The Mercenary's Fall
I have lived as a mercenary my entire life. From battling demons to clashing with humans, I accepted every mission as long as the pay was right.
I was the leader of a mercenary corps, and my comrades followed me loyally—even unto death.
But today, I watched them fall one by one.
Arrows spent, surrounded by an enemy army far larger than ours, I was powerless. If only I had mana—something I was born without—I could have saved them.
But I relied solely on brute strength, and that was not enough.
The mission had come from a noble, promising a reward enough to feed us for a year.
Yet, I had suspected a trap. And I was right. "The noble's smile was too straight, his eyes too cold. This didn't feel like a protection detail; it felt like an execution." The noble wanted us dead.
They framed us as attackers, and the village we were sent to protect became a battlefield. My comrades shouted for me to flee, to live and seek revenge. I wanted to cry, but I swallowed my tears and ran.
For a month, the noble's army hunted me relentlessly. I ran, hid, and survived until I found refuge in a remote cave. There, I recovered and trained every day for a year, sharpening my skills and vowing revenge.
Without mana, I honed my bowmanship until I could strike enemies from miles away. They called my skill "Eagle Eyes." I changed my identity, joined a new mercenary corps, and became a deadly long-range support.
Rumors spread of a mercenary named "Deadly Spring." The nobles grew wary, but I was patient. When the time came, I returned to the noble house—the very ones who had betrayed my comrades.
From a distance, unseen, I took my revenge. One by one, I eliminated them all.
But when the last noble fell, a hollow emptiness filled me. I had no place left to go.
After the nobles' demise, rumors spread that I had vanished—some said I was dead.
I hid in the cave where I had trained until a strange blue light appeared beneath me. Panic surged through me as I was suddenly teleported to an unfamiliar village.
The place buzzed with adventurers clad in armor, preparing for war—or so it seemed. Yet, their faces were bright with joy, and some shouted nonsense I couldn't understand.
My equipment remained with me—my trusty bow and arrows. But the strangest thing was a floating blue orb that followed me everywhere. It displayed my name, "Hans," and a series of stats, many marked with question marks.
Name: Hans lv1
Age: 25
Strength: ???
Agility: ???
Stamina: ???
Mana: ???
Endurance: ???
Confused, I asked some locals where I was. They laughed and called me crazy before a kind mage named Felicia explained that I was in Asperia, in a village called Maple Village.
It was my first time hearing these names, and I realized I had been summoned to another world.
As I explored, I heard whispers—"Is he an NPC? " "A hidden quest? "—but I paid them no mind. I secured a room at the inn, determined to rest and figure out the mystery of the floating text that followed me.