Chapter 1 — That Man
So dark… terrifyingly dark.
Lain's consciousness slowly surfaced from a sea of chaotic darkness.
The crackling sound of burning wood reached his ears, accompanied by a strange odor—herbs mixed with animal fur—constantly invading his nostrils.
He struggled to pry open his eyelids. His vision was blurry and overlapping, taking a long while before it finally focused on the rough wooden beams overhead.
"#＊…%#&*…￥?"
A hoarse male voice sounded beside him, rattling off words he couldn't understand—something like a native tongue.
Lain turned his head and saw a burly man with a thick beard standing beside the bed, wearing a vest made of animal hide and looking at him with concern.
The man held a wooden bowl in his hands, filled with a pitch-black medicinal broth.
Where is this?
How did I get here?
His memories were a tangled mess.
Right now, he only remembered one thing—his name was Lain, and he came from Blue Star.
Seeing that Lain was awake, the bearded man grinned and said another long string of incomprehensible words, then handed over the wooden bowl.
Lain pushed himself upright and realized he was lying on a crude wooden bed. He glanced around the room—bows, arrows, and animal pelts hung on the walls. It was clearly a hunter's cabin.
Ignoring the suspicious-looking medicine, Lain staggered to his feet and pushed the door open.
A blast of cold wind hit his face, instantly clearing his head.
Outside lay a world that was completely unfamiliar.
Low stone houses stood scattered across the land, cooking smoke curling lazily upward. In the distance stretched endless emerald mountains. The sky was a deep, jewel-like blue. Several long-haired mountain goats grazed by the roadside, bells around their necks chiming crisply as they moved.
Everything radiated a primitive atmosphere.
The burly man—Hans—followed him outside, gesturing anxiously behind him, likely worried Lain might wander off.
But Lain had no mind to spare for that.
His gaze was quickly seized by a stone statue standing in the center of the village square.
It depicted an elegant man wielding twin swords.
Cloaked in a mantle, the statue showed the man crossing his blades before his chest, his resolute eyes gazing into the distance.
Lain recognized who the statue represented.
The Hero of the South.
The man who, before Hero Himmel's era, had faced all seven of the Seven Sages of Destruction alone—killing three of them and ultimately perishing together with the Omniscient Schluahart.
This place was… the world of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End!
Which meant—
He had transmigrated.
Lain stepped forward and trembled as he touched the cold stone base of the statue.
Buzz—!
The moment his fingertip made contact, a warm current surged from the statue into his body.
Immediately after, a translucent blue virtual screen appeared before his eyes.
[Compatible soul detected… Beginning synchronization…]
[Synchronization complete.]
[Inheriting partial Authority of "Hero of the South"…]
[Congratulations, you have obtained: Hero of the South Physique]
[Congratulations, you have obtained skill: Dual-Wielding (Beginner)]
[Congratulations, you have obtained talent magic: Future Sight (Incomplete)]
[Current inheritance progress: 5%]
[World language synchronization complete.]
[Please continue searching for Hero of the South statues to inherit the complete will.]
In an instant, an overwhelming amount of combat experience flooded into him.
How to regulate breathing.
How to maintain balance at high speed.
The optimal angles for dual-blade strikes.
The exact amount of force required to sever a demon's neck.
Lain clenched his empty hands instinctively. His fingertips felt an illusory roughness and weight—the calluses left by years of gripping twin blades.
Though his hands held nothing, he felt as if he could split the air before him at any moment.
"Hey! Are you alright?"
Hans's voice sounded again from behind—this time, no longer incomprehensible.
Lain turned around, met Hans's worried expression, and smiled.
"I'm fine."
Hans let out a sigh of relief and stepped forward, giving Lain a solid pat on the shoulder.
"That's good. You were out for a whole day. When you woke up and just stood there spacing out without saying a word, I thought the forest miasma had messed up your head."
He continued in his deep voice, "You're dressed strangely. You're not from a nearby village, are you?"
Lain glanced down at himself—modern casual clothes.
