Chapter – 02
Click.
When he opened the small side door and stepped outside, he found himself on a modest terrace overlooking a wide-open view.
Under the warm sunlight, the lush green garden and colorful flower beds were dazzling.
When he stretched out his hand, he could feel a slightly cool breeze brushing between his fingers.
There was also a strange sensation that seemed to envelop his entire body, along with a refreshing fragrance. Perhaps it was the lingering presence of dense mana.
‘This is on an entirely different level from when I connected through a capsule.’
One of the reasons Raul—or rather, Bae Do-hyun—had been able to reach the pinnacle among Connect players was his extraordinary Synchronization Rate.
While the average player’s Synchronization Rate was around 30 percent, Bae Do-hyun had boasted a rate approaching 90 percent.
That allowed him to maintain much sharper senses than everyone else, and its impact on combat had been absolute.
‘So much for 90 percent.’
But what he was experiencing now could never be described merely in terms of Synchronization Rate.
The sensations were so vivid that even the senses he had experienced on Earth now seemed like child’s play.
Raul closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the mysterious sensations that felt almost intoxicating.
“Whew~.”
Eventually, Raul steadied his breathing, folded both arms over the terrace railing, and opened his eyes wide.
His mind, which had been tangled by the sudden mixture of memories and his worries about the destruction of his family, now felt much clearer.
With his thoughts finally calm, Raul began recalling the tragic future that awaited the Ashton Count’s family.
The sudden death of the family head.
His eldest son, who succeeded him, dying in battle against monsters.
His second son disappearing after setting out on a journey of training.
And then, once the youngest son inherited the countship, a rebellion broke out as though everyone had been waiting for it.
‘That youngest son is me, Raul.’
And that wasn’t the end.
Not long after the count was replaced because of the rebellion, the barrier surrounding the Forbidden Zone opened, allowing monsters to invade.
The Ashton family failed to stop them.
After that, the territory occupied by the monsters passed through the hands of various factions, including players…
“Whew. I don’t need to remember everything that happened afterward.”
Shaking his head and cutting off those memories, Raul looked down with lively eyes.
Beyond the garden of the enormous mansion, he could see the vast territory of the Ashton family in the distance, surrounded by multiple layers of massive walls.
It was hard to believe that this beautiful and majestic city would become a wasteland in just three years.
‘No. That won’t happen anymore. I’ll make absolutely sure of it!’
Bae Do-hyun had spent his entire life as an orphan.
He had discovered Connect as a way to escape the suffocating reality where hard work wasn’t necessarily rewarded and the powerful exploited those beneath them.
But even that world had people trying to turn it into another world controlled solely by the privileged.
And there were limits to how much he could accomplish by fighting them alone.
In a way, this could be considered his third life.
Yet now, more than ever before, he truly felt alive.
For the first time, he had a family.
He had a place he could call home.
And above all—
He had hope.
‘It doesn’t matter how I returned to the past or how I became Raul.’
Whether this was regression, reincarnation, or possession, he honestly didn’t care.
He wasn’t even interested in finding out.
Even if this world wasn’t truly reality and was nothing more than a world inside a game, it didn’t matter.
‘What matters is that I’m breathing here right now. Since things have turned out this way, I’ll live properly this time.’
Raul straightened up from the railing and stretched both hands forward.
Looking at the vast territory before him—a territory that was both small enough to feel as though he could grasp it in his fist and great enough to inspire awe—he clenched his fists tightly and renewed his resolve.
‘I’ll protect it no matter what. With my knowledge of the future and the new power I’ve gained, I should be able to do it!’
At that very moment, a dense, golden aura erupted from Raul’s body.
It swirled around him before disappearing into thin air in an instant.
Several knights patrolling the mansion turned their heads after sensing something strange.
But Raul had already disappeared from the terrace.
* * *
“Haa… haa…”
Raul sheathed his longsword and let out a ragged breath.
His right hand, which had been holding the sword, was trembling slightly.
“Ugh, seriously! What kind of pathetic stamina is this?! Huff, huff.”
Even saying a single sentence left him struggling to breathe.
Raul looked down at his pale, delicate forearm and sighed inwardly.
‘How can the body of someone from a prestigious swordsmanship family be this pathetic?!’
To be honest, the first time he had looked at himself in a full-length mirror, he had been extremely satisfied.
A handsome young boy who looked like he belonged in a movie had been smiling brightly back at him from the mirror.
Moreover, despite being only fifteen years old, he was already over 175 centimeters tall.
