Chapter 1

“ice coffee.”

Even without drinking, I feel drunk.
My heavy shoulders lighten.
My body grows lethargic.
As if today is the world’s last day.
The red sunset, which I never usually even glanced at, is somehow so beautiful.

‘It’s not the world’s last day, but my military life ends today.’

640 days.
It was disgustingly long.
No, even saying ‘long’ feels inadequate.
It was simply hell.
But where there are meetings, there must be partings.
And just as beginnings have ends,
eons of time flowed and flowed, preparing to conclude this grand saga.

< 877th Class Discharge Ceremony Announcement >
Due to a heavy rain warning tomorrow, the discharge ceremony will not be held. Personnel being discharged may leave the base starting at 07:00.
You remain on active duty until midnight tonight, so please maintain a soldierly demeanor until the very end.

Is the sky patting my shoulder, saying I did a good job?
The discharge ceremony, which was neither fun nor moving, was canceled.

‘These guys, for real? They’re even letting us leave early.’

It seems the commander must have had something good happen yesterday.

“Maintain a soldierly demeanor until the end? Should I just file a complaint right now? They’re insane.”
Those damn, disgusting words—military discipline, bearing, soldierly demeanor—just hearing them now makes me feel like throwing up.

“I’m finally getting out. I’m finally getting out. Haha!”
Did I develop bipolar disorder?
Clearly, 10 seconds ago, I was smiling at the news of early departure, then 5 seconds ago, I was angry at the nonsense about ‘soldierly demeanor.’
And just now, I smiled at the thought of discharge.

‘Well, after doing it for over 600 days, it’s enough to drive anyone crazy.’

And I know the cure for this mental illness very well.

‘Go out, have a hot bowl of soup rice, then head to a PC bang. That’ll cure it.’

Just thinking about it sends shivers, doesn’t it?
Not hiding my raised smile, I enjoyed the leisure of the day before discharge.
And after roll call, the discharge send-off.
The mean seniors were discharged after being showered with all sorts of insults and called human failures, but perhaps because I took them as a cautionary tale and lived relatively well?
Live a good life out there.
Keep in touch.
Let’s get a meal sometime.
With such smooth and nice words, I was able to spend my last day.

‘They didn’t really do anything for me though.’

Whether they caused trouble or did something else, I didn’t care.
For juniors, buying them a drink was the extent of it.
I guess there’s a saying that if you just stay quiet, you’re halfway there.

‘Can I say I served not too badly?’

Honestly, my military life was really tough.
At boot camp, driven momentarily insane by the drill instructor’s gaslighting, I applied for the SDT—basically a kind of special forces.

‘I was truly crazy. I came to the Air Force for an easier service, and I ended up in special forces?’

Grueling training and tough seniors that regular soldiers couldn’t even imagine.
They presented me with hell, and I lost count of how many times I regretted it.

“Well, looking back now… it was bad, but not the worst.”
I properly picked up exercise as a hobby, and I succeeded in scoring 800 on the TOEIC starting from zero.

“At least I gained something.”
Recalling the good moments, I lay down on my bed.

“Lights out.”
With the lights off, my vision darkened.

‘It feels like just the other day I was told, “Your military life lies ahead of you.”’

The speed of time is truly incomprehensible.

“Congratulations on your discharge, Corporal Lee Ji-ho.”
“Just call me hyung, what’s with the ‘corporal’? You have about two months left, right?”
“Haha, yes. Very soon.”
“Soon? That’s when it really begins. You used up all your leave to meet your girlfriend, right?”
Usually, saving up leave for the end is the rule, but soldiers with girlfriends mostly use it up lavishly.

“She’s visiting next week, so I just have to hang on a bit longer.”
“Lucky bastard.”
Most end up getting dumped, but Kim Si-yeo in front of me maintained his relationship.
Of course, you never know until the very end, but watching from the side, I was envious more than once or twice.

‘As soon as I get out, I’m getting a girlfriend first.’

Isn’t that why I exercised in the military, after all?
To seem more intellectually sophisticated during conversations, I even read books I never touched in my life.

“Now that you’re discharged, getting a girlfriend will be a piece of cake, right?”
“Thanks for saying that. Good work.”

