Ch.10. Prologue

# 0. Prologue

People don’t change easily.

Not even if parents and teachers lecture them endlessly.

Not even if school bullies beat them to a pulp on rainy days.

Not even if they graduate from the academy ranking dead last out of 600 students.

People don’t change from such trivial things. Such minor incidents won’t suddenly transform a shut-in who only plays games into a model student.

That was me.

At first, I hated my situation, so I made what I considered efforts.

I tried studying, attempted exercise I’d never done before, and even approached classmates I’d never spoken to.

But it was all meaningless.

I claimed to study hard, but my grades never improved.

I sat at my desk with a pen in hand for five hours a day, but my academic performance barely changed.

I also tried exercising diligently. I hated this pig-like body of mine…

But that passion didn’t last long either.

Despite continuing to exercise, my body showed no significant changes, and from that moment, my enthusiasm only waned.

And when I mustered the courage to speak to my classmates, all I got in return was:

“What’s with this loser? Are you friends with him?” Harsh words and contemptuous glares.

After that, I never initiated conversation with anyone again.

In truth, these were all trivial matters.

Looking back now, I failed because my efforts were insufficient, but back then, I didn’t know that fact—and probably wouldn’t have wanted to know it.

Back then, I wasn’t trying to live in reality or face it.

While continuing that monotonous life…

I met her.

She welcomed me with a smile as bright as the midday sun.

Me, who had been utterly useless until then.

But even someone like me began to change rapidly after meeting her.

Despite attending the academy, I couldn’t use a single proper spell, yet she taught me magic.

She showed me the joy of exercise when I had been confined at home, rekindling the passion I once had.

She transformed me from someone who couldn’t even defeat a single slime into a splendid hunter.

We spent a long time together, and during that time, our relationship deepened.

However, there could never be anything between her, a noble princess, and me, merely a baron’s son.

Yet I always remained by her side.

Even when she entered a political marriage with someone whose existence she hadn’t known until then.

Even when she gave birth to a beautiful child who looked just like her.

Even when she ascended to the throne as Empress.

Even when her empire reigned supreme over many countries and her fame spread throughout the world.

Even when she fought on the frontlines every day to protect the country during the war against the demon race.

And even in that moment when she departed from this world.

I always stayed by her side.

Not right beside her, but always watching her from somewhere.

Always hoping for her happiness from somewhere.

Always speaking and acting for her from somewhere, sometimes hurting others for her sake, sometimes getting hurt for her.

I didn’t live my life as “myself.”

I always lived as her dog, serving her from beneath.

But I never regretted or hated that life.

Even now, at the end of my life.

I never resented my past self.

The self who lived his entire life as her dog.

The self who cried alone when hearing of her marriage.

The self who was overjoyed at the news of her coronation.

The self who wept endlessly like a dog who lost its master in front of her grave, babbling useless words to someone who no longer existed in this world.

But I did have one small wish.

It wasn’t much, really.

I just wanted to see her again.

I wanted to see her again—the one who was my everything, my entire life.

And if she were to return to me, I would never let her die like she did that day.

But such a miraculous thing would never happen to me.

I was already aware of that fact, but still, I prayed to the heavens.

I prayed for that miracle to find me, to let me see her again, to regain my lost master.

Before sleeping, before eating.

While hunting.

While training soldiers.

At my home, at the training grounds.

At the park during walks.

At her grave.

And even at the final station of my life.

But the miracle never came to me until my death.

I was disappointed by that fact, but there was still one possibility left for me.

Name: Albert Veros | Race: Human

Level: 734 | Traits: Desperate Person, Someone’s Sword, Right Hand of the Empress

HP: 367/367 | MP: 126/126

Strength: 191 | Magic: 63 | Agility: 312 | Defense: 82 | Magic Defense: 86

Skills: [Last Stand of a Mortal (Unique): SSS], [Blade of Darkness (Unique): A+], [Unwavering Faith: B], [Reinforcement: C+], [Swift: S+], [Death Defiance: S-], [Absolute Loyalty: B+], [???: EX], [Regeneration: B-], [Killing Intent Detection: SS+], [Killing Intent Release: SSS+]

This is my status window.

It was an impressive status window, even by my own standards—one could say I had no equal in the current era.

But that’s not what’s important right now.

What we need to focus on is the skill [???: EX].

This skill was naturally added to my status window after her death.

It started at the lowest rank, F-, but gradually increased over time. Until just now, it showed as SSS+, the highest rank, but as death approached me, the skill’s rank changed.

EX rank.

I had never heard of it before.

Even in the status information of all the great figures throughout history, EX rank couldn’t be found.

But it was there in my status window.

So I decided to believe in this mysterious skill.

It was pathetic of me to cling to such a thing now, but there was no other possibility left.

The chances might be extremely slim, but I decided to bet my fate on that slim possibility, even if it meant being deceived.

I was at the edge of a cliff, after all.

I had no idea what lay at the bottom, but I had to firmly believe someone was there.

So I jumped off the cliff.

With a somewhat peaceful expression, I soared through the air, firmly believing in the possibility that someone at the bottom would catch me.

And just before hitting the ground, someone from the sky caught me.

“You look quite peaceful?”

Chris.

A dear friend who came to the hospital to witness my final moments.

If I had stayed by her side, he had stayed by mine.

He had fought countless battles with me, always sharing hardships and joys.

We had embraced and wept together over the deaths of close comrades, shared the joy of victory in war, and even in old age, we would drink together and reminisce about the past.

I hated the fact that no one else was in the hospital room, but…

‘Better than no one at all.’

I gave my final greeting to my friend and fell to the ground.

“This is the last day. Can you drink alone without me?”

“That would be difficult.”

At my words, his eyes reddened, and seeing that, I too felt a lump in my throat.

“See you later, my old friend.”

-Beep beep beep beeeep-

***

I opened my eyes in a space that was neither familiar nor completely strange.

I tried to get up from the bed, but my body felt incredibly heavy.

My weight didn’t seem much different, but my muscles had become extremely weak.

However, I managed to get up somehow.

“Where am I?”

My memory was hazy.

Fortunately, the moment I looked in the mirror, I understood my current situation completely.

As I barely managed to stand before the mirror, a figure I could never forget appeared before my eyes.

It was myself before I met her.

The past me who knew nothing but gaming and eating.

I picked up my phone to check the exact time.

It was July 21, 674.

Seeing the current date on my phone, it finally started to sink in.

“I’ve returned to the past.”

In the end, there was someone at the bottom of the cliff, and that possibility had become reality.

And the fact that I had returned to the past excited me.

Seven years before I met her.

It was a time when I was beyond salvation, before I even entered the academy.

But I was different from that hopeless boy.

Now, I could save even this hopeless self.

And at this moment, I made a resolution. To meet her again.

And in this life, I would not let her die.

Now, I think I can change.

People don’t change easily.

But people only don’t change “easily”—if they face adversity that pushes them to their limits, they eventually change.

Whether they want it or not, people ultimately cannot overcome that adversity in their current state, so they transform into someone who can.

I’ve already experienced it once. The first time is hard, but the second?

From now on, I must strive for that second experience.

After recalling my past self who served as her right hand through blood and sweat, I escaped from this stifling room.

And headed straight for the gym.

‘First, I need to do something about this damn body.’