Before I entered the underground space, I thought there would be nothing to look at besides a one-way tunnel that stretches towards the mountain.

But my thoughts changed as I kept walking forward.

As the dirty ground ended and I stepped into a stone tile, the path opened to a huge cave.

Pillars of bones stretched across the tunnel, with a skull on top. Their empty eye holes blazed with purple fire, lighting the surroundings.

Skeletons patrolled the many tunnels and kneeled toward the lich the moment he passed.

Looking at the scale of this place, I might as well call this the lich's base instead of a mere underground space.

He even went so far as to decorate the bone walls and ordered the skeletons to mine stones and turn them into tiles.

No matter how I look at it, this was not a base that could be made in a day or two.

'At least several months… just how long had he been planning the attack?'

It was then that I realized everything had been planned from the start.

'I don't think I have ever heard of a lich living here while I was playing the game… and since he is a disciple of Nicht, who came here to meet Bianca, everything must have happened because I had prevented Bianca from leaving back then.'

Who would have thought that one selfishness of mine would lead to such an outcome?

'Even worse, Bianca had met Nicht way earlier than she did in the game.'

This means it's also possible for Bianca to die earlier than I expected.

I thought I was ready to face the consequences of my actions, no matter how much I had changed the future, but…

'I didn't expect the change would affect me this early.'

Chapter 1.

I was expecting to face the full brunt of the future I changed in 7 and a half years later, around the time chapter 1 begins, however…

'I was careless.'

I should have been prepared for every possibility instead of relying on events that had already happened in the game.

'Remember, I only have one chance.'

There is no longer a save and load function to fall back on. If I made a mistake, then that's it.

'So even more so, I shouldn't make a mistake from now on.'

I clenched my fist and raised my chin.

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It was the moment when my fighting spirit as a strategy gamer was reignited.

'First, I should find where he hid his soul gem.'

I had used my vision skill ever since I came here to find his soul gem.

It seems like the soul gem just happens to be hidden where the lich is going, which is why I am still following the lich and his entourage right now.

'I just have to find and destroy the soul gem, that's it.'

There is no need to waste my strength by fighting the lich and his army.

After all, this is his base, and I am at a disadvantage here.

'I don't think he would use [Corpse Explosion] and risk breaking his soul gem here, but…'

If he gets cornered, he might do exactly just that.

Heck, the lich might even get so desperate that he believed he should kill me, even if that meant he had to collapse the entire base and die together.

Even if he didn't do that, he could try to fight me seriously by raising endless undead.

'I should avoid that.'

Not alarming him is a must.

And although that would normally be impossible, I have [Perfect Stealth] to make the impossible possible.

'Bianca said not even traps and magics could detect me, so…'

I should be able to hide until I completely recover.

'But I can't do that.'

Why? Because I also have to think about Bianca, who might lose her life if I stay here too long.

'The moment I found the soul gem, I should destroy it.'

My body has recovered to some extent, so it should be doable.

'Let's see… the reaction came from this huge space, so…'

I moved and searched around the large open space, which resembled a king's great hall, complete with a huge throne made of bones in the center.

As I do that, all the skeletons who had followed the lich knelt at him, allowing me to look ahead toward the person who was the source of all this.

The lich stepped up the staircase and sat on his throne, overlooking the skeletons from a high place.

"Report."

A cracked voice.

Immediately, a few skeletons stood up and moved closer to where he was.

And when they had arrived within his reach.

'...!'

He outstretched his hand toward one of their head and sucked a black mist that suddenly came out from the skeleton.

The skeletons shuddered for a moment before their entire bodies broke down and crumbled.

Then he stopped momentarily before doing the same thing to the next skeleton.

'A [Soul Search]…'

A black magic to extract information from the living and the dead.

As long as they are creatures that ever had a soul, it's possible to extract information from their remains.

It was a good skill if not for the fact that the recipient would suffer irreversible damage from it.

'It was similar to Bianca's skill to read memories, although it's very lacking in a lot of ways.'

The information that can be extracted from a single remain was limited, so that must be why he lined up several skeletons and used the skill on them in turn.

And if I were to guess the information he seeks…

'It's probably about the aftermath of the corpse explosion just now.'

Things like whether anyone had survived, whether the village was destroyed, the scale of destruction, etc.

'So why am I looking at the lich when I should be searching his soul gem?'

Because the soul gem was there, right where the lich currently is.

To be exact, it was inside the skull on top of the throne.

'Found it.'

I gripped my sword tight, covered my sword and entire body with mana, and took a stance.

Then, I leaped and thrust my sword forward.

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