ASLTN 01

Chapter 01

Seoul, engulfed in flames.
Scarlet fire blazed unrelentingly across the shattered ruins of concrete.
Above a sea of corpses, a flag embroidered with a two-headed black eagle fluttered in the heat.

It was the symbol of House Romanov—the legendary Mage Clan, one of the Seven Great Houses of the world, co-rulers of Eurasia’s hegemony.

“Fucking Romanovs.”

Yujin growled under his breath, eyes locked on the tattered banner.
His right arm was gone, severed.
A gaping wound in his abdomen spewed blood like a waterfall.
A wound deep enough to kill the moment he let go of his consciousness.
But he clenched his teeth and strained to keep his fading awareness intact.

“Tsk, tsk. You’d be better off lying still, yet here you are struggling in vain.”

An old man chuckled above him, perched casually atop a ledge of broken concrete.

“You never know if it’s in vain until you try, Dmitri.”

“My name is Dmitri Andreyevich Romanov. Mind showing a bit of respect?”

“Fuck that. How the hell am I supposed to remember a name that long?”

“In that case, just call me the Sorcerer King.”

The incarnation of Odin, King of the Gods in Asgard.
The head of House Romanov.
Like Yujin, he was a Transcendent who had reached the 9-Star rank.

‘He’s the bastard who turned Seoul into a living hell.’

Spitting blood mixed with bile, Yujin sneered.

“You reached the 8th Star Rank only to have your wings clipped before you could even spread them.”

“And who was it that broke them, again?”

“Ha ha ha. What can I say? The Seven Great Houses—including ours—have no desire to see the existing order shattered, Undying King.”

A title bestowed by the System upon those who reached the 9–Star.
“Undying King” was Yujin’s name in that echelon.

“At least you call me ‘king.’”

“You’ve earned the title, haven’t you?”

A sardonic smirk curled over Dmitri’s lips.

“Honestly, I’m relieved. Had the constellations granted you their blessings, our house would’ve been forced to pay dearly.”

“Don’t you think I know they turned their backs on me?”

“Of course I know. You defied the natural order. You’re a Necromancer.”

[Necromancer]

A class that reanimates the dead and binds them as servants.
Yujin was the first—no, the only one—to ever master necromancy to its apex.

The only problem?

The exalted beings who had engraved their names upon the stars would never bestow their blessings upon those who rebelled against the natural flow.

“That,” Dmitri said, “is the difference between you and this old man.”

Golden heat shimmered around Dmitri’s form, rippling like a mirage.
It was the divine aura of a Divine Avatar, fully awakened by drawing upon the maximum grace of a Patron Constellation.

‘A cheat-like ability that reduces the destructive power of all magic-based attacks by over 95%.’

Even a true dragon’s breath.
Even the dark aura of a Death Knight.
Even the ultimate black magic and curses—none of it could touch him.

All Yujin could do was stand there and take the beating.

Suppressing a groan, Yujin straightened his spine.

Thud—!!! thud-thud—!!!

Blood poured from the hole in his chest like a broken dam.

Unless he became a lich, there was no escaping death in his current body.

“Do you really think this is over now?”

“A Necromancer without minions is no better than a man stripped bare, wouldn’t you say?”

“You’ll soon understand why I bothered listening to your drivel all this time.”

The bones strewn across the battlefield began to stir; the lingering malice of the fallen spirits coalesced, forming a whirlwind of grey ash. A spell formation, carved to amplify the power of the shadow dimension, now blazed to life — a darkness so potent surged forth, even hunters who had reached the zenith of magic felt a chill crawl down their spines.

“A transcendence technique fueled by a soul…”

Dmitri’s spine tingled at the final gambit Yujin unleashed.
His breath caught as he stared into the heart of the storming ashen vortex.
An ominous unease prickled over his skin, lifting the fine hairs on his arms.
This was a power capable of shattering the very order of the world.

‘My Aura alone can’t withstand this. Then I have no choice but to respond with my strongest magic.’

Flash—!!!

Odin’s Eye.

The symbol of divine authority Dmitri was granted upon becoming a [Divine Avatar].

Runes bloomed across his retina, drawing in magic power and forcibly granting it a higher, more exalted rank; this was [Divine Power]—a force one tier above the fundamental element of [Mana], intertwined with the laws of the world.

A strength permitted only to Constellations and their Avatars now began to manifest in full.

Brilliant rays plunged down from the heavens.
The pure force of destruction summoned from the Nine Realms ruled by Odin was fused through runes, their potency multiplied to its peak.
The resonating Divine Power surged exponentially.
An entire continent’s worth of annihilation was condensed into a single point.

“Undying King. I’ll erase even your soul.”

The crimson light burst down like a waterfall, tearing apart the storm of ash with trivial ease.
This was the overwhelming force of a Constellation—far beyond what a mortal could ever withstand.
And in that moment, as the death spell he had staked his life on unraveled, Yujin grinned.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

In his hand, a battered old pocket watch met the torrent of crimson flame head-on, encased in a shimmer of deep blue fire.

