episode_0001

Living as a child without the support of parents was no easy task.

“Get that kid!”

“Let’s catch that little brat! We’ll sell him to slave traders!”

Two adult men were chasing after me.

A tense situation.

I dodged them, weaving through alleyways, trying to shake them off.

After a chase that lasted for tens of minutes, I finally managed to lose them.

I entered a narrow alley to catch my breath and hide.

“Just because I touched their wallet… tsk!”

A grown man was chasing after a small child for pickpocketing.

It was quite ridiculous.

Moreover, they were known members of a notorious group of criminals.

And I had stolen their wallet.

“Well, I’m not a good person either!”

Of course, pickpocketing is a crime.

Doing bad things was expected.

Even if I stole from villains.

“But I had no other choice.”

For a child without parents or a home to survive, crime was the only answer.

So, I chose pickpocketing.

Unfortunately, I got caught playing a trick.

That’s why they were chasing me, and that’s why I had to run.

Still…

“I stole the wallet.”

I got caught, but I succeeded in pickpocketing.

A heavy wallet.

I felt a sense of anticipation as I opened it.

Contrary to my expectations, there was just a plain stone inside.

“…Did I see it wrong?”

I checked again, but it was just a stone.

There was no way a plain stone had any value.

In other words, the wallet was a fake one for pickpockets.

“What? They chased me for a fake wallet?”

I was a little angry at the men who chased me.

I had managed to lose them after a difficult escape, and they had no reason to chase me so fiercely.

“Sigh… I need to leave this place quickly.”

It was time for me to leave this village now that I had been caught pickpocketing.

Not even a single mistake was tolerated.

If I made one mistake, I had to move to another village.

It was all because of my appearance.

“Just because I have black hair doesn’t mean it’s all good.”

Black hair and black eyes.

Having black hair was considered mysterious and dreamy.

It was because black hair was like the hair color of a great hero who had achieved great feats.

So, black hair was the envy of others.

But for a pickpocket like me, there was nothing good about having black hair.

Once caught pickpocketing, you were easily identified.

So, a pickpocket with black hair was destined to move to another village as soon as they were caught.

“Ha… It’s a fantasy world, so I thought I could learn magic and swordsmanship.”

I wanted to live a cool life like the protagonist in stories.

But…

“Such stories are far from reach for a street kid like me.”

Stories that could appear in fantasy novels in this life or the next were just distant stories for me.

***

A man with a large scar across his forehead was scolding his subordinates.

“…Is that what you call an excuse?”

“No, that kid was just so quick…”

The subordinate hesitated before telling the scarred man about what happened during the day.

He had been pickpocketed by a black-haired kid.

And he let him get away.

The scarred man had emphasized to his subordinates multiple times that the stone in the wallet was extremely important and should never be lost.

But sadly, that emphasis was not followed.

Because of the black-haired kid.

“So… you were pickpocketed by that black-haired kid. I understand that. But you let him get away? Is it reasonable to let a mere child slip through your fingers like that?”

The scarred man slapped his subordinate’s stomach as he hesitated.

“Cough!”

The subordinate who spat out a short command grabbed the shoulder of the ship that was about to leave.

“What kind of object makes you sit after being pickpocketed?!”

“Well… Wasn’t it just an ordinary rock?”

The subordinates believed that what they were pickpocketed with was just an ordinary rock.

Only the man with the scar knew what it really was.

“It’s a mana stone.”

Upon hearing the true identity of the rock, the subordinates were shocked, their mouths agape.

Although it looked like an ordinary rock, it emitted a faint blue light.

This was the characteristic of a mana stone.

Mana stones were rocks imbued with mana and were very valuable.

To prevent the subordinates from getting greedy due to its value, the man with the scar had told them it was just an ordinary rock.

“But… the mana stone I know looked very different. It didn’t have a blue light.”

One of the subordinates expressed a natural doubt.

The rock really looked like an ordinary rock.

The powerful characteristic of a mana stone, emitting a blue light, was not present.

