Warm sunlight spilled through the canopy, cascading between the leaves like golden threads. A gentle breeze slipped past my face, crisp and cool despite the glaring brightness of the day. It was peaceful — serene even.
A cruel mockery of what I had just endured.
The screams, the iron stench of blood, the clash of steel, the endless echoes of agony and terror — they still clung to me, seared into the marrow of my bones.
I opened my eyes with a gasp, my hand instinctively clutching my forehead as a sharp ache pulsed inside my skull. The sudden shift in atmosphere left me dizzy, disoriented, as if reality itself had torn me apart and stitched me back together in the wrong order.
Then I saw them.
My arms. Thin. Fragile. Pathetic.
"…Ah. Right. No shit," I whispered, my voice breaking into a bitter laugh.
I scrambled on my knees, frantically searching the ground, my fingers digging through dirt and leaves until — there. A sharp rock, resting in the exact same place it had been before. Just like last time. Just like my second walkthrough.
I gripped it tightly, the jagged edge biting into my palm, and raised it toward my throat.
"I'll fuck you up… you bastard of a Demon King," I hissed under my breath. "Just wait for me."
I was ready to drive it in—
When it appeared.
A faint blink of light shimmered in front of me, halting my hand mid-strike. My eyes widened.
{…No. No, no, no. Wai–wai–wait—}
The flickering intensified, pulsing vigorously as a translucent blue window bloomed before my eyes.
My lips curved into a trembling smirk. "…Nexar?"
The words on the screen shifted.
{Huff… I was worried you would kill yourself before you got to see me.}
My chest tightened, then loosened into a laugh — raw, relieved, almost manic. "You… you came back with me?"
The text changed again.
{Of course. I am bound to your soul, just as your Divine Blessing is.}
My grin widened. Right. In my first walkthrough, I'd been slaughtered before I even awakened the System. That's why I never had Nexar from the beginning during my second walkthrough.
But now… things were different.
Memories of my first walkthrough surged back — chains biting into flesh, screams tearing from my throat, the Seraphic Order branding me with lies, torturing me until death was mercy. My blood boiled hot with fury, yet alongside that rage came a surge of dopamine, intoxicating and sweet.
This time, I could make them suffer again. Slowly. Painfully. I wouldn't grant them the swift death I had foolishly given in my second walkthrough.
My smile twisted, pleasure and malice mixing into something vile.
"They'll beg for death," I whispered, my voice low and trembling with hunger. "And I'll never give it to them."
Words came to life beside me again.
{During my reincarnation into your third walkthrough, there was a moment — an endless, suffocating moment — where my consciousness slipped into a blank void.}
{And in that emptiness… something else appeared.}
{A towering presence, massive and incomprehensible, drifted near. I couldn't see its form, but I felt it—pressing into my soul, reshaping something deep within me.}
{And in that instant… I caught a glimpse of the future.}
The blue window blinked open, words flickering across it.
"A being?" I muttered, narrowing my eyes. "You… saw the future?"
The text glitched violently, scattering like broken glass:
{Futu—/rrr… pr/ohibi…--}{…wa//tch the m/oon ble—}{---consequen///shhsshh…}
The letters bled together and vanished into static.
I cursed. "Hey! I can't read a damn thing."
The words reformed shakily:
{Woah… my consciousness almost drifted.}
"Drifted?" I asked, frowning.
The response came after a pause:
{Yes. Seems like I can't speak of the future. But that's the least of our concerns.}{Now… I can make you a lot stronger.}
A grin crept onto my lips. "Well then… let's start."
I clenched the sharp rock tighter, my knuckles whitening. I raised the rock toward my throat again.
But before the edge could bite, the light beside me blinked violently, flashing in my face.
I turned with a snarl. "What now?!"
New words carved themselves across the screen, cold and sharp:
{Listen to me, you fucker!!} {If you do that… you will lose again.}
"Huh…?" I frowned at the blue screen, my grip on the rock tightening.
"Hey, I can defeat the Demon Lord any day — you know it. If not for that bastard Galad betraying me and ramming his damned spear into my Dawn Astral Spine…"
Even saying his name made bile rise in my throat. The image of that smug traitor flashed in my mind — Galad, the future Spear King. I could already picture the screams he'd make when I tore him apart piece by piece. Slowly. Beautifully.
