episode_0023

[…Hidden Condition (Awareness of Sealed Past Senses) Achieved]

[The hidden condition has been met, unlocking the Main Quest and Personality Restoration Quest.]

[Main Quest – Everything Exists for a Reason]

You have become aware that the sensations of your past life have vanished.

Where, and how, did things go wrong?

No—what was the reason you came to inhabit this new body in the first place?

Could all of this truly be mere coincidence?

Nothing but unknowns surround you.

◆ Quest Objective: Survive until a specified date (undisclosed). ◆ Success Reward: A Flicker of Truth. ◆ Failure Penalty: None.

I slowly read through the messages appearing before my eyes.

Straining my stiffened mind, I forced myself to absorb the contents.

“…Hmm.”

Lost sensations of a past life.

Possession.

A distorted situation.

The entity that could be called a “system” made it clear to me—none of this was mere coincidence.

My arrival in this world wasn’t just a stroke of luck.

There must have been a definitive reason, a purpose for my scattered soul to take form here once more.

This meant there was undoubtedly a transcendent being who breathed new life into my dying self.

Perhaps that being summoned me to this world and granted me this system, this status window.

‘…This feels strange.’

I couldn’t objectively grasp my own situation.

Was I someone’s hope, stepping forward to achieve some grand purpose?

Or was I nothing more than a plaything, a toy for someone’s amusement?

Then again, maybe I was neither.

Suddenly, a line from a novel I once read came to mind:

“Do not seek reason from God.”

At the time, it just seemed like a cool-sounding phrase, but now, recalling it, I felt an intense resonance.

“Well, whatever. Whoever you are, I should still be grateful.”

Even if I didn’t know what they expected of me, to me, they were nothing short of a savior.

Given how they kept me occupied with quests and achievements, it didn’t seem like they bore any ill will toward me.

‘Survive until a specified date… No failure penalty.’

After skimming through the quest details again, I let out a small chuckle.

As if there could be a failure penalty.

The quest itself was about not dying.

I didn’t know when this “specified date” was, but it wouldn’t interfere with my original plans.

It was a quest that would clear itself as long as I kept living.

The reward—A Flicker of Truth.

It would likely serve as a medium to reveal why I had been brought into this world.

Since I’d find out eventually anyway, there was no need to agonize over it now with zero information.

Having sorted my thoughts, I felt a bit more at ease.

It was as if the worries clouding my mind had cleared.

But before I could fully enjoy the clarity, a new flood of information crashed over me.

[Personality Restoration Quest – Tracing the Footsteps of the Past]

To reclaim the personality of your past life, you must retrace the footsteps you left behind.

◆ Quest Objectives: Fulfill the following conditions. – Defeat 50 Grade-9 Erosion Entities. – Defeat 40 Grade-8 Erosion Entities. – Defeat 30 Grade-7 Erosion Entities. – Defeat 20 Grade-6 Erosion Entities. – Defeat 10 Grade-5 Erosion Entities. – Complete 2 Limit Breaks.

◆ Success Reward: 4★ Personality – Erosion Slayer, Park Jeong-hyeon. ◆ Failure Penalty: None.

“Huh.”

To think I’d be able to use my past self as a personality.

And a 4★ one at that.

Back when I had nothing better to do before sleep, I’d sometimes wonder, “If my past self became a personality, what star rating would they be?”

Now, I didn’t have to guess anymore—the system had firmly stamped it as 4★.

In terms of rarity, it was on par with the Magical Girl personality.

Though, the name attached to it was a bit…

‘Erosion Slayer… Ugh, cringe.’

Seeing the title given to me made my body twist in discomfort.

Erosion Slayer.

It sounded like something my middle-school dropout self would’ve secretly loved.

Not that it was all that strange.

The personalities I casually referred to as Artist, Angler, and Actor actually had grandiose titles of their own—Artist Who Turned His Back on the World, Angler Who Hooks Time, Actor of Bewitching Charm.