However, the man with the scar had already taken measures to make it look like an ordinary rock without the blue light.

“Anyway, we must catch that little brat somehow.”

“Yes, understood!”

***

The sun had set, casting darkness over the mountains.

Only torches illuminated the dark mountains.

“There he is!!! Quickly, chase him!!!”

Damn it.

A chase in the dead of night.

I sighed and moved my legs swiftly once again.

“I wonder if that’s not just an ordinary rock?”

I had already confirmed the faces of the men chasing me.

There were five of them.

Among them were the two guys I pickpocketed earlier in the day.

That meant the reason they were chasing me was because of that pickpocketing incident.

I reached into my pocket and took out my wallet.

“I’m glad I didn’t throw it away.”

Even upon closer inspection, it still looked like an ordinary rock.

But judging by their reactions, it was clear that this was a valuable item.

Now that I had realized this fact, if I could just get through this crisis, there was a possibility that my life could become a little better.

“If I have some money to spare, maybe I can truly enjoy this fantasy world.”

With that hope in mind, I continued to move without stopping.

Being agile, I was able to gradually increase the distance between us and them.

The darkness of the night also played a role.

It was when I was confident that I could escape from them.

Swish- Thud-.

I heard a sound of something flying, and at the same time, a hot sensation rose from my thigh.

My leg gave out, and I ended up rolling on the ground.

Amidst the chaos, I realized the cause of the hot sensation in my thigh.

An arrow.

An arrow was lodged in my thigh.

Recognizing this, pain followed.

“Ahhhh!!!”

I couldn’t help but scream.

I quickly covered my mouth, but it was too late.

“There he is!!!”

“Quick, catch him!!!”

Rushed by my scream, I was quickly surrounded by the five men.

Due to the pain in my thigh, I couldn’t run away.

I looked at the faces of the five men surrounding me.

“You little brat! Bring back what you stole right now!”

The man with the big nose who I pickpocketed.

“A real rat-like kid.”

The man who resembled a rat and treated me like a rat.

“…”

The bald man who stared at me in silence.

“Annoying, making me exercise in the middle of the night.”

The man holding a bow, likely the one who shot the arrow.

“…Did you think you could escape?”

And lastly, the muscular man with a long scar on his forehead.

Since I was already caught, I didn’t want to show weakness to them.

So, instead, I mocked them.

“To think that five adults are sticking to a kid just to catch him. Isn’t that a bit heartless?”

A wallet with a stone inside was thrown in front of them.

“Now you’re going to give it back and spare me-”

Before the big-nosed man could finish his sentence, the scarred man intervened.

“Quite the brave kid. To show such courage in this situation.”

“That’s true. The fortune teller said I would be successful. So, here’s the thing… I returned the stolen item, so how about sparing me?”

I knew that was a load of crap.

It was just a desperate attempt to save myself.

“Well, if the fortune teller said something, it might be partially true. Seeing you begging for your life in this situation, you’ll definitely go far. But… fortune-telling isn’t always accurate.”

I understood what the scarred man was trying to say.

Fortune-telling isn’t always right.

Therefore, I wouldn’t succeed.

In other words, he was telling me he was going to kill me and trying to soften the blow.

‘Ah… Was it right to grovel from the beginning?’

But I didn’t want to survive by groveling.

I had no assurance that they would forgive me.

So, I reinterpreted a saying from my past life in a way that would fit this situation.

“A dragon leaves scales when it dies, but a human leaves their name.”

“What nonsense are you suddenly spouting?”

“I mean I’ll at least leave my name before I die.”

Throughout Bangara’s life, I had faced death many times.

Living a life close to death, I knew that this kind of end awaited me someday.

That’s why even in the face of death, my mind remained calm.

‘In a fantasy world… even if the beginning wasn’t good, I should end it coolly.’

I wanted to end it coolly in the final moments.

Dying without begging for mercy from the enemy would be cooler than tumbling down the stairs and dying.

“Arthas. My name is Arthas. Of course, I don’t have a surname.”

