< Chapter 1: Theo Ragnar (1) >
Yoo Taeo, or Theo Ragnar, clenched his teeth as he watched the rain of arrows darken the sky.
Why do I keep failing?
* * *
Theo became aware of his past life around the age of fifteen.
There wasn’t a particular reason for it.
It just came to him as he half-heartedly listened to his tutor’s lesson, as usual.
It wasn’t as if all his past life’s memories resurfaced.
It was just a few fragmented memories, as if from a dream.
However, his past life strangely resembled his current one in many ways.
In his previous life, he had lost his parents in an accident at a young age, and was passed around between relatives, always conscious of the eyes of those around him.
In his current life, he was born into a noble family but had a mother from the slums, which subjected him to contempt and ridicule from others.
The restrictions of status and circumstances bound his arms and legs like chains.
He found it unbearably unjust.
And so he made up his mind.
"This time, I will break free from these chains."
Luckily, the family he was born into was one where, depending on effort or talent, he could break free of such societal constraints.
The House of Ragnar.
A grand duchy located at the empire’s far northern edge, defending the empire and the continent from the monsters beyond the wall.
There are many titles for such a family.
The Great Northern Wall.
The Empire’s Shield.
The Dragon Knights.
Lords of the Winter Mountains.
The Ideal of Swordsmen and Knights.
The Fathers of the Fallen.
.
.
.
For more than a thousand years, they had remained in the same position, their long history intertwined with countless myths and legends.
Perhaps because of this, the Ragnar bloodline was said to have inherited the blood of dragons, giving them an extraordinary constitution.
Not only did they possess high resistance to magic, but they also displayed remarkable talent in swordsmanship and martial arts.
How could one explain those who, by the age of ten, naturally became aware of mana, and simply by holding a sword, were considered masters of at least one star?
Moreover, the land they lived on, Winterer, where snow covered the ground for more than half of the year, fostered a naturally brutal family culture.
Survival of the fittest.
Or rather, the rule of the strong.
Only the strong survive, and they seize everything.
Thus, if Theo could acquire strength, he could rise above his status and circumstances.
However, there was one problem.
Before he had awakened to his past life, Theo, having been constantly belittled, had withdrawn into himself and believed he had no talent, distancing himself from any form of training.
As Theo awakened to his past life and his perspective on the world broadened, his values shifted as well. However, by then, he had already missed the prime opportunity to learn and grow.
Even if that weren't the case, the House of Ragnar, at the time, was in its golden age, boasting extraordinary power.
As a result, Theo felt intimidated at the thought of competing with his brilliant and talented siblings for the throne.
So, he changed his approach.
Instead of directly competing for power, he decided to join the information network of the Ragnar family, intending to seize power from the shadows.
He believed that in this space, he would have enough room to demonstrate his abilities.
Although his memories were fragmented and not entirely clear, he had a vague recollection that, in his previous life, he had worked in a profession related to intelligence gathering.
...Yes, that’s what he had thought.
"My mistake was underestimating just how intense my siblings' thirst for power really was."
In the eyes of his siblings, a bastard like him was nothing more than a pawn to be used and discarded.
The butler who had helped him, his teacher, and all the household staff loyal to him were killed by assassins whose identities remained unknown.
He felt deeply sorry, unbearably so.
It seemed like everyone had met their end because of their connection to someone as worthless as him.
"If I hadn’t wavered, if I had conducted myself properly... would things have turned out differently?"
Now, he was the only one left.
And even that didn’t seem like it would last much longer.
The chains still tightly bound his hands and feet.
And then.
Theo finally realized one crucial fact.
"...I was never meant to break free of these wretched chains. I should have shattered them with strength."
Thud.
With a dull sensation, his vision darkened.
[You have died.]
[By consuming ■ ■ Coins, ■■ ■■■■■ you will return ■■■■■.]
* * *
"Again... here?"
Theo forced his eyes open, feeling as if he were floating in empty space.
Even though it had been well over twenty years since he last experienced this, the sensation was unforgettable.
It was the same floating feeling he had felt between his first and second lives.
It seemed this was some sort of transitional process he went through each time he reincarnated.
So, was a third life about to begin?
Ding!
With a sound he couldn’t place, his vision suddenly began to brighten.
.
.
From far away, a faint noise seemed to be reaching him.
.
And then, all of a sudden, the sound grew much louder.
"Today’s lesson will end here. I don't think continuing any further would be meaningful."
The tone was polite on the surface, but the contempt it held was unmistakable.
"Tsk! Even though you have a lowly mother, being this stupid is just too much. I don’t even need to see the Coming-of-Age Ceremony in six months to know how that’ll turn out."
The middle-aged teacher clicked his tongue as he left the classroom.
Theo was too stunned to gather his thoughts.
'That man… Rendon? How is Rendon here? And the Coming-of-Age Ceremony? What on earth…?'
Rendon had been Theo's tutor when he was young. But if he remembered correctly, Rendon had lost his head after choosing the wrong side in the competition for the family headship.
Theo glanced down at his hands.
White hands, not a single callus on them.
'What?'
Shocked, Theo quickly turned his head toward the full-length mirror beside him.
His reflection stared back—a boy with unusually long black hair that shimmered with a hint of blue, and eyes the color of dark crimson, as if soaked in blood. His body was slightly frail, his build small.
Could he be fifteen years old at most?
A youthful face gazed back at him.
For a moment, his mind went blank.
What was going on?
Only one thought crossed his mind.
