*Ding

[Quest: Helped the fated one save the world] [Clear]

[Condition: Raise a child] [Clear]

[Result: Preservation Process – ???%]

Finding myself in the empty space where it all began, I raised my head to the endless white above and closed my eyes. A mixture of regret and relief churned in my chest as I recalled the last battle — the one that liberated the previous world.

I successfully baited the last Demonic Arts user, the Heavenly Demon, into stabbing me through the chest with his bare hand. That gave me the opportunity to inject him with a lethal poison. Thanks to that poison, we managed to take him down after a grueling day-long war. I didn’t want to brag, but, ahem, all me, baby.

Even so, when my daughter looked at me like her entire world had collapsed instead of being saved, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had truly made the right decision.

We spent twenty-four years together, and I threw it all away.

“I should have done more for her,” I mumbled.

No one replied since there was no one else here. This space was barren, save for a marble round table, a white armchair with a cushion softer than clouds, and that fucking gate.

I slumped back into the chair, sinking into the cushion. The past was set in stone. Dwelling on these feelings served no purpose. I needed to move forward, as I always had.

But being moody wasn’t my thing, so I pushed the thoughts aside and focused on my usual checkup. This routine was one of the few things keeping me sane.

Taking over a dead body every time I entered a new world wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. Especially when decades of memories were force-fed into my brain, making me feel like I had always been the original owner.

It sucked. Eleven out of ten would not recommend.

Well, back to my checkup. Shitty trench coat? Check.

White shirt slowly turning milky white? Check. Comfy slacks? Check.

Black leather shoes decent enough to not make me look like a hobo in front of clients? Check.

Leather briefcase filled with proposals and medical bills? Check.

I pulled my citizen ID card from my wallet and stared at it. At the same time, I mumbled my name over and over again, trying to ground myself.

Fragments of memories flashed through my mind — my mother, my loved ones, my friends, my colleagues, my home. Yet, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t recall their faces or voices. Those memories were silhouettes shrouded in mist, hazy and blurry, slipping further away each time I reached for them.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” I muttered, turning my gaze toward the looming, jet-black stone gate. Its presence was imposing, an unnatural monolith that had ripped me from the mundane train station and brought me here.

When I first arrived, the number etched on the gate was zero. Back then, the gate was closed, cold, and unyielding. Afterward, the number shifted to one, as though marking some strange progression.

I had tried everything to force it open. Pushing, punching, kicking, slamming. I screamed, roared, cursed at it until my throat went dry. But the gate stood indifferent, unmoving, as though it had existed since the dawn of time and would continue to do so, utterly unconcerned with the rage of an insignificant man.

Shaking off the memory, I refocused on the gate. The number above it now flickered, shifting upward from ninety-nine to one hundred.

The number only increased when I succeeded.

*Ding

[Quest: Helped the fated ones save the world]

The System’s message rang in my mind. Eighty percent of the System’s quests were like this. Nothing new. The only noteworthy detail was there were multiple fated ones. It was rare for a world to have more than one.

[Condition: Restore Harmony through the power of culture]

…What the bloody hell was that supposed to mean? Harmony? Likely a unique aspect of this world, I assumed.

Culture? The first things that came to mind were songs, then movies. Alright then. Since the System’s conditions were always tied to the quest, it was my job to figure it out and complete it.

I didn’t even want to think about the consequences of failing the System’s conditions. They always led to the end.

In some worlds, the end was catastrophic — buildings collapsed, mountains toppled, the sky cracked and fell to the earth, and the ground shattered, bursting into flames. Calling it hell would have been an understatement.

In others, the end was quieter, more insidious. Life slowly withered away, like the last lonely tree in a flooded forest, waiting in hopeless silence for its eventual demise.

Among all the worlds where I had failed, one thing was constant: the wails of terror and despair etched into every face, eyes hollow and devoid of hope. The stench of rotted and burned flesh lingered in the air, mingling with the acrid taste of smoke that choked my throat. With every step I took, it felt like thousands of knives shredded my heart.

And always, always, the same image haunted me: a mother kneeling to embrace her children one last time, bloodied tears streaming down her face as the world crumbled around her.

Those things, they looped in my nightmares still.

[Reward: Return to Terra; All Curing Potion x1]

Shaking my head and focus back on the present. Finally, my goal was right before my eyes: finish this final quest and obtain the all-curing potion to heal my mom.

On one hand, I was furious. This place had forced me into a worlds-saving journey out of nowhere. On the other hand, I was grateful. It gave me a way to save my mom when all the doctors had given up.

I refused to let her spend the last moments of her life alone in that cold, indifferent hospital while enduring unimaginable pain.

I refused.

Once the rage coiling around my heart settled, I drummed my fingers on the table, reviewing the simple steps I had refined over countless worlds to gather information when arrived in a new one.