The words formed again on the window.
{Tsk. Do you think defeating the Demon Lord is the end of Ninth Dawn?}
I narrowed my eyes. "Is it not…?"
The letters glowed faintly.
{Do you know how much of the story you actually completed in your second walkthrough?}
I snorted. "If it's not the end, then what — eighty percent?"
The text blinked, steady and merciless.
{20%.}
My eyes widened. "…What?!"
The window pulsed.
{Sigh…}
Before I could curse back, the world around me warped. My body wrenched as if invisible chains hooked into my flesh and dragged me upward. In the blink of an eye, I was ripped from my own skin, my consciousness hurled above like a spectator. I looked down, watching myself from the outside.
{Ding!. New Quest}
I groaned. "Oh, great. A cutscene. Hey, Nexar — it's your fault I have to sit through this crap. I could've just killed myself and skipped straight to tomorrow, when the main plot starts."
The words etched themselves firmly across the window:
{That's the problem.}
{In your second walkthrough, you killed yourself in frustation and jumped ahead with me. And since my activation condition is 'First Kill,' I appeared right then. But that made you skip the most important aspect… the one that gives me the ability to grant you quests and rewards.}
"Quests…?" I muttered, raising a brow. "Aren't you just the system that gave me stat points for every kill I made — based on difficulty?"
The words flashed furiously.
{Do you think I, the great Nexar — The Warlord's System, am just some point dispenser?!}
I smirked despite myself. "You just figured this out in that blank space before, didn't you?"
The screen pulsed once, then reluctantly displayed:
{…Well. The point still stands.}
I watched my body bolt toward the village, feet pounding against the dirt road. My perspective drifted above like some damned ghost tethered to its corpse.
"So… what's this quest thing about?" I muttered, glaring down at myself running toward the counter before the cathedral.
The blue words flickered into existence.
{Well… you finish the quests, and the rewards are granted.}
"Wow. Thanks for that, Mr. Obvious," I sneered. "I meant that glowing message hovering beside you."
The text paused, then scrawled across the box again.
{Tsk… so you noticed!}
{Fine. Read it yourself.}
The smaller screen pulsed, merging into the main blue window. A new set of words etched themselves across it:
Quest: Protect Sera
Difficulty: ½ Star
Reward: +10 Stat Points
The moment my eyes locked on the name Sera, my breath caught. My pupils narrowed as rage twisted in my chest.
Sera.
The girl I was falsely accused of raping and murdering.The reason SBV chained me, tore me apart, and executed me in my first life.
I stared at the screen, my jaw tightening. "Is this a joke? Ten stat points? And not even a single star difficulty?"
Nexar's reply came calmly.
{Well… this is the first quest of the Ninth Dawn.}
A loud, harsh voice cut through the moment, snapping my attention downward.
"Oh right… this scene." I muttered bitterly.
A middle-aged fatty at the cathedral counter sneered, raising his hand before smacking Rune across the face. I felt the pain flaming across my cheek too.
"Tch! You can't even get ten coppers for registration? Hunt a single monster and you'd have it! Get out of here, you filth!"
I winced, then turned to the glowing box. "…I mean, I have to agree with him. Not even ten copper? Pathetic."
The blue words pulsed with smug rhythm.
{That's kinda your fault.}
I frowned. "What the hell do you mean, my fault?"
{The time you're given before this cutscene isn't exactly meant for killing yourself. It's for hunting a monster — completing your 'First Kill' condition, unlocking me, and accessing the first quest.}
Realization clawed at me. "…I see. Instead, I triggered the 'First Kill' by killing myself. And since you weren't accessed as part of the quest… you lost the ability to grant them."
The window blinked in agreement.
{Well, that pretty much sums it up.}
{Oh! Here comes the subject of the quest.}
I turned my gaze back downward, and there she was.
Sera.
Standing between Rune and that sneering fatty, her frame unyielding, hands at her waist as she defended Rune.
"Here is the twenty copper. Get us both a registration," Sera said, her voice firm despite its gentleness.
Her white hair caught the breeze, strands glimmering like silver threads in the sunlight, while her blue skirt swayed with each gust as if even the wind obeyed her.