An orphan like me had no family, so I had no surname.

The scarred man mocked my actions.

“What a waste of time. I’ve killed dozens of people. Among them were those who boasted their names like you. But I’ve forgotten the names of those people. I’ll forget your name soon too.”

“Even if you forget, it doesn’t matter.”

It really didn’t matter.

It was just for my own satisfaction.

And…

‘There’s a possibility of being reborn again.’

If I did it once, could I do it twice?

Knowing that death wasn’t the end, I wasn’t afraid of death.

And this life, I had no regrets.

It was at that moment, waiting for death to come right in front of me.

“Well, an interesting kid indeed.”

An old man with white hair suddenly appeared behind the scarred man.

‘An old man in the mountains at this late hour? What’s going on?’

At least I could tell that this old man and the five men were unrelated.

From the expression on the scarred man’s face, it was clear he was very surprised by the sudden appearance.

The scarred man asked the old man for his identity.

“W-who are you!!!”

“Hmm? Me? Well, I go by many names, but here I’d like to introduce myself as Hans.”

Hans.

A pretty common name for an old man.

It felt like a name from a previous life, like Tom and Jerry.

The old man passed by the scarred man with leisurely steps and stood in front of me.

“It looks like an arrow is stuck in your thigh.”

“If only that was the only thing that hit me, I could have escaped.”

I couldn’t help but speak up to the old man.

The old man looked around at the five men and spoke.

“By the way, why are you chasing this kid to this extent?”

The old man’s hand reached for the wallet I had thrown.

At the same time, the scarred man shouted.

“Hey, if you don’t want to die, don’t touch it!”

Judging by his reaction, the scarred man seemed scared of the mysterious old man.

The old man casually ignored the scarred man’s words.

The old man who opened the wallet had an interesting expression on his face.

“Oh, it’s a marble.”

A marble?

The one that was in the wallet I stole?

It felt like a lie.

From the beginning, I also knew what a marble was.

But to my eyes, it just looked like an ordinary marble.

I glanced at the man with scars.

“It doesn’t seem like a lie…”

Seeing the man with scars shocked, it seemed like it was the truth.

“Sigh… of all things to steal, you stole a marble.”

They could have easily lit a fire in their eyes and chased after us.

The old man threw the wallet he was holding towards me.

An action I couldn’t understand.

“What is this?”

“Well, since you stole it, isn’t it yours? And I’ve heard that those guys have very bad behavior. If I’ve heard about it, then it must be true.”

The old man nodded his head a few times.

“That thing was clearly obtained illegally anyway. So there shouldn’t be any problem with you being the owner of what you stole.”

The man with scars shouted at the old man.

“What kind of nonsense is that!”

“Hey, just wait a moment! Am I not talking to this kid here?”

The old man scolded the man with scars and then looked me in the eyes and made a proposal.

“Do you not have any intention of using that marble to save your life? No, a marble might not be enough to pay for your life. It was a moment of opportunity that was just right. Do you not have any intention of accepting my offer?”

A strange offer from a strange old man in a strange situation.

I had no choice.

If I didn’t accept the old man’s offer, I would surely die here.

I didn’t want to die, even though I was prepared for death.

So I had only one choice to make.

“I will take the marble and accept your offer.”

“Good choice.”

But the man with scars wasn’t just going to stand by and watch this strange situation.

“Did you see this crazy old man? That marble was originally mine. I can’t take it anymore! Just attack him!!!”

Almost simultaneously, five guys rushed towards the old man.

A fight between five young men and one old man.

The outcome was obvious.

But…

“To take the initiative against an old man, these kids these days have no manners.”

A sword was suddenly in the old man’s hand.

And when did he draw the sword?

A red line was drawn on the necks of the five guys.

Without even being able to utter a short farewell, the five guys were separated from their heads and bodies and fell to the ground.

A situation that ended in the blink of an eye.

I couldn’t say or react to anything.

“Still, one thing is for sure.”

I had realized that the old man was not an ordinary person, despite his appearance.