After running through them, I was ready.

Walking through the empty space devoid of shadows, which always messed with my depth perception, was still strange to me no matter how many times I had been here. At its end, I stood before the black gate once more, hopeful this would be the final time. No, wait, second to the final time. I still need it to return home.

“Alright. Time to head off.” I cracked my neck from side to side and pushed the gate open.

What lay beyond defied comprehension.

The constellations of heaven danced across the earth, while clouds floated in a space between sky and ground, as though the laws of physics had taken a backseat. An indescribable chorus resonated through the vast universe itself, expanding across space and time, filling me with a sense of something ancient and eternal.

Every star I touched felt both cold and warm, tangible yet intangible, as if they existed in multiple states simultaneously.

I took a step forward, leaving the empty white space behind, and fell into the embrace of the stars. I closed my eyes and let my consciousness drift away.

*Ding

[Error] [Error] [Error]

*****

That’s some awesome singing.

It was the first thought that came to mind as I regained consciousness.

The voice was bright and velvety, radiating the warmth of sunlight in spring after a harsh winter. At the same time, it carried a powerful intensity, like a warrior poised to charge into battle at any moment.

*Ding

[System rebooted. Memory merge sequence activated]

[Starting pack received]

[Welcome back, World Walker]

My head throbbed with pain, like a knife had been stabbed into my temple and twisted ten times out of sheer spite. Ignoring the agony, I ran through my newly merged memories and scanned the room I was in — my room.

From what I could recall, the space had been cluttered with creative junk made by the previous owner of this body, Karl Xanderson. He had been physically weak but still tried to find ways to be useful to his outcast mercenary clan.

Crystals pulsing faintly with Mana and various inventions that had once littered the floor were now neatly arranged on the shelf next to my bed. Piles of books, previously scattered across the table behind the girl singing near the open window, had been returned to the waist-high bookshelf on the right side of the room.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The girl, nineteen, had long white hair, sky-blue eyes, and a diagonal scar that ran from the bottom right of her neck to the top left of her forehead. Her voice, like that of a goddess of war, matched her well-trained, finely-tuned muscles. Even the thick fur cloth she wore couldn’t hide her fighter’s physique.

She was my twin sister, Sera Xanderson — a [Warrior] halfway toward her 1st Ascension. She was also our clan’s only Songstress.

Sera sat on a wooden stool, staring out the window. Her powerful voice didn’t match the melancholic gaze she cast outside. As if she wanted to sing the sadness away, her voice grew louder and louder, filling the room.

It didn’t last. A massive coughing fit overtook her. She spun around, clutching her throat with one hand and covering her mouth with the other as her expression twisted in pain.

I sat up, squinting at her throat. The murky thing I’m sensing there is not a good sign.

Once Sera stopped coughing, our eyes met. And an awkward silence followed.

Without warning, her face flushed, and she grabbed the throw pillow from the stool. With a surprising lack of hesitation, she hurled it at me. The pillow flew like a cannonball, smashing into my face and knocking me backward.

This body is too damn weak, I thought.

“Big brother, you idiot! Why didn’t you say something if you were awake already?” Sera yelled before storming out of the room, her embarrassment evident.

I set the pillow to the side and sat up. That was quite a way to start.

Anyway, follow the procedure. First things first, status.

===============

Name: Karl Xanderson

Race: Human

Level: 8 (73%)

Class: [Level requirement not met]

Class Skills: [None]

General Skills:

| World Walker’s Comprehension – Level 1

Status Effect:

| Void Heart (Permanent)

| Full body restoration (6 days 23 hours 52 minutes 41 seconds)

Inventory (1/10):

| Demonic Arts Fragment x1

===============

Let's see.

The [Full body restoration] was an effect granted by the System to restore my new body to its peak condition whenever I started in a new world — a period of grace after I took over a dead body.

[Demonic Arts Fragment] was the reward I received for successfully helping save the previous world, a Murim world where martial artists reigned supreme. This demonic fragment came from the Demonic Cult, those who sought to destroy their own world.

My eyes moved to the last thing that caught my attention. I mentally clicked on the [Void Heart] status effect.

===============

|Void Heart

A physical condition that only affects one person every millennium.

- You cannot store Mana in your heart the same as other living beings.

- Every trace of Mana that seeps into you will leak back out into nature.

- As Mana is one of the driving forces of life, you will slowly head toward an early death.

===============

Constantly leaking Mana out of my body? I thought, focusing on the [Demonic Arts Fragment]. I know how to deal with that.

Sitting in a lotus position on my bed, I began breathing in a specific rhythm, trying to form the foundation of my martial arts.