"It's white.." I mumbled.
{What is?}
The fatty grumbled, but his stubby hands moved across the table, processing the forms.
Sera bent down, her soft hands brushing Rune's shoulder as she lifted him carefully to his feet.
"Rune… Sorry I was late. Don't worry, no one will hurt you anymore."
And then, without hesitation, she pulled him into her embrace.
Her warmth pressed against my frame — particularly her chest.
"Igg…" I muttered under my breath, stiffening.
The blue window blinked instantly.
{What happened?}
I grimaced. "…Well. They were soft."
The words hesitated, then reappeared.
{What were?}
I ignored him, my eyes glued to the scene playing out below as Sera took his hand and guided him toward the cathedral.
Inside, the great crystal pulsed faintly, glowing with a divine light that cast shimmering reflections across the hall. Everyone who had crossed the age of eighteen was permitted to step forward and have their "Divine Gift" revealed.
"Nexar," I whispered coldly, "show me my stats."
The blue window unfolded at once:
HP: 20/20
MP: 5/5
Attack: 20
Defense: 10
Speed: 12
Stamina: 8
Total Combat Power: F–
Divine Gift: Soft Touch (F)
I clicked my tongue. "Well… my so-called Divine Gift is still this useless crap."
The screen responded immediately.
{Live with it. That's the only thing that doesn't change in the stat window.}
"Tch. Then show me Sera's. Better to know what I'm working with."
The window shifted, displaying her status:
HP: 80/80
MP: 5/5
Attack: 43
Defense: 104
Speed: 22
Stamina: 84
Combat Power: E–
Divine Gift: Guardian Knight (S)
Weakness: Diminished Peripheral Vision
My eyes widened, breath hitching. "…What?! Guardian Knight? Isn't that the second-best defensive gift… second only to Shield King?"
The words appeared slowly, almost mockingly.
{And you're supposed to protect her?}
The Cathedral was alive with murmurs, a line of eighteen-year-olds winding across the hall, all waiting to have their Divine Gifts revealed — their fates, careers, and very lives decided by the outcome.
My eyes snapped to the massive crystal shard on the stage. Its glow stretched across the hall, suffusing the space with light so bright it seemed to breathe. Even the thick cathedral windows shivered as the wind whipped through, flapping them like ragged banners.
Whispers slithered through the crowd:"Look there…""Wow… is it… he is him…"
I clenched my fists, teeth grinding to hold myself in check.
"It's him," I muttered, voice low. "Vorrak."
The one who had put me through every shred of misery in my first walkthrough. Every scream, every lash of torture, every false accusation — his doing.
The blue window flickered.
{Seems like he has Berserk Skill, A rank. Weakness: Loss of Reasoning.}
I scoffed. "Well… everyone with a gift above A– has a weakness."
Vorrak stepped down from the stage, hands in his pockets, a smirk playing across his face.
"Laugh all you want. You only have a few hours left, after all," I said, voice smooth but lethal.
Then it was Rune's turn. He climbed the steps to the stage, hand shaking slightly as he pressed it against the crystal shard. A dim, pale light enveloped the sorrounding.
Soft Touch.
F rank.
Pfft..
A hollow laugh echoed through the hall. He bit down on his teeth, teeth clenching until my jaw hurt, and stalked off the stage, flames of humiliation and rage coiling in my chest.
Sera tried to follow him through the crowd, but a summons came for her. She went onto the stage, and the moment her hand touched the shard, a bold, radiant light exploded through the hall—brighter than anything before.
Wind roared through the cathedral like a whirlwind. Her white hair streamed behind her. Her blue skirt swayed violently, leaving far too little to the imagination. She clutched it quickly, trying to tame it.
{Oh! That's what you meant.. it is white.}
Her gift revealed itself: Guardian Knight (S) Class.
Then, all of a sudden, a searing pain shot up my stomach.
"Ugh…" I crouched midair, clutching myself.
The blue window blinked urgently. {What happened?}
"I… don't know…" I muttered, lifting my head just in time to realize what was happening.
Outside the hall, Vorrak's boot drove into Rune's stomach with brutal force.
"Ugh…" I gasped, collapsing slightly, hands pressing into the pain.