The miracle Dmitri had invoked was drawn into the ticking timepiece.

Tick—!!! Tock—!!!

The second hand, frozen until now, began to move.

“What have you done, Undying King?!”

“What? Something not going your way?”

Pocket Watch of Chronos.

An artifact that governed the domain of time itself.
To activate it, the user had to reach the 9-Star rank.
And second, it required Divine Power.

To Yujin, who had been forsaken by the Constellations, it was meant to be unusable.

‘If I can’t wield that power… I’ll just borrow it from someone else.’

Yujin grinned wide.

Tick—!!! Tock—!!!

The ticking grew louder, and faster.

The timeline of the world had been reversed.

His vision blurred.

“See you around, you damn eagle bastard.”

With a raised middle finger, Yujin bid Dmitri farewell.

༒︎

A familiar ceiling.

He blinked several times, yet the same sight greeted him.
His mind felt fogged, like a corrupted screen—noisy, grainy.
He struggled to breathe, and his eyes could barely focus.

“Guh…”

Yujin jolted upright in bed as if launched from a spring.

Thump—!!! Thump—!!! Thump—!!!

His heart pounded at over 180 beats per minute.
Blood surged through his veins in a frenzied torrent, his breath grew ragged, and his limbs trembled violently.

‘Where… am I?’

The last thing he remembered was thrusting Chronos’ Pocket Watch into Dmitri’s transcendent magic; the ticking of the second hand had roared in his ears, then everything blinked out.

In that very moment…

A translucent window shimmered before his eyes.

‘So. It really brought me back to this day.’

As he stared blankly at the floating status window, memories surged forward like a broken dam; the day he had left the orphanage, rented a small room, and clawed through life one grueling day at a time.

‘I saw this message back then.’

It had been twenty-three years, but the overwhelming awe of that moment still burned vividly in Yujin’s mind.

“Heh.”

A soft, bitter scoff slipped through his clenched lips.

He’d done it.
The low-odds gamble that risked everything—his body, his soul, his very existence—had succeeded.
Though cast aside by the Constellations, the artifact he’d never dared use—Pocket Watch of Chronos—had fulfilled its purpose to perfection.

‘Where is the watch now?’

A deep fracture ran across its surface—a crack that hadn’t existed before his regression.

‘So there’s no second chance.’

With care, Yujin placed the broken watch on the table.

Regression.

The miracle of rewinding time, of returning to the past, could not be repeated.

Even so, Yujin didn’t discard the Pocket Watch.

‘Parents, huh.’

He had almost no memory from before the orphanage.
Only one thing stood out.
For reasons he couldn’t explain, he had been holding that very Holy Relic, Pocket Watch of Chronos, in his tiny hands.

‘It took me a long time to realize what it really was.’

Only after ascending to the transcendent realm—the 9-Star rank—did he finally uncover the true nature of Pocket Watch of Chronos.

Though it had become useless after the regression, Yujin hadn’t discarded it.

‘There’s still use for it somewhere else.’

He slid the pocket watch back into his pocket and picked up his smartphone.

< 40 Years After the Great Cataclysm – How Has the World Changed? >

< Korea’s No.1 Guild, Arahan, Forms Alliance with House Romanov—One of the Seven Great Houses… >

< The Birth of Korea’s First Hunter Household? >

It had been forty years since the appearance of gates, monsters, and Hunters on Earth; the structure of the world had reshaped itself entirely around the Hunter system.

National power was no longer defined by military or economy, but by the sheer force held by Hunter guilds and families.

The so-called Seven Great Houses had grown into transnational entities wielding sovereign-level wealth and near-absolute authority, untouchable by the laws of any single nation.

‘That’s why the Sorcerer King targeted me.’

A 9-Star rank Hunter suddenly emerging from a small country like Korea?
If Yujin were to establish a Hunter family of his own, he would become an existential threat to the current order.

‘Not that I ever had such ambitions.’

Crack—!!!

Dmitri. The Romanovs.
You’ll live to regret crossing me.
Swallowing his fury, Yujin parted his lips.

“Status Window.”

These were the basic classes available to all aspiring Hunters.
Each one also served as a foundation for more specialized combat styles later on.

‘Last time, I chose the magic path.’

Only about 10% of Hunters possessed traits compatible with the Magic class.
Clergy were just as rare, but their doctrine-based methods didn’t suit Yujin’s temperament.

‘Of course, those aren’t the only options.’

As one ascended in rank, it became possible to evolve into specialized classes tailored to specific skills or equipment.

In rare cases, meeting certain conditions inside unique gates would unlock hidden or advanced classes—like Alchemist, Summoner, Martial Artist, or Necromancer.

‘Let’s pull the starting point forward this time.’

There was no reason to tread the same path he already knew by heart.
He already carried within him all the knowledge of how to become a Necromancer.

Recalling the hidden opportunity he had encountered before his regression, Yujin began preparing to head out.