Each world had its own laws, and the System functioned differently in each one. That was why I had developed a martial arts of my own — something I could use in any world.

Mana gathered around me, pulsing in sync with every breath. Warmth seeped into my body, and I carefully directed the Mana toward my bloodstream, attempting to merge it with my life force to create Qi.

If Mana was like water — an external force — then Qi was like blood, an internal force. Both had their own merits and drawbacks. But since Mana leaked out of me too easily, the obvious solution was to convert it into Qi and store it in a Qi Core, where it would be safe. Both were driving forces of life, but unlike Mana, Qi wouldn’t escape my body once it was formed.

One drawback, though: while Mana could be transformed into Qi, Qi could never be reverted back into Mana. Unless, of course, the person was dead.

I kept trying to form a Qi Core, my breathing steady, my bed was soaked with sweat.

Alas, man proposed, heaven disposed.

I failed to merge the Mana into my life force, let alone gather enough Qi to form a core. I needed some external stimulants.

This was a problem I had to solve if I wanted to use my martial arts. It was crucial. There was no way to help the fated ones save this world if I couldn’t even save myself.

With no other choice, I decided to search for something useful to address my predicament.

Getting out of bed, I headed toward the shelf. Unintentionally, I found the reason for the previous Karl’s death: an invention called the Sound Amplifying Crystal.

By engraving Runes into the crystal, it conjured two layers — one side to receive sound, the other to amplify it.

Simply put, if a microphone and a speaker had a baby, this would be it. It was designed to help Sera sing without straining her voice.

Good intentions, but in the wrong direction. The previous Karl hadn’t accounted for the fact that the more Mana he used to engrave Runes, the closer he came to death. He had succeeded, but the cost had been too great.

I sighed. “Your effort won’t be in vain. I’ll make sure of it.”

After pocketing the crystal, I put on a Bearowl fur jacket and stepped outside. What greeted me was a sea of white, blanketing everything in sight.

Another piece of memory surfaced. This was Xanderson Village, home of the Xanderson Clan — a clan feared and hated for their ability to steal life force, a power humans weren’t supposed to possess.

“You’re awake, young master,” a flat, doll-like voice said.

I turned toward the only person in the village who called me that — Lucy, our family maid.

It was amusing, in a way, that a Dark Elf maid had chosen to stay in this godforsaken land of eternal winter. A place with no hierarchy, only roles and duties to fulfill.

“Here’s your medicine, young master. Please be sure to drink it all this time.”

Her dirty blonde fishtail braid, tied with a small pink bow at the end, swayed in the icy morning breeze as she handed me a bowl of crimson, slime-like medicine.

When I took the bowl, her amber eyes fixed on me, sharp and unyielding, like a nocturnal predator eyeing its prey. I couldn’t blame her. The previous Karl had a bad habit of leaving this medicine unfinished.

But "I" wasn’t that Karl.

Without hesitation, I drank it all in one gulp. The medicine slid down my throat more easily than I’d expected, leaving only a faint, bitter aftertaste at the tip of my tongue.

Lucy nodded, taking the bowl back with her usual efficiency.

“Young master?” Lucy asked when I froze and didn’t release the bowl.

A burning sensation coursed through my veins as my life force and Mana churned. It was exactly what I needed to stimulate my body enough to create Qi.

From what I could recall, the previous Karl had never bothered to ask what this medicine was made of. He simply knew he didn’t like it but had to drink it because it helped his body retain Mana.

“I never asked before, but what is in this medicine?” I finally let go of the bowl.

“The village’s mead combined with some other herbs. The most important among them is Bleeding Berries found around Bearowl’s territory,” she replied flatly, her expression as unreadable as ever.

Bleeding Berries. I tried to recall what they were but came up blank.

Perhaps noticing my confusion, Lucy added, “They’re a type of berry that grows near Bearowl territory. We use them to stimulate blood flow to fight the cold and make remedies for colds and other ailments. But if you use too many berries, you’ll bleed from every pore in your body.”

“I see,” I said, nodding while mentally noting the location. “Where’s Sera? There’s something I need to give her.”

Lucy’s gaze flicked briefly toward my pocket. “She’s at the clinic. A child’s condition became worse than we thought, and we ran out of medicine.”

I nodded again. “Thanks, Lucy.”

“…Young master, is this about our mead problem?” There was a subtle hint of doubt in her voice.

“Yeah. I might have a solution,” I said with a shrug. Whether it worked or not didn’t matter.

A boy had sacrificed his life to make this. Such a death must never be in vain. Never.

Lucy looked me in the eyes before saying, “I won’t stop you, but if you want to test out your… invention, please let me know first. It’s dangerous near the Meat Bees’ hive.”

I nodded at Lucy before heading to the clinic. “I will.”