Heading toward the main gate, I felt remarkably light and quiet for someone leaving a place they’d stayed for 21 months.
Swoosh!!!

“It’s raining quite hard.”
There was a reason for the heavy rain warning.

‘Well, thanks to it, I get to leave two hours early, so I can gladly take this much rain.’

For someone, it might be a gloomy day, but for me, it couldn’t be more picturesque.

“You remain on active duty until 8 AM, so please return home in proper uniform without disarray. It’s the last time, you can manage that much, right? Anyone who wants to be a non-commissioned officer even now, step aside.”
The Command Sergeant Major, standing by the gate, inspecting the attire of those being discharged.
If that’s an obsession, it’s an obsession, but what’s scarier is that he’s still trying to find slaves until the very end.

‘This is no place for humans. I need to get out quickly.’

Shaking my head, I showed my discharge papers, passed through the main gate, and finally stepped into the outside world.
The envious gaze of the MP behind me.
I couldn’t help it; my shoulders rising was pure instinct.

‘Run your errands. I’ll be going ahead, hyung.’

Getting into a taxi with words I could never utter out loud.

“To Hoeng-seong Station, please.”
“Got it. Did you get discharged today?”
“Yes, finally did.”
My lips curled up involuntarily at the taxi driver’s question.

“You worked hard in your youth. You should eat something delicious today.”
“I’ll eat until I burst.”
Beef is a must, and I’m thinking of adding seafood on the side.

“Well then, I better get you there quickly.”
As if he himself were being discharged, the driver whistled and stepped on the accelerator.
The driver speeding up despite the heavy rain warning.

‘W-wait, is this okay?’

The speed on the national highway already exceeded three digits.
And in weather with a heavy rain warning, no less.
The moment I sensed instinctive danger and tried to speak to the driver,
the accident happened.

“Hey….”
Screech!!!
In an instant, the car lost control and skidded on the road.
The waterlogged road offered no friction, and the taxi crashed into the guardrail, spun once, and plunged over the cliff.
Simultaneously, my consciousness faded.
I instinctively sensed death.

‘Damn it, I just got discharged!!!’

Before I could even vent my frustration, pain overwhelmed me and I lost consciousness.

[Calculating your life.]
[Sin (D), Good Deeds (B), Luck (F)]
[Investigation proceeds regarding the desperately low ‘Luck’.]
[……]
[Mercy is bestowed upon your pitiful life, where you died during 21 months of forced military service, despite having no sin.]

‘An unfortunate life, indeed.’

As my consciousness gradually returned, the letters came into view.
After hearing insults like ‘military scum’ or ‘soldier bastard,’ being called a ‘pitiful life’ felt somewhat comforting.

[Your second life will begin in a better position and circumstance.]

‘Second life…?’

Hearing ‘better position,’ the first thing that came to mind was, of course, being a conglomerate heir.

‘Wait. But if I’m reborn, I’ll have to go to the military again.’

A momentary worry, but only for a moment.
Even celebrities on TV get exempted from the military all the time by claiming mental illness; if a conglomerate decides to, there’s no way they can’t be exempted.

‘Right, let me enjoy a bit too.’

As I was about to close my eyes, satisfied with the outcome, such happiness was not granted to me.

[For quick adaptation, your life is being adjusted so your last profession may continue into your next life.]
[Your last profession was Soldier.]

“Damn it? What did you say?”
My drowsy mind cleared instantly, and my voice burst out.
If that had been spoken by someone instead of text, I would have grabbed their collar without hesitation.

[With a Luck correction, you may start as a soldier in a better environment.]
[In your second life, I hope you achieve what you wish to achieve.]

“Ah… Ahh, not a soldier.”
Before I could say anything more, my vision blurred and I lost consciousness again.

“Young Master, please wake up.”
The feel of a plush mattress.
And a woman’s voice, sweet as a bird’s song—anyway, a woman’s voice.
A woman other than my mother waking me was so unfamiliar that my eyes snapped open immediately.

“This place is… ugh.”
A massive amount of information pierced my head without warning, bringing on a headache.
Who I was, where this place was, the name of the woman before me, and such.

‘It’s a completely different world.’

An empire with something fantastical like Magic Engineering, where emperors and nobles exist—somewhere vaguely medieval.
The merging of that world’s people and Lee Ji-ho’s memories created more conflict than expected.