Still, seeing the name assigned to me firsthand… It stirred an indescribable sense of shame.

‘Ugh, ignore it.’

I shook my head and checked the quest conditions.

In short, I had to defeat a set number of Grade-9 to Grade-5 Erosion Entities.

‘Why are my past footsteps like this?’

The absurdly consistent quest conditions made me laugh dryly.

Then again, I had slaughtered an unusual number of Erosion Entities.

Even after work hours, if I spotted one, I’d charge at it without hesitation.

That was why people often called me crazy.

“That guy’s insane when it comes to Erosion Entities.”

Some even said watching me fight them was like seeing something worse than the Erosion Entities themselves.

‘No idea when Limit Breaks will unlock, but taking out Erosion Entities little by little will make things easier later.’

Not that I could handle anything above Grade-7 right now, but it was still better than sitting around twiddling my thumbs until Limit Breaks became available.

Then, an idea struck me.

“Would the ones I kill here count?”

If the Erosion Entities defeated in this virtual space counted toward the quest, I could clear most of it without taking any real risks.

Worth a try.

I summoned a Grade-9 Boil-Type Erosion Entity ahead of me.

Boil-Types were stationary entities that expanded by eroding their surroundings.

At lower grades, few Erosion Entities were as easy to handle as Boil-Types—though the larger they grew, the trickier they became.

Commonly referred to as “Late Bloomers.”

From what I recalled, there was one in Africa roughly the size of a mountain.

-!!

The motorcycle-sized creature lashed out at me with its tendrils.

But it was just a Grade-9.

Even without borrowing any personalities, this body was more than enough to deal with it.

I dodged clumsily and swung my sword with unrefined skill.

After about three minutes, I drove my blade deep into its core with all my strength.

The Erosion Entity lost form and vanished.

“Figures.”

I checked the quest log, but the count remained at zero.

Meaning, I had to personally eliminate real, living Erosion Entities.

Well.

The reward was a 4★ personality—no way a cheap trick like this would work.

If it did, that would’ve been weird.

“Hmm…”

Right now, there were three main ways I could encounter Erosion Entities.

First, stumbling into an Erosion Phenomenon within Providence.

But Erosion Phenomena weren’t frequent enough to be a reliable method for clearing the quest.

Second, heading to the Erosion Zones outside Providence.

Since these were areas already deeply affected by erosion, they’d be far more efficient for quest completion.

However, Providence students needed an Outbound Permit to leave the academy city.

If I outright wrote “I want to go hunt Erosion Entities in the Erosion Zones!” on the application, it’d be rejected immediately.

And lying on the form would only get me caught eventually.

There were no eternal secrets in this world.

Thus, only one option remained for me:

Backworld Exploration.

‘First-years are barred from Backworld Exploration, but it’s not entirely impossible.’

The Backworld referred to worlds already destroyed by Erosion Phenomena.

Far more perilous than the Erosion Zones of this world, where erosion was still in progress.

To protect students, Providence prohibited first-years from voluntarily exploring the Backworld.

However.

There was one organization that could allow it—

The Providence Student Council.

An exclusive group reserved for those with combat prowess and talent far beyond the norm.

Whether you were the child of a wealthy family.

Or came from poverty.

As long as you proved your worth to the President and Vice President, anyone could join.

And first-years in the Student Council could participate in the periodic Student Council-led Backworld Expeditions.

If I joined and took part in these expeditions, I could efficiently clear the Personality Restoration Quest.

“Joining the Student Council…”

The Student Council recruitment was always packed, partly because first-years were partially allowed to explore the Backworld, and it counted as career experience for future Purifier work.

“Not bad.”

For me, still not at full strength, it might be a tough challenge.

Maybe even impossible.

But.

‘Since when has anything been easy? It’s always been shit.’

That didn’t mean I’d give up.

Everything I’d done so far had been close to impossible anyway.

I was long past the age of fearing failure.

“Eh, might as well try.”

The goal was set.

I would join the Student Council.