A few steps in, I noticed Lucy was walking the same way. I turned to look at her.

“I have work to do at the storage, clan leader’s order,” she explained.

The front of the storage had been turned into a makeshift clinic, so it made sense she was heading there too. My elder sister, the clan’s leader, was still worrying about the village even while fighting in a war herself. What a kind woman.

As I walked through the desolate village, I saw firsthand how dire the situation had become.

Children were falling sick in droves, their coughing echoing through the empty, snow-covered paths. Hunters were growing weaker by the day, and no game hung in the back of their houses. The once lively village was now a shadow of its former self.

Our withering lives were preserved inside cabins made from the same pinewood. These houses shielded us from the biting cold but also became our shackles.

Was there truly nowhere else in this world that could offer warmth beyond the confines of our chimneys?

For us, mead made from Meat Bees’ honey was our lifeline. We needed it to fend off the cold, to make medicine, and to trade with the Frost Elf and the NorthStar expedition team for herbs and materials.

Killing the bees was an option, but it would set off a dangerous chain reaction.

Without Sera’s singing to calm the bees, it was extremely dangerous to harvest their honey without killing them. But killing the bees would disrupt the Bearowl’s main food source, pushing them to attack our ranches. Their target? Our Strong Hoof Oxen. Losing the oxen would threaten both our food supply and the bees’ survival.

We had ways to protect ourselves, but the cost was steep. Not everyone in the village was strong enough to face a Bearowl, let alone a horde of them.

And that was just half the problem.

As I paced toward where Sera was, I took out the Sound Amplifying Crystal and studied the Runes etched into it. This thing might just be the solution to everything.

Let’s see how Runes in this world work. I focused my attention on the crystal in my hand and dived into the Rune Space.

Almost immediately, motes of light began to appear, arranging themselves into intricate circles marked with various symbols. The circles shifted and turned, appearing and disappearing in a constant, fluid motion. Some floated independently, while others linked together, forming what I understood to be this world’s language — magic.

*Ding

[World Walker’s Comprehension Level up: Level 1 –> 2]

The Runes began to make sense as patterns emerged from their chaotic movements. The ones designed to record sound gathered on one side of the crystal, while the ones meant to amplify sound clustered on the other. A link, formed by the glowing motes, connected the two sides seamlessly.

Good. I nodded in satisfaction. It’s great to have this World Walker’s perk. I’ll study it more later.

Shoving the crystal back into my pocket, I opened the door to the clinic.

Sera’s familiar velvet voice greeted me, drawing my attention to where she was sitting. She was singing softly, her voice was like a balm that seemed to smooth the boy’s suffering, if only for a moment.

The child’s face, previously flushed with fever, began to lose its burning red hue, and his labored breathing grew steadier. Sera’s voice somehow helped him recover.

When Sera finally stopped singing, the boy’s mother, who had been tense with worry, let out a relieved sigh. Her face softened, the weight of her anxiety easing as she relaxed at last.

*Ding

[You have experienced Harmony for the first time. You can now trigger Harmony]

Interesting. This was something I had never seen before.

The boy’s mother held Sera’s hands and thanked her repeatedly. In return, Sera offered a reassuring smile before turning toward the door. Her expression brightened when she saw me.

“Can you come with me for a bit?” I asked.

My little sister nodded and followed me outside.

“Hold still,” I said, placing my palm on her throat as soon as she closed the door behind her.

Her surprised look didn’t deter me. I focused on the murky parasitic thing clinging to her, stimulating my life force with Mana in an attempt to force the thing to latch onto me instead.

But no matter how hard I tried, I failed.

“Um,” she wanted to say something, but I stopped her with a raised hand.

“Can you wait for me at the usual spot? There’s something I need to give you.”

“Is it important?”

“Yes, it’s important.”

I looked her directly in the eyes with an unyielding gaze. Whatever she saw must have struck a chord because her eyes widened. After a brief pause, she nodded and walked away.

“Lucy,” I called out to the Dark Elf as I made my way to the back of the clinic.

“Yes?” came her voice from beside me, just beyond the log wall.

“Please give my share of the remedies to the children. I’ve found another way to treat my condition,” I said confidently. As long as I could form my Qi Core, the Void Heart condition was as good as solved.

“Are you…” She trailed off, leaving the question unfinished.

Leaning against the wall between us, I replied in a light tone. “You know me. I’m Karl ‘never give up’ Xanderson.”

I felt her amber eyes piercing through the wall, silently assessing me for what felt like hours before she finally responded.

“…Understood.”

I wasn’t sure what Lucy was thinking, but I wasn’t planning on dying anytime soon.

Afterward, I made my way into the pine forest, heading toward where Sera was waiting. After about ten minutes, I found her.

I froze, taken aback. My little sister was silently crying.