[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Lucky]
Chapter 1
My life had been a series of failures.
Bastard. Illegitimate child. Incompetent. Worthless.
Those were the nas I was called instead of my own. The label of an illegitimate son made
the target of jealousy and disdain. Powerless, I had always lived with my things being taken from .
Still, there were monts when I dared to hope.
For instance, when I was young and realized the weight of the Esteed Martial Lee Clan na.
Or when I was chosen by a Heaven-ranked sword during the Steel Selection Ceremony.
I thought, ‘If I continued proving myself, if I worked tirelessly, perhaps one day, I would be recognized.’
But that never happened.
— Hmm. I’ve never seen a mana circuit like this before. It’s unsuitable for magic... and it lacks the stability for martial arts. You’d be lucky to even reach the 9th rank as a warrior.
Once my peculiar constitution was discovered, the recognition I had received during the Steel Selection Ceremony and the Naming Ceremony was dismissed as re luck or a mistake.
Even those who once held faint expectations for
eventually left, thinking, Of course, it was too good to be true.
Still, I persisted out of sheer stubbornness.
And I made so progress.
Despite the prediction that I wouldn’t even reach the 9th rank, I beca a 7th-rank warrior by the age of 25.
Of course, the other children of the Clan had already achieved that before reaching adulthood.
Then, at 30, I was finally expelled from the Clan.
The only reason I managed to leave in one piece, without losing an arm or a leg, was thanks to my eldest brother’s help.
And yet…
So, it’s co to this after all.
The visitor at my doorstep was an unexpected one.
Or perhaps I had seen this mont coming all along.
A man clad in black.
The mont I saw him, I felt my heart grow cold.
His outfit—a fusion of modified hanbok and a Western-style coat—was the official uniform of the Shadow Sword Squad, a group that followed only the direct orders of the Esteed Martial Lee Clan’s patriarch.
He pulled out a white envelope from his robes.
“This is an official order for you, young master. Please confirm it.”
Young master?
A low chuckle escaped .
Even after throwing it all away… this cursed bloodline will follow
to my grave.
I accepted the envelope.
For ten years, I had erased my traces and lived like a dead man, running from my past.
Yet, the Clan had found .
I tore open the seal and read the short mission briefing inside.
[Mission Order]
Target: Ninth Young Master, Lee Cheol
Objective: Investigate anomalies in the Unexplored lands, Sector B-1. Join the expedition team by 18:30 today.
—Clan Head, Lee Gunseong
A dry laugh slipped out.
The Unexplored lands? Not even a dungeon or a gate, but that place?
A hellscape untouched for centuries.
A land infested with ancient monsters that had adapted to Earth’s environnt.
And Sector B-1, in particular, was the recent site of unexplained phenona.
“You’re sending a 7th-rank warrior like
to explore that place? Do you realize this is a death sentence?”
“Are you refusing the order?”
The Shadow Sword operative didn’t even flinch, but a chill ran down my spine.
Refusing an order without a valid reason ant death.
I ran my fingers over the seal at the bottom of the order.
Lee Gunseong… So, in the end, the third brother beca the Clan head.
It had been a chaotic ti.
The Unexplored lands was expanding, monster attacks were intensifying, and amidst it all, my father—the head of the Esteed Martial Lee Clan, once hailed as the pinnacle of martial strength in Korea—had passed away.
The strongest candidate to succeed him had been my eldest brother.
He had the legitimacy, the character, and the talent.
Yet, the one who erged victorious was the third brother.
“You should prepare. I’ll return in an hour.”
The Shadow Sword operative vanished into thin air, like a specter.
“…Ha. Fuck.”
Clenching the crumpled order in my fist, I gritted my teeth.
* * *
"We're all going to die. This is insane."
"Goddamn it. Lee Gunseong, you son of a bitch..."
When we first set out, the expedition team had 150 mbers.
Now, only 48 remained.
We had traveled just 10 kiloters in 10 hours.
To advance a re 10 kiloters, over 100 warriors, who were elite martial artists of the Esteed Martial Lee Clan—had all perished.
Was this a purge disguised as an expedition?
I clenched my lips shut and glared at the Shadow Sword operatives, who were controlling the expedition under the guise of providing protection.
What the hell did Third Brother do to them?
Even in this godforsaken Unexplored lands, the Shadow Sword operatives had suffered no casualties.
It wasn't because they were overwhelmingly powerful.
Even when gravely injured, they healed instantly—like monsters.
Even when their arms were severed or their chests pierced, they would not die.
The Shadow Sword Squad.