“Huh”
“A-are you okay?! I’ll call the doctor right now—”
I barely managed to grab Aurora, the housemaid, as she tried to dash out of the room.

“I’m fine, so don’t worry. It’s because I woke up suddenly.”
Holding my forehead, I forced a calm front and drank the tea from the cup Aurora brought.

‘Drinking something makes me feel alive.’

The information, after some clashes, began to organize quickly.
To state the important points: first, my name seems to be Palan family name Ocklow.

‘Palan Ocklow, the youngest son of Viscount Ocklow’

A man far removed from the line of succession, who enjoyed revelry if not outright gambling.
A typical youngest son of a noble family, living as if his life had an expiration date.

‘Anyway, possession? I guess.’

Accepting this unrealistic situation wasn’t easy, but the probability of this being a dream wasn’t zero, was it?
I clearly fell off a cliff and died.

‘I thought death was the end, but here I am, alive. Who knew web novels were based on fact.’

Feeling amazed, I examined the organizing information a bit more.

‘It’s a noble family running a large-scale trade company, so they have quite a bit of money.’

Not just a lot, but on the level of a conglomerate by Korean standards.

‘This is amazing.’

A second life where everything seemed perfect.
But there was just one thing bothering me.

“By the way, Aurora, there’s one thing I’m curious about. Can I ask?”
“Huh? If you’re curious about something, you can just ask. Why are you asking for permission?”
A look flew my way, as if asking why I was suddenly doing something I never did.

‘Right, I’m a noble.’

Having been bossed around by officers who used leave as hostage, I’d unconsciously taken a subservient posture.

“Haha, is that so?”
“Did you sleep late yesterday? You look a bit tired. Anyway, feel free to ask.”
“Right, it’s nothing else. By any chance… do I have to enlist?”
First off, if my memory is correct, Palan is not a soldier.
But according to the text I saw in my hazy consciousness, it clearly said I would become a soldier.
Then the only option left is one.
Enlistment.
And enlisting in this era is something you can avoid if you want.
It’s not forced conscription like in South Korea.

‘Might some people get angry if I call it forced conscription?’

But, come on, dragging adult men away regardless of their own will—if that’s not forced conscription, what is?

“You, enlisting? Did you have a nightmare or something?”
“Yeah, a terrible dream. Anyway, it’s fine if not.”
Patting my chest, I quickly adapted to my second life based on the newly gained memories.

Two months later.

“Sorry to interrupt your meal! Urgent news….”
“If it’s urgent, get to the point.”
Broad Ocklow, the family head and my father in this second life, looked at the man who had burst into the dining room.

“The Aditz Empire has just invaded the western border!”
What the man said was much bigger than I expected.

‘A war just broke out…?’

War.
A familiar word from living in a divided country, but it’s a completely different story when it actually happens.

“Tch, it finally happened. I had a feeling, since they recently blocked our company’s wagons from entering.”
Broad Ocklow frowned and put down his fork.

“I’ll go to the palace for a bit. The western border is the complete opposite of here, so don’t worry and carry on as usual.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Please be careful on your way.”
My sister and mother saw Father off as he left the mansion.

“War… Those arrogant bastards from the Aditz Empire, not knowing their place.”
Now that the family head was gone,
Thames, the eldest son and Thames top in rank, muttered in an angry voice.

“Brother, we won’t be conscripted, right…? I’m scared of the battlefield, ugh.”
The timid second brother, Edmon, asked with trembling hands.

“Unless the war situation becomes critically unfavorable, there’s no need to worry about conscription.”
“Phew, what a relief.”
Edmon let out a sigh of relief.
And I, who had been quietly listening to this conversation, also patted my chest in relief.

‘I’m saved.’

I thought I might be dragged into the military, but hearing Thames’ words, it seemed unlikely.

“Rather, this might even be an opportunity. If we gain the Emperor’s favor by supplying military provisions….”
Thames, quick with calculations, was already tallying the gains even amidst the outbreak of war.
The briefly serious atmosphere quickly returned to peace.
After finishing dinner, I returned to my room to finish reading the novel I had started.
That is, until I faced the bombshell news Father brought back the next day.