The blue window blinked again. {You okay..?}
"What do you think?" I growled, teeth gritted, glaring at nothing in particular.
I knew that hit was going to be brutal.
One of Vorrak's lackeys stepped forward, veins glowing faintly as the power of his Armament Augmentation (C) divine gift spread across his frame. Muscles swelled, skin hardened like iron, and his feet dug deep into the ground before launching at Rune.
If that landed, Rune's ribs would have turned into shattered glass.
"I'd be in a world of pain if that blow touched me," I muttered under my breath, watching Rune too slow to react.
{I'll close my ears. Scream all you want.}
I almost laughed. "Hey… you knew I bore far worse pain in my life as a warlord. And besides…" My fists clenched as memory flickered. "…the hit won't land."
{It won't?}
And then—
BOOM!
The lackey's body twisted mid-strike, lifted clean off his feet as though struck by an invisible wall. His augmented frame — supposedly unbreakable — hurtled through the air and smashed against the stone wall near the village well. The crunch echoed across the square, sharp and wet. Bones snapping, maybe spine. He collapsed, limbs twitching like a broken doll.
The crowd gasped.
"It's Sera!"
Whispers rippled, swelling into excited chatter."Vorrak is done for.""She's here!"
Sera stood tall, eyes blazing like steel drawn from the forge. She cast a single glare at Vorrak. Just one. And the bastard stiffened, smirk fading from his lips like he'd been splashed with cold water.
She bent down, sliding her hand under Rune's arm, trying to help him up gently."Get up slowl—"
"Sera…" Rune croaked, but before he could finish—
CRACK!
A log — thick, jagged — slammed into Sera's left waist from behind. The wood splintered instantly, shards exploding in the air as though it had struck stone.
"Ughhh—!"
The groan that escaped her was raw, guttural, and filled with pain as her body was launched a few feet, crashing onto the cobbled ground.
Gunther. Vorrak's right hand. A hulking tank of a man with the Fortification (B-) gift. His shadow loomed like a fortress wall collapsing over her.
{"Uff, solid hit."}
I glanced at her health bar. Dropped to 73.
{Just seven points for that solid hit?} Nexar wrote again, almost offended.
Sera pushed herself up, left hand clutching her ribs. Her breaths were short, sharp, but her eyes… they burned hotter than ever.
Gunther didn't wait. He roared like a bull, massive frame charging at her, the air splitting with the force of his steps. His shadow swallowed her whole.
But Sera didn't flinch.
She caught him. Her slender arms locking against his massive forearms. The impact dug her feet into the ground, stones cracking beneath her boots. For a heartbeat she slid back, almost toppled — then her stance solidified.
And with a single, vicious strike — she drove her knee into his face.
THWACK!
Blood burst out of Gunther's nose like a smashed wineskin. His head snapped back violently, spit and teeth flying as his body fell limp, crashing on his back. The ground trembled with his weight. He didn't move. Unconscious.
Sera's stamina ticked down to 80, but her glare never wavered.
Vorrak's jaw tightened. He snapped his fingers. His two remaining lackeys peeled out of the crowd, circling her. Vorrak slid into the crowd, unnoticed.
One, wiry and quick — the Thief (C+). The other, tall and broad-shouldered, his grip firm on a wooden spear — the Spear Thrust (C) user.
They didn't waste time. Both charged.
The thief's fingers darted like daggers, aiming for her solar plexus. At the same moment, the spear lunged low, driving straight into her stomach.
She blocked the theif's attack but the spear landed.
The spear's tip connected with her abdomen — but barely sank in. She gritted her teeth, not even staggering.
Her HP bar flickered. 73 → 72.
{"That's it? Just one point? Damn, solid defense."} Nexar noted, almost impressed.
Sera's hand shot out like a viper, seizing the thief by the back of his skull.
CRASH!
She slammed his head into the cobblestones. His skull bounced off the ground with a sickening crack, then smashed again from the recoil. The crowd gasped — half in horror, half in awe.
She pivoted, eyes locked on the spear wielder. He barely had time to raise his weapon before her knee rocketed into his stomach.
HOOOF!
Air exploded from his lungs. His spear clattered to the ground as vomit splattered from his lips. He dropped to his knees, choking.
And then her boot descended.
THUMP!