Once loyal warriors who followed only the commands of the patriarch, they had now beco sothing inhuman.
“We’re moving forward. Captain, we’re almost there.”
“…Understood.”
Our march was grueling, directionless.
Then—
After countless deaths and relentless progress, an unknown ruin finally erged before us.
“Why is there a ruin here?”
“How has such an ancient structure remained intact for so long?”
The buildings were in ruins, with collapsed roofs and crumbling walls, yet they still bore unmistakable traces of Eastern architecture.
In a land teeming with monsters as nurous as grains of sand on a beach, it made no sense that a structure like this could have remained untouched.
As the expedition team hesitated in shock, a Shadow Sword operative urged us forward.
“Proceed.”
We stepped deeper into the ruins.
At the very heart of the structure, a massive clearing opened before us.
Scattered across the ground were countless skeletal remains, their identities long lost to ti.
And then—we saw it.
Sothing massive.
Sothing that made our blood run cold.
“What… what the hell is that?”
It was the corpse of an enormous monster.
A fossil now, its gigantic skeletal fra lood over the clearing like a monunt to its own death.
“We found it.”
The Shadow Sword operative’s eyes glead.
Then, he spoke.
"Begin."
“…Begin what?”
Lowering his mask, the operative grinned—a cruel, twisted smile.
“What else? The purge.”
Schlk!
Blood sprayed through the air.
"You… you murderous bastards! I should have known…! Gah!"
"No… no!"
"A massacre in the 21st century… this can't be happening!"
"These fuckers have gone mad! That arrogant—!"
With every swing of the Shadow Sword operatives' swords, death followed.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"You all knew this was coming. Your lives were forfeit from the start. At least you can die serving the Clan. Consider it an honor."
"Aaagh!"
"Urgh!"
It was a one-sided slaughter.
The once-sprawling clearing was now thick with the stench of blood.
A Shadow Sword operative approached
next.
I gripped my sword and raised it to my chest.
The operative's lips curled into a mocking smirk.
"Our lord ordered us to bring you here… and to kill you cleanly if you didn't resist."
"Shut up!"
I had no intention of dying quietly.
I lunged forward, swinging my sword.
"Pathetic."
The operative flicked his blade.
Clang!
My sword shattered—splintering like a brittle twig, the pieces scattering into the air.
I saw it all too clearly.
Even after leaving the Clan, I had never skipped a single day of training—not once.
Yet I couldn't withstand even one exchange.
Boom!
A flash of light erupted before my eyes.
"Ugh…!"
Darkness swallowed
whole.
When I ca to, I had been flung dozens of ters across the clearing, embedded in the monster's massive skull.
"Half-blood or not, the direct bloodline is sothing else. You survived that?"
Pain wracked my body, bones shattered, but I forced myself to stand.
It was pathetic.
Despised by the Clan for my weakness. Forced to flee to survive.
Yet now—because of this cursed bloodline—I was going to die.
Too weak to protect what was mine. Too weak to defy them.
Now even my life would be taken.
‘I can't… I don’t want to die like this.’
I needed a weapon.
Through the crimson haze clouding my vision, I saw sothing.
A sword—embedded in the monster's skull.
There was no ti to wonder why it was there.
I stretched out a trembling hand and grasped the hilt.
Crunch.
The mont my fingers wrapped around it, the sword crumbled to ash.
Even my final act of defiance—denied by the heavens.
"The blood of the Lee Clan… how disgraceful."
Schk!
The Shadow Sword operative's sword tore through my back.
A searing heat, like molten iron, spread from the wound across my entire body.
Ah…
Agonizing pain consud .
mories flashed before my eyes—every wretched mont of my damn life.
And I thought…
If I were to be born again…
I would never live like this.
Wuuuuung—
Beyond my dimming consciousness, I saw it—
The ashes of the shattered sword slithering toward
like living shadows.
Darkness swallowed my vision.
And then—
Nothing.
Pain wracked my entire body. My mind was hazy.
The light was blinding.
Even the air I breathed and the faintest brush of wind against my skin stabbed like needles.
Sounds thundered in my ears, so loud I thought my eardrums would burst.
Ah… what kind of tornt is this? Did I fall into hell?
Unbearable pain tore through , and before I knew it, my mouth opened—
Waaah! Waaah—!
…Huh?
An infant’s cry?
Could babies be sent to hell too?
"This child… Is he Yoojung's son?"
A low voice.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Father?
A cold, emotionless tone.
Distant and muffled, yet unmistakably his voice.
"What happened to Yoojung?"
"When we found her… she was already…"
"…I see."
A rough hand touched my body.