His proportions were excellent, with long, well-shaped limbs and a small face that made him look almost unreal.
But that fantasy had shattered in an instant.
During his first training session, which lasted a little over an hour, he had endured the sensation of the sky turning yellow and his breathing stopping through sheer willpower more than five times.
What came afterward was hellish muscle pain.
Only later did he understand why the training instructor had nervously kept asking whether he really wanted to continue.
Looking back through his memories, Raul had never trained for more than ten minutes a day.
Whenever he moved his body for longer than that, he would become dizzy and collapse.
If not for the system’s assistance, even the current Raul might have been unable to overcome his body’s physical limitations.
‘Even so, aren’t we supposed to be one of the five greatest martial families in the kingdom? Aren’t my father and brothers all masters of swordsmanship? Why the hell did they neglect this kid so badly?!’
Raul’s face was filled with dissatisfaction as he wiped away the sweat dripping from his body and steadied his breathing.
It had taken an entire month just to restore his stamina and strength to the level of an average boy his age.
If he continued training consistently, he would probably be recognized as a proper knight before long.
‘The problem is that I have a match coming up soon.’
Looking around, he saw more than a dozen boys scattered throughout the enormous training ground, swinging their swords and warming up.
Like Raul, they were all fifteen years old—the age at which they would officially become adults.
The Ashton Count’s family held a special coming-of-age ceremony every year.
They gathered children from the count’s family and the surrounding territories and held a swordsmanship tournament.
The tournament wasn’t merely a festival.
Those who demonstrated outstanding skill were given the opportunity to officially join the Ashton family and train to become knights.
Moreover, anyone who reached the semifinals would receive a letter of recommendation for admission to the Kingdom Swordsmanship Academy.
The Raul from before his reincarnation would never even have applied.
But the current Raul had a very important reason to participate.
‘I absolutely have to enter the Kingdom Academy! Otherwise, I’ll be stuck in this territory for a long time, unable to do anything.’
His father, Count Melvin, and his two much older brothers doted excessively on the frail Raul.
He could barely even leave the mansion, let alone go outside the castle walls.
For the sake of his future, he had to leave the territory first.
He had just resolved to make it into the semifinals and secure his ticket to the royal capital when—
He sensed something hostile behind him.
Whoosh.
“Oh? What? You dodged?”
Raul barely avoided someone trying to ram him with their shoulder.
He turned his head and looked at the owner of the voice.
His eyebrow immediately twitched.
“Well, well. Look at you, Weakling. You’ve grown quite a bit, huh? You’re even making eye contact now. Can’t you keep your eyes down?! Hah!”
The boy who raised his hand as though he were about to strike him was named Dion.
He was the second son of Raul’s uncle, Viscount Austin—in other words, Raul’s cousin.
The seven children surrounding him like bodyguards were either collateral members of the Ashton family or children from neighboring territories.
In other words, they were all children from relatively influential families.
When Raul simply stared at him without reacting, Dion brought down the hand he’d raised and lightly patted Raul’s shoulder.
“I told you to quietly stay out of the way. What are you doing ignoring me? What if you get hurt during the match? You’re already so weak in the bones. Aren’t you? Hehehe.”
“Exactly. I guess getting beaten so much has made him stupid too. What a shame. Pfft.”
The boys around him all laughed mockingly.
Raul slowly turned his head and looked at each of their faces.
Memories he had forgotten began returning.
‘Hmm. That one hit my wrist. That one hit my calf. That one hit my ribs….’
He was beginning to remember clearly.
During the regularly held joint swordsmanship training sessions, these boys had used sparring as an excuse to torment Raul.
Even after the outcome of a match had already been decided, they would deliberately drag out the sparring session and continue hitting Raul with wooden swords.
As a result, he had suffered cracked bones and, on some occasions, even broken bones.
Yet the instructors and the Count had pretended not to notice.
That was because of the Ashton family’s training principles and family motto.
- Training should be treated like actual combat.
- Everyone is equal on the sacred training grounds.
- No one is held responsible for injuries sustained during sparring.
No special treatment was given even to the Count’s own son.
And as far as the instructors were concerned, this level of bullying was nothing more than children’s play.
‘He really was a complete pushover. Tsk.’
While Raul clicked his tongue inwardly, Dion stepped closer and whispered into his ear.
“Know your place and stay out of my way. If you get in my sight again, this time I won’t just break one of your bones. I’ll cripple you completely. You don’t want to get beaten senseless and start crying in front of the adults, do you?”
