as others came out of my mouth.
“How…”
The place where the bodies were gathered.
One person walked out from there.
As the Young Lord emerged,
everyone fell silent at the horrific sight revealed.
Black hair.
Torn armor.
And dark red blood covering his entire body.
I furtively glanced at Lady Brilda's complexion.
Lady Brilda was frowning.
Why isn't she happy?
This thought was halted by cheers.
Someone's shout broke the silence.
“The Young Lord has resurrected!”
“Waaah!!! Oh Gods!!! Thank you!!”
“Oh Gods!!! Thank you for your blessing!!”
“Waaaaah!!!”
A miracle happened today.
The prayer meeting instantly turned into a welcoming party.
***
After the tumultuous welcoming ceremony ended,
I sat alone in my room.
“Was the condition for completing the tutorial death?”
There was a reason I couldn't clear it.
Because it was a condition I couldn't have imagined.
No, even if I had expected it, it was a method I wouldn't have even been able to attempt.
[Mission]
Tutorial (Completed)
After confirming the completion,
the text that had tormented me for 6 years disappeared.
[System]
Tutorial completed.
1 Skill Point awarded.
I waited for 3 seconds.
Then I waited another 10 seconds.
“Hmm… that's it?”
No further explanation followed.
I pondered with only the given information.
Of course, that information was only the skill point.
“First, I need to learn a skill.”
The moment I pressed the skill point,
countless words filled my vision.
Fireball.
Shield.
Heal.
Charge.
Power Strike.
...
Digging.
Trade.
Sword Crafting.
Clothes Making.
...
There were too many to read them all.
“Can I just learn one of these?”
The first thing that caught my eye was a magic called Earthquake.
I had seen my father use it before.
He had annihilated a troop of monsters with that magic.
The image from that time was etched in my mind and unforgettable.
“If I learn that...”
I pressed Earthquake.
However, I couldn't learn it.
Because learning Earthquake required mastering several lower-tier Earth Magic spells first.
“That's a shame. Then…”
Just then,
a new notification popped up.
[System]
Analyzing the situation and presenting an appropriate mission.
[Mission]
Farming on Monster Island (In Progress)
HINT) Land Recovery Skill
This time, it kindly included advice.
If they were going to do this, they should have explained the tutorial in detail too.
“No, more importantly, I almost learned a skill first, that could have been disastrous!”
I opened the skill list again.
I selected the Land Recovery skill.
[System]
Acquiring the Land Recovery skill will automatically select the Farmer job.
Upon reaching a certain level, additional jobs can be obtained.
However, if a Life Skill path is chosen, Combat path skills cannot be learned.
“Wow… why is it so kind this time?”
Thinking differently, it could also mean it was that important.
Among the lines, the third one bothered me.
According to the system description,
it's broadly divided into Life Skill paths and Combat paths.
Various jobs belong under these paths.
For example, Farmer is a Life Skill path.
Swordsman or Mage, etc., are Combat paths.
“But it's telling me to choose Life?”
What is the flower of fantasy?
A sword in one hand, magic in the other.
Isn't it the so-called Magic Swordsman?
But I'm a Farmer?
And once chosen, I can't even get Combat path jobs?
My eyes were drawn to the Magic path.
Specifically, Earth Magic.
The Frontier Young Lord with no magic talent.
How many people were disappointed.
“Still… I should learn Land Recovery, right?”
Currently, the only way to obtain skill points is through missions.
I need to learn skills that help complete missions.
I pressed the Land Recovery skill.
[System]
Do you want to acquire the Land Recovery skill?
The moment I pressed ‘Yes’,
[System]
Life Skill path selected.
Farmer job selected.
Land Recovery skill acquired.
Land Recovery (Lv 1)
Purifies contaminated land.
I understood why the system told me to learn this skill.
The mission is farming on Monster Island.
To do that, one thing must be resolved.
That is the Demonic Energyof Monster Island.
Perhaps this skill could remove the Magi.
“Farming…”