'Could it be… I’ve gone back to the past?'
Had his wish—to struggle for a chance if he could start over—been granted?
"Reincarnation and now regression…? How could something so absurd happen?"
Theo let out a breathless laugh, half in disbelief.
Just then.
Ding!
[System ■■■■ Beta Ser■ce ■■ Starting.]
[■■■ Patch in Progress.]
.
[Patch ■■■ Completed.]
[Player ■ Registration Complete.]
[■■■ is now Active.]
Multiple windows suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, floating in the middle of his vision.
Theo instinctively swallowed dryly.
'What’s this now? Patch? Player? There wasn’t anything like this before…'
Most of the text was obscured with noise, making it impossible to fully understand, but it seemed to be conveying a message of some sort.
More message windows continued to pop up.
[Quest Received.]
+
[Tutorial Quest #1]
Unlock your Aura Hall.
· Difficulty: F
· Reward: ■■■’s Fra■ment
· Failure Penalty: ■■
+
This time, there was a bit more detail.
Even though it was still unclear what it all meant.
'It seems similar to the games I played in my first life… but I have no idea what’s going on.'
It was clear that it was related to his regression, but Theo couldn’t help feeling a sense of resistance.
Without any proper explanation, the messages felt like commands, telling him to "do this" immediately, and that didn’t sit well with him.
Hadn't he spent his entire life as a pawn, used and discarded? Naturally, it was hard for Theo not to be suspicious of everything happening now.
'…….'
In the end, after much contemplation, Theo slapped his face with both hands.
Slap! Slap!
His mind snapped into focus.
"Let's ignore this for now. If there's something to it, I'll figure it out eventually."
- First, I'll start with what I can do.
Theo flipped over his notebook and began scribbling on the back with his pen.
Before his regression, he had been a part of the intelligence division. Naturally, by the time he died at thirty-five, he was more knowledgeable about various incidents than anyone else.
That included the hidden secrets behind many of them.
He started organizing these events chronologically, sorting out the ones he could use or exploit for his benefit.
'To break the chains, I can't be satisfied with just lurking in the shadows. I have to rise higher than anyone else, sit at the top, and look down on everyone.'
Now that he had returned to the past, Theo was determined to seize the throne of the House of Ragnar.
He had to be even more ruthless than before if he wanted to prevent the sorrow and despair he had seen on the faces of his servants at the moment of his death.
'I also need to find out who was responsible for my death. There's a lot to do.'
Snap!
Once all his plans were laid out, Theo snapped his ink-dried pen in half and tossed it carelessly to the floor.
On the first page of the notebook, written in a code only he could understand, were four words:
- Dragon's Heart.
'The first step shouldn't be too difficult.'
It seemed, by chance, that his goal aligned with whatever this "tutorial" was.
The corner of Theo's lips curled upward slightly.
* * *
If one were to pick the most unremarkable child of the Ragnar family, all the maids and butlers in Winterer would agree unanimously:
- It must be young master Theo Ragnar.
A person with no distinctive features, neither strengths nor talents. It was hard to believe he was the son of Cecilia, known for her intense jealousy.
However, at some point, different rumors about Theo began to circulate.
- Every day at exactly 6 a.m., young master Theo visits the 4th training ground like clockwork.
- Oh, has he finally taken an interest in training?
- Well, yes, but…
- Hmm? Is there a problem?
- Well, his training method… It's a bit strange.
- Strange? How so?
- He runs.
- And?
- He just keeps running.
- …?
- He runs for six straight hours until noon.
- ….
In the House of Ragnar, where even the maids and butlers were at least skilled warriors of three stars or higher, physical training wasn’t something particularly noteworthy. However, the other rumors surrounding Theo were decidedly strange.
- After finishing his exercise, he always asks for a ridiculous amount of meat.
- Oh, and not long ago, he asked me to get a large amount of Mueta flowers.
- He asked me for Sabier grass!
- This morning, I brought him Satan mushrooms... Does he have a reason for all this?
- Yeah, they’re all just common weeds you can find on the street, aren’t they?
- And I hear he borrows the palace kitchen every night, cooking strange meals himself.
There were rumors that he cooked bizarre dishes.
- On the other hand, during the day, he spends all his time in the library... and the books he borrows are even weirder.
- What kind of books?
- 100 Monster Recipes, The Empire’s Mythological Psychology, The Wizard Who Swallowed Talent, Lord of the Basement, The Emperor Who Was Already Naked, and so on.
- …The last two titles sound a bit… off.
- Well, um, they’re… kind of inappropriate…
- What the hell! Young Master Theo is only fifteen years old! How could they let him borrow such things!
Even in the library, there were rumors that Theo borrowed strange books. His actions, though seemingly trivial, were peculiar enough to attract attention, but odd enough to make people hesitate to dismiss them entirely.
- Why’s he suddenly doing things he never used to do?
- Who knows? Still, after fulfilling one of his requests, he smiles, and I have to say, it’s really cute.
- Yeah, I know what you mean.
- To be honest, Young Master Theo is actually... no, extremely handsome, isn’t he?
Eventually, the maids and butlers came to a conclusion.
- He must just be bored.
The House of Ragnar was known for its harsh rules and rigorous training, which often produced quirky individuals with eccentric personalities. Because of this, no one paid much attention to Theo’s odd behavior. They simply figured he’d give it up when he got tired of it.
Thanks to this, Theo was able to steadily carry out his plans without any interference.
His own Aura Hall.
The plan to create the Dragon’s Heart.