A full physical transmigration. No wonder he'd passed out. Not dying from environmental incompatibility was already a blessing from the goddess.
"If I said I'm not from this world… would you believe me?"
His tone carried a hint of probing. He was already prepared to be treated like a madman.
Instead, Hans scratched his messy beard and showed an expression of that explains it.
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"
"After all, the place where you collapsed wasn't ordinary."
"The place I collapsed?"
Lain frowned as a gap appeared in his memory.
His last recollection was touching a stone monument at some tourist spot. Then—nothing—until he woke up in the hunter's cabin.
"That's right," Hans said, pointing north of the village. "You fainted right in front of the Goddess Monument in the northern forest."
"…There's an old legend in our village," he continued, his voice lowering. "They say the Goddess Monument is a gateway between worlds. There are stories of people traveling to the past—and tales of outsiders being brought here from other worlds."
That explanation made Lain's heart leap violently.
The Goddess Monument!
He vaguely remembered this setting—an extremely ancient ruin, said to be connected to the power of the Creation Goddess.
"If it brought me here… is there a way to go back?"
Lain asked urgently.
He didn't want his parents back on Blue Star worrying about him.
Hans's smile faded. Then shook his head.
"That, I don't know. Legends are just legends. In hundreds of years, you're the first outsider ever found before the Goddess Monument."
Lain's eyes dimmed.
"Don't look so down, kid."
Hans waved a big hand, unwilling to let the mood sink. "If that's where you came from, then the answer might only be found there. The monument is ancient, covered in inscriptions none of us can read. Maybe there are clues."
"Sir… could you take me there?"
"Of course."
Hans turned and took a well-polished one-handed axe from the wall, fastening it to his waist.
"But once we're in the forest, don't wander off. The beasts have been especially vicious lately."
Lain nodded and followed.
They passed through the village and soon arrived at the monument deep in the forest.
The Goddess Monument was carved from a single massive slab of blue-gray stone. Its surface bore countless marks left by wind and rain, etched with mysterious runes.
Lain examined it carefully.
Most of the inscriptions were incomprehensible. Even with world-language synchronization, these ancient characters lay beyond its scope.
Soon, his eyes were drawn to a line of text near the base.
The carving looked newer—clearly etched later with a sharp weapon.
[Land of Soul's Rest]
Just four words sent a shock through Lain's entire body.
The Land of Soul's Rest.
He knew this place all too well.
It was Frieren's ultimate destination—the legendary land where one could converse with the souls of the dead.
Frieren's journey began so she could go there… to meet Hero Himmel once more.
Could it be that reaching the Land of Soul's Rest would allow him to return to Blue Star?
But with only five percent of the Hero of the South's power, being surrounded by monsters in the Northern Plateau would be enough to wipe him out on the spot.
Not to mention that entering the Northern Plateau required either certification as a First-Class Mage—or the accompaniment of one.
Right now, he had nothing.
As he worried over this, a sudden vision unfolded before his eyes.
In the scene, a white-haired elf carrying a vintage suitcase walked at the front, her expression lazy, her steps sluggish. Behind her followed a purple-haired girl gripping a staff tightly, cheeks puffed as if complaining about something. At the rear trudged a red-haired boy carrying a massive axe, shoulders slumped, his face filled with existential despair.
The image was unbelievably clear—he could even see the ruby earring on the elf's ear swaying with each step.
This was a scene from two months in the future.
And the three figures were none other than Frieren's party.
At this point in time, Frieren's group should be preparing to head toward the Magic City of Äußerst.
If he could hitch a ride with them, the First-Class Mage problem would solve itself. And along the way, they'd pass through Fabel Village—where another Hero of the South statue stood.
"This Future Sight isn't controllable at all… Looks like I'll need to keep touching Hero of the South statues to improve it."
Lain rubbed his temples.
Uncontrolled future visions were useless in real combat, after all.
"The wind's getting colder in the forest. We should head back."
Hans tightened his animal-hide vest and scanned the darkening trees warily.
"The forest at night is a whole different world. If monsters set their eyes on us, it won't end well."
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Power Stones appreciated 🙏