With that, he gave Raul one final shove on the shoulder before leaving with his group.
Raul watched them walk away for a while before giving a faint chuckle.
“You little punks. How pathetic…”
Compared to the enemies he had faced in his previous life, these boys weren’t even worth calling opponents.
They were nothing more than inexperienced novices who hadn’t even learned to walk yet.
Of course, his current physical condition was even worse than theirs.
‘But I can’t just laugh this off. I should put him in his place once before he gets even more spoiled.’
Thanks to them, Raul now had an even greater reason to focus on the tournament.
Dion might have had an awful personality, but he was also the strongest favorite to win the tournament.
Raul might not even meet him until the finals.
‘My goal… shouldn’t be the semifinals anymore. I’ll aim for the championship.’
Before he knew it, the corners of Raul’s mouth had lifted slightly.
* * *
The tournament proceeded smoothly.
More than 3,000 people had applied to participate, so preliminary trials were held, followed by qualifying rounds in a group-stage format.
As a result, a total of 32 finalists were determined.
Dion, the overwhelming favorite to win, had advanced, as had all seven of his companions.
And, of course, Raul’s name was also on the list.
From the main tournament onward, legal betting was permitted.
In other words, the Count’s family itself operated a gambling house to increase the tournament’s popularity.
Not only residents of the territory, but also knights and nobles from neighboring territories participated.
As a result, enormous amounts of money changed hands, and the fees collected by the Count’s family were substantial.
Information about the finalists and various rumors were plastered throughout shops and taverns.
Self-proclaimed experts even sold their predicted rankings for money.
Flip.
A large hand, resembling the paw of a bear, held a stack of documents.
Despite its enormous size, the hand turned the pages surprisingly gently.
Thud.
The bear-like man finally threw the documents onto the desk and spoke.
“What about him?”
“The Young Master returned to his room after finishing his meal. Perhaps he intends to go to bed early because of his fatigue…”
An elderly, silver-haired man in an immaculate suit slightly bowed his head as he answered from across the desk.
His pristine white gloves and reddish bow tie immediately caught the eye.
“Does he seem to be having any trouble anywhere?”
“He doesn’t appear to have suffered any particular injuries. However, he seems quite exhausted because of the lengthy matches.”
“Then that’s enough. You may leave.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
Click.
After the butler left, the man was alone.
Count Melvin, head of the Ashton family, reached for the documents once more.
‘Well, well.’
To be honest, he had never imagined that his youngest son would make it to the main tournament.
Unlike his two older sons, who looked so much like him, the boy had inherited his mother’s frail constitution.
For that reason, Melvin had never forced him to undergo swordsmanship training.
He also knew that Raul was being bullied by the other children at the training grounds.
There were reasons he had chosen to leave the matter alone despite knowing about it.
Partly because of the pride of the Count’s family.
And partly because he wanted to respect Raul’s own will.
No one had ever told Raul that he had to participate in training.
Yet Raul went to the training grounds every single day.
Even though he couldn’t last ten minutes before collapsing, he went every day without fail.
The same was true of the joint swordsmanship training.
Even though he was bullied and injured every time, he never gave up training.
But what if the Count intervened?
That wouldn’t merely make all of Raul’s efforts meaningless.
It would also brand Raul as a disgrace to the Count’s family.
Every time Melvin saw Raul struggling and getting injured, his heart felt as though it were being torn apart.
Yet all he could do was silently cheer for his son’s growth in his heart.
And finally, today—
His son, who had walked that difficult and painful road, had achieved a small yet tremendous accomplishment.
Melvin had always wished for nothing more than for his youngest son to grow up healthy.
“Perhaps you really can’t escape your bloodline after all. Haha.”
Recently, suspicious movements had been detected throughout the kingdom and around his territory, leaving him constantly on edge.
Yet thanks to his son, his shoulders felt slightly lighter.
‘Once tomorrow’s matches are over, I should take him out for some fresh air. It’ll be a good chance to congratulate him, too.’
Simply making it to the main tournament was already an excellent result.
Even if Raul lost tomorrow, Melvin intended to encourage him so that he wouldn’t become discouraged.
And if he had the time, perhaps he should personally oversee Raul’s swordsmanship training from now on.
A breeze entered through the window and scattered the documents in his hands.
One particular sheet caught his eye.
[Round of 32 — Match 6] Analysis
Edmund (Predicted Rank: 6th) vs. Raul (Predicted Rank: 32nd)
……
Unfortunately, it seemed that in the Count’s mind, Raul’s defeat had already been decided.