I had no choice but to accept it.
Despite the careful touch, my father’s hand felt rough and calloused.
Waaah! Waaah—!
The cry left my mouth before I could stop it.
W-wait…!
The wailing that filled the room—
It was coming from ?
My gaze darted around in panic.
And there they were.
The greatest swordsman of his era.
The Patriarch of the Lee Clan, Lee Taeshin.
The signature thick black hair of the Lee bloodline. A stern expression, deep brown eyes, and an imposing presence that could make anyone freeze in place.
My father.
The father who had already died.
Standing before , very much alive.
Our eyes t.
For a brief mont, sothing flickered in his gaze. Curiosity, perhaps.
“…Lee Young. That na will do.”
“As you wish.”
“Assign a wet nurse and ensure part of the Shadow Sword guards his safety.”
“Understood.”
“When is the Steel Selection Ceremony for the eighth child?”
“Next April.”
“Have Young attend as well.”
“…Pardon? The young master isn’t even prepared, and he was born months after the eighth young lady.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Father gave
one last look before turning away.
I could only let out a hollow laugh.
The butler who had been an old man in my past life, was now in his pri.
And my father—who had long since passed—was alive and well, just as I rembered him in his strongest years.
But more than that—
Their conversation.
The Steel Selection Ceremony…
A special rite held during the first birthday celebration of Lee Clan infants.
I forced my tiny arms to move, struggling to lift them toward my face.
It was exhausting.
Finally, I managed to shift my eyes toward my hands.
Small. Delicate. Doll-like fingers.
This can’t be real.
It made no sense—
But I couldn’t deny it.
A creeping sense of dread took root inside .
No matter how much I wished otherwise, the truth was clear.
I had been reborn.
Back into this damned Clan.
* * *
Several months had passed since I awakened in the body of an infant.
I couldn't determine my exact date of birth, but based on my developnt, the wet nurse estimated that I was around nine months old.
However, since the bloodline of the Martial Lee Clan grew at an exceptionally rapid rate, even that estimate wasn’t entirely accurate.
To think I would see my wet nurse again.
With a weary expression, I watched as she fed
baby food, feeling a complicated mix of emotions.
Only recently had I grown enough for things to stabilize, but for months, she had barely slept more than two hours a day.
Even during those precious few hours, she would wake up frequently to check on , catching only brief monts of sleep.
The least I could do was drink my formula without fuss, pretend to fall asleep easily, and burp as quickly as possible.
“Our young master is truly an angel. He eats well, sleeps so soundly… Young Master, I’ll take a short mont to eat my al too, alright?”
The wet nurse yawned widely before placing
in the cradle and starting to peel an apple.
She wasn’t even my real mother, yet she had raised
like her own child, remaining by my side until the very end as one of the few people who truly stood with .
Without a mother of my own, she had been the closest thing I had to one.
But even she was eventually driven out of the household by my brothers and sisters… because of . I failed to protect her.
Her head bobbed as she dozed off, still holding the paring knife. It was a precarious sight.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Regression. I have returned to the past.
If that were the case, would my talents and physical traits remain the sa?
Yes, they likely would.
Once again, I might end up a powerless failure, unable to wield mana, stripped of everything by my own Clan.
"To think the bloodline of the Lee Clan would be this disgraceful."
I could still hear the voice of the swordsman from the Shadow Sword Unit as he cut into my back.
A burning sensation crawled down my spine.
It wasn’t quite resentnt or a thirst for revenge.
It was the overwhelming helplessness, humiliation, and rage toward myself that I had felt in my final monts.
I want to be strong.
I refused to live that kind of life again.
This was my second chance—there was no way I would let myself drown in the sa misery.
Thud!
At that mont, the wet nurse, having briefly dozed off, dropped the paring knife near .
That startled .
It was within my reach.
Not wanting her to accidentally cut herself, I instinctively pushed the knife away.
And in that instant—
Whoosh—
Dark particles extended from my body, wrapping around the knife and absorbing it.
"Wow, this knife is really sharp. And it hasn't even been sharpened much."
"I heard Butler Choi got it from a famous craftsman. The retired secretary ntioned it once."
"Really?"
.
.
.
"Young Master, I’ll take a short mont to eat my al too, alright?"
Foreign mories flickered through my mind.
mories of conversations and scenes I had never seen or heard before.
What… was that just now?
And that wasn’t all.
I stared in shock, my mouth agape.
Woooong—
A faint halo of light had appeared at my fingertips.
The very power I had spent my entire previous life struggling to obtain—
Magic.
[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Lucky]
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