The impact was wet, final. His head was crushed against the ground, cheek grinding into stone as he collapsed, unmoving, hugging the floor like he belonged there.
The square went silent for a heartbeat. Then—
Cheers. Roars. The sound of Sera's name echoing across the crowd, shaking the air.
The crowd roared for her — Sera, standing tall, blood on her lips, body trembling but unbroken. For a moment, it looked like she'd stolen the entire hall.
But then… he moved.
Like a beast unchained, Vorrak lunged behind her and clamped his arm across her chest, crushing them in his grip.
"Huh?" is all she managed to say, before Vorrak with his other arm hooked her waist and drove his knee up, smashing into her lower back.
"Ghh—!" Sera's groan ripped through clenched teeth, her body folding from the force. Her HP plummeted — from 73 down to 59.
The crowd gasped. Whispers hissed in every corner:
"That's not a duel anymore…""Vorrak's lost it… look at his eyes."
That crimson glint flashing like a predator's. His tongue darted across his lips. A clear sign: Berserk(A).
Sera staggered forward, hand on her side, breath ragged. She tried to swing at him — a desperate backfist to break free — but Vorrak dropped low, crouching like a feral animal. His fist shot up like a piston — burying itself under her skirt, between her thighs.
Her body jolted. "Ahhh—hhhnnn!" the pained cry cracked through her throat as she fell to her knees, clutching her stomach. Her back arched, her breath torn from her lungs, her eyes swimming from the impact.
Vorrak sneered, planting his boot between her shoulder blades and pressing down like she was nothing more than a beaten dog. He lifted his chin at the crowd, smirking — savoring the humiliation.
Gasps. Some disgust. Others… fear. Even those who once whispered his name in awe now muttered in unease.
"He's brutal…""This… this is supposed to be a gift ceremony…"
But Sera wasn't done. Not yet.
Her arm trembled, then her fingers dug into the dirt. She pushed against the pressure of his boot, forcing herself upright. Shaking. Bleeding. Barely standing.
Vorrak's grin widened, feral and unhinged, as he charged again. But when his eyes locked on hers… he froze.
Cold. Deadpan. Her gaze didn't flinch.
For the first time, Vorrak faltered. He tried to slip back into the crowd, retreat hidden behind his lackeys' chaos. But Sera's hand snapped forward, seizing his hair in a brutal fistful.
"Gghhh—aaaghhh!!" His scream tore through the cathedral as she yanked his head back and drove her knee into his spine. His body folded awkwardly before she kicked him across the corridor, slamming him into the wall with a sickening crack.
He coughed blood. Tried to crawl up. Desperate.
When she advanced, he lunged one last time, wild fists swinging from the floor. A pitiful, desperate beast.
She caught his arm mid-swing. Twisted. Then with a roar, she swung him into the stone wall, the impact splintering the surface and leaving him dangling, broken.
Still — in his madness — he tried to throw himself on her, head down, teeth bared.
Sera didn't hesitate.
Her boot snapped up, drilling him between the legs with crushing force.
"GGGUAAAHHHHHH!"
The sound wasn't human. His body collapsed to the ground, tears, spit, and blood streaming from every hole in his face. He writhed, clutching himself, the proud "number one" reduced to a whimpering wreck.
"I can... do it too.." Sera said, smirking and panting.
The crowd exploded — gasps, then laughter, then thunderous cheers.
And in the silence that followed, Nexar's words burned beside me:
{"This is the plot point of the quest."}
"Plot point?" I muttered.
{"Yes,"} Nexar wrote. {"Humiliated, Vorrak and his lackeys will beg his father for revenge. They'll bait Sera into the cattle house, under the guise of saving you. That's where they'll kill her — pinning the blame on you. But Rune takes his own life tonight too. And as quest demands, you will take over his body and save sera tonight. But since you never had this quest in your first walkthrough, you didn't know about this and was framed, as Sera was last seen around you."}
"I see…" I clenched my fists, watching Sera — battered but victorious — take Rune's arm and steady him.
She whispered softly to him, "We might be orphans, but you have me… and I have you."
Then, hiding her pain, she leaned against him, rubbing herself against his arm, guiding him home.
I muttered through my teeth, "This bastard… he still decided to end it tonight? Leaving her all alone?"